The Three Tomatoes Happy Hour

In this week’s Happy Hour episode, host Cheryl Benton explores a theme that’s both timely and timeless—kindness. What does it mean to do good in the world, and how can we amplify it through storytelling, creativity, andconnection? Joining Cheryl is the incomparable Valerie Smaldone, whose iconic voice many will recognize from her award-winning years on 106.7 Lite FM. Sherecently co-founded Just Do GOOD Entertainment, a production company devoted to uplifting, purpose-driven content. From spotlighting everyday heroes to crafting stories that heal and inspire, Valerie’s work is a testament to the power of media with heart.

We’re so excited to shine the spotlight on another womanbusiness owner. Cheryl Benton hosts Marina Monitto, a jewelry designer from Sicily, on the Three Tomatoes Happy Hour podcast. Marina shares her journey, inspired by her grandmother and mother's crochet and sewing skills, and taught the ancient Italian art of crochet by nuns, and how she reconnected with her roots during her battle with cancer. She founded Seekilia in 2018, creating unique crochetedjewelry and handbags. Marina emphasizes the storytelling behind each piece, such as the "Alma Trio" earrings representing her grandmother, mother, and herself. She aims to teach crochet to help others find peace and creativity. Her advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs is tostart small, enjoy the process, and follow their passion.

Laura Kass, a jewelry designer based in New York City, shared her journey from being a French teacher to a successful jewelry designer. She highlighted her unique pieces, including spectral light gems from Finland and Edison pearls from China, and her preference for Argentium silver. Laura emphasized the importance of creativity,customer interaction, and networking, crediting a jewelry marketing group for her business growth. She also discussed a significant piece she created for a friend's wedding, which touched her friend deeply. Laura advised aspiringdesigners to research their market and join supportive groups. She can be found online at lauracass.com and in stores in Soho and the Upper West Side.

In a new podcast series, called "Spotlight on Small Wonen Owned Businesses , we interviewed Oksana Pidhoreckyj , co-founder of Roman Empire Farms, a company that produced small-batch CBD Hemp products. She discusses her CBD hemp company based in upstate New York. Established in 2019, the company offers tinctures, gummies, and topicals for humans and pets, emphasizing natural, hand-planted, and hand-harvested products. Oksana and her partner, both media professionals, started the business after noticing the benefits of CBD for their senior cat. They use organic fertilizers and biodynamic growing methods. Despite challenges like weather and marketing, they aim to expand their product line and become a household name. Oksana advises entrepreneurs to persist through challenges.

Listen in to this fascinating conversation with Dr. Michael Lennox, a psychologist, astrologer, and an expert in dreams, and dream interruption. He says dreams are not mere figments of the imagination, but actually hold significant meaning and can even influence our reality. He is also a podcast host, and the author of several books, including the recently released, Psychic Dreamer: Exploring the Connection Between Dreams and Intuition. Learn more at https://michaellennox.com

Dr. Arthur Perry is one of the top plastic surgeons in the NYC area and he gave us an incredible rundown on the latest in injectables, plastic surgery and more for women past 50 and beyond, in this very information and education guide to rejuvenation. Learn more at https://perryplasticsurgery.com

What were the red flags? What Leslie has to do to “get whole”. Why Teresa should run for the hills. In this episode of The Three Tomatoes Happy Hour Podcast, Cheryl Benton, invited two relationship experts to delve into the intriguing world of the reality show, "The Golden Bachelor," featuring the charismatic 72-year-old Gary Turner and 22 women in their 60s and 70s vying for his heart. This unique take on the traditional Bachelor formula has sparked conversations about love, aging, and the pursuit of lasting relationships, with over 7 million viewers tuning in. To unravel the complexities of this golden quest for love are Beatty Cohan, a nationally recognized psychotherapist, sex therapist, author, and host of the Ask Beatty radio show; and Kailen Rosenberg, the Celebrity Love Architect, Relationship Expert, and Oprah's 'Love Ambassador,' who recently launched My Love Design, a groundbreaking platform for finding real love and fostering a better world. Tune in for a captivating exploration of the Golden Bachelor's quest for love, the intricacies of relationships, and valuable insights from our esteemed guests.

If you’re like me, almost every time you look in the mirror you see another sign of aging on your face—wrinkles that weren’t there yesterday, a mouth that looks like a scowl, and don’t even get me started on my sagging neck! Well this podcast is all about a fitness program for you face—exercises for your face that can enhance the appearance of your face – without fillers, Botox, or surgery! Meet Dr. Naeemah Ruffin who is changing the faces of women and men too, with a natural and noninvasive approach to achieving a youthful facial appearance. She is the Founder and CEO of Bellantz. She is a trained medical doctor who did her surgical and chief residency at the Icann school Medicine at Mt Sinai and did fellowships in dermopathology. Prior to become a doctor she was a CPA at a Fortune 20 financial services firm. In this fascinating interview, she explains we have over 50 muscles in our face, and how she developed her facial exercise programs. We also talked about how Botox can atrophy the muscles in your face, and then your face starts to sink in and then you need fillers, and then you’re down the rabbit hole of injectables. But within 4-6 weeks of facial exercises, you will start to see results. Listen into the podcast and learn more about Dr. Ruffin and her face fitness program at Bellantz.com

Are you feeling anxious & stressed? Do you have sleepless nights, are you finding less joy in your everyday life? Well you are not alone. Our podcast guest, Dr. Greg Hammer, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a pediatric intensive care physician, shares a proven path toward personal resilience can be implemented by anyone, anywhere, in just a few minutes a day. GAIN Without Pain, (the title of his bestselling book) is a four-step process toward happiness. GAIN is an acronym for Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment. The biggest takeaway? “Happiness is in the present moment.”

Dr. Jan Patterson is a cancer survivor, bereaved parent, and integrative medicine and infectious disease doctor who has practiced and taught medicine for thirty years. She and Phyllis Clark Nichols, an award-winning inspiration writer, who is also no stranger to grief and has been the caregiver to her husband for ten years through three battles with cancer, teamed up to write a book, Breath for the Soul: Self-Care Steps to Wellness they explore ways you can use your breath, movement, nutrition, and spirit to care and heal yourself. I’m so excited to have Dr. Jan Patterson here to talk about their book and to share some of the self-care steps to wellness. The book is available at Amazon and booksellers everywhere. Learn more at https://www.drjanpatterson.com/

What an education we got today from Dr. Fayne Frey, a board-certified dermatologist who has just written a book debunking everything we thought we knew about skincare products, called, “The Skin Care Hoax, How You’re Being Tricked into Buying Lotions, Potions & Wrinkle Cream.” Dr. Fayne Frey also has a fabulous website, FryFace.com, where she helps education consumers on how to choose the safest and most affordable skin care products.

We had a great conversation with producer Emily Wachtel who created and produced “The Last Movie Stars,” a beautiful and moving 6-part docuseries that takes us behind the curtain of these two iconic stars, Paul Newman, and Joanne Woodward. We learn so much about who they were as people, and it pays tribute to their legacies as actors, activists, philanthropists, parents, and friends. Emily shares how the series came about, landing Ethan Hawke as the director and wonderful insider stories on the making of this 6-part series. Emily is also a lifelong friend of the Newman/Woodward family and shares many wonderful personal anecdotes. Enjoy the podcast and watch the series, now streaming on HBO Max.

A feel-good movie just in time for the holidays, or anytime. Valerie Smaldone has taken her talents as one of the top voiceover people in the country (she’s a 5x Billboard Magazine winner), a fabulous interviewer, actress, producer, and now she has produced and directed her first feature film The Thursday Night Club that features Gloria Gaynor. It's now streaming on Pure Flix.

How would you like to improve your bone density, muscular strength, balance, and overall health In just 15 minutes, 1x a week? Shaw Hauver, owner of Osteostrong Park Avenue tells us all about this unique system to develop skeletal strength. And if you are in the NYC area, listen in to the end for a special offer for a free session and a special membership offer. Learn more here.

We Tomatoes all know that don't we? Our podcast guest today is Dr. Frieda Birnbaum who is redefining age to fit new social norms. Dr. Frieda as she is known, is a research psychologist, psychoanalytic therapist and author. She is living proof that age is no longer a limitation after having twins at age 60! We talk about that of course, and Dr. Frieda shares how important it is to stop limiting beliefs because you are never too old. Learn more at: www.drfrieda.com

Are you ready to make your dreams a reality? Sonia Satra tells us how she did that and how you can too. Sonia is a soap opera star, award-winning mind-body coach, and a motivational speaker. Her mission in life is to help people find their core purpose, overcome fear, and make their dreams a reality. She is an expert on the mind-body connection and her award-willing wellness company Moticise™, gives people the tools to set their lives in motion. Learn more at SoniaSatra.com

We had a lively conversation with Mariann Aalda, a “pro-aging evangelist,” on this week’s Happy Hour Podcast. Mariann is on a mission to change the perception that young is good and old is bad. She is an actress and a comic, and these days she uses her comedic skills to shine a light on ageism. Her popular TEDxTalk is called “Ageism is a bully”, her solo show, “Getting Old is a Bitch,” with performances around the country sells out, and her latest initiative is on Instagram called “Say Your Age, Loud and Proud.” Follow her on https://www.instagram.com/sayyourage_loudandproud/ For more entertaining and grown up fun, sign up for The Three Tomatoes newsletters.

We’re talking about money and finances which has a lot of us nervous in these uncertain times - COVID is still around, there’s a major war, inflation has hit record highs, and a recession could be around the corner. To help calm us down is Ella Newman, a top financial advisor at Norton Advisory Group where she helps people with retirement, estate, and business planning, life insurance, annuities, disability insurance and long-term care. You can reach Ella at ella@nortonadvisorygroup.com

After the slap heard 'round the world made headlines, the autoimmune disease Alopecia has been in the news. Jada Pinkett Smith has brought awareness to this condition and Amy Gibson has been dealing with this for most of her life. A former actress, she discovered she had alopecia at age 13 while on a soap opera. Years wearing wigs, and being ashamed, led her to eventually create her business createdhair.com. and her discreet wig business in Beverly Hills. Amy provides safe and comfortable solutions for women dealing with the effects of medical hair loss as well as those who want to feel more confident and increase their self-esteem. She is also the author of Sex, Wigs and Whispers - love and life with hair loss. Learn more here: https://createdhair.com/ For more grownup fun, sign up for The Three Tomatoes Newsletters.

If you’re ready to travel again, listen in to this week’s podcast with travel expert April Merenda, founder and CEO of Gutsy Women Travel, and author of “It’s your Life LIVE IT!”. April shares great advice and tips on traveling safely in a pandemic world – how to pick a destination, new types of travel insurance, her favorite destinations, and much more. Learn more at gutsywomentravel.com