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My guest for Episode #65 is Reena Friedman Watts, the host of the podcast “Better Call Daddy.” She's also producing a new podcast called the “SNF Spotlight” (focused on Skilled Nursing Facilities).
She started as an intern, a guest booker, and a producer for The Jerry Springer Show and never looked back. She’s hooked on telling the stories of outsiders. There's a long list of shows she has worked on… including Nanny 911, Judge Alex, and Divorce Court, She helps entrepreneurs get seen! Reena is also a Media Marketing Specialist through her company MegaWatts Productions.
In the episode, Reena shares a few amazing stories about working with guests on “Springer.” Why is her favorite mistake “trying to make people what they're not”? Where did they find these guests? Did she ever feel unsafe with the fighting and the crazy situations? Did guests ever lie or make up stories? Spoiler alert: they did.
We also talk about podcasting mistakes and whether she ever thought it was a mistake to start a podcast with her dad.
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Automated Transcript (Likely Contains Mistakes)
Here is the cleaned-up transcript of the episode featuring Mark Graban and Reena Friedman Watts, organized with subheaders for clarity.
Episode 65: Reena Friedman Watts on Producing Reality TV and “Better Call Daddy”
Mark Graban: Episode 65: Reena Friedman Watts, host of the Better Call Daddy podcast.
Reena Friedman Watts: You know, I started at the Jerry Springer show as an intern.
Mark Graban: I'm Mark Graban. This is My Favorite Mistake. In this podcast, you'll hear business leaders and other really interesting people talking about their favorite mistakes because we all make mistakes. But what matters is learning from our mistakes instead of repeating them over and over again. So this is the place for honest reflection and conversation, personal growth, and professional success. Visit our website at myfavoritemistake.com. For links, show notes, and more, you can go to MarkGraban.com/mistake65. Please follow, rate, and review. And now on with the show, our guest today is Reena Friedman Watts.
Introducing Reena Friedman Watts
Mark Graban: She started as a producer—get this—for the Jerry Springer Show and she's never looked back. She is really hooked on telling the stories of outsiders. She does that through a podcast called the Better Call Daddy show. So I'll ask Reena a little bit about that, but she is a media marketing specialist. She has a company called MegaWatts Productions. She likes to help entrepreneurs get seen. So before I tell the audience a little bit more about you, Reena, thank you for being here. How are you?
Reena Friedman Watts: I'm doing well. How are you?
Mark Graban: I'm doing great. Well, I'm looking forward to the episode together with you. As I mentioned, starting with the Jerry Springer Show and then moving on, the list of shows Reena has been part of as a producer is long. It includes shows like Nanny 911, Judge Alex, and Divorce Court. You'd rather be a producer on these shows than be a guest, right?
Reena Friedman Watts: Definitely. Although some of my family could probably star in some of the shows that I've worked on…
Mark Graban: Each one a different show. I bet you have a matching one. I won't ask you which.
Reena Friedman Watts: I honestly think that's why I got along so well at Springer is because I grew up in Kentucky and the stories were not that far-fetched from things that I heard.
The New Project: SNF Spotlight
Mark Graban: It'll be interesting to pick your brain a little bit about that experience. But again, Reena is hosting a podcast called the Better Call Daddy show. I'll ask Reena more about this later, but her dad is featured as a part of this. You can find it wherever you're listening to this podcast, or you can go to bettercalldaddy.com. Reena is also producing a new podcast. It's healthcare-related called the SNF Spotlight. And SNF in this instance means…
Reena Friedman Watts: A Skilled Nursing Facility. So it's a nursing home podcast where we are highlighting healthcare heroes, owners and operators, directors of rehabilitation, activities coordinators, and maintenance workers—all of the people that go into taking care of the senior community.
Mark Graban: It's been a particularly tough year for people in those settings. So it's great to give them some recognition. They are heroes, right?
Reena Friedman Watts: Yeah. It's been a heartwarming experience so far and really eye-opening just to all of the changes and regulations and people working doubles and having to stay separate sometimes even from their own families to take care of the lives of others.
Reena’s Favorite Mistake: Forcing Authenticity
Mark Graban: So Reena, as you know, there's so much we can talk about here today, but as we normally do, we'll jump right into asking you to tell a story. What would you say is your favorite mistake?
Reena Friedman Watts: My favorite mistake I learned pretty early on was: Don't try to make people what they're not.
I started at the Jerry Springer Show as an intern where I was taking the guests around Chicago. I was actually new to the city as well. It was great. I got petty cash, I got a pager, and they said, “Take them out on the town.” I had vouchers for different restaurants, the House of Blues, and I was learning the city alongside them. Then I started booking the guests. I kind of knew what kind of guests they wanted for the show. I heard the associate producers on the phone and started imitating them to see if I could get people to come to Chicago.
When one show goes well, you think, “Okay, rinse, recycle, repeat.” But that's not necessarily true. Everybody tells their story in their own unique way. And that's what makes their story beautiful. What I tried to do is, once I had one good story and the crowd was going wild, I tried to make people who weren't like that act just like my previous guests.
Mark Graban: Can you give an example?
Reena Friedman Watts: I had one guest the previous show, and she was taking off her clothes and yelling at the crowd. She was very boisterous and confident. The week after, I had this guest involving a relationship with her half-brother. I tried to make her act like the previous guest. The thing is, she wasn't like that at all. She was kind of weird, very quiet, and she told her story in a much different way.
I told her, “People are going to go after you. It's not something that you hear every day, what you're doing. The crowd is going to boo you, they're going to think that's weird, and you have to go after them. That's what the show is.”
She could not do that. It did not come across as authentic at all. It was not who she was. When you try to make people fake who they are, you can sense that it's very strange. It's not received well. She didn't feel good about it, the crowd didn't feel good about it, and the executives didn't feel good about it. I learned a very good mistake in that situation.
Mark Graban: I'm curious what kind of pressure you were under. Did the show, in the search for ratings, get addicted to the conflict? Were you under pressure to bring that?
Reena Friedman Watts: Yeah. When you're young and measuring what a good show is based upon the audience's reaction, when you get a reaction from one story, you try to get that same reaction from your next story. I was learning as I went. I didn't realize that by literally just having her say it in her own unique, relaxed fashion—like she did on the phone—that could have been better or enough to build up to a great reaction. Not every reaction is going to be hysterics and laughter and screaming from the crowd. Sometimes you can create shock or confusion or different emotions, and that makes a beautiful story too. That took me a little while to learn.
Unpredictable Guests and Safety on Set
Mark Graban: Where did you find these people? Do they self-nominate?
Reena Friedman Watts: It was during the days of 1-800-96-JERRY. I worked there at the very beginning of finding guests on the internet. I'm sure the majority of guests are now found that way.
Mark Graban: It’s not just the story of the situation, it's the way they behave. Was there another mistake along those lines?
Reena Friedman Watts: I had this guy who wanted to win his ex-girlfriend back. He was so likable; you actually felt sorry for him. They were in a relationship for years, and she left him for a “biker tough guy.” He was the sensitive guy, skinny, smaller. He was coming here to win her back.
I told the biker boyfriend that before he knocks the guy out of the chair, he has to explain why he's upset with the other guy. It is a talk show. You can't just go out there and knock them out of the chair. That's an unairable segment; people aren't going to understand where that comes from. He promised me he was not going to go out there and kill the guy.
But sometimes people's behavior is erratic and unpredictable. I'm 21 or 22 years old dealing with unpredictable people. He went right out on the stage and knocked that guy out with no explanation, no talking.
Mark Graban: Was there ever a time where you felt unsafe because of a guest or the dynamics?
Reena Friedman Watts: There is one instance that sticks out. There were two girls from LA, much bigger and a little older than me. They had prior altercations with each other back in their hometowns—a sister who hated her brother's wife. In between commercial breaks, we had separated them. After I separated them, I went the same direction that one had exited the stage. I think she was expecting me to come from the other side to talk to her. She thought I was the sister-in-law. She had her fist cocked back. I just jumped back, put my hands in the air, and said, “I'm not her! Here's what you forgot to say. You need to calm down. Let me fix your hair.” I was scared.
Lessons in Production and Podcasting
Mark Graban: Were you able to apply that lesson regarding authenticity intentionally from your first story to other places?
Reena Friedman Watts: As I matured as an interviewer and producer, I tried to be more situationally aware. I did still make other mistakes. I worked on a show called Kill Reality, featuring reality stars living in a house together to film a B-movie. There was a big reveal happening—they were bringing unexpected guests to the house. I was in there a little too long. They came through the door with the camera people, and the staff is not supposed to be in the house. I was like, “Ah!” Another one of those moments where I felt like I messed up a big reveal. It wasn't on purpose; I just didn't get out quickly enough.
Mark Graban: Talking about podcasting, some guests will talk for what seems like forever. Are there times where you reflect and think you need to be more aggressive and jump in?
Reena Friedman Watts: I literally had a guest that talked almost the entire hour. I might have asked two follow-up questions. I had to do a follow-up interview with him just to air the segment. I said, “I loved your story. I know you've got a lot to say, but we're going to have to do a part two.”
Mark Graban: You have quite the diverse mix of guests and topics.
Reena Friedman Watts: I found some amazing guests off Clubhouse. I interviewed a guy who was in the military in Gitmo for four years. He went from questioning his Christian roots to getting a Hebrew tattoo of the word chesed on his arm, which means kindness, and leaving the military. He is now in theater at Yale.
Mark Graban: That's quite the change.
Reena Friedman Watts: I listened to another girl the other day who had been locked in her basement for years by her stepmother. Now she's become an audiologist and helps children who have processing information disorders from trauma. I love those kinds of stories.
The “Better Call Daddy” Podcast
Mark Graban: Reena's podcast is Better Call Daddy. Tell us the backstory of where you got the idea, and did it ever feel like a mistake to do this with your dad?
Reena Friedman Watts: There have been a few topics where I thought, “Maybe I shouldn't cover this,” worrying he might say something that will offend someone just because of generational differences or not being PC. He's 64, so not too old, but there are differences.
The idea really came from my entrepreneurial journey. I kept calling my dad for questions: “What do you do when the client says the check is in the mail? What do you do when you have a difficult client?” My dad ran a company with his parents for 45 years and managed over 200 people. He's really good with people. I thought, let me share that wisdom with the world.
One mistake I made was having my dad on during the original interview. I've decided now to just interview the guest, cut down the segment, share the story with my dad, and then record his reaction with the two of us.
Mark Graban: Do you have a favorite episode?
Reena Friedman Watts: One that I was very excited about was James Altucher. I listened to him all summer long on Instagram Live. I ended up interviewing him and his wife, Robin. That was really special to me because I felt like I learned so much from him. He’s a podcaster, best-selling author, chess master, and entrepreneur. If I didn't create this show, I never would've had that opportunity.
Conclusion
Mark Graban: Reena, I think you've done really well with your podcast. I also encourage people to check out the new podcast she's promoting, the SNF Spotlight, celebrating healthcare heroes. To learn more about Reena Friedman Watts, her podcast, and everything she does, you can go to MarkGraban.com/mistake65.
If this is your first time listening, please do rate and review the podcast. Thanks again for listening. I hope this podcast inspires you to reflect on your own mistakes, how you can learn from them, or turn them into a positive. If you have feedback or a story to share, you can email me at myfavoritemistakepodcast@gmail.com.