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Welcome. You’re listening to A Glimpse Inside. I’m Wendy Perrotti. What do you do when inspiration hits? How many great ideas have come and gone for you? If you’re like me, tons and tons of them. Have any of them felt like something you wish you might’ve paid more attention to regretted not grabbing on and doing something about? Some years ago, my guests had a really cool idea and she went with it. And today we’re going to talk about what you can do when inspiration hits. Hopefully, we’re going to help you turn some of your amazing ideas into reality.
Genevieve Piturro was a TV executive in New York City for 20 years when a little girl’s question changed the course of her life. After that, she began delivering pajamas and books to children in shelters. In 2001, founded the Pajama Program, a national nonprofit, which is recognized both for its success to date has delivered this, seven million new pajamas and new books to children and for its story.
Genevieve is a professional speaker and consultant inspiring people to listen to their heart voice connection to achieve success. Her first book came out this year, Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas: How to Transform Your Life, Embrace the Human Connection, and Lead With Meaning was released in August. Her debut Tedx Talk One Idea + The Human Connection = 7 Million Pajamas and Books also debuted in August. Genevieve has been interviewed on all kinds of media, including Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox & Friends, O Magazine, Forbes. She rang the NASDAQ Bell in 2016 and is the recipient of many awards. Genevieve, I am knocked out excited to have you here.
Oh, I’m so excited too, Wendy. Thanks for inviting me.
Yeah, I’m so happy that you’re here. It’s crazy. I have thought about you and your program for years now. I was telling you before we hit record on this podcast that I actually heard about it a couple of years ago, I was on a Metro-North train home from New York City where I had been doing some leadership training for a corporation that hired me to help their managers communicate better.
And I was sitting in a group of seats with a bunch of four different gentlemen. One of which was this young guy in his 30s. He had a box on his lap, with all of this stuff from his desk in it and a bottle of bourbon. And he’s telling us all how he was on the last day of his job. And he was leaving the corporate world behind to follow his dream. And he poured us all a glass of bourbon. And we started having this conversation with one another about, “Well, what do you do?” What’s your dream like?”
And the gentleman sitting next to me was on the board of your organization, the Pajama Program. When I say he lit up, he said, “I’m retired, but this is what I’m doing with my time right now.” And he’s telling us how you bring new pajamas and stories to kids so that they have some consistency to their nighttime routine. I was knocked out. I was in love with the guy, in love with the idea of the program. I’ve been following you ever since. So I’m going to let you tell us about the Pajama Program and your book and this just incredible story.
Oh, and I love that story, Wendy. That’s just one in a million. I can just picture that scene and the bourbon and the conversation. So I just love it. Well, as you said it was just published, Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas. And it’s the how and why of the Pajama Program. I started climbing the corporate ladder right out of college because I thought that was my path. And I say, I thought, “I didn’t really think about it. It was just I wanted a job,” but everybody got a job. And I was on the radio at Fordham here in New York. And I worked at the radio station and I got a job at a radio station in New York City. And then I moved on to TV and I loved it. And I said, “This is the life of a single girl working in Manhattan.” I bought a little co-op and I was a workaholic. And climbing that ladder became my goal.
And 12 years in, I sat in my little living room one day by myself. And all of a sudden I heard this voice and it came from my heart and it asked me, “If this is the next 30 years of your life, is this enough?” And I was shocked, Wendy. I didn’t know, I’d never heard a voice come from anywhere, but all those voices in my head and this was clearly a different voice. And it took me literally seconds to realize that the corporate ladder was leading to nothing fulfilling. And that I had missed something that had more importance that made more people better, made my life better because it was connected to other things besides just buying things and just a job and climbing the ladder and impressing colleagues and things.
And I realized I missed having a family. So when I thought how could I bring children into my life? I started reading in shelters in New York City and I brought some children’s books and I sat on the floor in the shelters. In New York, you can do that. You could call up and say, “Hi, I’m a nice lady. Can I come and read stories to your children?” And they said, “Sure, come on in.” I would read it a week after.
And one night I saw they were sleeping on futons and couches. And I didn’t see anything regarding pajamas, storytime in bed, anybody kissing them, and closing the lights and it made my heartbreak. And they were sleeping in their soiled and tight clothes. So I brought pajamas the next week. And when I handed them out, there was a little girl who was so afraid. She just kept shaking her head, “No.” She watched me give the pajamas to the other children. And finally, she was the only girl, the only child left, just watching. I went over and I knelt down and I tried one more time. And I asked her if she wanted her pajamas. And she very timidly asked me, “What are pajamas? What are they?” And that obsession that I had from that moment was the reason the Pajama Program was born.
And that journey that 20 plus year journey in my book tells about what you were saying at the start of this program, finding something that truly inspired me. Me and that little girl, not only inspired me to do something that would change her life but other people felt just as inspired. And that rallying around this little idea and this little girl’s question just took off like a rocket ship. And so many ups and downs and all the details are in the book. And it was very hard, I knew nothing about it. But the Pajama Program was born at that moment.
Okay. So, for the first time ever I’m in tears.
So inspiring. I absolutely love that what you’re doing with this program, again, I’m moved beyond words. And I am delighted that we have an opportunity to not just talk about this program and give you a chance to let other people know about it and how they can get involved, but to talk about how you took that idea and turned it into something that was so massively important and that changed so many lives.
So we’ve got to take a super-duper quick break so that I can collect myself. And when we come back, we’re going to dive into the story of how you got it done, how you took that inspiring idea and turned it into something real and something meaningful. And before we do, let folks know how they can get in touch with you? How can they learn about the Pajama Program? How can they get the book? How can they get involved?
Sure. Well, my website is genevievepiturro.com. And I think it’s probably spelled on your website in this podcast. And my book is on Amazon or anywhere books are sold. And Pajama Program is pajamaprogram.org.
Okay. Check out the program, get involved. So incredibly exciting and meaningful. We’ll be back in just a couple of minutes and Genevieve and I are going to talk about how you can take your life’s heartfelt ideas and turn them into something that’s real. We’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
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