Trudy has a long list of hobbies and interests that she is involved in or supports as part of her philanthropic work. In this episode, we talked all about it.
In the first few episodes of the Trudy Chats Series, we sat down with her to get to know her more personally and professionally.
In the last episode, Trudy gave us some breakthrough revelations about her personal background, including her periodic struggles with depression.
She opened up to her audience and showed them the real Trudy Jacobson. After we learned about her past, we then learned why she is so philanthropic. Part of the goal is for her to retell the stories of other Great American Women who also overcame adversity and found great personal and professional success.
But now we want to dig deeper. We wanted to talk to and learn more about her.
In this episode, we sat down to learn all about her hobbies and interests, some surprising.
Interview
JTP: You previously mentioned you enjoy music. Listening to it or playing it?
Trudy: Both. I’ve always had a piano in our house and in our apartment in New York. I grew up singing in the choir and playing musical instruments like the piano, clarinet, and oboe. And I always had a passion for drums.
Now I’m redoing, relearning, and reviewing a lot of my piano music. It’s good for dexterity, it’s good for my brain motor skills.
JTP: Does anyone else in your family play music?
My four-year-old granddaughter comes over, and she likes to pound on the keys of the piano. So that’s motivated me to relearn it and play and even venture into writing songs.
I had a vast knowledge about music, but lacked the talent to play instruments “by ear”. But music has always been a part of my life.
JTP: And what about listening to music?
Trudy: I love all genres of music like adult contemporary, new mix… I like all the modern stuff. But I had gone away from country music. Everybody loves Heart Like a Truck and Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll. So I’ve been really getting into that again; it takes me away from some of the challenges I’ve had for the last two years.
JTP: What other hobbies do you have?
Trudy: I’m into reading different books than I ever had. I’m fascinated by outer space and all the discoveries that are going on. I try to understand science a little better.
Books about the solar system, the discoveries from the Webb telescope, and everything that is coming back in fairly good detail – so I read those books.
I also read a lot about Jewish history and contemporary Judaism. But the most interest I have right now is in veterans’ books; veterans who have written extremely interesting autobiographies, or books about war and their experiences.
Philanthropic Hobbies
JTP: You do a lot of philanthropic work. Does that get mixed into your hobbies at all?
Trudy: I support various up-and-coming [music] artists financially. I have done that for quite a while. I have two or three who I helped get off the ground and they’re successful. They’re becoming more successful and it’s a pleasure to see that. So that’s what brought me back into the music world. With concerts, now in my adult life, I can afford to get good seats so you can find me at various concerts all over the place.
JTP: Traveling is a hobby for many people. What type of traveling do you do, if any?
Trudy: I’ve had the luxury and the great teaching experience of traveling around the world – I’m so grateful. It is true that you learn from different cultures.
I’ve spent a month in Tibet. And, of course, you can’t go to Tibet without going to China. We went to China, and that was quite an experience.
One of the most interesting places I’ve been to was Lhasa, Tibet, and it’s just unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
On the other hand, we like to go to the Caribbean. We [my husband and I] are divers, and that’s where we got our divers’ license. We love to explore wherever we go.
JTP: That is a lot of leisurely travel. Have you traveled at all for any philanthropic activity?
Trudy: We’ve traveled a lot to Eastern European countries. A lot of traveling with the Jewish Federation. We were getting acquainted with the people we support, that Jewish Federation supports the Jews around the world. That was an amazing, amazing opportunity to get to know different cultures.
And it wasn’t only through the lens of Judaism but seeing how they were rebuilding after Perestroika and how they were building lives for themselves. They no longer had the comfort of someone telling them what to do, although they appreciated the freedom.
End of Interview
Trudy finished the interview by talking about how she simply likes to stay busy and active because it keeps her mentally sharp and physically strong.
Although most of her hobbies are meant to stay active, some of them are purely to help others.
And it all falls in line with her philanthropic goals and her desire to help other people.
Have you read about her other Chats?
Trudy opened up so much about her past, we had to make two separate pieces to it, Part 1 and Part 2.
As a successful entrepreneur, Trudy knows all about how to be a leader.