good morning I'm marabel Rodriguez and welcome to The Balancing Act today we have the first part of an exclusive interview with none other than tennis star Andy rodic and you learn about a way to take some of the worry out of your financial life all that and more great stuff today on The Balancing Act [Music] he's formerly the number one pro tennis player in the world currently number eight known for his powerful serve and forehand and founder at age 17 of the anotic foundation she is his mom and currently the director of the anotic foundation whose motto is helping children today for tomorrow Mrs rodic Andy thank you so much for being with us today thank you Andy what are some of your most favorite fulfilling career accomplishments so far that's uh that's tough um representing my country in Davis Cup and uh not really missing any ties is something I take very seriously and I'm very proud of um you know having played in in four grand slam finals is uh is is a good accomplishment and also um finishing in the top 10 for seven years in a row at least shows a little bit of consistency and um you know it's something that that I'm proud of and I hope to build on that of course you should be now you're known for your powerful forehand and hold the record for the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis at 155 miles per hour wow so who do you think might be able to beat this record either a male or a female o um I'm not sure you know it's only a matter of time I think hitting hitting 130 or 135 was a was a big deal and now it seems like uh every young kid does it so uh I'm not really sure who will break it hopefully uh it be it'd be nice to be able to uh maybe finish out my career with it then then it's okay it's it's up for grabs okay so what's the most challenging part of being you these days you know the always the most challenging part but it's also the one of the best parts is just trying to you know stay at the top of the game but then then deal with all the other stuff as well and uh you know um including our our foundation but you know the the the thing that makes it possible is having a great support team with my mom and and and her team of volunteers that work year round and tirelessly to help uh help with that it does allow me to kind of focus on my selfish goals a little bit more you are very lucky to have her and I know that you're very close to your mom how has she played a role in your success well I mean it wouldn't have been possible without without my mom um you know everything from from when I was trying to be a tennis player for from um you know their their financial support to uh you know she would spend her days between me and my brother who played tennis also U you know up at 5:30 6: in the morning and driving us around from spot to spot to school and back till uh 8 or 8:30 and now especially with the foundation um you know she handles everything dayto day Mrs roic you should be very proud now tell me about the Andy rodic foundation and what your mission is for it what kind of specific things does the andic foundation do to help children and families the anotic foundation's mission every day is to create a better life for underserved children because we're kind of a pass through Foundation we have many people come and knock on our door and we're able somebody comes in and said the picnic tables at a Youth Shelter are rotten can you help so we were able to provide new tables one our school uniform program is a lady for $102,000 a year is able to provide 10,000 school uniforms to Children it must be very rewarding helping people with the Andy rodic Foundation tell me how you feel after starting this charity eight years ago totally overwhelmed to the extent that we have been able to take it in the amount of money we have made and the number of organizations and children that we have been able to Hope part of the whole process that that's exciting is you know for a number of years there and it gets tougher and tougher each year but we were able to double what we brought in the year before for I think four or five years you know fast forward and and and last year we did an event and you know we raised is $1.8 million and and we're up you know close to you know we're above $10 million total and that's just wow um crazy for us to think about and I think it uh I think those type of numbers and the fact that we're able to make a difference motivates us more that is amazing what website can we go for more information on you and the anotic foundation go for it what website andy.com click charity and you'll be right there well we enjoy talking with you today I wish you the best of luck Lu with your career and with the foundation we hope to have you in the studio sometime soon thank you thank you for having us and don't miss my second exclusive interview with Andy rodic and his mom coming up this Friday same time same network make sure you visit the balancingact.com all January long every day we're giving away a complete set of our and Hammer Essentials cleaning products for your home just log on and enter for your chance to win [Music] hello I'm Kim Alexis with today's troubled economy juggling work and home issues as well as reaching goals has become even more difficult some employees are expected to put in more hours at work to do the job for three or four people this pretty much prevents them from having any family or rest time and if there are two working parents the stress can be especially overwhelming everyone's feeling the pain and here to give us some advice is MD psychiatrist mother of two and the president of the executive health and wealth Institute Dr Gabby Kora welcome thank you for the invitation Kim you're welcome now the financial crisis has affected women the most adding to the stress factor according to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association 84% of women are more affected by the economy than men who are at 75% now what can we do to H stop this well women are working hard these days and they are also in charge of their household so many of these women are feeling this increased pressure to continue to not only work well but also be in charge of being single mothers and taking care of their kids and you know making sure that they make U ends meat now do you think that the the financial and economic crisis is adding to stress yes absolutely this financial crisis has been affecting all of us both men and women alike so these these things do affect our health on the physical level we may feel it as fatigued and with lack of energy emotionally speaking we may feel a little more um angrier or a little crankier that's the way people experience it intellectually if we're so tired we may not look at the best of options or Alternatives spiritually many people are struggling with their hope and on a social level some people tend to isolate themselves so those are the ways in which we experience stress and the way that it affects us so let's talk about New Year's resolutions how are people going to stick with these resolutions well the most important thing is to try to have a resolution that we desire to achieve so many people are not going to be thrilled about losing weight or uh you know quitting smoking and will be very important for them to try to make sure that that is something that they really desire and not only need to do so that then they can create a plan and make sure that they enjoy that path as they try to achieve every single goal so how can they be successful though at these plan let's say they make the plans and the goals and they have this passion how do they become successful well it's so easy to feel frustrated when you're not able to reach that plan right away so sticking to that plan will be very important and giving ourselves time so that you know no one expects you to lose five pounds within a week it will be very important to spread that plan so that we feel very comfortable as we go living the here and now and Achieve each and every step uh as we go that's going to be very very key to that success uh for that person to be able to achieve so it will be very important to think about two things in health anything that relates to health would be particularly significant and particularly during times of stress and in wealth so people feel like they're investing their time their energy their money in making sure that that wealth increases uh for themselves and for their families yeah big increase okay now where can people go for more information on everything you've discussed there's plenty of information at Executive Health wealth.com and in my book at leading Under Pressure maximize your health while building your wealth great well thank you very much Dr Gabby thank you [Music] Kim if you're trying to lower your body's inflammation which may cause arthritis heart disease and stroke eat some strawberries women who eat 16 or more fresh or frozen strawberries per week are 14% less likely than non- strawberry eaters to have elevated levels of C reactive protein which is a signal of inflammation in the body well a growing number of Americans are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and make more environmentally conscious decisions but what does it really mean to go green joining us to discuss this is kindall Tracy and her father Tony Tracy chairman and CEO of perfo green a company that is revolutionizing an item that we use every day the plastic bag and I have to tell you Tony I came across just an interesting statistic that we want to share with our viewers the the average family accumulates approximately 60 plastic bags and only four trips to the grocery store Kendall paint a picture of this for us and what this does to our environment well you know the uh plastic bags end up in landfills and the ocean and the food chain and they stay there for thousands of years and I understand that you have a lot of new products I can't wait to see them what do you say we take a look absolutely all right guys here we are and you have a lot of great products here Tony tell me about what we have here well this is our our new line uh this is a dispenser and this is our uh 133 galon and uh this comes up like this and you pop the bag it's a green bag and this is our product right here mhm and you know what's interesting is when you feel it it feels just like a regular plastic bag exactly but but it's not there's a difference we have our additives in there our tdpa which is total degradable plastic additive which makes it break down we also have our 30 gon MH this is kind of like our lwn Leaf size and then we have our drop cloth here which works as good as any cloth you use it once you throw it out so why not make it biodegrade you know here's the thing I find so interesting is that when you have a traditional bag and I know you know this is something that a lot of people out there might not realize it lasts in the environment for how long Tony hundreds hundreds and hundreds of years we really let him know and these bags 12 to 24 months they're totally gone it breaks down to CO2 H2O and biomass which is dust and gets eaten by the microorganisms a natural occurrence all right Miss Kendall come on over here because if you've got a pet you know exactly uh what these are talk to me about what we have here we have our kitty litter pan liners and the doggy Duty Bags mhm you know one of the things I find interesting is when people look at ingredients they never think about there could be something so harmful in your plastic bag that you use every day talk to me a little bit about that Tony and what you use that makes you different well we have an oxob based additive which is a water-based additive that we developed and it's all clean low in metals and it's food compliant it's what we need it's a future of plastics it's clean it's the way to go it's green well you know we're going to be following you on your journey and we appreciate you having us along so thank you so much thank you and if you want more information on perfo green and where to purchase their products you can visit www. perog [Music] green.com craving more you'll find it at the balancingact.com click to watch other episodes of the show and log on to share thoughts about the balancing act with others the balancingact.com has it all so check it out [Music] well you know these days most of us are trying to find new ways to be thriftier as we attempt to lower our monthly budgets but no matter how tight daily life gets experts warn that we still need to stay on top of our financial future joining us now from the Big Apple with some very useful information is senior VP and coo Chris blunt from New York Life Insurance Company well Chris I understand that according to your research women particularly are just not doing enough to plan or should they protect their finances so what's the reality here you Danielle one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family is with life insurance unfortunately many Americans and especially women either do not have life insurance or they don't have enough life insurance coverage onethird of all women in the United States are without any life insurance at all independent research shows that most people with life insurance have roughly half the coverage they actually need Chris that's frightening you know we actually sent one of our producers to find out doubt some reasons why folks just don't have life insurance listen to this I don't feel at this time that anybody would benefit from it being that I'm single I have not really thought of it to be a terribly important uh issue at this point in my life you know my husband and I have never really been concerned we don't have children well Chris after hearing that and your stats what signal does that send your industry well to us that means consumers need to be educated about all that life insurance can do for you right now as as well as after your death it's really an educational challenge that we at New York Life take very seriously no family should be confronted with decisions like postponing College educations or selling the family home because they failed to have life insurance in place this really is definitely a challenging time for individual investors and I suspect you're hearing a cry for help from them as well right absolutely you know now more than ever people want guarantees and that obviously plays to New York Life strengths permanent life insurance is one of those rare products that's flexible enough to be a source of living benefits as well as protection against the loss of the bread Winter's income and by living benefits what I mean by that is that permanent life insurance good old whole life for example can be a good source of emergency cash for tuition payments to pay your mortgage any immediate needs that you might find yourself having when times are tough you have a product that you can turn to for cash even though that will of course reduce your death benefit so explain to us how permanent life insurance Works sure there are two basic types of life insurance and the best analogy I've found is actually housing term insurance is analogous to renting your insurance whereas permanent Insurance allows one to own their coverage outright but there is a cost to permanent life insurance in that the premiums are higher than for term because you're actually locking in your premium for life term insurance premiums are lower because the payment amount is only for a set period of time and then those payments increase permanent Insurance however builds cash value whereas term insurance does not it's the cash cash value that can be tapped into in times of need as we discussed earlier but you're asking people to invest their money at a time when consumers are really nervous and with good reason what Peace of Mind do they have that their hard-earned money is safe and secure great question New York life has earned the triaa ratings from all four major rating agencies that gives consumers comfort that their money is safe in fact not many banks out there can claim to have the highest ratings New York Life also has billions more in capital than is required to maintain our AAA rating all right what other advice would you give women who are considering buying life insurance for themselves or their families sure you know whether whether the primary bread winner or a stay-at-home mom a professional agent from New York Life can assist you with your life insurance needs we believe our agents are the best trained in the industry at customizing life insurance products depending on the need of the consumer in their budget great information Chris thank you and I think we've really sorted some fact from fiction here when it comes to life insurance protection and I know your advice will definitely help our viewers find some peace of mind in these tough Economic Times great thank you studies show onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells they even produce tears which wash the eyes garlic also helps eliminate waste materials and onions look like the body sales so don't be afraid to eat onions and garlic although you might need a breath Min afterwards join our online community by logging on to the balancing act.com and clicking on the multiply Banner interact with the show producers discuss features you've seen and you'll have some great conversation [Music] starters well if you're an artsy crafty type who loves creating something beautiful as well as functional and if you haven't thought about embroidery as an option to do at home we have the next wave in Creative home businesses an embroidery machine that small enough to keep at home or travel with yet powerful enough to produce embroidered apparel pretty quickly and easily Cath and easy it is look how beautiful and professional this look beautiful I think this is something you and I can both do I think it's something that I can watch you do gotta be honest okay here to tell us more about this fun and functional machine is June melinger Director of Education for brother International welcome June ni apprciate you we appreciate you being with us Jun I was joking with you about that because I really am not gifted at this but what you're saying is that this is something that pretty much anybody can do right about the history of embroidering well you know people have been embroidering or embellishing their things back well way back to the Stone Age In fact and it's just followed through over the ages and uh you know even years ago when people wanted to embroider something very special because it became something to remember Well they um even back a friend of mine told me that in India when a young girl was born they would start embroidering 8T of silk for her own special Sor was all by hand so that took a long long time now those same people can use uh technology to do embroider those things automatically and the job is done in no time flat as you said check this out lots of great this absolutely this is done you can do this at home yes you can but it looks like a million bucks it looks like a million bucks you can the the way that you can start a business is absolutely phenomenal it's phenomenal you can set your own hours you can decide where you want the business to be you can decide how much money you want to make and that's born of how much you can do and it's easy to learn all you have to do is get this machine the pr620 tell us about this tell us a little bit about this six needles don't have to worry about threading any of the needles because it automatically threads every needle it automatically cuts the thread when it's done embroidering it's six needles but you could do 99 different colors you can download designs from the internet via the uh USB sticks that we all like to use so can I do a original artwork as well yes you can you can get an optional software program that you can create your own design own Des you even take a photograph and make it into so oh I love that I've seen that done and that looks so great and it's so easy to use you don't have to worry about well you know I'm not really sure A quick drill through the uh instruction manual even using the instruction manual that's built into the machine it's easy that's awesome it's great that's a terrific way to start a bu well if people want to find out uh more information where can they do that they can visit our website it's brother-usa.com slomo and they can find out lots of great information about this brand new machine from Brother the pr 620 thanks all right we thank you fabulous every time you have a major life change make sure you update your key financial documents do you have enough life insurance is your will current what about your durable power of attorney to make sure you're protected go to New York life. and click on consult an agent I'm maral Rodriguez and thanks for joining me on The Balancing Act tune in tomorrow as we learn about the next generation of karaoke machines and discuss non-surgical options for those suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee see you then [Music] War