Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper, Custom home Builder, custom home Designer, and
every week your guide to better understanding that place where
you live. Every home has a path forward, you know
what we're all about letting you see it. Once you
(00:22):
see that path forward, everything changes, Everything changes. A hopeless
situation becomes hopeful. Why because there's a path forward. It's
just that simple, and every home has one. It's just
a question of are we willing to see it and
do we take the time to figure it out? And
(00:43):
that's why we're here every week for you. My thanks
to all of our callers. This week been fantastic, great calls.
As per usual, we still have a couple of tickets
to give away to the House Whisper Ghost Tour. Will
be doing that in just a bit, so you hang tight.
Doing it next weekend as well. So we've got time.
(01:03):
We've got time. Don't you worry. We're going to get
you in there. Just try hard enough, you're gonna make it,
my friend. But today, for the remainder of the show,
we're going to continue with what we started with, which
is our annual House Whisper listener interview, and what that
basically means is, you know, all of the non home
(01:23):
and house related questions that we get every year, listener
questions of a little bit more personal nature. We set
them aside. We don't toss them away, We set them aside.
And now last few years we've decided, you know, we'll
do one show in the fall in which Tina basically
takes those questions and we do an on air interview
about them. So, without any further ado, let's get back
(01:43):
into it. Tina.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Is that how you pronounce your name? By the way, Tina, Tina,
Tina tiny tiny Okay, anyway, go it for it.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Okay, We're going to transition a little bit from just
our designs to a question that comes from somebody here
in La County and they asked, how did you go
from successful designer to radio personnel?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
How did I go? Well, whether or not I'm a
radio personality is debatable, because well, I am a personality
among our twelve faithful listeners. Apart from that, I don't know,
But okay, so how did we go? Uh? It's complete,
it is completely Robin Bertalucci's fault.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's because of me.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Well, it actually is sort of your fault too. It
is false. What do you explain? Okay, because it started
with you? Actly? Did it actually started with you? By
the way, So I'll just lay this as the as
the as the prologue to the to the answer here.
How many days, how many hours? How many times have
you and I in our entire design career woken up
(02:54):
in the morning and said, you know what, we should
turn this successful, successful design business into some kind of
media thing. Zero hours, zero time, zero none whatsoever. Okay,
so we never pursued it. But then this happened. What happened?
What happened.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I was friends with Robin and we just got to talking.
And you know, when you grow closer to people than you,
you know, you invite the spouses. So, you know, wet
she met Dean, I met down. You know, we we
had this great connection, the four of us.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
They're very dear friends.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
They really are. They've turned into family, really, yes, And
at some point Robin kind of she got her wheels turning,
and you can always tell, you can see that look
on her face.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But she approached Dean and she said, oh.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
By the way, for those who don't know, I just
realized Robin Bertolucci, the legendary just recently retired program director
for KFI over the last twenty plus years.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
An amazing and amazing powerful woman.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
But she came to Dean one day and said, hey,
I wanted to have breakfast with you, and he thought, oh,
she's wanting to get together to talk about some design
work that they were wanting to have done to our house.
And so they got together, had breakfast and then okay, well,
you know, are we talking about this? And she said, oh, no,
I want to put you on the radio. And he
(04:19):
about fell off his chair.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, pretty funny, that was the thing. So she said yeah,
she said no, no, no, no, no, no, We're not
going to redo the office right now, but I think
you should be. I think you should have a weekend
show on the most listened to talk radio station in
North America.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And I'm like, oh, really, you do what led you
to that brilliant idea all my extensive radio experience, which
at the time was zero, or was it the fact
that I come harping to you, begging you, oh please,
let's get on the media, which never ever happened ever.
So yeah, no, Robin, she just sensed that it would
(04:56):
be a great fit. And you remember I was talking
earlier about the fact that we've spent so much time
designing a state level stuff and those you know, we
have a very I mean it's you and me. We
have this very you know, boutique. It's boutique, right, boutique
meaning it's not a big fri. I never wanted to
be the chief designer of one hundred little house whispers run.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And that's really important for.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Us to be both involved because intimately in many details and.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yes, and and you if you take that and place
that into a state level design project, that's a lot.
It's you know, the multi year projects, some of them
it's consuming and uh. And yet we've always had this
desire to help mainstream homeowners and because that's where we live,
that's how that's our actual life. We've designed mansions during
(05:44):
the day and just come home to our little life.
And and so, you know, Robin could sense that I
had a gift of some sort for translating difficult concepts
into language that homeowners could understood, it could understand, and
the whole application of these architectural and design principles into
(06:05):
regular houses because it works, it works, there's no reason
not to. And she also knows I'm slightly passionate about it.
So she came and said, listen, believe me. She's like,
you whisper Holmes, that's your expertise. I whisper people, that's
my expertise. Trust me, this is the right thing. This.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, she really appreciated how you could you can explain
very hard concepts in a way that everybody can really
a great teaching ability.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So she laid it out there and she said, don't
say no because this is pushed him. Yeah I did.
I just because I'm like, why would you upset? We
have a good thing going here, But you know what here,
you know what it's now. It's now this fully integrated
part of our life. And we never had to let
go of design. The fact that what makes the show
(06:56):
so authentic is the fact that the two are happening.
That we have the show, but we also still are,
you know, neck deep in this industry. And it scratched
an itch. It scratched an itch because I always wanted
to help spend more time working and designing more mainstream
things for regular homeowners and not just multimillionaires and things.
(07:18):
And Robin's like, listen, you're going to help tens of
thousands of them every fifteen minutes if you do this show,
and then that like set the hook. I'm like, damn you,
you're good. So we tried it out and I was terrified,
but you know, it has turned into I don't know
if I've gotten any better at it. Maybe a little
bit better, But you know what, next year, you know,
(07:39):
it'll be our tenth year doing this kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I can't believe it already, and.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
We still haven't. For one day pursued media. It just
kind of dropped in our lap. But I made Robin
promise that that she was going to have my back
and mentor me through it, and she has been. She's
been my Yoda. She still is to this day. So
it's it's all her fault. For those of you who
disliked the program, those of you just liked the program,
(08:05):
why are you listening? It's a beautiful day, Just go outside.
And for those of you who have enjoyed it over
the years, it's completely one hundred percent Robin Berta Lucie's
fault and Tina's fault for making friends so easily. And
there you go. All right, we got to go to
a break and then you can ask you a couple
more questions your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
We are doing the house Whisper listener interviews today, which
basically amounts to listener questions that have come in over
the past year that are a little bit more on
the personal and not direct. Oh, I have a question
about my toilet or about the style of my house
kind of question. Tina has collected them together and she's
throwing them at me, and so without any further ado,
(08:52):
let's let's move forward.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Okay, I want to We just talked about, you know,
how you got onto KFI. So now there was someone said,
what was your favorite thing about being on.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Favorite thing about being on kf I other than the
fact that it has connected us to so many listeners,
And like I said, it's scratched this itch. That's a
very personal, selfish thing that it's scratched this itch to
really help people. Because so we still work the big
you know, estate projects, and yet get to help regular
everyday people like you and me make their lives better.
(09:26):
So that is very very special. That has become really
really meaningful to me to the point where like, I
don't want to not do that right, you know, I
mean enjoy it. For a person who never pursued media,
I'm like, I like the way that feels. It's good.
It's nice to help people. But as far as KFI goes, honestly,
it was something I didn't really expect because one of
(09:48):
my hesitations at the beginning was I don't know if
I want to get into the douchey world of entertainment
and all of that stuff, because we've heard, you know,
everybody hears stories. There are just so many gems of
people at KFI in this world. Yeah, and and and
there were in.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The media world.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But you know, but it's the people that I've worked with,
everybody from Tony who's doing part of our engineering today,
to uh to well, like I said, Robin who was
the big boss lady for so long, and just I mean,
person after person after person. It is not what I expected.
It's not what I expected. And I'm not saying, by
the way that there aren't some douchey characters out there.
(10:34):
I'm telling you that we have run into so many genuinely,
very very special people. We really have. It's it has
been a great group of people, just great people. So
there you go. It's the people.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Okay. So here's a couple of super personal ones.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
We're super personal. Know more about you and me. So
where did you meet the love of your life?
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Who's that super my librador? Yeah, well, Shelter, I met
Christina renee sharp ooh online? Can you believe that? In
nineteen ninety five, in late late nineteen ninety five, it
(11:18):
was it's actually about you know what it was about
this time of year. We're within weeks of it. I
think it was in November. Technically, in November of nineteen
ninety five. I was sitting home alone, a little distraught
and gone through a divorce, a lonely little something. And
this is ninety five though, Okay, So I had a
(11:41):
computer at home and a dial up modem, you know,
and AOL AOL chat rooms and it was an AOL
chat I just like I was looking around AOL looking
at And this was.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Long before I mean, now everybody meets online. This is
a very oh This was way before that.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And as far as I was, AOL was like, I mean,
the Internet back then was like these weird static bulletin boards,
but AOL was like graphic. It was like it was
like something like it was alive, like there was something
happening there. So I just dropped into a local chat
room like so cal Chat eight thousand and eighty seven,
because there were that many of them. It just dropped
in and I'm just watching people talk.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
And honestly, I don't even remember how it worked. I
don't remember how they were like bulletin boards or something.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You kind of just watched the chat roll off the screen,
That's what I remember.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
You just were almost like watching text message.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Exactly on a computer screen. And it's just like it
was a group these young people that don't al Yes,
for you young people, it was like watching a group chat,
just watching a group chat in real time and uh.
But but they had this ability. You had the ability.
You're watching it, if you're looking at somebody's comments and
you're like, oh, that is interesting, and you could select
(12:55):
that person and send them a private side message, and
then you're watching the group chat and you're also like
having a private side message on the side, and I
did that to Princess. I don't even remember. I just remember.
I remember your name started with princess, Princess, and then
there was a number because you were like John, we
have to go to break.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Oh, all right, what they'll tell you?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
All right, I'll tell you the rest of the story
right after this your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
All right, well, the interview continues. The House Whisper audience
interview listener Tina just got where did that come from?
Some over Instagram? She just got lovely message, lovely somebody
who's never going to listen to us again, because I
was idiotic and insensitive enough to refer to non mansion
(13:50):
owners as everyday ordinary people, normal everyday people, as if
as if that somehow means that you're not extraordinary people
because you don't know to mansion and so anyway, I
don't know what to say about that other than sorry
if you took that the wrong way. But I mean,
I hope everybody understands, right, I mean, we're in the
(14:12):
business of customizing any home for anyone, because everybody is
a unique, extraordinary individual. And so I think you've misunderstood
me on that part. But that is part of if
there was a question in there, like what's the most
annoying part of media? It's constantly being under misunderstood and
(14:33):
never being able to say any single one sentence without
somebody out there taking it the wrong way and going
the wrong door. It's just you have to develop a
kind of a thick skin of you anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So let's get back to Okay, go ahead, yep, we'll
just wrap up how we met.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So we met it on AOL in a chat room.
We were early adopters of that technology long long ago,
and we ended up having these you know, private side
chats over I don't know, not just one night, but
over a series of evenings and so on, and then
eventually we're like, well, where do you live? Oh my gosh,
well I don't live very far away. Do you want
to meet? First? We exchange photos via email and promised
(15:17):
each other these are accurate photos.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
And the funny thing if we didn't even have the
technology back then to do what people are doing now
with AI and no filters, and.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So we exchanged photos and we're like, okay, this is
actually a real photo of fair Fair And then, out
of my fear that you would be vulnerable, I'm like, listen,
let's just you know, I'm not a serial killer. I'm
not you know, and let's just meet. Why don't we
just meet for coffee. We meet for coffee, and we
met for coffee at the local mall. Yeah, it was
(15:47):
in the middle of the day. Yes, and the rest
is history. What can I tell you? She slew me
right then and there she smiled. I mean honestly, she smiled.
I'm like, why, Wow, what a smile. And we just
hit it off. We became friends that day and we
are friends to this day. And that was almost thirty
(16:09):
years ago. So there you go.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Okay, next next, Okay, so another little personal one. You
speak really fondly of your father. What are the greatest
lessons he taught you?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Rah, My father was so such a very different person
than me in personality. Outwardly, he was very quiet, very
he was very simple, mid and he was like, yeah,
midwestern southern farmer, kind of farm boy, I should say,
(16:44):
heavy equipment operator, blue collar worker. And yeah, he just
he was just one of those salts of the earth,
people who didn't stand out, didn't didn't make room for
himself in a room, just just did put his head
down and went through it. He was older. My parents
(17:04):
were in there mid to late forties when they adopted
me out of the hospital. So my father actually is
the age of my Peers grandfather. My father fought in
World War Two. He was a World War two vet.
He was he grew up during the Great Depression. Anyway,
I have a lot of love and respect for my father.
(17:25):
What did he teach me? I would say this, you
know what. We talked about this actually with Vicky the
other day. I think if I had to boil it down,
my father taught me that being a man amounted to
two things, being competent and being kind. And that was it,
and that was my dad. He was kind and he
(17:46):
was competent, and so he just kind of ingrained that
in me. You need to be able to do stuff.
You need to be able to you know, you know
that classic kind of like you need to be able
to fix a flat tire, you need to be able
to do this, you need to be able to build
a house, that kind of stuff. He wanted me to
be competent, and that's how he showed his his his
(18:11):
masculinity in competence and in kindness. He was not the
macho guy, but man he was. He was a man.
All right, there you go.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, he's a lovely guy. What else you got there?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Okay, So did you come from a family of artists?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
No? Well no, yeah, I mean biologically you could maybe
make that argument a little bit more because my mother,
my biological mother, who I absolutely love and adore and
who I have a this now ongoing relationship with. Both
of my adopted parents have passed away long ago. My father,
(18:52):
you know, yeah, long ago, thirty years plus my biological mother,
who I rediscovered and who we've had, we've built this
amazing relationship with. When so when you hear me talk
about my mom, we're talking about you know, the lovely
Shelley Uh down in the city of Orange. And so
she is absolutely a far more artistic and intellectual and
(19:14):
creative type. And and you know, I owe my genetics
from her. My sister is super creative and and artsy,
and you know, so it yeah that but not no,
not the family I grew up with. No zero, No,
none of there was none of that. I was the
round peg in the square hole there, yeah, or square?
(19:34):
Is it square? It's square peg in the round hole?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, or either way?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Either way. It didn't fit. It didn't fit, it didn't work.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Okay, how do you How do your parents feel about
where your career has taken?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Well? Yes, again, my my adopted parents just they they
never got to see where my career. My my dad
lived long enough to see me because a really good,
you know, master builder and the beginning of the design
work on a larger scale. My mom never saw that
(20:10):
any of that. She passed away way too early. But again, Shelley,
my biological mother, who is alive and well, and she
is immensely proud, immensely proud, like crazy proud of where
things have gone. So that means the world to me.
(20:32):
You know what, I think we're up against another break,
So you're gonna have to You're gonna have to gather
a couple of quickies together so we can wrap up
the show. Everybody go nowhere. When we come back, we're
gonna give away those other two tickets to the ghost
Tour and we'll finish up this interview. So you stay put.
Much more to come your Home with Dean Sharp the
(20:54):
House Whispered.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Here to remind you that every home deserves great design,
because every person who lives in a home deserves a
life that is designed beautifully to the uniqueness that is you.
Thanks for joining us on the program. Here we are
nearing the end of another three hours together. Man it
flies by. Today we're finishing up and we're about to
finish up our annual House Whisper listener interviews. So many
(21:23):
questions that Tina didn't get to, but you know, we'll
just take it in stride and make him. We'll get
those answers out there eventually. She's got a couple more
questions for me. But first, before we end, as promised,
I'm going to give away two more tickets to the
House Whisper Ghost Tour that's happening Monday night, October twenty
seventh at the Heritage Museum of Orange County. We're going
(21:45):
to tour through an exclusive VIP House Whisper and Friends
tour through the historic Kellogg House, built one hundred and
twenty seven years ago, allegedly haunted. Also fascinating. Eating Lee
architecturally designed a custom home from eighteen ninety eight. Think
about that anyway, that's happening October twenty seventh. I'm going
(22:09):
to give the phone number out one more time, eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two.
Ask Dean eight three three to ask Dean. Nikki is
standing by the very first call that she picks up
that works is going to win two of those tickets
to that event. Go go all right, that's happening, Tina,
(22:32):
you go ahead, Oh there you go.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
So we are coming to the last segment of the show,
and this is usually a time when you do a
closing thought, and we've had so many people say how
much they love your closing thoughts at the end of
the show, so I thought it would be appropriate to
ask the question, because we love listening to your closing thoughts.
(22:57):
What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned personally
or in did you write each That's huge? Yeah, I know,
that's huge. That's why this may take the rest of
the time, but.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That's why I give a closing thought like every week
to get all of this stuff out of the way
to get it all the rain.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
But but you write these each week, these aren't these
aren't Yes, not every week, but sometimes you find quotes
or something. But for the most part, you sit and
you sit by your fire pit or you sit in
front of the fire at early morning and you pour
out these.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I just cannot well, I pour out my I just
try and get my head out there. Yeah, that's all.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's really nice, that's all. And it has had some
great response people.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Really, I'm very I'm very fortunate. Again, this goes back
to Robin that she was open to the idea of
me actually taking part of the last segment and doing
that and instead of just giving handing out more house advice.
And the reason is because the show is called Home,
and because a house is a house until a life
is being lived inside of it, and then it's a home.
And I think the whole the whole reason we're in
(23:58):
custom home design. That's why you and I decided very
specifically to do that kind of design, architectural design, and
that kind of decor and all of that stuff. It's
because of the lives that because it's because it's ground central,
it's it's it's it's the Holy of Holies for where
people it's it's h Q for where people live their lives.
(24:20):
You know, it's why we sign off every week. You know,
go build yourself a beautiful life, and I hope you're
you know, your home is a part of that. But lessons,
I mean life lessons. Wow, I mean that's big. I
don't know. Okay. So I have these two tattoos on
my forearms that have been on there for a while.
(24:40):
That's the only ink that I have on my body.
It was a promise I made to my dad before
he died that I would get a tattoo because he
was all tatted up from the Navy and all of
that kind of stuff, you know. But I put it
off for a long time and I eventually chose these
two actually designed these to and without getting into the
(25:02):
detail on it, essentially they've meant different things to me
over the years, but this is what they have finally
settled into me. And so you could call these life lessons.
I live my life by two primary pillars, and that
is wonder and friendship. So I mean, if you had
to boil me down at this point at my age,
(25:25):
it's wonder and friendship. Wonder, is this, I think, humble
admission of how little you know about the world, about
how much there is to experience in the world, how
much there is to learn. It keeps you humble. I
think it keeps you young. I think it makes you
childlike because because there is just so much. There is,
(25:47):
literally almost everything there is to know about the universe.
I do not know, and there's no way that I
could pull it in in a hundred lifetimes. But I'm
trying my best to learn as much about it and
then along the process self discovery, you know. So, I mean,
if there was one thing that I had to tell somebody,
(26:08):
you know, in your dying breath, it is know thyself,
learn about you and figure out who you are. And
honesty is a huge part of that as well. You know,
I always say everything meaningful in life has to survive honesty.
So you got to be honest, you got to keep
your eyes open, you got to be brutally honest with
(26:30):
yourself about who you are, about who you want to be,
about who you can be. And then just taking in
the world. I think, you know, wonder, a heart full
of wonder is the key to a real education. I
think you know, I mean a lot of people go
through school and they get their degree, but they never
were learners. They just got their degree. Because you can tell.
(26:52):
You can tell somebody who's who's driven by the need
to know and learn things, And I am that if
I'm nothing thing else. I am driven by the need
to know and learn and understand stand things more. Not
because I'm trying to, you know, win at trivial pursuit games.
It's because I'm just so enamored with the mystery of life.
(27:13):
I just want to I just want to understand it better.
And then the other side of that is I don't
want to do it alone. And so for me, relationships, friendships,
I live my life. I think the laws of friendship,
the rules of friendship in which everybody understands. I think
those are the highest rules. Not marriage, not marital vows,
(27:34):
not family obligatory promises, not not none of that. I think,
ultimately adult human beings, that the raw the laws of friendship,
because friendship is voluntary, so you have to maintain respect
between friends, you know, because nobody has to be your friend.
Somebody has to be your child, somebody has to be
(27:55):
your parents, somebody has you know, your spouse, you put
it that way, But even between you and me, I
don't introduce you. I introduce you every week on the show,
and I never say you're my wife. I say you're
my best friend in all the world, because that's the
thing that means the most to me, is friendship. This
has been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune
(28:17):
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime
on demand on the iHeart Radio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper, Custom home Builder, custom home Designer, and
every week your guide to better understanding that place where
you live. Every home has a path forward, you know
what we're all about letting you see it. Once you
(00:22):
see that path forward, everything changes, Everything changes. A hopeless
situation becomes hopeful. Why because there's a path forward. It's
just that simple, and every home has one. It's just
a question of are we willing to see it and
do we take the time to figure it out? And
(00:43):
that's why we're here every week for you. My thanks
to all of our callers. This week been fantastic, great calls.
As per usual, we still have a couple of tickets
to give away to the House Whisper Ghost Tour. Will
be doing that in just a bit, so you hang tight.
Doing it next weekend as well. So we've got time.
(01:03):
We've got time. Don't you worry. We're going to get
you in there. Just try hard enough, you're gonna make it,
my friend. But today, for the remainder of the show,
we're going to continue with what we started with, which
is our annual House Whisper listener interview, and what that
basically means is, you know, all of the non home
(01:23):
and house related questions that we get every year, listener
questions of a little bit more personal nature. We set
them aside. We don't toss them away, We set them aside.
And now last few years we've decided, you know, we'll
do one show in the fall in which Tina basically
takes those questions and we do an on air interview
about them. So, without any further ado, let's get back
(01:43):
into it. Tina.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Is that how you pronounce your name? By the way, Tina, Tina,
Tina tiny tiny Okay, anyway, go it for it.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Okay, We're going to transition a little bit from just
our designs to a question that comes from somebody here
in La County and they asked, how did you go
from successful designer to radio personnel?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
How did I go? Well, whether or not I'm a
radio personality is debatable, because well, I am a personality
among our twelve faithful listeners. Apart from that, I don't know,
But okay, so how did we go? Uh? It's complete,
it is completely Robin Bertalucci's fault.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's because of me.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Well, it actually is sort of your fault too. It
is false. What do you explain? Okay, because it started
with you? Actly? Did it actually started with you? By
the way, So I'll just lay this as the as
the as the prologue to the to the answer here.
How many days, how many hours? How many times have
you and I in our entire design career woken up
(02:54):
in the morning and said, you know what, we should
turn this successful, successful design business into some kind of
media thing. Zero hours, zero time, zero none whatsoever. Okay,
so we never pursued it. But then this happened. What happened?
What happened.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I was friends with Robin and we just got to talking.
And you know, when you grow closer to people than you,
you know, you invite the spouses. So, you know, wet
she met Dean, I met down. You know, we we
had this great connection, the four of us.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
They're very dear friends.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
They really are. They've turned into family, really, yes, And
at some point Robin kind of she got her wheels turning,
and you can always tell, you can see that look
on her face.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But she approached Dean and she said, oh.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
By the way, for those who don't know, I just
realized Robin Bertolucci, the legendary just recently retired program director
for KFI over the last twenty plus years.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
An amazing and amazing powerful woman.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
But she came to Dean one day and said, hey,
I wanted to have breakfast with you, and he thought, oh,
she's wanting to get together to talk about some design
work that they were wanting to have done to our house.
And so they got together, had breakfast and then okay, well,
you know, are we talking about this? And she said, oh, no,
I want to put you on the radio. And he
(04:19):
about fell off his chair.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, pretty funny, that was the thing. So she said yeah,
she said no, no, no, no, no, no, We're not
going to redo the office right now, but I think
you should be. I think you should have a weekend
show on the most listened to talk radio station in
North America.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And I'm like, oh, really, you do what led you
to that brilliant idea all my extensive radio experience, which
at the time was zero, or was it the fact
that I come harping to you, begging you, oh please,
let's get on the media, which never ever happened ever.
So yeah, no, Robin, she just sensed that it would
(04:56):
be a great fit. And you remember I was talking
earlier about the fact that we've spent so much time
designing a state level stuff and those you know, we
have a very I mean it's you and me. We
have this very you know, boutique. It's boutique, right, boutique
meaning it's not a big fri. I never wanted to
be the chief designer of one hundred little house whispers run.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And that's really important for.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Us to be both involved because intimately in many details and.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yes, and and you if you take that and place
that into a state level design project, that's a lot.
It's you know, the multi year projects, some of them
it's consuming and uh. And yet we've always had this
desire to help mainstream homeowners and because that's where we live,
that's how that's our actual life. We've designed mansions during
(05:44):
the day and just come home to our little life.
And and so, you know, Robin could sense that I
had a gift of some sort for translating difficult concepts
into language that homeowners could understood, it could understand, and
the whole application of these architectural and design principles into
(06:05):
regular houses because it works, it works, there's no reason
not to. And she also knows I'm slightly passionate about it.
So she came and said, listen, believe me. She's like,
you whisper Holmes, that's your expertise. I whisper people, that's
my expertise. Trust me, this is the right thing. This.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, she really appreciated how you could you can explain
very hard concepts in a way that everybody can really
a great teaching ability.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So she laid it out there and she said, don't
say no because this is pushed him. Yeah I did.
I just because I'm like, why would you upset? We
have a good thing going here, But you know what here,
you know what it's now. It's now this fully integrated
part of our life. And we never had to let
go of design. The fact that what makes the show
(06:56):
so authentic is the fact that the two are happening.
That we have the show, but we also still are,
you know, neck deep in this industry. And it scratched
an itch. It scratched an itch because I always wanted
to help spend more time working and designing more mainstream
things for regular homeowners and not just multimillionaires and things.
(07:18):
And Robin's like, listen, you're going to help tens of
thousands of them every fifteen minutes if you do this show,
and then that like set the hook. I'm like, damn you,
you're good. So we tried it out and I was terrified,
but you know, it has turned into I don't know
if I've gotten any better at it. Maybe a little
bit better, But you know what, next year, you know,
(07:39):
it'll be our tenth year doing this kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I can't believe it already, and.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
We still haven't. For one day pursued media. It just
kind of dropped in our lap. But I made Robin
promise that that she was going to have my back
and mentor me through it, and she has been. She's
been my Yoda. She still is to this day. So
it's it's all her fault. For those of you who
disliked the program, those of you just liked the program,
(08:05):
why are you listening? It's a beautiful day, Just go outside.
And for those of you who have enjoyed it over
the years, it's completely one hundred percent Robin Berta Lucie's
fault and Tina's fault for making friends so easily. And
there you go. All right, we got to go to
a break and then you can ask you a couple
more questions your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
We are doing the house Whisper listener interviews today, which
basically amounts to listener questions that have come in over
the past year that are a little bit more on
the personal and not direct. Oh, I have a question
about my toilet or about the style of my house
kind of question. Tina has collected them together and she's
throwing them at me, and so without any further ado,
(08:52):
let's let's move forward.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Okay, I want to We just talked about, you know,
how you got onto KFI. So now there was someone said,
what was your favorite thing about being on.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Favorite thing about being on kf I other than the
fact that it has connected us to so many listeners,
And like I said, it's scratched this itch. That's a
very personal, selfish thing that it's scratched this itch to
really help people. Because so we still work the big
you know, estate projects, and yet get to help regular
everyday people like you and me make their lives better.
(09:26):
So that is very very special. That has become really
really meaningful to me to the point where like, I
don't want to not do that right, you know, I
mean enjoy it. For a person who never pursued media,
I'm like, I like the way that feels. It's good.
It's nice to help people. But as far as KFI goes, honestly,
it was something I didn't really expect because one of
(09:48):
my hesitations at the beginning was I don't know if
I want to get into the douchey world of entertainment
and all of that stuff, because we've heard, you know,
everybody hears stories. There are just so many gems of
people at KFI in this world. Yeah, and and and
there were in.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The media world.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But you know, but it's the people that I've worked with,
everybody from Tony who's doing part of our engineering today,
to uh to well, like I said, Robin who was
the big boss lady for so long, and just I mean,
person after person after person. It is not what I expected.
It's not what I expected. And I'm not saying, by
the way that there aren't some douchey characters out there.
(10:34):
I'm telling you that we have run into so many genuinely,
very very special people. We really have. It's it has
been a great group of people, just great people. So
there you go. It's the people.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Okay. So here's a couple of super personal ones.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
We're super personal. Know more about you and me. So
where did you meet the love of your life?
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Who's that super my librador? Yeah, well, Shelter, I met
Christina renee sharp ooh online? Can you believe that? In
nineteen ninety five, in late late nineteen ninety five, it
(11:18):
was it's actually about you know what it was about
this time of year. We're within weeks of it. I
think it was in November. Technically, in November of nineteen
ninety five. I was sitting home alone, a little distraught
and gone through a divorce, a lonely little something. And
this is ninety five though, Okay, So I had a
(11:41):
computer at home and a dial up modem, you know,
and AOL AOL chat rooms and it was an AOL
chat I just like I was looking around AOL looking
at And this was.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Long before I mean, now everybody meets online. This is
a very oh This was way before that.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And as far as I was, AOL was like, I mean,
the Internet back then was like these weird static bulletin boards,
but AOL was like graphic. It was like it was
like something like it was alive, like there was something
happening there. So I just dropped into a local chat
room like so cal Chat eight thousand and eighty seven,
because there were that many of them. It just dropped
in and I'm just watching people talk.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
And honestly, I don't even remember how it worked. I
don't remember how they were like bulletin boards or something.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You kind of just watched the chat roll off the screen,
That's what I remember.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
You just were almost like watching text message.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Exactly on a computer screen. And it's just like it
was a group these young people that don't al Yes,
for you young people, it was like watching a group chat,
just watching a group chat in real time and uh.
But but they had this ability. You had the ability.
You're watching it, if you're looking at somebody's comments and
you're like, oh, that is interesting, and you could select
(12:55):
that person and send them a private side message, and
then you're watching the group chat and you're also like
having a private side message on the side, and I
did that to Princess. I don't even remember. I just remember.
I remember your name started with princess, Princess, and then
there was a number because you were like John, we
have to go to break.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Oh, all right, what they'll tell you?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
All right, I'll tell you the rest of the story
right after this your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
All right, well, the interview continues. The House Whisper audience
interview listener Tina just got where did that come from?
Some over Instagram? She just got lovely message, lovely somebody
who's never going to listen to us again, because I
was idiotic and insensitive enough to refer to non mansion
(13:50):
owners as everyday ordinary people, normal everyday people, as if
as if that somehow means that you're not extraordinary people
because you don't know to mansion and so anyway, I
don't know what to say about that other than sorry
if you took that the wrong way. But I mean,
I hope everybody understands, right, I mean, we're in the
(14:12):
business of customizing any home for anyone, because everybody is
a unique, extraordinary individual. And so I think you've misunderstood
me on that part. But that is part of if
there was a question in there, like what's the most
annoying part of media? It's constantly being under misunderstood and
(14:33):
never being able to say any single one sentence without
somebody out there taking it the wrong way and going
the wrong door. It's just you have to develop a
kind of a thick skin of you anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So let's get back to Okay, go ahead, yep, we'll
just wrap up how we met.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So we met it on AOL in a chat room.
We were early adopters of that technology long long ago,
and we ended up having these you know, private side
chats over I don't know, not just one night, but
over a series of evenings and so on, and then
eventually we're like, well, where do you live? Oh my gosh,
well I don't live very far away. Do you want
to meet? First? We exchange photos via email and promised
(15:17):
each other these are accurate photos.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
And the funny thing if we didn't even have the
technology back then to do what people are doing now
with AI and no filters, and.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So we exchanged photos and we're like, okay, this is
actually a real photo of fair Fair And then, out
of my fear that you would be vulnerable, I'm like, listen,
let's just you know, I'm not a serial killer. I'm
not you know, and let's just meet. Why don't we
just meet for coffee. We meet for coffee, and we
met for coffee at the local mall. Yeah, it was
(15:47):
in the middle of the day. Yes, and the rest
is history. What can I tell you? She slew me
right then and there she smiled. I mean honestly, she smiled.
I'm like, why, Wow, what a smile. And we just
hit it off. We became friends that day and we
are friends to this day. And that was almost thirty
(16:09):
years ago. So there you go.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Okay, next next, Okay, so another little personal one. You
speak really fondly of your father. What are the greatest
lessons he taught you?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Rah, My father was so such a very different person
than me in personality. Outwardly, he was very quiet, very
he was very simple, mid and he was like, yeah,
midwestern southern farmer, kind of farm boy, I should say,
(16:44):
heavy equipment operator, blue collar worker. And yeah, he just
he was just one of those salts of the earth,
people who didn't stand out, didn't didn't make room for
himself in a room, just just did put his head
down and went through it. He was older. My parents
(17:04):
were in there mid to late forties when they adopted
me out of the hospital. So my father actually is
the age of my Peers grandfather. My father fought in
World War Two. He was a World War two vet.
He was he grew up during the Great Depression. Anyway,
I have a lot of love and respect for my father.
(17:25):
What did he teach me? I would say this, you
know what. We talked about this actually with Vicky the
other day. I think if I had to boil it down,
my father taught me that being a man amounted to
two things, being competent and being kind. And that was it,
and that was my dad. He was kind and he
(17:46):
was competent, and so he just kind of ingrained that
in me. You need to be able to do stuff.
You need to be able to you know, you know
that classic kind of like you need to be able
to fix a flat tire, you need to be able
to do this, you need to be able to build
a house, that kind of stuff. He wanted me to
be competent, and that's how he showed his his his
(18:11):
masculinity in competence and in kindness. He was not the
macho guy, but man he was. He was a man.
All right, there you go.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, he's a lovely guy. What else you got there?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Okay, So did you come from a family of artists?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
No? Well no, yeah, I mean biologically you could maybe
make that argument a little bit more because my mother,
my biological mother, who I absolutely love and adore and
who I have a this now ongoing relationship with. Both
of my adopted parents have passed away long ago. My father,
(18:52):
you know, yeah, long ago, thirty years plus my biological mother,
who I rediscovered and who we've had, we've built this
amazing relationship with. When so when you hear me talk
about my mom, we're talking about you know, the lovely
Shelley Uh down in the city of Orange. And so
she is absolutely a far more artistic and intellectual and
(19:14):
creative type. And and you know, I owe my genetics
from her. My sister is super creative and and artsy,
and you know, so it yeah that but not no,
not the family I grew up with. No zero, No,
none of there was none of that. I was the
round peg in the square hole there, yeah, or square?
(19:34):
Is it square? It's square peg in the round hole?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, or either way?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Either way. It didn't fit. It didn't fit, it didn't work.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Okay, how do you How do your parents feel about
where your career has taken?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Well? Yes, again, my my adopted parents just they they
never got to see where my career. My my dad
lived long enough to see me because a really good,
you know, master builder and the beginning of the design
work on a larger scale. My mom never saw that
(20:10):
any of that. She passed away way too early. But again, Shelley,
my biological mother, who is alive and well, and she
is immensely proud, immensely proud, like crazy proud of where
things have gone. So that means the world to me.
(20:32):
You know what, I think we're up against another break,
So you're gonna have to You're gonna have to gather
a couple of quickies together so we can wrap up
the show. Everybody go nowhere. When we come back, we're
gonna give away those other two tickets to the ghost
Tour and we'll finish up this interview. So you stay put.
Much more to come your Home with Dean Sharp the
(20:54):
House Whispered.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Here to remind you that every home deserves great design,
because every person who lives in a home deserves a
life that is designed beautifully to the uniqueness that is you.
Thanks for joining us on the program. Here we are
nearing the end of another three hours together. Man it
flies by. Today we're finishing up and we're about to
finish up our annual House Whisper listener interviews. So many
(21:23):
questions that Tina didn't get to, but you know, we'll
just take it in stride and make him. We'll get
those answers out there eventually. She's got a couple more
questions for me. But first, before we end, as promised,
I'm going to give away two more tickets to the
House Whisper Ghost Tour that's happening Monday night, October twenty
seventh at the Heritage Museum of Orange County. We're going
(21:45):
to tour through an exclusive VIP House Whisper and Friends
tour through the historic Kellogg House, built one hundred and
twenty seven years ago, allegedly haunted. Also fascinating. Eating Lee
architecturally designed a custom home from eighteen ninety eight. Think
about that anyway, that's happening October twenty seventh. I'm going
(22:09):
to give the phone number out one more time, eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two.
Ask Dean eight three three to ask Dean. Nikki is
standing by the very first call that she picks up
that works is going to win two of those tickets
to that event. Go go all right, that's happening, Tina,
(22:32):
you go ahead, Oh there you go.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
So we are coming to the last segment of the show,
and this is usually a time when you do a
closing thought, and we've had so many people say how
much they love your closing thoughts at the end of
the show, so I thought it would be appropriate to
ask the question, because we love listening to your closing thoughts.
(22:57):
What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned personally
or in did you write each That's huge? Yeah, I know,
that's huge. That's why this may take the rest of
the time, but.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That's why I give a closing thought like every week
to get all of this stuff out of the way
to get it all the rain.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
But but you write these each week, these aren't these
aren't Yes, not every week, but sometimes you find quotes
or something. But for the most part, you sit and
you sit by your fire pit or you sit in
front of the fire at early morning and you pour
out these.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I just cannot well, I pour out my I just
try and get my head out there. Yeah, that's all.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's really nice, that's all. And it has had some
great response people.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Really, I'm very I'm very fortunate. Again, this goes back
to Robin that she was open to the idea of
me actually taking part of the last segment and doing
that and instead of just giving handing out more house advice.
And the reason is because the show is called Home,
and because a house is a house until a life
is being lived inside of it, and then it's a home.
And I think the whole the whole reason we're in
(23:58):
custom home design. That's why you and I decided very
specifically to do that kind of design, architectural design, and
that kind of decor and all of that stuff. It's
because of the lives that because it's because it's ground central,
it's it's it's it's the Holy of Holies for where
people it's it's h Q for where people live their lives.
(24:20):
You know, it's why we sign off every week. You know,
go build yourself a beautiful life, and I hope you're
you know, your home is a part of that. But lessons,
I mean life lessons. Wow, I mean that's big. I
don't know. Okay. So I have these two tattoos on
my forearms that have been on there for a while.
(24:40):
That's the only ink that I have on my body.
It was a promise I made to my dad before
he died that I would get a tattoo because he
was all tatted up from the Navy and all of
that kind of stuff, you know. But I put it
off for a long time and I eventually chose these
two actually designed these to and without getting into the
(25:02):
detail on it, essentially they've meant different things to me
over the years, but this is what they have finally
settled into me. And so you could call these life lessons.
I live my life by two primary pillars, and that
is wonder and friendship. So I mean, if you had
to boil me down at this point at my age,
(25:25):
it's wonder and friendship. Wonder, is this, I think, humble
admission of how little you know about the world, about
how much there is to experience in the world, how
much there is to learn. It keeps you humble. I
think it keeps you young. I think it makes you
childlike because because there is just so much. There is,
(25:47):
literally almost everything there is to know about the universe.
I do not know, and there's no way that I
could pull it in in a hundred lifetimes. But I'm
trying my best to learn as much about it and
then along the process self discovery, you know. So, I mean,
if there was one thing that I had to tell somebody,
(26:08):
you know, in your dying breath, it is know thyself,
learn about you and figure out who you are. And
honesty is a huge part of that as well. You know,
I always say everything meaningful in life has to survive honesty.
So you got to be honest, you got to keep
your eyes open, you got to be brutally honest with
(26:30):
yourself about who you are, about who you want to be,
about who you can be. And then just taking in
the world. I think, you know, wonder, a heart full
of wonder is the key to a real education. I
think you know, I mean a lot of people go
through school and they get their degree, but they never
were learners. They just got their degree. Because you can tell.
(26:52):
You can tell somebody who's who's driven by the need
to know and learn things, And I am that if
I'm nothing thing else. I am driven by the need
to know and learn and understand stand things more. Not
because I'm trying to, you know, win at trivial pursuit games.
It's because I'm just so enamored with the mystery of life.
(27:13):
I just want to I just want to understand it better.
And then the other side of that is I don't
want to do it alone. And so for me, relationships, friendships,
I live my life. I think the laws of friendship,
the rules of friendship in which everybody understands. I think
those are the highest rules. Not marriage, not marital vows,
(27:34):
not family obligatory promises, not not none of that. I think,
ultimately adult human beings, that the raw the laws of friendship,
because friendship is voluntary, so you have to maintain respect
between friends, you know, because nobody has to be your friend.
Somebody has to be your child, somebody has to be
(27:55):
your parents, somebody has you know, your spouse, you put
it that way, But even between you and me, I
don't introduce you. I introduce you every week on the show,
and I never say you're my wife. I say you're
my best friend in all the world, because that's the
thing that means the most to me, is friendship. This
has been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune
(28:17):
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime
on demand on the iHeart Radio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
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