Meet Max Szadek | Divabetic Executive Director And Podcast Host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Max Szadek and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Max, how do you think about risk?
I have taken many risks in my career, starting with my initial foray into regional theater. I moved from Santa Cruz, CA, to San Francisco, CA, to pursue theater with a tiny theater credit and volunteer stint at Shakespeare Santa Cruz to my name. Somehow I managed to get a gig running lights at Theater Rhinocerous even though I didn’t have any prior experience. Thankfully the lighting designer took pity on me and showed me how to run the lightning board so that I didn’t lose my job! Then, I didn’t hesitate to put in a leave of absence from my job in a regional theater to be a last-minute replacement in the wardrobe department for the Luther Vandross ‘Never Let Me Go’ tour in 1993. And I didn’t think twice when Luther offered me the opportunity to relocate from San Francisco to New York City to become his assistant. After his passing in 2005, I left the entertainment industry to pursue work in diabetes advocacy. I didn’t let the fact that I didn’t have a degree or any prior experience in health outreach stop me either.

If you’ve taken risks and everything has worked out, I feel you are more likely to take another risk.

However, the older I get, the more unlikely I am that I’m not as quick to drop everything and jump at a new opportunity. However, if my passion is there to pursue something, then I will take the risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I consider my ‘art’ to be writing, acting, and producing an annual mystery podcast. Divabetic’s mystery podcast aims to empower listeners to act like detectives about managing their diabetes when dealing with unexpected high and low glucose levels. Acting like a detective means to advocate for your health, investigate what happened, and report your findings to the proper authorities (healthcare providers).

It’s a unique approach to educating people about diabetes self-care in an entertaining way. Our cast includes a Best-Selling Cozy Mystery Author, Tonya Kappes, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (​CDCES), trained actors, and diabetes advocates.

Our mystery podcast gives me this incredible opportunity to become a ‘writer,’ a ‘director,’ and an ‘actor’ for one day with the people I love. The whole experience makes me feel alive! I love the challenge of trying to educate, empower and entertain our listeners. Divabetic’s popular monthly podcast, Diabetes Late Nite, is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice mixed with music from popular music artists. Our goal is to encourage listeners to “laugh a little, learn a lot.”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in New York City. I would kick off a day in the city with a visit to the City of New York Museum. There’s a fantastic ten-minute film about the history of New York that will utterly delight you! Then, we would rent Citibikes and head into Central Park. In Spring or Fall, I would love to take you on a birding adventure in the Central Park Rambles. During the migration, there are over 250 different North American bird species flying through the park. We could share binoculars to spy on some of the world’s most colorful birds. For lunch, we would head to La Mella in Little Italy and enjoy a family-style lunch starting with antipasto, pasta of your choice, main entrees, and a slice of New York-style cheesecake. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we’d head uptown to Lincoln Center to enjoy Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Carlo Rizzi take the podium to conduct Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling Met Opera production of Puccini’s final masterpiece, Turnadot. Sitting in the cushy red velvet seats, in the Grand Tier, listening to ‘Nessun Dorma is probably an unforgettable experience. Finally, we’d end the day with cocktails on the rooftop bar at the nearby Empire Hotel.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Divabetic (Divabetic.Org) is a national 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization and industry leader, specializing in non-traditional and non-clinical diabetes education. Divabetic promotes “wellness with a wow” to change attitudes and to encourage prevention, early action, and education to manage diabetes and diabetes-related complications.

Divabetic reaches hundreds of thousands of women, men, and their families throughout the United States and online with an engaging, entertaining, and inspirational approach to diabetes management and self-care. Our network includes nationally recognized certified diabetes educators, beauty/fashion experts, motivators, and diabetes community peers who contribute their expertise and personal experiences to make over diabetes education and support, and to promote health and wellness in a glam new way.

At Divabetic, we want to empower you to stay healthy and positive about diabetes self-care management AND to do it in a bold and sassy way. There’s no need to go it alone – we’re here to help with plenty of tools to help you build an entourage of family, friends and health care professionals. Start or continue your journey right here, right now, for a refreshing approach to diabetes and wellness. As we say don’t get down, get diva!

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