Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino

Friday, August 14, 2026

NicoleYvette Interview | Say Yes (2026) | Jazz, Gospel Roots, Prince & Finding Her Voice

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with acclaimed jazz vocalist and composer NicoleYvette.

On this episode, we dive into her powerful 2026 debut recording, Say Yes, and the remarkable life in music that led her to this moment.

Say Yes is a deeply personal and fully realized jazz statement—one that explores identity, faith, resilience, transformation, self-discovery, and the journey from the dark night of the soul to the dawn of the self.

NicoleYvette's debut features an extraordinary collection of artists, including Kurt Elling, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joel Ross, J. Ivy, Keyon Harrold, and Paul Cornish. The album was produced by three-time GRAMMY® Award winner Sara Gazarek, bringing together an exceptional group of musicians around NicoleYvette's distinctive artistic vision.

But Say Yes isn't simply about the impressive names surrounding the recording. At its heart is NicoleYvette's story—her gospel roots, her relationship with music, her love of Prince, and the experiences that shaped her voice as both a vocalist and composer.

The album feels like a lifetime of departures and arrivals, capturing the emotional process of leaving one version of yourself behind and stepping fully into another.

This is a conversation about jazz, soul, gospel, faith, Prince, personal transformation, and the courage it takes to finally say yes to yourself.

NicoleYvette's debut is more than an introduction—it is a declaration.

NicoleYvette Official Website:
https://nicoleyvettemusic.com/

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Luiza Girardello Interview | Brazilian Jazz, Cancer Survival, Immigration & Finding Her Voice

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with award-winning Brooklyn-based singer and songwriter Luiza Girardello.

In this deeply personal conversation, we catch up with a young and rising artist whose music is shaped by a life lived between worlds. Born in Brazil, educated at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and now based in New York City, Luiza has spent much of her life navigating questions of identity, belonging, culture, and artistic expression.

Those experiences have become central to her music.

Luiza's sound draws from Brazilian rhythms, jazz, alternative rock, and contemporary songwriting, creating a musical identity that refuses to fit neatly into a single genre.

Her journey has also included an extraordinary personal challenge. Before earning international recognition by winning the Jazz/Blues category at the New England Songwriting Competition, Luiza survived an aggressive form of ovarian cancer that temporarily affected her coordination and voice and forced her to relearn how to sing.

Now in remission, she has transformed those experiences into music that reflects the perspective of a Brazilian immigrant, cancer survivor, educator, songwriter, and artist.

This is a conversation about music, identity, immigration, resilience, survival, creativity, and finding your voice after life forces you to begin again.

Luiza Girardello is an artist with a fascinating story—and her music reflects the complexity of a life lived across cultures, genres, and experiences.

Official Website:
https://www.luizagirardello.com/

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Teri M. Brown Interview | Peg Unhinged, Midlife, Menopause, Divorce & Reinvention

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we reconnect with acclaimed writer and author Teri M. Brown, four years after our original conversation in 2022. A lot has happened since then—including the release of her newest novel, Peg Unhinged.

Teri returns to the show to talk about a story that is funny, raw, honest, and deeply relatable.

Meet Peg. She's good at a lot of things: selling beachfront homes, raising two kids, and holding her life together with duct tape and dark humor.

What she's not particularly good at? Menopause. Divorce. Or watching her soon-to-be ex-husband flirt with women half his age—especially when one of those women works in her office.

Peg Unhinged dives headfirst into the messy, hilarious, uncomfortable, and ultimately liberating territory of midlife, relationships, menopause, divorce, identity, reinvention, and discovering who you are when you finally stop trying to hold everything together.

In this return conversation, Teri and Joe explore the evolution of her writing, what has changed since their first interview, the inspiration behind Peg, and the realities of creating fiction around experiences that can feel both incredibly personal and universally recognizable.

Peg Unhinged is ultimately a story about letting go, starting over, embracing the messy middle of life, and becoming the person you've been underneath all the expectations.

Teri M. Brown Official Website:
https://www.terimbrown.com/

More Books / Reader Resources:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ttu1o27s6h

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Will Hammond Interview | Backward Brilliance, Future Vision, Business Innovation & Growth

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Will Hammond, founder of Backward Brilliance, a company built around an unconventional framework for leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations that refuse to settle for the status quo.

Will's approach starts in a very different place than traditional problem-solving. Rather than beginning with today's challenges and making small, incremental improvements, he starts with a radical vision of the future and works relentlessly backward to determine what must happen in the present to make that vision a reality.

He doesn't simply solve business problems—he works to dismantle them, challenge assumptions, rethink systems, and identify the decisions and actions required to create meaningful transformation.

While many organizations focus on incremental gains, Will's work is centered on pursuing seismic growth, bold innovation, strategic thinking, and transformational change.

From his base in California, we get into his professional timeline, the vision behind Backward Brilliance, his unique approach to business strategy, and why starting with the future may be the key to building something truly different.

This is a fascinating conversation about business innovation, leadership, strategy, growth, vision, disruption, and the power of thinking differently about what is possible.

If you're an entrepreneur, founder, executive, business leader, or someone looking for a fresh perspective on how to approach difficult challenges, this conversation with Will offers plenty to think about.

Backward Brilliance:
https://backwardbrilliance.com/

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Lou Lachman Interview | Cult Survivor, Psychotherapist, Healing, Embodiment & Energy Work

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Lou Lachman, Life Coach in the United States, Psychotherapist in the United Kingdom, Facilitator, Trainer, and longtime teacher of awareness and energy practices.

For more than 30 years, Lou has taught tools designed to help therapists and clients develop greater awareness, peace, embodiment, and connection. Her professional work is deeply connected to her own personal journey of healing.

Lou is a cult survivor, having been raised in a cult from infancy and remaining within that environment throughout childhood. Her experiences with neglect, abuse, trauma, and recovery ultimately became an integral part of her path toward becoming a therapist and helping others navigate their own healing journeys.

In this powerful conversation, Lou discusses how personal experience shaped her professional calling and how awareness-based practices can help people reconnect with themselves, their bodies, their emotions, and their sense of freedom.

Her philosophy is rooted in a powerful belief: “None of us is free until we are all free.”

We explore trauma recovery, embodiment, awareness, energy practices, therapy, personal transformation, and the lifelong process of reclaiming your sense of self.

Lou's story is a reminder that healing isn't simply about moving past the difficult parts of our lives—it can also become a source of wisdom, compassion, connection, and purpose.

Official Website:
http://www.loulachman.com

Lighten Saturday 2026 Workshop:
https://energycounselling.co.uk/event/lighten-saturday-2026/

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Tessa Crews Interview | Human-Centered Design, Sustainability, Creativity & Purpose

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Tessa Crews, Visual Designer, Communications & Brand Strategist, and TEDx Speaker who believes design can be a powerful force for positive change.

Tessa leads brand strategy for Georgetown University's Residential Living and Conference Services teams and has brought her perspective on creativity, sustainability, and human-centered design to major audiences—including the White House Forum for Climate Solutions.

Through her thought-provoking TEDx talk, “We Designed This Broken World. Now Let's Fix It,” Tessa challenges us to reconsider the systems and environments we create and asks an important question: What if we used human-centered design and creativity to intentionally build a better future?

Her work sits at the intersection of design, communications, sustainability, branding, creativity, and social impact. But this conversation goes beyond professional accomplishments.

We also explore intentional living, creative leadership, finding purpose, navigating life's challenges, and the ways our own experiences can shape how we approach the world and the problems we want to solve.

This is a fascinating conversation about creativity, design thinking, sustainability, leadership, purpose, communications, and the responsibility we have to intentionally shape the world around us.

Tessa brings an inspiring perspective on what happens when we stop accepting broken systems as inevitable—and start thinking creatively about how we can redesign them.

Official Website:
https://www.tessacrews.com/

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Dr. Lillian Emlet Interview | Transforming Healthcare, Physician Leadership & Executive Coaching

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Dr. Lillian Emlet, physician, executive coach, and founder of Transforming Healthcare Coaching®.

Lillian's work begins with a simple but powerful idea: when leaders are well, teams are well—and when teams are well, organizations are well. She believes meaningful change in healthcare culture happens one person at a time.

What makes Lillian's perspective unique is that she isn't coaching healthcare leaders from the sidelines. She is a practicing critical care and emergency physician, working in the same high-stakes, high-pressure environments as the clinicians and leaders she coaches.

She understands the realities of healthcare leadership because she lives them.

Through Transforming Healthcare Coaching®, Lillian works with clinicians, physicians, executives, and healthcare organizations through one-on-one executive coaching, Systemic Team Coaching®, and her medTHRIVE® group coaching program.

Her work focuses on helping healthcare professionals develop stronger leadership skills while creating healthier, more sustainable teams and organizational cultures.

This is a fascinating conversation about healthcare leadership, physician wellbeing, organizational culture, executive coaching, teamwork, resilience, and what it takes to create meaningful change in one of the world's most demanding professional environments.

Lillian brings the rare perspective of someone who is both inside the healthcare system and actively working to transform it.

Transforming Healthcare Coaching®:
https://transforminghealthcarecoaching.com/

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