Pickles & Pasta with Steph and Jay
Welcome to Pickles & Pasta—a podcast about living creatively, loving boldly, and staying grounded in a world that often feels anything but.
Steph and Jay met(or as Jay says “reconnected”)just before the pandemic and have been building a life—and a creative partnership—ever since. Together, they live, work, and support each other’s ventures while navigating the messy, beautiful chaos of modern life.
No agendas. No sides. Just real conversations—sometimes deep, sometimes hilarious, always honest.
This is their space to talk about creativity, connection, relationships, and everything in between.
Pull up a chair. Let’s dig in.
About Steph
Stephanie Rado Taormina is the CEO and founder of Have Some Fun Today, a lifestyle brand inspired by her late father's mantra to live boldly and joyfully. With over 25 years of experience in branding, fashion, interiors, and entrepreneurship, she brings a sharp creative vision to everything she touches.
A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Stephanie has reignited her fine art career since 2021—creating emotionally driven abstract work and building a growing marketplace for contemporary art. While integrating her artistic voice into the evolution of HSFT, she also maintains an independent studio practice focused on exhibitions, fine art prints, and creative collaborations.
As co-host of the podcast Pickles & Pasta with Steph & Jay, she brings thoughtful, unscripted insight to conversations about creativity, culture, and navigating modern life.
About Jay
Jay Schweid is a native New Yorker, creative entrepreneur, and cultural shapeshifter with a career that’s anything but conventional. From launching JCS, a bespoke racket service trusted by tennis icons like McEnroe and Agassi, to co-founding The Spot—a legendary South Beach lounge with Mickey Rourke—Jay has always lived at the intersection of bold ideas and real-world impact.
He went on to create high-touch concierge and event services for celebrity and HNWI clients, and in 2012, launched ephelants, a media company focused on streamlining film and commercial production. Built to challenge industry inefficiencies, ephelants fuses creativity with technology to empower storytellers at every level.
Now, Jay is building Village—a visionary entertainment platform that will revolutionize how projects move from concept to distribution. By bringing together creators, fans, and investors,Village is designed to democratize the entire entertainment ecosystem and give everyone a seat at the table.
On Pickles & Pasta, Jay brings sharp insight, unapologetic creativity, and a relentless curiosity for what’s next.
Pickles & Pasta with Steph and Jay
Pickles & Pasta EP15 - Gratitude, Breathing & Letting Go of Excess
Episode 15: Gratitude, Breathing & Letting Go of Excess
In this episode of Pickles & Pasta with Steph & Jay, the duo explores how to stay grounded in uncertain times - balancing change with gratitude, breathwork, and mindfulness. They discuss how post-COVID shifts and economic stress affect creativity and connection, and why empathy and community matter more than ever. The conversation gets personal with reflections on illness, loss, and resilience, before wrapping on a lighter note - redefining the holidays with less materialism and more meaning.
Topics Covered:
- Uncertain times: staying balanced and setting boundaries
- Breathwork & gratitude: simple ways to calm stress
- Mindfulness: daily rituals for peace and focus
- Empathy & relationships: compassion through change
- Rethinking gifts: stuff, more meaning
- Rapid-fire: downtime, travel, and favorite burgers
Tune in for an episode that’s equal parts grounding, thought-provoking, and laugh-out-loud real - because sometimes the best way to cope is with conversation, curiosity, and a touch of humor.