Ep. 1620 – The Good News with Angie Austin – Sarah Bak & Sarah Harden – Women Empowerment with Drop of Sunshine Storyteller / Dr. Callie Harris – THE SEARCH FOR AMERICA’S CUTEST PUPS & KITTENS /

SPEAKER 01 : 0:01

Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:09

Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with The Good News. We’ve got a really great show for you. We’ve got animals. We’ve got women entrepreneurs. We have a really cool brand, Drop of Sunshine. And I wanted to start off first with something that kind of inspired me last night that I saw. You know, I try not to spend too much time on social media, but the kids send me a lot of videos, some of them really funny. And my youngest, just Faith, she loves to send me funny videos. I would say like… 75% of them I think are funny, but kid humor sometimes is not quite my cup of tea in terms of sometimes it’s not always nice, right? Let’s be honest. It might be somebody that falls or does some stunt and they get hurt, and she knows I hate seeing kids get hurt. But other than that, she’s got a great sense of humor. But some of the people I follow are super inspirational. Yeah. There’s a guy, his last name is Harlan, and he gives college students a lot of advice. And as I was flipping through something, you know, oftentimes it finds things that correlate to what you’ve been watching. I see this blonde woman who’s got a really strong personality, and she’s talking about TNT. And I’m like, what’s TNT? And she’s talking about… the things that you don’t even have to have a talent for, like you might be an Olympic swimmer, or you might be, you know, a business person or a doctor or an entrepreneur. Well, you have certain talents that get you there. But what she’s talking about, she said, if you can just tackle TNT, then you’re going to go so far in life. And so I saved that for my kids. We have like a teaching moment. And then I set my alarm to go off at like 930 at night. And then i show them the video and then we all talk about it and tnt she says this takes no talent she goes you know the things like showing up on time um writing your note if it has to be handwritten and it’s neat when you’re writing an email or a memo for your boss you go back through it and you correct it for spelling errors or grammar or you put it through grammarly you know to correct that stuff um you know uh not being late back from lunch, staying after a few minutes if your boss needs extra help or your coworkers. And I was like, wow, TNT, so many kids, those soft skills and so many adults for that matter, they don’t, honor tnt doing the the little things that take no talent whatsoever if you can do those well you rise to the top the cream rises to the top i was in an office last week and i had brought everyone lunch um just to be nice and one of the people in the office just walked by and didn’t even kind of like just glared at one of my kids and then kept walking and i was like that’s tnt it didn’t take much effort to say hi i’m going to go out and have my own lunch thanks so much for bringing it Or I’d come in another time and I was doing a favor for somebody in the office and writing something just to help out. And she didn’t even come out to say hi, whereas everybody else in the office did. And so TNT, it takes no talent to go just that little extra mile to kind of show people that, hey. I’m in this. I care. I’m respectful. I’m going to give it my all. TNT. So I’m going to talk to my kids about that again tonight because I really think that will push them up above. I know my son definitely has that. He’s definitely got the TNT where he goes the extra mile and proves that he really cares. And I think half of it is just caring and being respectful. All right. If you are just joining us, these are some gals that definitely have talent. This is Angie Austin with the good news if you’re just joining us. March is Women’s History Month, and that also includes International Women’s Day, two holidays that both recognize the importance of empowering women. Joining us today are two entrepreneurs who have created their own unique way to celebrate women through a female-powered beverage brand called Drop of Sunshine. Sarah Harden is the leading storyteller and CEO for Hello Sunshine, and Sarah Bax is president of Bold Brands. Welcome, Sarah and Sarah. You are welcome. All right, well, let’s start with you, Sarah Harden. You know, obviously March, you know, a good time to empower women. And so it’s important for you to get that message out. Let’s talk about that.

SPEAKER 06 : 4:21

Yeah, I feel like it’s never been a more important time for women’s voices and for our stories, our connections, the joy that we create. And bringing that into the world at Hello Sunshine, we say women are culture shapers and we shape the world positively around us. And so it feels incredibly timely for Hello Sunshine, a women-powered brand, and also Drop of Sunshine, a women-powered brand, to be celebrating women and be bringing a product that is crafted with care and expertise and love in a bottle through the launch of Drop of Sunshine’s wine brand.

SPEAKER 03 : 4:56

I love that name, Drop of Sunshine. I just, I don’t know, I just think it’s cool. All right, let’s, Sarah Bax, let’s go to you. Let’s talk about, you know, how can a beverage provide inspiration for empowering women? I mean, it is run by, you know, YouTube, but in general, how does it provide inspiration for empowering women?

SPEAKER 04 : 5:17

be an obvious choice for empowering women, but we believe that Drop of Sunshine really becomes the symbol of telling the stories that are meaningful to our community as women. And we want to do that on a global scale. This wine will be enjoyed by women from all over the globe. And every single one of their stories matter. We want them told. We want them heard. We want other women to glean inspiration and experience from those. So that’s one of the reasons we’re so excited about partnering with Hello Sunshine. They’ve done such an incredible job of authentically amplifying women’s stories. What better than to bring together a passion for storytelling and a passion for authentic winemaking into a single project?

SPEAKER 03 : 6:03

Okay, cool. And Sarah H., what are your core values that you want to celebrate?

SPEAKER 06 : 6:09

You know, the things we’re celebrating and exemplifying with Drop of Sunshine are what’s like joy and quality, connection, community and authenticity. And, you know, women’s stories sit at the heart of everything we do. And bringing all of those things together into the bottle, we think of it as a toast to women and our togetherness. And I hope and trust you can taste the care and the intention and the values that have gone into creating this partnership and these beautiful wines.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:44

Now, I see so many women’s products with male executives, and it always blows me away, like nylons, lipsticks, feminine hygiene products. I’m like, hello? To me, it just makes sense that more women should be out there, and I love it that it’s wine. So, Sarah B., let’s talk about what makes your brand unique.

SPEAKER 04 : 7:05

You’re so right, Angie. And this is definitely a differentiating factor with Drop of Sunshine. Our winemaking team is a group of rock star women. They’re world-renowned winemakers that have crafted these Drop of Sunshine wines. And their unique stories resonate from the vineyard into the bottle. So they’ve crafted a Chardonnay, a red blend, and a really fun sparkling rosé just primed for every celebration.

SPEAKER 03 : 7:34

All right. Oh, I love sparkling. Sarah Harden, let’s talk about, well, your area of expertise is the storytelling. I love that. What a cool job. So how is the storytelling part of a female-powered company?

SPEAKER 06 : 7:46

Well, look, storytelling sits at the center of everything Hello Sunshine does. And one of the things we say is it’s not enough to just put women in front of the camera. If we want to create authentic stories, we have to involve women first. in the process the authentic authorship of stories whether that’s as writers or authors or directors and it’s the same with our wines and i mean it’s not just having a beautiful brand that’s made by women and it is it’s the labels are stunning um we’re proud of the brand but the fact that this has been made with women’s expertise with their creativity by world-class winemakers who are at the best of their game. And it is made with love. We talk about it’s love and sunshine in a bottle. It’s for women everywhere. And we hope that you bring it into your living rooms where you’re gathering, whether it’s a book club or a group of friends for those moments, big and small. And we hope those stories travel with you and with your communities as well.

SPEAKER 03 : 8:41

Yeah, I think the bottle is really pretty. I think I like it as well. Let’s go back to you, Sarah B., just go back and forth with you guys. Is there another important part of the story, anything unique you want to tell us about?

SPEAKER 04 : 8:55

Yeah, I think Drop of Sunshine shares this belief that women need to take time for themselves, whether it’s over a bottle of Drop of Sunshine or whether it’s just a five-minute quiet session where you can breathe during the day. As women, we’re so busy and we take so much upon ourselves. It’s really important and it’s a great reminder coming into Women’s History Month that women matter and we need to take those moments of self-care. Again, whether it’s a bottle of wine or whether it’s just a quiet breath, we deserve that as women. And we need to share that message with our communities because it really matters and it’s important in the empowerment of women.

SPEAKER 03 : 9:36

You know, I’ve been doing TV and radio news for 30 years, and I get to interview so many interesting people. I mean, it’s just, I mean, thousands of people. It’s such a cool privilege for me. So I always like to ask people, I love like a passion for life and a passion for things. And so let’s start with you, Sarah H., as the leading storyteller and the CEO for Hello Sunshine. What gave you a passion for doing this? You know, doing something like this, starting kind of from the ground up, it’s not easy. So what gave you your drive and passion for this type of work?

SPEAKER 06 : 10:04

Well, I think I’m very inspired by the founder of Hello Suntime, Reese Witherspoon. And we talk about the decades of lost stories and the decades of lost wines that female winemakers didn’t get to make, the decades of lost stories that women didn’t get to write or bring to the screen. And I’m inspired to create opportunities by bringing women’s craftsmanship and their expertise and helping bring that to the world. That’s what inspires me, whether that’s in a story or in this case, this beautiful collaboration. And Collaborating with women, it just feels different, and this collaboration has been truly a match made in heaven.

SPEAKER 03 : 10:40

That’s cool. All right, Sarah B., how about you? What gave you a passion for what you do? Where does that come from?

SPEAKER 04 : 10:46

Yeah, so I’ve been in the wine business for over 20 years, and my initial passion came from experiencing the connection that a bottle of wine creates. whether it’s a holiday with family or a night in with a group of girls watching the bottle arrive on the table. Everyone transforms. They suddenly are in a relaxed state and they connect. That’s what inspired me. And on the other hand, also what frustrated me a bit with over 20 years in the industry where most of the stories about these brands were centered around men and their stories. So it’s really inspiring for me today to be able to create a brand that I’ve always wanted to drink. just as a woman, not just someone in the wine business. So that connection that wine provides is so powerful, and pairing it with a message of women’s community is really special.

SPEAKER 03 : 11:43

You know, I think about when you talk about that camaraderie or that, you know, environment, I’m laughing because yesterday I just saw a story about an airline that didn’t pack enough meals. It was like 200 for a flight of 400, something ridiculous like that. Right. And so, of course, the flight attendants are like, oh, my gosh, what do we do? We can’t have people split meals. So they offered free wine for the people that would give up their meals. And so that they showed the flight attendants holding bottles of wine. and all these passengers with wine glasses, and they joked around it at the end. They said, hey, by the way, we have 200 leftover meals because everybody wanted to trade for the wine.

SPEAKER 06 : 12:21

I love that, Angie. I love it. Creative women finding solutions.

SPEAKER 03 : 12:24

Yes, yes. I love that, too. All right. Of course, we want to support you. I’ve got so many, you know, my newest friends from NBC in Los Angeles. You know, it was so many years ago we worked together, but it was a decade like before I had kids. Well, now our kids are raised. So now we’re starting to take all these trips together and we’re meeting at. In Tombstone, we’re going to Arizona next week, and then we’re all going to Nashville, and we might go to Europe over the summer, and they’re coming to Denver to visit me. And it’s so much fun. And, of course, it’s around a bottle of wine and sitting around. And so, of course, they want to support you. So where’s the best place for us to get info on you and what you do?

SPEAKER 06 : 12:59

Well, Andy, those sound like some great trips. You’ve got to go to sunstein.com. You can find more information about the wine. You can buy it online, and you can also – Find it in your favorite local retailer in all of those places that you mentioned that you were visiting. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER 03 : 13:13

Excellent. Dropofsunshine.com. Well, Sarahs, it was fun. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER 06 : 13:18

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER 03 : 13:19

Enjoy your travel. Oh, thank you. I will. I’ve got three teenagers. I will. Thank you.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:30

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SPEAKER 05 : 14:27

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SPEAKER 03 : 14:35

Well, if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. You know I am a puppy lover. Got one at home right now. Adorable puppies and kittens always bring good vibes to anyone who sees them. And now there’s a company looking for one cute puppy and kitten to join their C-suite to represent all things cute and cuddly. And the public gets to vote on the winner. Joining us today is veterinarian Dr. Callie Harris with Purina, who will share tips on puppy and kitten care and tell us about this unique contest that will welcome one puppy and one kitten as Purina’s chief snuggle officers. Oh, I like that. Welcome, Dr. Callie Harris.

SPEAKER 05 : 15:15

Thank you so much for having me. And it’s such a great job. CSO. Don’t we all want that role?

SPEAKER 03 : 15:21

Chief Snuggle Officer. That’s hilarious. I actually have a snuggle chair because I have three kids and they wouldn’t fit in a regular chair when they were little. They don’t as three teens now. They’re like 6’4 and 6’3 and they don’t get in the snuggle chair anymore. But I could get them all in the snuggle chair at the same time. All right. So how does a puppy or kitten become the Chief Snuggle Officer?

SPEAKER 05 : 15:43

Yeah, so Purina Puppy Chow and Kitten Chow, we actually invited pet parents to send in these applicants for Chief Snuggle Officer to serve as ambassadors, really to help promote good nutrition, growth, and, of course, lots of play. We have already finalized our candidates down to three puppies and three kittens, so now we need all of your listeners to go on to chowcontest.purina.com to cast their vote. We need your help.

SPEAKER 03 : 16:11

All right, let’s talk about the job description for these chief snuggle officers. You know, what does all of this entail here?

SPEAKER 05 : 16:21

about this job is that there’s no previous experience necessary right they don’t have to come with a long resume they just need to show up and be cute be adorable be sweet and really just be ambassadors and inspire other puppies kittens and humans to share more snuggles and just be their adorable selves we also want them to serve as ambassadors for the promotion of proper nutrition because that’s really key especially during this critical phase of their lives

SPEAKER 03 : 16:49

Well, and when I was younger, I didn’t realize how important it was to get really good dog food. And your dog food, the Pro, is one that my vet recommends. And so let’s talk about that good nutrition and why it’s so important, especially for kittens and puppies.

SPEAKER 05 : 17:05

yeah so puppies and kittens they are rapidly changing during this phase like everything’s happening at a cellular level at a physical level they are growing very fast and so they’re going to experience some of the most important stages of their lives at this time and so that’s why purina puppy chow and kitten chow they’re specially formulated with high quality protein for those strong muscles dha for brain and vision development we also like to see the right amount of calcium for healthy bones and then antioxidants to support their immune systems. And I love that you already have experience with Purina because this is something that we take pride in. We wanna make sure that our pets are not just surviving, but thriving. And it’s gonna be key to start proper nutrition,

SPEAKER 03 : 17:51

You know, when I was in my vet’s office, and he and I have been friends for like 25 years, and I’m like, okay, so I was telling him about some newfangled brand or whatever. He goes, here’s the deal. He goes, these are the three, and I won’t name the competitors, but these are the three that I recommend. And the reason he – you know what they are. But he said, the reason I recommend them, and if yours was one – is because the research and the work that goes into them and the testing, and you’re not going to have a dog that is going to get sick because of a recall because these are tried and true brands with, you know, the money backing them that make sure that they take good care of your animals. It’s good stuff.

SPEAKER 05 : 18:28

It’s so true. I think a lot of people don’t realize the effort that goes into building a good formula of pet food. I think a lot of people think, oh, it’s easy, just throw in some ingredients, cook something up in the kitchen, throw something in a bowl, and everybody’s going to do well. But I loved everything that your vet shared with you because we put a lot of emphasis on not just our quality assurance so making sure that our pet food is safe to feed but also we do a lot with our innovations you know providing nutrition again that’s really going to enhance our pets lives I mentioned it before it’s not just enough for them to survive or just to be living we want them to live their best lives and live as long as they can and so really putting in that support from a nutritional standpoint is going to be key

SPEAKER 03 : 19:15

Now, in terms of other tips for pet parents, you know, new to having kittens or puppies, it can be, you know, it’s a lot of work, let’s be honest. And do you have any tips for that? Because I, this last puppy, I have to say, she was pee pad trained like immediately, which is like a miracle for me, but my other dogs are as well. And you know, it’s in Colorado, if you’ve got like a blizzard or whatever, you’re not taking your dog outside. So it’s nice if they can be both. And so that, and my friends are like, how did you do that? I’m like,

SPEAKER 05 : 19:45

i don’t know how i did it so um what are some tips you have for new pet parents for the puppy and the kittens yeah well you said it best i mean it is a lot of work and i don’t ever like to mince my words on this it’s very rewarding it’s something that i feel like everybody who wants a puppy or kitten should experience but it is a very good chunk of your time that’s going to be dedicated to setting a schedule right getting into a routine and staying on top of things One of my top tips is going to be playtime and social interaction. This is just as important as proper nutrition when it comes to a puppy or kitten’s development. When you think about engaging with your pet through play, training, and of course, snuggles, this is going to help build their confidence, improve their social skills, and even strengthen that bond between pet and owner. Plus, when I think about early socialization from a vet’s perspective, this is going to provide, again, more ease when they come see me in the vet clinic or go meet with their groomer or a dog walker or even just meet strangers. The earlier, the better with socialization, getting them out there, getting them physical. And then my last tip with that is that a tired dog or cat is a happy dog or cat. So as much physical activity is going to be great.

SPEAKER 03 : 21:01

You know, now you’re with a big corporation, but I know when you were younger that you worked in emergency care and you have a real love for emergency medicine and critical care. Can you tell me, I love to ask people how they got a passion for their work. Where did this passion for animals come from in this type of work that you do? Because I know being a vet, everybody’s like, oh, you get to work with animals. There’s the good and the bad. There’s some really difficult parts of being a vet.

SPEAKER 05 : 21:26

A hundred percent. Yes, so this is something that I take very seriously as far as like sharing really like the back story, you know, to this wonderful profession because it’s not just hanging out with puppies and kittens all day. Today has been fabulous because I have been able to hang out with puppies, but it is really saving lives. Taking care of the entire family, not just the pets, but the people that love them. And so my influence in working with pets, it really does go back to me being like a scientist at heart. I’ve always been fascinated with just how things work. I’ve always been fascinated with anything that was included in medicine or health care. And at one point I thought about going into the human side of it. So I was really expecting to go to medical school when I got to college. But then it was reminded to me how much I adored pets. I had always been a pet guardian. My parents were very encouraging of us having pets when I was growing up. And so I had to go back to at the center of what really motivated me, and that was everything pet or animal involved. And so I decided to pursue vet school, emergency medicine specifically. I’m a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, and I love the aspect of client communication in really scary scenarios because that’s also what’s going to build confidence in overall pet care. So I just love being able to work alongside other pet parents, other people who are like myself who just want longevity with this additional family member.

SPEAKER 03 : 22:57

And when you do the emergency veterinary work, could you get everything from a snake to a horse to a cat to a cow to a coyote? Is it very diverse or is it just like cats and dogs?

SPEAKER 05 : 23:09

Yes. For me, and every practice is different, I actually worked on a lot of different species. So I primarily did dogs and cats, but we also saw exotics. I saw small ruminants, so like goats and sheep and pigs. I saw pocket pets, like sugar gliders. I saw avian species, like macaws and parrots and cockatoos. So I am a little bit of a Jacqueline of all trades. I do love large animals, but I did not go down that track. I think there’s a special place For large animal veterinarians, for sure.

SPEAKER 03 : 23:43

Yeah, I love watching some of those vet shows on TV where they treat all the different animals. Okay, I don’t know if you can answer this, but does any cage just stand out to you when somebody says, what’s the wildest thing that ever happened to you in the animal ER where you’re like, oh my gosh, I couldn’t believe this happened?

SPEAKER 05 : 23:58

Well, I probably can’t share it with your audience. But what I will say, I’ll kind of go around some words here. So pets love to eat things that they shouldn’t get their mouths on. That’s effective. That’s where training is going to come into play. And I had a puppy. This was early on in my emergency career. So I was kind of new to the experience of having to have these conversations. And this particular pet got into somebody’s stash.

SPEAKER 03 : 24:25

Oh, no.

SPEAKER 05 : 24:27

very high puppy on my hand. And so now it’s like a dime a dozen if these things happen all the time. And I think what’s so important in this experience is just letting the pet parents know I’m not a narc. I’m not part of our local police station. So I’m not going to do anything to get you in trouble. But I do have to know what your pet has gotten into or what that pet has ingested so I can better treat. So I think just opening up those lines of communication and building that trust with your pet guardians is helpful. But the puppy was fine. Most of my puppies, if not all of them, are dogs that do ingest marijuana. They tend to do just well. But This is what I will say. If that happens, just for all of your listeners, go see your vet immediately.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:18

Yes. And don’t tell the vet it’s oregano. Be truthful. All right. Tell us where we can get more info.

SPEAKER 05 : 25:24

Just be honest. Yeah, just be honest. I’m not trying to take you to jail. It’s all good.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:30

And where do we get more info on becoming the, to get the snuggle job for our pets?

SPEAKER 05 : 25:37

Yeah. So I want everybody to get to know our Chief Snuggle Officer finalist a bit more. So go to chowcontest.purina.com. It’s not going to be an easy job because all of these pets that have made it to this level, they are super sweet, super adorable. But we need your help to make these choices. So you have through March 3rd to cast your vote.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:57

Excellent. Thank you so much, Doc.

SPEAKER 05 : 25:59

Thanks so much. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER 03 : 26:01

You bet. Well, it’s always fun to talk about animals. I’ve got a great animal interview coming up tomorrow, too, about how we can save more of them. It’s a pretty amazing story. All right. So let’s talk a little bit about why I always ask people. about their passion for their work because how fun to do something that you really have a passion for. My husband and I differ on, you know, work and whether or not you do it because you enjoy it or because you’re doing it for the money. He tells the kids, you know, make good money, you know, and you don’t have to love what you do. But my nephew who’s 25, He told me, you know, I don’t know if people really do love what they do. You know, it’s just kind of work, you know, and maybe I’m not going to love what I do. And I’m like, I want him to go back to grad school so badly. He’s a scientist right now, but he wants to get his master’s, maybe his PhD, and he wants to be a pharmacist that actually creates medicine. uh, the drugs does like the compounding, like figures out the mathematical composition of them. I just think he might be more interested in that. And that’s what he tells me. Cause I think you could, you can find a passion for what you do. And even if you’re doing work, you aren’t, you know, maybe it’s not a 10 for you. Maybe it’s an eight. You can develop, you know, relationships with people you work with or, um, take on things on the side or do maybe something extra in your job. Like for instance, uh, my friend that works with animals she works for jim stovall and she rescues a lot of animals and gets them adopted but she also then thought well let’s combine that with what i do with jim and then they wrote a book together about animals and i think that’s coming out soon so there’s other ways to find your passion it doesn’t have to be like you don’t have to consider your job a 10 but if you really don’t enjoy it maybe you should look into doing something that really gets you excited about your work and that you have a passion for. I guess, you know, I’m best at, I guess, talking and I love to laugh. So, you know, I enjoy interviewing people. I like kind of picking their brains. So I hope you enjoy listening to their interviews. This is Angie Austin with The Good News. Thanks so much for listening to the show.

SPEAKER 01 : 28:08

Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.