I’m excited to be Toni B’s Special Guest on her upcoming show this Wednesday, December 11, on UG-ONE! I can’t wait to share stories from my incredible experience working with Luther Vandross.
I started working with Luther in 1993 on the Never Let Me Go project in the wardrobe department and eventually became his assistant until he sadly passed away in 2005.
In the Luther: Never Too Much documentary, I discuss my traumatic moment of finding Luther after he had a devastating stroke due to complications from mismanaged type 2 diabetes. It was a wake-up call for me that inspired the creation of Divabetic, a national nonprofit aimed at diabetes outreach.
I truly believe in empowering Luther’s fans and their families to keep their homes healthy and happy by learning to prevent complications like strokes, kidney disease, blindness, and more.
At Diabetic (Divabetic.org), we take a unique approach to traditional diabetes education, offering fun, upbeat, engaging makeovers, music, and games. I’m thrilled that our resources—like podcasts, videos, and online support—are free!
I’ve also enjoyed collaborating with my talented musical family from Luther’s world. With Ivan Hampden Jr. and Paulette McWilliams, I’ve written songs like Mama’s Kitchen Table and Pink Champagne.
I’ve worked with incredible artists like Cindy Mizelle and Brenda White-King on That Man Of Mine and Pat Lacy with Lisa Fischer on I Wish At Christmas I Could Bring You Home.
A couple of my singles, Mama’s Kitchen Table and Standards by Crystal Penny, even charted on the UK Soul and BCFM Soul Charts! That Man of Mine was a big hit on the Billboard Dance Charts in the 90s and was especially popular in Provincetown.
I can’t wait to share more on the show! I hope you all tune in!
Enjoy another flashback from the Divabetic Vault. We spotlight three fantastic divas: Mother Love, Jessica Issler RD, CDCES, and Catherine Schuller.
Here’s the backstory on how I met these fabulous divas photographed and how they helped me pioneer diabetes outreach for women.
I met comedian and talk show host Mother Love, who is living with type 2 diabetes, while volunteering backstage on the National TV show dLife. Mother Love was one of the four hosts on the program. She was under contract with Novo Nordisk when Divabetic partnered with Novo to sponsor Divabetic’s national outreach program, “Divabetic- Makeover Your Diabetes.” Every show needs a diva, so I chose Mother Love over the other celebrities under contract when Novo Nordisk asked me if we wanted a celebrity to join us at our outreach events in Philadelphia, PA, New York, NY, and Cleveland, OH. She even appeared in one of our Serve, Taste, or Trash! Videos at the American Diabetes Association’s Expo in New York, NY.
I’m so glad I did!! She was terrific on and off stage. She lights up the room. She would join me on stage to host our Glam More, Fear Less fashion shows and host one of the six education stations, The Tunnel Of Love, in the Makeover Maze. The Tunnel Of Love offered advice on love, intimacy, and sexual health issues related to diabetes.
I hosted pre and post-outreach program meetings and dinners in every city for my national team members and their families. Mother Love and her husband would join us for both meetings (which wasn’t in her contract.) She was hysterically funny and always, always made everyone feel loved. At our post-event dinners, I made it a tradition to toast everyone at the table and express my gratitude. After Luther’s stroke, I didn’t want to take a moment for granted. I also wanted people to know how much I enjoyed presenting this program. I consider Divabetic’s Makeover Your Diabetes national tour my biggest accomplishment. And I didn’t do it alone – I had a dazzling team of incredible people who partnered with me.
My parents and I met certified diabetes care and education specialist Jessica Issler CDCES (second from left) backstage at dLife, too. We met everyone in the diabetes community, including Jessica, while volunteering as audience coordinators at show tapings. Jessica attended a taping with two other young female diabetes educators, whom I nicknamed “Charlie’s Angels of Diabetes.” After the taping, we exchanged contact information after realizing a shared passion for helping empower and educate at-risk people affected by and living with diabetes in fun ways. I invited her to one of our monthly Divabetic Club support meetings at the local YMCA. Shortly after, she began volunteering as a facilitator at several meetings.
Jessica also volunteered as our sole diabetes educator at our first makeover program, Lipstick & Laughter, at MESS Makeup Studios in New York City. She met with women after they received free makeup applications to discuss issues concerning their diabetes.
When Novo Nordisk requested that I create a core National Makeover team consisting of diabetes care and education specialists, stylists, fitness experts, and makeup artists, she was the second name on my list. Between stops on our makeover tour, Jessica and I created several new, original outreach programs targeting children and their families affected by diabetes with Mount Sinai’s Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Department. All of our programs, like our Makeover program, featured progressive education. Participants would travel from one education station to the next, getting the information they needed to problem-solve issues related to self-care and diabetes wellness. I am opposed to lecture-style outreach.
Our first program, Walk To The Penguins, featured an obstacle course through Central Park that ended at the Zoo’s Penguins exhibit.
Our second program, the Broomstick Bash was a healthy Halloween party featuring several education stations, Ghost & Boast (goal setting for the holidays, Monster Moves (fitness), Freaky Foods (nutrition), and a broomstick decorating area. The program was first held in the Department offices and moved to Mount Sinai’s main lobby in the following years. The third annual Broomstick Bash was our largest outreach event, with over a thousand attendees.
Jessica replaced Joy Pape, we met at dLife too, as the lead educator for Divabetic’s Makeover Your Diabetes program from 2007-2009. She also worked with me on another health and wellness program called Energy Up!, targeting at-risk young women. Then, Jessica consulted and created recipes for Energy Up! founder Katie Dolgin aka High Voltage’s bestselling book, The Sugar Savvy Solution.
I’m wearing an Energy Up! t-shirt instead of a Divabetic t-shirt in this photo because I was moonlighting for my friend High Voltage’s Energy Up! wellness program. Early in Divabetic’s history, I chose to focus solely on adult women, not children. Since there wasn’t any diabetes outreach exclusively for women yet, I didn’t want to dilute our message by trying to all things to all people. But I still wanted to help younger people living with, at risk, and affected by diabetes, so I channeled my creativity into helping High Voltage with her programming rather than muddy the waters with Divabetic. I had a great time presenting and producing programming for both organizations.
Funny side note: I wanted to be booked as a guest when I heard about the national TV show dLife starting. Sadly, the producers disagreed. However, I still volunteer backstage during show tapings as a production assistant. One day, the producers took pity on me and let me host a table selling Divabetic merchandise in the cellar where the audience waited before the tapings. It turned out to be a life-changing moment because the Who’s Who of the New York City Diabetes Community (at the time) attended these show tapings. I met people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, their family members, authors, fitness instructors, hospital administrators, nurses, doctors, politicians, diabetes educators, and celebrities (like Mother Love). So I was rubbing elbows with the Who’s Who, hosting a Divabetic merchandise table in the cellar.
After a taping, I invited my parents to fly to NYC from Columbia to help me backstage on the show. We would put on Divabetic and Dude-A-Betic t-shirts and head to the studio. We sold merchandise as well as offered free healthy snacks. Yes, I coerced my Mom into making snacks in my tiny one-bedroom apartment before shows for audience members!! One day, the tapings upstairs in the studio were delayed, so the head of the production asked me if I could entertain the audience while they waited. Let’s say a star was born when I got handed the boombox with the microphone!!! I held runway contests between audience members, played games like charades, and made everyone dance to Luther Vandross‘s music. Sometimes we would have so much fun in the cellar that no one would want to go upstairs for the tapings. People noticed us. I don’t think they had a choice.
The woman in the picture on the far right is Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller. I didn’t meet Catherine at dLife. I met Catherine when we sat next to each other as judges for a Plus Size Beauty contest. We fell into a quick and easy friendship. She is amazing! She inspires me every day. She inspires me to create, challenge myself, and live my best life. Over the past twenty years, she has given her time, talent, support, and enthusiasm to Divabetic.
The morning of our last Makeover program, Catherine suffered a stroke. We hosted the program at Riverside Church, the location of Luther’s memorial. Catherine was rushed to the same hospital, Presbyterian Hospital, where Luther Vandross recovered from his stroke related to mismanaged type 2 diabetes. She also received treatment from the same team of physical therapists who helped Luther during her recovery. Catherine also put our Glam More, Fear Less philosophy to work at rehab. She did her hair and makeup and wore a glitzy sweatsuit before going to rehab sessions. She felt the attendants treated her differently because she made an effort.
Looking back, I feel grateful and fortunate to partner with so many women on Divabetic. Thank you for letting me share my memories from our 20-year history. It’s been a fantastic journey for me.
Hearing you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes can be difficult. And painful. Still, February’s Divabetic podcast guest, Fran Carpentier, describes her experience like a scene from a Fellini movie.
The Brooklyn-born media maven was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age fourteen. Fran remembers the weeks before her diagnosis, “having rapid weight loss, unquenchable thirst, and exhaustion. it was bad.”Although her type 1 diabetes diagnosis was life-changing, Fran admits that her Italian mother, Stella, provided some much-needed yet unintended comic relief in the doctor’s office. “Naturally, I was scared and very nervous,” Fran recalls. “However, when the doctor uttered the diagnosis—’Frances has diabetes‘— my mother fainted and collapsed onto the floor. Her sister, my Aunt Elizabeth, and I had to pick her up. We kept fanning my mom while Dr. Handelsman—a renowned diabetologist of the time—attempted to reassure her about my diagnosis. First, he tried to calm down my mother by telling her that I was fortunate to be diagnosed when I was and not forty years earlier. He went on to explain that the reason I was ‘lucky’ was because today we had insulin; a few decades earlier, I’d be dead. When my mother heard the word ‘dead,’ she collapsed and fainted again.”
The doctor pulled Fran aside and said, “I usually put a newly diagnosed child with juvenile diabetes [which is what type 1 was called in those days] in the hospital for a week.” Back in 1969, which is when Fran was diagnosed, hospitalization for diabetes was pretty typical. Dr. Handelsman continued, “But I can tell that, if I put you in the hospital, I would need at least two beds—one for you, and one for your mother.”
The good doctor added, “So, instead of sending you to the hospital, my nurse will teach you how to give yourself insulin injections, thenI’m going to send you home. Come back tomorrow and we’ll teach you more about how your daily life will be from now on.”
The Carpentier family’s theatrics continued after they got home from the doctor’s office. “That same evening, my mother’s ten sisters came over to our house to ‘mourn’ me,” says Fran. “To this day, I blame their reaction on the ignorance and fear that was associated with diabetes then. Sadly, a lot of ignorance and fear arestill prevalent today.”
If all that extra drama seems almost too much to handle, then you don’t know Fran, who went on to explain, “Later on in bed that first night, I told myself that God must have sent diabetes to me for a reason. Somehow, thatoutlookserved to motivate me in managing my diabetesfor the past fifty years.”
She adds, “I think I had enough of a sense of self to not be ashamed of my condition. I spent a lot of time in the early days allaying my parents’ fears.”
For the past fifty years, Fran Carpentier has been an outspoken diabetes advocate, a passionate fundraiser, and a Divabetic inspiration in her personal and professional life.
For close to three decades, Fran worked as the Senior Editor at Parade, the national Sunday newspapermagazine that, during her tenure, reached more than 70 million readers every week. Fran had the opportunity to meet celebrities, best-selling authors, thought leaders, leading doctors, and top scientists in diabetes. “As a journalist, I had direct access that got me in front of as many diabetes experts as possible. Then, every November, I would oversee an article on diabetes in the Sunday issue. Our goal was to share with our millions of readers what was new in diabetes and where everyone—including people living with diabetes, their families, their friends, their co-workers—could find hope.”
In 2006, I met Fran Carpentier for the first time when she attended Divabetic Makeover Your Diabetes national outreach program at Gotham Hall in New York City. At the time, she was still working for Parade. She remembers attending our ‘Glam More, Fear Less’style event offering one-on-one diabetes education with free makeover services as “the fun and fabulous.” In addition, she says, “The men and women at the Divabetic program had really great energy.”
Hear more of Fran’s funny and fascinating memories of living with type 1 diabetes on Divabetic’s February podcast.
Since 2005, Divabetic (Divabetic.Org) has pioneered efforts in outreach to take diabetes education out of the clinical setting and present it in a more appealing and easier to understand ways. Our first national outreach program, Divabetic – Makeover Your Diabetes, presented personalized diabetes education (loosely based on AADE’s 7 Self-Care Behaviors) with free makeover services (makeup application, safe manicures, and mini massages) in eight major US cities.
Two years ago, we presented diabetes and heart health education in New York City’s #1 Escape Room experience called Clued Inn on National Diabetes Alert Day.
Nationally Recognized Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator and Best-Selling Author Jill Weisenberger MS, RDN, CDE, FAND, CHWC joined us for Divabetic’s recent free virtual Cooking Party on Zoom.
Enjoy some GLAM MORE, FEAR LESS highlights from Divabetic’s recent virtual outreach event featuring Harlem’s Heaven Hats‘ Hats & Masks Fashion Show and Poetry by Diabetes Late Nite podcast contributor Lorraine Brooks.
The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic talks with Rachel Zinman about how yoga and meditation practices can help you to manage the mental health aspects of living with diabetes.
Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast guests include Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Pendulum Therapeutics CEO and Co-Founder Colleen Cutcliffe, Ph. D., (the maker of Pendulum Glucose Control), Virginia Valentine, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE, Dr. Darren Wayne from MealBetix and Yoga For Diabetes Author Rachel Zinman.
Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from Aaliyah’s Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number album courtesy of SONY Music.
Happy birthday to a very special woman at Divabetic, Mama Rose Marie!
Mama Rose Marie has helped to shape our organization and outreach efforts since 2003. She generously shares her decorating talents, upbeat personality and motherly love with all the divas at risk, affected by and living with diabetes at numerous Divabetic outreach events including ‘Divabetic – Makevoer Your Diabetes’.
Divabetic’s Mother Your Diabetes video series presents diabetes wellness advice with a spoonful of motherly love.
Mama Rose Marie stars in Divabetic’s latest mystery radio podcast, ‘Kill Me Madam’.
There’s a good indication that murder might be part of the recipe when Nantucket’s ten time reigning Baking Champion’s last name is ‘Coffin’. But resentment, greed and Britannia’s own bad dealings turn everyone into a suspect when she’s found dead in the parking lot just before the Annual Decadents on Deck! Bake Off competition is about to kick off.
Delusional baker and amateur sleuth Mr. Divabetic is even shocked to find himself being treated as a suspect in the case by the local police, after meeting her just once!
As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before, escaping a murderous mishap in New York and attempting a fresh start in Nantucket has turned into a complete and utter baking disaster, now Max, along with his friends and nosy mother, have to add tracking down a murderer to his To-Do list, as well.
Can our team hunt down the real murderer before they strike again? Will he become the next victim? Can Max ever manage to bake a cake that’s actually edible?
Divabetic’s Mystery podcast cast includes USA Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, MaryAnn Horst-Nicolay MEd, NDRT, Lorraine Brooks, Catherine Schuller, Wendy Radford, Coach The Cure‘s Trisha Artman, Mama Rose Marie, Seveda Williams, and Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek. Produced by Leisa Chester-Weir.
Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from the Broadway Cast Album of ‘Call Me Madam’ courtesy of SONY Music.
Divabetic’s Mother Your Diabetes video series presents diabetes wellness advice with a spoonful of motherly love.
