0:00

This week on Best Friend Energy. First

0:02

of all, Dancing With The Stars is not just a true

0:05

dancing contest. It's a contest

0:08

of will, patience. So

0:11

people wanna see growth. So if you're

0:14

starting at a really low point and

0:16

you have a great teacher, a great partner, which we

0:18

have a lot of those, you're gonna see

0:21

yourself improving. That's really the fulfilling

0:23

part.

0:24

Hi guys, I'm Clea. I'm Joanna.

0:27

And this is Best Friend Energy. On

0:29

the show today, we are talking with

0:32

Dancing With The Stars royalty, Val Shmurkofsky.

0:35

Val has been a professional dancer on the show since 2011,

0:39

and he has won twice. We have, of course,

0:41

a zillion questions for him about Dancing With The

0:43

Stars, namely, could he actually win? And

0:47

we're gonna talk about that in a little bit more

0:49

detail. But first, let's talk about the show. So,

0:51

Val has won the Best Friend Energy Award

0:55

for Dancing With The Stars, namely, could he actually

0:57

ever teach us? But

0:59

he also has the coolest gig right now. He's performing

1:01

in a wine-tasting cabaret in Napa. And

1:05

I'm guessing he gets to drink a lot of wine for that, which

1:07

I'm also pretty jealous about. We have

1:09

so many questions on the show. We'll

1:11

also take some DMs, but first, we're gonna take a very

1:13

quick break. This

1:16

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2:11

All right, Val, thank you so much

2:13

for being here. It is so amazing to talk

2:15

with you today. We have questions and

2:17

as you know, we have

2:18

a lot of questions. You said that you

2:20

answered more questions for this podcast

2:23

than for getting your

2:25

citizenship. So you can

2:27

expect a lot of hard hitting stuff.

2:29

I skim through them. That's fine. We

2:32

count that. But good to know that that's

2:34

the criteria to come on our podcast is you get like a document

2:37

like a humongous document of questions

2:39

that you have to

2:39

answer. Oh, for sure. I hope I hope you

2:41

guys know that. I don't know if you guys see the back

2:44

end interaction, but there's a lot of really

2:46

great people around you doing really important

2:49

things.

2:49

Well, good that we have your social security number. So

2:51

that's perfect. Yes, that's perfect. That's

2:54

great. Val, we are going to obviously

2:56

talk about Dancing with the Stars in a second, but

2:58

I want to start with what you're up to right

3:00

now because it sounds so fun. So

3:04

while you're up there, you are doing

3:06

something that combines wine tasting and

3:09

cabaret. What is a wine

3:11

tasting performance and how can I

3:13

come? Well you can come where we had

3:15

a residency here all summer till September

3:17

3rd, downtown Napa. But

3:19

it's called Sabre after hours and it is a take

3:22

on wine tasting. As you know,

3:24

in this region, wine tasting is really popular.

3:26

It's my favorite thing. It's

3:29

kind of like a bougie way of saying day

3:31

drinking.

3:31

That's right. Wine tasting, you're right.

3:34

It's a classed up PR power

3:36

move for day drinking. They branded it really

3:38

well. That's really smart

3:40

actually. And you have a sommelier,

3:43

an individual that makes it sound

3:45

like it's not day drinking, a little bit more classy.

3:48

Right.

3:48

He's the captain day drinker, but disguised as something

3:50

really incredible. But

3:52

all jokes aside, yes, there's definitely

3:54

a culture here because the part that we don't

3:57

see is the vineyards, the

3:59

farmers, the...

3:59

the community, the locals, they have a really

4:02

strong sense

4:04

of community. And yes, there's a lot of money

4:06

here. But then there's also a lot of blue collar

4:08

workers, a lot of farmers, and they

4:10

all coexist really well. So I've had a blast

4:13

living up here all summer. Back

4:15

to your question, we are taking

4:17

a wine tasting and instead of giving you tasting notes,

4:20

as you sit down, you get four servings. Instead

4:22

of tasting notes, you get performances

4:25

inspired by the wines that you

4:27

are tasting throughout the night. So much more fun.

4:30

Because you know, when you get the wine tasting notes, it's like

4:32

saddle and you know, lavender

4:35

and honey, whatever. Smell with,

4:37

like, yeah, like leather.

4:40

Yeah, like, dude, I gotta deviate

4:42

it. September, my god, I got it. Not

4:44

for me. I want to drink and I want to be entertained.

4:47

So you bring the entertainment.

4:49

Yeah, it's a relationship that is very

4:52

kind of obvious. But it's,

4:54

you know, drinking and entertainment. Yeah,

4:56

our creative director Swani, his name is Mark Swannhart.

4:59

He's a director, writer, and he had

5:01

this vision of

5:03

a show that combines the two the soundtrack

5:06

is incredible, you know, so we have the

5:08

same journey that wine takes you on. We

5:11

do so on stage. And what I love is

5:13

that it's an immersive experience. So it's

5:15

it's roundtable seating. It's an

5:18

old Napa Valley Opera House.

5:21

Fabulous. We we kind of rebuild

5:23

the stage to come into into

5:26

the crowd and then another round stage

5:28

in the crowd. So it feels more

5:30

like hosting an evening with friends and

5:33

family

5:33

over some bottles of wine,

5:35

lots of wine. I drink some dancing.

5:38

It almost you know, it takes you back to the old

5:40

dinner and dancing kind of style.

5:42

And this is just sounds more fun. How long

5:44

is the show? How long is it like in

5:47

totality? The

5:47

show is about an hour 20 an

5:50

hour 25. So you're

5:52

in your house clean, look it up.

5:55

Yeah, exactly. But you also don't have to drink to

5:57

enjoy the show. And we're proud of that.

5:59

And I think

5:59

So Max, my brother

6:02

Max, also a Dancing with the Stars alumni. He's

6:05

my partner in this. We kind of, you know,

6:07

at Saber featuring Max and Val. And

6:10

yeah, we

6:12

inherently bring a sense of

6:14

family, right? And so we

6:16

obviously bring the charm, the good looks, the

6:18

humble nature, obviously.

6:19

But the

6:22

comedy, the comedy is there. Storytelling,

6:24

that's what I love about the show. It's not these isolated moments.

6:27

It's like you sit down and you see a narrative

6:29

unfold for an hour and a half. And

6:31

what I love is that we just can't help but encompass

6:34

some emotional connection. And

6:36

so there's moments where you genuinely

6:38

are sitting there in tears, not knowing why

6:41

you're crying at this wine show. It's the good looks. I'm

6:43

pretty sure that's why they're crying. Yeah,

6:46

no, we get deep and we make it

6:48

a family feel. You feel the chemistry

6:50

on stage,

6:51

also with our cast. We're lucky

6:53

enough to work with some incredible dancers. So

6:56

yeah, it's been a lot of fun, man. I just made up

6:58

a job

6:59

in Napa so that I could spend the

7:01

summer in this beautiful area. In Napa. Well,

7:04

you're the smartest person in the world. Ever. Like

7:06

what are we doing with our lives? We're like under-sinks organizing.

7:09

Yeah, we're just in Nashville, where it's hot

7:11

and humid and thunderstormy and you get to spend

7:14

your summer in Napa. I mean, well done.

7:16

The whole thing is, we try to passive

7:18

income. You try to generate, you build wealth

7:20

so that you don't have to work at all. You could just go

7:22

up and spend time in Napa. I'm not there

7:25

yet. I gotta work to

7:27

be here. But yeah, the privilege of having

7:29

a job that again, being a dancer,

7:32

we're in a perpetual term

7:34

of unemployment. It's like you go

7:37

from gig to gig and you're constantly in this state

7:39

of survival. So it's incredible

7:41

privilege to be able to do what you love with

7:44

the people that you love in an area

7:46

that I now love as well. Are you

7:48

and Max super competitive? I

7:50

mean, obviously I'm sure competitive with dancing, but

7:52

like now in this world, how do you

7:54

guys work together?

7:55

We are competitive

7:58

with one, like. on each other's

8:01

side on behalf of one another with

8:03

the world, you know? We're not competitive

8:05

with each other. That's my long-winded political answer.

8:08

Like,

8:08

I'm not. We're

8:12

competitive, but really like, you

8:14

know, my family's gone through a lot,

8:17

and not more than a lot of other families,

8:19

but you know, we immigrated together at a really

8:21

kind of pivotal age. I've seen

8:24

him, like, what's weird is, it's a six-year difference,

8:26

and when you think about it, now as adults,

8:29

it's a non-different term.

8:31

But when I was eight and he was 14, that's

8:34

a big difference, and he always took me, along

8:38

with him, and I kind of was his best friend,

8:40

tag along kind of little brother, throughout

8:42

our entire life. So, you know, I am

8:44

my brother's keeper, you know? That's how

8:46

we were raised.

8:47

That's why everyone's crying all the time. They get,

8:49

they're like, my brother's keeper, that's all you

8:51

have to say. That's so sweet. But I

8:53

do respect and appreciate that you guys are competitive,

8:56

but you're competitive with the world, not with each other.

8:58

I mean, I feel like that was Leah too. I mean, I'm

9:01

never competitive with you. Like, you are

9:03

me. Like, we are one. Like, why

9:06

would we be competitive with each other? No. You know

9:08

what I mean? Yes, we want to take on the world, but

9:10

like, we can only do it together. Yeah,

9:13

that's exactly right. Yeah.

9:14

The thing is, the work that we've done

9:16

is that, you know, I think for a long

9:19

time, our family, especially the way we were

9:21

raised, it's like, you have to love each other. No, no, no,

9:23

that's not normal. This is what it is. Like,

9:25

you don't fight because, you know,

9:27

when we die, you're only going to have each

9:29

other. Like, that kind of notion, I'm like, dude,

9:31

I'm 10 years old. Contemplate

9:35

my parents'

9:36

death. And

9:38

so, and then there was a transition,

9:40

you know, as we both became adults. Now, I'm

9:42

not little anybody, you know, no

9:44

one's little anything, you know, and I had to

9:47

kind of prove that to myself, establish

9:49

myself, build my own path. And

9:51

now we yield on projects

9:54

because we now genuinely appreciate

9:57

working together because we do bring the best out

9:59

of each other.

9:59

And I think it's a combination of

10:02

all that, not exclusively working together,

10:04

but choosing to work together. It's

10:06

a completely- Do you guys have another fun

10:09

project or something that you guys are going to collaborate

10:11

on? So we're actually

10:13

partners in a studio business called

10:15

Dance With Me Dance Studio, social dance

10:18

studios, where

10:20

our father is also a partner and it's kind

10:22

of like a family business that we-

10:23

Is your family, is everyone a good dancer?

10:26

No, my parents never dance. Oh, okay. They

10:29

are terrible. You never taught

10:31

them how to dance with both of you?

10:33

Yeah, it's very ironic. We

10:35

have 14 dance studios around the country

10:38

that my father is a really big, pivotal part

10:40

of in building and he

10:43

has never set foot on the dance floor.

10:44

Dead does not know how. I get it. He

10:47

loves it. He loves it. He supports

10:49

it. He thinks it's beautiful. Obviously, he supported

10:51

his kids in doing that. Yeah,

10:54

it's funny.

10:55

I love that. I mean, look, if you don't have a dancing

10:57

bone in your body, what are you going to do? You just don't. I

11:00

think he's got so much swag, but

11:02

he just doesn't like- He doesn't apply anything.

11:04

He's got something to lose maybe. That's the

11:06

issue. He's also like Joanna and I have a role in our

11:08

business where the second one

11:10

person shows that they're good at something,

11:13

the other person can take a step back. It's

11:15

like if Joanna, if I learned that Joanna

11:17

knows how to reupholster a bench, I'm

11:19

like, well, she's now an expert

11:21

in reupholstering benches. So your dad

11:24

was probably like, well, my two kids

11:26

are expert dancers. Yeah, I'm

11:28

backing you out of this one. Right. I

11:30

can

11:30

just hang out in Napa and drink water. Yeah, and

11:33

that's also a great example

11:35

because we've had

11:37

a kids dance studio as well. I've

11:39

been in the dance space from some angle

11:41

my entire life

11:43

and a lot of times just from the

11:45

angle of means, making

11:47

money, figuring out how to better

11:50

our situation than even like

11:53

a passion for the arts. I

11:55

grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In

11:58

the 90s, like how do you remember?

11:59

No, I'm just kidding. No, I'm just

12:01

kidding. You know, then my

12:03

relationship obviously changed because I really

12:05

appreciated the artistry of dance and all of

12:07

that. So, but a

12:10

lot of parents kind of live vicariously

12:12

through their kids and, you know, in a healthy

12:14

way, but sometimes in an unhealthy

12:17

way, it becomes about the parents. And I'm

12:19

glad

12:20

with such brilliant kids like

12:22

myself and Max, my parents

12:25

never let that get to their head.

12:26

We

12:30

have more questions for Val, but first we're going to take a quick

12:32

break.

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14:59

All right, well let's talk about Dancing with the Stars.

15:02

I was just gonna say I like can't get in there fast enough.

15:04

I know, we have a lot of questions. Number

15:07

one, Joanne and I of course like who doesn't want to be on Dancing with

15:11

the Stars? So it's like you

15:13

know lifelong dream for us to get out there with our twinkle

15:15

toes, except that we can't dance at all. Is

15:19

there hope for people like us or is it just like find

15:22

a new dream? No, there's definitely

15:24

hope. I don't know about that. Anybody

15:27

can dance but they can't dance

15:28

well, you know? Well yeah, of course, you

15:30

didn't ask me that. That's right,

15:32

that's right. But no, but can... So you're saying there's a

15:34

chance. There's

15:36

a chance. Is there any hope for someone to

15:39

come on Dancing with the Stars

15:41

that has like two left feet? Like people who just cannot

15:43

dance? Yeah, first of all, Dancing

15:45

with the Stars is not just a true dance.

15:48

It's a dance that's not just a dance that's

15:50

not just a dance.

15:51

Yeah, first of all, Dancing with the Stars

15:54

is not just a true dancing contest.

15:56

It's a contest of will,

15:59

patience.

15:59

So people

16:02

want to see growth. So if you're starting

16:04

at a really low point and you have a great

16:07

teacher, a great partner, which we have a lot

16:09

of those,

16:10

you're gonna see yourself improving.

16:12

That's really the fulfilling part. So

16:14

we have a really good friend, Sean Johnson.

16:17

She was on Dancing with the Stars. She

16:19

told us recently that the

16:22

teachers, the instructors, the dancers

16:24

make it so easy for

16:26

the contestants that they literally just

16:28

get pushed around the floor and that

16:30

you guys do all

16:32

the work. I mean, we took it with the grand assault because she's Sean

16:35

Johnson. So she doesn't have two

16:37

left feet. So we all know that the world

16:39

knows she doesn't have two left

16:40

feet. Yeah, look, the answer is yes.

16:42

We do that and we're great

16:45

at that. And especially Sean, who was

16:47

partnered with Mark Ballas, who she

16:50

won with, and then Derek Huff, who was

16:52

brilliant. Yeah, nah, not

16:54

for everyone. Not for everyone.

16:56

Yeah, we push you around, but

16:59

not everyone can absorb the pushing

17:01

the way Sean Johnson can. So

17:05

no, we're really great at our job

17:07

and we now have

17:09

enough seasons and enough experiences

17:11

and enough examples. Like I said, someone

17:14

like Derek has had incredible success

17:16

with

17:17

really talented dancers, really

17:19

talented athletes, like

17:21

Sean Johnson, and also

17:24

on paper, not as gifted

17:26

or like I said, on paper and

17:29

still had success. So there's already blueprints

17:32

to draw from that you could really apply

17:34

to anybody. But we just took her with a

17:36

grand assault because I'm like, it's not some artists telling

17:39

us that they just push you around and you're just able to magically

17:41

win. I mean, it is Sean Johnson.

17:43

But the answer is yes,

17:46

we can make it happen. You will get better.

17:49

So you can just like literally twirled

17:51

around a dance floor and look good. You can make anyone

17:53

look good. Yeah, I mean, there's

17:55

tactics, you know? Like I said, we're in

17:57

the lens because also we're in the lens.

18:00

which is different. If you saw it live, it

18:02

would be maybe not as impressive. But

18:05

we are also directors. We're choreographing

18:07

for camera. There are ways that I

18:09

could just shimmy into the front

18:11

of the lens, you know,

18:14

or be creative. Again, we could pan

18:16

in, we could use one of

18:17

the brands that we- Oh, it's a camera situation.

18:20

There is an audience, yes. But

18:22

really the audience is the millions of people

18:24

at home. And so you

18:26

prioritize those cameras a lot of times.

18:29

And that's an adjustment I had to make because I didn't

18:31

come from camera work. I had no even

18:34

ambition or even like, it wasn't even

18:36

on my radar to ever end up on television.

18:39

That's like the wildest thing. So-

18:41

Same. We had no

18:44

ambition to end up on television. What's

18:46

the hardest part about filming the show, do you think? Like

18:49

what piece is the most surprising to you? Or that would

18:51

be most surprising to other people

18:52

about filming the show? I

18:54

mean, probably work-life balance, especially

18:56

now. Yeah. I have a wife

18:59

and a child and my wife is also

19:01

on the show and she's also incredible.

19:03

Yeah. Jenna Johnson. Right. Also

19:06

very competitive. You know, ask that question.

19:09

Yeah. Are we competitive? Yeah.

19:12

So that probably is the biggest challenge because I'm

19:14

obsessive, you know? And I think every, a lot of people

19:17

that find success in whatever field they

19:19

pursue, you

19:20

know, they have a certain level

19:22

of obsession. Yeah. Until

19:24

they realize it and make certain adjustments.

19:26

And that's probably the hardest part because there was a long time

19:29

where this is all I

19:30

really cared and knew about, which

19:32

is great because it served me. And I had

19:35

to do that then. But now I have the tools

19:37

where I don't have to allocate all

19:39

my attention throughout the day. I

19:41

could allocate most of my attention and then still

19:44

make room for the other things that I find important. So

19:46

do you have like a favorite moment

19:48

or like the most memorable moment from

19:50

the show? Yeah. The first time,

19:53

not to continue like into that topic

19:56

but the first time my brother

19:58

won, that was a... Big moment. That's

20:01

so sweet. How much do you pay to say that? Yeah, that's

20:03

so nice. My parents. God, you guys really love

20:05

each other. My parents, baby.

20:06

No, it was a big moment

20:08

because, again, he joined the show like

20:11

six years before I did. And

20:14

back then it was two seasons a year. So he was

20:16

like a 12-season veteran by the time

20:18

I came on. And

20:20

again, we come from a different situation. So his

20:23

life changed when he joined the show

20:25

financially. His life changed. Especially

20:29

at that time, the show was humongous. It was

20:31

like getting 25

20:32

million viewers. Yeah,

20:35

right. So our

20:37

life changed by Carrie Catherines. So the point is that

20:39

he was on the show for a long time and never won.

20:42

And it was already now in my season,

20:44

like six of me already

20:46

being on the show. And so I just wanted it for

20:48

him. And then after that, I won twice. So

20:51

like it allowed me

20:53

to

20:53

go first. Yeah, I do. I

20:55

was nice of you to let him win first. Yeah.

20:58

No, I think for everyone's mental state, he probably

21:00

had to go first. Have you had a favorite partner

21:03

on

21:03

the show? My

21:06

wife. Okay, you had to say that. All right,

21:08

so you're just getting all your... You know where your bread is buttered

21:10

on every end. Do you have a least favorite

21:12

part? Like the most uncoordinated partner

21:15

you can imagine?

21:16

I obviously will not reveal

21:18

that. Of course, no. But you can just say if you

21:20

have one. You don't have to tell. No

21:22

names. No names. Have

21:25

you ever just been like, oh, no.

21:27

Yes, but no,

21:29

because I'm so stubborn. You know,

21:32

I have delusional optimism. I really

21:34

have ridiculous confidence,

21:36

but not really

21:37

like arrogant confidence. It's

21:39

just like, I believe that

21:42

there's a will, there's a way. Yeah,

21:44

right. So even if I'm standing at it, we always compare

21:47

Dancing with the Stars like a racetrack

21:49

that you blindly walk to. So

21:52

you're like a driver and you walk into your car into

21:54

this race that's going to be broadcast in front of

21:56

millions of people and you give it a number

21:58

so you don't know and you're walking in.

21:59

You see like a bicycle, you

22:02

see a Formula One car, you see

22:04

a horse, you see like a beautiful,

22:07

you know, tricycle here and

22:09

you get the Lambo, you know, and you jump

22:11

in the Lambo and you're like, this is gonna

22:13

be incredible. This is great. I got a shot, you

22:15

know, and sometimes you get it. So anyway, the point

22:17

is that when I get into my little bicycle standing

22:20

next to a Lambo, I still

22:22

believe that I will pedal

22:24

the shit out of this bike. It's just a bigger,

22:26

you know, like it's a challenge. It's a bigger challenge

22:29

and it's my responsibility

22:32

to make her better. I

22:33

really feel that actually, because I feel like,

22:36

you know, in a very, very different world, Joanna

22:38

and I are presented with challenges

22:41

in people's homes all the time that,

22:43

you know, sometimes the most fabulous,

22:46

like it's already gonna be a showstopper. We know

22:48

exactly what to do. Like, you know,

22:50

it's gonna be on the cover of a magazine easily.

22:53

Sometimes the other side of the coin,

22:56

like that's where the real challenge is. And

22:58

we're just as stubborn. We're like, oh no,

23:01

we're gonna make it look just as good as one

23:03

of Paltrow's house, you know? I think it's

23:05

just people like us who are, you

23:07

know, goal oriented, stubborn.

23:09

But also, yeah, I mean, I'm saying

23:11

it's

23:12

such a noble thing to say, but

23:14

it's, you know, on top of an iceberg of

23:16

insecurity and stress. And obviously, you

23:19

know, a lot of times I'm like, ah, I wish I had the Lambo.

23:21

I need the tricycle. The challenge

23:24

I don't want. But yeah,

23:26

you know, these are the cards that you're dealt. And

23:29

that's what's exciting about the show. And that's how you

23:31

get upsets and, you know,

23:33

dark horses, underdogs, all of this, you

23:35

know? Right, right, right. There is an element of voting.

23:38

There's an element of, like I said, improvement

23:41

and entertainment

23:42

that has nothing to do with dance as well,

23:44

right? Because it's on camera. Put on a show,

23:46

you know? And I'll help choreograph.

23:48

And if you have a good teacher and a good

23:50

choreographer, you know, he'll help bring

23:53

out your strengths and camouflage,

23:56

you know, the bad moldings. Right.

23:59

So you're an artist.

23:59

new dad, what do you think, you

24:02

know, you obviously are a whole

24:04

dancing family? Like, what if your

24:07

child came up to you and was like, I would like to be

24:09

a professional dancer? What do you say?

24:10

I would be so happy. I'd

24:13

be like, great. So you like, yes, let's

24:15

take the show on the road. You could have

24:18

a band, you could like go out and be a

24:20

traveling dance family.

24:21

You're describing a circus, which

24:23

we would do. Yeah, a lot

24:25

of times, a lot of our friends, you know, within

24:27

conversation, it's the cool thing to say

24:29

is, I will never put my kid

24:31

through this, you know, this dance thing.

24:34

I'm like,

24:35

dude, first of all, look at where we are. That's because

24:38

of dance. Yeah, obviously, let's claim some

24:40

effort. But really, it's because of this vehicle

24:42

that we get this opportunity. And

24:44

secondly, I, you know, with all due

24:46

respect, I think it gave me a lot of really awesome

24:49

life tools that, regardless of

24:51

whether he pursues dance, or

24:53

ends up going into podcasting

24:55

or interior design, I want him to think outside

24:57

of the box, you know, I want him to be creative, I

25:00

want him to have a relationship with his body. So

25:02

again, if it's not dance, then I hope some

25:04

sort of athletic,

25:05

you know, routine that he has some sort of sport.

25:09

I want him to be in touch with his creative side.

25:11

So if it's not dance, then music, I

25:13

want him to be in touch with his social

25:16

skills, you know, being able to partner and be

25:19

a real partner, a teammate with a girl

25:21

from a really young age, I think it taught me a

25:23

lot about my interaction with, you

25:26

know, and out of respect and out of win

25:28

alongside my partner

25:30

because none of these wins that we I celebrate

25:32

and talk about I accomplished by myself,

25:34

right? I don't dance by myself, all of

25:36

them were with a partner.

25:39

So this is all one activity,

25:41

you know, dance gives you the community, it lets

25:43

you congregate in a place of dance

25:45

and music, like what can be better for

25:48

your child than that? Very few

25:50

things.

25:50

I totally agree with that. I mean,

25:53

just even from the confidence building, I

25:55

think that it's just my daughter

25:57

not I mean, she's not she

25:59

can hear me.

25:59

I mean, she's not exactly a dancer like you're a dancer,

26:02

but she dances her

26:04

only sport. She doesn't play other sports. So,

26:07

she is fully into

26:10

tap and jazz and ballet and

26:12

that's what she pours herself into. And I'm

26:15

like, I think that that's great. I think that again,

26:17

it builds her confidence. There's

26:20

a sense of community, there's a sense of

26:22

priority and responsibility and having

26:24

to show up and every day and do that

26:26

kind of stuff. I just think it's

26:28

excellent. All right, so Val,

26:30

we have at the end of every conversation,

26:33

we have something that we call five minutes for hugs

26:36

because we need like just five minutes for some

26:39

random questions.

26:39

Yeah, no, that was on the questionnaire. Okay,

26:41

that was on the questionnaire. Oh, you did see that. Okay, you read that, you got

26:43

to that part. Okay, great. All right, just five kind

26:45

of rapid questions and

26:48

Joanna, do you wanna start? Yeah, let's do it. Okay,

26:50

ready Val? Yup. A wine that

26:52

you love right now.

26:53

Duck horn. Ooh, my husband loves

26:55

duck horn. What kind, like a duck horn

26:58

cab? We actually featured

27:00

them. So throughout our run, the

27:02

summer, every week we partner with a local

27:05

Napa Valley vineyard.

27:06

Yeah, no, duck horn's great. Joanna doesn't

27:09

drink wine so she wouldn't know. But no, I

27:11

like port, but we can talk about that in the next

27:13

class. Port is nice, yeah. I love it. Dessert,

27:15

she's a Bailey's Irish cream kind of girl. Yeah, she's

27:17

a sugar fiend. Okay,

27:19

what is a talent that you have that

27:22

is not dancing? I play

27:24

the violin.

27:25

Really? Oh, wow. Love

27:27

that. That's surprising. I don't know why that's surprising.

27:29

Yeah, like we don't know his other talents, but

27:31

yeah. I know, I know. I wouldn't have played that either. Well, I

27:33

feel like most often when people play an

27:36

instrument, I think a violin, I mean,

27:38

it's a very complicated instrument to play. So I

27:40

feel like, you know, you hear, I play piano, not

27:42

the pianos are not super complicated,

27:44

but it just, it's rare.

27:46

Yeah, yeah, it's a niche instrument. It's

27:48

not the first one you choose. I chose

27:50

it, I started playing when I was five and I chose

27:53

it because

27:53

it was the smallest to carry to school. You

27:55

know what? You're a smart person. That is a very

27:58

good reason to do that. Well, Joanna and I,

27:59

were just in Boston, we were staying right

28:02

by like a school of music and

28:04

like seeing the people who picked a cello, I'm just

28:07

like this is hard. Like what happens when it's

28:09

winter? You know what I mean? Like this

28:11

is difficult. So I think that you were a smart,

28:14

enterprising young man. Okay, go ahead,

28:16

Joanna. All right. Current favorite

28:19

TV

28:21

show. You know, we're out here. I haven't

28:23

been really watching TV at

28:25

all. That's fair. Outside hanging, but

28:27

I would say The Last of Us would be my last

28:30

show that I binged with, Jen. Sure.

28:34

Yeah, Last of Us. Okay. Okay.

28:37

What is, who is a role model or someone who's inspired

28:39

you? My dad. Okay. Well,

28:42

I was actually going to go, I thought maybe Max too. I did too.

28:45

That's where I thought it was going to be. But your dad. My

28:47

dad. Yeah. Because my

28:49

brother is my peer. Yeah. And

28:51

I've also returned the favor many times.

28:54

That doesn't mean that I can admire him, you

28:56

know. I

28:57

think him and I are

28:59

in the same, you know, like I said,

29:00

we're in both. You're in the same boat. That's

29:02

totally fair. Okay. Let's

29:05

see your most used emoji.

29:08

I mean, not even just the

29:10

crying one, the sideways crying

29:11

one. The sideways crying. Okay. I

29:14

think that's a good one too. Yeah. I

29:16

really like the crying laughter because it really,

29:18

it takes the pressure out of every

29:20

text. You can say anything.

29:23

And if you add the crying laughing, you're

29:25

like, you know what I mean? Like it just

29:28

immediately diffuses. Right. That's

29:31

right.

29:31

It softens everything. So here's a funny story.

29:33

A couple of weeks ago,

29:35

my Peter, my brother's wife posted

29:38

a picture of their newborn and it's like,

29:40

I can't believe it's been a month already. Like

29:43

you have, I love you, et cetera, et cetera.

29:45

And my mom meant to put like crying,

29:47

like she got emotional, but instead she put

29:50

the like the crying with the

29:51

joking. And

29:54

I screen grabbed that. I sent it to Jen and I, cause cause

29:56

we talk about loss in translation a lot. Right.

29:59

My mom.

29:59

please speak to Russian. And you know, every

30:02

language has almost like its own emotional

30:05

palette as well. And so,

30:07

yeah, just little things. Like sometimes, yeah.

30:10

There's just a funny moment.

30:12

You know, my mom, she thought

30:14

LOL meant lots of love. So

30:16

she went find a condolence email after

30:19

a funeral saying, LOL, Roberta.

30:22

And she just didn't know.

30:24

Yeah, it's a generational. I was like, mom,

30:26

you wrote LOL, Roberta. Like

30:28

I'm so sorry your husband died. LOL, Roberta.

30:31

Like, no, no, terrible. Oh

30:35

my God. Terrible. I just,

30:37

she's the best. Anyway, she's staying with me right now.

30:39

I'm sure she heard that. I'm sure maybe I'm in trouble. Yeah, it's

30:41

a great story. All right, well, Dal, thank

30:44

you so much for coming on. This

30:46

was so much fun. Congratulations on everything.

30:48

I need to come up to Napa. Are you gonna

30:50

keep doing this? Like, are we gonna have an

30:52

opportunity? Yes, we are actually going

30:54

to potentially move the

30:56

show somewhere that I can't

30:59

reveal, but public where you

31:01

can see it. Okay. Around December,

31:03

January time. But that'll be announced. Keep

31:05

it

31:05

posted. All right, well, I also want

31:08

to come and see it in Napa. So I-

31:10

Yeah, so since September 3rd will be our last show.

31:12

So I know it's pretty soon. You're gonna have to do it again next summer.

31:15

We will, we will. Okay, great. I'm planning

31:17

a whole trip there. Nothing sounds more fun.

31:20

And thank you so much. This has been so

31:22

great and we appreciate you coming on. Thanks

31:24

for the time.

31:24

I'll see you on Dancing with the Stars. Oh,

31:26

maybe. Bye,

31:30

Val. Bye.

31:33

Let's take a quick break and we will be back with some

31:35

DMs. This

31:47

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34:39

Summer is starting to wind down and it's time

34:41

to start gearing up for the kids to go back to

34:43

school. And that means getting ready to pack

34:46

some lunches.

34:47

I know my kids can get bored with the same

34:49

lunch every day, so this year we're going to level

34:52

up our box lunches with wallet-friendly

34:54

snacks from 365 by Whole Foods

34:56

Market. I think we should add something sweet

34:59

like the organic vanilla animal cookies, something

35:01

crunchy like the Treasure Hunt trail mix, and

35:03

something classic like PB&J on whole

35:06

wheat bread.

35:07

And Joanna, remember that all those

35:09

lunchbox snacks double as late night

35:11

snacks. The 365 brand has

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so many favorites to choose from. Oh yes,

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plus we can stop by Whole Foods Market for

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35:20

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35:23

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35:25

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35:48

All right, our first DM of the day from

35:51

Allison. I am such a big fan

35:54

of both your show and podcast.

35:57

In my head, we're all best friends. Well, you know what, Allison?

35:59

In my head, we We are too. I'm a big

36:01

supplement person and I have a couple different pills

36:04

I take each morning. Well, that is a sharp left turn, Allison.

36:08

I hate looking at all the bottles of my countertop

36:10

in the bathroom. Do you have any suggestions to

36:13

make them look nicer? I have a few,

36:15

but Joanna, do you have any? Yes,

36:17

but I feel like this is your shining

36:20

star Amazon purchase. Well,

36:22

there are a couple. So that is my to

36:24

go pill pack. I have a home pill

36:26

pack and a to go pill pack. So

36:28

let me say both of them. Allison,

36:31

I take, as you can imagine, a lot of medications

36:33

every day right now, especially

36:36

for my cancer treatment. So

36:38

I have an at home version for

36:40

all of my pill bottles. I don't like

36:43

to decant my pills from

36:45

their actual bottle just so that I can make sure

36:48

in like a moment of lapse

36:50

of memory that I know exactly how much

36:52

to take, what the actual

36:54

pill is, if they look similar. I

36:57

don't want to lie on my cobweb

36:59

brain. So I like to keep

37:01

the pills in the actual pill bottles. And

37:04

I have a pill bag from

37:06

a company called Bag All, B-A-G

37:09

hyphen A-L-L. And

37:12

it says, it actually says my vitamins on it, but

37:14

it's like a black cloth case with the white

37:16

ribbon tied onto the top handle. It's

37:19

really pretty. It kind of looks

37:21

like a toiletry case, but it says

37:23

my vitamins and it keeps all of my medications

37:26

nicely stored in there.

37:28

And I just keep it in the cabinet and pull

37:29

it out every day and every night

37:32

when I need to take my medications. On

37:34

the go, this is a game changer.

37:37

You can buy a small pill case

37:39

on Amazon. It's like six dollars. I

37:42

get it. Mine is a little pink case

37:44

and it has two magnetic

37:47

sides that fold in. So

37:49

when you open it up, it has like a

37:51

left little side, a main compartment

37:54

in the center and a right little side. And then you can

37:56

fold them up with the magnetic clasp so

37:58

that it just I mean, it looks

37:59

like, I don't know, pack of gum or something.

38:02

Like it's really compact and

38:04

it has 10

38:05

different compartments in it. So

38:08

I take that with me every single place I go.

38:10

I hope that answers your question. I

38:13

don't have any other answers. So- No,

38:15

you had it. Okay, Marcella. Well, this

38:17

is another one. What do you keep in your bag? Well,

38:20

I'll start with my pill case, but

38:22

Joanna, why don't you hop in? Oh yeah.

38:25

Okay, well, I have a little pouch of vitamins

38:27

and stuff too. Cause again, we're always traveling. So

38:29

I like to have them on my person. And

38:32

I also have a snack bag. I really

38:34

have to travel with snacks

38:35

because the thought of getting stuck in

38:38

a traffic jam or somewhere else and being starving

38:41

is terrifying for me. I just- Joanna

38:43

also goes from zero to starving very

38:46

fast. I do. Like we'll go

38:48

on the way to dinner. I'll be like, Cleo, I'm just really not hungry.

38:50

Or maybe we should push back the reservation. She's like, literally

38:53

by the time we walk through the restaurant doors-

38:55

Joanna is starving. She's like, I'm starving.

38:57

I'm starving. That's right. So

39:00

I always have to have snacks with me. I have a lot of favorite snacks.

39:02

And then what else? Obviously phone,

39:05

phone charger, headphones, lip gloss.

39:08

That's pretty much it in mine.

39:09

Okay, so I have compartments for

39:11

everything. I also have a snack bag.

39:14

Again, I have my little pill case. I

39:16

have my wallet, my

39:19

AirPods, my phone, my

39:21

charger. I keep that actually

39:23

in its own little pouch, just in case I need

39:25

to kind of pull out like a clutch bag

39:28

out of my big tote or something. Those

39:30

are all kind of like the essentials I need in

39:32

any kind of situation. I also keep my car keys

39:34

in there. And of course I always,

39:37

always have a little cosmetic bag, probably

39:39

very different than Joanna's just lip gloss.

39:42

I have like little versions of all

39:44

of my core cosmetics, just in

39:46

case, you know, you don't know what you're gonna

39:48

need. And you know what?

39:50

In times where we've been stranded

39:52

without our suitcase, I have been very

39:54

glad to have a full, tiny little cosmetic

39:56

bag with me.

39:58

You know what you didn't have with you? Underwear. underwear.

40:00

Well, I'm sorry, I don't keep underwear in my purse.

40:03

So you keep underwear in a carry

40:05

on that when you get okay, this question

40:07

isn't about right. Okay. All right. All right.

40:10

I'm asking that next time.

40:12

Okay. All right. Okay, guys, we are

40:14

back on Tuesday. Until then, we'll be back Thursday

40:16

with an episode of best friend energy unpacked.

40:19

You can always reach out to us on Instagram

40:21

or Tick tock at best friend energy

40:23

or visit us at best friend energy pod.com.

40:26

Bye guys.

40:27

Bye.

40:30

Thank you so much for joining us on best friend

40:32

energy. We're back every Tuesday with

40:34

a new episode. Follow the show on Apple

40:37

podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,

40:39

Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow

40:42

us on Instagram and Tick tock at best friend

40:44

energy. Best friend energy is a Hello

40:46

Sunshine and Sony Music Entertainment production,

40:49

engineering and mixing by Nashville audio productions.

40:51

Our senior producer is Rebecca Kaufman. Our

40:54

associate producer is Kami York. Our

40:56

executive producer is Sarita Wesley. Our

40:59

executive producers at the

41:00

home edit and Hello Sunshine are Lauren Lagarde,

41:02

Hillary Franchi and us. See

41:05

you next time.

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