The Debbie Nigro Show Debbie Nigro

I’ve been focusing on people who make the world a more beautiful place this week. People who through their work, their ethics, their integrity, their talent, their genius just makes it happier for the rest of us.
 
Charles Fazzino has been called one of the most famous pop artists in the world.
 
I've been a huge fan of his style of pop art since the minute I first saw it in a window decades ago in New York City. I would stand there and stare in the window amazed at every little intricate pop-up thing he thought of to make a piece come to life. Often because I was in NYC it would be NYC buildings and street scenes. But Charles does that for many cities around the world.
 
Charles likes to be called a pop culture historian. And I know he's got a bit of a sense of humor because of the way he does the layering of the pieces in his 3D art where he shows the best of pop culture and the best of people's lives in places and events around the world. And I do mean around the world. He’s become internationally renowned.
 
He gets commissioned to do pieces for the Grammys and The Olympics and The Super Bowl every year. When I saw his Super Bowl piece this year I was sparked to take a shot at seeing if he was around to join me on my show. We live in the same city but have never met.
 
I figured he’d say yes because I know he has a warm heart. He donates a lot of his pieces of art to help good causes raise money, one of which I personally helped auction off years ago at a charity function.
 
For those who still have never seen an unmistakable Fazzino work of art, I asked Charles to explain it to somebody in words?

“Yes, easy. I always tell people, if you're not looking at my artwork, or you're just seeing it online, or looking at it in a book or a magazine or whatever, it's hard to see the three dimensions. So, I describe it that it's kind of like a pop-out book, even a pop-out children's book, even though they're not, you know, children's artwork."
 
"When I was a kid, my mother was from Finland and she always collected these European pop-out books, and she had them all around the house.  My brother's sister and I were always enthralled with these cool pop-out books from Europe that were handmade, and she had hundreds of them.  So, when I went to school, I kind of, you know, I wanted to make a pop-out book and that's kind of like how it all started.”
 
Most of the time Charles is sitting at his desk and drawing artwork that touches many people young and old. The intricacy, the colors and the designs make people happy.
 
I asked him one of my signature questions.
How does your head work inside?
 
Meaning what is going on in his head all day long to be able to produce these kinds of unique pieces of work?
 
“Well, I think it's a lot of my if I was just an artist sitting in my studio drawing, I don't know if I'd have so many ideas as I do. And I can't even implement the idea. I get it, you know, it's just very, there's so many things I want to draw and so many things that I want to show through my artwork, but not enough time and not enough hours in the day to do it. So I think the travel, when I travel to certain places, it really gives me and opens up my eyes to a lot of the world. I always come back with new ideas. I always carry a little sketchbook. I have my phone at the ready whenever I'm traveling, taking pictures, and it helps and reminds me of what I saw and always gives me these new ideas. People always ask me, where do you come up with all these ideas? I say, well, a lot of it has to do with places that I go.”
 
One of his latest pieces pays homage to our oceans to bring awareness. It’s a departure for Charles artistically, because instead of drawing buildings he’s drawing sea life, and coral, and all the things that are under the sea.
“When you look at the piece, he says, “three quarters of it is ocean, but above the ocean, you'll look, and you can see cities fro

I can’t get enough of my friend Alvin Clayton. He is bursting with talent and great energy, and I think he makes the world a more beautiful place through all he does and especially through his art through which he tries to speak to people’s humanity. 
Recently I felt compelled to introduce Alvin to as many people as possible who may not know about him just to be able to see the amazing art he creates. Famous people collect his stuff. People like Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington and Halle Berry just to name a few.
Alvin has a fabulous restaurant in New Rochelle, NY called Alvin & Friends which has won many awards. The food is contemporary Caribbean with a Black American South influence, that caters to a discerning customers, and the vibe is always cool with live music often. 
A self -taught artist inspired by Matisse, Alvin's extraordinarily colorful art literally blasts from the walls of his restaurant.
My boyfriend Dave and I often pop in to Alvin’s for a drink and we love when Alvin comes over for a hug and hello and pulls out his phone to show us photos of the latest, greatest pieces of art he has created.  
 
Every single time I think to myself, my God this guy is ridiculously talented!
 
“Well, I think what I try to do with my art is it speaks to people's humanity. And I think our humanity is very much connected and is a common ground. And I think if you reach to humanity, color becomes out of the picture. You get yourself into that situation. So, what I try to do with my art is to bring the viewer into that moment or that situation and say, wow, you know what, I've experienced that with my friend. And it's not about color because we all experience it.” 
 
I don’t know how Alvin Clayton does it all. He’s married 30 years to a  brilliant beautiful woman, has three children, runs a bustling restaurant that is usually packed with interesting people from all walks of life, then goes home and stays up all night painting.
He’s a good-looking son-of-a-gun too and must not eat all that fabulous food he makes because he’s been a professional model for 25 years. Alvin was the first African American to have eight full pages in GQ magazine. He’s worked for every catalog you could think of, and done major campaigns for Banana Republic, and has shot for Ralph Lauren.
 
Maybe it’s all that worrying he does that keeps him thin. LOL 
“There could be 99 people in my restaurant having an amazing time and possibly one person that did not have the perfect experience and that would wake me out of my sleep. I mean, I’ve gotten a bit better on it, but that still bothers me. I'm genuinely people-oriented, and so my whole thing is to seeing people being in a good space and I think that's what I do with my art too.
 
Alvin Try’s To Paint Solutions To The Issues Bothering Us  
“I mean I paint what some of the issues are that are bothering us and dividing us or whatever, but while I'm painting that I'm also thinking okay we know what the bad things are, what are the solutions, right? And so that's always the final chapter of whatever I do, it's solution.”
Alvin believes, “We have more in common than we do that separates us”.
 
About His Painting of a Woman with Alzheimer’s He Just Showed Me

“Yes, so I was sitting next to this woman in the Dr’s office, her daughter brought her in actually, she had Alzheimer's and the daughter had to go in for her appointment. She asked me if I could keep an eye on her mom while she was in. I said, of course. And so while she was there, I was looking at her. She was dressed really lovely. You could tell she had style and grace. And there was something about her aura that just seemed to be, you could tell she was a beautiful person even though a lot was missing right now. And she was going into her pocketbook and somehow this image came out that she's searching for a pocketbook of lost memories. And so I took her picture and did th

I'm All About Innovation and Innovators So I Love This Story.
In his new book “Clean Economy Now: Stories from the Front Lines of an American Business Revolution" Bob Keefe the Executive Director of E2 a national nonpartisan business group of 10,000 business leaders which has been around for 25 years, describes his recent travels across the country. 
 
He wanted to witness first-hand all the clean energy projects in motion because of the significant private sector investment and job creation that’s happened incredibly fast over the past 20 months since The Inflation Reduction Act.
 
Bob checked in on my show live from the Annual Society of Environmental Journalists, at the University of Pennsylvania co-hosted by the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, in collaboration with the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
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He joined me live just minutes after the recent earthquake we had in the northeast rattled my radio studio in Greenwich CT.
 
Though the quake did hit parts of PA, and Bob and I had some fun talking about earthquakes in general since Bob is from L.A., Bob said he didn’t really feel it, but what he mentioned he was feeling is an economic earthquake.
 
It's an economic revolution like we haven't seen says Bob. And he’s making sure we are all paying attention.
 
“I truly believe that we are at the advent of an American economic revolution, the likes of which we have not seen in this country in generations, maybe if ever. And let me tell you why I say that.
 
“Right now, my organization is tracking clean energy job projects around the, or clean energy projects around the country since the passage of the landmark IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act and some other policies 20 months ago. And what we know is this, there are more than 300 major factories and other projects, clean energy projects, coming out of the ground across America right now. $118 billion worth of private sector investment. That's companies that are putting money into these projects. “
“These aren't government grants or loans. These are companies investing in America. A hundred thousand jobs have been already announced just in those past 20 months. When in this country have we ever seen 300 factories and other major projects coming out of the ground? When have we seen this kind of investment?”

“We have foreign companies that are investing in the United States and creating jobs here now versus taking American jobs and doing stuff overseas. And it's not just creating all this economic growth, it's putting America on competitive again with the rest of the world.”
 
“We understand that we can't have a good economy without a good environment, and we can't have a good environment without a good economy. “
 
Bob points out that In New York alone there have been about a dozen major projects that E2 has tracked. $800 million worth of private sector investment in New York from companies, 3,000 plus jobs created.
Bob and I talked about the offshore wind farm, the nation's first commercial offshore wind farm that just opened off Montauk, New York. Twelve turbines are going to provide enough juice for about 70,000 homes said Bob. And Bob mentioned there's another company that's building a converter station to essentially take offshore wind energy and convert it and get it onto the grid into people’s homes.
 
Bob and I discussed many specific projects, besides the offshore wind farms including solar panel factories, battery technology and the potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel. I was captivated by what’s happening and I think you will be too.
 
There’s company called Air Products is now going to clean hydrogen and they’re building one of the first factories in Messina, New York. In Connecticut, there's a company called Mott Corporation that's building filtration systems for use in things like this hydrogen. And mentioned there's another company called NEL, N-E-L, that relocated

Stephanie Stuckey a lawyer by trade, who spent 14 years in the Georgia House of Representatives and was also appointed along the way by the mayor of Atlanta as Atlanta’s 'Chief Resilience Officer', is sure showing how resilient she is. And how resilient her family business is!
 
Stephanie is now on the road herself promoting Stuckey’s Corporation - the iconic roadside stops famous for its pecan candies and souvenirs that her grandfather founded in 1937. She bought the company in 2019 for $500,000 and has been spearheading the brands big return.
 
It’s a big year for brand comebacks as evidenced by news that other companies like Crocs and Claire’s have made significant comebacks in recent years after hitting a low point financially and culturally in the late 2010s . According to Retail Brew the top executives of both those companies pointed to strategic shifts that emphasized allowing customer feedback to guide decisions.”
 
Stephanie Stuckey, the 3rd generation CEO of the family business, is creating a great business comeback story too. She’s making Stuckey’s both profitable and a household name again! And doing a great grassroots job of it.
 
When Stephanie bought Stuckey's, the company was operating at a deficit and had only 13 original free-standing stores in 10 states that still had the signature original teal roofs in addition to around 65 licensed Stuckey's Express store-within- a -store locations.
 
In 6 months, she restored Stuckey's to profitability, by shifting the focus from licensed Stuckey's store locations to the company's classic line of candies. She also expanded the brand back into manufacturing when she bought a pecan shelling and candy plant in Wrens, Georgia in 2021. Candy and nut sales have since increased to almost 50% of the company’s revenue as the brand expands to more national retail locations.
 
Stephanie is now taking road trips to promote pecans and the "great American road trip' both a big part of Stuckey's Corporation growth.
 
“I'm all over the country and here's why I'm traveling. I am giving speeches, and I am attending trade shows. So, it's not checking on stores per se because we don't own or operate the original Stuckey’s that were still standing. We have the rights to those stores and to our name so they can they pay us a licensing fee, but we don't own those stores. So really my trips are about I give speeches and I love talking to groups and sharing the Stuckey’s story. So, I speak at a lot of conferences, mostly corporate and associations and then I attend trade shows to get more retailers to sell our product and then wherever I go, part of the deal is usually my travels covered by the host of the event. My travel includes that I get a rental car so I will carve out an extra day. I'll ask for that's where I take a lot of road trips."

"And then I'll pull over and I'll find out from our team where is there a store in the area that carries Stuckey's products. So, there could be a little local ice cream shop that sells our candy, or we could reach off the chain so we're in Hobby Lobby and at home. So I like to also stop at retailers that don't carry our product and take photos and I evaluate what their back set looks like and then I'll reach out to them and say I love your store by the way I was here here's a photo of me at your store I would love to see you carry our product that's what's missing on your shelf and I've picked out a lot of accounts that way."

"I'm road tripping, but I'm also hustling. We're always hustling if we're entrepreneurs.”

Stephanie Stuckey hopes to eventually own a handful of Stuckey’s interstate stores to revive the original premise behind the company as a “roadside oasis” while continuing to build up the pecan side of the business to secure its future for another 85 years.
 
Speaking of pecans Stephanie shared a little a secret her grandfather taught her about how to open pecan

Seven Million People Are Living with Alzheimer’s Disease in the US. 80,000 in CT alone & twice as many unpaid family members and friends are providing their care. But the money being raised is making a difference. 
 
Nobody signs up for a brain disorder that gets worse over time. Alzheimer’s is a gradual decline in memory, thinking, behavior and social skills. These changes completely affect somebody's ability to function. 
 
The bad news is the number of people with Alzheimer’s is increasing, but the good news is there are real advancements in treatment. These advancements are being made possible by the continued donations to this cause. 
 
There’s a big gala benefit coming up in April in Greenwich CT (where I do my live show from) that hopes to help families in this dementia journey.
 
I invited Tim & Kelly Helstein the Chairs of The Alzheimer’s Association upcoming ‘Celebrating Hope Gala’ being held April 26th at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor in in Greenwich CT, to explain where the money raised goes to. They’ve been caregivers and know how hard it is.
 
Tim whose mom passed from Alzheimer’s shared; “My mother's life ended way too soon and no sot only is it something that Kelly and I are doing to honor my mother through this but also to help educate and care and prevent the future generations from having to go through what my family, what my father, what Kelly and I have had to go through. You know, we spend our days telling stories to our kids who love it. In the morning, they always say, you know, tell us a new story about Nanny. Tell us a story that was really funny.”

“It's because she can't share it herself. So really what Celebrating Hope is about is not only bringing awareness and celebrating all those who have moved on because of Alzheimer’s, but also celebrating the hope that we can change this, that tomorrow is a new day, that tomorrow the sun rises and there will be what we call a white flower, the first person who has overcome and has been cured from Alzheimer's. And science has been doing so much and the doctors and the FDA, and so we're excited to see what tomorrow does hold but it's going to be a gathering for all of us to really celebrate that hope.”
 
Kelly Helstein, Tim’s wife shared;  “Like Tim said you know we have three young kids and they are missing their grandmother so much and that’s a good background story about why we're involved, but also I want to point out that it's just a great way to honor those who are struggling with the disease. You know, that's the first reason we stepped into this role, but also it's giving us a platform to raise awareness and funds to support research and almost just empower others who  are going through the same experience just to link arm in arm and say, us too, and just share our story with them and they share it with others and just create awareness all around.”
 
The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research.
 
Kristen Cusato, the Director of Communication for the Alzheimer's Association Connecticut Chapter & New England Research Champion also joined the show. She discussed the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease and emphasized the importance of lifestyle interventions to reduce the risk.
 
Kristin also shared there are real advancements in treatment and that the availability of these treatments can change the course of the disease.
 
The powerful CT chapter offers 24/7 support for the public, healthcare professionals and caregivers. This chapter has influenced public policy changes and provided support to Alzheimer’s and dementia research in the hope of finding a cure.
 
There are many fundraising events held around the country to support Alzheimer's research and awareness. And the money is really making a difference. I encourage you to participate and support Alzheimer's research and awa

Have you heard about the AMAZING Prospector Theater in Ridgefield CT?
 
The Prospector Theater is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing competitive and inclusive employment to people with disabilities through the operation of a premium, first-run movie theater.
 
Employees of the Prospector, referred to as Prospects, are encouraged to sparkle, shine, and transform their passions into professions.
 
The Prospect Productions team creates high quality digital content for the Prospector Theater. Prospects working on the Production team learn in-demand trade skills such as storyboarding, filming, editing, sound & lighting design, post-production, audio engineering, photography, graphic design, animation, visual effects, and much more!
 
Video productions are used for pre-show content, educational experiences, PSAs, operating procedures, and entertainment!
 
 Over the last four years, Prospects have created over 1060 videos, garnering more than 17,000,000 views worldwide.
 
The Prospector Theater was founded by Valerie Jensen whose lifelong work started when her sister, Hope, was born in 1979 with Down syndrome.
 
Valerie Jensen and ‘Prospect’ Gabe Kavookijan joined me on the air to celebrated World Down Syndrome Day (March 21st).
 
Meet them both on this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show and hear all about the cool things they’re doing at The Prospector Theater in Ridgefield CT and …hear all about their new 'Down To Sparkle' Flavor of Popcorn! 
 
They have many flavors and buying popcorn