- 1 week ago
Ms. Rachel visits WIRED to answer her most searched questions on Google.
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TechTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Miss Rachel, and this is the Wired Autocomplete interview.
00:07So excited! So what do I do?
00:12Was Miss Rachel a teacher? Yes! I have worked with kids since I was 18 in different settings.
00:19I have known since I was a kid that I wanted to work with kids. I would tell my mom
00:24that I wanted
00:24to help kids when I was a kid, and she'd be like, you're a kid. And I'd be like, yes,
00:27I want to help kids. My teachers used to be like, Rachel loves helping other kids. She befriends
00:34kids that maybe other kids won't play with. And I used to look out the window on car drives because
00:39we didn't have any stimulation back then, and we had to just think about things that I would imagine
00:45myself helping kids, which is really sweet that I feel like it's a calling. When I was at NYU and
00:50I
00:50was getting a master's in music, we all went around and said what age we wanted to work with, and
00:54they
00:54skipped me. And I was like, I didn't get a turn, and they're like, you're going to work with little
00:58kids. I was like, okay, I guess I just have that vibe. It might have been the full musical
01:03I created to teach a concept to kids. It might have been the puppets. Was Miss Rachel a singer?
01:12I've always sung. When I was little, I was Annie and Annie, and that was a dream come true.
01:18The sun will come out tomorrow. I love to sing. When I was little, I loved making up songs
01:25in my backyard, like, look at that bird. So I always thought everyone made up songs all
01:30the time in their head. Then when I was a teenager, I got really interested in songwriting.
01:35I didn't like performing as a singer-songwriter. I really liked the creative process, but not
01:39being on stage as a singer-songwriter. And I think sometimes women are like, oh, I love to
01:45sing. I, in my generation, maybe I'm supposed to be on stage in that, like, we didn't see ourselves
01:51behind the scenes as much as composers and things like that. So it took me a while to realize I
01:56wanted
01:56to be kind of behind the scenes writing songs. And then actually, I love performing kids songs on stage
02:03with kids because I think I'm more meant to do that. So I do love doing that. And so all
02:08my friends
02:09are like, Rachel, you've always loved children's media so much and talked about Mr. Rogers all the time.
02:14And like, wore Sesame Street clothes. This makes so much sense that you went into children's media.
02:19And I was like, oh, yeah. So that's good. Okay. Was Miss Rachel nominated for an Emmy?
02:27So we were nominated for Best Show and Sesame Street won. And we love Sesame Street. It is the best
02:34show.
02:34So we were happy as clams in the audience for Sesame Street. We were just honored to be nominated,
02:39especially as an independent YouTube show to be nominated with Sesame Street and all these really,
02:46really awesome shows that have so much beautiful research behind them. We were like, wow, this is
02:52amazing. Also, we don't do it for awards because honestly, that doesn't matter to us. We do it because
02:57we want to help kids and because we love it. And I think we were nominated for Best Writing for
03:03the
03:03Potty episode. And that meant so much to us because we took so long to research about how to best
03:10help
03:10parents with potty training. So it meant a lot. And I'm really proud of Aaron's song,
03:16I listen to my body because it's a banger. I listen to my body. My best moment with the show
03:24was getting an email from a nurse that said there's some kids that have such serious conditions that
03:31they need to live in the hospital and some don't have families and that the show was comforting to
03:35those kids. I put that email on my desktop. She said that they have OT, they have speech,
03:40they play with the nurses, but they can't engage them all day, every day. And that they saw kids
03:46learning skills and being like, did you teach her that? And be like, oh, it was, it was Miss
03:50Rachel that helped. And I thought that was like, I couldn't believe that. So that was like the best
03:56award. I'm emotional. Okay. Was Miss Rachel woman of the year? Yeah, I was. I was really surprised,
04:06but I was, and that was so cool. I do want to say that I think the women of the
04:11year are women
04:11in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who are so wonderful. And we should
04:20all put our focus there. Sorry to be, sorry to be that person, but you know, that's who we should
04:27be focusing on. Okay. It's really fun throwing things. I have to say. Why did Miss Rachel start
04:36making videos? My wonderful little guy had a speech delay and I was looking for something for him
04:44that was slow paced and just said words slowly that he needed to know, like stroller and milk.
04:51And when I couldn't find it, I thought maybe we could create what we're looking for, but I never
04:58thought it would turn into this. And I feel so lucky. I started wearing different color shirts and
05:04headbands and I just got the feeling that I wanted to do pink. It is my favorite color. The headbands
05:11were about postpartum mom crazy. Can't take a shower because I'm too tired and so much going on and my
05:20hair is greasy and also like little baby hairs that came in after I had Thomas. So I was like,
05:26I need to solve this with a headband and overalls just are super fun. They have pockets. Pockets are
05:33great. But my husband and I just, we feel like we're playing. We're just having fun. And then our
05:39team had beautiful, wonderful ideas and it's really fun being independent and working with people who
05:47really care about children to make something that serves children around the world. It's the best
05:52feeling. Why do babies love Miss Rachel? That's so sweet. I think because I love them so much and I
06:00hope
06:00that they feel the genuine care because it's very genuine. I can't see a baby on the subway without
06:06being like, oh my goodness. Just my heart is so happy when I see babies. I do think they like
06:13my
06:13naturally high voice and that's been something I've had my whole life. We do have tapes of me singing
06:19at like age five and I'm like, the sun will come out tomorrow. Like so high. And then when I
06:26was a
06:26teenager, I'd be like, hello? And people would be like, is your mommy there? And I'd be like, I'm 14.
06:31So I've always had a high voice. I used to get made fun of for it. It was heartbreaking. In
06:35high
06:35school, I got bullied for my voice and my enthusiasm. And now my voice and my enthusiasm are superpowers that
06:42help Miss Rachel. So it's a crazy full circle moment for me to be like what I was bullied for
06:47actually helps children. And now I love my voice. Why is Miss Rachel so addicting? You'd have to ask
06:56Mr. Aaron. Why did Miss Rachel start her channel? I was teaching music in the Bronx, which I could not
07:08believe that that was my job. It was so joyful. I would come in every day and kids would come
07:14up to me
07:14and be like, I love music. I love singing with you. And I was like, how am I lucky enough
07:19to have this
07:19job? There's a job where you sing and play with kids. And then I had my son and I decided
07:25to stay
07:25home with him. And that was wonderful and hard and awesome. And when he had the speech delay,
07:32we started thinking about the show. Thank you. Is Miss Rachel good for babies? Hmm. That's something
07:45Miss Rachel would do. The best thing for your baby is interaction with a loving caregiver. I think that
07:53balance is really good for babies. Going outside if you can, reading to your baby. Every day is
08:00wonderful as much as you can, talking to your baby. I think realistically, a lot of us need
08:07a little time. I think that our show is very well researched. And I think that if you need
08:15screen time as a tool, Miss Rachel is that. My kid watches it. Is Miss Rachel a nice person?
08:25Aww. What do you guys think? Yes. Okay. I would say I'm very genuinely nice. My mom taught me the
08:34golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. I think it feels good to be kind. I know
08:40it feels
08:40good to be kind. I think we're meant to be loving. I don't think we're meant to attack people and
08:46be
08:46hateful because it's not right and it doesn't feel good. I actually try to be peaceful in my thoughts,
08:53my actions, my words. I sometimes only make it till 4 p.m. being loving. And then I get hangry
09:00and cranky. But it's a good goal. I wear a ring that says, how would love respond? And so I
09:07really
09:07try and always respond with love. And the ring helps me remember. Is Miss Rachel fast-paced? No.
09:15It's pretty slow-paced. It's not super fast-paced and it's very interactive because we know that
09:20interactive screen time is more beneficial than passive screen time. I'll say like, have you ever
09:25been to the playground? Wow. I like playgrounds. You know? And so we're being interactive. We're
09:34asking questions. We're talking to kids about things that they could do at home, such as make
09:40dinosaur cardboard box shoes. You know, we hope to inspire kids to take what they learn and do it
09:47later. And what's really beautiful is we see parents having a great time and bonding with
09:52their kids, doing the songs and using the strategies away from the screen so much. And we hear that so
09:58much. And that's so great because I remember not knowing some of the things that we do in our show
10:02to do with Thomas, even as a teacher. And so I think it's really cool.
10:10Who are Miss Rachel's helpers? It's so wonderful to be a helper, just like Mr. Rogers said. And I have
10:19to give a shout out to my husband, who is my biggest helper in everything, my co-creator on the
10:26show and
10:27the best dad. And then we have a small team and they're absolutely incredible. And they're often in my
10:35kitchen and they're just fantastic. The other helpers are parents and caregivers and little
10:41ones around the world because they inspire us every day to try and make the world a better place
10:47and make helpful content for our kiddos. Who did Miss Rachel invite on her show? We've been so lucky
10:57to have so many wonderful people on the show. Elmo. Amazing. Love Elmo. Actually, we invited a lot of our
11:04friends and their kids to be on our show, like my friend Alexa, who is a mom friend and we're
11:10in book
11:11club. Caitlin from Blippi, who's also a dear friend. Kevin from the Pentatonix. My husband is a big
11:17acapella nerd. I hope he doesn't mind that. It was incredible to have Raha from Gaza on the show
11:25and sing and dance with her and be joyful with her. The Palestine Children's Relief Fund let me know
11:32that there was a little girl who had lost both of her legs and she enjoyed the Miss Rachel show.
11:39And I was so touched. And I saw a video of her dancing along to the show and looking so
11:44happy
11:44watching it. And they asked if I'd want to meet her. And I was like, definitely. It would be an
11:50honor.
11:50I'd love to meet her. And then I thought it would be beautiful if she wanted to be on the
11:54show.
11:54And she really wanted to be on it. And actually, we just played together. And that was what was on
12:00the show. Nothing was scripted. Who is Mr. Aaron to Miss Rachel? Mr. Aaron is my incredible husband.
12:1010 years this year, married, 16 together. As in love as ever and more. He's my everything. He's the
12:17most wonderful dad. And he's my co-creator in everything. In the show, we do everything
12:23together. And it's really fun to be married to your best friend. Aaron and I met at the Unitarian
12:29Church. And somebody said, hey, do you want to meet the best musician in the world? And I was like,
12:34yes, the best musician in the world is here at coffee hour. And then Aaron and I talked and he
12:39was
12:39like, I'll walk you out. And I was like, wow, okay, I like that. And then he walked me out
12:45and we took a
12:45walk in Central Park. And we've been together ever since. When we did our vows, we talked about
12:49supporting each other's dreams. And he does that so much. And I try to do that for him so much
12:55too.
12:55And it's really nice when you have a partner that you fall madly in love with them, but you also
12:59fall
12:59in love with who you are with them because they inspire you. And I'm so lucky to have that with
13:03Aaron.
13:05Say toss and I'll toss the board. Toss. Uh-oh, I dropped the board. This is the uh-oh song.
13:13Uh-oh.
13:16What was Miss Rachel's first video? Our first videos, I have to tell you this, we actually used
13:25a big stack of books to hold the camera because we didn't have a tripod. So whatever dream you have,
13:31just start going for it, even if you don't have a tripod and you have just a lot of books
13:36from your
13:37shelf. The first video was really a video where I said to Aaron, Aaron, let's make a video where we
13:44do
13:44these simple words like milk. And then we show your mouth really big. So kids who are struggling
13:51with speech can see how the mouth makes the word. So I just said cat. And then Aaron would say
13:58cat.
13:58And then also Aaron came on with Herbie and things like that. And it was just in our living room
14:04with
14:04that stack of books. So whatever you want to do, just start it. And you might help a lot of
14:10people
14:10and be really happy with it. So yay. What songs has Miss Rachel written? Oh, that's so nice. I love
14:19writing songs. So Aaron and I wrote, I'm so happy. We write a lot of songs together and he writes
14:26a lot
14:26of songs alone. We wrote, this is up and this is down. You know, Aaron and I before the show
14:34would just
14:35sing around the house and make up songs for our toddler like you might do. And we'd just be like,
14:39hey, it's time to go to bed. Like we'd just make up songs and it was really fun. And Aaron
14:45even jumps
14:45on the piano when I'm singing and just can start playing along with me because he is a musical
14:49genius if you were wondering. And we just had puppets out with our kids. Aaron and I wrote the
14:55phonics song together. And this one kind of shows how what we each focus on can come together really
15:01nicely. Like I thought of motions for each sound the letter makes that actually kind of mimic the
15:08mouth. So there was a lot of thought and research going into like, hey, alligator, ah, because your
15:13mouth is going at and the hands also going at. And then I went to bed and in the morning
15:18I woke up
15:18with a track that was like phonics, phonics. And I was like, Aaron, you stayed up and did that last
15:25night. What is Miss Rachel's favorite animal? I love animals. I have a person who loves
15:31pigeons. I don't understand why people don't like them. They are beautiful. I love giraffes. I fed
15:37a giraffe once. It was so fun. I think animals are great. And yeah, I love every creature on this
15:44earth. What's next for Miss Rachel? We are so excited to share that we're coming out with our
15:51first album. We have been excited for this for so long. Aaron made new arrangements of some of the
15:59songs and added different instruments and a lot of live instruments and really fun arrangements. I
16:05love the idea of families having dance parties to the music away from the screen and listening in the
16:10car. We're so excited to bring you the music. We can't wait. I think we're most excited about this of
16:15anything. And we just, yay. We even have a record. Will we go on tour? I would love to. I
16:22don't like
16:23leaving my apartment, but I would love to meet as many families as I can because I do love meeting
16:30families. I love meeting little ones. It's so fun. I love breaking out into song with them. I can't
16:36stress enough how beautiful it is to connect with kids. Yay. Okay. How does Miss Rachel
16:48know sign language? Oh wow. My son's speech delay was severe and we did sign language and he learned
16:58sign language and he communicated with sign language and sign language is an amazing language and I've
17:04learned a lot from the deaf community over time. It's not something we should just teach and be like
17:10babies can do this. We should learn the language lifelong. I also learned that it's really important to have
17:17deaf teachers teach. That was something that I learned from the deaf community and so we now have
17:23Erin who's deaf on our show teaching sign language and we really need to uplift deaf teachers in the deaf
17:30community. Miss Rachel and Momdani. I've talked with Mayor Momdani about free child care from birth to
17:39pre-k. I think it's wonderful. I think we should spend our tax dollars on helping our neighbors and I
17:45learned so
17:46much from our audience and parents are really struggling with affordable child care. It's something
17:51that we can all agree that kids should have high quality child care that's affordable or free. I think
17:57it will make the world a better place if we all take the best care we can of little ones
18:01and I think
18:02our policies should center kids. Does Miss Rachel actually sing? I love to sing. I like to sing in the
18:13shower.
18:13I lost my voice the other day and I was like why have I been so sad and I was
18:18like it's because I can't
18:19constantly sing. Yeah I love breaking out into song. I will say and I've heard other singers say this
18:24sometimes my kids are like no mommy stop but yeah I I do love to sing. Does Miss Rachel
18:34have tattoos? I am afraid of shots, needles, anything sharp. I'm a wimp and I don't because I'm too wimpy.
18:45Miss Rachel
18:48favorite songs? I have to say any song that makes a kid light up is get I'm gonna enjoy it.
18:54People are
18:54like are you tired of singing Wheels on the Bus Hop Little Bunnies and Icky Sticky and I'm like no
18:58I will do them right now. I would love to because it's like the first time when you see a
19:03kid light
19:04up when you're like can you get out a pretend piece of bubble gum. I also want to give my
19:08husband a
19:09shout out. I love his songs. They're super from the heart. He is so caring and he wrote this caterpillar
19:16song that actually my kids can't listen to because they cry at it. It's just so heartfelt and beautiful
19:21and I love the rainbow song he wrote. People were like Rachel you can tell Miss Rachel loves singing
19:27the rainbow song and I'm like I do. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. I love a rainbow.
19:43I love a rainbow. I love a rainbow. I love a rainbow. I got the harmony that time. Good job.
19:54Thank you.
19:55Friends it was so fun peeling things off with wire today. I loved it and let's sing bye bye friends.
20:04Bye bye friends. Bye bye friends. Bye bye friends. We'll see you again real soon.
20:17Did you want me to harmonize? Um, no that was perfect. Okay. Yeah.
20:24We'll see you again real soon.
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