0:00:01.175,0:00:04.834
In 1987, Tina Lord found herself[br]in quite the pickle.

0:00:04.834,0:00:07.940
See, this gold digger made sure[br]she married sweet Cord Roberts

0:00:07.940,0:00:10.588
just before he inherited millions.

0:00:10.588,0:00:12.841
But when Cord found out[br]Tina loved his money

0:00:12.841,0:00:14.584
as much as she loved him,

0:00:14.584,0:00:15.915
he dumped her.

0:00:15.915,0:00:17.955
Cord's mother Maria was thrilled

0:00:17.955,0:00:19.409
until they hooked up again.

0:00:19.409,0:00:21.935
So Maria hired Max Holden to romance Tina

0:00:21.935,0:00:25.617
and then make sure Cord didn't find out[br]Tina was pregnant with his baby.

0:00:25.617,0:00:28.657
So Tina, still married but thinking[br]Cord didn't love her

0:00:28.657,0:00:30.765
flew to Argentina with Max.

0:00:30.765,0:00:32.804
Cord finally figured out what was going on

0:00:32.804,0:00:35.238
and rushed after them,[br]but he was too late.

0:00:35.238,0:00:38.590
Tina had already been kidnapped,[br]strapped to a raft,

0:00:38.590,0:00:40.602
and sent over a waterfall.

0:00:40.602,0:00:43.544
She and her baby were presumed dead.

0:00:43.544,0:00:46.561
Cord was sad for a bit,

0:00:46.561,0:00:51.251
but then he bounced right back with[br]a super-smart archaeologist named Kate,

0:00:51.251,0:00:53.290
and they had a gorgeous wedding

0:00:53.290,0:00:57.203
until Tina, seemingly back from the dead,[br]ran into the church holding a baby.

0:00:57.203,0:01:00.859
"Stop!" she screamed. "Am I too late?

0:01:00.859,0:01:03.640
Cord, I've come so far.

0:01:03.640,0:01:07.302
This is your son."

0:01:07.302,0:01:09.223
And then, ladies and gentlemen,

0:01:09.223,0:01:12.416
is the soap opera "One Life To Live"[br]introduced a love story

0:01:12.416,0:01:14.616
that lasted 25 years.

0:01:14.616,0:01:15.915
(Laughter)

0:01:15.915,0:01:16.165
Now, if you've ever seen a soap opera,

0:01:18.330,0:01:20.355
you know the stories and the characters

0:01:20.355,0:01:22.862
can be exaggerated, larger than life,

0:01:22.862,0:01:26.162
and if you're a fan,[br]you find that exaggeration fun,

0:01:26.162,0:01:27.754
and if you're not,

0:01:27.754,0:01:30.598
maybe you find them melodramatic[br]or unsophisticated.

0:01:30.598,0:01:32.775
Maybe you think watching soap operas

0:01:32.775,0:01:34.085
is a waste of time,

0:01:34.085,0:01:38.886
that their bigness means their lessons[br]are small or nonexistent.

0:01:38.886,0:01:41.615
But I believe the opposite to be true.

0:01:41.615,0:01:46.020
Soap operas reflect life, just bigger.

0:01:46.020,0:01:49.392
So there are real life lessons[br]we can learn from soap operas,

0:01:49.392,0:01:51.974
and those lessons are[br]as big and adventurous

0:01:51.974,0:01:54.814
as any soap opera storyline.

0:01:54.814,0:01:58.502
Now, I've been a fan since I ran home[br]from the bus stop in second grade

0:01:58.502,0:02:01.922
desperate to catch the end[br]of Luke and Laura's wedding,

0:02:01.922,0:02:05.043
the biggest moment[br]in "General Hospital"'s history.

0:02:05.043,0:02:06.953
(Applause)

0:02:06.953,0:02:09.863
So you can imagine how much[br]I loved my eight years

0:02:09.863,0:02:12.758
as the assistant casting director[br]on "As The World Turns."

0:02:12.758,0:02:14.780
My job was watching soap operas,

0:02:14.780,0:02:16.404
reading soap opera scripts,

0:02:16.404,0:02:19.170
and auditioning actors[br]to be on soap operas.

0:02:19.170,0:02:21.669
So I know my stuff.

0:02:21.669,0:02:22.822
(Laughter)

0:02:22.822,0:02:25.621
And yes, soap operas

0:02:25.621,0:02:27.627
are larger than life,

0:02:27.627,0:02:29.220
drama on a grand scale,

0:02:29.220,0:02:32.922
but our lives can be filled[br]with as much intensity,

0:02:32.922,0:02:36.113
and the stakes can feel just as dramatic.

0:02:36.113,0:02:38.400
We cycle through tragedy and joy

0:02:38.400,0:02:40.108
just like these characters.

0:02:40.108,0:02:44.892
We cross thresholds, fight demons,[br]and find salvation unexpectedly,

0:02:44.892,0:02:47.785
and we do it again and again and again,

0:02:47.785,0:02:50.467
but just like soaps,[br]we can flip the script,

0:02:50.467,0:02:52.804
which means we can learn[br]from these characters

0:02:52.804,0:02:54.589
that move like bumblebees,

0:02:54.589,0:02:57.256
looping and swerving through life.

0:02:57.256,0:02:59.526
And we can use those lessons

0:02:59.526,0:03:02.090
to craft our own life stories.

0:03:02.090,0:03:05.810
Soap operas teach us to push away doubt

0:03:05.810,0:03:07.942
and believe in our capacity

0:03:07.942,0:03:10.453
for bravery, vulnerability,

0:03:10.453,0:03:12.962
adaptability, and resilience.

0:03:13.548,0:03:15.556
Most importantly, they show us

0:03:15.556,0:03:19.241
it's never too late to change your story.

0:03:19.241,0:03:22.234
So with that, let's start[br]with soap opera lessons one:

0:03:22.234,0:03:24.548
surrender is not an option.

0:03:24.548,0:03:26.327
(Laughter)

0:03:26.327,0:03:30.750
"All My Children"'s Erica Kane was[br]daytime's version of Scarlett O'Hara,

0:03:30.750,0:03:33.332
a hyperbolically self-important princess

0:03:33.332,0:03:34.779
who deep down

0:03:34.779,0:03:36.925
was scrappy and daring.

0:03:36.925,0:03:40.552
Now, in her 41 years on TV,[br]perhaps Erica's most famous scene

0:03:40.552,0:03:42.366
is her alone in the woods

0:03:42.366,0:03:45.467
suddenly face to face with a grizzly bear.

0:03:45.467,0:03:47.570
She screamed at the bear,

0:03:47.570,0:03:49.102
"You may not do this!

0:03:49.102,0:03:50.726
Do you understand me?

0:03:50.726,0:03:52.465
You may not come near me!

0:03:52.465,0:03:54.606
I am Erica Kane,

0:03:54.606,0:03:58.901
and you are a filthy beast!"

0:03:58.901,0:04:00.840
And of course the bear left,

0:04:00.840,0:04:02.535
so what that teaches us

0:04:02.535,0:04:06.793
is obstacles are to be expected[br]and we can choose to surrender

0:04:06.793,0:04:09.299
or we can stand and fight.

0:04:09.299,0:04:12.334
Pandora's Tim Westergren[br]knows this better than most.

0:04:12.334,0:04:16.092
You might even call him[br]the Erica Kane of Silicon Valley.

0:04:16.092,0:04:18.155
Tim and his cofounders[br]launched the company

0:04:18.155,0:04:19.964
with two million dollars in funding.

0:04:19.964,0:04:22.597
They were out of cash the next year.

0:04:22.597,0:04:26.602
Now lots of companies fold[br]at that point, but Tim chose to fight.

0:04:26.602,0:04:31.075
He maxed out 11 credit cards[br]and racked up six figures in personal debt

0:04:31.075,0:04:32.880
and it still wasn't enough.

0:04:32.880,0:04:35.519
So every two weeks for two years on payday

0:04:35.519,0:04:37.640
he stood in front of his employees

0:04:37.640,0:04:41.092
and he asked them [br]to sacrifice their salaries,

0:04:41.092,0:04:42.606
and it worked.

0:04:42.606,0:04:45.466
More than 50 people deferred[br]two million dollars,

0:04:45.466,0:04:47.306
and now, more than a decade later,

0:04:47.306,0:04:50.547
Pandora is worth billions.

0:04:50.547,0:04:54.511
When you believe that there is a way[br]around or through whatever

0:04:54.511,0:04:58.012
is in front of you,[br]that surrender is not an option,

0:04:58.012,0:05:01.674
you can overcome enormous obstacles.

0:05:01.674,0:05:04.247
Which brings us to soap opera lesson two:

0:05:04.247,0:05:05.971
sacrifice your ego

0:05:05.971,0:05:08.642
and drop the superiority complex.

0:05:08.642,0:05:10.538
Now, this is scary.

0:05:10.538,0:05:13.614
It's an acknowledgment of need[br]or fallibility.

0:05:13.614,0:05:16.428
Maybe it's even an admission

0:05:16.428,0:05:18.845
that we're not as special[br]as we might liked to think.

0:05:18.845,0:05:21.165
Stephanie Forrester of[br]"The Bold and the Beautiful"

0:05:21.165,0:05:23.178
thought she was pretty darn special.

0:05:23.178,0:05:24.830
She thought she was so special,

0:05:24.830,0:05:27.662
she didn't need to mix[br]with the riffraff from the valley,

0:05:27.662,0:05:30.355
and she made sure[br]valley girl Brooke knew it.

0:05:30.355,0:05:34.153
But after nearly 25 years[br]of epic fighting,

0:05:34.153,0:05:37.568
Stephanie got sick and let Brooke in.

0:05:37.568,0:05:38.921
They made amends,

0:05:38.921,0:05:40.860
arch-enemies became soulmates,

0:05:40.860,0:05:43.261
and Stephanie died in Brooke's arms,

0:05:43.261,0:05:45.589
and here's our takeaway.

0:05:45.589,0:05:47.254
Drop your ego.

0:05:47.254,0:05:49.149
Life is not about you.

0:05:49.149,0:05:50.599
It's about us,

0:05:50.599,0:05:53.364
and our ability to experience joy

0:05:53.364,0:05:56.112
and love and to improve our reality

0:05:56.112,0:05:59.130
comes only when we make[br]ourselves vulnerable

0:05:59.130,0:06:02.189
and we accept responsibility[br]for our actions

0:06:02.189,0:06:03.656
and our inactions,

0:06:03.656,0:06:07.022
kind of like Howard Schultz,[br]the CEO of Starbucks.

0:06:07.022,0:06:09.209
Now, after a great run as CEO,

0:06:09.209,0:06:11.605
Howard stepped down in 2000,

0:06:11.605,0:06:13.789
and Starbucks quickly overextended itself

0:06:13.789,0:06:15.651
and stock prices fell.

0:06:15.651,0:06:17.737
Howard rejoined the team in 2008,

0:06:17.737,0:06:19.299
and one of the first things he did

0:06:19.299,0:06:24.445
was apologize to all 180,000 employees.

0:06:24.445,0:06:26.994
He apologized.

0:06:26.994,0:06:31.123
And then he asked for help,[br]honesty, and ideas in return.

0:06:31.123,0:06:33.391
And now, Starbucks has more than doubled

0:06:33.391,0:06:36.215
its net revenue since Howard came back.

0:06:36.215,0:06:40.427
So sacrifice your desire to be right[br]or safe all the time.

0:06:40.427,0:06:43.173
It's not helping anyone, least of all you.

0:06:43.173,0:06:46.888
Sacrifice your ego.

0:06:46.888,0:06:49.352
Soap opera lesson three:

0:06:49.352,0:06:52.183
evolution is real.

0:06:52.183,0:06:54.995
You're not meant to be static characters.

0:06:54.995,0:06:59.074
On television, static equals boring[br]and boring equals fired.

0:06:59.074,0:07:02.395
Characters are supposed[br]to grow and change.

0:07:02.395,0:07:05.141
Now on TV, those dynamic changes

0:07:05.141,0:07:07.542
can make for some rough transitions,

0:07:07.542,0:07:09.269
particularly when a character

0:07:09.269,0:07:13.954
is played by one person yesterday[br]and played by someone new today.

0:07:13.954,0:07:17.474
Recasting happens all the time on soaps.

0:07:17.474,0:07:19.381
Over the last 20 years,

0:07:19.381,0:07:22.149
four different actors have played[br]the same key role

0:07:22.149,0:07:25.450
of Carly Benson on "General Hospital."

0:07:25.450,0:07:30.877
Each new face triggered a change[br]in the character's life and personality.

0:07:30.877,0:07:34.919
Now, there was always an essential nugget[br]of Carly in there,

0:07:34.919,0:07:39.934
but the character and the story[br]adapted to whomever was playing her.

0:07:39.934,0:07:42.498
And here's what that means for us.

0:07:42.498,0:07:45.323
While we may not swap faces[br]in our own lives,

0:07:45.323,0:07:46.955
we can evolve too.

0:07:46.955,0:07:52.647
We can choose to draw a circle[br]around our feet and stay in that spot,

0:07:52.647,0:07:55.027
or we can open ourselves to opportunities

0:07:55.027,0:07:59.500
like Carly, who went[br]from nursing student to hotel owner,

0:07:59.500,0:08:01.737
or like Julia Child.

0:08:01.737,0:08:04.307
Julia was a World War II spy,

0:08:04.307,0:08:07.722
and when the war ended,[br]she got married, moved to France,

0:08:07.722,0:08:11.339
and decided to give[br]culinary school a shot.

0:08:11.339,0:08:17.166
Julia, her books, and her TV shows[br]revolutionized the way America cooks.

0:08:17.166,0:08:21.063
We all have the power to initiate[br]change in our lives,

0:08:21.063,0:08:23.412
to evolve and adapt.

0:08:23.412,0:08:25.338
We make the choice,

0:08:25.338,0:08:29.100
but sometimes life chooses for us,[br]and we don't get a heads up.

0:08:29.100,0:08:31.799
Surprise slams us in the face.

0:08:31.799,0:08:33.951
You're flat on the ground,[br]the air is gone,

0:08:33.951,0:08:36.075
and you need resuscitation.

0:08:36.075,0:08:39.467
So thank goodness[br]for soap opera lesson four:

0:08:39.467,0:08:41.718
resurrection is possible.

0:08:41.718,0:08:44.724
(Laughter) (Applause)

0:08:46.779,0:08:50.362
In 1983, "Days of Our Lives'"[br]Stefano DiMera died of a stroke,

0:08:50.362,0:08:53.506
but not really, because in 1984

0:08:53.506,0:08:56.563
he died when his car[br]plunged into the harbor,

0:08:56.563,0:09:00.312
and yet he was back in 1985[br]with a brain tumor.

0:09:00.312,0:09:01.397
(Laughter)

0:09:01.397,0:09:03.763
But before the tumor could kill him,

0:09:03.763,0:09:08.253
Marlena shot him, and he tumbled[br]off a catwalk to his death.

0:09:08.253,0:09:10.753
And so it went for 30 years.

0:09:10.753,0:09:13.335
(Laughter)

0:09:13.335,0:09:15.422
Even when we saw the body,

0:09:15.422,0:09:16.573
we knew better.

0:09:16.573,0:09:20.303
He's called the Phoenix for a reason.

0:09:20.303,0:09:23.233
And here's what that means for us.

0:09:23.233,0:09:25.589
As long as the show is still on the air,

0:09:25.589,0:09:27.902
or you're still breathing,

0:09:27.902,0:09:29.533
nothing is permanent.

0:09:29.533,0:09:31.617
Resurrection is possible.

0:09:33.082,0:09:36.584
Now, of course, just like life,

0:09:36.584,0:09:40.518
soap operas do ultimately meet[br]the big finale.

0:09:40.518,0:09:45.330
CBS canceled my show,[br]"As The World Turns," in December 2009,

0:09:45.330,0:09:48.785
and we shot our final episode[br]in June 2010.

0:09:48.785,0:09:51.855
It was six months of dying[br]and I road that train

0:09:51.855,0:09:54.293
right into the mountain.

0:09:54.293,0:09:57.137
And even though we were in the middle[br]of a huge recession,

0:09:57.137,0:10:00.377
and millions of people[br]were struggling to find work,

0:10:00.377,0:10:03.319
I somehow thought[br]everything would be okay.

0:10:03.319,0:10:05.983
So I packed up the kids[br]and the Brooklyn apartment,

0:10:05.983,0:10:08.385
and we moved in with my in-laws

0:10:08.385,0:10:09.945
in Alabama.

0:10:09.945,0:10:12.472
(Laughter)

0:10:12.472,0:10:16.032
Three months later, nothing was okay.

0:10:16.032,0:10:20.618
That was when I watched[br]the final episode air,

0:10:20.618,0:10:25.172
and I realized the show[br]was not the only fatality.

0:10:25.172,0:10:27.195
I was one too.

0:10:27.195,0:10:29.675
I was unemployed and living[br]on the second floor

0:10:29.675,0:10:31.322
of my in-laws' home,

0:10:31.322,0:10:34.364
and that's enough to make anyone[br]feel dead inside.

0:10:34.364,0:10:35.993
(Laughter)

0:10:35.993,0:10:38.710
But I knew my story wasn't over,

0:10:38.710,0:10:40.564
that it couldn't be over.

0:10:40.564,0:10:46.203
I just had to tap into everything[br]I had ever learned about soap operas.

0:10:46.203,0:10:48.848
I had to be brave like Erica

0:10:48.848,0:10:51.464
and refuse to surrender, so every day,

0:10:51.464,0:10:53.915
I made a decision to fight.

0:10:53.915,0:10:56.775
I had to be vulnerable like Stephanie

0:10:56.775,0:10:58.437
and sacrifice my ego.

0:10:58.437,0:11:02.628
I had to ask for help a lot of times[br]across many states.

0:11:02.628,0:11:06.428
I had to be adaptable like Carly

0:11:06.428,0:11:09.914
and evolve my skills, my mindset,[br]and my circumstances,

0:11:09.914,0:11:13.021
and then I had to be resilient,[br]like Stefano,

0:11:13.021,0:11:15.612
and resurrect myself and my career

0:11:15.612,0:11:18.760
like a phoenix from the ashes.

0:11:18.760,0:11:20.995
Eventually I got an interview.

0:11:20.995,0:11:24.679
In 15 years in news and entertainment,

0:11:24.679,0:11:26.767
nine months of unemployment

0:11:26.767,0:11:29.710
and this one interview,

0:11:29.710,0:11:33.390
I had an offer for an entry level job.

0:11:33.390,0:11:35.081
I was 37 years old,

0:11:35.081,0:11:38.194
and I was back from the dead.

0:11:38.194,0:11:41.680
We will all experience[br]what looks like an ending,

0:11:41.680,0:11:44.343
and we can choose to make it a beginning.

0:11:44.343,0:11:48.456
Kind of like Tina, who miraculously[br]survived that waterfall,

0:11:48.456,0:11:50.987
and because I hate to leave[br]a cliffhanger hanging,

0:11:50.987,0:11:53.154
Tina and Cord did get divorced,

0:11:53.154,0:11:58.834
but they got remarried three times[br]before the show went off the air in 2012.

0:11:58.834,0:12:00.603
So remember,

0:12:00.603,0:12:03.746
as long as there is breath in your body,

0:12:03.746,0:12:07.742
it's never too late to change your story.

0:12:07.742,0:12:09.566
Thank you.

0:12:09.566,0:12:13.999
(Applause)