June 18, 2025 • 24 mins
How does a virtual meeting lead to a lifelong friendship? What happens when two professionals from different cities find a shared language in sarcasm and straightforwardness? Join me as I dive into the heartwarming tale of Lori Karpman and Jenn McClaren's friendship on "How I Met My BFF." While Tamara is busy with work, I start with a personal update about my beloved dog Piper's passing and the joyful chaos brought by our new puppy, Winnie.
Lori and Jenn met in a virtual networking group, and their friendship quickly blossomed from online chats to real-life adventures, including a memorable trip to Costa Rica. From dining in Little Italy to exploring museums, their bond is filled with laughter, support, and honest communication. Tune in to hear how these two powerhouses navigate their professional and personal lives together. Plus, share your own BFF stories with us!
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.
Leisa (00:26):
Who knows? 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.
It's me, Lisa, flying solotoday. Tamara's dealing with
some big things with work. Andso I'm here with our new
exciting guests. I can't wait tobring them in.
I will share a little update forme. We've had, you know, some up
some peaks and valleys, I wouldsay. And one of the valleys was
(00:57):
we had our our dog Piper crossthe Rainbow Bridge. And yeah. So
sad.
And she was with us for tenyears. We rescued her when she
was about three years old. So wehad such an amazing life with
her. She was all of ourfavorite. We just love her so
(01:18):
much.
She she would sleep on anycushion or blanket available.
And so that was definitely thevalley. But surprisingly, she
sent us a new little angel puppypuppy, and I her name is Winnie,
which is short for Winona Rideor Die Reed, and she is the
(01:38):
cutest little stinker. Oh mygosh. She's the Cutie Patootie
Awards over here.
She's a Shih Tzu. She's threepounds right now. And, I'm
deeply in love even though we'veonly been together for a week.
It's her week anniversary withus. She has every toy out in the
house.
Every it's it's like babycentral over here. So I wasn't
(01:59):
expecting to a puppy. I'm like,wait, how does this work again?
Because I've always it's beenover twenty years since I've had
a little baby puppy. But we'rewe're finding our way, and she
wakes me up with little puppykisses.
It's so adorable, and I'll showI'll show our guests her when
when we're getting ready to signoff. She's sleeping right now,
so like, whoosh. Keep her keepher nice and quiet. But I want
(02:22):
to welcome Lori and to our show.Welcome Lori and Jen.
How are you?
Lori Karpman (02:27):
Great, thank you. Yourself?
Leisa (02:29):
I'm good. Jen, welcome. Thank you.
Lori Karpman (02:33):
I have a Shih Tzu, Lisa. You should? She's nine
pounds
Leisa (02:37):
She's
Lori Karpman (02:38):
and she's 18 years old.
Jenn McClaren (02:40):
Wow.
Leisa (02:42):
So lucky. Ours is about thirteen pounds. I know people
are asking if she's how big thisone's gonna get. I'm like, I
don't know. She's seems reallysmall, but, of course, she's
still a puppy, so I'm not sure.
Lori Karpman (02:54):
But Just to let you know, they live long lives.
Leisa (02:57):
I know. I'm so excited. I I honestly thought we were gonna
have a lot longer with our ours,but maybe she was older. We
rescued her, so we don't reallyknow how old she was. Right.
But, anyway, it's the circle oflife. She's not my dog that I've
that I've lost or animal, butshe had such a good life. And I
think, you know, we all kindawanna have a nice good life. We
(03:18):
wanna have a life of love andand health. And if if it's time
to go, I'd rather go before I'ma burden on everyone and when I
and not enjoying myself as muchso.
So I I think of hers as a verygood life. So I have a question
for now I know Lori, little BFFlisteners here. I've I've met
(03:44):
Lori many times. She's amazing.And it's my time meeting Jen.
So, Lori, why don't you tell mehow you met Jen, and then I want
to get Jen's side of the story.Okay.
Lori Karpman (03:57):
Jen and I met probably about seven or eight
years ago. We met, no, not sevenor eight years ago. Okay, well
then I don't remember. I thoughtit was since I was living here.
I don't remember how long itwas, but we met years ago.
It's at least five. And we metin a virtual networking group.
Leisa (04:16):
Oh, cool.
Lori Karpman (04:16):
So we were both in this group and we started
chatting with each other in thechat because she'd say things or
someone would say things and Iwould make a comment. And we
just like, we hit it off as ifwe'd known each other forever
and that was just the beginningof a beautiful friendship.
Leisa (04:31):
Oh, wow. Okay. So, Jen, she was fact checking you here.
So, Jen, tell me your version ofhow you and Lori met.
Jenn McClaren (04:39):
So, we did meet in a virtual networking group.
Lori had been there for quite awhile before me. I got there in
02/2022, 2021. 2021. And I knewthe one of the people that
started the group, and he hadbeen asking me to join forever.
And I was finally like, Fine.And I went in, and Laurie
(05:04):
cracked up at my comments tosome of the things and some of
the people that were there,including my friend. And we just
kind of hit it off where I wouldsay something in the chat, and
she would pick up on my messageand send me a private like, oh
my god. I can't believe you justsaid that. And we just we had a
one on one, and I think we wereon for probably almost three
(05:26):
hours at that point.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It we just hitit off.
Leisa (05:31):
Wow. So I like what Lori said. She thought it was seven
years because female is onlyfour. But when when we really
connect with someone, it canfeel like a lifetime almost.
Like, it can feel it just, like,sinks in perfectly, and you just
feel comfortable with thatperson, and you can't imagine
your life without that person.
So I get it. I could see why itwould feel like more than the
(05:53):
time it's been.
Jenn McClaren (05:54):
Yeah. I could drag people out too.
Leisa (05:58):
So, Lori, what I mean, you meet so many people all the
time through your interactions,your businesses, and and and the
networking guru that you are.What made Jen stand out or what
made this into a BFFrelationship?
Lori Karpman (06:17):
We have the same sarcastic sense of humor. So our
sense of humor is a little bitoff, but we understand each
other very well. And that's whatreally attracted me initially
was her sense of humor becauseit's a very sarcastic which is
very much like mine. And Jen isalso very eloquent. So she says
(06:39):
the kinds of things that otherpeople think, which is very cool
and I love that about her.
Leisa (06:44):
Oh wow. Now Jen, what about you? What attracted you to
Lori in terms of moving beyondjust oh, a networking person
that you meet?
Jenn McClaren (06:54):
Oh, yeah. She picked up on my ridiculous sense
of humor, my my tempo. And, yes,I I do have lack of filter. So,
many times. And where otherpeople would be like, oh,
Laurie's like, tell me more.
Leisa (07:15):
Feeling such a wreck. Like, just hit me with it. Go
for it.
Jenn McClaren (07:18):
Yeah. Usually I am unfortunate. I mean, it's
plus and minus, but I I I justthere I don't do stupid, and I
don't do BS. So it I hate whenit comes at me, and I will call
it out.
Leisa (07:33):
I like it. Direct. Straight to
Jenn McClaren (07:35):
the point. Years in retail that did that.
Leisa (07:37):
Oh my gosh. We're all at the same company or a different
company? No.
Jenn McClaren (07:41):
All over.
Leisa (07:42):
All over. Wow. So when did it flip from meeting each
other online to, like, now we'reout it's not just business, but
it's personal. Like, we're bestfriends. Laurie, what about when
did that change for you?
Lori Karpman (07:59):
You know, it started pretty quick for us
because we really just get eachother. We're like, you know,
we're like cut from the samecloth. And so, you know, when we
had that conversation three orfour hours, by the time I got
off, it's like I'd known Jen allmy life, you know? And at that
point, like she was, you know,she was a friend and very
(08:19):
quickly became a best friend.
Leisa (08:22):
Oh, so I was going to say, when did it change for you
from networking people to bestfriendship?
Jenn McClaren (08:36):
Right right away, like Laura said. Right. I I with
me for me, if I having aconversation with somebody, if
it clicks and we're just, know,that thirty minute conversation
ends up for hours and hours, andthen we're like, Oh, wait, we'll
talk more tomorrow. And I thinkalmost right away, we decided we
(08:56):
were going to meet, like, Ithink once a week initially.
Lori Karpman (08:59):
We met.
Jenn McClaren (09:00):
We still busy on Thursday. To pick up for both of
us. Yeah.
Lori Karpman (09:04):
We met at Thursdays, 10AM for virtual
coffee.
Jenn McClaren (09:09):
Yeah. That's right.
Leisa (09:10):
I'm assuming you don't live in the same place?
Lori Karpman (09:12):
No, Jen's in New York and I'm Montreal. I've down
to visit Jen twice in New York.And we also, in October, we did
a ten day trip to Costa Rica.
Leisa (09:28):
Yes. Did you like about your trip to Costa Rica?
Lori Karpman (09:35):
I loved everything about that trip. That was a trip
of a lifetime. I mean, you know,you never know what it's going
to be like when you travel withsomeone and stay in the same
room. And we really had noproblem with that. You know, we
were we both sort of wanted todo the same things.
And if we didn't, it was like,okay, you go there, I'll go
here. It was very easy. It's abeautiful country that we
(09:57):
explored. We did a lot ofexcursions. But yeah, she's just
really easy to travel with.
So, it made it that much moreenjoyable.
Leisa (10:06):
Very cool. What did you like about Custard?
Jenn McClaren (10:08):
Nobody ever says that about me.
Lori Karpman (10:10):
I know. I'm the only one. Yes. But I had no
trouble traveling with you, so
Jenn McClaren (10:17):
And I had no trouble traveling with you. I
think, for me, the trip Well,that was the That was my trip as
an adult without my eitherparent, well, guess my mother,
my ex husband or my children.That was my adult trip without
baggage, as it were.
Leisa (10:41):
Literally figuratively.
Jenn McClaren (10:42):
Yeah, figuratively. I had plenty of
baggage, believe me. But, so itit added to to how special it
made me that it just it was abig plus to go with with my best
friend.
Leisa (11:00):
That's awesome. And when you guys met in person, was what
was that like? Because I it'sit's kind of weird when you
realize, oh my gosh. I've nevermet this person in person.
Jenn McClaren (11:12):
You remember? I do. Okay.
Lori Karpman (11:15):
I do. I went down to New York to meet Jen and I
come downstairs, I come down theelevator to the luggage And
there she is, she's standingthere and it was like something
out of a movie. Like we just rantowards each other and hugged,
Jenn McClaren (11:29):
you know? And it was like, oh
Lori Karpman (11:32):
my god, we're finally touchy. Like, we're
finally real.
Jenn McClaren (11:36):
Five and I was cracking up because she is so
much shorter than me. I'm onlyfive feet. I'm usually the
shortest. Right.
Leisa (11:46):
Oh my gosh. That is so fun. I I can think of with
Tamara and I, we haven't livedin the same state since we were
18, and we've had a lot ofadventures over the years, but
there's been some of the timeswhere I same thing, like, I'm
seeing her at the airport, andI'm just, like, overwhelmed with
emotions. It's like I just youknow, that physical being able
(12:07):
to hug somebody is so special.Wow.
What a beautiful thing. And thenyou guys got to go on your fun
vacation. How cool is that?Weird fact, my daughter just got
her dual citizenship yesterdayto Costa Rica because her dad's
Costa Oh, Nice. Yeah.
I wasn't expecting that to comeup today. Yeah. I'm really
(12:28):
excited for her, and he's movingto Costa Rica. He yeah. He's
he's I don't if he wants thatpublic knowledge, but that's
where he's Anyway.
Whoops. I don't think helistened to this podcast, and
he'll never know I shared that.And, yeah, I've been to Costa
Rica many times, and then thetime I went, I had not I had I
(12:53):
was it was before he and I gotmarried. We're we're since
divorced, but so I got back fromCosta Rica and then met a man
from Costa Rica who lived herein Orange County, California.
And then we opened up a day spacalled Pura Vida Day Spa and had
that for a few years andobviously had a child.
So I have a tika now and whichthey call little girl who's
(13:15):
Costa Rican. And so, yeah,that's cool. I'm glad you had
fun. Now, what's next in termsof you guys seeing each other?
Are you going to have any planson the calendar?
Lori Karpman (13:26):
We don't have plans at the moment, I do have a
voucher for a three nights hotela whole whack of cities across
The US and in Europe. So that'sour next trip is when we're both
ready for our next trip, we'llpick one off that list. We'll
(13:46):
add a couple of days on eachside and we'll do that. So but I
don't know.
Leisa (13:50):
That's fun. That's fun. Is there anything that you would
wanna share with each other?Like, Jen, I'll have you start
us off. Anything you wanna tellLaurie about how much you
appreciate her as a friend andbeing in your life?
Jenn McClaren (14:10):
Laurie is I mean, a lot of I I have friends that
get me, but they know me.They've You know, I've met in
person. Laurie's the person Imet online that just picked up
my sarcasm, carried it with her,followed it through. I
(14:33):
absolutely appreciate every bitof insight and knowledge and
support she's given over thelast year many years? Many.
It seems like many, but it'sless than many, but in the many
range. And there are littlethings here and there that I
remember that crack me up. I hada client. I was I took Laurie on
(15:00):
a video tour, virtual tour ofthe Waldorf No, it was the
plaza. The plaza hotel.
I was showing a couple ofproperties in there with a
client. And the client was late,of course. So, I was We just
walked through, which is a no noin the plaza. You're not allowed
to video in the lobbies. But Idid not really care.
(15:25):
So, Laurie got to go through theplaza, which she hadn't been to
since she was a child. And thatwas exciting. That was really
fun.
Lori Karpman (15:32):
Yeah. That was a lot of fun. That really was.
Leisa (15:36):
Beautiful gift. Laurie, how about you? Anything you
wanna share to Jen about howmuch you appreciate her and her
friendship?
Lori Karpman (15:45):
I appreciate the fact that Jen is always there
when I need her. And she's verynonjudgmental. And she's very
much like me because I'mbrutally honest. If you ask me
for my opinion, you're going toget it. So if you don't want it,
don't ask.
And she's the same way. So whenI know when I ask for her
opinion or what she thinks aboutsomething, I know that she's
(16:06):
telling me the truth, you know,and that she, you know, the
advice that she gives is alwaysmeant for me to be better. So, I
really appreciate that. And Imean, have, you know, I love her
sense of humor. I mean, laughall the time whenever we're
together.
Laugh all the time. Even on ourcalls and our texts. And you
know, we're in communication alot during the day and during
(16:27):
the week. And yeah, and I justalways get a kick out of talking
to her. It's like coming home.
It's like, you know, I've had acrappy day. I can tell Jen all
about my crappy day. She tellsme about her crappy day. And we
commiserate. And then we say Ilove you.
And that's it. So
Leisa (16:44):
Oh, it sounds like you've really helped to support each
other and it sounds like youhave different layers too
because you met through businessso you can support each other on
that front and then also justeverything else, which is nice
because not we don't always haveour friends aren't necessarily
always in business or outnetworking or something like
(17:05):
that. So that's just kind ofanother layer
Jenn McClaren (17:08):
to that.
Lori Karpman (17:08):
And that was important to me because I have
other friends who are not inbusiness. And although they're
lovely women and I think youhave all your friends for
different reasons, they don'tget the business aspect of it,
which is such a large part of mypersonality and of my life. And
Jen gets that. So we can talkbusiness together, you know,
brutally honestly, which is alsonice having her as a resource.
Jenn McClaren (17:33):
Oh, for me, another piece of it is Lori
knows some of my other friendsthat I know in person also
through networking. And shethinks it's funny. Like, one of
my friends, she thinks it'sabsolutely hilarious that we're
friends. And I kind of crack upat it too. But it's nice that we
(17:55):
have friends in common that Iknow in person and friends that
she knows in person that are inCanada or even in The States
that I just have never met oneto one.
So we have a vast group of, youknow, a big friend group that we
share virtually and in person,which is really very cool. Yeah.
(18:18):
It's kind of weird, but it'scool. Yeah. Weird to my age, but
cool in general.
Leisa (18:24):
Yeah. It it's it's because of virtual connections,
we're able to expand our reach alot more than before when it
would just be like, I only knowpeople who are live in my
neighborhood or who are at theoffice or who I work with or
something like that. And now wecan have friends all over the
world even if we're notphysically together. I love
(18:45):
that. If you were together,like, let's say you were gonna
be together this evening, whatwould you do together?
Lori, what would you guys do?
Lori Karpman (18:56):
We'd go out to eat. We both like restaurants,
so we'd go out to eat. My votewould be to go back to Little
Italy.
Jenn McClaren (19:03):
Little Italy, I knew that. Yes.
Lori Karpman (19:05):
We had a fabulous meal. Last time I was in New
York, we had a fabulous meal inLittle Italy. So yeah, I would
definitely want to go backthere. And the other thing that
we do that I enjoy is that we goto museums. So I've been to MoMA
twice and next time we'll govisit another one.
Leisa (19:24):
Yeah. Beautiful. I I don't think you can go wrong
with Little Italy. No.
Jenn McClaren (19:27):
You probably
Leisa (19:28):
have really good there.
Jenn McClaren (19:30):
No.
Leisa (19:31):
How about you, Jen? Anything you wanna add to the
list of your activities when youguys are together?
Jenn McClaren (19:38):
We actually Well, last time Laurie was here, we
met in person with one of ourother friends that we that she's
very much closer with. Also,Paul, when she's here, I do try
to get a bunch of peopletogether and just kind of have a
like, a happy hour with Oh,that's a good idea. Yeah. That's
fun because then I get to seeYou know, I get to interact with
(20:01):
hang out with people, but I getto see Laurie getting to hang
out with the people that sheonly sees in these little boxes.
Right.
Which is fun. That
Leisa (20:10):
is really cool. And I was gonna ask you what your business
was, both of you, because I Iknow Laurie's, but I wanna give
you a chance to share that onthe show. Jen, what is it that
you do?
Jenn McClaren (20:23):
So I am in New York City. And in New York,
locally, I'm a real estateagent. I'm a Resomercial agent
to residential and commercial,but I also do sports and
entertainment relocationglobally. So, I work with
athletes as they get traded, ifthey're looking for additional
properties, investmentproperties, and I work with a
large group of of expats playingbasketball overseas.
Leisa (20:48):
I could imagine that as a unique need when all of a sudden
you weren't planning on moving,it wasn't your choice, and then
or maybe it's an opportunity, ofcourse, you know, it doesn't
always mean it's bad news, butyou you don't have time to house
hunt and deal with all that andset everything up because you
have a job that you need to do.
Jenn McClaren (21:09):
Yeah. And leaving the full all that whole process
to a loved one, one person whomay or may not have a ton of
peep you know, other facets oftheir life, It gets crazy.
Leisa (21:20):
Real estate people realize it's
Jenn McClaren (21:25):
a full time job when they say, oh, I'm just
gonna look for a place on myown. Oh, are you? Cool. No way
to get hired.
Leisa (21:33):
Wow. What a gift. That's such a a really niche market. I
never heard anyone who does thatbefore, but that is good to
know. And then, Laurie, whatabout you?
What you do lots of amazingthings. I have to say when I was
when I described you, I'm justlike, she's just like good at
everything.
Lori Karpman (21:49):
I have two businesses. So Lori Cartman and
Company is a full servicemanagement consulting firm. And
I specialize in franchising andlicensing. So I work with those
two business models to helpcompanies scale using the
franchising or the licensingmodel. I have a full service
firm.
And my business is called TheCopy Lab. And I'm a story brand
(22:13):
trained professional copywriter.I'm a lawyer by trade. So
writing comes to me honestly.It's why I became a lawyer
because I love to write.
So this new Copy Lab businesshas really been great for me
because I get to use my legalskills, which is writing to
persuade, but in marketing andsales content and in things for
businesses. So I really enjoythe ability to use the legal
(22:36):
skills and the creativitytogether.
Leisa (22:39):
Yeah. I mean, you don't see those two things Well, not
that the people don't haveskills in that, but certainly
not taking both of those on. SoI always am so impressed by
Thank you. Wow. And both of you.
That's amazing. I can see whyyou were attracted to each other
in friendship because you'reboth doing amazing things for
everybody. And I always say, younever know when you're gonna
(23:01):
meet your next best friend. Imean, it could be in that Zoom
call. You never know.
They could just be right aroundthe corner. So I wanna thank you
for being on our show andsharing your friendship with us.
It's all pleasure.
Jenn McClaren (23:12):
And I I wanna just I didn't get a chance to
say, I I'm really sorry to hearabout your puppy, and I feel it
very deeply. We had to put mydaughter's cat down on
Wednesday. And
Leisa (23:22):
Oh, which one?
Lori Karpman (23:24):
Aw.
Jenn McClaren (23:25):
It's been brutal. I didn't Yeah. You know, sixteen
and a half years, you don'trealize you know their family,
but you don't realize how much.Right.
Leisa (23:38):
Oh, no. Yeah. They leave a hole there. Right? And I'm so
sorry to hear about Ash.
And Ash and Piper are probablyhanging out in some some other
dimension right now and having agood time, I'm sure. Well,
thanks for sharing that, andthanks for sharing your
(23:59):
friendship. I feel very blessedto have heard your story. Thank
you. Alright.
Lori Karpman (24:03):
Bye. Bye. Thanks, Lisa.
Leisa (24:10):
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 (24:21):
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 (24:27):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
BFF, send us an email atinfo@howImetmyBFF.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (24:36):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (24:41):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (24:43):
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.
Leisa (00:26):
Who knows? 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.
It's me, Lisa, flying solotoday. Tamara's dealing with
some big things with work. Andso I'm here with our new
exciting guests. I can't wait tobring them in.
I will share a little update forme. We've had, you know, some up
some peaks and valleys, I wouldsay. And one of the valleys was
(00:57):
we had our our dog Piper crossthe Rainbow Bridge. And yeah. So
sad.
And she was with us for tenyears. We rescued her when she
was about three years old. So wehad such an amazing life with
her. She was all of ourfavorite. We just love her so
(01:18):
much.
She she would sleep on anycushion or blanket available.
And so that was definitely thevalley. But surprisingly, she
sent us a new little angel puppypuppy, and I her name is Winnie,
which is short for Winona Rideor Die Reed, and she is the
(01:38):
cutest little stinker. Oh mygosh. She's the Cutie Patootie
Awards over here.
She's a Shih Tzu. She's threepounds right now. And, I'm
deeply in love even though we'veonly been together for a week.
It's her week anniversary withus. She has every toy out in the
house.
Every it's it's like babycentral over here. So I wasn't
(01:59):
expecting to a puppy. I'm like,wait, how does this work again?
Because I've always it's beenover twenty years since I've had
a little baby puppy. But we'rewe're finding our way, and she
wakes me up with little puppykisses.
It's so adorable, and I'll showI'll show our guests her when
when we're getting ready to signoff. She's sleeping right now,
so like, whoosh. Keep her keepher nice and quiet. But I want
(02:22):
to welcome Lori and to our show.Welcome Lori and Jen.
How are you?
Lori Karpman (02:27):
Great, thank you. Yourself?
Leisa (02:29):
I'm good. Jen, welcome. Thank you.
Lori Karpman (02:33):
I have a Shih Tzu, Lisa. You should? She's nine
pounds
Leisa (02:37):
She's
Lori Karpman (02:38):
and she's 18 years old.
Jenn McClaren (02:40):
Wow.
Leisa (02:42):
So lucky. Ours is about thirteen pounds. I know people
are asking if she's how big thisone's gonna get. I'm like, I
don't know. She's seems reallysmall, but, of course, she's
still a puppy, so I'm not sure.
Lori Karpman (02:54):
But Just to let you know, they live long lives.
Leisa (02:57):
I know. I'm so excited. I I honestly thought we were gonna
have a lot longer with our ours,but maybe she was older. We
rescued her, so we don't reallyknow how old she was. Right.
But, anyway, it's the circle oflife. She's not my dog that I've
that I've lost or animal, butshe had such a good life. And I
think, you know, we all kindawanna have a nice good life. We
(03:18):
wanna have a life of love andand health. And if if it's time
to go, I'd rather go before I'ma burden on everyone and when I
and not enjoying myself as muchso.
So I I think of hers as a verygood life. So I have a question
for now I know Lori, little BFFlisteners here. I've I've met
(03:44):
Lori many times. She's amazing.And it's my time meeting Jen.
So, Lori, why don't you tell mehow you met Jen, and then I want
to get Jen's side of the story.Okay.
Lori Karpman (03:57):
Jen and I met probably about seven or eight
years ago. We met, no, not sevenor eight years ago. Okay, well
then I don't remember. I thoughtit was since I was living here.
I don't remember how long itwas, but we met years ago.
It's at least five. And we metin a virtual networking group.
Leisa (04:16):
Oh, cool.
Lori Karpman (04:16):
So we were both in this group and we started
chatting with each other in thechat because she'd say things or
someone would say things and Iwould make a comment. And we
just like, we hit it off as ifwe'd known each other forever
and that was just the beginningof a beautiful friendship.
Leisa (04:31):
Oh, wow. Okay. So, Jen, she was fact checking you here.
So, Jen, tell me your version ofhow you and Lori met.
Jenn McClaren (04:39):
So, we did meet in a virtual networking group.
Lori had been there for quite awhile before me. I got there in
02/2022, 2021. 2021. And I knewthe one of the people that
started the group, and he hadbeen asking me to join forever.
And I was finally like, Fine.And I went in, and Laurie
(05:04):
cracked up at my comments tosome of the things and some of
the people that were there,including my friend. And we just
kind of hit it off where I wouldsay something in the chat, and
she would pick up on my messageand send me a private like, oh
my god. I can't believe you justsaid that. And we just we had a
one on one, and I think we wereon for probably almost three
(05:26):
hours at that point.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It we just hitit off.
Leisa (05:31):
Wow. So I like what Lori said. She thought it was seven
years because female is onlyfour. But when when we really
connect with someone, it canfeel like a lifetime almost.
Like, it can feel it just, like,sinks in perfectly, and you just
feel comfortable with thatperson, and you can't imagine
your life without that person.
So I get it. I could see why itwould feel like more than the
(05:53):
time it's been.
Jenn McClaren (05:54):
Yeah. I could drag people out too.
Leisa (05:58):
So, Lori, what I mean, you meet so many people all the
time through your interactions,your businesses, and and and the
networking guru that you are.What made Jen stand out or what
made this into a BFFrelationship?
Lori Karpman (06:17):
We have the same sarcastic sense of humor. So our
sense of humor is a little bitoff, but we understand each
other very well. And that's whatreally attracted me initially
was her sense of humor becauseit's a very sarcastic which is
very much like mine. And Jen isalso very eloquent. So she says
(06:39):
the kinds of things that otherpeople think, which is very cool
and I love that about her.
Leisa (06:44):
Oh wow. Now Jen, what about you? What attracted you to
Lori in terms of moving beyondjust oh, a networking person
that you meet?
Jenn McClaren (06:54):
Oh, yeah. She picked up on my ridiculous sense
of humor, my my tempo. And, yes,I I do have lack of filter. So,
many times. And where otherpeople would be like, oh,
Laurie's like, tell me more.
Leisa (07:15):
Feeling such a wreck. Like, just hit me with it. Go
for it.
Jenn McClaren (07:18):
Yeah. Usually I am unfortunate. I mean, it's
plus and minus, but I I I justthere I don't do stupid, and I
don't do BS. So it I hate whenit comes at me, and I will call
it out.
Leisa (07:33):
I like it. Direct. Straight to
Jenn McClaren (07:35):
the point. Years in retail that did that.
Leisa (07:37):
Oh my gosh. We're all at the same company or a different
company? No.
Jenn McClaren (07:41):
All over.
Leisa (07:42):
All over. Wow. So when did it flip from meeting each
other online to, like, now we'reout it's not just business, but
it's personal. Like, we're bestfriends. Laurie, what about when
did that change for you?
Lori Karpman (07:59):
You know, it started pretty quick for us
because we really just get eachother. We're like, you know,
we're like cut from the samecloth. And so, you know, when we
had that conversation three orfour hours, by the time I got
off, it's like I'd known Jen allmy life, you know? And at that
point, like she was, you know,she was a friend and very
(08:19):
quickly became a best friend.
Leisa (08:22):
Oh, so I was going to say, when did it change for you
from networking people to bestfriendship?
Jenn McClaren (08:36):
Right right away, like Laura said. Right. I I with
me for me, if I having aconversation with somebody, if
it clicks and we're just, know,that thirty minute conversation
ends up for hours and hours, andthen we're like, Oh, wait, we'll
talk more tomorrow. And I thinkalmost right away, we decided we
(08:56):
were going to meet, like, Ithink once a week initially.
Lori Karpman (08:59):
We met.
Jenn McClaren (09:00):
We still busy on Thursday. To pick up for both of
us. Yeah.
Lori Karpman (09:04):
We met at Thursdays, 10AM for virtual
coffee.
Jenn McClaren (09:09):
Yeah. That's right.
Leisa (09:10):
I'm assuming you don't live in the same place?
Lori Karpman (09:12):
No, Jen's in New York and I'm Montreal. I've down
to visit Jen twice in New York.And we also, in October, we did
a ten day trip to Costa Rica.
Leisa (09:28):
Yes. Did you like about your trip to Costa Rica?
Lori Karpman (09:35):
I loved everything about that trip. That was a trip
of a lifetime. I mean, you know,you never know what it's going
to be like when you travel withsomeone and stay in the same
room. And we really had noproblem with that. You know, we
were we both sort of wanted todo the same things.
And if we didn't, it was like,okay, you go there, I'll go
here. It was very easy. It's abeautiful country that we
(09:57):
explored. We did a lot ofexcursions. But yeah, she's just
really easy to travel with.
So, it made it that much moreenjoyable.
Leisa (10:06):
Very cool. What did you like about Custard?
Jenn McClaren (10:08):
Nobody ever says that about me.
Lori Karpman (10:10):
I know. I'm the only one. Yes. But I had no
trouble traveling with you, so
Jenn McClaren (10:17):
And I had no trouble traveling with you. I
think, for me, the trip Well,that was the That was my trip as
an adult without my eitherparent, well, guess my mother,
my ex husband or my children.That was my adult trip without
baggage, as it were.
Leisa (10:41):
Literally figuratively.
Jenn McClaren (10:42):
Yeah, figuratively. I had plenty of
baggage, believe me. But, so itit added to to how special it
made me that it just it was abig plus to go with with my best
friend.
Leisa (11:00):
That's awesome. And when you guys met in person, was what
was that like? Because I it'sit's kind of weird when you
realize, oh my gosh. I've nevermet this person in person.
Jenn McClaren (11:12):
You remember? I do. Okay.
Lori Karpman (11:15):
I do. I went down to New York to meet Jen and I
come downstairs, I come down theelevator to the luggage And
there she is, she's standingthere and it was like something
out of a movie. Like we just rantowards each other and hugged,
Jenn McClaren (11:29):
you know? And it was like, oh
Lori Karpman (11:32):
my god, we're finally touchy. Like, we're
finally real.
Jenn McClaren (11:36):
Five and I was cracking up because she is so
much shorter than me. I'm onlyfive feet. I'm usually the
shortest. Right.
Leisa (11:46):
Oh my gosh. That is so fun. I I can think of with
Tamara and I, we haven't livedin the same state since we were
18, and we've had a lot ofadventures over the years, but
there's been some of the timeswhere I same thing, like, I'm
seeing her at the airport, andI'm just, like, overwhelmed with
emotions. It's like I just youknow, that physical being able
(12:07):
to hug somebody is so special.Wow.
What a beautiful thing. And thenyou guys got to go on your fun
vacation. How cool is that?Weird fact, my daughter just got
her dual citizenship yesterdayto Costa Rica because her dad's
Costa Oh, Nice. Yeah.
I wasn't expecting that to comeup today. Yeah. I'm really
(12:28):
excited for her, and he's movingto Costa Rica. He yeah. He's
he's I don't if he wants thatpublic knowledge, but that's
where he's Anyway.
Whoops. I don't think helistened to this podcast, and
he'll never know I shared that.And, yeah, I've been to Costa
Rica many times, and then thetime I went, I had not I had I
(12:53):
was it was before he and I gotmarried. We're we're since
divorced, but so I got back fromCosta Rica and then met a man
from Costa Rica who lived herein Orange County, California.
And then we opened up a day spacalled Pura Vida Day Spa and had
that for a few years andobviously had a child.
So I have a tika now and whichthey call little girl who's
(13:15):
Costa Rican. And so, yeah,that's cool. I'm glad you had
fun. Now, what's next in termsof you guys seeing each other?
Are you going to have any planson the calendar?
Lori Karpman (13:26):
We don't have plans at the moment, I do have a
voucher for a three nights hotela whole whack of cities across
The US and in Europe. So that'sour next trip is when we're both
ready for our next trip, we'llpick one off that list. We'll
(13:46):
add a couple of days on eachside and we'll do that. So but I
don't know.
Leisa (13:50):
That's fun. That's fun. Is there anything that you would
wanna share with each other?Like, Jen, I'll have you start
us off. Anything you wanna tellLaurie about how much you
appreciate her as a friend andbeing in your life?
Jenn McClaren (14:10):
Laurie is I mean, a lot of I I have friends that
get me, but they know me.They've You know, I've met in
person. Laurie's the person Imet online that just picked up
my sarcasm, carried it with her,followed it through. I
(14:33):
absolutely appreciate every bitof insight and knowledge and
support she's given over thelast year many years? Many.
It seems like many, but it'sless than many, but in the many
range. And there are littlethings here and there that I
remember that crack me up. I hada client. I was I took Laurie on
(15:00):
a video tour, virtual tour ofthe Waldorf No, it was the
plaza. The plaza hotel.
I was showing a couple ofproperties in there with a
client. And the client was late,of course. So, I was We just
walked through, which is a no noin the plaza. You're not allowed
to video in the lobbies. But Idid not really care.
(15:25):
So, Laurie got to go through theplaza, which she hadn't been to
since she was a child. And thatwas exciting. That was really
fun.
Lori Karpman (15:32):
Yeah. That was a lot of fun. That really was.
Leisa (15:36):
Beautiful gift. Laurie, how about you? Anything you
wanna share to Jen about howmuch you appreciate her and her
friendship?
Lori Karpman (15:45):
I appreciate the fact that Jen is always there
when I need her. And she's verynonjudgmental. And she's very
much like me because I'mbrutally honest. If you ask me
for my opinion, you're going toget it. So if you don't want it,
don't ask.
And she's the same way. So whenI know when I ask for her
opinion or what she thinks aboutsomething, I know that she's
(16:06):
telling me the truth, you know,and that she, you know, the
advice that she gives is alwaysmeant for me to be better. So, I
really appreciate that. And Imean, have, you know, I love her
sense of humor. I mean, laughall the time whenever we're
together.
Laugh all the time. Even on ourcalls and our texts. And you
know, we're in communication alot during the day and during
(16:27):
the week. And yeah, and I justalways get a kick out of talking
to her. It's like coming home.
It's like, you know, I've had acrappy day. I can tell Jen all
about my crappy day. She tellsme about her crappy day. And we
commiserate. And then we say Ilove you.
And that's it. So
Leisa (16:44):
Oh, it sounds like you've really helped to support each
other and it sounds like youhave different layers too
because you met through businessso you can support each other on
that front and then also justeverything else, which is nice
because not we don't always haveour friends aren't necessarily
always in business or outnetworking or something like
(17:05):
that. So that's just kind ofanother layer
Jenn McClaren (17:08):
to that.
Lori Karpman (17:08):
And that was important to me because I have
other friends who are not inbusiness. And although they're
lovely women and I think youhave all your friends for
different reasons, they don'tget the business aspect of it,
which is such a large part of mypersonality and of my life. And
Jen gets that. So we can talkbusiness together, you know,
brutally honestly, which is alsonice having her as a resource.
Jenn McClaren (17:33):
Oh, for me, another piece of it is Lori
knows some of my other friendsthat I know in person also
through networking. And shethinks it's funny. Like, one of
my friends, she thinks it'sabsolutely hilarious that we're
friends. And I kind of crack upat it too. But it's nice that we
(17:55):
have friends in common that Iknow in person and friends that
she knows in person that are inCanada or even in The States
that I just have never met oneto one.
So we have a vast group of, youknow, a big friend group that we
share virtually and in person,which is really very cool. Yeah.
(18:18):
It's kind of weird, but it'scool. Yeah. Weird to my age, but
cool in general.
Leisa (18:24):
Yeah. It it's it's because of virtual connections,
we're able to expand our reach alot more than before when it
would just be like, I only knowpeople who are live in my
neighborhood or who are at theoffice or who I work with or
something like that. And now wecan have friends all over the
world even if we're notphysically together. I love
(18:45):
that. If you were together,like, let's say you were gonna
be together this evening, whatwould you do together?
Lori, what would you guys do?
Lori Karpman (18:56):
We'd go out to eat. We both like restaurants,
so we'd go out to eat. My votewould be to go back to Little
Italy.
Jenn McClaren (19:03):
Little Italy, I knew that. Yes.
Lori Karpman (19:05):
We had a fabulous meal. Last time I was in New
York, we had a fabulous meal inLittle Italy. So yeah, I would
definitely want to go backthere. And the other thing that
we do that I enjoy is that we goto museums. So I've been to MoMA
twice and next time we'll govisit another one.
Leisa (19:24):
Yeah. Beautiful. I I don't think you can go wrong
with Little Italy. No.
Jenn McClaren (19:27):
You probably
Leisa (19:28):
have really good there.
Jenn McClaren (19:30):
No.
Leisa (19:31):
How about you, Jen? Anything you wanna add to the
list of your activities when youguys are together?
Jenn McClaren (19:38):
We actually Well, last time Laurie was here, we
met in person with one of ourother friends that we that she's
very much closer with. Also,Paul, when she's here, I do try
to get a bunch of peopletogether and just kind of have a
like, a happy hour with Oh,that's a good idea. Yeah. That's
fun because then I get to seeYou know, I get to interact with
(20:01):
hang out with people, but I getto see Laurie getting to hang
out with the people that sheonly sees in these little boxes.
Right.
Which is fun. That
Leisa (20:10):
is really cool. And I was gonna ask you what your business
was, both of you, because I Iknow Laurie's, but I wanna give
you a chance to share that onthe show. Jen, what is it that
you do?
Jenn McClaren (20:23):
So I am in New York City. And in New York,
locally, I'm a real estateagent. I'm a Resomercial agent
to residential and commercial,but I also do sports and
entertainment relocationglobally. So, I work with
athletes as they get traded, ifthey're looking for additional
properties, investmentproperties, and I work with a
large group of of expats playingbasketball overseas.
Leisa (20:48):
I could imagine that as a unique need when all of a sudden
you weren't planning on moving,it wasn't your choice, and then
or maybe it's an opportunity, ofcourse, you know, it doesn't
always mean it's bad news, butyou you don't have time to house
hunt and deal with all that andset everything up because you
have a job that you need to do.
Jenn McClaren (21:09):
Yeah. And leaving the full all that whole process
to a loved one, one person whomay or may not have a ton of
peep you know, other facets oftheir life, It gets crazy.
Leisa (21:20):
Real estate people realize it's
Jenn McClaren (21:25):
a full time job when they say, oh, I'm just
gonna look for a place on myown. Oh, are you? Cool. No way
to get hired.
Leisa (21:33):
Wow. What a gift. That's such a a really niche market. I
never heard anyone who does thatbefore, but that is good to
know. And then, Laurie, whatabout you?
What you do lots of amazingthings. I have to say when I was
when I described you, I'm justlike, she's just like good at
everything.
Lori Karpman (21:49):
I have two businesses. So Lori Cartman and
Company is a full servicemanagement consulting firm. And
I specialize in franchising andlicensing. So I work with those
two business models to helpcompanies scale using the
franchising or the licensingmodel. I have a full service
firm.
And my business is called TheCopy Lab. And I'm a story brand
(22:13):
trained professional copywriter.I'm a lawyer by trade. So
writing comes to me honestly.It's why I became a lawyer
because I love to write.
So this new Copy Lab businesshas really been great for me
because I get to use my legalskills, which is writing to
persuade, but in marketing andsales content and in things for
businesses. So I really enjoythe ability to use the legal
(22:36):
skills and the creativitytogether.
Leisa (22:39):
Yeah. I mean, you don't see those two things Well, not
that the people don't haveskills in that, but certainly
not taking both of those on. SoI always am so impressed by
Thank you. Wow. And both of you.
That's amazing. I can see whyyou were attracted to each other
in friendship because you'reboth doing amazing things for
everybody. And I always say, younever know when you're gonna
(23:01):
meet your next best friend. Imean, it could be in that Zoom
call. You never know.
They could just be right aroundthe corner. So I wanna thank you
for being on our show andsharing your friendship with us.
It's all pleasure.
Jenn McClaren (23:12):
And I I wanna just I didn't get a chance to
say, I I'm really sorry to hearabout your puppy, and I feel it
very deeply. We had to put mydaughter's cat down on
Wednesday. And
Leisa (23:22):
Oh, which one?
Lori Karpman (23:24):
Aw.
Jenn McClaren (23:25):
It's been brutal. I didn't Yeah. You know, sixteen
and a half years, you don'trealize you know their family,
but you don't realize how much.Right.
Leisa (23:38):
Oh, no. Yeah. They leave a hole there. Right? And I'm so
sorry to hear about Ash.
And Ash and Piper are probablyhanging out in some some other
dimension right now and having agood time, I'm sure. Well,
thanks for sharing that, andthanks for sharing your
(23:59):
friendship. I feel very blessedto have heard your story. Thank
you. Alright.
Lori Karpman (24:03):
Bye. Bye. Thanks, Lisa.
Leisa (24:10):
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 (24:21):
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 (24:27):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
BFF, send us an email atinfo@howImetmyBFF.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (24:36):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (24:41):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (24:43):
Love you, BFFs.
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