Ep 3 Mini Series : Give Yourself the Damn Award

What if the recognition you're seeking isn't waiting on a stage somewhere, but right here in your own hands?

Recognition isn't just a trophy on your shelf—it's a form of rest. That sacred breath between survival and becoming. After four years of podcasting through empty seasons, echoing rooms, and uncertain words, I decided to give myself the damn award. No permission needed, no red carpet required. And it wasn't just celebration—it was interruption of an unhealthy cycle.

We often push ourselves far beyond reasonable limits, only acknowledging our need for rest when we're already operating in crisis mode. As the wise Olivia Pope once said, "By the time you realize you're in crisis, it's already too late." This raw, celebratory episode explores what happens when we honor our journey before burnout forces us to pause. When we recognize that the work behind the work—the showing up, the consistency, the vulnerability—deserves celebration too.

You don't need panels of judges or viral success to determine your worth. The honest admission that you're doing your best is enough reason to celebrate. Whether it's taking yourself out for sushi, writing your own acceptance speech (thanking coffee and "Beyoncé's internet"), or simply pausing to acknowledge how far you've come—these moments of self-recognition aren't self-indulgent; they're self-preserving.

Take this as your accountability partner's nudge: stop waiting for permission to slow down. Celebrate your journey not because you've finally done enough, but because you are already enough. Share this message with someone who deserves to celebrate themselves too, and stay tuned for a new season of Time for Tea with Makita coming soon, plus No One Acts dropping this fall with stories that shift your soul.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sometimes the recognition is the rest.
It's that breath between whatyou survive and what you're
becoming, and I want you to takethat in.
Hello, my friends, and welcomeback to another episode of Time
for Tea with Makita.

(00:20):
This is the mini series.
So this is your behind thescenes.
Look at what it looks like tonot just film a podcast but to
have some crazy stuff happen andjust be in the moment.
So I am spilling all the teawith you guys.
On the last episode I did a Q&A, but in this episode we're just

(00:42):
going to be in this space, allright, because this is where we
not just inhale but we exhale.
We take a moment between thehustle and the healing to get
honest about the work behind thework.
So this episode is going to beraw, it's going to be
celebratory and it's absolutelyfor you okay.

(01:02):
So let me just say this rightnow for anyone who needs to hear
it Give yourself the damn award.
You heard me.
No permission needed, no redcarpet required.
So I say this because a fewweeks ago I made this post.
It was about me winning myfirst podcast award.

(01:25):
You know it was an imaginarytrophy, but it was real.
It was real for me because Iwanted to honor myself right
Four years in a podcast game,like showing up even when I
didn't want to, when life washard, when you felt battered and
bruised.
And I did this because sometimesyou got to hit pause.

(01:47):
You got to give yourself yourown flowers and not just the
likes.
Don't get me wrong.
I love a like, I love a good DM, I love followers, but
sometimes you have to recognizethat you do this also not just
for other people, but for you.
You know.
Give yourself flowers forsurviving and thriving in ways

(02:07):
that no one else saw.
I've shown up to the mic when Iwas empty.
I've recorded in rooms thatechoed, sometimes closets that
felt too tight and in seasonswhere I wasn't sure I even had
anything to say, but I keptshowing up.
And if you've been doing thesame in your life, in your
business, in your healing, inyour becoming then baby, you

(02:33):
deserve that award just as well.
So honor yourself, giveyourself a trophy, get glammed
up, get pretty, take yourselfout.
Just celebrate the fact thatyou've been through something
and you are still standing tall.
And, I'll be honest, the ideaof rest, like real deep soul

(02:56):
rest, sometimes it's it's.
We have to honor that as well,because sometimes we don't even
feel like it's available to usRight.
Even now I wrestle with it, butwhen I was watching this clip
because it's easy to get down arabbit hole right, especially on
TikTok getting the reels, butit was a clip from how to Get

(03:18):
Away with Murder.
Now stay with me All right.
So Annalise Keating was in thisintense moment in her classroom
and she asked this question tothe class how do you know when
you're in a crisis?
Maybe not an exact same phrase,but you get the drift.
And people were answering it,but they were getting it wrong.

(03:39):
And this was an episode whereOlivia Pope guest starred.
So she answered and she waslike by the time you realize
you're in one, it's already toolate and I don't know it.
Just that hit me like, becauseI have watched all of how to Get
Away with the Murder.
But hearing that again in thein the season that I was in that

(04:01):
line felt like it was draggingme and just like girl, here is
your unspoken truth Because,listen, by the time we admit
that we need rest, we've oftenpushed way past the line.
We're already in burnout, we'realready in crisis mode,

(04:21):
operating, making decisions incrisis.
So this is where this connects.
When I gave myself that award,it wasn't just about celebrating
, it was about interrupting thecycle.
It was a way of saying I seeyou, I honor your grind and you
don't have to crash before youpause.

(04:43):
Sometimes the recognition isthe rest.
It's that breath between whatyou survived and what you're
becoming, and I want you to takethat in, not just you know,
makita, just talking stuff andjust going through things, but I
want you to take it as facts,real life facts.

(05:03):
You don't need panels of judges, you don't need a hundred
thousand downloads, you don'tneed the whole plan figured out.
You just need to be honestenough to say I'm doing my best
and that deserves to becelebrated.
Okay, now that we've had thatmoment of truth, and before I

(05:26):
get back into that, I just wantto say I loved presenting myself
with that award.
It felt good all right.
Now back to something light,because life is both sacred and
silly.
So when I gave myself myself anaward, it was like this moment

(05:48):
of truth and I don't know, nextyear I might show up with a
acceptance speech and it mightgo something like this I like to
thank coffee, ambient lighting,my husband for not letting me
quit.
Thank coffee, ambient lightingmy husband for not letting me
quit, and Beyonce's internet forletting this podcast exist.

(06:09):
I don't know, but you know.
What I do know is that youdeserve a moment like this too.
So take it, make your owntrophy, do a happy dance in the
mirror, take yourself off ofsushi or wine or whatever your
soul craves, because no one elseis living this life for you.
No one else gets to define whatwinning looks like for you.
So here's your homework for me.

(06:31):
So, to be your accountabilitypartner, I want you to hit pause
, celebrate, recognize when yourbreaks need to happen and not
when you're already operating incrisis mode, and stop waiting
for a crisis to give yourselfpermission to slow down.
You've earned this moment, notbecause you finally did enough,

(06:55):
but because you're alreadyenough.
All right, you guys, this is it.
This is the final episode in themini series, giving you a
behind the scenes look andreminding you to give yourself
the damn award.
Show up, give yourself theflowers.
I hope this resonated with you.
Send it to someone who deservesto celebrate themselves as well

(07:16):
.
As always, you guys, it hasbeen an honor to spill some tea
with each and every one of you.
Stay tuned for new season ofTime for Tea, with Makita coming
to you soon, and also stay onthe lookout for no One Acts
which drops this fall withstories that shift your soul.

(07:36):
Until next time, my friendsNamaste.