One little act of kindness can go a long, long
way Two little acts of kindness can brighten
anyone's day Three little acts of kindness can
make a beautiful sound Many acts of kindness
Hi, and welcome back to season two of Tell Me
What Happened, the podcast that features people
from all walks of life talking about childhood
experiences that have impacted them as an adult.
I'm your host, Jay Rehack. And like you, I've
had my share of childhood experiences that have
impacted who I am today. Some of them great,
some of them not so great. Tell Me What Happened
is sponsored by Sideline Ink Publishing, publishers
of quality books, including Susan Salador's classic
children's book, One Little Act of Kindness,
also a song which is available on Spotify. Today
I have as my guest, a family friend and also
the co -host of Nina, Hannah and Emily in Paris,
Nina Schlesinger. Welcome to the show, Nina.
Hello, thanks for having me, Jack. Really fired
up about today's Tell Me What Happened because
I do know you for a number of years. I've known
you for a number of years. I know you're a friend
of my daughter's, of course, and she's your co
-host on Emily in Paris podcast. Through the
years, I've known you, but I don't know you.
And so what I mean by that is, is that what happens
in real life is that we know people and then
it turns out there's some background that we
don't actually know about that actually probably
impacts our, would help us have a deeper understanding
of who that person is. And so I'm looking forward
to hearing your childhood story, Nina. Are you
ready to tell it? Yeah. All right. Take it away,
Nina. Okay. So I'm going to tell a story about
when I was in high school, when I was probably
16, I started a music blog and I started just
writing about the music I was listening to and
songs that I liked and concerts I went to and
I don't know how but I started to get a bit of
a following on on this project to the point that
I got like record labels would send me free CDs
and records in the mail and I would be on the
list for concerts and I got to interview bands,
you know, like, I would just kind of cold call
artists managers and be like, Oh, can I can I
interview this DJ girl talk for my blog? I'm
16. And I have and I write about music. And I
think maybe because I was a feisty teenager,
they often said yes, I think I was like a little
bit of a curiosity. So I basically got access
to this whole world after school, like via my
computer. and got to go to all these concerts
and go on, I went on a band's tour bus and got
to interview them and it was so much fun. But
the kind of other side of that is that I didn't
tell anybody about it. I didn't tell a single
friend. I didn't tell my parents. I managed to
keep it completely a secret. I would just sort
of do it on my computer after school when I was
supposed to be, I don't know. chat chatting on
AIM or doing homework probably more likely. That
probably went on for a year at least. I think
I ended up having to tell my parents at a point
because I needed a ride to go interview a band
on their bus and because I couldn't really swing
that lie on my own. So I did end up getting you
know launching the big reveal eventually and
and my parents supported it and thought it was
awesome and and I got a lot more rides from then
on. But I remember this one big concert that
was happening. I grew up in Washington D .C.,
just outside, and there was a big concert on
the National Mall, and I was going with a friend
of mine. And this friend and I both worked for
the school paper. So I had my music blog, and
we both worked for the school paper. I remember,
you know, 16, maybe, maybe 17. And... I think
it was a big Earth Day concert. There were a
lot of bands. There were a lot of celebrities
speaking. I think Edward Norton was a speaker,
and Chevy Chase was there. And we were walking
around, and we were going to maybe write about
it for the school paper. I think that was sort
of the pretense we showed up on. And we get there,
and there's an area, there's a table for media
check -in. And we're writing for our school paper,
and I just have my secret music blog. We're definitely
not part of the media. But I think because I
have this confidence from all of my, you know,
cold calls to record labels and all the access
that I've gotten just by sort of asking and assuming
that I should have it, which just says a lot,
that I, that my friend and I, Emma and I just
went up to the booth and we were like, oh yeah,
we're, you know, we're media. And we had our
little reporter's notebooks and a camera. And
we were like, we're, we're media. We were writing
for a paper. And I don't know who was writing
this table, but they let us in. and they gave
us media passes. And so then we basically got
behind this gate and we turn around and there's
Edward Norton. And we go and introduce ourselves
to Edward Norton and he's so sweet. And he gives
us a quote for our tape recorders and our notes.
We go and we meet Chevy Chase and he signs our
books. And then we interviewed some bands on
their tour buses. We just had a field day. We
were so thrilled talking to all of these artists
and bands and talking about you know, this big
Earth Day concert. No, I couldn't, could not
tell what anyone else there was thinking. These
two teenagers just sort of bopping around. Who
knows what paper they thought we were writing
for. Probably not our school paper, probably
not my music blog. And yeah, and then we got,
I think we probably took the train back into
the suburbs and I had my reporter's notebook
with all, you know. Probably another tell that
I wasn't a reporter is that I kept getting autographs
from everyone I met. So I had my reporter's notebook
with my notes, but also, you know, to Nina from
Chevy Chase, which was a fun one. Yeah, and then
summers after that, I ended up getting internships
at some music venues and turning this sort of
secret hobby into something a little more real.
But I remember taking it the most seriously,
being the most committed when it was like my
private project. it sometimes feels, sometimes
when I watch the movie Almost Famous, I'm like,
oh, I think I kind of did that for a couple of
months. And that's my story for you, Jay. Not
much of a beginning, middle, end. A lot of color
in there. Yeah. Well, you know what? That youthful
courage or bravado, I think is one of the things
that some of us, many of us lose or diminish
over time. And yet, if you can have that bravado
early and have some early success, maybe it translates
into a little bit more courage later on. I don't
know. So here you are now. And I know, as I said,
I know you co -host the Emily in Paris podcast.
But beyond that, do you feel that the experience
that you had with the Secret music blog and just
sort of breaking into a media area in DC, how
has that impacted you today, do you think? I
think that, I think a couple of things. I think
in one sense, there's what you were saying of
like, it's a kind of, it's like a courage, a
courage that we lose. I think sometimes I have
to remember that I once was like that when nowadays
I have trouble starting a project because I get
caught up in what it should be instead of just
doing it for the sake of doing it. And I think
remembering that sometimes you should just do
something and see what happens instead of. assuming
you know what the end result might be. And I
think that's something that I need to work on
a lot now as an adult that I didn't apparently
didn't need to work on at all as a teenager.
So I think it's something that maybe was innate
that then I somehow got in my head about and
took out of myself. And now I sometimes need
that reminder, that push to start a project.
But I think something that I haven't really lost
is I think I kind of have a perspective with
things of like, oh, it doesn't hurt to ask. You
never know what you can get if you just ask someone
for something. And I think I've gotten some cool
opportunities from just, you know, if there's
someone who seems kind of intimidating, such
as the person guarding the media booth, just
being confident and being like, I think I can
do something cool if I have access to this. So
can I do it? And I think I've had many more opportunities
where someone enthusiastically says yes. than
opportunities where, or than moments where someone
says no and I feel embarrassed. I don't know
if I have really any like that. I think usually
people want to do something cool and you just
have to bring the idea and they want to be involved.
One last question before I let you go. Do you
feel like you're more courageous now or less
courageous now as a person? I'm less courageous
now as a person. I'm sorry to hear that. But
I'm working on it. It helps to remember things
like this. And now I feel more courageous today,
just even thinking about it. Love it. Well, listen,
thank you very much for your story. I consider
you a courageous person, but again, you're the
only one who can judge who you are and who you
aren't. I mean, everybody else is just noise
around you, you know, making judgments. You know,
I do enjoy your podcast, Emily in Paris. I watch
the show only because of your podcast. You too.
But beyond that, it's good talking with you.
I appreciate your time. Thanks so much, Jay.
Thanks for having me. All right. That's our show.
I'd like to thank my guest, Nina Schlesinger.
Thank you for coming on, Nina. I'd also like
to thank our sponsors, Sidelining Publishing.
Publishers of quality books, including Susan
Salado's classic, One Little Act of Kindness.
Also, laughsaver .com. Visit laughsaver .com
and record your laughter. We'll keep it for you
now and forever. It's free and your family and
your descendants will thank you for it. All right.
As always, I'm going to end this show with Susan
Salado's classic, One Little Act of Kindness.
and remind everyone and ask everyone to please
stay safe out there and try not to hurt anybody.
Can make a beautiful sound Many acts of kindness
Help the world go round One little loving word
Can go a long, long way Two little loving words
Can brighten anyone's day Can make a beautiful
sound Many loving words Help the world go round
One little seed sown Can go a long, long way
Two little seeds sown Can brighten anyone's day
Three little seeds sown Can make a beautiful
sound Many seeds so Help the world go around
One little child's laughter Can go a long, long
way Two little children's laughter Can brighten
anyone's day Three little children's laughter
Many children laughing Help the world go round
And many see its own Help the world