Joy 101: Robin Arzon

“You should be rattling the age cage. What decision would you make if you were twice as bold and twice as confident? Because it's like that version of yourself is just waiting to be let out of a cage.” -Robin Arzon Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is Presented by CVS. Shop your local CVS, right around the corner. Experience the full conversation on the "Joy 101 podcast with Hoda Kotb" wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information please visit us at www.joy101.com/podcast https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joy101.com%2Fpodcast&data=05%7C02%7CBrianBurton%40iheartmedia.com%7Cf86bd81d368d4cb83b9a08ded7c0c59a%7C122a527e5b714eba878d9810b495b9e3%7C0%7C0%7C639185420097656125%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=vxP4WaOQTAwTmlXfEaGjfN8WUFXvbLka4IsTCoCziPs%3D&reserved=0 See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:10Hoda Kotb?

  So today, I have something on my mind because I've been feeling that there's tons and tons of kindness that I'm noticing. And you know what's weird about kindness? Once you notice it, you see it everywhere. It's one of those things and you don't forget it. So this happened to me a while ago and it stuck with me. And it's one of those stories that I think to myself, like it was a small thing, but it changed how I viewed things. So I was coming into my Upper West Side apartment one day, and it was like one of those long days, and I hopped in the elevator, and this girl hops in the elevator with me, and she's wearing like an Oscar the Grouch hat, like pulled down with like two eyes

• 0:51Hoda Kotb?

  on top. And she was holding a box and kind of looking at the ground. And I go, "Oh, I go, "God, that smells good." I said, "What is that?" And she goes, "Oh, they're donuts, they're salted caramel." I was like, "Oh, my God, salted caramel. Like, there's nothing better than salted caramel donuts." And I'm just making conversation, right? She kind of keeps her head down, mutters a couple of words, and then hops out on her floor, and then I hop out on my floor. So I forgot about it because, you know, it was a 10-second conversation. So the next day, I come back to my apartment building, and the doorman says, "Oh, you have a box." And I was like, "Oh, okay." And I see the box, and I recognize it. It's the same one that the girl had. And there was a note attached, and it said,

• 1:35Hoda Kotb?

  "Hi, I was the one wearing the Oscar the Grouch hat in the elevator. You are admiring the donuts, the salted caramel, and the ones I had were already spoken for. So I went to Brooklyn and bought these for you."

• 1:51Hoda Kotb?

  Okay. She went to Brooklyn and bought some salted caramel donuts for me, someone who she'd never met. And I thought to myself, being on the receiving end of an act of kindness and also one that someone's not waiting to see your reaction to was amazing and it changed me. My best friend's name is Karen Swenson and she, I think she's part saint personally, but she does things like that all the time. I remember we were eating dinner together and she got up to go to the restroom and I watched her walk over to the waitress, past a table full of, it looked like people who were in the armed services and they were wearing their uniforms and she walked by, whispered something to the waitress and came back and sat down.

• 2:37Hoda Kotb?

  And then I see the waitress walk over to that table, say something to them, the guys look around and say, "Thank you" and walk out smiling. And I said, "Did you, did you pay for that table?" And she said, "I don't know." Like she'll never admit that she's done something like that because she thinks if you say it, then it sort of takes away the yay part of it. So one of the things I started trying to do with my kids was when we go out somewhere, a diner or whatever, spot somebody at a table or preferably someone who's sitting alone, but spot somebody and go to the waitress, pick up her tab and don't say a word. And my kids were always like, "Why can't we tell her?" It's like, because sometimes you do things just because, not because of what someone's

• 3:22Hoda Kotb?

  going to say or what someone's going to think, just because. So sometimes it's good to do things just because. So that's what I'm going to try to continue with my kids. Don't wait for the yay, don't wait for the "add a girl," the "add a boy" or "wow, you did that for us," who cares? Do the thing, walk away and you'll, someone will have the story like I have about those salted caramel donuts. Someone's going to have that story that they're going to tell over and over again because you did them a solid and didn't wait around to see like what the thank you was. So I think life is pretty cool when we, when we live that way. My guest today lives that way.

• 4:02Hoda Kotb?

  Her name is Robin Arzon, and she is, I know her as a Peloton instructor, but let me tell you something, that isn't even one one hundredth of what Robin does and what Robin is about. Robin has led this life that is so fascinating, that is filled with determination and the kind of person who doesn't quit, the kind of person who sees joy around every corner. I mean, you're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you right now, but this is something that happened in Robin's life and changed it. Robin was enjoying a night out with friends at a wine bar.

• 4:43Hoda Kotb?

  A guy with a gun walks in and uses Robin as a human shield. Okay? She has this guy with a gun, holding her hostage. What follows from that moment, which, I mean, she obviously survived, and it was a terrifying thing, and many people would have reverted into themselves and had, that would be their defining story of their life. That's, that's not Robin's defining story. That's when her life changed. That's when she took a step outside of herself. That's when she made different choices. When you know your life has margins, you make different choices. You don't stay on the same old tired path. You say to yourself, wait, I have limited time here. What am I going to do with my time?

• 5:26Hoda Kotb?

  Well, Robin has taken that time and turned it into something magical. I cannot wait for you to hear my conversation with Robin Arzon.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 5:40Hoda Kotb?

  Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CVS. I've realized that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day. I'll pop into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels, and it never seems to be just a quick errand. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joyward Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to-do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more. Visit your local CVS Pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Every purchase is a financial decision, so it's worth asking, what am I getting out of this?

• 6:21Hoda Kotb?

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• 6:47Speaker 02

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• 6:50Speaker 03

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• 6:53Speaker 02

  Nope, it's worth real money.

• 6:55Speaker 03

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• 6:58Speaker 02

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• 7:01Speaker 03

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• 7:04Speaker 02

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• 7:06Speaker 03

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• 7:08Speaker 02

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• 7:12Speaker 02

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• 7:17Hoda Kotb?

  Um, first of all, can we just say, because of the timing of this podcast, go New York, go New York, go! Have you ever, ever felt the electricity in this city like you feel right now?

• 7:32Speaker 04

  The collective effervescence, like, I mean, it's so appropriate to be, you know, on a podcast that centers joy.

• 7:38Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 7:38Speaker 04

  Because you walk around the streets of New York City, and I don't know what it's like to live in a small town in, like, middle America, but I think if you put a little bit of that kindness and that- you know, I say that the city is, we're giving each other the benefit of the doubt.

• 7:51Hoda Kotb?

  Ooh.

• 7:52Speaker 04

  And I think that that's something that we've lost.

• 7:54Hoda Kotb?

  Say that again, yeah, let's talk about that.

• 7:56Speaker 04

  Right, so it's like, you know, the person in front of you is rushing, like, you give them the benefit of the doubt. They're probably trying to get home to their kids, or they have an important meeting. You hold the elevator door a little bit longer, you, you know, and I think that that little bit of, you know, the city is steeped in friction, like, that's just kind of what we do, but I believe that, like, that friction is needed for the expansion. When we layer on collective effervescence and a little bit more, um, belief in each other, it's like there's no more perfect place.

• 8:26Hoda Kotb?

  You know, when I moved to New York, I remembered thinking to myself, we're in a one-mile swath of land, and in this tiny mile sits people from every country, every background, every religion, every everything. And I thought to myself- If New York City can work, then, then the world can work.

• 8:45Speaker 04

  Absolutely.

• 8:45Hoda Kotb?

  Everything can work. And watching us now is beyond all of the things. I love seeing a Wall Street dude in a Patagonia vest, high fiving a guy on a truck who's high fiving someone who they would never have interaction with. I mean, that's what joy is.

• 9:06Speaker 04

  Absolutely.

• 9:07Hoda Kotb?

  All right, let's talk about you because I selected you for this podcast for a reason. So I've watched you. I've watched you on the Peloton bike. I've listened to you speak. And I thought to myself, this girl, at first I said, this girl must have had this charmed life. Nothing ever happened. She's so carefree. And it's the opposite of that, actually. So I want to talk about you as a little girl, for starters. Tell me, did you come into the world optimistic? Did you come into the world with belief that, yeah, I can do, I can do things?

• 9:41Speaker 04

  I mean, my mom really modeled it. I think maybe it's partially genetic. We are a little bit wired to see things through rose tinted glasses. My dad actually isn't like that at all. And then I think I have a little bit of, you know, his sass and my mom's optimism. And I was deeply, deeply shy as a kid. Like, I wanted to just be as beige as possible and like blend into the wallpaper. And it was my mom, actually, you know, I was in a Montessori, you know, preschool. And the instructor, the teacher came over to my mom after school one day and was like, hey, you know, she, she doesn't speak to anyone, but like, we think you might have to get her

• 10:26Speaker 04

  tested or something. And you know, this is, this is the eighties. This is kind of before we really had an awareness of people being on the spectrum and things like that. And my mom was like, you know, I just trust my kid to follow her path. And I'm not gonna then now over, and she's a doctor, right? So she's like, I'm not gonna over. Diagnosis?

• 10:43Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 10:45Speaker 04

  Let's just like, let her rock.

• 10:46Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 10:47Speaker 04

  Let her cook. And when I was a preteen, I remember, and I really had followed that trend all through elementary school, super, super shy. And when I was a preteen, you don't want nothing more than to fit in.

• 10:56Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 10:57Speaker 04

  And my mom told me the best advice I've ever received was just stay weird, because otherwise your people won't know how to find you. And I was like, okay. So I actually started incorporating color. And I wear yellow in my toughest Peloton rides. And that like, yellow fixation really started as a teen when I started being like, okay, like, maybe the world can see me.

• 11:18Hoda Kotb?

  So who did you turn to when you, because kids have funky things going on. Who was your person?

• 11:24Speaker 04

  I think my person really lived in my cousins.

• 11:28Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 11:28Speaker 04

  Right? So I grew up in a Puerto Rican and Cuban household, multi-generations, all in one house. I mean, it was the kind of like, open door policy where you might have somebody who's just like, visiting from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, España, like, you didn't know who. I was like, are they my brother, my cousin, my aunt? Like, I true, half my childhood, I didn't even know my true connection with half the people in my house. I just knew like, they were family.

• 11:51Hoda Kotb?

  They were you. They were your people.

• 11:52Speaker 04

  Um, so my cousins, I grew up with a whole crew of cousins, all within like, five years up or five years down from me. And they became.

• 12:00Hoda Kotb?

  That's your world. That was your world.

• 12:02Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 12:03Hoda Kotb?

  I mean, when you're, you're, you're super smart, obviously. You went to NYU.

• 12:07Speaker 04

  Mm hmm.

• 12:08Hoda Kotb?

  You graduated top of your class, or?

• 12:09Speaker 04

  Mm hmm. Yeah. Magna, you know, one of those Latin, Latin things.

• 12:14Hoda Kotb?

  Magna cum something. So what was the goal here? What was the goal? What'd you want to do with all that?

• 12:19Speaker 04

  So I knew I wanted, I wanted to practice law since I was a kid. My father was an attorney when I was growing up, and he was a law professor. And I remember him grading law exams on, in Blue Books. And it's interesting now with AI that they're going back to Blue Books. I'm like, whoa, this is a remix. But, um, yeah, I always was fascinated by. I'm a Virgo. I like a rule. I like a list. I like to know what is right and what is wrong. And I think in law school, it was very revelatory to me to wrestle with that and be like, actually, there's a lot of ways to tell a story. And that, it was in law school that I started becoming fascinated with narrative and storytelling. And so that kind of informs a lot of what I've done since practicing law.

• 13:02Speaker 04

  But the, you know, in college, the goal was definitely like slay a law firm job.

• 13:06Hoda Kotb?

  Was it more your dad? Was that more the reason? Or did you really love all of that stuff you were soaking in?

• 13:13Speaker 04

  I just loved wrestling with it. I remember being on the debate team in high school and just having a stack of facts and being like, how can I make this make sense?

• 13:24Hoda Kotb?

  So were you, when you talk about being painfully shy, were you happy when you had to go to school? Did you want to go?

• 13:31Speaker 04

  I loved school. Like, I love books. I love syllabus. I love, I mean, I honestly, like, my husband makes fun of me because I was the kid who'd get their syllabus in July for school and like start reading the books before Labor Day. Like, who does that?

• 13:46Hoda Kotb?

  You.

• 13:47Speaker 04

  I was so into that. I loved school. So being in the classroom, I adored. But it was like the small moments of, oh, I remember like, like the moment carrying your tray to a cafeteria table and not, no, no, I hated it.

• 14:04Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, you hated it.

• 14:04Speaker 04

  Because it was the moment where you had to like insert yourself into a social situation. Like those moments, like walking into the playground and being like, am I gonna go here? Am I gonna go here? And I wasn't, you know, I have to say, like, it wasn't like I had some tortured childhood where I was made fun of all the time, but I, in my own head, I created these tensions.

• 14:21Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, I think this is so interesting because if someone's listening and has a kid, who is that kid? Sometimes you think, well, is this child going to go down this path and be this way? Well, clearly something happened to you because you went from that girl to this girl. Was there a moment in high school, in college, where you just cracked out and said, you know what? I don't, you know, I'm, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be who I am, weird, all the things your mom suggested.

• 14:50Speaker 04

  I remember, you know, there was a pivotal moment and it kind of feels like a nineties rom com or something. But I was super unexpectedly nominated for homecoming queen.

• 15:00Hoda Kotb?

  Wait, what?

• 15:00Speaker 04

  In high school. And I was like, homecoming queen. Like, I wasn't like, I didn't, you know, I had friends, but I wasn't like, the most, you know, beloved girl in school. And I was like, and then I realized is because I had so many different groups of friends. Because I, I was truly friends with like the sporty kid and the nerdy kid and the yearbook kid and the, and I was the after school participant. Like, I wanted to sign up for everything. And I was like, oh, I have a lot of different groups of friends. I'm like a bridge builder. And I ended up winning homecoming queen at Abington Senior High School. And that really was a turning point for me because I was like, I, I had, I didn't see myself that way at all.

• 15:35Hoda Kotb?

  So when it was the, there's probably what, three of you waiting when they call out the person? What did you think when they, when they said your name?

• 15:42Speaker 04

  It was like, it was the first time I had won anything. It was the first time I had been seen for anything. I mean, truly, like, I, I, I, I'm such a, I really am an introverted, like energetic, energetically. And, um, but it was that, it was in that moment that I was like, oh, it's both hand. Like, I can, I can step on a stage and learn to be literate in that.

• 16:04Hoda Kotb?

  Boy, and to be somebody who doesn't expect it, who finds yourself there. Okay, so did being in the spotlight make you feel good? Did it make you feel weird?

• 16:15Speaker 04

  Hmm, I think especially then it was both.

• 16:17Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 16:17Speaker 04

  But also I was able to see myself through the community's eyes a little bit. I was like, oh, there's so and so and there's so and so. And the reason, you know, it's, you know, those voting things are really just like a numbers game. And I was like, oh, the reason I won this wasn't because I'm so grand or special. It's because I cast a wide net. And that was interesting to me.

• 16:36Hoda Kotb?

  So you're like, oh, this is part of my thing. I'm gonna tell you something super weird. So in high school, I was very similar to you. And it was homecoming. And they nominated Cameron Demain, gorgeous. Margie Iannelli, gorgeous. Somebody else, gorgeous. And me. I was like, I was like, my brother was like, what? Why? I go, I actually don't know. I don't know. And then they said, my brother, I still remember, my brother was there. My dad was working. My brother was there with me. And he goes, where do we go and we lose? I go, I think we go left. I think, because that's what I was thinking. Because he was always worried about like, where do we go? How do we get out of here? And literally, they called my name. There was a picture of my brother looking at me like,

• 17:18Speaker 04

  Shock.

• 17:18Hoda Kotb?

  Her and me too, like, me? And, and you realize, because, true, when you are in sports with the popular kids, with the after-school kids.

• 17:29Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 17:29Hoda Kotb?

  That's interesting.

• 17:30Speaker 04

  Wow, that's such a parallel.

• 17:31Hoda Kotb?

  I wonder, I wonder how many people have something similar who wound up in this way? Because you can't just be in a narrow lane. You've got to, you've got to broaden out.

• 17:40Speaker 04

  Correct.

• 17:40Hoda Kotb?

  I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments. The birthdays, the vacations, the milestones. But the truth is, some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So, like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow, the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-market snack. Or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts, and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in. I have to tell you, if you're an Extra Care member, you're gonna save on things you're already buying. And those extra bucks really do add up.

• 18:24Hoda Kotb?

  Just watching that total go down at the checkout never, ever gets old. I know life's busy. We're all juggling a lot. And that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS Pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter. Visit your local CVS Pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A 10-foot skeleton? Sure. A full-size fog machine? Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens. Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card,

• 19:09Hoda Kotb?

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• 19:52Hoda Kotb?

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• 19:57Speaker 05

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• 20:56Hoda Kotb?

  One of the things about your story, sorry I didn't know this, maybe I'm the only one, and I want our listeners to know this story too.

• 21:04Hoda Kotb?

  You're in a wine bar. Please tell me the story, because I feel like in everyone's life, there is a singular moment, and we all have many of them, but this one in particular, that could either break you as a human being, or transform you into something else. Either you're gonna go down a road that's gonna be dark and terrible, or you're gonna take this and turn it into something. Tell me about what happened in the wine bar.

• 21:33Speaker 04

  I was in, I was at NYU, I was entering my senior year at NYU, meeting girlfriends after my internship. I was working at a law firm at the time, it was Friday afternoon, or Friday early evening, and I go to meet them at this wine bar in the East Village. It's still there, it's called Bar Veloce. Very cute Italian wine bar, they serve like tapa, or like pizza, or whatever. And I was, I was sitting in the first stool closest to the entryway, and I hear gunshots. A man walks in, saying that he'd been shot. And I look, I'm looking at him, like, is this, because this is kind of when those prank shows were very popular, and like, reality TV was kind of very pervasive, and I, or starting to become very pervasive, and I thought, is this like a TV show or something?

• 22:17Speaker 04

  Like, this feels so bizarre. But then, the man walked in, the perpetrator walked in with the gun, you know, saying that people were gonna leave in body bags. That was the first sentence that he uttered when he walked in there. And I was like, okay, this is not a joke. And time slows down when you're in those kind of traumas, like, you know, hopefully nobody's ever been through that, but, you know, a car accident, something, like, somebody's in a hospital, like, you start, you, your body is, your processing speed is literally different, chemically different. And I, it was the first time that I was confronted with self-talk. Like, we, we've had, we all have self-talk, you know, right? Sixty to a hundred thousand thoughts a day. But in that moment, I was, I was my only companion.

• 22:59Speaker 04

  And I, I remember talking myself through, like, he basically snatched me from the stool into this back dishwashing area.

• 23:08Hoda Kotb?

  Where he took you?

• 23:09Speaker 04

  He grabbed me, yeah. So I was like his mate, there were probably like fifteen, seventeen people in the bar. And it was a narrow walkway, so the entryway was the only way out. And the only way in, only way out of this, you know, establishment. And so he grabbed, everybody ran back into that kitchen, which was a dead end.

• 23:29Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, God.

• 23:30Speaker 04

  You know, except for like a tiny little window. And he grabs me and I remember speaking to myself, thinking, um, just saying like,

• 23:40Speaker 04

  my first refrain was, this is really happening.

• 23:43Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 23:43Speaker 04

  This is really happening. Like, this is really happening right now. And then time slowed down even more and I, I mean, I remember having super panicked breath, but at some point,

• 23:56Speaker 04

  you just deal with what's in front of you. Like, it's not just some heroic thing, right? It's not like, and all of a sudden I, you know, was 10 feet tall and I was super brave. I wasn't. I was just dealing what was directly in front of me. And what was directly in front of me was this man holding a gun, um, a sword.

• 24:12Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, jeez.

• 24:12Speaker 04

  Uh, kerosene, covered us in kerosene, had me, had me tie people up with zip ties. Yeah. And then I'm, then he basically grabs me again. By this point, the NYPD are outside and it becomes a full, you know, hour plus long hostage negotiation between my, utilizing my cellphone to the NYPD outside and then he and I having side conversations, basically this whole time.

• 24:41Hoda Kotb?

  Saying?

• 24:42Speaker 04

  Well, he started speaking in Spanish and I replied in Spanish. And it turns out that he was, um, black and either Dominican or Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican. And his wife had just died. We're talking about his family. He was a father. And so I remember very intentionally trying to humanize the situation.

• 24:59Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 24:59Speaker 04

  And being like, my name's Robin. Like, there are people here who also have families, like, you know, and, and, um,

• 25:07Speaker 04

  the people behind me started to settle a little bit.

• 25:10Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 25:11Speaker 04

  Like, they weren't wailing and screaming anymore, once he and I were talking.

• 25:14Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 25:15Speaker 04

  Um, and it was still obviously like very heavily charged, but it was, it, it, it had like more of a hum to it. And it was in that moment that the, a woman, Ann Margaret, who was sitting in the wash basin, slightly elevated from us, jumped him from behind, the NYPD rush in.

• 25:33Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 25:34Speaker 04

  That is how it, that's how it ends. Four people were shot, but nobody died. Unbelievable.

• 25:39Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, so you leave that horrible setting.

• 25:41Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 25:42Hoda Kotb?

  And that's PTSD right there.

• 25:44Speaker 04

  Beyond.

• 25:44Hoda Kotb?

  That's a lifetime of, I almost died. That's a lifetime of, here they come again, someone's coming for me. It's a lifetime of that.

• 25:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:54Hoda Kotb?

  You did something, because you could have become, you could have become her, that person. Then you'd be telling me that story right now, in a way that be, that was different. What did you do? How did you kind of turn the beat around?

• 26:06Speaker 04

  Well, I was like, I would have, whatever I gotta do, I'm gonna heal from this. Like, it was like Project Healing, which obviously comes on its own timeline.

• 26:15Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 26:16Speaker 04

  Um, but NYU was super supportive. I went to therapy. Uh, I was back at school the next semester and that structure really helped me, you know, trying to get back into routine. But living in New York City, I remember, I was living in the Village at the time. And the first time I was gonna get back on the, at the train at the West Fourth Street Station, like, not being able to walk downstairs. Because I was like, oh, I'm gonna be down, underground. And like, what if I can't get out? And there was this fear, you know, I still have, like, I will know an exit in every single room that I'm in till the day I die. Like, that's just now how I'm wired. But, um, it really, so that, that was, that probably was a Band-Aid, you know, therapy and kind of routine. And a, and a longer to-do list as a distraction was a Band-Aid for like 18 months.

• 26:59Speaker 04

  And then I was in law school, um, the following, you know, the following year. And with the acute stresses of law school, it was like.

• 27:06Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 27:06Speaker 04

  It was just.

• 27:07Hoda Kotb?

  Too much.

• 27:07Speaker 04

  It was gonna break. Um, and that's when I started incorporating running. And movement became enough of a, a pressure release for me to start to process it. And I remember just having flashes of the experience, like, I'd be, you know, running. And I started very slowly running during law school. But I would be on these runs and I would just have flashes of the experience and be like, wow, I didn't even remember that. And I just had to befriend myself. And, um, I was really aware that.

• 27:37Speaker 04

  I didn't, something wrong happened to me.

• 27:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 27:41Speaker 04

  But I didn't want to become this, my primary identity as a victim. Like, I just couldn't do it.

• 27:46Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah. So you ran, now, you, you weren't an athlete, so running wasn't your bag. But you started. You ran what, a little bit?

• 27:53Speaker 04

  A little bit. Like, I ran to school, you know, from my apartment to the law school campus. And then I did a 10K and almost didn't finish. And I was wearing, like, kevs. I mean, it was all just atrocious. The fact that I do this for a living is a joke. Like, I didn't know what I was doing.

• 28:07Hoda Kotb?

  At the end, you ran what, 20-plus marathons?

• 28:09Speaker 04

  Yes, 27 marathons.

• 28:11Hoda Kotb?

  27?

• 28:12Speaker 04

  This November, New York City will be in-

• 28:13Hoda Kotb?

  You're running another one? You're not even done running?

• 28:16Speaker 04

  My ninth New York City marathon.

• 28:17Hoda Kotb?

  Girl, I thought that was a, a chapter in the past. You're still running marathons.

• 28:21Speaker 04

  Yeah, I mean, I haven't done it in five years. I haven't done it since my daughter was nine months old. And I can't, you know, I don't believe, I, I think that we can evolve into all different chapters, right? It wasn't like, I have to run a marathon every year to prove anything.

• 28:34Hoda Kotb?

  No.

• 28:34Speaker 04

  Um, but I started to crave it again, yeah.

• 28:36Hoda Kotb?

  You did?

• 28:37Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 28:37Hoda Kotb?

  So tell me about that. Um, once you've accomplished, and accomplished it again and again and again, what's gives you that itch to do it? Like, what's the motivation?

• 28:49Speaker 04

  I think that there is, specifically with endurance, marathons, ultra-marathons, and I'm sure any endurance athlete of any kind will, will understand what I'm saying. There's like a...

• 29:02Speaker 04

  There's like a, I mean, this might be, this is gonna sound really intense. There's kind of like a spiritual reckoning that happens when you're in that. And you just have to face yourself. And for better or for worse, usually for better, um, those experiences heal me. Push me, heal me. Yeah. So I'm going back into the ring.

• 29:26Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, that's pretty beautiful. Tell me about the spiritual piece of it, because that's huge.

• 29:32Speaker 04

  You don't run from yourself, talk. And then usually I have this, this, the arc is like, I'm feeling so good, I'm feeling so good. And then physically it's like, I'm feeling so bad. And then you start thinking, you know, then you start tuning, you know, try to distract. And whether it's a song or whether it's a mantra. And that only goes so far. And then you get into your self-talk. And then, then for me, I've done it enough times where I start to unpack my self-talk. And sometimes like this persistent inner critic comes up. And usually my catharsis through that becomes some kind of like spiritual. Like then it's like my self-talk isn't to me. It's kind of like to this broader spiritual conversation.

• 30:13Speaker 04

  And you know, I'm not saying every 10 mile run ends with this like, you know.

• 30:16Hoda Kotb?

  But when you're.

• 30:17Speaker 04

  But a lot of times it, it, it, it does.

• 30:20Hoda Kotb?

  Right. It's not physical anymore. It's not emotional anymore. It's more, it's more than all of that.

• 30:24Speaker 04

  It's like a metaphysical thing for me.

• 30:25Hoda Kotb?

  So corporate law, yay, look at you, you did all the things and you're like, you know what? I don't think so. I mean, we, we talk about repotting here a lot. It's like you, your roots are in deep and all of a sudden you're going to yank yourself up. Your roots are up in the air going, oh crap, man. I need, am I going to die up here? And then you get put in this mineral rich soil, which is where you landed. Why did you pull yourself out of corporate law? And tell me about how you landed.

• 30:55Speaker 04

  Oh my gosh, what a beautiful analogy. Um, I, I call networking planting seeds. Cause that felt better than like going to a happy hour and like pestering people and telling them about business. But yes, during that period, I was slowly, but consistently getting uncomfortable in these races and falling in love with running. And I was also part of a community where, um, I call them like, they, they were called, they're called the New York City Bridge Runners. They still gather in downtown New York and it was just a group of misfits, right? Like DJs and artists and graffiti artists and folks who are just maybe not considered your typical athlete.

• 31:38Speaker 04

  And they were, they really introduced me to the running world in a way that was unconventional. And I was like, oh, I can do this. I can do unconventional. And that allowed me to start to write a story that was so unexpected even to me. And I thought, okay, I was noticing that brands like Nike and Adidas were. You know, working with a lot of the New York City Ridge Runners and a lot of these athletes for campaigns. And I was like, oh, there's a story here. Not only is there a story here, there is a commercial appetite for this point of view in movement. So I started, I had a Tumblr initially, and then, you know, it was blogging and doing like, you know, freelance little articles and

• 32:22Speaker 04

  things for whatever publication would take me. And then it started becoming branded work. And that was when influencer marketing was kind of starting to become a thing within the marketing canon. And I was very grateful to be a part of it, because once I started being able to pay my rent with things that I loved, namely, running and talking about running and taking photos running, it became an entry point into a brand new life.

• 32:48Hoda Kotb?

  And it wasn't scary to leave law behind?

• 32:50Speaker 04

  Terrifying. It was terrifying. And coming from a Puerto Rican Cuban background, coming from an immigrant background, my mother is a Cuban refugee, they were both super supportive and also like, are you insane? Like, do you know what our family has given up for you to have a steady anything? And I promised them I would never ask them for a dime, and I made good on that promise. And it was, there were a lot of leaps of faith, though. Like, I remember two weeks before the London Olympic Games in 2012, I had quit my law job, and I made these little tiny, these little tiny cards with my, one of my Instagram photos, my Instagram handle, my phone number, and my email. And I thought,

• 33:33Speaker 04

  I don't even know who I'm gonna give these to, but these little business cards, I'm just gonna put in my back pocket. And I was in a Nike store, and Mark Parker, former CEO of Nike, walks in and said, hey, you have great style. You should, you should do something with that. And I was like, funny you ask.

• 33:48Hoda Kotb?

  Wait, what are you talking about?

• 33:50Speaker 04

  And then I gave my business card, and then, and then a few weeks later, I got a call from an agency running Nike Women. Like, Nike Women was their client, right? And I got a job from the marketing agency to work with Nike Women.

• 34:04Hoda Kotb?

  So you went to the Olympics?

• 34:05Speaker 04

  I went, I slept on my friend's couch for three weeks.

• 34:08Hoda Kotb?

  You went.

• 34:09Speaker 04

  And I went and I talked to athletes who now, you know, I know and are my friends. But it was like, I was just thirsty to be around it. I would just want, I just knew I had to be there.

• 34:19Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, just that showing up, like showing up is half of everything. The fact that you had little business cards in your pocket, you went to the Nike store. I mean, nothing's going to happen in your apartment, you know, you, nothing is going to happen. So you knew that you were on the right path. So Peloton comes from where in this equation?

• 34:38Speaker 04

  I read about Peloton and I had done a vision board earlier that year. Um, so I basically, I, I left the agency job because I realized, oh, after about six months, I realized I love storytelling around movement, especially like a female in an urban environment's point of view. Um, and, but I wasn't seeing myself in that story. It's like, this still feels divorced from what I'm experiencing. And I knew that I wanted to be the one participating in the storytelling directly. Not like through somebody else's Twitter account or whatever. And even if it's an established brand. So I had more time on my hands. I quit the agency job, which actually was scarier than quitting the law job.

• 35:23Speaker 04

  Cause I thought I found my perfect job. And then realizing that in quick succession, that it's not the perfect job. I was like, oh my God, am I just going to be this listless, like person who can't keep a career? Um, and it was interesting because there was no, it wasn't like I had this lockstep vision. Like I just had to get into this one rung of the ladder. Like I didn't, didn't even see the ladder. You're just creating it out of thin air based on values and gut instinct. Like what? And gut instinct at like 28 years old, like what in the world? Um, so that felt very. Untethered and I read about, I had done a vision board, which is part of, one of the things that I do when I'm feeling untethered. It's just like, let's try to grab on to a

• 36:06Speaker 04

  word, a feeling, a noun, a verb, something that will help me feel like I'm crystallizing the vision. And in the business quadrant of the vision board, I had a picture of a little Apple computer and I put disruptive storytelling. And I didn't know like really what that even meant. But then I read the article about Peloton and it was like this is going to be connected bike and they were going to try to be global, based in New York City. And I was like, this sounds like it. Because I had been teaching at a local spin studio, simply because I was bored. Like I was like, I don't, I have too much time in my day. I just need to do something with this. So I was teaching at a local spin studio called Revolve in Union Square, which is still there. So darling. But I sent a cold email

• 36:48Speaker 04

  to the company and to Peloton. I said, it was [email protected]. And I sent a cold email and I was, I was brought in for an audition and I had a contract by that Friday.

• 36:59Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, your whole, just your path, if anyone's listening and thinking, I don't know what to do. And you just start to do things. It doesn't, the vision board, just show up, try. I mean, sending a cold email without having any connection and winding up where you are. So you, you hit all these notes, you wind up at this place. So you are in so many places. I see you on Good Morning America. I see you here. I see you there. So when were you, or when, are, when are you the most joyful? Like, because sometimes, some of the most successful people I know are the least joyful. They're like, you know, they're always mad about something, something happened to their million dollar mansion,

• 37:41Hoda Kotb?

  they're mad, everybody's mad. It's like, when for you was that, or is that time?

• 37:47Speaker 04

  Okay, it's probably, I can think of two examples from just this morning, and they're very different. The first, being in what I call like the bubble of my apartment with my kids and my family, like having little moments where, you know, they're a little too quiet. I have a five year old and a three year old. They were, when kids are, when young kids are quiet, you, it's probably bad. Okay. They're probably like writing this marker on your wall. So I walk into the room and they're read, they're like poring over a book together. They're literally, my daughter is reading, and I say that in air quotes, which is just starting to read, to my son. And I was like, and I like just backpedaled out of there, like. Do you? That's amazing. So glimmers like that, like just joy, like wow.

• 38:29Speaker 04

  And then the other side of it, I did a 60-minute hit run with Bex on the Peloton Tread. And, you know, for the first time in a long time, was able to max out the the speed on the tread for a sprint, which is super, super fast for me. And I thought, oh, my gosh, like, that's joy. Like, my body can do that. Like, there were so many moments in my life when I never thought that was even physically possible. Not even possible. And so there's the joy that is through discomfort. And then there's the joy that I try to be super present in as it relates to my family.

• 39:02Hoda Kotb?

  I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments. The birthdays, the vacations, the milestones. But the truth is, some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow, the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-market snack, or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts, and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in. I have to tell you, if you're an Extra Care member, you're going to save on things you're already buying, and those extra bucks really do add up.

• 39:46Hoda Kotb?

  Just watching that total go down at the checkout never, ever gets old. I know life's busy. We're all juggling a lot. And that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So, the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter. Visit your local CVS pharmacy. Sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A 10-foot skeleton? Sure. A full-size fog machine? Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens. Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card,

• 40:31Hoda Kotb?

  the savvy decision that will earn you more cash back. On the everyday purchases, plus the extraordinary Halloween tricks and treats. With Freedom Flex, you earn even more treats on your Halloween and everyday needs. You get 5% cash back on popular rotating quarterly categories, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. That's no tricks, all treats. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. So sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, N A Member FDIC.

• 41:14Hoda Kotb?

  Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 41:19Speaker 05

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• 42:04Speaker 05

  Explore the Microsoft AI Innovators Hub and start building. Visit aka.ms slash AI dash innovators. That's aka dot MS slash AI dash innovators.

• 42:18Hoda Kotb?

  Can we talk about just quickly your husband and kids? You met your husband, how many days did you guys know one another?

• 42:23Speaker 04

  Three days.

• 42:23Hoda Kotb?

  And then that was it?

• 42:24Speaker 04

  That was it.

• 42:25Hoda Kotb?

  Come on.

• 42:26Speaker 04

  Yeah, we met 10 years ago this past May.

• 42:28Hoda Kotb?

  But how did you, like, tell me what happened in those three days that that you had the certainty? Because you know how they say, you got to find out about this, you got to find out, there's like a million things. Some, a friend once told me, you have to go through four seasons, you can see what they're like and stress. How come three days was enough?

• 42:43Speaker 04

  I, I was probably older by the standard of most dating. I was in my mid 30s. And I had gone through this period where I was finally feeling some flow, you know, on the professional end. Felt like I'd landed at Peloton, written my first book, you know, New York Times bestseller, all that. And I was just like praying. When I say like on my knees praying, like where is he? And then I had to like loosen the reins on that. And I was like, fine, I'm just going to try to become who I would date. And

• 43:13Hoda Kotb?

  Wait, try to become?

• 43:14Speaker 04

  I'm gonna try to become who I would date, like just fall in love, romanticize the little things, right? Like the cup of tea, the, you know, you just have to like romanticize your life. I'm so into that. And the accidental meeting of my husband, you know, my girlfriend Lynette was like, hey, let's go out. And I don't drink. I don't even want to be out past 9pm. I'd so much rather be in bed, but I was like, okay, girl, fine. I'm, I'm meeting you in these village. And so we go out, my husband walks into the bar and he's, he said, everybody else looked like they were in black and white and I was in technicolor. And it was just truly like this lightning feeling like, oh my gosh, that's him. Like I, my pupils were just focused on this man.

• 43:53Speaker 04

  And we had a date the following day and then he takes me on Saturday to Proposal Bridge in Central Park. He's like, you know, people get engaged. And I was like, ha, ha, ha, okay. And then the next morning he woke up and he got a ring.

• 44:06Hoda Kotb?

  Are you kidding me right now?

• 44:09Speaker 04

  No, no, that was 10 years ago.

• 44:13Hoda Kotb?

  Were you, when he, when he proposed, was it an easy yes?

• 44:16Speaker 04

  Yes, I said yes, immediately. I was like, yeah, let's do this. Let's go, let's rock.

• 44:21Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 44:22Speaker 04

  I was so certain. We were both so certain. And I, we are both very spiritual people. We believe that we had past lives together. And then we realized all these connections, all these things, and all these beliefs that like, you know, he was sharing and I was sharing that we had never really uttered to other people. And we were like, wow, we're really, I mean, the synergy was like beyond.

• 44:39Hoda Kotb?

  It's magic. Yeah.

• 44:40Speaker 04

  Um, you know, and then of course, there's tons of practical elements. I totally get like Four Seasons with someone. That's very practical. Um, we were kind of just like, we're all in and then we're going to build on top of that.

• 44:50Hoda Kotb?

  Well, you don't live your life in a practical way, which is why you are where you are in terms of the success. Your kids, having children, was that something you had dreamt of? Was that something you struggled to do? Did it come easy? Tell me.

• 45:04Speaker 04

  It was a dream.

• 45:05Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 45:06Speaker 04

  I had, Drew and I had frozen embryos. Um, you know, we met and I was already in my late 30s when we really were like, okay, this is, you know, we met and had, we had this whirlwind romance. And then like, two years later, we had a wedding in front of my family. And so then things kind of took a more traditional timeline. So we froze embryos and it was during the pandemic that I was like, all right, let's just do this. Let's just try.

• 45:33Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 45:33Speaker 04

  Um, and thankfully, you know, Athena was able to come to the world super healthy. She was born three weeks early. And so that was, that was scary. I actually just told her, I just shared with her the story. So Beyonce's song, Love on Top, was a song that I would play with her, play for her while she was in utero with the little headphones that you put on somebody's belly. And she didn't move one morning, like she didn't respond. And it was immediately to the doctor. And they did a ultrasound. They're like, yeah, she's, she looks like she's okay, but you're actually contracting. And she's not doing well with the contraction. I was like, I'm contracting. Like, oh, first time pregnancy. I didn't know what I was doing. And the doctor looks at my husband, he said, today seems like a good day to have a baby.

• 46:17Speaker 04

  And he looked like the Road Runner. You know, those old school cartoons where the eyeballs roll onto the floor? That was my husband. So we had a baby that day. Um, even though, he didn't even have his wallet. We thought we were going to like brunch. Like, we didn't know what.

• 46:30Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, thank God Beyonce, love on top and the perception of.

• 46:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, and then the testing that they did later, they were like, no, that was, you probably had like a 12 hours to like make that choice.

• 46:41Hoda Kotb?

  Oh my gosh.

• 46:42Speaker 04

  It was very serious.

• 46:42Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, so Athena came, did you want another child quickly after?

• 46:45Speaker 04

  Yeah, I did. I wanted them to be within a few years apart. My sister and I are five years apart and we're very, very close now, but our childhoods were a little disparate. And yeah, and now they're, my, my son and daughter are really best friends, little best friends, so.

• 47:00Hoda Kotb?

  So what, what motivates you these days to write the next books? Because like we were saying, every time you do write a book, someone's like, when's your next one? You're like, I'm doing this on Dancing with Stars, when's the next one? You're like, girl, stop. Like, I'm here right now. But what is on your list? And does having that list bring you some kind of, of joy?

• 47:22Speaker 04

  You know what's interesting? Like that, it's actually a conversation that I have with Ally Love, who I know you're close with. You know, she asked me once, how do you want to spend every day for the next two years? And it just floored me because it wasn't like in 15 years, it was like, no, like the mundane. Like, how do you want to spend the ordinary moments? And that really helped ground me because I am an ambitious person and I, oh, and I do have that ambitious flaw, I guess, of being on to the, not even celebrating the win and they're already on to the next thing. And I recently released a cookbook in March of 2026.

• 48:00Speaker 04

  And so that was a New York Times bestseller. I was so grateful for that. And I kind of have let things breathe. And by breathe, I mean, you know, still a very robust daily schedule. But in terms of like a creative process, I'm kind of letting it breathe.

• 48:12Hoda Kotb?

  Good for you.

• 48:12Speaker 04

  Focusing on my podcast, Project Swagger, my Peloton work, I've got some branded partnerships, of course, I've got racing. But I'm not feeling the pressure to like check the next thing off the box because. I never want to resent the time away from my family.

• 48:27Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 48:28Speaker 04

  And when I know I'm working on a project that is super hard work, requires grit, but I'm proud of the output, I can justify that time away. And when I see the friction.

• 48:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 48:42Speaker 04

  Or I feel like, oh, I don't want to do it. And it's coming from a place of resentment.

• 48:47Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 48:47Speaker 04

  I know that the intention might be misaligned in terms of the choice to do that project.

• 48:52Hoda Kotb?

  Tell me about Project Swagger, because you only take things you love. So this is something you love. Tell me about this.

• 48:57Speaker 04

  So Project Swagger is my weekly podcast and it's 30 minutes or less of mindset tips, hot takes on wellness, like just kind of trying to cut through the noise for the busy person, often a woman, you know, in her 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, who wants to, who already knows, like to drink the water and have the greens and go to bed. And but it's like, how do we then truly optimize our lives with intention rather than getting wrapped up in optimization culture?

• 49:27Hoda Kotb?

  What are some good, I mean, as we're kind of wrapping up, what are some good takeaways from that? Because I think that's so important. People listening to this are hungry for that too. And you're right, they're getting their sleep, they're eating their greens. And sometimes I still feel kind of mad. It's like I'm doing the things. I don't feel great.

• 49:43Speaker 04

  Yeah. Well, two things right off the bat. Lift heavy, heavy, heavy, three times a week, non-negotiable. And heavy meaning that last one or two reps should feel disrespectful. And I'm a firm proponent of 20 grams of creatine a day.

• 50:01Hoda Kotb?

  Creatine.

• 50:02Speaker 04

  Split across, but 20 grams.

• 50:03Hoda Kotb?

  How much is in a?

• 50:05Speaker 04

  One scoop is five.

• 50:06Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, okay. I do the.

• 50:08Speaker 04

  Yeah. So I will super dose my creatine across like almost three or four Stanley cups. So lots of water, you know, you definitely don't want to increase your water intake. And I think the self-talk, I'm all about rattling the age cage.

• 50:21Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 50:21Speaker 04

  And I see a lot on social media or I'll meet, you know, members in the Peloton studio. And I'll hear an offside comment of like, Oh, I'm too old for that now. And that person will be like 35.

• 50:32Hoda Kotb?

  You're like, please.

• 50:33Speaker 04

  What? What?

• 50:34Hoda Kotb?

  Are you talking about?

• 50:35Speaker 04

  I think that we just have to, and I think the narrative is shifting for sure. And we have a ton of examples now of folks who are just doing iconic things in every, every decade of life. But it's important to watch how you can observe it, right? You can see, you can like a Tik Tok or like an Instagram story and be like, yeah, that person's awesome. But then when you're in the throes of it, you're making a choice that you feel is bold. It's like, oh, is this pushing the boundaries of who I am at 40 or 50 or 60? And it's like, yes, it should. You should be rattling the age cage. Like what decision? And this is a question that I would, related to the self-talk, that I would ask your listeners. What decision would you make if you were twice as bold and twice as confident? Because it's like that version of yourself is just waiting to be let out of a cage.

• 51:19Hoda Kotb?

  Girl, let's end there. Love you, Robin. Let us out of our cage. Girl.

• 51:28Hoda Kotb?

  So don't you love Robin Arzon? I mean, just, I, I think about all of the hurdles that she's overcome. And how she like leads with such sort of optimism, ambition, all the things. I still can't get over the fact that she was grabbed in a New York wine bar and held hostage for hours and somehow at the end of it, turned that horrific experience into a life-changing moment that would propel her. Also, you know what else I love about her? She's very disciplined, yet she met her husband and three days later they were engaged. Okay. So you like, you gotta love a girl with whimsy.

• 52:10Hoda Kotb?

  You gotta love a girl who works hard and there's discipline in there. And it's all beautiful. And I think for Robin, you know, I love a poem. And for Robin, I think it's Mary Oliver for her. So this is, this is the one that I feel like fits Robin. It's called "The Summer Day."

• 52:30Hoda Kotb?

  Who made the world? Who made the swan and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean. The one who's flung herself out of the grass? The one who's eating sugar out of my hand? Who's moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down? Who's gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes? Now she shifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. And now she snaps her wings open and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I've been doing all day. So here's the best part of this poem.

• 53:14Hoda Kotb?

  You ready? Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? I want to read that last line again. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver. We all get one wild and precious life. All right, let's live it.

• 53:49Hoda Kotb?

  I realize that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day. I'll pop into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels, and it never seems to be just a quick errand. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joyward Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to-do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more joy. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS.

• 54:19Speaker 05

  Building with AI should feel simpler, not harder to navigate. The challenge is finding the right resources to move from exploring AI to building with it. The Microsoft AI Innovators Hub brings together code samples, guided labs, and practical guidance to help you move from exploring AI to building with it. Learn by building at the AI Innovators Hub. Visit aka.ms/ai-innovators. That's aka.ms/ai-innovators.

• 54:50Speaker 06

  Network freedom and flexibility. That's what you want in a health care plan. With a Humana Medicare Advantage PPO plan, you can see any doctor in the country who accepts Medicare, including specialists. No referrals. No kidding. Learn more at gethumana.com. See any doctor who accepts Medicare and is willing to bill Humana. Humana PPOs may not be available in all areas. Benefits and costs share may vary. Humana is a Medicare Advantage PPO organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in any Humana plan depends on contract renewal.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.