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Marci
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Bridget
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Jacqueline Zuckerman
Today's small business shout out. We're featuring the Indian Esthetician offering concierge aesthetic services specializing in dermaplanning. It gently removes peach fuz and dead skin so your products absorb better and your makeup goes on smoother. Check out the Indian esthetician on Instagram. Welcome to next on Scene. The human behind the brand. I'm Jacqueline Zuckerman delore award winning publicist mom and media visionary. I believe visibility isn't just about being seen, it's about being of service. Each week we are going to uncover real stories behind success. The breakthroughs, the heartbreaks and the moments that made you who you are. Because the truth is the more we allow ourselves to be human, the more powerful our impact becomes. This is where visibility meets legacy. This is next on Scene. Today on next on Scene, I'm joined by Marci and Bridget, the founders of Pink Chair Storytellers, a platform where women and trans women can share their stories without censorship, judgment or apology. Their belief is simple but powerful. When we share truthfully, we create empathy and empathy builds stronger communities. Welcome to next on Scene where we go behind the highlight reel and meet the humans behind the brand. Marci, Bridget, welcome to next on scene.
Marci
Thank you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So excited to have. You ladies are incredible. And I have had the honor of getting to know you so much better over the past year. And so I want to first hear, you know, like, how did Pink Chair Storytellers come about?
Bridget
So I will take. Take this one. We'll start with that. All right, so. So Bridget and I met in the waiting room of a karate dojo, which sound, you know, random. Both of our kids were taking karate lessons and we had sat in that waiting room together for a year prior to that. And you go, hi, yes, this whatever. And Bridget being so kind one day was like, hi, how are you? And I just looked at her and I was like, are you really asking? Because I'm not okay today. I'm not okay today. I have so many different things going on. I don't know who to talk to. Just talking to your partner, my husband, just not the same. And I was like, if you are really asking, I am not good. And in typical Bridget style was like, she totally leaned in and it was like, here's an empty seat. Why don't. What's going on? And I proceeded to just. I let it all out. I had been holding onto it for a really long time. I was obviously at a breaking point. I let it all out. And then. And then I went home and stalked her on Facebook to apolog. Like, oh, my God. This woman knows every skeleton in my closet. He told my husband I could never go back to karate again. He was gonna have to drop my son off. This was the only activity he did. Like, I was freaking out. But, you know, I went back a couple days later, and all Bridget said was, so what happened?
Marci
Well, that's not all I said. I also gave you a little gift.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Oh, it's the best thing.
Bridget
Gift of your friendship.
Marci
One of the. The straws that broke the camel's back, so to speak, for her is her washing machine broke. Oh, God, this was so funny. And you're.
Bridget
You get a new washing machine, right? And I'm a talker. I. I just. I'll talk to anybody, but I never really talked about anything personal like that. There was a line, but I could talk to a fly in the wall. And I was like, so I got a new washing machine, and I just figured, like, oh, the bigger the barrel, right? The less laundry I have to do. So she comes back. I was like, but I'm only five feet tall. I can't reach the bottom of the barrel. Like, when I do the laundry, I'm like, I'm, like, hoisting myself up, and my feet are in the air. And she comes back with, I bought this for you. Tongs. I was like, his tongs. I was like, oh, my God. She listened.
Marci
Like, what I got. I was like, either she's gonna think this is funny or she's gonna be so offended. But I went with my hunch.
Bridget
Oh, my God. I was like. And then I almost wrote something, and I still have to write it. How a pair of tongs changed the trajectory of my life.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
That's, like, amazing. I love that so much.
Bridget
Tongs.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
And then a new beautiful friendship came from that, too.
Marci
Yes. Yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So, Bridget, were they pink chairs?
Marci
No, they were actually those uncomfortable folding metal chairs. And when we decided to do this, we were like, we gotta incorporate the chairs into the logo somehow. But the woman who made our logo, I said, just make them a little more comfortable looking. And that's where the pink chair came from.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So is the pink more the feminist power? That's totally. Yes. I love that. Love it. Okay, so now I want to dive more into storytelling because that's your 2 mo.
Bridget
Yes.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
What, because people can pitch you all day about storytelling. Right. Like, what actually gets somebody to like inspire you to say, oh, you'd be a great storyteller, you know what I mean?
Marci
You know, I, I'm a woman, a mom, a wife was single career woman. So if her story inspires me, I know that there's others who are. And if I can't understand their story and they tell it the right way, or I can work with them to tell it the right way, I'm gonna then understand. Even if I can't personally connect with it, I still need to know it because then I can empathize. And empathy is something that we all should aspire to grow in our lives. So my general rule of thumb is every woman has a story to tell, and usually their story is told by someone else, maybe controlled, a little picked at. You should say this, you should not say that. When someone comes to us, I make sure that they understand that this is their story. They're controlling their own narrative. And they shouldn't feel censored, they should feel free. And then we work together to, you know, tell it in a, in a.
Bridget
And in the beginning, I think one of the things that we talked about was, will this story help another woman? That, that was you in the beginning. You always say that is the litmus test. Is this going to help somebody else when they hear it? And whether that be you're not alone or I just learned something new, so I'm going to travel through the world with more compassion for other people's journeys or educate. Right. Like there's so many women who tell their stories, Black and brown, Dessy, queer voices like you then just learn. And education is, you know, knowledge is power.
Marci
Yeah. We always like to say the biggest compliment that we can get on a story is, oh, I never knew that. What a compliment. Now you do. And what are you going to do with it? Is. And, and that's the thing that I, that I try to teach my storytellers when we're working together is give some of the responsibility back to the reader. You told your story. Now it's up to them to decide how they're going to absorb it. Yeah. So it's, it is a two way relationship between the reader and the storyteller. But in the space that we give our storytellers, it's, it's new for a lot of them because there's always somewhere to tell your story. But somebody's gonna Say, maybe you shouldn't say that, or, you know, that might not relate. Or. No, we're no holds barred. If you are comfortable and you feel like you need to say it and someone can benefit from it, we're the space for you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I love it. And you two are the perfect people for that. And I want to dive even deeper with that because I feel like you two are so open and vulnerable in general when you meet with people that I think it opens people up to really be vulnerable.
Marci
Right.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Like, what do you think is the turning point that people can be vulnerable with you to actually put it to paper? Like, what is that turning point?
Marci
Examples. Leading by example. You know, we've had people say, how do I know my story is safe? And all we have to do is pick up an issue and say, you
Jacqueline Zuckerman
know, here are some examples.
Marci
And there's no judgment. So I think lack of judgment, no trolling. We don't open it up for comments. This is not a open discussion. When you say, this is who I am, then there's no debate. This is. This is not debatable.
Bridget
And I think that's a change of my husband. And, you know, Bridget changed this for me. I was a very. I wouldn't say closed, but I wasn't a closed person. But my stories were not meaningful. Like, I would have told you about my washing machine all day long, but I never said, I'm scared, I'm nervous. I had lack of self esteem, whatever it was. But when I met Bridget, that changed for me to my husband's dismay. Now I will tell anybody anything. And I have a few, like, funny, you know, funny stories, or like, you know, went out to see a band or something, and a friend of ours comes. We're in line to get tickets, and a friend of mine comes running, who we're meeting, comes running to me and was like, oh, my God. So I was just diagnosed with vaginal dryness from menopause. And this is the medication that they recommended. What do you think? And I was like, slow down. Like, let me buy my ticket and actually get in, and then we can. And then I need a cocktail. Slow down. But, like, my husband was like, whoa. Like, you know, but. But we had talked to, you know, Nina Kozlov, who had built a website with resources about menopause, and this was something that wasn't being talked about. And. And, you know, she's like, do you know another doctor? I can get a second opinion? Blah, blah. I was. I do. And it was just, why. Why aren't we saying this, it's affecting your marriage. It's this and that. Like we're all doing it well.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
There's so much depth once you have that conversation. Right. It opens new doors and like change shifts things. Like big things.
Bridget
Yeah.
Marci
And I think a lot of the shift that, you know, we could. If we. We're going to talk about all the different layers of shifting. One of them is how people see Marcy and I now that they are running in upline and sharing this. Like, oh my God, I'm so glad. I see. Because that's what they associate now is someone safe to say these things to. And the shift is our legacy is this is who we. We're giving spaces, we're giving pages, we're giving room online to share these stories. And that's going to be our legacy now. Not just broken washing machines.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
And still makes a great story.
Marci
It does make a great story.
Bridget
And I will tell you, those tongs I still have, they're like 6 years old.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Like a frame.
Bridget
What makes them even better is that the ends of them were green Christmas trees. And I'm Jewish.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
It's amazing.
Marci
It's true.
Bridget
I was just like stores because it was December.
Marci
We have had some of the deepest dives too. But you know, one of them when we decided to do this was legacy. What do we want our kids to think of us when. When they get older and say, look back on what we do. And this is. And that's a turning point for storytellers as well. Just to circle it back is when you say things like that, what do you want your legacy to be? Do you want your story to be she was this, this or the other thing? And in your head are you going, but that's not who I am. Well, let's change that. Let's make people understand who you are according to you. Because that's going to be your legacy. And offering your stories, your joys, your challenges and. And making yourself a little bit more authentic opens your legacy to be someone.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I have a follow up too. Like, people can talk endlessly about themselves. How do you come up with an endpoint? Like to them if they share their whole story with you? Right. Like you, you publish and you write, Matt. Like put things up all the time blogs. Like, you don't want to have them feel self conscious that it's too long, but there also should be an ending point. Am I right with that? Like, what's your feedback on that? Like, guidance. How do you gently say, like this is great. It could be good for like Another piece or.
Marci
I work with storytellers quite a bit on the formatting of their essays. And sometimes we have conversations that will transcribe and that will be. The story is a back and forth between them and I. But I always say to them before they start writing their essay, every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But that's not how we talk to each other. And not every story has to start with a beginning. Maybe you're going to draw me in because something just culminated, and that's where you start the story, and then you draw me in, and then you go back to the beginning.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So everyone needs your workshops.
Bridget
Everybody needs our workshops.
Marci
I love. We always have fun at these workshops.
Bridget
There's so many personal parts to the story, and that builds it. But you go back to will that part of the story help another woman? Or is. And the flare and the details are important, but is that part of the story going to help somebody else?
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I love that advice, too. Like, think of, like, you having a conversation with somebody. Like, you wouldn't dump, like, paragraphs on people. You just wouldn't.
Marci
I don't know.
Bridget
Yes.
Marci
And people have, you know, we've had women sending their stories where it is just sort of a dump, a brain dump. And we do. We work together. I will highlight or comment some of the. On some of their stories. Maybe we, you know, that's great, but
Bridget
it's not necessary to the point of what you're trying to make.
Marci
And I try to do it in a way that they understand that this is not censoring their story because they're still being authentic and telling their truth the way it happened. But sometimes I don't need to know the weather outside, but I do need to know. I love our writing workshops. I love, you know, reminding people, you know, if you're talking about something that happened in the 80s, maybe throw something in there about where you're wearing a Spree sweatshirt, you know, and you know, it's the difference between an autobiography and a memoir. And that's where you can send examples of how true storytelling can be done in a captivating way.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I think, like, one takeaway, too, I want to summarize, is I feel like when you two continue to meet people and open up briefly, like, you crack something open in people. Like, and that's such a gift. Like, it really is. Like, I want to commend you for that. Like, because I feel so comfortable telling you about things that I'm going through. And, like, that's a really special trait to Have.
Marci
Thank you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So, like, thanks.
Bridget
Thank you. Yeah. It's really inspiring. That means so, so much because it's like, even sitting here with you, like, we're talking about all these different things, but I'm like, but wait a minute. How did you get here? Like, what? How did you get here? Like, this is amazing, what you're doing. Like, it. I feel like the. When you come into the world in which we're doing, you, like, look at people differently. Even somebody who you might not. Who you clash with. You're like, why? What happened to them? What's their experience? How did. I don't know.
Marci
And why don't I know it?
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Yeah, Right?
Bridget
Know what's going on?
Marci
You'd be surprised. I do workshops at senior centers, and it's. It's so great. But the very first time I did one, this woman raised her hand in the back of the room, and she said, why would anyone want to hear my story? And my answer was, who told you that I wouldn't want to hear your story? I want to hear your story. Somebody told you along the way that your story wasn't worthy, but I bet you it's a really good one. And it was. And we published it. Yeah. So see?
Jacqueline Zuckerman
At any age, too.
Marci
Yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So inspiring.
Marci
Yeah. Thank you.
Bridget
It's just people. Why. Oh, my gosh, why are we trying to fit into, you know, any type
Jacqueline Zuckerman
of box society teaches you?
Bridget
Right?
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So it's like, I'm very inspired. Okay. I want to play some game time. Oh, so I love these, like, fire questions. Okay. A powerful story has the ability. I want you both to answer this separately.
Marci
Okay.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Has the ability to what?
Bridget
Change lives?
Marci
Change me.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Ooh, that's very good.
Bridget
I want that lantern.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Okay, now I'm gonna ask you this both, but I want you to answer individually. Okay. Early morning writing or late night creativity?
Marci
Late night creativity. Late night creativity.
Bridget
Kids are, like, in bed.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Like, it's, yes.
Bridget
Maybe a glass of wine.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I think I know the answer, but I'm gonna add this anyway. Fiction or real life stories?
Bridget
Oh, real life.
Marci
Oh, fiction.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I love that.
Bridget
I'm totally real life. They're just like, yeah.
Marci
Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, fiction comes from nonfiction, right?
Bridget
Yep.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Also true. Also true. Podcast or book?
Marci
Book.
Bridget
I don't know. I'm totally stuck on that one. I'm gonna say book, but I like audiobooks.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Okay.
Bridget
So, yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Oh, okay. I'm curious on your feedback on this one. Stage storytelling or written storytelling?
Marci
Oh, boy. See, I'm a story slam fan, so I love a stage Story. Me too, but I'm a writer, so I.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Right.
Marci
Better on paper, so. Yeah. Is it. Can I.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Okay, let's come from both perspectives.
Bridget
Okay.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So if you're an attendee somewhere, you prefer to be a listener.
Marci
Yes.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Like.
Marci
Yes.
Bridget
What do you think, Marks? I mean, I feel like, stage, because it's not. It just. It's off the cuff. Right. And that's where I always say, I love the tangents. That's where the meat is. Tangents is like, when you go off script. But I love the written story because it travels so much further. But you don't want to overthink it when you write it that you might. Oh, someone might not want to hear that part. That's not interesting. But it is. It is. Right.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
It's almost, like, always the opposite of what you think.
Bridget
Yeah.
Marci
Yeah.
Bridget
I'm.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Okay. So this kind of ties into what we just talked about. Which one describes you better, the listener or the truth teller?
Marci
Listener.
Bridget
I keep saying I'm in the middle. Like, I've always been a listener, but since meeting Bridget, I'm very open. So it's a. Been a big transition for me. I've always been the one who's, like, in the corner at the party with someone who was crying, like, always. I was always, like, designated driver, like, taking care of everybody, and it wasn't about me. But now learning that my story has value from Bridget, now I'm like, oh, hold on a second. I can say something that could, you know, has value.
Marci
And I love to pull the truth out of people. Yeah. I mean, it's.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So what advice would you give women today that are listening about telling their story?
Marci
Oh, whether or not it's published, it needs to be told. You have. I keep going back to legacy, but, you know, you have an opportunity to be remembered in a certain way, and whether that's now or later, it's under your control to tell it like you want it. So write it or speak it somewhere and put it away if you're not comfortable publishing it, but, you know, get it out. Because history is told by those who tell it. Right. Not who. Just.
Bridget
Yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I'm so inspired. Yeah. Making me, like, maybe I should write mine.
Bridget
You have. Yes. And I have a place for you to
Jacqueline Zuckerman
think about.
Marci
So I'm thinking about all the women in history that we know of who were told their story needed to be stifled or, you know, that. Let me take it over. Think about the woman from. What is that movie? Big Eyes. The. The. Oh, the artist whose husband took credit for all of her work because she's just a woman. Yep.
Bridget
Hidden figures.
Marci
Hidden figures.
Bridget
These are things people can relate to.
Marci
All the women in NASA who actually made it happen and never got the credit until
Bridget
last year, somebody said that they thought that Mrs. Albert Einstein came up with a lot of what Einstein
Marci
came up with, but she was a French woman, came from a very fascinating intellectual family. No one was taking her seriously. So somehow you need to get your story somewhere so that you're part of recorded history, the way you experienced it. And it's kind of. I try to find a way to make it make sense to people. When you're telling your story, whether it's for someone's ears now or later, One of the things you shouldn't do is worry about how I feel about your
Jacqueline Zuckerman
story, which, unfortunately is societal pressures.
Bridget
Well, we're all.
Marci
And we've talked about this before. We're all people pleasers to a certain level. And I think that that has gotten a negative label. People pleasing. It's a great thing, character trait to have. But when you're telling your story so that you're remembered the way you want it, it's not a time to be a people pleaser. It's not my responsibility.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
No one can take that from you. That's your journey.
Marci
It's not debatable if this is who you say you are. There's no debate.
Bridget
I don't know if this is on or off what we're talking about, but I also think, right. Like, we hear stories of. Of incredible situations, women who overcame great odds or men overcame. You know, I'm from this part of the world and I. On the public stage. And those are all super inspiring stories. But not all of us end up in, you know, on the front page of some sort of magazine or in history books. But that doesn't mean that that person's story isn't just as valuable.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Right.
Bridget
Because if you think about those elite people who end up, you know, the famous. This, that. That's great. But there are the rest of us also. And. And you know what intrigued me so much about this? It was like, what's going on in my neighbor's house? There's a lot going on in my neighbor's house. And it's pretty powerful what's going on. And I know. You know what th. Those.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
They only let you see what you want them to.
Bridget
Those are the stories. That's where we all are. We're not all on. On stage and. And whatever. And those stories should be told.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
You guys are finding the people. I want to commend you.
Marci
You are. Thank you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
So just. Cuz we're limited for time, so I wanted. What would you each tell your younger self today?
Bridget
Want me to go?
Jacqueline Zuckerman
You want me to go? Marcy.
Marci
Sir.
Bridget
Yeah. I'm pretty cool. I love you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
You are. I love it.
Bridget
I love it.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I think.
Bridget
And I say that because I was so insecure and I was so like, don't make a mistake. Don't, you know, do this and. And I'll tell stories. And it was for no reason. Like at night, getting into bed and I would review everything in my head that I had said. My interactions was that good, was that bad. I should have said this. I should have said that. I just would have been like, you just. Just chill out. Chill out. You got this. You got. Yeah, it's good. It's all good. Yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I love.
Marci
Oh, I'd probably tell myself, I think
Jacqueline Zuckerman
so on Brand, go introduce yourself to
Marci
Marcy and try to be your friend. That's what I would tell myself. I think I would tell myself, it's all going to be just fine. I was a very naive kid and I love that about myself. But not until later, looking back. So I think I would tell myself, just keep on keeping on and it'll work out. Yeah.
Bridget
I try and teach my son this, right? Like, you are who you are. Own it, Be comfortable in it. Just, you know, find joy in who you are at every stage. And every stage is. I don't know, just there was. There's such a thing about feeling comfort in your own skin and being you. Like, everyone's. Everyone's.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Everyone's already taken. What's the saying?
Bridget
Right? Oh, yes.
Marci
You know, my love, that.
Bridget
That's awesome.
Marci
My dad was always so joyful about every person he met. And, you know, somebody actually said that when he talked to somebody, he really made them feel like he was actually listening. And dad would find the joy. And there was never a jealous bone in his body. It was always, I'm so proud. I'm so happy for them. And I think that that is something to aspire to. Finding the joy in your own life, finding joy in the lives of the ones around you. And if everyone. And, you know, accepting people the way they are, telling them to get comfortable in their own skin too. Because if everybody was like me, Kind of boring. Yeah.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
How do people follow you guys? Get in touch? All the things?
Marci
We're on Instagram at Pink Chair Storytellers and Facebook at Pink chair storytellers and
Bridget
we're very simple pinkchairstorytellers.com so we make it really, really easy. But we're excited. Excited. Please follow. We'll have more stories coming out. We'll be pushing out new content now all the time.
Marci
More workshops.
Bridget
Yep, more workshops. And blogging is back so we don't know what's going to happen with that.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Very good. SEO. All the things.
Marci
Yes.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
Yes. Thank you ladies so much.
Bridget
Oh my gosh. We're honored. We're honored. Thank you.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
We'll go follow them. And thank you for tuning in to next on Scenes. Stay tuned for who's next on scene.
Bridget
Thanks.
Jacqueline Zuckerman
I'm here to give you your red carpet moment. So follow us on all our podcast channels on any stream from iheartradio Spotify. If you just type in Nexon Scene, the human behind the brand. Or you can also follow us on all our social media channels @nextonscene. I can't for you to come on this journey with us. Your site is very impactful as an audience member. So come along for the ride and we are gonna all evolve together and we can't wait for you to see who's next on scene.
Marci
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Bridget
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Podcast: Next On Scene: The Human Behind The Brand
Host: Jaclyn Zukerman Delory
Episode Title: Unfiltered Stories That Build Empathy: Marci & Bridget of Pink Chair Storytellers
Release Date: March 10, 2026
This episode features Marci and Bridget, co-founders of Pink Chair Storytellers, a unique platform for women and trans women to share their personal stories without censorship, judgment, or apology. Host Jaclyn Zukerman Delory (Jaclyn) delves into how Pink Chair Storytellers began, the power and process of authentic storytelling, and why empathy—rooted in unfiltered truth—is essential for building a lasting legacy and stronger communities.
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