Hallmark Christmas Movie Obsessed? Meet Film Critic Rachel Wagner | #228

It’s holiday season and we are talking Hallmark Christmas movies on the Second Act Success Podcast. We are officially fan-girling because film critic and host of the Hallmarkies Podcast Rachel Wagner joins us to talk about hosting this popular podcast with Hallmark and movies at its core. 

Rachel shares how a love of movie criticism led her to start creating online reviews, launch a podcast, and eventually build a thriving platform that’s now deep into its 9th holiday season (with thousands of episodes!). Along the way, she’s interviewed Hallmark writers, actors, and directors, yet she’s also honest about what actually grows a show: consistency, relationships, and being ready when opportunity knocks.

If you love Hallmark Christmas movies, rom-coms, podcasting, content creation, or you’re dreaming about starting a creative second act in the new year, this one is pure holiday gold.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• How Rachel’s love of film criticism turned into a real podcasting career path
• What it really takes to run a successful podcast 
• Why you don’t need celebrity interviews to build a profitable, loyal audience
• How to “be ready when luck finds you” (and why creative success can be unpredictable)
• The truth about consistency, repetition, and making content that people actually want
• Why Hallmark is keeping rom-coms alive—and how Rachel built a niche brand around it
• Rachel’s best advice for anyone starting a second act (or launching a podcast in 2026)

*Get the full show notes here!

Leave a review for the Second Act Success Podcast here.

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Transcript

Second Act Success Podcast

Season 1 - Hallmark Christmas Movie Obsessed? Meet Film Critic Rachel Wagner | #228

Episode - #228

Host: Shannon Russell

Guest: Rachel Wagner

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate) 

[00:00:00] 

Rachel Wagner: I heard somewhere that be ready for the luck when it finds you. 

You can just be doing the work so that you're ready when the luck finds you.

it's very unpredictable. I could never have predicted what has happened.

Shannon Russell: I think

You're right, that luck is going to find you and you'll just say yes to that next adventure and see where it goes.

Rachel Wagner: Yeah, I could never have predicted,, that Hallmark would overtake my life, but I'm glad that it has. 

Speaker: Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell, and my mission is to help you produce your best life. This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up.

Let's get started.

Shannon Russell: Welcome back to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell, and [00:01:00] today we are celebrating the holidays.

Shannon Russell: I am fangirling right now because I have film critic and host of the Hallmarkies podcast, Rachel Wagner. .

You may know this already about me, but I am a huge Hallmark channel fan. I love Christmas, and so putting those two together, this is my time of year when I am obsessed and I watch 24 7 holiday Hallmark movies, and I listened to the Hallmarkies podcast. As I was listening to her show the other day, I said, you know what, I'm gonna reach out and see if she'd be interested in coming on the show and talking with me about her career journey because not only does she host the podcast but she is a film critic.

Anna Theater critic, when I reached out, she said yes, and I am so excited. if you enjoy Hallmark, if you enjoy the holidays, if you enjoy the idea of taking something creative, like starting a podcast and seeing how it can flourish into something that actually makes you money in your second act, then listen up. This is going to be a great [00:02:00] episode. Let me introduce you to Rachel Wagner.

Shannon Russell: Rachel Wagner, I'm so happy to have you here on Second Act Success. Welcome. This is so 

Rachel Wagner: exciting. I, I don't get asked to be the one being interviewed very often.

Usually I'm on the other side, so it's such a treat. Thank you for having me. 

Shannon Russell: Well, I just have been such a big fan. I was just telling you such a fan since you started the podcast in 2017 and listened to you like. Literally all year, especially at Christmas time. So Rachel hosts the Hallmarkies podcast and it is just incredible.

It's, I think it's a mix of everything that I love Christmas at this time of year. Hallmark, , just the actors that you interview, the directors, the writers, um. It's just such an amazing show. but Thank 

Rachel Wagner: you. 

It's such an honor to be asked, so thank you. Thanks. I'm excited to talk with you. 

Shannon Russell: , Let's take it back to the beginning. I always like to ask my guests like, where did you begin your career?

And then we'll kind of talk up until now. 

Rachel Wagner: it's a long answer to a short question I [00:03:00] always loved criticism, growing up. I, I loved even it was a movie that I never would be allowed to see or would want, I was interested to hear what people said about it.

And I, I, uh, , of course would get. Leonard Morten's movie guide every year. I would watch, you know, Cisco Eberts. I would watch, Jean Shallot on Good Morning America, all of that. I just really loved hearing about people's takes on movies. And it's interesting because. My parents, both of them are not movie people or media people really hardly at all.

My mom's a reader and my dad will watch sports, , but what my parents were really good at, particularly my mom, is that she was interested to hear what we thought about things. And she was good about facilitating discussion. She didn't want us just to like. Blindly consume what they call it, content now.

She wanted us to think about what we were watching and what we were doing and, and so we would have these [00:04:00] kitchen chats, oh, what did you think? Why did you like it? What did you, you know? And so even though it wasn't her interest, she was interested in us and interested in what we had to say.

Why did you like clueless? I remember hearing that. What, what was it that made you laugh? , And I think that that helped me a lot in, in just being free and expressing my opinion. And also the fact that my brother and I, we disagreed on almost everything. And so I got used. To defending my opinion and to, to talking about it and in a very open and kind of frank way.

I thought that that's the way every family was. I didn't realize that that was so special about my family and until I went to college. I remember one time we went to, um, see Chocolate and I didn't like it at the time. I haven't seen it since then, so maybe I'd like it now, but I didn't like it at the time.

And we're driving home and I'm like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I didn't like the way that this character blah. And my, my friend looks at me, he says, [00:05:00] Rachel, we just wanted to watch the movie. I was like, what you mean having like 30 minutes of discourse after the film isn't. What you do

But I never really thought, okay, this could be a real career. I don't know why I never really did. And, and maybe for the best, because it's, it's an incredibly hard field to, to make it in as a full-time film. Critics almost impossible. it was just something that I enjoyed and , I tore my, MCL my, , knee in 2014, and I'd always wanted to review the entire Disney cannon. That was like a, a goal of mine, and so I needed something to, to pass this time that I was just bedridden basically for summer. Oh, 

Shannon Russell: so 

Rachel Wagner: I, I said that as a goal that I was going to. Do that. And so I started a, a webpage called, uh, it was called at the time, 57 Disney reviews.

'cause that was all I was gonna do. And I really enjoyed writing about film. I loved it. And so I just kept doing it and [00:06:00] writing more and more. And then I was like, you know what? I wanna learn some YouTube skills. , And so I, I just started doing that. I actually started doing unboxings. And then I did a couple DVD reviews at the time, and that was the first thing I did. And, and then Star Wars was coming out and so I, this Force Awakens was coming out and so I did my first podcast with my friends, , Abby and, , Jamie. They're still on my channel 'cause I believe in, I, I believe in keeping everything, but they're rough.

But I, I, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed talking with people. And then in 2017, I really wanted to cover Anne with an E, and so I put it out there on Facebook. My friend Amber. She was like, oh, I love Anne of Green Gables. Let's do it. So we, we covered Anne with a e, but we hated it.

We did not like it. So we were like, what can we do to kind of cleanse the palate, something we like? , Let's talk about Hallmark Christmas movies.  And we did. We had good chemistry together [00:07:00] and, , and it was fun and it's just, people liked it.

That's what ended up evolving into Hallmark's podcast. And, when we first started, I, I, I was, I was a fan of the Christmas movies, uh, but I, I would would not say I was like a hardcore Hallmark fan. But I've always loved romcoms and I, I, I've always loved the holidays and Christmas movies, and so I wouldn't have expected Hallmark to sort of take over my life, but I'm glad that it has, this is our ninth Christmas season, , for the podcast. Next year will be our 10th. 

Shannon Russell: That's incredible. Congratulations. Because you know, a lot of podcasts don't make it and to make it that long and still enjoy what you're doing. 

Rachel Wagner: Well they say the average is, uh, is uh, six, six episodes for a podcast.

We had over 3000 episodes of Hallmarkies Podcast. Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Which is 

Shannon Russell: You do weekly throughout the year. Yes. But multiple throughout the holiday season. 

Rachel Wagner: Yeah, I [00:08:00] would say. It's very rare that we don't have three episodes a week. Yeah. That, that I don't have three of, of Hallmark podcast.

Rachel's reviews has evolved. It was kind of more a novelty sort of, it became sort of this thing that I really enjoyed but wasn't as profitable or as, as, Popular certainly as, um, hallmark is, and it's still not, but, it's kind of changed now that I've been working at the movie show at KSL.

Um, this year I'd have kind of evolved into being more new releases. 

Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm. 

Rachel Wagner: And then just have a weekly podcast episode for that. And then the new releases. Uh, but, it'll probably evolve once I finish the work at KSL, and evolve again. And, and, uh, that's part of the fun of it.

It 

Shannon Russell: is. It is really fun. And I think for listeners who maybe are thinking of starting a podcast, like there's so much that goes into it because you're not just popping on the mic and talking. You're thinking about, yeah. Oh yeah. Especially for you, you're watching the movies. Mm-hmm. And you are critiquing them, you're taking your [00:09:00] notes, and then you are also scheduling co-hosts to come on with you.

Yeah. And have those conversations. 

Rachel Wagner: Co-host to come on with me. Also, are there any sort of guest opportunities? Is the writing in this interesting, unique, would it be fun to have the writer on? Would it be fun to have the director on? Is there a supporting performance?

Those are some of the times, some of my favorite interviews. Is some of the supporting actors who, who do such a good job, and don't get the spotlight, that they deserve. But yeah, it's definitely, I've, I've heard that from people. I wish I could get paid for standing in front of a mic.

You hear people say things like that, first of all, the pay isn't that great, so don't be too jealous. But second of all, it is a lot more work

One thing that's helped me is I have a natural sort of affinity for repetition.

I, I don't get bothered by it the way other people do. Mm-hmm. I'm 40 plus Christmas movies this season, for example, and some people that would drive them crazy, like hearing very similar stories, similar themes, and for [00:10:00] some reason it just doesn't bother me.

I, I don't, I just don't get tired of things the way that other people do. So that helps me. 

Shannon Russell: I'm kind of the same way. It's just comforting, whether it's doing my own podcast or I have Hallmark on 24 7 and it's just a comforting, thing. Like it doesn't get old.

Rachel Wagner: The other thing too is that Hollywood is just stopped making romantic comedy. So where else are you supposed to go? , Where else am I supposed to watch romcoms? What other choices do I have? Literally none. 

Shannon Russell: Right? We need Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey to come back and start doing so really good.

Oh my gosh. We so do, yeah. It's so depressing. I know, Hallmark is just that. Comfort. And then there's some streaming on Netflix and you've got some other, here and there.

Rachel Wagner: It is unbelievable. I mean, this year, literally eternity is the only full fledged romcom that I would say got a actual theatrical release. 

Shannon Russell: And why do you think that is? Like being a film critic? So you've got your podcast and then you're also a film critic , tell us a little bit [00:11:00] about that. 

Rachel Wagner: Hollywood is still Most of the major decision making is still by men. And, and no matter how well female themed, female appealing projects do, they don't seem to learn the message that that is a very, very strong, very loyal, audience that they should make movies for.

It's unbelievable. You think that they would learn that from Barbie. You think they learn from Wicked for Good or even something like, uh, it ends with us, or regretting you like that had a really good legs.

Neither of those are rom-coms, but they are female eccentric, I would say. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's the big reason. It's just, yeah, you have. Men making most of these decisions that don't value a, a, a, uh, female space. And at a certain point we've kind of conditioned ourselves that it's like a Pavlovian response now.

Romcom streaming. Yeah. It's just what the audience has now been trained to expect and it's what's certainly what the [00:12:00] executives,

Shannon Russell: It makes no sense there's plenty of men who like those as well. Oh sure.

 It's very frustrating to me. I feel very sad about it, but I guess at least I can try to do my part.

Rachel Wagner: You do? And, and I'm grateful for Hallmark because again, where else would. Where else would we go? There's nowhere else. So they're keeping the, keeping the romcom alive. Literally 

Shannon Russell: They are. And you're doing your part too, like you said, you have women on as your guest host that talk to you all the time.

And they're wonderful. 'cause it's different perspectives

Rachel Wagner: I love that. I love hearing that because that is something that. It's more interesting for me to talk to different people and one of my goals is to be an entertaining podcast.

Even if you don't watch a Hallmark or, the movies in question. I think you could listen to our show. To my show and still be entertained by it. 

Shannon Russell: Yeah. 

Rachel Wagner: That's a goal of mine. And,, I hope that it's surprising that you won't know what I'm necessarily going to say or what my guests are going to [00:13:00] say.

There's some other podcasts and, and they do what they do and that's great. That have like a template. This is their mode, this is what they do. But my personal preference is, , something that's. Unpredictable and mm-hmm. Surprised. So I'm very happy to hear you say that.

Shannon Russell: I've listened to others and I always come back to you,

well, I have to say I absolutely love and I wanna know when this first happened where you started getting the directors and the actors like our favorite Paul Campbell, and you know, you've gotten such great people and Nina, you've had on one of the amazing writers. Who was the first person you had on that was, it's funny, that Hallmark world.

It's funny 

Rachel Wagner: you mentioned Nina, because Nina was the first. She was the first interview Oh, that I did for Hallmarkies Podcast. That was in 2017, , which had just started . And, I, I've always loved writers, I've loved writing. My sister's a writer. I love blogging, I love criticism, all of that.

And so I was initially very drawn to the writers it was actually because of it. Twitter [00:14:00] exchange that I had with Nina, where I wasn't the biggest fan of one of her older movies. I had been live tweeting it for some reason and she was like, oh, okay. I guess, you know, I can see that perspective.

We were chat, kind of chatting on Twitter and I, I was like, Hey, would you like to come on the podcast? And she agreed. And it was great and we had so much fun. And so that kind of started things. Our first of the actors was actually Paul Campbell. Oh, that was also in 2017. it was a lot of fun that, that interview , and, for some reason the hallmark. Crew up there in Vancouver, the, the various actors directors are very, very open and easy to book for interviews. That's amazing. , I've covered lots of other stuff over the years.

I've covered the nanny, I've covered 

Things like that. And I've had a way harder time getting people from more the Hollywood type things. I mean, I interviewed Fran twice, so amazing. But just in general, I've had a harder time. On [00:15:00] other franchises and other stuff I've covered getting interviews.

Mm-hmm. And, and there's something about that Vancouver scene, the Hallmark scene that there's just, they were just very open to that. And, uh, and so that's been very fun and, and it's satisfying to, to realize that I had that skill that I never, never would've realized. 

Shannon Russell: you really are and you're not. 'cause you know, as a television producer, I've obviously interview with celebrities for many years, but there's two ways of doing it. You can just Yes, yes ma'am them mm-hmm. The whole time and love everything they do. Or you can have an actual conversation and I feel like you do that.

You're not always like, oh, you were amazing and this was an amazing script. You're very honest and mm-hmm. Kind. But it's a more interesting conversation than just loving everything they do and gushing. 

Rachel Wagner: Yeah. I, I'm interested in people and I'm interested in the process. , One of my favorite interviews I think I've ever done was with Mackenzie Westmore this [00:16:00] summer.

'cause I really disliked her, her movie and, , and I was surprised when she reached out and wanted to. Talk about it and, , because obviously it's not personal, . Just the movie. I mean, I, I fully respect anybody who tries to make something. I was pleased, but I was surprised, , that she wanted to talk to me.

And I said, did you listen to the recap? But it was such a great discussion. It was really honest, and it was really interesting and, so yeah, I don't really particularly like gush podcasts. I, I'm just not that, I don't think it's that interesting.

Also the, um, angry critic kind of a thing. I'll have my moments, but you know, that if I rant against something, , it's Deserved. 

Shannon Russell: You know your stuff, , you know, films, you're paid to do that.

, I think fans listen to you and it's with a respectful ear in that sense. 

Rachel Wagner: I, I, I'm glad to hear that and I hope so. I hope people get something out of, , even if I don't like [00:17:00] it, I, I hope that I can kind of. Explain why in an interesting, insightful way.

 if someone is listening and wanting to start a podcast, it doesn't mean that they can interview all these celebrities on their first day.

Shannon Russell: You know, you started something and you reached out and you. Learned a new skill of that reach out to people and how to pitch and it worked for you. And now all these years later, you've got all of these connections and great relationships where they keep coming back. Well, 

Rachel Wagner: the other thing to remember is that the interviewers actually don't do that well.

There are a few exceptions and anything involved with Heartland does very well. But for the most part, the interviews almost always do worse than our recaps. Really? Yeah. Which is very interesting that people. People are more interested in what we have to say, about the movies than they are usually about a celebrity interview.

, Our recaps will do better. Than the interviews. So it don't feel like, oh, I can't interview all these people, therefore I shouldn't even try [00:18:00] because the interviews I sort of do want to round out the podcast, make it feel a little bit, , more complete.

And I just enjoy doing it and I enjoy talking with people, we have TV recaps, we have the movie recaps and we have interviews. And if I had to cut out one thing, it would definitely be interviews. 

Shannon Russell: That interesting? It's 

Rachel Wagner: definitely the least effective.

So don't feel like, oh, just because I'm not interviewing all these people, I can't do a podcast. 'cause that's just not true. 

Shannon Russell: I can see that too, because sometimes, especially with so many movies coming out every week, you're doing the recaps. Yeah. And sometimes I might be like, oh, I didn't have a chance to watch that one yet.

It's still fun to listen to your recap because then I am like, okay, yes, I do wanna watch it, or Okay, I can cross that off my list. 

Rachel Wagner: and that's one a unique thing that we do , for Hallmarkies is that we bundle the movies together. Because for the most part, there's some that we do individually,

I like that format because just feel like most of these movies don't have enough meat on the bones for a full [00:19:00] long analysis. And also. Then I don't end up with whole episodes about movies that I don't like. You know? That's true. If I'm doing, if I'm, if I am recapping each individual movie, then that's gonna happen maybe a lot, so by bundling, 

I can group something that I didn't like with something that I liked, and every once in a while , I'll dislike the entire weekend's movies, or the entire episodes movies, but hopefully, and I try, if that's the case, to have a co-host who is a little bit more positive, likes the one more than me, and then that balances it out.

I think it's hard when you do the individual episodes to not have it feel. A little more negative I would definitely want it to feel honest 

That's the downside, I think, to doing individual episodes on each movie.

The other advice that I would give is that you have to decide what level of, It sounds bad to say what level of quality [00:20:00] that you are comfortable with on your podcast, because if I was. Super nitpicky about every, um, and every filler word there's absolutely no way that I could produce as much as I do, which is not a requirement. Like if you want to have a great podcast with great sound , and impeccably edited, professionally edited, then.

That's great. There's nothing wrong with that. You can be like a defunct land and make, several episodes, , a quarter or a year. There's nothing wrong with that. That's just not what, I've decided to do for my podcast. I know that some people probably listen to the episodes and they're like, oh my gosh, why did she stop saying, um, or end, or, or why did, why did she keep asking that dumb question?

Or why did she, why isn't the sound better? Why didn't they have better quote? All of that I totally get, and it's completely fair. , But, that's just. A concession that I have to make in order to cover, as much as I cover. That's just the [00:21:00] reality. So that's what, that's something you have to kind of consider.

What kind of product do I want to make? 

Shannon Russell: That's great advice too. And it's all about, with podcasting, being consistent, making sure that you're not making it so perfect, that you lose track of the fact that you wanna get this content out there and then mm-hmm. Drop off and pod fade. You wanna make sure that, yeah, it's easier just to leave the ums in and get it out there.

Done is better than perfect. yours always sounds perfect, Rachel. It really does. Aw, you're so sweet. Thank you.

Well, We were talking a little bit about freelancing. You're a film critic , in Utah. Yeah, 

Rachel Wagner: so I just, it's my own site. Rachel's reviews. , But I have been working at KSL movie show.

And that's been like a dream come true, an absolute dream come true. I've been listening to the movie show. Since I was in college. In fact, when I was in college, I called in that at the time, they, they don't have call-ins now, but they did at the time. And I called in and they were having a discussion about why people [00:22:00] weren't going to see this film, Nicholas Nickleby.

And I love costume dramas. I love period piece, I always have. , I was like, the reason why is because there, it's only playing at the Broadway in Salt Lake. Doug Wright, , the host said, well, we want you to go see it and then call us back with your review. And I did. and so to have that experience of somebody actually caring about my review was very inspiring to me.

And to think that then I would be, , uh, co-host for six months has been. Unbelievable., , i also work as a theater critic, so racialist reviews theater.com. And I'm also the host of onstage blog theater podcast with my friend Jax. So that's been super fun as well, because I love theater every bit.

As much as I love film. 

Shannon Russell: I didn't realize you did that. That's really exciting. 

Rachel Wagner: Yeah. Yeah. And Utah has such a, an insane, thriving, , local theater scene. Wow. Like nowhere else. I, I'm convinced, like nowhere else outside of New York.

Shannon Russell: It's 

Rachel Wagner: incredible. What's interesting is that [00:23:00] I basically have adjusted. To going , to either a play or a movie screening almost every night. I don't have a family who's single, so I can do that. At this point, I, I have something almost every single night.

Shannon Russell: How exciting is that though? . That just like fills you up and Yes. You're doing work on the other side of that, reviewing it, I'm sure. Happy problem to have, Yes. So where do you see your, , the podcast and your film reviews and everything evolving maybe in your next act 

Rachel Wagner: it's so hard. I. I remember, I heard somewhere that be ready for the luck when it finds you. 

Shannon Russell: Mm. 

Rachel Wagner: And that's something that I, I kind of take to heart. That so much of being in any kind of creative enterprise is a little bit of or a lot of luck. 

Shannon Russell: Yeah. 

Rachel Wagner: , But you can just be doing the work so that you're ready when the luck finds you.

it's very unpredictable. I could never have predicted this movie show thing, even though I [00:24:00] had, volunteered for them. I had, I had built up those relationships, but still, I, I could never have predicted what has happened. One thing that's a little bit frustrating is that I feel like I, I've reached a modicum of success, which I'm very grateful for, but I haven't been able to like.

Get that next level. , I still have to, you know, substitute teach sometimes I would love to kind of get that next level of sustainability in my career. 

, So that's sort of the dream, but, so much of it is out of.

Pure control, , all that I can do is make the best product I possibly can with the resources that I have. Yeah. And then, go from there. I would love if, I were to get hired as a critic, if I was able to work, , full-time as a critic, that would be a dream come true.

We'll just see. I'm just, , always open for the new opportunities 

Shannon Russell: and you have the contacts, you know the people, and you're putting it out there and you're putting out such great content that I think you're right, that luck is going to find you and you'll just say yes to that next adventure and see [00:25:00] where it goes.

Rachel Wagner: Yeah, I could never have predicted,, that Hallmark would overtake my life, but I'm glad that it has. 

But yeah. One other thing that I've tried to do on the podcast is to keep trying to expand. Audience, the audience as much as I can. 

Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm. 

Rachel Wagner: We did the CI girls pod, which was all about sex and the city, and that was definitely a creative risk.

Yeah. Because obviously that's mature content and , it's a different audience, but. I thought it was enough similar to Hallmarkies and I wanted to reach new audiences. Same thing with Heartland

So that's also another thing I'm kind of constantly sort of thinking of, like, what is a new way to talk about holiday films? What is a new way to talk about, , romantic films, hallmark, all that kind of stuff.

Shannon Russell: I have to ask, have you ever thought about writing a script?

Rachel Wagner: Yes, and I'm actually, I have a couple that I'm working on. I mean, I knew it would be hard 'cause I've talked to enough writers, but it's harder than I even thought. It's definitely challenging. , The biggest surprise to me is just [00:26:00] how much plot, because you don't think of these, these romantic comedies as being like, super plot heavy.

Everything that I think would take out a certain amount of time. Doesn't take up that much space on the page and I got, I gotta think of more plot, , but yeah, that's something I'm toying with and I would love to do and hopefully will do.

 I'm writing, I've been writing for a while. I wrote a book that came out this year, but it was nonfiction because it helped with my business, and I don't think I've said it on the podcast before, but I am writing fiction now and, and it's whether I'm not putting the pressure on myself because it's just.

Shannon Russell: Something fun. It's become like a hobby. Yeah. Like when I was writing my nonfiction, it was just like, wow, that hour or 90 minutes. I would just close the door to my office and , get my ideas on paper. I find it the same way here and when. It becomes something that is worth showing someone else, then I'll get there.

But I feel like there's some, there's just like creative joy out of writing. 

 And instead of writing about someone else's film, you have so much knowledge about the film world, now you're putting it into your own words and that's exciting. 

Rachel Wagner: And people [00:27:00] always say, oh, critics are just, uh, wanna be filmmakers.

Mm-hmm. It's not true. 

Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm. It's 

Rachel Wagner: not true, but it's fun to give it a shot, try something new. 

Shannon Russell: If you had to pick, I'm sure you've been asked this before, but your favorite holiday movie of all time, what would you say, hallmark, or not just holiday. 

Rachel Wagner: It's so hard. It's, it's really tough. 'cause they're also, it's like how do you compare Christmas to Connecticut with it's wonderful life?

You know? I think that probably it's Wonder Life is the best holiday film ever made I think it's just one of the finest films ever made. It's outstanding. Yeah. Um, but just as far as my favorite, It might be Christmas in Connecticut might be my favorite. A Charlie Brown.

Shannon Russell: Yeah. Yeah. Christmas 

Rachel Wagner: And home alone. And those would probably be. In the tops. I say

Shannon Russell: Miracle on 34th Street. I love that one. Yeah. I love that 

Rachel Wagner: movie. I love Dead Home 

Shannon Russell: Alone is like, when you just watch all day, you can just watch it on repeat. So Yeah, it's 

Rachel Wagner: a hard yes. It's a [00:28:00] hard question.

And I, I love a Muppet's Christmas Carol. Yes. , I love the Alster Sim Christmas Carol. 

Shannon Russell: If you like Muppets Emett Daughter's Jug Band Christmas. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Rachel Wagner: It's not that Christmasy. 

Shannon Russell: No. It's just a childhood. I just 

Rachel Wagner: like reminds Oh yeah. I love that for so many reasons.

The, the music is incredible. Yeah. It's so good. And also I just love how like. Gritty. It is how dirty it is. Like it's just such a different aesthetic than we're used to seeing from Jim Henson and the Muppets. I kind of love that about it. Mm-hmm. Over on Rachel's reviews, I held a whole series of Muppet May every year.

Ooh. Uh, where, and, and I've been doing it now for so many years that I, I am pretty deep dived into it. And so I've, I've watched. Like more obscure stuff, which has been so fun. But yeah, I love, I love the Muppets 

Shannon Russell: before we say goodbye, just what. Advice do you have for anyone who's thinking about just starting a second act in life, and maybe they've always had this dream like you did and you always just were [00:29:00] into critiquing and having these discussions and you made it happen in a career.

What advice would you give? 

Rachel Wagner: My advice would be to be open and curious about things. Give it a shot. What have you gotta lose? Especially in, this world where it's so. Affordable, relatively. Not that it's not expensive to have a pod, it can be very expensive, but to try it out isn't expensive.

Give it a shot, have fun, , learn something new. Uh, have a new fresh experience. Meet new people. be focused on the experience of it more than the results of it for sure. Because. even now, after doing this for 10 years, it's so unpredictable. 

Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm. 

Rachel Wagner: Like I, I do feel like it's such a crapshoot sometimes I put stuff out there and I think, oh, people will love this episode, and it's just kind of like, eh, no, not that much.

And then I, I'll put out. Something I think is very random and, you know, whatever. And then people love it. And so you just never know. So you can't be focused on [00:30:00] the response, just be focused on the experience that you're having and, uh, the relationships you meet along the way and just trying something new.

I think that's the, the biggest thing I would say is just be open and curious to life. Go for it. 

Shannon Russell: I love that. Uh, Rachel, thank you so much. Where can everyone connect with you? Tell us how to get the Hallmarkies podcast and all the other places. 

Rachel Wagner: Yeah, so I'm everywhere. You can find me. Rachel's reviews all over the place and a KSL movie show right now, at least on Friday mornings.

they have a podcast version of that show. Uh, that's been so exciting. And so I would love for people to check that out. And then of course, Hallmarkies podcast all over the place. Uh, we're almost at 10 K subscribers. I would love to get over that. On the YouTube. so that's the main, main way to support.

We have a Patreon, which is a lot of fun. We do monthly watch alongs where you get to talk to talent and different things. And so I really try to make that worth people's investment and worth their while. , But yeah, that's where you can find me. 

Shannon Russell: [00:31:00] Awesome. This has been so much fun. I thank you so much for taking the time.

I know how busy you are, especially at this time of year, but this was a Christmas present to me. I appreciate it, Rachel. 

Rachel Wagner: Thank you so much. It's so flattering. Yes. And it's very nice to, to have somebody that appreciates what you do, so I appreciate, I appreciate that. I do so much. We'll talk 

Shannon Russell: soon and thank you.

Yes. 

Rachel Wagner: Merry Christmas. 

Shannon Russell: Merry Christmas.

Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.