Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
The following is opaid podcast. iHeartRadio'shosting of this podcast constitutes neither an endorsement
of the products offered or the ideasexpressed. Welcome to a Moment of Zen.
Time to sit back and relax.As model, actress, mentor and
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latest in film, fashion, popculture, cryptocurrency, fintech, cannabis,
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Hello, my beautiful Tri State area. Welcome to our one hundred and seventieth
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And also remember that all episodes ofa Moment of Zen stream twenty four to
seven on your home TV and KathyIreland worldwide. You can always find us
directly on our YouTube channel at zenFans. In our Going Deep segment brought
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Laura and Diana Palmicino. Today we'llget their thoughts on CO two Lift for
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(01:44):
businesses, and seeking success. Inthe Hydration with Heart segment, brought to
you by Once Upon a Coconut.In collaboration with Charlie Rocket's Dream Machine Foundation,
we're featuring dreamer Carragan Nelson, currentlyusing music and her singing voice to
raise money for her terminal bone cancer. In our Fintech TV exclusive segment,
vinc Bolinari, CEO of Fintech TV, sits down with Kevin O'Leary, a
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shark himself, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, to discuss the current state of Piktok.
In a law recently passed by Congress, TikTok will be forced to sell
by January nineteenth, twenty twenty five. O'Leary joins Vince to deliver the breaking
news that he's interested in wind TikTokthrough an initiative involving potential advertisers on the
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platform. Stay tuned for Kragan Nelsonfor Once Upon a Coconut, chatting bone
cancer music and staying positive. You'relistening to a Moment of Zen right here
on seven ten wr the voice ofNew york iHeartRadio. We'll be right back
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Welcome back, beautiful Tristate area.You're listening to a Moment of Zen right
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here on seven to ten WR thevoice of New York iHeartRadio. I'm your
host, Zen. Sam's up nextin the Hydration with Heart segment, brought
to you by once Upon a Coconutin collaboration with Charlie Rockett's Dream Machine Foundation.
Today we're joined by twenty three yearold Karragan Nelson, diagnosed with osteosarcoma,
which is an aggressive pediatric bone cancer, just after her eighteenth birthday.
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She's endured five long years of intensechemotherapy and multiple surgeries, relapsing for the
fifth time. She's considered incurable andchemo resistant, with her rare disease taking
one of her legs, part ofher diaphragm, and metastatizing to both lungs.
But one thing it hasn't taken isher spirit. She's not only a
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five time cancer warrior, she's alsoa pediatric cancer advocate and award winning vocalist.
She uses her voice to spread awareness, lobby for more pediatric funding,
and raise money for community causes.She remains so committed to her advocacy work
throughout her never ending battle for herown life, all the while singing at
every opportunity she can get. Shejoins me today to share her cancer journey,
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prognosis, and how she continues toadvocate, spread awareness and inspire others.
Welcoming now to the show is KaraganNelson. Welcome, superstar. Hello,
thank you so much for having me. I'm so honored to be here.
I am so excited to chat withyou, so thank you so much
for joining me today. Now,before we dive too deep, and before
you answer my first question, I'mgoing to educate our listeners just a little
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bit for those of you that don'tknow. According to the American Cancer Society,
osteosarcoma, also called osteogenetic sarcoma isa rare bone cancer in which the
cancer cells look like early forms ofbone cells that normally help make new bone
tissue, but in in this casethe bone tissue is not as strong as
that in normal bones. There areabout one thousand new cases diagnosed each year
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in the United States, and mostoccur within children, teens, and young
adults between ages of ten and thirty, with teens being the most commonly affected
age group. About two percent ofchildhood cancers are osteosarcomas, and they make
up even smaller percentage of adult cancers. Now, let's go back to the
beginning. Kargan, you were diagnosedjust after your eighteenth birthday. You're now
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twenty three. Can you tell usa little bit about what led you to
this initial diagnosis, Where were youexperiencing symptoms and how did you react to
the diagnosis. Right after my eighteenthbirthday is when I got diagnosed. But
before that, I did taekwondo andI also did dance. I was very
active. I traveled a lot.I was a dog walker. In about
six months prior to my diagnosis,I started to get very pale, very
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tired before singing performances or taekwondo ordance. I had to take Honestly,
was constantly napping all the time.And I took a little break from dance
in taekwondo, and when I wentback, I noticed that my left leg
was really hurting. I thought,am I out of shape? I'm like,
I didn't take that much of along break. And you know,
I kept going. I kept tryingto power through it. But each day
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the leg pain was getting worse andworse. So I ended up going to
the hospital and the doctors, andit kept getting misdiagnosed as a sports injury,
which is very common with osiro circoma, unfortunately, and I ended up
going to the mall with my friendsone day, and I remember we had
parked on the other side of themall and then all of a sudden,
like I felt I felt down wheremy left leg was below my knee and
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there was this giant swollen area andI pressed on it and it felt really
deep down and I called my momand I said, Mom, there's there's
something. There's something wrong. It'sit's not a sports injury, it's nothing
like that. I feel like ifwe don't pursue this and go to the
hospital, that you're gonna lose me. Because I honestly was so sick and
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I was pale. I couldn't keepup with everything that was missing school.
It was a lot. So Iended up going to the r actually before
I ended up going to the er. I couldn't walk back to my car.
When I went to the er,they didn't x ray. Nothing showed
on the X ray because my tourwas actually hiding behind a bone and it
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was the size of a softball,but it was hiding behind the bone,
which was crazy. So they endedup doing a CT scan and that's when
it showed that it was a canceroustumor. We didn't know if it was
Wow, Yes, didn't know ifit was Ewing's sarcoma or osteosarcoma at the
time. I ended up being OSTEO. And the crazy part is the tumor
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had completely eaten away at my boneto the point where it was so thin
and right about to break. SoI was walking on a bone that was
probably days away from breaking. Now, Like Dear, I'm so sorry to
hear all of this, but I'mglad that you're with us right now telling
this story. And I know thatyou advocate heavily for knowing the signs and
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symptoms of osteosarcoma, which is soimportant because that's how most of them are
caught. Now, the most commonsymptom is pain at the sight of the
tumor in the bone, and themost common sights for these tourists in younger
people are around the knee or inthe upper arm, but they do have
the ability to develop in any bone, and of course, any other common
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symptoms I'm going to assume include swellingor live pain. Can you talk to
me more about what else you werefeeling at the time, Yes, I
honestly just didn't feel like myself.I didn't feel like Krigan. I'm very
bubbly and silly, and I justremember feeling depressed and when I looked in
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the mirror, I just I hadthis. So I was actually babysitting at
the time, and the mom ofthe children whom his babysitting kept asking if
I was okay, and I said, yes, I'm okay. My lips
were kind of this weird, likebluish color. And I remember my mom
was talking to the mother of thekids they babysit, and she's like,
I'm worried about Karragan. Something justseems off. She's been limping while she's
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been babysitting. And we kept onbeing told it was a sports injury and
there was also swelling in the sight. It was where my calf was,
so it was hard to tell ifit was muscle or not. But it
ended up growing more and more andthe pain ended up getting more severe and
throbbing, and I overall just didn'tfeel well. In the middle of the
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night, I would wake up inpain and I would have to flip to
the other side of my leg,and I just I really didn't know what
was going on. I had neverheard of bossio circoma before, and that's
kind of what led to the diagnosis. Was I had to trust my instinct
and really listen to my body,and something was wrong. So let's talk
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about the prognosis. So prognosis dependson many factors like your age, too,
relocation, and when it's detected.And in your case, although it
was detected five years ago, ithas metathicized to your lungs and has essentially
been deemed incurable. And I can'teven begin to imagine being faced with the
weight of that news, but Ido know you remain hopeful and will soon
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be entering a very intense car Tcell immunotherapy clinical trial in North Carolina.
Could you describe this treatment process andtell us a little bit about this trial,
Yes, of course, and actuallya couple of days, I'm going
to get my cells harvested, andI believe they just they can do it,
kind of like when you're giving blood. It's going to be a similar
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scenario to that. And then Iget to go home for about four to
six weeks, and during that timemy cells are going to be re engineered
to attack the cells, to attackmy cancer cells in my body and hopefully
kill the cancer. And for thosefour to six weeks I'll be waiting and
then I'll get the call they're gonnaput on there, put me on a
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keybotherapy which will then lower my lymphositesand my ability to side off infection.
So it will be a little scary, but that's okay. I've been neutropenic
before. And then I will getthe cells and then hopefully we should now
in the next couple of months ifit's working. Yeah, incredible, and
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we're going to be cheering you alongin your fight. And I have great
faith in this trial. And alsoa big shout out to Charlie Rockett from
the Dream Machine Foundation. He's agreat friend of the show and our sponsor
Once Upon a Coconut I works closelywith him. I know him and his
team have been helping raise funds forthis trial and all the logistics that come
with it. So everyone definitely hasto head to dreammachine dot org to donate
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to Carrigan's fundraiser there. Now Iknow you also, you have some amazing
vocal abilities which you use to raisefunds for your treatment and other causes close
to you. How fitting that weare airing you right here on iHeartRadio.
When did you first start seeing andI know in twenty twenty one you performed
at the national You performed the nationalanthem at a Boston Red Sox game,
(12:07):
which is amazing, So I'd loveto hear about that experience. Honestly,
singing the national anthem was such anhonor, and it's a song of course
you want to do justice and I'mas very anxious for it, But that
had been something that I wanted todo ever since I was younger. I've
been singing probably about since the ageof four, is when my parents noticed
that I could match pitch to othersongs that were on the radio. And
(12:31):
then when I was about twelve iswhen I started singing publicly at restaurants,
and then My mom also worked inlow income housing, so I'd sing at
a lot of fundraisers to help thehomeless, and then down the road,
I ended up fundraising for pediatric cancer. Before I even knew that I had
pediatric cancer, which is so weirdto think about that, I was already
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kind of diving a little bit deepinto the world and didn't know that I
would once be in that world oneday. But I've just been singing forever
and I sing every single day andit's very therapeutic for me. And since
the cancer has been tasticized to mylungs, I feel like it's really good
for my lungs just keep inflating andto keep them very healthy. And I'm
just I still feel so lucky thatI'm able to keep doing what makes me
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happy. Well, it's incredible thatyou're using such a natural talent to fuel
yourself and others now. I alsothink it's important to note that, according
to the Children's Cancer Foundation, untilrecently, only four percent of the federal
cancer research budget was allocated to pediatriccancer. More recent evaluations have identified that
percentage to be closer to eight percent. There's still a desperate need for increased
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funding So you, my dear,are a passionate advocate for pediatric cancer funding
and I love that about you.It's not just about you now, it's
about you and everyone else. Sobesides sharing your story online and singing to
your community, I know you've lobbiedtwice in DC for more funding and have
sat on several pediatric cans or nonprofitboards. As someone actively fighting such a
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disease, I'd love to hear youropinions on the matter and how you have
seen firsthand the lack of funding affectyour community. Yes, I mean,
honestly, it's very devastating that thelack of funding is something that we even
have to deal with. Honestly,I have lost a lot of friends that
are very close to me, andI've seen a lot of families affected by
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losing one of their loved ones.And I don't think cancer should be that
political. When I was lobbying,there is a lot of the blame game
where it was on one side theywere like, well, there's not enough
funding because of this party, andthen the other party would say there's not
enough funding because of this party,when they really should have been working together.
Because at the end of the day, we are losing precious lives,
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and every kid deserves a future.Everyone deserves a future. I deserve a
future, and it's just really unfortunatethat we're in this scenario where we're not
getting enough funding. I'm grateful thatin twenty twenty five we will be getting
eight percent funding because that's because,as you just said, it used to
be four percent, but we stillneed so much more. Yeah, well,
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there you have it. I mean, you're one hundred percent correct.
Though cancer in children and adolescents ismore rare, it's still the leading cause
of death right by disease infancy amongchildren in the US, and that's according
to the National Cancer Institute. Soit's definitely important to ensure proper funding so
people like you are not overlooked andreceive proper treatment. Now let's switch gears
(15:30):
and chat about your personal support system. I know you have many wonderful people
surrounding you, a whole online communityand now Charlie and the dream Machine team.
How important do you think it isfor cancer patients to have a support
system and were there any specific momentsor people that particularly inspired or supported you
during your treatment. I think havinga support system is one of the most
important things during the cancer journey.I live on a small island in Rhode
(15:54):
Island, and the whole entire communityhas been so incredibly good to my family
and I, whether that's donations,prayers. If I'm in a grocery store,
someone will come up to me,give me a hug, say I
know you're sorry, I'm here freeif you need anything, cards in the
mail and just flowers, edible arrangements, everything like that. It goes such
(16:15):
a long way because you never personally. I've never felt alone in my journey.
I've had some very low points,but between my family and friends and
community, they have always lifted meup. And I have an amazing friend
group. We all have matching tattoos. It's like a flower bouquet and it's
wrapped with a ribbon, and I'mthe sunflower because the symbol frostucer Coma is
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a sunflower. And they always listento me, and they do not judge
me, and they're here for me. And we always say that staying silly
is so important. And my parentsjust had never left my side, never
spent a night alone in the hospitalwithout one of my parents, and my
dad drives me back and forth allmy appointments and he's incredible. My mom
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has MS, so now she isout of work and that means that she's
just been able to help take careof me and go to the hospital with
me. And one person that Iwould like to mention is Katie Histing.
Actually Charlie was in contact with Katiebefore Charlie was in contact with me,
and Katie's so cool. She hasher own sticker shop, she's finding ing
(17:25):
zaracoma, and she just perseveres througheverything. She shared my dream with Charlie,
which is getting my voice out intothe world and raising more awareness for
US user coma, which I thinkreally says a lot about her and is
very selfless because she could have keptthis dream to herself and not have told
Charlie, but she ended up tellingCharlie, and then Charlie is when he
(17:47):
came to my house and that wasincredible and I'm so thankful for that experience.
I will never forget it. Andoh, Marian's I'm here today,
love all around. Big shout outto Katie. Now, You's spirit and
tenacity are extremely extremely unique. I'msure the past five years have had quite
their fills of ups and downs.How have you managed to stay positive and
(18:11):
motivated throughout all of this and lookingback five years ago, is there anything
you wish you had known or anypiece of advice you could give yourself at
the beginning of this journey. IfI was to look back on my journey,
I remember being in that hospital roombeing told that I have cancer.
And I knew ascio circoma once Idid the research, because as soon as
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they told me, of course,I was on my phone. I saw
the sorry the statistics, I sawhow aggressive it was, and I was
petrified for my life. And Ijust wish I could go back and say,
it's going to be okay. You'reyou fight like heck, You're gonna
have an awesome community that's going toget you through this. And I wish
I could have told myself that throughoutyour whole entire journey, you'd never let
cancer define who you are as aperson. It's been a part of your
(18:55):
journey, but it's not who youare, and you stay true to yourself.
One of the things that I havedone is I've done a lot of
crafts. I've done a lot ofsinging. I try to sing at a
local restaurant called vocals and Tibberton,Rhode Island every two weeks. They've been
incredible to me and they've been sunderraising for me as well. And it's
an outlet for me to just goand be myself. And even though that
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I've lost my leg and I lookdifferently, I'm I'm still Karrigan and singing
is just my one of my biggestpassions. So singing crafts, hanging out
with my dogs, going swimming,hanging out with my friends, everyone Saint's
silly and making a lot of noiseso you can beat this disease. We
are at the end, my dear, but I just want to tell you
(19:40):
how you touched my heart. Yourstory. We are going to continue to
spread it. We're going to continueto fundraise for you, and we're going
to try to make sure that youbeat this be beats together. Thank you
so much. That was the beautifulKarragan Nelson a twenty three year old five
time cancer warrior, pediatric cancer advocate, and award winning vocalist. You definitely
need to follow her and her story. Check her out on the gram at
(20:02):
Carrigan m Nelson and be sure todonate to her fight at DREAMMACHINEUSA dot org.
Her upcoming clinical trial could be trulylife changing and you could make the
difference that was our hydration With heartsegment brought to you by Once Upon a
Coconut. You're listening to a Momentof Zen right here on seven ten wr
the voice of New York iHeartRadio willbe right back after this. A Moment
(20:23):
of Zen is brought to you byCo two Lift. As we age,
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Laura and Diana Palmicino. For twentyyears, twin sisters Laura and Diana have
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been two of New York City's mostsought after cosmetic dermatology experts. As co
founders of Skin Solutions Collective, theyhave offices in both Tribeca and Greenwich,
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Plus we'll even get to check inwith a few of their patients to
get their reactions to how this amazingproduct aided their pre and postcare routines.
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Let's go check out what the hypeis all about. Follow me to Skin
Solutions Collective. We're all the wayright here in Tribeca at Skin Solution Collective
with Diana and Laura p the Zano. Welcome Girlsy, thank you, say
everything at the same time. Ilove it. Yeah, okay, so
let's get right to it. Whatmade you want to break into this industry
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and open up such an incredible practiceright here in the hustle and bustle of
New York City. I sometimes feelthat it found us. Yeah, I
f agree honestly that deerviatology was somethingthat affected me as a child with acne
and suffering and just I felt itjust kind of found me. And then
as us going through school and cosmeticsand lasers, it just it came to
(22:15):
us. I felt New York Citycame to us. It was always part
of our being. This location.They're known as the Dern Duo, which
I think is so unique. Youmust service quite an amount of women that
fit your demographic, that want tolook like you, that want to be
just like you and have incredible skin, because up close and personal, these
girls do have beautiful skin, andwe're going to get to the heart of
(22:36):
what makes them so gorgeous. Now, let's retrack just a little bit.
So we're here today. We're chattingabout a product called CO two lyft carbon
dioxide therapy for skin rejuvenation that's beenaround since the nineteen thirties to my understanding,
although the method of delivery has dramaticallychanged since then and now we no
longer have to inject it. It'sapplied via a mask for five minutes stutaneously.
(23:00):
Right, So, can you tellme more about this trend carboxy therapy?
Why women are Google searching this allof a sudden Number three Google search
in Q three of twenty twenty three. So just remember that, right,
women want to know what this productdoes? How did you first hear about
it? So our philosophy for thelast twenty years has been about refining,
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rebuilding, and restoring the skin.So we use the latest technologies and treatments
to get the best results of ourpatients. And we first heard of the
Coeo two Lift through its founder LanaKur and even before it's launch, we
knew she was extremely dedicated to skincareinnovation and the industry right right, skin
rejuvenation is really at the heart ofit all. When you have a product
(23:45):
that increases hydration in a single useby one hundred and seventeen percent and it's
clinically verified and clinically researched, thescience doesn't lie. So for your prime
patients that you would recommend using Cootoo lift for yeah, So for our
Germ Doo patients, it's not necessarilyyou know, if it's more when that's
a hope use and whether it'll bea most benefits that right and exactly,
(24:08):
and we don't always we ask youknow questions too. You know, what's
the skin health of the patient?Do they have photo damage, do they
have inflammatory skin conditions like xima orroseation on photo damage skin. What's going
on with their skin health? Right, So what's the primary use case for
SEO to lift in your practice?There's many uses that we can do,
(24:30):
right, because it's really about overallskin integrity, that's right, and how
we can use it to basically improveit. Right, So when looking at
a patient, looking at their treatment, we're determining, you know, when's
the appropriate time to use to liftfor its properties. Is carboxing therapy property
doing hand skin help and you know, enhance the hydration factors. So the
prime candidates for this product are prettymuch everybody. Everybody is a candidate and
(24:56):
how fast you see results? Soactually we can see improvement instantaneously produced fine
line wrinkles because of the intense hydrationthat this you two lift offers. Yeah,
so again, you know, we'vereally seen firsthand how this carboxy therapy
is so effective in its use andbecause of it, we actually even encourage
it as maintenance you know, monthlyeven after our treatments and for our derm
(25:19):
doo patients, it's really about youknow, they want comfort and quick recovery
after procedures and when you apply themask what's the immediate reaction that your patients
report feeling so immediately it is cooling, it's soothing, it feels luxurious,
(25:40):
Yeah and it is. It feelsit loves you're as luxurious. Yeah,
and you know now you know,it has this unbelievable welcoming smell to it.
It's just so inviting. It's abougie treatment. And when you talk
about use cases nine, I knowyou're very you promote combo therapies. Yeah,
and it's actually a trend now.No one is just resorting to a
(26:00):
single you know therapy. It's moreabout combining therapies and catering them to individual
patients and really understanding what patients needfrom the you know, hydrating the skin
from within. What's the number oneprocedure people are requesting these days? Okay,
So actually the fraxal dual is agreat example. It's intense because of
the deep penetration. It could treatanything from like pigmentation, fine line scars.
(26:23):
So it requires a solid like sevento fourteen days of healing time.
And this is not a comfortable sevendays. It's not like the first day
you're very warm, almost like sunburn, and then the day after and the
day after that you feel this,read this, you have swelling. And
you know with the use of iteven after and the again before the laser,
(26:45):
we've seen improvements up to two daysof reduction and healing time with it.
And when a patient uses the CEOtwo lock mask twenty four hours prior
to like a fractual appointment, theyactually can see reduction in the inflammation that
they would receive post treatment because ithelps with the skin integering resilience, So
the overall treatment is just more comfortable. Right. So then also using it
(27:07):
twenty four hours after say the Foxolelaser, and then every other day thereafter,
you can see more of an improvementand again bringing it those days down
in that healing process again, lookbe see it up to two days.
So the soocho left just makes thetreatment easier because of that intense hydration.
And I've heard it's really effective forhyper pigmentation, for acne scars, for
(27:29):
any kind of discoloration. And nowthey're really clinically researching and verifying it for
more medically complex treatments like like insclerosis and diabetic ulcers and reimpose major surgery
for open wounds, right, liposculpture. I heard incorrect me if I'm wrong,
But somebody, one of your fellowscompared this to an hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
(27:52):
What do you say to that?So it really is this magical healing
topical component. It really is awounds healer because really our skin is an
organ, it's a barrier we're tryingto really improve. And again going back
that we're integrity, We're trying tomaintain the integrity of the skin, which
is the barrier. So it's aprotective agent and it increases the circulation of
(28:12):
the red blood cells. Okay,it actually detoxifies because it allows that the
circulation eliminating things, and then ithelps with blood flow. So of course
it's going to increase the wound.You get that oxygen there. We want
the option to get to the pointthat we wanted to get to. They
were using it post venus ligation,yes, to help improve you in time.
Okay, Well, now we're goingto put it to good use and
(28:33):
we are going to see in realtime what your patients dirmdoo patients are going
to be experiencing. I know,if we have somebody in their thirties and
they're going to be trying the COtwo lift mask pre and post. We're
going to get the reactions in realtime. Let's do it. We're here
with Sophia Pavlakis. She's one ofthe patients here at gern door and tried
Beeca and she just had a treatmentdone to her face and then had the
(28:56):
COO two lift mask in combo therapy. Welcome to the show, my friend.
Thank you so much for having me, so happy to be here.
You look stunning and glowing. Thankyou what you just had done. So
I recently had both hermage and fraxeltreatment, and I actually incorporated the CO
two lift mask both before and afterthe treatment this time, as opposed to
(29:18):
what I've done in the past.And so I did it twenty four hours
before I came into the office,before I came to Duram Duo, and
then I did it twenty four hourspost treatment and then every other day following.
Now you're in your thirties, butyou look like in your twenties.
Your skin is fantastic. What concernsdo you have skin wise that you are
treating it with the fraxle so fraxel, which is why I really came into
(29:42):
the DRM duo first was to treatmy acme scarring and hyper pigmentation that I
was experiencing. So that's why thetwins recommended the fraxel treatment for me.
And when you applied the SEO tolift mask after your treatment, what did
you immediately notice? Okay, immediatelythe time that I typically see in recovery
(30:03):
after the fraxal treatment, it's long, but by using the CO two Lifts
mask, overall recovery was cut downI would say by two days. That's
dramatic. When you have a totalrecovery period of four and that cuts it
down to fifty percent, that's considerable. Is this a mask that you're going
to consider using after this treatment?Oh? Without question, the CO two
(30:26):
Lifts mask will definitely be a partof my pre and post treatment regimen moving
forward. Are there any limitations tousing CO two lift to your understanding,
No, actually the opposite. Ithink anytime you put it on, your
skin is left feeling so hydrated,glowing, and it's just so cooling,
calm, refreshing. It's amazing.Wow, you're doing something right. Day.
(30:48):
For advice, get the treatment preand post fraxal treatments. You're amazing.
Congratulations, I'm looking fabulous, Butof course when you come to the
Nerve Duo, that's what happens,come out looking fabulous. That was our
Going Deep segment brought to you byCo two Lift. Thank you so much
to Sophia for sharing their Co twoLift experiences with us, and definitely be
(31:08):
sure to visit the Dorm Duo Lauraand Diana fell me Cino at one of
their offices. Can check them outonline at dormduo dot com or on the
gram at Dormduo. You're listening toa Moment of Zen right here on seven
ten WR, the voice of Newyork iHeartRadio. We'll be right back after
this. A Moment of Zen isbrought to you by your Home TV with
(31:30):
Kathy Ireland and their channel partners.Head to your Home TV dot com for
free family friendly programming streaming twenty fourto seven. The Kellywilliams Show is brought
to you by Serendipity Yacht Cruises andEvents. Tune in and turn on You're
happy. Kelly Williams is full ofenergy and incredible guests. Watch her anytime
free programming on your home TV networkand do follow her on social Media for
(31:53):
a chance to win monthly prizes.Check out The Kelly Williams Show on your
home TV dot com. Tune intoa Moment of Zen Saturday nights from nine
to ten pm on seven to tenwor The Voice of New York. Welcome
back, beautiful Chi State Area.You're listening to a Moment of Zen right
here on deven ten war the Voiceof New York iHeartRadio. I'm your host,
(32:15):
zen Zam's up next in the DiscoverYour Potential segment brought to you by
Smart pet Talk. Today we're joinedby our regular contributor, podcaster and co
host Dan Gilman, and today heis joined by Sir Alex Stern, an
iconic figure in the entrepreneurial world withhis pioneering spirit. He's best known as
a founding team member of the renownedcompany Constant Contact, which he has been
(32:37):
with for over eighteen years, fromstartup to IPO to a one point one
billion dollar acquisition regarded as America's startupsuccess. As expert, he's been a
co founder or founding team member ofeight startups with five incredible exits, two
IPOs, and three acquisitions. Hisinsights have guided countless startups from the ground
(32:58):
up, helping to shape the landsescape of modern entrepreneurship. They joined me
today chat all about driving innovation,growing businesses and seeking success. Welcoming now
to the show is Dan Gilman andSir Alex Stern. Welcome, superstars,
Welcome, Welcome, Thank you,so excited to have you on. Okay,
let's dive right in, Sir Alec. Yes you heard that right,
(33:19):
Sir Alec, because I know yourecently received the distinct honor being knighted and
ennobled theres A Baron of Boston ofCappadoccia by the Royal Order of Constantine the
Great and Saint Helen of the Royaland Sovereign House of Cappadocia and Saint Bartelomeo
for your exceptional accomplishments in entrepreneurship.I can't believe I actually did that right
(33:40):
without fumbling any of that, specificallyin entrepreneurships, innovation and philanthropy. So
I think it goes without saying thatyou are quite the expert. But I'm
curious to know throughout your illustrious career, what has been one of the most
unconventional pieces of advice that you followedand how did it pay off. I
(34:00):
think the biggest thing for me isthe management and handling of obstacles. You
know, I was always that personthat would take a piece of paper and
put a little box and then righton the line, you know, the
obstacle and help. I checked thebox by the end of the day,
but it never went away. Andoh, with time, it just felt
like the font got bigger and biggerand bigger, and that obstacle weighed on
(34:22):
me more so just to really seekcounsel, go find others and talk through
that and maybe break it up intosmaller pieces so you can have some wins
and knocking down the obstacle. Andit's kind of creating a muscle memory because
behind that obstacle is a bigger one, and then behind that next one is
a bigger one, and you haveto figure out how to do that.
(34:42):
And oftentimes when people drop out ofthe startup game or want to sort of
quit, it's because it's an obstacle. There's something that weighs on them.
And for me, that was somethingI learned and I appreciated the advice I
got on how to handle them.Well. All that advice and hard work
certainly did pay off. So admirehow you continue to pay it forward.
I know that after you settled inBoston you became very involved in the city's
(35:06):
nonprofit ecosystem, and you've done everythingfrom co sharing galas and fundraising to co
founding two nonprofits of your own,raising millions of dollars in the process.
So it should really come as nosurprise that you were presented with the Big
Greats Exemplary Humanitarian Award in twenty twentytwo. You are truly doing it all
now. I know Dan has afew questions as well, so I'm going
(35:28):
to hand it off to you,my dear. Can you tell us about
a time when you had to pivotdramatically in your career or business strategy and
also what drove that change and whatwas the outcome. Pivoting is a natural
It's just a natural thing. Andthe process of in a startup, you
know, you you set out todo something, and if you were kind
of thinking about the analogy of alane of a highway, you know,
(35:50):
you have your idea and you're onthat lane, and then sometimes you know,
you find that that the you know, the opportunity exists in the lane
adjacent on either side of that orsometimes you're on the wrong highway, you
got to get on another highway andfind another lane. And so I have
a lot of experience in doing that, and I think the the learning for
me is is just really getting outand asking your target market. You know,
(36:15):
I get asked every single day manytimes, what do you think of
our idea? What do you thinkof my idea? And my answer is
it doesn't matter what I think,what does your target market think? And
I think we sort of forget eventhough we might have been that target market
at one point. You know,I was a small business, so I
know what they need. Things changeyou go up to the minute. And
so for just getting out and thengoing in and seeking you know, sort
(36:37):
of the advice and hearing the youknow, and learned from that target market.
For me, that was the thingthat got me realizing that, Okay,
maybe we've got to shift lanes andmaybe we got to switch you know,
everything from messaging to to what we'resaying and to even what we're offering.
And so there's always pivots and thingshappening in any business, and they
(37:00):
will continue to happen, and that'schange, and change leads to opportunity,
providing your your going in the layingin the direction of what your target market
wants. Yeah, I love that. I love the analogy of the highway.
That really resonated with me. Now, I know, innovation is key
in any business. In fact,according to mckensey survey, eighty four percent
(37:21):
of executives believe innovation is the keyto growth, and companies that promote innovation
are three and a half more timeslikely to upperform their competitors statistically. Now,
can you share an instance where asimple idea turned into a major game
changer for one of your startups?Yeah? So, I mean the bigger
one that most people know is constantcontact. You know, there there was
(37:45):
a lot of innovation that happened,and you know, we were really set
out initially, so how do welevel the playing field for small businesses on
main street with those big competitors.You know, at the time, Amazon
and others had enterprise level tools whichcost a lot of money. They had
staff, they had you know,consultants, ad agencies that everyone sort of
(38:07):
helping them in that process. Butthe average small business, you know,
didn't have any of that. Andso what could we do to create a
self service easy used tool and theinitially email marketing being the first offering,
and digital marketing, which is whatwe would call it today. And and
then to just you know, givethem something. All they had to worry
about was what they were going tosay, when they were going to say
(38:30):
it, and who they were goingto say it to, and then all
the other stuff under the covers wastaken care of. They didn't have to
know technology or anything. They wouldjust create the message and we would create
that beautiful looking, you know campaignfor them that that would look just as
good as you would find from thosebigger competitors, the big box competitors.
So so you know, innovation justyou know, from the get go,
(38:50):
and we were one of the firstsoftware as of service ever ever, Like
you know, everyone talks about SaaSand cloud and you know rented software and
so on, but we were oneof the first ones that ever to launch.
So there's a lot of innovation andand things like that you know,
helped, you know, pave pavedthe way for us to be able to
scale effectively and also paved the wayfor for so many companies today to be
(39:15):
able to create, you know,easily create something and get it out and
get it into market and be ableto to give it to customers without the
requirement to install anything or you know, sort of up in the cloud and
easy to access. Yeah, thatmakes a lot of sense. Yeah,
that's incredible. So building a strongteam is crucial, as we know,
(39:37):
what qualities do you look for inpeople when you're forming a new team and
why. Yeah, So I literallywas just having a conversation before this interview
about this exact topic. You know, for me personally, the bigger the
bigger things is, uh, yougot to leave your egos at the door,
right, So there's no room forthat be tiitle agnostic. So it
(39:58):
doesn't matter, you know, Solike well I want the chief of you
know, product or the chief ofrevenue or you know, titles don't matter,
Like we're all going to be wearinga lot of hats and doing a
lot of things, you know.And then and then some would say,
well, you know, I reallywant to report to you. You know,
it's like, well, I mightnot be in this position or be
here, you know, I mightmove on and move up or aside or
(40:19):
whatever. It's whatever's best for thebusiness. So someone will come in above
you next to you or below you, and you got to be open to
accepting this. And there's a lotof people that that really are really worried,
caught up and worried about the title. If I could have the perfect
title, it would be E IE I O H I put out a
business card. You know, I'llgo ahead and get that printed. But
it doesn't matter because you're staying inyour lane, and you're going to do
(40:39):
what you're good at, and you'regoing to bring other people that are going
to stay in their lane and dowhat they're good at. And you don't
need a lot of people doing youknow that are coming in with the same
skill set you. And you seesome companies the beginning three founders that have
the same skill set, but youhave to establish like who's going to be
outward facing and talking to customers andinvestors. You know, CEO who's going
to be in ternal and kind ofoverseeing the running of the business. The
(41:01):
COO who's going to be developing theproducts and services, you know, the
CTO. You know, those aresort of roughly what those titles could look
like, but it doesn't matter.It's really just what your skill set and
you stay in the lane and youknow you have a better opportunity to you
know, succeed by doing what you'regood at and trying to do a bunch
of other things, taking a landgrab and grabbing stuff that others you know
(41:23):
could do better and couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. And I love
how you place such an emphasis onbuilding a strong team because it really does
have the ability to make or breaka company. And according to Zippier research,
about seventy five percent of employees rateteamwork and collaboration is big essential to
overall success. And to go evenfurther, a study by Fierce Inc.
(41:45):
Found that eighty six percent of employeescited ineffective communication or a lack of collaboration
is the main source of workplace failures. So you're absolutely right to be seeking
out these qualities to form the bestteam possible. Now, you also clearly
have a knack for seeing potential inthe early stages of a business. But
(42:07):
what are some red flags you watchout for when mentoring or investing in new
ventures? Yeah, so, Ithink one of the one of the big
things is passion, Right, youknow, you need to be passionate about
your idea. But if we hada passion meter. If you're pinning the
needle all the way over to thethe a little bit too passionate. Sometimes
you get your own way and andyou'll go down with the shift, like
(42:28):
you know, just you know,kind of this conviction that I know what
this is the idea, and Iknow what it needs and I'm going to
make it happen. And so soyou got to be open to feedback.
You got to be open to listeningto others. You've got to, you
know, again, talk to andlisten to your target market, you know,
and really hear hear what they're saying. And I've seen some you know
that just they're just they they knowthey know the answer and and we don't,
(42:52):
you know, even though we mighthave been that target market for many
of the years, as they said, it changes daily. And so so
I think that the kind of ared flag sometimes if it's they're a little
too like I want someone who's excitedabout the idea, but I also want
someone who's going to be able tolike, no matter what happens, if
the problem hits, they don't wantto quit and go home. They're going
to you know, work all nightand get the team to rally around solving
(43:15):
a problem and then be like,hey, we solved it, you know
over the weekend, or we solvedit you know last night, And that
that that they just they're just sobelieve in the idea so much that they'll
do anything to make sure it's successful. And and and oftentimes that you know,
folks that have that, you know, passion and conviction, you know,
are the ones you'd want to fundany any day versus someone who's you
(43:37):
know what, when the going getsrough, they quit. Yeah, what
is the biggest risk you've taken inyour career and how did that shape your
approach to business and leadership. It'sfunny, I am a risk taker and
unfortunately take too many risks on toomany things, you know, like an
international flight arriving in the air ortwenty minutes before you know, you don't
(43:57):
want to do things like that.But but that I've had agents say to
me or you risk taker, I'mlike every day. But as far as
it, you know, with withinbusiness, you know you've got to you
know, you got to take achance. And I think you know,
in my own statistics, you know, eighty five percent of the time at
product or idea or a service that'salways going to bring to market is just
executing on something that already exists butcould be done better. And there's a
lot of industries that are sleep atthe wheel that you know that you could
(44:21):
execute and do better. And thenthere, of course fifteen percent is creating
something that didn't exist before, youknow, when we see so many examples
of that Airbnb and Uber and youknow, Google and Facebook and all these
things that have sort of come comealong the way. Constant Contave was an
example of the one as well.And so you know, just again taking
that risk is to you know,could you call yourself an innovator, you
(44:42):
know, and we're all we're allentrepreneurs if we have an idea, but
we're an innovator if we take action. And so that's just you know,
running it by others, you know, noodle on it, get other people
to support what you're doing, findthat target market, get their feedback,
and then and run with it.So I've taken a lot of risks,
but a leading you know, youknow, h you hear a lot of
nos over time and I ignore thosebecause and that means not now in my
(45:06):
world, you know, you canalways cultivate those of the tournament, the
yeses later and get feedback and soon, But just get out think that
I did to take that risk,you know, and if your target market
says it's something they want and they'rewilling to pay for it, you're onto
something. We are almost out oftime. We have two questions left.
So shifting back to the topic ofinnovation and looking at the technological advancements today,
(45:27):
whether it's artificial intelligence or cybersecurity,e commerce, the metaverse. I
mean, the list goes on andon. But which industries do you believe
are going to hold the most promisefor young entrepreneurs to explore? Yeah,
so so it's of course, youknow, whether it's something that they want
to build a business around, orit's something that they want to use that
innovation to help advance their business,right, And I think there's sort of
(45:49):
both sides of the requine that wherethis exists. I've been very active in
AI, have been very active inthe metaverse, and very active as new
things that are coming out to reallylearn about them and see where they areportunities
lie. And I think, youknow, there's so many I guess efficiencies
and things that can come into playwith a lot of the new technologies,
and some are not new, they'rejust just advancements from the way they were
(46:13):
before. Like AI, it's beenaround for a long time, but now
it's just advanced in so many ways. And to take advantage of using that,
not to displace or change, youknow, the creative nature of you
know, uh, marketing, messagingand all these things. So you'll drop
it into let them give you theanswer, but but to truly use it
in some of the efficiency areas likecustomer support or or you know, folks
(46:37):
on the phone, you know,fielding questions from from customers, FAQs,
et cetera. There's a lot ofareas where that can can help. And
and I believe that that that alsomeans there's a lot of opportunity. So
I'm really blown away with what's outthere and what's to come, you know,
with some of these some of thethe advent of some of these these
areas now like AI, and ofcourse spending time in the medicurs and and
(46:58):
so on. Thanks thank you somuch for coming on and for sharing your
insights with us. It was trulyinvaluable. Thank you so much. That
was the discover your potential segment broughtto you by Smart pet Talk, and
that was the incredible Sir Alex Stern, Entrepreneurs, startup mentor, keynote speaker
and investor. Definitely be sure tocheck him out online at alecspeaks dot com.
It's Alec with the C not anX, and on the ground at
(47:21):
Alex Speaks to stay up to datewith his latest ventures, and of course
you can see more of Dan byheading to Discover your Potential show dot com.
You're listening to a Moment of Zenright here on seven to ten WR,
the voice of New York iHeartRadio.We'll be right back after this well.
Moment of Zen is sponsored by FintechTV. Fintech TV, the newest
streaming channel focused exclusively on the businessof blockchain, digital assets and sustainability,
(47:45):
broadcasting from our studio on the floorof the New York Stock Exchange with daily
reports from Nasdaq Global Expansion and twentyfour to seven coverage. Become part of
the launch. Head to Fintech dottv, slash invest Fintech dot tv slash
in Tune into a Moment of ZenSaturday nights from nine to ten pm on
seven to ten WAR, the Voiceof New York. Welcome back, beautiful
(48:07):
Triestate area. You're listening to amoment of Zen right here on seven to
ten WR, the voice of Newyork iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Zen
SAMs. In our Fintech TV exclusivesegment, Vinci Bolnari, CEO of Fintech
TV, sits down with Kevin O'LearyShark himself, chairman of O'Leary Ventures,
to discuss the current state of TikTok. Well, listen, let's break right
(48:29):
in here, TikTok news from youyesterday, share with us, with you
good as you know. In themost remarkable outcome of Congressional law, a
law was passed that has basically givenTikTok till January nineteenth to sell the concerns
about foreign adversaries spyware. A lotof people don't use TikTok for those concerns.
(48:49):
And finally Congress brought us to thepoint to where the Indians got to
five years ago. They've banned inIndia. So we don't know what's going
to happen. But because one ofthe options for the company is to be
able to sell it, it's adomestic ownership. I want to buy it,
and so one of the options Ithought would be very interesting is so
many of my companies are entrepreneurial newsTikTok to advertise. In fact, over
(49:12):
six million companies do that. That'swhere the majority of the revenue comes from.
I want to ask them, wouldyou be interested in becoming equity shareholders
with me down the road if thedeal ever happens. So I don't know,
there's no terms. The company's litigatingcongress, which I find an extraordinary
outcome. So we have no ideawhat this will be. But because it's
such a short time brain, I'dlike to get organized by asking people are
(49:35):
you interested? Unfortunately, there islaw that allows me to do that in
equity crowdfunding. I'm proud that youdoing the Jobs Act that had the vision
to democratize ownership, and this iswhat I'm doing. And so I've asked
anybody that's interested to go to wonderTikTok dot com, wonder TikTok dot com
exactly there it is, and registeryour interest. Tell me if you're interested,
(49:58):
and to what extent you're interested,and how much you would invest if
you could. I have no ideawhat the terms are yet, and I
disclose all that, but I thinkthere's going to be a lot of interest
in this because it's such a controversialsituation and I have no idea the outcome,
and nor does anybody else. Butthis is the one thing I do
know. I believe it will requirethe pen of the executivef he's ever the
(50:19):
President of the United States to getthis deal done. We've never had a
case like this ever. Absolutely loveit so much to cover, but I
have to applaud you on the creativitythe use of the Jobs Act, solving
for a national issue at the sametime and really democratizing wealth creation and returning
the power of social media to theindividuals who are participating. I think it
should be that way, particularly forTikTok. You know I want to make
(50:40):
TikTok wonderful again. You heard thatfirst year on Fintech TV. You're listening
to a Moment of Zen right hereon seven ten WR, the Voice of
New York iHeart Radio. We'll beright back after this. A Moment of
Zen is brought to you by yourHome TV with Kathy Ireland and their channel
partners. Head to your Home TVdot com for free family friendly programming streaming
(51:02):
twenty four to seven. Do youhave the dream of starting and owning your
own business or know of someone whodoes. If so, check out your
Home Business program where they inspire,equip and encourage those who dream of owning
and operating their own business. Checkout your Home Business on your Home TV
dot com. Tune into a Momentof Zen Saturday nights from nine to ten
(51:22):
pm on seven ten WR, TheVoice of New York. Well that's a
rap, my dear friends. Rememberto join me right here on seven ten
WR, the Voice of New York, every Saturday night from nine to ten
pm, or you could head toseven ten WR dot iHeart dot com forward
slash a Moment of Zen. Alsoremember that we're live on Traverse TV Sundays
(51:43):
at one pm, YouTube Sundays attwo pm, and all episodes of A
Moment of Zen are available on yourhome TV and Kathy Ireland worldwide streaming platform.
That's free programming to you. Youcould head directly to our channel at
MX dot yourhometv dot com. Thankyou for listening to us. It's been
an absolute pleasure being your host.Thanks again to all of our sponsors that
(52:04):
continue to make this show possible.And remember that happiness is the only thing
that multiplies when you share it.The proceeding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's
hosting of this podcast constitutes neither anendorsement of the products offered or the ideas expressed
The following is opaid podcast. iHeartRadio'shosting of this podcast constitutes neither an endorsement
of the products offered or the ideasexpressed. Welcome to a Moment of Zen.
Time to sit back and relax.As model, actress, mentor and
super mom, Zen SAMs takes youon a sexy and wild ride covering the
(00:20):
latest in film, fashion, popculture, cryptocurrency, fintech, cannabis,
and entertainment from the millennial mom's perspective. Here's your host, Zen SAMs.
Hello, my beautiful Tri State area. Welcome to our one hundred and seventieth
episode. It's always such a pleasureto spend my time with you on the
airwaves. Thank you so much forlistening to me and interacting with me on
(00:41):
social media. It truly makes thisall worthwhile. Please make sure to follow
me at Zen SAMs. That's Zenwith an X, not a Z.
And also remember that all episodes ofa Moment of Zen stream twenty four to
seven on your home TV and KathyIreland worldwide. You can always find us
directly on our YouTube channel at zenFans. In our Going Deep segment brought
(01:03):
to you by co two Lyft,We're headed to Skin Solutions Collective right here
in New York City. Today,we'll be chatting with DRM duo themselves,
Laura and Diana Palmicino. Today we'llget their thoughts on CO two Lift for
skin rejuvenation. Plus we'll even getto check in with a few of their
patients to get the reactions to howthis amazing product aided their pre and postcare
(01:23):
routines. In the Discover Your Potentialsegment brought to you by Smart Pet Talk,
we're joined by contributor podcaster Dan Gilman, and today he's joined by Sir
Alex Stern, an iconic figure inthe entrepreneurial world, regarded as America's startup
success expert. They joined me todayto chat all about driving innovation, growing
(01:44):
businesses, and seeking success. Inthe Hydration with Heart segment, brought to
you by Once Upon a Coconut.In collaboration with Charlie Rocket's Dream Machine Foundation,
we're featuring dreamer Carragan Nelson, currentlyusing music and her singing voice to
raise money for her terminal bone cancer. In our Fintech TV exclusive segment,
vinc Bolinari, CEO of Fintech TV, sits down with Kevin O'Leary, a
(02:07):
shark himself, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, to discuss the current state of Piktok.
In a law recently passed by Congress, TikTok will be forced to sell
by January nineteenth, twenty twenty five. O'Leary joins Vince to deliver the breaking
news that he's interested in wind TikTokthrough an initiative involving potential advertisers on the
(02:28):
platform. Stay tuned for Kragan Nelsonfor Once Upon a Coconut, chatting bone
cancer music and staying positive. You'relistening to a Moment of Zen right here
on seven ten wr the voice ofNew york iHeartRadio. We'll be right back
after this. A Moment of Zenis brought to you by Once Upon a
Coconut one hundred percent pure coconut Water. Imagine a drink that's nutree and rich,
powerfully refreshing, naturally sweet, withno added sugars, not from concentrate,
(02:52):
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Welcome back, beautiful Tristate area.You're listening to a Moment of Zen right
(03:14):
here on seven to ten WR thevoice of New York iHeartRadio. I'm your
host, Zen. Sam's up nextin the Hydration with Heart segment, brought
to you by once Upon a Coconutin collaboration with Charlie Rockett's Dream Machine Foundation.
Today we're joined by twenty three yearold Karragan Nelson, diagnosed with osteosarcoma,
which is an aggressive pediatric bone cancer, just after her eighteenth birthday.
(03:38):
She's endured five long years of intensechemotherapy and multiple surgeries, relapsing for the
fifth time. She's considered incurable andchemo resistant, with her rare disease taking
one of her legs, part ofher diaphragm, and metastatizing to both lungs.
But one thing it hasn't taken isher spirit. She's not only a
(03:58):
five time cancer warrior, she's alsoa pediatric cancer advocate and award winning vocalist.
She uses her voice to spread awareness, lobby for more pediatric funding,
and raise money for community causes.She remains so committed to her advocacy work
throughout her never ending battle for herown life, all the while singing at
every opportunity she can get. Shejoins me today to share her cancer journey,
(04:20):
prognosis, and how she continues toadvocate, spread awareness and inspire others.
Welcoming now to the show is KaraganNelson. Welcome, superstar. Hello,
thank you so much for having me. I'm so honored to be here.
I am so excited to chat withyou, so thank you so much
for joining me today. Now,before we dive too deep, and before
you answer my first question, I'mgoing to educate our listeners just a little
(04:43):
bit for those of you that don'tknow. According to the American Cancer Society,
osteosarcoma, also called osteogenetic sarcoma isa rare bone cancer in which the
cancer cells look like early forms ofbone cells that normally help make new bone
tissue, but in in this casethe bone tissue is not as strong as
that in normal bones. There areabout one thousand new cases diagnosed each year
(05:06):
in the United States, and mostoccur within children, teens, and young
adults between ages of ten and thirty, with teens being the most commonly affected
age group. About two percent ofchildhood cancers are osteosarcomas, and they make
up even smaller percentage of adult cancers. Now, let's go back to the
beginning. Kargan, you were diagnosedjust after your eighteenth birthday. You're now
(05:30):
twenty three. Can you tell usa little bit about what led you to
this initial diagnosis, Where were youexperiencing symptoms and how did you react to
the diagnosis. Right after my eighteenthbirthday is when I got diagnosed. But
before that, I did taekwondo andI also did dance. I was very
active. I traveled a lot.I was a dog walker. In about
six months prior to my diagnosis,I started to get very pale, very
(05:56):
tired before singing performances or taekwondo ordance. I had to take Honestly,
was constantly napping all the time.And I took a little break from dance
in taekwondo, and when I wentback, I noticed that my left leg
was really hurting. I thought,am I out of shape? I'm like,
I didn't take that much of along break. And you know,
I kept going. I kept tryingto power through it. But each day
(06:17):
the leg pain was getting worse andworse. So I ended up going to
the hospital and the doctors, andit kept getting misdiagnosed as a sports injury,
which is very common with osiro circoma, unfortunately, and I ended up
going to the mall with my friendsone day, and I remember we had
parked on the other side of themall and then all of a sudden,
like I felt I felt down wheremy left leg was below my knee and
(06:42):
there was this giant swollen area andI pressed on it and it felt really
deep down and I called my momand I said, Mom, there's there's
something. There's something wrong. It'sit's not a sports injury, it's nothing
like that. I feel like ifwe don't pursue this and go to the
hospital, that you're gonna lose me. Because I honestly was so sick and
(07:02):
I was pale. I couldn't keepup with everything that was missing school.
It was a lot. So Iended up going to the r actually before
I ended up going to the er. I couldn't walk back to my car.
When I went to the er,they didn't x ray. Nothing showed
on the X ray because my tourwas actually hiding behind a bone and it
(07:24):
was the size of a softball,but it was hiding behind the bone,
which was crazy. So they endedup doing a CT scan and that's when
it showed that it was a canceroustumor. We didn't know if it was
Wow, Yes, didn't know ifit was Ewing's sarcoma or osteosarcoma at the
time. I ended up being OSTEO. And the crazy part is the tumor
(07:44):
had completely eaten away at my boneto the point where it was so thin
and right about to break. SoI was walking on a bone that was
probably days away from breaking. Now, Like Dear, I'm so sorry to
hear all of this, but I'mglad that you're with us right now telling
this story. And I know thatyou advocate heavily for knowing the signs and
(08:05):
symptoms of osteosarcoma, which is soimportant because that's how most of them are
caught. Now, the most commonsymptom is pain at the sight of the
tumor in the bone, and themost common sights for these tourists in younger
people are around the knee or inthe upper arm, but they do have
the ability to develop in any bone, and of course, any other common
(08:26):
symptoms I'm going to assume include swellingor live pain. Can you talk to
me more about what else you werefeeling at the time, Yes, I
honestly just didn't feel like myself.I didn't feel like Krigan. I'm very
bubbly and silly, and I justremember feeling depressed and when I looked in
(08:48):
the mirror, I just I hadthis. So I was actually babysitting at
the time, and the mom ofthe children whom his babysitting kept asking if
I was okay, and I said, yes, I'm okay. My lips
were kind of this weird, likebluish color. And I remember my mom
was talking to the mother of thekids they babysit, and she's like,
I'm worried about Karragan. Something justseems off. She's been limping while she's
(09:11):
been babysitting. And we kept onbeing told it was a sports injury and
there was also swelling in the sight. It was where my calf was,
so it was hard to tell ifit was muscle or not. But it
ended up growing more and more andthe pain ended up getting more severe and
throbbing, and I overall just didn'tfeel well. In the middle of the
(09:33):
night, I would wake up inpain and I would have to flip to
the other side of my leg,and I just I really didn't know what
was going on. I had neverheard of bossio circoma before, and that's
kind of what led to the diagnosis. Was I had to trust my instinct
and really listen to my body,and something was wrong. So let's talk
(09:54):
about the prognosis. So prognosis dependson many factors like your age, too,
relocation, and when it's detected.And in your case, although it
was detected five years ago, ithas metathicized to your lungs and has essentially
been deemed incurable. And I can'teven begin to imagine being faced with the
weight of that news, but Ido know you remain hopeful and will soon
(10:16):
be entering a very intense car Tcell immunotherapy clinical trial in North Carolina.
Could you describe this treatment process andtell us a little bit about this trial,
Yes, of course, and actuallya couple of days, I'm going
to get my cells harvested, andI believe they just they can do it,
kind of like when you're giving blood. It's going to be a similar
(10:37):
scenario to that. And then Iget to go home for about four to
six weeks, and during that timemy cells are going to be re engineered
to attack the cells, to attackmy cancer cells in my body and hopefully
kill the cancer. And for thosefour to six weeks I'll be waiting and
then I'll get the call they're gonnaput on there, put me on a
(11:00):
keybotherapy which will then lower my lymphositesand my ability to side off infection.
So it will be a little scary, but that's okay. I've been neutropenic
before. And then I will getthe cells and then hopefully we should now
in the next couple of months ifit's working. Yeah, incredible, and
(11:20):
we're going to be cheering you alongin your fight. And I have great
faith in this trial. And alsoa big shout out to Charlie Rockett from
the Dream Machine Foundation. He's agreat friend of the show and our sponsor
Once Upon a Coconut I works closelywith him. I know him and his
team have been helping raise funds forthis trial and all the logistics that come
with it. So everyone definitely hasto head to dreammachine dot org to donate
(11:45):
to Carrigan's fundraiser there. Now Iknow you also, you have some amazing
vocal abilities which you use to raisefunds for your treatment and other causes close
to you. How fitting that weare airing you right here on iHeartRadio.
When did you first start seeing andI know in twenty twenty one you performed
at the national You performed the nationalanthem at a Boston Red Sox game,
(12:07):
which is amazing, So I'd loveto hear about that experience. Honestly,
singing the national anthem was such anhonor, and it's a song of course
you want to do justice and I'mas very anxious for it, But that
had been something that I wanted todo ever since I was younger. I've
been singing probably about since the ageof four, is when my parents noticed
that I could match pitch to othersongs that were on the radio. And
(12:31):
then when I was about twelve iswhen I started singing publicly at restaurants,
and then My mom also worked inlow income housing, so I'd sing at
a lot of fundraisers to help thehomeless, and then down the road,
I ended up fundraising for pediatric cancer. Before I even knew that I had
pediatric cancer, which is so weirdto think about that, I was already
(12:52):
kind of diving a little bit deepinto the world and didn't know that I
would once be in that world oneday. But I've just been singing forever
and I sing every single day andit's very therapeutic for me. And since
the cancer has been tasticized to mylungs, I feel like it's really good
for my lungs just keep inflating andto keep them very healthy. And I'm
just I still feel so lucky thatI'm able to keep doing what makes me
(13:16):
happy. Well, it's incredible thatyou're using such a natural talent to fuel
yourself and others now. I alsothink it's important to note that, according
to the Children's Cancer Foundation, untilrecently, only four percent of the federal
cancer research budget was allocated to pediatriccancer. More recent evaluations have identified that
percentage to be closer to eight percent. There's still a desperate need for increased
(13:39):
funding So you, my dear,are a passionate advocate for pediatric cancer funding
and I love that about you.It's not just about you now, it's
about you and everyone else. Sobesides sharing your story online and singing to
your community, I know you've lobbiedtwice in DC for more funding and have
sat on several pediatric cans or nonprofitboards. As someone actively fighting such a
(14:03):
disease, I'd love to hear youropinions on the matter and how you have
seen firsthand the lack of funding affectyour community. Yes, I mean,
honestly, it's very devastating that thelack of funding is something that we even
have to deal with. Honestly,I have lost a lot of friends that
are very close to me, andI've seen a lot of families affected by
(14:24):
losing one of their loved ones.And I don't think cancer should be that
political. When I was lobbying,there is a lot of the blame game
where it was on one side theywere like, well, there's not enough
funding because of this party, andthen the other party would say there's not
enough funding because of this party,when they really should have been working together.
Because at the end of the day, we are losing precious lives,
(14:45):
and every kid deserves a future.Everyone deserves a future. I deserve a
future, and it's just really unfortunatethat we're in this scenario where we're not
getting enough funding. I'm grateful thatin twenty twenty five we will be getting
eight percent funding because that's because,as you just said, it used to
be four percent, but we stillneed so much more. Yeah, well,
(15:07):
there you have it. I mean, you're one hundred percent correct.
Though cancer in children and adolescents ismore rare, it's still the leading cause
of death right by disease infancy amongchildren in the US, and that's according
to the National Cancer Institute. Soit's definitely important to ensure proper funding so
people like you are not overlooked andreceive proper treatment. Now let's switch gears
(15:30):
and chat about your personal support system. I know you have many wonderful people
surrounding you, a whole online communityand now Charlie and the dream Machine team.
How important do you think it isfor cancer patients to have a support
system and were there any specific momentsor people that particularly inspired or supported you
during your treatment. I think havinga support system is one of the most
important things during the cancer journey.I live on a small island in Rhode
(15:54):
Island, and the whole entire communityhas been so incredibly good to my family
and I, whether that's donations,prayers. If I'm in a grocery store,
someone will come up to me,give me a hug, say I
know you're sorry, I'm here freeif you need anything, cards in the
mail and just flowers, edible arrangements, everything like that. It goes such
(16:15):
a long way because you never personally. I've never felt alone in my journey.
I've had some very low points,but between my family and friends and
community, they have always lifted meup. And I have an amazing friend
group. We all have matching tattoos. It's like a flower bouquet and it's
wrapped with a ribbon, and I'mthe sunflower because the symbol frostucer Coma is
(16:37):
a sunflower. And they always listento me, and they do not judge
me, and they're here for me. And we always say that staying silly
is so important. And my parentsjust had never left my side, never
spent a night alone in the hospitalwithout one of my parents, and my
dad drives me back and forth allmy appointments and he's incredible. My mom
(17:02):
has MS, so now she isout of work and that means that she's
just been able to help take careof me and go to the hospital with
me. And one person that Iwould like to mention is Katie Histing.
Actually Charlie was in contact with Katiebefore Charlie was in contact with me,
and Katie's so cool. She hasher own sticker shop, she's finding ing
(17:25):
zaracoma, and she just perseveres througheverything. She shared my dream with Charlie,
which is getting my voice out intothe world and raising more awareness for
US user coma, which I thinkreally says a lot about her and is
very selfless because she could have keptthis dream to herself and not have told
Charlie, but she ended up tellingCharlie, and then Charlie is when he
(17:47):
came to my house and that wasincredible and I'm so thankful for that experience.
I will never forget it. Andoh, Marian's I'm here today,
love all around. Big shout outto Katie. Now, You's spirit and
tenacity are extremely extremely unique. I'msure the past five years have had quite
their fills of ups and downs.How have you managed to stay positive and
(18:11):
motivated throughout all of this and lookingback five years ago, is there anything
you wish you had known or anypiece of advice you could give yourself at
the beginning of this journey. IfI was to look back on my journey,
I remember being in that hospital roombeing told that I have cancer.
And I knew ascio circoma once Idid the research, because as soon as
(18:32):
they told me, of course,I was on my phone. I saw
the sorry the statistics, I sawhow aggressive it was, and I was
petrified for my life. And Ijust wish I could go back and say,
it's going to be okay. You'reyou fight like heck, You're gonna
have an awesome community that's going toget you through this. And I wish
I could have told myself that throughoutyour whole entire journey, you'd never let
cancer define who you are as aperson. It's been a part of your
(18:55):
journey, but it's not who youare, and you stay true to yourself.
One of the things that I havedone is I've done a lot of
crafts. I've done a lot ofsinging. I try to sing at a
local restaurant called vocals and Tibberton,Rhode Island every two weeks. They've been
incredible to me and they've been sunderraising for me as well. And it's
an outlet for me to just goand be myself. And even though that
(19:18):
I've lost my leg and I lookdifferently, I'm I'm still Karrigan and singing
is just my one of my biggestpassions. So singing crafts, hanging out
with my dogs, going swimming,hanging out with my friends, everyone Saint's
silly and making a lot of noiseso you can beat this disease. We
are at the end, my dear, but I just want to tell you
(19:40):
how you touched my heart. Yourstory. We are going to continue to
spread it. We're going to continueto fundraise for you, and we're going
to try to make sure that youbeat this be beats together. Thank you
so much. That was the beautifulKarragan Nelson a twenty three year old five
time cancer warrior, pediatric cancer advocate, and award winning vocalist. You definitely
need to follow her and her story. Check her out on the gram at
(20:02):
Carrigan m Nelson and be sure todonate to her fight at DREAMMACHINEUSA dot org.
Her upcoming clinical trial could be trulylife changing and you could make the
difference that was our hydration With heartsegment brought to you by Once Upon a
Coconut. You're listening to a Momentof Zen right here on seven ten wr
the voice of New York iHeartRadio willbe right back after this. A Moment
(20:23):
of Zen is brought to you byCo two Lift. As we age,
our skin loses moisture and elasticity,causing wrinkled skin. You can reverse this
aging process with CO two Lift.CO two Lift utilizes the powerful benefits of
carbon dioxide to lift titan and regenerateyour skin. This simple, painless at
home carboxy therapy treatment is scientifically provento reverse the aging process. You will
(20:45):
see reduction in wrinkles, increase aluminosity, and improve pigmentation, sagging skin
tone, and radiance. For moreinformation or to order CO two Lift,
go to Co two lift dot com. In today's Going Deep segment brought to
you by Co two Lift, We'reheaded to Skin Solutions Collective right here in
New York City, and today we'llbe chatting with the Durham Duo themselves,
Laura and Diana Palmicino. For twentyyears, twin sisters Laura and Diana have
(21:08):
been two of New York City's mostsought after cosmetic dermatology experts. As co
founders of Skin Solutions Collective, theyhave offices in both Tribeca and Greenwich,
Connecticut. Today, we'll get theirthoughts on CO two lift for skin rejuvenation.
Plus we'll even get to check inwith a few of their patients to
get their reactions to how this amazingproduct aided their pre and postcare routines.
(21:30):
Let's go check out what the hypeis all about. Follow me to Skin
Solutions Collective. We're all the wayright here in Tribeca at Skin Solution Collective
with Diana and Laura p the Zano. Welcome Girlsy, thank you, say
everything at the same time. Ilove it. Yeah, okay, so
let's get right to it. Whatmade you want to break into this industry
(21:53):
and open up such an incredible practiceright here in the hustle and bustle of
New York City. I sometimes feelthat it found us. Yeah, I
f agree honestly that deerviatology was somethingthat affected me as a child with acne
and suffering and just I felt itjust kind of found me. And then
as us going through school and cosmeticsand lasers, it just it came to
(22:15):
us. I felt New York Citycame to us. It was always part
of our being. This location.They're known as the Dern Duo, which
I think is so unique. Youmust service quite an amount of women that
fit your demographic, that want tolook like you, that want to be
just like you and have incredible skin, because up close and personal, these
girls do have beautiful skin, andwe're going to get to the heart of
(22:36):
what makes them so gorgeous. Now, let's retrack just a little bit.
So we're here today. We're chattingabout a product called CO two lyft carbon
dioxide therapy for skin rejuvenation that's beenaround since the nineteen thirties to my understanding,
although the method of delivery has dramaticallychanged since then and now we no
longer have to inject it. It'sapplied via a mask for five minutes stutaneously.
(23:00):
Right, So, can you tellme more about this trend carboxy therapy?
Why women are Google searching this allof a sudden Number three Google search
in Q three of twenty twenty three. So just remember that, right,
women want to know what this productdoes? How did you first hear about
it? So our philosophy for thelast twenty years has been about refining,
(23:22):
rebuilding, and restoring the skin.So we use the latest technologies and treatments
to get the best results of ourpatients. And we first heard of the
Coeo two Lift through its founder LanaKur and even before it's launch, we
knew she was extremely dedicated to skincareinnovation and the industry right right, skin
rejuvenation is really at the heart ofit all. When you have a product
(23:45):
that increases hydration in a single useby one hundred and seventeen percent and it's
clinically verified and clinically researched, thescience doesn't lie. So for your prime
patients that you would recommend using Cootoo lift for yeah, So for our
Germ Doo patients, it's not necessarilyyou know, if it's more when that's
a hope use and whether it'll bea most benefits that right and exactly,
(24:08):
and we don't always we ask youknow questions too. You know, what's
the skin health of the patient?Do they have photo damage, do they
have inflammatory skin conditions like xima orroseation on photo damage skin. What's going
on with their skin health? Right, So what's the primary use case for
SEO to lift in your practice?There's many uses that we can do,
(24:30):
right, because it's really about overallskin integrity, that's right, and how
we can use it to basically improveit. Right, So when looking at
a patient, looking at their treatment, we're determining, you know, when's
the appropriate time to use to liftfor its properties. Is carboxing therapy property
doing hand skin help and you know, enhance the hydration factors. So the
prime candidates for this product are prettymuch everybody. Everybody is a candidate and
(24:56):
how fast you see results? Soactually we can see improvement instantaneously produced fine
line wrinkles because of the intense hydrationthat this you two lift offers. Yeah,
so again, you know, we'vereally seen firsthand how this carboxy therapy
is so effective in its use andbecause of it, we actually even encourage
it as maintenance you know, monthlyeven after our treatments and for our derm
(25:19):
doo patients, it's really about youknow, they want comfort and quick recovery
after procedures and when you apply themask what's the immediate reaction that your patients
report feeling so immediately it is cooling, it's soothing, it feels luxurious,
(25:40):
Yeah and it is. It feelsit loves you're as luxurious. Yeah,
and you know now you know,it has this unbelievable welcoming smell to it.
It's just so inviting. It's abougie treatment. And when you talk
about use cases nine, I knowyou're very you promote combo therapies. Yeah,
and it's actually a trend now.No one is just resorting to a
(26:00):
single you know therapy. It's moreabout combining therapies and catering them to individual
patients and really understanding what patients needfrom the you know, hydrating the skin
from within. What's the number oneprocedure people are requesting these days? Okay,
So actually the fraxal dual is agreat example. It's intense because of
the deep penetration. It could treatanything from like pigmentation, fine line scars.
(26:23):
So it requires a solid like sevento fourteen days of healing time.
And this is not a comfortable sevendays. It's not like the first day
you're very warm, almost like sunburn, and then the day after and the
day after that you feel this,read this, you have swelling. And
you know with the use of iteven after and the again before the laser,
(26:45):
we've seen improvements up to two daysof reduction and healing time with it.
And when a patient uses the CEOtwo lock mask twenty four hours prior
to like a fractual appointment, theyactually can see reduction in the inflammation that
they would receive post treatment because ithelps with the skin integering resilience, So
the overall treatment is just more comfortable. Right. So then also using it
(27:07):
twenty four hours after say the Foxolelaser, and then every other day thereafter,
you can see more of an improvementand again bringing it those days down
in that healing process again, lookbe see it up to two days.
So the soocho left just makes thetreatment easier because of that intense hydration.
And I've heard it's really effective forhyper pigmentation, for acne scars, for
(27:29):
any kind of discoloration. And nowthey're really clinically researching and verifying it for
more medically complex treatments like like insclerosis and diabetic ulcers and reimpose major surgery
for open wounds, right, liposculpture. I heard incorrect me if I'm wrong,
But somebody, one of your fellowscompared this to an hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
(27:52):
What do you say to that?So it really is this magical healing
topical component. It really is awounds healer because really our skin is an
organ, it's a barrier we're tryingto really improve. And again going back
that we're integrity, We're trying tomaintain the integrity of the skin, which
is the barrier. So it's aprotective agent and it increases the circulation of
(28:12):
the red blood cells. Okay,it actually detoxifies because it allows that the
circulation eliminating things, and then ithelps with blood flow. So of course
it's going to increase the wound.You get that oxygen there. We want
the option to get to the pointthat we wanted to get to. They
were using it post venus ligation,yes, to help improve you in time.
Okay, Well, now we're goingto put it to good use and
(28:33):
we are going to see in realtime what your patients dirmdoo patients are going
to be experiencing. I know,if we have somebody in their thirties and
they're going to be trying the COtwo lift mask pre and post. We're
going to get the reactions in realtime. Let's do it. We're here
with Sophia Pavlakis. She's one ofthe patients here at gern door and tried
Beeca and she just had a treatmentdone to her face and then had the
(28:56):
COO two lift mask in combo therapy. Welcome to the show, my friend.
Thank you so much for having me, so happy to be here.
You look stunning and glowing. Thankyou what you just had done. So
I recently had both hermage and fraxeltreatment, and I actually incorporated the CO
two lift mask both before and afterthe treatment this time, as opposed to
(29:18):
what I've done in the past.And so I did it twenty four hours
before I came into the office,before I came to Duram Duo, and
then I did it twenty four hourspost treatment and then every other day following.
Now you're in your thirties, butyou look like in your twenties.
Your skin is fantastic. What concernsdo you have skin wise that you are
treating it with the fraxle so fraxel, which is why I really came into
(29:42):
the DRM duo first was to treatmy acme scarring and hyper pigmentation that I
was experiencing. So that's why thetwins recommended the fraxel treatment for me.
And when you applied the SEO tolift mask after your treatment, what did
you immediately notice? Okay, immediatelythe time that I typically see in recovery
(30:03):
after the fraxal treatment, it's long, but by using the CO two Lifts
mask, overall recovery was cut downI would say by two days. That's
dramatic. When you have a totalrecovery period of four and that cuts it
down to fifty percent, that's considerable. Is this a mask that you're going
to consider using after this treatment?Oh? Without question, the CO two
(30:26):
Lifts mask will definitely be a partof my pre and post treatment regimen moving
forward. Are there any limitations tousing CO two lift to your understanding,
No, actually the opposite. Ithink anytime you put it on, your
skin is left feeling so hydrated,glowing, and it's just so cooling,
calm, refreshing. It's amazing.Wow, you're doing something right. Day.
(30:48):
For advice, get the treatment preand post fraxal treatments. You're amazing.
Congratulations, I'm looking fabulous, Butof course when you come to the
Nerve Duo, that's what happens,come out looking fabulous. That was our
Going Deep segment brought to you byCo two Lift. Thank you so much
to Sophia for sharing their Co twoLift experiences with us, and definitely be
(31:08):
sure to visit the Dorm Duo Lauraand Diana fell me Cino at one of
their offices. Can check them outonline at dormduo dot com or on the
gram at Dormduo. You're listening toa Moment of Zen right here on seven
ten WR, the voice of Newyork iHeartRadio. We'll be right back after
this. A Moment of Zen isbrought to you by your Home TV with
(31:30):
Kathy Ireland and their channel partners.Head to your Home TV dot com for
free family friendly programming streaming twenty fourto seven. The Kellywilliams Show is brought
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(31:53):
a chance to win monthly prizes.Check out The Kelly Williams Show on your
home TV dot com. Tune intoa Moment of Zen Saturday nights from nine
to ten pm on seven to tenwor The Voice of New York. Welcome
back, beautiful Chi State Area.You're listening to a Moment of Zen right
here on deven ten war the Voiceof New York iHeartRadio. I'm your host,
(32:15):
zen Zam's up next in the DiscoverYour Potential segment brought to you by
Smart pet Talk. Today we're joinedby our regular contributor, podcaster and co
host Dan Gilman, and today heis joined by Sir Alex Stern, an
iconic figure in the entrepreneurial world withhis pioneering spirit. He's best known as
a founding team member of the renownedcompany Constant Contact, which he has been
(32:37):
with for over eighteen years, fromstartup to IPO to a one point one
billion dollar acquisition regarded as America's startupsuccess. As expert, he's been a
co founder or founding team member ofeight startups with five incredible exits, two
IPOs, and three acquisitions. Hisinsights have guided countless startups from the ground
(32:58):
up, helping to shape the landsescape of modern entrepreneurship. They joined me
today chat all about driving innovation,growing businesses and seeking success. Welcoming now
to the show is Dan Gilman andSir Alex Stern. Welcome, superstars,
Welcome, Welcome, Thank you,so excited to have you on. Okay,
let's dive right in, Sir Alec. Yes you heard that right,
(33:19):
Sir Alec, because I know yourecently received the distinct honor being knighted and
ennobled theres A Baron of Boston ofCappadoccia by the Royal Order of Constantine the
Great and Saint Helen of the Royaland Sovereign House of Cappadocia and Saint Bartelomeo
for your exceptional accomplishments in entrepreneurship.I can't believe I actually did that right
(33:40):
without fumbling any of that, specificallyin entrepreneurships, innovation and philanthropy. So
I think it goes without saying thatyou are quite the expert. But I'm
curious to know throughout your illustrious career, what has been one of the most
unconventional pieces of advice that you followedand how did it pay off. I
(34:00):
think the biggest thing for me isthe management and handling of obstacles. You
know, I was always that personthat would take a piece of paper and
put a little box and then righton the line, you know, the
obstacle and help. I checked thebox by the end of the day,
but it never went away. Andoh, with time, it just felt
like the font got bigger and biggerand bigger, and that obstacle weighed on
(34:22):
me more so just to really seekcounsel, go find others and talk through
that and maybe break it up intosmaller pieces so you can have some wins
and knocking down the obstacle. Andit's kind of creating a muscle memory because
behind that obstacle is a bigger one, and then behind that next one is
a bigger one, and you haveto figure out how to do that.
(34:42):
And oftentimes when people drop out ofthe startup game or want to sort of
quit, it's because it's an obstacle. There's something that weighs on them.
And for me, that was somethingI learned and I appreciated the advice I
got on how to handle them.Well. All that advice and hard work
certainly did pay off. So admirehow you continue to pay it forward.
I know that after you settled inBoston you became very involved in the city's
(35:06):
nonprofit ecosystem, and you've done everythingfrom co sharing galas and fundraising to co
founding two nonprofits of your own,raising millions of dollars in the process.
So it should really come as nosurprise that you were presented with the Big
Greats Exemplary Humanitarian Award in twenty twentytwo. You are truly doing it all
now. I know Dan has afew questions as well, so I'm going
(35:28):
to hand it off to you,my dear. Can you tell us about
a time when you had to pivotdramatically in your career or business strategy and
also what drove that change and whatwas the outcome. Pivoting is a natural
It's just a natural thing. Andthe process of in a startup, you
know, you you set out todo something, and if you were kind
of thinking about the analogy of alane of a highway, you know,
(35:50):
you have your idea and you're onthat lane, and then sometimes you know,
you find that that the you know, the opportunity exists in the lane
adjacent on either side of that orsometimes you're on the wrong highway, you
got to get on another highway andfind another lane. And so I have
a lot of experience in doing that, and I think the the learning for
me is is just really getting outand asking your target market. You know,
(36:15):
I get asked every single day manytimes, what do you think of
our idea? What do you thinkof my idea? And my answer is
it doesn't matter what I think,what does your target market think? And
I think we sort of forget eventhough we might have been that target market
at one point. You know,I was a small business, so I
know what they need. Things changeyou go up to the minute. And
so for just getting out and thengoing in and seeking you know, sort
(36:37):
of the advice and hearing the youknow, and learned from that target market.
For me, that was the thingthat got me realizing that, Okay,
maybe we've got to shift lanes andmaybe we got to switch you know,
everything from messaging to to what we'resaying and to even what we're offering.
And so there's always pivots and thingshappening in any business, and they
(37:00):
will continue to happen, and that'schange, and change leads to opportunity,
providing your your going in the layingin the direction of what your target market
wants. Yeah, I love that. I love the analogy of the highway.
That really resonated with me. Now, I know, innovation is key
in any business. In fact,according to mckensey survey, eighty four percent
(37:21):
of executives believe innovation is the keyto growth, and companies that promote innovation
are three and a half more timeslikely to upperform their competitors statistically. Now,
can you share an instance where asimple idea turned into a major game
changer for one of your startups?Yeah? So, I mean the bigger
one that most people know is constantcontact. You know, there there was
(37:45):
a lot of innovation that happened,and you know, we were really set
out initially, so how do welevel the playing field for small businesses on
main street with those big competitors.You know, at the time, Amazon
and others had enterprise level tools whichcost a lot of money. They had
staff, they had you know,consultants, ad agencies that everyone sort of
(38:07):
helping them in that process. Butthe average small business, you know,
didn't have any of that. Andso what could we do to create a
self service easy used tool and theinitially email marketing being the first offering,
and digital marketing, which is whatwe would call it today. And and
then to just you know, givethem something. All they had to worry
about was what they were going tosay, when they were going to say
(38:30):
it, and who they were goingto say it to, and then all
the other stuff under the covers wastaken care of. They didn't have to
know technology or anything. They wouldjust create the message and we would create
that beautiful looking, you know campaignfor them that that would look just as
good as you would find from thosebigger competitors, the big box competitors.
So so you know, innovation justyou know, from the get go,
(38:50):
and we were one of the firstsoftware as of service ever ever, Like
you know, everyone talks about SaaSand cloud and you know rented software and
so on, but we were oneof the first ones that ever to launch.
So there's a lot of innovation andand things like that you know,
helped, you know, pave pavedthe way for us to be able to
scale effectively and also paved the wayfor for so many companies today to be
(39:15):
able to create, you know,easily create something and get it out and
get it into market and be ableto to give it to customers without the
requirement to install anything or you know, sort of up in the cloud and
easy to access. Yeah, thatmakes a lot of sense. Yeah,
that's incredible. So building a strongteam is crucial, as we know,
(39:37):
what qualities do you look for inpeople when you're forming a new team and
why. Yeah, So I literallywas just having a conversation before this interview
about this exact topic. You know, for me personally, the bigger the
bigger things is, uh, yougot to leave your egos at the door,
right, So there's no room forthat be tiitle agnostic. So it
(39:58):
doesn't matter, you know, Solike well I want the chief of you
know, product or the chief ofrevenue or you know, titles don't matter,
Like we're all going to be wearinga lot of hats and doing a
lot of things, you know.And then and then some would say,
well, you know, I reallywant to report to you. You know,
it's like, well, I mightnot be in this position or be
here, you know, I mightmove on and move up or aside or
(40:19):
whatever. It's whatever's best for thebusiness. So someone will come in above
you next to you or below you, and you got to be open to
accepting this. And there's a lotof people that that really are really worried,
caught up and worried about the title. If I could have the perfect
title, it would be E IE I O H I put out a
business card. You know, I'llgo ahead and get that printed. But
it doesn't matter because you're staying inyour lane, and you're going to do
(40:39):
what you're good at, and you'regoing to bring other people that are going
to stay in their lane and dowhat they're good at. And you don't
need a lot of people doing youknow that are coming in with the same
skill set you. And you seesome companies the beginning three founders that have
the same skill set, but youhave to establish like who's going to be
outward facing and talking to customers andinvestors. You know, CEO who's going
to be in ternal and kind ofoverseeing the running of the business. The
(41:01):
COO who's going to be developing theproducts and services, you know, the
CTO. You know, those aresort of roughly what those titles could look
like, but it doesn't matter.It's really just what your skill set and
you stay in the lane and youknow you have a better opportunity to you
know, succeed by doing what you'regood at and trying to do a bunch
of other things, taking a landgrab and grabbing stuff that others you know
(41:23):
could do better and couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. And I love
how you place such an emphasis onbuilding a strong team because it really does
have the ability to make or breaka company. And according to Zippier research,
about seventy five percent of employees rateteamwork and collaboration is big essential to
overall success. And to go evenfurther, a study by Fierce Inc.
(41:45):
Found that eighty six percent of employeescited ineffective communication or a lack of collaboration
is the main source of workplace failures. So you're absolutely right to be seeking
out these qualities to form the bestteam possible. Now, you also clearly
have a knack for seeing potential inthe early stages of a business. But
(42:07):
what are some red flags you watchout for when mentoring or investing in new
ventures? Yeah, so, Ithink one of the one of the big
things is passion, Right, youknow, you need to be passionate about
your idea. But if we hada passion meter. If you're pinning the
needle all the way over to thethe a little bit too passionate. Sometimes
you get your own way and andyou'll go down with the shift, like
(42:28):
you know, just you know,kind of this conviction that I know what
this is the idea, and Iknow what it needs and I'm going to
make it happen. And so soyou got to be open to feedback.
You got to be open to listeningto others. You've got to, you
know, again, talk to andlisten to your target market, you know,
and really hear hear what they're saying. And I've seen some you know
that just they're just they they knowthey know the answer and and we don't,
(42:52):
you know, even though we mighthave been that target market for many
of the years, as they said, it changes daily. And so so
I think that the kind of ared flag sometimes if it's they're a little
too like I want someone who's excitedabout the idea, but I also want
someone who's going to be able tolike, no matter what happens, if
the problem hits, they don't wantto quit and go home. They're going
to you know, work all nightand get the team to rally around solving
(43:15):
a problem and then be like,hey, we solved it, you know
over the weekend, or we solvedit you know last night, And that
that that they just they're just sobelieve in the idea so much that they'll
do anything to make sure it's successful. And and and oftentimes that you know,
folks that have that, you know, passion and conviction, you know,
are the ones you'd want to fundany any day versus someone who's you
(43:37):
know what, when the going getsrough, they quit. Yeah, what
is the biggest risk you've taken inyour career and how did that shape your
approach to business and leadership. It'sfunny, I am a risk taker and
unfortunately take too many risks on toomany things, you know, like an
international flight arriving in the air ortwenty minutes before you know, you don't
(43:57):
want to do things like that.But but that I've had agents say to
me or you risk taker, I'mlike every day. But as far as
it, you know, with withinbusiness, you know you've got to you
know, you got to take achance. And I think you know,
in my own statistics, you know, eighty five percent of the time at
product or idea or a service that'salways going to bring to market is just
executing on something that already exists butcould be done better. And there's a
lot of industries that are sleep atthe wheel that you know that you could
(44:21):
execute and do better. And thenthere, of course fifteen percent is creating
something that didn't exist before, youknow, when we see so many examples
of that Airbnb and Uber and youknow, Google and Facebook and all these
things that have sort of come comealong the way. Constant Contave was an
example of the one as well.And so you know, just again taking
that risk is to you know,could you call yourself an innovator, you
(44:42):
know, and we're all we're allentrepreneurs if we have an idea, but
we're an innovator if we take action. And so that's just you know,
running it by others, you know, noodle on it, get other people
to support what you're doing, findthat target market, get their feedback,
and then and run with it.So I've taken a lot of risks,
but a leading you know, youknow, h you hear a lot of
nos over time and I ignore thosebecause and that means not now in my
(45:06):
world, you know, you canalways cultivate those of the tournament, the
yeses later and get feedback and soon, But just get out think that
I did to take that risk,you know, and if your target market
says it's something they want and they'rewilling to pay for it, you're onto
something. We are almost out oftime. We have two questions left.
So shifting back to the topic ofinnovation and looking at the technological advancements today,
(45:27):
whether it's artificial intelligence or cybersecurity,e commerce, the metaverse. I
mean, the list goes on andon. But which industries do you believe
are going to hold the most promisefor young entrepreneurs to explore? Yeah,
so so it's of course, youknow, whether it's something that they want
to build a business around, orit's something that they want to use that
innovation to help advance their business,right, And I think there's sort of
(45:49):
both sides of the requine that wherethis exists. I've been very active in
AI, have been very active inthe metaverse, and very active as new
things that are coming out to reallylearn about them and see where they areportunities
lie. And I think, youknow, there's so many I guess efficiencies
and things that can come into playwith a lot of the new technologies,
and some are not new, they'rejust just advancements from the way they were
(46:13):
before. Like AI, it's beenaround for a long time, but now
it's just advanced in so many ways. And to take advantage of using that,
not to displace or change, youknow, the creative nature of you
know, uh, marketing, messagingand all these things. So you'll drop
it into let them give you theanswer, but but to truly use it
in some of the efficiency areas likecustomer support or or you know, folks
(46:37):
on the phone, you know,fielding questions from from customers, FAQs,
et cetera. There's a lot ofareas where that can can help. And
and I believe that that that alsomeans there's a lot of opportunity. So
I'm really blown away with what's outthere and what's to come, you know,
with some of these some of thethe advent of some of these these
areas now like AI, and ofcourse spending time in the medicurs and and
(46:58):
so on. Thanks thank you somuch for coming on and for sharing your
insights with us. It was trulyinvaluable. Thank you so much. That
was the discover your potential segment broughtto you by Smart pet Talk, and
that was the incredible Sir Alex Stern, Entrepreneurs, startup mentor, keynote speaker
and investor. Definitely be sure tocheck him out online at alecspeaks dot com.
It's Alec with the C not anX, and on the ground at
(47:21):
Alex Speaks to stay up to datewith his latest ventures, and of course
you can see more of Dan byheading to Discover your Potential show dot com.
You're listening to a Moment of Zenright here on seven to ten WR,
the voice of New York iHeartRadio.We'll be right back after this well.
Moment of Zen is sponsored by FintechTV. Fintech TV, the newest
streaming channel focused exclusively on the businessof blockchain, digital assets and sustainability,
(47:45):
broadcasting from our studio on the floorof the New York Stock Exchange with daily
reports from Nasdaq Global Expansion and twentyfour to seven coverage. Become part of
the launch. Head to Fintech dottv, slash invest Fintech dot tv slash
in Tune into a Moment of ZenSaturday nights from nine to ten pm on
seven to ten WAR, the Voiceof New York. Welcome back, beautiful
(48:07):
Triestate area. You're listening to amoment of Zen right here on seven to
ten WR, the voice of Newyork iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Zen
SAMs. In our Fintech TV exclusivesegment, Vinci Bolnari, CEO of Fintech
TV, sits down with Kevin O'LearyShark himself, chairman of O'Leary Ventures,
to discuss the current state of TikTok. Well, listen, let's break right
(48:29):
in here, TikTok news from youyesterday, share with us, with you
good as you know. In themost remarkable outcome of Congressional law, a
law was passed that has basically givenTikTok till January nineteenth to sell the concerns
about foreign adversaries spyware. A lotof people don't use TikTok for those concerns.
(48:49):
And finally Congress brought us to thepoint to where the Indians got to
five years ago. They've banned inIndia. So we don't know what's going
to happen. But because one ofthe options for the company is to be
able to sell it, it's adomestic ownership. I want to buy it,
and so one of the options Ithought would be very interesting is so
many of my companies are entrepreneurial newsTikTok to advertise. In fact, over
(49:12):
six million companies do that. That'swhere the majority of the revenue comes from.
I want to ask them, wouldyou be interested in becoming equity shareholders
with me down the road if thedeal ever happens. So I don't know,
there's no terms. The company's litigatingcongress, which I find an extraordinary
outcome. So we have no ideawhat this will be. But because it's
such a short time brain, I'dlike to get organized by asking people are
(49:35):
you interested? Unfortunately, there islaw that allows me to do that in
equity crowdfunding. I'm proud that youdoing the Jobs Act that had the vision
to democratize ownership, and this iswhat I'm doing. And so I've asked
anybody that's interested to go to wonderTikTok dot com, wonder TikTok dot com
exactly there it is, and registeryour interest. Tell me if you're interested,
(49:58):
and to what extent you're interested,and how much you would invest if
you could. I have no ideawhat the terms are yet, and I
disclose all that, but I thinkthere's going to be a lot of interest
in this because it's such a controversialsituation and I have no idea the outcome,
and nor does anybody else. Butthis is the one thing I do
know. I believe it will requirethe pen of the executivef he's ever the
(50:19):
President of the United States to getthis deal done. We've never had a
case like this ever. Absolutely loveit so much to cover, but I
have to applaud you on the creativitythe use of the Jobs Act, solving
for a national issue at the sametime and really democratizing wealth creation and returning
the power of social media to theindividuals who are participating. I think it
should be that way, particularly forTikTok. You know I want to make
(50:40):
TikTok wonderful again. You heard thatfirst year on Fintech TV. You're listening
to a Moment of Zen right hereon seven ten WR, the Voice of
New York iHeart Radio. We'll beright back after this. A Moment of
Zen is brought to you by yourHome TV with Kathy Ireland and their channel
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(51:02):
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(51:22):
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(52:04):
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