From Sesame Street to Michelle Obama’s Kitchen with Cassie & David Bizzaro

Shift Out Loud with Tracy Spears

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Husband-and-wife team David and Cassie Bizzaro are no strangers to shifting out loud. Their journey has included moving from Tulsa to New York (and back again), taking a professional leap of faith, and strolling down Sesame Street (yes, that one!).

After 15 years of experience in higher education marketing and communications, Cassie is crushing it in her role as Director of Communications at the NYU Stern School of Business, while puppeteer and funny man David currently stars alongside Michelle Obama in Netflix’s delightful Waffles + Mochi’s Restaurant — an educational children’s show that mixes puppetry with cooking.

Tune in for a candid, often hilarious, and occasionally poignant conversation about dating reluctantly, auditioning for roles as a POC, faking it till you make it, being haunted by an entertainment legend, and dealing with intimate personal loss during a time of intense uncertainty.

Listen now to discover:

• How the couple have defined their strengths and roles in order to shift TOGETHER more effectively
• How David built an Emmy-winning puppeteering career from the ground up with zero experience
• A behind-the-scenes look at the puppeteering world (and Michelle Obama)!

Guest bio: Cassie Bizzaro is a film graduate from the University of Oklahoma and the Director of Communications at the NYU Stern School of Business. She loves good emails, organizing, and kind people with big dreams. David is a first-generation American Latinx actor and Emmy-Award-winning puppeteer who has worked for culture-defining companies such as The Muppets, Sesame Street, The Jim Henson Company, SYFY, and The Flaming Lips. They live in Tulsa with their cats and their son, Benny.

Timestamps:

01:36 Intro

03:21 Meet Cassie & David Bizzaro

05:27 Dating without “dating”

12:21 The NYC shift

17:36 Pandemic experience

20:40 Miscarriage & medical insights

28:06 Coming back to Tulsa

33:40 The puppeteering shift

41:51 The Muppet shift

51:11 Immersing yourself in possibility

52:41 The post-Emmy shifts

1:01:12 Michelle Obama & the show

1:07:51 Big moments & making connections

1:11:27 Next big shifts & good emails

Links:

Cassie & David Bizzaro

https://cassandrabizzaro.substack.com

Instagram: @davidbizzaro, @cassandrabizzaro

Tulsa Remote

https://tulsaremote.com

Discover your tactical leadership toolkit: https://www.exceptionalleaderslab.com

Interested in working with me or having me speak at your event? More information at https://tracyspears.com

Want tools and insights that will help you play bigger in your life, at work, and in your community? Visit: https://tracyspears.com/blog

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracylspears

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Twitter: @tracylspears

Instagram: @tracylspears

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