Defying the Odds: From Olympic Gold to Hollywood Stunts: A Journey of Resilience with René Felton Besozzi

Deneen L. Garrett:00:04 00:17 This week's guest is René Felton Besozzi, a woman who coached athletes to win Olympic gold medals and a therapist. Renee, tell us more about you because I know that there's so much more.
René Felton Besozzi:00:19 01:20 I don't know where to begin. I'm a track and field coach and a trauma therapist. I worked with I worked with and I still working with international athletes. So the 40 meter hurdles and the long jump, which is my son, who's a long jumper here in Italy. Um, I've coached my son to, um, all the gold medals, um, except for the Olympic gold, which we hopefully will work on. Um, this time around, I don't know. Um, he's had the European championships, the world championships, um, indoor and outdoor, the junior world double gold. And then I had, um, as a 40 meter hurdler, the American, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The Dominican 400 meter hurdler, Felix Sanchez. I worked with him for four years from 2008 to 2012, where he did the gold medal for the Dominican Republic. And I work with Hollywood stunt professionals, working on their traumatic injuries. I've been doing that for the past four and a half years.

Deneen L. Garrett:01:21 01:25 Okay. Now, do they come to you in Italy or do you go to?

René Felton Besozzi:01:25 01:35 Well, I go back and forth. I go to Los Angeles. I do, um, uh, four or five months in Los Angeles. Then I come back home. So I go back and forth and back and forth.

Deneen L. Garrett:01:35 01:39 Got it. Got it. And I know, um, that you recently became a grandmother.

René Felton Besozzi:01:39 02:32 Yes, I did on the Valentine's day. I'm so happy to see this news because it's my, um, it's Andrew's first child. It's a girl. Her name is Anna. And I'm just, I'm just elated to have this new experience of being a grandmother. You know, it's it's I don't know how you can explain or express the sensation you have when you're holding your son's child for the first time. It's, it's something that you don't understand until you actually experience it. And it's beautiful. Yeah, beautiful. Yeah. She looks just like a Andrew. She took after Andrew. She's long. She's a big girl. And I baptized her, you know, spiritually as being the first Italian woman who will run the 100 meters under 11 seconds because her mother's Italian.

Deneen L. Garrett:02:32 02:40 Yes. Is Andrew the son who you train or do you train both of your sons?

René Felton Besozzi:02:40 02:46 I train both of them, but Andrew's the one who does the long jump. My other son does the 400 meter hurdles.

Deneen L. Garrett:02:46 04:06 Okay, okay. So I'm excited to share how we connected. So for those who know or don't know, a new mission of mine, and this is a recent mission, is to inspire 100 Black art collectors. And so one of the ways that I'm doing that is by educating around Black women in art. So every Wednesday on LinkedIn, and I also share it to other social media, I post about a Black woman in art. She's either an artist or a gallerist, but she has some affiliation with art. And so the second artist that I posted about Is artist lane who happens to be and I call her a Detroit Canadian painter and sculptor because she is from Canada. However, yes, resides in Detroit. So I had posted it on Instagram a few weeks ago and then. Renee happened to comment on the post, and then we connected that way. And then I saw that actually Artis's, her team had reposted it. And so I'm sure that's how Renee saw that. So Renee, tell us about your connection with this brilliant woman.

René Felton Besozzi:04:06 06:03 Oh, Artis Lane was, is, always will be my mentor. I met her in 1981. After I had beat the Russian in an indoor competition, her husband saw me walking along the beach and he recruited me to go to his wife's studio. At first, I didn't like, like, wait a minute, who's this beautiful Italian man trying to pick me up? And then for whatever reason, I believed him. I went in his van to his wife's studio and I met this beautiful woman. Her name was artists land and she was doing work for the 1984 Olympic Games. She wanted to do work with athletes. Okay, and so we met for the first time, and we connected immediately. And I began understanding what her work was about and what she's about. And she just became like my mother almost immediately because you know, she's an older woman. And we, I don't know how to explain how our relationship evolved, but it just evolved into me, um, actually staying in her studio, working, uh, helping her to keep her studio order and being her model. I modeled, um, all of the, um, hurdle hurdlers work. And then when I got pregnant with Andrew, I did all the, um, birthing, um, sculptures that you see. Um, celebration of life is what we call it. And I did countless of poses for her that are still being sold today. So I was very happy to see when, when I saw you post it about her, I had to comment about it because I noticed that the hurtler, um, which is one of my more famous, uh, works that she did on me, um, is still, uh, alive and it's still being sold. Uh, 40 year, 44 years later. Wow. Yeah.

Deneen L. Garrett:06:06 06:19 Wow is right. Yeah. Cause that was actually one of the photos that I had included. And so it was just such an amazing experience for me to hear from you. So now when you say her studio, are we talking about in LA because she did live?

René Felton Besozzi:06:19 07:26 It was in LA. Okay. Um, she had an art studio, a very beautiful art studio, uh, in LA, no, actually in Santa Monica at the time. This is back in 1984. 83, no, 81, 82, 83, 84. And I would even I even lived in her loft. And in the studio, I'm like, because I worked for Santa Monica Police Department. At the time, I'm like, Well, this would be great. I could just live here. And I'm paid rent, you know, and then modeled. And I was like, walking distance to my job. So it was like the perfect combination of me being able to be depicted in art. While I was competing. And working on my then degree in sociology, psychology and criminal psychology, I was working with first time offenders at the Santa Monica Police Department as a police cadet. I was a student at UCLA and I was working at the police cadet like half time, part time. So I was able to be a model, an athlete and a student living there in Santa Monica.

Deneen L. Garrett:07:26 08:14 I mean, it's so beautiful because I so whenever, you know, a few years ago when my son and cousin and I were out there, you know, whenever my son and I travel, I'm like, hey, where would you want to live? You know, when we're somewhere. And so we were of course, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, L.A., Inglewood, Santa Barbara. And so for me, I'm like, I would love to live in Venice Beach. So kind of like you were able to live. And I said, and I'm OK with living in somebody's room, like having a house. So kind of like your experience in Santa Monica is something that, you know, I would love to experience as well. And the crazy thing is, too, for me is many, many years ago, I was in Venice Beach and I'm walking, right? So I'm just walking. And then next thing you know, I'm in Santa Monica. I had no clue that, you know, they were pretty much attached.

René Felton Besozzi:08:16 08:38 Yes, yes, I still. Well, they're starting to clean up Venice Beach. I don't know if you know about the homeless crisis. I don't know which state that you live in, but Venice Beach really degraded, unfortunately, because they let the homeless problem get out of hand. So I don't know if you'd want to live down there now.

Deneen L. Garrett:08:38 09:03 Well, you know what? So last time I probably was in Venice Beach maybe two summers ago. And so, yeah, I mean, there, yes, LA has that huge problem. They're not, they're kind of like localized. You know what I'm saying? So as far as the homes in the area, it's still beautiful, still has its beauty. So yeah, but I'm sure nothing like back in 1984, though.

René Felton Besozzi:09:03 10:28 But yeah, I mean, no, 1984, it was beautiful. I mean, I don't understand how the the California government allowed it to get that bad. It boggles my mind because even then you can start to see little remnants of it, but, and they were more disciplined. The police officers were more disciplined. You really couldn't be a vagrant around, you know, they would give you, they would arrest you if you were like homeless. And, you know, it was like, don't, you know, I liked more the policing then because it made you be responsible for yourself. Okay. After they became more lenient, it just snowballed into the problem that there is today. Yeah. So I'm like, we should they I mean, I mean, now I don't know what's going on now because I'm not into the I'm not into the politics of Los Angeles and Venice Beach and things like that. And when I go to Los Angeles, I used to stay with other friends or I rent out an Airbnb and I just work with the Hollywood stunt professionals. So I just kind of mind my own business. And if I'll go to Santa Monica Beach just to relax, but then I'll just, you know, yeah, do my thing and not go to Venice Beach at all. We will not be going to Venice Beach today because it's gotten so bad. Where do you live at, may I ask? I'm actually in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. You're in Detroit? So you're able to go see, did you go see artists' work in life?

Deneen L. Garrett:10:29 10:50 I'm trying, I'm trying to connect with her. Yeah, and so you mentioned, so you mentioned earlier that she's still alive and you know. Yes, she is. She's 90 something years old, so for those who don't know her, Artist Lane, and beautiful, oh my gosh. Yes, she is, yes she is. She looks like nobody's 90, okay, and she's 90.

René Felton Besozzi:10:50 11:07 No, she does not. Yes. I will send you her number by personal message when we're done so that you can reach out to her and go and see her work because it is something to see.

Deneen L. Garrett:11:07 11:22 Yes. And so the reason why I chose her to feature is because I have one of her pieces. I have one of her nudes. What do you have? I'm sorry? I'm sorry, what do you have? It's a nude, one of her nudes. Oh, wow.

René Felton Besozzi:11:22 11:22 Yay.

Deneen L. Garrett:11:23 11:51 is what I heard news. And, um, um, and it, it fits for me because I'm in my falling in love with myself and my body. Okay. Yeah. And so it's a reminder for me to love on myself, to love my life is right. Um, and what it does for me. And I absolutely love that, but yeah, I would love to meet her. So yes, if you can make that connection, it's I will absolutely do that.

René Felton Besozzi:11:51 12:08 I will absolutely do that because it's her personal number. So I will let her know that you're going to reach out to her. And and then you to connect. I wouldn't that would be nice. That would be really nice. Yes.

Deneen L. Garrett:12:08 12:23 Yes. Absolutely. So you mentioned about working with the Santa Monica police, which which kind of explains a little bit about how you got into. the Hollywood stunt scene, right?

René Felton Besozzi:12:23 22:45 No, no, no, no, no. I worked in the Santa Monica Police Department in the 80s. I didn't start working with Hollywood stunt professionals until like four years ago. And it happened just by accident because my life has always been in sports. So I was a coach, you know, and a therapist and always in the world of sports. working with high-end athletes, football players, basketball players, track and field athletes. And then one day I had this epiphany, this dream, after I saw John Wick 2, that I needed to help stunt professionals. So I wake up from this dream, I'm like, okay, God's calling me to reach out to stunt professionals. So I tried reaching out to stunt people. I've never in my life heard of, like, where are stunt people, things like that. I had no idea where they were. I was doing a children's seminar of how parents should take care of injuries. It was my friend's track team and he asked me if I would talk to parents about caring for young athletes. Since my son, I raised him to be a successful double gold medalist in the Junior World Championships, etc. I said, sure. And I met this French woman who asked me if I would do a session with this particular device that I work with on her husband. I'm like, sure. And then from there, she had a friend and who was had back issues. And she's a very spiritual woman. And I'm like, okay, this is you know, you're very spiritual. And what was the clincher was her as I was packing up to go her daughter comes into the room. and tells her mom, mom, don't forget to have dad get my tickets from Taylor Swift. And I'm like, Oh my God, your husband knows Taylor Swift? And she responds, he's her dentist. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Do you have any stunt people who are your husband's clients? And she says, I think so. And I said, well, pass this number on. Because you know, God asked me to help stunt people. So I'm leaving for Italy on Wednesday. I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow. So pass it on and whatever's gonna come is gonna come. So I get on the plane just before I'm getting on the plane, my phone rings, I forgot to turn it off. And it was a stunt man. And I said, Oh, my God, let me talk. Let me call you when I land in Italy. So I arrived back home. And I I talked to him and I said, okay, what's going on? And he explained to me that he had a traumatic injury and that he needed to have work done because he was about to work with Quentin Tartino, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, shoot, you know, I'm a private, I work by myself. So you could just fly me out there, you know, Airbnb me up and, and, um, and I told him my monthly price by my hourly wage. And he's like, Oh my God, I don't, can't afford that. Mind you that I was used to working with professional NFL players. So I've worked with many Machado and Eric Berry and all these professional NFL players. I've worked with, um, uh, Breland, uh, what was the, um, one of the cornerbacks for the Kansas City Chief when they won the Super Bowl in 2019 or something like that. So I've worked with NFL players, so I'm used to a certain level of income, you know. And so this man says, well, I can't afford that. He says, well, I don't understand. How are you paid? If you're about to work on the movie with Quentin Tartino, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, aren't you paid the same? He says, Oh, no, ma'am. We stunt people are not paid the same. And I said, Oh, okay. Well, I tell you what, whenever I go back to Los Angeles, I will, I will look you up again. Four months had passed and it was August of 2018. I think it was yet 2018. And Manny Machado calls me back to Los Angeles because the Dodgers were preparing for the world series. and I fly back to Los Angeles, and I remember to call this young man. And so I just called him up on the phone and said, you know, I promised to call you when I got back to Los Angeles. And he goes, oh my God, can you help me? And I'm like, oh my God, what's going on? He said, do you remember that problem I told you about four months ago? I'm like, yeah. He said, if I don't resolve that problem by Monday, I have to quit the job. I'm like, you mean to tell me? We're talking about the same injury that you had four months ago?" He said, yes, and if I understood how much money I was going to spend, I would have just thrown you back out here. I'm like, oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like, but I'm on another job. I can only work with you on the weekends when I'm off. So I went to work with him on the weekend. he comes to the door and he the poor guy is so I have never seen such a trauma state in my life. So I go into his house, and I work on him for three hours, like three and a half hours, just to get some of the pain down. And he goes, Oh my god, that was amazing. I said, Yes, but I'm going to need to do at least three. Can you afford three sessions? And he says, Yes, because it was obvious that he had a very modest home. And he had roommates. So I'm like, Oh, okay, now I get it. And so I said, Well, you know what, I'm on another job. And God has blessed me with this job. So I you know, just pay me whatever you want. Pay me for an hour massage. I don't care. He says, But ma'am, you've been here for three hours. And I said, Well, that's okay. Because I'm, you know, working on another job and God asked me to help you. And so it's okay, but I need to do three. Can you afford three? And he says, Yes, I can do three. And I said, Okay, I need I'll come back tomorrow, which was a Saturday. So I go back the next day. I had my backpack prepared to go to the beach. Because I'm like, okay, it's Santa Monica, it's Saturday, I don't have nothing to do. I'll do an hour treatment on this guy, then I'll go to the beach. When I got to his home, there were five stunt people, one more broken in the other. And I just went, Oh, okay, what's going on here? And he said, Can you help us all? And I'm like, uh, yeah, just order me some pizza. And I stayed there all day. And I worked on everybody. And I said, I need to understand what's going on here. Why? Why are you? Why do you guys all need to take care of your own injuries? And they began to explain to me the problem. And the problem is something so devastating that it just inspired me to create my own a nonprofit funder so I can raise money. This is my logo. I don't know if you can see it. This is my logo. Yes. It's called Stunt Care and Sports Association nonprofit. So it's a nonprofit. I want to raise money to I can hire other therapists who can help me take care of these injured, these injured stunt people. But I want the service for the stunt person to be for free, like it is in the sports world. Because in the sports world, the sponsors pay the company that I represent, Nike, Puma, and Adidas. So the athlete within their contract has the physical therapy stipend. So the athlete never has to pay for therapy. They get therapy for free because we, the therapist, the winter care, are paid by the sponsors. Well, in Hollywood, It's a quite different story. Kind of a sad story, but it's one that makes you go, Oh, well, our dollars for our problems, you know, and stunt people are pretty much on their own. And now with the all the insurance regulations, if you don't work a certain amount of jobs or if you don't earn a certain amount of money per year, you don't even qualify for health coverage. So you really are on your own. When stunt people, men and women, get the brunt or the slap in the face with regards to being able to take care of themselves, they have to pay out of pocket. So a lot of them just they will do what they got to do injured until they can't do it anymore. I've worked with helped and saved over 100 stunt people by myself. That's and so thank you so much. And, and I'm like, I need help. I can't do this all by myself. You know, so on me as for you mentioned that go fund me was because last year I had a stroke. So I've been out of commission for a year and I'm just getting back on my feet. And so the GoFundMe page, um, is to help me, uh, economically, um, get back on my feet because I'm, I'm self funded. Everything I earn for myself, I reinvest in myself with my plane tickets, with my Airbnb and, and just, uh, uh, my, my rent here, you know, the basic cost of living. Yeah. And so, um, When I had the stroke, obviously, I went down and was not able to work for a year. And so I'm just now being able to work, you know, I'm still on a little bit of disability here in Italy. And so I'm not really able to work right now. But you know, hopefully I'm getting better. Yeah, I'm getting better. And so my GoFundMe is to help me, you know, meet the cost of living as I am still spearheading this project of helping the 100% professional.

Deneen L. Garrett:22:45 24:12 Yes. I want to stop here because what I want to emphasize is, you know, you felt the call to work with stunt people and you were at a dentist appointment or met some people, however it happened. And you said, you know what? Let me ask them to connect me with some people in this world, in this space, right? And so what's important for those that are listening or watching is that she opened her mouth and she asked for what she wanted. Yes, she got it. She was connected with somebody really immediately, right? And then as far as how they got together, you know, that that's a different story, which she did explain to us. But the point is, when you want something, you have to ask. You have to get very clear about what it is you want. And then you have to go out there and make it happen for yourself. And so that's this podcast, Women of Color, an intimate conversation is about empowering women of color. and elevated spaces. And so you're a black woman, you're in Italy, you've been surrounded by men in sports and in the stock world. So thinking about the things that you've done to navigate these spaces, what would you tell women of color, black women to do so that they could tap into their power and voice? Like what three words of encouragement?

René Felton Besozzi:24:12 25:09 Three words of encouragement? Don't give up. You got to believe in yourself. You got to just do it. Listen to that voice. If it says, Oh, I can, and I will. And you must do. I'm like, I had this really beautiful epiphany that said, that woke up like God was telling me I was, you know, going through my own personal crisis. And God said, I need you to stand up and claim who you are. I am I am a great therapist. I am a great coach. And I want to be loved. and I can love. So I'm like, oh, okay. So you have to pronounce, demand, command who you are, what you are and what you want to do in order to get the universe and God to do, put into action what you are trying to do.

Deneen L. Garrett:25:09 26:12 Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And someone had posted today on LinkedIn, they were posting something around fear. And, you know, I reposted and I add my thoughts. And what I said is often when I hear fear, like when people are talking about, you know, fear, I always remember the movie A Kilo of the Bee and I remember the point. Oh, yes. Right. And it's in the thing that stands out is that, you know, we really are often we're fearful of being successful. where, you know, we have that because we don't know it. Right. It's an unknown for us. So we don't know it. So we're fearful of that as opposed to necessarily being a failure. Right. We're really afraid of that success because we don't know it. And then it's like, you know, you know, why don't we have the audacity to, you know, stand up strong and say, I am like you said, right. I am. I want this, I'm going to have this, right? And so absolutely, we need to really push ourselves to tap into our power and voice and just, like you said, Nike it and just do it.

René Felton Besozzi:26:12 27:06 Yes, it's like every once in a while I will lay in bed at night and I'll say, OK, I can. I must. I will. I am a great therapist. I'm a great coach and I'm a great therapist. I want to love and I want to be loved. That's my like saying I stay in there and I pronounce it, I acknowledge it, and I command it. And then, I don't know how to, I want to say that in Italian. I said in Italian, you have to pronounce or acknowledge the maximum of your power. without being afraid of anything or anybody.

Deneen L. Garrett:27:06 27:56 You know what, I love that in English and in Italian. So what, however language, but I want to go back to this love thing that you mentioned, right? Because so I was in Baltimore over the weekend and talking about relationships and whatnot. And it was interesting because there was a young man who he came to my panel and he's like, Oh my God, you know, I saw your panel. blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, we started talking about relationships. And so that was like the topic. Right. And one of the things that, you know, we said is people don't, you know, they don't hook you up anymore. Like there was a time when someone said, oh, I have a friend for you to meet. And yeah, I remember those days. Right. And I'm like, that doesn't really happen anymore. But you're in Italy and like, oh, my God. Like, yes. Love in Italy. So how did you get there?

René Felton Besozzi:27:58 31:02 How do I get here? I met an Italian man 1989-1990. We connected and And then we got married a year later, and Andrew was like four. And I always knew, I always knew I would live in a foreign country. Always. Since like, since I was a young girl, I was in high school, I was always involved in foreign exchange programs. And I always felt like I was going to, I was just destined to be in Europe, for whatever reason. And so I met this man, his name, and then we got married. And since I was still competing in track and field, I wanted to try to qualify for the 92 Olympic Games. So I wanted, but I also wanted to run for my husband's country. You know, this is a very, I'm a very romantic person at the time. And I'm like, Oh, my God would be so beautiful. So I was on the Santa Monica track team. And my coach then was Joe Douglas. And he said, Renee, ask, call the Federation. and asked for Sandro Giovinelli, this man, and see which city they think would be the best for you to go and move over to Italy. And so there was this, I called Sandro Giovinelli and told him about my times and my desire to, you know, do track and field in Italy. And he suggested that I come to this town called Riti. Now Riyiti was very, very famous for a very famous track meet. It was the Mecca of track and field in Europe. In Europe, track and field is done 11 months a year, 10 months a year, indoor season, outdoor season. It's where all the Americans come to Europe to make the real money because they have the Diamond League, the Golden League. They have just everything track and field. in Europe. So if you want to make money as an athlete, you come to Europe. I remember, you know, before, like in 1981 and 82, I was hearing about the older athletes going to Europe and doing the circuit. I'm like, Oh God, I want to do that one day. So it was my turn. And so Senator Domenelli gave me the advice to, I mean, Joe Douglas gave me the advice to go to this little town in Rieti. So my husband and I pack up our bags. This is in the 90s where there's no internet and everything's done by phone. So we packed up the bags, sight unseen, and we arrived in Rome to Rieti. And when I walked on the track for the first time, I saw all of these children The City of Riyiti has one of the most amazing children's programs I've ever seen. And I fell in love at first. I said, Andrew can grow up here. And I've come to Riyiti and my son, then my son flew over. I came and left my son with my mother until I settled down. So we got an apartment and I flew my son over and the rest is history.

Deneen L. Garrett:31:02 31:09 Wow. That's amazing. So you met your husband in the United, you met your Italian husband in the United States?

René Felton Besozzi:31:09 31:38 Yeah, he's my ex now, so. He was not loving on himself and I could not, it was, you know, I could not baby him and then take care of two other children because then Jeremy was born five years later. Okay. So I had two kids, they were 10 years apart, you know, and he just wasn't stepping up to the plate. So I just let him go. You know what? You got to do your thing. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't babysit you.

Deneen L. Garrett:31:39 32:40 Oh, yeah, you know what I meant to tell you so right after we connected and you mentioned that you were around and I'm like, okay, I'm going to come out there on TV Roku. There was a program. It's still on there, but it was crazy because, you know, that attract in a manifesting it was meet me in Rome. I think is the name of the program and it's about. women from the U.S. who go over to Rome to find love. But it was just, it was just so, you know, coincidental, you know, like the stars, the universe and everything aligning because, you know, we met, you're in Rome. I said I would visit and then hear the show. So it was kind of like confirmation, like I believe in signs and things like that. Yes. So that's kind of what what it was for me. OK, so we're at the end. We're about to wrap up. So Typically, I ask about living a dream lifestyle, dreams deferred. What would you like to leave those who are watching or listening, what would you like to leave them with? And again, the podcast is about empowering women of color.

René Felton Besozzi:32:40 34:07 Do your thing. Don't let anybody stop you. You're going to get roadblocks, and the roadblocks are just there to guide you to the road that you should be on. Sometimes a roadblock means don't go that way, because as God said, no, that's the wrong way. Go over here. So a roadblock can also be a good sign. So I've had a lot of those experiences in my life like, oh, my God, had I gone there, I would have gone in the wrong direction. Thank you. Keep going. And then that's how I keep going. I just I know that there are everything is a struggle. But that struggle is just to prime you like, you know, how you prepare. It's like you, you're trying to prime gold. You it's got to go through a process before it becomes pure. Yeah. So the process is often very hard, very difficult, sometimes painful, but just keep going through the process. Because as long as you're going to the process of the goal, you're going to get there. And that's what I say, don't ever give up, even especially on the hard days. And when you when the days are hard, just take a deep breath, relax, go have some tea, meditate for five minutes, 10 minutes, 11 minutes, say, okay, regroup, and then keep going and keep going forward.

Deneen L. Garrett:34:07 34:16 I love it. I appreciate it. Rene Felton-Basosi. Thank you. Thank you so much for lending your voice on women of color and enjoy the rest.

René Felton Besozzi:34:16 34:24 Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I was happy to speak. My pleasure. Bye bye.