November 19, 2025 • 59 mins
Kev talks with his good friend, Emmy-winning actress, entrepreneur, and author Tabitha Brown for a thoughtful and uplifting conversation. They reflect on the journey of her Los Angeles restaurant Kale My Name, the challenges she has faced both personally and professionally, and the growth that came from those experiences.Tabitha also shares how she remains grounded, mindful and positive, guided by her deep faith and commitment to spreading kindness in everything she does.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I hear it sounds like a hummingbird, is the best
way I can explain it. It's a flutter that hits
my ear right and then I can hear a voice
in that wind. That's how sometimes God speaks to me.
I ain't hear none of that, none of that. But
(00:21):
when I was in Las Vegas, I heard this sound.
This is a god out of chub you're laughing. But
when they called me in the wind, I heard and
that sounds like the doors closing. I said, lock it up,
(00:41):
close the door. What did Margamy? Get them chains off
the door? Put them chains on the door, Lock it up?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
What up y'all? Your boy kep on stage. Welcome to
Not My Best Moment, a podcast sort of loosely based
on my hopefully New York Times best selling book, Successful Failure.
If it's not on the list, you can help me
get there by ordering it link in my bio. Today
we have none other than actress, entrepreneur, the host, speaker, showrunner,
(01:27):
movie creator, producer, wife, mother, vegan personal friend, Tabitha Brown.
We welcome you tab to the show. Clap clapping your homes,
clapping your homes right now. Usually we talk about accolades like.
Tab is a NAACP Image Award winner, She's one an Emmy,
(01:49):
she has a million dollar business. She has a movie
coming out this Christmas. But this show is not about that.
This show is about failure's mess and mistakes. But we
want to welcome you, Tab. How are you.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Very good?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Thank you for joining us. Now. Many of you may
know Tab for many of her many business and accolades
and her monguledom. You may not remember. It's been a
few years now, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, in.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
A couple of years, it's been a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
For a while, Tab had what many thought was a
very successful restaurant in Los Angeles, California, called Call My Name.
I was there on the opening day, I went there
many times. By the grace of God, Tab actually let
us film in there for Churchy Season one, and, as
a good business owner often has to do, she.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Drove from her personal home all.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
The way to the restaurant one day to unlock it
for us because one of her employees had forgotten. I
don't know what happened, but Tab came to a smile
on her face, took pictures with the castle six call time.
She said, I'll be there. And then one day, tap,
seemingly out of nowhere, Kell my Name was closed. You made,
(03:08):
if I remember correctly, one post about Killed my Name,
and you went on about your business like nothing ever happened.
Can you tell us, I mean, in your words, what
on earth happened with Kell my Name. It was a
big thing and it was a nothing baby.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It was grand opening, grand closing.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
It was the longest eight months in the shortest it.
You know, it was such. So let's start talk about
how I even came to go into this business.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So I was shooting the Shy in Chicago. So I
was living in Chicago for a couple of months and
fell in love with Killed my Name. The original restaurant
in Chicago, owned by Niemen was still a very dear
friend of mine, and I would go there often.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I went and did a video for him that went viral.
Changed his whole life, his whole business just blessed him,
and I was so grateful for that. And one day
I was like, you know what, if he ever wanted
to open one in LA I would partner with them. Now,
my guy never did restaurant business, okay, never had done
did that I happened to walk in that day. And
(04:29):
after having that thought, he came and sat at the tables.
Me and one of my girlfriends were there visiting, and
he was like, you know, if you don't even you know,
has a strong action. And he said, you know, I
haven't been thinking. I wanted to open maybe in la.
I said, this is my sign from the Lord.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
This is it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I said, I'll be your partner. I ain't thought twice.
I just said this must be confirmations. I'm gonna be
your partner, right, And of course I went through all
the legal stuff, paperwork, all the things, and went looking
for buildings. Okay, I wasn't one hundred percent sold on
(05:07):
this building, but he was so passionate about it and
killed my name is still his brand. I was going
in as a partner, and you know, fifty to fifty, right,
but I'm still putting up all this this money, you know,
hundred hey, hey, and I'm putting up my name, which
(05:35):
is priceless. Okay. So we go in get this this
this this building, and we had some back and forth
about it. I was like, my spirit is saying no
to this building, but he was like, no, I'm telling
you it's going to be great, blah blah blah, and
I trusted it. I was like, you know what, this
is your this is your brand. But I know people
(05:56):
are going to like come because I'm about to endorse this,
you know. And I hired like friends, family, and then
we you know, of course, also hired other people doing
you know, regular hiring processes. What I realized first and
foremost is as much as we want to bless our
(06:18):
friends and family, sometimes we can put them in a
position that they are not ready to be put in,
and you are not ready to put them there. Okay,
they don't have the skill set to win, so you
actually set them up to fail while setting yourself up
(06:38):
to fail. So that was the first like kind of
red flag, like, oh oh, I maybe put some people
in position that I shouldn't have and with the budget
that we didn't have. Okay, you know, you're just trying
to help everybody. And then employees, Baby, I have employees,
but not in a restaurant. They hear today and they
(07:03):
going tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh really, in Los.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Angeles, you're hiring actors. You know you're and I'm an actor.
So the part of me, what I realized is I'm
not a good restaurant owner in Los Angeles because I'm
speaking life into my my actors who are waiters, Hey,
(07:26):
this is not this is temporary for you. God has
a calling on your life. Maybe you are going to
make it.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And they were like, maybe I'm not coming back after
lunch because you believe in me. Maybe I couldn't even
be mad because I was like, you gonna be great.
The Lord will put you here for me to tell you,
not for you to work. And now we got to
figure it out because you come here.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
That's larious because that's your natural like.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's just who and our wholeheartedly believed it. I was like,
I'm gonna have to stop talking to the employee. We
got to find people that they just want to do
the restaurant business. So that was the thing employees. It
was hard also employees that this is the unfortunate truth
(08:23):
that nobody I think really talks about that are scammers. Okay.
We had people come in who act like okay, there,
you know, want to be a great employee, but they
also come in because they're like, oh wait, this staff
of the Browns restaurant. Thank God for cameras because people
try to act like they slipped and failed so they
could sue. People try to add like stuff fell on
(08:45):
them and everything was on camera. Was like, so you
got a lawyer. Did they see this.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
On the video? Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
My sweet baby. Scammers try to take advantage because of
who you are. Oh no, that was like, I can't
believe that people really do this right. But also I
had never been put in that position. So those were
other things that were happening, But the biggest thing was
(09:13):
the building itself had so many issues that we didn't
know about. So when you're renting a building, you know
you do inspection, but you don't like doing inspection like
you're buying the building. Like when you buy in the building,
you get to go walls, you get to go look
all kinds of inspections happened. We did, like you know
(09:34):
how you straighten up versus clean up straight up? From outside,
it looked great, but you get to clean up, you
realize how dirty something is. Baby them walls started falling
apart our kitchen. Things started to happen, the ceiling started
like and the landlord was like, oh a yeah, I
(09:59):
mean I knew it was I knew that that's what
the problems was, but y'all wanted to buy it. I mean,
you know, y'all still wanted to rent it. Sir, you
hid all of this from us. So then we started
asking the other tenants in the you know, the whole building,
you know, because it was tenants. They were like, oh, yeah,
that that place don't never stay rented out because it
got issues. We was like, oh no, So for me,
(10:23):
I can't have a kitchen with food that people say
this is Tabitha brown and a ceiling is falling and
stuff is falling into this food. Like, I can't take
that risk. And I can't take the risk of this
building not being up to code. I can't take the
risk for you know, the the auditors coming in and
(10:46):
us being audited, and like, I just can't take that risk.
And so I said, this is this is my name
on the line, although it is killed my name, I'm
gonna have to take this loss because I just can't
risk it. And so nimh and who I a door.
We fought hard, We fought hard to try to keep
it open as long as we did. And I literally
(11:07):
just one day was like, hey, hey, hey, look look
at me. You have your restaurant in Chicago, and it's
amazing the Lord didn't call us to be here in
la and we're gonna have to close it down. And
I literally made that decision. I was in Las Vegas
and they called me to tell me that the ceiling
had felled in a different part of the restaurant, another
(11:29):
part of the ceiling. I said, send everybody home, close
and locked the door, and baby doom. Doors ain't been
open since I literally in that moment, I said, I prayed,
and Holy Spirit said, tap, you knew you won't ever
be supposed to do that that building that I told you.
You want to get your spirit on that building. Hell,
(11:51):
I want to against the spirit probably open in the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So wait, how do you how do you you hear?
You know a lot of people hear from God. They
hear from God. How do you weigh God? You know
you felt so strongly about opening it when you're in Chicago,
and then your spirit is uneasy about the building. How
do you know when it's you versus God? And then
(12:16):
how do you know it's for sure God saying close
the door? Now?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
I know for sure when He don't be talking to
me as I'm continuing to go through the process right,
So in the moment, like because when I play it
all back, it was my thoughts of like, oh man,
if you want to open one in La, I'm gonna
do that, Okay. Then he came in and he said
it in the moment, when God speaks to me really clear,
(12:43):
it's a nudge He'll keep, He'll wake me up. Like
other people will say, ain't nobody else ever come to
me and be like, girl, you should open to kill
my name. It was just me and him. It was
just me and him. It won't no confirmations from nowhere else.
And also I hear it sounds like a hummingbird. Is
(13:03):
the best way I can explain it. It's a flutter
that hits my ear right and then I can hear
a voice in that wind. That's how sometimes God speaks
to me. I ain't hear none of that, none of that.
But when I was in Las Vegas, I heard this sound.
(13:27):
This is a god out of tub you're laughing. But
when they called me in the wind, I heard and
that sounds like the doors closing. I said, lock it up,
close the door. But what did Margareite get them chains
off the door? Put them chains on the door, lock
it up. I can't do it right. It's so I think,
(13:53):
you know, it's a lesson in being disobedient. Right, it's
also a lesson in it not necessarily being disobedient, because
I didn't necessarily hear God say don't do that, tail,
but I did feel the spirit say that's not I don't.
I don't think it's a good idea, and I went
(14:13):
against that. Yeah, right, But what it really is is
a testament of you're gonna have to go through some
stuff to learn what not to do again, you know, yes,
But I also I'm so grateful that God let me
go through it, and I do believe He wanted me
(14:35):
to go through it right to learn the lessons that
I learned. I unfortunately I lost friendships because of this
race restaurant, but not necessarily because of the restaurant. It
really revealed true friendship. I lost a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I was gonna ask you, you don't have to go
into numbers, but I don't know the stats.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
But I oh, okay, it's water, but there.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Was a time that won't Jesus.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Restaurants, if I remember correctly, are somewhere around eighty percent
of restaurants closed within three to five years. I think
it's a stat. Restaurants are some of the highest investment
dollar wise to get a restaurant going. I don't think
it's even fathomable that you could make your investment back
(15:39):
in eight months unless you were just like blowing the
doors off the shelves and kell My name was pretty
you know, I would go by there going to meeting
and stuff. It was always people in there. But it's
a huge investment in equipment and you know, people hiring.
I didn't even think about the turnover. But how did
you how did you deal with the like financial loss
(16:04):
of something that obviously you didn't open two clothes in
eight months. But knowing Dan, I know there's not there's
no way I'm gonna get my money back from this.
Like I'm gonna have to take a huge l on this.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, you know the way that God is set up.
And I wrote and I actually wrote about this in
my I did a New Thing book. As much as
I lost, but because I don't put all my eggs
in one basket and I have multiple businesses, right, I
am blessed to make a lot of money. That loss
(16:36):
actually blessed me because it off set my taxes. Hey,
I said, okay, I ain't gonna it ain't.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
A win win.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
My business manager who you know, Melissa, Yes, I know
that financial it hurts you, you know you hate it,
but this is what it did for your taxes because
we get the right off that loss.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And I said, oh God, I thank.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You even in that moment, because even.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Though it's not I ain't getting money back that credit,
that loss in taxes really blessed me. And I'll never
see that money from that restaurant, you know. And I'm
okay with that because the lesson I learned was more
valuable than dollars.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
What was the lesson?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
The lesson was don't jump into anything just because it
feels good.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Boy, if you had told me that four or five
years ago, I might not have made seventeen mistakes I did.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Hey, listen, I mean because a lot of stuff feel good. Oh,
a lot of stuff feel good, tastes good and is good.
But that doesn't mean it's good for you to make
it into a business. Yeah, right, that is one thing.
And also, as much as I love my friends and family,
(18:06):
don't set them up to fail while setting yourself up
to fail. If you can't guide them the whole way,
if you can't give them all the resources to be successful,
don't do it, you know. So I definitely learned that,
And I also learned maybe if I do get a building,
(18:29):
I'm going in the walls. I'm doing thorough inspections, like
I'm buying the building. Even if I'm written it, I'm
going in there.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So I'm curious. Some people on restaurants are like restaurant tours.
All they know is restaurants. All they've done is restaurants.
Do you think that because you your business spans so
many different things, do you think because you were not
like my whole life, is this restaurant that played into
(18:58):
the reason that fail?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I mean, I think that that's part of it, you know,
because I think if I, if I could have been
more present and even though I was there a lot,
like I would go up there, take pictures with people,
serve people, clean up, do all the things as well,
but not every day because I do so many other things.
I travel all the time, I'm doing all the things.
(19:21):
But I do think if I could have been more
available and other and I had time to just focus
on it, and probably if it wasn't killed my name,
if it was Tabitha's, if it was Tabs Barbecue or
something and it was mine, yeah, I would have fought
(19:43):
to be like, Okay, let me find a new building.
We're gonna regroup and do it again. But what I
realized is like I this ain't my battle, this is
my lesson.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Tap that is good.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, yeah, I ain't meant to fight here. I'm just
meant to learn.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Okay. So ooh, I get chilled that that is good
and that differentiation is so key. That's why I think,
you know, that's part of the reason why I wrote
successful Failure, Like sometimes you got to take that l.
Taking l's is a necessary part of life, business owner
or not. Sometimes you just gotta you know, in football,
(20:26):
sometimes you just got a punt you get you can't
go for a touchdown every time, like you go. You
can't go for forth every time, and you sometimes got
a punt. I want to I don't want to forget
one thing I want to say, but I want to
ask you this, what have you learned or what did
you learn from that that loss of that restaurant that
you applied in other areas of life. That allowed you
(20:48):
to have success where you might have failed if you
didn't have this experience.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's all the things combined,
like what I've said, right, you know, with with friends
and family working for you, with doing thorough inspections, with
even you know, even with the agreements. And I'll say,
this is so great, which because a lot of times
(21:14):
what people don't realize when you get a building, especially restaurants,
but commercial buildings, you be having to have long term
leases like five years. Sometimes they want you to at
least a for teen years. They try to lock you in, right.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I know that very well.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
But the great thing about that it's having like a
morality clause. So if something goes wrong, you knew you
was wrong, which is why we were able to get
out of at least right. So, but he was so
wrong that he was like, I ain't even gonna try
to fight, y'all, Like we had too many witnesses.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
He gonna get the next person. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
But what I learned, and I know we haven't got
to it yet, but I learned that from the failure
of the restaurant, the building itself, but also from target
con having a morality dual morality clause right is what
I have learned that I will forever and always going
forward have in contracts.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Okay, I want to pin that target because I want
to talk about that before we get there. I want
to ask you. I know you the loss benefited you
tax wise, but tab the person, Yeah, how did how
did you feel having to close? Because you it was
a big thing you We had opening day and you
were promoting it, you know, and then it closed and
(22:29):
I know you moved on, but like, did you ever
sit with like, man, I really that did not work out?
Did that seep into your mind anyway? Like? How did
you deal with that?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I mean, I think I went through maybe three months
before we even closed. I knew it was coming to
an end. I knew Chance said it was probably the
every day after maybe two months of being open, every day,
Chance wanted to go and like set the building. Nobody
(23:00):
cans were like, you ain't going back to the restaurant.
That restaurant is stressing you out, your joy is leaving you.
You're not you can't do this, And I was like, no,
I'm fine, I'm fine, you know, I'm all right. No,
it's fine, It's gonna be it's gonna work out. But
I think the three months leading up to it were
the worst, and I kept thinking, like, oh man, I'm
(23:23):
going to disappoint so many people. I did this for,
you know, also for Neeman, you know who. I love him,
the door him. He's a special, special human and I
wanted his brand to win as well. But also like
people walk in like it was tab Central in there.
You can come in there, My books were there, tab
(23:46):
Time played on the TVs for the kids, like we
made a country feeling because you know, so it just
felt like home. I just felt like people are gonna
be like, dang, what happened to the restaurant, what happened
to the restaurant? And I'm gonna be like it didn't
work out, you know. And I did feel like I
(24:07):
think I felt responsible because also like I had employees
like they ain't gonna have no job.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Of course I get unemployment. You know, some of them
were happy about that because they actors, as we look
forward to them, laid off. Baby, give me a little
unforman for six months. Let me go get these auditions,
you know, That's what I heard. I don't know, but
that's that's what I have, they me all day, but
I did. I really felt bad, I think for everybody
(24:39):
else and their expectations for a while. But I used
to believe like God just pulled it out of me.
He was like, hey, this is when the lesson you
have learned and now you pivot, and that's that's what
I did. I was just like, this ain't my end
(25:01):
all be all. This was one thing that I tried
and it didn't work out. Okay, girl, you got to
keep on going, you know. I didn't really have time
to soak and be sad. I mean I was sad
about it for a little bit, but I had to
still go to work. My people have them jobs.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Baby, I.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Listened. I still own Doamind's Recipe. I still own do
you Believe enterprises. I still own Black Sock and Bustinments.
I said, I have so many businesses that some people
don't even know about, right, they're not proud of. Like
you know what I'm saying, Like I have multiple employees
and I gotta go to work. Yes, I felt bad,
(25:44):
but I couldn't stop.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, I think that's a valuable lesson. And honestly, when
my brother passed away, that was a life lesson that
I saw happening at his funeral. We were in the
parking lot and I remember, you know, we were like
talking about where the repass was and stuff, and I
remember all these cars going by, like people just going
(26:06):
to the red light. They turning, they come in people.
There was like a little restaurant there, like a little
fast food joint. And I'm thinking, like the world, like
I'm going through it, whole family going through it.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That world don't care, and.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
That world don't care. And my mortgage was due on
the next first, which was like a week after the
fun Yeah, and I'm like, man, the world really is
gonna the earth gonna keep spinning, regardless of whether you
sat or not. You got to feel your feelings. But hey, man, yeah,
(26:41):
you got to, you know. And I think there's a
lesson in that too. I think sometimes we as people,
we feel our feelings to the point of paralysis a
little bit, and and no matter what we do, the
world will Even if we don't come out of that
room for six months, the world's still going keep keep spinning.
(27:02):
We'll be back with more With tap of the Brown.
(27:26):
I want to switch gears because you talked about target
now I'm your friend. I'm your friend, right and my
you know it is hard in this. I don't imagine
a lot of people know this exactly how it happens
for you and I, but any of us know what
it's like to watch your friend through go through a
(27:47):
rough spot and you can't stop it for them. You can,
you know, we can be in the group chat Vinton,
but you can't stop the presses, you know. So I'm
gonna I'm gonna explain the target thing from from my
point of view, and I want you to explain it
from your point of view and what you learn from that.
So from my point of view, just as a black
(28:08):
person going through the world with the black community, what
it seemed like is after Trump was won the election,
shortly after that, he was you know, d I d
I were stopping DEI. Then all of a sudden, it
was a list of all these companies who were like
rolling back their DEI. I remember a few, not all,
(28:30):
but few. I remember a few was like Amazon, Meta, Target,
Walmart were rolling back. Those are the like the biggest
four that I can think of. There was more, but
those are af the top of my head. And uh,
the black community, I feel like we kind of laser
focused in on Target. I feel like Target's the only one.
(28:53):
I'm just speaking for me. That felt like a betrayal
because it felt like Target had our back, they had
supported so publicly black owned business. I'm you know you
were in there. You know, Unique Jones Gibson's games were
in there. You know, uh lit Bar was in there,
like they had done collaborations. Kilanie is closed, Like I remember,
(29:15):
you know, prior to that, I'm not a huge and
never been a huge Target guy. But on the road,
Target is very convenient. You going there, grab some deald reine,
you forget socks, whatever, kids get. School closed. But I
wasn't like a going there. But when you got your stuff,
I was like, I am purposely going there. Remember when
Kalanie got her thing, Melissa's like, I need to go
buy Target because Klini has a collection. I want to
(29:35):
support her. When Unique Games were in there, We're like,
we need to go buy them now because I know,
you know, even for in Churchy, you know that first
seven days matters, the first thirty days matters. We want
black people to win. And I remember you went from
you know, a little area in the front of Target
to a bigger area, to end caps to fall on
(29:57):
in the store. And you know, I remember essence one
year when You're clothing line came out the baby them
them folks having them tab glorious flowers and poking about
everybody had tabbing you. Now you dress a unique way.
You be hippie black hippie down to the converse and flat,
I mean big and beautiful and you know a lot
of colors. That essence, it was that and it was
(30:19):
before I let go. It was a whirlwindow tab that year.
So when the black community was like, we're boycotting Target,
you were to me one of the first voices to speak.
Your first video, you was just like you never said
a word, and black people was like, yup, yup, yup,
(30:41):
we with you. Tame right, And then your next video
you to me by and let me be very clear here,
I am biased because Tab is my friend. Do that
how you will? I'm not gonna beat her white people
would do, because that's my friend, and you ain't. You
don't beat your friends up the way the world does.
Even if you think they're wrong, you know they're wrong.
(31:02):
How And I'm not even say she was wrong. I'm
just saying even she was that's my friend first, so biased,
but also as a business owner, I was like, oh man,
you I immediately thought, man, these black business owners are
stuck in an impossible situation right now. So you made
a video and now I want to turn over to
(31:23):
you and in your mind, what were you trying to communicate?
And then what was received? And then what was the fallout?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
So what I was trying to with a very first
video when I ain't say nothing, was like I can't
believe this, baby, I am sick of them, okay. And
after that, like, I was flooded with messages from black
(31:54):
content creators who were just partnered for the first time
for Black History Month, from black owned businesses that were
on this sh people i've helped personally, what are we
gonna do? Tall, what are we going like? This is
about to kill our business? Blah blah blah blah, They
about to boycott, they about to work out, like all
these things. And I was like, Okay, y'all, everybody calm down.
But I felt responsible because I am known to help
(32:20):
small businesses. I have been passionate about this work for
the last eight years. Publicly every week you see a
small business on my page, whether I'm wearing it, whether
I'm showcasing them whatever. So in my mind and what
I said and thought I was conveying was that, hey,
(32:41):
I support the boycott. I understand it, but let me
explain to you that these like for me. And I
said this in the video, but nobody heard it. I
forget took it and edited my video. So that's the
one that everybody saw, and they just assumed that I
was like, y'all, please go buy my stuff at Target.
And I ain't never say that. So what I was
(33:04):
trying to explain to them is I have two ways
that I'm in business with Target. One, I'm a partner.
I do a licensing deal. All those products, the food
to close all that. That's a licensing deal. That means
I created strictly for Target. I don't own those They're
not mine, never wanted to. That was a partnership. Donnad's recipe.
(33:25):
My company was a hair care line. I own that company.
Those products are on the shelves, right. I'm fine, I
own multiple businesses. Don't worry about me. But these other people,
and I said this in the video, some of these
black owned businesses, it's the first time being in the store.
(33:46):
And I mean this is why I was really so
upset because term like y'all really do this right before
the Black Fustue month, like launch, y'all know what it's
going to do to these these businesses, and you know
how long it takes to get in there. Like it
was just like Target, y'all wrong for like why is
this happening?
Speaker 2 (34:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (34:04):
But I was trying to educate people on this is
what's going to happen for these small businesses if we
because some people were like, I ain't boycotting, and I'm like, listen,
I understand, but if you do, great, if you decide
not to and you still go in Target, please only
buy black. Only support those businesses because the numbers don't lie,
(34:26):
and this is what they go by. And if these
businesses numbers drop, then they can without fail without any retaliation,
uh you know, or or any DEI comments or whatever.
They can say, Oh well, no, it's just the numbers.
They didn't perform.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Yeah they can't.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Just because there was like a lot of lives going
around seeing like, oh, they just took all the black
businesses out of Target. I was like, no, they didn't
do that. Yet they didn't do that because they can't legally,
but they can when them when it's when that the
fiscal year roll around and they start looking at the
I'm gonna say, oh, this was your forecast and this
is where you came in. You didn't meet the numbers.
(35:05):
Now they have reason to remove them, right, That's what
I tried to convey. What people heard was, y'all please
go to Target. I'm with Target. Lord Jesus safe man,
help me please. Like that's what they heard. They heard
I am with Target. I ain't black, I'm African Amerrian. Kid.
(35:30):
That'sn't what they heard. Maybe if I said it's blue
them they heard it is red. Like they just people
didn't want to hear what I had to say, right,
They just and and and and I joke about it now,
but it has been like very tough for me, just
emotionally because I love people so much, and especially our people.
(35:54):
Like the fact that people would even think that I
would choose. First of all, I'm grateful for the Target
journey that I had. It was beautiful while it lasted,
it was beautiful. I made history, right, it was great.
Maybe we had time, but to think that I would
(36:15):
be for a corporation before my people. It's crazy that
it's insane. My work is proof. How I live my
life is proof. Right, and go back and watch the
video and also since January, show me where I sent
people to target our wait our wait baby, show me
(36:39):
the records where I sent them.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Shure it to me.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I will wait. People just made up lies and listen.
I love pastor Jamal Bryant. I haven't follower for years
of him to have posted his videos. However, he put
out information about me that wasn't true that turned a
(37:03):
lot of people against me. He told them people he
said she could just pull all them products and go
D to C and I said, those are not that's
a licensing deal. That's not how that works.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Can you explain what D to C is for people?
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Direct consumer?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So D to C is for example, uh Fridays with taping, Chance,
Donad's recipe, my haircare line, my fragrance line, my t shirts.
Right do you believe you go online you order directly
from me, We ship it directly to you, direct to
the customer, direct to consumer. Right. A licensing deal is
(37:45):
I will license my name to you. You got to
pay me, pay me to use my name, but I
will also create and design products for you. I don't
want that heavy lifting of having warehouse like that. This
is a partnership, right, I just want to do this.
This is fun, but this ain't my passion to do
(38:06):
this all the time. On that level, two different things.
I have had a dta C since twenty sixteen, right
when I started selling like waistcaps and then T shirts
and all things. So for him to act like I
just refused to like just pull my stuff out. Also,
(38:29):
nobody could just pull these stuff off shelves without losing
a lot of money being sued, like you just can't
do it. And so it hurt my feelings because I
was like, dang, why would you say that when that's
not the truth. The truth is that's a license and
agreement that's under contract. And I even said it in
(38:50):
my first video, I said, my contract up at the
end of this year, y'all. I got I got decisions
to make. I got to the end of this year
to be under contract. I said it. Know they edited
that part out to anybody, you know, so people just
decided to believe that, And it was just hurtful that
(39:12):
people would go to that extreme. I mean, you know,
I had to heighten my security because like people were
like approaching me and trying to like it was it
got bad for a minute.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
To listen, you ain't tell a cap that.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
It was, you know, the messages, the threats. I was like, y'all,
I'm not the enemy. I'm for the people I just
happened to be in business with at this time, the enemy, right,
But yeah, it was just that's the part I think
that hurt me the most because even through it all,
(39:46):
I still love my people. I still love my people,
and my hope is that you know, we all can
like learn more. But what God taught me in this
season is that sometimes we rather be emotional than educated
(40:11):
on what's really happening. We rather feel than know the truth,
because feelings like oh, they bring about all this different emotion.
But when you settle in on the truth, you can't
deny it, right. And so I was like, okay, Lord,
But I also had to come to the understanding of
(40:32):
sometime I be sharing too much. Maybe I can't help everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Do you ever wish you would have just left your
first video and not made the second one.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
I think about that all the time. But I would
be a hypocrite if I had never said anything. Knowing
that all the people in the small businesses who were
asking for help and calling, and we were all in
the you know, having meetings every week and doing all
(41:04):
the things.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
I just felt responsible to speak up for the other businesses.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Like, I don't regret it, because I also learned the
value a lesson in it. Like, but I mean there
are days I'd be like I should have just let
people run with their imagination, you know, but they still
would have been mad because I'm still in Target because
I'm still under contract.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Oh that's a good point, Like I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Damning for do damn if I don't.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Yeah, And you literally like you had and this is
why we were so excited for you. You were in
every single It's not even like what people and I
remember seeing people be like she could pull her stuff
out one you you literally cannot without and being suit
and we're talking about that suit is devastating because you're
(41:57):
you're talking about if Target's licensing your deal. I imagine
you correct me if I'm wrong they're paying you a
licensing deal. We just use a thousand dollars For every
one thousand dollars they give tab they probably expect to
make ten thousand dollars right now. If you magnify that
into potentially millions, they expect to make a lot of money.
(42:18):
And if you damage that right, A lot of times
we just on the brand deal side, you can't even
negatively say something that might defame the brand. They can
sue you, and they can sue you for what they
will call potential loss revenue, and they can sue you
for what they would have lost, which is not what
they would have paid you. Right, And you literally can't
(42:40):
go into all the targets in an American pull, you know,
the popcorn and the okra out like you can't do it,
but people they literally thought you could. And if you can,
why didn't you or why didn't you go and talk,
you know, bad about them? But a lot of times,
and I you know, even as influencer myself, a lot
of times I feel like I said this in your
(43:01):
defense on my podcast, because you ain't just gonna talk
about my friend if you don't know the whole truth.
I think sometimes we as people, we get mad at
the at the person we can touch, right, We can't.
I can't. I don't know who is Target. Who is
that Target is a billion dollar global business. I'm very
upset with them. I felt like they did us wrong.
(43:24):
I can't get to them, but I can go comment
on tabs Instagram, or I can tweet about tab and
I can make a TikTok about her, and I can,
you know, basically vent my frustrations. But I know it's
happened to me and not on the level of Target.
But I've been dragged many a time on the internet
and be the worst days. How did you? How did
you deal with And this was a long one.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
This one was listen, it's long. It started at yesterday,
I mean, because I'm doing a best fent. So I
was on there with with Troy and Rashad like doing
Earn Your Leisure the Market Mondays, and they asked me
about it, and of course, you know, and I love
the brothers, but they did click bait and made a
little thing on instagrama the sponsor about tart whatever, and uh,
(44:13):
people didn't go look at the whole podcast. They looked
at these little clips that they edited and started right
back over like she just sell out. But I was like,
at this point, if you say Target, people just ready
to fight tel.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Like man, I said, man, I.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I gotta go to invest as you know, the security
is up. That's all I can say. I'm gonna be
on the stage. I don't know what's gonna happen. I mean,
after this airs it have already passed, and I pay
I'm still here.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
You better still be here time. We got vacations to do.
Now we gotta listen.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
How I dealt with like, I spent a lot of
time just being quiet, like and just praying and like
asking God, like what am I supposed to learn from this?
Like what is it you know that you want me
to gain from this and learn from this? But it
was also confirmation for me right And I think I
may have shared that you know this, I shared with
(45:21):
you last year what God had told me. I said, keV,
I think I'm done with Target next year.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Before this had even happened last August, and at that time,
I said, girl, do you now they said the bop
going out the wazoo. You're selling oh crub.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I said, the Lord is telling me that it's coming
to an end. And in January the new year, the
first week I always passed.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
My prayer.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Was God revealed to me if I'm supposed to continue
on this partnership. Baby, I didn't know he was gonna
reveal it like that. I said, Lord, wait a bitsiness.
I didn't know long suffer it was gonna be part
of us, Baby, I said, you could have just said
(46:11):
make me a little you know. The ear whispered like, no.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
I think it's pretty clear now even if you didn't
want to like that.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Lord, you didn't have to tell me like that, right, So,
because I really wanted to get back into acting more
and you know, opening my own businesses and having more
time to focus on like Donna's recipe and taving chance,
like I really wanted to get back to that, and
it was like an answer prayer, right, But it came
(46:39):
with heartache. And because to date and now probably forever,
I am the only person black, white, man or woman
who has ever did what they did at Target. No
one else has ever done what I've done. You can't
(47:02):
take away the history that I made, and I'm grateful
for that. But the season has changed, and it was
it was definitely like hurtful and stressful, but Baby, I
just went on about my business. You know, and I
just started pivoting. I just you know, I had already
(47:24):
launched a new business with Chance, with the Fragrance Company,
and I was like, no, what hsn talking about. We're
going over here and you know, and sell these products.
You know Donnad's recipe. We are in every door at
Aultra Beauty. I'm you know, creating other products and working
on different projects and doing all the things. And I
(47:46):
think the biggest thing while going through it all, baby
I took recations. I was like, free your mind, the.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Maybe we went to Italy. Okay, you know what feels better.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
L We had a time.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
We had a time. keV like, sometimes you just gotta
get out of the missions.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Like I said, I've been dragged on the internet many times,
and I'm sure it will happen more. One thing that
has always helped me is, you know, it's a cliche
to say, go touch grass, but sometimes putting the phone
down and going and living your actual life, you will
forget that the internet is real. I don't people say
the internet's not real. It absolutely is real.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
It's really it is just not a real place.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
But it's not a real place, and you can't actually
I've been blessed to have shows and people walking down
the street like, man, what up, cav I love you, man,
Let me take a picture with you. While I'm getting
absolutely viscerated on Twitter or TikTok or whatever, people in
the real world are tapping me up, showing me their
babies and stuff. So and honestly, outside of the fans,
(49:02):
the people in my house, my fam, my wife, my kids,
my friends, those people be even more valuable in those times,
those people who even if you were wrong, like, well, man,
hey man, you took that ol. You want to go
get some my scream Listen, I want to go to
Vegas like you need people like that, because it's an
unnatural amount of attention, negative attention that most people never
(49:27):
have to deal with. And as human beings, we're wired
for acceptance and love, like and when it feels like
the whole world is against you, it never is, but
it show feels like.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
And that's how I felt. I was like, oh my god,
people hate me now. But then I remember when I
went out to an event and I still couldn't get
through the crowd without people just screaming and ask for
pictures and crying and loving on me and I was like, oh,
y'all do you love me? So it's only bit and
then and I remember so many people told me this too.
(50:02):
The majority of the people who were hating on me
never supported me anyway.
Speaker 2 (50:05):
That keeps me going.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
I was like, yeah, I said, And also, y'all don't
know me, so I can't even like I had to.
That's really what like snapped me out of it, because
I was like, first of all, I lie, don't care
who tell me, okay, And a bunch of people were
just lying and putting out misinformation about me, And I
(50:28):
was like, these are these are people that don't really
know me. I can't be mad at them. But then,
you know I had shared it with you. You know,
God had revealed me, he said, But Tad, you blessed them.
They needed you. They needed you because they got a
little podcast, They got a little little content that they
like to do and nobody watches, but they got to
(50:50):
use you for clickbait, and they got views and they
were able to make their hundred or two, one hundred
of thousand dollars, whatever the case was. They still needed you.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
That'd be happening. That happened to me yesterday. Somebody killed
me on TikTok and I people tagged me in it.
I don't even know anymore time man I saw and
it was one of his best performing views. That's said,
God bless you. I'm not gonna watch it and I
don't even want the algorithm to send me no stuff
like that. But God bless you on your journey and
you go with God, Chris be because I'm not gonna
let it in to me. Time for a quick commercial break.
(51:25):
Will be back with more Habita Brown. Now, you said
(51:50):
one thing you learned, and I just want to make
sure I gave you space to talk about it. You
said you would have a dual morality morality clause in
all your contracts. That's a new term for me, So
explain to me what that? What that? What what you
will have moving forward that you didn't have now?
Speaker 1 (52:05):
Yeah, So, which means if you do something stupid, I
can walk away and you still got to pay your
play like you still got to pay me. Right, If
I do something stupid, I'll have to pay you and
you can walk away. That's the layman terms. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (52:23):
Because you feel like they did something that harmed your business,
but you were still stuck under contract.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Yeah, because like y'all pledged the allegiance to basically to
the president. You know, y'all wrote it back. But every
the thing is, everybody has done it, and Trump is
making his He is trying his best to make it
a law where everybody will have to remove the EI.
This man is crazy, okay, And when that happens, God,
(52:52):
I pray it doesn't like we're we're we can't bout
the world, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't
know what we're gonna do.
Speaker 2 (53:00):
Yeah, No, But what I know I'm gonna.
Speaker 1 (53:02):
Do is I'm gonna keep supporting. I'm gonna keep creating
my own businesses and you know, supporting other black owned businesses.
But we're living in some scary times.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Yeah, we are. It's just it's not even just businesses.
It's college, it's museum, it's museums. You see that.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
Like I said, this man has lost his mind. I mean,
it's just the true. Then he's trying to get a
third term, which is crazy to me, Dear Lord, making
some fly, but it's crazy, it really is. But it's
(53:39):
also very sad that in twenty twenty five, this is
where we are as a country, I mean, you know,
as traveling the world and going to other countries. They
laugh at us, yes, and they remember how many times
when we were in Switzerland we were like, they were like,
you're from America. I'm social.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I mean they were genuinely like, we are so sorry
for what's happening to y'all.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
We had to be American. I said, my God, and I.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
Said thank you, because it's really rough.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Listen to my shirt. You can't see it, but baby,
that's what the shirt say. Okay, today you voted for
because the people that put him in office.
Speaker 2 (54:18):
Yeah, here we are now before I let you go
to we talked about a lot of your not your
best moments. What are some of your best moments that
you're excited about that people can support you or check out.
What are the things that that they can look forward
to coming from you.
Speaker 1 (54:35):
I think one of the things I'm so excited about.
I'm a basketball mama. Okay, my husband is the coach,
and my son is going to the eighth grade. And
you know he didn't hit he about six' one, now,
yeah he's about to get, big And i'm excited to
like be at all them. Games, sonday And i'm gonna
be posting his little you, know content. Buildings he told, Me,
(54:57):
MOMMY i need to let the people Know i'm. Out
SO i Am, brown y'all following my son and we're
gonna be on the basketball Teams brown, okay and just
just creating a brand built on love with my, husband you,
know with with taber. Jeans, okay hold them, up.
Speaker 2 (55:19):
Come, on hold them.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
Up it's a warming. Braids they, brown we, brown and
our last Name. Brown but we are doing holiday gift.
Sets so we're gonna have Body, Wise we're gonna have,
lotion and then next year we are you, know gonna
Release the plan is every year to release a new,
fragrance and so we've been working on it for the
last year and so we'll release a new one in
(55:40):
the spring next.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
Year.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Uh and Then i'm also trying to do mass, market,
like you, know a more reduced price BECAUSE i also
know my my fan base AND i know my, customers
and So i'm gonna do skin care and or not
necessarily skincare yet that's. Coming, uh but you know body
missed and the things normally go to like bath and
(56:03):
body to get but a lower price point but that's
like business, wise and Then donald's. Recipe of, course we're
always doing new. Innovation we now have our travels. Ize
super excited about. That but the most important thing is
That god has blessed me to take this journey back
to my childhood dreams of. Acting and so recently it
(56:27):
Announced Unexpected, christmas WHICH i executive produced AND i get
to start.
Speaker 2 (56:32):
IN i am so.
Speaker 1 (56:33):
Excited comes Out november seventh AT amc. Theaters, honey we're
Gonna we're gonna be in the.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
Theater'scab go buy our theater. OUT i cannot wait see.
It that's WHERE i go down and watch my.
Speaker 1 (56:43):
Movie, yeah, yeah so that's. Happening i'm super excited about.
THAT i have another film THAT i just wrapped, Up
The land Of, wolves as the life story Of Donald.
THOMPSON i get to play his. Mother that'll probably come
out next. Year and working on a really big project
(57:05):
That i've been holding on to for about fifteen. Years
it's a. Series it would be if we, could IF
i could tell you the, concept it would be touched
by an angel meets sixth. Sense, cool, yes.
Speaker 2 (57:21):
Both of.
Speaker 1 (57:21):
Those, Yeah so marry those together and you have a
series based on some of my life experiences WHILE i
worked in a nursing home assistant living facility With alzheimer's and.
Dementia SO i have a lot happening And i'm Just i'm.
Grateful you. Know Tab time season three was released this.
(57:42):
Year we're still looking for a new home for Tap,
time but, yeah just working and trying.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
To be good and do. Good. Well thank, You. TAB
i Am Tabitha. BROWN i believe on most, platforms, yeah
but if you're on Their google, tab you're gonna hee.
It thank you so, Much tab for joining. Us blessings
to you on all your endeavors and we'll see you next.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Time thank. You Kimry.
Speaker 2 (58:17):
Suh this has been A Unanimous media. Original Not My
Best moment was produced By iHeart podcast And Unanimous. Media
it was hosted by Me Kevin, Freklis executive produced By Stephen,
(58:39):
Curry Eric kate And Charlotte sumter J co executive Producer
Kelenna Maria. Cutney the executi producers Of iHeart podcasts Are
sean Ty tone And Jason. English this series was produced
By Peter kowser And Jabari. Davis co Producer Kurt. Redmond
special thanks To Stephen curry And Will Pierson Not My
Best moment as a production Of Unanimous media and iHeart.
(58:59):
Podcast for more podcasts from iHeart, radio visit The iHeartRadio.
App have a, podcast or wherever you get your. Podcasts
I hear it sounds like a hummingbird, is the best
way I can explain it. It's a flutter that hits
my ear right and then I can hear a voice
in that wind. That's how sometimes God speaks to me.
I ain't hear none of that, none of that. But
(00:21):
when I was in Las Vegas, I heard this sound.
This is a god out of chub you're laughing. But
when they called me in the wind, I heard and
that sounds like the doors closing. I said, lock it up,
(00:41):
close the door. What did Margamy? Get them chains off
the door? Put them chains on the door, Lock it up?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
What up y'all? Your boy kep on stage. Welcome to
Not My Best Moment, a podcast sort of loosely based
on my hopefully New York Times best selling book, Successful Failure.
If it's not on the list, you can help me
get there by ordering it link in my bio. Today
we have none other than actress, entrepreneur, the host, speaker, showrunner,
(01:27):
movie creator, producer, wife, mother, vegan personal friend, Tabitha Brown.
We welcome you tab to the show. Clap clapping your homes,
clapping your homes right now. Usually we talk about accolades like.
Tab is a NAACP Image Award winner, She's one an Emmy,
(01:49):
she has a million dollar business. She has a movie
coming out this Christmas. But this show is not about that.
This show is about failure's mess and mistakes. But we
want to welcome you, Tab. How are you.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Very good?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Thank you for joining us. Now. Many of you may
know Tab for many of her many business and accolades
and her monguledom. You may not remember. It's been a
few years now, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, in.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
A couple of years, it's been a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
For a while, Tab had what many thought was a
very successful restaurant in Los Angeles, California, called Call My Name.
I was there on the opening day, I went there
many times. By the grace of God, Tab actually let
us film in there for Churchy Season one, and, as
a good business owner often has to do, she.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Drove from her personal home all.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
The way to the restaurant one day to unlock it
for us because one of her employees had forgotten. I
don't know what happened, but Tab came to a smile
on her face, took pictures with the castle six call time.
She said, I'll be there. And then one day, tap,
seemingly out of nowhere, Kell my Name was closed. You made,
(03:08):
if I remember correctly, one post about Killed my Name,
and you went on about your business like nothing ever happened.
Can you tell us, I mean, in your words, what
on earth happened with Kell my Name. It was a
big thing and it was a nothing baby.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It was grand opening, grand closing.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
It was the longest eight months in the shortest it.
You know, it was such. So let's start talk about
how I even came to go into this business.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So I was shooting the Shy in Chicago. So I
was living in Chicago for a couple of months and
fell in love with Killed my Name. The original restaurant
in Chicago, owned by Niemen was still a very dear
friend of mine, and I would go there often.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I went and did a video for him that went viral.
Changed his whole life, his whole business just blessed him,
and I was so grateful for that. And one day
I was like, you know what, if he ever wanted
to open one in LA I would partner with them. Now,
my guy never did restaurant business, okay, never had done
did that I happened to walk in that day. And
(04:29):
after having that thought, he came and sat at the tables.
Me and one of my girlfriends were there visiting, and
he was like, you know, if you don't even you know,
has a strong action. And he said, you know, I
haven't been thinking. I wanted to open maybe in la.
I said, this is my sign from the Lord.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
This is it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I said, I'll be your partner. I ain't thought twice.
I just said this must be confirmations. I'm gonna be
your partner, right, And of course I went through all
the legal stuff, paperwork, all the things, and went looking
for buildings. Okay, I wasn't one hundred percent sold on
(05:07):
this building, but he was so passionate about it and
killed my name is still his brand. I was going
in as a partner, and you know, fifty to fifty, right,
but I'm still putting up all this this money, you know,
hundred hey, hey, and I'm putting up my name, which
(05:35):
is priceless. Okay. So we go in get this this
this this building, and we had some back and forth
about it. I was like, my spirit is saying no
to this building, but he was like, no, I'm telling
you it's going to be great, blah blah blah, and
I trusted it. I was like, you know what, this
is your this is your brand. But I know people
(05:56):
are going to like come because I'm about to endorse this,
you know. And I hired like friends, family, and then
we you know, of course, also hired other people doing
you know, regular hiring processes. What I realized first and
foremost is as much as we want to bless our
(06:18):
friends and family, sometimes we can put them in a
position that they are not ready to be put in,
and you are not ready to put them there. Okay,
they don't have the skill set to win, so you
actually set them up to fail while setting yourself up
(06:38):
to fail. So that was the first like kind of
red flag, like, oh oh, I maybe put some people
in position that I shouldn't have and with the budget
that we didn't have. Okay, you know, you're just trying
to help everybody. And then employees, Baby, I have employees,
but not in a restaurant. They hear today and they
(07:03):
going tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh really, in Los.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Angeles, you're hiring actors. You know you're and I'm an actor.
So the part of me, what I realized is I'm
not a good restaurant owner in Los Angeles because I'm
speaking life into my my actors who are waiters, Hey,
(07:26):
this is not this is temporary for you. God has
a calling on your life. Maybe you are going to
make it.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And they were like, maybe I'm not coming back after
lunch because you believe in me. Maybe I couldn't even
be mad because I was like, you gonna be great.
The Lord will put you here for me to tell you,
not for you to work. And now we got to
figure it out because you come here.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
That's larious because that's your natural like.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's just who and our wholeheartedly believed it. I was like,
I'm gonna have to stop talking to the employee. We
got to find people that they just want to do
the restaurant business. So that was the thing employees. It
was hard also employees that this is the unfortunate truth
(08:23):
that nobody I think really talks about that are scammers. Okay.
We had people come in who act like okay, there,
you know, want to be a great employee, but they
also come in because they're like, oh wait, this staff
of the Browns restaurant. Thank God for cameras because people
try to act like they slipped and failed so they
could sue. People try to add like stuff fell on
(08:45):
them and everything was on camera. Was like, so you
got a lawyer. Did they see this.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
On the video? Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
My sweet baby. Scammers try to take advantage because of
who you are. Oh no, that was like, I can't
believe that people really do this right. But also I
had never been put in that position. So those were
other things that were happening, But the biggest thing was
(09:13):
the building itself had so many issues that we didn't
know about. So when you're renting a building, you know
you do inspection, but you don't like doing inspection like
you're buying the building. Like when you buy in the building,
you get to go walls, you get to go look
all kinds of inspections happened. We did, like you know
(09:34):
how you straighten up versus clean up straight up? From outside,
it looked great, but you get to clean up, you
realize how dirty something is. Baby them walls started falling
apart our kitchen. Things started to happen, the ceiling started
like and the landlord was like, oh a yeah, I
(09:59):
mean I knew it was I knew that that's what
the problems was, but y'all wanted to buy it. I mean,
you know, y'all still wanted to rent it. Sir, you
hid all of this from us. So then we started
asking the other tenants in the you know, the whole building,
you know, because it was tenants. They were like, oh, yeah,
that that place don't never stay rented out because it
got issues. We was like, oh no, So for me,
(10:23):
I can't have a kitchen with food that people say
this is Tabitha brown and a ceiling is falling and
stuff is falling into this food. Like, I can't take
that risk. And I can't take the risk of this
building not being up to code. I can't take the
risk for you know, the the auditors coming in and
(10:46):
us being audited, and like, I just can't take that risk.
And so I said, this is this is my name
on the line, although it is killed my name, I'm
gonna have to take this loss because I just can't
risk it. And so nimh and who I a door.
We fought hard, We fought hard to try to keep
it open as long as we did. And I literally
(11:07):
just one day was like, hey, hey, hey, look look
at me. You have your restaurant in Chicago, and it's
amazing the Lord didn't call us to be here in
la and we're gonna have to close it down. And
I literally made that decision. I was in Las Vegas
and they called me to tell me that the ceiling
had felled in a different part of the restaurant, another
(11:29):
part of the ceiling. I said, send everybody home, close
and locked the door, and baby doom. Doors ain't been
open since I literally in that moment, I said, I prayed,
and Holy Spirit said, tap, you knew you won't ever
be supposed to do that that building that I told you.
You want to get your spirit on that building. Hell,
(11:51):
I want to against the spirit probably open in the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So wait, how do you how do you you hear?
You know a lot of people hear from God. They
hear from God. How do you weigh God? You know
you felt so strongly about opening it when you're in Chicago,
and then your spirit is uneasy about the building. How
do you know when it's you versus God? And then
(12:16):
how do you know it's for sure God saying close
the door? Now?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
I know for sure when He don't be talking to
me as I'm continuing to go through the process right,
So in the moment, like because when I play it
all back, it was my thoughts of like, oh man,
if you want to open one in La, I'm gonna
do that, Okay. Then he came in and he said
it in the moment, when God speaks to me really clear,
(12:43):
it's a nudge He'll keep, He'll wake me up. Like
other people will say, ain't nobody else ever come to
me and be like, girl, you should open to kill
my name. It was just me and him. It was
just me and him. It won't no confirmations from nowhere else.
And also I hear it sounds like a hummingbird. Is
(13:03):
the best way I can explain it. It's a flutter
that hits my ear right and then I can hear
a voice in that wind. That's how sometimes God speaks
to me. I ain't hear none of that, none of that.
But when I was in Las Vegas, I heard this sound.
(13:27):
This is a god out of tub you're laughing. But
when they called me in the wind, I heard and
that sounds like the doors closing. I said, lock it up,
close the door. But what did Margareite get them chains
off the door? Put them chains on the door, lock
it up. I can't do it right. It's so I think,
(13:53):
you know, it's a lesson in being disobedient. Right, it's
also a lesson in it not necessarily being disobedient, because
I didn't necessarily hear God say don't do that, tail,
but I did feel the spirit say that's not I don't.
I don't think it's a good idea, and I went
(14:13):
against that. Yeah, right, But what it really is is
a testament of you're gonna have to go through some
stuff to learn what not to do again, you know, yes,
But I also I'm so grateful that God let me
go through it, and I do believe He wanted me
(14:35):
to go through it right to learn the lessons that
I learned. I unfortunately I lost friendships because of this
race restaurant, but not necessarily because of the restaurant. It
really revealed true friendship. I lost a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I was gonna ask you, you don't have to go
into numbers, but I don't know the stats.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
But I oh, okay, it's water, but there.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Was a time that won't Jesus.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Restaurants, if I remember correctly, are somewhere around eighty percent
of restaurants closed within three to five years. I think
it's a stat. Restaurants are some of the highest investment
dollar wise to get a restaurant going. I don't think
it's even fathomable that you could make your investment back
(15:39):
in eight months unless you were just like blowing the
doors off the shelves and kell My name was pretty
you know, I would go by there going to meeting
and stuff. It was always people in there. But it's
a huge investment in equipment and you know, people hiring.
I didn't even think about the turnover. But how did
you how did you deal with the like financial loss
(16:04):
of something that obviously you didn't open two clothes in
eight months. But knowing Dan, I know there's not there's
no way I'm gonna get my money back from this.
Like I'm gonna have to take a huge l on this.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, you know the way that God is set up.
And I wrote and I actually wrote about this in
my I did a New Thing book. As much as
I lost, but because I don't put all my eggs
in one basket and I have multiple businesses, right, I
am blessed to make a lot of money. That loss
(16:36):
actually blessed me because it off set my taxes. Hey,
I said, okay, I ain't gonna it ain't.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
A win win.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
My business manager who you know, Melissa, Yes, I know
that financial it hurts you, you know you hate it,
but this is what it did for your taxes because
we get the right off that loss.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And I said, oh God, I thank.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You even in that moment, because even.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Though it's not I ain't getting money back that credit,
that loss in taxes really blessed me. And I'll never
see that money from that restaurant, you know. And I'm
okay with that because the lesson I learned was more
valuable than dollars.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
What was the lesson?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
The lesson was don't jump into anything just because it
feels good.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Boy, if you had told me that four or five
years ago, I might not have made seventeen mistakes I did.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Hey, listen, I mean because a lot of stuff feel good. Oh,
a lot of stuff feel good, tastes good and is good.
But that doesn't mean it's good for you to make
it into a business. Yeah, right, that is one thing.
And also, as much as I love my friends and family,
(18:06):
don't set them up to fail while setting yourself up
to fail. If you can't guide them the whole way,
if you can't give them all the resources to be successful,
don't do it, you know. So I definitely learned that,
And I also learned maybe if I do get a building,
(18:29):
I'm going in the walls. I'm doing thorough inspections, like
I'm buying the building. Even if I'm written it, I'm
going in there.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So I'm curious. Some people on restaurants are like restaurant tours.
All they know is restaurants. All they've done is restaurants.
Do you think that because you your business spans so
many different things, do you think because you were not
like my whole life, is this restaurant that played into
(18:58):
the reason that fail?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I mean, I think that that's part of it, you know,
because I think if I, if I could have been
more present and even though I was there a lot,
like I would go up there, take pictures with people,
serve people, clean up, do all the things as well,
but not every day because I do so many other things.
I travel all the time, I'm doing all the things.
(19:21):
But I do think if I could have been more
available and other and I had time to just focus
on it, and probably if it wasn't killed my name,
if it was Tabitha's, if it was Tabs Barbecue or
something and it was mine, yeah, I would have fought
(19:43):
to be like, Okay, let me find a new building.
We're gonna regroup and do it again. But what I
realized is like I this ain't my battle, this is
my lesson.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Tap that is good.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, yeah, I ain't meant to fight here. I'm just
meant to learn.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Okay. So ooh, I get chilled that that is good
and that differentiation is so key. That's why I think,
you know, that's part of the reason why I wrote
successful Failure, Like sometimes you got to take that l.
Taking l's is a necessary part of life, business owner
or not. Sometimes you just gotta you know, in football,
(20:26):
sometimes you just got a punt you get you can't
go for a touchdown every time, like you go. You
can't go for forth every time, and you sometimes got
a punt. I want to I don't want to forget
one thing I want to say, but I want to
ask you this, what have you learned or what did
you learn from that that loss of that restaurant that
you applied in other areas of life. That allowed you
(20:48):
to have success where you might have failed if you
didn't have this experience.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's all the things combined,
like what I've said, right, you know, with with friends
and family working for you, with doing thorough inspections, with
even you know, even with the agreements. And I'll say,
this is so great, which because a lot of times
(21:14):
what people don't realize when you get a building, especially restaurants,
but commercial buildings, you be having to have long term
leases like five years. Sometimes they want you to at
least a for teen years. They try to lock you in, right.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I know that very well.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
But the great thing about that it's having like a
morality clause. So if something goes wrong, you knew you
was wrong, which is why we were able to get
out of at least right. So, but he was so
wrong that he was like, I ain't even gonna try
to fight, y'all, Like we had too many witnesses.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
He gonna get the next person. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
But what I learned, and I know we haven't got
to it yet, but I learned that from the failure
of the restaurant, the building itself, but also from target
con having a morality dual morality clause right is what
I have learned that I will forever and always going
forward have in contracts.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Okay, I want to pin that target because I want
to talk about that before we get there. I want
to ask you. I know you the loss benefited you
tax wise, but tab the person, Yeah, how did how
did you feel having to close? Because you it was
a big thing you We had opening day and you
were promoting it, you know, and then it closed and
(22:29):
I know you moved on, but like, did you ever
sit with like, man, I really that did not work out?
Did that seep into your mind anyway? Like? How did
you deal with that?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I mean, I think I went through maybe three months
before we even closed. I knew it was coming to
an end. I knew Chance said it was probably the
every day after maybe two months of being open, every day,
Chance wanted to go and like set the building. Nobody
(23:00):
cans were like, you ain't going back to the restaurant.
That restaurant is stressing you out, your joy is leaving you.
You're not you can't do this, And I was like, no,
I'm fine, I'm fine, you know, I'm all right. No,
it's fine, It's gonna be it's gonna work out. But
I think the three months leading up to it were
the worst, and I kept thinking, like, oh man, I'm
(23:23):
going to disappoint so many people. I did this for,
you know, also for Neeman, you know who. I love him,
the door him. He's a special, special human and I
wanted his brand to win as well. But also like
people walk in like it was tab Central in there.
You can come in there, My books were there, tab
(23:46):
Time played on the TVs for the kids, like we
made a country feeling because you know, so it just
felt like home. I just felt like people are gonna
be like, dang, what happened to the restaurant, what happened
to the restaurant? And I'm gonna be like it didn't
work out, you know. And I did feel like I
(24:07):
think I felt responsible because also like I had employees
like they ain't gonna have no job.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Of course I get unemployment. You know, some of them
were happy about that because they actors, as we look
forward to them, laid off. Baby, give me a little
unforman for six months. Let me go get these auditions,
you know, That's what I heard. I don't know, but
that's that's what I have, they me all day, but
I did. I really felt bad, I think for everybody
(24:39):
else and their expectations for a while. But I used
to believe like God just pulled it out of me.
He was like, hey, this is when the lesson you
have learned and now you pivot, and that's that's what
I did. I was just like, this ain't my end
(25:01):
all be all. This was one thing that I tried
and it didn't work out. Okay, girl, you got to
keep on going, you know. I didn't really have time
to soak and be sad. I mean I was sad
about it for a little bit, but I had to
still go to work. My people have them jobs.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Baby, I.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Listened. I still own Doamind's Recipe. I still own do
you Believe enterprises. I still own Black Sock and Bustinments.
I said, I have so many businesses that some people
don't even know about, right, they're not proud of. Like
you know what I'm saying, Like I have multiple employees
and I gotta go to work. Yes, I felt bad,
(25:44):
but I couldn't stop.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, I think that's a valuable lesson. And honestly, when
my brother passed away, that was a life lesson that
I saw happening at his funeral. We were in the
parking lot and I remember, you know, we were like
talking about where the repass was and stuff, and I
remember all these cars going by, like people just going
(26:06):
to the red light. They turning, they come in people.
There was like a little restaurant there, like a little
fast food joint. And I'm thinking, like the world, like
I'm going through it, whole family going through it.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That world don't care, and.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
That world don't care. And my mortgage was due on
the next first, which was like a week after the
fun Yeah, and I'm like, man, the world really is
gonna the earth gonna keep spinning, regardless of whether you
sat or not. You got to feel your feelings. But hey, man, yeah,
(26:41):
you got to, you know. And I think there's a
lesson in that too. I think sometimes we as people,
we feel our feelings to the point of paralysis a
little bit, and and no matter what we do, the
world will Even if we don't come out of that
room for six months, the world's still going keep keep spinning.
(27:02):
We'll be back with more With tap of the Brown.
(27:26):
I want to switch gears because you talked about target
now I'm your friend. I'm your friend, right and my
you know it is hard in this. I don't imagine
a lot of people know this exactly how it happens
for you and I, but any of us know what
it's like to watch your friend through go through a
(27:47):
rough spot and you can't stop it for them. You can,
you know, we can be in the group chat Vinton,
but you can't stop the presses, you know. So I'm
gonna I'm gonna explain the target thing from from my
point of view, and I want you to explain it
from your point of view and what you learn from that.
So from my point of view, just as a black
(28:08):
person going through the world with the black community, what
it seemed like is after Trump was won the election,
shortly after that, he was you know, d I d
I were stopping DEI. Then all of a sudden, it
was a list of all these companies who were like
rolling back their DEI. I remember a few, not all,
(28:30):
but few. I remember a few was like Amazon, Meta, Target,
Walmart were rolling back. Those are the like the biggest
four that I can think of. There was more, but
those are af the top of my head. And uh,
the black community, I feel like we kind of laser
focused in on Target. I feel like Target's the only one.
(28:53):
I'm just speaking for me. That felt like a betrayal
because it felt like Target had our back, they had
supported so publicly black owned business. I'm you know you
were in there. You know, Unique Jones Gibson's games were
in there. You know, uh lit Bar was in there,
like they had done collaborations. Kilanie is closed, Like I remember,
(29:15):
you know, prior to that, I'm not a huge and
never been a huge Target guy. But on the road,
Target is very convenient. You going there, grab some deald reine,
you forget socks, whatever, kids get. School closed. But I
wasn't like a going there. But when you got your stuff,
I was like, I am purposely going there. Remember when
Kalanie got her thing, Melissa's like, I need to go
buy Target because Klini has a collection. I want to
(29:35):
support her. When Unique Games were in there, We're like,
we need to go buy them now because I know,
you know, even for in Churchy, you know that first
seven days matters, the first thirty days matters. We want
black people to win. And I remember you went from
you know, a little area in the front of Target
to a bigger area, to end caps to fall on
(29:57):
in the store. And you know, I remember essence one
year when You're clothing line came out the baby them
them folks having them tab glorious flowers and poking about
everybody had tabbing you. Now you dress a unique way.
You be hippie black hippie down to the converse and flat,
I mean big and beautiful and you know a lot
of colors. That essence, it was that and it was
(30:19):
before I let go. It was a whirlwindow tab that year.
So when the black community was like, we're boycotting Target,
you were to me one of the first voices to speak.
Your first video, you was just like you never said
a word, and black people was like, yup, yup, yup,
(30:41):
we with you. Tame right, And then your next video
you to me by and let me be very clear here,
I am biased because Tab is my friend. Do that
how you will? I'm not gonna beat her white people
would do, because that's my friend, and you ain't. You
don't beat your friends up the way the world does.
Even if you think they're wrong, you know they're wrong.
(31:02):
How And I'm not even say she was wrong. I'm
just saying even she was that's my friend first, so biased,
but also as a business owner, I was like, oh man,
you I immediately thought, man, these black business owners are
stuck in an impossible situation right now. So you made
a video and now I want to turn over to
(31:23):
you and in your mind, what were you trying to communicate?
And then what was received? And then what was the fallout?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
So what I was trying to with a very first
video when I ain't say nothing, was like I can't
believe this, baby, I am sick of them, okay. And
after that, like, I was flooded with messages from black
(31:54):
content creators who were just partnered for the first time
for Black History Month, from black owned businesses that were
on this sh people i've helped personally, what are we
gonna do? Tall, what are we going like? This is
about to kill our business? Blah blah blah blah, They
about to boycott, they about to work out, like all
these things. And I was like, Okay, y'all, everybody calm down.
But I felt responsible because I am known to help
(32:20):
small businesses. I have been passionate about this work for
the last eight years. Publicly every week you see a
small business on my page, whether I'm wearing it, whether
I'm showcasing them whatever. So in my mind and what
I said and thought I was conveying was that, hey,
(32:41):
I support the boycott. I understand it, but let me
explain to you that these like for me. And I
said this in the video, but nobody heard it. I
forget took it and edited my video. So that's the
one that everybody saw, and they just assumed that I
was like, y'all, please go buy my stuff at Target.
And I ain't never say that. So what I was
(33:04):
trying to explain to them is I have two ways
that I'm in business with Target. One, I'm a partner.
I do a licensing deal. All those products, the food
to close all that. That's a licensing deal. That means
I created strictly for Target. I don't own those They're
not mine, never wanted to. That was a partnership. Donnad's recipe.
(33:25):
My company was a hair care line. I own that company.
Those products are on the shelves, right. I'm fine, I
own multiple businesses. Don't worry about me. But these other people,
and I said this in the video, some of these
black owned businesses, it's the first time being in the store.
(33:46):
And I mean this is why I was really so
upset because term like y'all really do this right before
the Black Fustue month, like launch, y'all know what it's
going to do to these these businesses, and you know
how long it takes to get in there. Like it
was just like Target, y'all wrong for like why is
this happening?
Speaker 2 (34:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (34:04):
But I was trying to educate people on this is
what's going to happen for these small businesses if we
because some people were like, I ain't boycotting, and I'm like, listen,
I understand, but if you do, great, if you decide
not to and you still go in Target, please only
buy black. Only support those businesses because the numbers don't lie,
(34:26):
and this is what they go by. And if these
businesses numbers drop, then they can without fail without any retaliation,
uh you know, or or any DEI comments or whatever.
They can say, Oh well, no, it's just the numbers.
They didn't perform.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Yeah they can't.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Just because there was like a lot of lives going
around seeing like, oh, they just took all the black
businesses out of Target. I was like, no, they didn't
do that. Yet they didn't do that because they can't legally,
but they can when them when it's when that the
fiscal year roll around and they start looking at the
I'm gonna say, oh, this was your forecast and this
is where you came in. You didn't meet the numbers.
(35:05):
Now they have reason to remove them, right, That's what
I tried to convey. What people heard was, y'all please
go to Target. I'm with Target. Lord Jesus safe man,
help me please. Like that's what they heard. They heard
I am with Target. I ain't black, I'm African Amerrian. Kid.
(35:30):
That'sn't what they heard. Maybe if I said it's blue
them they heard it is red. Like they just people
didn't want to hear what I had to say, right,
They just and and and and I joke about it now,
but it has been like very tough for me, just
emotionally because I love people so much, and especially our people.
(35:54):
Like the fact that people would even think that I
would choose. First of all, I'm grateful for the Target
journey that I had. It was beautiful while it lasted,
it was beautiful. I made history, right, it was great.
Maybe we had time, but to think that I would
(36:15):
be for a corporation before my people. It's crazy that
it's insane. My work is proof. How I live my
life is proof. Right, and go back and watch the
video and also since January, show me where I sent
people to target our wait our wait baby, show me
(36:39):
the records where I sent them.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Shure it to me.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I will wait. People just made up lies and listen.
I love pastor Jamal Bryant. I haven't follower for years
of him to have posted his videos. However, he put
out information about me that wasn't true that turned a
(37:03):
lot of people against me. He told them people he
said she could just pull all them products and go
D to C and I said, those are not that's
a licensing deal. That's not how that works.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Can you explain what D to C is for people?
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Direct consumer?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So D to C is for example, uh Fridays with taping, Chance,
Donad's recipe, my haircare line, my fragrance line, my t shirts.
Right do you believe you go online you order directly
from me, We ship it directly to you, direct to
the customer, direct to consumer. Right. A licensing deal is
(37:45):
I will license my name to you. You got to
pay me, pay me to use my name, but I
will also create and design products for you. I don't
want that heavy lifting of having warehouse like that. This
is a partnership, right, I just want to do this.
This is fun, but this ain't my passion to do
(38:06):
this all the time. On that level, two different things.
I have had a dta C since twenty sixteen, right
when I started selling like waistcaps and then T shirts
and all things. So for him to act like I
just refused to like just pull my stuff out. Also,
(38:29):
nobody could just pull these stuff off shelves without losing
a lot of money being sued, like you just can't
do it. And so it hurt my feelings because I
was like, dang, why would you say that when that's
not the truth. The truth is that's a license and
agreement that's under contract. And I even said it in
(38:50):
my first video, I said, my contract up at the
end of this year, y'all. I got I got decisions
to make. I got to the end of this year
to be under contract. I said it. Know they edited
that part out to anybody, you know, so people just
decided to believe that, And it was just hurtful that
(39:12):
people would go to that extreme. I mean, you know,
I had to heighten my security because like people were
like approaching me and trying to like it was it
got bad for a minute.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
To listen, you ain't tell a cap that.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
It was, you know, the messages, the threats. I was like, y'all,
I'm not the enemy. I'm for the people I just
happened to be in business with at this time, the enemy, right,
But yeah, it was just that's the part I think
that hurt me the most because even through it all,
(39:46):
I still love my people. I still love my people,
and my hope is that you know, we all can
like learn more. But what God taught me in this
season is that sometimes we rather be emotional than educated
(40:11):
on what's really happening. We rather feel than know the truth,
because feelings like oh, they bring about all this different emotion.
But when you settle in on the truth, you can't
deny it, right. And so I was like, okay, Lord,
But I also had to come to the understanding of
(40:32):
sometime I be sharing too much. Maybe I can't help everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Do you ever wish you would have just left your
first video and not made the second one.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
I think about that all the time. But I would
be a hypocrite if I had never said anything. Knowing
that all the people in the small businesses who were
asking for help and calling, and we were all in
the you know, having meetings every week and doing all
(41:04):
the things.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
I just felt responsible to speak up for the other businesses.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Like, I don't regret it, because I also learned the
value a lesson in it. Like, but I mean there
are days I'd be like I should have just let
people run with their imagination, you know, but they still
would have been mad because I'm still in Target because
I'm still under contract.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Oh that's a good point, Like I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Damning for do damn if I don't.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Yeah, And you literally like you had and this is
why we were so excited for you. You were in
every single It's not even like what people and I
remember seeing people be like she could pull her stuff
out one you you literally cannot without and being suit
and we're talking about that suit is devastating because you're
(41:57):
you're talking about if Target's licensing your deal. I imagine
you correct me if I'm wrong they're paying you a
licensing deal. We just use a thousand dollars For every
one thousand dollars they give tab they probably expect to
make ten thousand dollars right now. If you magnify that
into potentially millions, they expect to make a lot of money.
(42:18):
And if you damage that right, A lot of times
we just on the brand deal side, you can't even
negatively say something that might defame the brand. They can
sue you, and they can sue you for what they
will call potential loss revenue, and they can sue you
for what they would have lost, which is not what
they would have paid you. Right, And you literally can't
(42:40):
go into all the targets in an American pull, you know,
the popcorn and the okra out like you can't do it,
but people they literally thought you could. And if you can,
why didn't you or why didn't you go and talk,
you know, bad about them? But a lot of times,
and I you know, even as influencer myself, a lot
of times I feel like I said this in your
(43:01):
defense on my podcast, because you ain't just gonna talk
about my friend if you don't know the whole truth.
I think sometimes we as people, we get mad at
the at the person we can touch, right, We can't.
I can't. I don't know who is Target. Who is
that Target is a billion dollar global business. I'm very
upset with them. I felt like they did us wrong.
(43:24):
I can't get to them, but I can go comment
on tabs Instagram, or I can tweet about tab and
I can make a TikTok about her, and I can,
you know, basically vent my frustrations. But I know it's
happened to me and not on the level of Target.
But I've been dragged many a time on the internet
and be the worst days. How did you? How did
you deal with And this was a long one.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
This one was listen, it's long. It started at yesterday,
I mean, because I'm doing a best fent. So I
was on there with with Troy and Rashad like doing
Earn Your Leisure the Market Mondays, and they asked me
about it, and of course, you know, and I love
the brothers, but they did click bait and made a
little thing on instagrama the sponsor about tart whatever, and uh,
(44:13):
people didn't go look at the whole podcast. They looked
at these little clips that they edited and started right
back over like she just sell out. But I was like,
at this point, if you say Target, people just ready
to fight tel.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Like man, I said, man, I.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I gotta go to invest as you know, the security
is up. That's all I can say. I'm gonna be
on the stage. I don't know what's gonna happen. I mean,
after this airs it have already passed, and I pay
I'm still here.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
You better still be here time. We got vacations to do.
Now we gotta listen.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
How I dealt with like, I spent a lot of
time just being quiet, like and just praying and like
asking God, like what am I supposed to learn from this?
Like what is it you know that you want me
to gain from this and learn from this? But it
was also confirmation for me right And I think I
may have shared that you know this, I shared with
(45:21):
you last year what God had told me. I said, keV,
I think I'm done with Target next year.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Before this had even happened last August, and at that time,
I said, girl, do you now they said the bop
going out the wazoo. You're selling oh crub.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I said, the Lord is telling me that it's coming
to an end. And in January the new year, the
first week I always passed.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
My prayer.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Was God revealed to me if I'm supposed to continue
on this partnership. Baby, I didn't know he was gonna
reveal it like that. I said, Lord, wait a bitsiness.
I didn't know long suffer it was gonna be part
of us, Baby, I said, you could have just said
(46:11):
make me a little you know. The ear whispered like, no.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
I think it's pretty clear now even if you didn't
want to like that.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Lord, you didn't have to tell me like that, right, So,
because I really wanted to get back into acting more
and you know, opening my own businesses and having more
time to focus on like Donna's recipe and taving chance,
like I really wanted to get back to that, and
it was like an answer prayer, right, But it came
(46:39):
with heartache. And because to date and now probably forever,
I am the only person black, white, man or woman
who has ever did what they did at Target. No
one else has ever done what I've done. You can't
(47:02):
take away the history that I made, and I'm grateful
for that. But the season has changed, and it was
it was definitely like hurtful and stressful, but Baby, I
just went on about my business. You know, and I
just started pivoting. I just you know, I had already
(47:24):
launched a new business with Chance, with the Fragrance Company,
and I was like, no, what hsn talking about. We're
going over here and you know, and sell these products.
You know Donnad's recipe. We are in every door at
Aultra Beauty. I'm you know, creating other products and working
on different projects and doing all the things. And I
(47:46):
think the biggest thing while going through it all, baby
I took recations. I was like, free your mind, the.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Maybe we went to Italy. Okay, you know what feels better.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
L We had a time.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
We had a time. keV like, sometimes you just gotta
get out of the missions.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Like I said, I've been dragged on the internet many times,
and I'm sure it will happen more. One thing that
has always helped me is, you know, it's a cliche
to say, go touch grass, but sometimes putting the phone
down and going and living your actual life, you will
forget that the internet is real. I don't people say
the internet's not real. It absolutely is real.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
It's really it is just not a real place.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
But it's not a real place, and you can't actually
I've been blessed to have shows and people walking down
the street like, man, what up, cav I love you, man,
Let me take a picture with you. While I'm getting
absolutely viscerated on Twitter or TikTok or whatever, people in
the real world are tapping me up, showing me their
babies and stuff. So and honestly, outside of the fans,
(49:02):
the people in my house, my fam, my wife, my kids,
my friends, those people be even more valuable in those times,
those people who even if you were wrong, like, well, man,
hey man, you took that ol. You want to go
get some my scream Listen, I want to go to
Vegas like you need people like that, because it's an
unnatural amount of attention, negative attention that most people never
(49:27):
have to deal with. And as human beings, we're wired
for acceptance and love, like and when it feels like
the whole world is against you, it never is, but
it show feels like.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
And that's how I felt. I was like, oh my god,
people hate me now. But then I remember when I
went out to an event and I still couldn't get
through the crowd without people just screaming and ask for
pictures and crying and loving on me and I was like, oh,
y'all do you love me? So it's only bit and
then and I remember so many people told me this too.
(50:02):
The majority of the people who were hating on me
never supported me anyway.
Speaker 2 (50:05):
That keeps me going.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
I was like, yeah, I said, And also, y'all don't
know me, so I can't even like I had to.
That's really what like snapped me out of it, because
I was like, first of all, I lie, don't care
who tell me, okay, And a bunch of people were
just lying and putting out misinformation about me, And I
(50:28):
was like, these are these are people that don't really
know me. I can't be mad at them. But then,
you know I had shared it with you. You know,
God had revealed me, he said, But Tad, you blessed them.
They needed you. They needed you because they got a
little podcast, They got a little little content that they
like to do and nobody watches, but they got to
(50:50):
use you for clickbait, and they got views and they
were able to make their hundred or two, one hundred
of thousand dollars, whatever the case was. They still needed you.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
That'd be happening. That happened to me yesterday. Somebody killed
me on TikTok and I people tagged me in it.
I don't even know anymore time man I saw and
it was one of his best performing views. That's said,
God bless you. I'm not gonna watch it and I
don't even want the algorithm to send me no stuff
like that. But God bless you on your journey and
you go with God, Chris be because I'm not gonna
let it in to me. Time for a quick commercial break.
(51:25):
Will be back with more Habita Brown. Now, you said
(51:50):
one thing you learned, and I just want to make
sure I gave you space to talk about it. You
said you would have a dual morality morality clause in
all your contracts. That's a new term for me, So
explain to me what that? What that? What what you
will have moving forward that you didn't have now?
Speaker 1 (52:05):
Yeah, So, which means if you do something stupid, I
can walk away and you still got to pay your
play like you still got to pay me. Right, If
I do something stupid, I'll have to pay you and
you can walk away. That's the layman terms. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (52:23):
Because you feel like they did something that harmed your business,
but you were still stuck under contract.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Yeah, because like y'all pledged the allegiance to basically to
the president. You know, y'all wrote it back. But every
the thing is, everybody has done it, and Trump is
making his He is trying his best to make it
a law where everybody will have to remove the EI.
This man is crazy, okay, And when that happens, God,
(52:52):
I pray it doesn't like we're we're we can't bout
the world, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't
know what we're gonna do.
Speaker 2 (53:00):
Yeah, No, But what I know I'm gonna.
Speaker 1 (53:02):
Do is I'm gonna keep supporting. I'm gonna keep creating
my own businesses and you know, supporting other black owned businesses.
But we're living in some scary times.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Yeah, we are. It's just it's not even just businesses.
It's college, it's museum, it's museums. You see that.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
Like I said, this man has lost his mind. I mean,
it's just the true. Then he's trying to get a
third term, which is crazy to me, Dear Lord, making
some fly, but it's crazy, it really is. But it's
(53:39):
also very sad that in twenty twenty five, this is
where we are as a country, I mean, you know,
as traveling the world and going to other countries. They
laugh at us, yes, and they remember how many times
when we were in Switzerland we were like, they were like,
you're from America. I'm social.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I mean they were genuinely like, we are so sorry
for what's happening to y'all.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
We had to be American. I said, my God, and I.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
Said thank you, because it's really rough.
Speaker 1 (54:10):
Listen to my shirt. You can't see it, but baby,
that's what the shirt say. Okay, today you voted for
because the people that put him in office.
Speaker 2 (54:18):
Yeah, here we are now before I let you go
to we talked about a lot of your not your
best moments. What are some of your best moments that
you're excited about that people can support you or check out.
What are the things that that they can look forward
to coming from you.
Speaker 1 (54:35):
I think one of the things I'm so excited about.
I'm a basketball mama. Okay, my husband is the coach,
and my son is going to the eighth grade. And
you know he didn't hit he about six' one, now,
yeah he's about to get, big And i'm excited to
like be at all them. Games, sonday And i'm gonna
be posting his little you, know content. Buildings he told, Me,
(54:57):
MOMMY i need to let the people Know i'm. Out
SO i Am, brown y'all following my son and we're
gonna be on the basketball Teams brown, okay and just
just creating a brand built on love with my, husband you,
know with with taber. Jeans, okay hold them, up.
Speaker 2 (55:19):
Come, on hold them.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
Up it's a warming. Braids they, brown we, brown and
our last Name. Brown but we are doing holiday gift.
Sets so we're gonna have Body, Wise we're gonna have,
lotion and then next year we are you, know gonna
Release the plan is every year to release a new,
fragrance and so we've been working on it for the
last year and so we'll release a new one in
(55:40):
the spring next.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
Year.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Uh and Then i'm also trying to do mass, market,
like you, know a more reduced price BECAUSE i also
know my my fan base AND i know my, customers
and So i'm gonna do skin care and or not
necessarily skincare yet that's. Coming, uh but you know body
missed and the things normally go to like bath and
(56:03):
body to get but a lower price point but that's
like business, wise and Then donald's. Recipe of, course we're
always doing new. Innovation we now have our travels. Ize
super excited about. That but the most important thing is
That god has blessed me to take this journey back
to my childhood dreams of. Acting and so recently it
(56:27):
Announced Unexpected, christmas WHICH i executive produced AND i get
to start.
Speaker 2 (56:32):
IN i am so.
Speaker 1 (56:33):
Excited comes Out november seventh AT amc. Theaters, honey we're
Gonna we're gonna be in the.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
Theater'scab go buy our theater. OUT i cannot wait see.
It that's WHERE i go down and watch my.
Speaker 1 (56:43):
Movie, yeah, yeah so that's. Happening i'm super excited about.
THAT i have another film THAT i just wrapped, Up
The land Of, wolves as the life story Of Donald.
THOMPSON i get to play his. Mother that'll probably come
out next. Year and working on a really big project
(57:05):
That i've been holding on to for about fifteen. Years
it's a. Series it would be if we, could IF
i could tell you the, concept it would be touched
by an angel meets sixth. Sense, cool, yes.
Speaker 2 (57:21):
Both of.
Speaker 1 (57:21):
Those, Yeah so marry those together and you have a
series based on some of my life experiences WHILE i
worked in a nursing home assistant living facility With alzheimer's and.
Dementia SO i have a lot happening And i'm Just i'm.
Grateful you. Know Tab time season three was released this.
(57:42):
Year we're still looking for a new home for Tap,
time but, yeah just working and trying.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
To be good and do. Good. Well thank, You. TAB
i Am Tabitha. BROWN i believe on most, platforms, yeah
but if you're on Their google, tab you're gonna hee.
It thank you so, Much tab for joining. Us blessings
to you on all your endeavors and we'll see you next.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Time thank. You Kimry.
Speaker 2 (58:17):
Suh this has been A Unanimous media. Original Not My
Best moment was produced By iHeart podcast And Unanimous. Media
it was hosted by Me Kevin, Freklis executive produced By Stephen,
(58:39):
Curry Eric kate And Charlotte sumter J co executive Producer
Kelenna Maria. Cutney the executi producers Of iHeart podcasts Are
sean Ty tone And Jason. English this series was produced
By Peter kowser And Jabari. Davis co Producer Kurt. Redmond
special thanks To Stephen curry And Will Pierson Not My
Best moment as a production Of Unanimous media and iHeart.
(58:59):
Podcast for more podcasts from iHeart, radio visit The iHeartRadio.
App have a, podcast or wherever you get your. Podcasts
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.