The
big news in our town over the weekend was that I was in a I was in the town chili cookoff
defending your title defending my title which I won first place last year
and what happened this year the golden ladle I did not win first place this year
I won second place I think which is there's one less there's a lot of moving parts there's a lot
of politics there were I think I think you need to dig into that because I think it was stolen
from you oh I don't know about that oh I know I don't think so but I did there was a celebrity
entrant into the the contest by the name of Martha Stewart and she came in third so that makes
that's so much better I would rather that than you win first like that's a great story well
but if I won first I still would have beaten Martha but it kind of like I'm just saying the fact that
you beat Martha Stewart yeah much better than like oh I got first place and and if Martha wasn't
part yeah you know what I mean I beat Martha Stewart at cooking yeah there was a lot of people
who thought so there's hundreds of people there's a lot of chili I made over I think I made about
17 quarts of chili which is a lot a quart is four cups yeah so so that's I don't do math but let me
do the math I think that's about it's a lot of cups it's about 3,500 cups I think if my math is correct
there's seven 17,000 cups of chili I think so yeah I mean I'm not a I'm not a mathematician
but it's probably around 20,000 cups I brought it in a tub like a rubber made tub nice and on the
side was emblazoned tub oh chili I got it off of Amazon nice I searched for the biggest chili tub
and that's what came up so we uh we had a very big weekend lots of chili a lot of meat
um can I have to eat salads for the next couple of weeks just to make up for it because I think
it took a couple of years off my life a lot of meat a lot of meat there's bacon bacon in there too
I put bacon in my chili but we lost to the local barbecue restaurant which is fine like they do it
professionally it's what my friend pointed out to me I was feeling bummed afterward and he said
you lost to people who do this for a living I said that's true because I don't I do not I'm not a
restaurateur but you also beat someone who does it for a living and is world known the world over
for doing it for a living yeah I don't know about chili I wouldn't like put Martha like when I think
of Martha Stewart I don't think about chili when I think about chili I don't think about Martha Stewart
but it's it's neither here nor there that's the big news what's your big news from the weekend
Ryan from last week I had um I had a show I had a really good show on Friday oh that's right so
for those you don't know I couldn't go to Ryan's show because I was at the chili cook off and Ryan
couldn't come to the chili cook off because he had a show we both had yeah we both had things going
we're busy guys we're busy you know hey I mean that's it um yeah I uh I had a really the place was packed
uh it's at um up here in Beacon New York happy valley which is a if you're in this area you should
go to happy valley because it's like it's kind of like a barcade they have all these like old
school video games it's really it's really cool and um so I have this band called Ears with Eyes
it's a two-piece and it's kind of a performance art thing and um people really dug it it's uh it
it kind of goes into um American corporate culture or just corporate culture in general
and workaholism so people kind of feel that especially they feel that on a deep level
um did you record the show I did I am my friend I heard my friend who did like a two-camera shoot
oh nice and uh and uh people a lot of people were taking camp you know uh phone camera style
as well but um I hurt myself quite a bit um I have this big bruise on my leg on my thigh
were people like clamoring at Fort like grabbing at you no it's kind of like if you can imagine like
dad if Iggy Pop had a dad bod it's that kind of a performance and happy valley there's no stage
so it's like you're right there um in like on the level with the with the audience so I was kind
of getting in there and uh I uh they had a dance you know that that game dance dance or dance revolution
or whatever where you were you dance dance revolution yeah yeah well there was some some like handle bars
that I kept trying to balance on and I kept falling down and um I have a chair we set up like
we're in a cubicle so we both are sitting in chairs and then I I get up on the chair and I
I sort of fall over and I mean I'm hurry you should you should really avoid purpose right but you're
I mean you're you're older yeah then you used to be yeah so you should watch out for that I should
yeah because what if you had to do another show like the next night yeah well I do have to figure
out it's I mean I I do go to the gym so I'm I'm somewhat in shape but you're right not rock and
roll shape no I'm not you got to do some deep knee rock squats I know I should probably wear a knee
braces because yeah my knee is a little sore but uh you know what that'd be a good look knee pad who
uh didn't make jagger used to wear knee pads yeah I think Eddie Van Halen wore knee pads too yeah
yeah it's a good look today on the show I'm very excited we have a very special guest with us today
Heather Ferrari who is a multi-talented um a longtime friend of ours and she runs a seasonal
business called Songful Artists while maintaining a day job and also playing piano and singing and
being a mother and a wife and all the things that we juggle um similarly in our lives we're
going to talk to Heather in a little bit um Ryan how is the as far as your performance went what do
you think what's one thing that really worked very well and one thing that you think maybe didn't
work so well and that you want to maybe work on or change I think the concept really resonates
with people because it's sort of this um it's this it's just sort of beaten down by the daily
grind of work and then uh going we kind of keep going back between like a work environment
where we have this conference call playing and then and then it goes into another song
and and I get up from my desk and perform so it's this sort of it's kind of what we're talking about
here it's just this this push and pull between your creative life and your the rest of your life
you know and um that really resonates with people I got I mean people were really affected by it and
like were pulling me aside after the show and and we're very emotional and so that's I mean what
else could you want as an artist you can you connect to people you struck record yeah um
but I think I need to develop the show more um
where I actually probably have to work on some some choreography so for each song I do something
a little different because I think there was a lot of redundant moves and things like that so
it's it's developing this is like my fourth or fifth show I was gonna say you know I don't think
you've you don't have a ton of shows under your belt yeah so it's still nascent yeah and that's fine
you know I mean that's how you got to start somewhere you know and it has to develop from
there so it's your baby and you you know your baby is gonna grow up and yeah I think it's fantastic
what you've done though knowing the the journeys that we've been on sort of in corporate media and
corporate life and then you know being sort of jettisoned out into the into the real world
you know untethered by that corporate experience and trying to sort of navigate our way
both professionally and creatively as well as personally um it's you know it's not it's not
easy it's new but I like how I feel like you've harnessed you've really you've caught on to something
that is very close to you and it's sort of like writing like you write what you know right
and so this is what this is what you've started doing is that this you've taken your
sort of angst and and you know corporate frustrations and transform them into art that
obviously connects with people and I think that's really that's a success story right there like
I think it's really cool I think so um I'm sorry I think one of my children are trying to get into
my studio here no it happened I mean this is this is what we're talking about I was I was telling Ryan
before that I have a setup here and I have my mixer and my and my audio interface and my my son
had had friends over this weekend and um yeah I catch it and uh and every every knob and switch
and button was changed and pushed and pulled and turned and um it was very frustrating this morning
trying to get back to my nominal sort of uh audio state here which is very near and dear to me
I take it very seriously but um so that I'm really happy Ryan um that you had that show I'm
I'm kind of bummed I couldn't make it up for obvious reasons I wasn't just kind of sitting at home
like no man I'm bummed that I missed that I would have loved to have come to the chili cookoff that
sounds like a lot of fun it was fun and I want to taste your chili because I mean if you're
in a chili cookoff and getting first and second place I mean it's gotta be amazing it's pretty good
I would think so yeah yeah it's um it doesn't really scale I mean it's it winds up being kind of
expensive because it is so meaty yeah good meat is expensive for those people who um who enjoy meat
but uh I just had to high five my son that's because he just beat the original Mario brothers
wow so he was that's I mean that's a that's a moment that's a moment Bowser he took Bowser down
he took Bowser down yeah wow and with that note I think let's let's bring in Heather Ferrari because
I'm really excited to have this conversation um again Heather um as we're bringing her in here
I am just going to make an adjustment here and there she is hello Heather hello Dom and Ryan
how are you I'm good I have enjoyed listening to you too uh on many levels
yeah it's uh well you know look we're we're extremely busy and we're really yeah renaissance men
with no income right it's really it's a great it's we're in a great spot really it's amazing what
you can do when you're not working right that is true well my husband is not working right now
and that's actually been really helpful for my business so well and let's well let's get into it so
so Heather you're wearing a couple of different hats right so explain to us what's going on you've
got you've got a sort of a day job that you know brings home the bacon which is extremely successful
I've watched you grow this business over the years um so talk a little bit about that and then
and then we can get into sort of what else is is cooking okay and thanks for the kind words before
um so I'm self-employed um which was a huge goal for me uh hearing you guys talk about corporate
same that was really actually yeah really hard for me um when I lived in New York for a long time
after I graduated college with my degree in theater and went on a tour for a year and then moved
to New York to pursue my dreams um auditioning waitressing booking shows once in a while and
as I got older I'd say into my late 20s um I just did not want to be traveling anymore and you
know it's a lot of rejection which was fine um you get used to that but I just felt like I don't I
like home like I it was just too much so but I kind of always have been doing something
I would say more on the side I hate to say that on the side but you know being creative singing
and gotten to the wine and spirits industry which was great oh that was great because you we got a
lot of free booze a lot of free I remember that that that was a good time period I didn't pay I know
I actually felt so guilty when I quit because I thought to myself my friends my friends and my
neighbors who I would bring cases of wine home too and I was doing this in Manhattan so there's
a lot of great wines that I was showing to smallies um so that was a great job that was a great job
but I had no time really to do much else um and I was in that career for six or seven years and
then had both of my children while working and that and it was just like the kids were so important
to me obviously in my family and then I had this corporate thing and after the birth of my second
child um my son Rex I said I really can't do this because I will never have time for music or theater
like there's there's no time for it it's just kids and work so I'd always been interested in real
estate um and so I had a big bonus coming up I put my kid in daycare when he was three months old
which was really hard for us and everyone's like it's gonna get easier and I'm like I hate this
every day um it was terrible um so I knew that went you know six months into this daycare thing
so when he was about nine months old I was gonna get a really good bonus so I waited till I got
my bonus and then I you know gave my notice and pursued my real estate license uh we had moved
to Massachusetts at the time and also had started Songful Artists which Tom had mentioned which uh
yeah okay so so I did two things at once okay and then so Songful Artists that was was that like a
a as I remember it this was a sort of a somewhat established you know sort of um privately owned
business that you participated in and then you sort of invested in and took over correct
yes so um when I was in New York uh focusing on the acting and singing thing there's a lot of like
open calls that you go to for Broadway shows for all different sorts of things you try to be really
creative with making money and you know wager singing catering is great but it's really fun to be able to
do day jobs and things with your voice or your acting and there was an open call for this company
called Party Singers and it was a company that did mainly holiday music so they were looking for
their holiday carolers um and I went to the soap and call and I got into the company and I got to
the first rehearsal and it was great because all the singers were really good I felt very grateful
to be there um and the owner of it had really big connections with Disney and Macy's so we had all
these great gigs you know at Central Park doing the tree lighting which we still do which is awesome
you know at the Macy's Santa Land entertaining the long lines and it was a really great paid
gig we would make probably an extra like two or three thousand dollars in the month of December
this was like 10 or 15 years ago so to do that just like singing was great but you know it was
this is really weird but it brings like a lot of joy to people because when you're singing out in
public um you realize that well a couple things first of all holiday music is very emotional
for people um it makes people think about their childhoods maybe people they've lost that they
don't spend the holidays with anymore it's also really amazing to be singing in these public areas
and we do private events we did private events too but it was you know it makes it really accessible
it's like this high quality singing and performers that any you're not paying to see like we're
getting paid and like South Street Seaport would pay the company and then we'd get paid that way
if that makes sense like neighborhoods bring you in so it was really rewarding and it was so hard to
explain to people because we're like yeah we're Christmas Carolers who also do some Hanukkah
music and sometimes Kwanzaa um fully memorized you know just it was great so yes that's how I got
involved and then once I had moved to Boston I was kind of doing some sales for them because I had a
sales background and then she was ready to give up the company then she asked me if I would be
interesting in purchasing and it was kind of coming at the same time of me leaving the Wanah
spirits thinking about real estate and I said yes and I was nervous because it was going to cost
$15,000 and I'm like am I going to even be able to make that with this company right um so we
agreed on like $5,000 a year for three years and okay and that's that's our first year like it was
crazy we had a hundred gigs it's great and and just to back up because I'm sort of familiar with it
and maybe maybe some folks aren't so this is literally like there there are four people
who will like sort of dress up in holiday you know Charles Dickens type clothing or contemporary
or contemporary looks right and and they will show up to an event or to your your your space
like a corporate lobby or something like that and they sing acapella and they sing these amazing
harmonies of this holiday music like for hours and it's like super like you said Heather it's
super high quality I think you know we have a clip here and if we can let's dig into the clip
because I think it'll help some of our our listeners understand like exactly sort of what's going on
here so I can show excuse me I can show the um let's do a little clip and then we'll take a look
at the website the website is songfulartists.com and you know this these folks are available for hire
and we'll talk a little bit about the booking process and stuff but I want to
I want to just make sure that we can we can look here and see how this goes so this is
I'm wondering what clip this is this is a snowy day by Boys to Man oh okay can I
I can you want to set it up can I just say one little thing about this yeah so this was a video
we actually so obviously live performance right and a lot of what we do our like a huge part of
our business is also the malls mall okay yep yes indoor outdoor malls during the holidays we're like
this is so you're I don't even know we like it's like cheesy but I love it I'm sorry
it's so fun well look so so many things about the holidays can be construed as cheesy you know
like the mall Santas and stuff like that the commercialization of the hollywood but really it
is to your point I think it is emotional I mean I know my wife is extremely connected to holiday
music and it's you know as soon as Thanksgiving dinner is done it's like Christmas music and it's
on all the time and it really it is very very much connected we are very much connected to it
through our families and things and even the songs we don't like where it's like you know oh gosh you
know my my mother who passed away years ago she used to hate the song you know it's like
exactly and you have these like memories yeah but I think it's cheesy at all no but we so I was
just gonna say we so we like the mall thing we're like yeah we like when I'm pitching to somebody
we descrude the lines you know because like people are like in bad moods when they're in long lines
for the holidays so we like we like bust out and try to make them happy so we like descrude
okay we have all these little things we say too and people love it though I mean even to your point
to with the holiday music even the singers they like text me in August and they're like I'm brushing
up on the music this is making me so happy and it just makes me so happy to hear that
from it's really cool and I want to I want to get into the booking process too but I want
to know so this clip was from the pandemic so this was from 2020 when all of our gigs were
canceled it was really awful um we didn't have anything live so we tried to be creative and
we actually put this out um I had one of our singers Craig Simonetti um arranged this into
four-part harmony this is a Boyz DeMens song and we just put it out to clients to let that well
this was a gift really to our clients but also to say like we can be creative and do figure
something out um either by streaming something or whatever snowy day it's the perfect day out the
window snow is all I see snowy day it feels to me there is nothing I can't be
in the crunch of the snow beneath my feet in the sound of the wind the song it sings and it makes me
feel so alive wish this day could last forever when it snows friends and family come together
when it snows snowy day precious time snowy day know that my spirit's filled with joy
I wish this day could last forever when it snows snowy day can you feel the calm all along the
city's tree snowy day brings so much peace like a perfect melody in the crunch of the
snow beneath my feet in the sound of the wind the song it sings and it makes me feel so alive wish this day could last forever when it snows friends and family come together
when it snows snowy day precious time snowy day know that my spirit's filled with joy
I wish this day could last forever when it snows when it snows
I love the hats because it's like hey we're all inside but I'm gonna wear a hat because it's Christmas
exactly those are some serious harmonies oh my god I don't think I've ever heard that song I love that song so we get a lot of requests for it's so interesting how I'm sure you all find this too just with life in general but how times just change a lot and we're getting all of that
I don't know about you too we're older we're older than mid 40s you are this is and hold on I'll share I just want to show folks so this is the website and you can see here that I mean this is how this is like a contemporary look and then there's more of like a Dickensian sort of experience here but this is you can contact and book these folks
you know on this website again songfulartists.com there's some other video clips here you guys were a finalist on the CW that was awesome which is amazing that was so fun in LA it's so it's so cool and everything everything that you
do that goes with it I mean what I love really is that you this is a small business that you know you think about small businesses like okay you're in your town small business Saturday like all this kind of stuff but this is like the things that people can do that you know it's one thing to throw on like a serious XM holiday station but it's another thing if you're having an event or
you know doing something special to bring this sort of like liveliness this live experience supporting these artists as well this is something that you can do talks me a little bit about the booking process so like what you know obviously it's I'm sure it runs the gamut right there's probably people who contact you in May with a date and there's probably people who contact you on like Christmas Eve like so how does that how does that work for you
you're exactly right so um so they reach out so we have a lot of past clients that book us for the same kind of thing every year that we always have new clients to they reach out and I always have I do all the booking so I have a conversation with them about what they're looking for and it's interesting because people come with all sorts of different backgrounds in music or not any at all
so I really enjoy this because a lot of the event planners are women and that's always great for me to I'm in a helm full of it's like holiday girl power yeah I'm just like you know I've got two boys my dog is a boy my husband's a boy everybody's very male in my house so it's a really nice for me just to connect with other women from all over the place
obviously if you're a male you can call me too I just mean yeah so the event planner calls and or the host of the party and we talk through a lot of different things we really tailor each event to the event and acoustics are a huge part of this too because we don't usually use mics we don't provide sound because we found that that was really tough in each different venue that you're in if you're outside I mean it's it can be a little complex
it can be a little complicated so I definitely make sure that they understand the whole sound thing and some things we do on stage with sound and there's a sound person and that's great you know outside New York City can be challenging
they're like we want to be able to hear you it's like okay but if there's a firetruck going by and police car like this is a very active part of Manhattan so you know these are the things they don't think about and then we talk a lot about song choices to snowy day the reason why we brought that song on is because there's no mention of Christmas Santa it's a winter so a winter song so we try to really focus on winter music classic Carol's contemporary Hanukkah
do you do what's the gosh I hate it the I think it's from white Christmas the song is just called snow you hate that song oh my god it's like the it's the word one of the one I want to bring on so everybody in the company wants to bring on next year I want to have a pot of
Christmas and I'm like that's an awful song too but snow I think it's Irving Berlin I think it's Irving Berlin that song biggest blunder that's what I call that song oh my gosh I didn't know this about you it's awful this song okay so I because it's just them saying snow over and over again yeah but it's it's a great for like what it snow like okay I get it
they say other things other than snow Ryan do you know that song I don't think I do I'd like your opinion so it's really great so you should listen to it and tell us what you think
yeah so then you know it's varying degrees just like everything I'm sure you deal with like people either go I trust you you're the expert go with it or other people are like very very heavily involved and sometimes like last year we had a client and it went great but she wanted to do a full hour of sing along
at this event and I said wait so people sing with you sometimes that's rare maybe two events a year like they will want us to like you know send them in the lyrics they'll print out song books and maybe do three or five songs which is fun for people all singing together great but
but I'm like you're a big fan of that well because a lot of people don't like to sing and the other thing that people don't understand is some people don't like holiday music so they don't want to like
so trying to get people to sing holiday music right and they're like your performers you can do it and it's like this is a very corporate event with like people who are like socially awkward like they're not going to just
belt out it's not people like us who are like yeah what I'm saying right yeah yeah right great great right now we're very nervous with us oh yeah like there is a job actually I always wanted you exactly there was a company in New York and I really wanted this job where you like teach corporate people it's actors how to like
like be like public speaking type stuff yeah just how and how to like not be socially how to stand and yeah yeah and I'm like oh my god I had that was an issue for people I had some training like that like some it was like an executive coach where it's like you know they teach you to hold this like
an imaginary ball like when you're talking so you're like you know you're not like people tend to stand and like cover their genitals like when they're standing like you know people fold their hands like in front of their their fly and it's about when you're when
you're doing this publicly how to have hand motions that are not distracting but make you sort of less awkward on stage right so you're not just like gesturing to a PowerPoint but you're sort of like you have this you're talking and you're doing this and it's
odd but I think it's important you know when you're performing or look this is really very very germane to what we're talking about here because I think it's really interesting so you've got it's it's sort of meta in the sense that
you're like your performers going to possibly like a corporate setting and it's really a metaphor because a lot of corporate America is just performing its performance right it's fake it's you know there's a language that everybody uses there's a script yeah
you know good morning everybody hope everybody had great weekend they don't you don't care you don't right we'll circle back and and you know belt and suspenders and like all this management speak that it's all performance
and really the authenticity I think the opportunity for authenticity in the corporate in the corporate setting is is greatly diminished if not completely impossible nobody wants that especially nobody's
really really interesting don't want that no individuality but they love it I feel like there's something inside them that like it's like that school of rock you know that movie where like the principal goes crazy like she's so excited when certain songs
I feel like this with Joan Cusack yeah exactly there's like that scene where she's like I forgot what song it is but she's like feeling the music I feel that this happens a lot of time in the corporate it's just so interesting how the different venues are so different the corporate people they like love us they just like how long have you been singing like what else do you all do like they're like so into it
and I wonder is like they're a part of them that wishes they could do or there's something in their life that's creative that they wish they could do I don't know it you can really dig deep into this because it's you know it was hard for me actually it's just made me think of it when I started in the wine and spirits industry I remember I was meeting with
you know a hotel buyer and he was like you should really go into acting like you you are like so fun to watch or something like that and I'm thinking of myself that is so depressing well it's
like I have a whole background right right but it's also like a weird it's like a left handed compliment right like you think I'm being right right right it was more like you're so animated right but I don't know I think yeah I really like bringing in a little bit of joy you know it's weird yeah
every venue is different I mean the public stuff is really wonderful because again the big part of the business for me was like a paying artists fairly because that was a huge thing that started to really bug me I mean in New York my voice teacher
literally would he would be like you are one of my only students who pays for home voice lessons which were like $150 an hour and then who else who else pays the parents rich husband rich husband
rich husband rich wife whatever into their 30s and 40s so you're kind of yeah exactly but you start to why a lot of us get into jobs is because we need money we need to live I mean not everybody everybody's situations are different so when that when I started to have that
reality that I had friends and people in the industry who were totally financially supported and they could rest before auditions and they weren't waitressing at night and they weren't doing all these things you know it was such a difference in a life where you really have to work like you have to
support yourself and stay creative at the same time plus now we all have children too it's like a lot of a lot of things a lot of responsibilities that's a whole thing we were just talking about this right last week I mean I'm I'm still I mean I had a show on Friday
and I'm not working right now but you know I am we are older you know I'll be 46 this year and kids and and all that stuff and like I was telling I was telling my wife I was like the day after the show I was like
could I if this ever if just let's just say this took off and this became my job which I do want that but if that happened could I do this five nights a week six nights a week like you know it's exhausting just for one performance the amount of preparation and then you know
I felt so because I didn't you know I didn't get to bed until two in the morning I'm like hanging out with people you know because you have to you kind of have to you have to be there you have to it's not just show up for the show and leave
you got to schmooze a little bit yeah I mean for coming and performing takes so much out of you I mean it really does like and you and you're on like a high after for a while yeah also the 2am bedtime like you're not you're not you're excited
yeah so yeah and then you think about I mean say what you want but like you know somebody like a Taylor Swift who's like doing a world tour this physically demanding performance every night and all the outfit changes and like I mean when I like I'm out of shape but like when I go if I go like try on clothes like at the store like I'm like out of breath
if I put if I like take off check if I if I take off and put on like three pairs of pants inside of like 10 minutes I'll be like I'm so tired but it's like if you think about all of the things she has to do and then nail a performance
and travel and then travel and then travel about her it really annoys me I'm like how is she not sick all the time like I feel like I just get sick all the time
because a lot of the singers like I love Adele but she gets sick a lot like Taylor Swift I every time I watch her I'm like this girl is just she never gets tired it's like amazing
here's the thing also and Dom you and I are familiar with this being in broadcast but I mean it's not just the show when you're at that level especially if you have a new album new whatever all the press you're in interviews all day long and
and shows like if you if you're going to be on Stern you got to be there at 6am you know I mean like you got to be ready to go today show
to think about that circuit around like Rockefeller Center like gosh that's why Mel Karmisen was always so always so insistent on those studios being there is because he wanted to be in the center right next to 30 rock Radio City the today show
time square and really I mean the real estate is not built you remember I mean we were putting voiceover booths and closets I mean there was just no room but to be there to make sure that when people do that circuit that they're going to stop by the serious studios
yeah I mean it's just huge your brain has to be so on to I mean this is such a weird comparison but even doing an open house for two hours I cannot tell you how draining it is but it's performance it's all it's still performance it's beyond I mean I it is a performance
and you have to like just performed in a musical because I'm selling someone's house like I have to be very like on no and it's really that's it's a great segue you know what I want to get into I want to get into
personal and family life a little bit but we're going to take us we're just going to take a short break Ryan did you want to add something I just had before we get into that I just have a question and I like and we can talk about after the break but I want to know is there
what's the most bizarre ask that you've had for song artists there must be something that is an orthodox like we want you to sing in a
like a swingers party or let me think yeah actually Tony had to do catering at a swingers party um my husband um we've done a lot of so actually I think this is kind of interesting so we partner a lot with proposal 007 in New York City they are like marriage proposal
proposal company so we've done a lot of like flash mob things um yeah so let me let me think about that because I know that there's been some weird stuff because sometimes also people have terrible taste in music and they're like I want to propose with my girlfriend
to this song and you're just like don't she's going to say no I know I'm like no she doesn't want maroon five can you guys do Bob with the Bob I kid rock no I know there's just yes so well probably that proposals
alright so we're going to take a break here and there's a there's a segment of the program Heather that Ryan and I do um and the guest is not involved but you're going to stay and experience this um this is this is going to last for one minute
okay it's a minute long segment I'm going to get my timer out and it's a minute long segment called fight and it's when Ryan and I have a fight that lasts one minute
alright so you ready are we going to break her we do a fight we're doing fight we're doing fight what did I just say what did I just say you're not even listening how does it you're wearing headphones
I just said it you know how does it feel being second place and the chili cook off and not being first as how many people asked where I was during your show they kept I think I've been asking you no they did because they thought I was going that's why they went
nobody and when they found out I wasn't there they probably nobody said anything about you actually everyone talked about me all night um I can't wait to watch the recording show I do want to taste your chili but can we do can we have a Ryan chili cook off right
I can't compare the first place winner with yours you can't I bet you can't even make chili oh I can make chili I don't believe you this hormone chili from a can count alright we're done but seriously listen like when I'm talking you should listen
well that's not hard to do because you talk all the time well some somebody has to I know it's a podcast it would be let's just sit here we could do a John Cage podcast it's 60 minutes of silence oh my god
so we're here on the sunlight moonlight podcast we are here with our friend an awesome performer and business owner Heather Ferrari like the car the boys are now calling Latuca Ferrari themselves sorry
why both names like my maiden name all of a sudden it's Italian for lettuce right yeah I didn't interrupt you go ahead
and no Heather and I go way back to the Brooklyn days right the Williamsburg days that's right Ryan and Ryan lived in Williamsburg to Ryan why aren't we friends you know I mean I don't know Dom didn't introduce us that's kind of messed up I feel like
I have a collection of friends and then there's Ryan and I try and keep them separate because I feel like if I introduced Ryan to my real friends they might not like me anymore everybody would take Ryan yeah good one Heather so
Ryan's got like chill energy I like chill he's chill yeah he's chill alright that's one of the words one of the words I used so we're here talking with Heather Ferrari on the sunlight moonlight podcast where we talk to folks about
what working people do to be creative and what creative people do for work Heather I wanted to get into a little bit so work life balance right you've got this seasonal business that obviously picks up in the second half of each year
and gets you some extra scratch on the side which I'm sure is very helpful you've got this full time business Heather Ferrari homes and which brokerage are you affiliated with now is a really nice office here in town
and actually the selling agent for our current home was with Ravis yeah yeah and so you're doing also think about this right springtime I'm sure is very very busy for the home selling and buying season right that's when a lot of people sell their homes
can you talk a little bit I want to talk about some of the recent changes that that just came with real estate commissions because I'm not sure I understand it and I'm sure you can explain it better than I could
but talk a little bit about so take the fact that your husband your husband's not currently working right now right so take that out of the equation what what do you feel like that you know staying creative staying on your game for selling and buying homes staying on your game for
running a small business what's the what's like the biggest challenge you've got two young boys who command a lot of time and energy and attention how do you I mean I don't mean to you know how do you like how do you do it how do you manage
I put everything in a calendar so it's really important the family stuff is very important to me we also have I have two aging parents which is why we move back to my hometown and Massachusetts your parents are such wonderful people I love you thank you thank you
your mom was as well and I so that's very important now this time of year is tough so spring is very tough I there's things I miss I can't really be that social and spring which most of my good friends know
which is great.
And yeah, it's a lot of work focus this time of year,
but I build stuff into my calendar.
So when I have listings coming out,
even in the fall, like I know what weekends
I won't be able to do.
And let's say I have a really busy week,
like I had a really busy week last week
and I'm going away this week for a conference.
So like Saturday and Sunday was like family time.
We did like movie nights both nights.
Like I just made, I played cards with the boys
for like three hours last night.
I just try to make sure that the time is there
and everything's in the calendar.
So like for example, I on Tuesdays for an hour,
I volunteer at the school in the library
for Rex's younger son's class and it's in my calendar.
And if something with work or someone wants to see a property,
I'm just like, oh, I'm already booked at that time.
I don't tell them why it's an appointment.
So whether the appointment is reading a book to my child
or a doctor's appointment or a listing appointment,
it's an appointment.
Same with piano.
So I just started taking piano lessons Tuesdays.
It's a half an hour lesson.
That's in the calendar.
I don't mess with that unless it's like a home inspection
or something that absolutely has to happen
and there's no other time.
But I really try to stick to my schedule.
I think that's helpful.
I don't like to waste time.
Like I hate going to the office
because it's a very social atmosphere.
And I think that came from the days of paying a babysitter
$20 an hour when I was making no money in real estate.
And it was like, people are talking about what they're
getting for lunch for like 45 minutes.
Oh my God.
And it would give me so much anxiety
because I'm thinking I'm paying someone $20 an hour.
I don't want to talk to this person,
but I feel like I have to.
So I go to the office a lot of times after at night
to do printouts and stuff just so I can get it done.
Yeah.
So it's really interesting because you think about the shift
of remote working and things like that.
I mean, real estate, either residential or commercial,
if you're spending a lot of time in the office,
you're probably not doing your job.
I mean, it's not, the office is a stop during the day.
It's not where you go all day.
Right, right.
And so if you think about the advent of remote working
and stuff, think about the social aspect where a lot of,
again, back to corporate culture, a lot of the corporate
culture will say, we want people in the office multiple days
per week to foster that team energy, creativity,
coordination, brainstorming.
But you bring up a really good point is that a lot of times,
it's just a lot of chin wagging and people sitting around
drinking coffee, bullshitting.
And that's not really a good, I mean, I know from working
at home, like when we went to remote working,
I worked probably four times harder from home
because I was at home.
Right.
So it was like, I was at my desk at 8 AM,
like had the schedule time, you know, Ryan has a song about
that, I had the schedule time to use the bathroom.
Right, right.
The entire day was booked out.
I was on conference calls while I was cooking dinner
for the kids.
And it was like, that was so different than when I was in
the office, when like, if I had to take, you know,
I'd take an hour train into the city, I go to sleep.
Right.
You know, I wake up in Grand Central and I'd be like,
okay, and like that, all those hours of productivity
just were non-existent.
Right.
And so it's this weird, I feel like it's this weird paradox
of like, yes, in office working has its benefits,
but also there's a lot of, you know,
tomfoolery that goes on that's not terribly productive.
I mean, I think it depends on the person
and how they work too.
It's like, I don't know, my career is so social
that, I mean, it's a lot of phone calls with my clients
all the time who are at very high, you know,
stress levels, obviously, because no one wants to move.
So, I mean, almost every week, one of my clients is like,
you are a therapist.
I'm like, no, so it's a lot of like,
listening and that kind of thing.
So I feel like, I get that.
If someone has a different type of career, job,
whatever, where they want, they need the social,
I need to be around people.
It's like, I am the complete opposite of that.
I really don't, I like to be alone most of the time.
So I think-
That's funny, and it's, you know,
you think about your career, I mean, you're never alone.
No, well, you're alone a lot in the car.
You're alone a lot in the car.
You're alone a car, yes.
You're alone a lot in the car, you are.
And that's when you do your videos.
Sometimes, yep, I also just listen all out of music.
I just, whatever.
And then in terms of the piano practicing,
it's so great.
Like if the boys are having screen time,
I just go on the piano now.
Yeah.
Sometimes I practice for 15, 20 minutes.
Sometimes I'll be there for an hour.
Sometimes it's five minutes.
But I always, you know, I just try to build time
and the piano's right there.
So.
I know, I have a couple of broken keys on my parlor piano
and I really have to get it fixed because it's hindering.
There's like two C's that are broken.
And it's like, you can't, it's not allowed.
That's hard.
You can do.
Like middle C and the one below it.
I was gonna say, I think scheduling the time,
it's a double-edged sword because I,
I agree like scheduling family time.
You kind of have to, I think it's just the world
that we live in now because we're so connected all the time
that it can be easy to let time go
when you're working on something or doing something that,
you know, if you don't have something on the schedule,
be like, okay, this has to end now
because I have to do this.
Right, time blocking.
Yeah.
But there's something that's kind of, I don't know,
not sad, but it's just like, oh man,
I have to actually book time with my family.
No, it is.
Well, no, but I don't book time with my family.
Don't get me wrong.
I just like, Saturday, Sunday,
we had someone ask if we wanted to go out to dinner.
I'm like, no.
Yeah. I don't want to.
Like, so I kind of, I kept those nights this weekend
just open, like meaning, I didn't put it in my calendar,
play cards with the kids.
Yeah.
That like happened organically, but just like,
I'm not working.
I'm not working Christmas Eve.
I'm not working Mother's Day.
Like there's certain days, I don't care.
So I think a lot of us also boundaries.
Like I have mega boundaries, huge boundaries.
You have to, well, especially selling
residential real estate, if you don't have boundaries,
you will get trampled.
You will.
I have someone trying to do it to me right now
and I'm like, I just, it's not happening.
I'm not doing that.
Sorry.
You know, my sister has a thing about like busyness,
like this culture, this cult of busyness.
Yeah.
And like,
I'm so busy.
Yeah. It's like, it's like a weird sort of status thing
where it's like, I'm so busy and either I'm so important
and I'm so busy or I'm so busy because I'm so important
or like it's the busier you are,
like the more you can sort of like complain about it.
You know, this thing about being over scheduled
and over worked and over busy and like.
That's your choice.
And it is a choice.
And I have, you know, back when I was in corporate,
you know, working, I fell into that a lot where it was like,
oh gosh, like look at my talent, you know,
like I'm so busy and I'm so, I'm so needed, you know,
like I have to be in all these meetings and like, you know,
you don't have to be in all these meetings.
Like everybody knows that.
And so I do think, especially being again,
ejected from this culture after, you know,
I was working steadily for 23 years in New York City media
and like being ejected from this culture out into the real
world into this town where I live,
like with no destination every day is really sobering
in the sense of like, you know,
how busy do I need to be in order to either make money
or feel fulfilled or accomplish something?
I think there is, you know,
I did a post about this on LinkedIn.
I think there's something in just like taking a walk,
you know?
I was just gonna say that.
And like looking at trees and like watching the cars go by
and like, you know, and watching the wheels by John Lennon.
I mean, famously he sort of, after the Beatles,
he sort of checked out and really didn't write
or perform for years because he just wanted
to hang out with his kids.
And when he came back, he wrote,
Watching the Wheels, which is like, you know,
people say I'm crazy, people are saying,
you're wasting your time, people are saying,
why aren't you getting back in the game?
And he's like, I'm just hanging out.
I think it's really important for children too
because I don't know, I can get caught up
in my wife as well and like, oh, we gotta, you know,
it's good to push your kids to do things
so that they have experience.
I mean, that's how they kind of learn.
It helps them to learn what they like,
what they don't like, who they are.
But at the same time, like, we try not to like overbook
our kids because it's like, just go outside
and stare at the grass or what, you know what I mean?
Like being bored is good for their mental state
and good for their brain.
It allows them to be creative.
It allows them to be imaginative.
Especially with all the devices and all the stimulation.
Right?
And the AI stuff too, it's like so sad
because like that's gonna take away creativity.
Like I'm sorry, but that's a totally different way
of going about things.
I see the value in it.
I personally don't even use it for real estate,
but a lot of people do.
I write everything, all my descriptions,
and they take a lot of time.
But I just love looking up synonyms
for like a Victorian house.
Like what are the, like grand exquisite?
Like what are the other words?
Like it really gets your brain going.
It's really cool too because-
And I agree, like you gotta, they gotta just,
they gotta be bored.
They gotta just do nothing sometimes.
Yeah, I mean, because it flexes,
imaginative thinking.
I mean, it ultimately helps them to grow.
But I think we also have to, to Dom's point,
we have to remind ourselves as adults to do that.
To allow ourselves to just kind of like be bored.
And that can be tough because,
I don't know about you,
but when I'm left to myself with my thoughts.
Yeah, it's not always a great, yeah.
It can be pretty scary.
Well, and it's a lesson too in,
I learned in the months after I left work,
I learned so much about myself
that I just wasn't even paying attention to.
Because I was just like, I'm busy.
Yeah.
And it's like just sitting in a room and like reading a book
or like, looking at like a book of art,
like just looking at pictures and stuff.
And like, it's really, it's the self discovery,
levels of self discovery increase exponentially.
I think it's really interesting too, Heather.
It's, talking about writing descriptions for real estate,
it's like, what a cool way to be able to be creative
in a day job, right?
Where it's sort of like, it's transactional,
but it's also real estate,
it can be extremely emotional as you mentioned
because you're uprooting your entire life.
It can be really damning as far as like reminding you
how much money you don't have.
You know, where you're like,
when you're talking to somebody about their price range,
it's like, this is the house you can afford.
And you're like, but I want the big house.
It's like, you can't have the big house.
And that can be hurtful.
Right, it's a lot of, and that's like,
that's also like, where does that come from?
I actually personally don't have that,
but most of my clients do and it's very interesting.
I talked to someone about it yesterday.
She was like, if we just had $100,000 more of a budget,
we'd get a much better house.
And I'm like, okay, but someone with a million dollars
would say the same thing.
So you need to really think about
what can work and what, like what, I don't know.
When we bought our house, I was like,
I don't really like our house,
but like, it's the best house we're getting for the money
and it's a good financial choice
and it's a nice neighborhood.
But no, I get, I think, you know,
people are coming from all different,
you know, different places,
but the creativity with the writing is great.
The creativity with staging, I absolutely love staging.
Creative, and there's so many ways
with my open houses, I'll do different things
for open houses that, you know, it's just, it's fun.
If like a famous, I had a listing a couple years ago
where Robert Frost, the poet,
had rented that house at one point.
So I was like researching his poems
and I framed some of his poems and the sign in was
just to let people know like he was here,
which is just so cool.
I mean, it's also really cool being in homes.
Whose woods these are, I think I know.
His house is in the village.
That one of his.
You should, did you frame his most depressing poems?
No.
About dying and death.
No, I wouldn't.
And you're gonna die in this house.
Welcome home.
No, so I do feel, and I have to say like talking to you too,
it reminds me also of like how hard corporate was.
And I do have to say that being self-employed,
although stressful at times is really rewarding
and you do really make your own schedule.
Like I, so that is a huge part of life for me.
It's like, yes, I'm really crazy this time of year,
but like summer's pretty flexible.
Like I could take a month off in the summer pretty easily.
I have people I pay to who can work on my behalf.
How do you handle, is there anxiety about income?
And how do you handle it?
Do you get numb to it after a while?
No, definitely not.
Or you're just like, if you have like a bad month,
do you go to a bad place?
No, I haven't had a check since February,
but I'm getting five checks next month.
Like it's kind of, that is not bothering me.
But maybe last year I did.
I've been making consistent income for five years now.
I've been in the business for seven years.
So that's scary to me.
Like someone who's already always gotten like
a bi-weekly corporate predictable paycheck,
that's scary to me.
It is, but what you do is, well what I do is,
every check that comes in, I take a third,
put it in my tax savings account for taxes.
I put a third in our checking account
and I put a third in savings.
And a lot of times we're pulling from savings.
And then Tony spends all of it.
No, Tony's not.
On Axe Body Spray.
Yeah, exactly.
No, it can be stressful.
I mean this news is not really not stressful.
Yeah, so talk to me a little bit.
Yeah, so there's been a federally mandated change
in how commissions are calculated for real estate sales.
And can you talk us through that?
Sure, yeah, real estate commission
has always been negotiable.
There's no set in stone commission
just like with anything else.
When you meet a kitchen designer,
you meet three kitchen designers,
they're all gonna be different prices.
And you get what you pay for.
And some people are just really expensive also
and not worth it.
And some people are really cheap
and maybe they're worth it.
Like it just depends on the situation.
So yeah, I really don't believe
in all of this involvement to be honest with you
of how much money that realtor should make.
And it's really hard to read a lot of the articles
because I was reading some last night
and I just can't go there with like,
we could have done this ourselves.
We didn't need our realtor, whatever.
You can do it yourself.
It's called for sale by owner.
You can do it yourself.
That's a choice.
You're not forced to work with a real estate professional.
When we were buying and selling our last transaction,
I was like so thankful for our real estate agent
because she was so, she just did everything.
And it was like, we just like showed up to the closing.
It was like magic.
And I know how much work there is.
There's a lot of work on the back end too
that you don't see.
And even when you get a listing,
like I have a listing coming,
she hasn't signed paperwork yet.
I've already spent like 15 hours with this woman.
Yeah, I know that's not worth $10,000,
but it's not worth nothing.
And that's just before you even signed a contract.
Now we're gonna work together for three months
or buyers that you're working with for two years
and have looked at 100 houses.
And not every person is that way.
But anyway, back to the commission.
So the way that the commission has been for the past,
I don't know the year, but for the decades,
in our lifetime, is that the seller pays the commission
on their house to the real estate agent's brokerage.
And around here, it's generally 5%,
but I'd say commissions are anywhere between like four
and 6%, but they can be anything.
I mean, someone can charge you 10%,
someone can charge you 10%.
We use Redfin to sell my mom's house.
It was 1%.
Right, like you can, and those,
and the Redfin agents are on salary.
So they, and they have a totally different model.
So we split that commission,
so the brokerage pays the buyer's agent.
And it's always been in the MLS,
what percentage is in there.
It's very upfront.
And that's the other thing that articles are all saying.
The real estate agents have been hiding what the commission is.
No, it's clearly even on Zillow.
It says buyer's agent B.
I mean, yeah.
It's, there's just a lot of like complete misinformation.
So that's always been negotiable.
I mean, it's always been negotiable.
You don't have to pay the buyer's agent,
but if you don't pay the buyer's agent,
and the other 20 houses in your town
are paying the buyer's agent,
you're, that buyer's now gonna know
they're gonna have to pay their agent directly,
which is fine, but not everybody has the money for that.
And it's just not how traditionally it's been done.
So, you know, so now I don't know what's going to happen.
I never practiced dual agency before,
meaning representing both sides of a transaction
because I don't find it ethical.
It's legal, but whatever.
Now, will I have to change my business model?
I might have to, but that's gonna be really weird.
I don't wanna represent the buyer
and the seller at the same time.
But the buyer might try to come to,
right to the listing agent.
I just think it's gonna bring out a lot of shadiness
because there's also listing agents
who are just not gonna bring stuff to the market,
and then they have their own buyers,
and they're just gonna finagle.
And I think that that's not good.
Does it, and I don't know if this is state by state,
but does a home for sale have to be lit?
Like, you know how sometimes there's a job,
like you have to post a job for like a week.
Even though you have somebody internal,
you're gonna give it to anyway.
Does it ever have to be listed officially?
Because it happens a lot in this town.
It's tough to buy houses in this town
because people sell them through conversations.
Yeah.
And we do that too once in a while.
It's not as common out here.
No, the only way that it has to be listed on the MLS,
which is the site that filters that out to Zillow and all that.
The multiple listing service.
The multiple listing service is,
you know, when you're working with a realtor
and you want it to go on the MLS, then you can.
But you can't post something to the MLS.
A realtor has to do that.
I don't know if that's gonna change.
So yeah, we'll see what happens.
I think there's a lot of unknown right now.
I'm telling my clients that, you know,
a lot of them have signed contracts already
with me through the fall,
that I'll keep them posted on what's going on.
And if we have to change the 5% to 3%, that's fine.
And then the buyer's agent can pay, you know,
I don't know, we're gonna have to figure out.
Well, everything's negotiable, right?
I mean, it's very flexible.
I'm very annoyed with the agents.
I think that's why this happened.
They didn't explain that.
I mean, every single conversation,
this is the percentage, you can negotiate this.
I personally don't negotiate,
so, but you might be able to find someone cheaper.
I have, I've done it before where it's like,
I'm gonna, you know, I'm building a relationship here.
Like I'm gonna, I think our last transaction,
I think we paid either four and a half or 5%,
but her normal percentage is six.
But I was like, well, if you give us five,
I will promise to keep using you
throughout our experience here.
Right.
It was sort of like a, you know, paying it forward
where it's like, do you wanna start, you know,
the old saying about selling cars, right?
Do you wanna sell one guy one car,
or are you going to sell a guy a series of cars
over 20 years, right?
So.
Oh my gosh, my parents are so loyal to their car guy.
Yeah, and I think too, to your point,
like maybe I will negotiate in the future,
but then it's like, you're only allowed to contact me
during business hours or, you know,
you're not gonna get, right,
you're not gonna get full service.
You get what you pay for.
Right, cause like full access to me is a pretty,
I put a big price on that.
I do.
I feel like I'm a human being.
Like who is like totally type A
and is gonna give you a lot of money.
So anyway, yeah, so we'll see what happens.
I mean, I gotta stay positive.
We, Tom Ferry, I don't know if you know who he is,
but he's a really big real estate speaker.
Great.
He always has really great insight.
Very positive.
He's speaking at our conference this week.
So I'm excited to hear what he has to say.
Cool.
Yeah.
We said Mohegan Sun.
Oh, fancy.
You're coming down near us.
That's great.
Oh, are you close to the Mohegan Sun?
Well, I'm closer than you are.
Yeah.
Are you like an hour and a half or something?
I think so.
All right, cool.
Yeah.
There's some good pools I've heard.
So I might skip out on some of that.
What's with all the pool talk?
Showers.
You like pools?
Do we talk about pools?
Tony was going to have a pool.
Oh, Tony.
Oh, the pool.
No, but I do want a hot tub, I think.
Does either of you have one?
No, I don't know if I can turn into that kind of person.
What kind of person is that?
A hot tub person.
What's wrong with that?
I have a bad back.
No, it sounds great.
Ryan, do you like the ocean?
Do I like the ocean?
Yeah.
Me too.
I prefer the ocean.
I love the ocean.
I love riding the waves.
I love the ocean too.
I love the ocean.
That's a dream of Dom's and Mayan and Tony's.
That's right.
Beachfront property, right?
One day.
Doesn't have to be beachfront just near the beach.
I am not a big lake person, though.
Me either.
Me neither.
It's like I judge people right away.
It's terrible.
They're like, yeah, we're more of a lake person.
I'm like, we're not going to be good friends.
I know it in my head.
My family and I, every year we go to the Adirondacks.
And we stay pretty much at the same place.
We've done for, I think, going on eight years.
Like a rental or hotel?
It's a rental.
It's a cabin that's out in the boonies.
And there's a lake there.
And my wife and kids love swimming.
And they're like, why don't you come on, come on.
I'll go in there.
But like leeches, leeches, murkiness.
Ew.
I don't.
It smells.
I don't know what's in there.
It also smells.
It smells.
It's just like a big container.
There's no inner out.
It just is.
Don't you feel like with the ocean, it's just,
we just went to Turks and Caicos.
OK.
I don't want to hear about this.
I'm just saying to everybody listening.
I know I had a friend go into the Bahamas yesterday.
And I was just like, all right, we found really good.
A few, man.
Going to Mexico next month.
Oh my god.
This must be nice.
We're renovating the house.
So travel is not in the cards for us right now.
But we're going to wind up.
Heather's been a really fantastic conversation.
Again, songfullartists.com, Carolers for hire, who knew.
And Heather Ferrari Homes.
If you need a home in the Western Massachusetts area,
Heather is your gal.
6% gets you full access.
10%, man.
10%.
I guess it's negotiable.
But I.
Homes by Homes.
So we end up, we end the program with a segment
called Easy Uneasy.
And this is where Ryan, because he's a nice guy,
will ask you a question that's easy to answer.
And then I will ask you a question that may make you uneasy.
OK.
OK, here we go.
Easy question.
Do you take your vehicle for routine oil changes?
Yes.
That was really easy.
That was very easy.
I don't have the list in front of me, Ryan.
I'm just going to.
Wink it.
I'm going to wing it.
Don't ask me anything about history.
Please.
Well, it might be about your history.
That's fine.
But not anything that's going to make me look dumb.
Let's see.
Something that will make you look dumb.
It has to make you uneasy, though.
That's fine.
Do you want me to post something in the?
Why?
No, this is a good one.
Why do you hate French people?
I don't hate French people.
That's not what I heard.
I think I like French people.
I'm like trying to think about it.
You had to think about it.
I did because I'm thinking if we ever
had a conversation about me complaining about French people.
No, we didn't.
I'm making that up.
OK.
I don't have a problem with French people.
But if you did, why would you?
Maybe because they sound snobby.
Let's say you hated French people.
What would be the reason?
Right, because they sound snobby.
And their kids are more well-behaved than American kids.
And that's why you don't like them?
Wait, French children are better behaved
than American children?
There's a book about that, raising something
about kids in France.
They never have tantrums.
And I just feel like, what are you doing to them at home?
I will say that imagining a French child having a tantrum
just annoys me right there.
They're like, mama, stop it.
So that's why you don't like French people
is because their children are better behaved
than Americans' children.
Stop.
I like French people.
You're a francophile?
No.
When I worked at the UN as a projectionist.
So you love French people.
There was the Francophile Society Francophone.
And it was just people who liked France and French culture.
And once a month, they would do a screening of a French film
that I would have to screen.
I'd stay and do over time because it was in the UN theater.
It was in the evening.
And it was extremely civilized.
They would set up this whole thing of wine and cheese.
And I would play this French movie and drink wine with them.
And they would speak in French around me.
I think they might have been making fun of me.
Probably.
Because I'd be like, I don't know what you're saying,
but it sounds great.
And those were some nice memories from the United Nations.
That was a good assignment to get the Francophone Society.
And I don't dislike French people the way you do.
But that's the way that I enjoyed it.
Ryan, anything else for Heather?
This has been such a great, great program.
I'm so happy that you came on, Heather.
Thank you for having me.
You two are awesome.
It's really cool, right?
It was a nice escape from the busyness.
The busyness.
Don't fall for it.
Did you have the opportunity to think of a bizarre ask
for some of the artists?
I was thinking about it.
And it must be a restaurant flash mob proposal in Manhattan.
We were asked to go to this restaurant.
I can't remember what restaurant was.
It's kind of a fancy restaurant in midtown to go as diners.
The guy wanted like 30 singers.
That's weird.
I'm like, that's going to cost you tens of thousands
of dollars.
Like we're sitting there dining.
Like ostensibly just sitting there eating,
and then you burst into song?
Yes.
So sitting there eating, drinking,
and then he's there with his fiance.
And he gets down on his knee.
And then we all start to get.
I wasn't in.
Was he going to pay for all of your food?
We coordinated with the restaurant.
We did some.
Yeah.
So flash mobs, I would say, are kind of bizarre.
We've also been asked many times to do the love actually flash
mob.
Do you remember that?
You didn't see that movie?
Oh, I don't remember the flash mob though.
They're in the church getting married.
And all you need is love.
And there's like people all over.
So yeah, we get sometimes people like us to recreate things.
They seen in movies.
And you're just like.
That was the song.
You played that song at your wedding.
Our matches said love is all you need.
I still have those.
That's so cool.
Can I make a suggestion for a song?
For song for artists?
Sure, right.
Why are you laughing, Tom?
Because I can't wait to hear this.
Snow Blind by Black Sabbath.
That could be really fun.
I don't know it, but I'll look it up.
I'm writing it down.
It's not about traditional snow.
It's a different kind of snow.
Is it cocaine snow?
I think so.
Oh, cool.
We're kind of kid friendly, but then it would just
have double meaning.
Maybe that would open up our fan base.
There you go.
Snow what?
To the metal community.
Snow what?
Snow Blind.
Yeah, we want some metal people.
No, that's funny.
I want to hear the song though.
That's hilarious.
This is a Christmas song about cocaine.
We want to be all inclusive to the drug users out there.
Listen, cokeheads are people too.
They are.
I say it all the time.
I agree.
Well, that's great.
I don't.
I don't see that.
That used to happen a lot when I worked at Bond Street
in the bathrooms.
I remember when you worked at Bond Street.
Me too.
That was delicious.
It was.
Taylor Swift was just working.
It was across from Ilbuko, right?
I think it was up.
Like, can I acknowledge this?
I remember Ilbuko.
That was yummy.
That was. We had that second family dinner there
when I introduced Christine to everybody.
Oh, yeah.
That was right.
That was fun.
All right.
Well, this has been a fantastic program.
Heather, thank you so much for joining us.
Stick around.
Ryan and I are going to finish up the show here.
And then we'll do an upload.
But I really appreciate your time.
Again, songfullartists.com.
Heather Ferrari, thank you so much for joining us here
on the Sunlight Moonlight podcast.
Thanks, Heather.
Thank you both.
So, Ryan, what is in store this week for you?
Oh, I have to finish a song.
I have to mix a song and distribute it because it's.
You want a month, right?
You got a month.
And I'm waiting for it.
You're due.
I'm due.
And you usually need a few weeks to distribute.
And I don't have that time.
So I don't know if it's going to.
I'm trying to finish a song I came up with yesterday.
And I probably have to find a job.
Oh, yeah.
I have to do that, too.
We should probably find jobs.
But my mom is here this week.
She's visiting.
The kids are on spring break.
And so I also want to have activities.
We're going to go up to the FDR museum today after the podcast.
Oh, that's cool.
Up near Hyde Park.
Hyde Park, yeah.
So yeah, I want to just try different, do different things.
So we're not just sitting around.
That's cool.
Yeah.
That's very cool.
You should do the walk over the Hudson and the bridge.
Oh, that's a good one.
You know?
I think we're going to go into the city one day, I think, Friday.
We're also doing an early, like a day before Easter dinner.
We're hosting at our place on Saturday.
What are you going to make, Chilly?
I'm making ham.
Ham.
You love ham?
Ham.
And it's going to be a bit of a potluck, but ham, mashed potatoes,
ham, gravy.
Ham.
And some Mayan laws will bring stuff over as well.
Ham.
Herum.
What kind of gravy do you make with ham?
Ham gravy?
Ham gravy.
It's a, it's a, it's a, I'm making a butt.
Ham.
It's not a spiral ham.
Oh, like a pork butt?
Like a pork butt.
Like a pulled pork?
Slok, slow cooked?
Slow cooked.
I love, I love pork.
I think I'm going to make lamb, not ham.
Ooh.
Or I might do, or I might do like a veal, veal shank,
like an asabu go type, type thing.
Well, that sounds good.
Yeah.
I don't mind that it's baby cows.
I know, you don't.
It's tender and delicious.
It is.
Milk fed?
Someone told me at the Chili Cook Off that they,
they don't eat pork because they like pigs
and because they're smart.
And I said, I guess that's fair.
I mean, it takes all kinds, you know.
I don't really care.
What is your week looking like?
I, well, you know, I got a, I have a friend
coming in from out of town.
I have to find a job.
And we're getting ready to go.
We have spring break next week.
And so we're getting ready to, we're
going to do some local, local traveling.
But I'm really, I'm really happy we got to talk to Heather.
I think that was a really, really good conversation.
Yeah, she's awesome.
About what we're trying to do here.
Hey, keep me, keep me updated on the tune.
Let me know if I can help at all.
If you need any real musicians to play in your song.
Let me know.
I got it covered.
I just, I just need to borrow a guitar because I don't have any.
Yeah.
Yeah, I see that.
I see that.
These are just, that's a background that I use.
It's a green screen.
Nice.
And you as well.
If you need me for anything.
I'm here for you.
might need you to rip a guitar solo bro.