Celebrate Your Story

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I've been exploring the role relationships play in our well-being. Cultivating deep and meaningful relationships is critical to maintaining mental health and finding personal fulfillment, but it's also something that many men struggle with.   I've become acutely aware that many men are reporting difficulty connecting with other men beyond surface-level or...

Moms are truly amazing and it's a privilege to celebrate them this week and every week throughout the year.  They not only impact our daily lives, but they're also making a difference in our community.     I got a chance to connect with Phyllis Rabinowitz, an #AmazingMom who battled through a tragic loss to make a difference for other moms and families through her incredible work advocating for ch...

This week, Smile Farms opens its 12th campus in partnership with Catholic Health.  The new campus is unique in serving those who are specifically dealing with mental health diagnoses and behavioral challenges and is the first campus exclusively dedicated to donations.     The donated produce will support Catholic Health's Food Insecurity Initiative, built to screen emergency room patients for vita...

Today on Celebrations Chatter, we're sharing an impactful story of mental illness and recovery.   You might know Chuck Thuss from his exceptional athletic career as a team owner, coach, and All-American hockey player. What you might not know is that despite his polite demeanor and athletic success, Chuck was suffering in silence from severe anxiety and depression.   After what he believed was divi...

This Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day, an annual reminder to take care of our planet. In honor of this important day and initiative, Scott Corwin, the US Leader of Sustainability and Climate Change at Deloitte sits down with me for a special episode of Celebrations Chatter.   The massive implications of climate change really came together for me last year at the Techonomy Climate Summit. Ever sin...

Climate change has and will continue to affect many things in our daily lives, including… wine?   Greg Jones is somewhat of an expert in the matter. Greg is a prominent member of the Pacific Northwest's winemaking community, sitting on the boards of multiple industry associations. He is also the CEO of his family business, Abacela Vineyards, located in Oregon's Umpqua Valley.   Greg has spent the...

Ryan Panchadsaram is an engineer and investor focused on solving systemic, societal challenges. At Kleiner Perkins, Ryan serves as technical advisor to John Doerr, where he invests in founders and technologies that aim to change the world. Ryan and John coauthored the seminal book on countering climate change, Speed & Scale, and collaborated on the number one bestseller Measure What Matters. Under...

As we begin to prepare for Easter and Passover, we are turning our focus towards faith and love, and I can't think of a better person to help guide us through this topic than Shannon Bream.    Shannon is a multi-talented FOX News anchor and author who just released her newest book "The Love Stories of the Bible Speak: Biblical Lessons on Romance, Friendship, and Faith." The third in a series of bo...

Today on Celebrations Chatter, John Gargano, General Manager at Craft, joins Jim to share one of the most emotional and inspiring stories we've ever encountered.   Faced with what he thought to be a life-ending diagnosis, John gave up and fell into an addiction which led to a prison sentence, during which John built himself back up from scratch.  He was eventually released under President Obama's...

In honor of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, we are hosting a special episode of Celebrations Chatter with two incredible organizations doing a lot of good in the world: John's Crazy Socks and Smile Farms.    John's Crazy Socks was founded by John Cronin, a young man with Down Syndrome, along with his father Mark. Together, they aim to spread happiness and to prove what's possible when...

It's not every day you meet a long-lost relative and find out he's also in the agriculture business!   Kevin McCann reached out to Jim over LinkedIn recently due to their shared family name and similar line of work. Kevin operates the Armagh, Northern Ireland-based family farm P. McCann & Sons, where his family has grown fresh fruit for three generations.    Along with sharing about the family nam...

As the daughter of Polish and Ukrainian immigrants working to create a better life, Natalia Brzezinski has been immersed in multiculturalism from day one. Natalia is an acclaimed journalist, communications expert, and global citizen who has worked everywhere from the Huffington Post to the US Embassy in Sweden, to her current role at the Stockholm-based Klarna.   In this episode, Natalia and Jim d...

February 17th is National Caregiver Day, a holiday that honors and celebrates the nearly 40 million Americans who take care of someone else - an aging parent, a child with special needs, or a friend or neighbor with chronic disease.   Many caregivers don't realize that they are filling this role and simply see it as their duty, when in reality it is one of the most selfless thing one can do. What...

Harris Faulkner, the award-winning anchor with Fox News, has covered thousands of notable figures and everyday people.  It was the true-life encounters of resilience, rescue, and so much more that led to her new book, Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer.   Listen as Jim and Harris discuss stories of amazing women they've encountered and how faith can shin...

With Valentine's Day almost upon us, love is in the air. As we've been preparing for this important season at 1-800-Flowers, I've also been thinking a lot recently about my own marriage and what it takes to maintain relationships, romantic or otherwise.   I've been with my wife, Marylou, for nearly 50 years now. Looking at the beautiful family and life we built together, I feel that I've really wo...

New York University's Healthcare System is one of the largest in the country, with six hospitals throughout the city that see over 100,000 patients every year. With top rankings for patient safety and quality of care, it's no wonder that NYU Langone has been at the forefront of medical advancement throughout their 180-year history.    Today, Robert Grossman, MD, joins us on Celebrations Chatter to...

There are few people today impacting the future generations of medical professionals to the degree that Ken Langone has with his leadership and contributions to NYU Health.   Ken grew up in a family of little means and worked his way to being one of the richest investors and philanthropists in the United States.   After Ken's business success, he donated $10 million to NYU's MBA program in 1999. ...

Every year, nearly 16,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with childhood cancer. This diagnosis is as life-changing as it is heartbreaking.    Today's guest, Dr. Noelle Cutter, knows this feeling firsthand. Dr. Noelle is a leading expert in biochemistry, disease, and cancer, as well as an Associate Professor at Molloy College.    After she lost her nephew to childhood brain cancer, Dr....

Can anxiety be a good thing?    We're giving a special focus to health on Celebrations Chatter this January, both in the physical and mental senses. Oftentimes, the onset of winter brings forward seasonal affective disorders and it's common to experience weather-related anxiety or depression.     Dr. Chloe Carmichael returns to share more about her book "Nervous Energy: Harnessing the Power of You...

Is the American Dream alive and well? If you asked Ken Langone, he'd certainly say yes.    Ken's grandparents immigrated to the US from Italy, and he grew up in a family that he describes as having "a lot of love, but not a lot of money." Ken spent time in the US Army and dug ditches for the Long Island Expressway before going to Bucknell University to study economics. After graduation, he began a...

In our previous episode with Cynthia Covey Haller, Cynthia shared what it means to live your life in crescendo; the mindset that your most important work is always ahead of you.  In this inspiring second part to our interview, Cynthia shares real life stories of people that have done it! From a father who lost his business and became a lawyer to a wrongfully-convicted death row inmate changing his...

As we age, we face a choice: do we slow down and stop contributing, or do we take our decades of knowledge and connections and put them towards something meaningful?   Author Cynthia Haller joins me on Celebrations Chatter to discuss how people can live their lives in a crescendo so that their best is always yet to come. Cynthia is the daughter of Stephen R. Covey, who you may know from his best-s...

As the holiday season approaches, having that "IT" item is at the top of many people's minds. Will you be able to buy that perfect gift before it runs out?    How does scarcity play into this and are companies using it as a tactic to influence consumer habits?   To answer this question and more, we turn to Dr. Mindy Weinstein. Dr. Weinstein has a 20-year career as a successful marketing consultant...

As winter approaches, many people begin to experience seasonal depression, anxiety, and other conditions that affect their mental health. On top of these seasonal spikes, uncertain economic conditions have many Americans feeling concerned about their future, all as we head into the new year.   This week, frequent Celebrations Chatter contributor Dr. Chloe Carmichael stops by to discuss anxiety and...

As the US stands on the brink of a potential recession, many Americans are trying to figure out how best to save money and plan for their future.    Geoff Beattie knows the importance of financial planning and growth. Starting his career as a successful lawyer in Toronto, Geoff spent many years in the legal profession before transitioning to a career in wealth management. Currently a well-respecte...