November 14, 2024 • 34 mins
Grammy nominated singer, actress, and producer Lisa Yaro shares her journey from Nigeria to the United States, her passion for entertainment, and the importance of faith in overcoming life's challenges. She discusses the impact of social media on mental health, the significance of staying true to one's purpose, and the lessons learned from personal struggles. Lisa emphasizes the need for resilience, self-discovery, and the power of community support in navigating life's ups and downs. Check out her new single "Mahogany" on all platforms Watch Done There, Been That Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIpZbm-QVsFn7zeLKbx02cKfs8ZzU1cnw
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the inflection collective father for a connective, reflective perspective, perspected, defensive, shat,
no cat despect facts of kickback.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Here for stundre fit that. All right, we're back for
another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I guess if you'll continue to watch what we're doing
something right, I think. So we're here is the Done
There Have Been That Podcast. I'm your host, Mike Hill.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's my man from Salam. Thank you guys for joining us.
Happy that you're subscribing, you're liking. Just know we're doing
this for you, not us.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, we're talking about the things we've gone through, the
things we've seen, and trying to help other people out.
And then we bring on special guests to do that
as well. And today we got a very special guest,
very lovely young lady, beautiful young lady.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Very talented. She's an entertainer, she's an influencer.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
She's a singer, she's an actress's old boss ce old
boss from Nigeria.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm pretty sure she made some good job.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Off last as they say, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Slow down so much. It is Lisa, y'allro hanging. I
would have said on the Done There Have Been That
podcast what's up?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
How are you guys doing great?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
How are you doing?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm blessed. Thank you for having me first of.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
All, allowing us to uh to have you and then
be a part of this journey with us.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Definitely Nigeria, Nigeria.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell us about Nigeria, Like, what was your experience like
growing up there and then coming to the States.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
So it was a very interesting experience, to say the least,
because you know, growing up there partly raised and coming
to the States almost ten years old.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
It was a.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Shock in the sense of, you know, no one spoke
the language that I spoke, you know, going up to people,
I'm like, aw, y'are dad, and They're like.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
You're in America, speak English? Are okay? I'm like, hi,
nice to meet you.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
You know, like having to adjust and it was interesting,
you know, I will definitely say we weren't as accepted,
you know back then growing up.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
What part of the States did you move to first.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Lakewood Long Beach area.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Yeah, yeah, definitely so and not funny enough. I grew
up next to war g oh really yeah, yes, yes, yes,
and his knees. So that was an interesting experience, like
living in Lakewood Long Beach area, and then you know,
transitioning from Nigeria, not knowing people, but you know, adjusting.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So that's all life is adjusting.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Like what was the biggest thing the language barrier of course,
but in terms of stepping in the school right like
ten eleven years old, that could be overwhelming. What were
some of the things that you know made you feel
(03:03):
out of kids?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Could be mean? Right?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Was there a person or friend that you met that
helped ease that transition for you?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
I mean I spoke English so fresh off the boat.
But you know, I know, I understand the question.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I will say that, you know, finding like minded people,
people who are from other countries as well, you know,
tend to find a connection and resonate with you on
you know, how it's like to be in a country
that you're just acclimating to. So definitely, you know, I
had friends who were from different ethnicities, at different backgrounds
and just kind of band together, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And obviously you have a gift. I mean, you're very talented.
Did you know about this gift early on? Is this
something that came later on in life? When did you
first know that? Okay, entertainment, It's like, you know, it's
kind of my bad.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
So funny enough, when I was younger, I used to
always walk around with a poetry book.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So I used to write poems and like haikus and.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I was I was the theater kid, but I was
the athlete as well.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And the book with nerd you know. So I was
like very good in school. I did track, I did basketball,
I did volleyball. Yeah, oh you know she could run
on lace up?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
You did them? But were you good at him?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I was really good at them? So hold on. My
dad ran in the Olympics for Nigeria. He was a
track runner, so kind of.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Me.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Yeah, definitely. So I always would walk around with the
poetry book.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I knew I wanted to be a doctor growing up,
but I also, you know, knew that I loved writing.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then I started realizing.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I was like, hey, you know these songs on the radios,
like this is just lyrics, so putting melody to the lyrics,
and I was like, oh wait, I could do this.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
You know. Of course your family's like doctor, a lawyer,
pick one period.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I was every time you hear somebody from Africa West,
I forget. It's like what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Are you a doctor?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
So do you have those.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Even though your your dad was an olympian himself, did
he kind of steer you towards something that was stable?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Like beyond that.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Last enough to say that my parents never pressured me
into being something.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I was the one that was, you know, young.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Like on to be a doctor, to be doctors like okay,
and then I you know, stuck with it until you know,
later on in life where I was like, I'm going
to be a songwriter.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
They're like songwriter. Where was this shift that? Yeah, but
you know they're very supportive.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You mentioned athletics at one point, your dynamic athlete.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Did you see that as your.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Path right whatever that would, whether it be track, whether
it be basketball. Did you see that as you know,
kind of following in your father's footsteps.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Absolutely, I will say, because is my passion for sports.
I love it and you know I grew up around it.
It's what I knew, what I loved. I definitely will
say volleyball I was supposed to play overseas I ended
up tearing my a cl and shattering my meniscus.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yes, the same time, Yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Not even at the same time, on tape on tape, yes,
right before nationals and during our regional competition.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I will say, well, my brothers took it from me
because I used to watch it all the time and
they were like, that's not healthy. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I would watch it and like what went wrong?
Speaker 5 (06:37):
And I'm just like, oh wow. I was like, God,
you know why. At first I was like why me?
And God's like, you may not understand now, but things
happened for a reason.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So it's one of the reasons we want to have
you on here because the topic of this show is
faith and faith helps with your faith, Yes, keeping your
faith despite everything. Sometimes one of my biggest sayings is
your burdens will turn into blessings as long as you
learn the lessons.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
When I tell you I just had this conversation the
other day, it's very true.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So when you go through that, you got your mindset saying, hey,
maybe pursuing athletics, but because of this terrible incident where
you had this and you know obviously this injury, it
kind of shifted your mindset towards something else, which led
to where you are right now.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
You'll exactly, I definitely agree with that, and I always say,
you know, oftentimes you proceed things this failure instead of
looking at it that way, like find the good, find
the lesson, find the blessing within that, then it's never
a failure.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So talking about faith and faith, faith and faith the
younger generation, what would be your message to them in
terms of we all have this grand design about what
we want to do, where we want to go in
the path that we think can lead us there. As
(07:59):
you just said, with the horrific injury, you had thoughts
on where you were going to go with athletics. It
didn't work, you had the faith to continue to push,
and now you're at a place where you may not
have even arrived if you would have stuck with athletics.
So many times in a younger generation now, once a
(08:21):
road ends are an opportunity, changes are shifts. There's this
notion to give up to chase another dream and not
the dream that you want. What would be your message
to them in terms of how to regulate what you
think your faith is and how faith plays a part
in that.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
So I think first and foremost, I would say, define
what your purpose is and be honest with yourself on
what that is and figure out the steps that you're
going to need to accomplish that. And that's not saying,
you know, looking ten years from now. It's saying, what
do I need to do right now to be better?
What do I need to do tomorrow when tomorrow comes
to be better? And you know those building blocks, you know,
(09:03):
they formulate into your purpose. They're leading down that path
of your purpose. And oftentimes people when when one door closes,
you know.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
God opens a window.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
So you know, something that you may look as a failure,
God's like, that's a detour, and I'm just shifting and
realigning you so you have better views on what your
purpose is. And I've gone through it many times. You know,
I'm sure you guys can relate to entrepreneur. You know,
working for yourself, you have to be your biggest fan.
(09:33):
You have to motivate yourself to get up and pursue
that passion. Days you don't feel like it, days you
do feel like it, you still have to wake up,
put a smile on your face, and chip away and say, okay, today,
what do I need to do now?
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I don't want to go to the gym. I want
to eat this donut.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
But if I eat this donut, it's not going to
help me to days for now, a year from now,
you know, So let me put money in the bank
that's going to actually result in the purpose full future
that I want. So I just you know, stick to
the path. You know, in life it's all a race,
and you're in your own lane. And oftentimes people are
so consumed with trying to be in someone else's lane
(10:08):
and say, well, God, you know, why does their house
look bigger? Why does this happen? And why are they
getting their blessings now? And God's like, you have no idea.
If you stay the course, stay focused, what I have
for you exceeds what you are seeing. And if you
keep looking to the left and the right, you're never
going to finish that race because you're always worried about
what the next person is doing.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Just stay the course, stay focused.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And to that point, with social media the way it
is now, right, like, how do you navigate that? Because
social media can have you think in a whole nother way.
Like you you're watching other people and you're like, oh,
I knew her, we came up together, and now she's
doing this, And in reality, most of what you see
(10:52):
on social media, yep, right, it's.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
A it's a facade. It really is.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
And I think social media is a blessing and a curse.
It's a blessing because you're able to use that platform
to propel yourself in your career and whatever your purpose is.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
It's a curse to those who.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Are not grounded in who they are and are not
aware that, you know, what people show or the highlight
reels of their life. People don't show, you know, the downs.
You know, they don't show the failures, they don't show
the sadness. A lot of people want to put that
best foot forward to impress, keeping up with the Joneses, right,
(11:34):
And for me, I look at social media and i
take it like a grain of salt because I'm like, yeah,
you know some people are on there. Oh I'm so happy.
Oh this is great. And it's like, if that's true,
I'm happy for you. Lord knows what's happening behind closed doors,
you know. So make sure you're focused on what you're
doing and you're not consumed with oh man, this person
(11:54):
just got a Grammy, this person just got this, Like
where am I? Now you're taking the focus off of
what you need to do and now you're you know,
deterring your progress.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Tracking with your sister. I'm the same way when it
comes to that. I've always said that as a public figure,
as a so called entertainer or whatnot, I think it's
our responsibility. If we're going to be on social media,
if we're going to endorse certain great things about life, Hey,
I'm wearing these type of shoes, I'm wearing these clothes,
I got this kind of chain on or whatever. You
can also endorse things that make sense. It's going to
(12:24):
help better your community. And that's one of the reasons
why I going there and I talk about mental health,
I talk about the ups and the downs of my life.
How important do you believe it is for public figures
to share a little bit more of that? And still
I think there's a there's a fine line we get
because I've been told, hey, don't put too much on there.
You still got to put a perception out there. People
(12:46):
don't want to hear your bad news all the time,
so there has to be a balance. But I believe
it is important that we show true to life. Hey,
we're human just like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
God's working with me on that.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Because I'm such a private person, right and I find
avenues and outlets to you know, show a bit of myself,
like through my acting. Oftentimes people will come up to
me and like, you know, like, oh, I didn't think
you'd be like goofy, you're funny.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Or like down to earth. I'm like what you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
But so I was like finding outlets through like doing
comedy on social media, just to kind of show that
side of me. God has been working with me to
be more open as far as you know, being vulnerable
and talking about, you know, the ups and downs of
being an entrepreneur, because a lot of people will.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
See and they're like, oh man, things are great, and
I'm like, hey, Jesus hobby. I was like, you know,
they're great by God's grace.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
But you don't see, you know, the opportunities that at
one point I saw were failures, but have you know,
pulled the lessons out of them. But you don't see
the things I had to do to pull myself out
of certain situations that I anticipated one way and God said, no, sweetheart,
it's this way, you know. And it's like, oh, okay,
I've learned not to question God. So I'm definitely in
(14:02):
a season of being more expressive and letting people in
and seeing the journey because you never know who will
see that and who will get inspired by that, because
you know, you have to inspire yourself, you have to
motivate yourself. But it helps knowing that at least I
can inspire someone else.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Look, we can inspire each other. Hold me accountable. I
need it, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
So that's all I was talking about. I think the
failure is more important sometimes in.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
The success asences to show.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
The failures, to let people know, hey, man, Like we
was here talking to Hebrew on another episode of the
artist's Name Hebrew up Brentley, and he was talking about
what people see are the success stories. They don't see
how many times he balled up a painting or whatever
and things just didn't work out for him or whatever.
And I think it's important for us to actually show, hey,
this is what I've gone through to get here.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
This is the lesson I learned from that. You know.
I talked about when I lost my job.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
In Dallas and how that happened and what kind of
depression it put me in. But it was the best
thing that ever happened.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
To me, And you couldn't see that at the moment.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Oh, I couldn't like God what he do. I'm like
asking God, do you want me to do something else?
So to my point, when you go through these circumstances,
the difficult times, and your faith is tested, how do
you maintain that that that that's the strength? I should
say to keep going even though all avenues and all
(15:19):
the signs of pointing towards Hey, you might need to
shift gears. But when you feel it in your gut
and you know that there's something that's more than God
wants you to have, how do you keep that?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That that the pursuit going.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Two things prayer and worship. Those are the two things
I pray all the time. I thank God. Whether I
see the blessing in front of me or not, I
claim it as it is because God has already made
it possible for me. He's just setting up the steps
to get there. So I'm like, thank you Lord for
the blessings, Thank you Lord for what you're doing in
(15:50):
my life. Thank you Lord for what you're about to
do in my life. That I have no idea about worship,
I'll be in my car singing my little heart out,
you know. So it's always good to keep yourself in
that space and have those vulnerable moments with God because
they really like it's cliches, it sounds. It really does
make a difference. It really does for your mental your
subconscious and you know, power of the tongue.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Be very mindful of what you speak into.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Your life at negative empire, yes, negative and positive and
you know, just holding yourself accountable to saying, you know,
where I'm not at is not where I'm going to be.
So I'm in a season of change, that's all it is.
I'm going to season of change.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Good about it. I'm going to season of change for better.
I'm going to season of change.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
That's great because like when you talk about faith, it's
the belief in the unseen yes right, yes, and in
a time and in the society where everything is seen.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
We just talked about social media, all.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
The streaming networks you get, you have access, you're inundated
with images.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And information, information, and so.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
This notion of having faith and believing in something that
you can't see, right, whether it's you know, believing in God, opportunities,
you know.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Whatever, these things are.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So many people struggle with this notion of faith because
they want to see it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
They want it now.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I want it to be tangible, right, and just navigating
and talking to people. You know, when we talk about
mental health and we talk about faith, and you know,
they tie in because here you are, you can be
whether it be depression, OCD, whatever those things are. Sometimes
(17:44):
you can feel lost, right, Like I remember in twenty
twenty when that hit in the pandemic and then George Floyd,
you know, anxiety was hit with anxiety and I was like,
oh God, this is over right. My wife was like,
to relax, you having a panic attack. I had never
had it before ever. I never had anxiety like at
(18:07):
that level or anything, so I didn't know what was
going on. I was always over like I'm always the
guy light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I've always had faith.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I've always believed in a higher power and believed in myself.
And we slam into twenty twenty the way we did,
and it was just like, oh, this is dark, right,
And I was open and I shared and I talked
about it, and it just.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It helps you refocus, right, don't.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Hold it in absolutely, Like, are there times where when
we talk about mental health there's a broad range of them.
Is there a time in your life where you felt
that you had to deal with mental.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Health full transparency.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
I'm blessed to say no only because my source of
strength comes from God. My world could be on fire
and I will still find happiness, peace and joy with God,
you know.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
And I think, like that's my.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Wish for everyone to have that strong of a connection
with God.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
To know that I could have been fired for my job.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
I could have lost my house, I could have you know,
I could have lost all my money. But I'm happy
because God, Oh, you must have something better in store
for me, like you are working and turning the chapter
for me. And you know, I think what I combat
depression or mental health with is staying rooted with family.
(19:41):
I'm very big on family. My family and I talk
every single day. You know, my mom's one of my
best friends, and people are like your mom. I was like, yeah,
my mom's one of my best friends. Prayer, you know,
just finding joy and peace in God really helps to
combat that. And I know it's easier said than done,
but it's kind of like going to the gym, Like
you know, it's an everyday thing. You have to work
(20:03):
on it every single day because what happens if you
don't use it? You lose it, you know, So just
trying to again focus on one day, focus on today.
I'm not I'm not worried about tomorrow. Like I don't
even want to think about what tomorrow is bringing. I
have my to do list for today, and you know
it starts with praising God and thanking him for where
I'm at, you know, and working my way down there.
So I definitely also find stability and you know, having
(20:28):
a core group of friends that you can, you know,
talk to if you have frustrating moments. You know, some
like a sound mind, sound ears like a peaceful safe space.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Every day is an opportunity.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Everyone is in your friend. Let's you know, we have
acquaintances with you.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Which you can't stand.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
Ye Are they pulling you closer to God? That's the
first question purpose pulling you closer?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And it's important because, like I said, I'm going through
a transition myself.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Where it comes and I ask for discernment.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And then there have been people who have been in
my life for the last five or six years that
I thought really close, maybe they could be lifetime friends,
And I realize you're not going with me into the
next phase in my life. Because God has elevating me
on a different level doesn't mean I don't like you.
I can still associate with you, but I don't have
to give you the access that I used to give
you because you're not serving my purpose. You're not align
with me right now, and that's so important. It's and
(21:25):
everything's a bless like even if you don't get things,
and I like, I'm fifty four years old and I'm
making transitions in my career and I'm starting to do
other things, and I don't see it happening right away.
But the faith that I have is that knowing that, Okay,
the seed has been planted exactly, and when the seed
has been planted, you don't see the seed growing and
taking root, and so sometimes the.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Seed has to grow down.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The root has to grow down to become stronger before
it actually sprouts up. And the stronger, I mean, the
further it goes down that root's reads, stronger the plant
will be. So I know that I'm nurturing the soil.
I know I'm doing everything I need to do to
make sure that when that harvest does come that I'm
gonna get a bounty for harvest. So even if I
don't see it I know it's gonna come.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
I think oftentimes we're so impatient with God when we
don't see things happen on our timeline, and we have
to constantly and I said we because me too, we
have to constantly Yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
I mean we're.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We're all sinners. We're born in the world. Said no,
one's perfect perfection?
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Does not Lord?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Ware that Lord? Where the God?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Exactly? Like why, mean, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You know?
Speaker 5 (22:31):
And God's like, you know, you just planted the seed.
Keep watering it. Just like a plant. You have to
keep watering it, keep at it, and your harvest is
gonna come and it's going to be more than you
ever imagined.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
So wow, it's it's.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Amazing you got the faith and you talked about your family.
So we we have a segment called Unfiltered. You've been
unfiltered so far you've been saying exactly, so I appreciate that,
but amazing it's done. There have been that podcast. Is
there something a moment in your life that was life altering,
that was life changing? That kind of gives you the
perspective in the thought process, the mindset that you have
(23:05):
right now where you've done there and.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You've been that.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
I will say I have always I feel like the
free spirit that have lived many lives, right, and I'm
the youngest and the only girl, so one would expect like, oh,
you know three brothers, Yes, but I was like the
tomboy growing up, you know, like oh yeah, like who's
(23:29):
messing with you?
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
Yeah, exactly, and like we're all we're all like really
good friends.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
So you know, growing up you and your siblings don't
really get along.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
But for me, I will definitely say I have lived
many lives in the sense of I knew my purpose.
I think when the trajectory for me was when I
did tear my a cl I was like, okay, new
game plan.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You know what is it?
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Lord?
Speaker 5 (23:55):
You know, just okay, I'm gonna start going down this path.
This is where you want me to go. Pray about it,
you know. Oftentimes family wasn't really like you sure, like
you don't want to be a doctor, and I was like, oh,
you know, this is this is the road I'm going,
This is my purpose, this is my passion. Again, I
was honest with myself of what I wanted, and I
was like, Okay, what are the steps I need to
accomplish that you know, now that was not an easy
(24:15):
road because you know, especially in the entertainment industry, you
have to do what you love to the point where
you're willing to do it for free.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
If you're not willing to do it for free, that's
not your last nothing. You should do it for free.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
But if you're not willing to do it for free,
if you don't have that kind of passion to do
it for free, you may want to, you know, go
back and regroup and see what your purpose really is.
So for me, you know, I would have nine to fives,
you know, random odd jobs.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
I'd go and you know.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Do background work, talent court shows. I was the enthusiastic clapper.
You know, whatever I did, I did it well.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
You know that was me. You know worked, you know,
worked at.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
The bank, and every job I did, I always excelled
at it because I was like, I'm going to always
put my best foot forward.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
But they're like, oh, you don't want I promote you movie.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I was like, oh no, I'm good, and they're like why,
like everyone wants this position. I was like, oh, because
that's not my purpose, that's not that's not my path.
I'm just here to do what I need to do
to continue to pursue that, like because if I go
down their shroad, now it's taking me off track.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
But it's like I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
He will fargo over there.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
You I'm not being on stage entertaining exactly. And then's
so funny with like my old colleagues would be like, man, you.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Always said, I'm not going to be here long. I'm
just passing through. And look at you now, like you're
on stage, You're you're doing shows, You're doing this, and
I'm like, yeah, because I knew my purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's what happens when they chase the money too instead
of the purpose.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Oh yeah, Chase got the money with Chase.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
He was the funny thing about that and the way
I got into broadcasting. You know, when I was in
the Air Force, I had a top so I had time.
I worked in the NSA at a top secret clearance.
When I was getting out of the Air Force. I had
a wife at the time, and I could have gotten
out and because of my top seed clearance, I could
have been making close to six figures. I was twenty
four years old, twenty four years old working for Boweling IVY,
(25:59):
and No, I didn't want to do that. I didn't
want to do that because I wanted to get into broadcasting.
I had sent out seventy five tapes. I got seventy
two rejections. I got three callbacks, two of them basically
telling me how bad my tape was. One of them
was Hagar Sound, Maryland, and I was living in Maryland
at the time. The day I got out of the
(26:19):
military's the day I got that job in Hagar.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Sound, Maryland.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
So I turned down almost one hundred thousand dollars a
year to follow my passion in broadcast and not knowing
that that was going to come. But I knew it,
but I didn't know. I didn't I didn't see it happening.
I knew what I felt. And then God said, state
stick with it. Don't take this job over here, because
I could follow that money, make that money, and not
follow my dream.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
How did your wife feel about that? She was supportive.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
And that's one thing about it. That's when I will
always give her credit, like we are you tight. We
didn't always go through it, obviously through the divorce, but
that's my girl now, and I'm so proud of her
because she went on to become a doctor.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
You know, what I mean.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
So after even after I divorced, so she followed her
passion or her dream as well. But I went from
possibly making six figures to my first job paying me
like six dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Lord, so imagine that tested that's so faint. Yes, faith, now,
that is faith, that's faith.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But it was like and I felt like it was
my fate because I knew this is what I was
supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
I'm supposed to be a broadcast.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Here I am thirty years later and I started making
that money that I could have gotten as working at
IBM within three years, right and then ever since then,
I'm not you know, not bragging about that, but I've
lived pretty much like yeah, but I'm also but I'm
also doing what I love like a humble bad but
(27:41):
I'm doing good.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Yes, yes, yes, yes he is.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Well.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Look you we we've gone to church in here. Can
I go to church with you?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Of course?
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Look, everyone always welcome, and I think for me, I'm
always big on, you know, giving God the glory and
the praise no matter where I'm at, wherever, I'm never
going to turn my back on Him and be ashamed
to speak about the goodness because I'm where I am
because of Him.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Whoever she dates gotta be.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Absolutely you got God by me. You got to see
God to find.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
If y'all going to worship together, if I'm well, get
a million together. If you praise God together, you can
get a meal again.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's all I'm saying. That will be a blessing. I've
been saying that I'm keeping the faith that something like
that might happen. I'm not going to get.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Stand up my God all the time.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
But next for you, Lisa work funny enough, I movie
that I was in it just came out via Lionsgate.
It's called Running on Empty and it's in theaters and
it's also on streaming platforms.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Now.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
My character is a moura. You guys should check her out.
Very funny, very hilarious.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
And then I was just in Malta for the past
month in July filming another film for Lionsgate.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And that one is this.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Okay, this one is gonna be very interesting because this
is my first like shark.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
Movie horror film. Ish.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Yeah, So my character is funny, but I had to,
you know, bring a different dynamic, you know, I will.
There are some scenes that had to be dramatic, and
you know, so she does I don't want to get away?
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Yes, no, listen, that's the whole nother story. So they
were like, they were like, you know, we.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
Your character is she's required to swim, and they're like,
you could swim?
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Like yeah, I swim? Of course.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
Why who can't swim? Who can Sola swim? And I
was like can I swim? I?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Hold I really had to ask.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
I'm like, now I could. I can go from one
point to another. I never really tested, like can you swim?
Speaker 4 (30:09):
Swim?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Swim swim?
Speaker 4 (30:10):
I figured it out.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Okay, I figured out what I tell you.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
Yeah, that was a testament to my faith because I
was like, with God, all things are possible.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
That's what my ring says, my baptism ring. So I
was like I can do it.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
I was like, okay, I just got to figure out
what I need to do and how I need to
do it. And the first day on set, they were like, okay,
we're gonna do a swim test. And mind you, I'm
the only I'm the only black actress on that.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Everybody looking at you here with yeah, wait, hold on.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
They're like, we're gonna swim from here to here, and
I'm like, Okay, then we're gonna do this. I was like, okay,
and we're gonna do this. That's like, God, come on,
tep In, I did it.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
You know, I passed and I was like, okay.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
So walking on water right, So that one I can't
say the name. Yeah, we just wrapped production on it.
But yeah, it's it's gonna be hilarious. My character, you know,
finding a balance between like, you know, being the only
black friend of the group. You don't want to be
you know, you don't want to portray yourself in a
(31:10):
certain way. So like so I gotta make her funny,
but I have to make her down earth relatable and
you know, bring a different dynamic. So which I'm glad
to say I did a cheat.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
It's a shark movie cage.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
I was in the cage. They dropped me down in
the water in the ocean. I said, oh, my answers
looking like, let me this.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Now, I'm telling you first in the movie.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
Oh you know what, I didn't die first in the movie.
I will say that much.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
So you knows the dark meet.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
So yeah, so that that film and then along in
terms of music, I have a single I just released
called Mahogany. I have another upcoming record. Yeah, thank you
you checked it out your playlist.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Okay, all right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
You can hear me on all streaming platforms Spotify, Apple,
Audio Bag, stream stream streams.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Don't download.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
The artist, no, don't download streaming Yeah, over and over again.
And I have another amazing project coming up, another song
featuring one of my good girlfriends, Bambi from Love and
Hip Hop. She's featuring all my afrobeats record killed her verse.
I'm super excited about it to just share it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
So strap scrappy.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
She's amazing, love her so her. Yes, very talented, very
very talented. So I'm excited about that project as well.
Upcoming series show I man called BFFs on Amazon Prime
season ones already out.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
Check it out. It's funny, and then we're filming season
two end of the year. It's amazing, awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
A good friend of mine rights on that show.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Holy yeah, that's who did the show us. Yeah, amazing
both of them. Love them. Yeah, good things happening. I'm
blessed to say, keep it.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Up, keep it up, keep it up. Thank you so
much for hanging out.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Sank you guys for having mean conversation.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I don't want it to end, but we have to
let it go until next time. We'll keep the conversation going.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
But why are you looking like what? Thank you? Guys?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
This has been another episode of been there, done that.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Are done on there, done there, been that, done there?
Yeah over here, they're done that. I've not been there
and done that?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Unlike will like subscribe? Yes, tune in, tune in to
more episodes. Like I said, we're doing this for you, Lisa.
Thank you so much for coming, Thank you for having
me appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Thank you next time.
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the inflection collective father for a connective, reflective perspective, perspected, defensive, shat,
no cat despect facts of kickback.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Here for stundre fit that. All right, we're back for
another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I guess if you'll continue to watch what we're doing
something right, I think. So we're here is the Done
There Have Been That Podcast. I'm your host, Mike Hill.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's my man from Salam. Thank you guys for joining us.
Happy that you're subscribing, you're liking. Just know we're doing
this for you, not us.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, we're talking about the things we've gone through, the
things we've seen, and trying to help other people out.
And then we bring on special guests to do that
as well. And today we got a very special guest,
very lovely young lady, beautiful young lady.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Very talented. She's an entertainer, she's an influencer.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
She's a singer, she's an actress's old boss ce old
boss from Nigeria.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm pretty sure she made some good job.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Off last as they say, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Slow down so much. It is Lisa, y'allro hanging. I
would have said on the Done There Have Been That
podcast what's up?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
How are you guys doing great?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
How are you doing?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm blessed. Thank you for having me first of.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
All, allowing us to uh to have you and then
be a part of this journey with us.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Definitely Nigeria, Nigeria.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell us about Nigeria, Like, what was your experience like
growing up there and then coming to the States.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
So it was a very interesting experience, to say the least,
because you know, growing up there partly raised and coming
to the States almost ten years old.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
It was a.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Shock in the sense of, you know, no one spoke
the language that I spoke, you know, going up to people,
I'm like, aw, y'are dad, and They're like.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
You're in America, speak English? Are okay? I'm like, hi,
nice to meet you.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
You know, like having to adjust and it was interesting,
you know, I will definitely say we weren't as accepted,
you know back then growing up.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
What part of the States did you move to first.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Lakewood Long Beach area.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Yeah, yeah, definitely so and not funny enough. I grew
up next to war g oh really yeah, yes, yes, yes,
and his knees. So that was an interesting experience, like
living in Lakewood Long Beach area, and then you know,
transitioning from Nigeria, not knowing people, but you know, adjusting.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So that's all life is adjusting.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Like what was the biggest thing the language barrier of course,
but in terms of stepping in the school right like
ten eleven years old, that could be overwhelming. What were
some of the things that you know made you feel
(03:03):
out of kids?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Could be mean? Right?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Was there a person or friend that you met that
helped ease that transition for you?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
I mean I spoke English so fresh off the boat.
But you know, I know, I understand the question.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I will say that, you know, finding like minded people,
people who are from other countries as well, you know,
tend to find a connection and resonate with you on
you know, how it's like to be in a country
that you're just acclimating to. So definitely, you know, I
had friends who were from different ethnicities, at different backgrounds
and just kind of band together, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And obviously you have a gift. I mean, you're very talented.
Did you know about this gift early on? Is this
something that came later on in life? When did you
first know that? Okay, entertainment, It's like, you know, it's
kind of my bad.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
So funny enough, when I was younger, I used to
always walk around with a poetry book.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So I used to write poems and like haikus and.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I was I was the theater kid, but I was
the athlete as well.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And the book with nerd you know. So I was
like very good in school. I did track, I did basketball,
I did volleyball. Yeah, oh you know she could run
on lace up?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
You did them? But were you good at him?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I was really good at them? So hold on. My
dad ran in the Olympics for Nigeria. He was a
track runner, so kind of.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Me.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Yeah, definitely. So I always would walk around with the
poetry book.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I knew I wanted to be a doctor growing up,
but I also, you know, knew that I loved writing.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then I started realizing.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I was like, hey, you know these songs on the radios,
like this is just lyrics, so putting melody to the lyrics,
and I was like, oh wait, I could do this.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
You know. Of course your family's like doctor, a lawyer,
pick one period.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I was every time you hear somebody from Africa West,
I forget. It's like what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Are you a doctor?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
So do you have those.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Even though your your dad was an olympian himself, did
he kind of steer you towards something that was stable?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Like beyond that.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Last enough to say that my parents never pressured me
into being something.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I was the one that was, you know, young.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Like on to be a doctor, to be doctors like okay,
and then I you know, stuck with it until you know,
later on in life where I was like, I'm going
to be a songwriter.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
They're like songwriter. Where was this shift that? Yeah, but
you know they're very supportive.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You mentioned athletics at one point, your dynamic athlete.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Did you see that as your.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Path right whatever that would, whether it be track, whether
it be basketball. Did you see that as you know,
kind of following in your father's footsteps.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Absolutely, I will say, because is my passion for sports.
I love it and you know I grew up around it.
It's what I knew, what I loved. I definitely will
say volleyball I was supposed to play overseas I ended
up tearing my a cl and shattering my meniscus.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yes, the same time, Yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Not even at the same time, on tape on tape, yes,
right before nationals and during our regional competition.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I will say, well, my brothers took it from me
because I used to watch it all the time and
they were like, that's not healthy. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I would watch it and like what went wrong?
Speaker 5 (06:37):
And I'm just like, oh wow. I was like, God,
you know why. At first I was like why me?
And God's like, you may not understand now, but things
happened for a reason.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So it's one of the reasons we want to have
you on here because the topic of this show is
faith and faith helps with your faith, Yes, keeping your
faith despite everything. Sometimes one of my biggest sayings is
your burdens will turn into blessings as long as you
learn the lessons.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
When I tell you I just had this conversation the
other day, it's very true.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So when you go through that, you got your mindset saying, hey,
maybe pursuing athletics, but because of this terrible incident where
you had this and you know obviously this injury, it
kind of shifted your mindset towards something else, which led
to where you are right now.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
You'll exactly, I definitely agree with that, and I always say,
you know, oftentimes you proceed things this failure instead of
looking at it that way, like find the good, find
the lesson, find the blessing within that, then it's never
a failure.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So talking about faith and faith, faith and faith the
younger generation, what would be your message to them in
terms of we all have this grand design about what
we want to do, where we want to go in
the path that we think can lead us there. As
(07:59):
you just said, with the horrific injury, you had thoughts
on where you were going to go with athletics. It
didn't work, you had the faith to continue to push,
and now you're at a place where you may not
have even arrived if you would have stuck with athletics.
So many times in a younger generation now, once a
(08:21):
road ends are an opportunity, changes are shifts. There's this
notion to give up to chase another dream and not
the dream that you want. What would be your message
to them in terms of how to regulate what you
think your faith is and how faith plays a part
in that.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
So I think first and foremost, I would say, define
what your purpose is and be honest with yourself on
what that is and figure out the steps that you're
going to need to accomplish that. And that's not saying,
you know, looking ten years from now. It's saying, what
do I need to do right now to be better?
What do I need to do tomorrow when tomorrow comes
to be better? And you know those building blocks, you know,
(09:03):
they formulate into your purpose. They're leading down that path
of your purpose. And oftentimes people when when one door closes,
you know.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
God opens a window.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
So you know, something that you may look as a failure,
God's like, that's a detour, and I'm just shifting and
realigning you so you have better views on what your
purpose is. And I've gone through it many times. You know,
I'm sure you guys can relate to entrepreneur. You know,
working for yourself, you have to be your biggest fan.
(09:33):
You have to motivate yourself to get up and pursue
that passion. Days you don't feel like it, days you
do feel like it, you still have to wake up,
put a smile on your face, and chip away and say, okay, today,
what do I need to do now?
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I don't want to go to the gym. I want
to eat this donut.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
But if I eat this donut, it's not going to
help me to days for now, a year from now,
you know, So let me put money in the bank
that's going to actually result in the purpose full future
that I want. So I just you know, stick to
the path. You know, in life it's all a race,
and you're in your own lane. And oftentimes people are
so consumed with trying to be in someone else's lane
(10:08):
and say, well, God, you know, why does their house
look bigger? Why does this happen? And why are they
getting their blessings now? And God's like, you have no idea.
If you stay the course, stay focused, what I have
for you exceeds what you are seeing. And if you
keep looking to the left and the right, you're never
going to finish that race because you're always worried about
what the next person is doing.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Just stay the course, stay focused.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And to that point, with social media the way it
is now, right, like, how do you navigate that? Because
social media can have you think in a whole nother way.
Like you you're watching other people and you're like, oh,
I knew her, we came up together, and now she's
doing this, And in reality, most of what you see
(10:52):
on social media, yep, right, it's.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
A it's a facade. It really is.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
And I think social media is a blessing and a curse.
It's a blessing because you're able to use that platform
to propel yourself in your career and whatever your purpose is.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
It's a curse to those who.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Are not grounded in who they are and are not
aware that, you know, what people show or the highlight
reels of their life. People don't show, you know, the downs.
You know, they don't show the failures, they don't show
the sadness. A lot of people want to put that
best foot forward to impress, keeping up with the Joneses, right,
(11:34):
And for me, I look at social media and i
take it like a grain of salt because I'm like, yeah,
you know some people are on there. Oh I'm so happy.
Oh this is great. And it's like, if that's true,
I'm happy for you. Lord knows what's happening behind closed doors,
you know. So make sure you're focused on what you're
doing and you're not consumed with oh man, this person
(11:54):
just got a Grammy, this person just got this, Like
where am I? Now you're taking the focus off of
what you need to do and now you're you know,
deterring your progress.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Tracking with your sister. I'm the same way when it
comes to that. I've always said that as a public figure,
as a so called entertainer or whatnot, I think it's
our responsibility. If we're going to be on social media,
if we're going to endorse certain great things about life, Hey,
I'm wearing these type of shoes, I'm wearing these clothes,
I got this kind of chain on or whatever. You
can also endorse things that make sense. It's going to
(12:24):
help better your community. And that's one of the reasons
why I going there and I talk about mental health,
I talk about the ups and the downs of my life.
How important do you believe it is for public figures
to share a little bit more of that? And still
I think there's a there's a fine line we get
because I've been told, hey, don't put too much on there.
You still got to put a perception out there. People
(12:46):
don't want to hear your bad news all the time,
so there has to be a balance. But I believe
it is important that we show true to life. Hey,
we're human just like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
God's working with me on that.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Because I'm such a private person, right and I find
avenues and outlets to you know, show a bit of myself,
like through my acting. Oftentimes people will come up to
me and like, you know, like, oh, I didn't think
you'd be like goofy, you're funny.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Or like down to earth. I'm like what you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
But so I was like finding outlets through like doing
comedy on social media, just to kind of show that
side of me. God has been working with me to
be more open as far as you know, being vulnerable
and talking about, you know, the ups and downs of
being an entrepreneur, because a lot of people will.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
See and they're like, oh man, things are great, and
I'm like, hey, Jesus hobby. I was like, you know,
they're great by God's grace.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
But you don't see, you know, the opportunities that at
one point I saw were failures, but have you know,
pulled the lessons out of them. But you don't see
the things I had to do to pull myself out
of certain situations that I anticipated one way and God said, no, sweetheart,
it's this way, you know. And it's like, oh, okay,
I've learned not to question God. So I'm definitely in
(14:02):
a season of being more expressive and letting people in
and seeing the journey because you never know who will
see that and who will get inspired by that, because
you know, you have to inspire yourself, you have to
motivate yourself. But it helps knowing that at least I
can inspire someone else.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Look, we can inspire each other. Hold me accountable. I
need it, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
So that's all I was talking about. I think the
failure is more important sometimes in.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
The success asences to show.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
The failures, to let people know, hey, man, Like we
was here talking to Hebrew on another episode of the
artist's Name Hebrew up Brentley, and he was talking about
what people see are the success stories. They don't see
how many times he balled up a painting or whatever
and things just didn't work out for him or whatever.
And I think it's important for us to actually show, hey,
this is what I've gone through to get here.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
This is the lesson I learned from that. You know.
I talked about when I lost my job.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
In Dallas and how that happened and what kind of
depression it put me in. But it was the best
thing that ever happened.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
To me, And you couldn't see that at the moment.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Oh, I couldn't like God what he do. I'm like
asking God, do you want me to do something else?
So to my point, when you go through these circumstances,
the difficult times, and your faith is tested, how do
you maintain that that that that's the strength? I should
say to keep going even though all avenues and all
(15:19):
the signs of pointing towards Hey, you might need to
shift gears. But when you feel it in your gut
and you know that there's something that's more than God
wants you to have, how do you keep that?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That that the pursuit going.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Two things prayer and worship. Those are the two things
I pray all the time. I thank God. Whether I
see the blessing in front of me or not, I
claim it as it is because God has already made
it possible for me. He's just setting up the steps
to get there. So I'm like, thank you Lord for
the blessings, Thank you Lord for what you're doing in
(15:50):
my life. Thank you Lord for what you're about to
do in my life. That I have no idea about worship,
I'll be in my car singing my little heart out,
you know. So it's always good to keep yourself in
that space and have those vulnerable moments with God because
they really like it's cliches, it sounds. It really does
make a difference. It really does for your mental your
subconscious and you know, power of the tongue.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Be very mindful of what you speak into.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Your life at negative empire, yes, negative and positive and
you know, just holding yourself accountable to saying, you know,
where I'm not at is not where I'm going to be.
So I'm in a season of change, that's all it is.
I'm going to season of change.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Good about it. I'm going to season of change for better.
I'm going to season of change.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
That's great because like when you talk about faith, it's
the belief in the unseen yes right, yes, and in
a time and in the society where everything is seen.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
We just talked about social media, all.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
The streaming networks you get, you have access, you're inundated
with images.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And information, information, and so.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
This notion of having faith and believing in something that
you can't see, right, whether it's you know, believing in God, opportunities,
you know.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Whatever, these things are.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So many people struggle with this notion of faith because
they want to see it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
They want it now.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I want it to be tangible, right, and just navigating
and talking to people. You know, when we talk about
mental health and we talk about faith, and you know,
they tie in because here you are, you can be
whether it be depression, OCD, whatever those things are. Sometimes
(17:44):
you can feel lost, right, Like I remember in twenty
twenty when that hit in the pandemic and then George Floyd,
you know, anxiety was hit with anxiety and I was like,
oh God, this is over right. My wife was like,
to relax, you having a panic attack. I had never
had it before ever. I never had anxiety like at
(18:07):
that level or anything, so I didn't know what was
going on. I was always over like I'm always the
guy light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I've always had faith.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I've always believed in a higher power and believed in myself.
And we slam into twenty twenty the way we did,
and it was just like, oh, this is dark, right,
And I was open and I shared and I talked
about it, and it just.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It helps you refocus, right, don't.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Hold it in absolutely, Like, are there times where when
we talk about mental health there's a broad range of them.
Is there a time in your life where you felt
that you had to deal with mental.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Health full transparency.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
I'm blessed to say no only because my source of
strength comes from God. My world could be on fire
and I will still find happiness, peace and joy with God,
you know.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
And I think, like that's my.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Wish for everyone to have that strong of a connection
with God.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
To know that I could have been fired for my job.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
I could have lost my house, I could have you know,
I could have lost all my money. But I'm happy
because God, Oh, you must have something better in store
for me, like you are working and turning the chapter
for me. And you know, I think what I combat
depression or mental health with is staying rooted with family.
(19:41):
I'm very big on family. My family and I talk
every single day. You know, my mom's one of my
best friends, and people are like your mom. I was like, yeah,
my mom's one of my best friends. Prayer, you know,
just finding joy and peace in God really helps to
combat that. And I know it's easier said than done,
but it's kind of like going to the gym, Like
you know, it's an everyday thing. You have to work
(20:03):
on it every single day because what happens if you
don't use it? You lose it, you know, So just
trying to again focus on one day, focus on today.
I'm not I'm not worried about tomorrow. Like I don't
even want to think about what tomorrow is bringing. I
have my to do list for today, and you know
it starts with praising God and thanking him for where
I'm at, you know, and working my way down there.
So I definitely also find stability and you know, having
(20:28):
a core group of friends that you can, you know,
talk to if you have frustrating moments. You know, some
like a sound mind, sound ears like a peaceful safe space.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Every day is an opportunity.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Everyone is in your friend. Let's you know, we have
acquaintances with you.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Which you can't stand.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
Ye Are they pulling you closer to God? That's the
first question purpose pulling you closer?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And it's important because, like I said, I'm going through
a transition myself.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Where it comes and I ask for discernment.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And then there have been people who have been in
my life for the last five or six years that
I thought really close, maybe they could be lifetime friends,
And I realize you're not going with me into the
next phase in my life. Because God has elevating me
on a different level doesn't mean I don't like you.
I can still associate with you, but I don't have
to give you the access that I used to give
you because you're not serving my purpose. You're not align
with me right now, and that's so important. It's and
(21:25):
everything's a bless like even if you don't get things,
and I like, I'm fifty four years old and I'm
making transitions in my career and I'm starting to do
other things, and I don't see it happening right away.
But the faith that I have is that knowing that, Okay,
the seed has been planted exactly, and when the seed
has been planted, you don't see the seed growing and
taking root, and so sometimes the.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Seed has to grow down.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The root has to grow down to become stronger before
it actually sprouts up. And the stronger, I mean, the
further it goes down that root's reads, stronger the plant
will be. So I know that I'm nurturing the soil.
I know I'm doing everything I need to do to
make sure that when that harvest does come that I'm
gonna get a bounty for harvest. So even if I
don't see it I know it's gonna come.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
I think oftentimes we're so impatient with God when we
don't see things happen on our timeline, and we have
to constantly and I said we because me too, we
have to constantly Yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
I mean we're.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We're all sinners. We're born in the world. Said no,
one's perfect perfection?
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Does not Lord?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Ware that Lord? Where the God?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Exactly? Like why, mean, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You know?
Speaker 5 (22:31):
And God's like, you know, you just planted the seed.
Keep watering it. Just like a plant. You have to
keep watering it, keep at it, and your harvest is
gonna come and it's going to be more than you
ever imagined.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
So wow, it's it's.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Amazing you got the faith and you talked about your family.
So we we have a segment called Unfiltered. You've been
unfiltered so far you've been saying exactly, so I appreciate that,
but amazing it's done. There have been that podcast. Is
there something a moment in your life that was life altering,
that was life changing? That kind of gives you the
perspective in the thought process, the mindset that you have
(23:05):
right now where you've done there and.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You've been that.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
I will say I have always I feel like the
free spirit that have lived many lives, right, and I'm
the youngest and the only girl, so one would expect like, oh,
you know three brothers, Yes, but I was like the
tomboy growing up, you know, like oh yeah, like who's
(23:29):
messing with you?
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
Yeah, exactly, and like we're all we're all like really
good friends.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
So you know, growing up you and your siblings don't
really get along.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
But for me, I will definitely say I have lived
many lives in the sense of I knew my purpose.
I think when the trajectory for me was when I
did tear my a cl I was like, okay, new
game plan.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You know what is it?
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Lord?
Speaker 5 (23:55):
You know, just okay, I'm gonna start going down this path.
This is where you want me to go. Pray about it,
you know. Oftentimes family wasn't really like you sure, like
you don't want to be a doctor, and I was like, oh,
you know, this is this is the road I'm going,
This is my purpose, this is my passion. Again, I
was honest with myself of what I wanted, and I
was like, Okay, what are the steps I need to
accomplish that you know, now that was not an easy
(24:15):
road because you know, especially in the entertainment industry, you
have to do what you love to the point where
you're willing to do it for free.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
If you're not willing to do it for free, that's
not your last nothing. You should do it for free.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
But if you're not willing to do it for free,
if you don't have that kind of passion to do
it for free, you may want to, you know, go
back and regroup and see what your purpose really is.
So for me, you know, I would have nine to fives,
you know, random odd jobs.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
I'd go and you know.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Do background work, talent court shows. I was the enthusiastic clapper.
You know, whatever I did, I did it well.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
You know that was me. You know worked, you know,
worked at.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
The bank, and every job I did, I always excelled
at it because I was like, I'm going to always
put my best foot forward.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
But they're like, oh, you don't want I promote you movie.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I was like, oh no, I'm good, and they're like why,
like everyone wants this position. I was like, oh, because
that's not my purpose, that's not that's not my path.
I'm just here to do what I need to do
to continue to pursue that, like because if I go
down their shroad, now it's taking me off track.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
But it's like I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
He will fargo over there.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
You I'm not being on stage entertaining exactly. And then's
so funny with like my old colleagues would be like, man, you.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Always said, I'm not going to be here long. I'm
just passing through. And look at you now, like you're
on stage, You're you're doing shows, You're doing this, and
I'm like, yeah, because I knew my purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's what happens when they chase the money too instead
of the purpose.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Oh yeah, Chase got the money with Chase.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
He was the funny thing about that and the way
I got into broadcasting. You know, when I was in
the Air Force, I had a top so I had time.
I worked in the NSA at a top secret clearance.
When I was getting out of the Air Force. I had
a wife at the time, and I could have gotten
out and because of my top seed clearance, I could
have been making close to six figures. I was twenty
four years old, twenty four years old working for Boweling IVY,
(25:59):
and No, I didn't want to do that. I didn't
want to do that because I wanted to get into broadcasting.
I had sent out seventy five tapes. I got seventy
two rejections. I got three callbacks, two of them basically
telling me how bad my tape was. One of them
was Hagar Sound, Maryland, and I was living in Maryland
at the time. The day I got out of the
(26:19):
military's the day I got that job in Hagar.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Sound, Maryland.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
So I turned down almost one hundred thousand dollars a
year to follow my passion in broadcast and not knowing
that that was going to come. But I knew it,
but I didn't know. I didn't I didn't see it happening.
I knew what I felt. And then God said, state
stick with it. Don't take this job over here, because
I could follow that money, make that money, and not
follow my dream.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
How did your wife feel about that? She was supportive.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
And that's one thing about it. That's when I will
always give her credit, like we are you tight. We
didn't always go through it, obviously through the divorce, but
that's my girl now, and I'm so proud of her
because she went on to become a doctor.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
You know, what I mean.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
So after even after I divorced, so she followed her
passion or her dream as well. But I went from
possibly making six figures to my first job paying me
like six dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Lord, so imagine that tested that's so faint. Yes, faith, now,
that is faith, that's faith.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But it was like and I felt like it was
my fate because I knew this is what I was
supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
I'm supposed to be a broadcast.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Here I am thirty years later and I started making
that money that I could have gotten as working at
IBM within three years, right and then ever since then,
I'm not you know, not bragging about that, but I've
lived pretty much like yeah, but I'm also but I'm
also doing what I love like a humble bad but
(27:41):
I'm doing good.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Yes, yes, yes, yes he is.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Well.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Look you we we've gone to church in here. Can
I go to church with you?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Of course?
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Look, everyone always welcome, and I think for me, I'm
always big on, you know, giving God the glory and
the praise no matter where I'm at, wherever, I'm never
going to turn my back on Him and be ashamed
to speak about the goodness because I'm where I am
because of Him.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Whoever she dates gotta be.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Absolutely you got God by me. You got to see
God to find.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
If y'all going to worship together, if I'm well, get
a million together. If you praise God together, you can
get a meal again.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's all I'm saying. That will be a blessing. I've
been saying that I'm keeping the faith that something like
that might happen. I'm not going to get.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Stand up my God all the time.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
But next for you, Lisa work funny enough, I movie
that I was in it just came out via Lionsgate.
It's called Running on Empty and it's in theaters and
it's also on streaming platforms.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Now.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
My character is a moura. You guys should check her out.
Very funny, very hilarious.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
And then I was just in Malta for the past
month in July filming another film for Lionsgate.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And that one is this.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Okay, this one is gonna be very interesting because this
is my first like shark.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
Movie horror film. Ish.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Yeah, So my character is funny, but I had to,
you know, bring a different dynamic, you know, I will.
There are some scenes that had to be dramatic, and
you know, so she does I don't want to get away?
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Yes, no, listen, that's the whole nother story. So they
were like, they were like, you know, we.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
Your character is she's required to swim, and they're like,
you could swim?
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Like yeah, I swim? Of course.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
Why who can't swim? Who can Sola swim? And I
was like can I swim? I?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Hold I really had to ask.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
I'm like, now I could. I can go from one
point to another. I never really tested, like can you swim?
Speaker 4 (30:09):
Swim?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Swim swim?
Speaker 4 (30:10):
I figured it out.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Okay, I figured out what I tell you.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
Yeah, that was a testament to my faith because I
was like, with God, all things are possible.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
That's what my ring says, my baptism ring. So I
was like I can do it.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
I was like, okay, I just got to figure out
what I need to do and how I need to
do it. And the first day on set, they were like, okay,
we're gonna do a swim test. And mind you, I'm
the only I'm the only black actress on that.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Everybody looking at you here with yeah, wait, hold on.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
They're like, we're gonna swim from here to here, and
I'm like, Okay, then we're gonna do this. I was like, okay,
and we're gonna do this. That's like, God, come on,
tep In, I did it.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
You know, I passed and I was like, okay.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
So walking on water right, So that one I can't
say the name. Yeah, we just wrapped production on it.
But yeah, it's it's gonna be hilarious. My character, you know,
finding a balance between like, you know, being the only
black friend of the group. You don't want to be
you know, you don't want to portray yourself in a
(31:10):
certain way. So like so I gotta make her funny,
but I have to make her down earth relatable and
you know, bring a different dynamic. So which I'm glad
to say I did a cheat.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
It's a shark movie cage.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
I was in the cage. They dropped me down in
the water in the ocean. I said, oh, my answers
looking like, let me this.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Now, I'm telling you first in the movie.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
Oh you know what, I didn't die first in the movie.
I will say that much.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
So you knows the dark meet.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
So yeah, so that that film and then along in
terms of music, I have a single I just released
called Mahogany. I have another upcoming record. Yeah, thank you
you checked it out your playlist.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Okay, all right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
You can hear me on all streaming platforms Spotify, Apple,
Audio Bag, stream stream streams.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Don't download.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
The artist, no, don't download streaming Yeah, over and over again.
And I have another amazing project coming up, another song
featuring one of my good girlfriends, Bambi from Love and
Hip Hop. She's featuring all my afrobeats record killed her verse.
I'm super excited about it to just share it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
So strap scrappy.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
She's amazing, love her so her. Yes, very talented, very
very talented. So I'm excited about that project as well.
Upcoming series show I man called BFFs on Amazon Prime
season ones already out.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
Check it out. It's funny, and then we're filming season
two end of the year. It's amazing, awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
A good friend of mine rights on that show.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Holy yeah, that's who did the show us. Yeah, amazing
both of them. Love them. Yeah, good things happening. I'm
blessed to say, keep it.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Up, keep it up, keep it up. Thank you so
much for hanging out.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Sank you guys for having mean conversation.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I don't want it to end, but we have to
let it go until next time. We'll keep the conversation going.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
But why are you looking like what? Thank you? Guys?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
This has been another episode of been there, done that.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Are done on there, done there, been that, done there?
Yeah over here, they're done that. I've not been there
and done that?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Unlike will like subscribe? Yes, tune in, tune in to
more episodes. Like I said, we're doing this for you, Lisa.
Thank you so much for coming, Thank you for having
me appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Thank you next time.
Hosts And Creators
Mike Hill
Eunice Elliott
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