- Here's what's coming up on the Whitney Reynolds show.

We're talking collective impact.

We learn together is better.

- My mom was a school teacher, public school teacher.

My dad was a community physician and both of them taught me that service really is the rent you pay for living on this earth - Right outta college.

I worked at a youth home for kids that had trouble backgrounds, you know, they came, their parents either live with on drugs or in jail.

And it just made me think about making a movie to shine a light and be a voice for the voices for those types of - Kids.

The Whitney Reynolds Show is supported by 10 West Real Estate Group providing multifamily investment in property management services.

Kevin O'Connor Law Firm.

When it comes to your personal injuries, we take it personally.

Respiratory Health Association, healthy lungs, and clean air for all.

Together at Peace Foundation, remembrance, resilience and Comfort, creating a hopeful space for those who are grieving.

Joe perillo.com where you can browse our selection of pre-owned vehicles.

Joe Perillo is based in Chicago and ships all over the country.

Children's Learning Place, a school for our earliest learners dedicated to aiding every child with the power of learning center for beautiful living, empowering people to live rich, robust, and beautiful lives.

Additional funding provided by FM O Dr.

Stacey McClain, facial plastic Surgeon, high five Sports Club, goldfish Swim School, and Girls Strong Empowerment Apparel.

- Hello and welcome to - The Whitney Reynolds Show.

Today we are talking to collective impact.

We have these stories that prove coming together and working together can really push things forward, awakening the soul of our stories for for wear.

Every journey you might recognize a new look.

We are ready to take things to the next level.

You'll see Whitney's - Here to share your dream.

- It's the re show I watching the Whitney Reynolds show, Chicago, be Careful, your - Home Real Voice Lives - Her mother, a dedicated teacher, and her father, a proud Navy veteran.

Juliana's journey into politics was fueled by real life and it was when she became the primary caregiver for her mother who battled Alzheimer's.

When she realized the power of her voice, Juliana took a bold step and ran for office.

Not only did she run, but she also won.

And this victory opened up a world of possibilities.

Let's welcome Juliana Stratton.

How are you?

I'm doing, thanks for having me.

Is it surreal to see a piece like that run and say that you're running for Senate?

- Well, what I would say is that, you know, I'm just really proud of the fact that my whole life I've been in public service and to see the influence of my parents, who really taught me how important it is to serve our communities, to uplift others, to care for people in need.

My mom was a school teacher, public school teacher.

My dad was a community physician and both of them taught me that service really is the rent you pay for living on this earth.

And I carry those values with me every single day.

So that's what I was thinking about as I looked at that - Video.

Yeah, it's a very full circle moment.

And I mean, I just wanna note, is this full circle being on a TV set?

Because your undergrad was for journalism?

- That's right.

So I started as an undergraduate major in broadcast journalism thinking that maybe one day that I would be either a newscaster or a reporter or a - Producer or the Juliana Stratton Show.

- Yeah, the Juliana Stratton Show, who knows?

But what I can tell you is that I look now at how many times storytelling is so important and that's really, I think what was at the core of that, the power of stories.

And now I get to travel the entire state of Illinois.

I've been doing that for the last six and a half years as Lieutenant Governor and now as a Senate candidate listening to the stories of everyday Illinoisans about what is powering them to keep going in the midst of so much a struggle.

So storytelling is powerful and I'm still doing it in so many ways.

- Well, and the seat you're running for is a very interesting seat when it comes to Illinois because it has led people to the presidency.

Barack Obama once had that seat.

What does that mean to you?

- Well, look, I think when I think about the United States Senate seat here in Illinois, we just have had so many trailblazers.

I mean, ambassador Carol Mosley Braun was the first black woman in history to go to the United States Senate.

And she is from the great state of Illinois.

You talked about President Barack Obama, the first black president that we've ever had right here from the state of Illinois and also served in the United States Senate.

I think about United States Senator Tammy Duckworth, another trailblazer and an incredible champion for working families.

So I look at the individuals who have taken this step and I just am so honored to be on this journey and to really take what I believe is needed right now.

And that's a fighter in Washington DC who will fight for the everyday needs of Illinoisans all across our state.

- Well, and you are on this journey.

I wanna go back to that moment that you got into politics.

You were doing life, you are an attorney, you were a caregiver, and you saw a need and then said, I'm gonna run for - Office.

Yes.

And I didn't just see a need out there in the community.

I saw a need in my own home.

I was the caregiver for my mom.

As you mentioned, my mom, Velma was a public school teacher.

She also taught at a community college.

But in her final years of her life, she lived with me.

And in her final three years she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's related dementia.

And I was her primary caregiver.

And it was one of the hardest things that I've ever done.

It was also the greatest honor of my life to be able to care for my mother in her final years.

But look, at that time, my state representative and our former governor at the time had decided that they wanted to cut healthcare for seniors like my - Mom.

- And even though my mom did not use those benefits from the state, I knew that seniors like her who needed healthcare, who needed to be cared for in their most vulnerable moments, really deserved, you know, access to resources that would make their lives easier and give them more comfort in their final years.

And so at that time, I remember yelling at the television, somebody should run against him and the being my state representative.

And it turns out that it was me.

- Yeah.

Did you have that like moment where you're like, oh wait, it could be me?

- I think all of us have these moments where you have to recognize that there are times that you are called to be courageous.

That there are times that you are called to step out and do what's not necessarily the most comfortable.

I mean, think about it.

As a caregiver, I was juggling so many different things, but I, I knew that there was a bigger calling.

I knew that that was a moment to say, you know what, yes, I have a lot going on.

But courage in this moment would say, it's not just about my own mother.

- Mm.

- It's about the moms that are out there who deserve care.

It's about the families who deserve someone to fight for them.

And that's what started my journey.

- Oh, wonderful.

And it is a courageous one.

Thank you so much for coming on.

- Oh, thank you for having - Me.

And now to a movie that's helping young adults gain courage, let's take a look.

- You stand alone.

- You are all my safety, I my power, all my strength, all my technique must be, I have my own self.

Do nothing.

Everything I do to the glory of God, duh.

- Without Fred, I'd be in jail or dead.

A lot of my friends went those routes.

Fred always taught me whenever an evil thought would come to me, tackle it.

Whether it's one thought, 10 thoughts, a hundred thoughts, a thousand thoughts.

Refuse to be blocked, refuse to be blocked and you'll get the job done.

See, Fred was the chief's fan.

He stole that phrase from Marty Schottenheimer and never had the heart to tell him.

I knew if we can teach every kid that phrase, we change the world.

- That was awesome.

Great job Abby.

You're a natural.

Got big plans for you.

Cheetah.

Are you ready?

Ready for Thank you.

Love you, trust him.

Praise.

- And now the man behind it all.

Let's welcome Jared Heimer to the show.

- Thank you so much.

Welcome - Whitney.

I'm - So grateful to be here.

- Oh, I'm so excited you are here Now take a seat because I wanna know all in the world of television, I went to school for this and I knew this was what I was gonna do.

But you were not always a filmmaker.

Yes.

And it took 30 years to create this vision.

Tell us about that.

- It took 30 years and the inspiration came right outta college.

I worked at a youth home for kids that had trouble backgrounds.

You know, they came, their parents either were both on drugs or in jail or passed away from drug problems.

And Mercy Home just did an amazing job working with them and bringing out their talents and showing how beautiful they are despite everything, every horrific thing they've been through, you know, in their life.

And it just made me think about making a movie to shine a light and be a voice for the voiceless for those types of kids.

And that's why I love the film so much.

- Today's show is all about courage and you created, I mean, we want people to watch the show, but in a nutshell it's about a relationship between this guy and this girl and going for a dream.

- Right.

And it's, it's so beautiful.

There's some very cool relationships in addition to their relationship.

So ultimately Clay, the lead character that I actually play in the film for his, - I was gonna say that's a familiar face behind us.

- Yeah.

With a big beard.

The reason his, his whole life, he wanted to be an Olympian.

And for him it was like being, you know, an NFL quarterback or on a women's gold winning soccer team.

He just wanted to be that beacon of light for kids to show them, because he came from a really tough background, similar to these, to these kids that I work with right outta college that had been through so much and he wanted to be a beacon of light to show them that no matter what adversity they went through in their lives, that they could do great things.

So he mentors this young girl 'cause he, he didn't have what it takes to get to the games and he never could face it.

Finally, he's able to face it and he realizes that in order to live his dream, he's gotta get this young girl to the games.

And that's, that's what he does.

- Wow.

He gets her there.

And speaking of this young girl that played an excellent role in your movie, you impacted her in more ways than one.

And we have a little surprise for you.

Let's take a look.

- Hey Jared, I thank you so much for this opportunity to be a part of Say Her.

And one of my favorite memories with you is probably learning how to lift weights properly for the first time.

I thank you so much again.

- How does that make you feel to know that you are inspiring through your movie and in real life?

- That is so sweet that you did that.

And it's so sweet that Violet did that for me.

She's such an incredible person.

I don't, she has a lot, her background's amazing.

In addition to being a fantastic actress and model, she's a black belt in TaeKwonDo and she got that at like 10 years old.

- Amazing.

- She was so fun to work with.

But that's what it's all about, is paying it forward to kids, you know, with everything that's going on in the world politically and otherwise wars and all these horrible things that are happening and everything that's happening, you know, in our major cities in the US with gun violence, which is a big theme in the film, it's so important to get the kids as early as possible.

When we see that they're going through troubles to uplift them and show them that they can turn things around and that we're there for them to help them.

That's what this movie is all about.

And she's an amazing girl and I was so lucky to have her.

And so, - And with this movie it was 30 years in the making.

You had this vision, you did it.

How do you feel now that it's out in the world?

- It's so, it's such an amazing feeling and it's, it's so important for not just young filmmakers that never were able to get their dream made for many, many years, which is the case a lot of times.

But anybody that wants to be successful in any industry, to just show that if you work really, really, really hard and never give up, you can, you can get it done.

And we're, we're super excited because right now this Olympic weightlifting, which has really never been seen on the silver screen before, our team is gearing up to be the best team in the world at the LA Games, at the home games, which is so cool.

So we're so excited to be shedding a light on them in addition to, you know, at the at youth issue, this going on throughout the country.

- A double whammy of courage.

Well thank you so much Jared for coming on.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It's such a pleasure to be here.

- And now we turn to a remarkable story, one that took a lot of courage to live through and now she joins us to reshare.

Dr.

Laura, you survived the California fires in a wheelchair.

Tell us your story.

- I'm a physician, I am a researcher as well.

And in 2013, I noticed had developed random symptoms and that's when I was questioning the medical establishment.

If you can tell my speech blurred and I can't walk a lot 'cause I have weakness all over.

- You are a doctor, author, and now survivor.

- And I got moved out of my home.

I lost my home, I lost my community.

And ironically the book and the 60 resilient individuals, and the reason I told you all eight of common wisdom, the eight elements of wisdom were because they really are in order, how common they are.

And resilience was common.

And so when I thought about, I'm like, these 60 people have gone through horrible life events and they've overcome it.

So the reason the picture behind me is so important is because that's what ade what before the fires - Super full circle.

Now tell us about escaping in your wheelchair.

- By one o'clock I got an alert saying we have to evacuate by 2:00 PM I left.

And I wish, you know, be someone was like, how was it not being mobile?

I think the immobility was, the hard part was I just didn't do what I could have.

I could have taken down photos and brought them with me.

I could have taken down things that I thought I would've needed, but I didn't because it was just so hard for me to get around and I knew I had to leave.

Just the shock of it is not as bad because I still have empty doors, I still have empty everything.

It, it will take time, it'll take, it is like mourning a loss.

But I think the resilience, the book and the interviews and the people is what really helped me.

- Well you are full of courage.

Thank you so much for joining us - Today.

On Stage and Off - Love Takes Teamwork and for this husband and wife duo starring in Disney's Beauty and the Beast is more than a fairytale is their life.

Today we're talking collective impact.

And I have to say, you two are not only traveling the world with beauty and the beast, but you're also new parents.

- The timing of everything was pretty magical.

We had been going through IVF, we had done a couple rounds and nothing had happened.

So I hadn't really been auditioning, hadn't really been dancing.

And Danny got an audition for Beauty and the Beast.

I looked at the dates and you do the math when you're doing IVF and say, if this round works, okay, the baby would be born before he did this show if he got it.

So at first I thought, that's cool, I can travel with them, I'll be childcare, I'll keep my remote job.

And then I thought, or maybe I can audition too.

And I was able to get an audition for the show when I was about five days pregnant for Jack.

- Oh my goodness.

- And never, never do you get auditions that early that you could just date a baby and have it and then start rehearsal.

But that is how the timing worked out.

And it was, - That is amazing.

- It was just too like cosmic timing to not try to make it all work - From IVF to opening night.

Their love story wove through auditions, rehearsals, and even a newborn.

You are one of my very favorite characters.

Luminary.

I mean, I brought my daughter to the show and to see her little eyes light up and to know that you do that for audiences every time you're on the stage, what does it feel like to be that iconic song that so many of us know be Ah yes.

Oh, that was magical.

I needed that.

I know.

Just a snippet.

Yeah, just a snippet.

- Ah, it's, it's just so wonderful.

I mean, I grew up in the movie, the 1991 animated feature, and I immediately loved the Jerry Orach version of Lumiere.

I just never thought that I'd be able to play it, especially with the 25th anniversary of the Broadway musical.

And so to know that people already have an attachment to the show, you know, in preparing for it, I thought, okay, I have to pay homage to ev all the Lumiere that came before, but also try to add my own, you know, spirit into it.

And it is every night, it's magical when, when, you know, it's a great, I won't spoil it, but there's a great transition into Be Our guest and, but what is dinner without a little music?

Boom.

And as soon as you hear Bum, the audience goes, oh.

And then the - Great thing is that they sing along.

It is magical because you see these scenes of a movie brought to the stage.

Was there any pressure with that?

- Hmm.

I think, I think like Dani said, you want to to pay homage to what came before, but I think there's almost a comfort in knowing people love this already.

Go give them what they love, you know?

And, and I think it's, it's kind of an honor.

It's, we both grew up with the movie.

It feels like something we know deeply and, you know, go sink into that for a little while.

Yeah.

- Well, and you bring up an interesting point about when you love something, but then you're also an actor and you have to audition to actually get the thing that you love.

Yes.

What is that like in the grind?

Because so often we, we have people on the show that, you know, obviously they're in the show, they made it, but you don't get every role.

Tell me, walk us through what it's like being an actor and kind of persevering.

- Hmm.

I think if I'm not disappointed when I don't get things, then I don't care about it anymore.

You know, sometimes if I work real hard and it doesn't happen, that sadness just shows that I was, I'm still excited about what I do.

- Yes.

- You know, and this show in particular, I'm, I'm in the ensemble.

I'm also the understudy for Mrs.

Potts.

So part of what I had to do for the audition was Sing Beauty and the Beast.

And every time I was practicing it at home, I started to cry.

Oh, I love that.

And I thought, okay, there's a piece of me that's like, you can't just sob through the song in the audition, you have to sing it.

But also I thought, wow, I, I really care about this.

I'm really excited about this and that that's what lets me know this is still the right thing for me to be doing.

- They call themselves for and a forester as they make their way around the United States.

On this Broadway tour, you're both, and this, you're the understudy for a major role.

The major song.

What is this like?

- It's, well the only way we keep saying this, we can do this is because Emily's parents, Tom and Patty are retired and they've been with us since day one of rehearsal.

Mm.

And so when we had rehearsals, obviously when we had technical rehearsals, which are longer during the day when we put all the lights and the sound and the sets together, they were there during, right now they're with the baby obviously.

And so they have been such a huge asset.

But it's fun for them too because then they get to spend time with Jack more so than maybe some grandparents.

And also we all get to travel and we've, on the Art institute, we did the, the architecture tour, we did aquarium, like all these things.

And so it really is like an extended family affair.

- Beauty and the Beast may be a tale as old as time yet for Danny and Emily.

Its message on Uniting in Love - Is also their own.

One's a bridesmaid and - One's a bride.

This is quite the dynamic pair.

I personally wanna join you in this the more the Marriott be a part of our squad.

Yeah, yeah.

This smiling duo as welcoming as ever as they brought me right into their wedding squad with their newest project Bride Hard an action comedy featuring Rebel Wilson as the hero.

- What I liked about it conceptually is it's kind of like bridesmaids meets diehard and, and then I knew Simon West, the director was so good at action like Tomb Raider, Conair, they're two of my favorite like action movies ever.

So I was like, okay, I think this is gonna be fun.

And for me as an actress, it's really cool to do action stuff.

I'd not really done it before.

And, and then we just get on set and then we love improvising.

- Yes.

And it's so much fun.

I love wedding movies, so when I read it I was so excited because I just love to go see like what happens.

'cause there's so much potential for everything to go wrong, which is something that I love to watch.

- Rebel at the end.

Your character truly saved the day.

Do you feel like a superhero?

- I mean, I love it when I go see like a cool action movie or a spy movie, right?

And you walk out of the cinema and you're like, - Yeah, - That attitude kind of comes onto you.

And I, I just thought that that would be really quite fun to play.

And it, it's almost like in comedy sometimes you talk about the straight line and the wavy line and I'm often the wavy line, like in Pitch Perfect.

But in this one I'm kind of the straight, straight person and I kind of got to be the wavy - Line, - This stuff.

Yeah.

And, and it was just, yeah, it was just really fun.

I love, I love doing the action stuff.

It was, it was kind of like learning dance choreography, but you're learn, you're learning the fight moves and you gotta do it quite precisely so that you don't actually hitting get hitting somebody and get hurt yourself.

So it's, yeah, it was really fun.

- Now you'll have to watch the movie to see if these action scenes get the bride down the aisle.

Yet for better or for worse, these bridesmaids truly have each other's backs and we see a testament to friendship, collective impact and good old strong bonds.

- It's easy that we are playing best friends.

Yes.

And we are obviously friends.

Yes, - Yes.

- From working, knowing each other for 14 years.

14 - Years we've known each other.

- So we know each other's styles so well and, and are there for each other in the - Scenes.

Yeah.

- So one time Simon just left the camera going for like 15 minutes.

Yeah.

So we are just, we are just sitting there.

We are like, yeah.

And we just keep talking, - Just saying crazy things and making each other laugh and - Yeah.

I mean wildly inappropriate often.

Yeah.

Just trying to make each other laugh as well.

And Yeah.

But it's just like we kind of act kind of as if you're the character.

- Yeah.

- And what would we be saying in that scenario and then we just go, because you never know, you might come up with some gem.

The - Line.

Yeah.

You have to be able to like just say whatever and maybe you fail.

Maybe some of the jokes don't land, but at least I'm like with my trusty scene partner who can like take my joke and elevate it and then hit it out of the ballpark and like, it just was so seamless and so fun.

- This show encompasses looking out for your neighbor.

Maybe not just your physical one, but remembering we're all in this together.

Remember, your story matters.

- The Whitney Reynolds Show is supported by 10 West Real Estate Group providing multifamily investment and property management services.

Kevin O'Connor Law Firm, when it comes to your personal injuries, we take it personally.

Respiratory Health Association, healthy lungs, and clean air for all.

Together at Peace Foundation, remembrance, resilience and Comfort, creating a hopeful space for those who are grieving.

Joe perillo.com where you can browse their selection of pre-owned vehicles.

Joe Perillo is based in Chicago and ships all over the country.

Children's Learning Place, A school for our earliest learners dedicated to aiding every child with the power of learning Center for beautiful living, empowering people to live rich, robust, and beautiful lives.

Additional funding provided by fmo, Dr.

Stacey McLean, facial Plastic Surgeon, high Five Sports Club, gold Fish Swim School and Girls Strong empowerment apparel.

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