The Royals of Malibu - THE ROYAL BOYS E11 - Nick and Chris' Sister Joins the Pod!

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Today’s very special guest is Chris and Nick’s older sister Jacqueline Cafaro (@jac3ad)! Listen as we hear her reaction to her little brothers’ performances the show, her step-mother perspective of Brooke, and much more.Every Monday, brothers Chris and Nick Cafero (who play Reed and Easton respectively) will sit down and chat all things Royals season 2, starting with episode 1.  Listen along as they rehash each episode, tell stories, and even bring on guests to discuss the Royal tea.   **LISTEN TO EACH NEW EPISODE OF THE ROYAL BOYS ONE WEEK EARLY ON PATREON**     • Follow [The Royals of Malibu on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theroyalsofmalibu/) • Follow [The Royals of Malibu on TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theroyalsofmalibu) • Explore more: [diversionaudio.com](https://diversionaudio.com)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, I'm Chris Caffero and I'm Nick Caffero. We are Real Life Brothers who play fake life brothers Reed and Easton Royal on the hit podcast, The Royals of Malibu. On this companion podcast, we'll be doing a deep dive into each episode given behind the scenes insights, talking to some special guests and maybe even having some laughs along the way. Welcome to The Royal Boys. Happy New Year, Chris. Happy New Year!

This is our first time in the New Year, but this episode's gonna come out in February, so everyone's gonna be like, these losers are so far behind everything. I know, well, we had a great little hiatus, vacation and holiday season together. We really did. You got something for Christmas. I did, but the doctors knocked it out with some antibiotics and they said it's not going

to come back. So we're good. We're good. That's good. What else? It was chlamydia. What else did you got? No, I got a wonderful gift from my brother. I've got I'll hold it to the camera Although this is an audio medium a matching friendship bracelet. We got friendship bracelets that we discussed with Hannah Montoya Nick it got me a friendship bracelet that says TRB the Royal Boys on it. It's very sweet. It's very delicate and feminine, but I like it.

It did not look that way on the website. I, when I got them, I couldn't believe it. I like typed in like masculine male bracelets and it was supposed to be like this like royal blue, like thick rope with the TRB on the silver part. And it came in and it looked like half the size of a rubber band. You could have lost your teeth with it if you want. Exactly. That's the great part about it is that if you get something in your teeth, you can take it off, you can get it out. It's hard to reach places. No, it's a very thoughtful

gift. It's a very sweet gift. I wear it all the time and I love it. And it was a very nice gift. Better than like what I got. What did I get time and I love it. And it was a very nice gift. Better than like what I got. What did I get you? I got shoes. No, you got me some nice shoes and a picture over my bed. I mean, a lot of people don't exchange gifts. So the fact that we got each other anything is great. That's true.

And we also got to take a trip together with our family and my girlfriend. We all went to Grand Cayman over the new year, which was unbelievable. And we actually had a- I wanna talk about that. Well, I wanna tell a quick story though, because I think it's important for our listeners. We were on an airplane, we were flying to an island

and the weather was really, really bad and the plane was wobbling back and forth and we were making the approach. We were a couple hundred feet off the ground, we could see the land. And all of a sudden, the airplane just pulls up and accelerates and we just started accelerating and accelerating. And the little thing on the back of the seat was like telling us our altitude was climbing and climbing

and climbing. And everyone was like, looking around like what the heck is going on? And then the pilot got on 20 minutes later after we've been flying, God knows where. And she was like, Hey, uh, so a little bit of a detour here. We couldn't see the runway. The conditions were really bad and it was getting dangerous. So we had to abort the landing. Anyway, we're heading to Jamaica and then she shut off. And we were all thought she was joking because she was so cavalier about it.

We made an emergency landing in Jamaica and we were there for three hours. We refueled and then we went back to where we were originally supposed to land. And as we were landing yet again, it was bumpy. Like it was scary. And I was sitting next to Nick and my girlfriend, the plane was going back and forth and back and forth.

And finally we touched down after what was supposed to be a three and a half hour flight. It was nine hours and everybody on the plane started clapping and I turned to Nick and I said, hey Nick, is it acceptable for us to clap now? And he just smiled and nodded yes. Yeah, that was my royal decree a couple weeks ago. It was on the plane lands.

But we were in danger and the pilot did a great job of getting us to where we needed to be. It was scary. It was a little scary. Yeah, but all was well that ended well. But man, that tickled me very much to be able to look you in the eye after that and hear everyone around us clapping. And then I literally tickled you on the plane. Right.

Which was inappropriate. And after the TSA officers dragged you off, we settled everything. A few more hours. We got through customs. You had the charges dropped and everything was fine. Well, Chris, thank you for sharing that and making me look bad. But we need to get moving because we have, in my humble opinion, the best guest we've had so far on this episode, my favorite guest.

I have no problem saying that. I believe you. She is my favorite guest too. We are in for a treat. Several commenters and fans have been asking for her because she has been mentioned throughout the podcast. I think every episode probably. Yeah.

She's extremely well suited to chime in on what we're doing because she knows Nick and I better than anyone. She is a licensed clinical social worker with a master's in social work. She is a mother and a stepmother, but most importantly, she is our sister. Ladies and gentlemen, Jacqueline Caffaro. Caffaro.

Yay! Jacqueline, it's our sister. Royal girl. Thanks for having me guys. Thank you for being here. We're so glad we can finally give the person what they want. Yeah, that one commenter on Spotify. That one single person.

Has been begging for Jacqueline to come on because she's been mentioned in almost every episode. Well, your wish is our command. Jacqueline, can you please tell our listeners why I just introduced you as Jacqueline Cafaro and why that is not a joke? Sure can. So I, my maiden name obviously since I'm related to both of you was Cafaro. And it's funny because my whole life when I learned the concept of women having to change their name, I was like, yeah, I'm definitely not going to do that. I always said that.

All my friends knew that. In high school and college, it was like, if it ever came up, I would be like, yeah, I'm not going to be changing my name. I love my last name. And then long story short, I end up marrying a guy whose last name is Kofaro, C-A-F-A-R-O. And I ended up having to change my last name because the logistics of it were so confusing.

You should have seen me at Social Security when I went to change my name. It was like a six hour process, not because of the line, but because no one understood what I was doing. But yeah, so exchanging vowels was our hashtag when wedding hashtags were a thing, courtesy of Chris. That's still the joke I'm most proud of, exchanging vowels was our hashtag when wedding hashtags were a thing, courtesy of Chris. That's still the joke I'm most proud of, exchanging vowels. Yeah, it's pretty good. Thanks.

And I implored you to hyphenate, but you didn't. Cafaro, cafaro, tomato, tomato. At that wedding, exchanging vowels, you had two really great speakers do a speech. How long was that speech? It was about 18 minutes. Was it really 18 minutes? It was 18 minutes.

That's unacceptable. That is too long. And if your viewers request, give enough requests, I will share the YouTube video. No, I'm going to veto that. Oh, wow. I'm going to veto that. We should do the math of how much that cost with the amount you were spending on the wedding the total time.

Let's not say it on air, but I'm sure it was more than Chris and I have ever made for any performance. Yeah, but it was amazing and probably besides actually getting married, one of my favorite parts of the whole wedding, so I would do it again and I would want you to do it again. The nods to the musicals was key for me. Yes, they were necessary because Jacqueline is really the reason that Chris and I are in the entertainment business. She's our older sister, but she was like addicted

to Broadway musicals growing up. At least that's how I remember it. And you would take me to all the musicals, we would sing rent together, which it really wasn't age appropriate, but it was when the lyrics were on the inside of the CD flaps and we would sing the duets. I literally remember. I was like 15 or 14. I went downstairs. No, I was younger than that. I was maybe 12. I went downstairs to our mom and I was like,. What's so to me? She's like, why are you asking me that I'm like cuz it's it's uh, it's a lyric in love love you bow. M Yeah, then then I was vetoed that was gonna be my 12th birthday gift. 12th? To go to the show. Sodomy?

Yeah. That was going to be my 12th birthday gift. And then that prompted her to read the lyrics and she was like, yeah, we're not going to be going to that. So we went to Annie, get your gun instead. Just a child with a rifle is so much better than singing about bohemian life in the Lower East Side. But I did end up singing it on my 16th birthday and then like 19 times there since. Wow. Yeah, Jacqueline, you're the reason I ever performed for the first time because you went

behind my back in high school and you signed me up for a cabaret night like talent shows slash fundraiser to perform a sketch from Saturday Night Live with J. Ray J. Ray captain of the wrestling team he played Will Ferrell if you're listening J's a big fan J's a big fan of the pot he's's an all-American wrestler. Yeah, he played, we both played cheerleaders. He played the Will Ferrell role. I played the Sherrio Terry role, because I was like 90 pounds at the time, and the rest is history. Jacqueline, I real quickly do rapid fire without thinking. Just answer, first answer comes your head. Who do you like better, Chris or Nick? Go.

Pass. Damn it! thinking, just answer, first answer comes your head. Who do you like better, Chris or Nick, go. Pass. Damn it! Well, Jack, that is a good segue and you know I'm all about segues. Jacqueline. Really bad ones, but yes. Oh! You listen.

She listens, she knows you saw the transitions. Oh, I listen and I do have some things I need to address but I'll let you do your shitty segue first. Okay, thank you. Do you listen to the Royal Boys or do you listen to all of it? You listen to the Royal's of Malibu? I only listen to the Royal Boys. I have listened to one singular episode of the Royal's of Malibu and that is the one for this so we can have this conversation.

And that is saying something because I have watched every single thing the two of you have ever done since you were like eight years old. I mean I like Nick when you were like pre-pubescent and Annie and Chris and Scapino and the girl in the door or whatever. We're all in the mirror. It was spitting all over everybody like I've seen. Oh Jacqueline what about when I was in the Music Man and you were living in London and you called our mom and you stayed on the line and she held her phone the entire show

so you can listen to it? Yeah, so like I have gone to great lengths to see and be around and all your content I consume except for this because I heard one very scarring clip like Stitch on TikTok and I was like, yeah, this is not for me. So luckily in this episode, Nick almost only dies and doesn't, there's nothing sexual. It's just he almost ODs, which is obviously, it's just very sad, but I'll take that over any sexual innuendos or any of that. That's not for me.

There was no innuendos. But I'm glad it's pretty blatant. Yeah. Well, yeah. And then I heard that like teenagers, young, young teenagers are listening to it. But, you know. But wait a second. Wait a second. Real quick, real quick. Young teenagers are listening to it, but you know. But wait a second, wait a second real quick,

real quick. Young teenagers are listening to it. You were 12 years old listening to rent, so maybe this out there is some kids' rent. This is rent. We are the Jonathan Larson of our generation. Hopefully with a better ending. Multiple Tony Awards. with the better ending. Multiple Tony Awards. Jacqueline, do you know anything about Easton Royal and Reed Royal? At least like, well, all I know is what I've picked up on because I've listened to all of these,

you know, your your companion podcast. Well, let me just put it this way. A lot of the questions we get from our guests have been, are you and Chris similar to your characters? And I feel like no one is more qualified to answer that than you, that is if you know our characters. Well, I mean, I have a gist. I think that, no, you're not. Maybe in some ways, I think that hearing on this most recent episode, how much Reed loves Easton and like how loyal

they are to each other and protective of each other. Like that definitely is very much on brand for the two of you. Nick, never been a big drug guy. No. So that's definitely not you. Same with, you know, Chris, not a big athlete. Excuse me.

NCAA division one athlete here, more than you guys. Yeah. Well, I would like it to be known that I am unequivocally the most athletic of the three of us. Untrue. I don't know. Uh, without a doubt. It's not true.

Um, I mean, it's definitely not you, Chris. That's fine. So like, Easton is more like the wisecracking class clown. Reed is more the quiet, emotional, brooding guy. So the, well, it's, you're the opposites. Because Nick's more emotional, brooding, and Chris is. An asshole. An asshole. Yeah, that's fine. An unathletic asshole. Okay, I'm quite athletic.

Thank you very much. I'm just kidding. Division one athlete, NCAA scholarship, it's not a deal. It's not. You're a mascot, dude. Don't. You were in a giant inflatable hippo suit. And you were in a robe singing acapella, so shut the fuck up. Yeah.

But actually, can I say, this is one of the things, there were two things I wanted to address and one of them was this, and one of the episodes recently, I think it was the one with Hannah, you two were like talking about what you were like in high school and it very much was like coming across like you were like these like nerdy band kids. I'm like that is not the case at all Thank you. Yes, you were in the band But the band But it was like you you were definitely I mean I we went to such a good different type of high school I'm not not maybe not there wasn't like the popular kids necessarily, but if there were like you were in that group,

you were cool. So I don't know, I just, I feel like everyone that's listening, everyone should know that you were not like these losers. No, we were losers. Not on my watch anyway. No, we were generally well liked, but you were definitely the coolest

of the three of us in high school. And I was lucky enough to go to high school for two years with you. And very grateful because you really took me under your wing, not only signing me up behind my back for a talent show, but bringing me to parties and inviting me out and making sure nobody, you know, picked on me because I was such a little people used to call me. What was the name of Lizzie McGuire's younger brother? Old man alarm, Lizzie McGuire. You're so fucking old. His name was like Max or something or.

I forgot. But yeah, I think it was little, little bitch boy with spiky hair, only weighs 98 pounds. That was it. Wait, wasn't that from even Stevens or something? No, you think of Shia LaBouf. People call you Beans? No, it was the kid was the kid from it was

Lizzie McGuire's brother. He had spiky hair and braces and like looked just like me. Yeah, yeah, you look just like obnoxious and always like budding his head in and that was me. So well, anyway, I just thought it was important that people know that you were very well liked beloved Brian McMahon senators. Thank you so much. And it has been nothing but downhill from there.

Should we get into the episode? Cause I have so many questions for Jacqueline. Also, this was not intentional, but I think this is a perfect episode for you to come on for as I re-listen to it. So let's just get right into it. What do you say? Do it, Nick.

Let's go. Read us off. Okay. Episode 11, they always promise because they always do promise and we open up the episode at a family photo shoot that Brooke the evil stepmom has set up for the family let's start there yeah stepmom Jacqueline you are the queen of the organized family photo shoot and I have the amount of ribbing and shit I've gotten from my friends for pictures of us posted wearing

matching pajamas over the holidays or doing like a photo shoot on the beach. It has been brutal and relentless, but I am unapologetic about it because I think it's very sweet and very nice. Yeah, thank you. And you will all thank me one day when we're like old and disgusting and we get to like look at, you know. Pictures when we were young and disgusting. Right, exactly.

But so that, you know, like I said, I haven't listened to this before. I did know Brooke was the stepmom. Um, and Burke is unwell. Brooke is unwell. Yes. Uh, she's doing everything wrong from a stepmom standpoint. Oh, tell us go on, go on.

Well, first of all, I get there's something with like a sex tape. She's going to release. So she's blackmailing her husband. So you don't think that's, as a stepmom, you would say avoid blackmail with deep fake porn? Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. Good to know. Avoid like any physical interaction with your stepchild inappropriate

Good. Well, there is a whole subset of videos on the internet that would disagree with that but go on Disgusting um And yeah, she's just a little bitch Yes, I don't think there's anything wrong with her doing a family photo shoot No, of course not. Yeah, the way she goes about doing it. Yeah Well, she's just a psycho like it didn't do we find out in this episode she faked her pregnancy to Well, I'll give it away At the end of the episode we do find that out but Jacqueline here's something I

Don't know if you remember, of course you remember this, but I remember when you, you know, married your husband, our brother-in-law, who we love dearly, and he had children of his own, you were like, you know, Disney has made the stepmom, the evil stepmom, they have put the stigma around it it and you wanted to make it your mission to change that and maybe write a children's book that put them in a stepmothers and positive lights like you have been to your stepchildren um and it's gone it went as far as you completely switching careers from working in finance to then going back to school to get your master's in social work so you can work with blended families. So how does it make you feel listening to something where the stepmom is portrayed in such a negative light?

I mean it's it's par for the course because we're always portrayed that way whereas a stepdad is a hero. They're just they came in and they raised kids that weren't theirs and they're a hero. And then the stepmom is like the villain who broke up the family or is overstepping or whatever. So I'm used to it.

But then when you have a character like Brooke who walks into that stereotype, it is a little bit frustrating. But just like a side anecdote, the first time I met my stepchildren the very first day, obviously they weren't my stepchildren yet. They were my boyfriend's children.

And we thought it was a good idea to go to a movie. And the movie we went to was Cinderella. No. What? And while it never occurred to me until we're sitting there, And the whole movie is about this evil stepmother. And it's now a family joke. I mean, we laugh about it a lot. But talk about, could you have picked a worse activity?

No. Let's watch this film about your future. You should have scondished stepmom with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. It was one of the hardest I've ever cried in a movie. That's a very, very sad movie. I can't believe you did that. That is so fun. I know. It was really, but now it's just like a family joke. Every now and then, like one of my stepdwarfs would be like, remember when

we saw Cinderella the first day we met you? I think the only worst portrayal of a stepmom in a movie would be the parent trap with Lindsay Lohan. Oh yeah. Because that is, you know, Cinderella, it's like, okay, well, she's, you know, she's wicked and like there's witches and stuff. But like the parent trap is real. And she's like young and hot and like she comes in

and she's like, I will send you little brats off to prep school. Meredith. Meredith. Do you think the term step mom is pejorative? Do you dislike it? Do you like it? Do you care?

No, I don't really care. I mean, there was, there's like a school of thought that like bonus mom is better. I don't, I don't really care. It's just a word. Yeah. Whatever. I'm't, I don't really care. It's just a word. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. I'm honestly just too tired to care. This is one of the reasons I was so excited to have you on this podcast because I forgot this happens during this photo shoot. They're

like, where's Easton? Has anybody heard from Easton? Has anybody heard from him? He's not texting us back. Chris, can you explain why that made me laugh? Yes, of course, because growing up, the sentence- No, still. Well, still, certainly. But the sentence, where's Nick, has been uttered more in our family than I think any other phrase ever. And it's all stems from Jacqueline, who loves her family very much, but also might have some clinical issues that she needs to address, where if she can't get in contact with a family member, she spirals out of control and assumes

the very, very worst. And so she will call your cell phone or show up at your apartment at 6 a.m. because your phone died the night of your birthday and bang on the door to make sure that you're home safely even though you have a special lady friend in the room with you and it's humiliating. Oh, God. Right down the street so it wasn't like I took a subway. I walked at six AM. Three blocks.

Yeah, at six AM. And you are not on the first floor. Don't try and make this normal. No regrets. No regrets. Okay, but acknowledge that it's abnormal. No, no, no. No, it's exam and you are trying to make this normal no regrets no regrets, okay, but acknowledge that it's no No, no, no, it's not normal It is abnormal behavior and so I would not have handled it well Should I have not been able to reach Easton and Reid's going to Ella just try not to worry about it

I'm thinking yeah, okay. Well, no, I've heard that before from you Okay. Well, no, I've heard that before from you. Yeah. He's fine. He's fine. But so what, what happens though is that I get worked up and then I work everybody else up just because I'll be like, Have you heard from, you know, have you heard from Chris? Oh, you have an heart for men today and then that'll get the gears rolling and Nick will be like, Whoa, I didn't hear from Chris today. And then my mom will be like, oh, my mom will be like, oh, I didn't hear from Chris today. Then everybody's looking for Chris. Yeah. It's a healthy cycle. Everybody except casting directors. Well, that's their loss. Yeah. But I, you know, to be honest,

I have like anxiety issues. I've dealt with them my whole life. It all started when Nick got lost in Jumping Jimmy's in 1994, maybe. So Nick, it's your fault. But yeah, so we're working on it. Although, come on, it's gotten better. It has gotten better. It's got so much better.

Well, because your focus is now on your kids. No, you know what though? It's not even that bad though. I will say, I feel like I got like a lot of that out on like the two of you. I don't know. I mean, I am definitely anxious about my kids, like, but I feel like it's within normal limits. So you would not have handled this East End up showing up. No, I was, I was giving me, I was anxious listening to the show.

But he does, he does end up showing up. His eyes are all screwed over and he definitely looks high, which Reed sees right away. And he says, no, I was just up late staying at SAVS. But the other question I had for you, Jack, was have you ever used a bump it? That reference made me laugh. I love that reference. That reference and the snooki reference. Those are old man alarms because I do not know if current high

schoolers would know a who snooki is and definitely wouldn't know what a bump it is. No, I think they do because it's like a whole like meme. They don't know it because it's popular. They lived it. They know it because it's made fun of. Oh, it is. Why do people still use it occasionally? No, it's like, no one uses that. I never used one, I could do it myself though. I had like my little poof all the time.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Academy early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. me early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Back to the scene real quick. They're eating sashimi at their high school cafeteria. Oh, I know. Sashimi! And they're kind of complaining about it.

They go to a very wealthy high school. We went to the second best public high school in our town. We were like the younger brothers school and Jacqueline when. No, we were what do you mean? We weren't Norwalk High School got all the funding and all of the love until a few years in for me. So when we when we Jacqueline started at McMahon, like it was run down, there was this bestos and leaks and like it was, it hadn't been touched

in like 50 years, the school. And our school lunch was very much like, you get a tray, you walk down the line, you get a scoop of what is being served. And then our whole school got redone, but it was done after you left, I think, right, Jacqueline? They broke, no, they broke ground while I was a senior. Okay, so I actually got to enjoy the fruits of the labor

during the new cafeteria, and it had like- Like spawn. Oh yeah, yeah. Uh, there was no fruit at this cafeteria. They, they had like sections. There was like a sandwich section. There was a hot food section. There was like an international section.

There was French fries. There were like, it was. There was first of all, the French fries when I was there were banging. Yeah. I don't think they allowed. Yeah, they got rid of those by the time I got there. They were $1. Yeah. And they were banging. Yeah. The boy't think they allowed them. Yeah, they got rid of those by the time I got there. They were $1. Yeah.

And they were banging. Yeah. The bully got rid of them. I used to try to get there early because they would make really good breakfast sandwiches like sausage egg and cheese, bacon egg and cheese on English. Like in the morning? Uh-huh. We never got there early.

No. That must have been when you were taking these. It was after you left. Yeah, when I would drive myself. Yeah. Which by the way, this is the other thing that I wanted to say. In one episode, you referenced the fact that I punched you in the face. I feel like I need to clear my name right now. Go for it. You're like, yeah, my sister closed fist punched me in the face. True or false? I've never done that. True or false? Oh, 100%

true. I just want everyone to know that you deserved it. And I don't take it back. Okay. There was a time where you like wouldn't call me a bitch because like that would get you in trouble. So you called me a beast. That's right. All day. Every day. A beast. Like everything I did, you're a beast. You're a beast. Which is very much the, you did say you're the most athletic. It's very much the I'm not touching you of swear words. Yes, absolutely.

So we were in the, we were running late per usual and you were blaming it on me, I was blaming it on you. We were in my white pathfinder at the bottom of our driveway and you called me a beast and I just closed fisted you like, you know, side and I got you real bad. And then you called me a beast again and I put the car in park and you pulled my hair. It was a scene.

It was a scene. But I didn't hit you back. I didn't hit you back. You didn't. You pulled my hair, though. Well. But you know what? I found you in school

and apologize because I did feel I did feel bad and then we didn't even tell our parents we wanted to wait we wanted to wait until we could do right now national platform did you have a swollen lip or like blood or anything yeah I got a fat I had a fat lip and you never hit me. I was always very protected Yeah, but I did kick you that time, but you told that story. Yeah Well, anyway speaking of you guys driving in a car together read an L are driving in a car together good work Hey, that's a five out of five dude. That's five out five. Thank you. That's how you Back to you know, it's more of the Eastern hasn't gotten back to me.

I'm sort of worried about them and Reed's like, just calm down. But then they start talking about like what schools Ella's going to apply to and she talks about different colleges and how she has to consider all these different life paths she could possibly take. And it made me think about that time when you're younger and you feel like you have to choose one path and you couldn't possibly Switch from it. So it felt like this huge decision But Jacqueline, I think you are the perfect example that it's never too late

To go after what you're passionate about you completely switched careers. You've switched schools colleges. You transferred colleges Yeah, what gives you the bravery to do all those things? And is it me and why? I think I just, if I'm not happy, I just, I can't fake it. I'm just not one of those people who, and I'll try, I really try, like I started at GW like Chris. And George Washington University. George Washington University. Represent, go Colonials. And it just wasn't the right fit for me.

I tried really hard to make it work. It just, it didn't work. So I left, which I know was hard to do, but it wasn't really that hard. It was fine. I went, I went, ended up at University of Virginia. Had a blast there. I feel like I was there the whole time.

Made a lot of amazing friends. But, you know, I did that because I just couldn't, I didn't find my passion or my place or I didn't feel like I belonged to anything at GW. And I immediately felt that at UBI. And the same thing goes for my career. You know, I worked in finance for almost a decade and it was great and I learned a lot but it just there was like no fire there anymore towards the end and then I became a mom and my whole thought process shifted because I just thought you know if I'm going to be away from my kid there was only one of them at the time if I'm going to be away from my kid, there was only one of them at the time, if I'm going to be away from him all day, then I need to be doing something that like inspires me. So I left that job and I, you know, all of this, I'm very lucky to be able to do all of this and

a lot of support for my husband and my family, but I left that job, went to applied to grad school, my husband, my family, but I left that job, went to applied to grad school, went full time, got my master's in social work. And because of my family situation and being a stepmom and seeing just firsthand how difficult the family court system can be on families, I really wanted to start something on my own where I could help people who are, you know,

going through divorce or becoming new step parents or trying to blend their families or trying to, you know, co-parent effectively, wanted to start something that could service that group, that demographic. So I ended up meeting someone who had the same goals and we've been working together to do that for the past Almost three years now, which is crazy And yeah, so so yes, that's a plug for anyone is listening You might think you have you know, wherever you are now is the end of the road in terms of career choices or passions Etc. And it's just simply not I was 32 when I went to grad school. And in my class, by the way,

I was in the middle of the age bracket. I had friends, yeah, I had friends in their 50s and their 60s who were just starting over. And I don't know, it's so cool. I think that those things aren't really highlighted. Those type of shifts aren't really highlighted and it's so glamorized that you like go to you get your bachelors, then you go get a career and whatever that is or you go directly to law school directly to med school and you just know at age 18

when we when we're dumb as shit you just know exactly what you're gonna do and and That's the path you're gonna be on forever and that's just that's and that's the path you're gonna be on forever. And that's just, that's, it's bullshit. And I tell my stepdaughters that all the time, because I think they're both in that phase where they're like, well, what college do we go to? And what should I major in?

And it's like, just, you don't have to have all the answers right now. Because if things don't work out, you can pivot. And you know, it's easier said than done, but you can do it, it's possible. That's awesome. I'm so proud of you, that's amazing. I'm so proud of you, that's amazing.

I'm so proud of you, that's amazing. I'm so proud of you, that's amazing. I'm so proud of you, that's amazing. I'm so proud of you, that's amazing. Academy is a new scripted podcast that follows Ava Richards, played by Mahalla of Leave the World Behind in HBO's industry. A brilliant scholarship student who has to quickly adapt to her newfound,

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in a game of life and death. Follow Academy on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Academy early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Let's get to the heart of this episode, which is the Eastern and Reed fight. That was really good. Really?

Why? It was really good. Well, it just it felt very real to me I not that the three of us fought a lot But I've seen some bigger fights between the two of you and Chris has like a fight voice and it was that is like What you did that that it was real that read fight voice is the Chris fight voice. Yeah. What is the Nick fight voice? Oh, no, not the Nick fight voice. Silence. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no You pop off too. It's more I've been told like Italian accent when I get upset frustrated My friends like not a town like Northeast Italian give us an example you fucking kidding me. I Don't understand what that means. Oh Tommy. Are you kidding me? Me and my boys are gonna give you a gabber go on Yeah, I had to say I've never heard that one.

But yeah, well, I don't get mad at you. No, when you do, you just don't talk to me for several months. That's true. You are a little bitch that way. That's for a long time. I find drugs. This is a very, I was very relatable scene because this is a classic like masculine thing where it's like, I'm concerned about you, but the only way I

know how to show it is by being tough and being like, I'm concerned about you, but the only way I know how to show it is by being tough and being like, give me, oh, kick your ass if you do drugs again. Which obviously these teenagers are not equipped to handle such circumstances, but he does it and then he says it, it's my responsibility to take care of you, which is something I relate to as an older brother.

And I wonder, Jacqueline and Nick, if you relate to that type of you which is something I relate to as an older brother and I wonder Jacqueline and Nick if you relate to that type of thing. Absolutely. Nick what do you think? I don't I just don't recall Jacqueline's as she remembers big fights between us I feel like when would you have been? I remember one specifically. with the Jets hat. Oh yeah. I got a new Jets hat and Chris wiped his ass with it. What was the leading up to it? Like that was like the peak. Because Chris goes like he goes, it's like, okay we're chugging along in the fight and then Chris goes like 400, level 4 million, whatever,

zero to 4 million like that. And that was that. That was the tipping point. I don't remember what the fight was about, but it culminated and Chris at the front door wiping his ass with the next. I didn't wipe. Okay, wait a second.

I didn't wipe. You shoved it down your pants and rubbed it on your ass. I shoved it on my butt, but I didn't like wipe my ass crack with it. Like I was cleansing. Yeah, then look at this stain right now. I'm wearing it right now. Well, listen, it's the jets.

They deserve it. Wait, but did you do you remember? I don't remember what the fight was. I don't remember what the fight was, but I do remember that because it was like so absurd. I think we all just started laughing. I know, but that was my that's usually Chris's MO That's what he does. He like takes the ups and he's so much that all we could do is just like in the car in Italy Yeah, but yeah, or he'll break a glass

But listen that I've unpacked this behavior with my therapist and she says it is common especially of a middle child who When things feel out of control or whatever, they explode so that all of the attention goes to them so that everything else stops. It's almost like, you know, like exploding a bomb so that all the other arguments stop and it's all focused on one thing. And I don't do it consciously. Oh, I don't do it anymore because I'm a grown man.

But I don't do it consciously. Oh, I don't do it anymore because I'm a grown man, but I don't, come on, I've grown. I don't have the anger issues I once did. Then we come out of a commercial break and we have the big moment. We hear Sirens and Reed runs into Ella's room, wakes her up and says, Easton has overdosed and then chaos ensues. Sorry.

They run to the hospital. It's very emotional. I thought there were some good acting happening in this scene, both in our fight, Nick. I thought it was really well acted. I thought this, I was proud of the work that we all did. And then Ella instinctually calls Isaac, which is very interesting, her other boo,

because she's triggered by being in the hospital. She hasn't been in the hospital since her mother was in there dying. And I don't know, but what is everyone's thoughts on Ella's reaction? Well, I think that she calls him because he represents the stability in her life and it was all that chaos. And I can relate and I usually call you you guys when that kind of stuff happens

Someone that grounds you instantly and I think that he is that for her Did anyone else feel though that he was like on Like underselling the situation a bit like I like was like, I think I should go back. He could be dying and he's like, everything's fine. Like, I don't know. I would have been like, no, you're right. You should go back. Yeah.

Yeah. I felt like I felt that way too. But I think he's a, he's, you know, he's young and he's trying to spend as much time with this girl. He's sort of like in the battle for her. But also, I think everything Ellis tells him about this family is like at a 10. So in his defense, I could see it being a little bit of like, yeah, this is just par for the course. The shit's crazy. Easton is drunk. But like, this is the same thing you tell

me every time you talk about these people. So like, I'm sure it's fine, but it definitely belies the gravity of the situation because we've never seen, we don't know what he overdoses on, do we? A painkillers. He says he got coke from a girl and then test your drugs. Oh, right. Right. Which, especially now, A, you shouldn't be doing drugs be if you are Please test them and if you're having problems, please seek help. I

Mean every every what's interesting about the scene is everyone takes responsibility Retakes responsibility Savannah takes responsibility Ella takes responsibility Callum takes responsibility. It's like whose fault is it? Well, that's the thing. It's the entire family systems fall. It's like whose fault is it? Well, that's the thing. It's the entire family system's fault. It's everybody's fault. Yes. How so? Because Calum, from what I understand, in my very limited exposure to this series,

is a shitty dad. And, you know, Reed, maybe, and Ella maybe have unintentionally enabled Easton to be able to go just go off and turn his phone off and do drugs. Don't you think some people are predisposed genetically, chemically to addiction? Oh, 100%. Of course.

And he probably is, but then you have this fucked up family that isn't helping the situation at all. And the shame of it is they have every resource at their disposal because many people don't have the wealth and resources that they have to get help. They do, they just lack the awareness or knowledge or love

and attention to get it for him. But they also, the double-edged sword is they have, they have the resources also to have the lifestyle that is craziness and drugs and partying. I think that given the history, especially with losing their mother to addiction, you would think that they would be a little bit more attentive and better suited to deal with it. But I also think that, and this goes back to, you know, you joke at me for like exploding

and having like going over the top, but it generally stops things in its tracks. And you know, Easton bottoming out here could be the catalyst for actual real change and a real wake up call for him and the rest of the family to be like, okay, this isn't just some kid being a kid. This isn't just recreational Easton's being a silly clown. Like this is real, he almost died. Yeah, Easton needs help and we all need help type.

Ah-ha moment. Yeah. Yeah. And Reed needs to not have to feel like he has to be the dad because that's not fair to him. OK, but wait real quick. Then the episode ends with the huge reveal is that. Yeah. Easton does not think that Brooke is pregnant. Oh my God. That's crazy. Also, what a funny scene.

This was a great. This is my favorite scene to act. I thought there was a lot of good juice here. She's coming in, I just OD'd, I'm on a hospital bed and I'm like full on petty detective mode, which I thought was very fun. I hope you enjoy listening to it. I did, I love it. The ultrasound generator. I live for that.

I live for petty detective mode. Yeah. I did. I love it. The ultrasound generator. I live for that. I live for petty detective mode. Yeah, I know. If you need some inside scoop on an ex-girlfriend or a current girlfriend or anybody, go to an older sister with a social media account. Okay, so now comes the time of the show. Jacqueline, you're a fan, so you know what's happening. It's time for royal decrees. Jacqueline, you're a fan, so you know what's happening. It's time for Royal Decrees. Here you, here you, a Royal Decree. Why don't you go first? Sure.

So, I learned something new about you, Nick, on one of the episodes. I didn't know you had a nap pass. Mm, yep. And Bill, which is just hilarious. But my Royal Decree is that nap passes be a thing. Like, we are doing everything wrong in this country. They have like a whole siesta culture in Europe, where you go home from like 12 to two, and you eat lunch, you take a little snoozy, and then you come back to work.

And like, I live for a nap. And so that would just be the best so I think we should make nap passes like a thing and no matter what you do no matter what your job is you can drop that pass any day any time and go home and sleep for two hours. How many do you get? Unlimited. It's a daily thing. What a great decree. You get one a day. One a day. Wow. I love that. That's my decree That's a great decree. I would love a job pass where I can get a job That would be what I want My role decree is very simple. I think pineapple is disgusting and it should be outlawed

Peanut coladas are disgusting pineapple flavor pineles, the shape of them is ugly. Everything about pineapples are disgusting. The touch of them makes me want to vomit. It's like fruit with splinters in it. I hate it. It makes me so angry. And then you throw coconut in there and I hate coconut and it's like coconut's like eating paper.

And basically anything tropical flavor is disgusting nut in there and I hate coconut and it's like coconut is like eating paper and basically anything tropical flavor is disgusting and has no business in my mouth. Wow. Really aggressive and just wrong. It feels aggressive. No. Pineapple, by the way, the universal sign for swingers. No, it's like it thought it was a Pelican or Flamingo.

Who are we kidding? Why does anyone? No one on this call knows. Because there is the apartment across from us. Or has any experience. The apartment across from us. My royal decree has started swinging. The apartment across from us has a neon Flamingo

that lights up at night and somebody once said, oh, that means that their swingers live there. OK, well, that's a bad royal decree, but here's mine. I think we need to lower the temperature on award shows. Not all of them need to be televised. I do like celebrating art, but awards are kind of stupid. And it's all subjective. And no one, I don't know, it's too much. It's too much. Become a little bit too much for me. I'm not very active. Um and no

one I don't know. I just it's too much. It's too much. Become a little bit too much for me. Um there's just like a one every night. Critics Choice Awards was last night. Emmys is tonight. The Golden Globes was last week. The SAG Awards are

coming up. Blah blah blah. But there's just so many awards. Um and I have not gotten any. So when I start getting recognition, I will definitely change this decree. But for now, let's lower the temperature a little bit. Yeah, when you start getting recognition and then they roll this tape, they roll this audio. So Jacqueline, at the end, we always give our guests an opportunity to talk about upcoming clients,

some client patient confidentiality stuff. Break HIPAA rules. Yeah, or any specific client you want to tell us. Anybody specifically fucked up. Or like, yeah, like their most embarrassing thing. And if you could use their full name and social security number, that'd be great. I don't have a witty comeback, so I got nothing.

Oh, you and Nick have something to comment. Okay, so let's get out of here. Jacqueline, we love you so much. We look up to you. We want to be here without you. So thank you for being here with my favorite person. More than Chris. This should be the Royal siblings. Maybe it will be. No, I think this is our last episode. Actually, they're going to cancel us. No, you guys are doing so great. Oh, thanks, Jazz. I love it. I'm a huge fan.

Huge fan. Thanks. Well, we're a huge fan of yours. And yeah, thank you so much for doing this. We love you very much. I love you. We'll talk to you in public three more times today. All right.

Love you guys. Thank you for listening, Jacqueline. Thanks for swinging by, Nick. Whatever. See you. Thanks, everybody. Love you all. Whatever. See you. Thanks, everybody. Love you all. Bye. Bye.

Bye.