For thirty five years, Cindy Stumpo has been a female home builder with a
passion for design, a mastery of detail, and a commitment to her crack.
With daughter Samantha Stumpo by her side, I don't need my whole family
on a date with me. That's a good note. It's goddemn weird.
See. Stumpo Development is the only second generation female construction company in the country.
You're crazy, You're a wacko, You're insane. I mean, it
just doesn't end together. Cindy and Samantha welcome guests to explore the world of
construction, real estate, development, design and more. Unpredictable. Every time
I think I know what you want, you switch it out. But that's
what makes sure houses all your day discuss anything that happens between the roof and
the foundation. Nothing is off limits. You truly do care about everybody kicking
yell a Chi gets screen, but when you get her alone, she's the
best person on the planet. Cindy Stumpo is tough as nails and welcome to
Cindy Stumbo chucks Nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty and I'm here with who
Samantha, your daughter Okay, So who's our guest? The first woman that
actually interviewed me back how many years ago? About thirteen? More than that,
Holley, we're three. Yeah, it's gonna be fourteen fifteen years I
think, so fourteen years ago. Anyways, what is her name? It
would be Candy. Oh, and she's always gonna be Candy. O.
Hi, Hi, Candy. I am so happy to be here, and
let me tell you you're doing this radio thing really well. And Hi there,
Sammy, how are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in
a million years now. I just see her name on real estate signs,
I see pictures of the two of you on the covers of magazines, and
I think to myself, I need to hang around with these two women a
little more often, right, Candy, Yes night, you become Candyo at
one O six point seven? How that happen? Oh my goodness? Well,
first of all, my real name is oh Terry and yep. And
before I got to magic, I was a jingle singer and a session singer,
and I used to sign up all the time to do demo work in
studios all around Boston. And there was this very famous studio called Syncro Sound
on Newberry Street, which was owned by the Cars. And remember how the
cars had the song Candyo. So I would sign in as Candyo and they'd
be like yeah right, yeah right, like you're the reason for the album,
and I'd be like, no, seriously, you guys, that's my
name. So my married name is O Terry. And however, here's a
little little piece of tidbit information. It's really Italian, it's not Irish,
and it's supposed to be pronounced like that O T E R blue eyes.
Right, I just happened to be Okay, I was married to an Italian,
not anymore, and so I changed we are so anyway, I changed
the spelling to oh apostrophe T E R R y. Actually my boss did
that, and I've been Candio ever since. I like it. I never
asked you that. Okay, can't he give it? Give the bio because
I can sit and do this. You with Magic John, Magic John,
No, I have never been with Magic John. To god right, you
started with go ahead, Oh my goodness, give you a bio. Okay.
So I got started as a singer, and that's what brought me into
radio. Most people in radio always had a dream. Cindy and Sam that
they were going to be talking about the music on the radio and spinning the
records back in the day. For me, I wanted to be singing the
songs on the radio. So I was a demo singer and a session singer,
and I fronted a band all the way through the eighties, and I
have the pictures to prove it. Let me tell you, I got the
shoulder pads. Did you ever have a tail, Cindy, remember the little
tail? You know what I'm talking about, right, So, anyway,
I got into radio shoulder pads. Okay, So I got into radio when
that guy that I talked to you about, my Italian first husband left me
and the kids and I needed a full time job. And I knew,
hey, you know I can hear my jingles on the radio, and I
know all about the music because I'm a singer, I should get a job
at a radio station because they have health insurance, and maybe I'll be able
to earn a living. And literally, I got a job as a fill
in secretary for eight weeks and the woman that I was filling in for never
left. I mean she went on maternity leave and then the job became permanent.
So That's how I got into radio, kind of like sticking my foot
in the door, getting the first job that I could possibly ever get,
just so I could take care of the health insurance for my kids. And
I spent twenty five years on Magic when O six point seven started out as
the secretary, got on the air when someone fell asleep on the radio and
got fired and they had nobody else to put on but me on a very
lonely summer weekend here in Boston, and spent the next twenty five years doing
it. And then, as you just mentioned on the intro, I created
a show asleep. Huh, thank god the person fell asleep. Thank God.
From miracles, you guys, somebody's win. That's right, That's exactly
true. Like when God closes the door, he opens a window. I
believe in all of that stuff, and I needed a miracle right around then.
I really did. I needed and I needed somebody to believe in me,
and radio was the perfect place for me. It really was. But
then I started this show called Exceptional Women, which is the show that you
were featured on, and that's when we became friends and fans of each other
absolutely. And here I am, I'm like gum on the bottom of your
shoe. You can't get rid of me. It's Sam. You're in the
studio with me. Yes, when I did that interview, and I'm like,
okay, yeah, exceptional woman? What makes me an exceptional woman?
And actually I remember when you called me to do that. I was away
and I took the call and I was in a hotel room. I'm like,
it's k' kn't okay, hikt Cindy. I want to feature you.
We do once a year Exceptional Women and the Awards. Yeah, and first
you come into the radio and we do an interview there, and then you
come to the event. I'm like, sure, this is all cool whatever.
But it turned out to be an amazing event, amazing and you were
terrified to do it, terrified again on that and you did have an anxiety
at attack. And she was amazing, wasn't she? Sama? Right?
A standout speaker that day, a standout Let's remember I had to go back
to the back room for a minute. Had they say gimme gimmey is the
next time you saying is there anybody else who can do this? I really
don't want to And I was like, it's a little late. Now there's
a thousand people in this room, but you go, I'll stand right next
to you. That's right, and what I said, and she stood right
next to me, and we pulled it off. I got a baby,
welcome to stage fright from panic attacks. But look at sap inside. Some
of the best share Collie Simon's right. Oh my goodness. I have had
the honor you guys. And I'm almost up to a thousand women who have
told me their stories, and including first ladies, the first woman in space,
superstars, you name it, and women like you, Cindy, who
are blazing trails doing things that other women haven't done before. And everyone that
I interview, it's like they provide a roadmap for the woman who's listening to
the show, going Okay, if she can do it, I can do
it. So now I have a podcast in a radio series and it's called
The Story Behind Her Success, which is really a ripoff of my Exceptional Women
idea, same concept. Now, why not exceptional women? Did one O
six point seven own that? And yes, yes, And so I was
under contract to the radio station. And when I left the station on my
own, nobody kicked me out the door. They own everything that I created
while I was there. But they're not doing it anymore. I think they
are. I don't know if they're doing it as well as I was doing
it. But you know what, can I tell you, I never even
hear about it anymore. Okay, So we have a new one. So
it's the story behind her success. And I didn't event for you for that
recently before COVID. We did it in Quincy. Yes, that's the story
behind her success. Luncheon, and there's going to be another one coming up
in October, so maybe you can come to that one. That was a
going too. So Candy put some on very good events. Great, I
mean, but exceptional woman. When I was six point seven, you did
that like top top two. It was pretty stunning. We did them a
thirteen times, so, you know, and we made we made money for
breast cancer, so that meant a lot to everybody. So here's my question,
Yes, ma'am, was it difficult being a single mom through all this
building your career, becoming a local celebrity? Right? People got to know
they knew their mom, their mom's on radio. Right, you know,
how's that going? You know what? At that time? At that time,
and I look at your relationship with Sam, which by the way,
I've always admired, and my daughter, Colleen and I have a very similar
relationship. That mother daughter connection is so strong. I also have a son
named Christopher, three years older than Colleen. And when I first got started
on the air, you know, you don't start in the middle of the
day. They start you in the middle of the night on the weekend because
you suck. Okay, I mean that's why they do it. And so
my children used to sleep in the newsroom and I would get them, you
know, sleeping bag. You know the commercial breaks. Hold that thought would
be right back. I'm Sidy stumbling you listen to the Toughest Nails on WBZ
News Radio ten thirty. Be right back, sponsored by Floor and Decor,
National Lumber, and Village Bang, How the Week arrested? Thank you so
long and wait and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBC News Radio ten thirty.
And I'm Cindy. I'm here with Smantha and we're here with Candy.
Oh okay, Candy, pick it up from where you left off. I
was telling the story about how my children used to come with me when I
was on the air because as a single mom, it's the middle of the
night. So they would bring sleeping bags and they would sleep on the news
room floor while I was on the air. And I'm telling you I first
of all, remember I'm working all week long as the secretary to the program
director, and then on Friday night, I go home. I sleep for
a few hours to get up at midnight and do midnight to five thirty.
And so there are the kids. Now what I would do is jumping jacks.
At about two o'clock in the morning, I'd start doing my jumping jacks,
and I'd have a box of cereal for the kids so that when they
woke up they'd eat their applejacks or whatever it was that they were eating in
the newsroom. But the other stories about, you know, being someone on
the radio in Boston is when you're on the radio, you're not seen,
You're only heard, and so people get an impression of what you look like,
and you know, they can go to the website and look what.
Most people are lazy, and they don't so wherever I would go. As
I started getting more and more popular, Now I'm on in the middle of
the day. Now I'm on on three of our five radio stations, and
I'm kind of ubiquitous. Okay. After years go by, I go to
the post office and the guy behind the counter is like, wait a minute,
wait a minute, say that one more time, say that one more
time, and I'm okay and I'll talk and he goes, that's it.
You're Candy Oh on the radio, Like this is what you go through.
So that's when you knew you made it, Candy Oh. And my children
used to mock me and they'd answer the phone and go, Hi, I'm
Candy O. I'm the radio, and I was. My next question is
going to be how many years it take for you to feel like you made
it in radio? I think you just answer the question the postman said.
Your man says, close his eyes, say that one more time. How
many years before you're in this business? Do you feel so comfortable behind this
mic right way? You know, I bring yourself to other DJs. I
will never forget the first moment when I was live on the air and I
felt my voice travel through space and time and it really only happens to you
once and really never again. And I remember thinking, oh my god,
I might be on in the middle of the night, But sixty thousand people
are actually hearing me, screw this entire show up. Okay, it's not
like I'm anonymous, you know, But interestingly enough, in terms of my
career trajectory, Cindy, it was brutal. And I'm going to tell you
that with a capital B. Every step forward, step back. Oh,
she's a secretary. We don't put secretaries on the air. What do you
mean you have an idea for a show called Exceptional Women? Who are you
like? I had to constantly prove myself over and over and over again,
and it took a long time. And I also had to find other women
to be my allies, like our news director Gave Vernon, who was my
co host, huge ally of mine, my boss huge ally of mine.
But again, when you start out as the secretary, it's like turning the
Titanic. And a lot of people said to me years later, you would
have come along faster if you'd left Boston and gone to Hartford or gone to
Springfield, because you would have ended up in New York or Los Angeles.
You would have ended up in a bigger market than Boston. Because I'm really
good at what I do. But when you start somewhere as the low person
on the totem pole. Let me promise you there are a lot of people
who do not want to see you succeed. I would say that's in most
businesses. There you go, and I knew you'd say that. Tough as
nails, lady, I would say that, it's funny to watch the generations.
You know, I watched my grandfather. I watched my father take guys
up from underneath them. Yeah right, and take that, and many developers
and real estate guys and venture capitalists and hedge fund guys, they took that
young guy out of Harvard, am I whatever, it was, right right,
And it's like, you come with me, buddy, you got what
it takes. But women don't do that, not enough to although I found
a few who did, and God bless them for that. And I never
forgot it. No one's going to take me under their wing, Okay,
but it's okay. I took my daughter under my wing, right, and
that's been so beautiful to watch. Honestly wanted that. And other women didn't
like that. Yeah, they were harassed. Yeah, absolutely, you know,
Oh Samantha gets this because she's a daughter. They all these brokers forget
that I was in business for thirty years prior to Samantha coming into the business
twenty eight years, that they made millions of dollars off me and to help
build their careers, right what I was going to help build my daughter?
Like hello. But you know the other thing too, though, And I've
noticed this about sam is that you can open the door for her, but
she's through it. She's got to go through it. She's got to deliver
the goods and in a lot of ways, she's got to be ten times
better than the other person you might give a chance to. Look. She
had an article that came out a few years ago. She's been in Boston
magazine a few times. But I saw the rep to write, you know,
Cindy Stumpos her mom, bah bah bah, And the article came out
she was in California. I'm like, Saammy, I don't like this.
Like you've now you're on your own. They have to stop saying you're Cindy
Stumpo's daughter, Like and she's like, Mom, that doesn't bother me.
I'm like, but it bothers no, Mom, because if you weren't my
mom, I would be where I am safe. So I'm proud that you're
my mom. And I'm on the phone with three thousand miles away going I'm
ready to kill the reporter. Right, So we do. And that was
nice to say, though, Sam, And you're right with this girl.
Stand on her row two feet let us right. You open the door,
either one or two things happens. They go through it, or they keep
hitting the glass that you don't see and they fall backward. Right. Absolutely,
she's who she is today. Look at I led the horse to water,
but she drank and today I take her advice. Trust me, Sam,
I'm going to buy that deal. Now that deal doesn't make money.
Okay, I'm not going to buy that deal. I never thought the roles
are wisdom from the mouths of babes. Crazy. Okay. So how many
stations did you work at? Was it just what I say? You know?
What was really interesting is I worked for a company called Greater Media,
and Greater Media owned five radio stations. We were all under one roof in
Dorchester. There now have a new location and they've been sold to a company
called Beasley Media. But at the time we had one long hallway and in
that long hallway all five radio stations existed. All the studios were one right
after the other, and they used me in the afternoon as a traffic anchor
and a weather persons, and so I used to just keep my headphones on
and I would plug into our FM talk station and do weather and traffic in
news at the top and bottom of the hour, and then I would do
traffic and handoffs like lifestyle pieces on our country station and on Magic one oh
six point seven. And there were times, you guys, seriously, where
I'm running down the hallway plugging in, plugging out. I don't even know
what station I'm on half the top, right, So you were just going
you work at the same umbrella, but you just go sta correct. And
I was also the assistant program director, so I had a management position behind
the scenes, so that that little single mom who started out as the secretary
to the program director rose to become the second in command of the station.
And I was one of only six women in the country in that role at
that time. It seems that back then it was a higher paying job than
it is now. I think you're right. I think you're right. I
think the contract that I turned down to do mornings on Magic winnow six point
seven in twenty fifteen is probably twenty five percent less now than when I left.
Really, yeah, I think that's pretty what happened, pretty bad.
I just had enough. You know, it's a long story, but I'll
give you my short version, the short version of the Reata's digest version.
Go ahead. It really sucks to get up at three thirty in the morning,
and that's what you're doing day after day after day. And I did
it for two years, and they wanted me to do a three year deal,
and I said, you know, can we just do one year?
I think I could do it for one year. And they were like,
that's like being engaged and never getting married. I'll never forget it. And
I was like, but that's all I got in the tank for you.
You know, I don't have any more in the tank. And it's interesting
because when you're really young, you can do that. You know, you
can sleep for two hours and do an appearance and go home and still look
good. Well guess what you can't. You know, when you're in your
fifties, you can't. And it really really beat the crap out of me,
really did beat the crap out of me. And I felt like i'd
also climbed the mountain. When you think about it, when you do morning
drive, that's the day part where in radio you make the most money,
right, And I had a pretty good deal. But I thought, you
know what, I've gone from here to here and everywhere between, and a
lot of my friends were leaving, and I thought, you know what,
I'm going to start my own new chapter where I'm going to be in charge
of all my own content and nobody can tell me what to do what to
do, And that's how it goes. But it's funny how you get to
a certain age and you literally start to do that countdown and you start to
say, how do I want to live the next They're so ris I have
yat of my life right, Yes, I want to be getting up this
early yep, doing this And then you start to wait it all out.
But then there's a part of you that misses it. But if you made
the right choice because you said I need quality of life, I'm going to
hold my own thought. Right now, I'm sinning stud pointing and listen to
Tough his Nails on WDZ News. Lady your tenth third, don't give me
rite back? Sponsored by Pillow Windows of Boston. Next day, Molding and
Kennedy Carpet came to my rescue at the moment and welcome the city. Stumbo
Toughest Nails on wbn Z News Radio ten thirty. I'm here with Smantha and
kid Neil beautiful Candio. But yeah, you start to do the contown,
and you said I want to life. I did start to do the countdown.
And I think any woman who's listening to this program is very aware of
what we call the runway. Okay, the older we get, you know,
and and by the way, you and I are not old. We
look damn good, right, we got plenty of runway. But you just
start becoming more conscious of what you do and do not want. What's what
you're willing to accept? How much more of a countdown? Let's just run
away we were going into. Just just give me your heads up. We're
getting old then, Okay, no, no, you're only getting better.
Cindy stumfo. Let me tell you look like a million bucks. Okay,
you look like a million bucks. You've got so much in the tank,
You've got so much energy, you've got so much passion for everything that you
do. But what I'm saying is. I'm just not going to compromise anymore.
We have a conversation with Aba that you can so you know that thing
and we've you know, that guy with the black you know who I'm talking
about. You know, you know, come on, you know you haven't
had this conversation the guy with the black hair. She's giving you an example,
like when you're talking you can't remember the person's name, you tell a
story, oh yes, or uh, what's you know? I forget?
I do. I do have a hard time coming up with words. Every
once in a while. My husband and I have a pact whereby when I
forget something, he's in charge of remembering that, and vice versa. That's
love, baby. How many times have you said, what's that show watched
again? And he goes, We've watched two scenes already and you can't remember
that would be called Yellowstone Hunt. Yeah, that's it. Thank you,
Okay, thank you. You have to know that like that, stuff starts
happening and you're going this, this is my best one. Both of us
have our glasses, but there'll be times I put three ps on my head
and I'll go, oh my god, I do that. She has a
theory that you certainly your face and then get numb and you can't feel them.
Oh, go over my head. She'll take a picture. She goes,
you got three of them lined up on your head. I just said,
does your head go numb after a certain age? Like what happens?
Right? Well, right, for the first time, actually knew what you
were talking about the other day. But the hardest is when you text me
this and I can still figure out, like it's like Cindy's own language,
and I'm like, we're talking about this, we're talking about that. How
many times have you said to yourself? Maybe I have all times. Maybe
I'm getting you know, I'm going to admit that that is that is a
concern. That is a concern every once in a while. But you know
what, that's why I swim every day. That's why I'm trying to stay
as healthy as I can. You know. But listen, you and I
are rocket Okay, we are so far from the finish line. Come on
now, but still hold on, We're going hold on. I'm busted.
I'm busted here, all right, Okay, tell me what else going on?
Is there something in your bucket list that you haven't done to the moment,
that you really want to do. Well, yes, there are couple
things. Number One, I created a couple Okay, I only got so
many years left here. I created, I create, don't fence me in.
I created a radio network because I wanted to be able to run the
story behind her success on multiple radio stations. So I have nine stations that
are now running my show, and I would like to continue like a syndication
that you got it. And that's a way to monetize my content, right.
And this was another example of what my mother used to say, which
was Candice, stand on your own two feet, figure it out. And
I was sick and tired of asking for permission to do things. How come
women get that? But you can't say that to a guy. Oh there's
so many things. Oh my god, Sam, so many things. It's
just not as swat as me. Yeah. So anyway, there's the radio
network. I want to continue to expand that. And I really want to
take everything that I've done around women's empowerment and bring it all under one umbrella.
And that includes my sixteen life lessons, the story behind her success,
the radio network, and I would like to have a huge empowering platform where
I go all across the country and inspire huge audiences, not just with the
stories of the women that I've interviewed, but also with ways they can enrich
their own lives. And that would come down to me sharing my experience as
a speaker coach. How can you make sure your voice is heard? How
do you pursue your dreams and goals? And using these women as exampers,
examples, pieces of their audio, pieces of their music, It's an interactive
experience. I see it in my mind. Okay, so you want to
bring that to fruition, Yes, I do want to go out. You
want to go out and start hitting state out to state after state? Yeah,
yeah, I could see it byself or with it. I think.
I think this is a huge production thing. I think it will involve a
lot of people. But it's it's in my mind's eye, It's in my
dream, you know. It's funny, long before any of these conferences,
and yeah, Candy and Liz and I we sat down, we had a
meeting to do this, and we would be so big right now. We
literally what over ten years ago we sat down to discussed this. No,
I do on think it was ten years and eight years it was a while.
It lost years to COVID, so go back pride to Okay, Okay,
so add a few. So let's go seven years. How long has
has Liz been around on independent? Liz has been off television since twenty thirteen,
and I've been off the air since twenty fifteen. All Right, it's
like sixteen we met. Let's say, okay to talk about this, but
we're all so busy, Oh my god, companies and you know what,
there is a time where sometimes it's a serendipitous moment right where it all comes
together. Don't you worry, Cindy Semple, I haven't forgotten about you.
Yeah, And I have people that want me to go do that and run
with them. Then I have to go up and down on airplanes down,
and everybody knows city doesn't really love to fly. Okay, So that's the
two things on the bucket list that you want to do. Yeah, okay,
then why are you doing it? Well? I think that I'm pretty
close to pressing go on this. I've been really motivated over the last couple
of days. Have you guys heard of Tony Robbins. Of course, I
just finished a five day Tony Robbins immersion experience and during that he came to
Boston a few years ago. It was him, Brady. They go in
touch with me to do the circuit in the New England area, and I
just I too. We were so slammed. I couldn't do it. I
couldn't do it. I was so impressed. This is the second time.
The first time I did something called Unshakeable, and that was four days.
This was five days, and it's pretty life changing. I'm I'm very determined
to make this happen, and I think I'm the one to do it.
I believe Sam and Cindy that I have interviewed more women than anyone else in
the world. A thousand women have shared their stories with me. I challenge
anyone. I challenge Oprah Winfrey, I challenge Ellen. Honestly, I really
think I've interviewed more women, and I think I know how to talk to
women and how to bring out the best stories in women so they can help
each other. And there in lies the problem for me. And I'm going
to be straight with you, yes, okay, because you know me,
I don't mince words. For women to stick together, for women to have
each other's backs, that's going to take a lot of movement. That's not
happening tomorrow. It's not happening overnight because women are still jealous and they're still
insecure, and they're every husband that's cheating out the cheating with somebody with the
other woman. Right, Men have a tendency to be more loyal to each
other. Now, maybe they don't get caught up and they don't get caddy.
They're you know, they go out, they play golf together, they
play basketball together. Put four women on golf of course together, and they're
gonna say, oh, you see what Candy's wearing. She looks really stupid
in that dress. And maybe she cover up her kneecaps, like, man
don't talk that way. So maybe you might want to teach women how to
behave how to act, and maybe maybe that's part of the speaker coach training.
They will have a better But you know, I will say that friends.
I how many female good friends you have? Candy? Oh, I
could count them all on one hand. Okay, there you go, and
so can I. And and by the way, I could lose a couple
fingers okay, because they don't even make the finger, never mind the thumb.
All right, So there you go. That's something. Yeah, I
mean, and that's huge. That's huge. Although I don't know that a
successful women are alone in their own heads all the time. And I talk
from experience. I'm alone in my head a lot and you were too,
me too. I still okay, I still am. So remember that when
you're doing this right, I will. But here's where I will deviate from
where you're going, which is I don't know that that's my job. I
think my job is to tell the stories and to inspire the woman who's sitting
there in that audience, who is going to take the next woman by the
hand. Okay, because she's there. My job to get behind you and
have the big melt and say and listen, Okay, you want to be
successful and you want all this, here's we got to start with your sell
first. I can turn around and go and don't screw around, Cindy Stump.
Let me tell your people. Could be a good peer, a good
frack so. But no, those are the things you know, like,
we want to see women succeed. We want to see women. You look
and you've been the biggest fan out there, so I kuddles to you.
But they have to learn how to be a friend. Right, yep,
you don't have a problem with somebody succeeding over you. I don't have a
problem. I want her to blow up. Be bigger than me all day.
I have much more, do it better, do it bigger. I
know, I gotta go to break. Okay, I'm going to break.
I'm sidy stuff. Oh you listen to have his Nails on WBZ News Radio
ten thirty will be read best sponsored by new Brook Realty Group, Boston,
would Smaller Insurance World Auto Body and Tasca Drive Auto Body. Now that we
arrest, thank you so long and uh okay, wait to you. We
welcome back to Toughest Nails On WBC News Radio ten thirty eight. This is
Cindy Stumpo and I'm here with Maantha. What do you do? By the
way, listen to you. Do you work? Yes? Full time?
Would you oin a company? I do? What's it called? New Brook
Realty Group? Okay, very good, and we're here with hi. I'm
Candy. Oh why am I my ears a goal like this and my we
can't hear that. Only you can? Okay, good, all right?
I was getting staticy okay, go ahead, Katy, Hey, I was
going to tell you a funny story. Can I tell you funny story Mariah
Carey? I want to talk about what it was like to interview Mariah Carey.
So here we go. So she was coming to Boston and she had
just had a very bad flop with the movie Glitter. Oh my god,
I remember that movie Okay, And she was just releasing her fifteenth song that
had just gone to number one, And I thought, how can I be
memorable with Mariah Carey? So I went to Winston's and I asked for sixteen
long stem white roses, one for good luck, fifteen for all of her
number one songs, and one for good Luck. And I had them to
Mamma Bottom give me a big box with the biggest diva bo that they could
possibly find on this box. And I show up at the Four Seasons with
my box of roses, and Everybody's coming over to me. Mattie's coming over
to me, Billy's coming over to me, Pebbles is there. Everyone All
the morning people are there and they're like, Hey, what do you got
in the box? And I was like, get your hands off my box.
Finally it's time for me to go upstairs to the penthouse to interview Maria.
By the way, she took a nap, so everyone's like running four
hours behind. Okay, So her bodyguard is as big as this studio we're
standing in, I mean, and his hands were like these big mits.
And my producer and I walk in and she's standing there and I hander my
roses, and my producer smart guy, starts rolling very quickly, rolling tape,
very very quickly. She's taking the roses out one by one, putting
them in this gigantic vase. And as she's doing that, I start asking
her questions. And because she loves the roses, and because she's fully rested
and feeling good in her penthouse. Sweet I got the most in depth interview
with Mariah Carey that she'd ever given to anybody, talking all about how her
dogs were poisoned when she was a little girl, the names that she was
called, her purple journal, that had all of her number one songs in
it, sweeping hair off the floor in a beauty salon, you name it.
I got that interview and it's one of my very favorite ones. And
the punchline of the story is talk about being memorable. Right when we were
done with that interview. Every single time Mariah Carey came to Boston, she
would tell her record label, have the rose Lady from Boston introduce me.
I introduced her on every stage here in Boston, and she didn't really remember
my name. She just called me the Rocks. And every time she opened
up you and you, I was the one on the stage no matter where
she went. Is that crazy? That great? Yeah? That's I like
this. I thought you'd like that story, and I told it just because
I thought you would. And what are the good stories you have for us?
Oh? I have a recent story that I will tell you. I
have a podcast series which is called Country Music Success Stories, and we've done
three seasons. My co host and I she grew up in Chelmsford, singer
songwriter, and she lives in Nashville. And she said to me, Hey,
why don't we do a series in Nashville. I know so many people,
and our goal was to interview people in their favorite spot. Okay,
so maybe it's Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood together at their fire pit. Maybe
it's Naomi Jud in her barn. So I'll tell you the story of Naomi
Jud we get there. She lives in a town called Leaper's Fork, which
is idyllic picture horses grazing, white rail, open fences, country roads.
She owns five hundred acres. She and her husband who used to sing back
up for Elvis Presley, Larry Strickland Wainona lives there. Ashley lives there,
but they're miles apart because it's five hundred acres, right, And she was
seventy four years old when she allowed me to interview her. Her barn has
a recording studio in it. You walk through an entire room like the one
we're in, which is phil from top to bottom with sparkles, like it's
all spangles and sparkles. It's all her, you know, her costumes from
being on the stage. And she was shaking when she walked in the room.
She had a little baseball cap on. She's very small, and her
whole body was shaking. And I thought, oh my god, you know,
what's this going to be like? Right? And I knew that she
suffered from mental illness. And we sat down and she poured her heart out
to me in this interview, including what it was like to live in this
cabin on a mountain, stinkin mountaintop in Kentucky. She told me the story
about how she was raped by a boyfriend who was a heroin addict, ran
out of the out of the la apartment, blood everywhere, one way ticket
back to Kentucky from her father, ends up on a mountaintop, puts herself
through nursing school. The little cassette that had she and Winona singing one song
on it that she as after she became a nurse, handed to the father
of a girl who she was taken care of in the ICU, and she
said, sir, I know you're very busy, can you take a listen
to this tape of my daughter Winona and I singing. And he left that
in his cassette deck for days and days and days, and one day he
just pressed play and the rest is history. He called her in. They
went to RCAA Records. She went into a bathroom and got high. She
was so terrified. She went into a bathroom and got high, came out.
She and Winona played that song live, did it in two part harmony,
and she got a seven record deal from RCAA Records. And that's how
that happened. Isn't that crazy? And she passed away from she did she
killed herself depressed and she had tried five times. Last known full length interview
with her, and I say, you've had some other great ones, Candy,
come on, you know don Stevie Nick. She had to be cool
too. M Enix said to me, I don't regret the cocaine. I
only regret the klonopin because it took away my creativity. Yeah. She also
told me, I wish I could put you in my pocket and bring you
to Candlestick Park in San Francisco for some of those big seventies concerts where it
was one hundred thousand people as far as the eye could see. And I
thought, oh, I wish I could have. I wish you could put
me in your pocket. Right, crazy InCred to Bonnie Rait. Bonnie Rait
was the nastiest creature I have ever interviewed in my life. Creature. She
made me cry. She made me cry. She was so nasty through the
entire interview. By the time, she was just everything was just I'm asking
her deep questions, right and by the way, I even told her the
story about how I snuck out of my my bedroom as a little girl of
well, you know, teenager living in Hartford outside of Hartford, Connecticut to
go and see her at Bushnell Park. Oh really, okay, I mean
I got grounded for a week. It's got to mean something, right,
Like you were my favorite? You know, she couldn't have cared less.
Okay. The big mistake artists make when they're jerks in an interview is they
have to remember the person who's interviewing them is going to be playing their song
later that day. So if you think I have anything nice to say coming
out of something to talk about, you're crazy. I love it. I
love it. Okay. Sally Ride, Oh my god, Sally Ride.
So Sally Ride was an interview that Gay Vernon had, but I know the
answer. I know exactly how this went because I was in the room,
but Gay was the person doing the interview, and Sally Ride told the story,
you guys, of what it was like to be seated in the challenge
her when the rocket boosters go off and you are a trained astronaut. I
mean, she's a brilliant, brilliant woman. God bless her. She's dead
now. But anyway, she said, when those rocket boosters ignite, it's
an out of body experience. The sound is so loud and you are shut
up into space in like seconds, and then before you know it, you're
looking out the window and the Earth is so far away from you. I'd
be freaked out. There's an anxiety attack right there. That's not even to
happen. But it's cretible. Incredible stories. Incredible stories, right, Incredible
stories. And you've done first ladies. You've had a big career, that
Candy. It's really been amazing, it really has. And what I've learned
is you just need to treat this person, no matter who they are,
whether they're famous or a backyard hero, with the same amount of respect and
love, woman to woman. The saddest interview I've ever done is with Maggie
Bish, the mother of Molly Bish. Okay, we got to go to
break on that one and might not be able to finish that story. I'm
Sidney Stumble and Top of Nails on w BZ News Radio ten thirty. Boy,
things are going to get easy. Yeah, welcome back to Toughest Nails
on WBZ News Radio ten thirty. And I'm Cindy Stumpo and this is my
daughter Amantha Stump Thank you, and this is my friend Candyo. Hey,
it's been such a pleasure to be on your show. I was talking about
when we went to break, I was talking about the beautiful Maggie Bish.
She was the mother of, or is the mother of Molly Bish who was
abducted and murdered. And the what I want to say is what I've learned
about women everywhere is that they have so much love. And even though this
woman had experienced the worst loss a mother could ever experience, she was so
kind, so gentle, so caring, and so willing to do what she
could for children everywhere. Okay, it was a pleasure having you ways,
it's a pleasure, my dear everybody. This is Cindy Stumpo Tough as Nails
on WBZ News Radio ten thirty. Have a great, safe weekend, and
we'll see you next week.