Marianna Cuomo Maier, Holistic Health & Wellness Coach, Founder of Grata Wellness

Please give a warm welcome to my guest, Marianna Cuomo Maier, certified health & wellness coach and founder of Grata Wellness, which helps people take charge of their health, find more joy in their lives, and often, she says, it starts with food.

Marianna holds wellness workshops, meditation, and journaling groups at wellness events in support of finding our healthier, more balanced selves. And as she tells it, Marianna was not always a healthy person. She had to learn how to do it.

Marianna also writes for @AppetitoMagazine, and in fact, we were introduced by Appetito‘s founder, @AndrewCotto, as well as my friend, @AmyRiolo, writer of many books on the Mediterranean Diet, specifically the Dummies series.

Marianna is also founder of the Emerging Leaders Council of the Italian Language Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting Italian language and culture nationally.

And if the name Cuomo sounds familiar, she is of the infamous New York Cuomo family. Her grandfather, Mario Cuomo, was a beloved governor of New York. Uncle Andrew was also NY governor, and Uncle Chris is a well-known, award-winning TV journalist.

Please join my conversation with Marianna on how we can all be healthier in a world that often promotes fast living and fast foods. She also talks about life growing up Cuomo, and how her Italian heritage helped form her wellness routines she lives by today. You’ll find our #DeborahKobyltLIVE, #LittleItalyPodcast, and #LittleItalyOfLAPodcast on all video and audio podcast platforms. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and I thank you for joining us. Please also invite your friends, too!

JoJami Tyler, Owner of Fancy PantsGardens. Kitchen Garden Coach.

Love to garden and eat fresh veggies and fruits but have no idea how to start, what to plant or when to plant? Have you tried gardening but didn’t quite have the touch? Well, this is a must-listen to show, because our guest can turn anyone into an expert gardener who can enjoy fresh, home-grown food all year long!

Meet JoJami Tyler, a kitchen garden coach and founder of Fancy Pants Gardens (there’s a reason behind the name, and we’ll get into that). JoJami and I met at the @InfluencersOfMidlife conference in Vegas where I was a speaker, which is run by my friend, @RobinLaMonte. And we got to talking about food, what’s in so much of the food we purchase at the grocery store, in addition to the rising cost of many store-bought foods.

JoJami joins us to teach us what vegetables grow best in what climates, when to plant, how to get rid of pests, and virtually walks us through how to grow anything, even if you live in a small apartment. So please join us on all video and audio platforms of #DeborahKobyltLIVE, and invite your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and I’m excited to be learning how to improve my gardening skills with you!

Bunny Hall, Grammy® Award Winning Songwriter, Founder & Executive Director Dream A World Education

Meet Bunny Hull. Bunny is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter with 20 Gold and Platinum Certifications. She’s the recipient of the GMA Dove Award, BMI Performance Award, Parents’ Choice Awards, and that’s not even why we’re having her on our show today!

Hull, who has also been inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame, joins us to talk about something truly dear to her heart, in addition to music. She founded Dream a World Education, whose mission is to provide social-emotional learning and an understanding of cultural diversity through art-based education in early childhood. Dream a World partners with schools throughout Los Angeles county and beyond to empower children to discover their own creativity and understand how we are all connected. It’s a magnificent program, and Bunny joins us to talk about the many students they’ve touched through arts education. Of course, we will ask about working with some of the greats in her music career, like partnering with Irene Cara and working with Michael Jackson. And she’s got stories!

Please join us on all video and audio platforms of #DeborahKobyltLIVE,
And invite your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and I’d like to welcome you here and thank you for joining our show

Zibby Owens, Author, “Blank,” & Owner, Zibby’s Bookshop

Please welcome to our show a woman who appears to have more hours in her day than the rest of us, Zibby Owens. Zibby is an award-winning author who will join us to talk about her latest book, “Blank.” She also hosts an award-winning DAILY podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time To Read Books. In addition, she owns and operates Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica, which is an incredibly inclusive space for writers, authors, and anyone interested in books and learning how to get started as an author.

Want more? The Zibby-verse has become a mini empire, led by Zibby Media, which includes Zibby books publishing house, retreats for authors, book club, writing group, not to mention her bookstore on Montana Ave. and her podcast. She lives in NYC with her husband and FOUR kids under the age of 16, attended Yale and Harvard, and spends a good chunk of time working in LA, too. And she smiles a lot, too, perhaps because she’s truly doing what she loves. But she’s faced a lot of rough patches, too, and we’ll talk about that, because Zibby is an inspiration to many, a woman who has followed her passion for books and reading, and sharing that with the rest of us.

Please join #DeborahKobyltLIVE on all video and audio podcast platforms, and make sure to share with your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and I thank you for joining us.

Andrew Cotto, Award-Winning Novelist & Co-Founder, Appetito Magazine

Please join us in welcoming Andrew Cotto, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Appetito Magazine. Andrew is also an award-winning novelist of seven books, a regular contributor to the New York Times, and he loves all things Italy, particularly food and wine. His passion is to write and talk about it, and share his experiences so we can fall in love with the Italian way of living as he has.

Andrew likes to say that “food is his muse.” He draws a comparison between mental health and healthy eating, and talks about how Italians instinctively know how to do that. While he was raised in the states, Andrew fell in love with his ancestral homeland the first time he visited, and decided to plant his own roots there for a time and learn all he could about the Italian lifestyle and good health. He’s been a regular on Good Day New York, and has interviewed some of the top culinary experts in his Appetito magazine, including Rachael Ray. And now he joins us on our #LittleItalyPodcast, #LittleItalyOfLAPodcast, and #DeborahKobyltLIVE, to share all he’s learned with us. And there’s a lot.

Please find our show on all video and audio podcast platforms, and invite your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s a pleasure to have you join us today.

Stan Zimmerman, Author. “The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore chronicles”

Please welcome to our show, Stan Zimmerman, author, “The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. Stories about all the wonderful women I’ve worked with…and Roseanne.” Let’s just say Stan has worked with them all, and is a prime example of someone living his dream by living his truth.

Stan Zimmerman grew up a self-proclaimed gawky Jewish kid from the suburbs of Detroit, who dreamed of becoming a wildly successful actor, rich enough to buy his own mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The actor part didn’t quite work out, but he found success as a writer, producer, director, and playwright on some of the most noteworthy shows in the business.

The book chronicles his days from acting in plays in his basement as a kid, to attending NYU on scholarship, where he met his first serious boyfriend and somehow became Andy Warhol’s photo subject at Studio 54 one evening.

This is a story about friendship, finding one’s sexuality after battling years of homophobia, and honoring the many women in his life who have been supportive through it all. This is about success and thriving in Hollywood. Did he get his big house in the Hills? We’ll ask him about that, too.

Please join our interview on all video and audio platforms or #DeborahKobyltLIVE. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s a pleasure to have you join us. Make sure to invite your friends, too.

David Richman, Author, “Cycle of Lives” – a Journey Through the Emotional Chaos of Cancer”

David Richman was once an overweight, sedentary smoker who was jolted into making big changes in his life. Now an entrepreneur, athlete, public speaker, and author, David joins us to discuss his latest book, “Cycle of Lives,” which chronicles the stories of 15 people, five-thousand miles, and the journey through the emotional upheaval of cancer that David and his family endured after his sister was diagnosed with brain cancer, which ultimately claimed her life.

“Cycle of Lives” was created as the result of many years of dedication to raising awareness and funds for cancer research and care, inspired after his sister was initially diagnosed in 2007. Over the past 15 years, David has completed several events including a 104-mile run along the Pacific Coast Highway, 87-miles from Cancun to Tulum, numerous bike rides and other events to raise money for the American Cancer Society and Moffitt Cancer Society. David is also donating profits from his book sales to the cancer organizations he supports.

The book talks about the emotional ride of dealing with loved ones with cancer, and we will talk about the bravery his sister displayed throughout her battle with this disease.

Please join us on all video and audio platforms of #DeborahKobyltLIVE, and share with your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s an honor to have you here with us.

Dr. Connie McReynolds, Author, “Solving the ADHD Riddle

Often, some doctors and teachers were advocates of using medicine to quiet the child diagnosed with ADHD, but we now know that may not be the best option. Remember all the talk about how Ritalin could quiet a busy mind? Well, medicine is not longer the first choice to help people with ADHD succeed and lead happy, productive lives, and today we’re talking about it.

Please welcome Dr. Connie McReynolds, author, “Solving the ADHD Riddle, The Real Cause and Lasting Solutions to Your Child’s Struggle to Learn.”

Dr. McReynolds and I will discuss auditory and visual procession issues that very often disguise themselves as “problems” in the classroom for teachers. Essentially, ADHD is about the brain not being able to fully hold or interpret information coming in, so we will talk about some new therapies that have proven successful, in addition to the “gifts” of ADHD, because from my own standpoint, I believe there are gifts associated with ADHD, and instead of having kids feel like failures for not being able to focus, perhaps we can learn to celebrate it with the knowledge that there are therapies to help the mind focus and thrive that are not about taking medicine.

Through years of clinical research, Dr. McReynolds will talk about the success she’s had using neurofeedback. In fact, she says the results have been astonishing. Please find our full conversation on all video and audio platforms of
#DeborahKobyltLIVE, and invite your friends, too.

This is an important topic, and I hope you’ll join me in spreading the word. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt. Thanks for joining us, and please invite your friends.

Amy Riolo and Dr. Simon Poole

Have you thought of taking weight loss drugs? Seems as though everywhere you turn, people are jumping on the craze, but perhaps there’s another way to control our weight and health, and today we speak with our dear friend, chef and acclaimed author, Amy Riolo, along with her colleague, Dr. Simon Poole, MD, who collaborated on the “Diabetes for Dummies” series which also includes “Diabetes Meal Planning & Nutrition,” along with the “Diabetes Cookbook.”

Amy has written 17 books that include healthy eating and how to incorporate the Mediterranean diet into our daily routines, and Dr. Poole talks about the many health benefits from introducing extra virgin olive oil into our diets. In fact, the two met at a convention speaking about olive oil and healthy living, and have made it their mission to talk and write about how we can all live healthier lives and even turn around type 2 diabetes if we incorporate certain foods into our diets and eliminate others that are essentially “poison” to our bodies.

Our show will be simulcast on #DeborahKobyltLIVE, #LittleItalyPodcast, and also #LittleItalyOfLAPodcast, and we all know that #Italians are experts on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. This is also something Amy has studied much of her life, as her mother was diabetic and she sought ways to help her mom with through food. And she’s been talking and writing about it ever since.

Please find our show LIVE on all video and audio podcast platforms, and invite your friends and family to participate in this important conversation. Thank you for joining us. Deborah

Andria Litto, Filmmaker, “My Father Moves Mountains”

Please welcome to our show the mega-talented writer, producer, and director Andria Litto, who joins us to discuss her magnificent documentary, “My Father Moves Mountains,” about her dad, George Litto, who represented many of Hollywood’s top writers who were black-listed during the McCarthy era and beyond.

This is a fascinating film, with detailed interviews from actors, writers, and agents, with film footage of a time in Hollywood when studios could crush the careers of actors and writers, but George Litto wasn’t afraid of them. Instead, he fought for the rights of people he thought were unfairly blacklisted, and ended up behind some of Hollywood’s most accomplished films from “Mash” and “Midnight Cowboy.” He later went on to produce films directed by Brian DePalma. And Andria, his daughter, had a front row seat to it all and joins us to talk about it.

Please join our show on #DeborahKobyltLIVE, #LittleItalyPodcast, and #LittleItalyOfLAPodcast on all video and audio platforms. And invite your friends and family, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s a pleasure to have you join us.