Life In Bold with Ben Hawes

Helen Polise is best known as the “TikTok Teacher” on social media, teaching folks how to make the most of their experience on social media— but she is so much more! She’s a podcast host, a vlogger, and a commercial producer, and she’s kicking life in the booty with her amazing young energy. She’s learned a lot about the power of a positive mindset through her experience with Cancer a couple of ye...

Seann Cantatore is a fantastic musical comedian who is (say it with me) GOING ON TOUR!!! Yes, you heard me, this summer, Seann Cantatore may be coming to a city near you, and you better go to her show biatch! Seann sings funny tunes about all things, including being an angry New Yorker, Shaving her pubes for nothing (check her YouTube for the amazing music video experience), and now, in her new sh...

Nicole Pascaretta is a New York Based performer who specializes in Improv, Sketch, and Musical Comedy and in today’s episode we talk all about her growing up in Michigan, what high school was like, dressing up in costumes, getting started in comedy, moving to NYC, and what her message is in performing comedy. Nicole is known best for her many characters, her physical comedy & dance background,...

Jess Elgene is a wonderfully talented comedian and performer in New York City. She performs improv, stand-up comedy, sketch shows, and musical comedy, and Las creates comedy content on TikTok and Instagram. She’s partly known for her viral videos, including known for a mega-viral hit she created on TikTok about being the Poet Laureate of her family on Christmas… very funny!! She is also performing...

Florence Friebe is a wonderfully talented musician, improv comedian, and actor who spent an hour with me as we discussed so many important and interesting topics! We chat about our families growing up, who we were in high school, how we came to get into comedy and music, how we work to learn more about who we are, what it’s like to live in NYC and stay here for good, and so much more! Listen in an...

I’m back with a solo podcast episode about starting my own business and believing in myself in 2024. I am running my own Photo Booth business after losing my job in January—and it’s not easy! Listen in to hear my thought process and how I’m choosing challenge and living more boldly.  Once you're done listening to or watching this episode with Ben Hawes and Seann Cantatore, head to YouTube to w...

Jimmy Schatz is back for his second time on the Life in Bold podcast, and we’re getting real about acting in NYC, pursuing a career in comedy, dating, hookups, and more. :) Jimmy has a monthly comedy show at The Stonewall Inn. Be sure to follow him below to get the latest updates about dates!  Once you're done listening to or watching this episode with Ben Hawes and Seann Cantatore, head to Yo...

NYC stand-up comedian Natalie Fill is back for her second appearance on the Life in Bold Podcast, and we get deep! We talk all about growing up with an interest in acting and entertainment, how to radically believe in yourself and engage with your own delusional self-confidence, and how we choose to engage in our life’s dreams as adults! Natalie celebrates turning 25, and we talk about age and how...

In today’s episode, Ben interviews 8-year New York City stand-up comedian, Sunny Laprade. As a 23-year-old comedian, Sunny knows a TON about what it takes to build a comedy career, and she has a vast knowledge of comedy legends and role models in the space. We talk about things like how we want to get paid for comedy, advice for newer comedians, experiences going viral online and understanding the...

Jilberto Soto is an amazing and accomplished New York City stand-up comedian. I met Jilberto a year ago when he was opening for Jimmy Schatz at the Stonewall Inn. He was so funny and his comedy was compelling, and now I know why. It's empowering, it's self-love, and it's power. Don't try to tell Jilberto that he is anything less than amazing. It's inspiring! Once you're don...

Ahh, the one and only Julia Schroeder. I love this girl. An Improviser, Actor, and all-around funny person who I've admired for about a year now. Julia is a heavy hitter in the New York City improv and comedy scenes-- but she has quite a story. She's so funny but we also get deep in this episode about body image stuff, as well as what she hopes people feel when they are watching her perfor...

Seann Cantatore is a New York City Based musical comedian and a damn good one at that! She is a role model to me and shows me just how good and funny music can be! A dainty pianist, a mad New Yorker, and someone who shaved her pubes for nothing (link to the music video below), Seann made me almost pass out from laughing -- she is seriously funny. Once you're done listening to or watching this...

THANK YOU for listening!! New Episodes Every Month! Subscribe here to get the latest! Today I'm with NYC comedian and storyteller, Jimmy Schatz. I met Jimmy in early 2023 when I visited his solo show at The Stonewall Inn -- the show totally showed me the value of growing your audience organically, and that comedy doesn't have to fit in some kind of small little tiny box! Jimmy is a movie b...

Today we're chatting all things BOLD with NYC up-and-coming stand-up comedian, Natalie Fill. We chat about growing up queer, what it's like to date in NYC, building a career in comedy, and standing boldly in your dreams and aspirations. THANK YOU for listening!! New Episodes Every Other Monday! Subscribe here to get the latest! What are your thoughts on today's show?! DM the pod on Ins...

23-year-old New York City-based musical comedian Reagan Allen is one of my favorite acts on the scene. She sings hilarious songs on stages around NYC and even just debuted her joint cabaret-style show with Seann Cantatore, Cantatore & Allen! In this episode, we talk about the ins and outs of starting and growing a comedy career, growing up queer, being gen z vs Millennial, and writing comedic...

Welcome back to Life In Bold, the show where I get to connect you to inspiring people who are doing the work to live the lives they've imagined. Today, we've got Bryetta Calloway who is a marketing expert and stage performer who has a deep understanding of the human experience, especially around confidence, self-love, self-awareness and understanding, and inner peace. Today we talk about f...

Welcome to Episode 33 of Life in Bold! Today we have on Kayla Barry who is a comedian in New York City --- we met at an open mic night a few weeks back and immediately hit it off. Kayla is finding success in Comedy, featuring at Open Mic Nights and Putting together solo shows and more! THANK YOU for listening!! New Episodes Every Other Monday! Subscribe here to get the latest! What are your though...

This week in the United States, we experienced yet another school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. 6 people have died as a result. It's upsetting and it's frustrating, but today it caused some reflection within me and helped me to think about who I want to be, how I want to show up, and what I want to do in these situations as they come up. There is a photo of me that I came across of mys...

In this episode, I explore my relationship to my body image as it relates to things like my confidence, dating, and my willingness to put myself out there with pride. We explore body image in the gay and queer community as well as in my childhood and experience through childhood, teenhood, college, and my twenties. It's an honest recount of the many ways I have been taught and shown that my body i...

Today's episode is a gift! I have on my good friend and favorite creative mind, Michelle Arno for her 7th appearance on Life in Bold. In this chat about creativity, we talk about what it takes to truly be an authentic creative, how to navigate getting things done, and setting boundaries around feedback and criticism. It's a great chat and I always love having Michelle on the podcast. Let us know w...

Today's show is with Authentic Career Coach Carolyn Lai Moore, whose back for a second dose of sharing how she lives her life in BOLD. Carolyn spent 15 years in sales leadership roles and has spent the last 2 years building Wildlight, a career coaching service based on finding clarity, authenticity, and confidence. AKA living life in bold! You can find Carolyn's Instagram and website below, and tr...

In today's episode, we get to talk with Kerstin Todd, who works in HR at Pixar, knows a bunch of cool stuff about landing your dream job, human and empathetic leadership, and has recently quit drinking for health reasons. We really get into it today and we made a rule amongst ourselves that we were only allowed to bring up Brené Brown one time! Enjoy this episode and SUBSCRIBE to the show for upda...

Taking Inspiration from Brené Brown's "The Anatomy of Trust" talk, Ben outlines the anatomy of a bold friendship.  Based on an experience seeing a friend in a bar who was deflecting and avoiding engaging in boldness, Ben dives into what boldness actually means when it comes to friendships in 2023.   What would you add? What do you agree or disagree with? Please leave it in the comme...

Press Play! In this last episode of Life in Bold, we've got a good one! Michelle Arno is a talented artist, twitch streamer, and friend who has a lot to say about living your Life In Bold.   In today's episode, we chat about the Life in Bold year in Review as well as going into the new year in 2023 with authenticity, boldness, courage, and self-awareness.    New Episodes Every...

What a treasure it was to chat with Helen Polise, The Tik Tok Teacher! Helen has built an amazing community of over 700,000 followers on Tik Tok by teaching folks how to use social media online. She is the founder of Hello Socialize and owns her own TV Commercial Production Company, Muthership Productions. She also had quite an adventure this summer after briefly going blind and finding out that s...