March 4, 2024 • 28 mins
It's Women's History Month!
In a special bonus episode of Women Inspire Chicago, Angela and Jasmine pay tribute to the women in their lives that have inspired them and played a part in who they are today.
Join in as they honor their legacies and celebrate the progress that we continue to make in 2024 and beyond.
In a special bonus episode of Women Inspire Chicago, Angela and Jasmine pay tribute to the women in their lives that have inspired them and played a part in who they are today.
Join in as they honor their legacies and celebrate the progress that we continue to make in 2024 and beyond.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, Angela, Hi Jasmine.So today we are here doing a bonus
episode and we are talking about thewomen that inspire us, because what do
we usually do. We always talkto Chicago women executives because they inspire Chicago.
So today we're going to focus onus. And I've actually gotten some
(00:20):
comments that people like it when it'sjust us in the studio. So today
we're going to give them their wishand I love grinting wishes because you know
that reminds me of Disney. Youknow, I'm a Disney person. Oh,
I'm a Disney I am a Disneyfanatic. It is so so sad.
I didn't know this. Oh youdidn't know. No, Oh that's
amazing, Jasmine. The sound ofDisney makes me smile. That's what we
(00:45):
really should be talking about. DoesDisney inspire you? Yes? Oh I
love it. I love it.Oh, I just love walk Disney World.
Mickey and Minnie. I love that. I love Mickey. Oh you
make me smile. Micky makes myheart smile. Yeah, and so does
the women that inspire us personally.So I guess we should start with number
one. I'll go, Okay,my mom is my first one. Of
(01:08):
course, she is the person thatgave birth to me. She has brought
me into this world. And onething about my mom, no matter how
tough life got on either of us, she's just never been the person where
I would tell her what my dreamwas and she would be like, well,
maybe you should try something else,Maybe you should have a backup plan.
Maybe that's too big, You're shootingway too far. My mom has
(01:32):
never been that person. She's alwaysbeen super supportive. Anything that I wanted
to do, She told me,just put your mind to it. I
know you have the passion, youhave the personality, the charisma. So
she's always just believed in me,like wholeheartedly, and I just I think
that's important because so many times I'vetried to tell people like a dream like
(01:53):
this, and they will do that. They will be like, do you
really think that's going to happen?Though? You know how hard that is
to be on the radio and beon TV and all these things that you
want to do just being a girlfrom the South side of Chicago, that's
going to be really hard. WhichI mean, yeah, I know that,
I know, thank you, Butguess what, I know that I
(02:15):
can do it. And my momhas always been like my number one fan,
my number one supporter. So Ijust I really thank her for all
of that, and she just inspiresme to go after my dreams, no
matter, as I said, howtough life gets, no matter what gets
in the way, she just sheinspires me to keep going because she was
(02:36):
my first best friend and my veryfirst number one supporter that I always appreciate.
I think there's just something special aboutmoms. They inspire us in their
own unique way. My mother wascalled home to the Lord. Oh God,
I cannot believe that it has beentwelve years ago. Wow. And
one of those reasons is because everymove I make, she's still involved.
(02:59):
I still hear that little voice inmy head. And my mom was such
a gentle servant. She was anurse for fifty three years, and they
just don't make them like her anymore. She was a total opposite of my
grandmother, who is also someone whoinspired me. My mother used to say,
(03:20):
you know, everything that is trueis not necessary to say. On
the other end, my grandmother wouldsay, stop sitting there with your mouth
glued. You need to talk.But I used to get confused between the
two because my mother would tell meI didn't have to say everything that was
on my mind. And my grandmotherwould say, you do need to say
(03:42):
everything that's on your mind. Andthen she would say, I talk too
much. She used to tell mewhen she because she lived with us,
and so she prepared all these scrumptuousmeals for us, and she used to
say, let that food stop yourmouth. You just talk too much.
And so I'm like, well,make up your mind. Am I supposed
to talk? Am I not supposedto talk? You know? I just
I don't know. When I thinkabout those two. They inspire me every
(04:08):
day, and when I look backover my life. My grandmother would she's
probably laughing in heaven right now becauseshe probably says she talked so much she
ended up going into a business whereshe had to use her mouth. I'm
like, Grandma, I'm making moneyusing my mouth. But it just I
(04:28):
think about those two and how differentthey were. They were really opposites,
but I have so much of bothof them and me. It's probably like
split down the middle. One sideis my grandmother, the other side is
my mom. But they really justleft an undiable mark on who I am.
When I look back over my mother, and she was ill for a
(04:50):
period of time, and the wayshe accepted it with such grace, And
I think some of it had todo that because she wasn't her so she
kind of anticipated every move and knewwhat was happening. We couldn't we couldn't
push her into anything. She wasstill making her own decisions when she passed
away. But I just I lookback and I think what would I have
(05:13):
been if God hadn't chosen her asmy mother, yeah, or my grandmother
as my grandmother. I mean,this just they just just it was a
perfect match. And look what youget, la la. But yeah,
and so when you think about yourmom, and I assume she's still with
us, right, Yeah, whenyou think about your mom, what is
(05:35):
the one thing that just screams atyou? Prince is the very first thing
that came to mind. My momloves Prince and she we used to have
these little like we would call itkind of like our own little party.
It's like we would turn on music. That's one of the reasons why I
(05:57):
listened to radio so much when Iwas young. We would turn on some
music. We would go in theliving room and we would just dance and
sing. That was always like ourthing, so that definitely carried on with
me. So I would say Prince, but it's because of she has a
lot of passion and she's very likeupbeat and fun. So I think a
(06:18):
lot of that passed along to me, which I appreciate. Sometimes I don't
think we understand the little things likethat that really are part of you.
And when I think about being inthe radio business, I think about growing
up. My sister and I areabout seven and a half years apart,
but she loved music and so we'dwake up in the morning to you know,
(06:42):
whatever she had on her record player. Now I'm dating myself and certainly
dating her in terms of age,but she'd love the motown sound. I
can just remember waking up in themorning to my girl because she had a
new album, R forty five,And I think in some ways that kind
of in betted in me the wholemusic scene, and somehow radio came out
(07:04):
of that. My sister is alsosomeone who inspires me. She kind of
she's my sister and my mom allwrapped up into one. She has so
many of the same laid back traitsthat my mother had, and you know,
I am the one that's always onedge and always anxious and moving and
(07:27):
going and she and if something happens, it just doesn't go my way.
Oh the world. The world isending. And it could be a small
thing. Now I'm good on largethings, but when it comes to a
small thing, I can. Yeah, the world ends. And she says,
every delay is for reason. Justchill. Every delay is for a
reason. But she is communication central, just as my mom was. She
(07:49):
knows where we all of us are, whether it's her children, which of
course are my nieces and nephews.She knows where I am. She's always
there, whether it's it's a text, whether it's a phone call. And
I know on any given day,if I don't talk to her once or
twice we're texting. I bet weconnect a minimum. This is a minimum
(08:09):
of five times a day, ohat least. And we live in two
different cities, and we're so excitedwhen we get to connect with each other.
We visit and we go to women'sconferences together and we just have a
really good time. And So whenI think about her and her laid back
(08:30):
and her inspiration. She's a retirededucator. And I use the word retired
loosely because after she retired, shewent back to work. But I just
think about the thousands and thousands ofchildren that are better off because she crossed
their path. And she's done thesame thing for our family, and she
continues to do it. And Iknow she carries the weight of listening to
(08:54):
me and listening to her children andeveryone else, but she does it exceptionally
well. And so when I lookat her, she's a combo of my
mother and my grandmother and the threeof them. We're all different, we're
all so different, but I knowthat we are blessed, and we were
placed in this thing called family fora reason because we all bring something to
(09:16):
the table. Your sister reminds meof the next person that inspires me.
I think that a lot of childrenare better off. She has something called
the Erica Hubbard Foundation. That's hername, Erica Hubbard. She's an actress
and I first found her from watchingthis show called Lincoln Heights. Have you
ever heard of that? Yes,yes I am. That was one of
(09:37):
my favorite shows. Me and mymom watched it. One of my favorite
shows growing up, and that showwas just really important because it showed like
an inner city family. I rememberthe dad was a cop. He just
wanted to, you know, getthe neighborhood in a good place. So
they touched on a lot of likereally important issues that I didn't see in
TV shows a lot growing up,So that is partially that was one of
(10:00):
my favorites. I loved her characterCassie, and eventually she ended up on
the Brillanley Black podcast talking about theErica Hubbert Foundation, so I was able
to meet her, and that was, you know, crazy. But she
helps like at risk youth in Georgiaand Illinois and Michigan, in New York,
like she goes all over, shegets scholarships, and I was just
(10:22):
totally like inspired by her watching heron TV because not only did I used
to want to be, you know, a host of some sorts, I
wanted to be an actress. SoI was like, oh my gosh,
she's so awesome. And then Iwould you know, after you watch a
show that you really like or movie, you get on Google and you have
to look at the cast and likesee everything about their life. And then
I found out she was from Chicago, and I was like wow, like
(10:46):
she is on all of these moviesand TV shows and she's from the South
Side just like me. Like so, Erica definitely really inspired me to like
just note that you can do anything, like anything is possible, and it
doesn't matter where you come from orhow tough your life may be. But
she made it and she's still sohumble, she's still the coolest woman.
(11:07):
So she definitely inspires me to notonly go after my dreams, but help
others along the way too, becausethe youth they really do need someone,
they really do. Like in ourneighborhoods and neighborhoods in New York and all
around the country, people need help, they need guidance, and it seems
like it's getting, you know,a little worse, like with every year
(11:30):
that passes. It's like the youngergeneration they just kind of seem lost sometimes.
Well I think they do. Andthe childhood experiences that I have really
shaped who I am. I thinkabout that. On Saturdays. My aunt
was an avon lady, and soshe would always say, Hey, you
want to go avon in with me? But the opportunity that I had not
(11:54):
only to make seven dollars now canyou imagine seven dollars back then? That
was a lot of money. Andthen she'd take me to the bakery and
I would get chocolate Long John's andchocolate, which is you know, she
contributed greatly to wait gain. Letme just say that just started out early,
but I had an opportunity to spendthat quality time with her and to
(12:16):
be able to soak in her knowledgeand her wisdom. And she also taught
women's Bible study at our church,and I saw her heart and her passion
for women, and I always wantedto be a part of the classes,
and she said, you're too young, but come on, you can come
anyway. And I know that that'swhere I get my burden for women and
(12:41):
making sure just like with the wholewomen Inspire Chicago project, but not only
that, I teach a virtual Women'sBible study that has over one hundred women
on the roster. And when Ilook back, where did the passion come
from? It came from those saturdaysthat I was quote with my aunt,
(13:01):
because I saw the example and theimpression that she was making on young women
at our church, and I justwanted to be able to do it.
And so as a result, I'vebeen able to do it on a much
larger scale, not only personally,but professionally and so I think that we
(13:22):
do not give enough credit to ourchildhood experiences. I agree, And we
don't look to others for direction andguidance. You know, I have no
problem. Well, it's cut thatI have no problem picking up the phone
on any given day and asking mysister, what are your thoughts? What
(13:43):
do you feel? Now, here'sthe thing about my sister. She will
listen to you most of the time. Now, she also has an issue
with falling asleep on you. Sowhat they say, I talk too much?
I don't know where they got thatfrom. So she I can care
on a conversation with her. Shecan go off and do something else,
take a nap, come back,I'm still talking. And she never misses
(14:05):
a beat. I don't either,Now, mind you, I don't either.
She never misses a beat. Shejust gives me the response that I
need and keep moving. But Imean, that is a connection, that
is a relationship, and I'm startingto develop that same type of relationship with
my great nieces. I have astanding appointment with one of my great nieces.
(14:28):
She's a college student, and wetalk thirty forty five minutes a day
a week, at least thirty toforty five minutes on a Friday afternoon about
what's going in her life, whatshe's doing. But when you think about
that's shaping who she is. Thatalso keeps me up to date on what's
going on. Now. I haveanother great niece. She's not into the
appointment, she's I just need youto answer the phone when I call it.
(14:52):
But the connection that you have,I see that same connection that I
have with my aunt, and Iknow that a big part of who I
am today came from avon in onSaturdays. Yes, and I'm hoping that
the same will happen for my greatnieces and their connection that they have with
me. Because we can find somereally bad things to be inspired about,
(15:15):
and so we should be about reallyuplifting women and up. But it doesn't
start at our age we're adults.It starts way back. We need to
start ground zero. We need tolive the lives in front of young people
that someone does want to be ajasmine. I mean, when I look
(15:35):
at you, I see so muchof me. I remember when I was
in college, I had two threejobs, an internship and two other jobs
plus classes. Only God knows howI made it, but I had to
do all of those things to endup where I am today, and as
you know, I still have threeor four jobs. It doesn't stop.
But just when I look back overmy mother, my grandmother, my aunt,
(16:00):
and my sister, I know thatif those four women had not been
in my life, that I wouldnot be where I am today. And
all three of the four are gonehere on earth, but they are still
a part of who I am anda part of my spirit. And the
blessing is my sister embodies so muchof the other three. I have an
(16:21):
all in one now with that,and that's a great thing being a good
person, I think, and alsojust wanting to pass along, you know,
the things that you learn and soakingup others wisdom. That does start
at a very young age, becauseyou know, they always say when you're
young, you're impressionable. So it'slike the things that you consume, the
things that you see, you watch, you listen to. That's why I
(16:45):
really appreciate it. My mom,of course, for keeping me grounded.
I mean, I wasn't a crazykid at all. Like I've always been
pretty you know how I am nowpretty mature, I would say, other
than a few corny jokes, hereand there, and yeah, definitely Erica
on Lincoln Heights that it was oneof my absolute favorite shows. And as
I said, they just touched onissues that were really important for me to
(17:07):
see as a young black girl.So I really appreciate her for that because
every Tuesday night at seven pm,I was watching that show, Like,
don't text me, don't call memom, I will do the dishes after
Lincoln Heights. Okay, Yeah.The last person I actually happen to be
sitting across from her, her name'sAngela Ingram. That is the third person
(17:29):
that really really inspires me, becauseyeah, talking about soaking up wisdom,
the experience that you have and theknowledge that I know you have that you
are so graciously passing on to me, it really really does mean a lot
to me. So I just wantyou to know that, Oh, I
appreciate that. Well. I'm anopen book. What you see is what
you get, and I just haveno problem with sharing. I give and
(17:53):
give and give so much. Iprobably will never be rich in so many
different ways, and just not monetarilybecause I just truly believe that the gifts
that God has given me and theknowledge and the wisdom, it was not
for me to keep. It wasto share. And as I mentioned before,
I see so much of me inyou. I just think the sky
is the limit for you. Ireally do you move through your multiple jobs
(18:18):
with such grace you know that there'ssomething better down the road. An attitude
is I would say ninety percent ofit. Yeah, because so many people
feel like, well, I'm doingthis, but what's my payback. Well,
I'm not getting paid for this whileI'm not doing this while I'm getting
paid, but it's not enough.And you know, people don't understand.
It's not about that. It's aboutgetting all of the experience that you have.
It's like education. Once you getthe experience of educational no one can
(18:42):
take that away from you. Andour business it's really built on experience and
hands on experience. I think aboutwhat am I doing today that was actually
in the books. Now I neededthe books, you know, I needed
the education, But the hands onexperience in this business is key. And
(19:03):
I know had it not been formy internships and all of those two three
four jobs, all of some ofthem were related to media, some of
them were not. But what hedid, it taught me communication, It
taught me interpersonal communication, how todeal with people, how to deal with
challenges, how to deal with adversarialsituations. All of those things work together.
(19:25):
And so when I think about eithermy mother, my grandmother, and
my sister, I can just sumit up when I look at my life
and I look at my profession,and so I think about my grandmother,
Essentially she was saying, you havea voice, use it. Yeah,
that's what she was saying in herown unique way. When I think about
my aunt, she really set thestage in my life for teaching and inspiring
(19:51):
women personally and professionally. So whatif I had decided on Saturdays now I
want to watch cartoons, I don'twant to go avoting, which I'm not
sure is a word. By theway we made it up, it fit
when I look at my mother,who really taught about service without expectations and
(20:11):
being mindful of what you say.And then my sister just really sums it
up in terms of being unselfish,and I mean unselfish in bold letters.
Whatever she has, you have andwhether that is monetary, whether it is
(20:32):
quote things that we think we needor want to have. When I go
to visit her and I walk intoher home, generally, my meal is
prepared or it's been ordered, theplace setting is there, the glass is
there. That's what my mother usedto do. Somehow they say I'm spoiled.
I just can't understand why. Butblessed we'll call blessed. Let's say
(20:56):
blessed. That's what I'm gonna say. Every time they give me a thing,
I'm blessed. I'm blessed, butI really am, because she's not
doing any more for me than Iwould do for her. But she's doing
it in her own way. Imay do it differently. But what all
of that is saying is no,Angela is not spoiled, Angela is blessed,
but that I'm loved, that I'mloved, and they are grateful for
(21:19):
my presence. She's grateful and thankfulthat she's my sister and that God chose
us. And I'm thankful and blessedthat she is. But when I really
think about those four women, Godjust had a way of knitting me together
for service in his kingdom. Andhe did it through my mother, grandmother,
my aunt, and my sister.And so when I look at those
(21:40):
four then I do see the worldof the women that inspire me professionally,
all of them, and it's reallytoo many to name, because the foundation
starts with these four women, butall of the women that inspire me,
and I guess I probably have threethat I'm not going to get into,
(22:00):
but all of them have traits ofmy mother, grandmother, aunt, and
sister. Every one of them Isee them. So it's not about pride,
it's not about control. It's aboutbeing grateful and being thankful and knowing
that I'm not going to be sittinghere ten years from now. If I
am, I probably will not behosting a podcast, but more than likely
(22:22):
you will be. And so whateverI have been able to give you,
whatever you have been able to gleanfrom, our connection will carry on and
you'll be having the same conversation withsomeone down the road. Hmm. There
was a woman named Angela who saidX, Y, and Z, and
(22:42):
that's really comes and we hear thisall the time, and some people,
you know, they may just sayit because it sounds good, but it
really does lend itself to the definitionof leaving the world better than you found
it. That's a lagacy, sotrue, that's a legacy. You know,
I wouldn't want the world to bein the same condition that it's in
(23:03):
today. If I pass through,I need to have made some type of
contribution, a mark that's gonna makethe world a better place. And it
could be small, it could bemedium, it could be large. I
don't know. Only the people thatwe have impacted, only the people that
we have inspired, would really knowwhat difference we've made. That's really it's
(23:25):
I feel like part of the reasonwhy we're here, I really feel like
is to find your purpose, liveit, and definitely do not leave without,
as you said, making this worlda better place, no matter if
the contribution is small, medium,or large, as long as you make
one, as long as you makeone. I heard President Obama said this,
(23:45):
and I've heard people quote it severaltimes, so it could be paraphrase.
We are all privileged. We arehere in service to those who are
less privileged. And when I hearthat, I'm not talking about monetary and
I don't know what he meant byit, but I don't look at it
as monetary. She has this,I don't, he has this, I
don't. We are just privileged tobe in the space that we're in,
(24:07):
wherever that is. You know,whether I have a little or a lot.
I'm privileged to be in a spacewith little because then I have the
opportunity for growth. If I'm ina space with a lot, then I
have the opportunity to share. Sono matter what it is, you know,
how you define privilege and how Idefine privilege could be totally different things.
(24:30):
We tend to put a dollar valueon everything, and I think that's
a mistake because I think we haveso much more to give to women and
to this community, into our livesoverall. That doesn't come with a dollar
sign. It doesn't And that's whyI'm so happy that you made this podcast,
(24:51):
Women Aspire as Chicago. And whenI think about us putting this together,
and I'm like, what am wegoing to call it? What are
we going to call it? ButI had to share this with him.
I was talking to Empowers that Beabout wanting to do a podcast and I
said, well, I'm going toneed a producer because you know that God
gave me gifts, but I learnedhow to stay in my lane. Let
me just say that. And you'rethe first person that dropped in my mind.
(25:15):
Am I Jasmine? It wants tobe Jasmine? And I just I
just know that that was that wasa god thing. That was a god
thing for us to be connected.You put up with me, Oh it's
nothing to put up with. That'swhat she said. I'm a perfectionist and
I know it, and I wantthings to be a particular way, but
you know, that's just who Iam. And people I kept saying I
(25:37):
was going to change, but whyyou don't have to keep People just keep
coming in my life and say,hey, we get it, we get
it, we understand this is whoyou are, and they just keep moving.
But it has been a blessing tobe able to listen. I mean
some of the women, and theyhave just poured their hearts out to us.
And I just think it's really importantfor us to show the side B
(25:59):
of people because we're so focused onthat side A and people just think,
oh, it just happened. Itdid not happen. We've had some rough
roads and we have some episodes thatare coming up with some women that have
some stories, let me tell you, and I am surprised at how they
were. One said, my life'snot off limits. Ask me anything you
want to ask me. And Isaid, why are you so open?
(26:22):
And she said, because I thinkthat people need to know. I think
they need to hear because it's gonnamake them a better prayer. And that's
the truth. We all have atestimony, share it. I'm not a
neatly wrapped package. Okay, Iwould love to have perfect bows, but
it's not gonna happen. I'm alsoa bow fanatic. I'm a bo fanatic,
just like I am with Disney.I'll tell you I'm so bad with
one of my shoelaces tied. Weshould have known there was gonna be a
(26:45):
problem then. When I was alittle girl, I admired my mother's shoelaces
because she was a nurse. ButI mean one of those traditional nurses with
the cap. They don't look likethey didn't work, you know, a
crisp white dress, and her shoelaceswere perfectly tied. Well, I want
in mind to look like that.So I would get up in the morning
before she went to work and getpartially dressed, including my socks and my
(27:07):
shoes, so my mother could tiemy shoelaces because I wanted my bows to
be perfect just like hers, andthen I would get back in the bed.
They should have known that we hada problem then, But you know
what, Mother just went ride alongwith it. She woke me up and
I went to school with perfect shoelacesas you should. As you should well,
Jasmine, I think we've had agreat bonus conversation. I think it
(27:32):
gives our listeners an opportunity to kindof see behind the scenes of what makes
us tick. And I've really enjoyedthis conversation and we should do this again.
Sometimes I was thinking the same thing. I've got more stories. Owe
me too, more stories, morestories to share, and more power to
us and all the women that arecontinuing to inspire Chicago and inspire us.
(27:53):
Thank you, thank you, thanksfor listening to the Women Inspire Chicago podcast,
hosted by j Ingram, presented byiHeartMedia Chicago, and produced by Jasmine
Bennett. The Women Inspire Chicago podcastis sponsored by pot Belly. Feed your
group from small to larch with potBelly catering. Pot Belly, you Gotta
Get It Hot.
Hello, Angela, Hi Jasmine.So today we are here doing a bonus
episode and we are talking about thewomen that inspire us, because what do
we usually do. We always talkto Chicago women executives because they inspire Chicago.
So today we're going to focus onus. And I've actually gotten some
(00:20):
comments that people like it when it'sjust us in the studio. So today
we're going to give them their wishand I love grinting wishes because you know
that reminds me of Disney. Youknow, I'm a Disney person. Oh,
I'm a Disney I am a Disneyfanatic. It is so so sad.
I didn't know this. Oh youdidn't know. No, Oh that's
amazing, Jasmine. The sound ofDisney makes me smile. That's what we
(00:45):
really should be talking about. DoesDisney inspire you? Yes? Oh I
love it. I love it.Oh, I just love walk Disney World.
Mickey and Minnie. I love that. I love Mickey. Oh you
make me smile. Micky makes myheart smile. Yeah, and so does
the women that inspire us personally.So I guess we should start with number
one. I'll go, Okay,my mom is my first one. Of
(01:08):
course, she is the person thatgave birth to me. She has brought
me into this world. And onething about my mom, no matter how
tough life got on either of us, she's just never been the person where
I would tell her what my dreamwas and she would be like, well,
maybe you should try something else,Maybe you should have a backup plan.
Maybe that's too big, You're shootingway too far. My mom has
(01:32):
never been that person. She's alwaysbeen super supportive. Anything that I wanted
to do, She told me,just put your mind to it. I
know you have the passion, youhave the personality, the charisma. So
she's always just believed in me,like wholeheartedly, and I just I think
that's important because so many times I'vetried to tell people like a dream like
(01:53):
this, and they will do that. They will be like, do you
really think that's going to happen?Though? You know how hard that is
to be on the radio and beon TV and all these things that you
want to do just being a girlfrom the South side of Chicago, that's
going to be really hard. WhichI mean, yeah, I know that,
I know, thank you, Butguess what, I know that I
(02:15):
can do it. And my momhas always been like my number one fan,
my number one supporter. So Ijust I really thank her for all
of that, and she just inspiresme to go after my dreams, no
matter, as I said, howtough life gets, no matter what gets
in the way, she just sheinspires me to keep going because she was
(02:36):
my first best friend and my veryfirst number one supporter that I always appreciate.
I think there's just something special aboutmoms. They inspire us in their
own unique way. My mother wascalled home to the Lord. Oh God,
I cannot believe that it has beentwelve years ago. Wow. And
one of those reasons is because everymove I make, she's still involved.
(02:59):
I still hear that little voice inmy head. And my mom was such
a gentle servant. She was anurse for fifty three years, and they
just don't make them like her anymore. She was a total opposite of my
grandmother, who is also someone whoinspired me. My mother used to say,
(03:20):
you know, everything that is trueis not necessary to say. On
the other end, my grandmother wouldsay, stop sitting there with your mouth
glued. You need to talk.But I used to get confused between the
two because my mother would tell meI didn't have to say everything that was
on my mind. And my grandmotherwould say, you do need to say
(03:42):
everything that's on your mind. Andthen she would say, I talk too
much. She used to tell mewhen she because she lived with us,
and so she prepared all these scrumptuousmeals for us, and she used to
say, let that food stop yourmouth. You just talk too much.
And so I'm like, well,make up your mind. Am I supposed
to talk? Am I not supposedto talk? You know? I just
I don't know. When I thinkabout those two. They inspire me every
(04:08):
day, and when I look backover my life. My grandmother would she's
probably laughing in heaven right now becauseshe probably says she talked so much she
ended up going into a business whereshe had to use her mouth. I'm
like, Grandma, I'm making moneyusing my mouth. But it just I
(04:28):
think about those two and how differentthey were. They were really opposites,
but I have so much of bothof them and me. It's probably like
split down the middle. One sideis my grandmother, the other side is
my mom. But they really justleft an undiable mark on who I am.
When I look back over my mother, and she was ill for a
(04:50):
period of time, and the wayshe accepted it with such grace, And
I think some of it had todo that because she wasn't her so she
kind of anticipated every move and knewwhat was happening. We couldn't we couldn't
push her into anything. She wasstill making her own decisions when she passed
away. But I just I lookback and I think what would I have
(05:13):
been if God hadn't chosen her asmy mother, yeah, or my grandmother
as my grandmother. I mean,this just they just just it was a
perfect match. And look what youget, la la. But yeah,
and so when you think about yourmom, and I assume she's still with
us, right, Yeah, whenyou think about your mom, what is
(05:35):
the one thing that just screams atyou? Prince is the very first thing
that came to mind. My momloves Prince and she we used to have
these little like we would call itkind of like our own little party.
It's like we would turn on music. That's one of the reasons why I
(05:57):
listened to radio so much when Iwas young. We would turn on some
music. We would go in theliving room and we would just dance and
sing. That was always like ourthing, so that definitely carried on with
me. So I would say Prince, but it's because of she has a
lot of passion and she's very likeupbeat and fun. So I think a
(06:18):
lot of that passed along to me, which I appreciate. Sometimes I don't
think we understand the little things likethat that really are part of you.
And when I think about being inthe radio business, I think about growing
up. My sister and I areabout seven and a half years apart,
but she loved music and so we'dwake up in the morning to you know,
(06:42):
whatever she had on her record player. Now I'm dating myself and certainly
dating her in terms of age,but she'd love the motown sound. I
can just remember waking up in themorning to my girl because she had a
new album, R forty five,And I think in some ways that kind
of in betted in me the wholemusic scene, and somehow radio came out
(07:04):
of that. My sister is alsosomeone who inspires me. She kind of
she's my sister and my mom allwrapped up into one. She has so
many of the same laid back traitsthat my mother had, and you know,
I am the one that's always onedge and always anxious and moving and
(07:27):
going and she and if something happens, it just doesn't go my way.
Oh the world. The world isending. And it could be a small
thing. Now I'm good on largethings, but when it comes to a
small thing, I can. Yeah, the world ends. And she says,
every delay is for reason. Justchill. Every delay is for a
reason. But she is communication central, just as my mom was. She
(07:49):
knows where we all of us are, whether it's her children, which of
course are my nieces and nephews.She knows where I am. She's always
there, whether it's it's a text, whether it's a phone call. And
I know on any given day,if I don't talk to her once or
twice we're texting. I bet weconnect a minimum. This is a minimum
(08:09):
of five times a day, ohat least. And we live in two
different cities, and we're so excitedwhen we get to connect with each other.
We visit and we go to women'sconferences together and we just have a
really good time. And So whenI think about her and her laid back
(08:30):
and her inspiration. She's a retirededucator. And I use the word retired
loosely because after she retired, shewent back to work. But I just
think about the thousands and thousands ofchildren that are better off because she crossed
their path. And she's done thesame thing for our family, and she
continues to do it. And Iknow she carries the weight of listening to
(08:54):
me and listening to her children andeveryone else, but she does it exceptionally
well. And so when I lookat her, she's a combo of my
mother and my grandmother and the threeof them. We're all different, we're
all so different, but I knowthat we are blessed, and we were
placed in this thing called family fora reason because we all bring something to
(09:16):
the table. Your sister reminds meof the next person that inspires me.
I think that a lot of childrenare better off. She has something called
the Erica Hubbard Foundation. That's hername, Erica Hubbard. She's an actress
and I first found her from watchingthis show called Lincoln Heights. Have you
ever heard of that? Yes,yes I am. That was one of
(09:37):
my favorite shows. Me and mymom watched it. One of my favorite
shows growing up, and that showwas just really important because it showed like
an inner city family. I rememberthe dad was a cop. He just
wanted to, you know, getthe neighborhood in a good place. So
they touched on a lot of likereally important issues that I didn't see in
TV shows a lot growing up,So that is partially that was one of
(10:00):
my favorites. I loved her characterCassie, and eventually she ended up on
the Brillanley Black podcast talking about theErica Hubbert Foundation, so I was able
to meet her, and that was, you know, crazy. But she
helps like at risk youth in Georgiaand Illinois and Michigan, in New York,
like she goes all over, shegets scholarships, and I was just
(10:22):
totally like inspired by her watching heron TV because not only did I used
to want to be, you know, a host of some sorts, I
wanted to be an actress. SoI was like, oh my gosh,
she's so awesome. And then Iwould you know, after you watch a
show that you really like or movie, you get on Google and you have
to look at the cast and likesee everything about their life. And then
I found out she was from Chicago, and I was like wow, like
(10:46):
she is on all of these moviesand TV shows and she's from the South
Side just like me. Like so, Erica definitely really inspired me to like
just note that you can do anything, like anything is possible, and it
doesn't matter where you come from orhow tough your life may be. But
she made it and she's still sohumble, she's still the coolest woman.
(11:07):
So she definitely inspires me to notonly go after my dreams, but help
others along the way too, becausethe youth they really do need someone,
they really do. Like in ourneighborhoods and neighborhoods in New York and all
around the country, people need help, they need guidance, and it seems
like it's getting, you know,a little worse, like with every year
(11:30):
that passes. It's like the youngergeneration they just kind of seem lost sometimes.
Well I think they do. Andthe childhood experiences that I have really
shaped who I am. I thinkabout that. On Saturdays. My aunt
was an avon lady, and soshe would always say, Hey, you
want to go avon in with me? But the opportunity that I had not
(11:54):
only to make seven dollars now canyou imagine seven dollars back then? That
was a lot of money. Andthen she'd take me to the bakery and
I would get chocolate Long John's andchocolate, which is you know, she
contributed greatly to wait gain. Letme just say that just started out early,
but I had an opportunity to spendthat quality time with her and to
(12:16):
be able to soak in her knowledgeand her wisdom. And she also taught
women's Bible study at our church,and I saw her heart and her passion
for women, and I always wantedto be a part of the classes,
and she said, you're too young, but come on, you can come
anyway. And I know that that'swhere I get my burden for women and
(12:41):
making sure just like with the wholewomen Inspire Chicago project, but not only
that, I teach a virtual Women'sBible study that has over one hundred women
on the roster. And when Ilook back, where did the passion come
from? It came from those saturdaysthat I was quote with my aunt,
(13:01):
because I saw the example and theimpression that she was making on young women
at our church, and I justwanted to be able to do it.
And so as a result, I'vebeen able to do it on a much
larger scale, not only personally,but professionally and so I think that we
(13:22):
do not give enough credit to ourchildhood experiences. I agree, And we
don't look to others for direction andguidance. You know, I have no
problem. Well, it's cut thatI have no problem picking up the phone
on any given day and asking mysister, what are your thoughts? What
(13:43):
do you feel? Now, here'sthe thing about my sister. She will
listen to you most of the time. Now, she also has an issue
with falling asleep on you. Sowhat they say, I talk too much?
I don't know where they got thatfrom. So she I can care
on a conversation with her. Shecan go off and do something else,
take a nap, come back,I'm still talking. And she never misses
(14:05):
a beat. I don't either,Now, mind you, I don't either.
She never misses a beat. Shejust gives me the response that I
need and keep moving. But Imean, that is a connection, that
is a relationship, and I'm startingto develop that same type of relationship with
my great nieces. I have astanding appointment with one of my great nieces.
(14:28):
She's a college student, and wetalk thirty forty five minutes a day
a week, at least thirty toforty five minutes on a Friday afternoon about
what's going in her life, whatshe's doing. But when you think about
that's shaping who she is. Thatalso keeps me up to date on what's
going on. Now. I haveanother great niece. She's not into the
appointment, she's I just need youto answer the phone when I call it.
(14:52):
But the connection that you have,I see that same connection that I
have with my aunt, and Iknow that a big part of who I
am today came from avon in onSaturdays. Yes, and I'm hoping that
the same will happen for my greatnieces and their connection that they have with
me. Because we can find somereally bad things to be inspired about,
(15:15):
and so we should be about reallyuplifting women and up. But it doesn't
start at our age we're adults.It starts way back. We need to
start ground zero. We need tolive the lives in front of young people
that someone does want to be ajasmine. I mean, when I look
(15:35):
at you, I see so muchof me. I remember when I was
in college, I had two threejobs, an internship and two other jobs
plus classes. Only God knows howI made it, but I had to
do all of those things to endup where I am today, and as
you know, I still have threeor four jobs. It doesn't stop.
But just when I look back overmy mother, my grandmother, my aunt,
(16:00):
and my sister, I know thatif those four women had not been
in my life, that I wouldnot be where I am today. And
all three of the four are gonehere on earth, but they are still
a part of who I am anda part of my spirit. And the
blessing is my sister embodies so muchof the other three. I have an
(16:21):
all in one now with that,and that's a great thing being a good
person, I think, and alsojust wanting to pass along, you know,
the things that you learn and soakingup others wisdom. That does start
at a very young age, becauseyou know, they always say when you're
young, you're impressionable. So it'slike the things that you consume, the
things that you see, you watch, you listen to. That's why I
(16:45):
really appreciate it. My mom,of course, for keeping me grounded.
I mean, I wasn't a crazykid at all. Like I've always been
pretty you know how I am nowpretty mature, I would say, other
than a few corny jokes, hereand there, and yeah, definitely Erica
on Lincoln Heights that it was oneof my absolute favorite shows. And as
I said, they just touched onissues that were really important for me to
(17:07):
see as a young black girl.So I really appreciate her for that because
every Tuesday night at seven pm,I was watching that show, Like,
don't text me, don't call memom, I will do the dishes after
Lincoln Heights. Okay, Yeah.The last person I actually happen to be
sitting across from her, her name'sAngela Ingram. That is the third person
(17:29):
that really really inspires me, becauseyeah, talking about soaking up wisdom,
the experience that you have and theknowledge that I know you have that you
are so graciously passing on to me, it really really does mean a lot
to me. So I just wantyou to know that, Oh, I
appreciate that. Well. I'm anopen book. What you see is what
you get, and I just haveno problem with sharing. I give and
(17:53):
give and give so much. Iprobably will never be rich in so many
different ways, and just not monetarilybecause I just truly believe that the gifts
that God has given me and theknowledge and the wisdom, it was not
for me to keep. It wasto share. And as I mentioned before,
I see so much of me inyou. I just think the sky
is the limit for you. Ireally do you move through your multiple jobs
(18:18):
with such grace you know that there'ssomething better down the road. An attitude
is I would say ninety percent ofit. Yeah, because so many people
feel like, well, I'm doingthis, but what's my payback. Well,
I'm not getting paid for this whileI'm not doing this while I'm getting
paid, but it's not enough.And you know, people don't understand.
It's not about that. It's aboutgetting all of the experience that you have.
It's like education. Once you getthe experience of educational no one can
(18:42):
take that away from you. Andour business it's really built on experience and
hands on experience. I think aboutwhat am I doing today that was actually
in the books. Now I neededthe books, you know, I needed
the education, But the hands onexperience in this business is key. And
(19:03):
I know had it not been formy internships and all of those two three
four jobs, all of some ofthem were related to media, some of
them were not. But what hedid, it taught me communication, It
taught me interpersonal communication, how todeal with people, how to deal with
challenges, how to deal with adversarialsituations. All of those things work together.
(19:25):
And so when I think about eithermy mother, my grandmother, and
my sister, I can just sumit up when I look at my life
and I look at my profession,and so I think about my grandmother,
Essentially she was saying, you havea voice, use it. Yeah,
that's what she was saying in herown unique way. When I think about
my aunt, she really set thestage in my life for teaching and inspiring
(19:51):
women personally and professionally. So whatif I had decided on Saturdays now I
want to watch cartoons, I don'twant to go avoting, which I'm not
sure is a word. By theway we made it up, it fit
when I look at my mother,who really taught about service without expectations and
(20:11):
being mindful of what you say.And then my sister just really sums it
up in terms of being unselfish,and I mean unselfish in bold letters.
Whatever she has, you have andwhether that is monetary, whether it is
(20:32):
quote things that we think we needor want to have. When I go
to visit her and I walk intoher home, generally, my meal is
prepared or it's been ordered, theplace setting is there, the glass is
there. That's what my mother usedto do. Somehow they say I'm spoiled.
I just can't understand why. Butblessed we'll call blessed. Let's say
(20:56):
blessed. That's what I'm gonna say. Every time they give me a thing,
I'm blessed. I'm blessed, butI really am, because she's not
doing any more for me than Iwould do for her. But she's doing
it in her own way. Imay do it differently. But what all
of that is saying is no,Angela is not spoiled, Angela is blessed,
but that I'm loved, that I'mloved, and they are grateful for
(21:19):
my presence. She's grateful and thankfulthat she's my sister and that God chose
us. And I'm thankful and blessedthat she is. But when I really
think about those four women, Godjust had a way of knitting me together
for service in his kingdom. Andhe did it through my mother, grandmother,
my aunt, and my sister.And so when I look at those
(21:40):
four then I do see the worldof the women that inspire me professionally,
all of them, and it's reallytoo many to name, because the foundation
starts with these four women, butall of the women that inspire me,
and I guess I probably have threethat I'm not going to get into,
(22:00):
but all of them have traits ofmy mother, grandmother, aunt, and
sister. Every one of them Isee them. So it's not about pride,
it's not about control. It's aboutbeing grateful and being thankful and knowing
that I'm not going to be sittinghere ten years from now. If I
am, I probably will not behosting a podcast, but more than likely
(22:22):
you will be. And so whateverI have been able to give you,
whatever you have been able to gleanfrom, our connection will carry on and
you'll be having the same conversation withsomeone down the road. Hmm. There
was a woman named Angela who saidX, Y, and Z, and
(22:42):
that's really comes and we hear thisall the time, and some people,
you know, they may just sayit because it sounds good, but it
really does lend itself to the definitionof leaving the world better than you found
it. That's a lagacy, sotrue, that's a legacy. You know,
I wouldn't want the world to bein the same condition that it's in
(23:03):
today. If I pass through,I need to have made some type of
contribution, a mark that's gonna makethe world a better place. And it
could be small, it could bemedium, it could be large. I
don't know. Only the people thatwe have impacted, only the people that
we have inspired, would really knowwhat difference we've made. That's really it's
(23:25):
I feel like part of the reasonwhy we're here, I really feel like
is to find your purpose, liveit, and definitely do not leave without,
as you said, making this worlda better place, no matter if
the contribution is small, medium,or large, as long as you make
one, as long as you makeone. I heard President Obama said this,
(23:45):
and I've heard people quote it severaltimes, so it could be paraphrase.
We are all privileged. We arehere in service to those who are
less privileged. And when I hearthat, I'm not talking about monetary and
I don't know what he meant byit, but I don't look at it
as monetary. She has this,I don't, he has this, I
don't. We are just privileged tobe in the space that we're in,
(24:07):
wherever that is. You know,whether I have a little or a lot.
I'm privileged to be in a spacewith little because then I have the
opportunity for growth. If I'm ina space with a lot, then I
have the opportunity to share. Sono matter what it is, you know,
how you define privilege and how Idefine privilege could be totally different things.
(24:30):
We tend to put a dollar valueon everything, and I think that's
a mistake because I think we haveso much more to give to women and
to this community, into our livesoverall. That doesn't come with a dollar
sign. It doesn't And that's whyI'm so happy that you made this podcast,
(24:51):
Women Aspire as Chicago. And whenI think about us putting this together,
and I'm like, what am wegoing to call it? What are
we going to call it? ButI had to share this with him.
I was talking to Empowers that Beabout wanting to do a podcast and I
said, well, I'm going toneed a producer because you know that God
gave me gifts, but I learnedhow to stay in my lane. Let
me just say that. And you'rethe first person that dropped in my mind.
(25:15):
Am I Jasmine? It wants tobe Jasmine? And I just I
just know that that was that wasa god thing. That was a god
thing for us to be connected.You put up with me, Oh it's
nothing to put up with. That'swhat she said. I'm a perfectionist and
I know it, and I wantthings to be a particular way, but
you know, that's just who Iam. And people I kept saying I
(25:37):
was going to change, but whyyou don't have to keep People just keep
coming in my life and say,hey, we get it, we get
it, we understand this is whoyou are, and they just keep moving.
But it has been a blessing tobe able to listen. I mean
some of the women, and theyhave just poured their hearts out to us.
And I just think it's really importantfor us to show the side B
(25:59):
of people because we're so focused onthat side A and people just think,
oh, it just happened. Itdid not happen. We've had some rough
roads and we have some episodes thatare coming up with some women that have
some stories, let me tell you, and I am surprised at how they
were. One said, my life'snot off limits. Ask me anything you
want to ask me. And Isaid, why are you so open?
(26:22):
And she said, because I thinkthat people need to know. I think
they need to hear because it's gonnamake them a better prayer. And that's
the truth. We all have atestimony, share it. I'm not a
neatly wrapped package. Okay, Iwould love to have perfect bows, but
it's not gonna happen. I'm alsoa bow fanatic. I'm a bo fanatic,
just like I am with Disney.I'll tell you I'm so bad with
one of my shoelaces tied. Weshould have known there was gonna be a
(26:45):
problem then. When I was alittle girl, I admired my mother's shoelaces
because she was a nurse. ButI mean one of those traditional nurses with
the cap. They don't look likethey didn't work, you know, a
crisp white dress, and her shoelaceswere perfectly tied. Well, I want
in mind to look like that.So I would get up in the morning
before she went to work and getpartially dressed, including my socks and my
(27:07):
shoes, so my mother could tiemy shoelaces because I wanted my bows to
be perfect just like hers, andthen I would get back in the bed.
They should have known that we hada problem then, But you know
what, Mother just went ride alongwith it. She woke me up and
I went to school with perfect shoelacesas you should. As you should well,
Jasmine, I think we've had agreat bonus conversation. I think it
(27:32):
gives our listeners an opportunity to kindof see behind the scenes of what makes
us tick. And I've really enjoyedthis conversation and we should do this again.
Sometimes I was thinking the same thing. I've got more stories. Owe
me too, more stories, morestories to share, and more power to
us and all the women that arecontinuing to inspire Chicago and inspire us.
(27:53):
Thank you, thank you, thanksfor listening to the Women Inspire Chicago podcast,
hosted by j Ingram, presented byiHeartMedia Chicago, and produced by Jasmine
Bennett. The Women Inspire Chicago podcastis sponsored by pot Belly. Feed your
group from small to larch with potBelly catering. Pot Belly, you Gotta
Get It Hot.
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