So there I was on Monday April 28 checking emails in the office before I started my day in the studio. I may have been sipping my standard one cup of coffee too. The phone rings and it is Jaime Guthals, THE Interweave Press publicist.
We said our hello's and in her bubbly way, Jaime tells me next "Lisa, you're going to be on TV in Phoenix" (paraphrasing). My heart started racing and although I knew Jaime was working hard on getting me on TV to promote Bead Romantique and Bead Expo Phoenix, I had thought I was off the hook since we were so close to the show. That was Monday and then I was leaving Wednesday morning. In between, I had to magically figure out what I would wear and what I would talk about for the interview.
Jaime prepared me with some talking points and what not to do/what to do; what to wear and what not to wear. So I had some tips from the pros. I didn't want to sound practiced so didn't even want to write down what I would say in the interview. Not only was I going to be interviewed on the morning show, ABC 15 Sonoran Living, but it was going to be LIVE. Like the good student that I was, I went to the Sonoran Living website and viewed a number of clips from the show. Aaaah okay I made a mental note how other guests dressed and behaved. Basically just be myself and talk about what I know: Pearls, and I should be "fine." Really? Was it that EASY?
I decided to keep the interview to myself and to my immediate family. I'm like that. I like to keep things hush-hush until it happens. Who knows, shows can cancel on guests and I didn't want to burst any bubbles. So I didn't even announce it on my blog here. I figured the good news will come in due time and I never like to jinx myself by being overly anxious. I also enjoy keeping the mystery up of what I am doing, so you'll never know what I am up to. Don't you feel that it is more exciting that way? I can keep a secret for over a year (for instance, not telling people that I was working on Bead Romantique, hahah. I am bad that way but now you know if you tell me a secret, it is safe with me!)
I had thought I was going to do a demo on the Pearl Mesh Bracelet and Jaime said to be prepared for it, just in case. So I did. I also brought ALL the exotic pearls in my personal stash to show off in the interview. We were going to show the audience that pearls could be used in innovative ways for design and that they are not just the standard looking pearls anymore. Then everyone could come to shop for pearls at Bead Expo Phoenix. That was the theme and my book utilized many different pearls for design.
While in Phoenix, I figured I better manicure my nails if they were going to focus on my hands. Geez, I have never been one for that fru-fru girlie stuff. I'm a tomboy at heart you know. I used to climb trees, play basketball and hang out with the boys in school. I was just "one of the guys" and enjoy getting dirty! Anyhow, I'm also frugal so Tina and I went to CVS and bought a bottle of Sally Hansen nail polish. I thought that it was good enough. Somehow I thought the opalescent "opal sand" (I think is what they called the fancy color) would be pretty on camera. Uhmmmm.. think again.
Thursday night, Tina helped me paint my nails. I went to sleep and woke up around 4:30 a.m. Friday morning nervous about the impending interview. I looked at my nails and UGH they were all scuffed up. I can't go on camera like this. So I proceeded to remove all the nail polish WITHOUT nail polish remover. There is a trick to doing this you know. Even though I'm not all that girlie, I knew how since I am a closet chemist, of sorts. What you do is paint on MORE nail polish and then rub off within a few seconds with a towel. The wet nail polish acts as a "loosening" agent to the already dried nail polish. So that took about 1/2 hour and my nails were again naked, just the way I like them.
By 5 a.m. I was getting prepared by ironing my clothes and applying my makeup. Thanks to MAC Cosmetics, they hooked me up earlier with some fantastic colors. However, I read that if you are on camera, you have to lay your makeup THICK like stage makeup. So there is where Tina came to the rescue with some waterproof eyeliner. I dislike that stuff as it is a pain to take off. (Note to self, never again will I use the waterproof eyeliner as it makes me look like a racoon!) Tina also helped with my hair. Thank goodness for my little sister or else I would be a big huge mess and not camera ready. I have always been camera shy. That is why you don't see more pictures of me on this blog or elsewhere. I need a lot of professional help to be presentable.
The beautiful Laura Levaas, my Interweave Marketing Manager, got up early too and escorted me to the studios. We got side-tracked on the way thanks to my misdirection but we found our way thanks to the GPS system (Btw, GPS is great but the voice is annoying to me!) We got to ABC 15 studios at 7:40 a.m. or so. So early that no one was in the parking lot. We drove around a bit thinking we were at the wrong building. We spotted a security guard in plain clothes and he let us in.
Laura Levaas at the Interweave Booth
After about 10 minutes or so, the assistant producer came in to introduce herself. I'm sorry but I was still very nervous so can't recall her name. My apologies. She mentioned that we would be able to setup our display shortly. Also, she welcomed us to go into the Green Room so that we could enjoy some coffee and refreshments. I figured, let's go check out this Green Room so Laura and I moved over.
The GREEN Room which is not GREEN at all
A trick of the camera with my new Canon. Now the GREEN Room is GREEN
I freshened up a bit and I looked in the restroom mirror. I thought to myself "hey didn't I iron this shirt?" What is one to do. I made the most of the situation. I paced about the GREEN room and then Andi Barness walks in. Andi is the co-host of Sonoran Living as well as the traffic reporter for ABC 15 (KNVX). You can read more about Andi here! Andi has an interesting story of her claim to fame. She met her husband, Dean on Love Connection! How cool is that!! Back to Sonoran Living LIVE.
So below are some photos of the set to show you the behind the scenes look at Sonoran Living LIVE. As you can see again, SO MUCH RED, it's blowing my mind. YES! I thought to myself. This interview is going to go like clockwork. Mentally, my mind and heartbeat began to race. So close to the interview I was due to be on screen at 9:15 a.m. right before the first commercial break. And listen to this, it is VERY rare to have a LIVE audience too. And yes, today was one of those rare moments. But with all this RED going on, I'll be okay.
My table setup showcasing key projects from Bead Romantique, the book, and the impressive pearl stash.
The camera man is taking shots for the preview to the show.
And yes, here is the LIVE audience for the Shoe and Handbag special. The producer is Eva Bowen prepping the audience. But the backdrop is a RED set. Woohoo. I couldn't ask for more, even though I was super nervous still.
The other part of the set had these beautiful RED couches. I was in RED overdose but not complaining at all. This is all simply beautiful to me. RED. RED. RED. Give me RED.
BTW, the interview went as well as it could with just a few fumbles on pronunciation but that was due to nervousness not that I wanted to butcher the English language. Haha. Did you notice my well-manicured hands while I was flipping through the pages of Bead Romantique for the camera? I thought so. It didn't make a big difference after all. And, I had NO idea what Andi was going to say or ask me. I just spoke, as if I was speaking to anyone of you, at a show. I was just being ME and that's all I needed to be! I think it worked out and I spoke naturally that way. I mentally knew what I had to discuss but none of it was practiced speech. Hooray, I survived! haha.
I hope you enjoy seeing and reading what went through in the making of my TV debut, behind the scenes. I want to thank Interweave, Jaime Guthals and Laura Levaas, especially. But of course, all this could not have happened without Steve Koenig's belief that I could pull it off. Team Interweave simply ROCKS. I love working with everyone there. Thanks guys! I hope I made you proud and represented Interweave/Bead Expo with flying colors.
Here's Smiling at all of YOU
Lisa
