The story of Fanny Slater, my daughter and her journey.
My name is Jeff, and I am a podcast addict.
I’m not sure if there is a 12-step program for us, but I don’t make excuses for my addiction. As a lifelong learner and curious marketing strategist, I want to listen to fresh perspectives, blue-light thinkers, and humans with perfectly imperfect stories.
I walk almost 3 miles, 4.8 km or 1.65 podcasts every day.
My podcast listening habits range from political (Pivot, Ezra Klein, Hacks on Tap, Pod Save America, and Impolitic), brand and marketing (Prof G, Marketing Companion, How I Built This, The Marketing Playbook), and the personal transformation (Perfectly, Imperfect Journey, Adam Grant’s Pods, We Can Do Hard Things and Brene Brown)
I’m like a kid in a comic bookstore, waiting for the latest Superman comic to land on the shelves.
I love it when a fresh pod drops.
Aloha, Jeff – It is 230 am on Oahu
My wife and I traveled to Oahu to spend the summer near our older daughter, Sarah, son-in-law, and grandson. Hawaii is 11,000 miles away from North Carolina, which is 32 podcasts if you are keeping score.
We arrived safe and sound, and Sarah picked us up with beautiful leis in hand.
I experienced several days of jet lag, during which I would fall asleep at 6 p.m. and wake up at 1 a.m. It was like Back to the Future but in reverse.
When I woke up on Wednesday, a new pod from my friends Anne Robie and Sherrie Essig dropped just as my coffee dripped.
These two friends, who are also life coaches and HR consultants, interview people who have had remarkable, imperfect life journeys. Their stories are inspiring, insightful, and filled with unimaginable hope.
At 230 in the morning, I awoke to find the interview they did with my daughter, Fanny. I had forgotten that they had interviewed her, and I was delighted to listen as the caffeine raced through my veins, trying to revive me.
I urged Fanny to chat with Anne and Sherry because her life story is equally impressive, as are the unknown individuals they regularly interview. Her experience managing her drinking and becoming a sobriety mentor is also impressive.
Have a listen. You can catch the episode here: www.tinyurl.com/4txd59n4 or on your favorite podcast platform.
Or from their webpage: https://www.flowingeastandwest.com/episodes/recipe-for-transformation-with-fanny-slater
Recipe for Transformation with Fanny Slater
Here are the liner notes from the pod written by the podcast hosts, Anne and Sherry.
It is not a recipe she would recommend.
Fanny Slater – mixed in one part alcohol, one part low self-esteem, a dash of fame, and a sprinkle of insecurity, and ultimately found herself spiraling down a tunnel headed straight for rock bottom.
Luckily, Fanny also had a heaping spoonful of support and love from friends and family, which helped her when she needed it most.
This is a story about reinvention from the winner of a cooking contest on the Rachael Ray show to an aspiring sobriety mentor.
Hers is a story about finding herself after almost losing everything.
Fanny Slater has food flowing through her genes. Her mom, Ra El Remez, founded the nationally acclaimed bakery business Rachel’s Brownies in 1975, and together—her parents created an enormously successful brand that would live on for decades.
Fanny grew up in Raleigh, where, at age four, she began her home-taught kitchen apprenticeship when her dad pulled up a chair next to the stove and handed her a spatula.
She worked in restaurants and prep kitchens to receive culinary exposure but was equally drawn to performing arts. At twenty-five, Fanny moved to Hollywood, California, to pursue acting and improv training with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.
Several years later, she followed her stomach back to the East Coast to open her own catering company. She moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 2012.
In 2014, she beat out nearly 1,000 other hopefuls from across the country who entered Rachael Ray’s Great American Cookbook Competition. Fanny won the grand prize of a publishing contract under Rachael’s imprint. Simon & Schuster published her cookbook, Orange, Lavender & Figs: Deliciously Different Recipes from a Passionate Eater 2016.
In the following years, Fanny co-hosted the Food Network series Kitchen Sink and became a regular on Cooking Channel’s longtime popular series, Best Thing I Ever Ate.
In 2020, Fanny was living in Illinois with her husband when her longtime issues with alcohol came to a head. Within one year, she would move back to North Carolina, get a divorce, come out of the closet, and attend a 40-day rehab program.
Today, Fanny is over three years sober and lives near the beach in Wilmington with her girlfriend, two dogs, Walter & Bentley, and a cat named Olive. She is a food and beverage writer specializing in recipe development, food photography, and social media content creation.
As of recent, Fanny has pivoted her focus towards being a sobriety enthusiast who encourages others to speak up about their struggles.
She uses her Instagram platform @fannyslater to bluntly share her journey of going from a self-destructive addict to an advocate for mental health, recovery, and self-love.
Have a Listen to Fanny on the Podcast
When you have a moment, listen to this podcast about Fanny’s recipe for transformation.
Have a listen. You can catch the episode here: www.tinyurl.com/4txd59n4 or on your favorite podcast platform.
You’ll love every bite. Especially when she shared how her grandmother (my mother, Bea) was a F’ing legend).
You never know.
About Anne and Sherry from The Perfectly Imperfect Journey
Anne Robie
I have been practicing the art of maximizing human potential for over 20 years. In that time I have been lucky enough to be an internal executive and external consultant in a diverse array of companies. What I have noticed is that many of us have deep passions that often get buried in pursuit of someone else’s definition of success. I love the process of unlocking those passions.
I believe corporate America doesn’t have to suck. Whether it is a team that is stacked with great talent, but just isn’t performing at their highest levels, or whole organizations where the culture isn’t fully engaged, I work with you to know yourself and each other at a deeper level, and to co-create work you love.
I currently live in Napa, CA but have a wandering soul. My dog, Chandi, helps keep me grounded and is often my companion while discovering new places and getting lost in old haunts.
darshanleadership.com
Sherry Essig
I’m an executive and life coach and work with clients who are ready to make the courageous choice to stop settling for less than success AND happiness. After a 15-year corporate career in public accounting, finance, and marketing I finally found the courage to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life and recently celebrated 21 years as a professional coach. I’ve been fascinated by what makes people tick for as long as I can remember and have a deep belief in people’s capacity to change.
I’m currently diving deeply into the Enneagram as a tool to facilitate transformation. I’m a transplanted Southern Californian, living in Raleigh, NC which I’ve fallen in love with. What else? Animal lover, cat and dog mom, traveler, yogi, insatiable curiosity about people and the world, reader, nature lover, and foodie. Connection is my soul food.
flow-dynamix.com
Connect with Jeff at The Marketing Sage Consultancy. Interested in setting up a call with me? Use my calendly to schedule a time to talk. The call is free, and we can discuss your brand and marketing needs. If you want to learn more about my new offering, The Trusted Advisor Board, you can click here to learn the details. Feel free to email me at jeffslater@themarketing sage.com or text 919 720 0995. Thanks for your interest in working with The Marketing Sage Consultancy.
