Eva Longoria — actress, director, advocate, mother, and wife — has been busy during the coronavirus pandemic like many adults. In her case, stay-at-home orders led her to spend more time at home, caring for her young son and cooking. Longoria said she has been lucky to be able to take this time away from her career, but recognizes that many people, especially women, have been struggling to juggle additional responsibilities with work outside of the home. Now she is encouraging women to find ways to protect their mental well-being..
"I am, of course, very privileged to be able to stay home and be with my baby. There are so many people that don't have that luxury and still have to go to work and still have to be in danger without PPE," Longoria said.
In addition to family duties, this summer the Desperate Housewives star emerged as part of a women-led ownership group behind Angel City, the new Los Angeles-based team in the National Women's Soccer League.
"It was really exciting because it was a venture capital group that is by women, looks for women. I mean, it's all-around a holistic approach to having representation," Longoria said.
The urge to be part of a groundbreaking moment, in sports and soccer history in particular, according to Longoria, was sparked by the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, whose years of domination on the field was often coupled with demand for equal pay.
"We should have equal representation in government, in companies, in life, in media. So, this was a good way to exercise that," she said.
Longoria has long been recognized as an advocate and activist, and this year she was selected to be the host for the first night of the virtual Democratic National Convention.
"I wasn't there as a celebrity or as a famous person. I was there as an American. I was there as the daughter of a veteran, the daughter of a teacher, as a small business owner," she explained.
Now, Longoria has a new project underway: a campaign with Tillamook Creamery to draw attention to the country's agricultural needs, especially as food insecurity becomes a growing concern amid the pandemic.
"They're going to donate 10 percent of their sales, up to a donation of $1.6 million dollars, to the American Farmland Trust. That's to help farmers in many ways, whether it's protecting their farmlands, improving their farming methods, so many things," she said.
The actress, who admits to being a fan of the co-ops' ice cream, also noted the public campaign that encourages social media users to thank farmers and use the tags #AllForFarmers and #Sweepstakes. Tillamook will randomly select 10 lucky consumers to win a year's worth of free ice cream.
Model and Fashion Designer Catie Li joins ChedHER to discuss her unique journey into the modeling world, designing her very own Amazon The Drop collection, and what work needs to be done to improve representation in the beauty industry.
Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning, joins ChedHER to discuss how technology is transforming the way the world learns, and her career journey as a leading woman of color in the tech industry.
Chicago schools opened their doors again following a dispute between the teachers union and the city over as the omicron variant continues to surge, but the safety issues they fought over weren't just limited to the Windy City. Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, family medicine and urgent care doctor, joined Cheddar in discussing concerns of parents, teachers, and students as schools try to operate amid COVID and noted what she's been observing as the number of infections among children rises. "I am seeing them contract the illness from so many different aspects," she said. "It could be from a fellow classmate. It could be from a parent. All of those things really play in the effect of transmission as well as contracting the illness."
One startup is working to reverse climate change one seed at a time. Terraformation is a global forest accelerator that provides tools, training, financing, and business support to help scale forest restoration projects worldwide. Forests naturally absorb carbon and Terraformation says that reforestation is a safe, low-cost, and scalable solution to the climate crisis. Yee Lee, VP of growth at Terraformation, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Tony Horton, fitness guru and creator of the famous P90X workout joins Cheddar News to discuss how people can stay focused and maintain fitness in the new year.
Meet Corrine Tan, American Girl’s 2022 Girl of the Year. Corrine is the first doll of Chinese descent from the company, debuting in response to a rise in hate crimes against the Asian American community. Jamie Cygielman, president and general manager of American Girl, spoke to Cheddar about the long development of the character. "As the pandemic began we started to see a lot of anti-Asian sentiment across the country," she said. "We sort of blended all of these stories together to create Corinne, an outline for Corinne, and then partnered with the wonderful author Wendy Shang to help tell that story to our fans." Cygielman also touched on linking up with AAPI Youth Rising, donating $25,000 for education efforts.
Janet Phan, founder of Thriving Elements and author of 'Boldly You,' joins Cheddar News to discuss the importance of being a mentor and how her organization is helping the next generation of STEM leaders.
Daniel Freedman, co-CEO of Burnalong, joins Cheddar News to talk about how Burnalong is helping companies support its staff and prevent workplace burnout.
Dave Epstein, meteorologist and contributor to The Boston Globe, joins Cheddar News to discuss the arctic blast hitting the Midwest and Northeastern area.
Decorated skier Lindsey Vonn did not hold back when touching on mental health in "Rise," her new memoir. "My mental health is definitely part of my story," she said. "Now I'm just thankful that this conversation is so much more talked about — Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Kevin Love, Michael Phelps, all have been outspoken about it." She noted that she felt happy that readers, particularly kids, get to see a vulnerable side to her in the book. The gold medalist also went on to note what she's most looking forward to watching in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
