January 31, 2025 • 35 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Myla Marie, an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and reality TV competitor who knows what it takes to build a business and a brand. She shares her experience on The Blox (Season 9), where she put her entrepreneurial skills to the test, and dives into the inspiration behind her latest novel, The Vanishing.
We also discuss the challenges of balancing business, creativity, and philanthropy while being a mom of three! Tune in for a conversation full of insight, resilience, and inspiration from a woman making waves in multiple industries.
Here is her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001110442498
Hashtags:
#Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #BestsellingAuthor #TheBlox #StartupJourney #TheVanishing #AuthorLife #Philanthropy #WomenWhoInspire #PodcastInterview #CreativeMindset
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, welcome to my podcast, Jewelry is your side hustle with Sugar Gay is where and I'm
(00:27):
sure gay is we're in today we have somebody really fun who I'm going to get to know and by the end
of this time she's going to be my new best friend because I already like her and her name is Mila
Marie and welcome to the show Mila Marie it's very nice to have you yeah everybody's giving you a
warm welcome yay you hear the crowd is going wild thank you bestie I'm glad to be here I
(00:53):
seriously I tell everybody that and I mean it and it's kind of cute to see who you know like 10
years later I'll get phone calls and they didn't want to say their name like oh I thought you'd
remember me it's like really good but I know that voice that's a true story okay so take it on let's
hear about you introduce yourself what are we talking about you today how's your day where are
(01:16):
you okay well today is a beautiful day I'm in Houston Texas which we got our first snowstorm
in century uh last week so that was big fun it was a big snowstorm too yeah I think we have like
four inches four and a half yeah we're going to paralyze the city I'm sure I'm from Houston so
(01:39):
in generation so I know that but yeah I had a few snow days growing up but four inches is
significant I know we have footprints we have did you make a snowman did you try I made snowballs
to throw them at my 17 year old but and I had to force her out the house she she wouldn't even come
(02:01):
I was like girl you would never see this man so we had we had some fun I really enjoyed that it's
pretty and it's quiet and it's you know it is what it is I even heard I talked to somebody this week
in the on the coast of Alabama they're like the snow came up to where the waves were it was like
snow and then the ocean yes I wish I could decide it was beautiful it was gorgeous I couldn't believe
(02:28):
it I just ran outside I was like it actually happened you know being from Texas you know
the weather changes every 10 minutes like we'd be electricity stayed on that was the other good thing
yes oh my goodness that was the best part it's like we get to have fun and be comfortable at the same time
(02:50):
okay so tell me about your work because I don't really know that much about you
okay so I'm a CEO I have my own business um I do property preservation it's in real estate we um do
um we restore uh bacon homes or um bake foreclosures and things like that
um so it could be anything um so but as far as me I've been on the block season nine what was your season
(03:19):
I always get it wrong is that crazy season 14 I think people had to like say you weren't on that one
you were on ours I'm like it was a very good education I was actually in a good joiner of things
right absolutely I think that was really what I was texting with somebody that was in my group that I
(03:40):
saw something I thought oh he needs to see this and we're texting back and forth I'm like did you ever
watch all the episodes he goes no but it was a great learning experience on my same year my husband
does not want to hear see all that again but I really should watch it did you watch all yours
not all of them but I did it's like it because being there like the experience was was everything
(04:02):
but it was everything all at once so it was all this education you meet a new people there's
to film in 24 hours a day and you know you're just trying to make sure you're not looking so I have
this habit of chewing my tongue and out my biggest fear is looking at why is seeing myself chewing my
tongue on tv like I can't control it it just happens and it it looks so crazy you know um but I did
(04:27):
watch some of it I'm still working my way through it um it was an awesome experience and just look
at all the connections we've made doing that like that was amazing yes and coming from Houston which
is a huge market you have to have a lot of the blockers there right right right I think so I
(04:48):
I know we we tried to get together multiple times I don't think I had in my season I think I was an
old one from Houston but not from Texas I think everybody was from Dallas and San Antonio but
you know we still say hi from time to time I've really connected with uh Clara in um in Baltimore
so I'll be going back out there soon um and then I have um um just a lot of different people that
(05:14):
we still kind of keep in contact with I was at Houston this weekend if I would have known you
I would have come to see you for sure like we should have brunch lunch or something something
I was just here I was there for a party and I was like I don't know so many memories you know seven
generations of being in Houston I'm like oh I just gotta get a home but I would have stopped to meet
(05:36):
you I would have been like hey block sir right with sister Mel another fun thing about me is
I have a new company called We Wow houses where we're you know trying to get rid of debate for
boring boxes so it's uh one of the people from Magnolia and Waco and their husband has a construction
company and I'm the creative so if you ever need a creative like oh my god girl that's fine that's
(06:02):
my genre so it's the absolutely making good paintings and coming up with ideas like we
work together on a project that'd be fun that would be fun that would be fun so yeah okay so yeah
I love we best friends I don't forget well you're thinking oh my god that's like we could work together
(06:22):
seriously but I know for real I love I love love love your energy I really do um it's contagious I love
it um so yeah well did the blocks um a writer I did my first book it was um and it was a real
book it was in uh Christian Church Grove now my second book um it's a fun it's a fiction it's um
(06:44):
based on the true some true events but it is uh my first fiction novel and I am so excited about it
and it's uh oh I just love it so much it takes you through a range of emotions and what's it
even your book it's called The Vanishing the vanishing and it's actually um it's thought
(07:04):
the pre-sell on March the third so we're getting ready we're gearing up for that we have a lot of
things in the works as far as promotion for that and I am so excited about it like it's it's it's
amazing so we should do a cross promotion because my book just came out in January just this beginning
of this month and and it's uh it's on Amazon so I self published it but it was like no AI I wrote
(07:31):
it myself 880 thousand words so I get it like yeah they come up to the learning curve like there's a
lot to do to publish a book yes I published the other way too with a regular publisher and it was
hard like it's a AI I check it off your thing you are an author like dead forever forever forever
(07:54):
forever it's an amazing experience because just the craft that type of but that type of art it's
just it's a different form of it like I always say like my penis my voice because of things I
can't say I can write and it comes out and you know you feel it and you just want to bring people into
(08:14):
that world that was kind of my idea with um the vanishing because you know it was such a it it evolved
off of the situation of parental alienation so it's based on a true story however um I couldn't
write I couldn't write that story right because I didn't want to bring anyone into that world
(08:37):
like that world so one of my friends gave me this genius idea he was like my love why don't you just
go fiction and I was like because I was tussling to get it out and I was like hmm okay I chewed on it
a little bit and I was like okay you know and it just came out and when it came out it was so amazing
(09:01):
I mean like you really can rewrite your story you really can you know that's the good thing about
art and writing that form that art form it's like you can write your own narrative
but welcome to my world is what people say in their head it's like read what I'm writing so that
you can experience experience it through me so I love writing I definitely understand where you're
(09:28):
coming from for sure right and the good artists can really draw a person into that like I'm a
avid reader as well so I read a lot of books I love reading books so like you know the way that um
I love being drawn into the picture you know and I try to create that as an author um so my readers
(09:50):
can be really drawn in you know and be interested and excited about what's going on you know so
it's a mama bear book though it really is it's like um so the woman her name is Tami Miller
now she gets a call from the school um informing her or asking hers that is she aware that um her
(10:14):
child was withdrawn from school by her ex-husband and it pops up like immediately right so she's like
no you know I had no idea so she goes um to her ex-husband in his new wife's house and is vacant
like it's completely vacant and so you know she runs down to the police station and they're
(10:40):
they basically shoot her off like you know like you know people have the right to home school
their children and this and that the other and so she that goes back and breaks into the house
and she finds evidence that they could be in a cult. It gets spicy right away and that's why the
(11:03):
mama bear kicks in like she goes and she finds her daughter and you know and she she she breaks
into the cult and you know I'm not giving too much away but it is so it's good it's funny because at
the same time like she's scary like she's not a fighter you know at the same time but she's not
(11:23):
gonna leave her her baby in there you know so then she has her best friend that she's dragging along
and then she has her she she hired a private investigator and um the relationship between
her and the private investigator is funny because he's basically telling her the whole time like
go like you can't be doing this you know she's following him around and stuff like that he ends
(11:48):
up like being her sidekick so it is a very very uh you know it's actually full of rage emotions
the end is surprising I'm not gonna give away but it's a very good story it's funny to me
it sounds like it'd be a good movie that's you know everything everybody keeps saying hey this is
(12:12):
a movie like this is you know this is a movie it's not a story this is film I can absolutely see it
um in film or one script so here's a hint to you I taught a private lesson last week in chat
cheeky tea and I'm like oh you know six months ago I tried this it didn't work let's try it one more
(12:33):
time and so I attached my you know my word file of my book and I'm like okay turn this into a
screenplay for me etc etc I you know gave it all the prompts it was like it happened it wrote it
in front of my eyes so it's easier than it seems to go from the book to the screenplay now I didn't
(12:55):
go back and edit it or even read it but it was just like a demonstration to show her it was like
it knows exactly the format that is required for a screenplay so give it a try like it didn't do all
80 000 words but it did the first chapter just so that I could see it and it was like yeah oh this is
so easier now because I've written screenplays before and it's all slog so that was nice do you
(13:20):
know so have I my I actually started in theater my first art form is theater I've acted since I was
a kid like since I was five years old me too I get that I totally get that because we have that same
thing like I get it I used to love I was a little shoemaker in some little thing I don't even know
how it all was but I think my mother put me in drama because she knew that girl's drama drama drama
(13:47):
right I love drama I tell you um all through high school even after high school I did a stage
like a couple gospel stage plays that I went in and then the most recent thing was the blocks but
we were not acting on there that was real life that was real life it was going back to the blocks
it was really fun like I have to say and um recently I just found out looking at my dad's
(14:13):
obituary which led me to my grandfather's obituary which mentioned in it that my grandparents were
buried my great grandparents were buried in the Osage cemetery right there in Osage so I was like
why didn't I know that before like I could have gone and visited their graves I'm like I knew that
they were near there and I was thinking about them the whole time I was there but I missed opportunity
(14:34):
like dang are you glad I'm back?
No I ain't time to sing I got other things to do my fish are frying you know like seriously
I did get a lot of customers or clients I still work with making jewelry and creative things for
some of the blocksers like I've got the little astronaut and made a mold of him so I can do
(14:58):
him in any color and blah blah blah so I do have a lot of that in my collection or you know blocks
things and QR codes that you could bring and you know it was a it was a really great time like
what was your favorite moment like what was something that you'll always look back and go yeah that
(15:21):
was pretty good the rap party because everything else was like oh my goodness like I think the
first two days was like it was like we were easing our way in but day three kind of like tour our
heads off and you know that's when a doubt came in I was like oh my gosh can I do this like it was
(15:43):
just it is always funny it's like everything was cool but we got some funding it was like
now I understand this you know but I just appreciate all the effort that West put in making sure that
we had the information that we needed um and just making connections I said the rap party but it's
(16:06):
really spending time with the new family that we had become because it wasn't like any other reality
show I've ever seen like it wasn't on drama nobody was fighting it was like we were all we were in
a competition but we were working together to help each other like figure it out you know and I think
(16:27):
when um the winners won we all appreciated that like we all agreed yes like go and that that's the
good thing about blacks like it didn't create it there was no like animosity and we're able to like
keep relationships I love the blacks you know I totally get that I totally get that and and we're
(16:49):
talking about tranches is what we were talking about when you're talking about like it that was
really hard like I didn't really get all that either but definitely West Bergman who is the villain of
um all these reality TV shows the other side right which is like a bear and uh he's just
sorry you know we're so happy for him like it's it's good for him yeah he is a teddy bear he's a
(17:15):
he is a teddy bear but yeah um he's very smart he's very smart and like I believe in vision and
I'm glad he believes in ours like he's just an amazing person and all the people that came to the plots too
just so many amazing people um Devin Schubert he's an amazing guy um Tora Styles Esther oh my
(17:40):
goodness it's like so many Phoenix uh Ollie it's just so many people they are a family now I get it
like I totally get it like this is exactly how I feel too when I got up on the stage the one time
and I knew I was going to blow it because you know it was a lot like when you stumble you're out like
(18:01):
so I'm like I'm like took the stage over I'm like okay we're not going to talk about that we're going
to talk about me and I'm going to tell you that I am here to meet you you you you you and I just
gave him this whole the whole group my sales pitch of why they needed to know me I'm like I don't
think that made the show but it made my show it made me happy how do you hear about your book oh no
(18:25):
well it's my book is this is about you at this show so I'm focusing look I'm impressed I just love
your personality I'm like losing well my book is a Clifie book that takes place in Africa and it has
a hopeful ending but it's called heat and dust and it's uh it's it's got some legs on it too I
think it would make a great screenplay like you know these are things that we imagine and we
(18:49):
they just come out into our little lives and I really enjoyed writing it I can't write wait to
write the next book of maybe it won't be fiction maybe the next one will be something totally
else so I've written two books before that are DIY jewelry so you know jewelry's that's pretty good
it was pretty good I don't know why I'm like but I'm like I guess it's because it's like been a
(19:13):
couple of years so I'm like I'm moving on to the next thing like that's all behind me now so heat
and dust is out there to the world we'll let it's have its life and then we'll cross promote our
books because they have good female protagonists and good stories that are you know kind of have a
hopeful ending and you definitely have had you've dipped into some of the topics that I'm familiar
(19:38):
with and you know things that are the cults and the husbands hanging in and taking your
I I can so relate I could just blew my head up going oh yeah I blip through
and so we'll talk about that later but yeah because I mean it's truly art it is and I'm
(20:00):
glad we have this medium to help us like get that stuff out. I totally agree so on your what is your
your Facebook or how do you communicate with people tell me about that journey for you.
Okay so my Facebook is Kingdom Diamond on Facebook on what is it Instagram is Queen Marie to you
(20:27):
and um that's where I communicate with people through Facebook Instagram my email is uh
mylahollisatgmail.com. We'll list all that in the description so people can find you because it is
you know such an important part of this to find and follow and be social with you and interact with
you so where will your your book be available. It will be available on my website but just lunch is
(20:52):
a little bit before the book so and also the full merchandise that we have to go along with it
is nice that we've designed a whole shebang. Who's designing it for you? Me.
So what are you doing are you doing hats and t-shirts like what are you doing?
(21:14):
T-shirts, hoodies, um oh wow the uh yoga pants yes and they're gonna have vanishing on it?
Vanish mode, vanish mode all right baby. Well I'm taking Zep bound for it to lose weight and I
feel like I'm slowly disappearing so that that could be so appropriate for all the people that
(21:37):
are trying to lose weight. Right. Slowly vanishing. Yeah vanish mode that's right that's what my daughter was
like oh mom you should do the yoga pants because like and you put the the vanish mode on the stomach
part yes she was like yeah I'm like that but yes it'll be learnable live shortly before the book
(21:59):
um is ready to pre-sell we just got a few kinks to work out on our website. So you didn't do it
through Amazon. The what the um the products? The book. The book yes okay so it will be through
Amazon also when it actually launches but the pre-sell will be on the website. I almost think
(22:20):
that there's like another video behind all that or another thing behind all that it's like how we
do all of this because you know it was all new to me like I had to do a lot of research to figure
out how to do it all and it took me some tries and you know like just finding the game the image
going and you know like all that kind of stuff it's a lot of work. It is it is and then I'm a young
(22:45):
I'm young and not really like hip to technology so it is a lot of work and I want to be hands on
with everything because I have a certain vision so I will be helpful certain things but just
putting it all together oh my goodness we're gonna get you hip to technology if I can do it and I'm
(23:06):
an old lady you can do it because I've been doing all this for a long time so it is accumulation
knowledge like my next group of books which I'm doing right now are coloring books so just kind
of like because I'm a visual person so blah blah blah but I don't know anything about it so I'm
gonna have you know the last part of it is you know putting the book together it's a little bit
(23:30):
trickier you know so I'm learning from other people and trying to figure out what the best
sellers are and what they use for their hashtags and yes all of that which is love it I absolutely
love it. Tell me about your house business your real estate your real estate agent. No
(23:51):
no ma'am um so we're basically contractors we just go in and um do whatever we specialize in
roofs um we have a team that's been doing room replacements for about 30 years so they've been
trusted me you know with their talent and we just we just rocking and rolling so um we specialize
(24:13):
in roofs but we do floors we do it our drywall paint everything um and we usually so most of our a
lot of our work comes from the bank so what they do when they when the house when the home's going
to foreclosure we go in we inspect the entire property and then we give estimates like everything
(24:33):
that needs to be done and then they send us back approvals and we go in and do it so we our job our
uh goal is to get it the the property up to par to be placed back onto the market or we to convey
back to the hood so that is that is what we do. But boy to get hooked into that is a gold mine.
(24:53):
I mean yes and it's like it's so much work to do but it's it's like it's like it's always work
because the economy is horrible right um and then but you have to wrestle with the banks and stuff
so that's where the issues go um but I love it I love what we do um and I love just building it
(25:19):
like I love going from what it started as to what we were able to do like the the amp product it's
amazing. Yeah so houses that are under foreclosure they probably have some repairs to do and maybe
cleaning out to do and just getting it up to like putting all the light bulbs back in and
(25:41):
whatever we have to do and cleaning everything so is that kind of right is that what you're
doing? Yes yes we go in we clean it out we do inspections of the whole thing we go back we um
there's holes in the wall we fix those like whatever it takes to get it um up to par with
the lady yeah yeah we do it a lot of roofs because uh you know trees fall around. Oh my
(26:08):
god you know my son had that they they just moved they they sold their house just just closed at the
beginning of the month but yeah the whole neighborhood still in their area and spring valley still has a
lot of blue tarps from um well that was the summer in July when the derecho came through and then the
hurricane came through and all that so yeah I get it like it's really it's really a thing so I get that
(26:35):
I wonder if I had oh yeah I don't know if that recorded that so yeah um I get it the Houston
is really did you know that Houston is the number one place the the location itself for
lightning strikes? Teague Texas which where where I grew up we had a ranch in Teague Texas is the
number one for electrical strikes for that little tiny place but Houston overall has got more
(26:59):
electrical than anywhere else in the world that's all. Oh wow. Maybe it's the U.S. but seriously I
don't know what it is about Houston but it's got a lot of electrical engine like happening there
and that's kind of scary to find out it's like have you always lived in Houston? Yes my whole life
my whole life. Where did you grow up? I grew up like northeast Houston northeast side of Houston
(27:25):
uh 610 Homestead area. Like Galena park like that area? No man but not far from Galena park um like
Homestead um 59-ish tip mill. Yeah oh okay I I lived for a while in Pasadena. Okay yeah it's not that
far from Pasadena maybe 20 minutes because you what that's it in I think maybe 20-minute drive is
(27:51):
right right down the road. Yeah yeah we're the same I yeah I grew up in more of a lived there for
many years so yeah. 12,000 years ago come to Austin. I love the memorial area I mean I'm in
Cyprus now which I love it because we got a slice of the country so. Yes because of the beltway you
(28:13):
can get anywhere I was just talking to somebody this weekend that lived in Cyprus but she worked
in the west side of Houston and I'm like oh is that hard to go because yeah it's the beltway now
I'm like oh yeah I forgot. Right. The outer outer beltway you know whatever. Yeah oh 99 yeah yeah 99
do take me everywhere um I love it out here because we have like it's like it's not too crowded um so
(28:38):
you do get like um somewhat of a city vibe but then there's all this empty country land you know
drive a light down there's a crowd and you know and there's a goat you know like wow so it gives
you that country feel it's quiet you know my children uh well my my daughter I love her school
(29:02):
um she goes to Bridgewood High School and you know it's just a nice community I love it out here.
What's your next project we're kind of I've got a few more minutes left tell me something new you
got coming down the what's coming up besides your book and merch which is so exciting I can't wait to
see that. What else are you gonna be doing like where where where are you what's next. So I actually
(29:28):
I'm actually in another book too it's called to the women in a waiting room it's a devotional and
it's of course about um like how your experience is when you're waiting on anything to happen like
your faith and everything in the situation so I think that was perfect timing um I just went back
to school at thirty six so I'm excited about that um just to probably my business um major
(29:57):
underneath business finishing my I actually started my degree some years back so I'm going to finish
um that and just continue to build my businesses and you know continue to write I'm I've actually
been writing the series for a very long time but now that I got the vanishing out that series seemed
(30:18):
to be flowing it was like you know all that stuff was you know how your creativity get blocked so
now that is actually flowing that is my real art you know vanishing kind of like same life but this
is my art like so I'm there I'm just living and loving and enjoying every day I'm just like you
(30:38):
I woke up this morning saying it's so full of joy and I posted something on Facebook that was a
queen song but it was like I'm so happy now and I'm like that's so me like I gotta like get that of
course instantly I got knocked off Facebook because uh I was copyright for the music but I still put
the words in there too I'm like yeah like seriously like it was it was fun to feel that this morning
(31:03):
when I heard that song and then I had to listen to it over and over because it like really listen
it really motivated me today to really feel like yeah I'm really happy now like things are going great
so that's so much fun to have that as an experience our time is almost over I don't want to cut it off
at some weird spot one last thing that you want to say and then everything will be in the comments
(31:24):
below as far as your links but is there anything else you want to tell everybody? Well thank you
for just having me here on your platform I really enjoyed my time with you thank you for sharing
your audience with me um and so everybody um I just dare you to hope be on despair whatever you
(31:48):
want to do you can do it no matter what um you know take some time and indulge yourself in your art
and just make the best out of it whatever it is I think this is the only thing we can do for ourselves
right now absolutely besides guerrilla warfare maybe but besides that which that's a book I'm writing
(32:13):
it's gonna be arrested oh that's right you gotta write you gotta uh you gotta work it through that
pen that's where my norm de plume is gonna come in I'm gonna write it under your name
(32:36):
well I would love to meet you and anybody that's in the Houston area I hope that you will reach
out and any other blockers that want to be on this show please reach out to me it's fun to get to
connect with all of y'all and just relive all those great times that we all are still moving
forward it's been almost a year now a year for you almost right not quite but um and then we're
we're all still in this gang together and like today I really feel like if I was in Houston I
(33:01):
would have looked you up and we would have nice little coffee somewhere and just like hash it all
out and just kept talking it's a great conversation to have with you today and just remember we have
a lot to be great for we are very blessed people we're very lucky and life is good life is meant
to be good so that's the good part well and one last thing one last thing get it in what else you got
(33:26):
don't forget to follow you and follow me at kingdom diamond on facebook queen memory to you on ig
or facebook is fine um and keep look out for the updates and the launching of the website and also
the great merchandise that we have in store love y'all so much I'm pretty sure I should be making
(33:48):
some jewelry for your collection I love it like maybe it's going up to the light and it vanishes
you know I love that I love that I absolutely love it I don't know if I can make that happen but it'd
be fun to try wouldn't it you know so it's it's a great word vanishing you know it's a great
visual word yes did you see the cover joss you got it right there with you how do I
(34:15):
do you have it let me find it oh I might not have enough time we only have a minute but we'll put
it okay send me a picture and it'll be in the picture we'll add it below people can see it that way
feel yes okay well I really had a great time with you again this is jewelry stars by not not
but jewelry stars is my tv show sorry about that jewelry is your side hustle and it really is about
(34:40):
the grit uh and also the tenacity that we have as entrepreneurs because we're a whole different
mindset than a lot of the people out there but we need the other people out there to really support
us because it's a yin and yang like if you don't have those skills that you can support us by
buying our books or sharing our content or just giving us a thumbs up or a google review and I'll
(35:02):
do that for you uh let's you know like those people are needed too so it's a it's a community that we
form we're the creators we have something to share with you we want you to participate in what we've
got because yeah that makes the world go around so much better and so much more fun but it's
going to stop we got 10 seconds almost so thank you very very much and it's great to see you and
(35:28):
thank you very much
Hi, welcome to my podcast, Jewelry is your side hustle with Sugar Gay is where and I'm
(00:27):
sure gay is we're in today we have somebody really fun who I'm going to get to know and by the end
of this time she's going to be my new best friend because I already like her and her name is Mila
Marie and welcome to the show Mila Marie it's very nice to have you yeah everybody's giving you a
warm welcome yay you hear the crowd is going wild thank you bestie I'm glad to be here I
(00:53):
seriously I tell everybody that and I mean it and it's kind of cute to see who you know like 10
years later I'll get phone calls and they didn't want to say their name like oh I thought you'd
remember me it's like really good but I know that voice that's a true story okay so take it on let's
hear about you introduce yourself what are we talking about you today how's your day where are
(01:16):
you okay well today is a beautiful day I'm in Houston Texas which we got our first snowstorm
in century uh last week so that was big fun it was a big snowstorm too yeah I think we have like
four inches four and a half yeah we're going to paralyze the city I'm sure I'm from Houston so
(01:39):
in generation so I know that but yeah I had a few snow days growing up but four inches is
significant I know we have footprints we have did you make a snowman did you try I made snowballs
to throw them at my 17 year old but and I had to force her out the house she she wouldn't even come
(02:01):
I was like girl you would never see this man so we had we had some fun I really enjoyed that it's
pretty and it's quiet and it's you know it is what it is I even heard I talked to somebody this week
in the on the coast of Alabama they're like the snow came up to where the waves were it was like
snow and then the ocean yes I wish I could decide it was beautiful it was gorgeous I couldn't believe
(02:28):
it I just ran outside I was like it actually happened you know being from Texas you know
the weather changes every 10 minutes like we'd be electricity stayed on that was the other good thing
yes oh my goodness that was the best part it's like we get to have fun and be comfortable at the same time
(02:50):
okay so tell me about your work because I don't really know that much about you
okay so I'm a CEO I have my own business um I do property preservation it's in real estate we um do
um we restore uh bacon homes or um bake foreclosures and things like that
um so it could be anything um so but as far as me I've been on the block season nine what was your season
(03:19):
I always get it wrong is that crazy season 14 I think people had to like say you weren't on that one
you were on ours I'm like it was a very good education I was actually in a good joiner of things
right absolutely I think that was really what I was texting with somebody that was in my group that I
(03:40):
saw something I thought oh he needs to see this and we're texting back and forth I'm like did you ever
watch all the episodes he goes no but it was a great learning experience on my same year my husband
does not want to hear see all that again but I really should watch it did you watch all yours
not all of them but I did it's like it because being there like the experience was was everything
(04:02):
but it was everything all at once so it was all this education you meet a new people there's
to film in 24 hours a day and you know you're just trying to make sure you're not looking so I have
this habit of chewing my tongue and out my biggest fear is looking at why is seeing myself chewing my
tongue on tv like I can't control it it just happens and it it looks so crazy you know um but I did
(04:27):
watch some of it I'm still working my way through it um it was an awesome experience and just look
at all the connections we've made doing that like that was amazing yes and coming from Houston which
is a huge market you have to have a lot of the blockers there right right right I think so I
(04:48):
I know we we tried to get together multiple times I don't think I had in my season I think I was an
old one from Houston but not from Texas I think everybody was from Dallas and San Antonio but
you know we still say hi from time to time I've really connected with uh Clara in um in Baltimore
so I'll be going back out there soon um and then I have um um just a lot of different people that
(05:14):
we still kind of keep in contact with I was at Houston this weekend if I would have known you
I would have come to see you for sure like we should have brunch lunch or something something
I was just here I was there for a party and I was like I don't know so many memories you know seven
generations of being in Houston I'm like oh I just gotta get a home but I would have stopped to meet
(05:36):
you I would have been like hey block sir right with sister Mel another fun thing about me is
I have a new company called We Wow houses where we're you know trying to get rid of debate for
boring boxes so it's uh one of the people from Magnolia and Waco and their husband has a construction
company and I'm the creative so if you ever need a creative like oh my god girl that's fine that's
(06:02):
my genre so it's the absolutely making good paintings and coming up with ideas like we
work together on a project that'd be fun that would be fun that would be fun so yeah okay so yeah
I love we best friends I don't forget well you're thinking oh my god that's like we could work together
(06:22):
seriously but I know for real I love I love love love your energy I really do um it's contagious I love
it um so yeah well did the blocks um a writer I did my first book it was um and it was a real
book it was in uh Christian Church Grove now my second book um it's a fun it's a fiction it's um
(06:44):
based on the true some true events but it is uh my first fiction novel and I am so excited about it
and it's uh oh I just love it so much it takes you through a range of emotions and what's it
even your book it's called The Vanishing the vanishing and it's actually um it's thought
(07:04):
the pre-sell on March the third so we're getting ready we're gearing up for that we have a lot of
things in the works as far as promotion for that and I am so excited about it like it's it's it's
amazing so we should do a cross promotion because my book just came out in January just this beginning
of this month and and it's uh it's on Amazon so I self published it but it was like no AI I wrote
(07:31):
it myself 880 thousand words so I get it like yeah they come up to the learning curve like there's a
lot to do to publish a book yes I published the other way too with a regular publisher and it was
hard like it's a AI I check it off your thing you are an author like dead forever forever forever
(07:54):
forever it's an amazing experience because just the craft that type of but that type of art it's
just it's a different form of it like I always say like my penis my voice because of things I
can't say I can write and it comes out and you know you feel it and you just want to bring people into
(08:14):
that world that was kind of my idea with um the vanishing because you know it was such a it it evolved
off of the situation of parental alienation so it's based on a true story however um I couldn't
write I couldn't write that story right because I didn't want to bring anyone into that world
(08:37):
like that world so one of my friends gave me this genius idea he was like my love why don't you just
go fiction and I was like because I was tussling to get it out and I was like hmm okay I chewed on it
a little bit and I was like okay you know and it just came out and when it came out it was so amazing
(09:01):
I mean like you really can rewrite your story you really can you know that's the good thing about
art and writing that form that art form it's like you can write your own narrative
but welcome to my world is what people say in their head it's like read what I'm writing so that
you can experience experience it through me so I love writing I definitely understand where you're
(09:28):
coming from for sure right and the good artists can really draw a person into that like I'm a
avid reader as well so I read a lot of books I love reading books so like you know the way that um
I love being drawn into the picture you know and I try to create that as an author um so my readers
(09:50):
can be really drawn in you know and be interested and excited about what's going on you know so
it's a mama bear book though it really is it's like um so the woman her name is Tami Miller
now she gets a call from the school um informing her or asking hers that is she aware that um her
(10:14):
child was withdrawn from school by her ex-husband and it pops up like immediately right so she's like
no you know I had no idea so she goes um to her ex-husband in his new wife's house and is vacant
like it's completely vacant and so you know she runs down to the police station and they're
(10:40):
they basically shoot her off like you know like you know people have the right to home school
their children and this and that the other and so she that goes back and breaks into the house
and she finds evidence that they could be in a cult. It gets spicy right away and that's why the
(11:03):
mama bear kicks in like she goes and she finds her daughter and you know and she she she breaks
into the cult and you know I'm not giving too much away but it is so it's good it's funny because at
the same time like she's scary like she's not a fighter you know at the same time but she's not
(11:23):
gonna leave her her baby in there you know so then she has her best friend that she's dragging along
and then she has her she she hired a private investigator and um the relationship between
her and the private investigator is funny because he's basically telling her the whole time like
go like you can't be doing this you know she's following him around and stuff like that he ends
(11:48):
up like being her sidekick so it is a very very uh you know it's actually full of rage emotions
the end is surprising I'm not gonna give away but it's a very good story it's funny to me
it sounds like it'd be a good movie that's you know everything everybody keeps saying hey this is
(12:12):
a movie like this is you know this is a movie it's not a story this is film I can absolutely see it
um in film or one script so here's a hint to you I taught a private lesson last week in chat
cheeky tea and I'm like oh you know six months ago I tried this it didn't work let's try it one more
(12:33):
time and so I attached my you know my word file of my book and I'm like okay turn this into a
screenplay for me etc etc I you know gave it all the prompts it was like it happened it wrote it
in front of my eyes so it's easier than it seems to go from the book to the screenplay now I didn't
(12:55):
go back and edit it or even read it but it was just like a demonstration to show her it was like
it knows exactly the format that is required for a screenplay so give it a try like it didn't do all
80 000 words but it did the first chapter just so that I could see it and it was like yeah oh this is
so easier now because I've written screenplays before and it's all slog so that was nice do you
(13:20):
know so have I my I actually started in theater my first art form is theater I've acted since I was
a kid like since I was five years old me too I get that I totally get that because we have that same
thing like I get it I used to love I was a little shoemaker in some little thing I don't even know
how it all was but I think my mother put me in drama because she knew that girl's drama drama drama
(13:47):
right I love drama I tell you um all through high school even after high school I did a stage
like a couple gospel stage plays that I went in and then the most recent thing was the blocks but
we were not acting on there that was real life that was real life it was going back to the blocks
it was really fun like I have to say and um recently I just found out looking at my dad's
(14:13):
obituary which led me to my grandfather's obituary which mentioned in it that my grandparents were
buried my great grandparents were buried in the Osage cemetery right there in Osage so I was like
why didn't I know that before like I could have gone and visited their graves I'm like I knew that
they were near there and I was thinking about them the whole time I was there but I missed opportunity
(14:34):
like dang are you glad I'm back?
No I ain't time to sing I got other things to do my fish are frying you know like seriously
I did get a lot of customers or clients I still work with making jewelry and creative things for
some of the blocksers like I've got the little astronaut and made a mold of him so I can do
(14:58):
him in any color and blah blah blah so I do have a lot of that in my collection or you know blocks
things and QR codes that you could bring and you know it was a it was a really great time like
what was your favorite moment like what was something that you'll always look back and go yeah that
(15:21):
was pretty good the rap party because everything else was like oh my goodness like I think the
first two days was like it was like we were easing our way in but day three kind of like tour our
heads off and you know that's when a doubt came in I was like oh my gosh can I do this like it was
(15:43):
just it is always funny it's like everything was cool but we got some funding it was like
now I understand this you know but I just appreciate all the effort that West put in making sure that
we had the information that we needed um and just making connections I said the rap party but it's
(16:06):
really spending time with the new family that we had become because it wasn't like any other reality
show I've ever seen like it wasn't on drama nobody was fighting it was like we were all we were in
a competition but we were working together to help each other like figure it out you know and I think
(16:27):
when um the winners won we all appreciated that like we all agreed yes like go and that that's the
good thing about blacks like it didn't create it there was no like animosity and we're able to like
keep relationships I love the blacks you know I totally get that I totally get that and and we're
(16:49):
talking about tranches is what we were talking about when you're talking about like it that was
really hard like I didn't really get all that either but definitely West Bergman who is the villain of
um all these reality TV shows the other side right which is like a bear and uh he's just
sorry you know we're so happy for him like it's it's good for him yeah he is a teddy bear he's a
(17:15):
he is a teddy bear but yeah um he's very smart he's very smart and like I believe in vision and
I'm glad he believes in ours like he's just an amazing person and all the people that came to the plots too
just so many amazing people um Devin Schubert he's an amazing guy um Tora Styles Esther oh my
(17:40):
goodness it's like so many Phoenix uh Ollie it's just so many people they are a family now I get it
like I totally get it like this is exactly how I feel too when I got up on the stage the one time
and I knew I was going to blow it because you know it was a lot like when you stumble you're out like
(18:01):
so I'm like I'm like took the stage over I'm like okay we're not going to talk about that we're going
to talk about me and I'm going to tell you that I am here to meet you you you you you and I just
gave him this whole the whole group my sales pitch of why they needed to know me I'm like I don't
think that made the show but it made my show it made me happy how do you hear about your book oh no
(18:25):
well it's my book is this is about you at this show so I'm focusing look I'm impressed I just love
your personality I'm like losing well my book is a Clifie book that takes place in Africa and it has
a hopeful ending but it's called heat and dust and it's uh it's it's got some legs on it too I
think it would make a great screenplay like you know these are things that we imagine and we
(18:49):
they just come out into our little lives and I really enjoyed writing it I can't write wait to
write the next book of maybe it won't be fiction maybe the next one will be something totally
else so I've written two books before that are DIY jewelry so you know jewelry's that's pretty good
it was pretty good I don't know why I'm like but I'm like I guess it's because it's like been a
(19:13):
couple of years so I'm like I'm moving on to the next thing like that's all behind me now so heat
and dust is out there to the world we'll let it's have its life and then we'll cross promote our
books because they have good female protagonists and good stories that are you know kind of have a
hopeful ending and you definitely have had you've dipped into some of the topics that I'm familiar
(19:38):
with and you know things that are the cults and the husbands hanging in and taking your
I I can so relate I could just blew my head up going oh yeah I blip through
and so we'll talk about that later but yeah because I mean it's truly art it is and I'm
(20:00):
glad we have this medium to help us like get that stuff out. I totally agree so on your what is your
your Facebook or how do you communicate with people tell me about that journey for you.
Okay so my Facebook is Kingdom Diamond on Facebook on what is it Instagram is Queen Marie to you
(20:27):
and um that's where I communicate with people through Facebook Instagram my email is uh
mylahollisatgmail.com. We'll list all that in the description so people can find you because it is
you know such an important part of this to find and follow and be social with you and interact with
you so where will your your book be available. It will be available on my website but just lunch is
(20:52):
a little bit before the book so and also the full merchandise that we have to go along with it
is nice that we've designed a whole shebang. Who's designing it for you? Me.
So what are you doing are you doing hats and t-shirts like what are you doing?
(21:14):
T-shirts, hoodies, um oh wow the uh yoga pants yes and they're gonna have vanishing on it?
Vanish mode, vanish mode all right baby. Well I'm taking Zep bound for it to lose weight and I
feel like I'm slowly disappearing so that that could be so appropriate for all the people that
(21:37):
are trying to lose weight. Right. Slowly vanishing. Yeah vanish mode that's right that's what my daughter was
like oh mom you should do the yoga pants because like and you put the the vanish mode on the stomach
part yes she was like yeah I'm like that but yes it'll be learnable live shortly before the book
(21:59):
um is ready to pre-sell we just got a few kinks to work out on our website. So you didn't do it
through Amazon. The what the um the products? The book. The book yes okay so it will be through
Amazon also when it actually launches but the pre-sell will be on the website. I almost think
(22:20):
that there's like another video behind all that or another thing behind all that it's like how we
do all of this because you know it was all new to me like I had to do a lot of research to figure
out how to do it all and it took me some tries and you know like just finding the game the image
going and you know like all that kind of stuff it's a lot of work. It is it is and then I'm a young
(22:45):
I'm young and not really like hip to technology so it is a lot of work and I want to be hands on
with everything because I have a certain vision so I will be helpful certain things but just
putting it all together oh my goodness we're gonna get you hip to technology if I can do it and I'm
(23:06):
an old lady you can do it because I've been doing all this for a long time so it is accumulation
knowledge like my next group of books which I'm doing right now are coloring books so just kind
of like because I'm a visual person so blah blah blah but I don't know anything about it so I'm
gonna have you know the last part of it is you know putting the book together it's a little bit
(23:30):
trickier you know so I'm learning from other people and trying to figure out what the best
sellers are and what they use for their hashtags and yes all of that which is love it I absolutely
love it. Tell me about your house business your real estate your real estate agent. No
(23:51):
no ma'am um so we're basically contractors we just go in and um do whatever we specialize in
roofs um we have a team that's been doing room replacements for about 30 years so they've been
trusted me you know with their talent and we just we just rocking and rolling so um we specialize
(24:13):
in roofs but we do floors we do it our drywall paint everything um and we usually so most of our a
lot of our work comes from the bank so what they do when they when the house when the home's going
to foreclosure we go in we inspect the entire property and then we give estimates like everything
(24:33):
that needs to be done and then they send us back approvals and we go in and do it so we our job our
uh goal is to get it the the property up to par to be placed back onto the market or we to convey
back to the hood so that is that is what we do. But boy to get hooked into that is a gold mine.
(24:53):
I mean yes and it's like it's so much work to do but it's it's like it's like it's always work
because the economy is horrible right um and then but you have to wrestle with the banks and stuff
so that's where the issues go um but I love it I love what we do um and I love just building it
(25:19):
like I love going from what it started as to what we were able to do like the the amp product it's
amazing. Yeah so houses that are under foreclosure they probably have some repairs to do and maybe
cleaning out to do and just getting it up to like putting all the light bulbs back in and
(25:41):
whatever we have to do and cleaning everything so is that kind of right is that what you're
doing? Yes yes we go in we clean it out we do inspections of the whole thing we go back we um
there's holes in the wall we fix those like whatever it takes to get it um up to par with
the lady yeah yeah we do it a lot of roofs because uh you know trees fall around. Oh my
(26:08):
god you know my son had that they they just moved they they sold their house just just closed at the
beginning of the month but yeah the whole neighborhood still in their area and spring valley still has a
lot of blue tarps from um well that was the summer in July when the derecho came through and then the
hurricane came through and all that so yeah I get it like it's really it's really a thing so I get that
(26:35):
I wonder if I had oh yeah I don't know if that recorded that so yeah um I get it the Houston
is really did you know that Houston is the number one place the the location itself for
lightning strikes? Teague Texas which where where I grew up we had a ranch in Teague Texas is the
number one for electrical strikes for that little tiny place but Houston overall has got more
(26:59):
electrical than anywhere else in the world that's all. Oh wow. Maybe it's the U.S. but seriously I
don't know what it is about Houston but it's got a lot of electrical engine like happening there
and that's kind of scary to find out it's like have you always lived in Houston? Yes my whole life
my whole life. Where did you grow up? I grew up like northeast Houston northeast side of Houston
(27:25):
uh 610 Homestead area. Like Galena park like that area? No man but not far from Galena park um like
Homestead um 59-ish tip mill. Yeah oh okay I I lived for a while in Pasadena. Okay yeah it's not that
far from Pasadena maybe 20 minutes because you what that's it in I think maybe 20-minute drive is
(27:51):
right right down the road. Yeah yeah we're the same I yeah I grew up in more of a lived there for
many years so yeah. 12,000 years ago come to Austin. I love the memorial area I mean I'm in
Cyprus now which I love it because we got a slice of the country so. Yes because of the beltway you
(28:13):
can get anywhere I was just talking to somebody this weekend that lived in Cyprus but she worked
in the west side of Houston and I'm like oh is that hard to go because yeah it's the beltway now
I'm like oh yeah I forgot. Right. The outer outer beltway you know whatever. Yeah oh 99 yeah yeah 99
do take me everywhere um I love it out here because we have like it's like it's not too crowded um so
(28:38):
you do get like um somewhat of a city vibe but then there's all this empty country land you know
drive a light down there's a crowd and you know and there's a goat you know like wow so it gives
you that country feel it's quiet you know my children uh well my my daughter I love her school
(29:02):
um she goes to Bridgewood High School and you know it's just a nice community I love it out here.
What's your next project we're kind of I've got a few more minutes left tell me something new you
got coming down the what's coming up besides your book and merch which is so exciting I can't wait to
see that. What else are you gonna be doing like where where where are you what's next. So I actually
(29:28):
I'm actually in another book too it's called to the women in a waiting room it's a devotional and
it's of course about um like how your experience is when you're waiting on anything to happen like
your faith and everything in the situation so I think that was perfect timing um I just went back
to school at thirty six so I'm excited about that um just to probably my business um major
(29:57):
underneath business finishing my I actually started my degree some years back so I'm going to finish
um that and just continue to build my businesses and you know continue to write I'm I've actually
been writing the series for a very long time but now that I got the vanishing out that series seemed
(30:18):
to be flowing it was like you know all that stuff was you know how your creativity get blocked so
now that is actually flowing that is my real art you know vanishing kind of like same life but this
is my art like so I'm there I'm just living and loving and enjoying every day I'm just like you
(30:38):
I woke up this morning saying it's so full of joy and I posted something on Facebook that was a
queen song but it was like I'm so happy now and I'm like that's so me like I gotta like get that of
course instantly I got knocked off Facebook because uh I was copyright for the music but I still put
the words in there too I'm like yeah like seriously like it was it was fun to feel that this morning
(31:03):
when I heard that song and then I had to listen to it over and over because it like really listen
it really motivated me today to really feel like yeah I'm really happy now like things are going great
so that's so much fun to have that as an experience our time is almost over I don't want to cut it off
at some weird spot one last thing that you want to say and then everything will be in the comments
(31:24):
below as far as your links but is there anything else you want to tell everybody? Well thank you
for just having me here on your platform I really enjoyed my time with you thank you for sharing
your audience with me um and so everybody um I just dare you to hope be on despair whatever you
(31:48):
want to do you can do it no matter what um you know take some time and indulge yourself in your art
and just make the best out of it whatever it is I think this is the only thing we can do for ourselves
right now absolutely besides guerrilla warfare maybe but besides that which that's a book I'm writing
(32:13):
it's gonna be arrested oh that's right you gotta write you gotta uh you gotta work it through that
pen that's where my norm de plume is gonna come in I'm gonna write it under your name
(32:36):
well I would love to meet you and anybody that's in the Houston area I hope that you will reach
out and any other blockers that want to be on this show please reach out to me it's fun to get to
connect with all of y'all and just relive all those great times that we all are still moving
forward it's been almost a year now a year for you almost right not quite but um and then we're
we're all still in this gang together and like today I really feel like if I was in Houston I
(33:01):
would have looked you up and we would have nice little coffee somewhere and just like hash it all
out and just kept talking it's a great conversation to have with you today and just remember we have
a lot to be great for we are very blessed people we're very lucky and life is good life is meant
to be good so that's the good part well and one last thing one last thing get it in what else you got
(33:26):
don't forget to follow you and follow me at kingdom diamond on facebook queen memory to you on ig
or facebook is fine um and keep look out for the updates and the launching of the website and also
the great merchandise that we have in store love y'all so much I'm pretty sure I should be making
(33:48):
some jewelry for your collection I love it like maybe it's going up to the light and it vanishes
you know I love that I love that I absolutely love it I don't know if I can make that happen but it'd
be fun to try wouldn't it you know so it's it's a great word vanishing you know it's a great
visual word yes did you see the cover joss you got it right there with you how do I
(34:15):
do you have it let me find it oh I might not have enough time we only have a minute but we'll put
it okay send me a picture and it'll be in the picture we'll add it below people can see it that way
feel yes okay well I really had a great time with you again this is jewelry stars by not not
but jewelry stars is my tv show sorry about that jewelry is your side hustle and it really is about
(34:40):
the grit uh and also the tenacity that we have as entrepreneurs because we're a whole different
mindset than a lot of the people out there but we need the other people out there to really support
us because it's a yin and yang like if you don't have those skills that you can support us by
buying our books or sharing our content or just giving us a thumbs up or a google review and I'll
(35:02):
do that for you uh let's you know like those people are needed too so it's a it's a community that we
form we're the creators we have something to share with you we want you to participate in what we've
got because yeah that makes the world go around so much better and so much more fun but it's
going to stop we got 10 seconds almost so thank you very very much and it's great to see you and
(35:28):
thank you very much
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It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
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