May 29, 2023 • 39 mins
How are we going to get there? How are we going to reach our goals together? That was the question that started a love that would blossom into a success. Devale Ellis knew very early on what he wanted to do and once he started down that path, he attracted his now wife, Khadeen Ellis. As a couple, they created a plan and those steps led them to a co-written best-selling book, We Over Me, and their very popular podcast Dead Ass. Devale joins us today to share what he considers to be a normal black love story.
Connect: @CariChampion @DevaleEllis
Learn More: Devale Ellis
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I remember saying, do I want to be an entertainer
like Michael Jackson or do I want to be an
athlete like Jerry Rice? And I remember going back and forth,
which one would I want to be? I want like
Criles to cheer for me because I'm dancing and making
people laugh and singing, or do I want them to
cheer for me because I'm catching touchdowns. I remember going
(00:21):
to sleep that night and waking up and I said,
I can inspire way more people through entertainment than I
came with athletics. And I was like that. I was like,
I am going to do something bigger than just myself
myself myself.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
At nine years old, he knew that he would either
play sports or he would entertain in order to reach
the masses. And what do you know? He did both.
You're going to be encouraged by this story. Everybody, sit
back and enjoy. Deval Ellis on this edition of Naked,
(01:03):
It's the.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Greatest suspension in the tainment. Cannete with Larry Champion.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And Carrie Champion is to be a Champion, A Champion
and Carrie Champion. They girls play yat a Champion and
Carrie Chapion and Carrie.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Champy great great suspion entament, can nack you wear?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Hey, everybody, Welcome back to another edition of Naked. I'm
excited about today's episode. I've been excited with all of
my guests this season three. They've been really great. But
today's guests reminded me of something that's really simple, something
that I think we all should remember. That dreams do
come true. I have been very bold and loud about
(01:40):
my foundation, Brown Girls Dream, and the reason why I
started it was because I wanted to let everybody know
that you can dream and you're allowed to dream, especially
in our culture. So many times we don't feel like
we can say what we want out loud for fear
people would laugh at us, or it sounds too big,
or it sounds like wow, that's just never going to happen.
My guest today, daval Ellis, tells the story of being
(02:04):
someone bigger than himself, being put here on this planet
to do work that was bigger than him, which I
absolutely love. And it's interesting because you may know him
from the Dead Ass podcast.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
He's an actor.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He is on several shows that you may have seen
across BTBT plus Tyler Perry shows. He is a working actor,
but a multi hyphen it, YouTube, social influencer, whatever you
want to call it. He is known with over two
million Instagram followers. He and his wife have been able
to build I think, a nice little empire on black love,
(02:43):
most recently a book We Over Me, a New York
Times bestseller in February of twenty twenty three, where they
just tell their love story and throughout the entire interview,
I hope that you will be the way that I
or you will feel, at least the way that I feel.
And I felt incouraged. I felt encouraged about a black
(03:04):
love story. I felt encouraged about a black man loving
his four sons and his wife.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
I felt encouraged about a.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Young couple falling in love and staying in love in
their twenties all the way through adulthood and growing together
and encouraging each other's dream I have said on this
show many times that I knew when I was a kid,
I was set apart. I knew that I was going
to do exactly what I'm doing now. I just didn't
know how. But I was going to use this platform
(03:32):
to reach touch and effect. And he tells the story
of being nine years old and knowing that he was
going to reach touch and effect and he's still doing
that to this day. And I mean, listen, if I'm
honest with you, he probably has just really started scratching
the surface of his talent and what is capable. But
I encourage you to sit back, relax, listen to this
(03:55):
podcast actually will follow him if you don't already, and
listen to his podcast Dead podcast. He and his wife
Kay that he talks about often are really honest and
authentic and that's so refreshing in the world where everybody
tries to be something that they are not. Again, daval
ls on Naked.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Y'all Champion and Carried Chappy and the Carrie Chatby.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So before we get into marriage and the best selling
book and all of the wonderful things, I want to
know when you grew up in Brooklyn, and I think
you talk about that a lot. How do you think
you that changed you or made you being raised born
and raised here in Brooklyn or raised in Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Wow, that's a great question. It's funny. I think about
this a lot. I give a lot of credit to
my parents. First, I grew up with both my parents,
my mom and my dad. My mother worked for the city.
My father worked for Chase Manhattan Bank at the time,
but he also bounced, so he was out late nights.
He used to bounce. You know I'm saying, cause my
father was a big dude. So I feel like I
(04:56):
raised myself in a way. I was a latch key kid,
like from a time t when I was eight years old,
my parents moved from Flatbush to Canarsie and I had
to walk to school myself, pick my brother up from school,
walk home every day. They told us, don't come outside
until we get home, stay inside with your brothers. But
of course me and my brother was out in the street,
and it was like that for most of my life.
(05:20):
I feel like living in Brooklyn taught me how to
navigate everything else in my life, like I can move
among sharks. You imagine being ten years old and taking
mass transportation to get from Canarsi to Queens and Queens
to Manhattan, like I've been doing that since I was
a young kid. So I feel like Brooklyn told me that.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Oh wow, that is actually the latch key aspect I
can relate to because that's how I grew up, and
it does mature you in ways that you probably shouldn't be,
but it does help you. Also, there's such a benefit
to that. When did you realize that sports was where
you wanted to be, you wanted to play football. When
did that love come in to play for you?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Well, that's actually funny because I never loved football like
I love basketball. I grew up in Brooklyn. I grew up,
you know, watching step from l Marberry and thinking that
I was Alan Iverson and I had braids. I was
a beast of basketball, but I wasn't tall. I was
only about five. That was a late bloom. I was
only about five eight all of high school and I
(06:20):
was playing basketball and I blocked someone on the defensive end,
came down to dunk it on the offensive end, and
the football coach comes over to me and he goes, yo,
my man. His name is Jeffrey Ishmael A, my guy,
you want to go to college for free? And this
is the truth of the matter. I never saw myself
as a professional athlete. I always saw myself as an
(06:40):
artist and an entertainer. But I grew up in Brooklyn
in the nineties, and you can't walk around telling other
kids that you want to be an artist like, that's
just not what young black men did at that time.
So I was just focused on trying to find my
way out of Brooklyn. And he asked me if I
want to go to school for free? So I was like, yeah,
I want to go to school for free. So he
said you should play football, and he was like, I
(07:03):
was like, why I don't not hitting nobody? I'm mad, Skinny,
I'm five eight, like I'm not playing football. He said,
how many five eight basketball players do you know? The time?
I said, I know, spud Web. You said be at one.
But I can tell you plenty of five eight football
players that have made great things out of their life.
So I was like, he got a point. He was like,
(07:23):
if you dedicate the same energy you get to basketball
to football, I guarantee you go to school for free.
And that was my origin story with football. It was
that promise that football would take me somewhere further than Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Football would take you somewhere further than Brooklyn. Where there's
in terms of taking you somewhere further than Brooklyn, What
does that distance mean? What were you trying to get
away from?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It wasn't even a distance. It was just expanding my mind,
like my parents always made us see different things. Like
my parents took us on since spring break. They took
us to Vegas. We used to go ski tripp every
year we move to Skeeech Trip. I used to go
see my grandparents in Florida, I mean in Tennessee every summer.
It's like we were always traveling places. But then they
(08:08):
just wanted us to see different type of things. And
I don't know what it was. I think it's you know,
it's heaven sent, it was something divine. But God always
told me there's so much more out there that you
don't know. You just gotta go see it, like you
gotta go find it, just go see what it is.
And that's just always been my mindset since I was
a kid. I just knew that there was something greater
(08:28):
than me that I was supposed to do for humanity.
And I was just like, I gotta go see what
it is. And that's what that meant to me, Like
this is getting out of Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's a very interesting way to put that. I always
feel that people who are doing what they love, whether
it is a multi hyphenate such as yourself, and people
know you as maybe a personality, know you as an actor,
know you from your podcast you always knew that you
were set apart? And what age were you when you
knew that you were set apart?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I remember exactly the day I was in my car,
my parents car in the back seat. We were on
my way back from my Grandma Wowa's house. We were
driving down the Belt Parkway. I was nine years old.
They were listening to Luther Vandros. I'm in the back
seat and We're coming around the flagpole of Exit thirteen
or Rockaway Parkway, and I remember saying, do I want
(09:22):
to be an entertainer like Michael Jackson or do I
want to be an athlete like Jerry Rice? And I
remember going back and forth my mind, like I remember
going back and forth in my line, Mawama, which one
would I want to be? I want like cryos to
cheer for me because I'm dancing and making people laugh
and singing. Or do I want them to cheer for
(09:42):
me because I'm catching touchdowns? And I remember going to
sleep that night and waking up and I said, I
can inspire way more people through entertainment than I can
with athletics. And I was like that, I was like,
I am going to do something bigger than just myself.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Isn't that crazy? He's nine years old? For you, right,
nine years old and you knew you were going to
entertain or you knew that you were going to be
an athlete. But for me, it was when I was seven,
and so it was. And so what was it about
that moment listening to that Luther Vandro song where you
were like, hmm, I gotta pick one of two. What
(10:20):
was it about the song, the mood, the day, all
of it?
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah? I do remember because my parents put us in
martial arts when you were young. And we were coming
back from a karate tournament. My brother and I always
won karate tournaments and stuff like that, and my father
said to me, you know, this is your second tournament.
You guys get you know, you guys got first place.
And I was like, hey, yeah, he said, you know
(10:46):
what that proves? I was like what, He's like, you
guys can do anything you want to do. And he
just said it like he just said it, and I
just believed it. And then because I believed it, and
I was in the call like do I want to
do this or do I want to do that, and
then you know, it's like my father said, I can
(11:07):
do whatever I want to do, So I'm going to
do whatever I want to do. And to be honest,
I've carried that with me my whole life.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Like the parallels are beautiful. The yes is from the
people who build you up. The yes is from a teacher,
the yes is from the parent. The world is yours
from the people who rear you are so significant. And
this helps me transition to your family and to how
(11:36):
you have made a name for yourself where there's YouTube,
social media acting. You are a multi hyphenate across the board,
and you and your wife have a podcast. You also
have co authored a book together which I would like
to get into, and I believe in February of twenty
twenty three it was a New York Times bestseller, made
the New York Times Bestselling Less. Is that correct? Yes,
(11:59):
ma'am and it congratulations. First of all, I have I
can count on like all of my limbs, hands, fingers, toes, arms, legs.
All my friends have written books and very few have
the opportunity to make it to the New York Times
bestseller list. Can you tell everyone listening the name of
the book. Please, thank you so much. First all for
(12:22):
your con wills carry.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
The name of the book is called We over Meet,
The counter intuitive approach to getting everything you want out
of your relationship.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What made you and your wife write that book? Was
it because of the success of the podcast, and in
part it was.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
In part it was a little bit of my foresight.
I'm always creating plans for myself, plans for my wife
and what we wanted to do, and all of this
was part of the plan. When on our first date,
which is part of the book, which why I'm going
to tell the story. On our first date, she came
to my dorm room and we sat down on my
(12:58):
bed and she looked at me. She said, what do
you want to do with your life? And Martin was
on television and I said that I want to do
that right there, and she was just like, you want
to be an actor? And I was like yeah, And
she didn't laugh, she didn't like make no funny face.
I Goh, you ain't gonna do this. She looked at
me and she said, well, how are we going to
get there? And it was the how we are going
(13:20):
to get there was always like resonated with me. I
was like, she just included herself in my dream, which
first of all, means that she can see what I see.
So it kind of like it resonated with me, like, Wow,
this person is not clowning me. I just met her
and she says she could see what I see. So
then I asked her what she wanted to do, and
(13:41):
she told me what she wanted to do, says she
wanted to be an entertainment reporter. And I said, so,
how are we going to get there? And I told
her the plan. I said, I'm going to go to
the NFL. If I can make a practice squad, I'll
get one hundred thousand dollars. This is back in two
thousand and two. She's way more money now, but I'll
get one hundred thousand dollars in four month. I can
buy a Brownstone in Brooklyn. We can live downstairs and
(14:03):
run out the upstairs to Floridas where we don't have
to be starving artists and we can focus on our dreams.
And she said, cool, let's do it. And we worked.
We worked on that for like years, all of college,
and we got it. I got I made it to
the NFL. I played a lot longer than just the practice.
But I ended up plenty three years and then I
ended up buying property back in Brooklyn and doing all
(14:23):
of those things. So when it came to the book,
I foresaw the same things I saw with us. I
saw it in another realm of television, and I said,
you know, ultimately, I want to get a first little
deal for TV and film so that I can create
the type of content I want to see. Because part
of the reason why I even got into social media
(14:44):
was because I was always auditioning and I was always
getting picked as a drug dealer, the x con, the
ex boyfriend, ruse, the thug. I always get the same roles.
So I really started creating my content for social media
to show producers that daval Ellis can do something else
other than be the thug, because I have a beard
and tattoos and muscles. And I also wanted to, you know,
(15:08):
showcase who I was as a person. Like people think
that I'm just a personality, for example, that wants to act.
You know, I'm a classically trained actor. I went to
school for performance in theater. I did a two year conservatory.
Yet esper studios like I've trained to be an actor,
So when people you like even life. For example, when
people see me the first eight things, I don't know
what you are? You a YouTube book, you're an author,
(15:29):
you're a podcaster, And I said, I'm an actor, but
I happened to put my talents and other things from
time to time, so and then now people understand it.
But when it came to the book, I told Kay,
I said, look, if we can write a book and
become New York Times bestsellers, that's the best opportunity you'll
have of getting a first love picture deal. I said,
(15:49):
if you just look at the track rug of everybody
else who wrote books, written books and become authors and
become New York Times bestsellers, this is the path they
going on. And just like in college, she said, I
how we're gonna do it? And we didn't.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
What do you think that book offers people?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know that everyone likes to write a memoir that's
the first book, and those are really hard to write
about unless you're super duper famous, like perhaps Viola Davis,
you know, or you know, but when you have a
I think self health books, books on relationships are always
really needed or much needed, and black love is not
as celebrated. So what do you think you've offered everyone
(16:33):
in that book? You and your wife have offered everyone
in that book.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
This is a simple one for me. We just offered
our love story and our testimony. Like I tell people
anytime they ask, like, you know, what is this book about,
the first thing I tell them this is not a
how to book, because if I'm if I'm trying to
tell you to tell or make your love to our loves,
then you're gonna fail every time because we can only
be us. So it's not a how to book. It's
(16:58):
just a different approach at love. You get to learn
through stories that we're willing to share, and that's really
what it is. It's our love story from its conception
to where it is now. And it's also a look
at generational love because we speak about how the things
we watched in our parents became who we were as people.
And when we were trying to become the best versions
(17:20):
of ourselves as a couple, we had to kind of
lose some of the stuff that we thought we saw
that was positive and healthy in our families. And now
that we have four sons, we're trying to pass down
a better version of that love to them. So it's
just to look at our Brooklyn love story. You laugh,
you'll cry, you won't feel judged because we're not here
(17:41):
telling you this is how you need to do it,
because this is the only way it works. We're actually
saying the opposite. We were actually saying at the end
of this book, if you're trying to make your marriage
like ours, then you've got nothing out of this book.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
The book is just telling your love story and letting
it know that it exists. Is that what you're saying,
Love exists and it can be done, and not say
do what we did, But it exists, and it's here,
and that's beautiful and special and it's simplicity.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely, that's exactly what it is. If I had to
sum it up, well, this is why you're amazing at
what you do because you literally something up. Well, yeah,
that's what it is. That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I love that, and I love that story and it's encouraging.
Perhaps another reason why it was a New York Times bestseller.
I was scanning through and I haven't read the book,
but you know I am now. I was scanning through
some of your social media and you tell the story,
which I love because the way in which your wife
wanted to do be an entertainment reporter. I remember, you know,
(18:40):
when I was first starting out in the business, how
tough it was. But you tell this a really great story.
And I think you might have been doing it live
in Detroit your podcast at ASS. I think you guys
might have been doing it in Detroit. I'm not for sure. Yeah, okay,
it was. And can you tell the story about how
you were playing for the Lions and she was and
she was auditioning to be a meteor, not a traffic reporter.
(19:03):
I was going to say whether or I didn't want
to make it that simple. Okay, a traffic reporter, Yeah,
tell me.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So. The funny part is people see my wife now
and they just think that she's a I don't know what.
They call it, an influencer, right, Like that's what they think. Okay,
it's just an influencer. Okay. Also she's not. She's actually
got a master's degree in speech communications and performance with
a minor and broadcast journalism. So she always had this
dream of being in some sort of journalism, but she
(19:30):
was trying to figure out how to get into it.
And she had just graduated from hofstra and I was
at Detroit at the time. So she was like, Yo,
if I moved to the Midwest with you, I have
a greater opportunity to get into those smaller markets because
here in New York, like these are the big markets
in New York. You gotta go inwork in the country,
work in those small markets, and get some experience. So
I was like, cool, let's go come out here. Plus,
(19:52):
of course I would love to have my beautiful girlfriend
come live with me while I'm playing for the Lions.
So it was just perfect for the two of us.
And she when that WDID was doing the traffic report,
the search, so they had about five hundred people come
out here and every week they were going to announce
the next set of finalists and finalists. So she goes
in there. I'm trying to be as supportive as I
(20:15):
can wiless football season, and I'm just like, bo, you've
got this big opportunity. Let's go to the mall. I'll
let you buy whatever you want to buy in the mall.
So she's like, you really devout, Like we just two
broke kids coming from college, just enjoying this opportunity. And
she goes to the mall. She gets out of a
nice pencil skirt and her shirt and her blazer and
she ready to go. Somebody boom, that's my baby. She
(20:38):
goes into the rug, goes into the audistrict, comes out,
and I'm like, how did it go? She was just
like from man to the next round. So I'm like,
all right, well, you know what that means. We got
to go back and get to another outfit. So now
we'll be about five weeks in and she didn't get
acted them all, and I'm like, man, they need to
(20:59):
pick somebody. Like they eliminating people one bout one. That's
a lot of weeks. That's a lot of tips to
the ball, like just starting to be a lot now.
So and we lived right across the street from the
mall at the time. That was phil Lane mall we
were at, and we used to just really walk right
across the street. So I'm not back. I think you
have enough outfits. I don't think we should do that
(21:21):
mall anymore. She said, you know what, you might beib
I don't think we should do that mall anymore neither.
I was like, oh cool, we as long as we're
on the same page as she was like, yeah, I
want to go to Somerset Mare. I'm like, Summer step More.
Summer step More is forty five minutes away and it's
about fifteen feet of snow outside. She's just like and oh.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Yeah, because how we about to pursue this dream?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Snow at your snow at your nose, and You're like,
is that a problem? She's like, is that a problem? No,
not a problem.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Carry She didn't even blink, she didn't say anything. She
was just looking at me, like. So, I was like,
you know what, it's time for me to be the
man of the house, all of my twenty three year
old self. And I said, up putting my foot, we
(22:18):
are not go way to the mall. Period, he says, period,
you're ruining my opportunity. If I was at home, my
mother would have took me to the mall. And I
was like, fine, fine, so then go live with your
mother then. And then she was just like really okay.
(22:44):
Then she walked away. Didn't say nothing to me. I
say nothing, urge, She ain't say nothing to me. We
slept on opposite sizes in the bed. Right next day,
she goes into the traffic for the search. Guess what happens?
Speaker 4 (22:58):
What happened?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
She lost?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
No, it is wait a second, it's because you didn't
get her the outfit.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
That's what she said. She gonna say to me, you
know this is your fault because you didn't get me
the new.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Did you feel bad when it was all said that?
Did you feel bad? Did you think the outfit played
the part?
Speaker 1 (23:28):
No? I didn't think the outfit played a part, but
I did, actually, But I didn't feel bad. But you
know what made me feel worse was because you know
I was You know, we also had another routine that
we was doing. Every time she won, I was getting something.
So this night she didn't win. No, I wasn't getting none.
(23:49):
But not only did I not get none, she dressed
full in full clothes that she wore the whole day.
She kept on the pencil skirt with the blouse and
the jacket had slept in that I was tight. I
was like, you petty, you mad, petty Kate, you mad.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Okay, we have to take a quick break. We have
to pay some bills. I need you all to hit
that that fast forward button because it might be like
three minutes of commercials, but I have to I have
to get this in here otherwise your girl doesn't make
her money.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
We'll be right back in just a few moments.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion and carry chat be out a
champion and carry Champion and carry Chappe's Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And Naked Weird God.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Erry Champion and carry champions, to be a champion on
a champion and carry champion, nig girl shout a champion
and carry champion and carried Champiam.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Naked word, Welcome back to Naked. I have multi hyphen
it in every aspect of the way. Daval Ella is
here on the podcast sharing his story. I know that
you are enjoying this.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Take a listen. Now, let me ask you this.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
This is a This is really this is really interesting
because I mean, the world is so the world that
we do begin to work in, this world of trying
to be in front of the camera is crazy. And
you said three times in this conversation that is your
wife's dream. Is that still her dream?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yes, it actually is still her dream, but it's her
dream has changed a lot because she's a mom, of course,
and she loves being a mom. And although I've told
her a thousand times, like, yo, if this is something
you want to pursue, like you know, there are ways,
like we have resources now where we can make sure
you know, both your parents live with us. I'll make
sure the kids are good. And she's like, no, some
(25:38):
days she wakes up and she wants to be in
front of the creak camera. She wants to get glammed up,
and she wants to be a journalist. But then some
days she wants to get up and just be a mom.
And what she likes what we do now in having
our own podcasts and doing our own live shows, is
that we get to work around the schedule that we want.
And I think that she loves that. She's a little
bit afraid of committing to something. And you know, she
(26:00):
had a couple opportunities in journalism, but she turned them
down and she was just like I can't commit to
that time of spand like, I can't the kids love her.
When I'm not there for a matter of weeks. I
can only imagine if she's not there, you know, I
think the house would fall apart, to be honest. So
I think that she's in a good place now. Where
(26:20):
she's trying to figure out how she can make the
balance work. And if it changes in another couple of years,
it changes again, you know, and then at that point
hopefully we have some time to make it happen.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, okay, I love that because the dream is never dead.
I often say women especially, but this is in general.
You have so many iterations of your career like it
can always come around. Your dream is never dead. It
just gets pivoted or reinvented and you change it in
different ways. With that being said, I know that as
acting goes for you, you're doing really well. I think
(26:53):
you're working with my girl Gabby coming up soon, and
I want to talk to you about your acting, Gabrielle Union.
I want to talk to you about your your your
your acting ambitions like I read research. Shout out to
the researcher on the podcast Tommy is here too. You
you want to be a household name like a Will
(27:14):
Smith if you will yees? Are those still was that?
Is that?
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Are those still your? Are those still your ambitions?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh? Yes, absolutely, those are definitely still my ambitions. And
I'm still a work in progress. Like it helps me
being on the number one showing Cable and Sisters, you know,
shout out to Tyler Perry and all of the women
of Sisters, and then having my own spin off as
a team of this on BT Plus. Also sixty first Street,
which I have a recurrent role, is coming out and
(27:41):
c W soon. But I'm working, you know. I'm at
the infant stages of what I want to be a
long career of doing great work that represents not only
myself but my family and my culture in a positive way.
And I want it to be a career that people
recognize around the world world for who I am as
(28:01):
a man, but also who I am as a Black
man and father, like I want to represent that. I
want people to see that you can do both. You
can have your dream and your career, but also be
a loving husband and like Adupe involved father. I feel
like when I watch a Lebron James and a Steph
Curry and I watch how much they actually mean to
(28:22):
their families as well as being icons to the rest
of the West Side. These men are icons to the
world but still fathers and husbands, and That's what I
want to be for an actor. I want to be.
I want to have that type of longevity and impact.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
And do you feel like you're already achieving that though
I feel like that is the progress that is not
even the work in progress that it's happening.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Do you feel that way, not necessarily on that large scale.
But you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Oh, you know absolutely, I definitely, I definitely know what
you mean. And I understand. Like you said, there's so
many different iterations of your career. I understand the journey.
You know. You use Will Smith as an example. Will
Smith didn't just come out as a movie star. Will
Smith started as a rapper, correct, you know, had a
dope album, won a Grammy, then his second album flops,
and then became a TV star, then a movie star.
(29:14):
And that didn't happen overnight. That took a matter of decades.
So when I think about the fact that I played
in the NFL for four years and then owned a
gym to kind of support my family, I didn't really
start getting into acting until I turned thirty, and I
know that's late for some people. When I think about
the fact that I'm only thirty nine, it's like, Wow,
I haven't even hit the decade part yet. Like Taraji said,
(29:37):
it takes you a decade to become an overnight celebrity,
and then that's when the real work comes in to
build a legacy. So I haven't even reached the point
that I could even say I've done anything, and I've
achieved a lot, So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I'm excited about that for you as well, I think
that you have a wonderful disposition, so that makes it
even EASi What is it that you think in terms
of what's next for you? Because you've been able to
and I know you said this earlier when people say, well,
what exactly do you do? Are you a personality that
(30:11):
became an actor? And You're like, no, everything seems to
be very calculated. How would you like to if if
someone said, what's your title? Like, if we are putting
a title, would you like to be multi hyphen it?
Would you like to be actor? Multi hyphen it? What
is your title? How do you see yourself?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Man, that's a great question, and to be honest, I
probably would say multi hyphen it because I can't just
say I'm an actor. You know, I'm in the process
of finishing my second book deal after the first book deal.
I love podcasting, you know, I love creating content so
I can't even choose which one. And I think sometimes
you have to allow it doesn't matter who you pray to, God,
the universe. You have to allow the world to kind
(30:51):
of put you in that right space and accept what's
happening in that moment. And I don't want to put
a title in a cap on myself, so I would
probably say a multi hyphen it because I just I
don't know what I'm going to want to do next.
You know, I may start doing acting for a couple
of years and say, you know what, I'm tired of this.
Let me develop more businesses, you know, let me do
something else. So I would say multi hype in it.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
How do you think you and your wife and the
podcast that as podcasts, how do you all? How do
you think you help and serve the culture?
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I think we help and solve the culture by being
honest and transparent and also being accessible and available. You know,
there's there's a thing in our culture now they call
us celebrity cultures, and it kind of kills me because
I hate to consider myself a celebrity, but so many
peoples like you have to start accepting what you are
so that you can be who you want to be.
(31:42):
And we look at our celebrities and we expect our
celebrities to be perfect, brand oriented versions of humans, not
just human. And I feel like Kadana and I from
the very beginning when we were just a couple creating
videos in our apartment until now living in a big
house in Atlanta, have remained the same people and so
(32:05):
still tell the same stories. Yeah, we still argue, yeah,
we make a little bit more money now than we
did before, but yeah, I still pick my kids up
from school.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
I still send my wife flowers on the weekend. My
wife still cooks for me. My wife still does things
that a wife is expected, I guess to do in
whatever you expect the marriage to look like. But I
feel like we just represent a place of normalcy for
blacks who have grinded and made it to a certain level.
But it's like, oh, but they go to Ellison, they
(32:37):
still doing the same old stuff. I think that's what
we represent. Normalcy.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah, normalcy in a society that will often get confused
by celebrity, which is why I know you struggle with that,
because social media celebrity is very different than other celebrity. Yes,
you know what I mean, I mean like movie star, celebrity,
and so many people are quote unquote famous socially, but
(33:07):
you're like, no matter how many followers I have or
we have together, You're you're just doing you. And I
think that's beautiful. I think you can remind people that
you It's sobering, I kind of from being honest with you.
I get annoyed when I meet people who are brand
new to being famous, right, maybe viral, and they get
(33:29):
millions of followers and they act as if, well, we've
made it, or oh I haven't made it because I
don't have millions of followers, right or whatever it is.
You're just like, yeah, you're just like, wait, that's because
we all have When you were nine years old driving
in the car listening to Luther Vandrel, so you knew
that you were set apart. And I don't necessarily know
if you fall I want to be famous, rich and famous,
(33:51):
but I know you knew you had something that would
serve the culture, serve the people. Maybe perhaps you didn't
articulated that way at I you know what I mean, No,
I know I know exactly what you mean, because there
was a woman at our church, missus Braxton. She had
pulled me aside one day and she said, young man,
I don't know what it is you want to do
in your life, just you need to.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Know at whatever it is is gonna be bigger than you.
And at the time I didn't know what she was
talking about. I had no idea what you're talking about.
But to this day I remember Mims Braston saying that.
But then I got old enough to understand, like, this
is what she meant. And to be honest, it really
happened when I started playing sports and I realized that
I had the ability to influence a group of people.
(34:33):
And I started realizing every time I'm on a team,
I'm the MVP of the team, I'm always a captain. Like,
I just realized that people gravitate towards me. So I
just felt like I had a responsibility to make sure
that we were doing the right thing, all right, Like,
if y'all gonna gravitate towards me and we're doing this,
No we're not robbing that store. No we're not jumping
the other team's mascot. No, you know, like we're not
(34:54):
doing that stuff. We are gonna do the right thing.
If y'all want to do community service. We can that
you know?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
You know Erry Champion and Kerry Champion is to be
a champion, out a champion and carry Chappion and carry
chat be out a champion and carry Chappie and and
Kerry chap.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Getting naked weird, Kerry.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Champion and carry Champion is to be a champion, out
of champion and carry Champion. Nigirl, got a champion and
carry Champion and carry Chappy Entertainment, getting NACKI work.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
What you're going to do is going to be bigger
than you. Do you feel that? Do you feel that
now that what you're doing is bigger than you?
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Absolutely? I don't feel like any of this was an accident.
I felt like this was God speaking to me, then
speaking through me, and him just ordering my steps. Cherry.
There's so many times I could tell you in this
process that I should have quit, I should have stopped.
I should have just been like, you know, let me
just take the easy wayout to do this. But something
(35:57):
in me was just like, nah, bro, don't don't keep
going this way. Trust me. And when everybody around you
is telling you this is not the way to go,
and something's telling you to do it and it works out.
That's bigger than me. That means not only did I
not see it, nobody else around me saw it, only
he saw it, and that that's bigger than all of us.
(36:19):
So I just listen. I wake up every day and
I just listen, like I just what do y'all got
for me?
Speaker 4 (36:24):
And then I go, tell me.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
Before I let you go? What is the next project
that you're working on? You said you guys are writing,
you have a second book? Deal?
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Is it going to be you and your wife or
is it just you?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Actually, the next one I'm going to be working on
is going to be it for me. It's a book
about my sons. It's his Fatherhood. I haven't really released
the title yet, but I like raising kings on how
fatherhood saved me from myself because I've learned so much
about who I am as a person by watching how
my sons respond to me. That it's like having four
(36:58):
sons is like the big reflection, Like I get refreshes
all over. I have no blind spots. They're constantly making
me check myself and it's made me a better version
of myself. Like I can honestly say my kids made
me better.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Ay Man.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Deval Ellis, I am a fan. I'm really a fan,
and I'm smiling throughout the podcast because I am telling
you you spoke life into me and I love to
see that your steps have been ordered and you one
of one in many ways, and I wish you nothing
but success, continued success for that matter. Thank you for
coming on our podcast and sharing your story and encouraging
(37:37):
people because I'm encouraged. Y'all encouraged, We all encouraged.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Kerrie, Thank you so much. I appreciate you. I've been
a fan of you for a long time, time time time.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
By way of brief recap, we have had Kirk Franklin,
whom I love on the show. We had Larry Wilmore,
who is arguably to me one of the biggest black
writers and influencers in Hollywood, tell a great story about
the writer's strike and how he's been able to mentor
(38:07):
so many amazing young Black women who have went on
to create the works of Insecure, Anissa, ray Abbod, Elementary
and Quinta.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
I mean, his legacy is huge.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
And then today we have devale Ellis, and I hope
you see the theme here, your dreams can come true.
Everyone started somewhere believing in something, hoping to be something,
And the only thing that I can think about that
they all have in common is that they just believed,
no matter how tough it got, no matter how heart
(38:40):
it seems, no matter how impossible it may have felt
in many moments of their careers, they still push through.
And I love those kind of stories. Those stories motivate me.
Those stories remind me to keep pushing. And it's not
so much about being not content with what you have.
It is knowing that what you are doing is bigger
(39:03):
than you. Val said it best. It's knowing that the work,
the gift that you are giving, the talent that you
are providing, is bigger than you. You're here to serve,
and all of my guests have done that. Gosh, I'm
so excited about it. I hope you feel encouraged. I
hope you understand that you should keep going and the
(39:25):
work that you are doing truly, if it's inspired, it's
not for you. It's bigger than you. Thanks for listening
to this edition of Naked
I remember saying, do I want to be an entertainer
like Michael Jackson or do I want to be an
athlete like Jerry Rice? And I remember going back and forth,
which one would I want to be? I want like
Criles to cheer for me because I'm dancing and making
people laugh and singing, or do I want them to
cheer for me because I'm catching touchdowns. I remember going
(00:21):
to sleep that night and waking up and I said,
I can inspire way more people through entertainment than I
came with athletics. And I was like that. I was like,
I am going to do something bigger than just myself
myself myself.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
At nine years old, he knew that he would either
play sports or he would entertain in order to reach
the masses. And what do you know? He did both.
You're going to be encouraged by this story. Everybody, sit
back and enjoy. Deval Ellis on this edition of Naked,
(01:03):
It's the.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Greatest suspension in the tainment. Cannete with Larry Champion.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And Carrie Champion is to be a Champion, A Champion
and Carrie Champion. They girls play yat a Champion and
Carrie Chapion and Carrie.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Champy great great suspion entament, can nack you wear?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Hey, everybody, Welcome back to another edition of Naked. I'm
excited about today's episode. I've been excited with all of
my guests this season three. They've been really great. But
today's guests reminded me of something that's really simple, something
that I think we all should remember. That dreams do
come true. I have been very bold and loud about
(01:40):
my foundation, Brown Girls Dream, and the reason why I
started it was because I wanted to let everybody know
that you can dream and you're allowed to dream, especially
in our culture. So many times we don't feel like
we can say what we want out loud for fear
people would laugh at us, or it sounds too big,
or it sounds like wow, that's just never going to happen.
My guest today, daval Ellis, tells the story of being
(02:04):
someone bigger than himself, being put here on this planet
to do work that was bigger than him, which I
absolutely love. And it's interesting because you may know him
from the Dead Ass podcast.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
He's an actor.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He is on several shows that you may have seen
across BTBT plus Tyler Perry shows. He is a working actor,
but a multi hyphen it, YouTube, social influencer, whatever you
want to call it. He is known with over two
million Instagram followers. He and his wife have been able
to build I think, a nice little empire on black love,
(02:43):
most recently a book We Over Me, a New York
Times bestseller in February of twenty twenty three, where they
just tell their love story and throughout the entire interview,
I hope that you will be the way that I
or you will feel, at least the way that I feel.
And I felt incouraged. I felt encouraged about a black
(03:04):
love story. I felt encouraged about a black man loving
his four sons and his wife.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
I felt encouraged about a.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Young couple falling in love and staying in love in
their twenties all the way through adulthood and growing together
and encouraging each other's dream I have said on this
show many times that I knew when I was a kid,
I was set apart. I knew that I was going
to do exactly what I'm doing now. I just didn't
know how. But I was going to use this platform
(03:32):
to reach touch and effect. And he tells the story
of being nine years old and knowing that he was
going to reach touch and effect and he's still doing
that to this day. And I mean, listen, if I'm
honest with you, he probably has just really started scratching
the surface of his talent and what is capable. But
I encourage you to sit back, relax, listen to this
(03:55):
podcast actually will follow him if you don't already, and
listen to his podcast Dead podcast. He and his wife
Kay that he talks about often are really honest and
authentic and that's so refreshing in the world where everybody
tries to be something that they are not. Again, daval
ls on Naked.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Y'all Champion and Carried Chappy and the Carrie Chatby.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So before we get into marriage and the best selling
book and all of the wonderful things, I want to
know when you grew up in Brooklyn, and I think
you talk about that a lot. How do you think
you that changed you or made you being raised born
and raised here in Brooklyn or raised in Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Wow, that's a great question. It's funny. I think about
this a lot. I give a lot of credit to
my parents. First, I grew up with both my parents,
my mom and my dad. My mother worked for the city.
My father worked for Chase Manhattan Bank at the time,
but he also bounced, so he was out late nights.
He used to bounce. You know I'm saying, cause my
father was a big dude. So I feel like I
(04:56):
raised myself in a way. I was a latch key kid,
like from a time t when I was eight years old,
my parents moved from Flatbush to Canarsie and I had
to walk to school myself, pick my brother up from school,
walk home every day. They told us, don't come outside
until we get home, stay inside with your brothers. But
of course me and my brother was out in the street,
and it was like that for most of my life.
(05:20):
I feel like living in Brooklyn taught me how to
navigate everything else in my life, like I can move
among sharks. You imagine being ten years old and taking
mass transportation to get from Canarsi to Queens and Queens
to Manhattan, like I've been doing that since I was
a young kid. So I feel like Brooklyn told me that.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Oh wow, that is actually the latch key aspect I
can relate to because that's how I grew up, and
it does mature you in ways that you probably shouldn't be,
but it does help you. Also, there's such a benefit
to that. When did you realize that sports was where
you wanted to be, you wanted to play football. When
did that love come in to play for you?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Well, that's actually funny because I never loved football like
I love basketball. I grew up in Brooklyn. I grew up,
you know, watching step from l Marberry and thinking that
I was Alan Iverson and I had braids. I was
a beast of basketball, but I wasn't tall. I was
only about five. That was a late bloom. I was
only about five eight all of high school and I
(06:20):
was playing basketball and I blocked someone on the defensive end,
came down to dunk it on the offensive end, and
the football coach comes over to me and he goes, yo,
my man. His name is Jeffrey Ishmael A, my guy,
you want to go to college for free? And this
is the truth of the matter. I never saw myself
as a professional athlete. I always saw myself as an
(06:40):
artist and an entertainer. But I grew up in Brooklyn
in the nineties, and you can't walk around telling other
kids that you want to be an artist like, that's
just not what young black men did at that time.
So I was just focused on trying to find my
way out of Brooklyn. And he asked me if I
want to go to school for free? So I was like, yeah,
I want to go to school for free. So he
said you should play football, and he was like, I
(07:03):
was like, why I don't not hitting nobody? I'm mad, Skinny,
I'm five eight, like I'm not playing football. He said,
how many five eight basketball players do you know? The time?
I said, I know, spud Web. You said be at one.
But I can tell you plenty of five eight football
players that have made great things out of their life.
So I was like, he got a point. He was like,
(07:23):
if you dedicate the same energy you get to basketball
to football, I guarantee you go to school for free.
And that was my origin story with football. It was
that promise that football would take me somewhere further than Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Football would take you somewhere further than Brooklyn. Where there's
in terms of taking you somewhere further than Brooklyn, What
does that distance mean? What were you trying to get
away from?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It wasn't even a distance. It was just expanding my mind,
like my parents always made us see different things. Like
my parents took us on since spring break. They took
us to Vegas. We used to go ski tripp every
year we move to Skeeech Trip. I used to go
see my grandparents in Florida, I mean in Tennessee every summer.
It's like we were always traveling places. But then they
(08:08):
just wanted us to see different type of things. And
I don't know what it was. I think it's you know,
it's heaven sent, it was something divine. But God always
told me there's so much more out there that you
don't know. You just gotta go see it, like you
gotta go find it, just go see what it is.
And that's just always been my mindset since I was
a kid. I just knew that there was something greater
(08:28):
than me that I was supposed to do for humanity.
And I was just like, I gotta go see what
it is. And that's what that meant to me, Like
this is getting out of Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's a very interesting way to put that. I always
feel that people who are doing what they love, whether
it is a multi hyphenate such as yourself, and people
know you as maybe a personality, know you as an actor,
know you from your podcast you always knew that you
were set apart? And what age were you when you
knew that you were set apart?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I remember exactly the day I was in my car,
my parents car in the back seat. We were on
my way back from my Grandma Wowa's house. We were
driving down the Belt Parkway. I was nine years old.
They were listening to Luther Vandros. I'm in the back
seat and We're coming around the flagpole of Exit thirteen
or Rockaway Parkway, and I remember saying, do I want
(09:22):
to be an entertainer like Michael Jackson or do I
want to be an athlete like Jerry Rice? And I
remember going back and forth my mind, like I remember
going back and forth in my line, Mawama, which one
would I want to be? I want like cryos to
cheer for me because I'm dancing and making people laugh
and singing. Or do I want them to cheer for
(09:42):
me because I'm catching touchdowns? And I remember going to
sleep that night and waking up and I said, I
can inspire way more people through entertainment than I can
with athletics. And I was like that, I was like,
I am going to do something bigger than just myself.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Isn't that crazy? He's nine years old? For you, right,
nine years old and you knew you were going to
entertain or you knew that you were going to be
an athlete. But for me, it was when I was seven,
and so it was. And so what was it about
that moment listening to that Luther Vandro song where you
were like, hmm, I gotta pick one of two. What
(10:20):
was it about the song, the mood, the day, all
of it?
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah? I do remember because my parents put us in
martial arts when you were young. And we were coming
back from a karate tournament. My brother and I always
won karate tournaments and stuff like that, and my father
said to me, you know, this is your second tournament.
You guys get you know, you guys got first place.
And I was like, hey, yeah, he said, you know
(10:46):
what that proves? I was like what, He's like, you
guys can do anything you want to do. And he
just said it like he just said it, and I
just believed it. And then because I believed it, and
I was in the call like do I want to
do this or do I want to do that, and
then you know, it's like my father said, I can
(11:07):
do whatever I want to do, So I'm going to
do whatever I want to do. And to be honest,
I've carried that with me my whole life.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Like the parallels are beautiful. The yes is from the
people who build you up. The yes is from a teacher,
the yes is from the parent. The world is yours
from the people who rear you are so significant. And
this helps me transition to your family and to how
(11:36):
you have made a name for yourself where there's YouTube,
social media acting. You are a multi hyphenate across the board,
and you and your wife have a podcast. You also
have co authored a book together which I would like
to get into, and I believe in February of twenty
twenty three it was a New York Times bestseller, made
the New York Times Bestselling Less. Is that correct? Yes,
(11:59):
ma'am and it congratulations. First of all, I have I
can count on like all of my limbs, hands, fingers, toes, arms, legs.
All my friends have written books and very few have
the opportunity to make it to the New York Times
bestseller list. Can you tell everyone listening the name of
the book. Please, thank you so much. First all for
(12:22):
your con wills carry.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
The name of the book is called We over Meet,
The counter intuitive approach to getting everything you want out
of your relationship.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What made you and your wife write that book? Was
it because of the success of the podcast, and in
part it was.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
In part it was a little bit of my foresight.
I'm always creating plans for myself, plans for my wife
and what we wanted to do, and all of this
was part of the plan. When on our first date,
which is part of the book, which why I'm going
to tell the story. On our first date, she came
to my dorm room and we sat down on my
(12:58):
bed and she looked at me. She said, what do
you want to do with your life? And Martin was
on television and I said that I want to do
that right there, and she was just like, you want
to be an actor? And I was like yeah, And
she didn't laugh, she didn't like make no funny face.
I Goh, you ain't gonna do this. She looked at
me and she said, well, how are we going to
get there? And it was the how we are going
(13:20):
to get there was always like resonated with me. I
was like, she just included herself in my dream, which
first of all, means that she can see what I see.
So it kind of like it resonated with me, like, Wow,
this person is not clowning me. I just met her
and she says she could see what I see. So
then I asked her what she wanted to do, and
(13:41):
she told me what she wanted to do, says she
wanted to be an entertainment reporter. And I said, so,
how are we going to get there? And I told
her the plan. I said, I'm going to go to
the NFL. If I can make a practice squad, I'll
get one hundred thousand dollars. This is back in two
thousand and two. She's way more money now, but I'll
get one hundred thousand dollars in four month. I can
buy a Brownstone in Brooklyn. We can live downstairs and
(14:03):
run out the upstairs to Floridas where we don't have
to be starving artists and we can focus on our dreams.
And she said, cool, let's do it. And we worked.
We worked on that for like years, all of college,
and we got it. I got I made it to
the NFL. I played a lot longer than just the practice.
But I ended up plenty three years and then I
ended up buying property back in Brooklyn and doing all
(14:23):
of those things. So when it came to the book,
I foresaw the same things I saw with us. I
saw it in another realm of television, and I said,
you know, ultimately, I want to get a first little
deal for TV and film so that I can create
the type of content I want to see. Because part
of the reason why I even got into social media
(14:44):
was because I was always auditioning and I was always
getting picked as a drug dealer, the x con, the
ex boyfriend, ruse, the thug. I always get the same roles.
So I really started creating my content for social media
to show producers that daval Ellis can do something else
other than be the thug, because I have a beard
and tattoos and muscles. And I also wanted to, you know,
(15:08):
showcase who I was as a person. Like people think
that I'm just a personality, for example, that wants to act.
You know, I'm a classically trained actor. I went to
school for performance in theater. I did a two year conservatory.
Yet esper studios like I've trained to be an actor,
So when people you like even life. For example, when
people see me the first eight things, I don't know
what you are? You a YouTube book, you're an author,
(15:29):
you're a podcaster, And I said, I'm an actor, but
I happened to put my talents and other things from
time to time, so and then now people understand it.
But when it came to the book, I told Kay,
I said, look, if we can write a book and
become New York Times bestsellers, that's the best opportunity you'll
have of getting a first love picture deal. I said,
(15:49):
if you just look at the track rug of everybody
else who wrote books, written books and become authors and
become New York Times bestsellers, this is the path they
going on. And just like in college, she said, I
how we're gonna do it? And we didn't.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
What do you think that book offers people?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know that everyone likes to write a memoir that's
the first book, and those are really hard to write
about unless you're super duper famous, like perhaps Viola Davis,
you know, or you know, but when you have a
I think self health books, books on relationships are always
really needed or much needed, and black love is not
as celebrated. So what do you think you've offered everyone
(16:33):
in that book? You and your wife have offered everyone
in that book.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
This is a simple one for me. We just offered
our love story and our testimony. Like I tell people
anytime they ask, like, you know, what is this book about,
the first thing I tell them this is not a
how to book, because if I'm if I'm trying to
tell you to tell or make your love to our loves,
then you're gonna fail every time because we can only
be us. So it's not a how to book. It's
(16:58):
just a different approach at love. You get to learn
through stories that we're willing to share, and that's really
what it is. It's our love story from its conception
to where it is now. And it's also a look
at generational love because we speak about how the things
we watched in our parents became who we were as people.
And when we were trying to become the best versions
(17:20):
of ourselves as a couple, we had to kind of
lose some of the stuff that we thought we saw
that was positive and healthy in our families. And now
that we have four sons, we're trying to pass down
a better version of that love to them. So it's
just to look at our Brooklyn love story. You laugh,
you'll cry, you won't feel judged because we're not here
(17:41):
telling you this is how you need to do it,
because this is the only way it works. We're actually
saying the opposite. We were actually saying at the end
of this book, if you're trying to make your marriage
like ours, then you've got nothing out of this book.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
The book is just telling your love story and letting
it know that it exists. Is that what you're saying,
Love exists and it can be done, and not say
do what we did, But it exists, and it's here,
and that's beautiful and special and it's simplicity.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely, that's exactly what it is. If I had to
sum it up, well, this is why you're amazing at
what you do because you literally something up. Well, yeah,
that's what it is. That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I love that, and I love that story and it's encouraging.
Perhaps another reason why it was a New York Times bestseller.
I was scanning through and I haven't read the book,
but you know I am now. I was scanning through
some of your social media and you tell the story,
which I love because the way in which your wife
wanted to do be an entertainment reporter. I remember, you know,
(18:40):
when I was first starting out in the business, how
tough it was. But you tell this a really great story.
And I think you might have been doing it live
in Detroit your podcast at ASS. I think you guys
might have been doing it in Detroit. I'm not for sure. Yeah, okay,
it was. And can you tell the story about how
you were playing for the Lions and she was and
she was auditioning to be a meteor, not a traffic reporter.
(19:03):
I was going to say whether or I didn't want
to make it that simple. Okay, a traffic reporter, Yeah,
tell me.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So. The funny part is people see my wife now
and they just think that she's a I don't know what.
They call it, an influencer, right, Like that's what they think. Okay,
it's just an influencer. Okay. Also she's not. She's actually
got a master's degree in speech communications and performance with
a minor and broadcast journalism. So she always had this
dream of being in some sort of journalism, but she
(19:30):
was trying to figure out how to get into it.
And she had just graduated from hofstra and I was
at Detroit at the time. So she was like, Yo,
if I moved to the Midwest with you, I have
a greater opportunity to get into those smaller markets because
here in New York, like these are the big markets
in New York. You gotta go inwork in the country,
work in those small markets, and get some experience. So
I was like, cool, let's go come out here. Plus,
(19:52):
of course I would love to have my beautiful girlfriend
come live with me while I'm playing for the Lions.
So it was just perfect for the two of us.
And she when that WDID was doing the traffic report,
the search, so they had about five hundred people come
out here and every week they were going to announce
the next set of finalists and finalists. So she goes
in there. I'm trying to be as supportive as I
(20:15):
can wiless football season, and I'm just like, bo, you've
got this big opportunity. Let's go to the mall. I'll
let you buy whatever you want to buy in the mall.
So she's like, you really devout, Like we just two
broke kids coming from college, just enjoying this opportunity. And
she goes to the mall. She gets out of a
nice pencil skirt and her shirt and her blazer and
she ready to go. Somebody boom, that's my baby. She
(20:38):
goes into the rug, goes into the audistrict, comes out,
and I'm like, how did it go? She was just
like from man to the next round. So I'm like,
all right, well, you know what that means. We got
to go back and get to another outfit. So now
we'll be about five weeks in and she didn't get
acted them all, and I'm like, man, they need to
(20:59):
pick somebody. Like they eliminating people one bout one. That's
a lot of weeks. That's a lot of tips to
the ball, like just starting to be a lot now.
So and we lived right across the street from the
mall at the time. That was phil Lane mall we
were at, and we used to just really walk right
across the street. So I'm not back. I think you
have enough outfits. I don't think we should do that
(21:21):
mall anymore. She said, you know what, you might beib
I don't think we should do that mall anymore neither.
I was like, oh cool, we as long as we're
on the same page as she was like, yeah, I
want to go to Somerset Mare. I'm like, Summer step More.
Summer step More is forty five minutes away and it's
about fifteen feet of snow outside. She's just like and oh.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Yeah, because how we about to pursue this dream?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Snow at your snow at your nose, and You're like,
is that a problem? She's like, is that a problem? No,
not a problem.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Carry She didn't even blink, she didn't say anything. She
was just looking at me, like. So, I was like,
you know what, it's time for me to be the
man of the house, all of my twenty three year
old self. And I said, up putting my foot, we
(22:18):
are not go way to the mall. Period, he says, period,
you're ruining my opportunity. If I was at home, my
mother would have took me to the mall. And I
was like, fine, fine, so then go live with your
mother then. And then she was just like really okay.
(22:44):
Then she walked away. Didn't say nothing to me. I
say nothing, urge, She ain't say nothing to me. We
slept on opposite sizes in the bed. Right next day,
she goes into the traffic for the search. Guess what happens?
Speaker 4 (22:58):
What happened?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
She lost?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
No, it is wait a second, it's because you didn't
get her the outfit.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
That's what she said. She gonna say to me, you
know this is your fault because you didn't get me
the new.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Did you feel bad when it was all said that?
Did you feel bad? Did you think the outfit played
the part?
Speaker 1 (23:28):
No? I didn't think the outfit played a part, but
I did, actually, But I didn't feel bad. But you
know what made me feel worse was because you know
I was You know, we also had another routine that
we was doing. Every time she won, I was getting something.
So this night she didn't win. No, I wasn't getting none.
(23:49):
But not only did I not get none, she dressed
full in full clothes that she wore the whole day.
She kept on the pencil skirt with the blouse and
the jacket had slept in that I was tight. I
was like, you petty, you mad, petty Kate, you mad.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Okay, we have to take a quick break. We have
to pay some bills. I need you all to hit
that that fast forward button because it might be like
three minutes of commercials, but I have to I have
to get this in here otherwise your girl doesn't make
her money.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
We'll be right back in just a few moments.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion and carry chat be out a
champion and carry Champion and carry Chappe's Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And Naked Weird God.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Erry Champion and carry champions, to be a champion on
a champion and carry champion, nig girl shout a champion
and carry champion and carried Champiam.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Naked word, Welcome back to Naked. I have multi hyphen
it in every aspect of the way. Daval Ella is
here on the podcast sharing his story. I know that
you are enjoying this.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Take a listen. Now, let me ask you this.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
This is a This is really this is really interesting
because I mean, the world is so the world that
we do begin to work in, this world of trying
to be in front of the camera is crazy. And
you said three times in this conversation that is your
wife's dream. Is that still her dream?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yes, it actually is still her dream, but it's her
dream has changed a lot because she's a mom, of course,
and she loves being a mom. And although I've told
her a thousand times, like, yo, if this is something
you want to pursue, like you know, there are ways,
like we have resources now where we can make sure
you know, both your parents live with us. I'll make
sure the kids are good. And she's like, no, some
(25:38):
days she wakes up and she wants to be in
front of the creak camera. She wants to get glammed up,
and she wants to be a journalist. But then some
days she wants to get up and just be a mom.
And what she likes what we do now in having
our own podcasts and doing our own live shows, is
that we get to work around the schedule that we want.
And I think that she loves that. She's a little
bit afraid of committing to something. And you know, she
(26:00):
had a couple opportunities in journalism, but she turned them
down and she was just like I can't commit to
that time of spand like, I can't the kids love her.
When I'm not there for a matter of weeks. I
can only imagine if she's not there, you know, I
think the house would fall apart, to be honest. So
I think that she's in a good place now. Where
(26:20):
she's trying to figure out how she can make the
balance work. And if it changes in another couple of years,
it changes again, you know, and then at that point
hopefully we have some time to make it happen.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, okay, I love that because the dream is never dead.
I often say women especially, but this is in general.
You have so many iterations of your career like it
can always come around. Your dream is never dead. It
just gets pivoted or reinvented and you change it in
different ways. With that being said, I know that as
acting goes for you, you're doing really well. I think
(26:53):
you're working with my girl Gabby coming up soon, and
I want to talk to you about your acting, Gabrielle Union.
I want to talk to you about your your your
your acting ambitions like I read research. Shout out to
the researcher on the podcast Tommy is here too. You
you want to be a household name like a Will
(27:14):
Smith if you will yees? Are those still was that?
Is that?
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Are those still your? Are those still your ambitions?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh? Yes, absolutely, those are definitely still my ambitions. And
I'm still a work in progress. Like it helps me
being on the number one showing Cable and Sisters, you know,
shout out to Tyler Perry and all of the women
of Sisters, and then having my own spin off as
a team of this on BT Plus. Also sixty first Street,
which I have a recurrent role, is coming out and
(27:41):
c W soon. But I'm working, you know. I'm at
the infant stages of what I want to be a
long career of doing great work that represents not only
myself but my family and my culture in a positive way.
And I want it to be a career that people
recognize around the world world for who I am as
(28:01):
a man, but also who I am as a Black
man and father, like I want to represent that. I
want people to see that you can do both. You
can have your dream and your career, but also be
a loving husband and like Adupe involved father. I feel
like when I watch a Lebron James and a Steph
Curry and I watch how much they actually mean to
(28:22):
their families as well as being icons to the rest
of the West Side. These men are icons to the
world but still fathers and husbands, and That's what I
want to be for an actor. I want to be.
I want to have that type of longevity and impact.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
And do you feel like you're already achieving that though
I feel like that is the progress that is not
even the work in progress that it's happening.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Do you feel that way, not necessarily on that large scale.
But you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Oh, you know absolutely, I definitely, I definitely know what
you mean. And I understand. Like you said, there's so
many different iterations of your career. I understand the journey.
You know. You use Will Smith as an example. Will
Smith didn't just come out as a movie star. Will
Smith started as a rapper, correct, you know, had a
dope album, won a Grammy, then his second album flops,
and then became a TV star, then a movie star.
(29:14):
And that didn't happen overnight. That took a matter of decades.
So when I think about the fact that I played
in the NFL for four years and then owned a
gym to kind of support my family, I didn't really
start getting into acting until I turned thirty, and I
know that's late for some people. When I think about
the fact that I'm only thirty nine, it's like, Wow,
I haven't even hit the decade part yet. Like Taraji said,
(29:37):
it takes you a decade to become an overnight celebrity,
and then that's when the real work comes in to
build a legacy. So I haven't even reached the point
that I could even say I've done anything, and I've
achieved a lot, So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I'm excited about that for you as well, I think
that you have a wonderful disposition, so that makes it
even EASi What is it that you think in terms
of what's next for you? Because you've been able to
and I know you said this earlier when people say, well,
what exactly do you do? Are you a personality that
(30:11):
became an actor? And You're like, no, everything seems to
be very calculated. How would you like to if if
someone said, what's your title? Like, if we are putting
a title, would you like to be multi hyphen it?
Would you like to be actor? Multi hyphen it? What
is your title? How do you see yourself?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Man, that's a great question, and to be honest, I
probably would say multi hyphen it because I can't just
say I'm an actor. You know, I'm in the process
of finishing my second book deal after the first book deal.
I love podcasting, you know, I love creating content so
I can't even choose which one. And I think sometimes
you have to allow it doesn't matter who you pray to, God,
the universe. You have to allow the world to kind
(30:51):
of put you in that right space and accept what's
happening in that moment. And I don't want to put
a title in a cap on myself, so I would
probably say a multi hyphen it because I just I
don't know what I'm going to want to do next.
You know, I may start doing acting for a couple
of years and say, you know what, I'm tired of this.
Let me develop more businesses, you know, let me do
something else. So I would say multi hype in it.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
How do you think you and your wife and the
podcast that as podcasts, how do you all? How do
you think you help and serve the culture?
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I think we help and solve the culture by being
honest and transparent and also being accessible and available. You know,
there's there's a thing in our culture now they call
us celebrity cultures, and it kind of kills me because
I hate to consider myself a celebrity, but so many
peoples like you have to start accepting what you are
so that you can be who you want to be.
(31:42):
And we look at our celebrities and we expect our
celebrities to be perfect, brand oriented versions of humans, not
just human. And I feel like Kadana and I from
the very beginning when we were just a couple creating
videos in our apartment until now living in a big
house in Atlanta, have remained the same people and so
(32:05):
still tell the same stories. Yeah, we still argue, yeah,
we make a little bit more money now than we
did before, but yeah, I still pick my kids up
from school.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
I still send my wife flowers on the weekend. My
wife still cooks for me. My wife still does things
that a wife is expected, I guess to do in
whatever you expect the marriage to look like. But I
feel like we just represent a place of normalcy for
blacks who have grinded and made it to a certain level.
But it's like, oh, but they go to Ellison, they
(32:37):
still doing the same old stuff. I think that's what
we represent. Normalcy.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah, normalcy in a society that will often get confused
by celebrity, which is why I know you struggle with that,
because social media celebrity is very different than other celebrity. Yes,
you know what I mean, I mean like movie star, celebrity,
and so many people are quote unquote famous socially, but
(33:07):
you're like, no matter how many followers I have or
we have together, You're you're just doing you. And I
think that's beautiful. I think you can remind people that
you It's sobering, I kind of from being honest with you.
I get annoyed when I meet people who are brand
new to being famous, right, maybe viral, and they get
(33:29):
millions of followers and they act as if, well, we've
made it, or oh I haven't made it because I
don't have millions of followers, right or whatever it is.
You're just like, yeah, you're just like, wait, that's because
we all have When you were nine years old driving
in the car listening to Luther Vandrel, so you knew
that you were set apart. And I don't necessarily know
if you fall I want to be famous, rich and famous,
(33:51):
but I know you knew you had something that would
serve the culture, serve the people. Maybe perhaps you didn't
articulated that way at I you know what I mean, No,
I know I know exactly what you mean, because there
was a woman at our church, missus Braxton. She had
pulled me aside one day and she said, young man,
I don't know what it is you want to do
in your life, just you need to.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Know at whatever it is is gonna be bigger than you.
And at the time I didn't know what she was
talking about. I had no idea what you're talking about.
But to this day I remember Mims Braston saying that.
But then I got old enough to understand, like, this
is what she meant. And to be honest, it really
happened when I started playing sports and I realized that
I had the ability to influence a group of people.
(34:33):
And I started realizing every time I'm on a team,
I'm the MVP of the team, I'm always a captain. Like,
I just realized that people gravitate towards me. So I
just felt like I had a responsibility to make sure
that we were doing the right thing, all right, Like,
if y'all gonna gravitate towards me and we're doing this,
No we're not robbing that store. No we're not jumping
the other team's mascot. No, you know, like we're not
(34:54):
doing that stuff. We are gonna do the right thing.
If y'all want to do community service. We can that
you know?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
You know Erry Champion and Kerry Champion is to be
a champion, out a champion and carry Chappion and carry
chat be out a champion and carry Chappie and and
Kerry chap.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Getting naked weird, Kerry.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Champion and carry Champion is to be a champion, out
of champion and carry Champion. Nigirl, got a champion and
carry Champion and carry Chappy Entertainment, getting NACKI work.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
What you're going to do is going to be bigger
than you. Do you feel that? Do you feel that
now that what you're doing is bigger than you?
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Absolutely? I don't feel like any of this was an accident.
I felt like this was God speaking to me, then
speaking through me, and him just ordering my steps. Cherry.
There's so many times I could tell you in this
process that I should have quit, I should have stopped.
I should have just been like, you know, let me
just take the easy wayout to do this. But something
(35:57):
in me was just like, nah, bro, don't don't keep
going this way. Trust me. And when everybody around you
is telling you this is not the way to go,
and something's telling you to do it and it works out.
That's bigger than me. That means not only did I
not see it, nobody else around me saw it, only
he saw it, and that that's bigger than all of us.
(36:19):
So I just listen. I wake up every day and
I just listen, like I just what do y'all got
for me?
Speaker 4 (36:24):
And then I go, tell me.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
Before I let you go? What is the next project
that you're working on? You said you guys are writing,
you have a second book? Deal?
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Is it going to be you and your wife or
is it just you?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Actually, the next one I'm going to be working on
is going to be it for me. It's a book
about my sons. It's his Fatherhood. I haven't really released
the title yet, but I like raising kings on how
fatherhood saved me from myself because I've learned so much
about who I am as a person by watching how
my sons respond to me. That it's like having four
(36:58):
sons is like the big reflection, Like I get refreshes
all over. I have no blind spots. They're constantly making
me check myself and it's made me a better version
of myself. Like I can honestly say my kids made
me better.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Ay Man.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Deval Ellis, I am a fan. I'm really a fan,
and I'm smiling throughout the podcast because I am telling
you you spoke life into me and I love to
see that your steps have been ordered and you one
of one in many ways, and I wish you nothing
but success, continued success for that matter. Thank you for
coming on our podcast and sharing your story and encouraging
(37:37):
people because I'm encouraged. Y'all encouraged, We all encouraged.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Kerrie, Thank you so much. I appreciate you. I've been
a fan of you for a long time, time time time.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
By way of brief recap, we have had Kirk Franklin,
whom I love on the show. We had Larry Wilmore,
who is arguably to me one of the biggest black
writers and influencers in Hollywood, tell a great story about
the writer's strike and how he's been able to mentor
(38:07):
so many amazing young Black women who have went on
to create the works of Insecure, Anissa, ray Abbod, Elementary
and Quinta.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
I mean, his legacy is huge.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
And then today we have devale Ellis, and I hope
you see the theme here, your dreams can come true.
Everyone started somewhere believing in something, hoping to be something,
And the only thing that I can think about that
they all have in common is that they just believed,
no matter how tough it got, no matter how heart
(38:40):
it seems, no matter how impossible it may have felt
in many moments of their careers, they still push through.
And I love those kind of stories. Those stories motivate me.
Those stories remind me to keep pushing. And it's not
so much about being not content with what you have.
It is knowing that what you are doing is bigger
(39:03):
than you. Val said it best. It's knowing that the work,
the gift that you are giving, the talent that you
are providing, is bigger than you. You're here to serve,
and all of my guests have done that. Gosh, I'm
so excited about it. I hope you feel encouraged. I
hope you understand that you should keep going and the
(39:25):
work that you are doing truly, if it's inspired, it's
not for you. It's bigger than you. Thanks for listening
to this edition of Naked
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