Gregory Fake, assistant producer for the award-winning Lifetime television program, Balancing Act, shares his personal side through talking with Community Blog Online about prison ministries.
Community Blog Online: Thank you for joining us. Please tell our readers how you got involved with prison ministries.
Gregory Fake: I am a deacon at my church and prison ministry is a big part of our church mission.
Community Blog Online: Prison ministry must be difficult; can you describe a bit about your first impressions of the prison environment and the inmates?
Gregory Fake: Prison is a very different world. For anyone who has never been on the inside, it can be startling. The inmates were intimidating at first, but this changed as I became better at my counseling and better at understanding their needs.
Community Blog Online: What services do you and your partners provide to inmates?
Gregory Fake: Mainly, we do a lot of listening and reminding inmates that they are loved and there is hope.
Community Blog Online: Talk more about the counseling provided to inmates…
Gregory Fake: The people I meet in jail and prison have suffered tremendous hardships in their lives; I am there to help them deal with their demons, while creating a path to a brighter day through spiritual work.
Community Blog Online: What do you do for the families of inmates?
Gregory Fake: I am in the prison regularly and am available to families who might need advice and reassurance.
Community Blog Online: Is it difficult for prisoners to see the brighter side of life?
Gregory Fake: Of course. Some of these men are wracked with guilt for the pain they have caused in others and don’t believe they are worthy of forgiveness. I remind them that forgiveness is for everyone.
Community Blog Online: What have you learned about yourself since becoming involved with prison ministry?
Gregory Fake: The men I have met in jails and prisons are so honest and open about their challenges. They have taught me to face challenges in my own life with more honesty.
Community Blog Online: How does this ministry help inmates deal with their criminal past?
Gregory Fake: Forgiveness is a huge first step for inmates. Once they accept that they are forgiven, they begin to move forward.
Community Blog Online: Do inmates always continue on that path forward?
Gregory Fake: Unfortunately, no. I wish it were that easy. It is painful to watch someone who has come so far, someone I have come to know and care about, fall back into addiction or criminal behavior. But we are all human and setbacks are part of the plan, so I cannot let that deter me from my passion to serve the other inmates.
Gregory Fake lives with his wife and children in Florida. Prior to becoming a television producer, Gregory Fake worked as a business consultant for Fortune 500 companies and as a banking attorney.
O2 Media™ is an award winning branded entertainment provider with a particular focus on women. Through their signature shows, The Balancing Act™ and Designing Spaces®, O2 Media™ has helped launch countless product lines and increase visibility for many existing products and services. O2 Media™ offers direct response marketing via television, print, and product integration resulting in a long line of happy clients during their years in the branded entertainment industry. Below is a sampling of the testimonials they have received over the years:
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The goal that we are attempting to accomplish with being on The Balancing Act® is to reach women. We have a product that is ideal for moms on the go, anyone who is concerned with keeping their metabolism revved up. The Balancing Act® seems to be a great platform for us to actually reach those people.
Robert Ferguson, Nutrition/Author/Endorser, Proclaim Nutrition
The set of The Balancing Act® is now and has always been designed to emphasis products for our viewership – women. We are pleased that this platform was a good fit for you.
Doug Campbell, The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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Very nice atmosphere, comfortable people. I enjoyed my time here.
David Hawk, Marketing Consultant, Team Angel Barn Dad Nutrition
We strive very hard to create a relaxed environment. We believe our audience reads into the comfort levels of our guests. This is part of the reason why The Balancing Act® has been so successful the last 14 years. We appreciate your trust in O2 Media™ and The Balancing Act®.
Doug Campbell, The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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We believe that the audience traditionally has been just contractors but our real audience that we want to reach are homeowners, builders, real estate people—so more home industry people as opposed to plumbing contractors or fire sprinkler contractors directly.
Gary Ike, General Manager, Talco Fire Systems
We are glad to hear that Designing Spaces™ has put your product in front of a new demographic. Fire safety is something that all homeowners should be concerned about. Thank you for sharing with us.
Lysa Liemer, Designing Spaces™
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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We’ve done a lot in another life, in other companies that myself and my peers work with. We’ve done other programs like this but not one that has been so, I could say, The Balancing Act® is very segmented on women’s health. So for us, it fit perfectly.
Michael Sullivan, VP Sales & Marketing, Avlon Pharmaceuticals
We appreciate your vote of confidence and are positive this is the beginning of a long and lucrative relationship.
Doug Campbell,The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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The kitchen set was amazing. The food dishes looked great. So it’s just been really exciting for us.
Meghan Walker, National Sales & Marketing Manager, EZ Bean Cooker
Meghan, thank you for the kind words but your product definitely made it easy. The EZ Bean Cooker is a new favorite around here.
Doug Campbell, The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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It was a great experience, a lot of fun. You guys were incredibly well-prepared. You walked through the shots very professionally. The takes were gotten in a minimal amount of time. It was a great experience. You guys had everything together; we didn’t have a lot to worry about except to be here and make sure our talent was prepared. It was a great experience.
Judy Bellack, Primedia
Everyone needs a space and the Apartment Guide is sure to help some of our viewers find theirs. Thank you for joining us.
Lysa Liemer, Designing Spaces™
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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If you have a brand new product or really any product that you want to demonstrate or have a nice way to get in front of your target audience, it’s a good way to go.
David Gonzalos II, Founder & CEO, Impact Advanced Can
We try to make the experience as easy as possible for our clients. We understand that launching a new product can be difficult, especially when you are facing television for the first time. Thank you, David. We enjoyed you coming down to our studio.
Doug Campbell, O2 Media™
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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It’s been different in that we’ve been involved in shows. We have a video division also that we put together documentaries and such. I’ve done some interviews with historians and the former head of the KGB and such but it’s very different than that.
Dr. Kevin T. Brady, President & CEO, Amer. Inst. For History Education
We are so glad that our Parent-Teacher corner was such a good fit to get your message across. We agree with you that history is a vital component to our youths’ education.
Doug Campbell, The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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They are very welcoming. You get your own space and you get to prep. Then you go into hair and makeup. It’s wonderful. All of the equipment is laid out nicely. You are at ease when you’re on the set.
Sonia Thomasino, Marketing Manager, Pilot Corp. of America
This means so much to us coming from you. Thank you for the encouraging words and we look forward to working with Pilot again in the future. You’ve got the “Write” stuff!
Doug Campbell, O2 Media™
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
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Typically we’ve been marketing only via the web. Any videos we do are YouTube and that type of thing. We haven’t done any television marketing. This is more people are sitting there watching the TV whereas on YouTube or wherever, you are competing with everybody else trying to get views.
Rick Wenner, Manager—Health & Fitness Products, Scosche Industries
One of the positives about having an established program like The Balancing Act® is that you know who your audience is going into it. We are so glad that we were able to provide your product to our viewership.
Doug Campbell, The Balancing Act®
3850 N. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33073
954-691-1102
The following segment aired on “The Balancing Act” on Lifetime Television. Joining the show was Giulio Verillo to discuss his new book.
The Balancing Act: Our next guest has lived quite the life, he’s travelled all over the world working with some of the biggest names in the hair styling industry; Vidal Sassoon in London, L’Oreal in Paris, John Paul Mitchell, and Jaques Dejohn’s in New York. No doubt a hairstylist by heart but now he adds a new title, that of author. With us this morning is Giulio Verillo, author of “A Slap on the Back of the Head.” Good morning.
Verillo: Good morning, thank you for inviting me.
The Balancing Act: I’m glad you’re here, I’ve got to tell you, when I first picked up the book I said “a slap on the back of the head, what’s that?”
Verillo: That means that is how my father used to wake me up every day, not for school but just for life in general. It was a good slap on the back of the head.
The Balancing Act: Kind of like my dad, you know that slap that says “wake up.”
Verillo: Exactly. I think we all need a few of those slaps on the back of the heads these days…
The Balancing Act: Let’s talk about your family, you are from Italy, your mom and dad were born and raised there, right?
Verillo: Yes, and so was I.
The Balancing Act: Talk to me about that.
Verillo: Well, I was born in Italy; we came over when I was about five years old. They had quite the great life but my dad and my mom decided that because of the economy they were going to come here; they were going to give us the American dream. They gave up everything, the selfishness, you know, everything for them, and turned it all for everything for us.
The Balancing Act: And I know for you it was hard because you were only five when you came to the states and no doubt a new language, new culture, new friends, and I read in your book pretty tough times for you.
Verillo: Yeah, I was bullied quite a bit when I was younger and I didn’t know that I had what they call learning disabilities. I call them gifts today. I was diagnosed later on by years with ADD, OCD, and dyslexia and phonics challenges, so I wasn’t the best student. However, it was rough because, you know, being downed by teachers and being bullied, your self-esteem is pretty low; I had quite a rough time.
The Balancing Act: I can only imagine, but yet you really made it. You kept moving forward, which you talk about in your book a lot, and you make it to college but yet one day you tell your father—and I’m sure he gave you a slap on the back of the head—that you are not going to finish college.
Verillo: Believe me; I was ducking what I was trying to tell him at the same time, because I didn’t know what was going to come.
The Balancing Act: I can imagine what my dad would have done to me.
Verillo: But, yeah, you know, letting them know that this wasn’t for me, I was trying to think of any excuse to make them proud of me, I’m like “I’ll go in the marines, mate they’ll shake me up.” That was tough but dad just stood there with that stare that was worse than a slap, that disappointment, you know, your brother is a doctor and what are you going to be now?
The Balancing Act: Oh…
Verillo: You know, change your name is pretty much what he was saying through those eyes (laughs).
The Balancing Act: And then you tell your dad you’re going to become a hair stylist. I’m going to assume that did not go over well.
Verillo: No, he was probably thinking is there more you want to tell me? But first of all, it was full of pretty girls; who doesn’t want to go to school where there are all pretty girls? That’s one incentive to get there, but as I did that I knew I had a gift, a gift that I didn’t understand I had before and it came naturally and it was fun and it was addicting, it was—I had a passion for it.
The Balancing Act: And you really became successful, Giulio! I mean, you really became a very famous hair stylist and successful in your own business.
Verillo: I had so much passion for it that I did it for the love not for the money. I knew the money would be the applaud for the great job that I’ve done, but my father most importantly, you know, he went from that disgusted look even though he supported me, to that okay, you got it going on. You’re not your brother, you’re not the doctor, but okay you’re doing well.
Verillo: That was the one thing I thought in the beginning he wouldn’t let me do, but as we got more comfortable, I would tease him as I would cut his hair. I’m telling him I’m going to make him look like Frank Sinatra, I was going to make him look like this, you know, so we did have some fun time even though he was a very strict man.
The Balancing Act: I know a turning point for you also is when you get married and you have two beautiful boys, tell me about your kids and what that did for you.
Verillo: Oh, having two boys, you know, even though he wasn’t there to slap me, you could feel the slap, like “Wake up, you’ve got two, how are you going to teach them, what are you going to give them like I gave you? The etiquette, the respect, the integrity, and you’ve got to model that process like I modeled it for you.” So everything comes back and I took that seriously, too, and that’s how I raised my kids.
The Balancing Act: It’s a great autobiography, what inspired you to write it?
Verillo: It wasn’t a story about me; it was a story about letting people know that through acts of love and life lessons, you can have that journey to success. No matter what your past was like, no matter how many failures, which I call discoveries, they are not failures they are discoveries and you learn from your discoveries and you can do anything you want when you fall in love with you first. When you fall in love with yourself you can make it anywhere.
The Balancing Act: To end, I know your dad played a huge role in your life and I know he passed on and in your book you write about seeing him for the last time. It’s pretty poignant what you did, can you read to my viewers that part of the book?
Verillo: I would love to read it. I have a chapter here at the end that I’ll share with you: “At the funeral home I was invited to give him a last haircut. I went in to the embalming room and I found him on the stainless steel table waiting for me. I cut my father’s hair for the last time, and as I did, I continued to think about all that I had learned from my father. It was silent, it was quiet, but he was laying there as if he was smiling and I could hear him speaking to me in the sense of ‘I’m proud of you, you’re successful, I’ve done well, you’ve learned everything, go on and teach it to everyone else and thanks for the great haircut.’”
The Balancing Act: Thank you for your time, thank you! Great story, thank you, Giulio.
The Balancing Actis the only morning show in America produced by women specifically for women. Every morning, The Balancing Act on Lifetime hosts Danielle Knox and Kristy Villa tackle the issues that face today’s woman. Popular show segments include live weather updates with Mark Mancuso, surprise celebrity visitors, and news about the latest trends affecting your life, home, career and family. The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television airs daily on Lifetime at 7 a.m. ET/PT. For more information, visit The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television’s website at http://www.thebalancingact.com.
The following segment originally aired on the national TV show, The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television. The featured guest was furniture designer, Shawn Nelson to explain his revolutionary furniture line called ‘LoveSac’.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television host Danielle Knox: I am sitting on this comfortable sofa with Shawn Nelson, a man whose unique vision is revolutionizing the face of furniture today. The LoveSac is a great piece of furniture. Did you just wake up one day and say ‘I want to make an oversized beanbag chair? What is the story behind it?
Shawn: The whole company started because I was 18 years old and thought it would be funny to make the world’s biggest beanbag.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: You were 18 years old?
Shawn: I went out and bought the fabric, took it home, cut it up and sewed it up. I started filling it with everything soft that I could find. And when I finally got it done and took it out and used it, everyone seemed to want one.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: It’s interesting because did you ever fancy yourself a furniture designer?
Shawn: No. I actually left the country for two years to go be a missionary, came back to finish university and started using the ‘Sac’ again. Once again, everybody wanted to buy one. So I started this little company and we started selling them out of a van and making them in the basement for three or four years. Also at home shows, boat shows, car shows. Finally I got an order for 12,000 units at this big trade show.
Shawn: Yes, with just me and my buddies. So we built a factory on credit cards and in order to keep that factory alive when we finished that order, we opened our first retail store at a mail in Salt Lake City in 2001. Since then it’s been a few years and we have 25 locations around the country in shopping malls from L.A to New York City.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: So, you’re in a store and you have the LoveSac, sitting next to a sofa. Just so people can get an idea of how it flows and fits into a room. Then what happens?
Shawn: In the very first store, it was set up like a living room and people kept trying to buy the sofa. So I spent five years trying to develop a sofa that we could actually carry in stock, deliver it in a box and it would be really easy to assemble. I wanted to be able to make all kinds of different furniture configurations and make it machine-washable and that is what we did. We called these pieces, ‘sactionals.’
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Can you explain to The Balancing Act Viewers how this furniture works and what the options are?
Shawn: I am going to show you how it works. I am going to take that chair, change its covers, make a completely different color chair and then we’re going to build some other things out of it as well.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: well that sounds like a tall order. Let’s check it out.
Shawn: So go ahead and have a seat on the arm because people are going to do that. What you’re sitting on is a completely machine-washable chair. Every piece of this can just be peeled off and changed out. Actually, this chair was built from just two components. Three sides and one base make an armchair in ‘sactionals.’
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Boy that’s awesome! Now, because you have talked about machine washable a lot of times, I’d like to see how we take these off and wash them.
Shawn: And you can also just change the covers if you get tired of a certain color.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Let’s do it.
Shawn: Just move these cushions out of the way, go ahead and grab that black strap, yank it and now we can take these pieces and build whatever we want out of them. We can add another piece on, but first we can change the covers.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Okay, and let’s build something bigger.
Shawn: Okay, with just a few bases and sides, you can literally build anything you want with no tools required, no talent, and you can change the covers as often as you like. There are lots of different fabrics, colors, whatever you like.
The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: So where can The Balancing Act viewers find out more information?
Shawn: You can just go to lovesac.com or there might be a store near you. Otherwise you can order anything you want off the website.
The Balancing Act Lifetime Television is the only morning show in America produced by women specifically for women. Every morning, The Balancing Act on Lifetime hosts Danielle Knox and Kristy Villa tackle the issues that face today’s woman. Popular show segments include Live weather updates with Mark Mancuso, surprise celebrity visitors, and news about the latest trends affecting your life, home, career and family. The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television airs daily on Lifetime at 7 a.m. ET/PT. For more information, visit The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television’s website at http://www.thebalancingact.com.
According to BrandStar Entertainment, scrapbooking has evolved since digital photography has taken a front seat to film-fed cameras. With this change comes the modernization of scrapbook creation, notes BrandStar Entertainment, bringing a multimedia dimension to this fun hobby. BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act’ on Lifetime recently welcomed field correspondent Kathy Peterson, an arts and crafts expert, who introduced a new service to viewers, available at http://www.scrapblog.com, which will help scrapbookers preserve memories in an easy, creative manner. The show has already aired and is available at BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act’ website at http://www.thebalancingact.com
“Unlike old-style scrapbooks, with Scrapblog.com you can add music, stickers and video; edit photos and easily drop and drag all your creative elements onto the pages with just a few clicks of the mouse,” pointed out Kathy Peterson while filming BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act.’
This segment of BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act’ also highlighted scrapbooking as a unique gift idea. For those looking for creative and fun gift ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person, Peterson told BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act,’ viewers to login to scrapblog.com, choose a theme, then customize a scrapbook to fit the intended recipient. Scrapblog.com will print a customized scrapbook and ship it to the recipient’s home address, Kathy said on BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act.’ Even better news—registration isn’t required. You don’t even have to buy any software to use this service. BrandStar Entertainment invites you to watch this segment of ‘The Balancing Act’ to learn more.
As Kathy said on this BrandStar Entertainment ‘The Balancing Act’ segment, a digital scrapbook is unlike traditional scrapbooks in that it can be published online. This allows friends and family to view a scrapbook, no matter how far away they are. Kathy also pointed out on her BrandStar Entertainment ‘The Balancing Act’ segment that other users can comment on the scrapbook, allowing a creator to interact with others who share similar interests.
BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act’ airs daily on Lifetime Television. In addition to this segment on digital scrapbooking, BrandStar Entertainment’s The Balancing Act features interviews with celebrities, authors, and self-help experts. With segments centered on empowering and bettering women’s lives, BrandStar Entertainment’s ‘The Balancing Act’ focuses on solutions-based programming. Digital scrapbooking is a great example of the type of shows BrandStar Entertainment likes to bring to women.
More information, as well as tutorials and their show “Get Crafty,” are available at their website, http://www.scrapblog.com.
BrandStar Entertainment’s The Balancing Act features television exclusively for women. With entertaining segments that inspire and enrich viewers’ lives, BrandStar Entertainment strives to give women the tools necessary to succeed in all areas, including career, family, and personal well-being.
Solutions 