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June 20, 2020 51 mins

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FIRST THING: Amy is beyond excited to have Robin Roberts {@robinrobertsgma} host of Good Morning America on! Amy has been a huge fan of hers for years and she gets to talk with Robin about choosing joy and making the most of difficult times! SECOND THING: So how did Amy and Chase actually make her dream of having Robin Roberts on the podcast a reality?? Chase shares how his perseverance and determination finally paid off! THIRD THING: Amy reads an email from a listener who has recently lost her mother and is working her way through the grieving process. Having lost their own mother, Amy and her sister offer advice to help her through this. FOURTH THING: Our ‘Healthcare Hero’ Shoutout for this week is for an incredible nurse Jessie who volunteered to go to Italy to help on the frontlines in the ICU. The work she is putting in during these challenging times is absolutely amazing and we can not thank her enough for her sacrifice and for her heart to serve. 



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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, Bobby Bones here, appreciate you listen to the podcast, subscribing,
whatever it is that you're doing if you have us
in your routine, Just so grateful for you. So you know,
on the weekend sometime like to come on and put
a podcast up from the Nashville Podcast Network, And I
chose the episode of Amy's podcast where she got to
interview basically her hero, Robin Roberts. Amy's been a huge
fan of hers for a long time, and I knew

(00:20):
it was a big deal for her to get talked
to Robin, and I thought she did great. She was
worried about it, like what do I do? What do
I say? If you don't know, Robin Roberts is hosted
Good Morning America and fought cancer, and Amy talks with
robint about choosing joy making the most difficult times. Check
this episode out and if you like it, subscribe to
Amy's podcast. It's called Four Things with Amy Brown. So

(00:42):
that's it wherever you listen to podcasts. But you're listening now,
so you obviously know where to listen to a podcast.
Unless a friends playing this for you and you have
no idea, then just send me a DM. I'll let
you know. All right, there you go search it and subscribe.
Here is an episode that I think you'll like. It's
Amy and Robin Roberts. Be good, okay, cast up roa

(01:09):
thank little food for you so life. Oh it's pretty much. Hey,
it's pretty beautiful than that. A little more said he
You're kicking four with Amy Brown. Happy Thursday, everybody. Uh.

(01:30):
This is the episode with Robin Roberts probably someone not
even probably no legit. Someone I have wanted on the
podcast since the first day I started the podcast, which
was what how Chase is on here with me? How
long have I been doing this? A year and a half? Maybe? Yeah,
about you about a year and a half ish so,

(01:52):
and she has been goals and it finally happened. And
you know, one of the things you're gonna hear Chase
and I talk about out later in the episode is
how Chase kind of made it happen. And I wanted
him to come and share that with you guys as
encouragement to just go after something. You know, we've talked

(02:14):
about that before, like it never hurts to send someone
an email. And Chase has been, you know, had met
some of Robin's people and ABC people and Good Morning
America people, but you know kind of I don't know, Chase.
Then you just straight up ended up emailing Robin. So
we're going to dive into that because that is gutsy

(02:37):
to me. But it worked. And now Robin is here
on the podcast and she's the first thing, and she's
she's just amazing. You'll hear it. She is so wise
and I just absolutely adore her even more than I
did because I probably had about what fifteen twenty minutes
to talk with her for the podcast. Chase, that's what

(02:58):
her her double assists or PR team, like the people
like there. I mean, this is Robin Roberts. There's there's rules.
So I said a timer, and I was trying to
be so respectful and we ended in the proper time frame.
And then after I finished the podcast part, she probably
stayed on the Zoom call and talked with me and

(03:19):
my husband for like twenty more minutes, and she was
just as amazing and I couldn't believe it, and she
did not have to do that. And there were so
many times where I was trying to let her go,
but she was so thoughtful and could just kind and
was talking and asking questions and we just uh, chase

(03:39):
you didn't you The audio of that was on the
zoom call, so you probably got to hear it. Isn't
she so amazing? She's so amazing? And I did watch it,
and I, you know, yeah, I think that was the
coolest part, is just seeing you have that interaction, um
after you were able to kind of take a deep
breath in getting the interview done, and that was Ian,

(04:00):
y'all hear in the podcast. I'm very nervous. I can't
even talk right now, but I'm you, I hear it, am.
I I couldn't even listen back once I got the
audio all ready to go for the podcast and it
was sent back to me and I couldn't even click play.
I did, let me let me tell the truth here.

(04:21):
I clicked play, and I listened to myself talk for
about twenty seconds and I couldn't listen to anymore. So
I haven't even listened back to it, and I don't
know if I ever will, because you know, it was
just special and I want to remember it the way
I remember it happening, and I feel like if I
hear it back, I'll start to pick things apart and

(04:43):
maybe kick myself, Oh why did you say that? Or
why'd you mess up? There is a part where I
mess up the first part I heard, however many seconds
I really listened to. I don't know if it's twenty,
I don't know it's thirty forty. But I'm trying to
say that my mom made her mess her message, and
I think this is when I cut it off because
I couldn't even say that. I said she made her message.

(05:07):
I left out the word mess. Did you catch that? Yeah,
but we got it in context. Okay, Well I couldn't
believe myself, so I quit listening. But I hope you'll
enjoy it. Robin is just truly an inspiration. And again
she's the first thing, and then Chase and I will
be the second thing. Kind of breaking down how the

(05:31):
Robin Robert's interview came to be, because it definitely wasn't
just an overnight thing. Chase has been working on it
for a while. And then will I've got an email
from a listener that I want to share that is
Robin related. For the third thing, I mean, the emailer
wasn't talking about Robin. But the advice I would give

(05:54):
to this person is it's so perfect. I feel like
Robin's interview basically answered, there's this so if any of
I just thought it'd be good to share in case
anybody else is in this situation. And then the fourth
thing will be the healthcare hero shout out what up?
So all right, enough rambling, let's get started here. She
is Robin Roberts first. Okay, well, super excited to have

(06:21):
you here with us today, Robin. And before we really
get into things, I just want to first tell you
why I admire you so much. I mean I have
for a really long time, but really felt connected to
you after I read your book. Everybody's got something because
in twenty and fourteen, I lost my mom to cancer,
and she's someone that when she was at MD Anderson

(06:44):
and diagnosed for the third time, she went to the
chapel and said, Lord, use this cancer for good. It
wasn't Lord, heal me, It wasn't anything selfish. It was
the most selfless prayer that I've heard. And he did
use it for good. And her message was joy when
she was battling it, and her message after has been joy.
And we've been able to use that as a movement

(07:05):
called Pimp and Joy for her but it made me
think when I was reading your book, oh my gosh,
she made her message, which you know you talked about
from your mom, and so for me, it was really
cool to read what you were saying, and it helped
me keep that positive perspective and then also keep my
mom's message of joy alive because then it gave her

(07:27):
cancer journey meaning and it just really helped me like
a lot. So I just wanted to start off by
saying thank you for your wisdom and your encouragement and
your optimism, because it meant a lot to me, instilled us.
And can I say this to you, though the outcome
wasn't what you hoped for or prayed for, with your mother,
her journey, every bit of value, every bit is powerful,

(07:50):
every bit as my journey. There's no difference. I sometimes
have survivor's guilt a little bit, and that I'm so
in turn really grateful that, for whatever reason, I was
able to get through the cancer that once put twice.
And when I hear stories like your mom, and I
just want to tell those people who are here carrying

(08:12):
on for them. I don't like it when people say
so and so lost their battle to cancer. No, they didn't.
As my dear friend Stewart Scott said, your mother beat
cancer in the matter in which she lived and how
you are carrying on her legacy. So I just want
to thank you for doing this and for making your
mother's mess not only her message, but your message as well.

(08:34):
Bless you for that, oh well, and thank you for
that shift in how I say it, because words are
so important, words matter, and I feel like I'm one
of those people that has often said, just without really
thinking about it, she lost her battle. So again, look
at you shift in my perspective to positivity, of course,
which you know that's one of the things I want
to talk to you about because you do such a

(08:56):
wonderful job every morning on Good Morning America bringing positivity
into people's homes. But then also on your Instagram you've
got what like motivation Monday and Wednesday wisdom and thankful
Thursday like some basically every day of the week and
when the world is so crazy right now, I mean
we have different ups and downs in life, but it's
especially heavy right now. What is your advice to people

(09:19):
and my listeners that may need your type of positivity
and encouragement and the reminder to choose joy during all
of this, and to choose joy. And I have a
plaquard that I'm going to show you a sweet amber.
We'll get it forward more mother. My mother had much
like your mom. She stays with me. My mother's not
basically here with me, but she had choose a happy

(09:41):
sorrow that I was after my father passed and we
were all just could not even function, and she said,
we're going to be sorrowful, but let's let's think of
those happy times that we have and choose a happy sorrow.
So I think a lot about that. I'm not sure
it's somewhere around here. I know downstairs you probably used
it for the morning show at some point, you happy Sorrow.

(10:04):
But what I do as much like push on. I'm
just trying to keep up with you, a Bobby, with
your positivity and what you're doing in the morning. So
we're just trying to keep up with you. To your name.
But it's to be real with it, Amy. I often
I'm tickled sometimes when somebody will reach on social media
and said you look sad today, and I was like,

(10:25):
I was talking about death and famine today. I'm not
going to smile falsely, but so when I do smile,
when I do share, it comes from the heart, and
it is. But my mother taught me that we learned
so much more through the trial to tribulations as opposed
to the joy. I walked a mile with pleasure. She

(10:45):
chattered all the way, But I was none the wiser
for all she had to say. I walked the mile
the sorrow, and ne'er a word said she. But all
the things I learned from her would sorrow walk with me.
And that's why I try, and in part during this
time with people, we don't want to. I don't want
to be sheltered at home, but I know it's the
right thing for me to do, given line underlying conditions
and such and what's going on in New York City.

(11:07):
But you can find light and darkness, and I look
forward a little bit harder, but because maybe I have
been in the habit all the time since I was young.
Optimism is like a muscle to get strong with us.
You know, like you, I know you you're you're health bad.
You know when you want to work on something, you
you know, you work on your muscle and you build it.

(11:28):
It's the same thing with optimism. Because I have gotten
in the habit of doing that that when these tough
times come along, it's not easy, it's easier. It just
makes it a little bit easier to get through it, right,
And I love your honesty with people too, that it
doesn't mean just because you're choosing joy, And that's something
I had to remind people about being my mom's caregiver.

(11:50):
I think some people of our listeners saw the message
of like, oh, wow, y'all are pimp and joy choose
and joy all about joy. You got joy tattooed on
your wrists, like just joy, And I said, well, okay,
I don't want to be misleading. Our overall theme is joy.
But this has been there have been some very very
very hard days and I'm currently my sister and I

(12:11):
are now a carrigiver for my dad, and there's there's
highs and lows. But again with him, we're trying to
keep the joy. But but it's like, you also have
to be real that it doesn't mean that you're not
allowed to be sad or have bad days or just
give yourself that permission. Actually you need to feel it.
And yeah, it's good to share that as well. You
have to share that time because if not, you give

(12:32):
the false impression to people that you're always like that,
and that's not the case. We have our bad days
as well. But I love when you posted the picture
of your dad through the widow. Oh yeah, I'll follow you.
I follow you. Okay. I've promised all of my people

(12:52):
in my life I would be cool and calm and collected,
so I kind of keep my composure. But you know,
I mentioned your words of wisdom earlier. You know, make
your mess your message. That's huge. I love it. And
you've been beyond gracious to let us all into some
of the toughest times also some of the good. But

(13:14):
the good and the bad, the hard and everything that
you've been through and through all that you've learned in
your journey or your mess, Like, what is your message
that we're all stronger than we do. I'm sure you
never thought losing your mother and the battles that you've
had and being becoming a mother that you could find joy.

(13:35):
And that's what I tried. My message to everyone is
that you have this way. I want to be a mirror.
That's what I want to be. So all the things
that you and others say to me, I want to
be a reflection and say right back at to tenfold.
But I didn't know losing my mother my father, the
two most important people who person flower balls taught me

(13:56):
about being disciplined, about the termination and importantly delord the
three best determination and the Lord that when my parents
left me, when my hometown was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina,
when I went through cancer, not once, not twice, that
I would be here right there at this moment and
to be able to tell my joy. So my message

(14:16):
to people is we're all stronger. I didn't know I
had that strength within me. And you don't know until
you're put to the test what is inside of you.
And so that's why I say to everybody, we all.
Everybody's got something. We divorce, unemployment, sickness, of death, all
these things happen. And that's not the tragedy. It's why

(14:38):
did this happen? What am I supposed to learn? What
am I supposed to more importantly share with this being
path put in my path? What can I learn from
it and share with others? And I think that is
my underlying message to people, is that we have this
all within us. I didn't know I had it either,
and I guarantee that people don't know that they have

(14:59):
it with in them what I'm here to tell them
they do. Yeah, you're like, I'm taking in everything you're
saying right now. I'm like, oh, yeah, she's pretty good
at this. She should probably do a masterclass or something,
which you have. And my friend Chase took your masterclass.
He has already completed everything and he's emerged a new Chase.

(15:21):
He's basically Robin Roberts. And I'm a little jealous because
I haven't taken it yet, haven't had the time, but
I will be signing up and taken it as soon
as I can. And so for you, what prompted you
to join masterclass? Oh my goodness. I was flattered that
they asked me in the first place. And what I
was very excited about is when they first approached me,

(15:42):
I was like, oh, you know, I enjoy being a journalists,
don't get me wrong, and being a communicative, but I
don't really think of myself as a teacher in that regard.
And they said, no, we want you to teach a
class on authenticity. I'm like, sign me up. How to
be an authentic, a genuine communic cater? And I was like,
that's great, because I don't care if you're a broadcaster, banker, lawyer,

(16:06):
I don't any line of work you're going to benefit
yourself and others. If you're true to who you are.
There's no better no one is better at being you
than you. And so it was really exciting to teach
this class. Never thought Professor Roberts and I would teach
this class. And it's all about being genuine, listening your

(16:26):
body language, all these little things that we take for granted,
and just trying to show people that why not, you know,
especially during this time. I don't like the phrase about
social distancing. It's physical distancing, but let's be socially connected.
Let's always be socially connected. And so this is my
way of trying to just kind of show people some

(16:46):
things that have worked really well for me. I'm lowering
the ladder and letting people climb up because so many
lowered the ladder for me, men and women especially to
help to empower me, and I'm just really grateful. So
just trying to just trying to share some pearls of
wisdom with people to help them to be able to
authentically live their life, whatever that is they choose to live.

(17:10):
Oh well again, I'm not joking when I say I'm
signing up to take it, or I'm not just saying
that because you're on here like safe to say, I'm
definitely taking it and I cannot wait. So I only
heard great things, so I'll be maybe some of my
listeners will do it too, and it can be like
a thing we can talk about on the podcast is
all the things we learned from from masterclass. So now

(17:31):
that I got some of the other stuff out the way,
I have a few hard hitting questions, just a few. Now,
do you hit the snooze button? Yes or no? Yes? Okay,
So I just once because in your book you mentioned it.
I can't even remember where, but I remember it coming up,
and I felt like Robin feels me because I felt

(17:51):
so judged for being a snoozer. For so long, I
would intentionally set my alarm earlier so that I could snooze,
and people I would just hear from people that successful
people don't snooze. And then when I read that you did,
I was like, well, why does I ga she's super
successful snooze. I don't know anybody who doesn't who says

(18:11):
they don't I don't believe them. I mean, come on,
that's that's gift. It's kind of like I almost get
upset if I I love to wake up and look
at the clock and still see that I have, like,
you know, like half an hour or forty five minutes
something to still sleep. I never can sleep all the
way till the alarm goes off, but I get really excited, like,
oh my gosh, she still have thirty more minutes. And

(18:33):
then it goes off and I'm like, snooze. You know.
It's just it's just like it's kind of like a
little gift that you give yourself. But I never thought
about actually setting my alarm earlier so I can justify
the snooze. That's that's something different. Well, I mean I would.
I don't have the discipline as you like. I. I've
since quit snoozing about about a year ago. Bobby challenged

(18:54):
me to quit, so I quit, and it's been good
for me because I was I would snooze like four times.
Oh okay, well all right, Amy, Okay, now you're telling
on yourself. No, I just just just the one seven minutes.
I don't know why those seven minutes are so precious.
The news that they are. I can feel them. I'd
also like to know your favorite country song. Oh, my
favorite country song. Through the years. You've never let me down.

(19:20):
You term my life oh round, Yes, through the years.
Kenny Rogers, through the years. I love I love miss him.
I was so sad when he passed. But I because
I was a country music DJ. You know this back
in the day, w our fourteenth country hometown in Trances
nineteen forty seven. Not yeah, yeah, ye, yes, shout out,
I shout out. So I did that in ham and

(19:41):
Louisiana when I was in college. But Kitty Rogers, anything
from Kenny and Dolly, Streams of the Desert, Streams of
the Desert Islands, in the dream Islands, in the streams. Yes,
I'm thinking of Streams in the Desert because that's a
daily devotional that I read every morning. So I get
those two mixed up. Next, yeah, next, What are you
binging on TV? Right now? You go? I'm watcher. I

(20:06):
have a snoozer. The last thing I truly binged was Succession.
Oh my gosh, that was the last thing I truly binged. Yeah, yeah,
like I'm into that. And then for a season. Oh yeah,
I know my husband and I are patiently Would you
watch billions? Oh? Yes, very similar? Just yeah, well, yeah,

(20:27):
at what interview in all of your career made you
the most nervous? This one right now? Shut up, that's
my answer. Political ones always make me nervous. I don't
care if it's a Democrat, Republican or an independent I'm
talking to. I always get nervous with political ones because
that's the one that people watching they just then they

(20:50):
just they go to their respective corners, and it's very
hard to get people from different sides to come together
when the FAC's with George of us are in the middle.
You know, we have people for our left, our right,
but the vast majority of the country in the world,
we're kind of like we're moderate. But any kind of
political interview whatsoever, I get a little if Yeah, no,

(21:12):
I could see how that would definitely make me nervous.
And you made me. You made you're my most nervous
in a good way. You and George Straight. Oh George Straight, Oh,
oh my gosh. When I presented at the see in
the Awards Entertainer of the Year and it was George Straight, Wow,
I was just like, I'm like God and then and
the amazing invite me back. I'm like, I just give

(21:33):
the entertain of the year, George straight, I'm not coming
back to present. That's the that's the that's the back, Dabby, right.
I know, well yeah, I would take that. So we're
huge on gratitude here on four things. So I always
like to have guests share four things that they're currently
thankful for. They can be big things, small things, in

(21:53):
between things, but I just want to hear what you're
thankful for. I always grateful for my health, especially when
it's been taken from me. So I'm grateful for my health.
I'm grateful for being the daughter of Colonel Lawrence and
Lucy Marian Robbers. I'm just every single day I vote
two kisses to the heavens to them. I am grateful

(22:15):
that I'm loved and I know how to love that
I'm loved, that I'm able to return at tenfold and
there's nothing, there's nothing to be taken lightly about that.
And I'm very grateful, and this is something I've had
to work on. I'm grateful for this moment. I'm grateful
for what I'm what I'm what I'm doing right now

(22:36):
with you. I'm grateful that I can be in the
moment that I'm not thinking about what I did this
morning or what I still have to do today, that
I truly have been grateful that I've been able to
work on just stay in the moment, and this is
a beautiful moment. As excited as you were to talk
with me, I was with you. You know. I had

(22:56):
spent time in Haiti and was there right after the earthquake.
I helped a family from Iowa being able to find
their daughter who they were in the process of adopting.
They didn't know she was alive or none, and I
was able to link them together. And I still get
pictures for a little Maya. She's so grown now. And
I just really appreciate how you have lived your life,

(23:18):
how how you have I love how you're you know,
you said empowered women, empower women. You are empowering so
many each and every day, the way you and Bobby
and the way Bobby respects you. You know, we often
talked about often talk about how women helping women, which
is so important. It's equally important that we have men

(23:40):
who are by our side. And that's what I learned
from my father. My father I saw how he treated
his daughters and his son, and more importantly, how how
he went was with my mom. And so we have
to have allies and you and Bobby every single glorious
morning that you are. You know, you're lifting people up,
you're having fun, you're playing great, all of the things.
So I'm just really really grateful that I've had this

(24:03):
time with you. It really means a love and I
did find I don't know if it's going to be
so backward, choose happy sorrow, Lucy Mary and Roberts my mom.
And that's what I want to say to people. We
got to choose happy sorrow. I love that so much.
And you're so sweet, Like I'm taking in what you're saying,
and I was so much for me want to be
like Robin stopped. This isn't about me or Bobby or

(24:25):
anything like this is my Robin time. But I too
am being in the moment and receiving what you're saying.
And that just means so much to me, especially hearing
that from someone that someone that I look up to
so much, and how you handle yourself in media and
as a woman and a trailblazer and in all areas

(24:47):
I mean before you even my friend Mary, who I
make these shirts with. My daughter did the artwork Stashira,
so this is her handwriting. And you know, she was
a huge fan of yours for your sports days. So
she was like, she's like, yeah, yeah, but you know don't.
I was like, well, you can give me some questions

(25:07):
because I'm not a big sports person. Just full disclosure.
And she's like, no, no, just focus on what you
would focus on. I was like, okay, okay, okay. So anyway,
super grateful to have you on like means everything, and
you are an empowered woman. To me, that empowers women
and I just appreciate that so much. Before you go,
can I get one of those I've never asked for anything,
but I would love to sis medium. If you don't

(25:30):
like it, could be okay, I'll wear it, I'll post
it just I think it's great. Well, thank you. I'll
send you of all the things. Don't you worry? Oh
and uh before we go, and every episode during this
season of Life right now, I'm incorporating a healthcare hero
shout out where listeners are submitting healthcare heroes in their

(25:51):
life and then we send them. We made these cute
little because the podcast is four Things, Four Things. Gratitude
four things is the theme, and so we made scrubs
on wash hands repeat and we send them out to
whoever was nominated, and when we read it, we get
their address and then we send it to them. And
today's I'm going to read a whole thing about her,

(26:12):
but I just thought if she got Robin Roberts as
they woe up. Her name is Jesse Lutz and she
spent two months volunteering in Italy for coronavirus in Italy. Wow,
it was so hard hit there. And I'm glad of
the nurse. I mean, they're the unsung heroes. But isn't
it wonderful how we are recognizing our healthcare workers in

(26:32):
all capacities, How people are really now recognizing what they not.
It's a it's a shame that has taken a pandemic
for the world to recognize. But that is wonderful that
you're doing that. That is absolutely oh well, I mean
it's the least I can do. And I think that
you and I both know going through well I haven't
been through what you've been through, but i've you know,

(26:53):
with my parents. When you say nurses are unsung heroes
at times. I mean, there's so many healthcare heroes. There's
all the people involved. But I mean, really, when I
would see the nurses and what they would have to
handle and do and everything in their like every the
doctor would come in and the doctor be like okay,
and the nurse is the one that had to tell
him everything. So anyway, I just appreciate it all healthcare

(27:18):
heroes and appreciate you so. Thank you so much. You
just keep going radio Amy, you just keep doing your thing.
I'm so so proud of you. I'm incredibly proud of
you with how you've had me yourself with such with
such grace, and just keep keep doing, keep making your
master message, keeting the world out there, get the word

(27:39):
out there though. All right, thank you, and I guess
I'll see you when I take your masterclass and I
master all things. Robin Roberts. So appreciate you so much
and we'll talk to you soon. Yeas second thing, okay, well,
Robin Roberts done and Done has officially come on the podcast.

(28:02):
To feel like that's a little bucket list item for me,
and I mean, Chase, you made it happen so huge.
Thank you and then I got to say thank you
to Mary and you as well for the video part,
because Mary encouraged me to try to do video as
well because she just feels like the conversation is so
much better when the people can see each other, which

(28:23):
I totally agree. I was just nervous to ask Robin
if she would do video, and luckily I didn't have
to ask her Chase did, and Chase put in the
ask and Robin said yes, she would do video too,
So I'm excited that I have that part of it
as well because it's just super special. But Chase, how

(28:45):
did you get Robin on? And what encouragement do you
have to people that wants something and maybe just to
remind them to not give up? Because for me, I
feel like I've tried to manifest Robin a lot throughout
the years and put it out there, even most recently
when I put up that little Instagram image where I

(29:08):
put like, who do y'all want? On the podcast and
I kept tagging Robin Roberts as like kind of like
a joke but also dead serious. So but to me,
that was putting it out there and then boom it happened.
But I know it wasn't just like, well it happened.
I mean, you've been doing some backdoor stuff for a while,
so why don't you talk us through that and what

(29:31):
it looked liked on what it looked like on your end, Well,
you have been, you know, a big fan of Robbins
for quite a while. You've respected her personally and professionally,
and so it was kind of the goal for the
past year to get her on the podcast. And so
I'd say we started about a year ago, reaching now

(29:53):
through the proper channels, you know, through publicists. Of course,
ABC is a part of Disney, and so there's a
lot of people in Evolved, and you know, we were
doing the right thing and kind of at times getting
a little bit of the runaround which to be respectful
to them, I totally get there's a lot of requests
coming in and so we were trying to also time

(30:15):
it perfectly. And long story short, I had reached out
several months ago kind of as a follow up and
hadn't heard back, and I have some friends who work
at ABC and was kind of seeking to myself, Well,
I bet based on their email, this is probably Robin's email,
and so I just went ahead and reached out to

(30:37):
her directly myself, and I will say just to re
emphasize who Robin Roberts is and what gave me the
confidence to go ahead and reach out and feel comfortable
doing that. I had met her last August at a
taping at Good Morning in America, and I was seated
next to a guest she had in that morning, and

(30:58):
he was a World War Two veteran who had celebrated
his ninetieth birthday, and his daughter had emailed Good Morning
America just sharing the admiration that her dad had for
Robin and especially the role she played in his life.
Every morning after her mom had passed, in every commercial break,
Robin would come over and check on this gentleman and

(31:20):
just squeeze his hand and was so kind. And there
was no fanfare about it, there was no mention of it.
It was something she just quietly did on her own,
and that stuck with me, obviously, And so I knew,
asking her directly to do this, knowing how special it
would be for you, that her heart would probably be

(31:42):
more than happy to do it if her scheduling allowed,
and it allowed, right, And there was a part of
it that I guess they were intrigued too, that it
would be super special to me and possibly even like
a surprise, and so Ben I already had known about it,

(32:02):
and there was a minute where I was like, wait,
should we should we act like I'm surprised because I
started to think, oh my gosh, she's only doing this
because she's getting to surprise me, and it'll take it
away if there's not that surprise element. But then you know,
Robbin's like number one thing is authenticity, and I'm glad

(32:23):
we decided to just roll with the fact that I
did know about it, but she did know that she
was still surprising me by even coming on, because I mean,
I was surprised that she agreed to come on, not
because you know, she feels like she's bigger, better than
you know, my little podcast, but she doesn't really. I

(32:46):
haven't seen her on mini podcasts besides, unless they're ABC
or ESPN related and or OPRAH or something. And I'll
brag on you real quickly. Again, speaking to how wonderful
Robin is, I had received an email directly from her
after everything was recorded, just saying how much she enjoyed

(33:10):
her time doing the interview, but also of her time
after where she spoke with you and Ben a little
bit off camera and just how special you are and
so you made an impression, and obviously she's just an
incredible human and her entire team beginning to end. You know,
we work with a lot of great people, and that's
not to say others aren't as great, but they're probably

(33:34):
some of the best, if not the best, we've ever
worked with us on our end. Oh yeah, no, I've
even just getting excited for the interview. I went back
and revisited her book that I read. I think it
was probably twenty fifteen that I read Everybody's Got Something,
and gearing up for the interview this last weekend, I
put it on audio and started listening to it, and

(33:59):
I already was like finding myself making mental notes of oh,
I need to do this. I need to be better
at this at work, like when it comes to relationships
and how we treat people and how I do my job.
But not for anybody. This is all behind the scenes stuff,
not stuff that anybody would ever even know about. But

(34:19):
how I feel like I've dropped the ball for sure
in relationships. I wouldn't say that, but I say we
could probably all do better. Myself included. I learned a
lot in this process as well, so I'm in the
same boat. Yeah, I mean, who knew so much should
come from, you know, booking Robin Roberts little things. Yeah,

(34:40):
that we did learn and then having her on. I mean,
of course we knew we would learn. And then Chase,
I gave you your shout out. I told Robin you'd
taken her master class. So I'm definitely going to be
taking that. I know Mary wants to do it too.
A couple of other people commented on my Instagram and
that they have done it and it's just so awesome.

(35:03):
So I would encourage all of you listening, if you
can do it, to sign up and take her masterclass,
and if you do, take a picture of it, post
it online tag us. Maybe we should take it all
together somehow. I don't know how do you. I haven't
taken any of the master classes, So Chase, do you

(35:25):
pay for it by class or do you have to
have a subscription and you end up getting all of them?
Or can we just do Robbins I believe you subscribe
and you get access to all of the master classes
and they are broken down into sometimes like ten to
fifteen minute lessons, but it's something you can watch straight through,
or it's something you can kind of, you know, take

(35:46):
one each day and reflect upon that lesson in the
things that you learned, or like I said, you could
do it all together, the super user friendly and really
like quality quality content. Okay, awesome, Well can't wait to
do that. Okay. So the next thing coming up is
going to be that email that I told y'all about

(36:08):
that I got from a listener, and I'm just going
to keep the Robin theme going and you'll hear that
my advice was inspired by Robin. That'll be next the
third thing we got. Okay, Now, I've got the email

(36:31):
that I was going to share with you all from
a listener named Kristen who lost her mom to cancer.
And Kristen, I just want to say thank you for
the note and then thank you for letting me share
this with everyone because I think whether you've experienced loss,
I wanted to go through this email with everyone because
you will experience it at some point. And maybe you

(36:52):
haven't lost a parent like Kristen or myself, but you
maybe have grief of some kind and some of this
advice could pertain to your situation, whether or not it's
like exactly what you've gone through. So that's why I
thought this was a good email to read because I'll
have some Robin Roberts inspired advice and then also some

(37:14):
stuff or my experience, and then also my sister as
well because she can relate to some of what Kristen
says in here too. So here's the email. Hey, Amy,
I recently lost my mom to cancer. She fought the
fight for seven years and the cancer finally one. I
miss her every single day, but I'm happy to know
that she's pain free. I'm wondering if you have advice

(37:35):
on the grieving process. She passed away the day after
my birthday, two hours after actually, and I'm already dreading
my birthday every year. The week after she passed, I
cried all the time every time I thought about her.
The last several weeks, though, I feel like I can't
cry anymore. I think about her multiple times a day.
I pick up my phone to call her, text and

(37:56):
miss her so so much. Life is definitely not normal,
but I feel like I'm finding out my new normal.
Or am I just avoiding the fact that my mom
is gone? Am I doing this grieving thing wrong to
throw more of a ringer into it. I'm ninety nine
percent sure I suffer from disordered eating. Loved the outweigh series,
and nutrition and exercise seemed to be the one thing

(38:18):
I can control in this crazy time. I've been looking
at therapists, but also I'm freaked out that all my
visits will be virtual when I haven't ever met him
or her. Any advice on this as well. Ps. I
ran my first marathon two weeks ago. It was a
virtual run, and I almost didn't do it when the
actual event was canceled. I thought of pimp and Joy though,

(38:38):
and just ran the thing, as coronavirus can't ruin everything.
I felt great afterwards. Anne had so many friends out
cheering me on and people congratulating me. It was a
great feeling. Thanks for spreading the joy message and giving
me that extra push to accomplish this goal. Kristen, So,
first of all, uh, yeah, this is hard like I,

(39:00):
this is fresh for you, Kristen, and I lost my
mom oh this fall. It'll be six years ago, so
I have some time under my belt on this. But
one of the first things that you mentioned was that
you lost her on your birthday or the day after
your birthday, two hours after. And I hate that for

(39:25):
you because, yeah, anytime your birthday rolls around, there will
be that memory. But just know that you're going to
have a lot of different times that you think of
your mom that are going to be hard. Christmas time,
Mother's Day, her birthday, when that comes up, and it's

(39:47):
up to you on how you want to handle those days.
But I decided to reach out to my sister to
address this particular part because my our mom died the
day before her birthday and the day after. I remember
we still had a party at my sister's house because
we had so many people in town, and so many

(40:08):
people had come by my sisters anyway, because that's where
my mom was in hospice and where she passed away,
and you know, there was her house was like a
revolving door the week my mom her last week of
life anyway, so so many people wanted to be around
and they were in town and family and friends, and
I remember my sister and I really struggling with it, like, gosh,

(40:28):
this feels so weird, but we're just going to roll
with it. And we ended up having a good time.
But it was still hard, but I asked my sister
to send in her thoughts from that day and here
is what she wrote. So the first morning I woke

(40:50):
up after losing Mom, it was my birthday. I still
tear up about that even typing this. She didn't call,
she didn't sing. You and I got up and did. Well.
I should clarify here this is me talking again, not
my sister. She's texting this to me what we did.
So that's how I'm going to read it, so that's
how you should hear it. Okay, back to the text.

(41:13):
You and I got up and did the Tracy Anderson
work out. I knew Mom would have loved that, and
Ben got that lobster rolled truck to come to the
house and people came over to celebrate my birthday, which
felt weird because Mom had just died and I didn't
want to celebrate. But what helped me was knowing that
she would want me to celebrate, and that literally it's

(41:33):
like she was there in her own way, celebrating with
us from heaven and celebrating our birthdays. We are celebrating
our moms who gave us life. In the years following,
I've gone by myself to get pedicures and manicures just
on my own for my birthday because that is what
Mom would have wanted to do with me. And I
think that's the message. To celebrate your birthday as they

(41:57):
would want you to and things they would do with you.
It honors the fact that they gave you life, made
sacrifices for you, and raised you. Whenever I feel sad,
I sometimes just do something in honor of her, like
buy the stranger behind me a coffee at a coffee
shop and then Mom and I smile about it together.

(42:17):
So that was the text that I got from my sister,
and I totally agree with that. You need to use
not only just your birthday but any of the days
that are going to be hard when you're thinking about
your mom. What is something you can do to remember
her by to honor her? And I think that that

(42:38):
will really really help you out a lot. And I
know that you were asking if you were doing the
whole grieving thing wrong, and no, there is no right
or wrong. We all grieve differently. Now's the time where
I want to share a quote from Robin's book Everybody's
Got Something, because I want you to sit with this

(43:01):
and try to figure out what is the meaning here?
You're going through a lot right now. Here's what Robin said.
Life provides losses and heartbreak for all of us, but
the greatest tragedy is to have the experience and miss
the meaning. So I know it's I know it's so
hard to be like, well, what the heck? Why should

(43:23):
I have to experience my mom dying of cancer after
seven years of her having to go through that? But
there is something there. There's something there for all of us.
We have to choose which direction we want to go
with it. And if you're not crying anymore, that's fine.
The crying will come and go. I remember crying all

(43:45):
the time, and then suddenly it just started to get
easier and easier, and now I can't ever predict when
it's going to happen. Sometimes I still have breakdowns, but
they're further apart, and it's not every day, and I'm
not on the floor curled up in a ball trying
to figure it all out having an anxiety attack. I'm

(44:06):
at peace with it, and that's the gift of time.
Time helps us with that perspective, helps us with that,
giving the journey meaning, making the mess your message helps
with all of that because then you can rest comfortably
in it because that's what you're focusing on. And I

(44:27):
know that you're a strong person, Kristen, because you ran
a marathon. Yeah, And Robin said in the first thing,
when I asked her what her message is, she said, well,
then I'm stronger than I thought, and we all are.
And I agree with that, and I want you to

(44:48):
remember how strong you are. And when it comes to therapy,
I couldn't recommend it more. If that is something that
you can afford to do and that is possible for you,
whether it's virtual or in person, you need to do it,
especially if you think you have any sort of disordered
eating going on. You do not want that to get

(45:09):
worse because of the trauma you've just experienced with your mom.
And my eating disorder came back the day after my
mom died, and I wish I had gotten the help
that I needed right away. I kind of did, but
I wasn't really willing to commit to the work because
it takes work, and that that's a bummer. That's some

(45:35):
of my mess that now I'm making my message, and
it's to tell you that I don't want you to
go through that. I want you to try to figure
that out. So if you do find a therapist virtually
or in person, make sure they specialize in disordered eating.
Ask them those questions so that they know exactly what

(45:57):
you're going through. I've got some good people that we
follow on Instagram, maybe even have a therapist I could
recommend to you. But therapy is great if you're listening
right now. And therapy is not an option for you
because money's tight, Like, find somebody that you can talk to.
You may not get the advice back that you necessarily need,

(46:19):
but there is something certainly therapeutic about just talking about
your feelings and saying out loud what is going on.
Journaling two can be great. I'm trying to put that
into practice, really really trying, but especially when you're going
through something hard, it helps to write down the thoughts

(46:41):
and the feelings and what you're going through. So just
know that there's no right or wrong way to grieve.
Kristen and anybody else that needs to hear this, we're
all on our own journey, but you perspective is everything
in Kristen. I'm not picking on you at all, but
I'm using this as an example, because in the email,
you know, you said you're already dreading your birthday, and

(47:03):
then you know you're kind of freaked out that your
visits might be virtual. Already you're not necessarily super positive
about what's to come. And that's where the perspective needs
to shift. Is think of your birthday as still being
a positive time, and then refer back to what I
was shared with you from my sister, and then look
at virtual therapy as it's okay, it's fine, there's nothing

(47:25):
wrong with that. One day you may be able to
be in person and that will be amazing. But I've
been doing sessions virtually and I feel like they've been
just as good. So that is my encouragement to you.
So you got this and anybody else listening, whatever you're
going through, just remember that it's important we try not

(47:45):
to miss the meaning. Not always easy to do that,
but hopefully you can try. And then definitely read Robin's
book Everybody's Got Something. It definitely helps. Okay, Okay, it
is healthcare Hero shout out time, and I normally read

(48:08):
the email from the friend that submitted the healthcare hero
but I'm gonna mention Constance and say thank you Constance
for submitting your friend Jesse, like she sounds amazing. But
what Constance did when she emailed me was she included
an email that Jesse had sent out to everyone, updating
her on her trip to Italy where she went as

(48:30):
a volunteer to be a nurse when coronavirus was really
really bad over there, and she went with a particular
organization that I can't say who she was with that
needs to remain private, So I'll cut that part out,
but I'm going to read Jesse's email so that y'all

(48:52):
can hear from the healthcare hero herself. Okay, here is
what Jessica sent to her friends. Well, Jesse, we're now
on nickname basis here. Hey, friends, just want to to
send a quick update. I've been here in Italy for
almost a month now. We set up a field hospital
in the parking lot of the local hospital here that

(49:13):
was badly overwhelmed and have been accepting patients. I've been
working here in the tin bed ICEU and can honestly
say it's been one of the harder, more challenging things
I've ever done in the ICU. We are getting patients
who have gotten COVID so seriously that they need to
be put on a ventilator to breathe for them. We've
currently had more deaths than patients able to get off

(49:34):
the ventilator and go home, so that's been hard. We
worked twelve hours shifts and today is my first day
off since being here. During the shifts, because of the
personal protective equipment, we're inside the tents with our patients
and can only leave for short breaks once or twice
during a shift usually, which means that that whole time
inside we can't eat, drink, or go to the bathroom,

(49:56):
so it's been very physically challenging. But I will say
food and coffee here is amazing, so when we do
get those breaks, I down a few espresso shots and
the Italian hospitality has been exponential. It's almost every day
that a bakery or restaurant donates a whole bunch of pastries,
pizza or cake for us. The team work here with
my fellow nurses and doctors has been amazing through it all.

(50:18):
The unity that we have in christ is the foundation
for our work, and I feel that every day. We
take time every day and the ice you to break
away from our work and to pray together, asking for
help and wisdom, and praying for physical and spiritual healing
of our patients. The Lord has hurt us and sustained
us this far, and I continue to feel so supported
by so many of you praying for me and sending

(50:41):
me encouragement. I continue to covet your prayers for endurance,
for thankfulness and joy amidst the challenges, and for continued
team unity. I'll be here for another tuish or so weeks,
and then I'll have to be quarantined for two weeks following,
thinking of you all all over and living through the
same weirdness of these times. Below are a couple of

(51:04):
articles and videos that we put out here for you
to see. So well, y'all don't have this parts in
the podcast, but much love Jesse. So I just wanted
to shout out to Jesse. She is our healthcare hero
and as you can hear from her,
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