Better Call Daddy with Reena Friedman Watts

Dad Reacts: From Intern to Producer in One Season

Reena Friedman Watts drove to Chicago for a radio job she didn’t get. A season later, she was a producer on The Jerry Springer Show.

In this episode of Better Call Daddy, Reena and her dad, Wayne Friedman, watch back her conversation with LuRae Lumpkin on And Then I Did This. Wayne has a front-row seat to the moment it all started: the call she made to him when she spotted that intern flyer.

• What Reena watched and learned to go from intern to producer in a single season
• Why she chose to work for the boss everyone else avoided
• Why she walked away from a producer title to answer phones in Los Angeles
• How twenty years of persistence with one publicist led to one of Jerry Springer’s last interviews, and later a piece of an HBO documentary
• How the Better Call Daddy podcast grew out of daily calls with her father
• Rebuilding your identity after every move and every role
• Career change advice for seasoned professionals
• Wayne’s reactions along the way

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• 00:00 – The creative idea that can’t wait
• 02:05 – Better Call Daddy and the father-daughter legacy project
• 05:30 – Intern to producer: what she watched to get promoted
• 08:20 – A singing scholarship, sports medicine, and the pivot to radio
• 13:40 – Landing one of Jerry Springer’s last interviews
• 19:20 – The episode that led to an HBO documentary
• 23:50 – Rebuilding your identity after every move
• 26:40 – Leaving the nine-to-five and learning sponsorships on the fly
• 31:10 – Career change advice for seasoned professionals
• 37:50 – Confidence, cutting toxicity, and the gold in your inbox

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A small-town Kentucky girl turned television producer, Reena is now a podcast host, media coach, and storyteller. She’s a mom of four and 500 episodes into Better Call Daddy, and she lives by one rule: if the idea is real, put it on the calendar or act on it today.

Hosted by Reena Friedman Watts with her dad, Wayne Friedman. Stories of resilience, inspiration, and hard-earned wisdom, building a legacy one call at a time.

🔗 bettercalldaddy.com | 📸 Instagram: @reenafriedmanwatts

This conversation originally aired on And Then I Did This. Find more from LuRae:

• Podcast on Apple Podcasts
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• You Can Be Free newsletter

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Keywords: Reena Friedman Watts, Wayne Friedman, dad reacts, Better Call Daddy, And Then I Did This, LuRae Lumpkin, Jerry Springer Show, career change, intern to producer

Actor, teacher, and dad Rob Brownstein joins host Reena Friedman Watts. You may recognize him as the pain doctor in the Michael Jackson documentary. He’s a working actor, and he talks about what that really looks like: the freelance hustle, the rejection, and the persistence it takes to keep going.

Rob traces his path from budding musician to working actor, and what he learned along the way. He also talks about raising two daughters who are chasing their own dreams, and how being a parent has changed the way he thinks about life, art, and his own career.

If you love the arts, or you’re trying to figure out how to support the people you love while building a life you care about, this one’s for you.

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• What life as a working actor looks like, ups and downs included
• How parenting shapes your personal and professional growth
• Why passion and authenticity matter in any career
• A look behind the scenes of film and television
• How to build confidence and push through self-doubt

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• 00:00 – Meet Rob Brownstein: working actor, teacher, and dad
• 05:15 – From musician to actor
• 15:30 – Supporting your kids’ dreams
• 25:00 – The reality of working in entertainment
• 35:45 – Building confidence and overcoming self-doubt
• 45:00 – Family, passion, and what matters most

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 QUOTABLE MOMENTS “You might as well find a job you love, because no matter what you do, it’s going to be freelance, and it’s going to be difficult.”

“Confidence comes from having the proof that you can do something.” — Rob Brownstein

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 👤 ABOUT ROB BROWNSTEIN

Rob Brownstein is a longtime working actor, teacher, and coach based in Los Angeles. His credits span film, television, theater, commercials, and voiceover, including Argo, Mad Men, The Office, Gilmore Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Young Sheldon, Straight Outta Compton, Blonde, and Velvet Buzzsaw, among many others. He also appears in Michael, the recent and very popular Michael Jackson biopic, where he plays the burn doctor.

In addition to acting, Rob runs An Actor’s Space in LA and has been teaching and coaching actors all over the world. He loves talking about the craft of acting, auditions, self-tapes, confidence, career longevity, and why acting classes can be valuable for actors and non-actors alike.

Quick Links: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115282/ An Actor’s Space: https://www.anactorsspace.com/about

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ ABOUT BETTER CALL DADDY Hosted by Reena Friedman Watts alongside her dad, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman, Better Call Daddy features stories of inspiration, resilience, and the wisdom that comes from experience. bettercalldaddy.com | Instagram: @reenafriedmanwatts

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ KEYWORDS: Rob Brownstein, working actor, Michael Jackson documentary, acting, parenting, family, confidence, creative process, Better Call Daddy, Reena Friedman Watts, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman

What makes someone fall for extremist ideas, and what makes them finally stop believing? In this episode of Better Call Daddy, host Reena Friedman Watts sits down with TM Garret Schmid, a former KKK and neo-Nazi member who broke free of hate and converted to Judaism.

TM shares the loneliness, trauma, and need for belonging that pulled him into extremism, the tragedy of his then-wife's kidnapping, and the years of therapy and self-reflection that helped him confront his past. Together, Reena and TM explore forgiveness, why people are drawn to hate groups, and why compassion and real human connection are the most powerful tools against hate.

If you've ever wondered how someone leaves a hate movement, or whether anyone can truly change, this conversation is for you.

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🔥 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- How a former KKK and neo-Nazi member came to embrace Judaism - The vulnerabilities and unmet needs that push people toward extremism - How trauma shapes relationships, and what healing looks like - Why compassion and community are essential to combating hate - How self-worth and self-reflection make lasting change possible

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Meet TM Garret Schmid: former extremist turned advocate 05:15 – The journey to Judaism 15:30 – Confronting trauma and the kidnapping 25:00 – Why people join hate groups 35:45 – How community helps us heal 45:00 – Love, self-worth, and human connection

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💬 QUOTABLE MOMENTS

"If I can change one person's life with what I'm doing, then I have succeeded." – TM Garret Schmid

"You need to listen to the people around you; it might change your perspective." – TM Garret Schmid

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👤 ABOUT TM GARRET SCHMID

TM Garret Schmid is a former white supremacist who left extremism, converted to Judaism, and now speaks about understanding, compassion, and the humanity in everyone. He works with people struggling with identity and the search for acceptance.

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🎙️ ABOUT BETTER CALL DADDY

Hosted by Reena Friedman Watts with her dad, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman, Better Call Daddy features stories of inspiration, resilience, and hard-earned wisdom.

🔗 bettercalldaddy.com 🔗 LinkedIn | Instagram: @reenafriedmanwatts

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👉 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

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KEYWORDS: former KKK member, leaving the KKK, KKK to Judaism, former white supremacist, neo-Nazi to Jewish, how to leave a hate group, how people get radicalized, why people join hate groups, breaking free from extremism, overcoming extremism, deradicalization, reversing hate, TM Garret Schmid, TM Garret, trauma and healing, forgiveness, Better Call Daddy, Reena Friedman Watts, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman

How does an independent podcaster get on the radar of Forbes? In this episode of Better Call Daddy, host Reena Friedman Watts sits down with Frank Racioppi, Forbes contributing writer and founder of Earworthy, to pull back the curtain on podcast press, podcast reviews, and what editors actually want to see.

Frank takes us from his childhood in New Jersey to becoming one of the most passionate champions of the independent podcast community.

He explains why he left corporate podcast coverage behind to spotlight indie creators, and why a genuine, human interview beats a polished but empty one every time.

Reena and Frank also get into the cutthroat side of traditional media versus the collaborative spirit of the podcasting community, and why collaboration beats competition for anyone trying to grow a show.

Whether you're launching your first podcast or you're a seasoned host hunting for media exposure, this episode is packed with practical advice on how to stand out in a crowded market.

• Why authenticity is the most powerful growth tool in podcasting
• How Frank went from writing about corporate podcasts to championing independent creators
• What makes a podcast worthy of coverage in Forbes and other major publications
• How to conduct interviews that create real connection with your guests and audience
• Why community and collaboration matter more than competition
• Lessons from Frank's career as a writer and podcast reviewer

• 00:00 – Meet Frank Racioppi
• 05:15 – From New Jersey to Forbes contributor
• 15:30 – Why authenticity wins in podcasting
• 25:00 – How independent podcasters can stand out
• 35:45 – Community over competition
• 45:00 – Frank's biggest lessons from the podcast industry

"Independent podcasters have a unique voice that deserves to be heard." – Frank Racioppi

"The best interviews are the ones where you create a genuine connection with your guest." – Frank Racioppi

Frank Racioppi is the owner and manager of Earworthy, a podcast review publication, and a contributing writer for Forbes. He is dedicated to promoting independent podcasters and sharing their stories with the world.

Frank Racioppi is a South Jersey-based author who works as a podcast journalist, and is the author of the following books: "Stop For My School Bus...Or Else" "Away from Home" "Hit Pause For Life" "A Suburban Prison" "Ear Worthy" "The COVID Hotel" "For The Love Of Books" You can find my books on Amazon.

🔗 Connect with Frank: LinkedIn | https://podalization.substack.com/

Frank Racioppi will be speaking at Illuminate tomorrow with Freddy Cruz. If you’re an independent podcaster, this is a great opportunity to hear more from Frank and connect with other people in the podcasting community.

Better Call Daddy is hosted by Reena Friedman Watts alongside her dad, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman. Join them for stories of inspiration, resilience, and the wisdom that comes from experience.

🔗 bettercalldaddy.com | LinkedIn | Instagram: @reenafriedmanwatts

👉 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a podcaster who needs to hear it.

SEO keywords: Frank Racioppi, Earworthy, how to get featured in Forbes, independent podcasting, podcast press, podcast reviews, podcast growth tips, how to get podcast publicity, Forbes contributor, podcast interview tips, podcast community, Better Call Daddy, Reena Friedman Watts, Big Daddy Wayne Friedman

Happy International Podcast Day! To celebrate, Reena Friedman Watts sits down with a fellow podcaster and gifted storyteller.

Jim Littlefield Dalmares is a storyteller, podcaster, and author (Seeing Ability) who turns his experiences as a father into stories that help other parents feel less alone. On Better Call Daddy, he shares the story behind "A Breath for Sophia" and his journey raising a child with disabilities.

Jim talks about the emotional rollercoaster of his daughter's premature birth and what it taught him about acceptance, love, and community. He explains why parents do better when they stop trying to "fix" their child and start supporting their unique path. He also covers sibling dynamics, navigating the medical system, and finding your tribe.

Whether you're a new parent facing the unexpected, a caregiver, an advocate, or a podcast fan who loves a great story, this episode offers practical, heartfelt guidance.

• Why acceptance matters when raising a child with disabilities
• The story behind "A Breath for Sophia"
• How storytelling, writing, and podcasting can build community and change lives
• How to navigate the medical system and advocate for your child
• How siblings shape family dynamics
• How to find community support and "your tribe"
• How to build resilience and adaptability in your child

• 00:00: Meet Jim Littlefield Dalmares, dad, storyteller, podcaster, and author
• 05:15: The emotional impact of a premature birth
• 15:30: Shifting from "fixing" to accepting your child
• 25:00: Navigating the medical system as a parent
• 35:45: The role of siblings in the family
• 45:00: Building a supportive community and finding your voice

"Your life will change when you stop trying to fix your child and start accepting them for who they are."

"There are communities out there to support you, and you're not alone in this journey."

Jim is a storyteller, podcaster, and author. He hosts the Seeing Ability podcast, where he shares stories and insights from parents and professionals in the disability community, and he wrote the book Seeing Ability. Connect with Jim: seeingability.com 

https://a.co/d/0iHc0x4T

Better Call Daddy is hosted by Reena Friedman Watts with Big Daddy Wayne Friedman. Connect: bettercalldaddy.com | LinkedIn | Instagram: @reenafriedmanwatts

@bettercalldaddypodcast

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Keywords: International Podcast Day, A Breath for Sophia, Seeing Ability book, Jim Littlefield Dalmares, storyteller, podcaster, author, fatherhood, parenting a child with disabilities, special needs, premature birth, disability advocacy, acceptance, sibling relationships, navigating the medical system, disability community, Seeing Ability podcast, Better Call Daddy, Reena Friedman Watts