How Charlie and Debbie Met :)

How We Met & Avon

Mon, 8/29 3:08PM • 9:04

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

called, women, Charlie Ponger ,Debbie Nigro, rap song, tape, life, gave, working, Isuzu, Avon, keynote speaker, listen, stressful, smoke, met, song, writing, story, thinks, laughing, teenagers, Seenagers, improv, comedy, improve comedy, storytelling. Avon calling, memory lane

SPEAKERS

Debbie Charlie, charlie ponger

charlie ponger: 00:00

Hey everyone. So a way back when I was a general manager of a small local radio station, and who walks in unannounced, but Debbie and I grow. The quick story is we took one look at each other and started laughing. Is that ever happened to you? Because it did with us. And we've been laughing buddies ever since. So here's a quick episode on how we met. Place. Debbie Nigro is a host of her own show her own radio W how many shows? How many stations are

Debbie Charlie: 00:39

you on? I have no idea. I've done like 10,000 interviews. I have no idea.

charlie ponger: 00:45

So Debbie, and I go way, way back. And we've got a great story to tell about how we met in here today

Debbie Charlie: 00:51

is kind of funny. You probably have this some were in your life or there's some person in your life. Who no matter how many years go by and you haven't seen them. The minute you say hello, you just started laughing absolutely hysterically. And you don't even know why. It's like no time went by. Wow, Charlie, you're special people same.

charlie ponger: 01:10

And the first time we ever met the very first time we ever met. You came into my office. And we looked at each other and started glowing?

Debbie Charlie: 01:19

Well, let's, let's review. Why don't we review why. Okay, because this will be a good story. I'm gonna have a little more glass. Yeah, people are trying to get through life now. And have as much less have less stress, right? Yeah. But so a stressful life has always been stressful at different phases against Yeah, so this particular time in my life, I was a single mom. And I had an Isuzu trooper with a cracked windshield. And there was smoke coming from the back of it. But I had an idea that was like, 30 years ago. No, that's not even that old. So I had this idea. Yeah. My daughter was I forget it was single mom. And life was every day I was like, is nobody talking about what's going on here. This is sick. It was extremely stressful to try and work and be a good mother. And then wherever you were you supposed to be the other place. Like I was working. I feel guilty. I wasn't with my daughter who Dora guilty wasn't working. So I'm like, you know, I'm going to do a show about this. So I come up with this idea called the working mom on the run. Or what the heck happened in my life, because I always use too many words. And I can just call it the workman or what the heck happened in my life, which is a running theme. Right? And you presented that to me. So you read the general manager of a radio station, right? Yeah, I come flying in with the smoke out of the Isuzu and the crack windshield. My hair must have been six feet high because I don't know what the Italian it was high. And it was humid day. And I came in I gave you this big speech pitch like passionate like, oh, so we'll be partners. I'll split half. I'm gonna do this and you just looked at me went, Okay. I was like, wow, he's on drugs. Yeah,

charlie ponger: 02:56

that's what I said. I was like, This is great. That you were gonna be great.

Debbie Charlie: 02:59

I had no money. I know. I didn't have enough money for the tape memory to record this show on you're using more tape my tapes? Yeah. And the tape was the size. Okay, just for those listening acid. Yeah, it was the size of I would say my my backside. But now that's

charlie ponger: 03:13

my back. So it had to be 18 inches around. Yeah. Well, so to compare it to something

Debbie Charlie: 03:16

like a giant pizza tray. Oh, yeah. That's good. That's a good tip. Yeah, it's a tray of tape. And you said you could you can take some of that tape over there, which was had other shows on it was like pre used, right. But what happened was, I got really motivated. And you were my first station. I'm gonna go on. Yeah, I'm gonna sell it locally, regionally, nationally, right thing done. And I did. But that same piece of tape. I could never figure out how to buy more in the beginning. So I used to get off your show. Yeah, Saturday morning, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock, and then drive that sucker in a car fast as I could to the second radio station and the show was on at 11 o'clock. And I'd like throw it in like, like a Frisbee like, back after breakfast. And that was my syndication start. No. I went to Avon. You gave me a chance to do that with Avon Products.

charlie ponger: 04:02

Yep. There were a big sponsor for you.

Debbie Charlie: 04:06

For a while. Gosh, it was unbelievable. I went to them. This was my pitch. Dingdong nobody's home. A lot allow.

charlie ponger: 04:14

You are great at that. I have to say

Debbie Charlie: 04:16

they hadn't done $1 investment and radio in the 107 year history of their company. Wow. And I literally made the deal. This is

charlie ponger: 04:23

when you became friends with the CEO, didn't you? The Chairman of the Board has called me in

Debbie Charlie: 04:27

for like he goes to get Debbie Niagra Yeah, that some situations you're gonna see what she thinks. I mean, the story that's worth the show in itself, but this is how I made the deal. And this is a good lesson for people listening about taking a risk. Right. Good. I always say risky to regret it. Right. Let's go. And so I call kept calling up. Back when people actually went to work in an office and had a voicemail, right a human and I was given I went to see a woman named Marshall Aveiro. She was the head of entrepreneurship at Manhattanville College and we sat down and I said, Oh, here's my idea. What do you think Marge And she goes, Oh, you should maybe go to Avon I actually jumped up, I went ding dong, nobody's home. Right? So then she gave me a couple of names. And I called the first person and they didn't pick up. So I left a message. And I called the second person and pick up left message there per same thing. And I called back again, same thing, message, message message, nobody's calling me back. I said, You know what, I'm gonna take control. So I called back again and said, Hey, listen, I spoke to the other one. She's waiting for you to call me back. Because we're making the meeting. I hope you can make it. I call. The second one says, Listen, I spoke to the leader. And the third one, really? The whole meeting that nobody ever spoke to anybody. They just showed up, and I was like,

charlie ponger: 05:32

oh, there's a great story story. Oh, my God.

Debbie Charlie: 05:35

Yeah. And I got there. And they were like, okay, they're looking at each other. Like, did you make this meeting? This meeting? I'm like, Okay, I gotta roll from this point, like, keep distracting them. And they said, you know, Debbie, we haven't ever spent $1. In radio, they were about to make a quarter million dollar investment. And somebody else who had done all these features, who they knew was famous had a book, I go, No, no, no, don't give him that. Just give me $5,000. And I and I'll go make it a national show me like what she does. She's on crack. Or she might be right. And we'll, we'll try. So they gave me $5,000. And the woman who was in that position, was only there for two weeks in the history of her whole job she was taken. So they then they said,

charlie ponger: 06:12

okay, so she took a risk. Here's thinking she was taking a risk

Debbie Charlie: 06:16

huge. And then they said, they must have really liked me. Listen, they gotta call. Would you like to be our keynote speaker? No, I'm not kidding you. I'm like this just getting going. I have no money. I can smoke coming in my car cracked windshield, and they're gonna give me $5,000 for like, five years. I don't know. It's a dog. Don't worry about Don't worry. I would say don't worry that. You always say no problem. Yeah. It's a freaking problem. Yeah. Yeah. And they said, we'd like you to be our keynote speaker and our big conference around the country. Wow. Yeah. And they were gonna pay me $25,000 for that. And so I said, No problem. real problem, right. So I they go, they go, okay, what are you going to do? Yeah. I said no problem. I said, you know, I'm gonna do rap song. Now. People are looking at me that rap didn't even barely exist, right. And here's the thing I'm just like, you know, white mother from Westchester and I'm going to do a rap song. I said, you know, women don't rap they Yap. So I'm gonna be naked to Yap song and I'm like, Okay, we're gonna have to meet with corporate on this you know? So I now get start writing so great. I start writing my song and I'm gonna do the working woman's you have song working when women don't have to. And I'm sitting at this this conference table it goes from here trolley to the street in you live in America yet you just treat and and all these people are looking at me. And they all seriously corporate and dressed up and I'm like, they said so what are you going to do? Is it a rap song and they just missed the faces were like they all had sour grapes. And then I drove around for one month, writing lyrics and memorizing a song that I was appearing in one month. In San Diego, you want to hear it? I still remember. This is great. I was a psycho. I was writing in the taxi. I was writing in the elevators right in the bathroom. You listen to the song called the working room has yet arrived an opportunity for work and call to wrap about the things that make our lives so hectic and fast paced our innocence erased our heels her disgrace once when I was young, I thought it'd be a ballerina actress maybe teaching me to man you know, I mean the kids are to the picket fence, a griefing station wagon my turn to do some Negan and some sagging. Along the way the moody change is sort of revelation women clear across the land. We're changing destinations. Stepping to the plate calling for appreciation. incredible sensation. We need a real vacation. Don't you dare give up. Everything's getting much much clearer. Vitals full speed ahead. Go ahead. You can check the mirror that are opened up your eyes a future has never been brighter better start to exercise because honey, your skirt ain't. anymore. Most of the Kenyan women just remembered that