Speaker 1: I don't have like quippy intro today. Let's just run it.
Speaker 1: This is the Wells Cast with Wells Adams and I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio Podcast. I am so freaking pumped for today's episode, guys.
Speaker 1: Is it because I had a crush on the guests
Speaker 1: when I was a kid? Maybe? Is it because I
Speaker 1: well have already recorded the interview and I know how
Speaker 1: good it is. Yes? Absolutely in awe of this woman
Speaker 1: and all the things she's accomplished. Abs a freaking Lutley.
Speaker 1: You guys are in for a treat. I'm telling you what.
Speaker 1: Our guest today is the star of Hallmark Movies and
Speaker 1: mysteries new series Matchmaker Mysteries. The new one is called
Speaker 1: The Art of the Kill. But the amount of stuff
Speaker 1: that she did before this most recent project is going
Speaker 1: to blow your mind. Was she America's sweetheart? Little show
Speaker 1: called The Wonder Years? Oh you know it? Wait, we
Speaker 1: played just like a little bit of Joe cock or
Speaker 1: just like get people like in the mood for what's
Speaker 1: happening because we need to be transported back. Yeah, oh
Speaker 1: my god, seven pm on like a Thursday night in
Speaker 1: the early nineties. You're about to sit down and enjoy
Speaker 1: the Wonder years, Fred Savage is gonna be there, whenned
Speaker 1: Gooper is gonna be there? What do I do? Yes?
Speaker 1: It all started with The Wonder Years. But our guest
Speaker 1: today has done so much. She's been the mainstay on
Speaker 1: the Hallmark Channel doing a bunch of Christmas movies like
Speaker 1: Countdown to Christmas. She did one with Dolly Parton called
Speaker 1: Christmas a Dollywood. What she's been in the industry forever.
Speaker 1: There's so much more to her story, like graduating Summa
Speaker 1: cum laudy at U c l A majoring in mathematics,
Speaker 1: what minoring in physics? Okay? Did she testify before Congress
Speaker 1: about the importance of women in math and science? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Was she named Person of the Week by ABC World
Speaker 1: News for tackling math education and simultaneously breaking the stereotype
Speaker 1: of the math nerd with her highly entertaining and illuminating books.
Speaker 1: Has she written a bunch of New York Times best
Speaker 1: selling books for kids, specifically young women in math? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean literally, this woman has done everything, well, not everything.
Speaker 1: She hasn't been on the Wells Cast until today. So
Speaker 1: strapping guys, buckle down because this one is going to
Speaker 1: be a good one. Danika mckeller a k a. Winnie
Speaker 1: Cooper is going to be on the show. Seriously, don't
Speaker 1: go anywhere you don't want to miss it. Hello, Hello,
Speaker 1: can you hear me? Yes? Can you hear me? Yes?
Speaker 1: Can I get a check from you? Really quickly? Three
Speaker 1: point one five nine two six, five three five eight
Speaker 1: nine seven nine Can you keep going with Pie? There
Speaker 1: is that where it ends, Well, I have a song,
Speaker 1: and so if I sing my song, I can get
Speaker 1: a little further. I wrote a PIE song to help
Speaker 1: people learn multiple Yeah, I really need to brush up
Speaker 1: on it. I feel like it's been coming up more
Speaker 1: and more lately to be like, oh, can you sing
Speaker 1: the song like I can sing the beginning of it?
Speaker 1: Pie is equal to three point one four one five, nine, six, five,
Speaker 1: five eight nine seven nine three two three eight four
Speaker 1: six two six four three day eight three two seven, nine,
Speaker 1: five two eight four one nine seven one six nine
Speaker 1: three three seven five one uh five two zero nine. Anyway, Wow,
Speaker 1: I can go further with the song. But the song
Speaker 1: if the full song has a hundred and three nine
Speaker 1: digits and I don't know the full song anymore, but
Speaker 1: I used to do. It's so funny. I've been interviewing
Speaker 1: people for a very long time, and it's so interesting
Speaker 1: when you interview someone who's very smart what they check with.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember. There's a band called
Speaker 1: the Old Bunny Sevens and the lead singer was this
Speaker 1: guy name Rhett Miller who has a big fan of
Speaker 1: their band still am and I was like setting up
Speaker 1: for interview, and I was like, hey, rahtt can I
Speaker 1: get a check from you? And he reeled off the
Speaker 1: entire Gettysburg address and I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, great, you
Speaker 1: can add to your list of unique sound checks. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: are you ready? Are you ready to go with this?
Speaker 1: Very excited to have Well, I'll just be honest with you,
Speaker 1: childhood crush of mine on the show The One and Only.
Speaker 1: And I know this is probably annoying for you, but
Speaker 1: you have to understand, like you will always be Winnie
Speaker 1: Cooper to me. But welcome to the show. Dannika mckeller,
Speaker 1: How are you doing? I'm doing great? How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm amazing? I was a huge murder, she wrote, fan
Speaker 1: like a big angela Landsbury guy, And are you like
Speaker 1: the new wage Angela Landsberry with these Matchmaker Mystery series. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: myself and some others on Hallmark. So Hallmark Movies and
Speaker 1: Mysteries has a few different of these mystery franchises and
Speaker 1: these collections of movies, and I'm one of them and
Speaker 1: I love it. Yes, we we all play these women
Speaker 1: who aren't professional detectives or anything, but somehow let's stumble
Speaker 1: upon murders more often than your average person, and then
Speaker 1: somehow are the ones to be able to figure out
Speaker 1: who did it? Who done it? And this yeah, I
Speaker 1: play Andrew Dubb professional Matchmaker, and I this is the
Speaker 1: third movie in which I stumble across a dead body
Speaker 1: and I helped the detective to solve the case in
Speaker 1: this one. This is called Matchmaker Mysteries The Art of
Speaker 1: the Kill. So what happens in an art museum and
Speaker 1: it starts off My father in it, played by Bruce
Speaker 1: box Liner Tron of course, he is a retired cop
Speaker 1: and he actually is helping to solve some fests, investigates
Speaker 1: some effts that are happening at the museum. And I
Speaker 1: go to the museum to have lunch with him, and
Speaker 1: lo and behold resemble across a dead body as it
Speaker 1: happens in Angie Does Life and Yes, Angie is a
Speaker 1: nod to Angela lands Roy the fact that my character's
Speaker 1: name is Angie and it's it's awesome. Detective Kyle Carter
Speaker 1: played by Victor Webster, he and I have a great
Speaker 1: chemistry throughout the three movies. There's been an evolution. In
Speaker 1: the first movie, he was very much like, who is
Speaker 1: this woman and why is she interfering in my investigation?
Speaker 1: You should go off and do your role matchmaking thing, honey,
Speaker 1: and let me handle the murder. But then by the
Speaker 1: end of that movie he realizes that I have something
Speaker 1: to offer in terms of clues because I am really
Speaker 1: good at reading people. That's what I have to do
Speaker 1: as a matchmaker, and so that comes into handy. So
Speaker 1: in the second movie they start get a little closer,
Speaker 1: and in fact, there's a scene where the detective arrests
Speaker 1: my ex boyfriend for murderer he's a suspect while we're
Speaker 1: having dinner. So at the end of the movie he says,
Speaker 1: I still owe you desserts. And in this movie, the
Speaker 1: third one, he actually makes good on asking me out
Speaker 1: to dessert. But the question is because he makes it
Speaker 1: clear that it's not a date. Is it a date? Though? Like?
Speaker 1: Is he asking me in a date? It's kind of
Speaker 1: a fun dynamic. It's that whole moonlighting thing where the
Speaker 1: two main characters, like are they ever actually gonna get
Speaker 1: together or just sort of flirt with the idea? Um?
Speaker 1: Do they really even like each other about much? It's
Speaker 1: hard to know. So it's a really really fun dynamic
Speaker 1: in this third movie, and the murder of Mystery itself
Speaker 1: is awesome. The guy who's dead is actually a professor
Speaker 1: who is the one who does the providence for the
Speaker 1: statues at the museum. So he's the one who says, yes,
Speaker 1: this statue is worth five million because it really is
Speaker 1: three thousand years old. It's not a fake. So when
Speaker 1: he shows up dead, it starts to raise questions about
Speaker 1: the providence of some of these statues. And then we
Speaker 1: find out that he was having affairs, um, and so
Speaker 1: there's all this intrigue, and of course me being a
Speaker 1: matchmaker Mystery being a matchmaker on the show, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: just the right person to figure out who was actually
Speaker 1: having the affairs and who actually had certain feelings for
Speaker 1: him and who didn't. All arrest of it. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine how many of my exes would love
Speaker 1: to see me get arrested during like a like a
Speaker 1: get together. The Matchmaker character is based on a real person, right, yes,
Speaker 1: Patty Stanger, Millionaire Matchmaker. Well, I mean, gosh, years ago,
Speaker 1: I used to watch that show all the time, Millionaire Matchmaker.
Speaker 1: I don't know I was, I was addicted to it
Speaker 1: or something. There's something so fun and satisfying about watching
Speaker 1: her and tell everybody put them in their place. And
Speaker 1: she just had like really a good moral center and
Speaker 1: she wouldn't let people get away with being disrespectful. She
Speaker 1: had very strict ideas about how you treat somebody on
Speaker 1: a date, and she had a lot of tough love.
Speaker 1: And much like Patti Stanger in real life, she is
Speaker 1: the first to admit that while she's great at getting
Speaker 1: other people up, she's not so much a master of
Speaker 1: her own love life. And so it's same with Angie
Speaker 1: dubbed this character, which is again inspired by her for sure.
Speaker 1: In fact, she is an executive prester on this movie. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and she does not know how to handle
Speaker 1: her own love life. So when when Detective Kyle Carter
Speaker 1: asks her on a non date date. She like, and
Speaker 1: it's for that night. She's like, well not tonight, And
Speaker 1: you can just see the wheels turning it for Angie's like,
Speaker 1: we don't ask somebody. You never accept the date if
Speaker 1: they ask you for the same night because then you're
Speaker 1: too available. And of the things she does not know
Speaker 1: how to handle being asked on a date. It's hilarious. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's like the old adage like the worst therapy patient
Speaker 1: is a psychologist for the worst. That the thing that
Speaker 1: there's speciality is Oh my gosh, that's funny. That's really funny. Actually,
Speaker 1: so Matchmaker Mysteries, the Art of the Kill some Hallmark
Speaker 1: movies and mysteries. Is it going to go forever? Like
Speaker 1: is this something that I can continue to perpetuate upon itself?
Speaker 1: It could right now we just have these three movies,
Speaker 1: but could definitely come back from more and I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that it will. But that also is a mystery. Who
Speaker 1: I feel like you've kind of found this like really
Speaker 1: nice pocket of doing a lot of like Hallmark channel stuff.
Speaker 1: I've been seeing You've been doing a lot of Christmas
Speaker 1: movies and stuff. Is being a part of like the
Speaker 1: Hallmark family. It seems like it would be such a
Speaker 1: warm and cozy place. It is, it really is. I
Speaker 1: feel so lucky to be part of the Hallmark family,
Speaker 1: both on the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and mysteries.
Speaker 1: It's just so nice to be a part of channels
Speaker 1: that make movies that make people feel good, you know,
Speaker 1: especially these days. I feel like it's a nice escape.
Speaker 1: Hallmark Land is a nice escape because everybody, I mean,
Speaker 1: nothing ever gets too dark, even in the Murder Mysteries.
Speaker 1: It's the Hallmark version of Murder Mysteries. So you know
Speaker 1: that anybody can watch it and you're going to feel
Speaker 1: happy and satisfied. By the end of the movie. Things
Speaker 1: are going to work out the way you want them to.
Speaker 1: And this just a nice comforting feeling. And when when
Speaker 1: you look around and the world seems to be changing
Speaker 1: and shifting so much, watching a Hallmark movie, you know
Speaker 1: that you're going to feel that stability that you crave.
Speaker 1: So what I love and I will say I really
Speaker 1: feel like in some ways these characters that I'm playing
Speaker 1: on Hallmark or like a continuation of the Wonder Years,
Speaker 1: because it's the same wholesome kind of um quality entertainment
Speaker 1: and the same type of like good person you. Winnie
Speaker 1: Cooper was a good person. She was strong, and she
Speaker 1: she had stuff she went through and her parents got
Speaker 1: divorced and all sorts of stuff. But she was strong
Speaker 1: and and and kept pulling herself up by our bootstraps.
Speaker 1: And she was kind to people. And that's how these
Speaker 1: characters are. And I really I love putting good stuff
Speaker 1: into the world because, you know, I get offered other things.
Speaker 1: I could offered stuff and I just read the scripts
Speaker 1: and I just say, I just don't want to put
Speaker 1: that out in the world. I know that as an actress,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm supposed to like do all different kinds
Speaker 1: of roles, but I don't know. At this point in
Speaker 1: my life, I know what I want to be doing.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a mom, you know. I school my son.
Speaker 1: I write my math books to help other kids in math,
Speaker 1: and I do my Hallmark movies, and I have my
Speaker 1: wonderful husband. I'm very very happy doing these and I
Speaker 1: am really grateful that I get to keep doing them.
Speaker 1: I think it's smart in terms of what Hallmark is doing,
Speaker 1: because yes, granted, I am a manly, red blooded American
Speaker 1: who likes football and baseball. But when the colonies come around,
Speaker 1: I do like to like make some hot coco and
Speaker 1: sit and watch some holiday movies. You know, the high
Speaker 1: pallored business woman that comes back to the small town
Speaker 1: and falls in love with the jilted baker and everyone
Speaker 1: falls in love. You know. It's like it's like a
Speaker 1: part of it's a part of the season. And so
Speaker 1: it's smart that they're making this evergreen, right, Like you
Speaker 1: can now experience that, but you can experience it all
Speaker 1: year round with these Matchmaker mysteries, which is cool, that's true.
Speaker 1: And then of course they also have Christmas in July,
Speaker 1: and then these days, ever since the pandemic, sir, they
Speaker 1: show Christmas movies here and there throughout the year. And
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure every Thursday you can find a Christmas
Speaker 1: movie on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, and I think every
Speaker 1: Friday you can find a Christmas movie on Hallmark channel.
Speaker 1: So you can get your little dos at Christmas, because again,
Speaker 1: what's more comforting than Christmas Like Christmas movies. It's the best,
Speaker 1: you said a second ago. I get a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff sent to me, and you know, turned down some
Speaker 1: things because I want to do these kind of positive films.
Speaker 1: But I don't know in what world you'd ever get
Speaker 1: to work with Dolly Parton other than like this world.
Speaker 1: I suppose whatever you're doing, you're doing it right, because
Speaker 1: getting to work with Dolly Parton seems like the rattus
Speaker 1: gig in all of Hollywood. I agree, Yes, doing Christmas
Speaker 1: at Dollywood in was the best. It was some sort
Speaker 1: of just magical opportunity. And it's interesting because I the
Speaker 1: reason that movie happened because of my math books. So
Speaker 1: if you had told me, like five years ago your
Speaker 1: math books or they're gonna be the reason why you
Speaker 1: work with all A Parton and be like what. So
Speaker 1: she has this incredible organization called the Imagination Library, and
Speaker 1: so they've donated I think a hundred million books worldwide
Speaker 1: now to kids who normally might not be able to
Speaker 1: afford books, and they chose a few years ago, they
Speaker 1: chose one of my books to be part of their program,
Speaker 1: good Night Numbers. So that book, good Night Numbers, is
Speaker 1: now in the hands of like one point three million
Speaker 1: kids who normally wouldn't be able to have a book
Speaker 1: let alone, one that might help them learn math while
Speaker 1: they're you know, just learn to count to ten. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a really sweet little book. Because the book was
Speaker 1: brought into their Imagination Library, the organization has been in
Speaker 1: touch with me and they asked me to be the
Speaker 1: narrator for the documentary about the charity. And so I
Speaker 1: did that back in April of like, I think, um,
Speaker 1: I can beginning of the dates wrong, but anyway, my
Speaker 1: so the programming executive at Hallmark said, hey, we're looking
Speaker 1: to come up with some cool locations for Christmas movies
Speaker 1: this year. Do you have any ideas for years? And
Speaker 1: I had just gotten back from Washington, d C. At
Speaker 1: that point. This is I spoke. I had a chance
Speaker 1: to read good Night Numbers in front of the Library
Speaker 1: of Congress UH for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library event,
Speaker 1: and I was like, well, and so Dolly Partners is
Speaker 1: on my mind. And I hadn't gotten to meet her yet. Okay,
Speaker 1: so I hadn't narrated the documentary yet because I got
Speaker 1: to meet her then too, I hadn't met her yet.
Speaker 1: I done this event with Dolly Partoner was a big
Speaker 1: cardboard cut out of Dolly there at the event, but
Speaker 1: no Dolly, and so I said, well, you know what, what
Speaker 1: what about Christmas at Dollywood and and and the executive said,
Speaker 1: we love it. Let's I said, well, should I go
Speaker 1: get like a producer and a writer and put together
Speaker 1: a pitch. She said yes, and so we did. And
Speaker 1: next thing, you know, the next Christmas, we got Christmas
Speaker 1: of Dollywood and I got to work with DOLLI Parting.
Speaker 1: It was amazing. She is electric. For anybody who's ever
Speaker 1: met Dolly Parton, you just she walks into a room
Speaker 1: and she instantly knows how to make everybody feel great.
Speaker 1: I don't know how she does it. It doesn't even
Speaker 1: matter how big or small one room is. She'll make
Speaker 1: you feel important and she'll make you feel good. And
Speaker 1: that's her gift is well, one of her many many gifts.
Speaker 1: I could fan girl about her for the rest of
Speaker 1: our interview if you don't stop me. In terms of philanthropy,
Speaker 1: second to none. Oh, I know, she is just can't
Speaker 1: speak higher of anyone in this world. So I think
Speaker 1: that's just like super cool. That's like getting to meet
Speaker 1: Elvis or so I don't I don't even know. I
Speaker 1: don't even know if I can make up. No, I know,
Speaker 1: I know And when when my so when good night
Speaker 1: numbers was first brought into the Imagination Library. There was
Speaker 1: I got sent a letter or they sent a letter
Speaker 1: to my publisher who sent it to me, and she
Speaker 1: signed it. But they put it in one of those
Speaker 1: puffy envelopes that didn't have any backing, so it was wrinkled,
Speaker 1: and I was like, this is wrinkled, Like how could
Speaker 1: they sit? And I like try to press it. I
Speaker 1: haven't a frame. Even though it's wrinkled. It's like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, Dolly Parton signed something for me. And if
Speaker 1: I had known, like a couple years later, I was
Speaker 1: going to get to actually worked with her, I would
Speaker 1: have painted. But she's I'm I'm so grateful that somebody
Speaker 1: like Dolly Parton exists. That's kind of in summary. I'm
Speaker 1: just glad that she's part of the sun it and
Speaker 1: she can never ever die. So if we somehow get
Speaker 1: the potion for living forever, we have to all agree
Speaker 1: to give it to Dolly Parton, and I think everybody
Speaker 1: would agree. Actually, Dolly Parton is the personification of Hallmark,
Speaker 1: Like she's just good and positive, and yes, I agree,
Speaker 1: I agree. I hope we get to do another one
Speaker 1: with her. So you touched on it, you know, it
Speaker 1: was the catalyst that got you to work with the
Speaker 1: one and only Dolly. You graduated with a sumacom reality
Speaker 1: from u c l A. You're a super super smart person.
Speaker 1: Was your major math and then your minor physics. Yes, exactly,
Speaker 1: that's hard. It was hard, you know what. Honestly, part
Speaker 1: of the reason why I did it is because I
Speaker 1: like a good challenge, to be honest, I mean the math.
Speaker 1: I've always loved a good challenge. I and I and
Speaker 1: I math and I get along. I mean, I'm not like,
Speaker 1: I'm not a savant, and it's not super easy. I
Speaker 1: always had a study physics for some reason was always
Speaker 1: more challenging. Fact, it was like it was sort of
Speaker 1: needle me how difficult it was for me. So I
Speaker 1: decided to face that fear and go ahead and minor
Speaker 1: in it. I was in like freshman or sophomore physics
Speaker 1: and in the meantime and graduate was like as a senior,
Speaker 1: as a senior in college, like in sophomore physics and
Speaker 1: and taking gradual level courses in math, and I was in.
Speaker 1: I spent all my time in the physics tutoring center
Speaker 1: at hours like trying to grab my head around these things,
Speaker 1: um just because I like a good challenge. So that
Speaker 1: explains a lot about me. I'm kind of all those
Speaker 1: people where if you say, I bet you can't do that,
Speaker 1: it becomes a little irresistible. I mean, as I've gotten older,
Speaker 1: that's tempered a little, but it's still in there. I
Speaker 1: might not act on it, but I still feel that way.
Speaker 1: This at the time when you you face your fears
Speaker 1: and you figure out what you're made of. And part
Speaker 1: of what I like about math is that you can't
Speaker 1: get away with like not actually understanding it. You've got
Speaker 1: to actually understand it to succeed. And there's a right
Speaker 1: and there's a wrong answer. You have to push yourself
Speaker 1: and you have to you have to face those fears
Speaker 1: and face those challenges. And when you do that, by
Speaker 1: the way, you get something from it. You teach yourself
Speaker 1: You've got more fortitude than you thought because you know
Speaker 1: you're you're facing a math problem and you feel so
Speaker 1: you can't do it, and uh and then and which
Speaker 1: you stay with it, You stick with it, and you
Speaker 1: keep pushing and then you do solve it. I mean,
Speaker 1: I remember, thinking of this is like a math high.
Speaker 1: You get to a new place and it gives you
Speaker 1: confidence that I believe extends far beyond mathematics. And this
Speaker 1: is what I tell my readers because I've got I've
Speaker 1: written math books now and they're all super fun and
Speaker 1: entertaining with cartoons and a little fun stories for ages
Speaker 1: zero through sixteen all the way up through high school geometry.
Speaker 1: And my whole point is to make it fun and accessible,
Speaker 1: but also to explain to my readers, hey, you don't
Speaker 1: want math to be super easy. You wanted to be
Speaker 1: to struggle. You want to be challenging, because that's how
Speaker 1: you get stronger. If you went to the gym, it's
Speaker 1: like going to the gym for your brain. If you
Speaker 1: went to the gym and you lifted lightweights all day long,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't get anywhere. It's when you struggle through and
Speaker 1: then you succeed and you build and each time you
Speaker 1: can do a little more and a little more. That's
Speaker 1: what builds your brain and build your confidence. And then
Speaker 1: in life, because life is gonna throw a lot of
Speaker 1: ostables your way. It always does, is just how life is.
Speaker 1: You will have prepared yourself in a way that not
Speaker 1: only are you a good problem solver, because that problem
Speaker 1: solving logic does extend to other parts of life as well,
Speaker 1: but just the exercise of facing obstacles and saying, wait,
Speaker 1: I've been in a situation before where I thought I
Speaker 1: could do something and I stuck with it and then
Speaker 1: I did figure it out. Maybe this is one of
Speaker 1: those situations too, like that actually really is valuable. And
Speaker 1: so I say to you, I mean college, you know
Speaker 1: it's it's good to do what you're interested in, but
Speaker 1: especially when you have to be in a math class.
Speaker 1: I always encourage kids, you know, run into this head first.
Speaker 1: You get those tutoring hours, get resources to help you
Speaker 1: if you need it, like my books or other things online, whatever, um,
Speaker 1: and stick with it and and strengthen yourself because that's
Speaker 1: something that as a gift only you can give yourself
Speaker 1: and nobody else can take it away. You're a New
Speaker 1: York Times best selling author with these math books. I
Speaker 1: guess my first question was, is that a tough pitch
Speaker 1: to publishers to be like, all right, stick with me math? Actually?
Speaker 1: You know, girls in math has been a hot topic
Speaker 1: for a long time, and when my first book came
Speaker 1: out in two thousand seven, the pitch was I didn't
Speaker 1: have so the title ended up being a Math Doesn't
Speaker 1: Suck um. At the time, I didn't I wasn't sure
Speaker 1: of the title, but it was like the intelligent glamour girl.
Speaker 1: Like my whole thing was breaking stereotypes. Okay, I just
Speaker 1: got a degree in mathematics. I'm like, I'm gonna make
Speaker 1: math fun and yes, girly, because I want to. I
Speaker 1: want to to dispel this myth that you have to
Speaker 1: choose between being the fun, popular girl and the brainy,
Speaker 1: nerdy girl who doesn't have any friends, Like what how?
Speaker 1: And when girls are aspiring to be glamorous, I wanted
Speaker 1: them to not just look at these magazines to see, oh,
Speaker 1: I want to be one of one of those models. No,
Speaker 1: the kind of glamorous you want to aspire to be
Speaker 1: is like the woman in her designer student forrange heels
Speaker 1: walking on Wall Street, which to a really important job
Speaker 1: that glamour like that that's powerful, um. And so that
Speaker 1: was really my goal, and that was that was the pitch,
Speaker 1: was like, Hey, we're gonna get girls to embrace their smarts.
Speaker 1: And so the whole thing of Math Doesn't Suck is
Speaker 1: the cover I look all kind of cute and fun
Speaker 1: and like, hey, it's just a math you know. Um,
Speaker 1: and I tell stories in it. Uh that can be
Speaker 1: kind of grilly and silly, but yet also legitimately teach
Speaker 1: them math concepts. So that's been kind of that was
Speaker 1: my thing from middle school in high school, and then
Speaker 1: when I went younger and did elementary school stuff. That's
Speaker 1: more they're more coed, they're they're more about cartoons and
Speaker 1: silliness and and in in a more code kind of style.
Speaker 1: But the older kid books were definitely geared more girls.
Speaker 1: Not the boys don't use them. I've had lots of
Speaker 1: boys say they learn math and get some insight into
Speaker 1: how girls think. But they are you know, if you
Speaker 1: look at them like, oh, these are books for girls.
Speaker 1: Are their plans to write more New York Times best
Speaker 1: selling math books, Yes, there are. Uh yeah, I've got
Speaker 1: one coming out in February of next year, but I
Speaker 1: were not do We haven't done a title reveal yet
Speaker 1: or a cover reveal yet. That will probably the summer.
Speaker 1: That one will be another picture book. So my most
Speaker 1: popular picture book right now is Ten Magic Butterflies. Came
Speaker 1: out a few years ago and it's the story of
Speaker 1: ten flowers that one by one get turned into butterflies
Speaker 1: by this ferry overnight and because they all want to,
Speaker 1: they wish they could fly. What it does it teaches
Speaker 1: you different ways of making ten. So first there's ten flowers,
Speaker 1: then it's nine flowers in one butterfly. Then there's eight
Speaker 1: flowers and two butterflies. Then it goes through and by
Speaker 1: the end they all realize that they missed being flowers.
Speaker 1: And then it's a lesson about, you know, let's be
Speaker 1: grateful for who you are and embrace who you are
Speaker 1: and not trying to change. So that book, it's a
Speaker 1: picture book with like a little math snuck in as
Speaker 1: kind of like how it to think about it? And
Speaker 1: this next one that comes out in February will also
Speaker 1: have that same kind of model. What would you say
Speaker 1: you're not good at? I'm not good at taking time
Speaker 1: for myself to just relax and do nothing. I'm terrible
Speaker 1: a that. I if I don't feel productive, in fact,
Speaker 1: if I'm not doing two things and once, I'm not
Speaker 1: doing two things that once right now, but mostly if
Speaker 1: I'm not doing two things that wants Actually I'm stretching
Speaker 1: right now. I've got my leg ups to getting a
Speaker 1: nice stretchment. I feel weird if I'm not doing two
Speaker 1: things I want, I have our time with it. In fact,
Speaker 1: I get like this thrill of excited when I realize
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be able to multitask. Oh god, that's my issue.
Speaker 1: That's the insight I got. Your downfall is being too productive.
Speaker 1: But then sometimes I'm just like crash and I got
Speaker 1: I just to like sleep for a weekend because I'm
Speaker 1: just exhausted. I hope my husband's always like, you got
Speaker 1: to relax more, and he's good. So we went to
Speaker 1: Joshua Treet this weekend and just like hung out. But
Speaker 1: like I'd be lying if I didn't say I was,
Speaker 1: you know, trying. I was like, oh wait, this is
Speaker 1: a good for social media. You know. It's like my
Speaker 1: fans would love this. This This is so cute. Oh we
Speaker 1: turned around, me get the picture. Is that really truly relaxing? Then,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I love it. You are a very
Speaker 1: high functioning human being. It's really really interesting to talk
Speaker 1: to folks like you because at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: like the idea of this show is origin stories. It's
Speaker 1: like how people that are successful became successful, and then
Speaker 1: how people and how like my listeners could use those
Speaker 1: lessons as a blueprint who then also become successful. It's
Speaker 1: very obvious as to why you are successful. I think,
Speaker 1: just like that first fifteen minutes of chatting with you, Um,
Speaker 1: before I pivot over to my portion the show, I
Speaker 1: want to put a bow on all the stuff you're doing. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously the Matchmaker series is first and foremost
Speaker 1: that we're trying to promote. So tell everyone kind of
Speaker 1: like where they can watch that, and how they can
Speaker 1: watch that and what then you look for. So Matchmaker
Speaker 1: Mysteries The Art of the Kill that premieres this Sunday,
Speaker 1: April eighteenth, at eight o'clock seven o'clock Central on Hallmark
Speaker 1: Movies and Mysteries, and I will be live tweeting for
Speaker 1: it and you can find me at Danniki mckeller on
Speaker 1: Twitter for that. I'm also on Instagram, um and I've
Speaker 1: got on Instagram. I've also got Matchmaker Mysteries account. For
Speaker 1: this movie, you'll see altorts, behind the scenes picturers, and
Speaker 1: you can see pictures and videos from past movies as
Speaker 1: well if you want to catch up on that. Um.
Speaker 1: So that's one way to uh to interact with the
Speaker 1: movie and me is to live tweet with me. I
Speaker 1: will be doing some pictures, some photos, signed photos giveaway
Speaker 1: for the movie. So just take a picture of yourself
Speaker 1: watching the movie with your TV in the background and
Speaker 1: that it to me and I'll pick a few winners
Speaker 1: for signed pictures. Yeah. So that's that's Maker Mysteries. That's
Speaker 1: this Sunday. Do you have a couple of minutes to
Speaker 1: talk about how you got to this point? Sure? All right,
Speaker 1: quick break when we come back on the Wells Cast,
Speaker 1: the very high functioning Dannaa mckeller stick around, all right,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the Wells Cast. Very excited to have
Speaker 1: the star of the Matchmaker Mysteries on Hallmark Movies, Danika
Speaker 1: McKellar on the show. It was really funny, like during
Speaker 1: the break, you and I were chatting. I was like, man,
Speaker 1: you're doing a lot, and then you were saying no. See.
Speaker 1: The problem is that I was listening to myself talk
Speaker 1: and I was thinking I should be doing so much more.
Speaker 1: And I think that that is bonkers because there are
Speaker 1: only twenty four hours in the day, Danica, And well,
Speaker 1: it wasn't so much that I thought it anymore. Is
Speaker 1: that when you said is there anything else you want?
Speaker 1: To talk about. I thought, oh my gosh, am I
Speaker 1: supposed to have more to talk about. I was like, something,
Speaker 1: maybe I should be doing more. That's normally I do
Speaker 1: feel like I'm doing a lot, but then it doesn't
Speaker 1: take much for my a paranoid moment. I think the
Speaker 1: reason why I asked that question is because you've got
Speaker 1: so much on the resume that I feel like I
Speaker 1: probably didn't like rip through everything that I needed to.
Speaker 1: I truly appreciate having a journalist ask you if there's
Speaker 1: anything else you want to talk about. Is a gift
Speaker 1: and I love it and I appreciate it. I was
Speaker 1: just thought you'd think it was funny, so I went
Speaker 1: ahead and sure it was actually going on in my head. Well,
Speaker 1: everyone needs to watch The Matchmaker Mysteries The Arts of
Speaker 1: the Kill. This is the third installments of this story. Correct, Yes,
Speaker 1: Matchmaker Mysteries, the third movie. This is the murder of
Speaker 1: that happens in the music. And so it's the latest
Speaker 1: Who've done it? And I will be live tweeting and
Speaker 1: I want people to tell me if they can figure
Speaker 1: out who've done it before? Andree Dove does so. I
Speaker 1: don't know if anyone told you, but I'm just obsessed
Speaker 1: with origin stories and how people who are successful became successful. Um,
Speaker 1: your story is going to be a little bit different
Speaker 1: than most people that we have on the show because
Speaker 1: so much of your life was in the spotlight as
Speaker 1: a as a young person. But then there were a
Speaker 1: big chunk of years where I think you kind of
Speaker 1: took a step back and you really focused on your
Speaker 1: studies and education and stuff. And then you're definitely now
Speaker 1: very much in the forefront again. So um, let's go
Speaker 1: back to the beginning. You are from where I'm from
Speaker 1: San Diego originally, and were you always an entertaining look
Speaker 1: at me, mom and dad, I need to be in
Speaker 1: show business kid? How did this all come about? Embarrassingly? Yes,
Speaker 1: my mom says that I was five years old when
Speaker 1: she saw me staring at myself in the mirror and
Speaker 1: I making faces at myself and wouldn't stop. And then
Speaker 1: if you see we had like an old cam quarter back,
Speaker 1: we're you know, we're talking about the eighties now, okay, um,
Speaker 1: And just to go ahead and date myself and if
Speaker 1: you look at, uh, you know, the cam quarter footage,
Speaker 1: you'll see that like, like I look like a serene,
Speaker 1: regular kid. And then I noticed the camera's on. I
Speaker 1: become a hand. I'm like, hey, I'm making all his
Speaker 1: face what so. And remember when my cousin and my
Speaker 1: sister and I would get together at family and family
Speaker 1: reunions and things at my grandmother's house, we would put
Speaker 1: on plates like that was the whole thing. By the end,
Speaker 1: like we're all together for a few days. The last night,
Speaker 1: we're gonna put on a show, and so we we whatever.
Speaker 1: We'd usually hijnk something like Cinderella and put it together
Speaker 1: with some other story Batman or whatever, and we'd like
Speaker 1: put together a thing and and and then we get
Speaker 1: tips at the end, and just it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I've always liked entertaining and making silly jokes,
Speaker 1: making people smile and making people laugh, and so yes,
Speaker 1: the answer is yes, I think I always wanted to
Speaker 1: do this. What was your we break into the entertainment industry.
Speaker 1: My mom was friends with Leslie and warrened through her
Speaker 1: boyfriend at the time. I think Leslie and Warren's boyfriends.
Speaker 1: And this was back when we just moved to Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: and she suggested that we go to Lee Strasbourg Institute
Speaker 1: for Acting and we my mom was like, well, if
Speaker 1: you want, it's like an all day thing. Are you
Speaker 1: sure you wanted? Yeah, let's try it. And we loved it,
Speaker 1: and it was the Saturday program. It was like five hours,
Speaker 1: and we my sister and I did that for a
Speaker 1: while and they did a play and we were in
Speaker 1: a play and then an agent saw that and they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: where these two little girls. They seemed fun and started
Speaker 1: doing commercials. But we had a rule. My mom had
Speaker 1: a rule for the family that acting was just a hobby,
Speaker 1: was not going to become a lifestyle. So we weren't
Speaker 1: allowed to audition for series regulars or any movies or
Speaker 1: anything that would take us out of town. And The
Speaker 1: Wonder Years was only supposed to the winning Cooper role
Speaker 1: was just supposed to be a guest role on the
Speaker 1: pilot episode. It wasn't supposed to be a regular roller.
Speaker 1: I never would have auditioned for it. So my auditioned
Speaker 1: for that and got the job, and then four days
Speaker 1: into it, they offered me a serious contract and my
Speaker 1: mom was like, I don't know, but she said, look
Speaker 1: because the other moms on set were so down to earth.
Speaker 1: She'd been on a lot of sets already and seen
Speaker 1: a lot of women who like get your stage mom
Speaker 1: pushing their kids on the camera. Um seeing kids who
Speaker 1: were like sick and their mom was pretending that they
Speaker 1: weren't sick, or like oh they're fine, they're fine. But
Speaker 1: my mom was very different. If we even had a sniffle,
Speaker 1: she was like, nope, you're saying how m like production
Speaker 1: would have to stop. She's like, well, I don't care that,
Speaker 1: that's what it is. So she was very much an
Speaker 1: advocate for her kids being kids first and protecting us.
Speaker 1: And she noticed that the other moms on the Wonder
Speaker 1: Years were the same way. So she says, you know
Speaker 1: what this, if we were going to do something like this,
Speaker 1: this would probably be the the ideal situation. I was like,
Speaker 1: please let me, please, let please, And she said all right.
Speaker 1: So she got this great lawyer who created some sort
Speaker 1: of loophole because when you sign a contract, you're locked
Speaker 1: in for six seven years if they want to keep
Speaker 1: renewing it. So she like did a thing where there
Speaker 1: was some loophole. She's like, anytime you want to get out,
Speaker 1: you just let me know. That's how it started. Okay,
Speaker 1: so how old are you when you book wonder years. Well,
Speaker 1: what is your sister think because she like, damn it,
Speaker 1: well she yeah, she and I both auditioned actually for
Speaker 1: the role of Winnie Cooper. But it wasn't like that.
Speaker 1: I mean they actually liked her so much that they
Speaker 1: put her in nine episodes as Becky's later And but
Speaker 1: she's not. She was never quite as into entertainment as
Speaker 1: I was. Like today, for example, she is a lawyer
Speaker 1: and um, now she's runs the adventure capitalist company and
Speaker 1: investing in science and like like crazy awesome technology that's
Speaker 1: helping the world. Uh so you know, she's got a
Speaker 1: different focus and she always did. But she was great.
Speaker 1: I mean, she was great as Becky Slater the mackel
Speaker 1: or sister. Sir. She went to oh my gosh, rag
Speaker 1: about her for a second. She went to Yale and
Speaker 1: then took a year just for fun to you know,
Speaker 1: go to Oxford and then came back and um, and
Speaker 1: then got her law degree at Harvard, so you know,
Speaker 1: and that was right around the time of Legally Blonde.
Speaker 1: And she's blonde. So awol, you're the real legally Blond,
Speaker 1: You're the real deal. So at twelve, you you booked
Speaker 1: the pilot. When did you understand that it was a
Speaker 1: cultural phenomenon. It's probably about twenty. You have no when
Speaker 1: you're a kid, everything you do you think is normal,
Speaker 1: Like it didn't. I mean, if fact that The Wonder
Speaker 1: Years premiered following the super Bowl, like the very first episode.
Speaker 1: I I mean, I would hear people say, oh, that's
Speaker 1: a made that's a really good time slot. But it
Speaker 1: didn't like occurred to me. It just didn't. It didn't resonate.
Speaker 1: I didn't get it, and I didn't get the whole
Speaker 1: America Sweetheart thing. And for someone telling me that I
Speaker 1: was America Sweetheart who was actually on set, and I
Speaker 1: was like what, I was busy going to school on
Speaker 1: the days that I wasn't working and I wasn't I
Speaker 1: didn't go to Hollywood parties. I did not have that perspective.
Speaker 1: I really didn't. I really truly did not get it.
Speaker 1: And that's actually perfectly fine. It's perfectly fine. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I assume that's the right mentality to have about something.
Speaker 1: But now it's an adult. I mean, I grew up
Speaker 1: on the Wonder Years. Like do you look back, do
Speaker 1: you ever watch those shows? Or is it that's a
Speaker 1: different lifetime. I mean, it's a different lifetime. But my
Speaker 1: son is ten, so I kind of figured when he
Speaker 1: turned twelve, i'd start showing him the show. And Seep
Speaker 1: likes it. I mean, he's People are funny. People say, oh,
Speaker 1: you look exactly the same. But if you show my
Speaker 1: son a picture of me on the Wonder Yers, he'll
Speaker 1: be like, who's that? He doesn't see it, which is
Speaker 1: kind of funny. It's also really cute because he's starting
Speaker 1: to look like he's tense. It's almost the age that
Speaker 1: I was when I did the show. And I see
Speaker 1: like he's got my eyes completely and my cheeks, and
Speaker 1: so I see it. I see that. It's like he
Speaker 1: also looks a lot like Fred Savage, because I mean,
Speaker 1: to be honest, Fred and I kind of look like
Speaker 1: especially back then, and people will say, your son looks
Speaker 1: like Fred sawag why did your sound Fred? Trust me,
Speaker 1: it's not He's not the father. Okay, it's not time
Speaker 1: Kevin WHENI fantasy come true, I promise, But he does
Speaker 1: look an awful lot like Kevin Arnold. It's a odd
Speaker 1: that's hilarious. I don't want to focus too much on
Speaker 1: the Wonder Years, even though I fought like we could
Speaker 1: do an entire episode just on that show. But I
Speaker 1: do know that Fred is now directing kind of like
Speaker 1: a new iteration of The Wonder Years, but it's vastly
Speaker 1: different in terms of the family they're choosing. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not a reboot, and I've caught myself calling it
Speaker 1: a reboot and it's really not. It's it's inspired by
Speaker 1: I like the idea of a different iteration because it's
Speaker 1: a different family. It's also nine, but it's a black
Speaker 1: family in Atlanta, and it's also a boy. It's also
Speaker 1: a boy told the narrator of the Boy when he's older,
Speaker 1: so that parts the same. He's got his family and
Speaker 1: his friends at school, and he's got his struggles, and
Speaker 1: he's got his unrequited love interest, you know. But her
Speaker 1: name is not Winnie and his name's not Kevin, so
Speaker 1: they're different people. But but I read part of the
Speaker 1: script and it looks I really need to finish reading it,
Speaker 1: because every time I do an interview, I'm like, I
Speaker 1: read part. It's really really cute, it's really uh, really
Speaker 1: really well done, and the people involved are incredibly talented,
Speaker 1: so I know it's going to be great and probably
Speaker 1: a very timely time for that show to come out
Speaker 1: right now as well, it'll be a good story to hear.
Speaker 1: The Wonder Years was always a very timeless show, and
Speaker 1: I really feel that this one is going to be
Speaker 1: as well. Um In a lot of ways, it's it's
Speaker 1: just it's examining a time in history and what were
Speaker 1: people going through. But really, when a twelve year old
Speaker 1: boys going through um uh. There are a lot of
Speaker 1: universal themes and I'm hoping that this will feel universal
Speaker 1: to audiences as well, because I think that's what made
Speaker 1: the show so successful, is that everyone could relate. So
Speaker 1: the Wonder Years ends, What does Danaka do next? Dannaka
Speaker 1: went doing private presidents. Danika goes to college, and it
Speaker 1: goes to college, and then the rest of the episode
Speaker 1: only a third person. Please. I went to college, and
Speaker 1: I think you talked in the presence, but I'm talking
Speaker 1: a past test, right, So I went. I went to
Speaker 1: college and I did act for the first year of college.
Speaker 1: I did what I do. I did a TV movie
Speaker 1: for NBC. They were still doing TV movies back then,
Speaker 1: and I did an episode at Bablon five, and I
Speaker 1: did a couple other things, and then I realized this
Speaker 1: is not working because when you're in high school and
Speaker 1: you're acting at the same time, you know, the teachers
Speaker 1: were understanding and they give you your assignments. But in
Speaker 1: college they're like, um, you weren't here for the final exam,
Speaker 1: Like I know, I know, Um, I can make it up.
Speaker 1: On these different days of that worst feel like, no,
Speaker 1: we're failing you. I'm like, oh, we're gonna be given incomplete.
Speaker 1: You didn't, I'm like, but I know, right. So, and
Speaker 1: I thought, why am I working so hard trying to
Speaker 1: juggle two things at once. I mean, the state doesn't
Speaker 1: mandate that I go to college like it does that
Speaker 1: I have to go to high school. And I'm not
Speaker 1: under a serious contract anymore. This is a job to job,
Speaker 1: so I don't have to do this. Uh. And I
Speaker 1: decided to take a break from acting for the rest
Speaker 1: of my college career and just focus on my studies.
Speaker 1: And then it was shortly after that that I decided
Speaker 1: I wanted to get a degree in mathematics. And that
Speaker 1: was That's his whole own story. I was always really
Speaker 1: good at math al it was a challenge, but I
Speaker 1: was good at it all through high school. But I
Speaker 1: thought somehow that college math would be really hard, like
Speaker 1: harder and unattainable somehow, and so that was. But it's
Speaker 1: just in my head because I'd gotten I'd taken the
Speaker 1: ap Calculus BC exam and I gotten a five on
Speaker 1: it in high school. So I don't know who I
Speaker 1: thought these other college math people were. But if I'm
Speaker 1: really honest with myself, I didn't look the part. I
Speaker 1: just didn't look like what I thought a college math
Speaker 1: student would look like. And because I like a good challenge,
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Heck, I'm just gonna try this anyway, I
Speaker 1: went ahead and signed up for multipable Calculus, and I
Speaker 1: studied all my calculus notes from high school. I mean
Speaker 1: I studied. I knew everything, I knew every triggered metric
Speaker 1: in a girl formula, everything. And I took this first
Speaker 1: midterm exam in the class and I remember thinking, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, I failed. I failed. I got a twenty
Speaker 1: two out of forty. But as it turns out, this
Speaker 1: was some sort of a weirder test. Because the reason
Speaker 1: I know this is because the professor greated he'd like
Speaker 1: put you great on the grades, but he took on
Speaker 1: the chalkboard and created a graph of the grades. Nobody's
Speaker 1: name was on it. But in a class of a
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty people, one person got twenty two out
Speaker 1: of forty. That was me. Two people got two people
Speaker 1: got fifteen, and then it was nine and below the
Speaker 1: rest of the class. So he grasped this distribution on
Speaker 1: the chalkboard. I am looking at my test and wait,
Speaker 1: I'm a twenty two looking around at all these people,
Speaker 1: all these people who looked like math students to me,
Speaker 1: and I didn't feel like I belonged the space, that
Speaker 1: I was not the majority of being female, even um
Speaker 1: and and uh. I was blown away. And that was
Speaker 1: and that was a turning point, both because of just
Speaker 1: realizing that I had a gift, like I was actually
Speaker 1: good at this and the next day, and remember this
Speaker 1: was right after the Wonder Years ended, So every day
Speaker 1: on the campus, people like I stoually that girl, I
Speaker 1: shoually like girls on TV are should that girls played
Speaker 1: winning people. The day after the mid terms of in
Speaker 1: handed back, somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said,
Speaker 1: excuse me, why should that girl? And I figured they're
Speaker 1: gonna say from the Wonder Years, said girl who got
Speaker 1: the twenty two and I was like, oh, I was.
Speaker 1: I was like, it's like, wow, wait a minute. And
Speaker 1: I felt the sense of identity that comes from something
Speaker 1: other than my childhood TV show. And trust me, a
Speaker 1: lot of child actors, a lot of the issue is
Speaker 1: that they're wondering what their value is now now that
Speaker 1: shows over and I found that and it was it
Speaker 1: was gold. It was gold for me. And so that
Speaker 1: was really what kicked off my whole math career, deciding
Speaker 1: to just focus on math and say, you know what,
Speaker 1: I was gonna be a film majors like I'll do
Speaker 1: a film later, I'm gonna be a math major now
Speaker 1: and and make that my focus. And I loved it.
Speaker 1: I loved it. I loved getting up and putting a
Speaker 1: ratty T shirt on, the jeans and no makeup and
Speaker 1: just going to class and just like, just to me,
Speaker 1: that was glamorous. It sounds really silly, but it's the truth.
Speaker 1: I really felt like, kicks, I'm trying to think of
Speaker 1: what I think, um, math major looks like did you
Speaker 1: ever see the movie Real Genius with Val Kiler. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm thinking you're talking about right now? Well, certainly male,
Speaker 1: you know, and then Asian male I mean, right, this
Speaker 1: is stereotype and I love breaking stereotypes. Now. That's why
Speaker 1: when I wrote Math Doesn't Suck, It's that was the
Speaker 1: first book. I wrote. It for middle school girls. I
Speaker 1: mean boys use the books too, but it's really focusing
Speaker 1: on girls and being like, hey, you don't have to
Speaker 1: You can be whoever you want to be. You can
Speaker 1: be glamorous and fun and we're makeup and do your hair,
Speaker 1: and be awesome at math and have a really sharp
Speaker 1: brain and do the rest of it. It's it's whatever
Speaker 1: you want to be, don't be don't be limited by
Speaker 1: by stereotypes. Once you graduated and got your degree, what
Speaker 1: happened next for you? Like, all right, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: start writing math books for kids, or I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: back into acting. Like what was the next step of
Speaker 1: the process. I mean, it's it's a little messy. It starts,
Speaker 1: you know. At first, I was doing some like independent
Speaker 1: films that weren't very good, and I people in the
Speaker 1: business that assumed that I had I was a has
Speaker 1: been And I remember going to some auditions and they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: so how have you been. We hadn't seen you in
Speaker 1: a while, And I was like, yeah, I know, I
Speaker 1: went to college. And they're like, oh, well that hey,
Speaker 1: that's great, that's great, that's so great that they're a
Speaker 1: little relieve you know, that's so so did you what
Speaker 1: major in theater? And I was just love that moment.
Speaker 1: I'd be like mathematics and just like their faces like
Speaker 1: I would just relish that moment and I'm like, how
Speaker 1: dare you assume that I'm like off, you know, doing
Speaker 1: drugs or shoplifting or whatever, you know, all the stuff
Speaker 1: they I was like, you know, it was very very
Speaker 1: satisfying anyway, So I kind of stumbled back into acting,
Speaker 1: but it was a rough It was a rough entry.
Speaker 1: And it was actually because Aaron Sorkin was a huge
Speaker 1: fan of mine and I read for The West Wing
Speaker 1: and it was just a again, it was a small part.
Speaker 1: They've got bigger, um. It was like one scene. I
Speaker 1: remember my agents saying, do you want to audition for this?
Speaker 1: Only once? And like, yes, the West Winning. I love
Speaker 1: the West Wing, Yes, yes, yes, So I auditioned for it.
Speaker 1: And this was two thousand two, and that was it.
Speaker 1: That was the audition that took me back into more
Speaker 1: mainstream TV again. And and in the meantime, I had
Speaker 1: started a website and I was getting I was like
Speaker 1: answering people's math questions because I was sort of miss math.
Speaker 1: So I was sort of straddling both worlds, not really committing.
Speaker 1: And then and then, um, it was two thousand five
Speaker 1: when I had an article written about a math page.
Speaker 1: So I wrote, I helped to prove a new theorem
Speaker 1: when I was at college. For whatever reason, sometimes things
Speaker 1: will dropped out of the sky. The science writing for
Speaker 1: the New York Times wanted to write an article about me,
Speaker 1: and they put me on the front cover of of
Speaker 1: the Science section of the New York Times. And the
Speaker 1: article was in between series, so meaning the one years
Speaker 1: in the West wing at just become superstar on math.
Speaker 1: And that article got me so much attention, and I
Speaker 1: had a couple of different book agents call me and say,
Speaker 1: do you want to like write a math book of
Speaker 1: some sort. And now I had spoken in front of
Speaker 1: Congress a few years before that, shortly after I graduated
Speaker 1: about the importance of mathematics, and I studied the issue
Speaker 1: a lot and read about how middle schools the time
Speaker 1: when girls start to shy away from math, not because
Speaker 1: they can't do it, but because they feel like they
Speaker 1: don't belong and they feel like if they studied too
Speaker 1: much or if they too got a math 're not
Speaker 1: going to be accepted um and and they start looking
Speaker 1: around and going, well, who am ill I don't want
Speaker 1: to be a math NERD. So I'm going to dunbe
Speaker 1: myself down and really studying this issue and wanting to
Speaker 1: break that stereotype. So when this one book agent in particular,
Speaker 1: she and I just clicked on the phone and I
Speaker 1: was like, actually, I know exactly what I want to
Speaker 1: write about and who I want to write for middle
Speaker 1: school girls and math. I want them to to embrace it.
Speaker 1: And that was that was thousand and five that that
Speaker 1: phone call happened, and the book came out two thousand seven,
Speaker 1: and that was the beginning of McKellar Math. And my
Speaker 1: tenth book came out this past summer, called The Times
Speaker 1: Machine for a third and fourth graders teaching Multiplication Division.
Speaker 1: So I wrote like middle school in high school. And
Speaker 1: then I came back and started young again with good
Speaker 1: Night Numbers. That was the Dolly Parton ended up in
Speaker 1: her program and then making my way up through elementary school,
Speaker 1: and then this summer it was interesting that I would
Speaker 1: finish the Times Machine and it would come out, because
Speaker 1: now that filled in the last gaps, and I got
Speaker 1: books for all ages from zero to sixteen, and just
Speaker 1: in time for the pandemic. Is probably great for a
Speaker 1: lot of moms who are now having to be teachers
Speaker 1: as well, though, exactly because the math looks different now,
Speaker 1: you know, for first for through fourth grade, it looks different.
Speaker 1: It's all. I've got this new math translation to guide
Speaker 1: for grown ups in the back of both do not
Speaker 1: open this math book which is first and second grade,
Speaker 1: and the Times Machine, which is third and fourth grade.
Speaker 1: Oh that's so smart. Both my sisters called me in there, like,
Speaker 1: did you know they changed math? It's like, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know they could do that. But no, that's interesting,
Speaker 1: Yeah they did. They did in two eleven is when
Speaker 1: it started, and then it became more and more common
Speaker 1: throughout the following years. And I couldn't believe that nobody
Speaker 1: had written a resource for parents in during that time.
Speaker 1: That's crazy, dude. I'm running out of time with you,
Speaker 1: which bumps me out. But I need to know about
Speaker 1: testifying before Congress. First of all, how did that come about?
Speaker 1: After so after I graduate. After I graduated with my
Speaker 1: degree in math, I the very first job I do
Speaker 1: was actually an episode of a show called Working that
Speaker 1: Fred Savage was doing. That got me all this pressed
Speaker 1: like Winnie Cooper's the math with so that's that's that's
Speaker 1: out in the world and everyone's talking about that, and
Speaker 1: was like, why would you do math? Blah blah um.
Speaker 1: There was a commission that was in Congress that was
Speaker 1: trying to get more money. It was for college grants
Speaker 1: I think it was, or anyways, scholarship. I think it's
Speaker 1: something like that for college. Basically, they wanted more money
Speaker 1: for for women in college, and so they wanted me
Speaker 1: to speak to the importance of this. They have to understand,
Speaker 1: I was just graduate. I just graduated with a degree
Speaker 1: in math. I'm a literal person anyway, and I'm very
Speaker 1: I don't read between the lines very well at all.
Speaker 1: It's just who I am. And so I was asked
Speaker 1: to speak about the importance and what I what I
Speaker 1: thought about this. I was not thinking about the fact
Speaker 1: that they probably just wanted me to help them get
Speaker 1: money for their thing. I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: it is time for me to testify in front of
Speaker 1: Congress about the importance and woman and what the real
Speaker 1: issue is. And I studied they made this hundred page report,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, there's no way that everyone on this committee,
Speaker 1: the Subcommittee of Technologies Science, there's no way they read
Speaker 1: all this. I've studied the whole thing. I mean, I
Speaker 1: studied it, and then I read the executive report that
Speaker 1: they probably read it. They right, it's very and all
Speaker 1: the really important stuff was in the actual reports and
Speaker 1: documents and studies. The little report, the little executive summary
Speaker 1: they created for the members of Congress didn't show how
Speaker 1: important middle school is. They don't want to talk about college,
Speaker 1: and like, you guys, I was like, such, you guys,
Speaker 1: it's not in the executive summary, but here's the real
Speaker 1: deal in the people who flew me out there public.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. And I didn't even this is not
Speaker 1: occurating to me until years later because I still have
Speaker 1: in front of Concress and said, so, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: if you guys had shipped my dad was in the rhythm.
Speaker 1: This is the last about it goes. You told Congress
Speaker 1: that they probably didn't have a chance to read the
Speaker 1: whole thing. But as that was and said in that person.
Speaker 1: You're finding a chance to red the whole thing. It's
Speaker 1: not in the executive summary, but here's the deal. It's
Speaker 1: really starts in middle school, and that's where we need
Speaker 1: more money, is for teachers in middle school and anyway.
Speaker 1: So that was that experience, and I pledged to them,
Speaker 1: I said, and I said, a major problem is that
Speaker 1: math has bad. PR said, you know, girls, and it
Speaker 1: happens in middle school. And I pledged to you to
Speaker 1: use my know, my my public platform to get math
Speaker 1: the best PR possible. We need to math to be
Speaker 1: explained and more fun terms for kids, and we need
Speaker 1: there to be in general feeling society that Matt does
Speaker 1: not make you a nerd, it makes you more powerful.
Speaker 1: So this is my impassionate speech. I only had four minutes.
Speaker 1: I delivered everything in formaist to them, and uh, I
Speaker 1: never heard from those people who invited me again. And uh,
Speaker 1: but I you know, I I just swear in front
Speaker 1: of Congress that you're gonna tell the truth. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a big this is a huge deal for me.
Speaker 1: So then I decided to and I've been fulfilling that
Speaker 1: promise ever since of getting math better. PR and helping
Speaker 1: math to be more fun for kids because it's the
Speaker 1: way it's presented and may solve the difference that was
Speaker 1: that was in two thousand seven doing it for twenty
Speaker 1: one years now, Well, I think that's so cool and
Speaker 1: so rad and I mean, you've done a lot of stuff,
Speaker 1: but to me, that seems like such an amazing accomplishment
Speaker 1: to get to go do so congratulated. Yeah, my dad
Speaker 1: tells it that after I said, you probably didn't get
Speaker 1: a chance to read it, but it's really important stuff
Speaker 1: in the actual court that the guy goes, well, why
Speaker 1: don't you tell us what's in there? Glasses? All right,
Speaker 1: young lady, why don't you go ahead and tell us?
Speaker 1: Then why don't you educate us? I'm like, okay, so
Speaker 1: here's us in there's. First of all, the speed in
Speaker 1: which your brain works is really really fun energy to
Speaker 1: be around. But it makes a whole lot of sense
Speaker 1: for me, and I would assume everyone listening of why
Speaker 1: you are so successful? Well, one question I do ask
Speaker 1: a lot of my guests is what's the one creedo
Speaker 1: that you live by, our one rule that you have
Speaker 1: that you think has helped you continue to be successful
Speaker 1: in life and in business and everything in between. Well,
Speaker 1: I will break that down into two things. Most important
Speaker 1: is that you have to be living in your integrity
Speaker 1: whatever it is, and ask yourself, does it ring that
Speaker 1: truth bell or you're ignoring a red flag? Like you've
Speaker 1: got to know if the choices that you're that you're
Speaker 1: about to make, is that something that you're gonna that
Speaker 1: you'd be proud to tell anybody that you decided to do.
Speaker 1: And if you can't, you're not proud to tell everybody
Speaker 1: that you made that choice. Don't make that choice. It's
Speaker 1: as simple as that, because you'll regret it later, you'll
Speaker 1: feel bad about it later at some point. So there's that.
Speaker 1: But in terms of what I think has helped me
Speaker 1: to be successful, because look, let's visit, you can be
Speaker 1: successful and not living your integrity and just feel horrible
Speaker 1: about yourself and yet you're successful. Right, So that's that
Speaker 1: side of it, because you want to let be able
Speaker 1: to look yourself in the mirror for real, because it'll
Speaker 1: haunt you and on your death. But you're not going
Speaker 1: to care about the money you made. You're going to
Speaker 1: care about how you felt and how you made other
Speaker 1: people feel. But in terms of being successful, to me,
Speaker 1: the biggest trick that I've learned, and this helps me
Speaker 1: with everything that I'm feeling apprehensive about doing or there's
Speaker 1: a daunting task. Something my dad taught me is he
Speaker 1: learned from a Dale Carnegie lesson, and that is because
Speaker 1: one little phrase do you tell yourself, and that is
Speaker 1: let me add him, Let me add And you have
Speaker 1: got to say to yourself. With just just commitment, let
Speaker 1: me at him. You can even tense up your stomach
Speaker 1: a little bit to get rid of the butterflies. Let
Speaker 1: me at him. So this can be before a job interview,
Speaker 1: this can be before a difficult conversation you have with
Speaker 1: somebody and your personal life, whatever it is that you're
Speaker 1: feeling out rands, so that it can be before you start.
Speaker 1: You know, you've been wanting to write a book for
Speaker 1: years and you've never started anything like that, anything at all.
Speaker 1: Let me at him, Let me at him, and just
Speaker 1: keep saying that to yourself. You'd be amazed at how
Speaker 1: changing your internal dialogue actually changes, like your body chemistry
Speaker 1: and the feelings that you're having about whatever it is.
Speaker 1: Write it down on a post and note everybody's listening.
Speaker 1: There's a reason you're listening to this. This message is
Speaker 1: meant for you. Write it down, stick it up there
Speaker 1: um and you'd be amazed at where it will come
Speaker 1: in handy, I love it. Before I let you go,
Speaker 1: Do you have some time for some rapid fire questions? Sure? Alright?
Speaker 1: Rapid fire questions with Dana mckeller. Would you rather be
Speaker 1: rich and sad or poor and happy? Happy? Night in
Speaker 1: or night out? Night in? What's your hidden talent? Picking
Speaker 1: things up with my toes? Early bird or night owl?
Speaker 1: O coffee order? No coffee for me? Favorite beat the topic?
Speaker 1: Who was your first kiss? Well? That was with Fred
Speaker 1: Savage on the Wonder Years Crazy First Concert, Everyone Too
Speaker 1: Thriller by Michael Jackson. Wow? Really yep? That's a good
Speaker 1: one that might actually win for best answer for that question.
Speaker 1: I watched him, you know, moonwalk Fast behind John Ritter.
Speaker 1: First job your head? It was a Volkswagen Club commercial.
Speaker 1: Who would you call to get you out of jail?
Speaker 1: I guess my husband. Do you have a celebrity crush?
Speaker 1: Not currently? But when I was little it was Michael J. Blacks.
Speaker 1: That's a good one. And last one, what is something
Speaker 1: that you haven't done in your career that you'd like
Speaker 1: to going forward and let's you work with Dolly Pardon.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, I already got to. Uh, you know what
Speaker 1: you know if I love I just think you super talented?
Speaker 1: Is Robert Downy Jr. I think it'd be a lot
Speaker 1: of fun to be in a scene with him in
Speaker 1: something very cool. Dannika McKellar, you've been absolutely amazing to
Speaker 1: chat with everyone out there. Do not miss Matchmaker Mysteries
Speaker 1: The Art of the Kill. It's coming up this Sunday
Speaker 1: on Hallmark Correct this Sunday on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel,
Speaker 1: and that's at eight o'clock, seven o'clock Central, where people
Speaker 1: will follow you. They can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: TikTok and that's all at Danica mckeller with an a
Speaker 1: R at the end. If you're not sure how to
Speaker 1: spell my name, just type in Winnie Cooper and Danika
Speaker 1: and you'll find it. And then also Matchmaker Mysteries on
Speaker 1: Instagram if you want to get behind the scenes pictures
Speaker 1: and videos of the movies. You know, through the pandemic
Speaker 1: and all the rest of it, I've become much more
Speaker 1: concerned with trying to help kids in particular, and so
Speaker 1: I have a whole bunch of children's charities that I
Speaker 1: donate to. Uh if you book a personalized video with
Speaker 1: me at Cameo so it's Cameo dot Com forward slash
Speaker 1: Danika mccallary. You can also find the link in my
Speaker 1: Instagram bio. UM. I donate all of my proceeds to
Speaker 1: children's charities. So it's places like child Help, um, my
Speaker 1: Stuff Badge. These people help abused kids and foster kids,
Speaker 1: and then also some charities that help to fight child trafficking.
Speaker 1: So not the weird conspiracy theory sides of it, but
Speaker 1: the actual real side that's happening online right now, like
Speaker 1: every day in every neighborhood. So um, there's some really great,
Speaker 1: great charities that are helping kids a lot, and I
Speaker 1: really appreciate it, and I would love to do a
Speaker 1: personalized video for any of you guys birthday's anniversaries you
Speaker 1: name it Mother's Day. Thank you so much for being
Speaker 1: on the show. You are like truly very inspirational to
Speaker 1: listen to, and your story is bonkers, So I appreciate
Speaker 1: a lot. If you ever want to come back on
Speaker 1: and finished telling the story, because I feel like there's
Speaker 1: a lot more you're always welcoming this show. Okay, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. Maybe I'll be in touch in February
Speaker 1: when my next book comes out Perfect. Have a great
Speaker 1: day and see you soon. Thanks, bye bye. Subscribe to
Speaker 1: Wealthcast on I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the Internet line.