- This and more coming up on the "Whitney Reynolds Show."

- Disability is not a bad word.

A lot of people have a lot of fear wrapped up in disability.

- Trying to recover really, really well mentally gets you a little better perspective when you step back out there.

- Another wonderful thing about having a business that's also international is that you can gain inspiration from so many places.

- "Whitney Reynolds Show" is supported by BMO, boldly grow the good in business and life.

The Together at Peace Foundation, remembrance, resilience, and comfort, creating a hopeful space for those who are grieving.

Kevin O'Connor Law Firm, when it comes to your injuries, we take it personally.

10 West Real Estate Group, providing multifamily investment and property management services.

Center for Beautiful Living, empowering people to live rich, robust, and beautiful lives.

Additional funding provided by facial plastic surgeon Dr Stacie Mclane, Lifeway Kefir, Respiratory Health Association, Kevin Kelly, Kid Friendly Venues app, joeperillo.com, Hi-Five Sports Clubs, and by these sponsors.

(bright upbeat music) - Please help me welcome the host of this show, Whitney Reynolds!

(audience clapping) - It is our Season 9 premier.

We are so honored to be your safe space for stories.

And as we kick it off, we thought what a better place to do it than with a studio audience.

Because today we are talking dreams unleashed.

Awakening the soul of our story.

♪ Come for the stories, stay for the heart ♪ ♪ Where every journey ♪ ♪ Is a work of art ♪ - And sharing those- in a safe space to inspire others.

♪ Faith in truth ♪ ♪ In all you'll see ♪ ♪ Whitney's here to share your dream ♪ ♪ It's the Whitney ♪ ♪ Reynolds Show ♪ - You are watching the "Whitney Reynolds Show."

♪ Straight from Chicago ♪ - Be careful.

♪ To your home ♪ ♪ Real voices, real lives in every episode ♪ ♪ This is the Whitney Reynolds Show ♪ - Kicking things off, we sit down with Jessica Jordan Ping, who is an inspiring individual who is courageously pursuing her dreams despite facing the challenges of a disability.

With her unwavering determination and positive outlook, Jessica has turned obstacles into stepping stones, showcasing her resilience and dedication.

She is one that is committed to raising awareness about her journey, providing that determination knows no bounds.

Whether through her creative pursuits, advocacy efforts, or community involvement, Jessica exemplifies the power of following one's passion and encourages others to do the same.

(audience clapping) Jessica Jordan Ping, welcome to the show.

You are an amazing person on all fronts because what I love about you is you are taking your disability and living it out loud.

And that's really what unleashed the power of your dream.

- Yes, 100%.

But it wasn't always that way, you know?

Like, I grew up with my disability.

I was born with it, so I've never known anything different.

And growing up, there was so much bullying and stigma.

And in that, I really lost sight of who I was.

I really became, I would say, quite upset.

- Right.

Well, for our viewers at home, what is your condition?

- I have CHILD Syndrome, which is a very rare condition that affects about 60 people worldwide with skin and limb deficiencies.

So, obviously, I have a shortened hand on my left side, and I have this lovely sparkly prosthetic.

- I love that it's sparkly, by the way.

Isn't that great?

(audience clapping) You had to adapt yourself to make people feel comfortable, which you would think, "Hey, we should all be doing our part."

Go into that a little bit more.

- For sure.

Growing up, you know, I just sort of felt like I had to make myself less disabled to have a chance of fitting in because nothing was accessible to me and nothing was inclusive of me.

People didn't wanna include me because it would take more effort for them because nothing was physically accessible.

There was always a roundabout way of getting to an entrance because the ramped entrance was around the back.

And just simple little things like that that you don't really think is a big deal really adds up over time and really makes you feel othered.

- When did you have this shift in your life?

Because we know each other from social.

We know each other from social circles.

You have a great following.

You've created a platform that's very inclusive.

But when did you step into your power, saying, "I am going to turn this into more"?

- That did not happen until I was 22 years old.

I was in my final year of college, and I had a complete mental breakdown.

- And when you say mental breakdown, like a real mental breakdown.

- Like, truly, it was dark times, not good.

I had family, I had friends that were like, "You need to get help."

Like, "This is not a good space for you," "We care about you," "We see that you're struggling, go get help."

And so I went to therapy that was provided by my university, and for the first time, I had somebody say to me, "You know, it's okay that you take up space."

That sentence has gotten me through almost every hardship that I've faced since then.

- That is incredible.

(audience clapping) How did you unpack that?

- It took a while.

So it was spoken to me, and then I went through different exercises, if you will, getting comfortable asking for help, getting comfortable talking about my condition or my experiences with family and friends at first, and then doing it a little bit more publicly.

And here where I am today, doing what I do, where I'm not just taking up space, but I'm claiming it loudly and proudly.

- Yeah, I love that.

(audience clapping) That is incredible.

When I was prepping for our interview, I asked you, I said, "You want me to say disabled?"

And you said, "Whitney, that is what I stand on."

Educate our viewers and our audience about that.

- 100%.

Disability is not a bad word.

A lot of people have a lot of fear wrapped up in disability because that's what systemic ableism will tell you.

It tells you that we have all of these things that disability should be othered, because there's no accessibility, because it's usually associated with a traumatic story, but the reality is disability is the one minority group that you can enter into anytime without warning, and it's just a natural part of the human condition.

You can wake up tomorrow and have the flu and have a temporary disability for three, four days.

If you think about it like that, you realize how natural it is.

You realize how it's not something that's scary, it's something that's just part of life.

And if we give space for that, we can really start to embrace it.

- I love that.

Yes.

(audience clapping) You know, when you mentioned the word bullying and you said it hasn't always been easy.

And so you created this contract that basically is a non-negotiable, you get up and do it.

Walk us through a few of those steps.

- 100%.

So I call it my Rejection Rescue Kit.

- The Rejection Rescue Kit.

(Jessica laughing) Folks, I love that.

(audience clapping) - You write down some media that is guaranteed to boost your mood- - Definitely the "Whitney Reynolds Show."

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- You have your past slays and your no ways, so things that you've done in the past.

- Give us an example of one of those.

- Like texting your ex.

- Ooh.

(audience cheers and claps) Texting the ex.

Mine would be being an investigative journalist on Instagram.

Yes, I would be going back, yeah.

- Yes.

- I love that.

And then you have people sign the contract.

And you created this in a way to keep people going, even on their worst day.

- 100%, and the idea with it is really allowing yourself the space without guilt, without shame, to break down and feel your feelings so that you can really build that resilience muscle and over time kind of get through sad days a little bit easier and realize that, "Hey, it's just part of life and it's okay."

But you also need to feel how you're feeling.

With that step is how you move on.

- Wow, I love it.

Step to move on.

You know, Jessica, thank you so much for coming on today.

(audience cheering and clapping) Next, we caught up with Jordan Spieth, the renowned professional golfer and philanthropist.

We discovered how his foundation is inspiring some of our youngest streamers to take a swing.

What is a day like today with the kids and your foundation coming together for greater meaning feel like?

- I think it's really cool.

You know, for me, the fresh perspective of golf through like a junior golfer's eyes is something that, you know, I just haven't had enough of.

You know, when we get locked into it being our jobs, and then all of a sudden you come back out and you just see the kids from all over high-fiving each other and they've never met each other, they're from different parts of the country, and you're like, "This is really cool about this game of golf."

- So when you went up the chain in golf at a very young age, how did you stay anchored in still giving back?

- It was always around me.

So my high school, it was just what they did.

I went to a Jesuit school here in Dallas.

And then as a professional, it's what the PGA tour does, it's what the PGA tour players do.

It was just part of what everyone does.

And then, you know, as things went better and better for me, I had a bigger and bigger platform, and it was like, "Okay, what can we shape this into?"

- Jordan Spieth and his foundation's investment in the next generation is full circle.

Golf changed his life.

He grew up on the course where we tape today, and even accepted UT's offer to play in college right here.

And then as only a sophomore, he turned pro.

Who are your mentors?

- You know, the first one that comes to mind on the PGA tour was Zach Johnson.

We worked with the same physio, and he's done an amazing job in the Iowa community, in Cedar Rapids specifically, but really all along the Midwest through their foundation.

He was my first, like, you know, he won the Masters, you know, he's been a top, you know, 20 player in the world for so many years, and he was my first mentor out there that kind of took me under his wing and- - He's a good mentor.

- Yeah, for sure.

And, you know, I've got quite a few.

Ryan Palmer, some more local guys.

- Yeah, - Ryan Palmer.

- That's a big one, too.

- Yeah, for sure.

- Yeah, yeah.

- He's an Aggie, though, so I try not to kinda... - Yeah.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Yeah.

- We both feel that way- - Keep an eye out, okay.

- about the Aggies, yeah.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - But he's a good Aggie.

But yeah, Ryan Palmer and Zach Johnson were probably my first two mentors on tour.

JJ Henry was another one, so... - What age was that when they took you in?

- I was 19- - 19.

- when I came out, so- - 19.

- Yeah, so I needed some help from some of those guys.

You know, everything was new.

I was the youngest by a few years, so that was, and then you're traveling the world playing golf and, like, just doing a game that I was, you know, just doing in high school a couple years ago, it was bizarre.

So, you know, I didn't realize how much I needed it.

They just seemed like good friends that were good people that I liked to hang out with.

We had a lot of things in common.

And now looking back, I was very, very blessed to have them there.

- Yeah, I feel like we, and we're not the same age, I'm a little older, but I feel like a lot of people grew up with you.

Because when I say that, when I was prepping for this interview and I was talking with different people, they all root for you because they saw you come into who you are today.

Throughout his career, he's claimed many awards, and even won the Masters in 2015.

He's known as one of the best and continues to push on despite any setbacks.

But I do need to point out the obvious, the surgery.

- Yeah.

- How are we doing?

- I'm doing well, yeah.

I'm four weeks in, and it's kind of, unfortunately, it's like it looks worse than it is.

- It doesn't look that bad.

- I just can't... - I mean, yeah.

- Well, it's just, you know, it's kind of a tough recovery for such kind of a small surgery.

It's just a really patient, long recovery 'cause we use our wrists.

- Use it every day.

- I use it for beating, right?

So that's what kind of caused it in the first place.

But hopefully by mid-November I'm swinging, and hopefully that means six weeks later I can feel like I could play a tournament.

But it's still a long way to go just to get to November.

- Right.

- So I'll take it slowly.

I'm kind of doing as much as I can without risking anything, and I've got the time to do it this off-season, so that's how it's going.

- Okay, last question, because you kind of touched on this with, you know, saying slow, being patient.

- Yeah.

- The mental mind game of golf.

That's one thing that the kids kept bringing up, that they... - Yeah.

- And I was surprised, 'cause I think of golf as just like hitting a ball and, you know, in the cart, having a good time.

There's a lot more that goes into it, but how do you mentally prepare and stay in the game even after a setback?

- Well, I think, you know, I think the questions they were asking were maybe different than what I have to deal with more, now, you know, what they were asking is more, you know, situational, dealing with nerves of the first tier, "how do you deal?"

"I'm emotionally up and down during the round, how do you help change that?"

For me, it's more like, how do you rest and recover and could you give your mind a break 'cause you're on, on, on, on, on and we're playing, you know, our tournaments are four days in a row, right, and they're, you know, four to five hours long each day, but that's a eight-hour day between the prep and then what you do afterwards, which is not uncommon for any athlete to be playing.

But when you're in four weeks in a row or something, how do you come home?

How do you mentally just get away from that part of life?

How do you get grounded again?

So what they were asking was more, "How do you deal with people watching you hit golf balls?"

We get used to that.

I don't worry about that as much.

- Like, I'm not jaded by that.

- Well, you know, here and there, certain shots mean a lot more than others, and I still feel it, so I can certainly, and I remember, you know, what it was like when that happened.

But you know, for the mental grind of a season, professionally is more like, how do you learn how to kind of get your mind right, get back, get grounded, get recovered, like recognize that this isn't, when you're out there, it's like, "It's life or death," it's like, "It's what I do.

Everything revolves around how I perform today," versus you come home and you're like, "Yeah, it really doesn't.

You know, the world still goes around."

So it's kind of trying to recover really, really well mentally, get you a little better perspective when you step back out there.

- We couldn't leave our audience out with today's topic, so we asked them, what are you chasing?

And where's our next dreamer at?

- My name is Jessica, and my first dream was to be a clinical psychologist, and now I'm parlaying that into a jewelry brand.

- I love that so much.

Thank you so much.

(audience clapping) So many fabulous dreamers.

A visionary who learned early about the American dream and channeled that energy into her own business, perfecting her craft.

- So he was telling me the story of my great-grandfather and how he walked down the stairs one day at the turn of the century, like little, what is it, very late 1800s, and told his mother, you know, "Europe is over," "I'm moving to America," "I'm going to start a business."

And that's what he did.

And they were all a little bit surprised, because at that time, you know, they sort of felt Vienna was the center of the universe.

And when he did that, they gave him the nickname Koval, because koval in many eastern European languages, you know, means blacksmith.

But in some dialects and also in Yiddish, it means somebody who, like a blacksmith, forges a head or forges something new, can turn that metal into a new shape.

- We toured her plant and each machine told a story, walking and talking through her entrepreneurial aging process that created not only a distillery yet also a legacy, one that required even changing laws.

- It's a risk.

It takes a lot to start any business.

But with this business in particular, you know, there are so many laws.

We're one of the most regulated industries in the United States.

So in getting started, we had to really start weeding through a lot of the laws to even think, "Can we do this?"

And when we looked through everything, we thought, "Yes, we can."

We recognized that it was going to be very difficult because it involved us needing to, I had to get the laws changed, you know, in Illinois to make it possible to have a craft distillery, to do tours, tastings, to have a tasting room like this.

It was not legal when we got started.

- What gave you that umph to say, "I think we can do this"?

- You know, I really think it's part of the American spirit at the end of the day.

I mean, we're able to make things happen.

You know, when we started, there were less than 50 distilleries, period, in the entire United States, and many of them were incredibly large companies.

And so having a business framework that allows you to actually bring people into the distillery to do tours, tastings, retail on-site was really essential.

- The journey from dreamer to doer is not always easy.

She had to be spirited in more ways than one.

You were doing something completely different, and you had that moment of, "Are we happy?"

"Do we do a shift?"

"Can we do a shift?"

When did you pump the brakes on your old lifestyle?

- You know, I think a lot of people realize that their life might have chapters in it.

We were facing the idea of, how do we want to be a family, you know, and with that, where do we want to be a family.

You know, I'm Chicago, and so I wanted to be back in the city because I wanted to also be close to my parents.

I wanted to have that connection, you know, from generation to generation.

And, you know, so we started thinking, "Okay, well, how do we get back there?"

(chuckles) Whiskey was the solution.

- How did your old career help what you're doing now?

- You know, I feel that everybody has different phases, but you never leave anything behind.

So, you know, while I was a professor, before I became, you know, a... (laughs) - The queen of KOVAL.

There you go.

- I spent a lot of time researching.

I spent a lot of time writing.

I spent a lot of time organizing.

You know, that is something that you do as an academic.

And then I applied all of those skills to what I'm doing now.

It certainly helped me gather all the information that I needed to try and get the laws changed.

You're always trying to make it better.

Every day is an opportunity to improve.

And that's something that I learned, you know, as an academic, as a teacher.

And so the same thing is true for the business, you know, constantly trying to improve, constantly trying to be better.

- With where you are now, you've created new product lines.

You actually just recently launched one.

- Yes.

- What is that like for you?

- You know, life is movement.

You know, one can't get comfortable in doing the same thing, even if it's great, that one always needs to innovate and try and do different things and unique things.

And so we're very excited that, you know, KOVAL is at a stage in which we can do that innovation, you know, getting inspired by the world, you know.

And part of that, you know, with the Gin line is that we spend a lot of time in Japan for business and love, you know, so many of the flavors.

And so, you know, that's another wonderful thing about having a business that's also international, is that you can gain inspiration from so many places.

And it's incredible.

- So many.

If you had to leave them with some wisdom, maybe a lesson learned or something that even whenever it didn't look like it was possible, kind of gave you that hope to keep going, what would that be?

- You know, I feel that there's never a bad time to start a good business if you have a great idea.

You know, you can go with it.

When we started KOVAL, it was 2008.

You'd just seen, you know, the recession.

- The recession.

- It was really bad time, you know, as some might think, you know, when we left our careers to do this and gave up health insurance and all the things at the time, you know, there were so many risks involved.

But at the end of the day, it was, you know, it's such a blessing to be able to try.

- When I said, "Where are dreamers at in the studio?"

you immediately popped up.

Tell us about your dream.

- So my dream would be my illustrator.

I'm a published author, and the first time around, just like any project, it was, I would say, a six.

I wanted to get to be a 10 because it was inspired by over 1,500 students that I walked through suicide assessments with in my decade of social service as a social worker.

And this time around, I have an international best-selling illustrator who is helping me reproduce this work, but we just found out that she has pancreatic cancer.

And she is in South Africa, and they have a different healthcare system.

And I said, "Mitch, what will you want your legacy to be?"

because she says, "Em, we gotta finish this book."

And I said, "Okay, and after we're done, I'm gonna champion your message, Mitch.

What is the message you want championed?"

And she said, "unconditional love."

- Wow.

That is so powerful.

Thank you so much.

(audience clapping) We are actually at the theater where you are performing.

Welcome to the show, Teal.

- There's so many amazing theaters all across the US.

Yes, Broadway is the big dream, and I have done Broadway, I love Broadway, but some of the most magical jobs are in some little town that I haven't been to, doing a show for like three months at a regional theater, and it's just beautiful.

And then taking a show on the tour, like "& Juliet," going across America.

I love visiting cities I have never been to.

Like, "How do I explore this place within a week?"

and it's just really fun.

- Your name, Teal, is just like you were born for stardom with the name like that.

(Teal laughing) - I know, I mean, I always say if my parents had any qualms about me following this career as a performer, they probably should have given me a less interesting name.

So I've had a lot of amazing shows that I've been a part of, roles that I love, and I always carry a lot of my characters with me.

But getting to play in this show, there's a sense of freedom that all of the actors, our cast sort of has within the framework of the play.

And it's been so rewarding and so just absolutely thrilling for me just to go on stage every night.

And yes, I'm saying my lines, singing my songs the way I'm supposed to, but there is a freedom and to be in the moment to do sort of how I'm feeling in the moment and like, let my heart sort of guide me through the show night to night.

It's something that's kind of new to me as an actor who have been, I've been working professionally for almost 20 years.

(laughs) Goodness gracious, crazy.

But it's always amazing to be in a show and find a role where there's still new things that I'm discovering about the craft itself and about myself as an artist.

And then I get to also share it with this incredible cast and company that I just love.

- Teal Wicks is a celebrated Broadway superstar, known for her powerful voice, captivating stage presence, and versatility as a performer.

Acclaimed for her standout roles in shows such as "Wicked," "The Cher Show," and "Finding Neverland," her dream keeps evolving, and most recently landed her center stage in Chicago with the play "& Juliet."

- So "& Juliet," I think the sort of moral of our story is if you had a second chance at life, what would you do with it?

What choices would you make for yourself?

You know, like your destiny is within your own hands.

And what I love with our show, yes, we have the focus of the story of Romeo and Juliet, everybody knows that story, young love, all-consuming young, young love, all of that, but we also have other characters in the play, like my character Anne Hathaway.

I'm in a long relationship with my husband Will Shakespeare.

We're meeting these characters, you know, halfway through their relationship.

It's a mature relationship.

How does love evolve?

And how, maybe when you've lived life, what other choices could you maybe make?

How do you sort of take back control of your life?

You know, nobody's path is set.

You still have an opportunity to shift and follow your dreams wherever they may be.

- We have done our Season 9 premier, "Dreams Unleashed."

You know, I was that kid, the one that had a dream at eight years old.

And instead of playing with Barbies, I dressed up like a talk show host with a mic in my hand.

And now here we are with Season 9.

Remember, your story matters.

(bright upbeat music) - "Whitney Reynolds Show" is supported by BMO, boldly grow the good in business and life.

The Together at Peace Foundation, remembrance, resilience, and comfort, creating a hopeful space for those who are grieving.

Kevin O'Connor Law Firm, when it comes to your injuries, we take it personally.

10 West Real Estate Group, providing multifamily investment and property management services.

Center for Beautiful Living, empowering people to live rich, robust, and beautiful lives.

Additional funding provided by facial plastic surgeon Dr Stacie Mclane, Lifeway Kefir, Respiratory Health Association, Kevin Kelly, Kid Friendly Venues app, joeperillo.com, Hi-Five Sports Clubs, and by these sponsors.

(bright upbeat music) - Want to stay connected to all things Whitney Reynolds?

Well, follow us on social media, and you'll get exclusive content and updates from the show.

All episodes are available for streaming anytime.

- Hi, Mommy!

(children giggling) (bright gentle music)