SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, schools, jazz, unicorn, business, pandemic, books, grew, technology, create, children, knew, radio, kids, started, virtual, life, learn, person, teaching
SPEAKERS
Damon Pistulka, Lisa Caprelli
Damon Pistulka 00:05
All right, everyone. Welcome once again to the phases of business. I’m your host, Damon Pistulka. And with me today, I have Lisa, prolly. Thanks so much for being here, Lisa. Yes. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Damon, for having me on your wonderful show. Oh, awesome. Awesome. We can have you have you here today. Because I mean, your story is really cool. And the fact that you’re helping inspire children to read and be more confident about themselves, I just want to get into that as soon as we can. And and let you share your story. So the the interesting part when I look at your background, because we’ll start with your background and learn more about that as we as we go on here. So Can Can you share a little bit about your early days and radio and stuff? And because you got some interesting stuff there?
Lisa Caprelli 00:59
Yeah, absolutely. So I moved to California, where I live present day, 20 years ago, I moved here, the year of 911, who could forget that tech from Texas. So I was born and raised in Texas grew up a huge part of my life in El Paso, Texas, a border town, with little little opportunity, being Hispanic and being from a large family, as sometimes Hispanics are known for I grew up a very humble beginnings. So fast forward my way, 20 years ago to California, I immediately became an entrepreneur had, you know, for me, this part of the country has a really amazing entrepreneurial spirit. Yeah. And I was able to just connect with the right people and start up different businesses in the early 2000s. At the time, it was a mortgage and real estate company, and we leverage the power of radio radio advertising again, back then there wasn’t social media. Yeah, yeah. So the way to grow your message and get out there and get big radio was a medium. And so my partner and I, you know, took the chance on business that which is what you do when you create a business. Yeah. And we immediately did very well leveraging the power of ready radio and messaging and my background now is 30 years in marketing, and writing and, and getting people to, you know, call to action when you have a business product or service as you know, that’s what you’re there to, to to promote or sell. And so we got to then after a few years of advertising on different FM and am radio stations doing very well as our company was growing so rapidly, so grateful. here in California, we were offered a radio show our to promote and talk about how people can save money when it comes to finances home, which as we know, home is usually a big major purchase for people. So so we had a we started off with a host carry case, though whose case the case and starter and at back then I didn’t know anything about radio, what it meant, or how the format was doing, you know, a lot of fun for sure, a lot of cool people you meet in media. And so she taught us a lot and then we taught her a lot and and so from there, I it opened my mind to the the power of of marketing and promoting and sharing your messages in bigger ways, which would be FM am radio back then more social media today. You know, of course, there’s television, they’re streaming and all kinds of platforms, especially since a pandemic that many of us can get our message out there.
Damon Pistulka 03:31
Yeah, yeah, it is. It is interesting, you say because it wasn’t that many years ago, when you look at that look, like 15 years ago, you were still in is still in radio and producing radio shows. And now, the the radio is still there. But it’s much different because of the fact that social media has, you know, in about that time ago, really? Yeah,
Lisa Caprelli 03:54
yeah. And I wrote a book called The color your message, the art of digital marketing and social media, when things started changing in 2009 2011, because I knew that social media being technology was going to change the face of business. And I knew that people were going to be dinosaur business dinosaurs if they didn’t, you know, jump on the bandwagon. So I started teaching that and, and my clients back then I had different clients. And when I had my marketing agency, and I had to really teach them why you know what, what Twitter like, it took years before people sometimes got on Twitter, they thought it was good, oh, it’s gonna go away. And I’m like, it’s not gonna go away. You know, technology is anything invented after you were born. And so I knew that I needed to understand and change with the time just like many of us have to change with the pandemic.
Damon Pistulka 04:44
Yeah, yeah. Well, that is it is and thinking back to that time, because now we can hardly think about a time before social media, right. I mean, you and I are all doing Google. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I would say yes. I was. I was And doing a webinar a few few Well, it’s been over a month ago now. And I was explaining that I was going through it and, and you know, when you look back at it, it wasn’t, it was only about 25 years ago when high speed internet was, I think it was a night, mid 90s or something like that, you know, and you think about that, and you think about how far we’ve came from then till now.
Lisa Caprelli 05:24
My I mean, you think I mean, you think blockbuster, which was, you know, everywhere. And then internet flicks just like that, that changed the face of business. And, again, I always, you know, say what would have happened if blockbuster was a little more innovative, saying, what are those guys doing over there? You know, yeah. And, and look at how, since the pandemic, how streaming is just, you know, you cannot have enough content, we as consumers, so I, you know, my background being in social psychology, I’ve always been interested in studying, you know, what makes people do things in, in all different target audiences. So, I would say that that’s been a big competitive advantage of mine, but by understanding the psychology of marketing of that,
Damon Pistulka 06:05
yeah, yeah. Because there is there is a lot of psychology behind it. And providing people what they want, really and understanding what that is, and looking at it from their viewpoint. Absolutely. Yeah. So so you’re doing the radio thing. And that’s, that’s working out. And then you’re you’re doing the marketing because PR, marketing consulting, and you’re, you’re rolling along and radio, and you decided to write the book, you wrote the book, that color, color your message. So you’re talking about the digital change. And and you’re continuing on, and you get to what you’re working on today. And this is this is what drew me in when we started talking about having you on the show, because I love kids, if there’s anybody that I that I mean, it’s like I told my wife if I would have known kids are so much fun. We would had six Oh, yes. And and you know, the so you you started working with unicorn jazz. So let’s talk. That’s, that’s like this? Where did that come from right
Lisa Caprelli 07:10
now. You know, it’s so part of my world. I wish I had started unicorn jazz 20 some years ago, but it took me all of that to get to where I’m at. Before I quickly started by unicorn jazz. I went on a two and a half year journey of researching and writing, skip a step, which is and this is the journal that accompanies that, where I interviewed 13 different notable entrepreneur leaders and wanted to ask them, what would you ask your younger self, if you could skip steps, you know, because, you know, I, by this time, I’m helping different companies. And again, here’s me a girl, or girl they grew up with, you know, a very poor and changed my life through education. And many people have their stories of growing up with humble beginnings. But I started seeing well what would I tell my younger self if I could have you know, skipped steps and really learned what I love to do in a faster way and a happier way? And so my questions to them were about like, what is the meaning of life to you? What makes for happiness? What Yeah, you know, different things, Michael Gerber, six times New York Times, bestselling author Joe Garner’s some amazing people in here, from doing all this at the end of the walk, and after two and a half years, which it’s it’s a lot of work to publish a book, but I like to finish what I start, um, I just, I, their common answers were, you know, the meaning of life is to create, it’s to have vision, it’s to build a team, it’s to do what you love, you know, things that that we kind of, have heard you before. Yeah. And so at that time, I was like, now I wanted to do what I wanted to do and create a brand of my own that would be lasting, and, and into, you know, writing children’s books, and I’m really fast and quick at storytelling. A lot of people maybe don’t know that about me. Because I grew up really shy, like unicorn jazz. My only voice was on paper growing up. So I spent a lifetime of writing, thinking and producing fast results when when it comes to that. So I knew I wanted to make a brand around a unicorn, kind of like there’s Hello Kitty. There’s Mickey Mouse, there’s, you know, jazz. So she has a musical note for a tail as you can see, yeah, and I have different I have many books in the series. And I’m being asked to write more when I go and present it to schools in you know, school assembly style and speak get to have the honor of speaking to all the children. You know, I get to encourage them about the importance of literacy, reading, writing, and really go back into it’s really for me also going back to my seven year old self, yeah, someone someone coming in and inspiring them to show them that you can do anything you want. I’m proof of that. Just like there’s many people that you can do. And they get really excited about it and during the pandemic because I wasn’t able to go into schools and my life changed like many I decided to do a show And because I do have a background in broadcast and in radio, I knew I could do it. There was a lot of challenges, but I figured them out as we all do as business owners. And so I got my two characters, unicorn jazz and trees geeky zebra corn, and created a show called unicorn jazz presents the thing I do, which is now an Amazon TV. We have a season coming out this summer. So it’s just been a whirlwind of Yes, so much fun happiness, and a way to inspire others, especially at a young age.
Damon Pistulka 10:32
Yeah, yeah. So so let’s just back up a little bit because when you’re writing the the book about digital marketing the color your message, and then you wrote skip a step. Now when you’re doing this skip a step. Do you think that kind of inspired you to then just go do something that you really were passionate about? And just look at unicorn jazz and go, man, I really want to help children.
Lisa Caprelli 10:58
Yeah, yeah, I didn’t know how much fun I was gonna have working with children because I tell people I’m like Jim Benjamin Button in business. I started with adults. Then I did skip a step, which has been, you know, for young entrepreneur minds. Yeah, no. And then I’m working with children elementary and I now I’ve been babies because I have baby board books coming on, I get to write songs now and, and really, you know, created a brand it wasn’t my goal wasn’t to just create books that that I’m gonna say kind of is on the easy side. For me. I’m grateful for my illustrator Davey Villalobos, who’s also from Texas and happens to be my cousin and his dream was to be an illustrator. So I brought a lot of people on the way and and you know, everything I do with unicorn, Jazz’s as a company is teamwork. Like I need an illustrator, I need this professional singers. Well, I’m not a singer, I wish it was but it’s it’s also about teaching people that you need a team to grow. So when for me I’m the spokesperson and representative of unicorn jazz and grateful and honored but there’s hundreds of people behind the scenes helping and and pushing me and, and helping to share as unicorn jazz has been called a movement really, especially since the pandemic, as I started connecting with people that had time professional kid actors, Emily is the belle of Broadway singer, red Drennan, an actor, singer, all kinds of kids that had the time to give their talents. So it’s leveraging the silver lining in the pandemic is, which is what I did. And now I have all this incredible content going forward. That is, is we purposeful, and timeless in the sense and so even though I took a huge step back like many of us didn’t pandemic, the steps forward are, are insurmountable for sure.
Damon Pistulka 12:42
Yeah. So you were before the before COVID hit last year, you were doing unicorn jazz in person, you are going yeah, you’re speaking and stuff like that. So. So it had to be quite quite an interruption in your life.
Lisa Caprelli 12:57
I was on a tour to go out to schools all over the country, and I was getting booked very quickly, I will say I’m leveraging my background in marketing. So I was able to, to do really good pieces, promoting it on social media, and, and getting on news in different cities. And, you know, place school librarians, principals, you know, they want they wanted me to bring the experience I was giving in making education literacy fun with entertainment, but of course learning just like Sesame Street is a lot of fun, but we still learn which I love Sesame Street, by the way. And so then enter, you know, march of 2000 you know, that last year? And I I think for two weeks I was kind of like no I’m like everyone like what’s happening here and realizing that the aft I knew immediately the aftermath was going to be greater than 911 than the recession. I knew that by studying the pace of business and rather than I started going to Facebook groups study the conversations you know, the worry that again, overnight, everything changed and school schools being my main you know, bread and butter into promoting the work I do with children. You know, I was hearing from conversations of everyone and I it took me two weeks and then I said you know instead of what can I can’t I do What can I do? And I said I need to do a show and I will tell you that to be in front of the camera and screen is not my favorite thing I was the person that put you up there and helped you and coach you. So to be here it was a lot of work and and it was not my favorite thing to do I in front of a camera with no you know, you have no energy like, you know, we’ve all learned how to connect on platforms like this and so but I still kept going and I you know would learn along the way and I had a set of following of people like watching like what do you do with puppets at first we would do using sock puppets. Yeah. And and I was just getting people to sit in their content via videos giving you tips on how to do it. You know, most people have an iPhone. Thank God for technology again. Yeah, and It’s, it was just piecing together what you know, the the thing I do show is is based on my book, The thing I do based on a song thing I do. And I it’s been described as a modern day Sesame Street work people, kids or adults can send in their content all pieced together into a show.
Damon Pistulka 15:15
Wow. So so let’s just back up a little bit, because there’s a lot in there. There’s a lot in there. I’m writing some notes. I’m trying to keep up with you here a little bit, because there’s a lot of good stuff. So you you went from, okay, I’m, I’m on the road, I know what I’m doing. I’ve got my road show, you know, we all know that that routine, you’re just like, I’m going from city to city, you know, and you’re doing that, then all of a sudden, that’s interrupted. And you said, we got to take this virtual?
15:45
Yeah, now.
Damon Pistulka 15:47
And so you’re you just because this is a lot, I’m still trying to understand. Because, Eddie, I know, it’s I know, it’s natural to you. But I think to the outsider, this is an awful lot because you took what you’re doing in person and tried to recreate it online. And you have and, and so you’re having outside people help you create the content. And you were stitching this together into a virtual show?
Lisa Caprelli 16:17
Yes. And I mean, it wasn’t, you know, it was what was hard was the amount of time and work I was probably working 12 to 16 hours a day. Yeah, putting out to get my vision. And I was the kind of person who likes just see things come true. That’s the visionary in me. And that’s what many of the people in that I interviewed did. And so, again, a lot of fun laughing along the way, my my son who’s a nurse, he’s 30 years old now. And he plays the voice of chazy key. So we figured out how to use platforms like stream yard that we’re on right now. And how to patch into people. I made a game show, I just started inventing things that were fun. Yeah. Again, I would just put myself in the seven year old age space with knowledge. And, and I already had a good grasp of technology. And and that was very helpful. I know how things work. And, and I was behind the scenes directing. I was creating songs because we couldn’t use copyright. Right? Yeah. So I was asking people do you have songs and people were either donating songs, they were good. And then I just started learning. And I just hired a singer, songwriter, musician to I said, Can you help me create songs teach me how to do it. And you know, I’m on a on a shoestring budget. So you know, Baby Einstein was started in a woman’s garage, and it went off to make, you know, millions of dollars. So for me, I was like, Well, you know, she did it. I could figure this out, in a different way, a modern way and very, very cost effective way.
Damon Pistulka 17:43
Yeah, yeah. Cuz it’s not like you’re sitting there with millions of dollars just to you know, in a studio behind Yeah, and all these creatives that are around, you’re ready to go you started from I’m on the road, to I’m doing what I can do in very quickly and just started doing.
Lisa Caprelli 18:00
Yeah, well, and I’m so grateful that I worked with some young people on my team interns, college students that I’ve trained, and, and they are ready with me. And so we did switch overnight pretty quickly. And I just started directing like, this is what you do outsourcing, which many of us do today in business, you know, I was already working from home for years. So I learned how to work from home. I worked with people all over the country, sometimes in different parts of the world. So it you know, I it wasn’t hard, it just was time consuming. And yeah, and once I developed a theme and rhythm and and people started seeing she’s really doing this, you know, she went from sock puppets to some some fun puppets, which you know, we can certainly grow with more as as we want. But the best part of it was working with professional kids. You know, Emily Isabel, she’s a Broadway singer that had toured in 83 cities, and she just turned 13, I started developing relationships with the parents, typically the moms, you have to go to the parents before you talk to them. And I started working when I went with the kids and I started working with even branding them or bringing them with me on the virtual school visits because I everything I started going virtual quickly. And I would so virtual school visits were like a show, they didn’t know that they were going to get a five minute mini The thing I do have a video shows where I had all the kids merge together. I like to eat because it makes my imagination come alive. And it’s not me saying it’s all these different kids merge together. So yeah, so the kids were and schools were blown away because we gave them an experience and teaching. And now when I go back to school in person, it’s you know, when people say what’s your competitive advantage, and as we know, in business that’s very important. Is any other children’s author doing this? I don’t know anyone that is I am actually on a Facebook group of 6000 plus children’s authors and illustrators. Everyone said they they couldn’t they just they support that what we’re doing, and I’m grateful to spread the good work and grace of other people. I didn’t know My marketing background would help me that much I took it for granted.
Damon Pistulka 20:04
Yeah. And that’s, that’s what I think, too is, is by, by just, you know, switching to the virtual as quickly as you did and as effectively as you as you did, you’ve now created an additional way to be able to reach people and they know that the virtual experience, while it’s not the same as an in person experience, it might be the appropriate experience for them. So, you know, one of the things that well, in fact, I was on a committee today, we were talking about the, the the long term changes in the way that we do business and the way that we just do do things in general. And I really think that there will be a place for the virtual, because you can’t be in every school. But you can, you can certainly have a break in your travel schedule that allows you to hit a whole bunch of schools. Yeah, in a really quick, efficient and efficient time manner. You know, one day a week, or two days a week. Oh, last week,
Lisa Caprelli 21:04
yeah, I could go into my green screen studio and be in New York in one hour, the next hour in Texas. And yeah, I was doing that. And whether it was a classroom of school, when a teacher would reach out to me, I would say, Well, how about we just present to you entire school in sessions. So I was leading the way it was done as well. And they would take in my advice, because I knew what I was capable of. And I’m like you just said, I said, Well, you know, I could you know, like for special days, like, like, Read Across America, which is typically March 3, I I’m envisioning. I was envisioning that this year, because schools now got technology. First people have to learn how to use it. Yeah, where you can propose it. And I said, Well, next year, I could be in multiple schools really around the world. And I know, it’s just court coordination, you know?
Damon Pistulka 21:50
Yeah, yeah. Cuz, because I never even thought about that. Now. Because the technology hurdle is over, it’s gone. It’s a, you know, it doesn’t matter if you’re in first grade or your 12th grade, you know, all those kids have have had to overcome that hurdle. So for your, from your standpoint, it just allows you to communicate the message and help more people faster.
Lisa Caprelli 22:11
Absolutely. And people still gonna want in person because they want like, man, just just like, we want to go to live music concert, right? Listen to on TV and radio, but we want people. So I know that the future of unicorn jazz and reaching people is going to be touring the world in the you know, the country. I mean, I know without a doubt, I that was my dream. And I knew I was going to take this pandemic time that we had no clue how long that’s going to be. To create lots of content and not you know, I never watched the news. I, I wasn’t my thing was like, let’s be the leaders of happiness for children. Do you want to join me, and, and peep and it really made people happy to see the results. And it made, it helped the children who wanted to do something and, and because a lot of the parents maybe didn’t know, technology, so I was like, let me just talk to your child and skipping, you know, once they trusted me, and it got to the point where kids would just start facetiming me. And, and, and helping them I’m working one on one with kids. And I was just happy to you know, we wanted human connection during the pandemic. So I was happy to talk to like anyone, but of course, when it’s aligned with the work you’re doing, that was even better.
Damon Pistulka 23:20
Yeah. Yeah. So it’s, it’s an amazing story. Yeah. I mean, just when you think about because I am I’m really boggle because I, I myself, we, our business was fortunate that the impact of COVID was minimal. But we knew that and then we knew that we had to be more virtual, we started virtual in 2019. So we were that part of it for us was simple. already going that way. But, you know, the, the doing live streaming and all that, that that is a result of, of COVID and, and the outreach and the amount of, you know, community building that we’ve been able to do with it is phenomenal. And I can I can envision the the little bit of work that I’ve had to do and what we’ve had to do as a company to put to put what we did in action to actually produce go from where you’re at, to be producing something that’s on Apple TV. That’s amazing.
Lisa Caprelli 24:18
Thank you, I it was a lot of teamwork. I’m just a spokesperson and and a lot of people believe in ideas. And you know, I’ve been doing, you know, producing great content for a while for the different companies and people I’ve been so a lot of times people are just like anything you’re doing we want to be part of it, you know, and granted, I made of course made mistakes along the way. But, um, yeah, it was really the blessing of technology and and people forced to learn it, you know, and it helped it was gonna help me no matter what it just yeah, it made it happen faster, like you said, but I look forward to the day to going back into schools in the new school year and onwards. And I’m grateful I have a publicist Tara, you know that, you know, basis On all the good graces we did during the pandemic and and going on into pop great podcast platforms like yours, you magazines, and, and sharing. And then really going back to the children, a lot of children they know what green screen is, but they want to learn behind the scenes intricacies of things. And I’m able to show them because they’re very curious about that and think about how, how rapidly schools now have to teach how to adapt because the kids are learning faster than, than us and sometimes, right?
Damon Pistulka 25:26
Yes, yes. It’s funny, you say that I’ve got a friend, his son that’s 13 that loves filming loves to do it. And he’s since got in the green screen, multiple cameras and all the all the things that he can do to actually create, create shows that he then a then writes and produces and, and puts them on YouTube and does that and it’s, it is cool. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Definitely, definitely. And I’ve always thought it was super cool, because you think about it, and when you grew up, or even or when I grew up even more, so that was not even a possibility. Can you no possibility? I mean, I wasn’t even I mean, what does he mean in our scope of reality at that point, that, that you would be able to sit at home, produce something like you can produce now with an iPhone, and and then distribute it everywhere? And in a matter of minutes, honestly, and to allow the creative nature that, that and to to develop the creative nature that you can, you know, because you talked about the kids that you’re teaching in my friend with his son, starting to develop that at that age, by the time you’re an adult and into into the into that part of your life, you could be absolutely phenomenal.
Lisa Caprelli 26:50
Oh my God, if someone would have given me all this stuff, when I was seven, to create and do, which we didn’t have, but yes, um, so the thing I do, which is my one of my books, and the name of the show, is does exactly that. It’s to inspire people, you know, starting with kids to do their interest if they’d like to sing encouraged them to skiing, not everyone is meant to be a doctor, lawyer, things that were told you should be because they make a lot of money type thing. Technology is so imperative. You know, we’re I mean, pretty much, you know, kids grew up with their phones in their pockets, something we didn’t do, you know, you and i, you and i have more digital immigrants, where the kids are digital, digital natives. And so so if you don’t know, technology, you’re afraid of it. And, and it’s just not your favorite thing. It’s, you know, you got to get people on your team. They are I own video editing last year, something I swore I wasn’t going to do, because again, another creative thing, which I love to create. And I had to because I didn’t have enough people helping me, I was like waiting for the thing to get edited. So I just, I told my 16 year old, what’s some software I need to learn? They got me in software, my 16 year old is actually YouTuber who started when he was seven. So yeah, the, the apple doesn’t fall far as I’m told. So but again, this when I had in, in high school is when I got introduced to computers to the technology world, I was really excited about it, I didn’t know that that’s that learning it as much as I can, was going to help me it was almost just like, learning how to use, you know, things that we have to use every day. So it’s important for people that, you know, I say, typically are over 3040 years old, to, to, you know, learn as much as you can, sometimes it’s kind of gonna feel like you’re like going back to school, while the kids are in school. This is very common for them. They’re just so hungry, they want to learn more, they want to create more. And because of all this, these apps and technology and things that we all have the capability of doing, the sky’s the limit, you could take lessons on YouTube, you know, learn from YouTube today, something you and I didn’t have. So it’s an exciting, it’s an exciting time to be alive. It’s exciting time, as we’re all living longer and longer. As we know, 10,000 people turn 65 each and every day, we’re living longer. And so it’s it’s just a way to to do more. And, you know, with your life and skill set, and I think it’s exciting.
Damon Pistulka 29:10
Yeah, it is. And it’s like you said it’s continuing to evolve as we age. I mean, I think that’s the cool part about what the the technology and the way that you’ve utilized it is is really cool because I see a lot of people in my work in the in the kind of things that I do when I’m helping people develop their business to the point to where they can sell it and then go on to the next step in their life. Whatever it is. I’m seeing a lot of people that are really going back and reinventing themselves and going okay, now I want to do, I did take that path of being this kind of business person, but that’s not my real passion here is my passion and going on and learning something that they always wanted to do and do that. So that’s cool. That’s cool that you’re talking about that. So So, what? What does 2021 look like for you? So schools going to start back up the last half of 2021? We know what the past was. But the last half I mean, in schools are kind of starting back up. So are you going to be back on a more normal travel routine? Are you going to do something that’s a mix of virtual and travel? Or what do you do?
Lisa Caprelli 30:20
You know, I’m going with the pace of business and what it brings me with the change, I’m for sure, going back into schools in person, I’m really getting requested again, you know, at the mercy of schools, and everything changes and principals and all those people that make the decision school librarians, I’m kind of ready for anything, and I am ready to go the route of the media and continue to to create great more content, for the next season of the thing I do, the thing I do well is on Amazon TV, and Amazon Prime, we have five episodes, for our season one launching this summer, so we’d love for you all to look for that. But going in person on I never want to stop doing this with the same way that a singer, you know, go does a tour of concerts. Yeah, you know, um, I’ll tell you being in front of children, and having that privilege and opportunity when I’m live in front, looking them in the eye and connecting selling book signing books, which that’s just the word of it all. And is the best days of my life. And so as much as I expend a lot of energy, sharing messages all day long to the students and, and high energy high pace again, I’m the I was the shy one. They know that shyness has gone on, and then telling me I’m shy too. And just telling there’s nothing wrong with being who you are, you know, and embrace that. If I wasn’t shy, I wouldn’t be a writer today, because my only voice was on paper for a large part of my life. If I was talking what what I wouldn’t have been right? Yes.
Damon Pistulka 31:46
Yes, that’s, that’s, that’s, that’s a great way to explain it. And I’m sure the kids can, can can connect with it, because it does take, it does take the you know, in your case, a, a higher mission, almost, that that forces you out of your shell. But once you get out, and you realize this is really what you’re passionate about, it allows you to just go do something that wasn’t normal to you before you
Lisa Caprelli 32:11
have to I mean, there’s a saying if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me, and, and you have to get out of your comfort zone. That’s what life is about. And if you believe in what you’re doing, and you’re passionate about it, you know, my my grandmother only had a fifth grade education, she was forced to quit school because her mother died at a young age and, and so she always said to us, you know, at least to get an education and I just knew like, I’m going to do what grandma says, I’m going to get an education, and learn and learn and learn. So she would be very proud of of the unicorn jazz and the work that’s to come. And the legacy that you know, one day when I pass on this earth, as we all do, that there’s going to be a lot of meaningful work for the generations to come. And and that’s just something that warms my heart and I’ll never be happy for that.
Damon Pistulka 32:57
Yeah, yeah, that’s something that I mean, you’re you’re positively affecting the next generations. And that’s really cool. That’s really cool. So with your with your cell, you’re going to be out to schools, and you’re going to be working on your next next name.
Lisa Caprelli 33:18
JOHN, oh, yeah, I mean, okay. I mean, I hope to do at least 50 books in the unicorn jazz series, if I’m blessed to live that long and possibly more get a writing team one day. Yeah, well, I have, you know, a social media team that I’m growing and, and, you know, it’s, it’s not, it’s nothing I haven’t done before, as far as, you know, yeah. Growing with the pace of business, um, it’s just for me is, is how quickly and how effectively and, and smartly, you know, having the balance of life to get out and do that, but I’ll tell you, it’s a lot of fun and the people in my life, but I have a lot of support. And when I go to schools, I magically have people volunteering to help and, and part of it and it’s really because of the experience they’re getting as well. And, and, but it did start as a seed as a concept as a vision with your jazz when I told my illustrator who’s my cousin, you know, what, and he’s, he drew the very first unicorn jazz photos that got texted to me and and just knowing that we would figure out things along the way, knowing that our books would get better and better. And it’s, that’s what it’s
Damon Pistulka 34:31
what’s the coolest story? I mean, because you think about it, just it’s just, you were there. You just decided you wanted to do it. And and you didn’t, you know, because a lot of people will write a book and they’ll go and they’ll find a publisher and that publisher, but you did it yourself and I think that’s pretty cool because of the initiative to do it and you involve your family in it and friends and, and I’ve been building a team along the way and it is it is this Now that we talk about it right now that we sat here and talked about this, I can see how your career up into this up until this just prepared you for that it. Yeah, yeah. Because you can, you can get it now because you go, okay, from radio to marketing to writing children’s and doing children’s stuff and you’re like, how does that go? But then when you hear you speak about it, and you see your enthusiasm on it, it kind of connects the dots really well. And people that that hear this will definitely understand why, why it makes so much sense for you to be doing what you’re doing now.
Lisa Caprelli 35:37
To do what you love, everyone should do what they love, learn multiple things, maybe. But yes, and I just turned 50 this year, but yeah, I’m gonna use the show when people say cuz people that knew me on the business side, they’re like, why children’s books, you know, what’s that, and, and, you know, for many things, it was a way for me to visit my own childhood and what would be the stories I wanted, um, knowing that I have all this experience and in going back and putting the books on the shelves, and again, to realize that all my different books, I’ve written 60 books, 16 books, so far in counting six in the children’s space, that I look at the libraries I look at, you know, they’re important to nobles, and you can ask them by request or an Amazon Of course, and just to think, like, they’re gonna be there for a long time, you know, like, Yeah, I did, I didn’t know I was gonna do that. But yeah, again, it’s been the working good grace of so many people the grace of God. And, and, you know, practicing what you preach and, and, you know, giving good messages and backing them up with stories with songs. I mean, it’s it’s just so much fun. I I sometimes if I didn’t have to sleep I keep warm, but you know, yeah,
Damon Pistulka 36:46
no doubt, no doubt. And you can see you’re passionate about you know, about your passion about unicorns as a passionate about helping children behind that, and how that would drive you forward. And, and really, When, when, like I said, when you hear your background and you understand the business and how it translates into your passion now you can see how what you’ve learned helped you to really be be successful and focused and move forward with with unicorn jazz and enrolling into the, to the, the, the television series and yeah, and the the additional books and the virtual and all that is so cool.
Lisa Caprelli 37:27
Yeah, and then, you know, children can start. I mean, you can be a child and start a business with some help and things like that. And I’m very proud of, of all our unicorn jazz kids that I connect with, because I’m going to get to see them grow up. And you know, me being a visionary. I tell one day when we go on, like shows like Good Morning America today, today’s show, they’re coming with me like I’m not doing this alone. And and I get to to say look at these kids. And by the way, when they’re interviewed unchosen and love to invite them to your shows, they’re really really good to see these little kids that are business minded, performing and and speaking humbly from the heart. Um, it’s, it’s just so much fun, because I brought them into a lot of my virtual visits to the kids again, who are kids gonna relate to kids? puppets, you know, I’m happy to be a teacher in that sense. But I always have to put myself in the shoes of a first grader. And it’s to the point where any, anytime someone teaches me something new, I say, Tell me like, I’m a first grader, the same way I have to put my mind into how are they going to receive the information. And, and again, they want it fast paced. And I knew that because my son who is going to be a YouTuber, he, he does these try not to laugh videos, there are six seconds and then switches. And he started getting a million views a day years ago. And I was like, What? And like, how did you do that? And, and then I started studying the psychology of why do these young people want something so fast? Because, you know, I want it to be longer than six seconds, you know, and he merges it together. So some of those things I started paying attention to. So you have to pay attention to what your target audience how long they would want it. So that’s why like the thing I do show it’s also very fast, not six seconds, but I don’t let you know if there’s a message or like our puppet Game Show. If we record it behind the scenes for 20 minutes. I know it’s gonna be edited down for two minutes, you know?
Damon Pistulka 39:19
Yeah, yeah. Well, so one thing then what is the YouTube channel of your sons? I’ve got to check it out.
Lisa Caprelli 39:25
It’s um, it’s try not to laugh trade jam. If you go to tr e y, jam, calm, j m calm. And that’s all he’s done. And honestly, like, he is so humble. He you don’t know he has a YouTube channel until you find out about it. And you know, for him it was just it was it’s been a hobby he just grew up in be a doctor, you know, possibly and I tell him you might do many things you might use to be innovative and change you know, medicine in your in your field because, um, you know, that’s that’s what the power of technology can do. Yeah. So He’s very, very, very smart. And he knows how to figure things out using Google and YouTube. Really, I mean, he, it was to the point where you know him, he was in a private school, and everyone had tutors and, and, and he said to me, Mom, I don’t need a tutor. I just like, find them on YouTube. He I said, well, thank you. Thank you for saving me. Yeah. And so, you know, um, there’s always a way to figure it out. We I believe technology is really just one of our best friends. I think that everyone should learn more of.
Damon Pistulka 40:34
Yeah, yeah, definitely. When you when you continue to learn no matter what it is in technologies that the discussion right now, but when you just continue to be curious and learn and, and try to, like you said, you said this a bit ago, what can I do now? What can’t I do? And when you focus on what you can do, and then just keep moving down that path, I think people would see they would, they would find the success like you have where you just said, I’m gonna do what I can and I’m gonna keep going and things open up keep creating, learning
Lisa Caprelli 41:04
learning is to create a more things, Michael Gerber, who had to be my first chapter because he’s a he was 80 years old, when I interviewed him, he interviewed him and he’s, he’s still alive and always doing interviews and loves getting his messages out. When I asked him what is the meaning of life, which was one of my last questions to him, and he’s like, why is to create, you know, so I just was like, Ingo, you know, that’s what, that’s what’s gonna be my life too. And many people Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 41:31
Awesome. Well, Lisa, it’s been wonderful talking with you, I tell you, it’s hearing your background and understanding your business understanding the story behind unicorn jazz now and why you’ve done it brings the the picture clarity to the picture. And I am sure that this is going to be popular for years to come because the energy you bring and the passion surely has to connect with the children to help them be inspired, to be to read to be creative, and just inspire them to think beyond where they are right now and to what they can do and the possibilities of what they can do.
Lisa Caprelli 42:14
Oh, these children are future going. Green I can like they’re really like that’s why I’m like I have to keep learning because they’re, they’re gonna learn faster.
Damon Pistulka 42:24
Yeah, we have to keep up. So yes, it’s wonderful having you on today. So if people want to talk to you about coming to your their school or talk to you, is LinkedIn a good place to get a hold of you.
Lisa Caprelli 42:37
LinkedIn, you could go to unicorn jazz calm. I’m very good find on on any social media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, okay. So please connect with me. I look forward to the day that unicorn jazz is a household name. All my books are on YouTube. You could preview them, their songs are on all music platform. We have nine songs and a children’s album out as well. And I appreciate the opportunity to connect with your viewers and listeners on your wonderful show. Thank you, Damon.
Damon Pistulka 43:06
Thanks so much, Lisa. And for everyone else. We will be back again next week. We got one show next week because our Thursday edition is not going to happen because we’re going to celebrate the Fourth of July by taking some time off and awesome seeing the unicorn jazz folks here talking to Lisa Braley. But stop back again next Tuesday at 3pm pacific time, and we’ll be back again with another interesting person sharing their story about business and life. Thanks
