July 28, 2026 • 50 mins
Danielle Fishel gets real about the cost of being "the nice girl" and the liberating moment she stood up for herself. This is a masterclass in reclaiming your voice and choosing yourself unapologetically, from a woman who's done it all: 90s icon, mom, director, breast cancer survivor and podcast queen.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Welcome
to I Choose Me, the podcast about making choices that
put yourself first. I'm pretty sure Danielle Fischel is what
comes up in the dictionary when you look up putting
yourself first. We have seen her as a nineties teen phenomenon.
(00:25):
She is a director, now commanding sets behind the lens,
mom of two active boys, dancing queen, and now a
prolific podcaster. Danielle has chosen herself time and time again,
and you won't believe all that she has done to
get there. Hello, Hello, how are you beauty? Wearing the red?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Red's my favorite color? I can tell I have so
much red, and I every now and then I'll think like, no,
don't wear red, because now my friends have started being
like and of course the niels and red, and I'm like,
oh man, it's really that noticeable.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I'm that girl. I'm the girl that always wears red.
It looks great on you, so and it's happy. It's
happy color and it works perfectly. Because I just saw that.
You and Lance pass are the hosts of Christmas in
July for KVC.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We are co cheer captains.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Okay, nobody better to be a cheer captain than you
and Lance.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I love this, right, I mean, yeah, two people who
look great and red. So that's why they picked us.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Oh my gosh. Yeah, we You and I. We cross
paths in the QBC hallways.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I know, it's wonderful. We cross paths in the iHeart hallways.
We cross paths in the QVC hallways. We just we
are like ships passing in the night.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I love this. This is a new thing because before this,
before the podcast world, and before we both started on QVC,
we never ever ever really saw each other, I know,
around town.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Now I get to compliment your clothes every time I
see you.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Ah, I love that. Thank you. It's so fun seeing you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
You always look so fantastic and put together, and I'm
always like where'd you get that? What is that? And
You're like it's mine. I'm like, oh my gosh, I
need to be shopping on qbcmore obvious girl.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yes, okay, you just finished recapping all seven seasons of
Boy Meets World. I know what did you? Because I
am not there yet. I'm very excited for when we
do get to the very last episode and like how
that's going to feel. How did it feel for you
when you when you were at the last episode.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
When we finished Boy Meets World in nineteen ninety nine,
I was so ready for it to be over, and
at the same time, I was also very sad, like
it was obvious that it was the closing of such
a chapter, and it felt very much like, who knows
if I'm ever going to see these people again, Who
(02:57):
knows if we'll ever like what will this feel like
in the future. I had no idea, So there was
a lot of sadness, even though I was relieved that
the show was over. With the podcast ending, the podcast
has brought us so much closer, and here we are,
thirty plus years into our friendship. I have no doubt
(03:19):
I will know these people for the rest of my life.
So there is a lot less sadness this time around.
There is actually a lot of joy in the sense
that because it was our first time watching all of
the episodes, I really understand why the show is so beloved.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Oh my god, it's like I'm hearing myself. This is
exactly my realization from the recap podcast that I do.
It's crazy, this like amazing opportunity to to become a
fan of your own show.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, that's exactly how I feel, because you are.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Sitting around watching it. Nope, you were making it. You
were busy making it and trying to figure out what life,
how to have a life around that.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Correct. And I only ever saw the show through my
character's lens, and now that I'm watching it with forty
five year old eyes, and I'm able to be like,
oh my gosh, what a beautiful parent story, what a
beautiful lesson there for that character. Whereas like when we
were going through the week, I was just thinking about
what I had to say, what I had to do.
It wasn't even really paying attention to what the lessons
(04:26):
of the show were. And how I get to appreciate it.
From every POV I.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Know, I always say like, yeah, I never knew it
was happening in the rest of the episode because I
would literally go through the script and read my lines
and worry about my scenes and not focus at all
on the other scenes because I was on my job.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Blah blah, my life exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Oh well, congrats on finishing that. And I can definitely
relate to that feeling of like, wow, I get it now,
and also just like a newfound sort of level of
pride in what you were a part of.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, exactly, what an honor to you know. It's like
there are so few shows, of all the shows that
have ever been on the air, there are so few
shows that anyone would care to talk about thirty years later,
and yet the two like look at us that this
opportunity was ours and that we get to still talk
(05:23):
about it and relive it, and that it at least
for me in our situation. The memories are so overwhelmingly
a majority positive that it's a delight to go back
through them. And even if there are moments where it's like, well,
that could have been a better week, or that could
have been a better experience. No one goes through seven
(05:45):
plus years of their life without having moments where you go, huh,
I wish I would have done that differently, or I
wish that could have been done, you know, in a
different way. But overwhelmingly I have seven years of incredible
memories that I just get to relive every week through
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So you think you're do you think now that you've
finished it, you do you think you'll ever watch it again?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I can't wait to watch it again.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The thirty time.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, no, this will be a second time. A second time,
but we have been very strict with ourselves about like
the rules where we didn't allow ourselves to watch ahead. No,
we only watched right before we were going to record
the episode. So now I kind of and we of
course had to watch them in order. So now I'm
excited to watch them almost Like we talked today about
(06:29):
it being like a roulette wheel, pick a couple episodes
from every season and then spin it and see what
you land on, and then just jump in and watch
that one and see what you've done.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I mean, really, what a cool thing to have, you
know that, to be able to do yeah, really.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, And I was twelve to nineteen twelve.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I was going to ask you whole you were.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So like, those are some higher entire teams are on
tape for.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Me to watch, and it's going to be so cool
for when your kids are that age. I know they're
gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm excited for that.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I told my daughter I was talking with you today,
and she got so excited. She said, not only did
she love you in the original show, but she loved
you even more in.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh yeah, because I was the mom on Girl Meets World. Yeah, yeah,
that's so sweet. Your daughter was a big Dancing with
the Stars fan too, Right.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Well, I have three so okay, maybe they were when
I was on it. I don't know that they watch
it with other seasons and they were little, so I
don't know what they were thinking. But you finished one podcast.
Now you're moving on to another podcast, speaking of Dancing
with the Stars with your friend, my friend Val, we're.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Recapping Dancing with the Stars, the next pro so Dancing
with the Stars New Sister show where the thing I
love about it and one of the things I love
about having Val there with me, aside from the fact
that now everyone will get to appreciate his hilarity in
his personality, is that you know, they were all tasked,
(08:12):
not everyone, but a bunch of the pros were asked
to go and appear on the show to help mentor
these future contestants or future pros, and VAL's like, this
is my future competition. In just a few short weeks,
the season kicks into high gear and now I'm going
to be against this person for a mirror Ball trophy.
(08:33):
And it is pretty interesting that, like you have to
teach your competition. Yeah, is he teaching on the new
He's not. He's not teaching on the new show.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I'm glad that he like put a boundary down and
said no, yeah, he's not doing that.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But there are there are other Dancing with the Stars
pros who are going to show up throughout the season.
Derek is was one of the guest judges. So the
way it works basically is Shirley Ballast and Mark Ballast
are the permanent judges on the show. It's hosted by
Robert Irwin, and then the third judge is a rotating
former pro. So then after Derek Kuff was in the
(09:12):
first week, Brandon Huff is the second guest judge. So
that's how we're going to get to see more of
the current pros.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Oh yeah, I caught a little bit of on the
TV the other night and my husband's like, oh, I'm
in let's watch this. Oh I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So we'll be excited to listen to your new podcast,
Stepping on Toes. That's going to be fun. Everyone's gonna
love it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Okay, I know that after Boy Meets World ended, you
decided to go to college and you studied something that
I love that you did this psychology. H Did you
choose to just completely go off camera and submerse yourself
in that college experience?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I did, but not right when Boy Meets World ended.
So Boy Meets World end? Did the last episode aired
in the year two thousand and I that's the time
I should have gone to school, But I didn't. I
had been I had spent seven years working full time
and going to school, and I so badly just wanted
a break, just to do nothing, to do nothing. And
(10:20):
of course I could have spent those seven years that
I was on Boy Meets World also learning how the
entertainment industry worked, and I should have known that you
really have to strike while the iron is hot, but
that just escaped me, and I was like no, And
I like basically took two to three years off. And
then when I was finally like, all right, I'm ready
to work again, no one cared. No one cared, No
(10:42):
one wanted to book me for anything brutal. It was
like who are you? Or people would let me come
in an audition, but then they just would want to
talk about Boy Meets World. And I could tell you
have no intention of treating me seriously for this role
at all, and so really I went to college at
twenty seven then, Oh, and it was I was very scared.
(11:04):
I was still very recognizable, but now I felt old.
And I was going to school as this. You know,
I was starting in a junior college where people are
seventeen eighteen years old and I'm going to be next
to them in math class. And I was so nervous
about it. But I had really decided that the entertainment
(11:26):
industry gave way too much control and power over to
other people about whether or not I could have a job,
and I just wanted some sort of sense of control
over my own livelihood and my own future. And psychology
had always interested me as an actor, somebody who studies
people and learns mannerisms and figures out what certain tells
(11:49):
are and all of that. I was like, psychology could
probably be interesting, and then I fell in love with it.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh that's so amazing. I secretly always wanted to do that.
I can't imagine like sitting in the classroom, though. Can
you've gone on the line and done it.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I know you wouldn't think that I should have done that.
I mean, at this point, this was nearly twenty years ago,
there was some online settle of it, but not a ton.
And you know, I started at a junior college. I
got my associate's degree at a junior college, and then
I transferred to kel State Fullerton and I got my
bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in communication. And
(12:29):
then I was full send. I was super into it,
and I applied for my master's and I was going
to be a marriage and family therapist, so that that
was my intention. I enrolled it. I applied and got
accepted to Chapman University, and I was that's it, I'm
going to be I'm going to do this. I'm going
to get my ten thousand hours and then I'm going
to open my own practice. And the week I got
(12:51):
my acceptance letter to Chapman is the week I got
the phone call to do Girl Meets World.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Why is it always like that?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
First of all, I know, always you want a job, vacation,
or make new plans.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, and then when it rains, it pours. But how
did you Was it an easy decision for you?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It wasn't an easy decision at all. At this point,
I had been completely off camera for a long time.
I had not been I just that wasn't my world.
I had been inundated with school and was so excited
about this new passion of mine. And I knew that
I was going to be just as happy being as
(13:29):
a therapist as I ever could have been staying in
the entertainment industry. And I had worked so hard, and
I also loved Chapman, and I was so excited that
I got accepted there because it's a really competitive it's
a competitive school, and so I was. It was a
difficult decision, but one thing that even the school because
then I called and talked to my counselor at Chapman
(13:49):
and kind of told her my dilemma, and even she
said to me, well, Danielle, Chapman is always going to
be here school. It doesn't matter how old you are,
it will always be here. It does sound like doing
this show, though, is not something that you'll have another
chance at. This feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity.
(14:12):
And of course, when I talked about it with my
mom and I talked about it with my dad, they
had both said the same thing, Well, you know, you
can always go back to school. And of course, I,
being a super type a person, thought like what if
I could do them both. What if I could do
the show and still go to school. If I only
take one night class, that way, I can still still
be inching toward it. But I found out that the
(14:33):
Girl Meets World was going to be shooting in downtown,
LA and Chapman is in Orange, and so even the
night classes, which start at seven pm, there's no way
for me to guarantee I'd ever be able to make
it to a seven pm class when you're working on
a show, especially as an adult, when you know the
hours can be a lot longer. So I ended up,
you know, making the decision that and it was sad.
(14:54):
I just felt sad when I chose it, But also
I felt like it was the right thing for me
to do. And then because I went and did Girl
Meets World, that's where I got the opportunity to direct
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I mean, that's amazing. I really do want to dig
into that, but I do. I'm still in the psychology thing.
Do you think that going to school like that and
going deep into those studies, do you think that made
you a stronger actor?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Maybe? I mean, I definitely feel like it made me
a stronger person and it made me. It made me
you know what, Yes, I do think it made me
a better actor because it definitely made me a better listener.
And being a good actor is so much about listening
to what is happening in the moment, listening to the
(15:39):
person you're acting with and picking up and noticing changes
in their delivery and how that then, of course affects
how you say something. So yeah, I do, I think
it made me a better actor. It made me a
better person.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
I loved it, Okay, you guys as much as I
adored Topanga back in the day. It is so amazing
to hear from the real life, grown up Danielle Fischel.
She exudes confidence and fun and it starts in the
morning when she puts on her favorite color red, just
(16:15):
like I choose comfort every day, which is why I
created Me by Jenny Garth with QBC. It is a
collection designed to help women feel confident, comfortable, and effortlessly
stylish at every stage of life. So please head over
to QBC dot com and explore Me by Jenny Garth.
(16:35):
All of our newest collections can also be found by
following us on Instagram at Me by Jennie Garth. I'll
see you there. Do you think that because you were
on this trajectory, you had this goal in mind, you
had something that you were passionate about. Do you think
that helped you sort of step into more of an
(16:56):
adult role in your own life? And then therefore, because
I know that you grew up in the nineties on,
you know, in the industry like me, and we had
a lot of messaging about being selfless and being the
trooper and being malleable and making everybody happy, just to
keep the peace and make everything keep going smoothly. But
(17:18):
you've turned that around now and you know, basically the
ultimate I choose me moment of choosing to be treated
like an adult and having to stand up for yourself.
Even when during the production of Girl Meets World, did
you find that people were they wanted you to be
the old Danielle or they wanted you to be the
(17:42):
old Tapanga. Yes, and you had to fight for your
you know, position, your wisdom, your growth very much.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
So I had been a real go with the flow,
not ruffle any feathers, be so easy to work with, right,
you know, a consummate professional. And essentially what that meant
is that you know the producers felt like they could
tell me to do whatever they wanted me to do,
(18:10):
and I would never push back. And when we got
to Girl Meets World, I think I had been so
used to in my personal life going away from that
that then when we went to the set and I
was now a new person, an adult, a grown up
who had thoughts and opinions of her own and wasn't
(18:33):
incredibly shy about sharing them. Never. I also, I want
to make it clear, I was never like in front
of groups of people chastising somebody else's decisions. It was
more like, when something would happen that I felt uncomfortable with,
I would then make time to go in and talk
to the people who I felt uncomfortable with and say,
(18:55):
can I talk to you about something? This makes me
feel uncomfortable? And the response was, well, she's gone crazy,
Oh she has. Have you seen what's going on with her?
This is gone crazy. She's got rules and boundaries about
(19:17):
the way we're allowed to talk to her and to
touch her and to interact with her. It's shocking.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
She's so difficult.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Now, Yes, she's difficult, And I was. There was a
part of me that was like, am I am I?
Difficult maybe, and having to then decide okay, well, I
guess if this is difficult, the alternative doesn't make me
(19:48):
feel like I can live with myself. So I guess
I just have to be difficult, and and that has
to be okay with me. I guess I am a
difficult person, even though I didn't think any of the
things I was asking for or requesting was difficult. But
I did also take a step back and say, am I,
(20:10):
you know, inserting myself into a conversation about something that
maybe doesn't involve me. Maybe, unless it's protecting a kid
from something, maybe I need to mind my own business
if it doesn't actually pertain to me. And so there
were times where I thought, you know, maybe I overstepped
a little there. But I was also I had a
(20:31):
producer credit on the show.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
But this is brilliant because they still tried to keep
you in the box, yes, for when you tried to
step out of the box. Yeah, naturally, instinctually you were
seen as difficult. Yes, how did you overcome that? I mean,
because even hearing you say, well, maybe I was difficult
(20:55):
strikes a weird chord in me, because I'm like, no,
you're just standing up for yourself and as a woman,
and you know what you want and what you don't want.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Now yeah, oh, I'm not saying that I agree with it.
I'm saying at the time I was tying they made
me feel like, gosh, maybe I am I. And of course, yes, yes,
where you doubt yourself and I definitely doubted myself a lot,
and yet you know, the things that kept coming up
were just all more of the same. It was like, Okay,
(21:27):
here's where you guys do that thing that you do
that I'm telling you is not cool and is not
the way anyone wants to be treated, but especially a woman.
And so you know, it was it was a difficult
time and I felt very isolated. I felt it was
it was a difficult work time. And then I also
(21:50):
went through a divorce while I was on the show,
So it was my life at home was feeling broken
and isolating, and my time at work felt broken and isolating,
and so I mean, I it was difficult. And then
when the divorce happened, I went right back to that
(22:13):
therapy mindset, which was it would be so easy for
me to point the finger and to say this marriage
didn't work out because you and you and you. And
that's not to say that there was not a part
of it that of course involved my ex husband. Sure,
but if I looked at all the different relationships in
(22:35):
my life and the men I was in those relationships with,
they're actually pretty different people. So is it is it
always them? Or is there one common denominator that I
need to get to the bottom of What is it
in me that makes me choose this specific you know,
(22:55):
whether it's a type of person or these relationships that
then don't work out. And I at that point kind
of like pulled myself off social media. I stopped, you know,
even thinking about dating. I was like, I just need
to get to the bottom of me and what is
wrong with my picker? And then I spent probably about
(23:19):
two solid years reading every self help book and in
therapy and doing all the things that one can do.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Isn't this the interesting journey of a woman? Yeah? I mean,
you're basically telling my story too. You know, when something fractures,
we it's automatic for us to just play the victim,
and that doesn't end up feeling good, no, And then
(23:49):
we have to pull up our big girl pants and
do the work. Yep. And then you you reach this
level of freedom because you realize you're capable of holding
yourself accountable in any situation, and you're able also to
step back and look at it from different perspectives, from
(24:09):
their perspective, your perspective. And I'm sure that that even
helped you at work, like being this new you know woman,
this new boss lady like that. You are very You've
been in the business a long time, You're very seasoned,
you're very intelligent. You know, you have so much going
(24:32):
for you. But to be kept in that box must
have been just like excruciating.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It was. It was excruciating, And I also I tried
to you know, I knew everyone was hearing about me,
Like I knew everyone was talking about me behind my back,
and that can that can obviously make it really hard
to even leave your dressing room because you're like, oh
my gosh. But I actually enjoyed that because I looked
at it like every interaction and I have with every
(25:01):
person on this set is a chance to show them
who I really am, not what is being said about me.
And eventually people who have experiences with someone and they're
all positive experiences are is going to be like I
don't know why this narrative exists, that that's not my experience,
(25:22):
that's not at all what I and so I looked
at it like, my nature is to be respectful, it's
to be kind, it's to be professional. It's I'm always
going to show up on time. I'm always going to
know my lines, I'm always going to help other people out,
I'm always going to be considerate, I'm always going to
be friendly. And so when I do that, that's just
(25:46):
that's my chance to show who I am. And so
that's what kept me going.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Was this a little game, a little bit of like, yeah,
let me change this narrative one by one.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
One person by person, situation by situation, and you know,
and showing up enough times. We did like seventy eight
episodes of Girl Meets World, and so you know, that's
plenty of time to make it clear on a set
the kind of actor and the kind of professional that
you are. And you know, I don't think there are
many people who worked with me on that show who
(26:19):
would have a bad thing to say. Certainly are there
are times, and there were experiences where someone could have
something bad to say, but the overwhelming majority of it
would be people who I know would be that you know,
had interactions with me the way they would have interactions
with me.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Now, what do you think it took to find that
strength or give yourself that permission to be that woman?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
That's a really good question. I think part of my
work that I was doing with myself was questioning a
lot of the decisions that are maybe things you've never
actually even decided for yourself. It's just like, you know,
something even as simple as like whether you're a hugger
(27:04):
or not. You know, like I come from a very
huggy family. My family's from Malta, which is, you know,
close to Italy. We're hugging people, and I remember thinking, well,
I hug all my family, I hug my friends. Now
I just hug people at work and that's just who
(27:25):
I am. And you know, you see people. It still happens.
You see people, and people go to give you a hug,
and they go, I'm a hugger, and you're not even
really asking, like, well, what if that brother person is
not a hugger? Like what about them? And there were
a couple of moments where I was questioning some of
those things because we would be on set and say,
we would, you know, shoot the show until about eight
or nine pm, and then at the end of the show,
(27:47):
everybody would start hugging. And now it's going to take
twenty minutes to get out of here because you gotta
hug the camera guys, and you gotta hug craft service,
and you gotta hug the writers, and you gotta, you know,
hug all these people. And then we'd turn around and
we'd have a read the next day at eight am.
It's not even been it's barely been twelve hours since
we've wrapped, if that, and now you gotta hug everybody hello.
(28:09):
And I at some point I was like, why am
I hugging so many people all the time? I'm just
hugging everyone. And it occurred to me, does my dad
hug everyone? As the president of this company that he
works at? Does my dad walk in and go good
(28:29):
morning Jill, good morning Steven? And I thought, no, the
thought of that is comical to me that in any
other profession, could you imagine walking in and feeling like,
to start the day, I've got to walk around and
give my hugs.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
If I know when I leave then people are gonna
talk badly about marathons.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Something, they're going to think something's weird. And when I
start once that once, that box and that veil of
that decision of like, I guess I never when did
I decide that I will just hug the world at
all times? Or is that just something that's like ingrained
in that I've never actually even decided that. And you
(29:11):
know what, I'm going to decide now not to do that.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I am so proud of you.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I said, I would like I would like to change this.
I would like for people to not hug me. I
just you can fistbump me, we can say hello, I'd
love to have a conversation. How's your weekend? Great, good
to see you.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
When I'm done for the night, I want to look
around and say bye everyone. It's great working with you,
and I want to leave. But so much of what
we're told about being on a set is you're a family.
No we're not. No, we're not.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
This is a job.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You might be a chosen family member of mine if
we connect and bond that way, but you will not
tell me that you are my family. I decide that
you don't tell me who my new family is. I
decide who's important enough to me to be family, and
so I kind of just started saying, like, I don't
(30:07):
want to do this. And that was one of the
very first things that just.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I this is so important for people to hear because
you're you're sort of by whether it's by society or
by your just the environment that you're in, the people
around you, you become something or you embody something, and
it you just start doing it because they're doing it
(30:31):
and because of what's expected of you, and that you'd
had that moment at that time, and did that work
to ask yourself those questions, Am I really a hugger?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, to this extent, to the extent of, you know,
every time I see someone at work, even though we're
doing season after season, how many hugs do I need
to give? And so, yeah, it was like that was
one of the case. Once I thought of that one,
it was like, how many other decisions have I know,
actually made that. If I just questioned myself a little bit,
(31:03):
I might be like, that's weird, Yeah, that is weird.
Why why do I do that? Why? Why why do
we even feel the need to do that. I had
that entire conversation with myself about two pieced bathing suits.
I was like, why why do men get to wear
long shorts and I have to wear the tiniest piece
(31:28):
of fabric because I'm near water. I don't understand it.
It's not a problem for them to wear shorts in
the water. Why would it be weird for me to
wear shorts in the water.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yeah, I always wonder that, Like why do men get
to wear no shirts and women have to wear shirts?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Like it just it doesn't seem.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
They have nipples too?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Or who told women they have to wear high heels?
I know, like, I know what monster did this to us?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well, you know, wearing high heels originated because it made
our bodies look better. The position of your feet leaning forward,
your chest is out, your butt is out. It's all
about maintaining balance and so literally, heels were designed by
a man, most likely too, because it accentuated the parts
(32:21):
of a woman that they wanted to accentuate. And somewhere
along the line, we decided that if you are going
somewhere fancy, you have to wear heels.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, I've decided I'm no longer a heel wearer. Oh
I love that unless I'm getting paid Gosh, that is
so smart. Yeah, no, it's not even an option for me.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Dancing with the Stars is looking for a new pro,
and since last season I came in eighth place, I'm
basically an expert.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Easy there. I've spent my entire life in the ballroom,
So maybe you could use some help.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I'm daniel Fishel.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
And I'm Vouch mccofsky.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
You have a new podcast called Stepping on Toes with
Danielle and Val.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Every week we're breaking down Dancing with the Stars the
next pro to find out who I'll be sharing the
ball and with next season.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'll be asking the questions every fan is thinking.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
And I'll take you behind the choreography of judging, the
performances and what it takes to compete in front of millions.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Plus We'll be joined by some very special guests.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
It's time to crown a new Dancing with the Stars pro.
So let us be your guys to this once in
a lifetime opportunity.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Do you think I could win?
Speaker 3 (33:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Listen to Stepping on Toes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I am so curious about you stepping behind the camera
as a director because that's a major sort of big choice,
a big I choose me career pivot. Really, Huh, when
did you start directing, first.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Of all on Girl Meets World?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Okay, so it makes sense. Yeah. Do you think that
directing was a way of reclaiming something that had been
taken from you as a young actress, that sort of
the ability to call the shots or making sure that
people treated you as if you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
It was actually I felt like it was my way
of giving back to my young Danielle self two that
I could empower those kids the same way our directors,
because we had wonderful directors on Boy Meets World, and
they really empowered us. And I was not necessarily seeing
(34:49):
that from we had great directors on Girl Meets World,
but they were definitely directors who had been in the
game for a long time, knew the shorthand wanted to
get in and wanted to get out. And you know,
we had a lot of green actors on the show.
And I remember the first moment of thinking, like, not
(35:12):
I want to direct, because honestly, we had so few
women directors on Boy Meets World. I don't even think
being a director was something that I thought was even
possible for myself. It was never even anything that came
into my mind. But I do remember very specifically one
moment really early on at the beginning of the series,
where the kids were all standing in the living room
set and I was with them, and one of the
(35:34):
kids was going to open the front door, and they
opened the front door and then turned themselves a little
square to camera, and the director walked in and grabbed
her by the elbow and just adjusted her body out
to camera and then walked back off and continued the scene.
And I remember seeing her face like and then they
(35:57):
were like okay. The director's like great, all right, let's
move on, and walked away. And I went over to
her and I said, are you confused why he moved
you like that? She was like, yeah, I don't understand,
Like I was, I don't get it. And I was like, okay,
So she had only done single camera work. It's like,
this is where the cameras are going to be. You
have to start paying attention to which of these four
(36:19):
cameras is yours? And if you're like this, what part
of the camera is you know which camera could even
see you? Probably none of them and so started kind
of so if you angle yourself this way, you could
be on this camera. You were teaching them, and in
that moment my thought was, I hope, I hope I'm
not stepping on anyone's toes. And yet then immediately after
(36:41):
I was like, but someone should be someone should explain this.
This is this is the one oh one of becoming
an actor on a Disney like this is it, this
is where the time is. I still never thought that
means I should be a director. It just I just
was like, Okay, well, at least they have me to
if we're when things come up that they don't understand,
I can help explo this to them. And then thankfully
(37:03):
Ben asked to direct, and we had most Favored Nations contracts,
so they were like, oh, Ben's gonna direct, so we
have to offer it to you, and I was like yes.
I just immediately said yes, without even knowing what I
was getting into. But it felt like an opportunity to
like say yes now and figure it out later. And
(37:24):
I had no idea whether I was going to like
it or not, but I just loved it right off
the bat.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
You're clearly very good at it because you've directed over
fifty episodes at least. Yes, all kinds of different shows, all.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Kinds of different shows, Disney shows, bots of Disney shows,
Versus Lopez for NBC, Shifting Gears for ABC.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Amazing. That is just that I think that this is
such a cool you know, kind of look at me
grow kind of into this incredible, multifaceted, multi talented woman.
You're a business woman, your director, your podcast hosts, you're
a great host of other things. You're an actress. Like
(38:07):
it's it's so fun as you get older to be
able to like open up the onion, you know, and
just like or the rose kind of that feeling of
just like an opening and being so beautiful and proud
of all of these different parts of yourself. And that
only comes with age and with doing like personal work
(38:29):
on yourself to get that confidence, to know where that
confidence lives in your body. Yes, yes, I mean so
many of us start, you know, any any industry, profession, career, whatever,
at like the entry level, and somewhere we often feel like,
even when we're promoted, we aren't respected at that, you know,
(38:52):
as we go climb that ladder, we're not. We're kind
of stuck in where we started yep, And I think
it's just really interesting that that you kind of broke
that and I, you know, do you have any suggestions
for somebody listening out there who has felt that way
like I'm being treated like the old me and I
(39:13):
would like to be treated like this new version of me.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Yes, I do. I think, for one thing, honesty about
where you are in your journey goes a long way.
When I first started directing, I really was able to go,
what are my strengths? What are the things I bring
to the table, maybe better than anyone else does, And
(39:39):
I'm going to really figure out how to express that
in a in a concise sentence like this is why
I'm an asset and here are these reasons, and then
what are my areas that I could choose? I could
be a sponge about and say, this person who's been
doing it for longer can teach me a lot about that,
(40:01):
and I would love to and not being afraid to say,
can I can I pick your brain about something? Can
I learn from you? Can I ask your opinion? Your
advice would mean a great deal to me, And so
I would go onto a you know, being a director,
especially now like we used to have house directors where
you'd get the whole season or maybe even two seasons. Now,
(40:22):
you are lucky if you get to come in for
two episodes back to back, and then you disappear and
somebody else comes back in, and if you're very lucky,
maybe they ask you back for one more in that season.
So you're regularly the new person on the set, and
yet you're also the top of the food chain.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
You're in charge of everything.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
You're in charge of everything, and you're the only one
who doesn't know how anything works. So that's a situation
where if you walk in with the ego of directors
here and all the people who work for you are
not going to feel inclined to support you to the
best of their ability. But if you walk into a
(40:59):
new situation and you quickly figure out you know, I
can see why you're good at what you do, and
I respect, I want respect you, and two would love
to learn from you. Being able to express those things
and say those things and make everyone feel like they
are a part of the same team goes so far.
(41:20):
And that's the kind of collaborative, positive work environment I
want to show up in every day. And it's absolutely
the kind of work environment I want to set when
I walk onto a set, and I want to like,
if everyone's going to be feeling how I feel today,
We're going to feel calm, We're going to feel confident,
(41:40):
and we're going to feel worthy and respected.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
And I make.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Sure I try to make sure everyone there knows that
that's how I feel about them. And I feel like
that's just a recipe, and if someone is not reciprocating
that to you, it's also okay to express that. You know,
I feel like you know you're you're not maybe you're
not happy I'm here. Is there something going on? Can
(42:05):
we talk about it? Because I look forward to coming
to work every day, and you know, just open dialogue
and honesty goes a long way communication.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That's where your communication degree comes in.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Exactly a minoring communication, thank god.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
And I remember, I think it was a GMA interview
that you were doing back when you were diagnosed with
breast cancer and you decided to At first, you kind
of wanted it to keep it private, is my understanding,
but you changed your mind and you decided to go
public with it and you which I think was very
(42:41):
brave and a very noble decision because I'm sure it
helps so many people, so many people. And you actually
said something that really perfectly aligns with the I Choose
Me podcast when what I'm all about. You said, is
being selfless actually the virtue we think it is or
is it really harming us? I think it's really harming us,
(43:03):
this idea of putting everyone else before yourself when it
comes to my health. I'm going to be selfish. Yes,
I love that. Yes, that's perfect messaging for women out
there and men.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
It really is. I think about it now when I
think about, you know, going to the gym, which used
to be the bane of my existence, like, oh gosh,
I have to work out. And now you know, I
take a medication every day for my cancer medication, and
I will take it for five years. And one of
the side effects is that it can cause joint instability
(43:42):
and muscle weakness and all these things. And so my
oncologist said, when I was you know, I knew I
was going to be taking it. I knew the side
effects were pretty bad, and I wanted to have success
on it because it really drastically lowers your chance of recurrence.
And so I had a meeting with him before I
started and I said, what can I do to set
(44:05):
myself up for success?
Speaker 1 (44:06):
Here?
Speaker 2 (44:06):
What are all of the things that in preparation for
this medication? What can I do? And he said, well,
I tell this to all my patients, but not all
of them, you know, take heed. But the number one
most important thing you could do would be to start
working out regularly and to just make weightlifting and exercise
a part of your everyday life because that will help against,
(44:29):
you know, counteract the joint instability and the muscle weakness.
And I heard him say that, and I thought, Okay,
then that's what I'm going to do. And I have
made that commitment to myself, and even when it's going
to mean I have to say no to someone because sorry,
I'm not going to be able to do that thing
that you've just asked me to do because I have
an appointment with myself at the gym, or I have
(44:53):
that one that's my one hour that I'm going to
get to work out for the day or for you
know whatever. I no longer feel bad, it's it's just no,
I'm not willing to put myself and to put my
health on the back burner in order to keep the
peace or go with the flow or be the trooper.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I'm just not and you've done it. So I love
this circle story is just so inspiring. You've really just
sort of embraced the whole nineties nostalgia with your podcasts
that you've done, the documentary, your book, all that. You're
very You're a very smart business person. Thank you. You
(45:35):
know in all of those choices, what do you see
yourself choosing next? Like what is out there that you
want to conquer next?
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Or well tried. The things that Dancing with the Stars
gave me was this realization. I thought for sure my
on camera work was behind me. I thought, for sure,
that's it. I'm a full time director. Now I'm a producer.
I'm gonna just focus on that. And I was very
happy with that. But then being on Dancing with the
(46:05):
Stars and being on camera, even doing something that's so
out of my comfort zone like dancing, I realized that
maybe I'm not done in front of the camera. So
I'm now back open to hosting opportunities and even doing
scripted stuff. So that is kind It's funny that my
(46:28):
next I Choose me moment might actually be a going
back to the thing I started doing when I was ten. Yeah,
but after Boy Meets World, for most of the time
I thought that's it on cameras, just not for me.
And now I'm like, maybe it is.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
That's just the beauty of staying open and staying curious.
And then, you know, your advice that you gave to
people in their own careers was spot on about, you know,
not being afraid to ask questions and creating that kind
of group effort mentality. You know, we're all in this together.
I think so good for people that are listening. I
(47:05):
wanted to ask you before I let you go. I
always ask this question, what, Danielle Fisher, what was your
last I choose me moment?
Speaker 2 (47:16):
My last I Choose me moment? I mean doing Dancing
with the Stars was a big one. I had to
not had to, I chose to say for the next
however many weeks. I am lucky enough to be on
this show. I am going to be my number one priority.
(47:40):
It doesn't mean my kids are not a priority. Doesn't
mean that my kids are not important, but I have
I'm lucky enough to have a full time nanny, and
I'm lucky enough to have a very involved husband who
works from home. They were going to be taken care of.
Since I had kids, other than doing Dancing with the Stars,
I have never had time where I just was able
(48:02):
to be like, nothing else on the calendar today is
going to impact me except for my schedule, when my
rehearsals are, when my shooting schedule is, when my fittings are,
when I need to get that spray tan. That's the
number one on the call sheet for these next few
weeks is mama, And that's it. I have not done.
(48:24):
I had never done that, and thankfully everyone in my life,
including my children, and it was hard for everyone, everyone
was supportive of it. It wouldn't have been possible if
my husband was feeling negatively about it, or if my
kids were. Even though they missed me. Every day that
(48:45):
I came home, my kids would say, Mommy, let's watch
your videos. Let's watch They wanted to watch rehearsal footage.
They wanted to know what my dances were, they wanted
to see my costumes. They were so excited for me
that it just made making a selfish choice feel so
(49:07):
rewarding and fulfilling. And then I did it again for
going on the Dancing with the Stars tour. I went
on a full month of tour.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
Are you out of your mind?
Speaker 2 (49:19):
Woman, I'm out of my mind. I'm out of my mind.
And it was amazing. I went for a full month
of I, you know, sleeping on a bus. But that
meant I got to, you know, wake up when I
naturally woke up, not at five thirty am because it's
time to get the kids lunches made.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
And so again it was.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
You went on Dancing with the Stars tour vacation. I did?
I did.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I was like, listen, I'm yes, I'm dancing two hours
a night and you know all, but this is a
very it's a true vacation from normal life.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
I knew that I would love hearing all of this
about you, because you're just your energy is always contagious.
I'm so glad we are not only iHeart sisters, but
PUTC sisters and Dancing with the Stars sisters. Sure that
our paths are going to cross often. And I just
I say thank you so much for being here. Would
you be willing to do a little bonus episode of us?
Speaker 2 (50:14):
Of course?
Speaker 1 (50:15):
Oh my gosh, okay, very exciting. Everybody, stay tuned for that.
Thank you, Danielle, Thank you
You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Welcome
to I Choose Me, the podcast about making choices that
put yourself first. I'm pretty sure Danielle Fischel is what
comes up in the dictionary when you look up putting
yourself first. We have seen her as a nineties teen phenomenon.
(00:25):
She is a director, now commanding sets behind the lens,
mom of two active boys, dancing queen, and now a
prolific podcaster. Danielle has chosen herself time and time again,
and you won't believe all that she has done to
get there. Hello, Hello, how are you beauty? Wearing the red?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Red's my favorite color? I can tell I have so
much red, and I every now and then I'll think like, no,
don't wear red, because now my friends have started being
like and of course the niels and red, and I'm like,
oh man, it's really that noticeable.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I'm that girl. I'm the girl that always wears red.
It looks great on you, so and it's happy. It's
happy color and it works perfectly. Because I just saw that.
You and Lance pass are the hosts of Christmas in
July for KVC.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We are co cheer captains.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Okay, nobody better to be a cheer captain than you
and Lance.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I love this, right, I mean, yeah, two people who
look great and red. So that's why they picked us.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Oh my gosh. Yeah, we You and I. We cross
paths in the QBC hallways.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I know, it's wonderful. We cross paths in the iHeart hallways.
We cross paths in the QVC hallways. We just we
are like ships passing in the night.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I love this. This is a new thing because before this,
before the podcast world, and before we both started on QVC,
we never ever ever really saw each other, I know,
around town.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Now I get to compliment your clothes every time I
see you.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Ah, I love that. Thank you. It's so fun seeing you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
You always look so fantastic and put together, and I'm
always like where'd you get that? What is that? And
You're like it's mine. I'm like, oh my gosh, I
need to be shopping on qbcmore obvious girl.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yes, okay, you just finished recapping all seven seasons of
Boy Meets World. I know what did you? Because I
am not there yet. I'm very excited for when we
do get to the very last episode and like how
that's going to feel. How did it feel for you
when you when you were at the last episode.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
When we finished Boy Meets World in nineteen ninety nine,
I was so ready for it to be over, and
at the same time, I was also very sad, like
it was obvious that it was the closing of such
a chapter, and it felt very much like, who knows
if I'm ever going to see these people again, Who
(02:57):
knows if we'll ever like what will this feel like
in the future. I had no idea, So there was
a lot of sadness, even though I was relieved that
the show was over. With the podcast ending, the podcast
has brought us so much closer, and here we are,
thirty plus years into our friendship. I have no doubt
(03:19):
I will know these people for the rest of my life.
So there is a lot less sadness this time around.
There is actually a lot of joy in the sense
that because it was our first time watching all of
the episodes, I really understand why the show is so beloved.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Oh my god, it's like I'm hearing myself. This is
exactly my realization from the recap podcast that I do.
It's crazy, this like amazing opportunity to to become a
fan of your own show.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, that's exactly how I feel, because you are.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Sitting around watching it. Nope, you were making it. You
were busy making it and trying to figure out what life,
how to have a life around that.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Correct. And I only ever saw the show through my
character's lens, and now that I'm watching it with forty
five year old eyes, and I'm able to be like,
oh my gosh, what a beautiful parent story, what a
beautiful lesson there for that character. Whereas like when we
were going through the week, I was just thinking about
what I had to say, what I had to do.
It wasn't even really paying attention to what the lessons
(04:26):
of the show were. And how I get to appreciate it.
From every POV I.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Know, I always say like, yeah, I never knew it
was happening in the rest of the episode because I
would literally go through the script and read my lines
and worry about my scenes and not focus at all
on the other scenes because I was on my job.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Blah blah, my life exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Oh well, congrats on finishing that. And I can definitely
relate to that feeling of like, wow, I get it now,
and also just like a newfound sort of level of
pride in what you were a part of.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, exactly, what an honor to you know. It's like
there are so few shows, of all the shows that
have ever been on the air, there are so few
shows that anyone would care to talk about thirty years later,
and yet the two like look at us that this
opportunity was ours and that we get to still talk
(05:23):
about it and relive it, and that it at least
for me in our situation. The memories are so overwhelmingly
a majority positive that it's a delight to go back
through them. And even if there are moments where it's like, well,
that could have been a better week, or that could
have been a better experience. No one goes through seven
(05:45):
plus years of their life without having moments where you go, huh,
I wish I would have done that differently, or I
wish that could have been done, you know, in a
different way. But overwhelmingly I have seven years of incredible
memories that I just get to relive every week through
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So you think you're do you think now that you've
finished it, you do you think you'll ever watch it again?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I can't wait to watch it again.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The thirty time.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, no, this will be a second time. A second time,
but we have been very strict with ourselves about like
the rules where we didn't allow ourselves to watch ahead. No,
we only watched right before we were going to record
the episode. So now I kind of and we of
course had to watch them in order. So now I'm
excited to watch them almost Like we talked today about
(06:29):
it being like a roulette wheel, pick a couple episodes
from every season and then spin it and see what
you land on, and then just jump in and watch
that one and see what you've done.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I mean, really, what a cool thing to have, you
know that, to be able to do yeah, really.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, And I was twelve to nineteen twelve.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I was going to ask you whole you were.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So like, those are some higher entire teams are on
tape for.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Me to watch, and it's going to be so cool
for when your kids are that age. I know they're
gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm excited for that.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I told my daughter I was talking with you today,
and she got so excited. She said, not only did
she love you in the original show, but she loved
you even more in.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh yeah, because I was the mom on Girl Meets World. Yeah, yeah,
that's so sweet. Your daughter was a big Dancing with
the Stars fan too, Right.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Well, I have three so okay, maybe they were when
I was on it. I don't know that they watch
it with other seasons and they were little, so I
don't know what they were thinking. But you finished one podcast.
Now you're moving on to another podcast, speaking of Dancing
with the Stars with your friend, my friend Val, we're.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Recapping Dancing with the Stars, the next pro so Dancing
with the Stars New Sister show where the thing I
love about it and one of the things I love
about having Val there with me, aside from the fact
that now everyone will get to appreciate his hilarity in
his personality, is that you know, they were all tasked,
(08:12):
not everyone, but a bunch of the pros were asked
to go and appear on the show to help mentor
these future contestants or future pros, and VAL's like, this
is my future competition. In just a few short weeks,
the season kicks into high gear and now I'm going
to be against this person for a mirror Ball trophy.
(08:33):
And it is pretty interesting that, like you have to
teach your competition. Yeah, is he teaching on the new
He's not. He's not teaching on the new show.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I'm glad that he like put a boundary down and
said no, yeah, he's not doing that.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But there are there are other Dancing with the Stars
pros who are going to show up throughout the season.
Derek is was one of the guest judges. So the
way it works basically is Shirley Ballast and Mark Ballast
are the permanent judges on the show. It's hosted by
Robert Irwin, and then the third judge is a rotating
former pro. So then after Derek Kuff was in the
(09:12):
first week, Brandon Huff is the second guest judge. So
that's how we're going to get to see more of
the current pros.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Oh yeah, I caught a little bit of on the
TV the other night and my husband's like, oh, I'm
in let's watch this. Oh I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So we'll be excited to listen to your new podcast,
Stepping on Toes. That's going to be fun. Everyone's gonna
love it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Okay, I know that after Boy Meets World ended, you
decided to go to college and you studied something that
I love that you did this psychology. H Did you
choose to just completely go off camera and submerse yourself
in that college experience?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I did, but not right when Boy Meets World ended.
So Boy Meets World end? Did the last episode aired
in the year two thousand and I that's the time
I should have gone to school, But I didn't. I
had been I had spent seven years working full time
and going to school, and I so badly just wanted
a break, just to do nothing, to do nothing. And
(10:20):
of course I could have spent those seven years that
I was on Boy Meets World also learning how the
entertainment industry worked, and I should have known that you
really have to strike while the iron is hot, but
that just escaped me, and I was like no, And
I like basically took two to three years off. And
then when I was finally like, all right, I'm ready
to work again, no one cared. No one cared, No
(10:42):
one wanted to book me for anything brutal. It was
like who are you? Or people would let me come
in an audition, but then they just would want to
talk about Boy Meets World. And I could tell you
have no intention of treating me seriously for this role
at all, and so really I went to college at
twenty seven then, Oh, and it was I was very scared.
(11:04):
I was still very recognizable, but now I felt old.
And I was going to school as this. You know,
I was starting in a junior college where people are
seventeen eighteen years old and I'm going to be next
to them in math class. And I was so nervous
about it. But I had really decided that the entertainment
(11:26):
industry gave way too much control and power over to
other people about whether or not I could have a job,
and I just wanted some sort of sense of control
over my own livelihood and my own future. And psychology
had always interested me as an actor, somebody who studies
people and learns mannerisms and figures out what certain tells
(11:49):
are and all of that. I was like, psychology could
probably be interesting, and then I fell in love with it.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh that's so amazing. I secretly always wanted to do that.
I can't imagine like sitting in the classroom, though. Can
you've gone on the line and done it.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I know you wouldn't think that I should have done that.
I mean, at this point, this was nearly twenty years ago,
there was some online settle of it, but not a ton.
And you know, I started at a junior college. I
got my associate's degree at a junior college, and then
I transferred to kel State Fullerton and I got my
bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in communication. And
(12:29):
then I was full send. I was super into it,
and I applied for my master's and I was going
to be a marriage and family therapist, so that that
was my intention. I enrolled it. I applied and got
accepted to Chapman University, and I was that's it, I'm
going to be I'm going to do this. I'm going
to get my ten thousand hours and then I'm going
to open my own practice. And the week I got
(12:51):
my acceptance letter to Chapman is the week I got
the phone call to do Girl Meets World.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Why is it always like that?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
First of all, I know, always you want a job, vacation,
or make new plans.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, and then when it rains, it pours. But how
did you Was it an easy decision for you?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It wasn't an easy decision at all. At this point,
I had been completely off camera for a long time.
I had not been I just that wasn't my world.
I had been inundated with school and was so excited
about this new passion of mine. And I knew that
I was going to be just as happy being as
(13:29):
a therapist as I ever could have been staying in
the entertainment industry. And I had worked so hard, and
I also loved Chapman, and I was so excited that
I got accepted there because it's a really competitive it's
a competitive school, and so I was. It was a
difficult decision, but one thing that even the school because
then I called and talked to my counselor at Chapman
(13:49):
and kind of told her my dilemma, and even she
said to me, well, Danielle, Chapman is always going to
be here school. It doesn't matter how old you are,
it will always be here. It does sound like doing
this show, though, is not something that you'll have another
chance at. This feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity.
(14:12):
And of course, when I talked about it with my
mom and I talked about it with my dad, they
had both said the same thing, Well, you know, you
can always go back to school. And of course, I,
being a super type a person, thought like what if
I could do them both. What if I could do
the show and still go to school. If I only
take one night class, that way, I can still still
be inching toward it. But I found out that the
(14:33):
Girl Meets World was going to be shooting in downtown,
LA and Chapman is in Orange, and so even the
night classes, which start at seven pm, there's no way
for me to guarantee I'd ever be able to make
it to a seven pm class when you're working on
a show, especially as an adult, when you know the
hours can be a lot longer. So I ended up,
you know, making the decision that and it was sad.
(14:54):
I just felt sad when I chose it, But also
I felt like it was the right thing for me
to do. And then because I went and did Girl
Meets World, that's where I got the opportunity to direct
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I mean, that's amazing. I really do want to dig
into that, but I do. I'm still in the psychology thing.
Do you think that going to school like that and
going deep into those studies, do you think that made
you a stronger actor?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Maybe? I mean, I definitely feel like it made me
a stronger person and it made me. It made me
you know what, Yes, I do think it made me
a better actor because it definitely made me a better listener.
And being a good actor is so much about listening
to what is happening in the moment, listening to the
(15:39):
person you're acting with and picking up and noticing changes
in their delivery and how that then, of course affects
how you say something. So yeah, I do, I think
it made me a better actor. It made me a
better person.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
I loved it, Okay, you guys as much as I
adored Topanga back in the day. It is so amazing
to hear from the real life, grown up Danielle Fischel.
She exudes confidence and fun and it starts in the
morning when she puts on her favorite color red, just
(16:15):
like I choose comfort every day, which is why I
created Me by Jenny Garth with QBC. It is a
collection designed to help women feel confident, comfortable, and effortlessly
stylish at every stage of life. So please head over
to QBC dot com and explore Me by Jenny Garth.
(16:35):
All of our newest collections can also be found by
following us on Instagram at Me by Jennie Garth. I'll
see you there. Do you think that because you were
on this trajectory, you had this goal in mind, you
had something that you were passionate about. Do you think
that helped you sort of step into more of an
(16:56):
adult role in your own life? And then therefore, because
I know that you grew up in the nineties on,
you know, in the industry like me, and we had
a lot of messaging about being selfless and being the
trooper and being malleable and making everybody happy, just to
keep the peace and make everything keep going smoothly. But
(17:18):
you've turned that around now and you know, basically the
ultimate I choose me moment of choosing to be treated
like an adult and having to stand up for yourself.
Even when during the production of Girl Meets World, did
you find that people were they wanted you to be
the old Danielle or they wanted you to be the
(17:42):
old Tapanga. Yes, and you had to fight for your
you know, position, your wisdom, your growth very much.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
So I had been a real go with the flow,
not ruffle any feathers, be so easy to work with, right,
you know, a consummate professional. And essentially what that meant
is that you know the producers felt like they could
tell me to do whatever they wanted me to do,
(18:10):
and I would never push back. And when we got
to Girl Meets World, I think I had been so
used to in my personal life going away from that
that then when we went to the set and I
was now a new person, an adult, a grown up
who had thoughts and opinions of her own and wasn't
(18:33):
incredibly shy about sharing them. Never. I also, I want
to make it clear, I was never like in front
of groups of people chastising somebody else's decisions. It was
more like, when something would happen that I felt uncomfortable with,
I would then make time to go in and talk
to the people who I felt uncomfortable with and say,
(18:55):
can I talk to you about something? This makes me
feel uncomfortable? And the response was, well, she's gone crazy,
Oh she has. Have you seen what's going on with her?
This is gone crazy. She's got rules and boundaries about
(19:17):
the way we're allowed to talk to her and to
touch her and to interact with her. It's shocking.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
She's so difficult.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Now, Yes, she's difficult, And I was. There was a
part of me that was like, am I am I?
Difficult maybe, and having to then decide okay, well, I
guess if this is difficult, the alternative doesn't make me
(19:48):
feel like I can live with myself. So I guess
I just have to be difficult, and and that has
to be okay with me. I guess I am a
difficult person, even though I didn't think any of the
things I was asking for or requesting was difficult. But
I did also take a step back and say, am I,
(20:10):
you know, inserting myself into a conversation about something that
maybe doesn't involve me. Maybe, unless it's protecting a kid
from something, maybe I need to mind my own business
if it doesn't actually pertain to me. And so there
were times where I thought, you know, maybe I overstepped
a little there. But I was also I had a
(20:31):
producer credit on the show.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
But this is brilliant because they still tried to keep
you in the box, yes, for when you tried to
step out of the box. Yeah, naturally, instinctually you were
seen as difficult. Yes, how did you overcome that? I mean,
because even hearing you say, well, maybe I was difficult
(20:55):
strikes a weird chord in me, because I'm like, no,
you're just standing up for yourself and as a woman,
and you know what you want and what you don't want.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Now yeah, oh, I'm not saying that I agree with it.
I'm saying at the time I was tying they made
me feel like, gosh, maybe I am I. And of course, yes, yes,
where you doubt yourself and I definitely doubted myself a lot,
and yet you know, the things that kept coming up
were just all more of the same. It was like, Okay,
(21:27):
here's where you guys do that thing that you do
that I'm telling you is not cool and is not
the way anyone wants to be treated, but especially a woman.
And so you know, it was it was a difficult
time and I felt very isolated. I felt it was
it was a difficult work time. And then I also
(21:50):
went through a divorce while I was on the show,
So it was my life at home was feeling broken
and isolating, and my time at work felt broken and isolating,
and so I mean, I it was difficult. And then
when the divorce happened, I went right back to that
(22:13):
therapy mindset, which was it would be so easy for
me to point the finger and to say this marriage
didn't work out because you and you and you. And
that's not to say that there was not a part
of it that of course involved my ex husband. Sure,
but if I looked at all the different relationships in
(22:35):
my life and the men I was in those relationships with,
they're actually pretty different people. So is it is it
always them? Or is there one common denominator that I
need to get to the bottom of What is it
in me that makes me choose this specific you know,
(22:55):
whether it's a type of person or these relationships that
then don't work out. And I at that point kind
of like pulled myself off social media. I stopped, you know,
even thinking about dating. I was like, I just need
to get to the bottom of me and what is
wrong with my picker? And then I spent probably about
(23:19):
two solid years reading every self help book and in
therapy and doing all the things that one can do.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Isn't this the interesting journey of a woman? Yeah? I mean,
you're basically telling my story too. You know, when something fractures,
we it's automatic for us to just play the victim,
and that doesn't end up feeling good, no, And then
(23:49):
we have to pull up our big girl pants and
do the work. Yep. And then you you reach this
level of freedom because you realize you're capable of holding
yourself accountable in any situation, and you're able also to
step back and look at it from different perspectives, from
(24:09):
their perspective, your perspective. And I'm sure that that even
helped you at work, like being this new you know woman,
this new boss lady like that. You are very You've
been in the business a long time, You're very seasoned,
you're very intelligent. You know, you have so much going
(24:32):
for you. But to be kept in that box must
have been just like excruciating.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It was. It was excruciating, And I also I tried
to you know, I knew everyone was hearing about me,
Like I knew everyone was talking about me behind my back,
and that can that can obviously make it really hard
to even leave your dressing room because you're like, oh
my gosh. But I actually enjoyed that because I looked
at it like every interaction and I have with every
(25:01):
person on this set is a chance to show them
who I really am, not what is being said about me.
And eventually people who have experiences with someone and they're
all positive experiences are is going to be like I
don't know why this narrative exists, that that's not my experience,
(25:22):
that's not at all what I and so I looked
at it like, my nature is to be respectful, it's
to be kind, it's to be professional. It's I'm always
going to show up on time. I'm always going to
know my lines, I'm always going to help other people out,
I'm always going to be considerate, I'm always going to
be friendly. And so when I do that, that's just
(25:46):
that's my chance to show who I am. And so
that's what kept me going.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Was this a little game, a little bit of like, yeah,
let me change this narrative one by one.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
One person by person, situation by situation, and you know,
and showing up enough times. We did like seventy eight
episodes of Girl Meets World, and so you know, that's
plenty of time to make it clear on a set
the kind of actor and the kind of professional that
you are. And you know, I don't think there are
many people who worked with me on that show who
(26:19):
would have a bad thing to say. Certainly are there
are times, and there were experiences where someone could have
something bad to say, but the overwhelming majority of it
would be people who I know would be that you know,
had interactions with me the way they would have interactions
with me.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Now, what do you think it took to find that
strength or give yourself that permission to be that woman?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
That's a really good question. I think part of my
work that I was doing with myself was questioning a
lot of the decisions that are maybe things you've never
actually even decided for yourself. It's just like, you know,
something even as simple as like whether you're a hugger
(27:04):
or not. You know, like I come from a very
huggy family. My family's from Malta, which is, you know,
close to Italy. We're hugging people, and I remember thinking, well,
I hug all my family, I hug my friends. Now
I just hug people at work and that's just who
(27:25):
I am. And you know, you see people. It still happens.
You see people, and people go to give you a hug,
and they go, I'm a hugger, and you're not even
really asking, like, well, what if that brother person is
not a hugger? Like what about them? And there were
a couple of moments where I was questioning some of
those things because we would be on set and say,
we would, you know, shoot the show until about eight
or nine pm, and then at the end of the show,
(27:47):
everybody would start hugging. And now it's going to take
twenty minutes to get out of here because you gotta
hug the camera guys, and you gotta hug craft service,
and you gotta hug the writers, and you gotta, you know,
hug all these people. And then we'd turn around and
we'd have a read the next day at eight am.
It's not even been it's barely been twelve hours since
we've wrapped, if that, and now you gotta hug everybody hello.
(28:09):
And I at some point I was like, why am
I hugging so many people all the time? I'm just
hugging everyone. And it occurred to me, does my dad
hug everyone? As the president of this company that he
works at? Does my dad walk in and go good
(28:29):
morning Jill, good morning Steven? And I thought, no, the
thought of that is comical to me that in any
other profession, could you imagine walking in and feeling like,
to start the day, I've got to walk around and
give my hugs.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
If I know when I leave then people are gonna
talk badly about marathons.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Something, they're going to think something's weird. And when I
start once that once, that box and that veil of
that decision of like, I guess I never when did
I decide that I will just hug the world at
all times? Or is that just something that's like ingrained
in that I've never actually even decided that. And you
(29:11):
know what, I'm going to decide now not to do that.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I am so proud of you.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I said, I would like I would like to change this.
I would like for people to not hug me. I
just you can fistbump me, we can say hello, I'd
love to have a conversation. How's your weekend? Great, good
to see you.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
When I'm done for the night, I want to look
around and say bye everyone. It's great working with you,
and I want to leave. But so much of what
we're told about being on a set is you're a family.
No we're not. No, we're not.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
This is a job.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You might be a chosen family member of mine if
we connect and bond that way, but you will not
tell me that you are my family. I decide that
you don't tell me who my new family is. I
decide who's important enough to me to be family, and
so I kind of just started saying, like, I don't
(30:07):
want to do this. And that was one of the
very first things that just.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I this is so important for people to hear because
you're you're sort of by whether it's by society or
by your just the environment that you're in, the people
around you, you become something or you embody something, and
it you just start doing it because they're doing it
(30:31):
and because of what's expected of you, and that you'd
had that moment at that time, and did that work
to ask yourself those questions, Am I really a hugger?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, to this extent, to the extent of, you know,
every time I see someone at work, even though we're
doing season after season, how many hugs do I need
to give? And so, yeah, it was like that was
one of the case. Once I thought of that one,
it was like, how many other decisions have I know,
actually made that. If I just questioned myself a little bit,
(31:03):
I might be like, that's weird, Yeah, that is weird.
Why why do I do that? Why? Why why do
we even feel the need to do that. I had
that entire conversation with myself about two pieced bathing suits.
I was like, why why do men get to wear
long shorts and I have to wear the tiniest piece
(31:28):
of fabric because I'm near water. I don't understand it.
It's not a problem for them to wear shorts in
the water. Why would it be weird for me to
wear shorts in the water.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yeah, I always wonder that, Like why do men get
to wear no shirts and women have to wear shirts?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Like it just it doesn't seem.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
They have nipples too?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Or who told women they have to wear high heels?
I know, like, I know what monster did this to us?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well, you know, wearing high heels originated because it made
our bodies look better. The position of your feet leaning forward,
your chest is out, your butt is out. It's all
about maintaining balance and so literally, heels were designed by
a man, most likely too, because it accentuated the parts
(32:21):
of a woman that they wanted to accentuate. And somewhere
along the line, we decided that if you are going
somewhere fancy, you have to wear heels.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, I've decided I'm no longer a heel wearer. Oh
I love that unless I'm getting paid Gosh, that is
so smart. Yeah, no, it's not even an option for me.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Dancing with the Stars is looking for a new pro,
and since last season I came in eighth place, I'm
basically an expert.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Easy there. I've spent my entire life in the ballroom,
So maybe you could use some help.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I'm daniel Fishel.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
And I'm Vouch mccofsky.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
You have a new podcast called Stepping on Toes with
Danielle and Val.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Every week we're breaking down Dancing with the Stars the
next pro to find out who I'll be sharing the
ball and with next season.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'll be asking the questions every fan is thinking.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
And I'll take you behind the choreography of judging, the
performances and what it takes to compete in front of millions.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Plus We'll be joined by some very special guests.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
It's time to crown a new Dancing with the Stars pro.
So let us be your guys to this once in
a lifetime opportunity.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Do you think I could win?
Speaker 3 (33:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Listen to Stepping on Toes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I am so curious about you stepping behind the camera
as a director because that's a major sort of big choice,
a big I choose me career pivot. Really, Huh, when
did you start directing, first.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Of all on Girl Meets World?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Okay, so it makes sense. Yeah. Do you think that
directing was a way of reclaiming something that had been
taken from you as a young actress, that sort of
the ability to call the shots or making sure that
people treated you as if you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
It was actually I felt like it was my way
of giving back to my young Danielle self two that
I could empower those kids the same way our directors,
because we had wonderful directors on Boy Meets World, and
they really empowered us. And I was not necessarily seeing
(34:49):
that from we had great directors on Girl Meets World,
but they were definitely directors who had been in the
game for a long time, knew the shorthand wanted to
get in and wanted to get out. And you know,
we had a lot of green actors on the show.
And I remember the first moment of thinking, like, not
(35:12):
I want to direct, because honestly, we had so few
women directors on Boy Meets World. I don't even think
being a director was something that I thought was even
possible for myself. It was never even anything that came
into my mind. But I do remember very specifically one
moment really early on at the beginning of the series,
where the kids were all standing in the living room
set and I was with them, and one of the
(35:34):
kids was going to open the front door, and they
opened the front door and then turned themselves a little
square to camera, and the director walked in and grabbed
her by the elbow and just adjusted her body out
to camera and then walked back off and continued the scene.
And I remember seeing her face like and then they
(35:57):
were like okay. The director's like great, all right, let's
move on, and walked away. And I went over to
her and I said, are you confused why he moved
you like that? She was like, yeah, I don't understand,
Like I was, I don't get it. And I was like, okay,
So she had only done single camera work. It's like,
this is where the cameras are going to be. You
have to start paying attention to which of these four
(36:19):
cameras is yours? And if you're like this, what part
of the camera is you know which camera could even
see you? Probably none of them and so started kind
of so if you angle yourself this way, you could
be on this camera. You were teaching them, and in
that moment my thought was, I hope, I hope I'm
not stepping on anyone's toes. And yet then immediately after
(36:41):
I was like, but someone should be someone should explain this.
This is this is the one oh one of becoming
an actor on a Disney like this is it, this
is where the time is. I still never thought that
means I should be a director. It just I just
was like, Okay, well, at least they have me to
if we're when things come up that they don't understand,
I can help explo this to them. And then thankfully
(37:03):
Ben asked to direct, and we had most Favored Nations contracts,
so they were like, oh, Ben's gonna direct, so we
have to offer it to you, and I was like yes.
I just immediately said yes, without even knowing what I
was getting into. But it felt like an opportunity to
like say yes now and figure it out later. And
(37:24):
I had no idea whether I was going to like
it or not, but I just loved it right off
the bat.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
You're clearly very good at it because you've directed over
fifty episodes at least. Yes, all kinds of different shows, all.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Kinds of different shows, Disney shows, bots of Disney shows,
Versus Lopez for NBC, Shifting Gears for ABC.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Amazing. That is just that I think that this is
such a cool you know, kind of look at me
grow kind of into this incredible, multifaceted, multi talented woman.
You're a business woman, your director, your podcast hosts, you're
a great host of other things. You're an actress. Like
(38:07):
it's it's so fun as you get older to be
able to like open up the onion, you know, and
just like or the rose kind of that feeling of
just like an opening and being so beautiful and proud
of all of these different parts of yourself. And that
only comes with age and with doing like personal work
(38:29):
on yourself to get that confidence, to know where that
confidence lives in your body. Yes, yes, I mean so
many of us start, you know, any any industry, profession, career, whatever,
at like the entry level, and somewhere we often feel like,
even when we're promoted, we aren't respected at that, you know,
(38:52):
as we go climb that ladder, we're not. We're kind
of stuck in where we started yep, And I think
it's just really interesting that that you kind of broke
that and I, you know, do you have any suggestions
for somebody listening out there who has felt that way
like I'm being treated like the old me and I
(39:13):
would like to be treated like this new version of me.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Yes, I do. I think, for one thing, honesty about
where you are in your journey goes a long way.
When I first started directing, I really was able to go,
what are my strengths? What are the things I bring
to the table, maybe better than anyone else does, And
(39:39):
I'm going to really figure out how to express that
in a in a concise sentence like this is why
I'm an asset and here are these reasons, and then
what are my areas that I could choose? I could
be a sponge about and say, this person who's been
doing it for longer can teach me a lot about that,
(40:01):
and I would love to and not being afraid to say,
can I can I pick your brain about something? Can
I learn from you? Can I ask your opinion? Your
advice would mean a great deal to me, And so
I would go onto a you know, being a director,
especially now like we used to have house directors where
you'd get the whole season or maybe even two seasons. Now,
(40:22):
you are lucky if you get to come in for
two episodes back to back, and then you disappear and
somebody else comes back in, and if you're very lucky,
maybe they ask you back for one more in that season.
So you're regularly the new person on the set, and
yet you're also the top of the food chain.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
You're in charge of everything.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
You're in charge of everything, and you're the only one
who doesn't know how anything works. So that's a situation
where if you walk in with the ego of directors
here and all the people who work for you are
not going to feel inclined to support you to the
best of their ability. But if you walk into a
(40:59):
new situation and you quickly figure out you know, I
can see why you're good at what you do, and
I respect, I want respect you, and two would love
to learn from you. Being able to express those things
and say those things and make everyone feel like they
are a part of the same team goes so far.
(41:20):
And that's the kind of collaborative, positive work environment I
want to show up in every day. And it's absolutely
the kind of work environment I want to set when
I walk onto a set, and I want to like,
if everyone's going to be feeling how I feel today,
We're going to feel calm, We're going to feel confident,
(41:40):
and we're going to feel worthy and respected.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
And I make.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Sure I try to make sure everyone there knows that
that's how I feel about them. And I feel like
that's just a recipe, and if someone is not reciprocating
that to you, it's also okay to express that. You know,
I feel like you know you're you're not maybe you're
not happy I'm here. Is there something going on? Can
(42:05):
we talk about it? Because I look forward to coming
to work every day, and you know, just open dialogue
and honesty goes a long way communication.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That's where your communication degree comes in.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Exactly a minoring communication, thank god.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
And I remember, I think it was a GMA interview
that you were doing back when you were diagnosed with
breast cancer and you decided to At first, you kind
of wanted it to keep it private, is my understanding,
but you changed your mind and you decided to go
public with it and you which I think was very
(42:41):
brave and a very noble decision because I'm sure it
helps so many people, so many people. And you actually
said something that really perfectly aligns with the I Choose
Me podcast when what I'm all about. You said, is
being selfless actually the virtue we think it is or
is it really harming us? I think it's really harming us,
(43:03):
this idea of putting everyone else before yourself when it
comes to my health. I'm going to be selfish. Yes,
I love that. Yes, that's perfect messaging for women out
there and men.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
It really is. I think about it now when I
think about, you know, going to the gym, which used
to be the bane of my existence, like, oh gosh,
I have to work out. And now you know, I
take a medication every day for my cancer medication, and
I will take it for five years. And one of
the side effects is that it can cause joint instability
(43:42):
and muscle weakness and all these things. And so my
oncologist said, when I was you know, I knew I
was going to be taking it. I knew the side
effects were pretty bad, and I wanted to have success
on it because it really drastically lowers your chance of recurrence.
And so I had a meeting with him before I
started and I said, what can I do to set
(44:05):
myself up for success?
Speaker 1 (44:06):
Here?
Speaker 2 (44:06):
What are all of the things that in preparation for
this medication? What can I do? And he said, well,
I tell this to all my patients, but not all
of them, you know, take heed. But the number one
most important thing you could do would be to start
working out regularly and to just make weightlifting and exercise
a part of your everyday life because that will help against,
(44:29):
you know, counteract the joint instability and the muscle weakness.
And I heard him say that, and I thought, Okay,
then that's what I'm going to do. And I have
made that commitment to myself, and even when it's going
to mean I have to say no to someone because sorry,
I'm not going to be able to do that thing
that you've just asked me to do because I have
an appointment with myself at the gym, or I have
(44:53):
that one that's my one hour that I'm going to
get to work out for the day or for you
know whatever. I no longer feel bad, it's it's just no,
I'm not willing to put myself and to put my
health on the back burner in order to keep the
peace or go with the flow or be the trooper.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I'm just not and you've done it. So I love
this circle story is just so inspiring. You've really just
sort of embraced the whole nineties nostalgia with your podcasts
that you've done, the documentary, your book, all that. You're
very You're a very smart business person. Thank you. You
(45:35):
know in all of those choices, what do you see
yourself choosing next? Like what is out there that you
want to conquer next?
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Or well tried. The things that Dancing with the Stars
gave me was this realization. I thought for sure my
on camera work was behind me. I thought, for sure,
that's it. I'm a full time director. Now I'm a producer.
I'm gonna just focus on that. And I was very
happy with that. But then being on Dancing with the
(46:05):
Stars and being on camera, even doing something that's so
out of my comfort zone like dancing, I realized that
maybe I'm not done in front of the camera. So
I'm now back open to hosting opportunities and even doing
scripted stuff. So that is kind It's funny that my
(46:28):
next I Choose me moment might actually be a going
back to the thing I started doing when I was ten. Yeah,
but after Boy Meets World, for most of the time
I thought that's it on cameras, just not for me.
And now I'm like, maybe it is.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
That's just the beauty of staying open and staying curious.
And then, you know, your advice that you gave to
people in their own careers was spot on about, you know,
not being afraid to ask questions and creating that kind
of group effort mentality. You know, we're all in this together.
I think so good for people that are listening. I
(47:05):
wanted to ask you before I let you go. I
always ask this question, what, Danielle Fisher, what was your
last I choose me moment?
Speaker 2 (47:16):
My last I Choose me moment? I mean doing Dancing
with the Stars was a big one. I had to
not had to, I chose to say for the next
however many weeks. I am lucky enough to be on
this show. I am going to be my number one priority.
(47:40):
It doesn't mean my kids are not a priority. Doesn't
mean that my kids are not important, but I have
I'm lucky enough to have a full time nanny, and
I'm lucky enough to have a very involved husband who
works from home. They were going to be taken care of.
Since I had kids, other than doing Dancing with the Stars,
I have never had time where I just was able
(48:02):
to be like, nothing else on the calendar today is
going to impact me except for my schedule, when my
rehearsals are, when my shooting schedule is, when my fittings are,
when I need to get that spray tan. That's the
number one on the call sheet for these next few
weeks is mama, And that's it. I have not done.
(48:24):
I had never done that, and thankfully everyone in my life,
including my children, and it was hard for everyone, everyone
was supportive of it. It wouldn't have been possible if
my husband was feeling negatively about it, or if my
kids were. Even though they missed me. Every day that
(48:45):
I came home, my kids would say, Mommy, let's watch
your videos. Let's watch They wanted to watch rehearsal footage.
They wanted to know what my dances were, they wanted
to see my costumes. They were so excited for me
that it just made making a selfish choice feel so
(49:07):
rewarding and fulfilling. And then I did it again for
going on the Dancing with the Stars tour. I went
on a full month of tour.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
Are you out of your mind?
Speaker 2 (49:19):
Woman, I'm out of my mind. I'm out of my mind.
And it was amazing. I went for a full month
of I, you know, sleeping on a bus. But that
meant I got to, you know, wake up when I
naturally woke up, not at five thirty am because it's
time to get the kids lunches made.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
And so again it was.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
You went on Dancing with the Stars tour vacation. I did?
I did.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
I was like, listen, I'm yes, I'm dancing two hours
a night and you know all, but this is a
very it's a true vacation from normal life.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
I knew that I would love hearing all of this
about you, because you're just your energy is always contagious.
I'm so glad we are not only iHeart sisters, but
PUTC sisters and Dancing with the Stars sisters. Sure that
our paths are going to cross often. And I just
I say thank you so much for being here. Would
you be willing to do a little bonus episode of us?
Speaker 2 (50:14):
Of course?
Speaker 1 (50:15):
Oh my gosh, okay, very exciting. Everybody, stay tuned for that.
Thank you, Danielle, Thank you
Host
Jennie Garth
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