Podcast Episode 312: The Secret to Balancing Broadway and Motherhood Transcripts

Please note: Transcripts for the No Guilt Mom Podcast were created using AI. As a result, there may be some minor errors.

Mandy Gonzalez: It’s really hard, but you have to make the time. I think the biggest thing that I learned is really to be honest. To be honest with her and to really let her know, okay, these are the times that I’m going to be there. And when you give that kind of schedule to show up

JoAnn Crohn: Welcome to the No Guilt Mom podcast. I’m your host, JoAnn Crohn joined here by the lovely Brie Tucker.

Brie Tucker: Why hello, everybody. How are you?

JoAnn Crohn: We have such a great episode today because we are talking with a Broadway actress. She’s been in Hamilton. She has been in, in the Heights. She actually originated a role and in the Heights and she’s a mom. And so I feel like this is so like. Such a good conversation because we all have these dreams that sometimes we put aside to have kids. And I think talking to Mandy today, Brie, we saw , it doesn’t have to be that way.

Brie Tucker: I think the part that really got me and the two of you, I swear to God, you guys are like best friends, just separated by coasts.

JoAnn Crohn: No.

Brie Tucker: She’s East Coast, you’re West Coast. But I mean, she had a dream. She had something she wanted to do. She felt very strongly about how she wanted to do it and it wasn’t going to fit into the typical box.

So she just created her own box. And it’s worked out so well. And I just, ah, I’m so excited. The things that her daughter is going to be amazing with all the stuff that she has seen and learning from her experiences. It’s amazing.

JoAnn Crohn: So Mandy Gonzalez is an accomplished film TV stage actor and author of the fearless book series. We didn’t even get into that. She was an author. You may know her from her role as Nina Rosario on the Broadway hit in the Heights. Or when she played Angelica Schuyler in the mega hit Hamilton in the fall of 2024, Mandy will return to the Broadway stage and a guest starring role of Norma Desmond and sunset Boulevard while continuing to tour around the country as a concert soloist, as well as being a mom to a wonderful 14 year old daughter. And we hope you enjoy our interview with Mandy.

Mandy, I’m like super excited and I’m nerding out with you right now because you’re a Broadway actress and you’ve been in some of my favorite shows in the universe, Hamilton originating the role of Nino Rosario and in the Heights. I mean so much. So much cool stuff. And then I was looking at your other stuff and I was nerding out some more. I was like, you’re in the good wife. And uh, cause I

Mandy Gonzalez: Only Murders in a Building,

JoAnn Crohn: only murders. I have not seen that yet.

Mandy Gonzalez: Yes!

JoAnn Crohn: who are you in the good wife? Like remind me of your role in the good wife.

Mandy Gonzalez: I think I’m in the first episode ever of The Good Wife and I think I helped It was so long ago and I remember filming it because it was in New York and I was doing, I think, in the Heights at the time. And so they closed off this whole hotel for it. And I remember because I had to work at the front of the hotel that people would actually come to me and ask me questions like, how do I get here in New York? How do I go there? And I’m like, I’m crazy. I’m just an actor. Like, I don’t really like work here at the hotel, but I guess I was such a good actor. You know, people just believe me. But but yeah, that was awesome. I got to do a scene with Julia and Margulies and you know, I’ve been so blessed throughout my career.

JoAnn Crohn: It’s amazing. And Quantico, I really got obsessed into Quantico

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh, totally.

JoAnn Crohn: the

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn: only, and then I lost it a little bit, but

Mandy Gonzalez: I feel, you know, I got to be an FBI director. It was so cool. It was like, yeah, it was so awesome.

JoAnn Crohn: all of these cool things. So you do all this and you’re a mom as well. And so like, so I was a theater major in college. I actually switched majors because

Mandy Gonzalez: Where did you go to school?

JoAnn Crohn: Arizona state,

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh, cool.

JoAnn Crohn: but I switched majors like after my freshman year, cause I realized I didn’t like to be told what to do. I’m more like to be the one telling people what to do.

Brie Tucker: God, she figured that out because that is still the thing.

Mandy Gonzalez: I get it. Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn: still the thing.

Mandy Gonzalez: Part of like, you’re still part of the performing arts and as well as like collaboration.

JoAnn Crohn: Oh

Mandy Gonzalez: me, that’s so much of what. I love, about theater is like the collaboration that nothing happens without somebody else. Once you get through all the classes of like acting coaches and acting teachers and, you know, you take those people with you along the way. But once you get into the work, it’s such a collaboration, which I absolutely love

JoAnn Crohn: That is a fun part. Something that I would always thought about in theater is I was like, okay, well you need to travel so often. And I couldn’t figure out based on my idea of motherhood at the time which has definitely changed since

Mandy Gonzalez: us.

JoAnn Crohn: I would make it, yeah, how I would make it work with having like a family and

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn: And I know this isn’t fair, like to ask you, I don’t want to ask you the question to say , because men never get asked this question. Ever.

Mandy Gonzalez: Right. How do you balance? How do you do all this stuff? And it’s like, well, ask it. I love it because we have to learn from each other, I think, in order to, you know, to grow and to try to do it right.

JoAnn Crohn: I kind of want to know though, like you were working in New York at, from a very young age, like, I read that you started as a coat check and then you like went to open calls after that.

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah. Work it out.

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah. So when you were going to open calls in that, how long did it take until you got like a part?

Mandy Gonzalez: Well, you know, I, gosh, so I left school I left college. I went to CalArts for like a year and I left school because I went to an open call in Los Angeles. That’s where I’m from. And I went to an open call in Los Angeles to be a backup singer for Bette Midler.

JoAnn Crohn: That’s so cool.

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah, I waited in line hours, and I went in and I auditioned and then I just kept getting called back, and so it was like, okay, now you’re gonna sing the alto part, now you’re gonna sing the soprano part, now you’re gonna dance, now you’re gonna do this, and then the last day they said, okay, now you’re gonna do it all in front of people.

Brie Tucker: pressure.

Mandy Gonzalez: It was like, like I was such a, Oh, I was such a theater kid and I was such a huge fan and I was so excited. And then I remember I had to sing the end of this one song, which was stay with me, baby, which she does at the end of all of her shows. And it, like, you have to do this thing where it’s like, And you have to hold it.

And I, you know, I was so young and you know, my voice is so high. And so I did it and they had us audition in front of the other singers and this other woman that was against me, she couldn’t hit the note. And so it was like, I’ve had the job, you know? And yeah, I got the job and I went on the road. I was 19 years old

Brie Tucker: Oh my god, you’re a baby. You were

Mandy Gonzalez: was a baby and I didn’t know anything, you know, and I was in a bus with other women who had been on the road before. And I learned from them. I first time away from home, I was totally homesick. but I loved it. It was like the best masterclass that I ever could have had, like watching somebody like Bette Midler. And then we came to New York and her band said that nobody will treat you this good ever again. So like, don’t forget it. And it’s very true

JoAnn Crohn: props to Bette Midler. Props

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah, because of the hotels and the things wherever she stayed, we stayed and it was like super high end. We went to Arizona.

We went everywhere. And she put us up at the Plaza Hotel because we played the tri state area. And I remember feeling like, okay I gotta come back to New York and I want to, I want And so when I got off of that tour I saved all my money and I never stayed at the Plaza Hotel again. I stayed, I moved to Brooklyn and that’s where my life in New York started. I moved to Brooklyn and I gave myself a goal. I said, okay, in six months, I’m going to be on Broadway.

It’s just how it was. I didn’t know where to get a job at any, well, That, That’s a fast Yeah, because you think that success can come that quickly and that easily because you’re like I did it once I could do it again. Exactly. And so, I didn’t know where to get a job. I used to love the show Felicity. She worked at Dean and DeLuca. She worked at Dean and DeLuca. So I went to Soho and I saw Dean was like, well, I’ll get a job there. Like, Felicity, I’ll live her life. And then, you know, I got a job bagging like rich people’s groceries in the basement.

I did not work the coffee shop like Felicity. And I got a job as the co check uptown and then during the day I went to open calls and I just had this drive and this fire within me. I didn’t have an agent. I didn’t have anything. I just knew that I wanted to be part of this world, whatever it was. And after six months, it’s kind of crazy, but I got a job, not on Broadway, but off Broadway in a show called Eli’s Coming, based on the music of Laura Nero, who. You know, I didn’t know a lot about her music. She was also a mother singer songwriter. And that show kind of catapulted my career in New York. I won an Obie Award, an Off Broadway Award. I was in that show with another unknown Anika Noni Rose.

JoAnn Crohn: Oh, man! Man!

Mandy Gonzalez: a legend, Judy Kuhn, and it was just like, it was, you know, that was such a great start, but that really started my career in New York, but it was all about like setting some goal, whether, you know, how we tell our kids, set this goal and you may not end up exactly where you want to be, but you’re going to be on the road to where you Need to be, you know, and that’s really how my career started. I’m sure similar to you, like setting this goal and it’s

JoAnn Crohn: a really, it’s a really good point to be like, when you set a goal like that, okay, you might not reach it right away, but you’re definitely taking the steps you need to get there. That’s something actually that I need a reminder in today, honestly,

Mandy Gonzalez: yeah,

JoAnn Crohn: have it like just to decide. It’s so funny that you mentioned Felicity because like, here’s how world worlds collide with that. we’re part of an ad network. It’s called Atlas. It’s run by two women who also host the parenting podcast. What fresh hell, Amy Wilson was on Felicity.

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh, no

JoAnn Crohn: like, she was a, like played the friend or something on Felicity or

Mandy Gonzalez: I’m sure I knew who she was. I was surprised. Obsessed with that show also. ’cause she had curly hair and I was just like, oh my God. I even liked it when she cut it. I was like, she’s she’s so beautiful. But with having a family, you know, that was always a big part of my goal as well. I wanted to do what I do for a living, but I also. I really wanted to have a family and I think I learned early on from an early age that you could do both because I had a mom that worked full time and she worked in a very different field than me. She was a counseling secretary at the local high school, but she was out of the house by I think six o’clock in the morning. My dad is out of the house by five and she was home by three and I don’t know how she did it. With all of us The three of us, but she was there and she was there for the snacks and for the dinner times and she did everything. And I

JoAnn Crohn: that’s a lot of our experiences with our mothers. It’s a really hard thing to live up to too. And you

Mandy Gonzalez: it is. And I, I I never will, you know, her organizational skills are like beyond. I still call her for everything, but she has always been such a supporter. And for my sister and I to say, you guys can do what you want to do. And when. I, was really trying to have my daughter, you know, my husband and I I really made the decision like, okay, now I want to focus on family, and then after I had my daughter, I think it was like 10 months, she was about 10 months old.

And I was like, what is it that I’m missing? Like, I just felt like something was missing and I didn’t know what it was. And I felt really bad because I kind of had everything. that I wanted. I was, I was at home. I was doing what I was with my baby. I, you know, was taking a break from work and all this stuff. And I called my mom and I said, I just don’t know what it is that I’m missing. And

JoAnn Crohn: I am so interested to hear what you’re missing cause I think I know and we’re going to get into it right after this.

So Mandy, you were talking about, you were at home with your daughter, you had everything you thought you had. You felt like you were missing something. So tell us what happened when you called your mom.

Mandy Gonzalez: Well, when I called my mom and I said, I feel like I’m missing something and there’s just like, I just feel restless. And she said, well, that’s because you need to work.

JoAnn Crohn: Oh, she knew it.

Brie Tucker: She’s like, you’re not the kind to be able to sit around and just focus on one thing. You, you wanted multiple facets going on one thing. You you wanted multiple facets going

Mandy Gonzalez: Exactly. And it’s the hardest job ever, you know, to be a mom and, but I needed to be creative in another way. And so I think that my mom was like, well, we work. We Gonzales women, we work. I’ll never forget that. I think of that all the time. yeah. And it was true, but then it was like, okay, well, how do I get back into this world that I’ve been a part of?

And now I’m a mom and how do I do that? You know? And I remember going to like different auditions. And at the time I did have an agent. I did have, now I had been in four Broadway shows, things, you know, things are going well, but then you have a kid and you’re looked at differently when you go into the room, you know, all of a sudden Oh yeah, you’re all of a sudden people are asking you, they’re interested in you for a job.

But they ask, well, how old is your kid? Like, and you know that they’re asking you cause they want to know if it’s going to be difficult for you to be able to do that job because your child is going to need childcare or this and that. And it’s usually men at that time there were in those rooms asking those

Brie Tucker: what do you say back to that? When you know that they’re coming underlining reasoning, how do you approach that? Because you have, like, what, three seconds to think of an answer of how you’re

Mandy Gonzalez: exactly, I think it’s so, different now than when I first had my daughter who’s almost. You know, it was so different. And I just wanted to be in it. So I would just say like, well, she’s six months, but you know, I would just make excuses. And so I got tired of doing that and of feeling like, I wasn’t enough anymore, you know, in this way, or I had to prove myself in a different way, like I can still do it.

I’m still. relevant, I’m still valid. And, so I was just like, you know what, I’m going to create my own thing. And I borrowed some money. I borrowed 500 from my parents for childcare and I hired a director and I created my own concert and I put it up in New York and all of a sudden it was like, Oh, I really, I like this too. And I can use this to tell stories and to sing and to do those kinds of things. And by doing that, it allowed other things to start coming my way. And it allowed me to free myself kind of creatively

JoAnn Crohn: So you created your own thing when you realized that what your options you had, they didn’t like fit what you wanted for your life.

Mandy Gonzalez: At that time. At that time.

JoAnn Crohn: which I think is Remarkable. Like, and I feel like I feel kind of the same way in my own career. Like I created no guilt mom when the options I had for jobs , did not fit into my life or the way that I wanted to around my

Mandy Gonzalez: Absolutely.

Brie Tucker: hearing you both say that because I think so many of us, we have a very cookie cutter image of what our life is supposed to look like, especially as a mom, right? Like society has helped dive into that. Like I’m going to age myself, like Donna Reed, leave it to Beaver. Like,

JoAnn Crohn: Well, we watched all those repeats during Nick

Brie Tucker: we did, I’m not old, I’m not old enough to watch those, like, but that, that gave us that impression as little kids as to what it was supposed to be. We’re supposed to be people that could take care of all of it at home. And then you roll into like the eighties and you had these working moms that still managed to float everything at home because most of the time they had these idealistic careers that gave them that flexibility. And that just isn’t the norm these days. You have to really go out there and Be very adamant that and hold your ground for what you want to have and also have some sort of a support system, right?

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s the same thing about setting a goal for yourself and starting on the journey. And. It’s definitely not going to look like what you thought it was going to look like, but it’s where you need to be and you’re going to make a lot of, there’s going to be a lot of bumps along the road, but if you keep going, it’s going to lead you to where you need to be. And I think like for me with both of those things, career and family, that’s definitely been my go to

Brie Tucker: So is your family close to you out there in

Mandy Gonzalez: no. No, so my husband and I, we really did it on our own and it’s that thing that you just said, Bri, of creating your chosen family where you are. And a lot of that has been through my mom’s squad, through the moms that I’ve met in the area that we live and through their families and how there’s no judgment when I talk to them about Hey, do you think Maribel?

My daughter, can you think she can stay at your house a couple hours or do you think this there’s no judgment? It’s just like how can I help And I hope I am the same kind of friend for them where it’s no judgment it’s like hey, we’re all just trying to do our best and so that’s really been My family here has been my my mom’s squad

JoAnn Crohn: One of the questions that I know we get asked a lot is like how to find those moms who support you. So like, where did you meet some of your mom’s squad?

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh my gosh. I think a lot of my mom’s squad kind of came from kindergarten.

JoAnn Crohn: Oh, yep. That’s where that’s where ours came Yep. Mine started there too. It made those

Brie Tucker: first few years though kind of scary and like kind of more lonely than it needed to be, I think.

Mandy Gonzalez: Absolutely. And I think you know, I’ve got such a fantastic husband and I know everybody says that, but I do. And he’s so supportive. He’s an artist as well. And so We’re able to kind of go, Okay, I’m here at this time. You’re here at this time. You know, we’re able to make it work.

But I think for me, it was like that first mom that you kind of bond with at preschool that, you know, your kids are either into the same things or your kids are, talking about this at school. And so you start to talk about this or you’re, you know. friend brings in this amazing snack that she made from scratch where she made like this fruit look like a worm.

And you’re just like, how do you do this? And then you just become friends. And yeah. And so it’s like friendships like that. And then for kindergarten, it was the moms that I met in line reading in light before school started.

JoAnn Crohn: that was so important for me. It was so funny because like our school switched policies before my son became a kindergartner, cause my daughter is 15, my son is 11 and they closed off the entire school and you could only pick kids up through the car line. So like we lost that ability talk with people in that community and it’s just like, it’s so hard now, I think for moms to actually find their people because you’re right, I used to talk to people at pickup all the time. I would walk on and pick her up and then, you know, walk

Mandy Gonzalez: totally. And then for me, you know, I work mostly nights unless I’m doing a matinee. At two o’clock on Wednesdays or two o’clock on Saturdays, but I work mostly nights. So my time to really, be with my kid and to be with the other moms is that morning time. When I get to drop them off and see what’s going on, you know, I’m not the mom that can go out all the time, but that morning time it’s like, Hey, do you want to go get a coffee? And that’s how I got to really bond.

JoAnn Crohn: that is awesome. So I want to know how you balance what I know is like you said, you work at off times, you work at nights with also parenting and like just wanting to spend time with your family. And we’re going to get into that right after this. So something I was wondering is like, you have a very successful career, Mandy, like you’re starring in sunset Boulevard in September. You’ve been in like these huge Huge shows, which how many nights a week do you work? Just

Mandy Gonzalez: it’s eight shows a week. So, it is six nights.

JoAnn Crohn: six

Mandy Gonzalez: Six nights a week, yeah. I’m not great at math, but yeah. Laughter

JoAnn Crohn: I would just know Monday equity off. That’s

Mandy Gonzalez: Yes, Monday Equity Off, if you’re in a show that’s like, usually a show that’s a hit, you get that regular schedule. But if you’re in a show that’s struggling a little bit or needs to get a different kind of audience, some of my friends have Wednesdays off, some of my friends have Sundays off, and then it’s like, oh, wait, what is this? I’m not used to this kind of schedule, but for me it’s definitely one show a week you get off and usually it’s Monday.

JoAnn Crohn: So like, because the way I parent right now, like my kids go to school during the day and then I’m home in the evenings, I imagine that would be really hard to see your kids and. All the time when you’re working nights and then when, if they’re, if she’s in school, your daughter’s in school.

So like, how do you fit in the time that you want to spend with your family and juggle the nighttime career? Like I think anyone would have it. Like dads would have an issue with this as well. So I feel confident asking this one because I do not want to ask those questions.

Mandy Gonzalez: These are good questions to ask because they’re real and it’s really hard, you know, but you have to make the time, I think the biggest thing that I learned is really to be honest. To be honest with her and to really let her know, okay, these are the times that I’m going to be there. I’m going to pick you up at this time. And when you give that kind of schedule to show up and then if something comes up like another gig or something like that, you have to say no, because I set this schedule for us, for my family.

So there’s certain things I think that And that’s for me what it was. It’s like, okay, if I’m traveling, if I’m doing a concert, I say, okay, I’m going to be gone on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I’ll be back in the morning on Thursday. And so I feel like my family can know that. Okay. These are the times when we’re not here. Which is always the time that they go to McDonald’s or they go and my husband takes her and they do something special, you know, and they go, let’s not tell mom because this is our time. but I

JoAnn Crohn: Which are

Mandy Gonzalez: really,

JoAnn Crohn: them to have

Mandy Gonzalez: oh, it’s so

Brie Tucker: So, what I’m hearing is like, you’re you’re setting the boundaries that you know are going to make you feel good and put your priorities. Where they need to be and you’re holding on to those boundaries really firmly

Mandy Gonzalez: I try my hardest and there are those times where something just comes up and I have to go and I have to film or I have to, you know, it’s a freelance, it’s a gig to gig kind of life and so it’s very much like, well, sometimes that does come up and I do have to sit with her and talk to her about

Brie Tucker: Yeah, talking’s important. Yeah.

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah, you can’t. It’s hard for me to pretend like it’s, I mean, it’s very easy for me to pretend like it’s not happening and I don’t have to let her down and that kind of thing, but it’s so much better just to be honest and be like, look, this is happening. And it’s not because it’s more important. It’s because this is what it is right now for our family.

Mandy Gonzalez: And in some ways I feel like it just makes us a team. It makes us a unit instead of it being, Oh, this is mom’s job. This is this is that it’s like, no, we’re a unit, you know?

JoAnn Crohn: And I feel like all of the challenges are discussed a lot, but I mean, having a mom who’s a Broadway actress, that’s a pretty cool flex for a kid. I would imagine,

Brie Tucker: Is she interested in theater too? I’m curious.

Mandy Gonzalez: she is very much so. So that makes me feel good. I was like, okay. But before the pandemic I was allowed to bring her to my dressing room at Hamilton and she could sit in there and be part of it. And another friend would bring her daughter in. And so it was like, she was a Broadway baby. She was in the room where it happened. No, that was,

JoAnn Crohn: I’m sorry. I had to do that.

Mandy Gonzalez: no,

Brie Tucker: She’s in the room where it.

JoAnn Crohn: I can continue. No, go ahead.

Brie Tucker: sorry.

Mandy Gonzalez: The room where it happened? No. And I, but she got to meet everybody. She got to be a part of it. You know, she got to, see the sound design, the costume, the hair, you know, she sold her Girl Scout cookies there. It was

JoAnn Crohn: Oh,

Mandy Gonzalez: year.

JoAnn Crohn: of course. So you know, but that’s such a cool thing because like kids have they have to see it to be it. And so like, Yeah. Yeah. With her being able to go to your dressing room with you and like, see everything, it becomes real. It doesn’t become an imaginary, like a amorphous thing out there that, Ooh, someday I want to be a Broadway actress.

It’s like, Hey, these are the people doing it. And I could totally relate to these people and I could see myself in that role. So, I mean, even though time may not look like a traditional kind of thing, you’re actually giving your daughter space. So much more than that long term, just by doing what you do.

Mandy Gonzalez: Thanks for saying that. I appreciate that. I hope so. You know, I hope that I I’ve been able to share that with her and I hope that in her own, as we all do, I hope in her own life she looks and finds something that she loves and to know that you can do it all, you can have it all. It just may not all happen at the same time and that’s okay, or you may fall.

Brie Tucker: And it doesn’t have to look the way others have made it look. You can create it. So that it works for you and your family and your life. And I think that’s amazing.

Mandy Gonzalez: And I remember those times when I had to tell people like, look, I’m going to have a baby. And, you know, I was at that trimester, the after three months, and I said, I’m going to have a baby. You know, it was mostly men and they would say, well, this is not good for your career. And this is not good for this.

And all I can say, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me in my entire life. And it couldn’t have been better for me creatively career wise, all of those things, because it just made me a better person because she is. The light, you know, you know how it is. It’s like I, I couldn’t imagine who I am today without her. So, Yeah, all those people that are the naysayers that say you can’t, I’m here to say,

JoAnn Crohn: You become a better person with kids and you also like, I feel it, it opens your mind as well to all of the things, especially like when they become teenagers and they really start forming their own identities. I have been schooled on so many things by my daughter. In fact, if she ever heard this podcast interview and she heard me say that it was a flex, she’d be like, mom, you can’t say that anymore. I’m not

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh,

JoAnn Crohn: the word Riz ever,

Brie Tucker: I think I said something was, I think I said something was fat the other day. And my daughter’s like, no, it’s not what you think it, it doesn’t mean that anymore. And I’m like, really? That’s not

Mandy Gonzalez: gosh.

Brie Tucker: She’s like, no.

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh, I’m in the same boat, you guys. I’m in the same boat. I just learned what a guillotte is.

JoAnn Crohn: yeah, my daughter wants a guillotte. She’s lifting right now. So she gets a guillotte . She’s really like it’s a a huge

Mandy Gonzalez: a good butt

JoAnn Crohn: yeah, a huge butt

Brie Tucker: my daughter say that. Oh, yeah. I have heard her.

JoAnn Crohn: yeah, like a

Mandy Gonzalez: you know, I’ve learned those kinds of things. Yes. Yes. but I really, I started this new book recently called Untangled. Have you read it?

JoAnn Crohn: yes, but we’ve we’ve interviewed Dr. Lisa

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh my gosh. And she’s just incredible, you know, because my daughter’s at that age and I’m just, you know, I listened to the audio book and every chapter, I’m just I’m learning so much and that’s what it is too. It’s like you’re constantly. You’re constantly learning and people think just because you work on Broadway or this and that that your kid isn’t going to be like, can you just drop me at the corner? Like, that’s just, it’s reality.

Brie Tucker: preteens yet? Cuz It’s a little bit of a bumpy ride

Mandy Gonzalez: Yeah, absolutely. I’m at the beginning. I’m at the beginning. But it is, it’s like, it doesn’t matter what you do or how cool, like, I feel like that mom for mean girls where I’m like, I thought it was the cool mom, you know, like I, I’m not I’m definitely, you know, but I realized that’s, you know, that’s her process, you know? Yeah. Oh, and they remind you.

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah.

Mandy Gonzalez: It’s all those reminders of

Brie Tucker: they do. Oh, Yeah, Yeah, you may be cool to other people, but you’re never cool to them. Never I have a 17 and a 16 year old. I, the, the cool moments are far and few between.

Mandy Gonzalez: I’m like, it’s over. But

JoAnn Crohn: It’s over. Well, no, it’s not over. They actually become much cooler as they get over this whole teen experience. Like, they’re, like, my, my daughter’s identity now is really, like, she’s, I can see the person she’s forming into, and it’s a really cool person. And she’s still cuddly. She still, like, wants me to cuddle her in the mornings, and she hasn’t lost any of that. But sometimes

Mandy Gonzalez: right. Yeah.

Brie Tucker: The other day I did that with my son. I’m like, okay, I need to have a hug. And he like walks up to me and I’m like, no, no arm. Arm needs to be around the body. And then I’m like pulling the arm and I’m like, pat. pat, pat. I love you, mom. And he just starts laughing. I’m like, yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Yes. It’s like, I’ll take it where I can

Mandy Gonzalez: You’re like, you’ll remember this one day. Exactly. Oh my gosh.

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah. But it is all good. So tell us, I mean, we’ve heard a little bit. What’s coming up for you that you’re excited about, Mandy?

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh my gosh, I’m so excited. In two weeks, I start rehearsals for I’m going to be guest starring as Norma Desmond in the new production of Sunset Boulevard on Broadway!

JoAnn Crohn: That is so exciting!

Mandy Gonzalez: Yes, at the St. James Theater on 44th Street. I have never played the St. James. I’m so excited. I can’t wait for rehearsal. You know, it’s like first day of school where you get to see who’s there and you know, you pick out your outfit and all that kind of stuff.

JoAnn Crohn: That’s exciting. Why do you say like, Why is it guest starring instead of starring? Like, what’s the

Mandy Gonzalez: Okay, so, well, this production is coming in from London. And in London, it’s starred Nicole Scherzinger. And on Broadway, it will also star Nicole Scherzinger. And on One Day a Week, I will be It will not be starring Nicole, and it will be starring me. So, she is, yeah, she’s taking off one day a week, and I’m coming in to to do my thing.

So, I’m excited. I’ve never heard of anything like this before, and as a mom it couldn’t be more of a dream to be able to do what I do for a living, and then to also be able to be there for my kid. And do other things the rest of the week.

JoAnn Crohn: That, that’s a

Mandy Gonzalez: it’s like a,

JoAnn Crohn: That’s a

Mandy Gonzalez: yeah. It’s like, it is. It’s a parent’s dream. So, a parent’s Broadway dream.

JoAnn Crohn: Yes. Well, that’s awesome. Well, it’s been wonderful talking with you, Mandy. You’re so easy to talk to You and I want to go, I want to go now to New York and see you on Broadway,

Mandy Gonzalez: Please come and say hi to me and I wanna meet your fam and yeah, make sure you tell me and come, it’s starting in the fall. there’s, yeah. there’s, no better. thing. Tends to be like,

JoAnn Crohn: I’ll book my Peloton class too. I want to do in studio and then come see you.

Mandy Gonzalez: Who do you take?

JoAnn Crohn: Oh, I like Cody. Cody’s so fun. And then Robin is great as well.

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh, Cody’s my favorite.

JoAnn Crohn: Cody, like he, you just get on and you’re like I’m just going to like go on here and then he’ll just say something like off the cuff. It’s not even his planned stuff. He’ll say like something completely inappropriate. You’ll be like, it’s great. Yeah.

Mandy Gonzalez: sometimes it’s things that you know have just read about or thought about and you’re like Oh like he I just love him. My sister also watches him. he’s the best but yeah come and see your new friend in New York

JoAnn Crohn: yes. Cody Rigsby is now the one who like, I go to McDonald’s and they’re like, Oh, the ice cream machine’s broken. We’re like, is it? Is it really? Is the ice cream machine really broken? Cause Cody used to work there and they said they used to take it apart early so they can clean it so they wouldn’t have to stay late.

Mandy Gonzalez: Oh God.

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah. So

Mandy Gonzalez: So good.

JoAnn Crohn: You have a good day, Mandy, and we’ll talk to you soon.

Mandy Gonzalez: You too. Okay. Bye guys.

Brie Tucker: I can’t feel my buttocks right

JoAnn Crohn: can’t feel my butt too much

Brie Tucker: I was sitting weird during the interview, like occupational hazards of this is that sometimes your tailbone goes numb. I

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Brie Tucker: pillows.

JoAnn Crohn: Maybe I’ll get you a donut pillow for Christmas. That’ll be good. You know what? The donut pillows where you like sit on

Brie Tucker: The ones for, like, when you have hemorrhoids?

JoAnn Crohn: Yeah. Oh, everybody.

Brie Tucker: to god, I’m already in perimenopause. I already have the hot flashes, the lack of sleeping, the mood swings. Let’s just add that I’m sitting on a donut. My daughter’s gonna be like, That’s it. I’m never getting old. I’m done.

JoAnn Crohn: I, okay. So I thought of this, like, I was watching a video yesterday when I was trying to learn how to present better. And the subject matter of the video was this woman who had like four kids. And she created this program for moms to actually save money on their birth and like have energy and everything during their birth as well.

And she talked about like how she lifted weights during the birth. Like when she was pregnant and she made sure to eat a lot, enough for her body to fuel her body. And she was like talking about it as all training for birth and the big event. And I’m like, maybe I need to like put in training for like my life. if that’s how I look in exercise, like it’s not something I have to do. But it’s like, you’re training yourself and your body to live life. And so , this is my new theory on aging. It’s

Brie Tucker: I kinda actually like that one. And you

JoAnn Crohn: Do you like that? Like, like you’re yeah. And I was,

Brie Tucker: over on that one.

JoAnn Crohn: I was thinking about this too, in terms of like conferences I go to, or like events that we do, like the no guilt mom retreat, because. Honestly, we sit a lot during the day for this job because we’re on a podcast. I have my little desk treadmill. I do try to put that out, but it’s not nearly as much as I was when I was teaching and talking the whole day.

Brie Tucker: Oh, yeah. Yeah,

JoAnn Crohn: It’s a stamina thing. It’s really a stamina thing. So now I think when I go to a conference, like a few months leading up to it, I need to train for that conference. I actually need to

Brie Tucker: cuz we’re both by minute right by mid afternoon. We’re both like that’s it. I’m done. I gotta go back to the room

JoAnn Crohn: yeah, exactly.

Brie Tucker: it’s in the training part is not only the physical part of It’s also just being able to deal with being around people that much Cause it’s us and our dogs, people like that’s pretty much it. My coworker has four legs and a furry tail.

JoAnn Crohn: My dog looks pretty cute right now. She’s sleeping on her pillow.

Brie Tucker: I know. So does mine. Mine’s pretty adorable too right now.

JoAnn Crohn: So maybe I’ll train today and that’ll get me to work out because I’m like, I need to train to make sure I’m good for my life. It’s like an athlete doing an

Brie Tucker: now that you

JoAnn Crohn: we need to train.

Brie Tucker: I’m gonna I can’t, now I can’t unhear it, man. Now it’s there and it makes good sense, JoAnn.

JoAnn Crohn: It does make good sense. So that’s my new idea. So we’ll see how that does,

Brie Tucker: well, and we need a train to go to New York, because Mandy told us to come to the opening of her show, so there you go. Like, we need a train to walk up and down Broadway. I mean,

JoAnn Crohn: Gotta train. Get the treadmill out. Be walking. Be walking. Well, until next time, remember, the best mom’s a happy mom. Take care of you. I’ll talk to you later.

Brie Tucker: Thanks for stopping by.