Ep. 50: Lori & Julia, Legendary Radio Host's Farewell Tour

[00:00:00] On this episode of So Much More, co-host Sarah Rogers and I talk with two Minnesota trailblazing icons, Lori and Julia. What are we going to talk about? So much more. So much more. We're going to talk about sex, menopause, M.O.V. Right away with the sex stuff.

[00:00:15] Celebrities, something big that happened in the news today. Really big. Water skiing squirrels. You name it. Mall of America for more than 30 years, it has been a retail leader and an international destination, and it remains the largest mall in the U.S.

[00:00:33] Not to mention it welcomes millions of guests from around the world. It's huge, but it's also so much more. In this podcast, you're going to hear the real stories of how it started and why it continues to thrive.

[00:00:45] You'll hear about challenges we faced along the way and what you can learn from them. We will feature guests and experts from all walks of life and business. And along the way, you'll laugh, learn and maybe even change the way you look at things.

[00:00:57] So if you're a fan of the mall, a brand new visitor, an entrepreneur or a dreamer, prepare to dive deep into so much more. This podcast is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. So, Sarah, what is your relationship with Lori and Julia?

[00:01:14] How has this transpired over the last 22 years? Well, I am the Trend Specialist for the Mall of America. And I don't know how we initially started working together, if you want to call it that, because I have been in my role at the mall since around 1999.

[00:01:33] And I think you guys have been around since 2002, but they invited me to be on their show. Somebody did. Maybe the PR coordinator, somebody, you know, made that connection and got me on their show. And then the rest is history.

[00:01:48] I mean, we just clicked. They're like family to me. And I run into your listeners all the time. And they recognize your voice. Yes. Recognize my voice. And they will tell me how much they love you too. And I'm like, me too.

[00:02:06] And they're the same off the air as they are on the air. They're so open and candid and real. So then you're not really retiring then. You're just not going to be on the air. That's right. This is the truth.

[00:02:20] We're just done with the five days a week, three hours a day. We're still going to be around and we're going to do stuff. It's just not going to be in the radio format, daily format that we've done.

[00:02:32] Yeah. And well, after 22 years together, I think it would be hard to just say goodbye. No, we're in denial still, and we've only got eight shows left. So we're going to have to start getting into reality.

[00:02:44] But I did want to say about Sarah, one of the things that like after the very first appearance, Donnie Love, who was our producer for 18 years, he's like, I'm going to give her a theme song and Sarah Smile,

[00:02:59] Hall and Oates, the only song of Hall and Oates I really like. He plays. He started playing for her. And it would just kind of set the tone. And Sarah would be all like, oh, you know, and it was a fun.

[00:03:12] You were the first person to have your own song. Oh, Donnie. I can't remember because my husband's name is Donnie too. I know. Like that was so sweet to give me my own little theme song. I feel like we met you guys at like Glamorama or something.

[00:03:26] And got cooked up because we knew Jane Hogan Olsen and we knew some other people at the same time. I feel maybe that might have been a little bit of a connection. Do you remember when we commentated the curated? We did a fashion show here.

[00:03:40] Well, we weren't commentating, but we opened it. Emceed, I guess, would be a better way to describe it. That was super fun. Oh, I'm so glad you were there because that's not really my thing. We had fun. That was for Christopher, you know, the Straub.

[00:03:56] It was the first. Wasn't it the first year that we did? It probably wasn't the first one, but it may be the second. I feel like it was the second one that was so fun. The curated style project, straight from the runway fashion show. Yes, I remember that.

[00:04:11] I think your wife might have been instrumental in making that happen. Yeah, that was her big what if that turned into all hands on deck for this monster production. Sarah, I love her. We have that in common. She had... Isn't that the truth? This is so good.

[00:04:27] Yeah, she had great vision, but they put us up there together and then you, I would see... I was going through my old computer and looking at old photos and I remember us being at the Dayton's fashion show together. That's where we were, yes.

[00:04:43] I've got pictures of you, me and Grant Whitaker. Yes. I feel like I had to do... Well, it was Macy's then when I did some stuff on stage for Macy's. Okay. A long time ago. I believe that. But Sarah is always...

[00:04:57] She's been our Mall of America correspondent and fashion expert for years and always shows up so lovely with so many great ideas. And we always wanted to be on TV during your things because it would be so much easier to see than on radio.

[00:05:12] But you're so good at describing things and really helping women of all shapes and sizes feel really good in their bodies. I think that was something initially that everybody got excited about with you, me, because I'm short, sometimes wider, sometimes thinner.

[00:05:28] And just like you came over and helped me with my closet. And it just tells me, well, that's not really... You can do better is your line and yours is like... What is your line, Sarah? Like when you're giving someone...

[00:05:41] You have a couple at the bottom and the top. Yeah, I can't think of maybe what I said back then. Well, I do. But it's providing wardrobe skills for life. I really try to empower people with the knowledge they need to dress for their body type.

[00:05:54] And if you're narrow here, you should do something about it and extend on the top. And if you're wider on the bottom, we could do better. We could find something that would work just a little better. I mean, always encouraging, always fun. And just...

[00:06:08] The Mall of America, it's been our home forever. I mean, I was looking back in some Mall of America history for our show today out here at the Rotunda, which is very exciting. And just thinking of when it first opened, Lori applied for a job here.

[00:06:25] No, no, I was recruited. Oh, she was recruited. I was recruited. You're right. You're right. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Silly me. Marketing director and I was at Carlson and I came out here, I did the hard hat

[00:06:37] tour and I was like, oh my gosh, you could fit a Viking stadium in the middle of... I picked up on all these things and I thought about it, but I had a really great job at Carlson and I thought, I wouldn't be able to travel.

[00:06:53] I don't want to do that. So I just took myself out of the running, but I was so excited to have a hard hat tour and I came back to Carlson. I said, this is going to be our wonder world.

[00:07:04] This Mall of America is a wonderful thing that's happening here. And people are like, wow, okay. It's 30 years you're celebrating, right? Yeah, just over we're at 33 this year, I believe. We're celebrating at Julie for the night. 32. We knew it.

[00:07:19] You know, you hit a certain age and you stop counting and you think those milestones are good, right? It's so true. But my kids grew up here. We had the season passes back then. It was Camp Snoopy.

[00:07:29] I mean, we were here every day and when I first had my babies, I'd just walk and walk and walk. This is such... This place offers so much to this community besides shopping and eating and the events.

[00:07:41] I mean, just a place to go in the wintertime to walk laps and just be out of your home. In those times when it was just like, I don't know where to go. It's freezing outside and I have to move these kids. It's toddler Tuesday.

[00:07:56] We spent so much time here and always shopping here. I think I even... Last year when the Barbie exhibit downstairs was up and you had all the helmets from the NFL teams downstairs.

[00:08:08] And I came at night by myself and I was just like, this place is so magical. I hope people remember. It's such a great place to be. Do you remember Project Down and Dirty here? Oh, of course. Was it in the old Ed Harvey store?

[00:08:25] All of the shows slept, ate and broadcast for two and a half days from here. And the first show starts at 5.30 in the morning and there was a curtain separating the sleepers from the talkers. It was raw. Why? To raise money.

[00:08:43] I think it was for breast cancer that year. It was for Susan G. Coleman. Because the walk used to always be here and we always did the walk for years on Mother's Day. I mean, that was a big... That was huge. You're right, Julie. Oh, absolutely.

[00:09:00] But it was fun. We did get to... We had blast. We watched some of the security dogs downstairs. We got to see how the Mall of America recycles everything. Everything. Everything. And we were very impressed. We were part of the recycling operation.

[00:09:14] And it was really cool to see the whole other world that supports this place. So we did enjoy that part of it, but the sleeping and waking up and everything. But we were the only people here at midnight. It was kind of fun.

[00:09:27] It is really fun, isn't it? It was kind of fun. I'm not going to lie. It was just so much because you have to be on more than just your show because people were looking at us through a window all day. I mean, it really was crazy.

[00:09:38] And it is interesting to see this place because you're used to it seeing bustling. But at night, it just has a different feel to it. And I do... Usually around holiday and especially getting ready for Black Friday when we open early and coming in early.

[00:09:54] And just starting to feel that buzz as the building gets ready and percolating. I'm happy to hear you say that. And I know that you're huge fans, but it is a magical place.

[00:10:03] And there's plenty for folks to do, as you alluded to, that you can do for free. You can come and you can walk around. You can enjoy the nightly light show. You can look at the football helmets when they're here.

[00:10:14] There's such a curation that happens to make sure that people can enjoy it at all levels. And a lot of people, I don't think get that or understand that. The people watching... And they're missing out on a lot of fun stuff. We would agree.

[00:10:25] And you, with the events, I was looking through some of the amazing things that have happened here over the years. And you do so many things out here to entertain the community. We do. And we love it. We just had Twiggy the water skiing squirrel here.

[00:10:38] I almost listened to that podcast last night. But instead, I chose Patrick. Patrick Richardson, Laundry Down. I was laughing so hard when I saw the water skiing squirrel. How did that happen? It was just another what if.

[00:10:57] And we, because we're here and we have so many people and you want to do something that feels accessible to everybody. And I was aware of Twiggy and I talked to my cohort Mary in the experiential team. And I said, have you heard about this water skiing squirrel?

[00:11:14] And I thought she was going to cry. She's like, it has been my dream to bring Twiggy here for years. I was like, well then we're doing this. We're going to figure it out. I love that we're on the same track. Oh my God.

[00:11:25] But we love to look out there and see what's happening, whether there's community celebrations we can be a part of or just Vietnam. Absolutely. And really that is our task, right? Is to try and curate these experiences for guests and create these moments for guests.

[00:11:42] And it can be everything from we wanted to be a part of your retirement celebration, reaching out to you to see if you would do a show here to something as crazy as professional wrestling or a drag show or a fashion show. We just do things.

[00:11:57] I think the mall does a great job of keeping it moving and just bringing... Do you remember the Princess Di exhibit? We talked, you came on and talked to us about it.

[00:12:06] Laurie and I came out here and spent hours and I still have a picture of the bottom of Princess Diana's wedding shoes. Yes, with her initials. Her initials are inscribed in the bottom. In a heart. We had no idea what a dog he was going to be.

[00:12:20] We had no idea. Charles. King Chuck. King Chuck I like to call him. We're going to miss you guys so much because you're a wealth of knowledge about the mall and just everything pop culture. We're still going to be here.

[00:12:36] We have an Instagram account if anyone wants to know. We'll make sure we get that from you too and we'll pop that on there. Julie does a great job with notes and there was the line that she put in here

[00:12:46] about you being best friends turned sister-in-law despite being as Minnesota as Paul Bunyan speak fluent Hollywood. So therefore we would be remiss if we overlooked who are some of your favorite celebrities perhaps that you have either seen here. Okay. Yep.

[00:13:03] I saw Prez Hilton here when he was a big deal and he used to have a Prez Hilton moment. Perez if you're listening I'm sure you're a big deal to some people still. He was the first gossip website in 2004. TMZ doesn't come until 2005.

[00:13:20] He was out here and I remember writing underneath here. My kids were still young and still wanted to be with mom and see what it was happening. We rode on the golf cart underneath the bowels of the mall which is also very fun with

[00:13:31] CJ the gossip columnist from the Star Tribune at the time. And I believe I was wearing Laurie's jacket that I'll name drop again Joy Noel the local designer. We love Joy. It was fabulous but it was silver metallic and she called me a baked potato. CJ did.

[00:13:49] She always had fun names for me. I just remember Perez being here. There were tons of people. It was tons of people and then the $10,000 pyramid when those tryouts were here. Sure. Donny Osmond was here for that or something.

[00:14:04] He was here for a broadcast and we were broadcasting live and we came out and every level was packed around the Rotunda. I thought it was for us. It was for Donny Osmond. And that's what's so special about Laurie is because she always thinks we're bigger

[00:14:21] than we are. I'm like wow people really like us. That's amazing. I've been a little nervous about today's broadcast out here. Like come we're in the Rotunda. It's special. It's the only place we've ever broadcast. It is special. It's special. But you'll handle it. I know.

[00:14:40] I have a... Oh yeah. Because you'll just be you which is all we always ever wanted. We've been doing flashbacks to because I did. I'm like we are we are gossip sequoia trees. Our knowledge is so deep and big.

[00:14:57] So we've been doing flashbacks to our first year on the air and one of the realizations that we had is in 2002 Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck fall in love and here we are in 2024 still talking about them.

[00:15:15] It's kind of one of the most constant stories throughout the years. They're our longest couple that we've had a celebrity relationship with and then you know I would say Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina, Tom Cruise. We're deep. We know about the Scientology.

[00:15:31] I mean we go deep on that stuff. How are we going to... We could do a podcast about when I lived in LA my friend was a screenwriter and he wanted to go to the Church of Scientology to do research. Sure.

[00:15:45] So we went in and we went through the whole thing. Did you do the tests? Took the personality test. It's so weird. It's so weird the questions they ask you. Were you scared they were going to suck you in?

[00:15:54] So I used a fake name and then about two weeks later got a piece of mail and my real name from them at my office that we were working. That's how much research they do. See they're spies!

[00:16:05] So I want to believe one of my buddies tipped him off and said here send him something but I'm going to let the conspiracy in my... Oh yeah. So we ended up buying the Dianetics book set and everything but it was a blast. Yeah.

[00:16:18] It was a good time. I bet. Cultural experience. We always loved how you guys would Hollywood speak everything. Break it down, give us the real deal. Give us what they're really saying. We got a good one today Justin Timberlake got arrested for a DUI last night in...

[00:16:32] He performed here with NSYNC. He performed at the Super Bowl in 2018. Oh he did at the mall. I did my research. You're good at research. With NSYNC and then something happened. Can't remember. To NSYNC? No. I still want him to get back together.

[00:16:51] Well he might have to now with his DWI. If J.Lo and Ben Affleck can make a comeback. His ego is probably... This is so dumb in the day of Ubers. There's no excuse. It is. It really is.

[00:17:06] It shows you that he's not been humbled yet because he's never properly apologized to Brittany or Janet Jackson. He has it on his Instagram. Karma is a thing. There's a big ask here. I feel rehab coming up. Oh for sure that. Yeah right?

[00:17:23] Yeah imagine how furious Jessica Biel is today. Doghouse doesn't begin to describe it. I will be honest. I hadn't thought about how Jessica Biel was feeling in this situation. Mama is not going to be happy with her man. So many women... It's dumb. He could have killed somebody.

[00:17:42] I mean really come on. It is. It's just dumb. So anyway my dislike of Justin Timberlake has lasted almost the length of the show. It has. No it wasn't until after Nipple. I never liked him because of how he treated Brittany. He did Brittany dirty. Full circle moment.

[00:18:00] We are going to see Janet Jackson tonight. We are. I know. I mean Karma is a big shaggainster. Oh my word. I didn't think about it like that but yeah. No kidding. So that's a common thread you know that's been going on.

[00:18:17] What are you going to miss most about being on air? Because I imagine you're just going to be chatting having these conversations anyway. We'll miss each other. We ran into each other at the hairdresser salon last week and I'm like... Here's our new show.

[00:18:30] Oh well maybe we're going to be in a salon corner doing our show but I will miss Lori. I mean we've been more married than married. Because we spent at least six hours a day. Yeah and we go back to Carlson. We worked together since then.

[00:18:43] We worked together for seven years then we went to Sun Country. Then we did our body perks then we did the radio so we've been... You truly are my longest relationship. Same. Do you have a plan to make sure that your paths are crossed? Yes. Oh yeah.

[00:19:00] We'll do stuff. I mean we have a huge book club following people. I mean we've got... We know people want to hear from us when stuff like this happens. I'm so glad I'm working and have a radio show today with the JT News.

[00:19:13] I would probably be going like this. Lori texted me and Grant our producers this morning and says, I'm sorry but why does this make me giddy? Yeah well I'm going to hell. Well I know. Well you have material. You have something to chat about now. Thank you.

[00:19:26] And a platform to get it out. I think we're going to miss all of our people who have collabed and been so generous with their time and came into our studio. You schlep all your stuff. I love that though. But we have loved it.

[00:19:38] And through winter, summer, heat, everything you've come and all of our contributing people that have been with us for so long and generous with their time. And then our listeners of course because they're like our friends. Yes. So I think we're going to miss all of it. Yeah.

[00:19:54] But not the daily grind. Well in a way I love that. It's an evolution. Mm-hmm. Okay so you're saying goodbye to this chapter but there's all this opportunity that remains out there. Yes I know. And I love that you're so excited about the Rotunda

[00:20:08] and doing the show there. This is huge. But I feel like anytime you had anything you wanted to do we would happily host and provide that platform as well. Minnesota Icons. And honestly when I was thinking about this show we could have reversed this

[00:20:25] and I could have had you two here as co-hosts to talk to Sarah as well. Like the amount that you've done together and Sarah obviously I know you better. You're such easy company. She is. You've always made people feel comfortable around a topic that can be rather intimidating.

[00:20:40] Not for someone like me who doesn't. Obviously. Fashion. I do what I do. You know your fashion I can tell. But you guys are twinning and you're green. Did you plan that? You know I've always appreciated that and the partnership we've had.

[00:20:52] I don't know if I told you this. My first day of work when I started here the employee handbook which I read. I read all the instructions and everything. Said that men need to wear a button up shirt and a tie

[00:21:05] and I didn't have any of this so I went to Hammermaid and I got some stuff and I showed up at work and also said you had to be clean shaven and I felt like a kid walking in in like dad's clothes

[00:21:15] and as soon as I walked past the HR barrier I was like nobody's read this book. Nobody's read this book. This was a prank? No but that's probably good too. That's hysterical. So I'm sitting down and I'm sharing an office with somebody from PR and Sarah pops in

[00:21:31] and that was the first time I saw Sarah who would eventually become my wife and then da da da off she goes and then they were talking about Sarah's the fashion expert da da da da da and in my mind I hadn't met you yet

[00:21:45] and like well very clearly that woman was the fashion expert. Very clearly it wasn't. And then I found out it was you and I was like oh okay we need to use last names while I'm learning. Sure, sure. Yes, two Sarahs. One with the age and one without.

[00:22:00] That's right but I've always appreciated our partnership and it sounds like you have as well. Oh my gosh. At least six times a year we know we would see her or we'd also see her at the fair. Yes, oh yeah. We'd have fashion shows at the fair.

[00:22:14] Yes she works with the 4-H club. She does a lot in our community. So how is this going to affect you? This is a big part of your life too. Plus she's a listener. She is a loyal listener. Yes I am. I'm a big fan of the show.

[00:22:30] I mean it's going to affect me emotionally. You know I haven't even thought about you know where am I going to slip my merchandise to next because we were kind of like family if you will and whenever we saw each other

[00:22:47] I just love how candid and open they are and how much I've learned from them as well. I'm going to miss you guys. You know even the tape of you going to the SAG awards. Oh no I know it. I know it. Geez that's really a start.

[00:23:00] You're calling out the celebrities. Raw names and everything. Yes and going to the hotels. I mean you would just share everything. You were open book. Even some of the things that weren't so great that were happening in your life you know. I met your father, Daddy-O. Yeah.

[00:23:19] And so when you lost him I felt like we because you shared him with us and the zipper too. Yeah my dad. And so. It was you know I think Sarah you're so generous. You're one of the most generous contributors.

[00:23:35] I mean you really are and we are going to miss you beyond. We're going to talk to you today at 430 in the Rotunda. Yes yes I get to hang out with you still. But you know no one did what we did.

[00:23:47] No one ever had a talk show that in this community that wasn't about sports or politics. Or you know the pig rides. The pig pork bellies or something you know. No one did this before my talk. And when we started it was FM 107 and I think

[00:24:03] we need to be really proud because you should be. It was a different format for women to talk about stuff women want to talk about. And talk the way women talk which let me tell you when we've been on the air for the first couple of years

[00:24:17] around the air I mean people yelled at us about how we talked what we talked about how we pronounced it our opinions and I just looked at Julia and I said we are women we're used to being told no you're doing it wrong. We have to ignore this.

[00:24:32] We're striking a chord on the other side if there's this much like out loud kind of venom right here we must be making a lot of other people happy. Absolutely. It's my take on that. Yeah because I just thought that's getting kind of loud and

[00:24:50] so we just kept doing we're just like we're not going to we're just going to keep doing what felt natural to us which was talk the way we talk and we know women talk. Which you know. So there was Sex Monday. Yes Sex Monday.

[00:25:06] And really candid conversations about sex. And initially they didn't want us to say sex on the air. Oh yeah. So this first of all I want to give a shout out to the Hubbard's because they have supported us. I mean we were nothing low and I would schlep

[00:25:21] around to try to get on TV stations to try to get publicity for FM 107 at the time and they've supported us for so long for 22 years. They have really stuck behind us and let us talk about anything except for how to pronounce. Well they were February. February. February.

[00:25:39] And then initially and it wasn't they weren't even involved in these conversations but at the time it was the other you know people we don't say sex don't say sex on the air and then we pushed that envelope quite a bit. Yeah I was just like.

[00:25:51] Women talk about it. It's natural. Everybody talks about it. Everybody does yeah. In fashion and pop culture and what we're going to watch what we're going to wear how we're going to parent. You know. And we brought up we talked about perimenopause and menopause and let me tell

[00:26:06] you we were sick to our stomach that we had to say the words out loud. And plastic surgeries. Because that's how taboo it was and really we were the first people to be out loud about that and to give hope and encouragement and actual information

[00:26:21] about what you could do. You didn't need to suffer. You don't need to be shriveled up raisin. It's true. That's what everyone thought. What's going to happen? It's one day. Yeah. Oh ladies. Well it's been amazing to spend time with you.

[00:26:36] I'm really excited that you're here doing the podcast with us but also a show in the Rotunda. Yeah we are too. I mean you are your icons. Thank you. I feel safe to say Minnesota royalty. They are. And I love that we have the opportunity

[00:26:50] to be a small part of that story with you. You've been a big part. You have been as bigger than a small part because we did our Fair Fawcett tribute show here. We did a Choose Your Shoes at Nordstrom. Which someone shared me a memory with.

[00:27:03] Oh I remember that. We had hundreds of people here. And then we came, you know, I feel like we've been partners for a long time. Yeah. Well and I think this isn't, you know, goodbye. No I don't think so. See you later. Yes. See you later. Yes.

[00:27:19] We're still around if you need help. Absolutely. Well I think we could come up with some fun ideas and some ways to engage some folks down the road but I look forward to having those conversations with you. But I just want to thank you for your time.

[00:27:29] Thank you. Congratulations on really being pioneers in the space too. For 22 years and creating a safe space for people to have conversations that maybe weren't. They weren't happening. And congratulations to you. And all you guys do at the mall, to keep yourself relevant and keep changing and updating

[00:27:46] and keeping it exciting for this community to have a great place to go. Similar to the support you said you had from the Hubbards, I really feel like we have that here and we are able to try those things and it's a safe space to be okay.

[00:27:59] How many people showed up for the Squirrel Water skiing event? I mean multiple thousands. Multiple thousands. Multiple thousands. Wow. Three shows a day for three days. I bet. It was unbelievable. And you have a gem in Sarah of course, Sarah Rogers. Thank you.

[00:28:13] She helps so many women out and men with our style and our fashion. And aging backwards. Yes. I'd like to add. She is. You are so right. Thank you ladies. Thank you. It's really been my pleasure. Thank you all for joining us today.

[00:28:26] Thank you for listening to this episode of So Much More. See you next time or hear you next time. Are we listeners? Are we viewers? I don't know what we do here. That's a little bit of both.

[00:28:35] Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of So Much More. If you want to hear more, be sure to subscribe to our podcast wherever you find your favorites, including Spotify, Apple or Google Podcasts. And you can also watch a videocast on YouTube.

[00:28:49] Go to podcast.mallofamerica.com to leave a review, ask a question or give us an idea for the show. Until next time, thanks for listening. So Much More is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau, the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota.

[00:29:07] Before your next trip to Mall of America, visit bloomingtonmn.org for answers to all your travel questions, deals and packages for hotel stays and so much more.