August 13, 2025 • 20 mins
How do friendships form in the most unexpected places? What happens when two people click instantly at a Fourth of July gathering? Join us as we dive into these questions with our fabulous guests, Eva Vennari and Joanna Sanchez, on "How I Met My BFF" with your hosts, Leisa and Tamara.
Ever wondered how a cautious soul and an openly affectionate spirit can forge an unbreakable bond? Eva and Joanna reveal their heartwarming journey from acquaintances to best friends, sharing laughs, support, and insights along the way. Discover how they balance demanding careers with their friendship, fueled by shared passions for food and shopping.
Tune in for tales of concerts, mutual respect, and the magic of new connections. This episode reminds us that friendships can enrich our lives in the most beautiful ways. Don't miss this inspiring chat—your next BFF might be just around the corner!
Visit our site at howimetmybff.com
Help support our show by getting some of our exclusive swag found here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leisa (00:01):
Hey, besties. My name's Leisa.
Tamara (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old growing
up in good old Fairbanks,Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows?
Leisa (00:27):
You never know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara (00:38):
Hey, Lisa. How's it going?
Leisa (00:40):
It's good. I don't know if I told you, but I went to a
concert last week. And you'regonna be surprised that these
people are still alive. I'mgonna tell you that. So I went
to the fair, Orange County fairwith Laura and other friends and
our husbands, and we saw Caseyand the sunshine band and the
(01:04):
village people.
And, yes, there's still a coupleof them still performing.
Tamara (01:08):
Wow. That would be amazing.
Leisa (01:12):
It was I was, like, really I was like, how
Eva Vennari (01:14):
many songs of theirs do I actually know? And I
know three. Oh.
Leisa (01:17):
And he did a really good job. The guy who was the lead
singer, he used the original hewas the police officer, you're
keeping track of the villagepeople. And he was rocking it,
and he sounded amazing and had abunch of energy. And there were
a bunch of guys, you know,flexing their muscles. And, you
know, Mark really appreciatedthat.
(01:38):
No. I'm just kidding. But it wasit was really fun. And Casey and
the Sunshine Band, they did agreat job too. Fun.
And it was still still keptkicking it. What can I say?
Tamara (01:50):
Well, I went to two concerts last week. And let's
see. I saw Death Cab for Cutie.
Leisa (01:57):
Fun.
Tamara (01:58):
They're always amazing. It was great. And then, I
actually went to a countryconcert.
Leisa (02:04):
What? How did that get through security?
Tamara (02:08):
Parker McCollum and then
Leisa (02:11):
No idea who that
Eva Vennari (02:12):
Anyways, I have to say, I
Tamara (02:15):
just want I have to make a disclaimer to the world. Yeah.
It's being recorded, by the way.Country fans, can have fun.
Like, I'm not really pleasantlysurprised.
Well, no. Because something'sbeen happening lately in the
music world, at least here.Like, lately just going to
concerts, you know, the usualgroups that I see. I don't know
(02:38):
what what genre you'd put me in,but, you know, everyone is so
mellow at the concerts. I don'tI missed the memo of, like, now
you go listen to music, but youdon't move, and you just sit
there the whole time.
And it was opposite at thecountry concert. So I
appreciated that.
Leisa (02:55):
Okay. They were up and grooving their making their
groove thing.
Tamara (02:59):
Having fun, and I appreciated it because I don't
understand how you could go to aconcert unless it's, like, you
know, a serious, you know, Idon't know, orchestra concert or
something, but and not dance.Like, how can you not dance for
to death cab for cutie tocertain songs, and it's just a
mystery. So, anyways, I
Leisa (03:19):
You know, Laura went to this light what is it called?
Candlelight
Joanna Sanchez (03:24):
Oh, yeah.
Leisa (03:24):
Concerts, and it's she did Fleetwood Macca and the
Beatles, and it's the theorchard or the
Joanna Sanchez (03:30):
Yeah. I don't know who
Leisa (03:31):
it is. Anyway but they're not singing, but you can't sing.
They say at the thing, nosinging because it's, like a
Joanna Sanchez (03:41):
A nice song. Or a viola
Leisa (03:42):
or something. And I'm like, oh my god. It would be
horrible at that. I would bekicked out on the first song.
Anyways, so we have some greatBFF guests today.
We have Eva and Joanna coming inhot from Beverly Hills.
Eva Vennari (03:58):
Yes. We're here. We're
Joanna Sanchez (04:00):
here. Welcome
Leisa (04:02):
to the show. We're so excited you're here. And Eve and
I met I even remember where wemet. We met at a, like, a
networking luncheon probably tenplus years ago. And then we'll
go through long years with notseeing each other or no no
connection because we live indifferent areas.
And then all of a sudden, like,lightning strikes, and we see
(04:26):
each other all the time.
Eva Vennari (04:27):
Yes. So
Leisa (04:29):
it's really cool. So I'm excited to meet your best friend
and hear about your story. Doyou wanna kick us off, Eva, of,
like, how you and Joanna met?
Eva Vennari (04:38):
We have a mutual friend. Oh. Yes. Who neither
well, do you talk to her still?
Joanna Sanchez (04:43):
I talk to her sometimes. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (04:45):
Okay. Yeah. I don't. But that's okay because
the work was done. She waslistening to Joanna talk about
stuff and then she was listeningto me talk about similar stuff.
And so this friend, she goes,you two should know each other
so you could talk about thatkind of stuff together because I
don't like talking about thatkind of stuff.
Leisa (05:05):
Okay. Yeah. But now I want to know what kind of stuff
you were talking about.
Tamara (05:08):
Guys.
Leisa (05:09):
Oh, men? Yes. She didn't wanna talk about men. Okay. No.
Men. Men are great. Yeah. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (05:18):
And spirituality. Yes. Well, yes. Yes. But that
wasn't the reason to not talk.
Joanna Sanchez (05:24):
That's right.
Eva Vennari (05:24):
Yes.
Leisa (05:25):
Yes. Okay. So how many years ago was that?
Joanna Sanchez (05:28):
Ten, eleven? Maybe eleven years. Yeah.
Leisa (05:32):
Yeah.
Eva Vennari (05:32):
Yeah. So she invited this mutual friend. She
had a fourth of July, like,little celebration in her
backyard, and it was veryintimate. So my mom had just
passed and was the invitationwas for my dad and myself. And
then Joanna had her dad here inLA with her because they're
(05:53):
normally in New York.
And so she invited all of us tocome and meet and have fourth of
July together. And that was it.We just we'd hung out and had a
great time and and yeah.
Leisa (06:05):
That's all you needed. That's the spark no pun
intended, of your relationship.
Eva Vennari (06:10):
Mine is fireworks. Yes.
Leisa (06:14):
Very cool. How about from your perspective, Joanna, how
did it go down?
Joanna Sanchez (06:19):
Well, I loved it. You know? I I was so happy
to meet somebody that, you know,there were so many similarities,
and we could relate on so manylevels. And and I think the one
that introduced us, she wasbecame a little bit jealous. It
was uncomfortable for her.
She did. Yeah. And I understoodthat. You know?
Eva Vennari (06:39):
We had not tell her what was going on, like, when we
were meeting. Yeah. But, yeah,it was weird.
Joanna Sanchez (06:44):
Yeah. It was weird. But it was so fun meeting
each other, and then we justtook it from there.
Leisa (06:51):
That's so exciting.
Tamara (06:52):
Yeah.
Leisa (06:52):
How did you go from and I don't know how long it took,
maybe not that long, but to gofrom just meeting to that BFF
status? Eva, what do you think?
Eva Vennari (07:04):
Well, I'm I'm slow to get to know. Generally
speaking, if if you wanna bemore than just an acquaintance,
it takes a long time for you toearn my trust of why do you
belong in my sphere? And so
Leisa (07:19):
I know. For me, it's like at least ten years now I'm
waiting. So I'm just kidding.Kidding.
Eva Vennari (07:26):
But I've been told that before. You'd be really
slow to get to know. I'm justcautious that way. But I am open
to having like lunch or coffee.And I think the first time we
actually met out again was forcoffee.
Right?
Joanna Sanchez (07:40):
I think so. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (07:42):
Yeah. Yeah. And so maybe,
Joanna Sanchez (07:44):
I don't know,
Eva Vennari (07:45):
once every week or two, we just kept it going until
finally we both realized we'rewe see each other a lot. Yeah.
It might have been,
Joanna Sanchez (07:57):
I don't know,
Tamara (07:58):
six months to a year.
Eva Vennari (07:59):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because we both are very very
busy people running, you know,entrepreneur y. Yeah.
Leisa (08:08):
It's it takes a lot more effort than when you're going to
school with someone and seeingthem every day or working in the
same office and seeing eachother every day to develop a
friendship when you're both busyand established with your life.
It does take that extra time andenergy and effort even if it's
something you wanna do. It takesdedication.
Joanna Sanchez (08:30):
It does, and then it becomes a need. It's
like, I need to see her.
Tamara (08:34):
Yeah. Savannah, I was gonna ask what what is it about
Eva that you love about her andappreciate?
Joanna Sanchez (08:42):
Well, that's so sweet. I I just adore her, and
and I think we can talk aboutanything. You know? She laughs
at all my jokes. She thinks I'mthe funniest thing that I've
ever walked.
And I see. And I just you know,it it I think we're each other's
biggest fans. Yeah. And and wehave a lot of respect for what
(09:05):
we each do. You know?
I'll tell you a quick funnystory. I'm I'm, like, super
affectionate. Like, I'll pounceher and hug her and not stop,
and I'll be like, I love you.And so on the phone, because I'm
in New York a lot, I'll say, Ilove you, and nothing. Crickets.
So I'll go I go like this. I go,I'll hold. And I'll end up
(09:29):
holding forever.
Eva Vennari (09:32):
Now it's just something funny that we do. It's
a it's a little play act that wewill play out. Yeah.
Leisa (09:40):
Love it.
Joanna Sanchez (09:41):
But that that's one of the differences. But I
think the thing that really isimportant in in a friendship is
how much respect we have foreach other and how much we build
each other up and how we areeach other's cheerleaders, you
know. And that's so important. Ialways feel like she's on my
side and in my back pocket.
Eva Vennari (10:00):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. If if something goes down for her
and she doesn't see that sheshould be mad about it, I'm mad
about it for Yes. I'm like, no.No.
No. That shouldn't happen.
Joanna Sanchez (10:09):
Yeah. And then what she'll do, because she's
absolutely brilliant, I got hera cup saying Google because
she's better than Google. Idon't need Google. My best
friend knows everything. Yeah.
Leisa (10:19):
Oh, that's good.
Joanna Sanchez (10:20):
No. But it's true. And I call her up, and
I'll say, I'm really mad at thisperson. She goes, no. It's not
that person.
It's this person. And I'm like,oh my god. You're right. It's
misdirected. You know?
And it will so much insight andyou know? And we do that for
each other.
Leisa (10:39):
It's hard to see ourselves sometimes, so it's
nice to have a safe person whocan reflect back and challenge
in a way that isn't offensive.You know? It's like Right. You
get me.
Joanna Sanchez (10:53):
And I believe we get what we we we learn what we
want from our don't wants, andwe've each had friendships that
haven't been like this. Yeah.You know, where there's
jealousy. There's just all thisstuff we don't wanna talk about.
Tamara (11:06):
Beautiful.
Leisa (11:09):
What about you you, Eva? What do you love about Joanna?
Eva Vennari (11:13):
Well, first of all, we're both Libras. Yes. Oh,
nice. So anybody who's a Libraknows it's, you know, Libra
love. And that, for me, isthere's a consistency to the
showing up.
Right? It's like if I if I needsomething, the first person I
call is, am I thinking aboutthis right? Is there something
going on in this situation thatI'm just not witnessing? Or I
(11:34):
need a cheerleader, as she'smentioned, we're we're, like,
we'll build each other up. She'sthe first person I wanna call.
Joanna Sanchez (11:43):
Ditto.
Leisa (11:45):
Love that.
Eva Vennari (11:46):
That took too long.
Joanna Sanchez (11:47):
Oh, sorry. Was hold.
Leisa (11:50):
He was on hold.
Eva Vennari (11:55):
Yeah. We always make each other laugh. Like,
there'll be a very seriousthing, and then one of us will
find something funny in it, andand then it's over. Then we're
just giggling the rest of thetime. Yeah.
It's done.
Joanna Sanchez (12:05):
Yeah. Just laughing and going.
Leisa (12:07):
And then how do you I know both of you have your own
businesses. Like, how does thatcome in, or does that come in to
your friendship at all?
Eva Vennari (12:17):
Oh, we haven't found a way to bring our
businesses together yet. Theythey they're they're still,
like, awkward children.
Leisa (12:24):
Well, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're in
business together, but just likeyou well, Eva, tell us what you
do. Like, what is it what's yourbusiness? And then, Joanna, you
tell us what you're
Eva Vennari (12:33):
I I get to heal leaders who are looking to
change the world. And so it'sall about the the physical and
the metaphysical and bringingthose two together for their
vision and purpose.
Joanna Sanchez (12:44):
And I'm an actress and producer. And right
now, I have a lot of differentprojects that I'm working on to
heal the world too and inspire.
Tamara (12:54):
Oh, wow.
Joanna Sanchez (12:55):
Yeah. To
Leisa (12:57):
Different things, different ways of getting to the
same place.
Joanna Sanchez (13:01):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tamara (13:02):
That's that you both are very busy. So, Eva, how do you
guys make time for one another?
Eva Vennari (13:11):
Well, I know my boss really well. Yeah. And and
she's cool about having a veryflexible schedule. So whenever
Joanna's in town, I just kind ofblock out time, and then I move
work time to another anothermore or less convenient time,
more convenient. Whatever.
However that works out. Yeah.It's flexible, basically.
(13:34):
Flexible. That's that's the wayto put it.
Yes.
Joanna Sanchez (13:36):
And I and we joke because when I give her the
date that I'm coming, she'sshe's ready to book an airline
trip out of here. You know? Andso now I don't give her too much
morning, so she can't do that.
Leisa (13:48):
But the wait, Joanna, do you live in LA and New York? Or
do you yeah. You have two okay.Two homes. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (13:54):
So and Eva came to visit me in New York, and we
had so much fun. Oh, yeah. Wedid. It was really fun.
Leisa (13:59):
Yeah. What were the highlights of your New York?
Eva Vennari (14:02):
Oh, we finally solved your sleeping trouble.
Yes. I walked into the room. Sothe the room where where her
room has two two twin beds init. And first thing I did,
walked in like, oh, no.
This is bad feng shui. And soI've I've fixed things and we
cleaned out the space. She'slike, what have you done to my
room?
Joanna Sanchez (14:20):
No. Yeah. And I sleep better. Yeah.
Leisa (14:23):
Wow.
Eva Vennari (14:23):
She through she slept through the night. She's
like, I never sleep through thenight.
Joanna Sanchez (14:27):
No. It was great. Yeah. But we saw a
Broadway show. We went to somereally good restaurants.
Eva Vennari (14:32):
I got to know the 15 really well.
Joanna Sanchez (14:34):
The 15 bus. Bus. We kept going on
Eva Vennari (14:36):
the same bus. I I love history. And so I wanted to
go to Fauci's Cavern. CapBronshee. Bronshee's Cavern.
And it's all the way down on theother side. She lives in Upper
West Side. And so this is allthe way down in Manhattan, down
all the way down. Downtown. Andand so you take the 15, it goes
all the way down.
Leisa (14:55):
I like that about New York. Everything makes sense.
It's like one, two, three, four,a, b, c, d, e. Yeah. It's a
grid.
Everything's like a block. It'sthe same. It makes it easier to
navigate, I think, where you'rewhere you wanna go. It's a
little more confusing inCalifornia.
Joanna Sanchez (15:12):
It is. It is.
Tamara (15:17):
Do you guys have any trips coming up together
planned?
Joanna Sanchez (15:21):
We'll have to plan that.
Eva Vennari (15:22):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tamara (15:23):
We have to plan that.
Leisa (15:24):
So what do you like to do when you're together?
Eva Vennari (15:28):
And I can't Yes. I was gonna say, let's say it
together on feed. Eat. Yeah.Eat.
We're food motivated, both ofus. We are foodies. We love to
eat.
Joanna Sanchez (15:37):
We love to eat and shop. We like to shop.
Eva Vennari (15:39):
Shop. Sure.
Joanna Sanchez (15:39):
Yeah. Yes. We've got the screenings together,
different events.
Tamara (15:45):
Yep.
Eva Vennari (15:46):
Yeah. Yeah. So movies, shopping, you
Joanna Sanchez (15:48):
know, throw stuff. Girl stuff.
Leisa (15:50):
Love it.
Joanna Sanchez (15:51):
A lot of looking around.
Leisa (15:54):
Yeah. That I so I have a friend who's in SAG, and she
invited me to one of the not ait wasn't a screening, but,
like, for the SAG Awardsscreening, and it was so so
cool. It was for Barbie, and sothen we got to see all the cast
there and do the q and a after.Oh my gosh. That was really
cool.
It's it's fun to have a friendwho's in SAG.
Joanna Sanchez (16:15):
Yeah. We went to one where there was dinner,
like, what remember that one? Itwas we we planned to go to
dinner after, and this was likefilet mignon. I mean, we I
couldn't believe it. Remember?
Eva Vennari (16:27):
Yeah. We just hung out at the tables. Yeah.
Leisa (16:30):
Yeah. One thing I learned, I guess they do
everyone does their thingdifferent. So sometimes they'll
have like a party or swag bagsor, yeah, food, and then
sometimes Noah's just a moo andI'm like, oh, wow. I didn't know
all these people did thingsdifferently. It's really cool.
Eva Vennari (16:44):
Yeah. Could be a step and repeat or a red carpet
or Right. And she's like, here.Hold my bag.
Leisa (16:52):
That's so fun. How is
Eva Vennari (16:54):
on the whole breakfast.
Tamara (16:56):
Well, even though we heard a little bit of what you
guys do for fun for today, whatis your plan after we get off
this podcast?
Eva Vennari (17:03):
Oh, yeah. Shopping food.
Joanna Sanchez (17:05):
Shopping food. Yeah.
Leisa (17:07):
We were in LA. So for our besties listening, like, if they
were gonna go to LA, where wouldthey start to go shopping? Like,
what's a good tip?
Eva Vennari (17:16):
We like the Beverly Center and then across the
street Beverly Center used tobe, like $30 for parking, and
they changed it. It's only adollar an hour now. So I know.
So then just recently, didn't wefind the the the ticket? Free
parking.
We found out how to do it.
Joanna Sanchez (17:34):
Place was
Leisa (17:34):
free. That's really big in LA. Yes.
Joanna Sanchez (17:37):
And we found a buffet. My favorite word,
buffet. Yes.
Eva Vennari (17:40):
So we're we're always looking for a new we
found one restaurant not toolong ago, and then right after
we were done going, this is ourfavorite place, they're closed.
So we're always looking for anew new place. But do we have a
favorite? I mean, we go toMarmalead a lot Marmalead. For
breakfast.
Yeah. Yeah. She gets coupons,and she's like, let's go to
(18:00):
Marmalead for breakfast. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (18:01):
It's fun. It's it's great for at The Grove. We
like The Grove too.
Eva Vennari (18:05):
Yeah. If you go there early, parking is easy.
Yeah.
Leisa (18:09):
They have I haven't been up to LA for a lot lately
because my mom used to live nearwhere Eva lives, but she moved,
what, fifth not fifteen yearsago, but a little over ten years
ago and to Orange County, so Idon't go to LA very often
anymore. But it's beautiful. Somany places to eat, so many
(18:30):
places to shop. I mean, it's areally wildly different there's
all different kinds of thingsyou do. So how fun.
What a great day you havetogether. Yeah. Is there any
last words that you wanna leavewith each other?
Eva Vennari (18:44):
Last words? Maybe
Joanna Sanchez (18:48):
to offer hope that people can find this, you
know, when you don't settle. Youknow? Love that. Yeah.
Leisa (18:57):
Yeah. Friends are optional. Right? You don't need
to be friends with somebody whodoesn't float your boat.
Eva Vennari (19:02):
We've never had a fight. No.
Joanna Sanchez (19:04):
No. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (19:06):
We haven't And it's not because we don't speak up.
We do. We we tell each other,you know, it's it's tact. It's
the honesty. It's thewillingness to be open and
knowing that we're not lookingto Be right.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (19:19):
They say argue for the for the relationship not
to be right.
Eva Vennari (19:22):
Yeah. You know? So we exemplify that. Yeah. Yeah.
Leisa (19:26):
Wow. That's a really good way of saying it. Argue for the
relationship not to be right.
Joanna Sanchez (19:31):
Yeah. Fight for the relationship not fight to be
right. Yeah.
Leisa (19:35):
Oh, wow. Oh, I love that. That's a great saying. Okay. I'm
gonna use that one.
Joanna Sanchez (19:40):
Good.
Leisa (19:41):
Well, thanks for sharing your BFF story. And you never
know, honestly, where you'regonna meet your next BFF could
be at fourth of July party. Weweren't even expecting it. What
a beautiful surprise. Thank you.
Bye, everyone.
Joanna Sanchez (19:54):
Nice to meet you.
Eva Vennari (19:55):
Bye. You too.
Leisa (19:58):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool bestie gift ideas at
howimetmybff.com.
Tamara (20:10):
That's right. And also leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (20:17):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
b f f, send us an email atinfo@howImetmyBFF.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (20:25):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (20:30):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (20:32):
Love you, BFFs.
Hey, besties. My name's Leisa.
Tamara (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old growing
up in good old Fairbanks,Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows?
Leisa (00:27):
You never know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara (00:38):
Hey, Lisa. How's it going?
Leisa (00:40):
It's good. I don't know if I told you, but I went to a
concert last week. And you'regonna be surprised that these
people are still alive. I'mgonna tell you that. So I went
to the fair, Orange County fairwith Laura and other friends and
our husbands, and we saw Caseyand the sunshine band and the
(01:04):
village people.
And, yes, there's still a coupleof them still performing.
Tamara (01:08):
Wow. That would be amazing.
Leisa (01:12):
It was I was, like, really I was like, how
Eva Vennari (01:14):
many songs of theirs do I actually know? And I
know three. Oh.
Leisa (01:17):
And he did a really good job. The guy who was the lead
singer, he used the original hewas the police officer, you're
keeping track of the villagepeople. And he was rocking it,
and he sounded amazing and had abunch of energy. And there were
a bunch of guys, you know,flexing their muscles. And, you
know, Mark really appreciatedthat.
(01:38):
No. I'm just kidding. But it wasit was really fun. And Casey and
the Sunshine Band, they did agreat job too. Fun.
And it was still still keptkicking it. What can I say?
Tamara (01:50):
Well, I went to two concerts last week. And let's
see. I saw Death Cab for Cutie.
Leisa (01:57):
Fun.
Tamara (01:58):
They're always amazing. It was great. And then, I
actually went to a countryconcert.
Leisa (02:04):
What? How did that get through security?
Tamara (02:08):
Parker McCollum and then
Leisa (02:11):
No idea who that
Eva Vennari (02:12):
Anyways, I have to say, I
Tamara (02:15):
just want I have to make a disclaimer to the world. Yeah.
It's being recorded, by the way.Country fans, can have fun.
Like, I'm not really pleasantlysurprised.
Well, no. Because something'sbeen happening lately in the
music world, at least here.Like, lately just going to
concerts, you know, the usualgroups that I see. I don't know
(02:38):
what what genre you'd put me in,but, you know, everyone is so
mellow at the concerts. I don'tI missed the memo of, like, now
you go listen to music, but youdon't move, and you just sit
there the whole time.
And it was opposite at thecountry concert. So I
appreciated that.
Leisa (02:55):
Okay. They were up and grooving their making their
groove thing.
Tamara (02:59):
Having fun, and I appreciated it because I don't
understand how you could go to aconcert unless it's, like, you
know, a serious, you know, Idon't know, orchestra concert or
something, but and not dance.Like, how can you not dance for
to death cab for cutie tocertain songs, and it's just a
mystery. So, anyways, I
Leisa (03:19):
You know, Laura went to this light what is it called?
Candlelight
Joanna Sanchez (03:24):
Oh, yeah.
Leisa (03:24):
Concerts, and it's she did Fleetwood Macca and the
Beatles, and it's the theorchard or the
Joanna Sanchez (03:30):
Yeah. I don't know who
Leisa (03:31):
it is. Anyway but they're not singing, but you can't sing.
They say at the thing, nosinging because it's, like a
Joanna Sanchez (03:41):
A nice song. Or a viola
Leisa (03:42):
or something. And I'm like, oh my god. It would be
horrible at that. I would bekicked out on the first song.
Anyways, so we have some greatBFF guests today.
We have Eva and Joanna coming inhot from Beverly Hills.
Eva Vennari (03:58):
Yes. We're here. We're
Joanna Sanchez (04:00):
here. Welcome
Leisa (04:02):
to the show. We're so excited you're here. And Eve and
I met I even remember where wemet. We met at a, like, a
networking luncheon probably tenplus years ago. And then we'll
go through long years with notseeing each other or no no
connection because we live indifferent areas.
And then all of a sudden, like,lightning strikes, and we see
(04:26):
each other all the time.
Eva Vennari (04:27):
Yes. So
Leisa (04:29):
it's really cool. So I'm excited to meet your best friend
and hear about your story. Doyou wanna kick us off, Eva, of,
like, how you and Joanna met?
Eva Vennari (04:38):
We have a mutual friend. Oh. Yes. Who neither
well, do you talk to her still?
Joanna Sanchez (04:43):
I talk to her sometimes. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (04:45):
Okay. Yeah. I don't. But that's okay because
the work was done. She waslistening to Joanna talk about
stuff and then she was listeningto me talk about similar stuff.
And so this friend, she goes,you two should know each other
so you could talk about thatkind of stuff together because I
don't like talking about thatkind of stuff.
Leisa (05:05):
Okay. Yeah. But now I want to know what kind of stuff
you were talking about.
Tamara (05:08):
Guys.
Leisa (05:09):
Oh, men? Yes. She didn't wanna talk about men. Okay. No.
Men. Men are great. Yeah. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (05:18):
And spirituality. Yes. Well, yes. Yes. But that
wasn't the reason to not talk.
Joanna Sanchez (05:24):
That's right.
Eva Vennari (05:24):
Yes.
Leisa (05:25):
Yes. Okay. So how many years ago was that?
Joanna Sanchez (05:28):
Ten, eleven? Maybe eleven years. Yeah.
Leisa (05:32):
Yeah.
Eva Vennari (05:32):
Yeah. So she invited this mutual friend. She
had a fourth of July, like,little celebration in her
backyard, and it was veryintimate. So my mom had just
passed and was the invitationwas for my dad and myself. And
then Joanna had her dad here inLA with her because they're
(05:53):
normally in New York.
And so she invited all of us tocome and meet and have fourth of
July together. And that was it.We just we'd hung out and had a
great time and and yeah.
Leisa (06:05):
That's all you needed. That's the spark no pun
intended, of your relationship.
Eva Vennari (06:10):
Mine is fireworks. Yes.
Leisa (06:14):
Very cool. How about from your perspective, Joanna, how
did it go down?
Joanna Sanchez (06:19):
Well, I loved it. You know? I I was so happy
to meet somebody that, you know,there were so many similarities,
and we could relate on so manylevels. And and I think the one
that introduced us, she wasbecame a little bit jealous. It
was uncomfortable for her.
She did. Yeah. And I understoodthat. You know?
Eva Vennari (06:39):
We had not tell her what was going on, like, when we
were meeting. Yeah. But, yeah,it was weird.
Joanna Sanchez (06:44):
Yeah. It was weird. But it was so fun meeting
each other, and then we justtook it from there.
Leisa (06:51):
That's so exciting.
Tamara (06:52):
Yeah.
Leisa (06:52):
How did you go from and I don't know how long it took,
maybe not that long, but to gofrom just meeting to that BFF
status? Eva, what do you think?
Eva Vennari (07:04):
Well, I'm I'm slow to get to know. Generally
speaking, if if you wanna bemore than just an acquaintance,
it takes a long time for you toearn my trust of why do you
belong in my sphere? And so
Leisa (07:19):
I know. For me, it's like at least ten years now I'm
waiting. So I'm just kidding.Kidding.
Eva Vennari (07:26):
But I've been told that before. You'd be really
slow to get to know. I'm justcautious that way. But I am open
to having like lunch or coffee.And I think the first time we
actually met out again was forcoffee.
Right?
Joanna Sanchez (07:40):
I think so. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (07:42):
Yeah. Yeah. And so maybe,
Joanna Sanchez (07:44):
I don't know,
Eva Vennari (07:45):
once every week or two, we just kept it going until
finally we both realized we'rewe see each other a lot. Yeah.
It might have been,
Joanna Sanchez (07:57):
I don't know,
Tamara (07:58):
six months to a year.
Eva Vennari (07:59):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because we both are very very
busy people running, you know,entrepreneur y. Yeah.
Leisa (08:08):
It's it takes a lot more effort than when you're going to
school with someone and seeingthem every day or working in the
same office and seeing eachother every day to develop a
friendship when you're both busyand established with your life.
It does take that extra time andenergy and effort even if it's
something you wanna do. It takesdedication.
Joanna Sanchez (08:30):
It does, and then it becomes a need. It's
like, I need to see her.
Tamara (08:34):
Yeah. Savannah, I was gonna ask what what is it about
Eva that you love about her andappreciate?
Joanna Sanchez (08:42):
Well, that's so sweet. I I just adore her, and
and I think we can talk aboutanything. You know? She laughs
at all my jokes. She thinks I'mthe funniest thing that I've
ever walked.
And I see. And I just you know,it it I think we're each other's
biggest fans. Yeah. And and wehave a lot of respect for what
(09:05):
we each do. You know?
I'll tell you a quick funnystory. I'm I'm, like, super
affectionate. Like, I'll pounceher and hug her and not stop,
and I'll be like, I love you.And so on the phone, because I'm
in New York a lot, I'll say, Ilove you, and nothing. Crickets.
So I'll go I go like this. I go,I'll hold. And I'll end up
(09:29):
holding forever.
Eva Vennari (09:32):
Now it's just something funny that we do. It's
a it's a little play act that wewill play out. Yeah.
Leisa (09:40):
Love it.
Joanna Sanchez (09:41):
But that that's one of the differences. But I
think the thing that really isimportant in in a friendship is
how much respect we have foreach other and how much we build
each other up and how we areeach other's cheerleaders, you
know. And that's so important. Ialways feel like she's on my
side and in my back pocket.
Eva Vennari (10:00):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. If if something goes down for her
and she doesn't see that sheshould be mad about it, I'm mad
about it for Yes. I'm like, no.No.
No. That shouldn't happen.
Joanna Sanchez (10:09):
Yeah. And then what she'll do, because she's
absolutely brilliant, I got hera cup saying Google because
she's better than Google. Idon't need Google. My best
friend knows everything. Yeah.
Leisa (10:19):
Oh, that's good.
Joanna Sanchez (10:20):
No. But it's true. And I call her up, and
I'll say, I'm really mad at thisperson. She goes, no. It's not
that person.
It's this person. And I'm like,oh my god. You're right. It's
misdirected. You know?
And it will so much insight andyou know? And we do that for
each other.
Leisa (10:39):
It's hard to see ourselves sometimes, so it's
nice to have a safe person whocan reflect back and challenge
in a way that isn't offensive.You know? It's like Right. You
get me.
Joanna Sanchez (10:53):
And I believe we get what we we we learn what we
want from our don't wants, andwe've each had friendships that
haven't been like this. Yeah.You know, where there's
jealousy. There's just all thisstuff we don't wanna talk about.
Tamara (11:06):
Beautiful.
Leisa (11:09):
What about you you, Eva? What do you love about Joanna?
Eva Vennari (11:13):
Well, first of all, we're both Libras. Yes. Oh,
nice. So anybody who's a Libraknows it's, you know, Libra
love. And that, for me, isthere's a consistency to the
showing up.
Right? It's like if I if I needsomething, the first person I
call is, am I thinking aboutthis right? Is there something
going on in this situation thatI'm just not witnessing? Or I
(11:34):
need a cheerleader, as she'smentioned, we're we're, like,
we'll build each other up. She'sthe first person I wanna call.
Joanna Sanchez (11:43):
Ditto.
Leisa (11:45):
Love that.
Eva Vennari (11:46):
That took too long.
Joanna Sanchez (11:47):
Oh, sorry. Was hold.
Leisa (11:50):
He was on hold.
Eva Vennari (11:55):
Yeah. We always make each other laugh. Like,
there'll be a very seriousthing, and then one of us will
find something funny in it, andand then it's over. Then we're
just giggling the rest of thetime. Yeah.
It's done.
Joanna Sanchez (12:05):
Yeah. Just laughing and going.
Leisa (12:07):
And then how do you I know both of you have your own
businesses. Like, how does thatcome in, or does that come in to
your friendship at all?
Eva Vennari (12:17):
Oh, we haven't found a way to bring our
businesses together yet. Theythey they're they're still,
like, awkward children.
Leisa (12:24):
Well, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're in
business together, but just likeyou well, Eva, tell us what you
do. Like, what is it what's yourbusiness? And then, Joanna, you
tell us what you're
Eva Vennari (12:33):
I I get to heal leaders who are looking to
change the world. And so it'sall about the the physical and
the metaphysical and bringingthose two together for their
vision and purpose.
Joanna Sanchez (12:44):
And I'm an actress and producer. And right
now, I have a lot of differentprojects that I'm working on to
heal the world too and inspire.
Tamara (12:54):
Oh, wow.
Joanna Sanchez (12:55):
Yeah. To
Leisa (12:57):
Different things, different ways of getting to the
same place.
Joanna Sanchez (13:01):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tamara (13:02):
That's that you both are very busy. So, Eva, how do you
guys make time for one another?
Eva Vennari (13:11):
Well, I know my boss really well. Yeah. And and
she's cool about having a veryflexible schedule. So whenever
Joanna's in town, I just kind ofblock out time, and then I move
work time to another anothermore or less convenient time,
more convenient. Whatever.
However that works out. Yeah.It's flexible, basically.
(13:34):
Flexible. That's that's the wayto put it.
Yes.
Joanna Sanchez (13:36):
And I and we joke because when I give her the
date that I'm coming, she'sshe's ready to book an airline
trip out of here. You know? Andso now I don't give her too much
morning, so she can't do that.
Leisa (13:48):
But the wait, Joanna, do you live in LA and New York? Or
do you yeah. You have two okay.Two homes. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (13:54):
So and Eva came to visit me in New York, and we
had so much fun. Oh, yeah. Wedid. It was really fun.
Leisa (13:59):
Yeah. What were the highlights of your New York?
Eva Vennari (14:02):
Oh, we finally solved your sleeping trouble.
Yes. I walked into the room. Sothe the room where where her
room has two two twin beds init. And first thing I did,
walked in like, oh, no.
This is bad feng shui. And soI've I've fixed things and we
cleaned out the space. She'slike, what have you done to my
room?
Joanna Sanchez (14:20):
No. Yeah. And I sleep better. Yeah.
Leisa (14:23):
Wow.
Eva Vennari (14:23):
She through she slept through the night. She's
like, I never sleep through thenight.
Joanna Sanchez (14:27):
No. It was great. Yeah. But we saw a
Broadway show. We went to somereally good restaurants.
Eva Vennari (14:32):
I got to know the 15 really well.
Joanna Sanchez (14:34):
The 15 bus. Bus. We kept going on
Eva Vennari (14:36):
the same bus. I I love history. And so I wanted to
go to Fauci's Cavern. CapBronshee. Bronshee's Cavern.
And it's all the way down on theother side. She lives in Upper
West Side. And so this is allthe way down in Manhattan, down
all the way down. Downtown. Andand so you take the 15, it goes
all the way down.
Leisa (14:55):
I like that about New York. Everything makes sense.
It's like one, two, three, four,a, b, c, d, e. Yeah. It's a
grid.
Everything's like a block. It'sthe same. It makes it easier to
navigate, I think, where you'rewhere you wanna go. It's a
little more confusing inCalifornia.
Joanna Sanchez (15:12):
It is. It is.
Tamara (15:17):
Do you guys have any trips coming up together
planned?
Joanna Sanchez (15:21):
We'll have to plan that.
Eva Vennari (15:22):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tamara (15:23):
We have to plan that.
Leisa (15:24):
So what do you like to do when you're together?
Eva Vennari (15:28):
And I can't Yes. I was gonna say, let's say it
together on feed. Eat. Yeah.Eat.
We're food motivated, both ofus. We are foodies. We love to
eat.
Joanna Sanchez (15:37):
We love to eat and shop. We like to shop.
Eva Vennari (15:39):
Shop. Sure.
Joanna Sanchez (15:39):
Yeah. Yes. We've got the screenings together,
different events.
Tamara (15:45):
Yep.
Eva Vennari (15:46):
Yeah. Yeah. So movies, shopping, you
Joanna Sanchez (15:48):
know, throw stuff. Girl stuff.
Leisa (15:50):
Love it.
Joanna Sanchez (15:51):
A lot of looking around.
Leisa (15:54):
Yeah. That I so I have a friend who's in SAG, and she
invited me to one of the not ait wasn't a screening, but,
like, for the SAG Awardsscreening, and it was so so
cool. It was for Barbie, and sothen we got to see all the cast
there and do the q and a after.Oh my gosh. That was really
cool.
It's it's fun to have a friendwho's in SAG.
Joanna Sanchez (16:15):
Yeah. We went to one where there was dinner,
like, what remember that one? Itwas we we planned to go to
dinner after, and this was likefilet mignon. I mean, we I
couldn't believe it. Remember?
Eva Vennari (16:27):
Yeah. We just hung out at the tables. Yeah.
Leisa (16:30):
Yeah. One thing I learned, I guess they do
everyone does their thingdifferent. So sometimes they'll
have like a party or swag bagsor, yeah, food, and then
sometimes Noah's just a moo andI'm like, oh, wow. I didn't know
all these people did thingsdifferently. It's really cool.
Eva Vennari (16:44):
Yeah. Could be a step and repeat or a red carpet
or Right. And she's like, here.Hold my bag.
Leisa (16:52):
That's so fun. How is
Eva Vennari (16:54):
on the whole breakfast.
Tamara (16:56):
Well, even though we heard a little bit of what you
guys do for fun for today, whatis your plan after we get off
this podcast?
Eva Vennari (17:03):
Oh, yeah. Shopping food.
Joanna Sanchez (17:05):
Shopping food. Yeah.
Leisa (17:07):
We were in LA. So for our besties listening, like, if they
were gonna go to LA, where wouldthey start to go shopping? Like,
what's a good tip?
Eva Vennari (17:16):
We like the Beverly Center and then across the
street Beverly Center used tobe, like $30 for parking, and
they changed it. It's only adollar an hour now. So I know.
So then just recently, didn't wefind the the the ticket? Free
parking.
We found out how to do it.
Joanna Sanchez (17:34):
Place was
Leisa (17:34):
free. That's really big in LA. Yes.
Joanna Sanchez (17:37):
And we found a buffet. My favorite word,
buffet. Yes.
Eva Vennari (17:40):
So we're we're always looking for a new we
found one restaurant not toolong ago, and then right after
we were done going, this is ourfavorite place, they're closed.
So we're always looking for anew new place. But do we have a
favorite? I mean, we go toMarmalead a lot Marmalead. For
breakfast.
Yeah. Yeah. She gets coupons,and she's like, let's go to
(18:00):
Marmalead for breakfast. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (18:01):
It's fun. It's it's great for at The Grove. We
like The Grove too.
Eva Vennari (18:05):
Yeah. If you go there early, parking is easy.
Yeah.
Leisa (18:09):
They have I haven't been up to LA for a lot lately
because my mom used to live nearwhere Eva lives, but she moved,
what, fifth not fifteen yearsago, but a little over ten years
ago and to Orange County, so Idon't go to LA very often
anymore. But it's beautiful. Somany places to eat, so many
(18:30):
places to shop. I mean, it's areally wildly different there's
all different kinds of thingsyou do. So how fun.
What a great day you havetogether. Yeah. Is there any
last words that you wanna leavewith each other?
Eva Vennari (18:44):
Last words? Maybe
Joanna Sanchez (18:48):
to offer hope that people can find this, you
know, when you don't settle. Youknow? Love that. Yeah.
Leisa (18:57):
Yeah. Friends are optional. Right? You don't need
to be friends with somebody whodoesn't float your boat.
Eva Vennari (19:02):
We've never had a fight. No.
Joanna Sanchez (19:04):
No. Yeah.
Eva Vennari (19:06):
We haven't And it's not because we don't speak up.
We do. We we tell each other,you know, it's it's tact. It's
the honesty. It's thewillingness to be open and
knowing that we're not lookingto Be right.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Joanna Sanchez (19:19):
They say argue for the for the relationship not
to be right.
Eva Vennari (19:22):
Yeah. You know? So we exemplify that. Yeah. Yeah.
Leisa (19:26):
Wow. That's a really good way of saying it. Argue for the
relationship not to be right.
Joanna Sanchez (19:31):
Yeah. Fight for the relationship not fight to be
right. Yeah.
Leisa (19:35):
Oh, wow. Oh, I love that. That's a great saying. Okay. I'm
gonna use that one.
Joanna Sanchez (19:40):
Good.
Leisa (19:41):
Well, thanks for sharing your BFF story. And you never
know, honestly, where you'regonna meet your next BFF could
be at fourth of July party. Weweren't even expecting it. What
a beautiful surprise. Thank you.
Bye, everyone.
Joanna Sanchez (19:54):
Nice to meet you.
Eva Vennari (19:55):
Bye. You too.
Leisa (19:58):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool bestie gift ideas at
howimetmybff.com.
Tamara (20:10):
That's right. And also leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (20:17):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
b f f, send us an email atinfo@howImetmyBFF.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (20:25):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (20:30):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (20:32):
Love you, BFFs.
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