Tag: #podcast

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Why Chica Took a Pause

Why Chica took a PauseWhy Chica Took a Pause

While Overheard at Chica’s Café continues as a monthly podcast, the blog has been quiet since July 30, 2025. This is why Chica took a pause.

This pause wasn’t about absence or disengagement, but about navigating creative burnout in entertainment and choosing where creative energy could be held responsibly.

This editor’s note marks the return of the written reflections that accompany the café conversations — shaped by lived experience, recalibration, and renewed clarity.

Why a Creative Pause in Entertainment Was Necessary

There’s a kind of silence that isn’t absence — it’s prioritization.

Since July 30, 2025, the blog portion of Overheard at Chica’s Café has been paused. The podcast itself continued — conversations were still happening, stories still unfolding. What shifted was the bandwidth for writing alongside speaking.

Blogging requires a different kind of presence. It asks for stillness, editing, and sustained reflection. When life compresses time and energy, something has to give — and for a while, that something was the blog.

This pause wasn’t about disengagement. It was about choosing where creative energy could be held responsibly.

Creative Pause in Entertainment Isn’t Always Loud

Creative burnout in entertainment doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it shows up quietly — as fatigue, as reduced clarity, as the need to conserve creative output rather than expand it.

Many creatives continue working while reassessing how much they can offer in each format. Speaking may feel accessible while writing feels demanding. Recording may feel grounding while drafting feels heavy.

That doesn’t signal failure. It signals self-awareness.

Why Writing Requires a Different Kind of Energy

Podcasting allows for real-time conversation — tone, breath, humor, pauses. Blogging requires a slower excavation. It asks you to organize thoughts, make them coherent, and offer them without the warmth of voice.

During periods of personal change, it’s common for creators to stay connected through one medium while stepping back from another. That choice isn’t avoidance — it’s stewardship.

The café didn’t close. One door simply rested.

Returning to the Blog With Clarity

This return isn’t about “catching up” or compensating for time away. It’s about re-entering the written space with intention.

The blog remains a place for:

  • Entertainment industry reflection
  • Honest conversations about creative sustainability
  • Discouragement, humor, and recalibration
  • The human stories that shape artistic lives

Not performance. Not productivity theater. Just clarity.

What Comes Next for the Café Blog

Going forward, blog posts will appear alongside the ongoing monthly podcast — not as obligation, but as accompaniment. Writing will return when it adds value, not pressure.

If you’ve stepped back from one part of your creative work while continuing another, you’re not inconsistent. You’re responding to reality.

Pull up a chair.
The blog is back — steady, intentional, and grounded.

Listen on Apple Podcast

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Albert Bramante – Talent Agent

On the Overheard at Chica’s Café podcast, we are delighted to welcome the insightful Albert Bramante, a seasoned talent agent, as well as the accomplished author of Rise Above the Script. In this engaging episode, we dive deep into the intricate world of the current entertainment industry. Albert shares his expert perspective on the evolving landscape, shedding light on the myriad challenges performers face today. We also explore the subtle ways in which artists often unwittingly undermine their own potential, unraveling the complex web of self-sabotage that can hinder their careers.

I assist performers, educators, and creators in unlocking their full potential by combining psychology, performance strategies, and AI to drive unstoppable progress. With over two decades of experience at the intersection of entertainment and education, I have coached actors to secure transformative roles, guided students to become top-tier professionals, and developed systems to help individuals overcome fear, imposter syndrome, and self-sabotage. As the CEO of Bramante Artists, I manage a diverse group of talent in Broadway, film, television, commercials, and print. I focus on career development rather than simply booking roles, using psychological insights and industry strategies to foster long-term, purpose-driven success for talent. In my role as a college professor, I have taught psychology at Union County College and BMCC (CUNY), creating and delivering courses in Child Development, Personality, and Human Growth, with an emphasis on transformative learning experiences rooted in practical application. As a practitioner of hypnosis and NLP, I provide powerful mental performance tools in my work, whether coaching actors, mentoring students, or speaking to creatives. My approach centers on eliminating internal barriers and enhancing clarity, confidence, and focus.

Listen to the episode

Rise Above the Script – Available on Amazon

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Alex Greenwood, Author/Podcaster

J Alex Greenwood AuthorIn this episode of Overheard at Chica’s Café, Alex Greenwood (Author) shares an intriguing story about his writing journey and his encounter with a producer who requested him to write a treatment. Alex delves into the challenges and excitement of the process, providing valuable insights for aspiring writers. Throughout the episode, Alex and his previous co-host on the podcast, Chica and the Man, share their signature humor, resulting in a lighthearted and entertaining conversation. Join them as they laugh their way through this captivating episode, showcasing their strong friendship and passion for storytelling.

J. Alexander Greenwood is a prolific author celebrated for his John Pilate Mystery Series and the Western novel “Big Cabin and Dispatches from the West,” co-authored with the late Robert E. Trevathan. Alex’s notable nonfiction includes “The Podcast Option” and “Kickstarter Success Secrets.”

He has produced the Mysterious Goings On podcast since 2016 and hosts the PR After Hours podcast. He has also contributed to “Chica and the Man” and “Going to Killing City,” a true crime show.

After fourteen years at the helm of his Kansas City PR agency, in 2024, he accepted a leadership position at a major university.

To learn more about his work, visit jalexandergreenwood.com.

Pilate’s Faith: Book Eight in the John Pilate Mystery Series

Pilate’s Faith Book

Listen to her episode here

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2024Happy New Year to all! As the 2023 came to an end, I wanted to wish everyone an amazing New Year filled with love, joy, prosperity, and most importantly, good health. We often take our health for granted, but it truly is the foundation for enjoying life’s many blessings.

Overheard at Chica’s Café launched in July of 2022 as a way to bring some lightheartedness back into our lives after three years of pandemic struggles. In the upcoming year, we plan on adding more interviews at the suggestion of one of our listeners. These interviews will feature individuals from all areas of the entertainment industry, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at their journeys. We’ve also discussed important topics such as the writers’ and actors’ strike in several episodes this year. Sadly, our sister podcast, Chica and the Man, came to an end in September due to our busy schedules. It was a bittersweet goodbye since my co-host Alex is a dear friend of mine.

Overheard at Chica’s Café is all about my friends, and I can’t wait to introduce you to more of them. And not just my friends – I’ll also be featuring associates I have worked with in the past. This will not only be entertaining but also educational as you’ll get insight into what it takes to be in these positions in the entertainment industry. So, stay tuned for more episodes where friends meet at Chica’s Café.

2023 Guests

This year we had amazing friends visit the café and I want to thank the following guests. Check out the episodes here or at the links per guest below.

Che Rae Adams – Let’s Talk Theater – Artistic Director of PlayPen in Philadelphia Che’Rae has been a longtime friend.

Kelly Keefe – Multi-Disciplinary Artist – Author, Musician and founder of Heartspace.co a mindfulness platform.

Steve Walker – Theatrical Agent – Connor Ankrum & Assoc. in Los Angeles

Marabina Jaimes – Actor, Voiceover Artist & Producer and I got signed to my voiceover agents DDO LA. because she helped me with my demo tape. I’m very grateful.

Jane Witzenburg – Musician and Music teacher

Doreen Calderon – Actor, Fatal Attraction

Kristi Schultz – Theatre Maker, Director & Educator

Norma Maldonado – Actor

Denise Sanchez – Actor, Bosch Legacy – I play her mom on the Bosch Legacy TV Series.

Thank you and many blessings and Happy New Year.