Ep 13 - Vicki Schneps: The Long Island Queen of Media — How Adversity Built an Empire

•  Vision and persistence are essential for creating both business and community impact
•  Strategic partnerships and talent identification are key to scaling a media enterprise
•  Personal adversity can be leveraged to build long-term legacy and empower others

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Voiceover: Welcome to The Crazy Wealthy Podcast with your host, Jonathan Blau. Whether you're just starting out or are [00:00:30] an experienced investor, join Jonathan as he seeks to illuminate and demystify the complexities of making consistently rational financial decisions. Under conditions of uncertainty, he'll chat with professionals from the advice world, [00:00:45] entrepreneurs, executives.

And more to share fresh perspectives on making sound decisions that maximize your wealth. And now here's your host.[00:01:00] 

Jonathan Blau: Good morning to everybody and welcome to another episode of The Crazy Wealthy Podcast. I have a very special guest today, Victoria, also known, uh, more commonly in the, uh, long Island community, particularly as Vicki Schnapps. [00:01:15] And, uh, we're gonna talk about her journey from a school teacher to, um, media, uh, industry mogul, because that's what just came to my mind.

So I'm calling her that. So, um, [00:01:30] so in any event, Vicki, welcome and thank you so much for, uh, for joining us today on The Crazy Wealthy Podcast. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, we're gonna have some fun. Jonathan, uh, wonderful to be here. Thanks for inviting me. 

Jonathan Blau: It's my pleasure and, and a privilege to have you. [00:01:45] So, so, Vicki, you know, when I, when I first met you, um, you know, people who, who, who know you through knowing your company, SCH Snaps Media.

Some people suggested, oh, you know, yeah, I think her [00:02:00] husband founded the business, and so on and so forth. You know, there's all these things that, that nobody even knows what they're talking about, but just that's cultural. Right? People, you know, it's biases, right? And so the biases lead what, what our beliefs are, even if they're false.

And so [00:02:15] I want to start, um, by talking about, in our discussion, in preparing for this, you've mentioned that. You were a school, a school teacher initially, and you had this ideal lifestyle in your head that you were gonna embark on when you [00:02:30] married a lawyer. You were gonna move to the suburbs, have a white picket fence, and, and let's talk about, uh, how, how that, uh, that dream turned into something entirely different and, and evolved into schnapps media.

Vicki Schneps: Well, that was a [00:02:45] journey and I guess life is a great adventure. I've learned that, and I think anyone doesn't realize that, uh. What do they say? That, uh, man plans and God. And God 

Jonathan Blau: laughs. God laughs, laughs, laughs. That's 

Vicki Schneps: that, that's, uh, very true of my life because, [00:03:00] um, I wanted to be a teacher since I second grade teacher, Mrs.

Boff, I fell in love with her and I always wanted to be just like her. So I got my master's degree in teaching and, um, my firstborn daughter, Lara, who, um, came [00:03:15] to me five years after I was married, so she was a great joy to be arriving. Um. I had a very difficult, uh, delivery and within um, hours of her cesarean birth, she turned blue in the nursery [00:03:30] and they didn't catch it fast enough.

Although she was discharged as being perfect, which she looked perfect. Uh, she in fact showed no development. After three months of, um, seeing her twitting her eyes, my [00:03:45] doctor saw it and sent us to the hospital right from his office, because it turned out those were seizures. And then the journey for a cure began when there was no cure.

One of the pediatric neurologists said to me, you've gotta come to the realization. [00:04:00] She'll always be a three month old. And being an optimist by nature, I said, well, we've gotta find help. So we found a place, um, that, uh, is on Staten Island. It was called the Willowbrook State School, but they had just [00:04:15] built an infant rehabilitation center and I lived in Bayside.

My lovely friends, uh, beautiful friends, all college graduates, but they were doing what they called charity work. And uh, they came to me and said, look, Vicki, [00:04:30] uh, can we help there? But for the grace of God, we've got healthy children and we wanna help. So we created the Women's Organization for Retarded Children.

In 1971, which is so far, which is 

Jonathan Blau: known as work just for everyone [00:04:45] listening, right. Work. Right. 

Vicki Schneps: Uh, and today is called Life's Work. Yeah. Uh, the name evolved, but the lovely ladies and I, of course, I visited my daughter every week and they, you know, volunteered and raised money for Willowbrook. But within a year of Lara being [00:05:00] at Willowbrook.

Governor Rockefeller slashed the budgets of the direct care workers were fired. And Lara, who's somebody who needed to be fed, she needed to be diapered, she needed to be turned, uh, because she couldn't sit up herself and the people it with [00:05:15] her. There were 5,400 people lived at Willowbrook, uh, uh, let's see, about 132 acre property.

Uh, were, you know, many of them, uh, having different kinds of, uh, special needs, uh, were all affected. [00:05:30] My lovely ladies and I became marchers and picketers, and we marched and picketed, but my husband was a lawyer and he said, this place will never be any good. We've gotta close it down and have a class [00:05:45] action lawsuit filed.

In the meantime, Alda Rivera, a cub reporter at Eyewitness News, was snuck in to Willowbrook and his coverage when he said, I could show you the pictures. I could [00:06:00] let you hear the moaning sounds of the people, but how do I describe the smell? It was just at the time that I met Alda Rivera, who was a cub reporter with Eyewitness News and had come because [00:06:15] a doctor he knew.

Knock him into the backwards. And to this day, I can remember Geraldo's words. 

YT Snippet: This is what it looked like. This is what it sounded like. But how can I tell you about the way it [00:06:30] smelled? 

Vicki Schneps: That was what it was all about. And my husband was right, and we did file a federal class action lawsuit, and we won the lawsuit.

Willowbrook was closed down. In its place, group homes [00:06:45] opened in the community for the people who lived at Willowbrook and people in the community. And my life's work changed its mission from fundraising to operating. And we opened the very first group home for children in New York State, in a beautiful home in [00:07:00] Little Neck Queens.

But the neighbors didn't want us and they sued us. And I had death threats. I had to take my schnee's license plates off the car. Nimby not in my block, 

Jonathan Blau: not in my [00:07:15] backyard. Yeah, exactly. Not in my backyard. Yeah. 

Vicki Schneps: And so, um, we went, won that lawsuit and I'm happy to tell you that when I brought the people who fought us, who, who filed the lawsuit to the house the day we opened.[00:07:30] 

They looked around and they said, oh, this is what you were talking about. This is very nice. And the first group home we opened in Little Neck. We bought the house with the money that Geraldo raised at the John Lenon Yoko owner concert. [00:07:45] And we had the money to buy the house that opened the door for where group homes could be.

And so the first group home, we had to name it in the honor of Herda Rivera. And to this day, it's the Herda Rivera Group home. It's our first, it's our gem, it's our [00:08:00] jewel in our ground. And in fact, one of the neighbor's children used to volunteer in the house. It became a social worker herself. So, you know, it evolved.

And now life's work is a, um, $70 [00:08:15] million nonprofit. That, uh, provides group homes, 49 of them in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Manhattan, and provides over 2000 people with services. So, you know, [00:08:30] uh, it evolved. And, um, my husband, I was always a volunteer, said to me one day, it was about time you made some money.

Right 

Jonathan Blau: now you told me that. So 

Vicki Schneps: I, I met this wonderful man who had taken a buyout from the Daily News, John Ano, and [00:08:45] he had started a paper in Astoria. And I always had the bug after I met Heraldo with being in the news business, because look at, he had the power of the press. His, his expose helped propel the parents to sign on for the lawsuit.[00:09:00] 

Jonathan Blau: Propelled, uh, schnapps Media because he was the catalyst. Well, I mean, I said one day I'd like to be in the 

Vicki Schneps: media business, and there I was. But it was a very simple beginning. Donovan, you know, um, well, we worked from, he worked from his house. I worked from my house. We wrote every article we invested. [00:09:15] You started, you started in your living, 

Jonathan Blau: in your living room, right?

In Bayside. 

Vicki Schneps: My newspaper Odyssey began with Heraldo when we were marching and picketing My lovely ladies and I. We were knocking on air. Nobody listened. It [00:09:30] wasn't until Geraldo came repeatedly back to Willowbrook that the power of the press truly moved this movement forward. And I never forgot that. And I said, you know, someday I'd like to be in that news business.

[00:09:45] So three children later. Now's my time. I met this man who'd take a buyout from the Daily News. He started a paper in Astoria and I said, you know, I think we could start an neighborhood newspaper right here in Bayside. And so we started in my [00:10:00] living room with one newspaper. We wrote every story, we took every picture, and we even went to with the boards in those days, you put your strips of new strips on a board and you bring the board to the printer, and I still picture the day at.

Two [00:10:15] o'clock in the morning, we finally finished the paper and the boards were ready and we went to Long Island City to get it on the WordPresses. These massive presses, the same sofa that I started life's work. 

Jonathan Blau: Right. So, so, and, and we both, our origins, uh, it's funny how life [00:10:30] goes full circle. I, I was, uh, born in and raised in Bayside and, and you're from Bayside.

And, and we have some mutual connections we've discovered over the years. Um, yes. But, and, and the, the paper originally was called the Queen's Courier, right? 

Vicki Schneps: It still [00:10:45] is. 

Jonathan Blau: A big 40 is 

Vicki Schneps: strong. We're celebrating. 

Jonathan Blau: And the Bayside Times is, was the big publication. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, we were, they were my competitor. 

Jonathan Blau: Yep. 

Vicki Schneps: But I ultimately bought them as well because, you know, I started 12 papers from scratch, um, [00:11:00] uh, seeing a need in a neighborhood.

I even had a start, a Spanish language newspaper, uh, from scratch. And when my son joined me after I owned 12 newspapers, he was an investment banker. Josh said to me one night, you know, mom, if I'm gonna work 24 [00:11:15] 7, can I come work for you? 

Jonathan Blau: That's great. I never would ask my 

Vicki Schneps: children, you know, I had three more children and I would never ask them to get in the business because, you know, it, it's a, a passion play.

Jonathan Blau: Hundred percent I never 

Vicki Schneps: expect to make. Yeah, I never expected to make money. I [00:11:30] never, to this day, I have no idea how much money I make. I just know we pay the bills. Right. You pay the bills. I need to tell and, 

Jonathan Blau: and you, and you're living your passion, your work. Let's talk about, um, you know, in, in the, in the last decade or so, you've made quite a number of acquisitions.[00:11:45] 

And, and I wanna talk about some of those acquisitions, like the end, uh, papers, for example. Um, and, and, and how, how, what was the catalyst, right? For, for all these acquisitions. And then two, talk about, um, the, [00:12:00] the, uh, culture that you have of events and how that evolved and how they work together to attract, uh, all of these, uh, publications, uh, who are looking for a home with you and why.

Vicki Schneps: Well, you know, we had 12, I had 12 media [00:12:15] outlets and we got a call from a, um, broker that there was a paper available in Brooklyn. And, um, my son brought that idea to me and I said, what do we need it for? You know, we're doing freight here in Queens. I said, what neighborhood is it? So he said, bay Ridge. I said, oh, [00:12:30] bay Ridge.

I always wanted to live in Bay Ridge, but it was the wrong subway line for my parents. When I got married, I was in college. Um, I didn't have a car and I had to go on the subway to see my parents and I couldn't see my parents from Bay Ridge, so I couldn't buy that apartment or rent that [00:12:45] apartment. But I knew Bay Ridge was always a fabulous neighborhood.

And so we went to visit it and um, we saw that, um, the neighborhood, uh, was just around nine 11. I had said to the [00:13:00] publisher, you must have gone to a lot of funerals of people, firefighters, and policemen. He says, oh, no, no. He says, this is Cantor Fitzgerald neighborhood. We had terrible problem because all the people who were lives were destroyed by nine 11, [00:13:15] and so I turned to my son when he left.

He says, Cantor Fitzgerald, people, okay, we're buying it because I understood that if there are people who can't afford to buy things, we could sell advertising. The advertising is what supports the [00:13:30] newspaper because all of our, most of our newspapers are, um, free. They are selected to be picked up. And so that was our first acquisition in Brooklyn and we owned the papers in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park and Dike Heights and Bensonhurst.

And so [00:13:45] we began acquisitions and, and that worked out. So we saw another acquisition. 

Jonathan Blau: Right. And, and you, you mentioned that, uh, one of the reasons, you know, what separate, I asked you yesterday, what separated you from your competitors as it relates [00:14:00] to, uh, being able to track these, the, the, these acquisitions to schnapps.

And you said they really seeking you out because of the care and, and, and, and the whole, um, connection between the events and, and the papers and how it all [00:14:15] kind of works together to, to nurture what they created and, and, and they felt. Comfortable that you would, you would be able to continue their legacy, not, not destroy it.

Vicki Schneps: Yes. Well, you know, we are, my son and I passionate about serving the community. [00:14:30] You know, we are not a political entity. We're an advocacy because of my own background and advocacy and the people who, um, many people who own these community newspapers and that's what we are. But community, newspaper journalists, [00:14:45] uh, family owned.

When they are not going to continue, they want someone who will continue with the quality that they believe they need to have for their neighborhood. And we were chosen the number one newspaper media company in [00:15:00] New York state by our peers. We're very proud of that acknowledgement. And we were chosen one of the, the top 10 newspapers in New York, United States of America.

So, you know, we developed a reputation of quality. And that really, I think, is what made people come to [00:15:15] us. And that's what happened with Dan's papers. Uh, we had bought the family magazines in New York and the owner of that also owned Dan's papers. And he called me one night and said, you know, Vicki, my wife wants to live in New Jersey.

I've owned dance for 10 [00:15:30] years. I've got, I've gotta exit, I've gotta keep my marriage, and I've gotta, you know, would you and Josh consider buying dance papers? And that was just at the end. Of COVID. It was five years ago in 20, I guess [00:15:45] 20 20, 20 21. So, you know, that was, um, something that I knew because, um, Josh's Vaughn, my first husband, Murray, was an attorney in Riverhead in the seventies and eighties and nineties.

[00:16:00] So I knew the neighborhood was fabulous neighborhoods. I knew, you know, the quality of the readership. And so when Josh said to me, well, what do you think, mom? Should we buy it? I said, of course we should buy it. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. And 

Vicki Schneps: I just, you know, it was a diamond in the rough [00:16:15] because it hadn't been loved and one of Well, but you, but you have an eye for it.

Jonathan Blau: Right. You, someone didn't teach you that. You had an eye and an instinct that told you that you couldn't prove it. Right. Right. No, but, but you, you, you, your instinct is in this regard is, [00:16:30] is, is, um, is something I think that's, uh, that's played an important role in, in the success. You, you have. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, you know, my son and I are both, Josh is very creative also, and I, we often laugh and we think we have attention deficit 'cause we create one thing and we're ready to [00:16:45] create the next 

Jonathan Blau: Well, I, I have to say, um, you're.

Your reputation in the community, uh, it, it, it reflects everything that you, that you're talking about. And one of the things that you do is you, you do the power [00:17:00] women, right? So, and I know, um, you, you, you got that idea, um, because you were at an event with a long day and there awards being given out and you recognize there wasn't one award at the time being given to one woman.

And, uh, [00:17:15] and so why don't you talk about that and, and the origin of power women, how that came about. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, you know, I was at this event, this business Chamber of Commerce event, and when I saw that, I turned to my friend who was with a bank and I said, you know, I'm gonna start my own Power Women [00:17:30] event and I wanna create an ultimate networking, uh, uh, booklet for people to keep connected to each other.

And she said, well, how much money do you need, Vicki? I said, well, I probably printing will be about $1,500. And she worked for bank and she said, well, okay, just send me a bill. That's how business used to be [00:17:45] done. Now you gotta put it through a whole proposal and do this and that. 

Jonathan Blau: The good old days. So, you 

Vicki Schneps: know, we started, you know, I'm, I'm not afraid to start from scratch and build something and you know, I must tell you that my first event was top [00:18:00] 10 women of Queens in business.

And we've grown. Last night we had, uh, the Power Women of Long Island and we honored 52 Women. 

Jonathan Blau: Once you, uh, decided to create your own Power Women event, that you weren't gonna discriminate [00:18:15] against men who also should still be a bestowed in honor when they deserve it. So you created something where Michael Bloomberg was the first, uh, inductee.

Kings. Kings, yep. They called them 

Vicki Schneps: the Kings. The Kings of Queens was my first men's event. 

Jonathan Blau: [00:18:30] And 

Vicki Schneps: that was really a, a rip, people got a crown on the head and they got a robe and they got a scepter. Uh, but Michael, although you told me he 

Jonathan Blau: wouldn't let you put the crown on his head for, for obvious reasons, 

Vicki Schneps: right?

Well, you know, it was the day he was going to announce [00:18:45] his first, the third year term, first time that the, you know, mayors ran for three terms. And I had every media in the world at that event. And he says, you're gonna kill me. Don't put that crown on my head. So of course I didn't. But, uh, you know, the point [00:19:00] was, is that, uh, we created events for Kings because we wanted to have something to salute the men.

And from there then we, because of my Spanish paper, we had Hispanic awards, then we had healthcare awards. Then when we acquired papers in Brooklyn, we started [00:19:15] Brooklyn Awards, and now we call it the Brooklyn Power List. For the men and women and we still have the power women events in every region where we have a media outlet.

And you know, thanks to Josh, we are very savvy [00:19:30] digitally and we are, you know, multiple platform business where we may have 101 newspapers, but we have 101 websites and then we have a digital division, and then we have a social media division. [00:19:45] We are, you know, now, whenever this happening in ai, we're right there.

So we've been very innovative in having many platforms. I do my own podcasts. I do uh, we do webinars, we do streaming TV commercials and TV [00:20:00] shows. So, you know, we've learned that you cannot operate a business on just one platform. 

Jonathan Blau: And it shows, and that's, you know, when you 

Vicki Schneps: do investments, you do multiple, you don't invest everybody's money in one product.

Well, we don't invest our business in just [00:20:15] one division. We have multiple divisions. 

Jonathan Blau: Right. Well, it's, it's true. And you know, even, even in terms of educating people about how we can help them. We don't have one platform, right? So, so me meeting with someone, explaining it as one platform, me [00:20:30] creating, uh, newsletters, right?

To educate people about where specialism in behavior, about what's going on with the tariffs and what it means and what you should or shouldn't do. And then I have the podcast, right? So, so there's all different ways. PPI call the, the, um, when we talk [00:20:45] about behavioral and, and, um, you've worked with me so you understand what I mean when we, we work behaviorally.

So at the end of the day, uh, when, when people take vitamin C. Vitamin C, if you don't take it the next day, it does you no good. It's soluble, disappears. And it's the same thing when [00:21:00] somebody's reflect, reflecting on the tariffs and G I'm gonna change my portfolio. And then I talk to them and, and talk sense into them and get their temperament steely so that they don't react to the fear.

They can feel the fear, but don't respond. Uh, but some people I, I call my [00:21:15] newsletters my vitamin C. As soon as they leave my call and turn on the, the, this, the, the, the poison on CNBC, the, the, my vitamin C leaves them. Right. So the newsletters are the vitamin C, but then people sometimes don't like to read to your point.

So I came up with [00:21:30] a podcast that's like my intravenous vitamin C, right? For those who don't like to read. But it's the same concept, right? You have to figure out that everybody doesn't receive information the same way. Doesn't respond to things the same way. And that's what really you're talking about with the digital.

And, and you [00:21:45] also have now 50 events, right? 50 different events. And so what, what, what gave you the, uh, idea that the events would, would really bond so well with, with the, with the, uh, press right. To, to really boost your [00:22:00] organization to what it is. Because you're not just press, you're not just writing stories.

It, it's a whole ecosystem is the way I describe it. One feeds off the other. 

Vicki Schneps: Our, our theme, Jonathan, is we're all about you. So if you think about being all about [00:22:15] you, there are many facets to you. And so with community, uh, journalism, we are talking about the people who make the communities great, and it was natural for us to create these events around our media and the [00:22:30] locations where our media is.

So that really propelled us to have the papers, uh, be a springboard to our events. So when we bought Dan's papers, we do Dan's Power Women, [00:22:45] and we do Dan's Power List and we do Dan's food events and Dance's, taste of the Hamptons. And we evolved from that. And now we are doing something new, which is called Schnapps Connects.

Where we are [00:23:00] blessed to have a breakfast where we bring together a smaller group. 'cause we know last night we must have had about 500 people at Crest Hollow, 

Jonathan Blau: right? 

Vicki Schneps: Uh, we have here, you know, a breakfast was launching with Chinnes Connects with smaller groups, more [00:23:15] intimate. And we're going to have a guest speaker, Jim McCann, who founded 1-800-FLOWERS, talk about AI impacting his business.

And how he's using it. So, you know, we're always evolving and things kind of, um, [00:23:30] uh, fit. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Well, you know what, you have to, the other, 

Jonathan Blau: you have the value of all the, all the connections to use NS Connect, right. That you've created over the years. People who were honorees, thousands of [00:23:45] them you said.

And now you came up with this idea, with these events and let all of these thousands of people who were at one point or other recipients of, of one of the sch NFS Media Awards, uh, to, to connect with each other. Right. Why, why lose the connection. They all [00:24:00] have that in common, right? That, that, that, that SNES media recognition.

And so now you, I 

Vicki Schneps: just wanna add something in there because it's very important that, um. Because of my own advocacy work. At every event we [00:24:15] hold, we identify a nonprofit organization and we do a raffle at the event and raise thousands of dollars at every single one of our events that we then give. To the recipients of that [00:24:30] that night.

And we do a video to let people in the audience know who they are and promote the nonprofit world. So that's a big piece of my business and my nonprofit world coming together. 

Jonathan Blau: Let me ask you a question that's very interesting. How do you [00:24:45] identify at which event, which, which nonprofit, uh, becomes the recipient at that event?

Vicki Schneps: Many times, um, it'll be groups we know. In some cases it'll be things that, uh, come to our attention. Uh, we have a committee of [00:25:00] our events division where people will pitch different organizations to be honored and to be, uh, be the recipient of the donations. And they all tend to be within that neighborhood of where the event is.

So, you know, last night, for instance, [00:25:15] we, uh, gave money to the Teman School. She has a school in Glen Cove for children with autism and special needs. We gave, uh, money to Pause of war where they helped veterans who have suffered, uh, from the war. Uh, [00:25:30] and so, you know, we, we are very, uh, judicious about keeping it local.

Jonathan Blau: Well, I'm gonna encourage you, uh, to consider at some point because it's, it's, it, it's home for both of us. Uh, the, the organization that I'm involved with, the Sunrise Day camps, it's, [00:25:45] it's underprivileged children with cancer. Their siblings get to go to, to, to camp for the, for the summer. Um, and that's a bad, 

Vicki Schneps: so they go with the, the siblings and the Yeah.

So the child who has the cancer. 

Jonathan Blau: Yep. So let me explain how Arnie Preminger, who founded [00:26:00] it, who used to work for JCC in, in, uh, Oceanside, right. As, as a senior person. What he figured out is not just that these poor kids have something that they can never imagine going on in their life. This gives them a a, a a a summer of sunshine through all that [00:26:15] cloud, through all those clouds.

He also recognized these are underprivileged families, so the parents, um, needed to take care of the other siblings. We didn't have cancer, but they couldn't afford to not go to work and so forth. So by sending the siblings along with the, he helps the whole family. [00:26:30] Right. And it's such a beautiful, so I'll educate you and it's local, so it's a beautiful organization.

And, and when we go, well, definitely. Yes. Yes. It's, it's wonderful. But before we close, in the next few minutes, I want to talk about a couple things. One is Larry, your daughter, right? Who, who [00:26:45] was the, um, the, the, the, the reason that, that, uh, really that all this happened, um, uh, you know, out of tragedy came a legacy for her, right?

That, that she really was responsible for and something. Great came out of it for a lot of [00:27:00] families and people who are unfortunately similarly situated. But also, you know, one of the things I talked to you about on the phone is I'm always a big believer. I, my father was paralyzed when I was 11. He had rheumatic fever, which caused a clot and had a stroke.

Then he passed away when I was 13. And I [00:27:15] wasn't, you know, my, my mom was not the favorite of her, of her parents. So my grandparents favored my cousins and always told me, yeah, you should be a Spanish teacher. You'll never, you, you're not really meant to do anything. You know, more than that. And so that kind of motivated me and all, all, all of [00:27:30] the, um, challenges I had as a child motivated me.

So out of something bad did come something good. I help a lot of people today. I am proud of what we do, uh, for our clients. I, and, and I I find the same is true of you. You know, you, you, [00:27:45] you had adversity and it didn't only, um, catalyze the idea to start, uh, to go into media and take advantage of that voice for others, uh, benefit, right?

For, for, as you said, for you where about you. Um, but it also motivates you, you [00:28:00] know, it, it motivates you to continue. To succeed. It's not about money at this point for, for you and, and, and not for me. It's, it's much more than that. So I want you to talk a little bit about that and I also want you to talk about, uh, lastly, um, what's the [00:28:15] magic?

You know, you, you, you were a school teacher. You never had any formal training in media. You have any formal training in business. So it can't all be luck and we all have some luck in life, right? Luck is just outside factors that influence the outcomes that we have no control of. But that's not all of it.

So I [00:28:30] want you to talk about those couple of things. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, I think, you know, when Lara was born, you can't see into the future. You can only live in the moment. And she propelled me into another life and she propelled me to use skills I realized I [00:28:45] didn't know I had. And being able to, um, really engage people to help me and help Lara and all the other Lara of the world, uh, was something that just by doing, I [00:29:00] learned.

I think being able to do, um, is sometimes we challenge ourselves where we don't know that we have the capacity to do it, and we are, you know, sometimes people, I'll never forget, Lara [00:29:15] passed away when she was 17 and she and somebody came to the, uh, the funeral and said to me, oh, you know, it's for the best.

I said, for the best. Mara taught me more than any other person on earth. She brought me to where I am today. [00:29:30] She enabled me to help her and to help so many more people. And sometimes we don't understand that somebody who's different is very special. You know, they, I call people with special needs and these people who have the special needs give us [00:29:45] something very special.

You know, Lara was my heart, my soul, my pain. But that's life. That's, that's life, right? What life is all about. And she opened the door. Look, my father 

Jonathan Blau: was one of my biggest motivators, right? As much as. He [00:30:00] was paralyzed. He was this, he was that. He, he was still to this day, one of my biggest motivators and he is been gone for, for, for, for the, the large majority of my life.

So I get it, you know, and, and you know, uh, you learn experientially, right? I mean, that's the best way to learn. That's how [00:30:15] you've learned. Um, and, and you make mistakes. But one of the things they always say is experiences among the cruelest teachers, because it gives us the test first and only later, gives us the lesson.

But the strongest people, um, still thrive from that, I [00:30:30] think. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, I, I believe also that I've been blessed to have great people around me, and I think that that helps make who I am. I may be the leader, the motivator, but you've gotta have great people around you to [00:30:45] innovate. And I was blessed that my son is as hardworking as I am.

Nothing beats hard work, but I'm in a position where I never know, Jonathan, am I working or is this play? I don't know. To me it's like, it's a changeable, I 

Jonathan Blau: I'm like you, I love what I do [00:31:00] when I, you know, when I sit with the, with you and your house and go over what we are talking about, planning and so forth.

And you say to me, you know, that's, that's, that's interesting. That makes a lot of sense. That's my passion. You know, it's not, it wasn't hard work. That's not hard work for me when I do [00:31:15] my podcast. Not this kind like an interview. This is wonderful. But my short versions where I teach people about a faulty reasoning process we have when money and uncertainty collide and how to overcome it once you identify, that's not what I'm with.

You, we're in the same, we're in the same [00:31:30] boat, uh, in that regard. But I 

Vicki Schneps: think that's the key to success. I think a key to success. Is doing what you love and love what you're doing. 

Jonathan Blau: So my daughter who sleeps to two in the afternoon again, 'cause she loves it, must be very successful. I just haven't seen it yet.[00:31:45] 

Vicki Schneps: Well, some people evolve at different times of their lives. 

Jonathan Blau: No, think she's doing well on her own schedule. She's doing well. 

Vicki Schneps: Well, I think everybody has their own rhythm and I do believe that one of the keys to my success [00:32:00] has having great people around me, including, you know, starting with my son. And then one of the things that happened with my acquisitions is that I got the greatest people that ran companies.

To become part of your company, 

Jonathan Blau: right? Yeah, to become 

Vicki Schneps: part of my [00:32:15] company. Yeah. In one case, we were acquired, um, a company from Newsday actually, and they were losing a lot of money and they, you know, asked us to challenge us if we wanted it. And I said, sure, we'll, we'll work with it. Well, we went and we interviewed everybody.[00:32:30] 

We fired everyone because we realized why they were losing money, but we acquired their competitor. There. There were stars after Stars after stars, so we [00:32:45] combined the two and it worked out great, but you have to identify where the stars are and nurture them and encourage them because we can't be in this world alone.

Jonathan Blau: A hundred percent. Uh, by the way, I wanna, I want to end by, by, [00:33:00] uh, one thanking you so much. This was fun. And two, I want to, I wanna make sure that we remind everybody about life's work, WRC, um, you could talk about the upcoming, uh, uh, event. I wanna remind everybody about sch nps. [00:33:15] Um, and, and locally certainly in our area, you know, Woodbury, diocesan all over Long Island, Dan's papers and, uh, and Long Island Press, right?

It's always available. You see it in the supermarkets, you see it everywhere. So those who haven't for some reason just understand it's [00:33:30] available. As Vicki said, it's not, uh, it's not something that's charged for, it's supported by advertising, but with that one. 

Vicki Schneps: We do have one group that is, uh, subscription based.

'cause we just acquired a year ago, um, the, uh, Anton Papers and the Blank Slate papers. So we [00:33:45] own the papers in Great Neck Manhasset, port Washington. Oh, 

Jonathan Blau: okay. 

Vicki Schneps: Roslyn Glen Cove, oyster Bay, Sid Plainview, uh, I feel like I'm on the Long Island 

Jonathan Blau: Railroad. Right. I'm the southern part. Mineola. 

Vicki Schneps: Uh, you know, new Hyde [00:34:00] Park, uh, you know, we are very, very blessed to have every neighborhood covered, but those are subscription based media.

But I think, um, one of the things I'm looking for is the life's work. We are expanding our board of people who are influencers and looking for [00:34:15] people who are the CEOs or the CFOs or the COOs of their company to lend their expertise. Because life's work is a $70 million agency that needs very savvy business people.

Their board. So, you [00:34:30] know, I'm gonna share that with some people 

Jonathan Blau: I know in, in a particular networking group that where the CEOs. Um, so I will, I'll share that. And, um, anything else you wanna wanna emphasize before we sign off? 

Vicki Schneps: Well, I just think it's important to [00:34:45] support community journalism because we are the voice of the community.

We always encourage local businesses to work with us because we reach their potential clients with a quality media on multiple [00:35:00] platforms of print, digital events, and broadcasting. 

Jonathan Blau: All right? And I, I can kind of, um, confirm that because, uh, you're my customer and I'm your customer. So we love it. We love it, we support it.

All right, so listen, uh, [00:35:15] really love you, Vicki. Thanks so much for, for coming on today and, uh. I really had a great time and everybody who's listening, thanks again for listening to Crazy Wealthy, uh, podcast. You can get us on, uh, apple, Spotify, all your favorite venues, as well as our [00:35:30] website, crazy wealthy podcast.com, infusion family wealth.com.

And, um, take a look at, uh, schnapps Media website and, and there's a video at the end of the website where Vicki's, um, talking about the Lara Experience and Geraldo Rivera on it. I [00:35:45] recommend everybody, uh, take a few minutes and watch it. It's, uh. I enjoyed it myself very much. 

Vicki Schneps: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Have a great week. 

Jonathan Blau: Thanks Vicki. Okay. 

YT Snippet: I am so proud of my relationship with Vicki. She is caring, confident, [00:36:00] competent. She's amazing and I love her. 

Jonathan Blau: Stay tuned to hear. Amy's calling for the recap of today's episode. 

Amy Blau: Good afternoon, hun. How are you today? Hi honey. I'm good. We're doing well. So I want, I know you were doing a [00:36:15] podcast today with Vicki Sch, who has been.

So generous with, um, rewarding me with the Power Women Award one, one, um, year, and she's also been very generous with you and she's a good friend to both of us. [00:36:30] So I wanted to hear if you heard anything new from her that we don't know from her personally. 

Jonathan Blau: Uh, yeah, no, I learned, I learned a lot new, I always liked Vicki, but now I love Vicki.

It was a, it was a great interview and I think not only did I learn so [00:36:45] much, but I think when this podcast drops, uh, shortly in the next week or so, um, the whole community, anyone who takes the time to listen is gonna learn things that they never knew about. The person who's behind the, uh, the media queen, as I call her.[00:37:00] 

Amy Blau: Well, tell me what you learned new. I know, I know she had a special needs child and you know, that's what caused, caused her to become an advocate for other special needs children. But what led her into Schnapps Media 

Jonathan Blau: Now it's much [00:37:15] deeper than that. So her daughter Lara, was born, um, cesarean section. There was an issue.

They didn't realize there was an issue, and a few months later, her eyes were twitching and the pediatrician discovered that essentially she's told Vicki she's always gonna be a three month old. And it [00:37:30] was heartbreaking. So they needed, Vicki didn't want to, uh, accept that. So she looked for, uh, solutions.

She found this institution, Willowbrook, which was, um, uh, a big state school that just had this, um, I think pediatric division, [00:37:45] uh, that was relatively new, but apparently once. Uh, her daughter Lara was there. It really became dilapidated. And what happened was, um, it was to the point where she wasn't getting care.

It was dangerous for her to be there. So [00:38:00] Vicki, uh, was married to a lawyer. The lawyer said, been short, Vicki, they gotta shut this place down. There's no other solution. So. What was interesting is Vicki said they snuck into the, uh, to, to the Willowbrook State School, who was then a cub [00:38:15] reporter, Geraldo Rivera.

Amy Blau: Wow. Oh, I know him. 

Jonathan Blau: And so he went in and, and he, he went in and he said. Um, by, by reporting on it, it was Eyewitness News, right? So a lot of people listening to this from our [00:38:30] generation, certainly no eyewitness news. Um, and he went in and it was eyewitness. He said, I can show you the conditions. I can let you hear the screams.

I have no way to describe the smell. And when you listen to the [00:38:45] podcast, I have a snippet from that tape with Geraldo back then. Um, but in any event, so what happened with Vicki, she became an advocate after that, because of Geraldo's work, they were able to win an to, to, uh. C uh, commence and move in a class [00:39:00] action suit, get the place that shut down.

And then Vicki started, uh, an organization with her, uh, friends back then who were women who were educated, but who she described were in charity. So they said, well, we are blessed. We don't have your situation. We want [00:39:15] to help. So they created an organization that's. Called, uh, likes work, but it's called WRRC Work.

Yep. A women's organization for Retarded Children. And they, they've grown to a $70 million nonprofit with about 50 group [00:39:30] homes serving 2000 people. This all started because, because, uh, because of, uh, Geraldo coming in and her daughter Lara. But what's really fascinating is. It's because of the power of what she saw media could do for [00:39:45] advocacy, for children, for everything, and, and, and that she became, um, passioned with the idea that I need to go into media.

She was a school teacher. She had no formal business training and, and, and no media training. And she started sch N'S [00:40:00] media back then in her living room on a couch. 

Amy Blau: Wow. That's amazing. I mean, back in the day, you know, she's, I, I don't know if you told anyone her age or. She's, she's in her eighth decade, let's put it that way.

And she [00:40:15] is just, they 

Jonathan Blau: also say that she's an octogenarian, 

Amy Blau: right? She, she's a, a power monster. She really commands a room and she has the respect of everyone, and she's, she's a true businesswoman. And that was very rare back in the day to go [00:40:30] do that on your own. 

Jonathan Blau: Well, she, she learned experientially when I told, I asked her what her secret is.

She said, Jonathan, you've gotta love what you do and you do what you love. And the other secret is surround yourself with good people. So I talked to her about all her acquisitions recently, like Dan's [00:40:45] papers and a whole bunch of others. And, and what. Why they're attracted to her company as, as, as a buyer.

And she said, it's because we are about, she said, you, YOU. And, and she said they know that we care and that we wouldn't destroy their legacy. We'd [00:41:00] carried it on and perpetuate it. And so all of these people, she said, seek her out. But what she said is when she buys, like she bought this, uh, failing, um, unit from Newsday, and when she bought it, she recognized why it was failing.

She said she had to [00:41:15] fire everybody. And then there was another, uh, media, uh, that, um, company that she bought subsidiary from another company that had stars as she described it, she said, I merged the failing Newsday uh, company into the [00:41:30] one with the stars, and it took off. And she said, it's all about making sure you, you, you get as many stars as you possible.

So when she buys a company, she's not just buying the company, she's buying the people. 

Amy Blau: Yeah, well, you know, one of the great papers that [00:41:45] she bought personally to me is, you know, in all our years of coming out to the Hamptons was Dan's papers. And that was always what I wanted to grab when I, when I walked into a store in Montauk, in East Hampton.

And you know, she's taken that paper to a whole other level. [00:42:00] 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, no, she's done that with, with her organization and she really, you know, to his credit she tells me, you know, she didn't want her other three children. Lara passed away at 17, the daughter that, that was in Willowbrook, but her other three children to force them into the business.

She said, 'cause she believes [00:42:15] like I do, you have to be passionate. You can't just go into a business. You have to do what you love and love what you do. But you said Josh works as hard as he does and, and, and thank goodness he's also savvy. With the, uh, digital media and, and the, the webinars and they have a podcast.

So [00:42:30] she really couldn't talk, uh, enough, uh, about how wonderful Josh is and how additive he's been to the company, not because he's her son, but because of his work ethic and his creativity. So that was nice to hear, but I, I'll [00:42:45] say. Um, one of the things that's on her, uh, schnapps Media website is, is a video, uh, at the end of one of the pages about the company.

And when you hear the end of the video, it's, it's Geraldo Rivera, and it says. About Vicki. [00:43:00] She's confident. She's confident, she's caring, and I love her. And I have to tell you, after I did the podcast, I shared some of those sentiments about Vicki and well, I'm definitely is forward hearing it. I went to a, uh, an, an event last week and [00:43:15] during the podcast I said to her, you know, I've met people who know.

Your company And, and, and I've met more than one person who said, yeah, I think her husband started it, which couldn't be farther from the truth. And then I went out a week, uh, after, or or two weeks after we recorded the [00:43:30] podcast. And one of the, a, a a, a former partner from one of the big, long, long Island County firms said to me, how's your podcast going?

And I said, oh, I just recorded one with Vicki. It was really good. Vicki Schnapps. He said, oh yeah, her company, her husband started the company, didn't he? This just like, like literally it [00:43:45] just happened. It's 

Amy Blau: such a chauvinistic way of thinking, and what's interesting is that. She is now, it's almost like the opposite now.

She's put it in the hands, second generation of her son. So it's the opposite of what you usually see. 

Jonathan Blau: And [00:44:00] she did that. And the other thing that was nice is she, the, the, the way power women was born is she was at this big event. And Chamber of Commerce, I think event. And there was a big dais of people who were getting awards and it was all men getting awards, no women.

So she said, well, I'm gonna create my own women [00:44:15] awards, my own power women. And she did it. And I think initially there was 10 and it just grew to this, uh, monumental power, women power. Dan's power. There's all kinds of power events. But then, then she said, but I, I wasn't gonna be chauvinistic. I felt that if there were [00:44:30] men who were deserving of awards, they, they should also be, uh, bestowed an award.

So she created something called the Kings and the Kings of Queens, and the first recipient was Michael Bloomberg. He was running for his third term of mayor. And so she's friends with him and she's, she [00:44:45] said, um. I, he wouldn't let me put the crown. I said, of course I won't put the crown on. Because there were, she said, every media, um, uh, uh, company in the world basically is the way she described was at this event.

And she didn't want him to be embarrassed, obviously wearing a, wearing a crown because he's [00:45:00] coming to mayor. But I then reminded her, we weren't online, my reminder, but. But about two or three years ago, Mike Bloomberg, I guess she was, oh, I 

Amy Blau: remember this. Yep. Right. 

Jonathan Blau: I remember this. She, she, she said, Jonathan, I think we should sell stocks.

I said, why? [00:45:15] Well, I ran into Mike Bloomberg and he's telling me we're gonna have a recession. And I sent to her back, then I'll forget, I, it was the recession. People started predicting was around the corner in 2022 and then again in 23 and again in 24. I called it the Gau recession waiting for Gau [00:45:30] 'cause it never came.

And I said to Vicki, I couldn't ever dream of becoming a fraction as successful as Michael Bloomberg. And, and he probably knows more about disseminating, uh, news information in this. Financial area than anybody else. That's his [00:45:45] business. He's not qualified to give advice to investors on personal wealth.

Um, and, and so I'm gonna tell you, no, you don't respond to his thought about the recession coming because I call that the illusion of predictive value because he predicts it with [00:46:00] his education and background, or you predicted, or I do, the outcome is not likely to reflect. What we're predicting, right.

Period. And so she'd listened and if she hadn't listened, she would've sold stocks that are now up about 50% since then, just a couple years ago. [00:46:15] 

Amy Blau: It's amazing. You know, one thing I remember besides her being a bulldog and a great business person, but I remember once, you know, she told me a story that when everything started happening with her daughter.

Um, and she was being an advocate. She had to get rid of her, [00:46:30] her SNPs license place, and I, I, the same thing happened to me, but for a very different reason. I thought it was gonna cost you business because I was driving around these license 

Jonathan Blau: plates. Yeah. But because, yeah, one of my key clients said, does your wife have a such and such car?

I said, why? [00:46:45] He said, yeah, because I saw her going about 80 miles an hour, and she went over the divider on Jericho Turnpike. I said, I said, that's what I said, Amy, get rid of those name plate. 

Amy Blau: Yeah. So, so that I, I wish I was, you know, one third as shrewd as she was. But that's definitely something that [00:47:00] connected us.

Anyway, yes, I am going to sign off now. And, uh, hope everyone loved the podcast and I can't wait to listen to it and hear everything new you learned about Vicki that we don't already know. But she's a great person, a great woman, and [00:47:15] everyone should support her advocacy charity. Alright, sweetie, have a great day.

Bye.

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