The Lives of The Others

Margaret Ackah-Yensu, Tulii Skincare. "Having my children seeing me as a fully functioning human being with passion to pursue what's important for me is also a form for showing up for my children."

"Having my children seeing me as a fully functioning human being with needs and desires and things that are important to me to pursue is also a form for showing up for my children." Margaret Ackah-Yensu, Founder of Tulii Skincare (a natural, holistically formulated skincare made from the highest quality ingredient sourced in Tanzania) joins me to talk about becoming an entrepreneur later in life and starting your own brand and what it means to be a professional, a mom and someone who moved acros...

Are we all doing enough as parents for our kids' education? (Terri Ruyter, an educator and founding principal of one of the largest public schools in New York)

Welcome to the second episode of the third season of An American, but not really podcast. In this episode I'm chatting with a founding principal of one of the largest New York public schools that is now home to over 700 students - from Pre-K to 8th graders. Twenty years ago, right after September 11, Terri Ruyter was tasked with establishing a school in lower Manhattan. Terri worked in schools for close to 40 years as an elementary school classroom teacher, a professor of education, and as a dis...

Pursuing her dreams by breaking the cultural stereotypes (Manpreet Kaur, an artist who broke all the South Asian stereotypes when she moved to Canada.)

Today our guest is not an American, but someone who lives very close to America. As a matter of fact, so close that a lot of people out there consider this place to be part of America. Yet, it is not. Manpreet Kaur is a contemporary realist artist. She is also a graffiti artist and you can see her works around the city of Toronto, Canada. We, in New York, are very aware of our graffiti artists and we have our own favorite graffiti and mural spots and artists. We've been lucky to be a city where ...

Season 3: Trailer

Let's start this year with hope, love and patience. I have a great lineage of guests this year and I'm excited to be continuing this podcast thanks to the support of my listeners. Your feedback. Your responses. Your sharing. Your reviews. Matter. They matter for me and they matter to get this podcast to the people who might find it helpful or entertaining. One of the reasons we all love comedians or comedy films/shows - they make us feel good. And this is one of the purposes of this podcast - to...

Oh Crap! I'm a Parent (Jamie Glowacki, an internationally recognized potty training and parenting expert)

I'm thrilled to welcome today's very special guest, whose best selling and wildly popular books Oh, Crap, Potty Training and Oh, Crap, I Have A Toddler and couching changed thousands of families in the last 15 years. I know she changed mine. Just as I almost accepted the fact that my oldest son might go to college in diapers, I came upon her book (after reading hundreds of other books) and my kid was out of diapers in one day. Not only I speak for myself, but I also gave her books as gifts to al...

Ending world hunger and combating food waste one student volunteer at a time (Julia DeSantis, the Director of Sustainability for ⁠The Farmlink Project)

In the last episode I spoke with Amy Scherber, the founder of Amy's Bread, author and winner of numerous awards in culinary and business fields, about the food waste in USA. And in this episode I'm honored to have a guest, whose whole organization's mission is to end hunger and food waste in our lifetime by connecting surplus to food banks across the country. Julia DeSantis is the Director of Sustainability for The Farmlink Project , a student-led movement that has provided over 130 million poun...

From a corner shop to one of the best bakeries in USA (Amy Scherber, founder of Amy's Bread, an author and a winner of numerous awards in the culinary & business fields)

I'm thrilled to welcome today's guest, a fellow New Yorker, founder of Amy's Bread , a New York institution, an author and a winner of numerous awards in the culinary and business fields - Amy Scherber.Her New York artisan bread empire is the focus of our conversation as she takes the listeners through her journey of starting with a corner bread shop 30 years ago with just 5 employees to being recognized now as one of the best bread bakeries in the U.S. She survived the pandemics with the help o...

Are we doing enough to eat healthier? (Aimee Aristotelous, a best-selling author and nutritionist)

A random conversation over mimosas at my bachelorette pool party with a table next to us ended up girls just jumping in a pool and staying in touch over the last 9 years where I became witness to that random gal becoming a best selling author of multiple diet books, a certified nutritionist and a contributor to major news outlets and an exclusive nutritionist for NBC affiliate KSEE 24 News in Fresno, California. That random gal's name was Aimee Aristotelous. Aimee Aristotelous is a certified nut...

Using fiction and poetry to address the issues faced by Latinx community (Jasminne Mendez, an award winning author of several books for children and adults)

In this episode my guest is Jasminne Mendez, a best-selling Dominican-American poet, educator, translator, playwright and award winning author of several books for children and adults. She has had poetry and essays published in numerous journals and anthologies and she is the author of two multi-genre collections including Island of Dreams (Floricanto Press, 2013) which won an International Latino Book Award. Her debut poetry collection City Without Altar won the 2022 Texas Institute of Letters ...

The role yoga, meditation, & doula services play in social change and equity (Amanda Gloria Valdes, a 500+HR Registered Yoga Teacher and Founder of AV STUDIOS)

In today's episode my guest is Amanda Gloria Valdes. Amanda arrives in space with the mission to utilize the practice of Yoga, Meditation, and the Arts as a catalyst for social change and social equity. Community building has been a passion for Amanda for as long as she can remember. She strives to support her community as a Yoga and Meditation guide, teacher training program manager/curator, and mentor. She takes pride in creating non-traditional spaces to practice yoga, meditation, and arts en...

How one Brit built a politically and socially charged New York community (Phil O'Brien, a global entrepreneur and publisher of W42ST Magazine)

Welcome to Season 2 of the An American, but...not really podcast! What a great first season run. I loved every guest from Season 1 and can't wait to have more amazing guests in Season 2. Please welcome my very first episode's guest of Season 2 – Phil O'Brien. Phil O'Brien calls himself an entrepreneur. Or, rather - a funemployer. He is always looking to connect with someone who has survived (and flourished through) similar experiences as he did. From beginnings as a press photographer in his hom...

Season 2: An American, but...not really is back with Season 2 with personal stories from professionals to inspire and aspire

Well, hello, hello, hello! It's been a minute. I know. I missed you too! I can't believe it's already time for the second season and it wouldn't have happened without you. So, thank you to my listeners, comments, likes, reviews. I get your feedback. I hear you. So, just to recap the first season - I got to talk to some amazing people - publisher, editor, filmmakers, real estate agent, artists, designers, yoga instructor, etc. I covered topics on dating in the 21st century, World Cup - from the s...

What finance and real estate have in common & why we shouldn't trust real estate reality shows (Maria Belen Avellaneda, an award winning NYC’s top producing real estate agent)

An award winner Maria Belen Avellaneda, one of NYC’s top producing real estate agents, shares her experience about the real estate industry in New York City, Hamptons and Florida, her areas of expertise. We talk about what it takes to be a real estate agent and why it's not as glamorous as it's usually portrayed in reality shows like "Million Dollar Listing" and "Selling Sunset", which I, personally, consider my guilty pleasures and can't get enough of. We talk about stereotypes, what to look fo...

Why art belongs on the streets (John Walter, a New York artist and actor)

I must admit, John Walter is the first guest on my podcast who I haven't known personally before this podcast. We've met in Soho, Manhattan recently, where his art work got my attention. New York is good at that - meeting random, interesting people and finding many things in common as we learned during our conversation. As two creative types and having been an illustrator myself, I was drawn to his quirky art works, but there's more to John than his work. He has no art education. When he moved t...

Starting over in USA (Ruth Walker, a British editor, brand storyteller, content strategist)

My guest is Ruth Walker, an award-winning journalist and editor whose career spans 15+ years, in both digital and print media. She specializes in working with early to mid-stage start-ups, helping them tell their story effectively and build a committed, engaged community from the ground up. Born and raised in the UK, she was a production journalist on The Daily Mail when it won Scottish Newspaper of the Year, and lifestyle editor of The Scotsman when it won Scottish Newspaper of the Year. In 201...

Let's talk! Dating in the 21st Century: who should pay on a first date?

The average cost of date night in the U.S., according to dating app Zoosk, is $98. Now, would you pay for the first date if it didn't end well? Would you pay for a first date in general? Would you even invite someone on a first date to an expensive place or would you rather go for a walk? With the rise in the cost of alcoholic beverages away from home since before the pandemic (12%), according to the most recent Consumer Price Index, and with the increase in the cost of the restaurant meals sinc...

Getting personal with Risa Mickenberg, screenwriter/director of EGG, on marriage, kids, creative work, and choosing to go forward solo

What it's like to be living among 8+ million people for a person who prefers to be alone, but who is also everywhere? Risa Mickenberg, my guest in this episode, is a writer, director, performer, creative director, provocateur and entrepreneur. She is the author of the bestselling book Taxi Driver Wisdom (Chronicle Books), which is also packaged. She wrote the feature film Egg (2018), starring Christina Hendricks, Alysia Reiner, Anna Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe and David Alan Basche to address the uns...

What working in Hollywood is really like (Brian C. Glover, a director of photography who shot more than 100 films)

Brian C. Glover was born and raised in Chicago. He earned a living as a portrait and commercial still photographer. Brian transitioned into cinema on films such as the Untouchables, Home Alone, and The Fugitive after joining the Cinematographers Guild in Chicago and later moved to Los Angeles to continue his career. His work has ben honored for excellence by the International Cinematographers Guild. Brian C. Glover is also known for such films as Above the Law, and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Cl...

The extraordinary ordinary man who helped Alfred Hitchcock to make "Psycho" iconic (Sabrina Palladino talks about her famous father - Tony Palladino)

In this episode I have the honor of sitting down to chat with a TV Commercial producer, a filmmaker, and a daughter of the latest Tony Palladino, Sabrina Palladino. Tony Palladino is someone who will be always highly regarded among the artists and designers around the world. His legacy will leave forever and those he touched through his teaching at the School of Visual Arts - from 1958 until his final days and those he worked with in the industry would always remember him not only as a very curi...

From the streets of Buenos Aires on the day Argentina wins the World Cup '22: Is Messi a god?

Leo Messi is one of the best players in the world. He is a phenomenon and a true hero for many people, especially - for the Argentan people. His popularity in Argentina can only be fully understood when one is present in Argentina when Messi is playing. I had this opportunity and more - I was in Buenos Aires on Sunday, December 18th, when Argentina won the World Cup 2022. In this podcast I'm taking you to Argentina, to that moment that changed everything for me - the way I viewed football before...

Laurie Rosenwald on growing up during Communist blacklisting in NYC and working as a designer in advertising and publishing before #metoo

Today I'm siting down with my personal icon - Laurie Rosenwald - an author, designer, painter, and educator whose impressive body of work encapsulates her vivacious, outspoken, and colorful personality. Her most recent book, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose, which was the subject of her TEDx Talk and is accompanied by a touring workshop of the same name, gives readers and audiences insight into the beautiful world of creating through intentional acts of randomness - a way of working that helps in...

What it takes to be a professional dancer and choreographer in NYC (Amber Sloan)

Hi! Welcome to The Lives of The Others podcast. In this episode I sat down with one of my personal favorites who transformed my body and mind over the last six years like no one ever could. As a professional dancer in New York City, Amber Sloan’s yoga teaching is inspired by her love of movement. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied anatomy, kinesiology and biomechanics. Sloan is a certified yoga instructor through ...

Coming to America...The expectations & questions.

Welcome to The Lives of The Others podcast. I'm your host - Alisa Krutovsky. In this episode I was supposed to have a special guest, but due to an unexpected family emergency, we couldn't record. So, I thought - why don't I start from the very beginning - share my experience of coming to America from Russia 30 years ago. You might be surprised how little or how much I knew about America when we came to USA. What my expectations of America were based on and how I dealt with being a new 'foreign' ...

Why I started my podcast?

In this short episode you get to know the idea behind this podcast, why I decided to start it and why it’s important. America is different for everyone, especially for those who are new to this country. How do we navigate through every day life in America? What are the challenges or surprises? With 30 years of life experience living in America I meet almost every day someone who has questions for every day life in America. I know I do have questions. Even to a degree when it’s too funny to have ...

The Lives of The Others (Trailer)