Category: Domestic Violence

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Tola Talks Relationships w/ Expert Jennifer Gaynor-Yaker

 

Tola Talks all things Dating with guest co-host and Relationship Expert, Jennifer Gaynor-Yaker. On Top 10 Tuesdays, Rich also talks about the FBI posing as The Seattle Times to catch a suspect, windowless planes making air travel more cost-effective, National Chocolate Day, YouTube launching a paid subscription service, plus the Get Your S#!T Together Award to a single Mom who left her infant children alone in her 100 degree car to attend a job interview.

Watch weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks.

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Tola Talks’ Rich Tola with Life Coach & Relationship Expert, Jennifer Gaynor-Yaker
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Tola Talks with Voice Artist & Director Karen McCarthy

 

Tola Talks with “the woman of a thousand voices”, Hollywood Voice Artist & Director, Karen McCarthy. On Throwback Thursdays, Rich interviews Karen and her imaginary friends plus gives you the scoop on the baby boom in North Dakota, the roller-coaster ride on Wall Street & market corrections, wedding bells for Lady Gaga & Taylor Kinney, holiday jobs at Amazon & promising retail forecasts, the richest people in all 50 United States – Bill Gates at the top of course – plus the Get Your SH!T Award & highlights of 1990.

Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks

Tola Talks' Rich Tola with Voice Artist & Director, Karen McCarthy
Tola Talks’ Rich Tola with Voice Artist & Director, Karen McCarthy
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Tola Talks w/ Fashionista & Stylist Melissa Chataigne

 

Tola Talks underwater shipwrecks & Christopher Columbus, lightening strikes & rituals, Paris & the Eiffel Tower, GYST Awards & the NFL, plus The Best of LA from LA Weekly Magazine. On Top 10 Tuesdays, Rich also talks personal shopping with stylist and fashionista, Melissa Chataigne. Live weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks.

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Tola Talks’ Rich Tola with Fashionista and Personal Stylist, Melissa Chataigne
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Tola Talks w/ 99 Cent Store Brand Ambassador Papa Joe

 

Tola Talks weight loss, GYST Award for an Olympic Champion and the USA Today.  On Wellness Wednesdays, Rich interviews the Brand Ambassador for the 99 Cent Store – and 250 pound loser – Papa Joe Aviance. Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks.

Tola Talks' Rich Tola with the Brand Ambassador for the 99 Cent Store, Papa Joe Aviance
Tola Talks’ Rich Tola with the Brand Ambassador for the 99 Cent Store, Papa Joe Aviance

 

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Do it with The Ellen Show

Are you one of those individuals who never has time to workout? Or to put it bluntly – since I’m definitely not one for beating around the bush – are you one of those non-fitness types who thinks they have a legitimate “I have no time” reason for never working out?

If you are (with no judgment whatsoever folks), then here’s a little something for you:

My 5-minute, full-body, Yoga-based workout from Rich Tola’s Yoga Survival Guide that you can do while watching The Ellen Show. That’s right, a 5-minute workout you can easily muster during commercial breaks with Ellen DeGeneres. With a little dance warm-up to boot!

From beginners to seasoned yoginis who want to enhance their practice by learning the proper fundamentals of Yoga, my 2 1/2 hour video encyclopedia of 100 Yoga poses will do just that. Learn Yoga anywhere…with my 5-minute fun & effective lessons that were filmed throughout the streets of Hollywood in 2010 to benefit my charity, The Boulevard Zen Foundation, teaching Yoga to women and children living in domestic violence shelters.

Because who doesn’t have 5 minutes a day to respect themselves?  Enjoy – R

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Kick Him to the Curb

These five simple yet powerful words are meant to help ANY woman who’s being abused by a significant other and doesn’t believe she has the wherewith-all or courage to do something about it.

Case in point: A few months ago I had just returned to Hollywood when I met this really sweet thirty-something year-old gal who had been living with her lazy, no-good boyfriend for the past 5 years. And I say lazy, no-good because not only does this scumbag mentally and emotionally abuse my friend, but this disrespectful low-life doesn’t pay rent, doesn’t hold a steady job, doesn’t look for work, doesn’t cook or clean or help with chores around the apartment, doesn’t help pay for groceries, and doesn’t own a car but always uses hers. Now I would call that a blood-sucking disrespectful low-life, wouldn’t you? The good news is she doesn’t own anything with him nor do they have children together.

Yesterday I had coffee with her and specifically asked why she still supports this abusive scumbag considering she has ALL the power in the relationship, which by the way, has her looking like she’s suffering from Anorexia nervosa. She meekly said, “He’s not so bad, you know, and even if I wanted, I wouldn’t know how to get him out.” My advice was these five simple words – KICK HIM TO THE CURB. She just looked at me like I was crazy until I said, “It’s really simple if you have the courage to end it – and here are three ways you can do it: 1) tell your landlord you’re being abused by your live-in boyfriend and you need to move out, then pack up all your things when he’s not there and hire a few very large men to help you move everything into a storage unit and go live with your parents or your best friend; 2) on your way out the door tomorrow morning tell your boyfriend he’s got until 5pm to vacate the premises and never return again, at which point you’ll be returning with the police (or other suitable protection) and a restraining order against him; or 3) pack-up all his belongings when he’s not there and leave them on the porch with a note saying if he comes within 100 yards of you or your apartment ever again, you’ll have him arrested (and go directly to the authorities for that restraining order).

Anyone who’s familiar with my charity, The Boulevard Zen Foundation, knows that I’m passionate about changing the lives of women and children living in domestic violence shelters. And not just with a daily fitness program that’s based on Yoga, but with a self-respecting and open-hearted approach to life that starts with loving yourself and never letting anyone abuse you in any way, shape or form.

Know that ALL abusers are the weak ones, and know that ANYONE can find the courage to seek help from domestic violence organizations and shelters that are there for you.

Be strong and KICK HIM TO THE CURB – you can do it!

As for that scumbag boyfriend of yours – or anyone else abusing any man, woman or child – really look at yourself in the mirror and commit to changing your evil ways – you can do it! And you can start by reading my memoir, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood, where a portion of all sales goes to support my charity and our Yoga teachers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Everyone! – R

PS – Don’t forget to get your workout in!

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You Can Do It

This was the last thing I said to the twenty-something year old subway rider I met on the Red Line in North Hollywood last night. I was returning home from a day at the beach with my friend Sara (a rather impromptu visit, thus my jeans and Calvin’s) when this really large dude started speaking to me.

As soon as this guy sat down he looked over at me and said, “So what’a ya bench 350 pounds or something?” I smiled and said no, and then I asked if he ever tried yoga. I already knew the answer, but it was a way of breaking the ice about his size. He was at least 50 pounds overweight, and after a few facts about yoga I asked if he was trying to lose weight. “Yeah”, at least 50 pounds”, he said, “and I think I know what to eat and all that, like fruits and vegetables and no cakes and fried foods.” Cool, I thought, he’s on the right track. Then I asked if he had 20 minutes every morning to go for a brisk walk. “Walk right out your front door and keep going for exactly 10 minutes, then stop, turn around and walk back”, I said, “and there’s your mile of cardio to start every day.”

“But that’s not the problem”, he said. “I think I can’t lose weight because I drink a lot of beer every day.” Then I asked, “Like what…two six-packs a day?” He answered, “Yeah, that sounds about right”.

Now if you’ve read my sexy new memoir, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood, you know I also liked my beverages until I quit 5 years ago. Because 12 drinks a day is a lot of alcohol for any one of any size. And I told this guy so, then I gave him a suggestion. I recommended the following: Take ½ of everything you are going to eat or drink – every single time you eat or drink – for the next 30 days and give it to a homeless person. That’s right – wrap up half your food and half your booze, every day for the next 30 days, and give it to a homeless person. “You’ll be helping them and helping yourself”, I said, “and I bet soon into the 30 days you’ll be eating and drinking a lot less; and I guarantee you’ll lose weight.” Somewhere between 5-10 pounds I surmised, and for the New Year that’s only 3 months away, I told my large friend he should set his sights on 3 beers a day for all of 2013. He just looked at me in disbelief and said, “Wow, wouldn’t that be cool.” Yes it would, which I sincerely reinforced with my final four words of encouragement, “You Can Do It”.

Anyone can, if you STOP feeling sorry for yourself and BELIEVE you can! Get started today with a new attitude and a new look on whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. Especially the impossible.

And my special thanks go out to NY and NJ’s “Entertainment Bible since 1988” Steppin’ Out Magazine for featuring my poem on page 32 of their September 26th edition. A little something I wrote to help the ladies differentiate the good guys from the players called, “10 Ways to Avoid a Gigolo”.

Enjoy – Rich

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Drink from the Fountain of Youth

Looking and feeling young isn’t an accident. Looking old is.

Working out every single day of your life will not only turn back the hands of time, but it makes you sexy, confident, and successful.

And you’ll glow.

So if you’re looking for an entertaining and inspiring book to read while you’re sitting on the beach this summer, my sexy memoir Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood, not only motivates you to embrace a daily fitness program, but it also gives you hope – that anyone can pursue their passion and live their dream.

Enjoy – R

Available on AMAZON.com – Kindle ($9.99).

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I’ve landed in Bushwick

Where in the world is Bushwick, you might ask? A far cry from Hollywood and the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams’, right? Well, not exactly.

Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of Brooklyn, bounded by Williamsburg to the west, East New York to the east, Bed-Stuy to the south, and Ridgewood, Queens to the north. With a population of about 150,000, “most residents are Latinos from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and from the Dominican Republic, but more recent years have seen an increase in native-born Americans as well as other Latino groups, particularly immigrants from Mexico”. And with a subway stop right outside my front door (the elevated M line), I can reach downtown Manhattan in about 20 minutes.

So why choose Bushwick for the next leg of my journey? Specifically to put me close to Wall Street where I can sell my sexy memoir, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood, and most importantly, where I can affordably re-connect with my acting roots and audition for that role of a lifetime – or any suitable roles in film, TV and even Broadway for that matter. Yes, Broadway, because just like my book says, “it’s a calling” and “the proof is in the pudding”, so let the talented survive and the confident thrive.

And for anyone looking to expand their horizons and be inspired to try – that is, to pursue your true passion that may lead you to greatness – then read my memoir and decide. Because you really can achieve anything in life if you believe in yourself and just set your sights and try!

Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood is available in paperback ($15.99) and in ebook on Kindle ($9.99). A portion of sales help women and children survivors of domestic violence.