April 27, 2025 • 27 mins
There’s something powerful about seeing yourself reflected back through the characters we watch on TV — the good, the messy, the beautiful becoming. In this episode, Allison is sharing five TV characters that she sees herself in, sometimes more than she even realized. These characters have shaped how Allison thinks about growth, identity, and all the in-between moments that make us who we are. We get into:
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, "Wait… am I actually her?" while watching your favorite show, this episode is for you. So grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let’s talk about the characters who get us — maybe even more than we get ourselves sometimes.
Stay Connected:
Be blessed!
- Why certain characters stick with us like old friends
- The parts Allison recognizes of herself in each of the characters
- What each character is teaching Allison about herself
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, "Wait… am I actually her?" while watching your favorite show, this episode is for you. So grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let’s talk about the characters who get us — maybe even more than we get ourselves sometimes.
Stay Connected:
- Email your thoughts and feedback to us at allisonscornerpod@gmail.com
- Follow us on Instagram for updates: https://instagram.com/allisonscornerpod
- Check out our YouTube for more insight: https://www.youtube.com/@AllisonsCornerPod
- Join the conversation with our book club: https://www.instagram.com/allisonandfriendsbookclub/
- Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack for more reflections and resources: https://allisonscornerpod.substack.com/
Be blessed!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey, and welcome to Alison's Corner. This is my little
corner of the Internet where we dive into wellness, personal growth, relationships,
and just other topics best suited for you. I'm your host, Alison,
bringing you fresh perspectives, inspiring conversations, and a little something
(00:29):
to spark your day. Be sure to follow along with
Allison's Corner on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, and watch
us on YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Here you'll find
more insights and community updates of what we have going
on on Allison's Corner. Now, without further ado, here is
(00:51):
today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome or welcome back to
another episode of ali Since Corner. It's been a while
since I have done a solo episode, so it's just
gonna be me today. And as you can see, our
background looks a little different than usual. I'm not in
(01:15):
my usual space usually. You see my bed, you see
my stuffed animals, you see the lamp, you see it all.
But I'm in a different location today. And yeah, we're
just gonna record and chat and talk to you. These
next few episodes are gonna be solo, so you're just
gonna be dealing with me, but counting today's episode, we
(01:40):
have three episodes left until the end of the season.
I can't believe I'm really saying that, because it's just
so weird. So we'll be ending season six. Of course,
we always take about a month off just to regroup,
get our lives together, you know whatever, and then we'll
be going into season seven. I think that's just so crazy.
(02:04):
I can't believe, like we are heading into seven seasons
of Allison's Corner and it'll be three years of Allison's Corner.
That's crazy. So I just want to take the time
to shout out everyone for pulling through this season. Also,
as you can see what our cadence is, we're also
(02:27):
doing one week of our podcast episodes, and you, of
course check us out on YouTube, listen to us wherever
all of our podcasts are streaming. We're streaming everywhere. But
also we have a newsletter and every other week when
we don't have an episode, we have a newsletter, and
(02:49):
that's a little bit more personal. I'm just writing whatever
I want, and I've been getting really good feedback, So
thank you for those of you who have I've been
reading on our newsletter. Go ahead and follow of course,
the information for our newsletter is on substack, and you
(03:10):
can go on substack, look up Alison's Corner pod, type
that in and you can go ahead and follow us,
or it'll be on the episode description box. Wherever you're
watching this, whether this be on YouTube or if this
be or if you're listening, you can find it in
the episode description box there. So just wanted to let
you guys know before we move on. Also, I do
(03:33):
have to put a little asterisk of a disclaimer if
you hear my voice. I don't know what happened. I
woke up this morning and I had a sore throat.
That's the only thing. Like, that's the only thing. I've
been drinking water to keep myself hydrated. I probably need
some tea. But if I'm being honest with y'all, I
(03:54):
don't know where this came from. It's not allergies, because
I usually don't have allergies. I'm just not an allergies person.
I happen to not have to deal with those, thankfully.
So I just want to let you know if you
hear me sounding crazy, that is why. But today's episode
(04:15):
is not going to derail us. And today I really
wanted to talk about the five black TV characters who
represent me. So today's episode is a little bit of
like a love letter to the TV characters who I
aspire to be or who are a lot like me
(04:36):
in more ways than I kind of want to admit.
So these five black women on TV, for me, they
just don't entertain, but I feel like they also reflect
parts of me that I'm struggling with or I've been
through or I'm just wanting to aspire to be. And
some of them show me who I used to be,
(04:59):
some of them show me who I want to be,
and some of them still show me who I am.
And I'll be sharing some of my favorite scenes as
far as how these characters are in their particular shows,
how I personally relate to them, and just you know
how all of this kind of hits a little close
to home. So go ahead and grab your tea, coffee, water, whatever,
(05:24):
your journal or whatever you need to chill, and we're
about to get into it. So Number one, if we
are going to kick it off with one person, we're
definitely gonna kick it off with Miss Aid because listen,
let me tell y'all, she is insecure in general is
(05:45):
just like one of my favorite TV shows, and I
feel like everybody can relate to Isa well aid her
character is a Ray's character in some way. I think
also with the show, it starts off on her twenty
ninth birthday, and as the seasons progress, I think it
(06:06):
ends when she's like maybe like thirty two. So it's
a really good representation of people who are in that
like transition period between their twenties to their thirties and
kind of how crazy your early thirties are and how
your friend groups look, where some are married and having
kids like her friend Tiffany, and some are single and
(06:29):
trying to figure it out like her and Mollie. Some
of them are in established careers, you know, like Kelly
and Molly are, and Lisa still trying to understand just
all of that. And I think with ESA's character, she's
really a good definition of trying your best while just
(06:51):
simultaneously second guessing yourself and everything that you're doing. And
I think Lisa really captures that awkward fit when you
are an adult but emotionally you're still kind of like
nineteen and confused and don't know what the hell is
going on. And what I love about her is that
(07:12):
she's creative, she's messy, she's hilarious, and she's also very real.
You know. We see as the season's progress, or as
the show itself progress, she definitely begins to establish herself professionally,
finds what it is that she loves, and at the
(07:33):
end of the show, we see her future self, you know,
pretty much where she always wanted to be, and we
also see the future self of Molly and some of
her other friends as well as the years progress. And
my personal favorite scene is probably her wrapping in the
mirror like all the time, just to hype herself up.
(07:56):
And even though she's trying to hype herself up, she
immediately leaves the house and she gets humbled. So listen,
I can relate to that because I can't even tell
you how many times I've given myself a full on
ted talk in the mirror and then I've gone out
and I have fumbled the bag in literally less than
five minutes. So Lisa gives you pretty much tried your best,
(08:23):
and listen, sometimes that is all that matters, you know.
One of my favorite relatable moments with her was when
she was creating her block party or you know, just
really getting everything together for her block party, and nobody
took her seriously at first. Everybody was like, yeah, you know,
(08:44):
you's always messed stuff up at the end, so whatever,
And unfortunately things did go awry at the end, no
fault of hers, well that's debatable, but at the end
of the day, you know, when the block party did
take place, everybody shocked. And I think that fear of
what if I believe in this thing and nobody shows
(09:06):
up is something that imposter syndrome I talk about all
the time on here. Please that's felt, and that is
definitely real. So I can completely understand that even with
this podcast, like creating it, you know, and even venturing
(09:27):
and doing other things, you oftentimes have to ask yourself, well,
what if nobody supports me? What if I am the
only person who is taking all of this seriously? What
if I am the only one who is just doing
whatever is that I need to do so that I
(09:49):
can succeed. And that is a very very very very
very very very real feeling that I think a lot
of us can relate to. I myself can so definitely
understand that. I do have a question for y'all, though,
have you ever hyped yourself up before an event or
(10:11):
a presentation or something that you had to do, and
then immediately start spiraling afterwards. You have to let me
know because it just can't be me and Lisa just can't. Okay. Now,
this second woman is somebody who I definitely aspire to be,
and that is none other than Claire Huxtable from The
(10:35):
Cosby Show. We ain't gonna talk about Bill. We ain't
talk about him, Okay, forget him, we know. But I
love Claire Huxtable. I love who she represents because she
represents a part of me, of the woman that I
one day aspire to be, and the version of me
that comes out when I'm on You know, She's very composed,
(10:59):
she's brill she is soft, she's funny, but she's absolutely
not here for anybody's foolishness. She will let you know
in a heartbeat that she is not the one to try. Okay.
I love that time when she, politely but firmly she
(11:19):
lets someone know that a woman does it. Oh gratitude
for being married to a man who does the bare minimum.
And I'm like, maybe how old was I when I
saw that episode? I think she was talking to Elvin.
She always be putting Elvin in his place. I was
probably like, maybe we'll say ten, and I'm watching that
(11:41):
speech and I'm like, yes, miss Huxtable, missus Huxtable, definitely
definitely right about that. I think one thing why she
resonates for me is that she is proof that you
can be nurturing without being a doormat. And a lot
of us get that con because I know for me personally,
(12:03):
having people pleasing tendencies and things of that nature. You
can be powerful, but you also don't have to be harsh.
You can be graceful, but that doesn't mean you can
be passive. And I think a lot of times where
I channel my inner Claire Huxtable is kind of when
(12:26):
I'm giving a presentation at work or I'm doing meetings
and I just say, hmm, if I was her, if
I was Claire Huxtable, Right, I'm pretending I'm a lawyer.
I'm in the courtroom and I'm presenting my case, but
I'm doing so in a way that as professional, that
grabs your attention, that makes you think, hey, this person
(12:50):
over here ist is not guilty. They're innocent, and I
want you to know that. And I'm trying to persuade
you as much as possible. I think in a lot
of those ways that is when I channel that. Of course,
not in a courtroom and anything, but just like, how
can I command attention in a way that is powerful
(13:11):
without being abrasive? And I even want to go a
little bit more deeper into that because a lot of
times it's black women, we are often given the stereotype
of being abrasive and being aggressive and being powerful, but
a lot of the times those have negative connotations to them.
And what I love the most about Claire Huxtable's character
(13:34):
is that she gives into those descriptions, but not in
a negative sense. And I think that's also a powerful
way of looking at it, especially being another black woman.
So of course I have a question for you guys
as it relates to Claire Huxtable. If you could bring
(13:55):
Claire Huxtable energy to one area of your life life
right now, be it work, relationships, your own personal goals,
what would it be and how do you think Claire
would go about it. You don't have to answer, I
just want you to think about it in your head
and process it. But I oftentimes when I'm in certain situations.
(14:20):
Think what would Blank do? What would whoever do? And
in this case, what what Claire Huxter will do? What
would she do if she was confronted with this issue?
And trust me, them kids gave her and her husband
a lot of problems and she handled it well. So yeah.
Character number three for sure for me is Kadija James
(14:44):
of Living Single and Living Single. I love that show.
That's like one of my all time comfort shows. And
the reason why I love Khadija is because she was
that girl before people were really talking about being that
girl and girl bossing. She was it. Okay, She ran
(15:04):
her own magazine, paid her own bills, and still she
had time to hang out with her friends on a
random Tuesday night. You know, she was everybody's homegirl, but
she was also that girl and I love it, I
love it, I love it. She had the men coming
after her. What was his name, Scooter, that was her
(15:27):
love interest, and I just loved how she just she
had it together well, she had it together, and she
made sure you were not going to see her sweat.
She had that hustle energy and I love it. She
was not letting anyone or anything stand in her way,
(15:49):
in her being a boss, and I think that is
something that we can all learn from, especially for me
as somebody who's trying to build something out of passion
and vision and with limited resources and god knows, a
very tired soul. Okay, because she built flavor off of that,
(16:13):
and she was able to make a name for herself
in the hip hop and R and B, you know,
industry through journalism. And one thing that I love most
about Kadisha is that she's ambitious, but she's also very funny.
At the same time. She was always there for her
girls no matter what any of them were going through,
(16:35):
and she was also being a boss at the same time.
And you don't have to be all hard, you know,
like cold and mean and callous to be a boss.
I think that's one thing that she definitely showed me.
You can still be soft, but you just get to
choose who sees it. So of course she's gonna give
(16:59):
you boss energy in the office, but when she's with
her friends, she's just Kadija. And I think that something
you know, that I can definitely resonate with for me,
especially now, like I was saying earlier, with starting a
creative project with my substack with this podcast, of course
(17:21):
with my book club, I feel like having that boss
like energy, like I just got this and nobody else
can tell me what to do. That is one hundred
percent the energy that Kadisha gives. And of course there
were a lot of times where she was worried about
what would happen to her company, as any boss or
(17:43):
CEO would be, because you give so much into something
and you pour your heart into it that you just
want it to be received at the end of the day.
So for me, I completely love love Kadija. I love
all the girls unliving single. I feel like I have
(18:04):
a little bit of each of them. But if I
have to be honest, Kadija is the one that I
one hundred percent relate to the most. Number four and
this one might come as I don't know if it
will come as a shock, because I honestly, I'm kind
of sad that this show is it ended. The season
finale or the series finale just took place, like maybe
(18:28):
over a month ago. This is Camille Parks from Harlem. Y'all.
I loved Harlem. I still love it. I have to
go like rewatch it from season one, but Camille girl
bless her heart, Bless her heart. If Issa is me
during my figure it out phase in life, Camille is
(18:51):
me during my Dear God, please let me seem as
successful as I am, even though I'm crumbling on the inside.
Face That is me when I feel like I think
about Camille. I love the duality of her because she's
a very accomplished professor, but she's also making these horrible
(19:16):
decisions known to man, And I'm like, how many of
us are super successful in our careers and just other
aspects of life, but aren't getting it right on the
dating front. Listen, So much of us definitely resonate with that.
And one thing that I love the most about her,
(19:38):
or one thing that I tend to gravitate gravitate towards
when it comes to her, is that she reminds me
that wanting to make a difference doesn't mean that you
have to have it all figured out. The messy, trying,
passionate but confused energy that she brings. Listen, she'd be
bringing it, but it's very personal, and I think a
(20:01):
lot of people can definitely relate to that. It's I
always feel like with Camille she is a reminder that
growth looks ugly before it can look graceful. And for me,
it's pretty much like having looking polished on the outside
(20:24):
but low key losing it behind the scenes. And I know,
I know so many of us feel that way in
just trying to have it together and trying to make
it seem like we have it together or to other
people it looks like we got it together, but behind
the scenes we are falling apart. And that was that's
(20:46):
Camille pretty much. If you have not watched Harlem, please please,
please please give it a try. I feel like Harlem
is just it's a really really good show. The characters
that are on Harlem are just really really good as
far as again relatability in just trying to figure it
(21:12):
out and trying to do what they want to do
or whatever it is that they want to accomplish. But
for me, I feel like Camille is she's already successful
in her career, but it's that I don't know what's
going on with everything else, and Laura knows, especially if
you watch the last season. I don't want to spoil
(21:32):
it for anybody who has never watched Harlem, or if
you haven't watched this last season, and this last season
is the end of the whole series, but man, just
watching her growth from the beginning of the season to
the end of the season, and even if you go
all the way back to season one, and her betting
(21:54):
on herself in similar to Lisa in trying to just
do what feels right to her and trying to figure
that out altogether. So yeah, and last, but certainly not least,
we have number five, and that is aunt Viv. But
this is the aunt Viv from the bel Air reboot.
(22:19):
This is the one that I really really want to
talk about, so we can talk about the fresh Prince
of bel Air the original show, where we had two
different versions of the aunt Viv. I don't care what
you say. The dark skinned aunt Viv is the best
aunt Viv no offense listen. But the aunt Viv from
this reboot. I feel like, if you haven't watched theot reboot,
(22:43):
you should because it's very good, very very good. But
her in particular, she is that evolved version of me.
I guess she's the version of me that knows what
she wants. She already has the wisdom from the experience
that she has, but she still aims to dream big.
(23:06):
So even though she's accomplished so much and she knows,
you know what it takes. She's still like, hey, I
still have so much more to offer, and I still
want to go for it. And it's a great reminder
in you have your dreams or other people your dreams
might be other people's dreams. So let's say my dream
is right here, and she's already accomplished that. She's like, babe,
(23:30):
we can go even further. And I love that. And
one of my favorite moments with this Aunt Viv in
the reboot is that she's prioritizing her art again. She's
doing art again after years of kind of putting herself
second to her family, into her husband's career, and she's
(23:52):
had to choose herself not because she stopped loving her family,
but because she remembered that she was part of that
same family that she also needed to take care of
as well. And one of the things I love about
Aunt Viv is that sometimes we get so caught up
in being what other people need, we forget about the
(24:12):
dreams that also live inside of us. And I think
this Aunt Viv is a big reminder that you're allowed
to change your mind, you are allowed to change your life,
and you are allowed to change your priorities. And I
think it's also a commitment to saying it doesn't matter
what age you are, you can change or go after
(24:36):
your goals no matter what. I think so many of
us think that life needs to happen in our twenties
and thirties, and if it is not happening in our
twenties and thirties, and we will never get to where
we need to be. And I believe that is a
complete lie, a complete, complete, complete lie. Sometimes you will
(24:58):
be going back to school at forty fifty sixty. There
is so much more life to live, if we have
to break it down scientifically, what the average American lives
until they're about, let's say, eighty years old. If you
think your life is only going to happen in your
(25:18):
twenties and your thirties, you are counting out a big
chunk of your life where you are not giving yourself
credit for life to take place. And I think aunt
this story is a great example of that. And also
having the support of people around her is something that
we can all definitely resonate with, at least myself in realizing, like, hey,
(25:41):
you know, there's more to life outside of me just
doing this the whole time. I can do other things
as well, and I love that for her. So there
we have it. We have our five miss e side
Claire Huxtable, Kadija James, Camille Parks, and Aunt viv. There
(26:03):
are definitely five women, five very different women with five
different energies, and they represent five different versions of me.
And I think with the five of them, they have
taught me that it's okay to be messy, it's okay
to be ambitious, it is more than okay to evolve,
(26:24):
and it is okay to still be figuring it out
while loving yourself in the process. And I would love
to hear from y'all, like, who are your favorite TV
characters that kind of mirror who you are? If you
want to send me a DM you know, comment on
the post for this episode, or you know, just hit
(26:45):
me up and vent about all of your faves. You know.
I'm all ears. And before we head on out, I
want to leave y'all with a quote by the poet
and writer Gwendolyn Brooks. She says, do not desire to fit,
in desire to oblige ourselves to lead as always, God
(27:07):
bless have an amazing day, and thank y'all for listening
to Alison's Corner. Thanks for tuning in to Alison's Corner.
If you enjoy today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave
a review, and share it with a friend who'd love
(27:27):
to join the conversation. For more context and updates, follow
us on Instagram and YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Until
next time, be blessed.
Hey, and welcome to Alison's Corner. This is my little
corner of the Internet where we dive into wellness, personal growth, relationships,
and just other topics best suited for you. I'm your host, Alison,
bringing you fresh perspectives, inspiring conversations, and a little something
(00:29):
to spark your day. Be sure to follow along with
Allison's Corner on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, and watch
us on YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Here you'll find
more insights and community updates of what we have going
on on Allison's Corner. Now, without further ado, here is
(00:51):
today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome or welcome back to
another episode of ali Since Corner. It's been a while
since I have done a solo episode, so it's just
gonna be me today. And as you can see, our
background looks a little different than usual. I'm not in
(01:15):
my usual space usually. You see my bed, you see
my stuffed animals, you see the lamp, you see it all.
But I'm in a different location today. And yeah, we're
just gonna record and chat and talk to you. These
next few episodes are gonna be solo, so you're just
gonna be dealing with me, but counting today's episode, we
(01:40):
have three episodes left until the end of the season.
I can't believe I'm really saying that, because it's just
so weird. So we'll be ending season six. Of course,
we always take about a month off just to regroup,
get our lives together, you know whatever, and then we'll
be going into season seven. I think that's just so crazy.
(02:04):
I can't believe, like we are heading into seven seasons
of Allison's Corner and it'll be three years of Allison's Corner.
That's crazy. So I just want to take the time
to shout out everyone for pulling through this season. Also,
as you can see what our cadence is, we're also
(02:27):
doing one week of our podcast episodes, and you, of
course check us out on YouTube, listen to us wherever
all of our podcasts are streaming. We're streaming everywhere. But
also we have a newsletter and every other week when
we don't have an episode, we have a newsletter, and
(02:49):
that's a little bit more personal. I'm just writing whatever
I want, and I've been getting really good feedback, So
thank you for those of you who have I've been
reading on our newsletter. Go ahead and follow of course,
the information for our newsletter is on substack, and you
(03:10):
can go on substack, look up Alison's Corner pod, type
that in and you can go ahead and follow us,
or it'll be on the episode description box. Wherever you're
watching this, whether this be on YouTube or if this
be or if you're listening, you can find it in
the episode description box there. So just wanted to let
you guys know before we move on. Also, I do
(03:33):
have to put a little asterisk of a disclaimer if
you hear my voice. I don't know what happened. I
woke up this morning and I had a sore throat.
That's the only thing. Like, that's the only thing. I've
been drinking water to keep myself hydrated. I probably need
some tea. But if I'm being honest with y'all, I
(03:54):
don't know where this came from. It's not allergies, because
I usually don't have allergies. I'm just not an allergies person.
I happen to not have to deal with those, thankfully.
So I just want to let you know if you
hear me sounding crazy, that is why. But today's episode
(04:15):
is not going to derail us. And today I really
wanted to talk about the five black TV characters who
represent me. So today's episode is a little bit of
like a love letter to the TV characters who I
aspire to be or who are a lot like me
(04:36):
in more ways than I kind of want to admit.
So these five black women on TV, for me, they
just don't entertain, but I feel like they also reflect
parts of me that I'm struggling with or I've been
through or I'm just wanting to aspire to be. And
some of them show me who I used to be,
(04:59):
some of them show me who I want to be,
and some of them still show me who I am.
And I'll be sharing some of my favorite scenes as
far as how these characters are in their particular shows,
how I personally relate to them, and just you know
how all of this kind of hits a little close
to home. So go ahead and grab your tea, coffee, water, whatever,
(05:24):
your journal or whatever you need to chill, and we're
about to get into it. So Number one, if we
are going to kick it off with one person, we're
definitely gonna kick it off with Miss Aid because listen,
let me tell y'all, she is insecure in general is
(05:45):
just like one of my favorite TV shows, and I
feel like everybody can relate to Isa well aid her
character is a Ray's character in some way. I think
also with the show, it starts off on her twenty
ninth birthday, and as the seasons progress, I think it
(06:06):
ends when she's like maybe like thirty two. So it's
a really good representation of people who are in that
like transition period between their twenties to their thirties and
kind of how crazy your early thirties are and how
your friend groups look, where some are married and having
kids like her friend Tiffany, and some are single and
(06:29):
trying to figure it out like her and Mollie. Some
of them are in established careers, you know, like Kelly
and Molly are, and Lisa still trying to understand just
all of that. And I think with ESA's character, she's
really a good definition of trying your best while just
(06:51):
simultaneously second guessing yourself and everything that you're doing. And
I think Lisa really captures that awkward fit when you
are an adult but emotionally you're still kind of like
nineteen and confused and don't know what the hell is
going on. And what I love about her is that
(07:12):
she's creative, she's messy, she's hilarious, and she's also very real.
You know. We see as the season's progress, or as
the show itself progress, she definitely begins to establish herself professionally,
finds what it is that she loves, and at the
(07:33):
end of the show, we see her future self, you know,
pretty much where she always wanted to be, and we
also see the future self of Molly and some of
her other friends as well as the years progress. And
my personal favorite scene is probably her wrapping in the
mirror like all the time, just to hype herself up.
(07:56):
And even though she's trying to hype herself up, she
immediately leaves the house and she gets humbled. So listen,
I can relate to that because I can't even tell
you how many times I've given myself a full on
ted talk in the mirror and then I've gone out
and I have fumbled the bag in literally less than
five minutes. So Lisa gives you pretty much tried your best,
(08:23):
and listen, sometimes that is all that matters, you know.
One of my favorite relatable moments with her was when
she was creating her block party or you know, just
really getting everything together for her block party, and nobody
took her seriously at first. Everybody was like, yeah, you know,
(08:44):
you's always messed stuff up at the end, so whatever,
And unfortunately things did go awry at the end, no
fault of hers, well that's debatable, but at the end
of the day, you know, when the block party did
take place, everybody shocked. And I think that fear of
what if I believe in this thing and nobody shows
(09:06):
up is something that imposter syndrome I talk about all
the time on here. Please that's felt, and that is
definitely real. So I can completely understand that even with
this podcast, like creating it, you know, and even venturing
(09:27):
and doing other things, you oftentimes have to ask yourself, well,
what if nobody supports me? What if I am the
only person who is taking all of this seriously? What
if I am the only one who is just doing
whatever is that I need to do so that I
(09:49):
can succeed. And that is a very very very very
very very very real feeling that I think a lot
of us can relate to. I myself can so definitely
understand that. I do have a question for y'all, though,
have you ever hyped yourself up before an event or
(10:11):
a presentation or something that you had to do, and
then immediately start spiraling afterwards. You have to let me
know because it just can't be me and Lisa just can't. Okay. Now,
this second woman is somebody who I definitely aspire to be,
and that is none other than Claire Huxtable from The
(10:35):
Cosby Show. We ain't gonna talk about Bill. We ain't
talk about him, Okay, forget him, we know. But I
love Claire Huxtable. I love who she represents because she
represents a part of me, of the woman that I
one day aspire to be, and the version of me
that comes out when I'm on You know, She's very composed,
(10:59):
she's brill she is soft, she's funny, but she's absolutely
not here for anybody's foolishness. She will let you know
in a heartbeat that she is not the one to try. Okay.
I love that time when she, politely but firmly she
(11:19):
lets someone know that a woman does it. Oh gratitude
for being married to a man who does the bare minimum.
And I'm like, maybe how old was I when I
saw that episode? I think she was talking to Elvin.
She always be putting Elvin in his place. I was
probably like, maybe we'll say ten, and I'm watching that
(11:41):
speech and I'm like, yes, miss Huxtable, missus Huxtable, definitely
definitely right about that. I think one thing why she
resonates for me is that she is proof that you
can be nurturing without being a doormat. And a lot
of us get that con because I know for me personally,
(12:03):
having people pleasing tendencies and things of that nature. You
can be powerful, but you also don't have to be harsh.
You can be graceful, but that doesn't mean you can
be passive. And I think a lot of times where
I channel my inner Claire Huxtable is kind of when
(12:26):
I'm giving a presentation at work or I'm doing meetings
and I just say, hmm, if I was her, if
I was Claire Huxtable, Right, I'm pretending I'm a lawyer.
I'm in the courtroom and I'm presenting my case, but
I'm doing so in a way that as professional, that
grabs your attention, that makes you think, hey, this person
(12:50):
over here ist is not guilty. They're innocent, and I
want you to know that. And I'm trying to persuade
you as much as possible. I think in a lot
of those ways that is when I channel that. Of course,
not in a courtroom and anything, but just like, how
can I command attention in a way that is powerful
(13:11):
without being abrasive? And I even want to go a
little bit more deeper into that because a lot of
times it's black women, we are often given the stereotype
of being abrasive and being aggressive and being powerful, but
a lot of the times those have negative connotations to them.
And what I love the most about Claire Huxtable's character
(13:34):
is that she gives into those descriptions, but not in
a negative sense. And I think that's also a powerful
way of looking at it, especially being another black woman.
So of course I have a question for you guys
as it relates to Claire Huxtable. If you could bring
(13:55):
Claire Huxtable energy to one area of your life life
right now, be it work, relationships, your own personal goals,
what would it be and how do you think Claire
would go about it. You don't have to answer, I
just want you to think about it in your head
and process it. But I oftentimes when I'm in certain situations.
(14:20):
Think what would Blank do? What would whoever do? And
in this case, what what Claire Huxter will do? What
would she do if she was confronted with this issue?
And trust me, them kids gave her and her husband
a lot of problems and she handled it well. So yeah.
Character number three for sure for me is Kadija James
(14:44):
of Living Single and Living Single. I love that show.
That's like one of my all time comfort shows. And
the reason why I love Khadija is because she was
that girl before people were really talking about being that
girl and girl bossing. She was it. Okay, She ran
(15:04):
her own magazine, paid her own bills, and still she
had time to hang out with her friends on a
random Tuesday night. You know, she was everybody's homegirl, but
she was also that girl and I love it, I
love it, I love it. She had the men coming
after her. What was his name, Scooter, that was her
(15:27):
love interest, and I just loved how she just she
had it together well, she had it together, and she
made sure you were not going to see her sweat.
She had that hustle energy and I love it. She
was not letting anyone or anything stand in her way,
(15:49):
in her being a boss, and I think that is
something that we can all learn from, especially for me
as somebody who's trying to build something out of passion
and vision and with limited resources and god knows, a
very tired soul. Okay, because she built flavor off of that,
(16:13):
and she was able to make a name for herself
in the hip hop and R and B, you know,
industry through journalism. And one thing that I love most
about Kadisha is that she's ambitious, but she's also very funny.
At the same time. She was always there for her
girls no matter what any of them were going through,
(16:35):
and she was also being a boss at the same time.
And you don't have to be all hard, you know,
like cold and mean and callous to be a boss.
I think that's one thing that she definitely showed me.
You can still be soft, but you just get to
choose who sees it. So of course she's gonna give
(16:59):
you boss energy in the office, but when she's with
her friends, she's just Kadija. And I think that something
you know, that I can definitely resonate with for me,
especially now, like I was saying earlier, with starting a
creative project with my substack with this podcast, of course
(17:21):
with my book club, I feel like having that boss
like energy, like I just got this and nobody else
can tell me what to do. That is one hundred
percent the energy that Kadisha gives. And of course there
were a lot of times where she was worried about
what would happen to her company, as any boss or
(17:43):
CEO would be, because you give so much into something
and you pour your heart into it that you just
want it to be received at the end of the day.
So for me, I completely love love Kadija. I love
all the girls unliving single. I feel like I have
(18:04):
a little bit of each of them. But if I
have to be honest, Kadija is the one that I
one hundred percent relate to the most. Number four and
this one might come as I don't know if it
will come as a shock, because I honestly, I'm kind
of sad that this show is it ended. The season
finale or the series finale just took place, like maybe
(18:28):
over a month ago. This is Camille Parks from Harlem. Y'all.
I loved Harlem. I still love it. I have to
go like rewatch it from season one, but Camille girl
bless her heart, Bless her heart. If Issa is me
during my figure it out phase in life, Camille is
(18:51):
me during my Dear God, please let me seem as
successful as I am, even though I'm crumbling on the inside.
Face That is me when I feel like I think
about Camille. I love the duality of her because she's
a very accomplished professor, but she's also making these horrible
(19:16):
decisions known to man, And I'm like, how many of
us are super successful in our careers and just other
aspects of life, but aren't getting it right on the
dating front. Listen, So much of us definitely resonate with that.
And one thing that I love the most about her,
(19:38):
or one thing that I tend to gravitate gravitate towards
when it comes to her, is that she reminds me
that wanting to make a difference doesn't mean that you
have to have it all figured out. The messy, trying,
passionate but confused energy that she brings. Listen, she'd be
bringing it, but it's very personal, and I think a
(20:01):
lot of people can definitely relate to that. It's I
always feel like with Camille she is a reminder that
growth looks ugly before it can look graceful. And for me,
it's pretty much like having looking polished on the outside
(20:24):
but low key losing it behind the scenes. And I know,
I know so many of us feel that way in
just trying to have it together and trying to make
it seem like we have it together or to other
people it looks like we got it together, but behind
the scenes we are falling apart. And that was that's
(20:46):
Camille pretty much. If you have not watched Harlem, please please,
please please give it a try. I feel like Harlem
is just it's a really really good show. The characters
that are on Harlem are just really really good as
far as again relatability in just trying to figure it
(21:12):
out and trying to do what they want to do
or whatever it is that they want to accomplish. But
for me, I feel like Camille is she's already successful
in her career, but it's that I don't know what's
going on with everything else, and Laura knows, especially if
you watch the last season. I don't want to spoil
(21:32):
it for anybody who has never watched Harlem, or if
you haven't watched this last season, and this last season
is the end of the whole series, but man, just
watching her growth from the beginning of the season to
the end of the season, and even if you go
all the way back to season one, and her betting
(21:54):
on herself in similar to Lisa in trying to just
do what feels right to her and trying to figure
that out altogether. So yeah, and last, but certainly not least,
we have number five, and that is aunt Viv. But
this is the aunt Viv from the bel Air reboot.
(22:19):
This is the one that I really really want to
talk about, so we can talk about the fresh Prince
of bel Air the original show, where we had two
different versions of the aunt Viv. I don't care what
you say. The dark skinned aunt Viv is the best
aunt Viv no offense listen. But the aunt Viv from
this reboot. I feel like, if you haven't watched theot reboot,
(22:43):
you should because it's very good, very very good. But
her in particular, she is that evolved version of me.
I guess she's the version of me that knows what
she wants. She already has the wisdom from the experience
that she has, but she still aims to dream big.
(23:06):
So even though she's accomplished so much and she knows,
you know what it takes. She's still like, hey, I
still have so much more to offer, and I still
want to go for it. And it's a great reminder
in you have your dreams or other people your dreams
might be other people's dreams. So let's say my dream
is right here, and she's already accomplished that. She's like, babe,
(23:30):
we can go even further. And I love that. And
one of my favorite moments with this Aunt Viv in
the reboot is that she's prioritizing her art again. She's
doing art again after years of kind of putting herself
second to her family, into her husband's career, and she's
(23:52):
had to choose herself not because she stopped loving her family,
but because she remembered that she was part of that
same family that she also needed to take care of
as well. And one of the things I love about
Aunt Viv is that sometimes we get so caught up
in being what other people need, we forget about the
(24:12):
dreams that also live inside of us. And I think
this Aunt Viv is a big reminder that you're allowed
to change your mind, you are allowed to change your life,
and you are allowed to change your priorities. And I
think it's also a commitment to saying it doesn't matter
what age you are, you can change or go after
(24:36):
your goals no matter what. I think so many of
us think that life needs to happen in our twenties
and thirties, and if it is not happening in our
twenties and thirties, and we will never get to where
we need to be. And I believe that is a
complete lie, a complete, complete, complete lie. Sometimes you will
(24:58):
be going back to school at forty fifty sixty. There
is so much more life to live, if we have
to break it down scientifically, what the average American lives
until they're about, let's say, eighty years old. If you
think your life is only going to happen in your
(25:18):
twenties and your thirties, you are counting out a big
chunk of your life where you are not giving yourself
credit for life to take place. And I think aunt
this story is a great example of that. And also
having the support of people around her is something that
we can all definitely resonate with, at least myself in realizing, like, hey,
(25:41):
you know, there's more to life outside of me just
doing this the whole time. I can do other things
as well, and I love that for her. So there
we have it. We have our five miss e side
Claire Huxtable, Kadija James, Camille Parks, and Aunt viv. There
(26:03):
are definitely five women, five very different women with five
different energies, and they represent five different versions of me.
And I think with the five of them, they have
taught me that it's okay to be messy, it's okay
to be ambitious, it is more than okay to evolve,
(26:24):
and it is okay to still be figuring it out
while loving yourself in the process. And I would love
to hear from y'all, like, who are your favorite TV
characters that kind of mirror who you are? If you
want to send me a DM you know, comment on
the post for this episode, or you know, just hit
(26:45):
me up and vent about all of your faves. You know.
I'm all ears. And before we head on out, I
want to leave y'all with a quote by the poet
and writer Gwendolyn Brooks. She says, do not desire to fit,
in desire to oblige ourselves to lead as always, God
(27:07):
bless have an amazing day, and thank y'all for listening
to Alison's Corner. Thanks for tuning in to Alison's Corner.
If you enjoy today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave
a review, and share it with a friend who'd love
(27:27):
to join the conversation. For more context and updates, follow
us on Instagram and YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Until
next time, be blessed.
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