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 EP17 - Vulnerability, Belonging, and Critical Thinking
Episode 17 - Vulnerability, Belonging, and Critical Thinking
Steph and Jay unpack why so many people get swept up by loud voices, politicians, influencers, even “smooth talkers” and how loneliness, vulnerability, and identity hunger make us easy prey. They explore healthier paths to meaning, slowing down, checking our own compass, rebuilding connection, and practicing real critical thinking. It’s thoughtful, candid, and still playful, complete with rapid-fire confessions at the end.
Topics Covered:
- Authority bias: why confidence ≠ truth
- Loneliness & disconnection in a post-COVID world
- Belonging vs. self-knowledge: joining for the right reasons
- Faith & politics: grounding yourself, not getting used
- Unprocessed trauma: why “back to normal” doesn’t work
- Antidotes: slow down, question, connect, create together
- Rapid-fire: best compliments, Elvis, dream stages, NYC café vibes
A thoughtful, grounded episode with a touch of New York wit, closing on the reminder that we’re all just trying to make sense of the world together. If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who’d appreciate it, and let us know what you think today’s society is missing. Your rating or review helps others join the dialogue.