Episode 48- Diriyah’s Group CEO, Jerry Inzerillo “I Love To Serve”

From humble beginnings, to handling some major projects around the world, he remains humble

Jerry Inzerillo is the Group CEO of Diriyah, a $63.3 billion project, part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 initiative, in Saudi Arabia’s capital. The project is bringing 42 luxury hotels, a royal opera house, luxury residences, a Greg Norman designed golf course, cultural centers, F&B, a boulevard the same length as Paris’ Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and much more in a space of 28 square miles. It’s quite the feat to be in charge of such a project which is simply restoring the ancestral home of the original Saudi state.

He’s got an impress resume having been the President and CEO of IMG Artists, President of the Kerzner Entertainment Group where he changed the reputation of One&Only and Atlantis hotel brands, he was COO of Sun City in South Africa, he’s the Vice Chairman of Forbes Travel Guide, and he’s had other notable positions. In 2023, President Biden awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Volunteerism and Service.

I first met Jerry at a fashion show in Diriyah, and we passed each other and he said something like, “hello, I know you and began listing my resume.” I had no idea who he was and introduced myself. Of all the accomplishments he has, and with all the people in his rolodex, what sticks out the most is that Jerry is humble- and his Brooklyn accent sticks out too. From humble means he’s able to be relatable and on the same level with anyone, while God has placed in his hands some heavy tasks. This isn’t a formal podcast interview, rather moments I’ve had with Jerry, and I wanted to put our conversations into one episode, so forgive the mix matched background noise and enjoy this episode with Jerry Inzerillo.  

Episode 47- Film Director Christine Swanson Talks Her New Film “Albany Road”

Lynn Whitfiend and Renee Elise Goldsberry in Albany Road | Photo provided by Faith FIlmworks

Ally sat down over Zoom with Christine, who is known for her film The Clark Sisters, to talk about her newest film Albany Road, out on limited release on November 15th. Taking 23 days to shoot in Champagne, Illinois, it stars Renee Elise Goldsberry and cinema legend Lynn Whitfield.

Albany Road is anchored in the idea of Black Joy, laced with redemption and forgiveness, as you might expect from a company called Faith Filmworks, the production company headed by Christine and her husband Michael Swanson.

The film touches on the plethora of relationships that we have in life, and through colorful characters starring (Renee Elise Goldsberry’s) Celeste, a high powered, jittery ad executive, and her almost mother-in-law Paula (Lynn Whitfield).  A freak snow storm and a ticking clock forces them to share the last remaining rental car in a fierce snowstorm. Awkward! As their literal and emotional journey continues, secrets are unearthed, lost loves confronted, and messy, scary life events come to light. 

As a writer, filmmaker, and multiple award-winning director with an MFA in Film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Christine has developed, written and/or directed entertainment projects for HBO Films, Lionsgate, Universal Television, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television Studios, TV One, A&E Networks, BET Films, Starz and Faith Filmworks.

Photo provided by Faith FIlmworks

Gary Dourdan and Renee Elise Goldsberry | Photo provided by Faith FIlmworks

For over a decade, Christine has made films championing Black women. And her experience with this movie has led her to believe that mostly white, mostly male studio executives are all for telling Black Trauma stories, especially during Awards Season, but allergic to Black Joy projects. While the film does face some harsh realities of life, it does not focus on Black Trauma. She and Ally gets into this in the interview.  

Enjoy this podcast interview with Christine Swanson.

Episode 46- Sara Al Madani On Taking Entrepreneurial Risks

Sara Al Madani is one of the realest people that you’ll meet. Since recording this, she has landed on Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of Dubai. Al Madani has been a fashion designer, but she’s also a serial entrepreneur. She’s all about self-love, and this is coupled with knowing and respecting herself, which results in her having a love of humanity.

Recorded during the Covid pandemic times, we discuss taking that risk to start a business, how to know if the person you're thinking to partner with is the right business partner, what else is needed (being emotional, mentally, and socially equipped) to start a business, and what she wishes she had known before starting her first business.

Episode 45- Mariano Di Vaio Opens Up about His Faith in Jesus, Family, and Character

Mariano di Vaio is a model, fashion designer, and entrepreneur of Neapolitan origins, but was born in Perugia, Italy in 1989. He moved to London to pursue a career as an actor and model, but he didn’t know English and worked as a dishwasher. Those humble moments shaped him. He learned English and pushed himself to be more than a dishwasher.

Mariano then moved to the United States, where he attended acting courses at the New York Film Academy. Upon returning to Italy, he launched himself into the world of fashion, managing to obtain several covers and collaborations with international brands such from Roberto Cavalli, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.

He launched is online fashion blog MDV Style, sharing his travels and fashion activities, expressing his opinion on the trends of men's fashion. This gave him a certain visibility that led him to win the Best men's fashion blog award at the Berlin Fashion Week in 2015, as well as other awards.

Episode 44- Whitney Anne Adams: From Pre-Med To Theater; From Costume Design Assistant To Costume Department Head

Whitney Anne Adams is a Costume Designer who has designed and worked on many internationally acclaimed films, like her newest film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat (coming out on Hulu on August 23rd). The films she has worked on have been featured at the Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals.

Raised in Northern California, Whitney studied under Tony Award-winning costume designer Judith Dolan at UC San Diego. After completing her degree, she moved to New York City, working as a first hand and tailor at Carelli Costumes where she constructed couture garments for Broadway, film, TV, concerts and private clients. She also built Beyonce's costumes for her 2009 "I Am" tour, working as Liza Minelli's personal seamstress on various outfits, getting the chance to hone her fine embroidery and beading skills.  

Whitney also worked under 4-time Oscar winning costume designer Catherine Martin, as design assistant on The Great Gatsby. It there where she learned that costume design was her passion. She worked for Martin and her husband film director Baz Luhrmann, for several years on various projects like the Chanel No. 5 campaign with Gisele Bündchen, Strictly Ballroom the Musical, and various Met Galas). From there she went started her own business.

Whitney and her costume design team on set of The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat | Photo Credit: Searchlight Pictures | Photo Credit: Whitney Anne Adams

Actors Sanaa Lathan, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Uzo Aduba in The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat | Photo Credit: Searchlight Pictures

The costumes for The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

Photo Credit: Whitney Anne Adams

In this interview we talk about her journey in costume design, her advice for those wanting to enter this line of work, and why she loves films.

Episode 43: Katherine Garbarino- Internet Personality Entrepreneur With Wellness Influence

Katherine Garbarino, is known by KGMTL and for being a “virtual bestie” to those that follow her online.  Montreal based, she’s the founder of Kasics and Girls Living Well, and she has her hand in a few other business ventures. She’s an open book to her dedicated fanbase on topics of health, wellness, fashion and fitness. Her recipes, alongside all of her tips and tricks have been shared and heard by millions of people via her Instagram and YouTube channel, where she shows her everyday life without holding back. Her mission has always been to leave her followers better off than when they found themselves, making Katherine a walking example of how one’s influence via social media can be used for greater good. Whether it’s weight loss stories, shopping must-haves or just pure advice on how to be “Good at Life,” Katherine has got you covered.

Episode 42: Being Shot By Top Brands From Levis To Valentino, Kimanee Mason Now Elevates Women With Her Brand Grace & Company

Born and raised in Westmoreland Jamaica, Kimanee Mason moved to New York City for college at 15 and was soon discovered by Elite model management. The next day she shot for Teen Vogue. Her modeling career spanned over 15 years from runways to commercial work, working with top designers from Oscar de la Renta to Valentino. Kimanee completed her BFA in design at New York School of Interior Design, transitioning into a career in commercial design at Perkins Eastman Architects. She launched Grace & Company in 2015 with a passion for creating luxury products that are as equally functional as they are fashionable and beautiful. Kimanee and her husband Frank reside in New York City and have three boys, with a girl on the way. She is a woman of faith and supports causes aimed at elevating the worth of women. 

We talk about her modeling career, her decision to start her own brand, and her decision to take her Christian faith seriously.

Episode 41: Former Russian Secret Agent Aliia Roza- “People think that the world of James Bond, Salt, and Red Sparrow Is Glamorous, But It’s Not”

Aliia Roza was born in the USSR into a Kazakh-Tatar military serving family. She was raised to be patriotic with the understanding that she would protect civilians and protect the Russian motherland. So, at 18 years old, Aliia was sent to a secret military academy of internal affairs in Russia, where she was chosen from 350 students to participate a special secret program developed by former KGB psychologists and high-ranking officers and agents, called sexpionage. Her training is in the art of seduction, persuasion and neuro-linguistic programming in order to get information from targets and to recruit.

Her last mission with a drug lord was a dangerous one, and the growth and healing that has come from leaving Russian espionage has been a challenging one. Since leaving her secret agent life, she has found it rewarding to give back and spends a lot of her time serving others.

In this episode we get into a lot from what it was like growing up in the former USSR, to working in Russian espionage, to why she became a Christian, and why fashion is her passion.

Episode 40- “My Relationship To Fashion Is Intense,” says Aurore Donguy

Aurore Donguy is a Paris based stylist that has a showroom in Monaco during the 63rd Monte Carlo Television Festival. For the past twenty years she has been involved in fashion and styles her clients for festival like these and the Cannes Film Festival. She sits down and chats about fashion and how it brings light to life and to the world.

Episode 39- Vinette Robinson and Eva Morgan Talk About Their TV Series The Gathering

Both Vinette Robinson and Eva Morgan are British actors who star on British series The Gathering. Eva plays a teen gymnast, who is in the middle of a horrible situation in which her friends and their parents are incriminated. Vinette plays an overbearing pushy mother. I sat down with both of them during the 63rd annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival to discuss the show, why they got into acting, and what they’re working on next. 

Episode 38- Chen Kolter Abrahams: Just Wants The Israeli Hostages Back

Chen’s kibbutz was attacked on October 7, 2023, and five members are a part of the 132 hostages still in Gaza. She opens up on how she’s feeling about Hamas, what happened to her kibbutz that day, and what people can do to help.

Episode 37- The Seriousness Of Marriage with KB Chakela

This is a conversation on the seriousness of marriage with KB Chakela, the faith editor of Seele Magazine. We talk about a lot of things in this topic from why God created marriage, to dating with intentionality, and the red and green flags women should look out for in dating.  

Episode 36- Cait West: Standing Up And Stepping Away From The Abuses Of The Christian Patriarchy Movement

Cait West is a writer and editor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the author of Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy, a book that is profound especially in how the movement she grew up in uses God as a justification to control women.

West’s work has been published in The Revealer, Religion Dispatches, Fourth Genre and Hawai’i Pacific Review, among others. As an advocate and a survivor of the Christian patriarchy movement, she serves on the editorial board for Tears of Eden, a nonprofit providing resources for survivors of spiritual abuse, and co-hosts the Survivors Discuss podcast.

In this episode, West opens up about her book out in May, and her journey of growing up in a movement that significantly affected her life. But, she chose for herself a new life and to step away from an unhealthy ideology that governed her life for far too long.

Episode 35- Joe Challita: The Lebanese Fashion Aficionado OpensUp About Lebanon’s Couture Contribution To The World

Joe is the Founder of Lebanese Fashion History on Instagram, and he is the Fashion Editor of Marie Claire Arabia. His knowledge of Lebanese fashion history is like nonother. When I think of Joe, for me, he’s the Suzy Menkes of Lebanese couture history. He dives into Lebanon’s rich couture history that goes back to the 1920s, unpacking the country’s impact on the fashion industry. So, enjoy this podcast episode with Joe Challita.

Episode 34- Shefali Karani: Navigating Being A First Time Mother

Shefali Seele Magazine’s Lifestyle Editor. An Indian-American who left the United States at the age of 5 and grew up between Mumbai and Dubai. With high expectations, she became an executive at the age of 21 at her family’s corporate business in Mumbai, and she has also been a board director for two other companies. And, in 2019, Shefali launched a book called Own It! that helps individuals prove themselves as capable leaders. But, last year Shefali became a mom and has had to navigate being a mom while maintaining working. Residing in Dubai with her husband and new baby, Shefali opens up about navigating being a first-time mom and why waiting till her thirties to have a child makes her a patient mom.

Episode 33- Kanessa Tixe: Pivots, Let Downs, Rising, and Building A Global PR Agency

Kanessa Tixe is an industry PR guru with over 22 years of experience in Latin and non-Latin public relations, global and cross marketing, branding, and talent management. Kanessa is a visionary and storyteller with knowledge that spans from the public sector to the private sector. Her make-it-happen attitude has gotten music artists, actors, and athletes positioned in top media like ET, Variety, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon; and her clients have been featured in campaign collaborations for brands like Mugler, Macy’s, Saint Laurent, Alaïa, and Dolce&Gabbana.

A true New Yorker from the Bronx, Kanessa’s journey started in New York City’s City Hall under then mayor, Rudy Giuliani then Michael Bloomberg. Navigating the hardships that life can throw, Kanessa forged on, working for Robert De Niro, and then at Rubenstein PR and Quinn PR, until she launched her own agency TS Collective. There she has represented dietician and model Maye Musk, Colombian singer Maluma and Jackie Cruz from Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black, and now she works with the likes of music mogul and film director Spiff TV, model Anok Yai, boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, DJ Kaskade, and Romeo Santos.

Episode 32: Vocal Coach Mama Jan Smith Has Worked With Some of the Biggest Names In Music But It’s The Message of Jesus That Excites Her The Most

Jan Smith is a nationally recognized singer, songwriter, and musician. And, she is a Grammy nominated producer, Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee, and a multi-platinum certified vocal coach and vocal producer who has vocally trained distinctive voices in the industry from Usher to Justin Bieber. She’s the owner of Jan Smith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, a state-of-the-art vocal coaching facility, but she offers services nationwide to record companies, artists, producers and motion pictures.

Episode 31: BBC World News Turned Sky News Presenter Yalda Hakim Talks Women, Journalism, and Afghanistan

Yalda Hakim is a Sky News presenter, as she was formerly with the BBC World News . She made her on-screen debut in March 2013 presenting a special three-part series of Our World entitled, Iraq: Ten Years On for the BBC. Before joining BBC World News Hakim, was the presenter of SBS Dateline in Australia, and she has reported on Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Libya during the Arab Spring, from the streets of Juba, South Sudan, as many celebrated the new country’s independence, and on various issues from the Middle East, the U.S., Africa and Europe. Though a lot has happened in Afghanistan since this interview, Yalda opens up about her native homeland, why Australia will always be home, and how she stays positive amidst the horrors of the stories she has to report on.

Photo Credit: Yalda Hakim/Instagram

Episode 30: Maria de Medeiros, A Citizen Of Europe Opens Up About Culture and How Acting Found Her

Maria de Medeiros is Portuguese, but grew up in Austria and has lived in France for many years. She’s an actor, director, and singer mainly partaking in European productions, but also American. She got her big break in Hollywood, firstly with the film Henry & June in 1990 and Pulp Fiction in 1994. I first met Maria during Paris Fashion Week in September 2023 at an art exhibition. During the February/March 2024 women’s Paris Fashion Week, I sat down with her in Saint Germain to talk about being a citizen of Europe, how acting found her, and what it was like working with Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction.

Photo Credit: Manon Costantini 

Episode 29: From Being A Stewardess for Emirates Airlines To Founding Brave By Faith Travel, Jules Bush Speaks On Launching Her Business That’s Impacting Women

Jules Bush loves God and loves people, and everything she does is to uplift Jesus and empower people to go after their dreams and goals. In 2009 when she moved from Atlanta to Dubai to be a stewardess, her eyes were opened to a great big world of cultures and languages. From there, with three months’ rent in her bank account, Bush spent several years serving in South Africa through the Hillsong Foundation. In 2017 she started Brave by Faith, where she runs about 20 retreats a year in exotic locations, inspiring travelers to adopt new healthy habits, while casting off old insecurities and mindsets, replacing them with a fresh knowledge of God and His deep love for mankind.