Welcome to this episode of the Crazy Wealthy Podcast! Today we feature Vicki Schneps, a media entrepreneur and founder of Schneps Media and Life’s Work. Listen as we learn how Vicki turned her passion for education into a thriving media empire and nonprofit that empowers local leaders and supports community journalism. By the end of the episode, you’ll understand how vision, persistence, and strategic partnerships can help create both business and community impact.

What You’ll Learn:

How Vicki transitioned from teaching to media leadership

Strategies for growing a media company across multiple platforms and events

Turning personal and professional adversity into long-term legacy

Want to make smarter financial decisions grounded in clarity and confidence? Subscribe and share the Crazy Wealthy Podcast. To learn more about Fusion Family Wealth’s evidence-based investment strategies, visit www.fusionfamilywealth.com and request our current disclosure brochure.

Key Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction and podcast disclaimer

01:00 — Vicki Schneps’ journey from teacher to media mogul

05:00 — Founding Life’s Work and early nonprofit efforts

11:30 — Growing Schneps Media across platforms

17:00 — Power Women and Kings events

22:00 — Digital integration and networking

27:00 — Turning adversity into legacy

33:00 — Identifying talent and scaling business

35:00 — Life’s Work expansion and call for board members

36:02 — Jon and Amy recap the episode

Key Takeaways:

Vision and persistence are essential for creating both business and community impact

Strategic partnerships and talent identification are key to scaling a media enterprise

Personal adversity can be leveraged to build long-term legacy and empower others

Guest Info:

Vicki Schneps is the founder and CEO of Schneps Media and the nonprofit Life’s Work, dedicated to supporting community journalism and empowering local leaders. She is also known for creating influential events such as Power Women and Kings that foster networking and professional development. 

Schneps Media – schnepsmedia.com

Life’s WORC – life’s WORC info via CaringKind (profile) CaringKind

Vicki Schneps on Muck Rack (articles) – Muck Rack profile

About the Host

Jonathan Blau is the President and CEO of Fusion Family Wealth, a fiduciary wealth management firm he founded in 2013 to help families achieve clarity, confidence, and purpose with their money. With a deep focus on behavioral finance, Jonathan teaches investors how to recognize emotional biases and make evidence-based decisions that support long-term success. A sought-after speaker in wealth management, Jonathan previously held senior roles in tax and estate planning at Arthur Andersen. He holds a BS in Finance, an MS in Taxation, and an MBA in Accounting. Based on Long Island, Jonathan is active in the local business community, supports organizations such as the Middle Market Alliance and Sunrise Day Camp, and enjoys boating with his family.

LinkedIn – Jonathan Blau

Fusion Family Wealth Website

Crazy Wealthy Podcast

A copy of Fusion's current written disclosure brochure discussing our advisory [00:00:15] services and fees is available upon request or at www.fusionfamilywealth.com.

And more to share fresh perspectives on making sound decisions that maximize your wealth. And now here's your host.[00:01:00]

So I'm calling her that. So, um, [00:01:30] so in any event, Vicki, welcome and thank you so much for, uh, for joining us today on The Crazy Wealthy Podcast.

Vicki Schneps: Well, we're gonna have some fun. Jonathan, uh, wonderful to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Some people suggested, oh, you know, yeah, I think her [00:02:00] husband founded the business, and so on and so forth. You know, there's all these things that, that nobody even knows what they're talking about, but just that's cultural. Right? People, you know, it's biases, right? And so the biases lead what, what our beliefs are, even if they're false.

Vicki Schneps: Well, that was a [00:02:45] journey and I guess life is a great adventure. I've learned that, and I think anyone doesn't realize that, uh. What do they say? That, uh, man plans and God. And God

Jonathan Blau: laughs. God laughs, laughs, laughs. That's

Boff, I fell in love with her and I always wanted to be just like her. So I got my master's degree in teaching and, um, my firstborn daughter, Lara, who, um, came [00:03:15] to me five years after I was married, so she was a great joy to be arriving. Um. I had a very difficult, uh, delivery and within um, hours of her cesarean birth, she turned blue in the nursery [00:03:30] and they didn't catch it fast enough.

One of the pediatric neurologists said to me, you've gotta come to the realization. [00:04:00] She'll always be a three month old. And being an optimist by nature, I said, well, we've gotta find help. So we found a place, um, that, uh, is on Staten Island. It was called the Willowbrook State School, but they had just [00:04:15] built an infant rehabilitation center and I lived in Bayside.

In 1971, which is so far, which is

Vicki Schneps: Uh, and today is called Life's Work. Yeah. Uh, the name evolved, but the lovely ladies and I, of course, I visited my daughter every week and they, you know, volunteered and raised money for Willowbrook. But within a year of Lara being [00:05:00] at Willowbrook.

Uh, were, you know, many of them, uh, having different kinds of, uh, special needs, uh, were all affected. [00:05:30] My lovely ladies and I became marchers and picketers, and we marched and picketed, but my husband was a lawyer and he said, this place will never be any good. We've gotta close it down and have a class [00:05:45] action lawsuit filed.

Knock him into the backwards. And to this day, I can remember Geraldo's words.

Vicki Schneps: That was what it was all about. And my husband was right, and we did file a federal class action lawsuit, and we won the lawsuit.

But the neighbors didn't want us and they sued us. And I had death threats. I had to take my schnee's license plates off the car. Nimby not in my block,

Vicki Schneps: And so, um, we went, won that lawsuit and I'm happy to tell you that when I brought the people who fought us, who, who filed the lawsuit to the house the day we opened.[00:07:30]

And so the first group home, we had to name it in the honor of Herda Rivera. And to this day, it's the Herda Rivera Group home. It's our first, it's our gem, it's our [00:08:00] jewel in our ground. And in fact, one of the neighbor's children used to volunteer in the house. It became a social worker herself. So, you know, it evolved.

Right

Jonathan Blau: now you told me that. So

Jonathan Blau: Propelled, uh, schnapps Media because he was the catalyst. Well, I mean, I said one day I'd like to be in the

Jonathan Blau: in your living room, right?

In Bayside.

[00:09:45] So three children later. Now's my time. I met this man who'd take a buyout from the Daily News. He started a paper in Astoria and I said, you know, I think we could start an neighborhood newspaper right here in Bayside. And so we started in my [00:10:00] living room with one newspaper. We wrote every story, we took every picture, and we even went to with the boards in those days, you put your strips of new strips on a board and you bring the board to the printer, and I still picture the day at.

Jonathan Blau: Right. So, so, and, and we both, our origins, uh, it's funny how life [00:10:30] goes full circle. I, I was, uh, born in and raised in Bayside and, and you're from Bayside.

And, and we have some mutual connections we've discovered over the years. Um, yes. But, and, and the, the paper originally was called the Queen's Courier, right?

Jonathan Blau: A big 40 is

Vicki Schneps: strong. We're celebrating.

Jonathan Blau: And the Bayside Times is, was the big publication.

Vicki Schneps: Well, we were, they were my competitor.

Jonathan Blau: Yep.

I even had a start, a Spanish language newspaper, uh, from scratch. And when my son joined me after I owned 12 newspapers, he was an investment banker. Josh said to me one night, you know, mom, if I'm gonna work 24 [00:11:15] 7, can I come work for you?

Jonathan Blau: That's great. I never would ask my

Vicki Schneps: children, you know, I had three more children and I would never ask them to get in the business because, you know, it, it's a, a passion play.

Jonathan Blau: Hundred percent I never

Jonathan Blau: and you, and you're living your passion, your work. Let's talk about, um, you know, in, in the, in the last decade or so, you've made quite a number of acquisitions.[00:11:45]

Vicki Schneps: Well, you know, we had 12, I had 12 media [00:12:15] outlets and we got a call from a, um, broker that there was a paper available in Brooklyn. And, um, my son brought that idea to me and I said, what do we need it for? You know, we're doing freight here in Queens. I said, what neighborhood is it? So he said, bay Ridge. I said, oh, [00:12:30] bay Ridge.

And so we went to visit it and um, we saw that, um, the neighborhood, uh, was just around nine 11. I had said to the [00:13:00] publisher, you must have gone to a lot of funerals of people, firefighters, and policemen. He says, oh, no, no. He says, this is Cantor Fitzgerald neighborhood. We had terrible problem because all the people who were lives were destroyed by nine 11, [00:13:15] and so I turned to my son when he left.

And so [00:13:45] we began acquisitions and, and that worked out. So we saw another acquisition.

And you said they really seeking you out because of the care and, and, and, and the whole, um, connection between the events and, and the papers and how it all [00:14:15] kind of works together to, to nurture what they created and, and, and they felt. Comfortable that you would, you would be able to continue their legacy, not, not destroy it.

When they are not going to continue, they want someone who will continue with the quality that they believe they need to have for their neighborhood. And we were chosen the number one newspaper media company in [00:15:00] New York state by our peers. We're very proud of that acknowledgement. And we were chosen one of the, the top 10 newspapers in New York, United States of America.

I've owned dance for 10 [00:15:30] years. I've got, I've gotta exit, I've gotta keep my marriage, and I've gotta, you know, would you and Josh consider buying dance papers? And that was just at the end. Of COVID. It was five years ago in 20, I guess [00:15:45] 20 20, 20 21. So, you know, that was, um, something that I knew because, um, Josh's Vaughn, my first husband, Murray, was an attorney in Riverhead in the seventies and eighties and nineties.

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. And

Jonathan Blau: Right. You, someone didn't teach you that. You had an eye and an instinct that told you that you couldn't prove it. Right. Right. No, but, but you, you, you, your instinct is in this regard is, [00:16:30] is, is, um, is something I think that's, uh, that's played an important role in, in the success. You, you have.

Jonathan Blau: Well, I, I have to say, um, you're.

And, uh, [00:17:15] and so why don't you talk about that and, and the origin of power women, how that came about.

And she said, well, how much money do you need, Vicki? I said, well, I probably printing will be about $1,500. And she worked for bank and she said, well, okay, just send me a bill. That's how business used to be [00:17:45] done. Now you gotta put it through a whole proposal and do this and that.

Jonathan Blau: The good old days. So, you

And we've grown. Last night we had, uh, the Power Women of Long Island and we honored 52 Women.

Kings. Kings, yep. They called them

Vicki Schneps: the Kings. The Kings of Queens was my first men's event.

Vicki Schneps: that was really a, a rip, people got a crown on the head and they got a robe and they got a scepter. Uh, but Michael, although you told me he

Jonathan Blau: wouldn't let you put the crown on his head for, for obvious reasons,

Vicki Schneps: right?

And from there then we, because of my Spanish paper, we had Hispanic awards, then we had healthcare awards. Then when we acquired papers in Brooklyn, we started [00:19:15] Brooklyn Awards, and now we call it the Brooklyn Power List. For the men and women and we still have the power women events in every region where we have a media outlet.

So we've been very innovative in having many platforms. I do my own podcasts. I do uh, we do webinars, we do streaming TV commercials and TV [00:20:00] shows. So, you know, we've learned that you cannot operate a business on just one platform.

Jonathan Blau: And it shows, and that's, you know, when you

Vicki Schneps: do investments, you do multiple, you don't invest everybody's money in one product.

Jonathan Blau: Right. Well, it's, it's true. And you know, even, even in terms of educating people about how we can help them. We don't have one platform, right? So, so me meeting with someone, explaining it as one platform, me [00:20:30] creating, uh, newsletters, right?

So at the end of the day, uh, when, when people take vitamin C. Vitamin C, if you don't take it the next day, it does you no good. It's soluble, disappears. And it's the same thing when [00:21:00] somebody's reflect, reflecting on the tariffs and G I'm gonna change my portfolio. And then I talk to them and, and talk sense into them and get their temperament steely so that they don't react to the fear.

So I came up with [00:21:30] a podcast that's like my intravenous vitamin C, right? For those who don't like to read. But it's the same concept, right? You have to figure out that everybody doesn't receive information the same way. Doesn't respond to things the same way. And that's what really you're talking about with the digital.

It, it's a whole ecosystem is the way I describe it. One feeds off the other.

So that really propelled us to have the papers, uh, be a springboard to our events. So when we bought Dan's papers, we do Dan's Power Women, [00:22:45] and we do Dan's Power List and we do Dan's food events and Dance's, taste of the Hamptons. And we evolved from that. And now we are doing something new, which is called Schnapps Connects.

Jonathan Blau: right?

And how he's using it. So, you know, we're always evolving and things kind of, um, [00:23:30] uh, fit. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Well, you know what, you have to, the other,

And now you came up with this idea, with these events and let all of these thousands of people who were at one point or other recipients of, of one of the sch NFS Media Awards, uh, to, to connect with each other. Right. Why, why lose the connection. They all [00:24:00] have that in common, right? That, that, that, that SNES media recognition.

And so now you, I

And we do a video to let people in the audience know who they are and promote the nonprofit world. So that's a big piece of my business and my nonprofit world coming together.

Vicki Schneps: Many times, um, it'll be groups we know. In some cases it'll be things that, uh, come to our attention. Uh, we have a committee of [00:25:00] our events division where people will pitch different organizations to be honored and to be, uh, be the recipient of the donations. And they all tend to be within that neighborhood of where the event is.

Jonathan Blau: Well, I'm gonna encourage you, uh, to consider at some point because it's, it's, it, it's home for both of us. Uh, the, the organization that I'm involved with, the Sunrise Day camps, it's, [00:25:45] it's underprivileged children with cancer. Their siblings get to go to, to, to camp for the, for the summer. Um, and that's a bad,

Vicki Schneps: so they go with the, the siblings and the Yeah.

So the child who has the cancer.

He also recognized these are underprivileged families, so the parents, um, needed to take care of the other siblings. We didn't have cancer, but they couldn't afford to not go to work and so forth. So by sending the siblings along with the, he helps the whole family. [00:26:30] Right. And it's such a beautiful, so I'll educate you and it's local, so it's a beautiful organization.

That, that she really was responsible for and something. Great came out of it for a lot of [00:27:00] families and people who are unfortunately similarly situated. But also, you know, one of the things I talked to you about on the phone is I'm always a big believer. I, my father was paralyzed when I was 11. He had rheumatic fever, which caused a clot and had a stroke.

So out of something bad did come something good. I help a lot of people today. I am proud of what we do, uh, for our clients. I, and, and I I find the same is true of you. You know, you, you, [00:27:45] you had adversity and it didn't only, um, catalyze the idea to start, uh, to go into media and take advantage of that voice for others, uh, benefit, right?

You know, you, you, you were a school teacher. You never had any formal training in media. You have any formal training in business. So it can't all be luck and we all have some luck in life, right? Luck is just outside factors that influence the outcomes that we have no control of. But that's not all of it.

Vicki Schneps: Well, I think, you know, when Lara was born, you can't see into the future. You can only live in the moment. And she propelled me into another life and she propelled me to use skills I realized I [00:28:45] didn't know I had. And being able to, um, really engage people to help me and help Lara and all the other Lara of the world, uh, was something that just by doing, I [00:29:00] learned.

I said, for the best. Mara taught me more than any other person on earth. She brought me to where I am today. [00:29:30] She enabled me to help her and to help so many more people. And sometimes we don't understand that somebody who's different is very special. You know, they, I call people with special needs and these people who have the special needs give us [00:29:45] something very special.

You know, Lara was my heart, my soul, my pain. But that's life. That's, that's life, right? What life is all about. And she opened the door. Look, my father

So I get it, you know, and, and you know, uh, you learn experientially, right? I mean, that's the best way to learn. That's how [00:30:15] you've learned. Um, and, and you make mistakes. But one of the things they always say is experiences among the cruelest teachers, because it gives us the test first and only later, gives us the lesson.

Vicki Schneps: Well, I, I believe also that I've been blessed to have great people around me, and I think that that helps make who I am. I may be the leader, the motivator, but you've gotta have great people around you to [00:30:45] innovate. And I was blessed that my son is as hardworking as I am.

Nothing beats hard work, but I'm in a position where I never know, Jonathan, am I working or is this play? I don't know. To me it's like, it's a changeable, I

And you say to me, you know, that's, that's, that's interesting. That makes a lot of sense. That's my passion. You know, it's not, it wasn't hard work. That's not hard work for me when I do [00:31:15] my podcast. Not this kind like an interview. This is wonderful. But my short versions where I teach people about a faulty reasoning process we have when money and uncertainty collide and how to overcome it once you identify, that's not what I'm with.

Vicki Schneps: think that's the key to success. I think a key to success. Is doing what you love and love what you're doing.

Vicki Schneps: Well, some people evolve at different times of their lives.

Jonathan Blau: No, think she's doing well on her own schedule. She's doing well.

To become part of your company,

Jonathan Blau: right? Yeah, to become

We fired everyone because we realized why they were losing money, but we acquired their competitor. There. There were stars after Stars after stars, so we [00:32:45] combined the two and it worked out great, but you have to identify where the stars are and nurture them and encourage them because we can't be in this world alone.

It's always available. You see it in the supermarkets, you see it everywhere. So those who haven't for some reason just understand it's [00:33:30] available. As Vicki said, it's not, uh, it's not something that's charged for, it's supported by advertising, but with that one.

Vicki Schneps: We do have one group that is, uh, subscription based.

Jonathan Blau: okay.

Vicki Schneps: Roslyn Glen Cove, oyster Bay, Sid Plainview, uh, I feel like I'm on the Long Island

Jonathan Blau: Railroad. Right. I'm the southern part. Mineola.

But I think, um, one of the things I'm looking for is the life's work. We are expanding our board of people who are influencers and looking for [00:34:15] people who are the CEOs or the CFOs or the COOs of their company to lend their expertise. Because life's work is a $70 million agency that needs very savvy business people.

Jonathan Blau: I know in, in a particular networking group that where the CEOs. Um, so I will, I'll share that. And, um, anything else you wanna wanna emphasize before we sign off?

We always encourage local businesses to work with us because we reach their potential clients with a quality media on multiple [00:35:00] platforms of print, digital events, and broadcasting.

Jonathan Blau: All right? And I, I can kind of, um, confirm that because, uh, you're my customer and I'm your customer. So we love it. We love it, we support it.

And, um, take a look at, uh, schnapps Media website and, and there's a video at the end of the website where Vicki's, um, talking about the Lara Experience and Geraldo Rivera on it. I [00:35:45] recommend everybody, uh, take a few minutes and watch it. It's, uh. I enjoyed it myself very much.

Vicki Schneps: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Have a great week.

Jonathan Blau: Thanks Vicki. Okay.

Jonathan Blau: Stay tuned to hear. Amy's calling for the recap of today's episode.

So generous with, um, rewarding me with the Power Women Award one, one, um, year, and she's also been very generous with you and she's a good friend to both of us. [00:36:30] So I wanted to hear if you heard anything new from her that we don't know from her personally.

Jonathan Blau: Uh, yeah, no, I learned, I learned a lot new, I always liked Vicki, but now I love Vicki.

Amy Blau: Well, tell me what you learned new. I know, I know she had a special needs child and you know, that's what caused, caused her to become an advocate for other special needs children. But what led her into Schnapps Media

They didn't realize there was an issue, and a few months later, her eyes were twitching and the pediatrician discovered that essentially she's told Vicki she's always gonna be a three month old. And it [00:37:30] was heartbreaking. So they needed, Vicki didn't want to, uh, accept that. So she looked for, uh, solutions.

It was dangerous for her to be there. So [00:38:00] Vicki, uh, was married to a lawyer. The lawyer said, been short, Vicki, they gotta shut this place down. There's no other solution. So. What was interesting is Vicki said they snuck into the, uh, to, to the Willowbrook State School, who was then a cub [00:38:15] reporter, Geraldo Rivera.

Amy Blau: Wow. Oh, I know him.

I have no way to describe the smell. And when you listen to the [00:38:45] podcast, I have a snippet from that tape with Geraldo back then. Um, but in any event, so what happened with Vicki, she became an advocate after that, because of Geraldo's work, they were able to win an to, to, uh. C uh, commence and move in a class [00:39:00] action suit, get the place that shut down.

Yep. A women's organization for Retarded Children. And they, they've grown to a $70 million nonprofit with about 50 group [00:39:30] homes serving 2000 people. This all started because, because, uh, because of, uh, Geraldo coming in and her daughter Lara. But what's really fascinating is. It's because of the power of what she saw media could do for [00:39:45] advocacy, for children, for everything, and, and, and that she became, um, passioned with the idea that I need to go into media.

Amy Blau: Wow. That's amazing. I mean, back in the day, you know, she's, I, I don't know if you told anyone her age or. She's, she's in her eighth decade, let's put it that way.

Jonathan Blau: also say that she's an octogenarian,

Jonathan Blau: Well, she, she learned experientially when I told, I asked her what her secret is.

And she said, it's because we are about, she said, you, YOU. And, and she said they know that we care and that we wouldn't destroy their legacy. We'd [00:41:00] carried it on and perpetuate it. And so all of these people, she said, seek her out. But what she said is when she buys, like she bought this, uh, failing, um, unit from Newsday, and when she bought it, she recognized why it was failing.

So when she buys a company, she's not just buying the company, she's buying the people.

And you know, she's taken that paper to a whole other level. [00:42:00]

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, no, she's done that with, with her organization and she really, you know, to his credit she tells me, you know, she didn't want her other three children. Lara passed away at 17, the daughter that, that was in Willowbrook, but her other three children to force them into the business.

So [00:42:30] she really couldn't talk, uh, enough, uh, about how wonderful Josh is and how additive he's been to the company, not because he's her son, but because of his work ethic and his creativity. So that was nice to hear, but I, I'll [00:42:45] say. Um, one of the things that's on her, uh, schnapps Media website is, is a video, uh, at the end of one of the pages about the company.

Your company And, and, and I've met more than one person who said, yeah, I think her husband started it, which couldn't be farther from the truth. And then I went out a week, uh, after, or or two weeks after we recorded the [00:43:30] podcast. And one of the, a, a a, a former partner from one of the big, long, long Island County firms said to me, how's your podcast going?

Amy Blau: such a chauvinistic way of thinking, and what's interesting is that. She is now, it's almost like the opposite now.

She's put it in the hands, second generation of her son. So it's the opposite of what you usually see.

So she said, well, I'm gonna create my own women [00:44:15] awards, my own power women. And she did it. And I think initially there was 10 and it just grew to this, uh, monumental power, women power. Dan's power. There's all kinds of power events. But then, then she said, but I, I wasn't gonna be chauvinistic. I felt that if there were [00:44:30] men who were deserving of awards, they, they should also be, uh, bestowed an award.

And she didn't want him to be embarrassed, obviously wearing a, wearing a crown because he's [00:45:00] coming to mayor. But I then reminded her, we weren't online, my reminder, but. But about two or three years ago, Mike Bloomberg, I guess she was, oh, I

Amy Blau: remember this. Yep. Right.

Jonathan Blau: I remember this. She, she, she said, Jonathan, I think we should sell stocks.

And I said to Vicki, I couldn't ever dream of becoming a fraction as successful as Michael Bloomberg. And, and he probably knows more about disseminating, uh, news information in this. Financial area than anybody else. That's his [00:45:45] business. He's not qualified to give advice to investors on personal wealth.

Period. And so she'd listened and if she hadn't listened, she would've sold stocks that are now up about 50% since then, just a couple years ago. [00:46:15]

Amy Blau: It's amazing. You know, one thing I remember besides her being a bulldog and a great business person, but I remember once, you know, she told me a story that when everything started happening with her daughter.

Jonathan Blau: plates. Yeah. But because, yeah, one of my key clients said, does your wife have a such and such car?

Amy Blau: Yeah. So, so that I, I wish I was, you know, one third as shrewd as she was. But that's definitely something that [00:47:00] connected us.

Bye.

Disclaimer: The previous podcast by Fusion Family Wealth, [00:47:45] LLC Fusion was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the podcast serves as the receipt of or is a substitute for personalized investment advice from Fusion or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy or any non-investment related or planning services, [00:48:00] discussion or content will be profitable.

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