Tag: grandson

EP – 111 Memories of Strong and Loving Italian Grandfathers (Bonus Show)

Our bonus conversation with Vinnie Tortorich

This is a bonus edition of a fantastic interview that I had with Vinnie Tortorich back in December 2020. I thought it would be great to share this conversation again.

My guest on this episode is Vinnie Tortorich. Vinnie is a successful celebrity trainer, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. Vinnie has a successful podcast, Fitness Confidential, and is just a cool all-around good guy.

Vinnie sits down and shares memories of his strong and loving Italian grandfathers. Vinnie and I dive into how his family immigrated to Louisiana from Italy. What his great-grandfathers and grandfathers did for a living in the bayous of Louisiana and how in just one generation, the family moved from sharecroppers and immigrant fishermen into the American middle class through a lot of hard work and sacrifice.

Vinnie shares a touching and inspiring story about how one of his grandfathers used to work as a janitor, doing the work of three men and then, on the weekends, delivering bulk mud to the oil and natural gas wells in the area. 

Through all the hard work and sacrifice Vinnie’s grandfathers experienced, his biggest memory is their love for their family and grandchildren. 

Links

Vinnie’s great-grandfathers and grandfathers’ examples helped to form a drive and work ethic that led Vinnie to start and own companies Pure Coffee Club, Pure Vitamin Club, and NSNG Foods. (I use Vinnie’s vitamins and his UltraFat products.)

Vinnie also has three documentaries – Fat: A Documentary, Fat: A Documentary 2, and Beyond Impossible.

Vinnie’s homepage is https://vinnietortorich.com/, and he can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and just about everywhere.

Click HERE to listen to my conversation with Vinnie on his podcast, FITNESS CONFIDENTIAL WITH VINNIE TORTORICH

If you would like to support the show, you can “Buy me a Coffee” by donating a few dollars to the show. To support the show, click HERE.

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Click on this link to learn more about Peekabond.

EP – 65 Grandpa was One of Three Heroes

Our conversation with Kent Julian

Renowned keynote speaker Kent Julian sits down with us to talk about one of his three heroes, Enoch Marshall. Kent shares how they were opposites in many ways, yet he was drawn to Enoch. When Kent thinks about and describes his grandfather, the word that comes to mind is WISDOM.

We discuss how Kent’s grandfather was there as Kent’s spiritual awakening began in middle and high school. Kent talks about how his grandfather became that person that provided Kent with guidance as it was needed.

As we continue discussing the influence of Enoch on Kent, we learn that the other two heroes in Kent’s life were a teacher and youth pastor. The three of them helped to turn Kent as an “at-risk youth” into a young man who grew closer to his faith and turned his life around. Kent talks about how his grandfather just seemed to have the right timing and accessibility to talk to Kent about spiritual matters and life.

We also talk a bit about the myth about quality time vs. quantity time. To Kent, quality time is what the receiver gets through quantity time. For example, shooting baskets in the driveway might be quantity time until a critical topic is brought up by the grandson or granddaughter, and then, that activity shifts to quality time.

Kent and I also talk about how grandfathers and others can get into the speaking game if they feel they have a message to share. We discuss how speaking could be a side hustle, something for fun, or a full-time gig, depending on what you want to get out of speaking. To learn more about getting into the speaking game, check out the links below to Kent’s site.

Please remember to like and share this podcast with someone you know who needs to hear the message about how important grandfathers are in the lives of grandchildren and families.

Links

Click HERE to learn even more about Kent

Click HERE to learn Kent’s 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker

Click HERE to go to Kent’s Paid to Speak Podcast website

Click HERE to the Paid To Speak Conference that Kent and I briefly discussed

Affiliate Link

Readeo

EP – 60 Don’t Minimize Your Role

Our conversation with James Lott Jr.

Our conversation is with James Lott Jr. James, and I sit down to talk about his relationship with his Dutch and Puerto Rician/Indian grandfathers. We talk about where James gets his gift of gab and fun times hanging out with his Grandfather in New York during the crazy 1980s. James also talks about the influence of his Dutch grandfather and his application for dry humor and the fun saying, “If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much.”

James opens up and talks about the challenges of becoming a grandparent while he was still in his 30’s. We discuss how that experience was tough to go through and how he could navigate his way to having meaningful and deep relationships with his children and grandchildren.

You are going to love this conversation because we get deep but have fun all the way. Once you have listened to this conversation, be sure to like us on your podcast feed. After you hit the like and subscribe button, think about someone in your network who needs to hear this conversation, and please share this episode with them.

Links

Click HERE for James’ Facebook page.

Click HERE to be taken to the JLJ Media YouTube profile

Click HERE to go to James’ Sound Cloud channel

Click HERE to see my interview with James Lott Jr. on his show “Really! I am A Grandparent”

Affiliate Link

Readeo

EP – 45 The examples we set

My conversation with Frank Pomata

In this conversation, Frank Pomata, aka Baba, sits down with us and talks about the impact and relationship with his grandfathers. We first learn about Carl (Carmello) and Anthony (Grandpa Tony) and what these two very different people did with Frank growing up in Brooklyn, NY. Frank had the interesting experience of living upstairs from his Grandpa Carl.

With Grandpa Carl, Frank became his driving buddy and was exposed early on to what goes on in an office environment. Frank learned some of the basics of being in an office in this environment, such as answering a phone and taking messages properly. Frank also learned some of the basics of making an office environment work.

With Grandpa Tony, Frank learned that there was a large world outside of New York through reading Grandpa Tony’s National Geographic magazines. Grandpa Tony eventually gifted Frank his own subscription and cultivated an appreciation for learning that Frank still enjoys to this day. We get to hear some great stories about Grandpa Tony, including how he loved the music of Pete Fountain.

Frank also talks about his relationship with his grandson (8 years old) and the bond that they have developed over the years. We learn how Frank is intentionally working on taking an interest in his grandson by getting down on the floor and playing with him and even finding that his grandson is igniting a former passion of Franks; collecting Hot Wheels cars.

We talk about Frank’s attitudes about how grandfathers today can change and be more engaged with their grandchildren and family. At the end of our conversation, we talk about Frank’s article (a link is below) and how grandfathers can support their grandchildren and that nurturing is not the sole province of the grandmothers.

Once you have listened to this amazing episode, remember to subscribe and share this podcast with a friend.

Links

Click HERE for Frank’s LinkedIn Profile

Frank’s article: Some Thoughts on the Value of Grandfathers

Affiliate Links

Readeo

Adulting 101

EP 38 – A grandson’s passion for capturing a unique story

My Conversation with filmmaker Tyler Gildin

Capturing unique stories is what filmmakers do. Understanding and recognizing that your family has unique and impactful stories is an awesome insight and realization. Award-winning filmmaker Tyler Gildin sits down with us to discuss his grandparents and how lucky he has been to have known and experienced both grandfathers and grandmothers for most of his life.

At the start of the conversation, we talk about Tyler’s grandfather Kenny, a dentist and very active in his community. Tyler shares a great story that is an example of how his Grandpa Kenny showed up for Tyler’s birthday party hurt and with a neck brace. Even though it would have been easier to drop by and visit with Tyler on another day, Grandpa Kenny showed up and “played hurt,” which Tyler still remembers to this day.

Tyler and I continue the conversation by talking about his fantastic documentary, The Starfish. Tyler talks about how his grandfather Herb was a little embarrassed and unsure that his story would be something that people would want to hear about. The fact is, this is a fascinating story that sounds like it was right out of Hollywood based on the close calls, the toughness of young children and teenagers, and the kindness of strangers.

At a high level, Herb and his older sisters left Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of WW II after Kristallnacht. At first, Herb (10 years old) and his sisters (aged 12 and 14) left their mother and father behind and made it to Sweden with the help of HIAS. After a period of time, Herb and his sisters were transported across Russia and then Japan. Herb then made it on the last boat to reach San Fransico from Japan before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Tyler talks about how through these experiences, that his grandfather didn’t talk about his early childhood experiences often because he felt that Grandpa Herb didn’t want to be defined by his immigrant past. Herb wanted to be known for how he had worked hard to build several businesses in New York and raised a close family.

It is amazing that through the documentary, you get the sense that Herb would have rather spent an hour talking about YOU and what is going on in your life. It was just the way he was and what made Herb special.

In this feel-good story about surviving the holocausts, we have a very personal experience to prove that the kindness and generosity of strangers to individuals really make a difference. The poem The Starfish calls out the experience that Herb and his sisters experienced by strangers who took in the kids in Sweden and those that helped the family make the long journey to the United States. By strangers helping out Herb, it allowed him to later in his life to help out and mentor his employees, customers, and community in times of their need.

We wrap up our conversation by discussing how children and grandchildren can capture the stories of their grandparents to consume now or years down the road.

Click on The Starfish Documentary link below and be sure to watch this intriguing documentary. You will be inspired, and your faith in the goodness of strangers will be restored.

Links

The Starfish Documentary

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)

Tyler’s About Page

EP – 37 Talking Legacy with a World-Traveling Grandpa

My conversation with Scott Paton

Scott Paton is a world-traveling grandpa who, like other new(ish) grandfathers, thinks about the legacy that they will be leaving their grandchildren. Scott and I sit down and discuss his reaction to finding out that he became a step-grandpa and grandpa. Scott, like my dad, became a grandfather through marriage first, then through birth.

I was introduced to Scott by former guest of the podcast, Marc Mawhinney. (Click Here to listen to Marc’s conversation) We go through and talk about how grandfather has the opportunity to be additional sources of support and love to children entering a blended family situation. Through simple acts such as going for walks or going to the park, engaging in conversations about what the new grandchildren are interested in builds a foundation of love and security between the step-grandchildren and step-grandfathers.

Scott has the unique perspective of traveling the world and having a location-independent career. As a result of his efforts to build his online businesses, Scott spends about 9 months of the year traveling the globe. Through his travels, Scott envelopes himself in the culture of the area that he is visiting. Scott searches out the little hole-in-the-wall eateries where only the locals know where to get that one-of-a-kind flavor and experience. He also has a knack for finding those out-of-the-way waterfalls and hiking trails that you can only find when staying in one place for months at a time. All of these travels have allowed Scott to build up a “must show” list of places and peoples that one day he hopes to introduce to his grandchildren.

Through all of our discussions, we touch on the idea of legacy and what we want to leave and do for our grandchildren. Like many of us, the idea of legacy was very abstract and not something that he or I thought about much until grandchildren entered our lives. Since we have received the gift of grandchildren, we are both now thinking in terms of the legacy of travel, experiences, and how we expose our grandchildren to a larger and more interesting world through our travels and experiences.

What idea or topic struck you in our conversation? What type(s) of legacy are you wanting to leave for your grandchildren or children?

Let me know by clicking on the comments button below or by sending me an email at [email protected]

Links to connect with Scott:

Scott’s Facebook Profile

Scott’s Twitter Account

Scott’s YouTube Channel

EP – 35 A Case of Blue and the impact of a grandfather on a filmmaker

My conversation with Dana Glazer

This is a fun conversation with filmmaker Dana Glazer. We start our conversation by discussing how his grandfather would work with Dana over multiple summer visits to create homemade claymation stop-action movies. We explore how his grandfather nurtured Dana’s creativity and gift for filmmaking. The lessons learned about just diving in and making a project and learning along the way is something Dana has passed on to his children. Dana and I talk about his children’s projects, Blackhole Producers and No Pizza! No Cake! as well as how to encourage children’s creativity.

As Dana grew older, and created his production company called Dane-Gramp productions. This childhood creation with his grandfather manifested itself to become where his films are created, produced, and promoted. We dive into the history of how Dana’s movie A Case of Blue was developed. Dana also walks us through the relatively quick schedule to move from the story to casting, shooting, and then promotion.

Dana and I carefully talk about A Case of Blue because there is so much going on with this movie. We try very hard to give you an understanding of the movie while at the same time leaving a lot of the treasures of this movie to yet be discovered. We also talk about the lead actor, Stephen Schnetzer, and what a great job he does as a new retiree, Richard, who is faced with life-altering decisions and circumstances as well as a crisis.

We take a movement to have an enjoyable conversation about acting, actors, storytelling, and filmmaking. As part of that discussion, Dana talks about how good actors, like Stephen and Dustin Hoffman, in the film The Graduate, go into themselves to bring out the character and make the character external for the film or performance.

Dana and I wrap up our conversation with a heartwarming and funny story that Dana shared at his grandfather’s funeral. This is a fantastic conversation about grandfathers, becoming a storyteller and a filmmaker in part because of those early home movies made with his grandfather.

Links:

Blackhole Producers – Dana’s youngest son’s YouTube channel

No Pizza! No Cake – Georgia Glazer’s children’s book

A Case of Blue – Dana’s fantastic movie

Dane-Gramp Productions – Dana’s production company

Stephen Schnetzer – Stephen’s IMDB page

EP – 27 Encouraging your grandchild’s design

My conversation with Frank Sinclair

Encouraging his grandchildren’s innate design is what Frank Sinclair is all about. Frank is one cool grandpa and shares his insights into encouraging and leading his grandchildren with love and respect.

I was lucky to meet Frank through our mutual friend James Devine. After talking with James, he said that Frank had to be a guest and share his infectious personality and experiences with being a cool grandpa.

Frank takes his hard-won life lessons and his design to build others up into all aspects of his life, from raising children to influencing his grandchildren seriously. By seriously, I mean seriously with love, fun, and tolerance. Like so many of us, Frank has had struggles and has had to push through and grow from those struggles. These triumphs have lead Frank to believe that we all have a God-given design that needs to be encouraged to come out and shine.

Frank has grandchildren in the full spectrum of life. Grandchildren are excelling in college, and some grandchildren are toddlers, and a grandchild is on the way. You can easily tell that slowing down and taking it easy is not in Frank’s vocabulary. Through the richness of his experiences, we learn what it takes to impress our grandchildren with a strong work ethic, a strong sense of self, and how to love themselves, their family, and their community.

One of the many nuggets of wisdom that Frank shares with us is how it is important that grandparents and grandfathers, in particular, must respect the boundaries of their children. Frank believes that it is vital that grandchildren know that their grandparents respect their parent’s boundaries and goals for the family.

There are so many good insights and advice from Frank that I know you will come away from this conversation richer and with ideas of your own on how you can encourage your grandchildren, children, and those in close relationships to you to discover and then follow their personal design.

Once you have listened to this conversation, come back and leave me a comment about your own “ah-ha moment.”

Dream Again LLC – Frank’s coaching website

Frank’s Facebook Page

James Devine’s conversation with me on The Cool Grandpa Podcast

EP – 25 A Grandfather and a Godfather raise a boy to be a man

My conversation with Ronnel A. Blackmon

In this episode of the Cool Grandpa Podcast, I discover how a grandfather and a godfather raised a boy to be a man. Ronnel Blackmon shares with me his powerful stories of his grandfather, Robert Hale, working with him at a young age to learn to be a man who walks with integrity and with a heart to serve others. Ronnel’s grandfather worked full-time at the Firestone plant in Akron, OH, and then spent his downtime as a full-time pastor serving his congregation and community.

Ronnel shares with us that his grandfather, early on, would take a young Ronnel with him when he was ministering to his congregation. Ronnel shares the impact of learning to love and serve others had on him as a young man.

We discuss the difficult transition that Ronnel went through when his grandfather became sick and eventually passed away while Ronnel was a freshman in high school. Ronnel was blessed a second time in that his godfather, James Sheely, stepped into the role of mentor. James was the PE teacher, track coach, and local Councilman. Ronnel speaks about how James would push him in sports to really connect with Ronnel’s full potential. James never let Ronnel back away from giving his best effort in sports and life. When Ronnel held back giving his best effort, James was there to call Ronnel out and push him to do his best.

Ronnel’s story is a powerful example of how a grandfather and godfather/mentor can keep a young man focused on growing stronger in his faith and becoming a man of character. Both his grandfather and godfather knew that young and older men are not perfect, but with love and respect, each can help one another hit their marks in life and with their faith.

Ronnel can be reached and followed at the below sites:

Ronnel’s Emcee and hosting business – More than Me LLC.

On Instagram – Ronnel Blackmon

On Twitter – Ronnel Blackmon

Ronnel’s personal website – Click Here

Here is a link to the book that Ronnel mentioned, Fathered by God

EP – 20 Memories of Strong and Loving Italian Grandfathers

My Conversation with Vinnie Tortorich

My guest on this episode is Vinnie Tortorich. Vinnie is a successful celebrity trainer, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. Vinnie has a successful podcast, Fitness Confidential, and is just a cool all-around good guy.

Vinnie sits down and shares memories of his strong and loving Italian grandfathers. Vinnie and I dive into how his family immigrated to Louisiana from Italy. What his great-grandfathers and grandfathers did for a living in the bayous of Louisiana and how in just one generation, the family moved from sharecroppers and immigrant fishermen into the American middle class through a lot of hard work and sacrifice.

Vinnie shares a touching and inspiring story about how one of his grandfathers used to work as a janitor, doing the work of three men and then, on the weekends, delivering bulk mud to the oil and natural gas wells in the area. 

Through all the hard work and sacrifice Vinnie’s grandfathers experienced, his biggest memory is their love for their family and grandchildren. 

Vinnie’s great-grandfathers and grandfathers’ examples helped to form a drive and work ethic that led Vinnie to start and own companies Pure Coffee Club, Pure Vitamin Club, and NSNG Foods. (I use Vinnie’s vitamins and his UltraFat products.)

Vinnie also has two documentaries – Fat: A Documentary and Fat: A Documentary 2

Vinnie’s homepage is https://vinnietortorich.com/, and he can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and just about everywhere.