Maria Menounos thought she was busy.
During her last semester at Emerson College in Boston in the spring of 2000, Menounos took a whole host of classes, worked full-time as a reporter for Channel One News – traveling often for interviews during the week – and finished first runner-up for the title of Miss Massachusetts. And she's still a graduate.
However, that steamy five-month stretch would seem like a glass of sunset on the beach compared to the 17 years that followed. After moving to Los Angeles, the daughter of Greek immigrants was quickly hired by Weekly Entertainment as a correspondent, then came to act, in TV and film, followed by Access Hollywood and even professional wrestling. More weeks than involved involved seven days of 18 hours or more.
“I tried everything, a lot too,” says Menounos. "I worked toxic situations, I got used to that threshold."
His workaholic nature stems from growing up in Medford, Massachusetts, cleaning up nightclubs with his parents and learning the work ethic, the mentality of pushing your limits every day. “We were working 365 days a year,” she says. “We would be there on Christmas morning, knees in the trash. That immigrant mentality...my parents had boundless energy, so the groundwork for who I became was laid early.
"My life for so long has been that Rocky Balboa quote, 'It's not not about how hard you hit. This is how hard you can be hit and still move forward. “Fortunately, God sent me a parachute. ”
The parachute came in a rather unexpected form:a brain tumor. On her 39th birthday in June 2017, she underwent an eight-hour operation to remove the tumour. During the same stage, her mother Litsa was battling her own stage 4 brain cancer. Yet when Menounos was first diagnosed, instead of feeling like her world was falling apart, she felt actually started laughing, later saying, "It was so surreal and crazy and amazing. Initially worried about whether she could find work after surgery, Menounos had something of an epiphany after waking up in the recovery room. The operation was a success and there would be a long recovery process, but that was fine, as she was no longer in a hurry, no longer obsessed with the next gig.
“Since I was 13 years is all I wanted, but like so many people around me, I was trapped in the dream,” she says. "I wasn't evolving. Life did not satisfy me and I did not see that clearly. The moment I woke up I felt like I didn't need all this, this couldn't be life. As has been the case for 20 years, Menounos was joined at the hip in her recovery and transformation by her husband and business partner Keven Undergaro. The two met in Boston when Undergaro was filming a movie and Menounos was earning college credits as a production assistant.
“I fell in love instantly,” she says.
The two dated over 18 before finally getting married on Fox's New Year's Eve with Steve Harvey , the host performing the ceremony. They hope to start a family this year. Then again, they actually started another, much larger family in the spring of 2011.
For generations, virtually every Hollywood success story seems to have started with a gig as a waitress or bartender. But there's another path to the "big break" now:becoming a host for AfterBuzz TV. The online streaming network founded by Menounos and Undergaro has over 20 million weekly downloads in over 150 countries. It also employs 300 hosts, almost all of whom get their first shot in the entertainment industry.
"We don't have our own kids yet, so they're like our kids," Menounos says. "We've had some of them living with us, we've released some of them from jail, we've paid medical bills, and they just can't get that kind of real experience at seminars, or even in film school which is $150,000. It really became this wonderful movement, this creative paradise for young artists. ”
The concept of the network stems from one of the couples’ longtime hobbies, watching their favorite TV shows and then talking about them. This was back when message boards and websites were becoming increasingly popular as platforms for viewers. "I remember reading that 50% of people who watch a sporting event have also watched or listened to the post-game broadcast, whether it's radio or TV, and in terms of entertainment, what's the difference? Said Undergaro. "We would be playing poker and everyone at the table was talking about Lost or Breaking Bad . Yet there was no place to gather intimately and chat. ”
The first broadcasts came from a makeshift studio in the couple’s home. And from humble beginnings, AfterBuzz now has its own production facility comprising six state-of-the-art studios. There are also plans to expand in the near future as the company seeks to add investors for the first time.
For Menounos, who is involved with more than a dozen charities including Take Action Hollywood, that founded after a trip to South Africa, AfterBuzz TV isn't just an entrepreneurial opportunity, it's the perfect outlet to do what she loves most. Help others. If there is a way to help, a way to offer her time and advice, a way to make a difference, her answer will always be yes.
"The lesson I've learned over the past few years is all that matters is who we help. »
Now, Menounos says, she's focusing on smarter work. Life has taken her to the brink for the past few years, but she and her mother are both cancer-free, and with this perspective so fresh, there's nothing to complain about.
“Nothing that we think really matters – the money, the big house; I've been with people on their deathbeds, and none of them want to work more,” says Menounos. “It’s such a privilege to give back, to have an impact. I don't forget where I'm from, I don't forget to clean these clubs at 4 a.m.
“The lesson I've learned over the past few years is all that matters is who we help. »
