My chat with American Author, publicist and World Traveler Steven Mueller

STEVEN MUELLER is an American publicist, author, world traveler, and lover of adventure.

He was the founder and CEO of Mueller Entertainment, a public relations firm which represented actors such as Keanu Reeves, Viggo Mortensen, and Kirsten Dunst. His previous clients include Playboy Enterprises, Jeanette Biedermann, and members of multi-platinum musical artists Scorpions and Heart.

Mueller's unrelated interests include travel and advocating for people with disabilities.

He is the author of ten books, published by Waldmann Press. These include: 'The Wittelsbach Dynasty', 'The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt', and 'Cuzco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas.' 

He just returned from his latest trip to Kenya and is currently promoting his brand new travel guide, 'Kenya - The Heart of Africa '.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining Take a Fashion Seat. Tonight we have a special guest by the name of Stephen Mueller. Is it Mueller or Mueller?

unknown 0:23

Mueller.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Mueller. Stephen Mueller is an American publicist, author, world traveler, and lover of adventure. He was the founder and CEO of Mueller Entertainment, a public relations firm which represented actors such as Kennara Reeves, Vigo Mortenson, and Kristen Dunce. His previous clients include Playboy Enterprises, Jeanette Biederman, and members of multi-platinum music artists Scorpions and Heart. Mueller's unrelated interests include travel, advocating for people with disabilities. Miller's unrelated interests include travel, again, and people with disabilities. I wanted to point that out because that is special. He is the author of 10 books published by Walderman Press. These include the Whittlebach Dynasty, The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, and Cuzco. Is it Cuzco? Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. He just returned from his latest trip to Kenya and is currently promoting his brand, new travel guide, Kenya, the Heart of Africa. Thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Well, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

So, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 1:46

I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I'm great. So tell us um where you grew up and a little bit about your bio I just read.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Well, uh I I grew up in suburban Chicago.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Which uh I currently live uh actually in Chicago, but uh I grew up in a uh suburb uh called Broadview, uh suburb of Chicago, uh about 20 minutes west of the city. And uh yeah, that's uh where I've generally uh resided for most of my life. Um you know I've I've lived in a few other places, uh I've had to travel for work in the past, but that's always kind of remained my uh my home, my my base, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Awesome, incredible. So as a publicist, tell us um about all the celebrities that you have worked with.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Uh yeah, well, um I I generally when when I was much, much younger, um I uh I started I began working in the uh music field. Okay. I began uh as a journalist actually. And uh and uh I also did some photography work and through I I guess through mostly networking, um, you know, I came to know other people in the industry and uh a lot of uh artists that I ran into or worked with or got to know. And uh so yeah, one one thing sort of led to another, and then a number of years later, um I actually started uh to you know become a uh a publicist uh do doing media relations work for different artists. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Uh and and interesting, very good. Okay, so you currently you are promoting a new book. Tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yes, that's correct.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

And show us your book.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Yeah, yeah, I've got a copy right here. Uh it's uh it's uh a travel guide, it's uh hardcover. Um it's called Kenya, the Heart of Africa, and it's uh yeah, pretty much an all-purpose uh travel guide to um you know um to Kenya.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

To Kenya, okay. Yeah. Can you go through the book a little bit and share some excerpts?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Uh sure. Um, well it it really encompasses a little bit of everything. Uh first it sort of gives a uh uh overview of the country, uh history of the country, and then uh generally it's um comprised mostly of uh tourist information, okay. Um, you know, like different uh attractions, uh cities, regions, um, you know, points of interest for travelers, you know, that that type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

So tell us about Nairobi and one of my favorite places, Djibouti.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah, well I'm I'm not that familiar with uh Djibouti. Um Nairobi, I I just left several days ago. So I've I've spent a lot of uh time there.

unknown 4:58

I've I've been there five times now. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

I I I lived there briefly, and um you know I'm I'm hoping that uh one day in the not too distant future maybe I'll be able to uh sort of call that my my second home sort of how I feel about it.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Interesting. Okay, so what is it like um being in a place where the culture is so rich? Like, for instance, the animals, the food, and a lot of the um they have uh natural resources. So what is it like?

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Uh it's it's really wonderful. I mean, it's uh it's obviously um quite a bit different than you know what we're accustomed to in this days. Um but at the same time, um uh you know it's it's not at all how most Americans sort of uh picture it. Uh it's uh especially the the cities like Nairobi, I mean it's uh incredibly uh developed and and modern and you have uh giant shopping malls and just beautiful places and uh a lot of uh skyscrapers and uh you know everywhere you you look, there's uh construction work and you know high-rise buildings going up every place, and uh very developed.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

So Kenya is very developed, okay. And your guide will help us when we get there, correct?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Yes, absolutely. I hope so.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Yes, can you show us a few pictures or do you have any in in the book?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Oh yeah, there's there's a lot of uh photos and illustrations.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Yeah, show us a a couple of illustrations because I want people to buy the book. So all my listeners, make sure you get a copy today.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Here's uh like, for example, a photo of some of the uh like uh I rise buildings and oh wow, I like that. Okay, that's actually uh right right where I stayed, as a matter of fact.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

Then who was your photographer?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Uh I actually took those.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Oh wow, congratulations. Interesting. Thank you. Wow. So you're multi-talented. Okay. Okay. So next question is um basically the safari I love in the country of Africa. Have you been on safari since you've been there?

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Uh yes, actually, uh, when I was there this time, I I went on that, you know, I went on one. But uh, you know, there's a wide variety of different um places where you can go on safaris.

unknown 7:34

Okay. There's obviously like um Masai Mara, which is like a very famous.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

But uh even in Nairobi, uh it's it's really amazing because you have this uh stark contrast between, you know, on the one hand you've got uh skyscrapers and shopping malls, and right on the outskirts of the city, there's actually uh a wildlife park where you can see like uh you know like wild animals roaming and it's elephants, okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Have you seen any lions since you've been there?

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Only in the uh the National Museum I only saw stuff going personally. There are some um in you know some regions.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Out in the yes, yeah. Way out. Okay. Wow. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

So I love I did go on a road trip and it it was amazing because um I actually did see um like there were some um zebra and like uh the giraffe and um monkeys like babons like sitting beside the road as we drove.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Wow. Interesting. So let's talk about the places you've traveled all over the world. Name some of them.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Uh well I've I've been very uh very blessed. I I've been to every continent except for uh Antarctica, and I like to joke with people and say that's because I hate the cold. You know, I have no no desire to go there and there's nothing really to see there. But uh yeah, everywhere else. Um, you know, I've been to uh Europe uh when when I was younger because uh both my parents were uh originally from Europe, uh they're originally from uh Germany. So uh you know I used to travel there a lot when my my grandparents were alive when I was younger. And um, but uh you know I've I've been fortunate. I've uh I've been to uh like South America, wow, uh China, uh Australia, um, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

I saw your picture. Uh you were on the Great Wall of China. I saw that. Yeah. So yes. What was that like?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Uh that was that was really uh really amazing. Uh yeah, I went to the the Great Wall and uh also uh visited the Forbidden City uh outside of uh Beijing actually Beijing.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Interesting. I like that about you. So which one was your favorite?

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Which uh country?

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Which country, yes, out of all the places you've been.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Uh honestly, uh I have to say right now, probably uh Kenya because that's that's sort of where my my heart is right now.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

But your heart, okay. Wow, interesting. Okay, so back to Kenya. So what inspired you to write this book?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Uh well uh for uh a number of years uh I've uh I've been seeing someone in Kenya made it more personal.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah, so uh so you know every time I go there I I almost feel in a strange way, almost like I'm going home in a sense, you know, so to speak. And uh so I uh you know I became interested and uh you know I've um been writing a number of uh travel books and different books throughout the years, and so it only seemed natural to me that I would um you know put together a new book on the the place that I love, which is currently you know Kenya. So yeah, so that's that's what I did.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Okay, so tell my listeners where they can get the book, where how can we order it?

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Um actually it's it's brand new, it's just being released. Okay. It's not yet on Amazon, but it will be it will be shortly. And um, you you can also if you like, um, you can uh in the meantime also order it directly from me.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

So I I was gonna say I I could give out like a contact email uh if anyone's interested in uh pre-ordering a copy before it hits the market. Okay. You can you can write to uh Waldman Press. That's W A L D M A N N Two L's Waldman Press, uh Spaces at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Awesome, incredible. So tell us about some of your other books, because you've written 10 books, so we need to know what they are.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

That's very, very only half for any good questions in that bottom of the question.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Can you walk us through each of them? Like, yeah, just walk us through each of the books.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Well, um my um I I actually didn't write one for quite a while. Um actually almost almost about 10 years, up until I currently did my um in the Kenya book. Okay. Um but the previous one, uh Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, uh, that was also a travel book and that dealt with uh Peru in South America, uh, which was one of my favorite, uh previously favorite areas that I visited.

unknown 12:53

And uh generally I I would just um you know write about areas that interested me personally and um you know that that type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Um I I also wrote uh a few um I guess you could say history books previously, uh like my book Um The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Wow, which which is just um it's that's not really a travel guide, it's uh purely a um history book.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

History book, yeah. So you know, and some uh European history books uh that I did earlier and you know that type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Have you ever written any books about America?

SPEAKER_00 13:35

I actually actually know.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

What? Oh my god! Oh no, you gotta do one. You you owe us a book. You owe us a book. Okay, so what is your um outside of book writing, what is your favorite things to do other than writing and visiting different places all over the world? Do you have a hobby?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

I I'm sorry, do I have a hobby? Oh hobby. Um yeah, yeah, well, you know, um, I mean, I I you know, I just I enjoy uh different types of music. Uh person that used to work in the you know the music industry.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

And um, you know, uh also um you know I was gonna mention for for me personally, I've I've tried to um get involved with uh charitable causes like you mentioned earlier, yeah, people with disabilities, uh, because a number of years I I was personally diagnosed with uh MS. I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, well that that you know I've I've learned to adapt and and that's just something I've tried to um you know I've tried to become uh active and and try to do some positive work to uh you know raise money uh for uh like the National MS Society, for example, and you know different organizations that do a lot of good for people.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

So tell us where people can donate um to MS. Is there a website that they can go on?

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Um yeah, well there's there's uh I I personally do not have a uh my own organization for that, although I've done a lot of uh fundraising and what in the past. Um, you know, but I would recommend um maybe uh National MS Society. That's always a very good organization.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Helps people thank you, thank you for sharing. Um and lastly, where can people find you on the social media? Like what websites, what uh social media sites?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Uh you did give us an email, but yeah, well, I've I've I've got Facebook, I've got Instagram, and uh uh just recently began, as you know, uh TikTok site. Um I believe my TikTok is uh Stephen uh S-T-E-B-E-N uh Mueller M-U-E-L-L-E-R, and then number 44.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Okay. And what's your Instagram? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

My Instagram and my Facebook, I believe, are both uh official Stephen Mueller, uh uh O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L S-T-E-B-E-N M-U-E-L-L-E-R, no spaces. And uh I believe that's the same for both my uh Facebook and Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Awesome, and I got a quick give us some tea. What was it like with Motley Cruer? Oh my gosh, yes, and Britney Spears. Oh, that would have to be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Yeah, that was that was definitely interesting.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Was it fun? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been fortunate to uh work with and meet uh quite a lot of uh celebrities all the years and gotta love it, and gotta love Stephen Mueller, everyone. We're gonna have him back because I know he's gonna bring us some more interesting things to talk about. So thank you for joining Take Us Action Lee.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

All right, thank you guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Have a great night, and I'm gonna get a copy of your book so I can do a book revision. All right, bye-bye. Thank you. All right, bye-bye, thank you. Recording stopped. Thank you guys for listening to my podcast with Stephen Mueller. Um, I want everyone to get a copy of his book, uh, guys, and um follow him on the internet. He's a very interesting uh individual who has worked with many celebrities, and I hope you enjoyed the photos that I have been showing. And I hope you enjoyed the podcast. I got so many more interesting guests coming to take a fashion seat. Have a great night.