From Chef to Bestie: Shaina & Alex's Story
Hey, besties. My name's Lisa.
Tamara:And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa:Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old growing up in good old Fairbanks, Alaska.
Tamara:And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa:That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some fun, friendly conversations with the bestest of best friends.
Tamara:We'll talk about how we became best friends, our experiences together, and have other best friends on the show to share how they met. Who knows?
Leisa:You never know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara:Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa:Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi, Tamara.
Tamara:Hey, Lisa. How are you?
Leisa:I am good. I have a little doggy update. I Yeah. Have a new puppy. She is 14 old now.
Leisa:She we got her when she was nine weeks old, so we haven't recorded in a while or maybe I can't remember. I updated last time, but I'm teaching her now how to be polite, which I I learned that yesterday as a new trick. Not just sit and everything, but to act polite, to act with kindness. Because when she when she is excited and wants to play, she's been, like, nipping a little bit, and, she's very communicative that she wants to play. So I'm learning, and we're gonna go to puppy school, and I gotta learn how to handle that because I haven't had a puppy in over twenty years, so that's exciting.
Leisa:But she is also smothering me with kisses and love every day too. So it's it's, she's really, really cute. I'm totally in love.
Tamara:She is very cute, but looks like a lot of work.
Leisa:It is a lot of work because she's a I had a nightmare that I was giving that I had a baby, like a human baby, and I woke up. I know. I woke up, and I'm like, in the dream, I was like, oh my gosh. I can't believe this. Ariana's about to go to college or Ariana's about to graduate from college.
Leisa:How can I start over right now? And then I woke up. I'm like, oh, it's just a dog. Okay. Good.
Leisa:I'm alright. That was, like, way too much stress for me. I'm 52. I'm not ready to have a baby right now. Yeah.
Shaina Zazzaro:But a
Leisa:puppy baby is fine. Alright. Well, I'm excited. We have some fun guests today from New York. Shana and Alex, welcome to the show.
Alex Buckner:Thank you for Yes. Joining
Leisa:We're excited to have to hear your best friend's story. And Shana and I met at an event, and I can always tell, like, when when I talk about the topic of best friendship, there are certain people where it just really lights up. And so Shana and I had that connection. And, Shane, why don't you kick us off and tell us your your version of how you and Alex met for the very first time?
Shaina Zazzaro:Well, I've actually known Alex for a very long time. She was my sister who passed away now seven years ago. She was my sister Nikki's best friend growing up. So Alex knew me as the very mean, scary, big sister of Nikki's. And so that's that's her childhood memories of me.
Shaina Zazzaro:And then fast forward twenty years, Alex was looking for a change of scenery, and she she was a chef at a restaurant, and she wanted something new. And she reached out to me when I had a personal assistant add up, and I actually ended up hiring her to be my food truck chef. And then throughout the years, we just got closer and closer, and then we just really realized we're each other's best friends. But what's nice about us is that we can separate business and friendship. So I can be her boss at times, and then she's, you know, she's my best friend.
Shaina Zazzaro:But we can separate that, which a lot of people working together in business have a very hard time doing. So that I think is something special about our friendship.
Leisa:I wonder if it's because when you first met, you were like the you said like the older sister, so it interesting how that dynamic maybe started helps to keep the relationship, the two different dynamics separate.
Shaina Zazzaro:Yeah.
Leisa:Wow. Well, I'm sorry to hear about your sister. And Okay.
Shaina Zazzaro:It's a I can finally talk about it now. It's been a long time. Unfortunately, she had a overdose, and she passed in 2018. So, actually, it's it's going
Leisa:on eight
Shaina Zazzaro:years next month, which is wild to me.
Leisa:Mhmm. So Yeah. Wow. Well, I'm sure she's with us in some way today.
Shaina Zazzaro:I'm sure she likes that Alex and I are best friends.
Alex Buckner:Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Alex, what
Leisa:about your version of of meeting Shana for the first time?
Alex Buckner:So as she said, I was very good friends with her sister, and she was like the big sister when we were growing up, sneaking into her room and all that. But, yeah, Shana had actually reached out to me a couple of times to work for her and seemed that every single time she reached out to me, I had just started a new position. So, finally, I wanted to get out of that lifestyle of the chef that works until 02:00 in the morning, and I answered her ad, and it's just been the best decision I've ever made. It's a wonderful place to work, and I reconnected with Shana. So I think that that's just probably the biggest perk about this new lifestyle that I have.
Leisa:What so how long have you been working for Shana now? Four years. Four years. Okay. Great.
Leisa:And then what's the because our besties probably wanna know, what kind of company is this? What what do you do for them?
Alex Buckner:Oh. So we're a meal delivery service. We prepackage meals for seniors and people who want to just eat healthier. It's just meal planning and we deliver all over Rochester. We do a lot of catering.
Alex Buckner:We have food trucks. Yeah. Do everything.
Leisa:That's amazing. So it's in Rochester, New York. So if anyone in that area is listening, then it's effortlessly healthy. Right? Is that the name of the company?
Leisa:Yes? Yes. That sounds so cool because I think it's hard to we wanna be healthy, but then there's so many choices, and then we have to make decisions and then portion. So I love that there are you guys are offering that and created that. That's so cool.
Shaina Zazzaro:Thank you. Yes. It was it was my idea. So many people came up to me. What do you eat?
Shaina Zazzaro:How do you look like this? And I have I've lost 60 pounds now three times. I was an overweight kid growing up. I took my arthritis from severe to in remission during my college days. And at about 25, I was just in the best shape of my life.
Shaina Zazzaro:I worked at the hospital. I was the youngest administrator there. And everybody asked me how I looked that way. And finally, I was like, oh my gosh. Everyone has an excuse.
Shaina Zazzaro:I was homesick one day. I had the idea, and I went for it.
Leisa:Wow. You lost 60 pounds three times?
Shaina Zazzaro:Yes. Actually, at 37 years old, I'm really in the best shape of my life. I mean, I I'm I'm competing in the missus American Nationals next month. I'm missus New York American. And then after that, I I'm tempted to do a bikini bodybuilding show because why not just get all these shows done?
Leisa:I know quite a few people, way past 37 who are competing in their bikinis, men and women, and and they have completely transformed their bodies, and it is a marvel to watch. So, yeah, if you're already if you're already 90% of the way there
Shaina Zazzaro:Yes.
Leisa:Why not go all the way?
Shaina Zazzaro:That's Why not?
Leisa:Amazing. So I get that that's how you I'm I'm understanding how you met and then a little bit about how you developed, became best friends. But if you could track back, Shana, of, like, when did it shift from, you know, she's my sister's friend or I've known her for a long time to now we're in the best friend zone? How how would you describe that?
Shaina Zazzaro:I think it once Alex started getting more responsibility in my company, we started talking more. And then it sort of it grew into a friendship that way. Because the more responsibility, the more guidance she needed from me. And, eventually, I just said, you're so good. I'm going to train you on how to be my executive chef and run my company.
Shaina Zazzaro:I'm done with all these people that are, you know, not wonderful. You're capable of it. Believe in yourself. You got this. Let's go.
Shaina Zazzaro:And then I just slowly started training her to really run things, and it just brought us closer because teaching someone how to run your company, you you spend a lot of time talking to them. And she's the person that no matter I reach out to her for anything that has to do with the business, and then, you know, it'll turn into a company call, and then we'll start talking for twenty more minutes. Mostly, I talk her ear off. And and then I finally realized she's at work, and I have to get off the phone because she has a job to do, which is working for me. So, you know, it's it's an interesting friendship, but it really started the more and more responsibility she got for me.
Leisa:How about you, Alex? What what did you how did you feel that transition was going into the best friendship relationship?
Alex Buckner:I started noticing it probably when like she said, when, I took over the position as, executive chef. And her just really pushing me, telling me constantly that I can achieve more. I was always in a position where I was working for like, I was never the executive chef, and she always told me, Alex, you can do this. You can do this. And when I actually did, I realized that was somebody, and that wasn't a boss telling me, hey.
Alex Buckner:I want this. It was that was a best friend. That was a sister. That was my favorite person in the whole world telling me, you are good enough. And giving me the confidence to run, though, run effortlessly healthy, I feel like that's really what did it for me where I said, wow.
Alex Buckner:She really does care a lot about me.
Leisa:Wow. What what would you say are the top three things that you love about Shana?
Alex Buckner:Number 100% her confidence. She can walk into a room and everybody looks there, and she doesn't she doesn't care. Her confidence and she's brilliant. She can run this company from a she can do it from a cell phone. She she just the numbers that she runs through her head every day, I don't even sometimes I don't even understand that.
Alex Buckner:Just she's just so smart. She's a great mom. She's the coolest mom ever. Her kids are constantly they're always at a water park or going go karting or, you know, shopping. And I just think that that's amazing of just how great of a mom she is.
Alex Buckner:And she's just one of the most generous, unselfish people that I've ever met. She cares about everybody else before she cares about herself. She will do anything to make sure that everybody else is taken care of before she does takes care of herself. And that to me is just a great human being, and that's somebody that I want. That's somebody I wanna be around every day.
Alex Buckner:That's somebody I wanna talk to every day.
Leisa:Wow. Wow.
Shaina Zazzaro:Wow. Make you sound so nice. Dana.
Tamara:Dana, what about Alex? What are what are some of her things that you really enjoy?
Shaina Zazzaro:I have never met someone that works harder than me. And that was my first thing I noticed. Like, when she does something, she cares. She cares with all her heart, and she works her ass off. And I I've never seen it.
Shaina Zazzaro:I was always the person who you know, my husband's the same way. We we work so hard, and it's hard to see people that really have a wonderful work ethic. And I saw that in her, which allowed me to let go of a lot of responsibility in my company and anxiety, honestly, because I saw that she was so capable. And I think as a business owner, especially, it's hard to find someone that you can, like, truly, truly trust. And she's I mean, you can put a $100,000 cash on her lap, and she's not gonna steal a dollar of it.
Shaina Zazzaro:You know? I mean, she she's very trustworthy. She has a very kind heart. She's got a great work work ethic. She's a great person.
Shaina Zazzaro:You know? I I I consider to be like my little sister. You know? My my sister's not coming back, and it's really special to me that I have someone in my life that that I can consider to be, you know, that close with. She also doesn't really annoy me, which is, like, super important in a firm.
Shaina Zazzaro:Like, we can hang out, and we don't have to talk to each other every second of every day. You know? We can just chill. Like, we just took a vacation in Maine, and we're able to hang out on a beach and relax. And we don't feel the need to over impress each other.
Shaina Zazzaro:You know? And it's it's nice to just have a friend that you could be yourself. You know, she knows Alex knows the real Shana that a lot of people don't know. You know, she doesn't just know CEO, missus New York Shana. She knows Shana, and and that's cool.
Shaina Zazzaro:And I I'm not able to trust a lot of people to let them in the way that I've let Alex in. So it's nice. She's she's a beautiful person.
Leisa:So important. Oh, I love this. I was just thinking about your sister as well. And is there anything that you want to share in her honor today on the show?
Shaina Zazzaro:I everything I'm doing, I'm doing it because I know life is short, and I know that because of my sister. And so Alex is the Alex is the reason I'm missus New York right now because she told me I could do it. She's like, you're Shayna Cesaro. Go for it. You can win.
Shaina Zazzaro:And I'm like and now she's she's the reason I'm I'm going to missus American. So, you know, I had her to believe in me enough and think I'm this wonderful human that I can go do these things. But in the back of my mind, yeah, I'm doing them because my sister, you know, she can never come back. She can never experience things. So I'm I'm living my best life in her memory.
Shaina Zazzaro:Another really cool thing about missus American American and the whole organization is that the owners of the the Westgate Hotel, their daughter actually passed of an overdose. And they created this Victoria's Voice Foundation, which is a big part of the missus America American and the Miss America Strong organization. And so that's really great for me to be part of an organization that I am able to really have my heart in it and my heart being my sister. And I hope, yeah, if I can take this crown and win, that I'm able to work with Victoria's voice more in memory of Nikki because she was really a beautiful, hardworking, wonderful, the funniest person I've ever met soul that was just taken too soon because of a terrible epidemic. And, you know, unfortunately, you can't look back.
Shaina Zazzaro:You have to keep moving forward. And now I just I'm do every doing everything for her and also for my mom because my mom lives in such heartache of losing my sister. And, hopefully, I'm giving her something to continue to look forward to in life when, you know, things can bring her down very easily after losing Nikki.
Leisa:Yeah.
Shaina Zazzaro:Sorry. That was a long That's No.
Leisa:That's okay. It's keeping it real. We've had we've had other guests on our show who who lost their best friend actually and will come on and share. And so that's a part I mean, unfortunately, death is a part of life, you know, and Mhmm. You know, Tamara and I have also had our own losses and such, so we we understand.
Leisa:And it's also, I think, important to honor and remember, you know, recognize and remember those who we've lost.
Tamara:Yeah. And how great you two can have, like, come together because it sounds like it was after her passing. And Yeah. And now you have your this bond and friendship and how it's grown, you know, from what it used to be. So that's beautiful.
Shaina Zazzaro:Well, and what's nice is, like, when we were in Maine, you know, my daughter, Zoe, is nine, and Alex bought her a boogie board. You know, I would never go boogie boarding. I don't like the cold water. But Alex, sure. No problem, Zoe.
Shaina Zazzaro:Let's go. And I was watching her playing with with, I almost said Nikki, playing with Zoe on the beach. And I was like, well, she doesn't have aunt Nikki, but she has Alex. Mhmm. You know?
Shaina Zazzaro:So it's it's nice that because there's there's a lot of similarities in Alec. They're completely different people, but there are a lot of things that are similar between the two of them. And a lot of things about Alex reminds me of Nikki. And so it's nice that my kids get, like, a little bit of her without you know, she's not here.
Tamara:Yeah. I can I completely understand? I have my oldest daughter passed away ten years ago, and her and she was 21, but her whole friend group, I'm still friends with, and they're now 31. But, you know, like, throughout the years, and they've been kind of an older sibling to my other younger kids. And, yeah, it's nice if you can have people in your life to not that they're taking over that role or that person, but just something similar and familiar and you know that the person that we lost cared about, you know, Alec like, I'm sure your sister cared about Alex so much.
Tamara:And, yeah, it's beautiful.
Shaina Zazzaro:Yes. I'm sorry for your loss. It's I know it's not easy.
Tamara:Yeah. Yeah. So, well, on a on a more positive side of note, we like to talk about and it's cool that you guys get to see each other so much. But if you when we get off the podcast today and you guys are together, what would you go and do for fun?
Shaina Zazzaro:And if if we could actually not work, would we go back to Maine, Alex?
Alex Buckner:We would probably be in Maine. We'd be on the beach in Maine.
Leisa:Mean, sometimes we'll
Shaina Zazzaro:Every now and then, we'll sneak away, and we'll to SimBads for lunch and then go to Happy Feet for a foot massage.
Alex Buckner:Yeah. Or
Shaina Zazzaro:just sometimes we I just show up randomly, and we'll just take a little, you know, fifteen minute walk and chat behind the building because I have a canal behind my building. So we'll just meet for a walk. But, you know, it's it's I do love our happy feet time. It's always so nice. Happy feet is a place where you just go get foot massages.
Leisa:Oh, Tamara, that could be your new business. She loves giving foot massages.
Shaina Zazzaro:Tamara, Yeah. Don't really require much. Like, I don't know. We just we'll find something to do, and we'll do it. You don't need to do anything special.
Shaina Zazzaro:You know? I think that's what makes a great friend. Like, we could go get a $10 salad and be happy, or we can just go take a walk and chat.
Alex Buckner:Every Tuesday. We just take our walk. Every single Tuesday, she walks in, and she's my boss. She's telling me what to do, and she goes, you wanna go take a walk real quick? And we go take our fifteen minute walk, and we just talk about everything in that fifteen minutes.
Alex Buckner:And then we come back, and we're in a great mood because we just got to either vent or laugh or anything.
Leisa:I love that. That's so beautiful. I'm so I'm so excited that we got to hear your story and that you have each other in more way you know, in multiple ways of support, of, personal and professional support. And I can't wait to see how the Miss American pageant goes. That'll be really exciting.
Leisa:We'll be cheering you on. And, I guess, any closing words? If you is there anything else you wanna say? Say it now.
Shaina Zazzaro:I think so many times people think that they need to have so many friends. Right? Everyone wants to have this huge group of people. I've learned, and I think this comes also from being a business owner, and it's a little different when you own your own company and people don't really understand. But I I I've learned it's better to have a couple really good close friends than a whole lot of people that don't really care about you.
Shaina Zazzaro:So if you're lucky enough to have one or two really great friends, don't think of it as, oh, I only have a couple friends. Think of it as, wow. I am lucky enough to have this awesome friend that really loves me and truly supports me and cares about me and that I know I'll have in twenty years. You know? That's better than having 50 friends that you may see once in a while, don't really care about, and in two years, you're not gonna know them.
Shaina Zazzaro:So I'm I'm grateful to have at least one really solid friend.
Leisa:I agree. Well, besties, we'll see you next time. And just in case you don't remember, you never know when you're gonna meet your next best friend. Bye. Bye.
Leisa:Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this episode, be sure to hit that subscribe button to get notified of new episodes and check out cool Bestie gift ideas at howimetmybff.com.
Tamara:That's right. And also leave us a review. Those reviews help us out a lot and are one of the best ways to support us.
Leisa:Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your BFF, send us an email at info@howImetmyBFF.com. We would love to hear about it.
Tamara:Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next episode.
Leisa:That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara:Love you, BFFs.