November 4, 2021 • 26 mins
Emmy-Award Winning Actress Susan Lucci and American Heart Association Volunteer Medical Expert Dr. Stacey Rosen Discuss the Underrepresentation of Women in Cardiovascular Research
and the Economic Benefits of Investing in Women’s Health Research. They share the benefits to both women and men including accelerated health breakthroughs, improved health outcomes and economic benefits. Dr. Rosen also talks about the significant differences between the sexes and how unique life stages like pregnancy and menopause can put women at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Susan, National Ambassador for the Go Red for Women movement, shares her personal experience with a life-threatening heart episode and ways you can join the movement to improve the health of all women.
and the Economic Benefits of Investing in Women’s Health Research. They share the benefits to both women and men including accelerated health breakthroughs, improved health outcomes and economic benefits. Dr. Rosen also talks about the significant differences between the sexes and how unique life stages like pregnancy and menopause can put women at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Susan, National Ambassador for the Go Red for Women movement, shares her personal experience with a life-threatening heart episode and ways you can join the movement to improve the health of all women.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hi, I'm Wendy Lois Sloan,and this is what's up with Wendy's podcast.
I just wanted to tell you alittle bit about myself. I began
my career in New York City asa television producer for talk show legends Phil
Donahue and Heraldo Rivera, and forthe last decade, I've used these experiences
to create my unique style in interviewinghundreds of a list celebrities, newsmakers,
(00:22):
comedians, musicians, reality stars,fitness and nutrition experts, best selling authors,
and so much more. So.I hope you enjoy this wide variety
on my podcast. I hope you'llshare and subscribe, and again thanks for
tuning in. My special guest today, best known for portraying the iconic character
Erica Kane on the ABC's daytime dramaseries All My Children from nineteen seventy to
(00:46):
twenty eleven. She is one ofmy favorite people in the plan and it
was in nineteen ninety three that Ifirst met her. It was one of
the greatest moments in my career history. We were having I was working for
Phil Donahue, we were having thecast of All My Children on and I
flew my parents from Florida to seethe show to surprise them, especially my
(01:07):
mom, because we had watched thatshow together forever. So it was one
of the greatest memories in my careerand one of the moments that I'll remember
forever. So I'm so happy tohave her today. Emmy Award winning actress
Susan Lucci, She's here to discussa very very important topic with medical expert
doctor Stacy Rosen. In the fallof twenty eighteen, she suddenly experienced chess
(01:27):
discomfort and had a life threatening heartepisode, So we're going to be talking
about heart health today. You won'twant to miss it. It's very important.
Thanks for tuning in to this episodeof What's Up with Wendy. Please
subscribe and share with your friends.It was the show I watched with religiously
with my mom, the beloved soapopera that aired for over forty years.
(01:49):
Today, my guests, known forportraying the iconic and most beloved Ericacaine on
the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Emmy Award winning actress Susan Lucci is
joining me and alongside of her fromthe American Heart Association, volunteer medical expert
doctor Stacy Rosen. Thank you bothfor being here so much on this very
important topic. Thank you, Wendy, good morning, Good morning. Before
(02:13):
we even start, I know we'regoing to be discussing the underrepresentation of and
the economic benefits of investing in women'shealth research, I have to just take
us back to nineteen ninety three.It was I worked for the Phil Donahue
Show and we had the cast ofall my children coming onto the show,
and it was a surprise. Iflew my parents here and Susan you were
(02:36):
there, and it was the veryfirst time I had met you, and
it was one of the most memorablemoments in my career. So I just
wanted to say thank you. AndI haven't spoken to you since then,
so I'm so happy you're here.Oh my goodness, thank you so much.
Wendy, what a wonderful memory.Thank you very much. It's interesting
that you mentioned the year nineteen ninetythree, because it wasn't until nineteen ninety
(02:57):
three that Congress of Active Congress it'sgoing to Act of Congress to mandate that
female mice were included in research.Never mind women, is it? Wait?
So they weren't included. They werenot included until an Act of Congress
in nineteen ninety three. Isn't thatremarkable, That's unbelievable. Let's start with
(03:19):
you, doctor Rosen. Why isit so important to increase funding in women's
health research and what are the economicbenefits? No, thank you. You
know, as Susan said, wealways historically had a male model for healthcare,
for scientific research, for healthcare delivery, and it actually took an Act
of Congress for us to realize womenmake up fifty one percent of the population.
(03:43):
Yet when we looked at the lastten years of research on heart disease,
which is the number one killer ofwomen, participants who are female were
fewer than forty percent of the population. Women historically were underrepresented, understudied,
and that led to undue treatment,diagnosis, and poor outcomes. So today
we have a really exciting report,the first of this kind, that was
(04:06):
put out by WHAMS Women's Health AccessMatters, is supported by the American Heart
Association, that actually looked for thefirst time at the economic opportunities and the
imperative to invest more funds in women'sresearch, particularly in the area of carnary
artery disease, blockages of the heartof arteries that can cause heart attacks.
(04:28):
And the study shows that it's fascinatingthat even modest increases in the amounts of
funding that we give to women's hearthealth research can have enormous economic and societal
impact. Women live longer, theylive free of heart disease, longer,
they say in the workforce, longer. The actual investment and the outcome,
(04:50):
the economic value, it is extraordinary. Wow, what are some of the
unique life stages that put women atan increase risk of cardiovascular disease? Doctor
Rosen, Yeah, So imagine ifit took an Act of Congress for us
to include women, cells, women, rats, and research. Our male
(05:11):
model led to terrible outcomes for womenand the economic impacts of that. Women
are not small men with pesky hormones. We know that pregnancy issues can impact
on a women's risk of heart disease, timing of menopause, even some of
the traditional risk factors something like diabetes, can be very different, a more
(05:31):
potent risk factor, we call itin women. And if we don't look
at women differently and fund the researchto really understand this, we keep women
underrepresented, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.Makes sense. What can women do?
What can we do to make surethat our heart is healthy. Well.
I think some of the important thingsis knowing that all women have risk factors
(05:55):
for heart disease, virtually all,and that eighty plus percent of heart disease
is previncible. So starting even inyour twenties and thirties, know your risks
for heart disease, go for regularcheckups, and make life choices that are
important. The way we eat andexercise and sleep all have an impact on
our life's history with regard to heartdisease. Susan, you had a life
(06:19):
threatening heart episode in two thousand andeighteen. What's your message for women today?
And you were very, very publicwith that, which I think helped
a lot of people. Oh,thank you for saying that. That was
my wish. My wish was touse my platform to get the message out
to women to pass my good luckon because what happened to me three years
(06:41):
ago almost is the day, wasthat I had I was having twice before
I paid attention some chest pains,and twice I ignored it and thought,
oh, as most women do,Oh it'll go away, it's nothing.
Most of us would do that.But the third time I couldn't ignore it.
I went to the hospital and discoveredthat I had blockage in two of
(07:03):
my arteries, ninety percent blockage inmy main artery and seventy five percent blockage
in an adjacent artery. This was, yeah, such tremendous shock to both
me and to the doctor because mydiet has been very healthy. I mean,
the doctor said to me too,I know from your husband you et
Kale, you know so healthy.I worked out almost every day doing pilates,
(07:30):
so that my routine was very,very healthy. So it's an example
that don't ignore your symptoms. Whathappened to me could happen to anyone.
Women typically do not put themselves ontheir to do list. I almost didn't
go to the hospital because I thoughtI have too much to do that day.
(07:51):
And I would say to women,if your body is not behaving the
way you know it normally does,put yourself away at the top of that
to do list and get yourself tothe doctor. You know. Doctor Rosen
was mentioning that a lot of timeswomen's heart health issues go undiagnosed, largely
because of a lack of research,but also because it's typically regarded as a
(08:13):
male disease. And I have metso many other survivors during the course of
my time with the American Heart Associationand that go rid for Women movement who
literally had to convince the doctor togive them a test to find out what
was wrong with their heart because theyknew something was up. So be aware
of your symptoms, do something aboutit, and be tenacious. You know
(08:37):
what you know about your own body. Also be aware of your own health
risks. For myself, I thinkthat knowing family history is very important.
I didn't pay attention to that mydad had passed away of a heart attack,
and I should have been more awareof that. Of Course, I
adored my father and I was awarehow much I missed him, but I
(08:58):
wasn't aware of the DNA correspondence tomy DNA and so I did inherit that
not a cholesterol block up. Mydiet was good and I didn't have that,
but I had a calcium blockage andthat I inherited from my dad.
So those are things that can beimportant. And the other thing I would
(09:18):
say is join doctor Rosen and meon go Red for Women. That's the
website, go red for Women dotorg. Slash research funding because as it
is now only seventeen percent of thenational health research budget, seventeen cents is
allocated for women's research. Four dollarsis allocated for men's research. Not that
(09:43):
we want to take anything away fromthese men, but we want the women
to have equal representation because we areall part of each other's lives. Also
is dependent on two percent of usbeing the workforce. I think it's so
important everything that you both have saidtoday, Um and Susan looking at you
and everybody, I mean, everybodyknows you and the fact that you're so
(10:07):
healthy that you eat and will sayyou eat kal, but we know you
eat healthy and that you exercise,and that it can happen to it that
they want. We want people toknow that it can happen to anyone,
big or small, it doesn't matter. UM. So we all need to
listen to our bodies and take extracare and thank god that you did.
Oh, thank you, thank you. UM. If I had been home,
doctor Rosen and I were talking aboutthis, if I had been home
(10:31):
alone, because it's happened in themiddle of the day, I would have
thought, oh, I just needto lay down for a while, maybe
drink some water and lay down,and I found out from the doctor,
probably would not have gotten up.Oh wow, well, thank god you
did, and thank god we're spreadingthe word about this. So for more
information go Red for Women dot orgdot org slash research funding. Okay,
(11:01):
let's get that funding up. Weneed to get that funding. App Emmy
Award winning actress Susan Lucie, Ohmy god, I wish we had more
time. And doctor Stacy Rosen,medical expert. Susan, you have to
come back because we have to talkabout all my children and those times,
and please come back again and let'schat about that, and thank you for
bringing awareness to this and we'll getthe word out there. Thank you both
so much. And Susan feel good. All of us feel good and take
(11:22):
care of ourselves. Wonderful Wendy,thank you so much for Wendy. Thank
you both so much. Coming upas an episode featuring the founder of Milk
Bar, Christina Tosi, We're talkingeverything milk Bar and so much more.
You won't want to miss this episodeof What's Up with Wendy. I'm so
excited for my guests today. Authorof three best selling books, award winning
(11:43):
pastry chef, founder of Milk Bar. Welcome, to my show, Christina
Tosi. Thank you so much,Wendy. I'm so happy to be here
with you. You have no ideahow long I have been waiting for this
interview. Yes, I'm such afan and I can't wait for you to
share your story, the backstory ofthe Milk Bar with us. And how
(12:05):
have you been during this pandemic?And I small businesses, god bless them,
have been hit so hard, andyou know all too well about that.
Yeah, I mean I started MilkBar in November of two thousand and
eight, so twelve years ago.That was in the middle of the economic
crisis of two thousand and eight,which was an uphill battle in and of
itself, certainly nothing that compares twelveyears later to what we've all been through
(12:30):
this year in twenty twenty. Imean, building milk Bar and growing milk
Bar has most certainly been you know, it's been one of the most joyful
things and also one of the mostchallenging things, the most challenging thing I've
ever done in life. But Ialso think that's the spirit of being an
entrepreneur and growing a small business.And you know, the team at Milk
(12:54):
Bar and myself, we've been bakingup a storm. I mean, we're
incredibly grateful for the opportunity to showup in people's lives right now, whether
it's on their doorsteps because they're notleaving their homes, or in the aisles
of grocery stores, or you know, some of them even order on demand
delivery if they're in New York orWashington, DC, or Los Angeles or
Boston. But um, you know, it's it's most certainly been a challenge
(13:18):
in flexibility and trying new things onfor size. And I'm just grateful to
have to have the opportunity and thebusiness that you know, is able to
bake and bring joy and spread somesweetness in people's lives when they might need,
you know, when they might needit most, especially when we need
(13:39):
comfort food and everything comfort. Duringthis time, it's been a trying time
for so many small businesses, hitespecially hard. Just you know, we're
all on the unknown. We're allin this together. H you know,
scary, right, Yeah, youknow, it's every day you have Honestly,
you beau small business owner, bigentrepreneur, you have to sort of
(14:03):
enjoy the reality that every day you'regoing to wake up and you're going to
be faced with a new challenge,and that challenge is going to be different.
But most certainly, I think therealities that we're seeing hit the larger
parts of our world make it evenmore challenging. And I think you have
to have a fearlessness to do whatwe do. But it's not easy.
(14:26):
It's not easy, and you know, small businesses all over need every bit
of support from consumers and from brandslike Ball Homecanning, the makers of ball
Homecanning products, to really think abouthow to keep them supported and moving forward
in this time. What have youlearned that the small businesses are doing during
(14:48):
this time to keep afloat? Imean, it's it's all about flexibility.
It's all about really asking yourself,where is my community and how do I
show up for them? I meanI have seen small businesses go from being
retail only to direct to consumer only. I've seen you know, bakeries go
(15:09):
from being brick and mortar bakeries toselling you know, mixing packs online.
I mean, I myself started anonline Instagram live. I love that job.
You know, it's just about askingyourself. It's it's being unafraid to
say what I thought my business wasbefore might need to manifest itself differently and
(15:31):
truly, how do I show upfor people when they need me? And
for me it's it's through bake cluband through many other things. And how
do I show up for small businesses? And a lot of that is the
partner said that I have just launchedwith with the makers of Ball home canning
products called the Made for More SmallBusiness Fund, where we're handing out ten
(15:52):
grants to ten different small business ownersof ten thousand dollars and some pretty incredible
support. Beyond that, access toto team executives and beyond to really help
prop up their businesses as they figureout how to pivot and show up as
well. Wow, such a greatthing you're doing. How did Milk far
all? I know you said youfounded it in two thousand and eight.
How did it all come about?Like? What was the journey to get
(16:15):
to it? And the name?Yeah? So I was a home baker
from the Midwest first and foremost.I love to bake. I decided to
make it a profession, which isprobably one of the craziest decisions to make.
But I moved to New York Cityto pursue my passion. I thought
I would be a fine dining pastrychef. And what I found when I
(16:37):
made my way to the top ofthat pursuit was, you know, a
beautiful plated dessert is a gorgeous thingto marvel at. But I really found
that my love, my true lovefor dessert was in the connection and the
capacity to feed and make as manypeople as possible. And I looked around
and didn't see the type of businessI wanted to work for, and so
(17:03):
I built it, and I builtMilk Bar. Milk Bar's original inspiration was
meant to be a sort of likea modern day dairy queen. A custard
stand and ice creamstand meets like adisplay case of baked goods, and so
rather than using the work daily,Milk and Then Bar was sort of meant
to be like the place that's open. Uh well, we opened early in
(17:27):
the morning like a bakery wood,but we also stay open very late at
night. And we're sort of thatplace that can come that you're always welcome,
that we you know, we willalways feed you, ideally, will
inspire you, turn on your creativity, and more than anything, show up
for you. Amazing. I love, I love, I love the whole
concept and the fact that it's grown. It's grown so much. You were
(17:53):
living and working in New York City, but you opened up your flagship in
New York NDC. Why was that? You know? I spent my teenage
years in the Northern Virginia area.My father worked for the Department of Agriculture,
funnily enough, in the Dairy division, protecting small dairy farmers and setting
dairy prices. And I left homefor New York City because at the time,
(18:19):
DC's food scene was not as strongas New York's. It wasn't anything
close to what it was today.But when I decided from a milk bar
standpoint to really go for it,from a storefront bakery standpoint, to build
our biggest store at the time,I really wanted to be a homecoming to
the community that fed me on manydifferent levels to begin with. And now
(18:42):
we have flagships in Washington, DCat Logan Circle, we have one in
New York City in the Nomad neighborhood, and we built one in Los Angeles
in West Hollywood. So it's prettyfun. There's there's there's little milk bars
in really fun communities. But youknow, the way in which I have
been able to think about, youknow, spreading good through baked goods,
(19:06):
through milk Bar pie and birthday cakesand cereal milk saucer. It goes beyond
just you know bakeries standalone bakeries andcommunities. We have this incredible online care
package arm of our business where we'reable to show up on people's doorsteps because
that's what was true to my upbringing. You know, when you couldn't spend
(19:27):
time with people, you sent cookies, you sent cakes, And we just
launched into the aisles of the grocerystore as well to really bring that spirit,
that whim and that you know,the challenging of what a chocolate peper
cookie can be beyond a chocolate shipcookie, what a bite of cake can
be beyond a traditional flice and cake. And you know, my mission is
(19:51):
really to inspire the ten year oldversion of me, and that ten year
old fell in love with Neiles withthe grocery store, so I love.
Yeah, that's to follow your heartand you have to be able to ride
the waves. Yes, if youjustine, I'm talking the founder of the
Milk Bar, Christina Tosi. Howdo you juggle overseeing everyday stuff like the
(20:17):
tasting and the and and the testingof everything in such a large scale that
you have been you know, builtfor your brand. You know, one
day at a time is most certainlymy motto to myself with you, like
early in the morning and late atnight. No one does it alone.
I don't do it alone by anystretch of the imagination. I oftentimes sort
(20:37):
of remiss that I get all thecredit, but so much of so much
of this credit is due to myincredible team. It takes. It takes
an incredible team. It takes avillage, right, It takes a village.
It takes a heartbeat of people thatshare in your values, and honestly,
it takes a great deal of trustand confidence and knowing that what you
start in your vision it own worksif you plan on sharing it both with
(21:03):
your community and welcoming people into yourfold. And that had been I think
so much the strength and the brillianceof what we've been able to achieve at
Milk Bar. It's a shared vision, you know. When we come up
with our peppermint bar gig or peppermintbarks maps for the holiday yum, it's
something that we're all thinking about.It's a flavor story that we're all obsessed
(21:25):
with. And when we do Rand D and testing, and we're thinking
about packaging and we're thinking about allof the ins and outs. We do
it together as a team. Wechallenge one another and we trust the process.
And when we decide and commit,we decide and commit. When you
love what you do and you havea passion for it, it just speaks
volumes. Look what you've done withyou know, milk Bar and its success.
(21:47):
It's amazing. And you're the authorof three bestselling books. Your your
new book. I love the titleMilk Bar Kids Only. Yes, love
it. It's so much fun.You know, it's that cookbook that's for
the kid by age, or Ilike to think the kid at heart.
That's something that I'm always looking tohold onto, you know, going back
to that spirit of lightness and levitywhen getting into the kitchen and blocking out
(22:11):
thirty minutes or an hour to justsort of escape amongst you know, bins
of flour and sugar, jars ofyou know, salt, and baking powder
and baking soda. That's one ofthe most wonderful things in the world.
I think I don't even under ifI was in that if I was anywhere
near what you do, I wouldbe like, oh my god. Now,
well, that's the beauty of NoMark hits only is that they're really
(22:33):
simple, one bowl recipes to sortof take away any barrier any you know,
any self talking you go, Ican't do that, to look at
it and say, you know,it's vibe, it's ten ingredients, you
got this, You need a bowl, you need a spoon, turn on
that oven, and don't you worry. Oh my gosh, so fun.
(22:55):
So anything any new creation's brewing.Christina's well, we're working on our menu
for the beginning of next year becausewe're you know, we are finalizing our
last batches of peppermint bark everything peppermintbark, truffles and cake and snaps for
this holiday season, which we're excitedto just sort of like round out twenty
(23:18):
twenty and then put a blow onit and say goodbye. But we're working
on new recipes into next year.We're working on new truffle crumb cakes and
cookies for the aisles of the grocerystore. And honestly, the newest recipe
that I'm most excited about is thisrecipe that I just paid on bake club
(23:40):
my Live Monday Instagram two pm bakesession with the world, and it's rock
Candy and I love it because itvery much Wendy is the sort of like,
if you don't think you're a baker, if you're not sure about it,
just come on in. Trust me. I got you. I prom
it. It's growing beautiful sugar crispdoles in ball jars. You can flavor
(24:03):
them, you can color them.They make the most epic treat. You
can storm in your ball jar.When you're done, they make the most
epic treat. They make a reallysweet gift this time of year where we're
really looking for the moments that weare not spending with people to really resonate
through maybe what we drop off theirdoorstep or put in the nail and that
recipe and if you're a small businessowner or no a small business owner and
(24:27):
you want to share the Made forMore Small Business fund that I was talking
about earlier, the recipe for therock candy and the application to be one
of these ten winners for the tenthousand dollars grant to fuel your business.
You can find it at Fresh Preservingdot com. Backslash Made for More Okay,
gosh, thank you so much forthat information, and I hope everybody
(24:48):
stays safe and healthy. And thankyou for bringing us so many good sweet
treats and wonderful things from the Milkbarand your success Christina. So you know,
so I was so excited and lookingforward to talking to you and learning
all about this. Oh, thankyou for the positivity and cheer Windy.
It's been. It's been a realuplifting last few minutes. Going to spend
(25:10):
time with you same here. Thankyou so much. Look forward to seeing
more things. Um, you thinkwe're going to open up more milk bars,
you know, we're thinking we're Wemost certainly had that in the plans
before twenty twenty hit. So inmy mind, des gives the limits.
When you're a small business owner,you know, you set goals and the
second you get close to them,you set you know, you set bigger
(25:32):
goals and bigger goals or you youknow you're constantly moving to test pieces around.
So you will definitely see more ofMilk Bar in your life, whether
it's through bakers or showing up ondoorsteps or um, you know, in
more joyful places in the grocery store. There's more to come from us,
that's for sure. Oh my god, I can't wait. Looking forward to
it, and come back any time, chat with us, tat with me
(25:52):
anytime. Thanks so much, takecare of you too. Thanks for joining
me for this episode of What's Upwith Wendy. If you love this episode,
head over to iTunes or your favoriteplatform to subscribe, rate, and
leave a review. Please also followme on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
at What's Up with Wendy and youcan learn more about me and my podcasts
on my website, What's Up withWendy dot com. And remember, only
(26:17):
you can make you happy.
Hi, I'm Wendy Lois Sloan,and this is what's up with Wendy's podcast.
I just wanted to tell you alittle bit about myself. I began
my career in New York City asa television producer for talk show legends Phil
Donahue and Heraldo Rivera, and forthe last decade, I've used these experiences
to create my unique style in interviewinghundreds of a list celebrities, newsmakers,
(00:22):
comedians, musicians, reality stars,fitness and nutrition experts, best selling authors,
and so much more. So.I hope you enjoy this wide variety
on my podcast. I hope you'llshare and subscribe, and again thanks for
tuning in. My special guest today, best known for portraying the iconic character
Erica Kane on the ABC's daytime dramaseries All My Children from nineteen seventy to
(00:46):
twenty eleven. She is one ofmy favorite people in the plan and it
was in nineteen ninety three that Ifirst met her. It was one of
the greatest moments in my career history. We were having I was working for
Phil Donahue, we were having thecast of All My Children on and I
flew my parents from Florida to seethe show to surprise them, especially my
(01:07):
mom, because we had watched thatshow together forever. So it was one
of the greatest memories in my careerand one of the moments that I'll remember
forever. So I'm so happy tohave her today. Emmy Award winning actress
Susan Lucci, She's here to discussa very very important topic with medical expert
doctor Stacy Rosen. In the fallof twenty eighteen, she suddenly experienced chess
(01:27):
discomfort and had a life threatening heartepisode, So we're going to be talking
about heart health today. You won'twant to miss it. It's very important.
Thanks for tuning in to this episodeof What's Up with Wendy. Please
subscribe and share with your friends.It was the show I watched with religiously
with my mom, the beloved soapopera that aired for over forty years.
(01:49):
Today, my guests, known forportraying the iconic and most beloved Ericacaine on
the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Emmy Award winning actress Susan Lucci is
joining me and alongside of her fromthe American Heart Association, volunteer medical expert
doctor Stacy Rosen. Thank you bothfor being here so much on this very
important topic. Thank you, Wendy, good morning, Good morning. Before
(02:13):
we even start, I know we'regoing to be discussing the underrepresentation of and
the economic benefits of investing in women'shealth research, I have to just take
us back to nineteen ninety three.It was I worked for the Phil Donahue
Show and we had the cast ofall my children coming onto the show,
and it was a surprise. Iflew my parents here and Susan you were
(02:36):
there, and it was the veryfirst time I had met you, and
it was one of the most memorablemoments in my career. So I just
wanted to say thank you. AndI haven't spoken to you since then,
so I'm so happy you're here.Oh my goodness, thank you so much.
Wendy, what a wonderful memory.Thank you very much. It's interesting
that you mentioned the year nineteen ninetythree, because it wasn't until nineteen ninety
(02:57):
three that Congress of Active Congress it'sgoing to Act of Congress to mandate that
female mice were included in research.Never mind women, is it? Wait?
So they weren't included. They werenot included until an Act of Congress
in nineteen ninety three. Isn't thatremarkable, That's unbelievable. Let's start with
(03:19):
you, doctor Rosen. Why isit so important to increase funding in women's
health research and what are the economicbenefits? No, thank you. You
know, as Susan said, wealways historically had a male model for healthcare,
for scientific research, for healthcare delivery, and it actually took an Act
of Congress for us to realize womenmake up fifty one percent of the population.
(03:43):
Yet when we looked at the lastten years of research on heart disease,
which is the number one killer ofwomen, participants who are female were
fewer than forty percent of the population. Women historically were underrepresented, understudied,
and that led to undue treatment,diagnosis, and poor outcomes. So today
we have a really exciting report,the first of this kind, that was
(04:06):
put out by WHAMS Women's Health AccessMatters, is supported by the American Heart
Association, that actually looked for thefirst time at the economic opportunities and the
imperative to invest more funds in women'sresearch, particularly in the area of carnary
artery disease, blockages of the heartof arteries that can cause heart attacks.
(04:28):
And the study shows that it's fascinatingthat even modest increases in the amounts of
funding that we give to women's hearthealth research can have enormous economic and societal
impact. Women live longer, theylive free of heart disease, longer,
they say in the workforce, longer. The actual investment and the outcome,
(04:50):
the economic value, it is extraordinary. Wow, what are some of the
unique life stages that put women atan increase risk of cardiovascular disease? Doctor
Rosen, Yeah, So imagine ifit took an Act of Congress for us
to include women, cells, women, rats, and research. Our male
(05:11):
model led to terrible outcomes for womenand the economic impacts of that. Women
are not small men with pesky hormones. We know that pregnancy issues can impact
on a women's risk of heart disease, timing of menopause, even some of
the traditional risk factors something like diabetes, can be very different, a more
(05:31):
potent risk factor, we call itin women. And if we don't look
at women differently and fund the researchto really understand this, we keep women
underrepresented, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.Makes sense. What can women do?
What can we do to make surethat our heart is healthy. Well.
I think some of the important thingsis knowing that all women have risk factors
(05:55):
for heart disease, virtually all,and that eighty plus percent of heart disease
is previncible. So starting even inyour twenties and thirties, know your risks
for heart disease, go for regularcheckups, and make life choices that are
important. The way we eat andexercise and sleep all have an impact on
our life's history with regard to heartdisease. Susan, you had a life
(06:19):
threatening heart episode in two thousand andeighteen. What's your message for women today?
And you were very, very publicwith that, which I think helped
a lot of people. Oh,thank you for saying that. That was
my wish. My wish was touse my platform to get the message out
to women to pass my good luckon because what happened to me three years
(06:41):
ago almost is the day, wasthat I had I was having twice before
I paid attention some chest pains,and twice I ignored it and thought,
oh, as most women do,Oh it'll go away, it's nothing.
Most of us would do that.But the third time I couldn't ignore it.
I went to the hospital and discoveredthat I had blockage in two of
(07:03):
my arteries, ninety percent blockage inmy main artery and seventy five percent blockage
in an adjacent artery. This was, yeah, such tremendous shock to both
me and to the doctor because mydiet has been very healthy. I mean,
the doctor said to me too,I know from your husband you et
Kale, you know so healthy.I worked out almost every day doing pilates,
(07:30):
so that my routine was very,very healthy. So it's an example
that don't ignore your symptoms. Whathappened to me could happen to anyone.
Women typically do not put themselves ontheir to do list. I almost didn't
go to the hospital because I thoughtI have too much to do that day.
(07:51):
And I would say to women,if your body is not behaving the
way you know it normally does,put yourself away at the top of that
to do list and get yourself tothe doctor. You know. Doctor Rosen
was mentioning that a lot of timeswomen's heart health issues go undiagnosed, largely
because of a lack of research,but also because it's typically regarded as a
(08:13):
male disease. And I have metso many other survivors during the course of
my time with the American Heart Associationand that go rid for Women movement who
literally had to convince the doctor togive them a test to find out what
was wrong with their heart because theyknew something was up. So be aware
of your symptoms, do something aboutit, and be tenacious. You know
(08:37):
what you know about your own body. Also be aware of your own health
risks. For myself, I thinkthat knowing family history is very important.
I didn't pay attention to that mydad had passed away of a heart attack,
and I should have been more awareof that. Of Course, I
adored my father and I was awarehow much I missed him, but I
(08:58):
wasn't aware of the DNA correspondence tomy DNA and so I did inherit that
not a cholesterol block up. Mydiet was good and I didn't have that,
but I had a calcium blockage andthat I inherited from my dad.
So those are things that can beimportant. And the other thing I would
(09:18):
say is join doctor Rosen and meon go Red for Women. That's the
website, go red for Women dotorg. Slash research funding because as it
is now only seventeen percent of thenational health research budget, seventeen cents is
allocated for women's research. Four dollarsis allocated for men's research. Not that
(09:43):
we want to take anything away fromthese men, but we want the women
to have equal representation because we areall part of each other's lives. Also
is dependent on two percent of usbeing the workforce. I think it's so
important everything that you both have saidtoday, Um and Susan looking at you
and everybody, I mean, everybodyknows you and the fact that you're so
(10:07):
healthy that you eat and will sayyou eat kal, but we know you
eat healthy and that you exercise,and that it can happen to it that
they want. We want people toknow that it can happen to anyone,
big or small, it doesn't matter. UM. So we all need to
listen to our bodies and take extracare and thank god that you did.
Oh, thank you, thank you. UM. If I had been home,
doctor Rosen and I were talking aboutthis, if I had been home
(10:31):
alone, because it's happened in themiddle of the day, I would have
thought, oh, I just needto lay down for a while, maybe
drink some water and lay down,and I found out from the doctor,
probably would not have gotten up.Oh wow, well, thank god you
did, and thank god we're spreadingthe word about this. So for more
information go Red for Women dot orgdot org slash research funding. Okay,
(11:01):
let's get that funding up. Weneed to get that funding. App Emmy
Award winning actress Susan Lucie, Ohmy god, I wish we had more
time. And doctor Stacy Rosen,medical expert. Susan, you have to
come back because we have to talkabout all my children and those times,
and please come back again and let'schat about that, and thank you for
bringing awareness to this and we'll getthe word out there. Thank you both
so much. And Susan feel good. All of us feel good and take
(11:22):
care of ourselves. Wonderful Wendy,thank you so much for Wendy. Thank
you both so much. Coming upas an episode featuring the founder of Milk
Bar, Christina Tosi, We're talkingeverything milk Bar and so much more.
You won't want to miss this episodeof What's Up with Wendy. I'm so
excited for my guests today. Authorof three best selling books, award winning
(11:43):
pastry chef, founder of Milk Bar. Welcome, to my show, Christina
Tosi. Thank you so much,Wendy. I'm so happy to be here
with you. You have no ideahow long I have been waiting for this
interview. Yes, I'm such afan and I can't wait for you to
share your story, the backstory ofthe Milk Bar with us. And how
(12:05):
have you been during this pandemic?And I small businesses, god bless them,
have been hit so hard, andyou know all too well about that.
Yeah, I mean I started MilkBar in November of two thousand and
eight, so twelve years ago.That was in the middle of the economic
crisis of two thousand and eight,which was an uphill battle in and of
itself, certainly nothing that compares twelveyears later to what we've all been through
(12:30):
this year in twenty twenty. Imean, building milk Bar and growing milk
Bar has most certainly been you know, it's been one of the most joyful
things and also one of the mostchallenging things, the most challenging thing I've
ever done in life. But Ialso think that's the spirit of being an
entrepreneur and growing a small business.And you know, the team at Milk
(12:54):
Bar and myself, we've been bakingup a storm. I mean, we're
incredibly grateful for the opportunity to showup in people's lives right now, whether
it's on their doorsteps because they're notleaving their homes, or in the aisles
of grocery stores, or you know, some of them even order on demand
delivery if they're in New York orWashington, DC, or Los Angeles or
Boston. But um, you know, it's it's most certainly been a challenge
(13:18):
in flexibility and trying new things onfor size. And I'm just grateful to
have to have the opportunity and thebusiness that you know, is able to
bake and bring joy and spread somesweetness in people's lives when they might need,
you know, when they might needit most, especially when we need
(13:39):
comfort food and everything comfort. Duringthis time, it's been a trying time
for so many small businesses, hitespecially hard. Just you know, we're
all on the unknown. We're allin this together. H you know,
scary, right, Yeah, youknow, it's every day you have Honestly,
you beau small business owner, bigentrepreneur, you have to sort of
(14:03):
enjoy the reality that every day you'regoing to wake up and you're going to
be faced with a new challenge,and that challenge is going to be different.
But most certainly, I think therealities that we're seeing hit the larger
parts of our world make it evenmore challenging. And I think you have
to have a fearlessness to do whatwe do. But it's not easy.
(14:26):
It's not easy, and you know, small businesses all over need every bit
of support from consumers and from brandslike Ball Homecanning, the makers of ball
Homecanning products, to really think abouthow to keep them supported and moving forward
in this time. What have youlearned that the small businesses are doing during
(14:48):
this time to keep afloat? Imean, it's it's all about flexibility.
It's all about really asking yourself,where is my community and how do I
show up for them? I meanI have seen small businesses go from being
retail only to direct to consumer only. I've seen you know, bakeries go
(15:09):
from being brick and mortar bakeries toselling you know, mixing packs online.
I mean, I myself started anonline Instagram live. I love that job.
You know, it's just about askingyourself. It's it's being unafraid to
say what I thought my business wasbefore might need to manifest itself differently and
(15:31):
truly, how do I show upfor people when they need me? And
for me it's it's through bake cluband through many other things. And how
do I show up for small businesses? And a lot of that is the
partner said that I have just launchedwith with the makers of Ball home canning
products called the Made for More SmallBusiness Fund, where we're handing out ten
(15:52):
grants to ten different small business ownersof ten thousand dollars and some pretty incredible
support. Beyond that, access toto team executives and beyond to really help
prop up their businesses as they figureout how to pivot and show up as
well. Wow, such a greatthing you're doing. How did Milk far
all? I know you said youfounded it in two thousand and eight.
How did it all come about?Like? What was the journey to get
(16:15):
to it? And the name?Yeah? So I was a home baker
from the Midwest first and foremost.I love to bake. I decided to
make it a profession, which isprobably one of the craziest decisions to make.
But I moved to New York Cityto pursue my passion. I thought
I would be a fine dining pastrychef. And what I found when I
(16:37):
made my way to the top ofthat pursuit was, you know, a
beautiful plated dessert is a gorgeous thingto marvel at. But I really found
that my love, my true lovefor dessert was in the connection and the
capacity to feed and make as manypeople as possible. And I looked around
and didn't see the type of businessI wanted to work for, and so
(17:03):
I built it, and I builtMilk Bar. Milk Bar's original inspiration was
meant to be a sort of likea modern day dairy queen. A custard
stand and ice creamstand meets like adisplay case of baked goods, and so
rather than using the work daily,Milk and Then Bar was sort of meant
to be like the place that's open. Uh well, we opened early in
(17:27):
the morning like a bakery wood,but we also stay open very late at
night. And we're sort of thatplace that can come that you're always welcome,
that we you know, we willalways feed you, ideally, will
inspire you, turn on your creativity, and more than anything, show up
for you. Amazing. I love, I love, I love the whole
concept and the fact that it's grown. It's grown so much. You were
(17:53):
living and working in New York City, but you opened up your flagship in
New York NDC. Why was that? You know? I spent my teenage
years in the Northern Virginia area.My father worked for the Department of Agriculture,
funnily enough, in the Dairy division, protecting small dairy farmers and setting
dairy prices. And I left homefor New York City because at the time,
(18:19):
DC's food scene was not as strongas New York's. It wasn't anything
close to what it was today.But when I decided from a milk bar
standpoint to really go for it,from a storefront bakery standpoint, to build
our biggest store at the time,I really wanted to be a homecoming to
the community that fed me on manydifferent levels to begin with. And now
(18:42):
we have flagships in Washington, DCat Logan Circle, we have one in
New York City in the Nomad neighborhood, and we built one in Los Angeles
in West Hollywood. So it's prettyfun. There's there's there's little milk bars
in really fun communities. But youknow, the way in which I have
been able to think about, youknow, spreading good through baked goods,
(19:06):
through milk Bar pie and birthday cakesand cereal milk saucer. It goes beyond
just you know bakeries standalone bakeries andcommunities. We have this incredible online care
package arm of our business where we'reable to show up on people's doorsteps because
that's what was true to my upbringing. You know, when you couldn't spend
(19:27):
time with people, you sent cookies, you sent cakes, And we just
launched into the aisles of the grocerystore as well to really bring that spirit,
that whim and that you know,the challenging of what a chocolate peper
cookie can be beyond a chocolate shipcookie, what a bite of cake can
be beyond a traditional flice and cake. And you know, my mission is
(19:51):
really to inspire the ten year oldversion of me, and that ten year
old fell in love with Neiles withthe grocery store, so I love.
Yeah, that's to follow your heartand you have to be able to ride
the waves. Yes, if youjustine, I'm talking the founder of the
Milk Bar, Christina Tosi. Howdo you juggle overseeing everyday stuff like the
(20:17):
tasting and the and and the testingof everything in such a large scale that
you have been you know, builtfor your brand. You know, one
day at a time is most certainlymy motto to myself with you, like
early in the morning and late atnight. No one does it alone.
I don't do it alone by anystretch of the imagination. I oftentimes sort
(20:37):
of remiss that I get all thecredit, but so much of so much
of this credit is due to myincredible team. It takes. It takes
an incredible team. It takes avillage, right, It takes a village.
It takes a heartbeat of people thatshare in your values, and honestly,
it takes a great deal of trustand confidence and knowing that what you
start in your vision it own worksif you plan on sharing it both with
(21:03):
your community and welcoming people into yourfold. And that had been I think
so much the strength and the brillianceof what we've been able to achieve at
Milk Bar. It's a shared vision, you know. When we come up
with our peppermint bar gig or peppermintbarks maps for the holiday yum, it's
something that we're all thinking about.It's a flavor story that we're all obsessed
(21:25):
with. And when we do Rand D and testing, and we're thinking
about packaging and we're thinking about allof the ins and outs. We do
it together as a team. Wechallenge one another and we trust the process.
And when we decide and commit,we decide and commit. When you
love what you do and you havea passion for it, it just speaks
volumes. Look what you've done withyou know, milk Bar and its success.
(21:47):
It's amazing. And you're the authorof three bestselling books. Your your
new book. I love the titleMilk Bar Kids Only. Yes, love
it. It's so much fun.You know, it's that cookbook that's for
the kid by age, or Ilike to think the kid at heart.
That's something that I'm always looking tohold onto, you know, going back
to that spirit of lightness and levitywhen getting into the kitchen and blocking out
(22:11):
thirty minutes or an hour to justsort of escape amongst you know, bins
of flour and sugar, jars ofyou know, salt, and baking powder
and baking soda. That's one ofthe most wonderful things in the world.
I think I don't even under ifI was in that if I was anywhere
near what you do, I wouldbe like, oh my god. Now,
well, that's the beauty of NoMark hits only is that they're really
(22:33):
simple, one bowl recipes to sortof take away any barrier any you know,
any self talking you go, Ican't do that, to look at
it and say, you know,it's vibe, it's ten ingredients, you
got this, You need a bowl, you need a spoon, turn on
that oven, and don't you worry. Oh my gosh, so fun.
(22:55):
So anything any new creation's brewing.Christina's well, we're working on our menu
for the beginning of next year becausewe're you know, we are finalizing our
last batches of peppermint bark everything peppermintbark, truffles and cake and snaps for
this holiday season, which we're excitedto just sort of like round out twenty
(23:18):
twenty and then put a blow onit and say goodbye. But we're working
on new recipes into next year.We're working on new truffle crumb cakes and
cookies for the aisles of the grocerystore. And honestly, the newest recipe
that I'm most excited about is thisrecipe that I just paid on bake club
(23:40):
my Live Monday Instagram two pm bakesession with the world, and it's rock
Candy and I love it because itvery much Wendy is the sort of like,
if you don't think you're a baker, if you're not sure about it,
just come on in. Trust me. I got you. I prom
it. It's growing beautiful sugar crispdoles in ball jars. You can flavor
(24:03):
them, you can color them.They make the most epic treat. You
can storm in your ball jar.When you're done, they make the most
epic treat. They make a reallysweet gift this time of year where we're
really looking for the moments that weare not spending with people to really resonate
through maybe what we drop off theirdoorstep or put in the nail and that
recipe and if you're a small businessowner or no a small business owner and
(24:27):
you want to share the Made forMore Small Business fund that I was talking
about earlier, the recipe for therock candy and the application to be one
of these ten winners for the tenthousand dollars grant to fuel your business.
You can find it at Fresh Preservingdot com. Backslash Made for More Okay,
gosh, thank you so much forthat information, and I hope everybody
(24:48):
stays safe and healthy. And thankyou for bringing us so many good sweet
treats and wonderful things from the Milkbarand your success Christina. So you know,
so I was so excited and lookingforward to talking to you and learning
all about this. Oh, thankyou for the positivity and cheer Windy.
It's been. It's been a realuplifting last few minutes. Going to spend
(25:10):
time with you same here. Thankyou so much. Look forward to seeing
more things. Um, you thinkwe're going to open up more milk bars,
you know, we're thinking we're Wemost certainly had that in the plans
before twenty twenty hit. So inmy mind, des gives the limits.
When you're a small business owner,you know, you set goals and the
second you get close to them,you set you know, you set bigger
(25:32):
goals and bigger goals or you youknow you're constantly moving to test pieces around.
So you will definitely see more ofMilk Bar in your life, whether
it's through bakers or showing up ondoorsteps or um, you know, in
more joyful places in the grocery store. There's more to come from us,
that's for sure. Oh my god, I can't wait. Looking forward to
it, and come back any time, chat with us, tat with me
(25:52):
anytime. Thanks so much, takecare of you too. Thanks for joining
me for this episode of What's Upwith Wendy. If you love this episode,
head over to iTunes or your favoriteplatform to subscribe, rate, and
leave a review. Please also followme on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
at What's Up with Wendy and youcan learn more about me and my podcasts
on my website, What's Up withWendy dot com. And remember, only
(26:17):
you can make you happy.
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