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Emily Tisch Sussman: Hey, she Pivots listeners at Emily. Before we hop into

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Emily Tisch Sussman: today's episode, I have some very exciting news. She Pivots

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Emily Tisch Sussman: has been nominated for not one, but two Webvy Awards.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: These are a huge deal in.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: The podcast world and the best part the winners are

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Emily Tisch Sussman: decided by you.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: That means we need you to help us win.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: And we're up against some pretty big names, just some

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Emily Tisch Sussman: little old guys named John Stewart and Anderson Cooper, and

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I think I could retire early if we beat them, so.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Every vote counts. Here's what you can do to help.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Head to the link in our show notes and click

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Emily Tisch Sussman: on both the links, hit vote on she Pivots, enter

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Emily Tisch Sussman: your infoh and bloom.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: You're done.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Then, if you have time between school drop offs or

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Emily Tisch Sussman: your next meeting, share it. Share it, Please post on social,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: send to a friend, add it to your newsletter, whatever

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Emily Tisch Sussman: helps spread the word. And before we jump into today's episode,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I want to just.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Say thank you.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: You are what makes the show happen and why women

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Emily Tisch Sussman: feel compelled to share their stories. I'm beyond grateful for

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Emily Tisch Sussman: this honor and hope we can show the world just

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Emily Tisch Sussman: how powerful these stories can be. It's all for now,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: go vote.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Anastasia.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Welcome back to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk

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Emily Tisch Sussman: with women who dare to pivot out of one career

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and into something new and explore how their personal lives

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Emily Tisch Sussman: impact these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: don't know about you, but I am ready for some

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Emily Tisch Sussman: warm nights, fresh meals, quality time. And there's no better

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Emily Tisch Sussman: person to have on than Anastasia ganyas Gellen, the genius

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Emily Tisch Sussman: behind the household pantry staple, fancy Peasant. You may know

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Emily Tisch Sussman: her for her incredible recipes and cooking videos on Instagram

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and beyond.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I met Anastasia.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Dooring school drop off, and she immediately became one of

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Emily Tisch Sussman: my mom friends, and boy am I glad that our

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Emily Tisch Sussman: kids brought us together. Her energy is infectious and I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: love how she puts her whole self into everything she does,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: So you can imagine my delight when I found out

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Emily Tisch Sussman: she made a massive pivot from acting into entrepreneurship after

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Emily Tisch Sussman: a series of deeply personal choices and circumstances. She began

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Emily Tisch Sussman: her career chasing a dream many of us have imagined

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Emily Tisch Sussman: at some point acting. She spent years grinding to make

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Emily Tisch Sussman: it in Hollywood and landing iconic shows like Dexter, True Blood,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Desperate Housewives.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And more.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: But like so many women who join us on, she pivots.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Her story took a powerful and personal turn when she

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Emily Tisch Sussman: decided to move back to New York City to intentionally

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Emily Tisch Sussman: build her family and be near her ailing father. Food

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Emily Tisch Sussman: had always been a love language in her Greek American household.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: It was how her family gathered, how stories were passed down,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: how culture was preserved, and when her father eventually passed cooking,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the dishes she'd grown up with, dishes her father loved,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: became her way of healing. Soon it became something bigger,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: so she leaned into that. What started as a personal

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Emily Tisch Sussman: home cooked comfort grew into a full blown brand, Fancy

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Peasant that is now in thousands of stores, including Airwan

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and World Market. With Fancy Peasant, Anastasia is sharing the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: warmth and simplicity of Mediterranean home cooking, making it accessible, beautiful,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and rooted in heritage. From olive oil to pantry staples

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Emily Tisch Sussman: to recipes that feel like they've been passed down for generations.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: She's turning tradition into a brand that brings people together.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: They're so simple that I was even able to make

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Emily Tisch Sussman: one on her instead. Be sure to check out that

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Emily Tisch Sussman: for a duet of us singing. This episode is about

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Emily Tisch Sussman: so much more than a career change. It's about grief

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and resilience, identity and joy and the courage it takes

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Emily Tisch Sussman: to start over, not just for yourself, but for your

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Emily Tisch Sussman: kids and your friends and your community.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Enjoy. My name is Anastagia Gania Skevin, and I am

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: an actor and an entrepreneur. I have a company called

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Fancy Peasant, so I make Greek clean pantry essentials. So

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we're gonna wind back, Sure, can you tell us about

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: little Anaesthesia? Like? What was she like? I, interestingly enough,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: came from a family where everyone was like super linear,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really good at sports, and really really smart, and I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was a little bit of a wild card. My family

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was such an anomaly because all of my dad's fronts.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: My dad was born in nineteen forty three years later

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the Greek Civil War broke out. He was sent to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a concentration camp and separated from his entire family. And

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the fact that I'm even sitting here in this chair

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: talking to you is like a miracle, which I talked

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to the boys about this a lot, like do you

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: know where you came from? On both sides were Greek

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and Jewish, and the fact that we're even here is wild.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But Dad did something interesting because all of his friends

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: went into like the pizza business or just service write

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: more service industries, and my father got a full ride

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: through medical school, like washing dishes, and didn't even start

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: practicing until he was in his forties like my age now,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and did things a little differently, And he was really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really hard on us growing up because of that. He

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was kind of like the mentality was like you're standing

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: on the shoulders of a giant. You have every single

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: opportunity I never had, you better perform. And he was

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: not on us at all. But he brought back the culture,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like all the good things. Like a lot of people

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that came back from Greece after the Greek Civil War,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they never wanted to go back to Greece. It was

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just like so much atrocity, and he just brought back

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the food and the language and like the love of

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: everything being Greek. And my mother did the same. So

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like my grandparents came here when they were eighteen, didn't

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: speak a look of English, so I was, you know,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: always around the language, and then I was around just

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: all my fairy godmothers cooking these beautiful meals from Greece,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I was like, it was all Greek growing up.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: We didn't really steer from that. It's wild. Like I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: remember going to school on the first day and everyone

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was eating peanut butter and jelly, and I was like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: whipping out a spinacopita. So were you in a Greek

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: community growing up or you guys were like the Greek family. Yes,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so I'm first generation Greek American and most of my

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: best friends were besides the people I went to school with,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and it was like we went to church every Sunday,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and that family there was really the foundation of you know,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my big fat Greek family. All around Worcester, Massachusetts. A

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: lot of people like came from Ellis Island and a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: bunch of them went to Worcester, where I'm from, and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: everything was Greek to me. And I look at that

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: now and think what a blessing, because it really it

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really defined everything for me. And I think when you're young,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these formative years, I remember it feeling crazy. When I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was younger, I was like, why does everything have to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: be so fucking Greek? And now it's like, especially because

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm in an inter faith marriage and all these things,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it's like, it's cool to teach people where they come

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: from and then you let them fly and do what

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they want to do. But it is a very special thing,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I do think we're like we live in a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: melting pot and we're losing a lot of that. So

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to me now it feels even more precious to teach

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the boys the language and to go there every summer

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and to introduce them to their cousins and to tell

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: them the story about who they are and where they

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: come from. And I always tell people there was something

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that happened having this foundation for me where it really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: alleviated peer pressure for me, because I remember asking people

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: would be like like what are you and I'd be like,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm Greek. And there was something about like knowing who

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was where it gave me confidence. Let's say anything

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like drug sex and rock and roll. I'd be like, no,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I don't do that, but like I know who I am,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I know where I come from. So I think whether

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it's a spore or religion, like whatever your foundation is,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like it's like I know where I come from, and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I remember meeting people being like I don't think they

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: know who they are and where they come from. And maybe,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like in retrospect as an adult, I was like that

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really gave me something powerful. There was confidence in knowing

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like where I came from.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Anna Stasia joked about her life being like my big

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Emily Tisch Sussman: fat Greek wedding throughout our conversation, and just like Tula,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Anastasia didn't always embrace her Greek heritage with open arms.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Yeah, I mean my parents, and I'm doing the same

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to my children, like that line in the Breakfast Club,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Oh my god, are you really going to be like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: her parents? Like I am doing the same thing. My

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: parents ran a very tight ship. It was militant and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: honestly it was like a little ridiculous. Like if I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: wasn't home exactly on time, my mother would be like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: waiting outside like in her robe, Like if I wasn't

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like didn't make curfew or something. It was like very

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: different than what I would call then my American friends.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'd be like, it's they'd get to eat mac and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: cheese and go to KFC. Nothing's Greek and why is

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: everything so Greek, and why can't you speak English when

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they're around? And now I'm like Grayson's friends will come over,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my kids friends, they'll be like, that's so cool, you

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: guys speak another language. I guess I'm doing it in

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a little bit of a different way where it doesn't

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: feel so suffocating to my children, more like a celebration

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of where mom and dad are both from this beautiful

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Jewish culture and this beautiful Greek culture. Like what a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: privilege that you get to be part of it and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: learn so much from it and explore it. And so

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I think I don't hold on to it as tight,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I just try to kind of show them the

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: cool stuff, you know that that surrounds the culture. Knowing

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: another language is really first of all, it's mandatory now,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like everyone needs to know four languages in order to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: be different. Also, another cool thing about like learning these

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: languages from young Like now languages, all this stuff comes

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: very easy to me because Greek is like Mandarin, it's

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: totally different alphabet. Like if you don't learn when you're younger,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you're never learning it. Yeah, it's just impossible. That takes

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: discipline when the other parent doesn't speak the language. So

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like up until three, my kids barely spoke any English

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: because I was driving the whole Greek thing so hard. Yeah, okay,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so you went to college for theater. I went to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: college for theater. Did you know what kind of acting

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you wanted to do? Like were you always trying to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: get to acting or where You're like, I'm in my

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: moment right now, and I'm just trying this out to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: get to something else. So that was like my extra thing.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Like everyone has their sport and their instrument, I was

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like part of it was musical theater for like six years,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I remember, like seventh, seventh through twelve, like I really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: focused on that. I was always in the fall show,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: in the spring show, and then I was just doing

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it locally and thriving, which I was not used to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: doing in my family unit like everyone else was like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: thriving sports and thriving. And I started thriving and I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: told Dad, you know, I want to go to like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a phenomenal theater program. And he was like, I'm not

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: sending you to college for theater, Like you've got a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: double major, You've got to pick something else, Like that

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: is not happening. It was always a huge struggle to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: be an artist in my family. It was a struggle.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It was a full blown struggle. And I think even

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: saying that out loud right now, I don't think I've

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: even said that. But you can send this right to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your therapist if you need to give a lot background.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But so I knew. I auditioned for a bunch of

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: theater programs and then I was told I had to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: double major in order to go to any of them,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I did, and I had a really phenomenal experience

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: in a it wasn't It was a musical theater program

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with like a concentration kind of in classical theater studies.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So it was really fantastic. And I had no idea

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that I wanted to work in television and film at

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that point. I was like, I'm going to go to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: New York City after this, and I'm going to audition

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: for like off Broadway and Broadway and you know, all

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that kind of jazz. But you ended up in La.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I ended up in La. How did that happen? It's

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so funny, right, It was working at a bar at

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the time, going to more school. I was just studying

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my first two years in New York City after I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: had graduated college with like all of the girl like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: great people that I wanted to work with, and really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: getting like a fringe New York City theater experience, which

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was so awesome when I think about how like juicy

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and invaluable it was to just really grind it out,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like those hours in the theater, those one on ones

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with like these incredible professors and people that had worked

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: in Broadway forever. Anyway, I met my manager like at

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a bar that I was working at, a Greek restaurant

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of course, Milos the Athility, of course, truly, because I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have to pick that restaurant to work at. And she

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was like, you can't just be auditioning for theater.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: You have to like audition for you know, TV shows

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and stuff like you want to make money. And I'm like,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I never even thought about it. It never occurred to me,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I did. I started putting myself on tape and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: one of the first things I booked took me to Hollywood.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It was for a pilot that actually never got picked up,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but I went there to film that pilot thinking it

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: would be like a week and I stayed for seven years.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Oh my god, because it's like that Hollywood's like that,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I need it more really, once you get the bug,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like you're like, I just thought that, like this is

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it and another huge thing, like my family was not

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: supportive of that move. Wow. My dad's a statistic person.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So I remember before I got on the plane to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: move to LA he was like, so you do understand statistically,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: for you to even make a co star or guest

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: star or any type of recurring part, it's one in

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a million. And I looked at him and I said,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you do understand. I don't believe a statistic. I was like, Dad,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm a fucking actor. Do you think I believe in statistics?

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Like you have to be so crazy out of your

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: mind thinking about it in retrospect to get on a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: plane and move to Hollywood to actually think you're going

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to become an actor. And I felt the same thing

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: going into the all of oil space. It was blind,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but there was no thought in my mind that it

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: wasn't going to happen. I knew I was going to go.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And you get there and you're filled with confidence. It's

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: not until you're like testing against superstars and in chemistry

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: tests against like big names where like imposter syndrome starts

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to what am I doing here testing against like amberhard

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right now? Like I faked everyone out and my dad everyone,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and now I'm here this moment. But like at that

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: point when I went to Hollywood, I was thinking, oh

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I got this, Yeah what I do? So can you

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: tell us about that? I mean, it's such a hard industry,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like it is by definition all rejection. It is not

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: for the week at heart. I remember I had a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really good initial first run and I think that really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: set like set up the foundation for me. I remember

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I had met this new agent. She's like, we'll hip

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: pocket you, which is a very common thing. They're like,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we'll hippocket you for like a month. If you don't

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: produce for us, then like we drop you, right, and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it's crazy like I had that kind of luck. I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: remember my very first show was called The Game. It

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was on the CW and the breakdown was for like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a Hawaiian girl named Asia. And I walked into the

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: room and it was like thirty girls that looked like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they were like born in Honolulu, and I got the part,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but the part wasn't even the breakdown was like the

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: description was not me and that was such a big

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: thing in my head. I was like, they literally wrote

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a breakdown for some of that they didn't pick, and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they picked me instead. There's no rhyme or reason as

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to how you work in this career or what happens.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Producers just kind of like fall in love with Emily

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: or you know, Anastasia for the part. And so I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: had a really good first run. I started booking Kose Stars,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: which is like where you start, and those are like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: two to ten lines, right, but you've got like you're

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: auditioning hundreds of people for those lines, and you're getting

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: used to the studios and navigating, and you're reading your

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: scripts and you're making fans and casting, which is really

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: important because you see the same person you know twice

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a month, and you show up for them and you

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: show them good work every time, and eventually they do

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: give you a part. Okay, So at this same time,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: let's bring your personal life into this. Sure you were

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: dating someone in New York? Yeah, my husband. So I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: met my husband my thirty year in college. I was

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a junior. We broke up very quickly after we started

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: dating because I was in a show and I saved

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a seat for him in the front row and he

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: never showed up, and I was I was Electra. Do

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you remember what show was that? Oh that was Gipsy. Yeah,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so I was Electra and I remember being he never

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: showed up. It was in a big theater in Boston

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I was graduating. It was a big deal for me,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I was like, that's garbage. I can't believe you

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just stood me up. And I didn't speak to him

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: actually until senior year, like mid midway senior year, we

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: reconnected again. I was in New York for like a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: year or two before I went to LA, and he

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: stayed and came to LA to visit me like twice

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a month for seven years until I was like career peaking,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and he was like, you need to say, this is

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your dream come true. We can no longer do this

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: relationship long distance. It's like getting so weird. It's been

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: seven years and he had started dipping into his side

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: side hustle, which is he's in a hotel business now.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But like, we really pushed all the limits, but we

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: let each other really grow. And I think that's so

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: important even now because I think I've been with Hunter

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: now longer than I haven't been with him, and I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: think two people really do need to grow on their

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: own in order to like, they need to be thriving

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: individually before they can really come together, I think, and

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I think we're both like experts in that.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Something we've touched on and various other conversations is the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: conscious decision to start a family. I think for so

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Emily Tisch Sussman: many driven women it can feel like this big question

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Emily Tisch Sussman: mark that is looming over you until one day you

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Emily Tisch Sussman: wake up and suddenly things have changed and what you

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Emily Tisch Sussman: want has changed.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And for Anastasia it was no different. But I do

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: remember one of the last shows that I did when

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was there, I had a recurring part on True Blood,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I remember talking to someone who was like one

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of my heroes and I was like, oh my god,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: show me some pictures of your kids, and she was like,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: oh no, I missed the boat on that, but I

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have like fifteen cats, and she like whipped out the pictures.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: There's nothing wrong with that. But I remember thinking, coming

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: from this Greek family where I have hundreds of first cousins,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was like, I'm about to miss the boat on

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like the most important thing in my entire life, Like

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the work will come, and I've already proved that to myself,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but like I need to like start to hone in

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: on the family because now I'm like in my late

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: twice about to turn thirty, and I remember turning a

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: corner thinking, I really want this too, I really want

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this too. I'm a huge gut person. Always go with

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your gut, and I knew when I had to leave.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I actually picked up and moved out of LA within

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like twenty four hours. I alwaysay, I committed like career suicide. Wow, okay,

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So did you know that you were committing career suicide

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: when you did it? Yes? Because of what I'm doing.

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It took me seven years to make really strong relationships

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and casting. I had worked on every single network, every

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: network I had worked on it. But I knew if

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you go back to New York City, You're going to

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have to start from the beginning. Even though you've worked

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: on all these great shows and you've done all this

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: great stuff. It was ballsy for me to get on

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Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a plane and leave.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Life intervened, the personal took over the professional, and she pivoted.

385
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,719
Emily Tisch Sussman: When we returned, Anastasia opens up about how this pivot

386
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: and ultimately the death of her father had a profound

387
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,280
Emily Tisch Sussman: impact on what she decided to do next.

388
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:10,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Stay tuned. Shortly after moving.

389
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,920
Emily Tisch Sussman: Back, Anastasia's dad, who had dealt with the chronic illness

390
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: for years, started to take a turn for the worst.

391
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So my dad had gotten sick. And that's why I

392
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: actually always talk about divine timing that whatever happened with

393
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Hunter made me get back because I got to spend

394
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the last like two years with my father when he

395
00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was going through the worst part of his disease. He

396
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,119
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was diagnosed I think fifteen years before he passed away,

397
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and he had non Hodgkinson foma, and which you know,

398
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my dad was like the healthiest man I've ever still

399
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: probably to this day. Like he was just he was

400
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a real like naturalist, and he really still lived his

401
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:50,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: life like he lived in like a blue zone in

402
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the mountains of Greece. He walked every day. He wanted

403
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to walk everywhere. He didn't want to use a vehicle

404
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:56,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a lot. He like ate everything from the earth. He

405
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: didn't eat too much meat, like all these blue zone rolls.

406
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: He was like that. So when he got sick, and

407
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,159
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: he was a physician, we were like, what the fuck,

408
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: what do you mean? You have cancer, Like, you know,

409
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we just didn't have We were so lucky. We didn't

410
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have anyone in the family that had dealt with it,

411
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and for him to have it was really confusing because

412
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: he was just the doctor and like our whole Greek community,

413
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and interestingly enough, he was like always really excited about

414
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the evolution of medicine. So no matter what happened, he

415
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was like, yeah, I've had like three or four treatments

416
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so far, like they're going to come out with like

417
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: three more by the end of next year. He always

418
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: had this like really great attitude about his sickness. But anyway,

419
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I came home, I got to spend a lot of

420
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: time with him, and I got to get married, you know,

421
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and have both of our families kind of witness that

422
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and be part of my first child's birth. So Dad

423
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: got to have the experience of having two grandchildren. But

424
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it was pretty devastating for all of us. You know.

425
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: He died too young, which you know, comparatively to some

426
00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: friends that I have that are even struggling with disease

427
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right now at you know, seventy eight feels old. But

428
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:05,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my dad was the type of person that would have

429
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: lived to like easy be a centenary and if like

430
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this shit hadn't destroyed him.

431
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,680
Emily Tisch Sussman: So I struggle a lot with that. And so you

432
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,520
Emily Tisch Sussman: said that after he passed, you went on this eat,

433
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:15,560
Emily Tisch Sussman: pray love journey.

434
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I feel actually a lot of like entrepreneur stories come

435
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: from this, like you. It's kind of like the classic

436
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: hero story, like person comes up with crazy idea, everyone

437
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: thinks they're nuts for the idea. Then they like go

438
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: away on this journey to get what they want and

439
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they've run into every single like obstacle ever and then

440
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they fall into the abyss and come out on the

441
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: other end. That that's kind of where we are now,

442
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: at fancy peasant, like where in a really special place.

443
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But initially I had been talking to my dad about

444
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: writing a Greek cookbook when he was dying, and I

445
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was like, I want to make a cookbook that's for

446
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: someone like me, because Greek cooking is very overwhelming, like

447
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: if you're going to make a Spina copy doar a

448
00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: black la vah, you think there's like a hundred steps.

449
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,639
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And I never liked to read things and cooking. I

450
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: always wanted a visual So I told my dad, I'm

451
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:05,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: coming out with a cookbook. I thought that was going

452
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to be the first thing, and still I haven't made

453
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the cookbook yet. That's coming, but it's going to be called,

454
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,639
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you know, Fancy Peasant, and it's going to be named

455
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: off of you know me and you kind of I'm

456
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like the fancy version of you. Never had any of

457
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these things that I had, but they all come from

458
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like this peasant village where we're from. And so I

459
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: started cooking online as a way to stay like I

460
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,199
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: couldn't relate to anybody when my dad died. I was like,

461
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my husband doesn't know what it's like to lose a parent.

462
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: My friends have no idea what it's like to lose

463
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a parent. I don't want to fucking talk to anyone

464
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right now. But I was cooking online and I was

465
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: meeting strangers that were like, meal time is the hardest

466
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,639
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: for me. I lost my son. I'm a chef, and

467
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,199
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: now I'm meeting frozen food because it's too painful to

468
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,159
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: cook because like I'm thinking about his favorite meals. And

469
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: there was this like good grief community forming around me,

470
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like cooking these recipes and just talking about dad, And

471
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,159
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: eventually that kind of morphed into the cornerstone of all

472
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these Greek recipes that you're cooking is olive oil, like,

473
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and it's Greek, and you always just talk about all

474
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,199
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this great Greek food, like can we get some? And

475
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so I called my two best friends that are also

476
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,359
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: green olviously, and I said, guys, do you want to

477
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: go to Avoodio with me and like find I'm looking

478
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: for like some olive oil to give some of my

479
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: followers that are asking for And my supply had died

480
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: when dad died, and so I knew what I wanted.

481
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I went to a bunch of like trusted family firms

482
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that I knew, and I knew I had a little

483
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: bit like of a mommy audience following me. So I

484
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:37,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: needed it to be like stuff that I felt really

485
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: good about, saying, give this to your child three times

486
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a day. You can cook with it. And we found

487
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this product that just it was so perfect because you know,

488
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: in Greek cooking, there is no other cooking fat we do.

489
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Our eggs are avocado toast, me mariny are salads. It's

490
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: not a fancy, peppery, over powery product. So I found

491
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this liquid gold that I fell in love with. I

492
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: came back I it had this vision board of kind

493
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of my whole Like for a decade before I came

494
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: out with the product, I had this really amazing vision

495
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: board and on Pinterest, and I came back and started

496
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: putting it together and came up with the packaging for

497
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a fancy and then the pandemic hit and I was like,

498
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: oh my god, I've got hundreds of bottles of olive

499
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: oil in my garage and the country just shut down.

500
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I mean, I'm going through a whole change at this point.

501
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:25,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Why did I even get the olive oil? And now

502
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the country shuts down? And the magic and that was

503
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that it was when everyone was cooking online and so

504
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:35,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was so lucky to have this network of celebrity nutritionists, actors, models, doctors, athletes.

505
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,119
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I said, would you mind getting on line with me

506
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,639
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: cooking a fancy peasant recipe and like pumping out the

507
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: product with me? Just then have fun talk about your

508
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Achilles heel, like to keep this in line with how

509
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we started. I was talking about grieving and dad making

510
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: people feel a little less lonely, like Jamie Sigler, can

511
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:55,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you talk about what it's like having multiple sclerosis while

512
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we cook this fita and like just help people a

513
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: little bit. It was really weird. It took on a

514
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: life of its own, really Fancy Peasant. The way it started,

515
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,679
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it started by accident. I didn't come into this business

516
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: because I wanted to. It found me, right, and so

517
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we did. And then slowly different people like buyers I

518
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: didn't even know, like Blooming Gills and Sex and all

519
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these places. They have these people that scour Instagram. Can

520
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we sell it? We have a fancy food department, can

521
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we You know? That's how we started kind of gaining

522
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: traction at brick and mortars, and that is how we started.

523
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: We started up by accident.

524
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,679
Archival: I am stating on this government there filming the first

525
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,400
Archival: episode for The Fancy Peasant at a dollop of Fancy

526
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,320
Archival: Peasant Greek extra virgin olive oil book that beat us

527
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,880
Archival: two to three minutes on both sides until they turned

528
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:44,679
Archival: golden brown.

529
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,639
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And you stop them. Whatever vegetable with whatever meat, with whatever,

530
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:49,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: dippy moors.

531
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:53,840
Archival: They are all made with our liquid gold our ganic

532
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:55,919
Archival: extra virgin olive oil.

533
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,199
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But I started the business totally by accident when my

534
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: dad died, mourning over food, right and really missing him,

535
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,119
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I think staying connected because I was like making

536
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a meal that him and I used to share together,

537
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so I'd be making like a corn meal beta and

538
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it made me feel closer to him. The food made

539
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: me feel closer to him. He was no longer here,

540
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but I could eat something that felt like, you know,

541
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm connected to Dad right now. And so many people

542
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have that experience over food, And of course the grief

543
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: evolved into just this wonderful audience that really wanted olive

544
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: oil and cooking again is also is just such a

545
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: natural expression of like of who I am, where I

546
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: came from, what I like to do, how I lose myself.

547
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I think cooking is very like transformative. It's been a

548
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: very transformative part of my healing process. I think whenever,

549
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: whether it's like running or cooking or putting all your

550
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: energy into something, it really helped me through the grief process.

551
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And cooking with the kids and telling them about the

552
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: recipes and where the recipes came from. And I used

553
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to cook these with ma Ya yan Babu and now

554
00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you're cooking them with me, and you're going to teach

555
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your kids how to make them. I mean, it's tradition

556
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: is so awesome like that and keeping it alive is

557
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so much a part of what we're doing, I think

558
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: at fancy, but we are doing something a little different.

559
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: We're like a lot of these recipes. We've taken these

560
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: old school recipes that are like a real beat that

561
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:25,959
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: is made with like pounds of butter. We're making them

562
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with like all of that. We've kind of like modernized

563
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: all these Greek recipes and made them a little bit

564
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: more like I hate to sit lighter and figure friendly,

565
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: but you know, we're making them a lot more nutritious

566
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: because we're kind of like we're using all clean goods

567
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and we're super heavy on the vege and the whole

568
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:47,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: foods and there's nothing processed. And we all know what's

569
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: happening with the longevity movement. I mean we're seeing it,

570
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and it's a really exciting thing that I hope we

571
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: can actually figure out how to educate people much younger

572
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and make it part of a school curriculum. How do

573
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I eat? What do I do with cale? What do

574
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I do with all this waste? How do I use it?

575
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: You know, I think we're really starting to gain an

576
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: education on like food and wellness and health. It's so important.

577
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: No one knows how to cook and it's cheaper to

578
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: get like really shitty food. So I love what we're

579
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: doing with teaching people how to bring people back to

580
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like whole foods very simply. It's super simple.

581
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,560
Emily Tisch Sussman: After the break, Anastasia gets into the nuts and bolts

582
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,800
Emily Tisch Sussman: of the business. How do you source olives and get

583
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,360
Emily Tisch Sussman: them shipped to the United States? Did she take outside funding?

584
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: Who helped her on this massive task?

585
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:52,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: More soon? So how did you build a business?

586
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,360
Emily Tisch Sussman: I mean, importing of food feels very complicated to me

587
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:57,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: and selling food?

588
00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:58,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Was it just you?

589
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,920
Emily Tisch Sussman: This was also during the pandemic, right, I know your

590
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: sister moved in with you. So my sister was living

591
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:06,880
Emily Tisch Sussman: with me at the time. She had just had her

592
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,400
Emily Tisch Sussman: first baby, and she had worked for a few startups,

593
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:15,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: and she logistically helped me get everything over here, her and.

594
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I and No, we were it was the blind leading

595
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the blind. I mean we were working with different graphic

596
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:26,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: designers to send the templates to Greece, and this family

597
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:32,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I was working with really had this great attitude and

598
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they were pretty educated. So like communication, Like right now

599
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm dealing with like our honey producers, which like don't

600
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: speak a lick of English, And I think about like

601
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: if it had been vice versa and never would have

602
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: worked that way. Like our olive oil producers, the family

603
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that we work with, they just they had been like

604
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: educated in the States and in London, and it really

605
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:55,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: made the process really special and seamless. And there's so

606
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: many logistics emulata that are such a navy. You're right,

607
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I mean, importing stuff is a wild a specially right

608
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: now with everything going on in the ocean and delays

609
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and the economy and you know, importings. I've learned a

610
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: lot from it. But so you guys, is during the pandemic,

611
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your sister and her new baby, everyone is living with you.

612
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: There's nine of us, nine of you. We're cooking three

613
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: meal and I don't know why I did this, but

614
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we were cooking like three meals a day for like

615
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: ten people, as if we were a restaurant. But I

616
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was pounding the I had a Greek I call her

617
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my fairy godmother woman living with me, helping me, and

618
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: she was trapped with us on nfortunately for her, yes,

619
00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: so like fifteen babies running around. My mom had just

620
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: lost her husband, so she was there, thank God. But

621
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like Maria and me got into this, my fairy Godmother

622
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: got into this rhythm of just waking up and recipe

623
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:50,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: testing every day, using Fancy Peasant and pumping out recipes.

624
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I still do not have any marketing. I still do

625
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: not have any pr Everything we've done is organic like marketing,

626
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we're just hopping on the badwagon with like meta and

627
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: all that stuff. But like the only reason I have

628
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a business is because of Instagram. I started cooking. I

629
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: started using my acting skills to pump out my product.

630
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So the way Fancy Peasant works is Anastagia teaches people

631
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: how to make longevity recipes using her products, and then

632
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: people buy them, and whether you ken or cannot buy

633
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: them doesn't. The cool thing about what we're doing is

634
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like we're teaching people how to cook really delicious, beautiful

635
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: food that's really nourishing, whether you can afford our product

636
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: or not buy it somewhere else or use another oil.

637
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: But like what's really cool about it is I never

638
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: felt this in my acting life. I don't want to

639
00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: say there's like a service part involved, but like when

640
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: people are like, no, you don't understand, Like I cooked

641
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with my daughter and it's our favorite recipe tonight, and

642
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like it's a tradition now, Like that is amazing. Yeah,

643
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that is such an amazing thing for me because it's

644
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like my roots, right, it's culture building based off of

645
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your great experiences. You're helping them replicate it and build

646
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: their culture. It's phenomenal. So what do you think your

647
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: versions of success have been as you've gone through these

648
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: different phases? Like you went through like three pretty extreme

649
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: different phases, you know, from the acting to building a

650
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: family while still acting in there and now creating the business. Like,

651
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: what is your version of successmen in each one? Your

652
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: definition of success for yourself. I never worked as a

653
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: full time person until I had my third child. I

654
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: struggle with that a lot because I feel like I

655
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: kind of missed out on my on my third guy,

656
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: who's like turns out to be like the easiest out

657
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of all of them. It's fine, but like if I

658
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: stopped the business today, just this new skill set that

659
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I have learned and gained, entrepreneurship for me has been

660
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just as hard as being a mom. I struggle a lot.

661
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I don't like managing five people at my company and

662
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: then five people at my house, and I don't think

663
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: anyone can do all of it and I think being

664
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:07,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a woman is really difficult because we are literally like

665
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: supposed to hold it all together. And for me, as

666
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: we grow and as we scale our business, it's become

667
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: very obvious to me, just like I think my children

668
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,839
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: need two parents that like fancy Peasant needs more than

669
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just like me, right, And to be fair to like

670
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: how much the business is growing and all that, you

671
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: need a lot of support. You need to have a

672
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really good team behind you. I struggle a lot with

673
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you know, we're at a tipping point in our business,

674
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I struggle a lot with like I have such

675
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:41,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a big vision and I wish I was okay with

676
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like just being where we're at, Like we could very

677
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,319
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: much survive in the space that we're in. We're in

678
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like you know, three hundred brick and mortars, But I

679
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just know the potential. And when you know the potential

680
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of something, you've got to like push all the way.

681
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So I'm at that really scary phase in my business

682
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:04,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: where I know it's like now or never, and it's

683
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: critical for me to find like probably the number one

684
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: strategic partner that wants to play with me. And I'm

685
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:14,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: become this very like cutthrow animal at work. Because you know,

686
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:16,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I only have so much time and I'm giving so

687
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: much away, and I don't know. Sometimes I don't feel

688
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm being successful in any of it. I think that,

689
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you know, I think it's really hard to be a wife,

690
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a mom, a daughter, a sister, and then to own

691
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: your own business. My business is my fourth child. I

692
00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:38,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: didn't want four fucking children. It's so hard, Like it's

693
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:39,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really hard to do all of it, and then to

694
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: try to maintain friendships. And by the way, I think

695
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm at the point of my life where like my

696
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: friendships possibly mean more to me than anything, Like I

697
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really feel the need to be like, wow, I really

698
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:53,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: need to unload to like another woman right now and

699
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: talk to them about how I'm feeling. And I'm getting

700
00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: older too in this business, and how much do I

701
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: want to give to the business because my kids are

702
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:03,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: going to be out of the house in ten years,

703
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,439
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So should I give to the business in five years

704
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: from now? Or should I just give it all I've

705
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:09,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: got now so I can enjoy them in three years.

706
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,279
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I just go back and forth about a lot. But

707
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: then I look at my family and I know I'm

708
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: succeeding because they are citizens of the world. They're not

709
00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:20,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just like living in this little bubble. And I do

710
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: think we're doing a really good job at being parents,

711
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and that, to me really is success, just setting up

712
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:31,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these these birds to fly and be successful in what

713
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,919
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: they want to do. I feel like when I hear

714
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you articulate this and like your version of success right now,

715
00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: it's more than just building a business. It's the underlying

716
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:46,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: culture piece of it. It's educating the public on the recipes,

717
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:51,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: on the dinner table, conversation, on the experiences, on the

718
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: nutritional aspect of it. Like, I feel like that's a

719
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: part of your success metric right now too. It is.

720
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It is. I would not be in doing this anymore

721
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:06,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: if it wasn't. It's too hard, this entrepreneur thing. It's

722
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with you. It's the idea is with you. You sleep

723
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:10,640
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with it, you wake up. I'm at the gym. I

724
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have a notebook at the gym because all the ideas

725
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: come when I'm at the gym or in the middle

726
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:16,839
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of the night, and I write them all down. Oh

727
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my god, spicy chili oil. Where am I going to

728
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: import the chili is from? They need to be from grease?

729
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: What part of grease if I'm coming out with the

730
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: chili oil desamming. The balsama glaze has to follow up next.

731
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:29,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Like these are the thoughts going around. That's how I

732
00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: know I'm supposed to still be doing it. I'm obsessed

733
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: with it. Yeah, I'm obsessed with this idea of like

734
00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:41,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just creating more amazing things that like food. Like food,

735
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: clean products are something people are always going to need,

736
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and I just I love expressing myself through food right now.

737
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:50,359
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: That relaxes me too.

738
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:54,840
Archival: Tonight we will be making a tried and true recipe

739
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,800
Archival: that I am obsessed with. My children and their friends

740
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,560
Archival: are obsessed with. You will not find somebody that doesn't

741
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,560
Archival: like it, and that's they're off poultry or bird.

742
00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:07,760
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It's fabulous. It's less than sixteen gredis.

743
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,960
Archival: We're making butter or not squash bee that with feta,

744
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:12,640
Archival: something salty, something sweet.

745
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: So get on your happy dance and feet. You've talked

746
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:21,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: about the art of living slowly, which is the opposite

747
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: of what you are doing right now because you're throwing

748
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:27,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: yourself into everything. But what does that mean to you?

749
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: And how are you incorporating living slowly into your life?

750
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,839
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Meal time for me is everything right? So my dad

751
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: did this too. He came home late hours. He was

752
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a doctor on call all the time. We eat dinner

753
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,359
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: together almost every night. I do have two shifts three

754
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: days a week because my eldest son plays soccer and

755
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:48,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: doesn't get home until very late Tuesday Wednesday. Thursday. Meal

756
00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:51,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: time is when we sit down, there's no devices at

757
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:53,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: the table, and we get to connect. We cook a

758
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:57,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: lot together, and we kind of travel a lot together,

759
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and we do things as like a clam and that

760
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really keeps us connected. And a lot of it is

761
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:06,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like reminding each other to slow down. Hunter and I,

762
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I mean, my husband is working too, like a few

763
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: different jobs as well, and so I don't know, we're

764
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:12,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: in the thick of it. You're in the thick of it.

765
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:14,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: You're never going to be as busy as you are

766
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right now. My one on one experience is on them,

767
00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:20,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right with them, right now. They take me out. Nothing

768
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: takes me out of the busyness I'm in than being

769
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:26,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: present with my children. I want to get back to

770
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like I'm like, I want to be you. I come

771
00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,200
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: back they're so free, like even as an actor or

772
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: as an entrepreneur, we always try to get back to

773
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that place that free space of like nothing's affecting me.

774
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'm not jaded. I'm just free and I'm playing and

775
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:45,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I can be myself and like, that's what I love

776
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:47,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: about being a mom that I know I'm going to

777
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:49,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: miss so much because they're going to get to a

778
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:53,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: point where they're conscious of themselves and their actions, and

779
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:55,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: right now it's all just like this love hormone of

780
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:59,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: just it's so wonderful to be around. When my dad

781
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: was sick, we would put the baby in his arms

782
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and all of his vitals would change. It's real when

783
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you're around children and they're like flooding you with dopamine.

784
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:13,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: That is like a gift, you know, and it's really important.

785
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:15,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: You have to make an effort to be like, slow

786
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: down and enjoy it. I feel it slipping away and

787
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:20,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I have like I'm almost in double digits. In August,

788
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I'll be in double digits with my oldest and I'm like, wow,

789
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:27,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I better, like I better become present. So I asked

790
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this question of all my guests, But what is something

791
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: that at the time you saw is a low point

792
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: and now you see it as having really changed your

793
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,319
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: perspective and launch you to who you are hmm. I

794
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: guess I would have to say a low point for

795
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: me was when I was career peaking in Los Angeles,

796
00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,120
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: doing really well as an actor, probably on my way

797
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:50,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to like some huge success, having to pick up and

798
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:55,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: leave it all to come and be home with my

799
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:59,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: father who was on his way out and starting my family.

800
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:04,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: It was the biggest gift. There's no greater gift than

801
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:09,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: what that transition was for me, and it was as low.

802
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I had never been more angry or felt more like displaced.

803
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:14,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: When I got back to the East Coast, I had

804
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,280
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really been in a Hollywood state of mind, and coming

805
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:21,720
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: back to New York was it was a rough shift. Yeah.

806
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:24,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I feel like specifically your version of success around your

807
00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: relationship to your acting has changed a lot. Like when

808
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:32,240
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you were in LA it was traditional Hollywood success, big

809
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: parts being called, and now your version of success in

810
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: acting is being able to do something that fits your

811
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: timeline and having a small block and then being able

812
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:43,399
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to check in, check out. Like I feel like that's

813
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,840
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: changed too totally, something really different from my acting career

814
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to this career that I'm really proud of. I never

815
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: thought I was good enough to make a lot of

816
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:58,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: money as an actor, and I am going to sell

817
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:00,880
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: this business that I have on day for like I

818
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:03,239
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: want to sell it like I want I want to

819
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,600
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: make money from it. And I never thought. I don't

820
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:07,279
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: know what happened to me in my childhood, but I

821
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,960
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: never thought I'm going to make so much of my

822
00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:13,480
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: own money. And that's not to sound like an asshole.

823
00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:16,360
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: That's because like I'm proud of myself or finally being

824
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: like your worth is you're working to make money. It's

825
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:21,759
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: okay that you're working to make money, Like you know,

826
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,400
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you get really confused in Hollywood. You're like living paycheck

827
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to paycheck, like I want to, like I want to

828
00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: do something really big with this company. And I never

829
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:32,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I don't know why. I never thought I was worthy

830
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:36,279
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: enough to like make as much money that I want

831
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,080
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: to make on my own, without anyone else's help, without

832
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:42,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: my father's help, without my husband's help, like they help

833
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: emotionally and all that, but like this is mine. I

834
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,359
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: created it from the ground up on my own. I

835
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: put in a blood, sweat and tears. I gave up

836
00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: a lot, I gained a lot, but it's mine. It's

837
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: on my own, and like it's so special to be

838
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:01,040
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: able to share it with with the world because it's

839
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,800
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: been really hard to build. You'll know, like you'll be

840
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:06,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: able to really own that success, can be able to

841
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,440
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: see I don't think I've ever felt that way before.

842
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:10,000
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I feel that way about being a mom, and I

843
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:12,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: feel that way about Fancy Peasant. I'm like, I did

844
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:14,719
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: these two things pretty well on my own, and they're

845
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,520
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: really fucking hard. Yeah, which is like the best feeling.

846
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:22,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Do you think you'll pivot again? I hope so. Of course.

847
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:24,560
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I had told you my favorite people in the world

848
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,879
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: have had two, three, four, four different careers. I want,

849
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:31,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: you know, I want I see a cooking TV show,

850
00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,320
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I see a really great book. I see so many things.

851
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:38,799
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I see brick and mortars. I see so much, and

852
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,160
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: I hope I don't even know yet what the next

853
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:44,680
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: thing is. Oh, thank you, Anastasia. Yeah, you're so wonderful.

854
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:46,839
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: This is so awesome, This is so great. Thank you.

855
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:54,520
Emily Tisch Sussman: Anastasia is still growing Fancy Peasant and sharing her incredible

856
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:58,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: recipes on Instagram on her account at fancy Peasant. I

857
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,759
Emily Tisch Sussman: cannot recommend her product or her recipes enough, so be

858
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:04,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: sure to go follow and buy and hey, maybe host

859
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,839
Emily Tisch Sussman: a dinner party with you and your loved ones, just

860
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:08,360
Emily Tisch Sussman: like she does with her community.

861
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:09,920
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen: Thanks for listening.

862
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,880
Emily Tisch Sussman: Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots. I

863
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,319
Emily Tisch Sussman: hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, leave us

864
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,440
Emily Tisch Sussman: a rating and tell your friends about us. To learn

865
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,719
Emily Tisch Sussman: more about our guests, follow us on Instagram at she

866
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,239
Emily Tisch Sussman: pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our newsletter, where

867
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,400
Emily Tisch Sussman: you can get exclusive behind the scenes content on our

868
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:37,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: website at she pivots thepodcast dot com. Special thanks to

869
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: the she pivots team, Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate

870
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:47,640
Emily Tisch Sussman: producer and social media connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson,

871
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:52,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: Events and logistics coordinator Madeline Snovak, and audio editor and

872
00:44:52,120 --> 00:45:06,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: mixer Nina pollock I endorse she Pivots