Megan is a four-time Emmy-winning ventriloquist, singer, and producer—and the first Black woman puppeteer on Sesame Street. She began teaching herself ventriloquism at just 10 years old, driven by a dream that would shape her life. Despite earning degrees in economics and finance and building a successful career in real estate, Megan never let go of her passion for performance. After years of performing on stages big and small—including America’s Got Talent, Kelly Clarkson, TODAY, Good Morning America—Megan joined Sesame Street voicing the beloved character Gabrielle. A mother of two, Megan often speaks about the importance of play, visualization, and staying true to the dreams placed in your heart. She credits her use of vision boards and manifesting as key tools in creating the life she imagined—proof that dreams, when nurtured, really can come true. Her album Cinderella Sweep, is out this July, showcasing and empowering young women. Her story is one of talent, grit, and unwavering belief—an inspiring reminder that play has power, and that our childhood dreams are never too far out of reach.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Adam, Adam, cary Line.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
She's a queen of talking, and so.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
She's getting really not afraid to feel the episode and
so just let it flow. No one can do it
quiet like cary Lone's sound for Caroline.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm so excited to be here with Megan Pythos. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thanks for coming on. I mean, look at your trophies.
Are those Grammys and Emmys and some sort of like
baseball or golf situation, So.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
They are combined trophies of my fiance, and so the
Emmys are mine. So I've gotten four Emmy's, which I
never imagined that that would happened. But I worked on
a project with the University of Cincinnati and they had
an existing curriculum called Smartpath where they taught basic financial
(01:06):
literacy to kids. And so they found me through my mother,
who's an educator in Cincinnati, and because she used it
for her students, and they said, is this your daughter.
She does puppets, We'd love to connect with her, and
so we developed all of these supplemental resources to go
with the curriculum and use puppets and songs to further
(01:26):
the concepts of supply and demand, the difference between kids
and services, how to make a budget, and those resources
and videos and content were put on PBS and we
end up getting in these for children's content for them.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
So you're like teaching the real life skills.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, real life skills that I learned in college.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Tell me about it. This is what we need to
be learning at a young age. Where is it still
out there? Can we still find it for our kids?
I need to show my daughter.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
It's still out there. It's being used throughout public schools
throughout out the US the curriculum. But the videos are
also on YouTube. And I hear every now and then
from family and friends that they saw it on their
local PBS station, So it's it's still out there.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
So if we wanted to watch it, can I go
to your YouTube?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You would go to YouTube. It's on the YouTube channel
Smartpath and smart is a dollar's centgner.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Okay, that's awesome, Like seriously teaching all the basics of
money and how to prepare for your future when you're
a kid, and so you're not just like it's not
just sprung on you when you get in like you said,
when you get into college or you know, after school.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We even explained credit and there's this silly frog who
gets a credit card and thinks he can buy everything.
He buys a house, he buys a limo, he buys
a driver, and then he gets a bill in the
mail for one million dollars and so he learns that, okay,
all of this you have to pay it back, and
you have to pay it back with interest. That was
a really fun episode. That was probably my favorite.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
We're so creative again, Like, you're just such a creative person,
and you have been your whole life, haven't you. Like
the fact that when you were ten years old you
discover puppets and you're like, oh my gosh, I want
to do this. And then I've been watching you sing
with your puppets, like on America's Got Talent and all
these other talent shows, and you're like singing Whitney Houston
(03:19):
as a ventriloquist. Yeah, that is My daughter and I
sat here earlier today and we both tried to sing
Whitney Houston with our mouth closed with her teddy Bear,
and I was like, this is so hard. How do
you do this? I mean, And just the fact that
as a ten year old you found this dream like
such a such a unique dream, such a cool dream,
(03:40):
but like that you even found it, you know, it.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Was very playful to me. I've always been very imaginative,
love playing pretend, love dressing up and acting, and at
the time, I never really considered it an art form.
I was just playing and having fun. And I had
puppets before I officially started doing puppetry. I would just
play with them like toys, and so when I learned puppetry,
(04:04):
it was a whole new world of being able to
act out my playtime in front of other people. And
I just played and played. When I practiced, it was
like it was like playing with Barbie dolls, except they
were puppets that they talked to each other. And so
I realized, if I can sing, and well, if I
can talk without moving my lips, I probably can sing
without moving my lips. I practiced and I realized I
(04:26):
could do it. And then I practiced more and I
was like, well, maybe I could sound like other people
when I sing. And then it just grew and grew,
and it's just like it's just like speaking, you know,
you push out a certain level of air. So when
I'm closing my mouth just a little bit. I had
to just push out a little bit more air, and
it makes it possible.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You make it sound like it's just anybody could do this,
but I really can.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's all an illusion. And that's how I learned. When
I told my mom that I wanted to learn how
to ventilo do to do ventriloquism, she took me to
the library and we found HS tapes on how to
do ventilochism. And there are these phenomenal voice actors and
ventiloquists that taught the art form. And one of the
teachers was Paul Winchell, and he's the voice of Tigger,
(05:15):
so the voice of He was a ventriloquist on like
one of his side hustles, and so I'll never forget.
In his VHS tape he had a diagram of what
the mouth looks like and all of the sounds that
the mouth makes without the lips. And there is only
like seven letters of the alphabet that you have to
close your mouth for, like the letter B, but B
(05:36):
sounds like D. So if I were to say basketball,
you would think that I'm saying with it B, but
I'm really just replacing of D because the mind is
trying to understand and figure out. But what I have learned,
there is one there's one technology that knows the difference
in the illusion, and it's cap cut. When I've done
cap cut, no, they know that's not the right letter,
(06:01):
and they're the only people. I'm like, Wow, that's pretty good.
You know the illusion. But yeah, anyone can learn it
just takes practice.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So there actually are tricks to learn, like they said
the seven letters where you close your mouth when you talk,
like learning shortcuts or like alternate ways to get those
letters and those sounds exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, there's a ultimate way of doing it. And then
you just have to add your imagination to add a
character that sounds different than yourself, and a storyline and
a dialogue, and then you have a whole act.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This is just so crazy. So was Junebug your first creation.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, My first puppet was Charlie McCarthy, and I bought
him from Johnny's toy store. He was a toy version
of Edgar Bergen's famous character, which was kind of funny.
It was a radio show with eventualiquist and they sell toys,
and so I got a Charlie McCarthy doll and a
(07:00):
joke book, and I would take him to school and
perform in front of my classmates on recess and breaks.
And my teachers notice and then asked me to present
what I learned to the whole school. And so my
school's devotional, which was about kindergarten through sixth grade, I
wrote a script. I didn't want it to show them, Hey,
this is my puppet and that's what I learned to do.
(07:21):
I wanted to do a whole performance for them, so
I made a Bible study lesson for them on God's Love,
and that was my first performance.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That's amazing. Wait, you're so brave, too, like at such
a young age to be performing in front of your
entire school.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, I wasn't brave at all, and that's what drew
me to venteloquism and puppetries. I was very shy and
at a heart up, and I felt that when I
had the puppet, it took attention away from myself and
gave me an outlet to express without putting all of
the pressure and spotlight on myself. So it helped me
(07:59):
trans form as a little kid and get past some
social anxieties.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
That is so true because it's you, but even like
when I'm watching on the Kelly Clarkson Show and like
you bring your puppets and like watching you like in
all your different worlds that you're in Sesame Street, I
mean freaking making waves on Sesame Street, just like but
watching you you as yourself, Megan are like I'm talking
to you right now. It's like I totally get your vibe.
(08:26):
You're so amazing. But then when you do the puppet
it is act it feels like a whole different person.
It really does, Like I feel like you and the
puppet are having a real conversation and even like your
personality is different when you talk in the puppet puppets.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, And I think that is contributes to the magic
to really believe that there's someone else in the room
that's not yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Isn't freeing being a puppet? Like being able to communicate
through a puppet.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yes, I can say a lot more than I normally
feel out. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with
being able to have super vocal and fun characters.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So you started doing this at ten, started performing for
your school. Then you were discovered by Oprah, like she
found you first. Is that like your first big break
was Oprah.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, that was That was my first national television appearance.
And this was in the early days of YouTube and
video submissions, so I think this was when I was
sixteen years old. Oprah had an episode where she wanted
to feature the world's most amazing and talented kids, and
you could submit your home videos on her website to
(09:45):
be featured on the show for a chance to be featured.
And so I submitted a video and then got featured
on the website, and then she asked for more videos,
and I did another round of like maybe five home
videos with our camcorder and little tapes, and then we
convert the tapes to DVDs and then send them to
the show, and she chose one of the videos that
(10:06):
I submitted to be on her show.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
That was wild. I feel like with you, like and
I've had the chance to talk to so many amazing people,
just like I'm sure you have met so many amazing
people in your life, but like every now and then
there's someone like you, and it's like you were just
born to be a light, and you were just born
oozing creativity, and you were just born with something to say.
(10:31):
And I feel like even with all of the things
you're doing in your career, you have a bigger message,
Like you are so gorgeous, you are so talented, you
are so like incredible the way you put yourself out
there in front of huge stages and like you're on
the fly too, Like when you're doing these interviews with
the Ventulaquis, Like I was watching with like Al Roker
(10:52):
and I'm like, oh my gosh, the way you just
like spitball with your puppet and him. I'm like, you're
so funny, and like you come up with these like
such amazing things to say and you're doing it in
front of the whole world is off the cup. I'm like, dang,
you are truly just like born for this. Do you
feel that?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah? And I think that's what's so special about all
of us. We all have that unique something that makes
us different, that thing that we were born to do.
And I'm so grateful that I found that so young,
and also grateful for the people in my life that
pushed me to let me know that this was special
(11:31):
and that I could inspire other people. And so I got,
you know, a very strong purpose growing up in the
church and knowing that this was something that I was
meant to do as a mission, not just to entertain people,
but as a medium to share hope and to share love.
And that's one of the reasons I never quit, even
(11:52):
though even when it was I got older and I
was a teenager and adult, it felt kind of silly
that I was still the one playing with puppets. But
I'm glad that I never quit because I was able
to transition out of a full time career in real
estate finance into being a puppeteer on Sesame Street. And
those are two completely different worlds. But what I realized
(12:14):
is my story it doesn't influence other people that be like, oh, yeah,
I want to be in television too. It's no it
inspires them to say, I may have been in this
journey and path, but it's possible for me to journey
into where I'm really meant to be, even if the
circumstances seem impossible. And so if that's what I hope
my story inspires. Did you just feel that I possible
(12:38):
can happen.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I love that so much. Did you feel because you
said you had seven years in commercial real estate and
you were successful at it, I mean, you created a
whole career for yourself. You went to Vanderbilt. I mean,
you're like so smart, You're getting all these degrees, you're
pursuing this very legit career path as a real estate
doing real estate, and it's but did you think that
(12:59):
being a puppeteer Ventrilocus wasn't an option? Like was that
kind of what led you to another career? Because it
is such a unique career, Like there's not like tons
of ranchio because I wouldn't think. I mean, you've probably
met a lot at this point, But do you think
that you didn't believe as possible? And that's what you're
saying is like it is possible and anything can happen.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I wanted to believe and realism set in after I
got it. Graduated college. I had a world of opportunities
literally after I did America's Got Talent because the show,
even though it's America's Got Talent, was aired internationally, so
I got to perform around the world. I connected with
television writers and producers and networks and we're like, once
(13:41):
you graduate, come out here, we'll get work for you.
All of those opportunities went away after I graduated, and
I just you know, it takes time and That's what
I had to learn. You know, timing is everything, especially
in entertainment. There's some relationships that I've had for two
three years before we actually do a project together. And
(14:04):
so also afraid of taking the risk and the big
move of moving to a city like Los Angeles after
being in Nashville and Cincinnati. Could have made it work
if I had picked up and moved into a studio town, maybe,
but I was afraid that there would be limited opportunities
for someone like me, and so I took the safe
(14:26):
rout and went into finance. Had an incredible job during
real estate, private equity, and then real estate development. Well,
ultimately I felt a significant void because I knew that, Yeah,
you could feel it deeply, to the point where I
even became depressed for a bit, especially after I had
my first son, Leo. I knew that I wanted him
(14:48):
to be anything that he could be and go for
his wildest dreams. But I wasn't doing the same for myself.
And I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing,
but was afraid I had him that I started pushing
myself a little bit harder. I was still performing on
the weekends and whenever I was asked, but I started
really focusing on practicing auditioning. I sent an audition packet
(15:11):
out to the Jim Hinton Company and didn't expect to
hear anything back because their website clearly said we are
not accepting.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
As I said it, though, you know you're.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Going to do it anyway, And that's what I did.
And so I did the University of Cincinnati project. And
I did that while working full time in real estate
with a two year old, and I would wake up
early in the morning to write.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And you got that project.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
That was the project that I got.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, Emmy, Yeah, that's when you did that right after
you had the baby.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, I did. So we started right around uh.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So that's when that's when you really started to kick
it in a year, so you're like, okay, and then
you went an Emmy for it. So it's almost like
confirmation right exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And so I was waiting for some sign in the
guy to tell me, Okay, now's the right moment to
take a chance on your dreams. But I also realized
that that perfect moment would never come. I had to
take the leap and believe for myself. And it was
in March of twenty twenty that I got an email
from Sesame Street. They shut down production because of the
(16:20):
pandemic and they had extra time. So one of the
producers had access to the applications at the Jim Henson
Company and he said, based on this was like three
years later that I sent the packet. He said, based
on your letter, we think you would be interested in
working with us. Would you be willing to learn our
style of puppetry. So not only was it a oh
(16:42):
you know, we got your packet, it was an invitation
to come into the world to be mentored. And so
I joined their mentorship program. And realistically I probably should
have said no. I had I was six weeks pregnant,
in a global pandemic, working full time in real estate
with a two year old, with a phenomenal job. Why
do I need to be learning a new style of
puppetry over zoom? But I said yes because I realized
(17:04):
there wasn't going to be a perfect moment for me
to take a chance, and I did, and I'm so
grateful I did.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So this was the packet you sent in three years
ago to the company that said don't send in applications.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
That's correct, somebody was keeping the I thought it was
in a trashcan, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
That just goes to show you should I mean, you
should never not try.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, that's right. You never know what doors will open.
And also you know, you never know how the environment
can change three years from when you first meet someone.
So after I went full time as a puppeteer and performer,
I just meent with lots of people, just introductory networking.
(17:50):
And three years later that I've been full time, a
lot of those meetings have turned into projects. But it
really just takes time, patience, and faith and persistence.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So tell me about your experience at Sesame Street. Because
you grew up watching Sesame Street, right like you, I
feel like you're a big manifestor too, Like I feel
like you like manifest Well.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, and it's very strange. I manifest a lot of things,
and this is super simple and random, but I post
all of my dreams on my pinterest board. Good for you?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Why do you do that?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
It's a good way, you know, to vision board. Just
as you would on a piece of paper and stick
it on the wall. Pinterest is just a little bit
easier because you can find the image and put it
on the board. And it's a good way of tracking
my dreams over time. So I'll to check in on
my dream board like once a month or so. But
there have been dreams that I've posted on my vision
board with certain intentions, like I posted Sesame stream on
(18:49):
some Sesme Street on my dream board maybe and I
don't know, maybe twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. And the reason
that I posted them on my dream board was not
that I wanted to work with them. It was because
I aspired to their level of excellence and programming, and
so it was I, this is what I would like
to be like, not I want to be with them.
(19:11):
And so when I got the message from Sesme, stems like,
oh okay, I've manifest that one. Really it's really hard.
And I also I also had Cherry Lewis on my
dream board. Cherry Lewis, who does you know character lamb Chop?
Oh yeah, yeah, because I studied her and I loved
her voices, I loved her poise, everything about her, and
(19:35):
two years ago I was invited to be one of
the features on her documentary. So you know, I manifest
in really interesting ways. And so I continuously and trying
to dream bigger, and I keep my old pins to see,
you know, the things that I've been able to cross
off the list. And I realized earlier this year that
(19:56):
I crossed off a lot of my dream board and
that's not good because it also means that I'm not
dreaming big enough for myself, and so.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You're just crushing your dreams.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Now, bigger things on there, and also goals of the
kind of person that I want to be, the things
that I want to share. Values. I put on my
dream board too, how I want to spend my time.
So I have this like goofy picture. Yeah, I have
a picture of a mom holding both of her kids,
one of the kids on her back on this on
(20:25):
the front. And I just thought that was, you know,
beautiful quality time and that's something that I aspire to
always with my kids.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Man, Okay, so you've said I love that you have
such a well rounded vision board, Like obviously you have
your career goals, which is so great, but then it's
like it's like actually the full person, like what are
your values? Where do you how do you want to
spend your time? But then that's so crucial because I
feel like how we spend our time. Effects are nervous
system so much, you know, and like how what you
(21:03):
prioritize and you know, it's like you have it's like
a big puzzle you got to put together. So what
would you say you crossed off your vision board this
year that like you're shocked that you're already moving so
fast through it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Oh, this is this is also really this is all
of these things that I aspired to but not actually
dream of interacting with them. So I put Tammerin Hall
on my vision board because she's just so stylish and
so poised and authentic. And I would watch her every
morning on the Today Show before work. And she came
(21:36):
to Sesame Street two years ago and I got to
meet her and I let her know it's like, you're
such a role model for me. I admire you, thank
you for everything you do, that kind of thing. And
then we were too, And I pined her on my
vision board because she was a model of the kind
of woman I want to be as first how I
care myself, the authenticity, and then also in the picture
(21:56):
she had people around her, so she has like a
team of people that she works with. So I dreamed
of being that type of person that also you know,
works with a team, is a team player. And two
months ago I got an email from my agent saying
she wanted to meet and I'm like, uh, a man,
what And they said, I don't know. So I get
(22:19):
on the call and she says, you know, I'm really
excited to be working with you. I'm proud of everything
that you've been doing. Blah blah blah. And I said,
I'm sorry, you have to excuse me. What are we
talking about?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
What are we doing together?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
But she was just, you know, a fan of everything
that I've been doing in the children's space and wanted
to be a part and support And she invited me
on to be a guest on the Tameron Hall Show
and I got to promote my new single A Niece, Cinderella,
on the show. So that was a really beautiful manifestation
in a way that was much deeper than I could
(22:52):
have imagined. I now have a supporter, friend and mentor.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Dang, yeah, what do you think this is? Do you
think it's just because you're so true to your connections,
Like it truly does feel like divine, Like your calling
feels like this is like a divine thing for you.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
It is a divine thing. For me. I'm a Christian.
I grew up in the church, and I consider myself
more spiritual than necessarily religious. But I do believe that
we all are brought here with a purpose, and as
long as you are living in your truth and purpose,
doors will align for you where exactly where you need
(23:32):
to be, and you'll have everything you need to not
just survive as a person, but also live wholly, happily
and with joy. And that's hopefully what I'm teaching my
kids through my life and all other little kids as
well too. It's not too early and it's not too
late to find your purpose. And when you're living in
(23:53):
your purpose, everything is so much easier.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So to someone out there who's listening to you and
like feeling super inspired, but they're like, dang it, I
am not in my purpose and I know I'm not,
and there's I can feel it. How do you get
into your purpose? Because I feel like that involves a
lot of bravery and some big moves sometimes and like
kind of like shaking the solar system.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, it does. It does feel like shaking uh the
solar woman and breaking chain. I would say the first
thing to do is write write it out. So and
kind of my dark days of realizing that I wasn't
doing what I wanted to be doing, I made I
made a board and a little bit different than a
(24:36):
country's board. I just first started off with my values,
like three four values.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
What would you say are your top values?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
So my values hope, love, joy, and I think the
word for it, maybe carrying such generosity in the same
bugget of carrying for other people. And what activity like
that contribute to those values? What are my dream projects?
And so it was maybe a board of maybe twenty
(25:06):
post its of what what would be my dream project,
my lifestyle, and so imagine what your life would be
if you could change it, and then make a plan
for doing some of those goals. And so I just
slowly checked off task on that list of Okay, am
(25:27):
i am I doing this? Does this project fit this value?
But start small because it can be seemed very overwhelming
to make such a big life shift, But if you
put it down on paper and make small steps towards
getting there, it can happen.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Do you feel like you changed your lifestyle? Like what
is your dream lifestyle? Because I feel like you're you
have you have to be in it because you're so
awesome and you've made such intentional moves. But what is
your dream lifestyle for you?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
I partially chose my or I mostly chose my career
and my career change. Wanting to spend more time with
my kids too. So when I was working in real estate,
it was a very structured lifestyle. As far as when
I worked, it was. It was a seven to six
I would pretty much stay most days, some days eight
(26:16):
to six, so that was the entire time that my
son was at daycare, and I, you know, had a
limited amount of time that I could take off to
go work on creative projects or even you know, vacation
with friends and family. So I just dreamed of having
the flexibility to spend more time with my kids, so
(26:39):
dreaming of being able to take them to lunch on
a random Tuesday, or going up to see family on
you know, a different week. So I just dreamed of flexibility.
So I honestly really dreamed and prayed of my dad's lifestyle.
He's a pastor in Cincinnati, and he's a creative. He's
a musician and song and so he would take me
(27:02):
to school every morning and pick me up in the
afternoon as well, and he would spend most of his
day creating, and he would spend a lot of his
time giving to the people around him between rehearsals with
the choir and Bible studies. So he was part of
his community but also had the flexibility to create and
be part of my sister's life. And so that's what
(27:25):
I wanted specifically.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
You had a good example.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Yeah, I had a wonderful example.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Wow, So tell me about your time on Sesame Street.
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Sesame Street is like walking into your childhood it is. Yes,
what's special about Sesame Street is you can touch and
fill the set and interact with it. You can sit
on the one, two, three steps, you can walk inside
Hooper Store, you can go into Big Bird's Nest, and
so all of the imagery and characters and feelings that
(27:57):
you had watching the show you can experience when walking
into that room. And the energy is so beautiful, creative, collaborative.
The culture is incredible. It's a culture of excellence, but
also community. Everyone is very caring and really preparing you
(28:19):
to be their lifetime. Really effected the environment. If you
super competitive, like oh, you have to do well but no,
everyone is looking to teach you and help you to
be your best because they want to keep you within
the neighborhood. Which is beautiful, well.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I guess because truly these characters are created by each individual,
and so you are a vital member of the Sesame
Street community. It's not like anyone else can just come
in and play your role. It's almost like that role
would have to move out of the neighborhood and someone
would have to move in almost or something. What I mean,
what you know, because it's like it's such you. You
(28:58):
are such the energy coming through in that character, and
so that makes so much sense. Y'all are a little
family and everyone really matters and plays a part.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, we all have very special connections to our characters
and the purpose of the characters and the communities that
they that we serve. So we're very diligent in making
sure that we're doing them right.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So talk to me about how you feel outside assessme
street and like your song a New Cinderella and your
music that you're making, it's like so centered towards young girls,
And tell me about your mission about it and how
this became where you wanted to put your energy and
use your creative talents.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
For My goal was to make music specifically for young girls.
There's a lot of music that young girls listen to
that wasn't made for them, and I think there's a
lot of things that they need to hear, and so
the goal was to write songs of the things that
I wanted to hear when I was at age and
needed to be listening to, and also to make anthems
(30:01):
for them to know that they are loved, they're special,
they're beautiful, they're full of potential, and they're fun.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that was the goal. But beyond that goal, we
actually included the young girls in the project. So we
partnered with Saving Our Daughters, which is an organization that
mentors girls and the arts across the country and they
have celebrity godparents that mentor the girls. So the godparents
(30:32):
range from actresses, singers, journalists, athletes, and they all have
adoptive schools and they go to the schools and spend
time with the girls and even bring them to their workplaces.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
So that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, Kiki Palmer, for example, gave the girls tickets to
see one of our shows. The journalists will bring them
on the television set, the news set, and as a
mentor I brought them to the side of Sesame Street
for a virtual tour, which was fun. But further, as
a god parent, I said, you know, I could give
the girls not only this album, but also the experience
(31:09):
of being recording artists. And so we went to three
studios between New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles and had
about twenty girls at each at each recording and they
each recorded about three songs, and they learned the process
of recording and learned about records and engineering, and got
exposure to Grammy Award winning producers. And you would think
(31:32):
after these recordings they would be like, oh, I want
to be a singer now, I want to be a
producer now, But really their mind was open to all
the possibilities of what they could be. So the girls
one by one got in line and said, I want
to be a baker when I grow up. I want
to be a chief financial officer when I grew up.
I want to be a judge. I want to be this.
(31:53):
And they were just full of excitement and encouragement that
they could do it. Because many of them weren't singers,
they'd never been recording our studio before, and so they
were trying something new and getting confidence by doing something
that may have been uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
That's really powerful. Yeah, that's so cool. How does it
feel to see a ripple effect actually like playing out
like this.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It's still happening. I get little pieces of it. We're
still in the midst of promoting the album and getting
the music out there, and next single comes out June sixth,
ABC's of Me, and the album comes out July eleventh,
and the end of April, I performed at the Los
Angeles Times Festival of Books, and the girls who were
(32:38):
on the recording in La came to the performance and
performed with me. And this second time around of working
with them, they had a lot more confidence in getting
out on stage. And they even had another performance after
they left me. They were doing a talent show and
so they were telling me about all the things that
they were gonna be doing the talent show, and so
(32:59):
they became little performers.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
That's amazing. And I feel like that kind of goes
back to like your values that you're talking about earlier,
instilling like hope and love into yourself and others. In
generosity because it's like you felt that of the kid,
you feel bad about your own life, and then now
you're passing that on and these girls, like you're saying
like now they're saying like, oh my gosh, all sorts
of dreams can happen and it's all right here. But
(33:23):
you just have to have someone show you the door.
You know. That's incredible. I mean, that's just so awesome.
The ABC's of Me, Tell me about this song, tell
me what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So ABC's of Me is a fun trap R and
B song, and we go through all of the professions
that you can be a t Z. So the leaders a,
I'm an AX, B, I'm a bob see chief office, D,
I'm a d emergency you talked, I'm a five five G.
(33:58):
I'll just age their stylist. And then the choruses, I
can be anything I want to be. If I can see,
I can dream. And so it's also kind of a
message of representation too, is when you can see what's possible,
then you can be.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
That is so true. That is so amazing. Okay, so
the whole album tell me. Some other songs on the album,
like which what they really mean to you? Just because
I feel like every song has such a great message.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, my favorite song on the album is Stars and Galaxies,
just because as I started to write it, I knew.
I was like, oh my god, this is going to
be so easy for kids to sing, which I love
because it can be an anthem for them. And as
I was writing it, I got my fiance's daughter and
(34:49):
my kids to learn it immediately. And they're really young,
like three four years old, and they picked it up immediately.
And I also caught them singing it to themselves, you know,
in the bathroom in the car. But the song was
I love myself and I can tell there's no one
(35:09):
else quite like me. And when I think of all
I can be, I see starts and God sees and
that's pretty much the whole song. There's a verse, but
that's pretty much the whole song. And I dream of
that song being sung at preschool graduations and Kennt graduations
(35:33):
and just affirmation of them loving themselves. That's so awesome.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Okay, so the album, what's the full album called?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
The full album is called Cinderella Sweep.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Cinderella Sweep. Okay, how'd you come with that title?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
That's so good? Game Show them. So all of our
recordings that we had seven features on the app. Celebrity
features on the album from the Saving Our Daughter's Organization
came Lelane, who was in the movie Wonka Jasmine Forstburg
who's in the Broadway Music musical six and Disney Stars
and so they came to the recordings and mentor the girls.
(36:10):
But we also had some fun time and did trivia
questions just on you know, believing in yourself. So one
of the games we had was Midnight Dash to Dream.
If someone tells you your dream is too hard, should
you should quit? True or false? And so we just
had fun games like that. So we have interludes on
the album that are game show themed.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
That's so on the album. Yeah, yeah, that's creative.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
That's so fun. So there's like a cool little break
in between each song with another little experience.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yes, So who knows, maybe later we'll be able to
turn it into a fun game show for kids. But
that was the vision in calling it Cinderella Sweep, and
the girls from the organization are called Cinderella's and so
I wanted to make sure it's fairy tale thing.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Did you did your first song a Cinderella wasn't inspired
by the girls. Did you write it for them or
did it all just come together.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And we wrote it for them? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Okay, so you wrote it with them in mine and
then you went and got them on it. That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
So yeah, when we sat down, we had the track
Sarah and I and we thought of the story of
Cinderella and transforming Cinderella into more of an independent I
will get it done and all calls perseverance through it all,
she lost, but she's still going. And that was the
story that we went with.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Okay, now I sir, your fiancee? Yes, okay, And how
did you guys meet? Because y'all are he's musical. I
mean I checked out his stuff too, and it's like, whoa,
y'all are like a powerhouse going on here musically and creatively.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yeah, we started off working together and then became best
friends and then best friends the boy where it's hard
to live without each other, but it's fun to be,
you know, be able to create with someone you love
in such a creative and imaginative, imaginative place.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Do y'all just create all the time?
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah? We we live in this world and especially with
me being a children's performer. There's really not a time
that I'm not working. Even when I'm with my kids.
I get I.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Bet you get a ton of ideas. Honestly, a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Of I write a lot of songs. Actually, in their room,
Extra Stars and Galaxies started on one of their play guitars.
The guitar sounded terrible. It was untuned. It was like
this tory little ukulele thing.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Oh this is your last album.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
This is the current album.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Oh wait you Stars and Galaxies.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah, starts sing The Galaxy is a song that's going
to be coming out in July. So I was tuning
it for them, and then I just started playing around
a little bit and I was like, oh, I kind
of like that, and that turned into the song.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Well, I mean you said, what the amount of playtime?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
So play? You started this interview with play how like
playing was so important to you and like your whole
album came out of playtime and you are playing like sessame,
you keep your sense of play. Tell me the importance
of play because I feel like we lose it as
adults sometimes, like we forget that that is such a
huge part of this magical existence. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
I think play is a way to take the pressure
off of life and almost existence, and it also forces
you to use the part of your brain that is imagination,
and imagination requires like six different core brain functions, like
it involves memory in play, and I think it's important
(39:54):
to use that part of our brain. And that's what
makes us different from every other species on Earth is
our ability to imagine stories and tell them to each other.
No true species on the planet can do that. And
if that's what's special about us we are using.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
That is so true because every other space is kind
of just like going on instincts, and we actually have imagination.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
So what do you have, I mean, what don't you
have going on right now? You have a children's book
coming out as well, like in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Yeah, I have a children's book coming out, Talk to
the Hand. It's about my story of finding my voice
through puppetry.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Talk to the Hand. Oh my gosh, that is so good. Yeah,
so that's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
I'm really excited about the potential for it. There's an
activity at the end of the book where you can
build your own puppet at home, very inexpensively with everything
you probably already have in your house, And that actually
been actually helped me with my kids, help my son
break out of his show and overcome a speech impairment
and delay.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Really how so, so he's very.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Shy and had a speech delay from some hearing issues,
and doing puppetry helped him gain confidence to speak. And
so he would walk around the house interacting with his
paperbag puppet that he had made and trying out different
voices and just one on one. He was kind of
one word sentences here and there, but he would have
(41:26):
full conversations with the puppet.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
What do you think that is like? Because like that
is so true, Like it's something is what's happening there?
You were talking about it earlier. But is it just
like not having to present as yourself, like you can
say it with a little bit of distance from like
people focusing on you per se.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
I think it's a less pressure environment, less stress to
interact with, you know, And it's really in a situation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
You can control, you can control the puppet and control
the outcome and bounce back and forth and imagined and
imaginative dialogue, and so I think it really just lightens
the pressure of conversation.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Okay, so you have your book coming out, your album
and songs or they're to the world. July six is
your new song? Jeah's June six, because we're in I
feel what we're in May Somber right now, June six,
so that will be out by the time this comes out.
It'll be right around the corner. I think this will
probably well, Eric right around the same time, So this
(42:30):
song will be out, which is so exciting. Stream it everywhere,
stream it everywhere. Sesame Street is happening, mm hmm, how
is that? So? Is that so you're still doing that.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yeah, we're in production right now for a season fifty
six at Sesame Street and the show was actually just
picked up by Netflix, so it will be Sesame Street
was Yeah, it'll be area Netflix and Phebus. I think
later this year or early next year.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
I mean, how amazing that it's been going on with
this movie CS.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and I mean that's why I put them on
my dream boards like that. Yeah, I had that kind
of legacy and I've learned too. They've been able to
stay around for so long is because they're willing to
evolve and change and also respond to what's relevant in
our world.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So you were the first black woman puppeteer on Sesame Street?
Is that tell me about that?
Speaker 2 (43:22):
Yeah? And I didn't realize it either until I was there.
I was walking around the set on my first day
and saw all these behind the scenes pictures from over
the years, and I didn't see any black women puppeteers.
And we took lots of pictures after my first day,
take pictures of my character, and I got back to
my desk because I went to work the next day
in real estate. I got back to my desk and
(43:44):
I realized I was like, I wonder if I was
the first, because it kind of seemed like a big
moment when we were taking pictures, and so I texted
one of the producers. I say, hey, was I the first?
And she said, yeah, We're so proud. And I immediately
broke down tears in my cubicle because I realized in
that moment that I wouldn't spy your kids to know
that they can make a difference, even in an organization
that's been around for over fifty years.
Speaker 3 (44:07):
Wow, Yeah, that's big.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, but I'm grateful because it shows all of the
wonderful things impossibilities of what you could be and unique
things that you can find as careers.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Truly, Megan, I mean, this is so exciting. So you
did a post to earlier where you were like, you
make big decisions for your life, which I find so
inspiring because you're willing to go for yourself. But you said,
I don't know what it was. The thing was like,
at the end of twenty twenty four, you decided to
embrace becoming a single mom. You said, I'm I embraced
(44:46):
becoming a single mom. Though it wasn't an easy path
or decision. I know that my boys will enjoy life
with the healthiest, happiest, best version of my mommy. That
is so big that you knew it was time to
move on. How did you get to that place where
you're like, Okay, this is my next chapter Because I
feel like a lot of my audience is women, our
age and mothers, and it's like we're in so many
(45:07):
different seasons of life. How do you know when it's
time to make that kind of move.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Yeah, it became very clear when I realized that I
had to become a different person and really step into
a lane that wasn't authentic to myself.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
It's a great distinction.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I also realized that, you know, I told you how
important it was for my kids to see me living
out my dreams, and I never wanted to be anything else.
I went into finance because I felt like it was
more stable, but I had the incredible opportunity of becoming
a full time performer, and I walked boldly in then
(45:49):
in that, and the more that I walked boldly, the
more that, you know, I realized my relationship wasn't working,
and I didn't want my kids to see me have
to dim my life for someone else's coming through. And
so I realized they would see the best version of myself,
even if that meant being single, by me being able
(46:10):
to live exactly who as who I was meant to be,
and have the freedom to be able to take they
take them with me to set and know that I
can be an incredible mother and have a career. I
can be an incredible mother and be on set for
a week or two at a time and know that
(46:30):
Mommy will either bring you or Mommy will be back
and leave you with the community of people that will help.
But I realized that I wasn't alone and that I
could be a wonderful, stable mother and have a career
and if anyone is telling me otherwise, it doesn't support
That's not what my kids need to see. And I
made that decision for myself.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
So how did you get through that initial transition? Like
did you You said you had a great community, Like
what does it like going from one life to another?
You know, because I feel like the past five years,
I've kind of come out of like a gone through
some valleys and then come out on the other side.
But it's always so worth it once you get out
of the valley, but it's just surviving the valley. Like
(47:13):
what did you lean on in that moment?
Speaker 2 (47:15):
And that's you brought up a really interesting word that
everyone kept throwing to me that was kind of hard
to see at the time, is the other side, Because
when you're in a valley, it's hard to imagine what
life will feel like on the other side, and you
can feel yourself slowly creeping up to normalcy and into
another life. And I am fully on the other side,
(47:38):
which is beautiful because I can look back and those
moments in the valley and realize that I still had
hope in those moments. So my encouragement to listeners is
to journal, journal your darkest moments, because you will be
so proud of yourself looking back of how you pulled through.
And also I leaned so much on my friends and family,
(48:02):
and it was beautiful to see how many people knew
that I needed a change in confirmation and we're waiting
for the moment to step in and help. Yeah, my
friends were flying down with you hauls. I'm like, let's
go and ready, you know, to guide me through my
(48:24):
next journey in life. And I'm really grateful.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
What do you want to tell people about the importance
of just trusting your intuition.
Speaker 2 (48:33):
There is a special intuition in purpose in you, and
I believe your soul will tell you when you're following
in the right path. And I've been grateful to have
that intuition since I was very young. From the moment
I first performed in front of my elementary school, I
(48:56):
knew that my purpose was to spark the imagination of
kids by using imagination and stories. So when you have
that burning passion inside of you when something when something happens,
you know that you're on the right path. So I've
seen that light in that mother's eyes. She's a educator
(49:17):
of over forty five years. And this is really bizarre,
but I did a reading camp with her one summer,
and her eyes light up with happiness and passion when
she tells the kids what to do, When she tells
them to sit down, it's like she gets energy, like
the hocus Pocus Ladies. For me, it was draining to
you have to discipline kids, So I knew that that
wasn't for me.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
That is so true though, like what lights her up
drains another That's why. And like you said with the
girls when you did the project, like they didn't all
want to be singers. They have all these other dreams
because everyone has their own unique path.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, so good to.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
Have that distinction.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
You're on the right path.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So I always wrap up with
leave your Light. But before we get to this last question,
I just want you to tell everyone what to where
they can find all that you have going on, where
to watch for you, and just like any information that
(50:15):
we need to know so we can stay on track
with knowing what you're dropping. Because everything you're putting out
to this world is so inspirational and you're just such
a bright light.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
Megan, Thank you so much for giving me time to
talk with you and your listeners. You can find me
on Instagram, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok all under my
name Megan pipe Is and I'm also on all the
streaming platforms still under my name Megan Pipes.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
That's amazing. I always wrap up with leave your Light
and it is just super short and inspirational. What do
you want people to know? Just dropping an inspiration from
your own life.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Inspiration for my own life. I believe that if you
use your imagination, you can make the impossible. What's what made?
Let me start it again?
Speaker 3 (51:10):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Like a little cell word need. If you use your imagination,
you can turn what seems impossible possible. And I found
that in my journey and being able to transition out
of a seven year career into my dream job and
lifestyle with my kids.
Speaker 3 (51:35):
And I've always loved when did you move to Nashville? Uh?
Speaker 2 (51:40):
So, I've been to Nashville a long time. So I
grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I moved to Nashville
in twenty ten for college and I moved away for
four years, so I was gone from twenty fourteen to
twenty nineteen. But then I came back, and how.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
Do you shoot for Sesame Street? Do you go like
fly on set?
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah, so we're recording Queens, New York. But the seasons
only record about three months long, and we record one
week one one week off, so it's to go back
and forth. And I'm not needed every day of the season,
so I just go back and forth.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
So this is going to be like for the rest
of your life, Sesame Street, I hope. So. I hope
so too. That's awesome. So how cool just to just
to what a what a life? Megan? I mean, seriously,
what's left on the bucket board? I'll wrap up with
this because you said you check some many things off.
What are our next big dreams? Because you are crossing
them off? What's on there now?
Speaker 2 (52:35):
I would love to go to Broadway. I'd love to
produce a Broadway musical. I'd love to turn some of
the content that we're making into a television show. But
I also would love a platform for other authors and creators,
just to be a champion for other creators to be
able to share their work, just like you being able
(52:56):
to help other people share their work.
Speaker 3 (52:58):
Well, you're freaking doing it. I mean, you have me
so inspired. I I've been checking you out so hardcore
for the past few days and I'm literally like I can't.
Like it's like with some people, you research them and
you get the gist of who they are and you're like, Okay,
this person's awesome. But with you, it's like it just
keeps going and going and going. You are just like
this such this deeply rich soul and what you're doing
(53:21):
with your life, it's just so mesmerizing. It's just who
you are, and it's so cool to see your creative
spark and like you said, everybody has this, but your
creative spark just coming out in all these different forms,
and you're impacting young women and you're just changing the
world by just being your true, authentic self. And it's
super inspiring to get to talk to you and hear
(53:44):
your story and thank you for sharing it with me.
It really means a lot that you come give your
time and share all that you've done and all that
you're doing because it's so inspiring and you're just an
example that literally anyone can do their dreams like you
made being a puppeteer of vent Triloquist, like you have
become like one of the best in the world and
(54:05):
who even knew you could do that. It's so awesome,
And you're also reminding us to play, Like, thank you
for that, because we forget that, and you can have
a life of play. You don't have to become an
adult and just turn it all in and get serious
and like not enjoy the play and the imagination of life.
Like I feel like you're probably more imaginative than you've
(54:27):
ever been at this point. I would think.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
My favorite thing that my son could ever ask me is, Mommy,
can you play with me? I just it's the sweetest
thing in the world. And I actually got him saying
that on the album because it's also a reminder to
me that the answer shall always be yes, even if
it's not in that moment. I always say yes. If
I can't do it now, I give him a time
for later, because that's a part of him that I
(54:50):
want to share together, and I want him to continuously
know he can do as an adult and know that
my mom played with me. She was thirty. He thinks
I'm five now, but she was thirty two and she
was sitting down on the floor playing. I want him
to remember that.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
That's amazing. Megan Piface. Thank you so much for joining me.
Could I would you stick around and can I ask
you like a few questions. I do this game called
tell Me More, where you just like answer a few questions.
It'll take like five minutes with this little bonus for
our listeners. Okay, thank you so much for joining me.
This was truly amazing. You're so awesome and I just
can't wait to follow along with your journey.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
Thank you, and thank you for your words. That means
the real.
Speaker 3 (55:32):
I'm just speaking the truth. I'm just seeing, I am
reflecting back to you all the greatness you are because
you are such an inspiration and honestly, like I like,
I can't wait to show my daughter all the things
that you've done, starting with your first Emmy, like all,
you're just like making creations that are so enriching for
(55:54):
children and for women in particular, and that's just huge.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Thank you. Yeah, that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (56:00):
You're amazing. You're amazing. Okay, Well, well y'all tune in
on Thursday for a quick little bonus episode with Megan.
You're the best
Adam, Adam, cary Line.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
She's a queen of talking, and so.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
She's getting really not afraid to feel the episode and
so just let it flow. No one can do it
quiet like cary Lone's sound for Caroline.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm so excited to be here with Megan Pythos. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thanks for coming on. I mean, look at your trophies.
Are those Grammys and Emmys and some sort of like
baseball or golf situation, So.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
They are combined trophies of my fiance, and so the
Emmys are mine. So I've gotten four Emmy's, which I
never imagined that that would happened. But I worked on
a project with the University of Cincinnati and they had
an existing curriculum called Smartpath where they taught basic financial
(01:06):
literacy to kids. And so they found me through my mother,
who's an educator in Cincinnati, and because she used it
for her students, and they said, is this your daughter.
She does puppets, We'd love to connect with her, and
so we developed all of these supplemental resources to go
with the curriculum and use puppets and songs to further
(01:26):
the concepts of supply and demand, the difference between kids
and services, how to make a budget, and those resources
and videos and content were put on PBS and we
end up getting in these for children's content for them.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
So you're like teaching the real life skills.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, real life skills that I learned in college.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Tell me about it. This is what we need to
be learning at a young age. Where is it still
out there? Can we still find it for our kids?
I need to show my daughter.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
It's still out there. It's being used throughout public schools
throughout out the US the curriculum. But the videos are
also on YouTube. And I hear every now and then
from family and friends that they saw it on their
local PBS station, So it's it's still out there.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
So if we wanted to watch it, can I go
to your YouTube?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You would go to YouTube. It's on the YouTube channel
Smartpath and smart is a dollar's centgner.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Okay, that's awesome, Like seriously teaching all the basics of
money and how to prepare for your future when you're
a kid, and so you're not just like it's not
just sprung on you when you get in like you said,
when you get into college or you know, after school.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We even explained credit and there's this silly frog who
gets a credit card and thinks he can buy everything.
He buys a house, he buys a limo, he buys
a driver, and then he gets a bill in the
mail for one million dollars and so he learns that, okay,
all of this you have to pay it back, and
you have to pay it back with interest. That was
a really fun episode. That was probably my favorite.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
We're so creative again, Like, you're just such a creative person,
and you have been your whole life, haven't you. Like
the fact that when you were ten years old you
discover puppets and you're like, oh my gosh, I want
to do this. And then I've been watching you sing
with your puppets, like on America's Got Talent and all
these other talent shows, and you're like singing Whitney Houston
(03:19):
as a ventriloquist. Yeah, that is My daughter and I
sat here earlier today and we both tried to sing
Whitney Houston with our mouth closed with her teddy Bear,
and I was like, this is so hard. How do
you do this? I mean, And just the fact that
as a ten year old you found this dream like
such a such a unique dream, such a cool dream,
(03:40):
but like that you even found it, you know, it.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Was very playful to me. I've always been very imaginative,
love playing pretend, love dressing up and acting, and at
the time, I never really considered it an art form.
I was just playing and having fun. And I had
puppets before I officially started doing puppetry. I would just
play with them like toys, and so when I learned puppetry,
(04:04):
it was a whole new world of being able to
act out my playtime in front of other people. And
I just played and played. When I practiced, it was
like it was like playing with Barbie dolls, except they
were puppets that they talked to each other. And so
I realized, if I can sing, and well, if I
can talk without moving my lips, I probably can sing
without moving my lips. I practiced and I realized I
(04:26):
could do it. And then I practiced more and I
was like, well, maybe I could sound like other people
when I sing. And then it just grew and grew,
and it's just like it's just like speaking, you know,
you push out a certain level of air. So when
I'm closing my mouth just a little bit. I had
to just push out a little bit more air, and
it makes it possible.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You make it sound like it's just anybody could do this,
but I really can.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's all an illusion. And that's how I learned. When
I told my mom that I wanted to learn how
to ventilo do to do ventriloquism, she took me to
the library and we found HS tapes on how to
do ventilochism. And there are these phenomenal voice actors and
ventiloquists that taught the art form. And one of the
teachers was Paul Winchell, and he's the voice of Tigger,
(05:15):
so the voice of He was a ventriloquist on like
one of his side hustles, and so I'll never forget.
In his VHS tape he had a diagram of what
the mouth looks like and all of the sounds that
the mouth makes without the lips. And there is only
like seven letters of the alphabet that you have to
close your mouth for, like the letter B, but B
(05:36):
sounds like D. So if I were to say basketball,
you would think that I'm saying with it B, but
I'm really just replacing of D because the mind is
trying to understand and figure out. But what I have learned,
there is one there's one technology that knows the difference
in the illusion, and it's cap cut. When I've done
cap cut, no, they know that's not the right letter,
(06:01):
and they're the only people. I'm like, Wow, that's pretty good.
You know the illusion. But yeah, anyone can learn it
just takes practice.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So there actually are tricks to learn, like they said
the seven letters where you close your mouth when you talk,
like learning shortcuts or like alternate ways to get those
letters and those sounds exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, there's a ultimate way of doing it. And then
you just have to add your imagination to add a
character that sounds different than yourself, and a storyline and
a dialogue, and then you have a whole act.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This is just so crazy. So was Junebug your first creation.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, My first puppet was Charlie McCarthy, and I bought
him from Johnny's toy store. He was a toy version
of Edgar Bergen's famous character, which was kind of funny.
It was a radio show with eventualiquist and they sell toys,
and so I got a Charlie McCarthy doll and a
(07:00):
joke book, and I would take him to school and
perform in front of my classmates on recess and breaks.
And my teachers notice and then asked me to present
what I learned to the whole school. And so my
school's devotional, which was about kindergarten through sixth grade, I
wrote a script. I didn't want it to show them, Hey,
this is my puppet and that's what I learned to do.
(07:21):
I wanted to do a whole performance for them, so
I made a Bible study lesson for them on God's Love,
and that was my first performance.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That's amazing. Wait, you're so brave, too, like at such
a young age to be performing in front of your
entire school.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, I wasn't brave at all, and that's what drew
me to venteloquism and puppetries. I was very shy and
at a heart up, and I felt that when I
had the puppet, it took attention away from myself and
gave me an outlet to express without putting all of
the pressure and spotlight on myself. So it helped me
(07:59):
trans form as a little kid and get past some
social anxieties.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
That is so true because it's you, but even like
when I'm watching on the Kelly Clarkson Show and like
you bring your puppets and like watching you like in
all your different worlds that you're in Sesame Street, I
mean freaking making waves on Sesame Street, just like but
watching you you as yourself, Megan are like I'm talking
to you right now. It's like I totally get your vibe.
(08:26):
You're so amazing. But then when you do the puppet
it is act it feels like a whole different person.
It really does, Like I feel like you and the
puppet are having a real conversation and even like your
personality is different when you talk in the puppet puppets.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, And I think that is contributes to the magic
to really believe that there's someone else in the room
that's not yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Isn't freeing being a puppet? Like being able to communicate
through a puppet.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yes, I can say a lot more than I normally
feel out. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with
being able to have super vocal and fun characters.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So you started doing this at ten, started performing for
your school. Then you were discovered by Oprah, like she
found you first. Is that like your first big break
was Oprah.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, that was That was my first national television appearance.
And this was in the early days of YouTube and
video submissions, so I think this was when I was
sixteen years old. Oprah had an episode where she wanted
to feature the world's most amazing and talented kids, and
you could submit your home videos on her website to
(09:45):
be featured on the show for a chance to be featured.
And so I submitted a video and then got featured
on the website, and then she asked for more videos,
and I did another round of like maybe five home
videos with our camcorder and little tapes, and then we
convert the tapes to DVDs and then send them to
the show, and she chose one of the videos that
(10:06):
I submitted to be on her show.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
That was wild. I feel like with you, like and
I've had the chance to talk to so many amazing people,
just like I'm sure you have met so many amazing
people in your life, but like every now and then
there's someone like you, and it's like you were just
born to be a light, and you were just born
oozing creativity, and you were just born with something to say.
(10:31):
And I feel like even with all of the things
you're doing in your career, you have a bigger message,
Like you are so gorgeous, you are so talented, you
are so like incredible the way you put yourself out
there in front of huge stages and like you're on
the fly too, Like when you're doing these interviews with
the Ventulaquis, Like I was watching with like Al Roker
(10:52):
and I'm like, oh my gosh, the way you just
like spitball with your puppet and him. I'm like, you're
so funny, and like you come up with these like
such amazing things to say and you're doing it in
front of the whole world is off the cup. I'm like, dang,
you are truly just like born for this. Do you
feel that?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah? And I think that's what's so special about all
of us. We all have that unique something that makes
us different, that thing that we were born to do.
And I'm so grateful that I found that so young,
and also grateful for the people in my life that
pushed me to let me know that this was special
(11:31):
and that I could inspire other people. And so I got,
you know, a very strong purpose growing up in the
church and knowing that this was something that I was
meant to do as a mission, not just to entertain people,
but as a medium to share hope and to share love.
And that's one of the reasons I never quit, even
(11:52):
though even when it was I got older and I
was a teenager and adult, it felt kind of silly
that I was still the one playing with puppets. But
I'm glad that I never quit because I was able
to transition out of a full time career in real
estate finance into being a puppeteer on Sesame Street. And
those are two completely different worlds. But what I realized
(12:14):
is my story it doesn't influence other people that be like, oh, yeah,
I want to be in television too. It's no it
inspires them to say, I may have been in this
journey and path, but it's possible for me to journey
into where I'm really meant to be, even if the
circumstances seem impossible. And so if that's what I hope
my story inspires. Did you just feel that I possible
(12:38):
can happen.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I love that so much. Did you feel because you
said you had seven years in commercial real estate and
you were successful at it, I mean, you created a
whole career for yourself. You went to Vanderbilt. I mean,
you're like so smart, You're getting all these degrees, you're
pursuing this very legit career path as a real estate
doing real estate, and it's but did you think that
(12:59):
being a puppeteer Ventrilocus wasn't an option? Like was that
kind of what led you to another career? Because it
is such a unique career, Like there's not like tons
of ranchio because I wouldn't think. I mean, you've probably
met a lot at this point, But do you think
that you didn't believe as possible? And that's what you're
saying is like it is possible and anything can happen.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I wanted to believe and realism set in after I
got it. Graduated college. I had a world of opportunities
literally after I did America's Got Talent because the show,
even though it's America's Got Talent, was aired internationally, so
I got to perform around the world. I connected with
television writers and producers and networks and we're like, once
(13:41):
you graduate, come out here, we'll get work for you.
All of those opportunities went away after I graduated, and
I just you know, it takes time and That's what
I had to learn. You know, timing is everything, especially
in entertainment. There's some relationships that I've had for two
three years before we actually do a project together. And
(14:04):
so also afraid of taking the risk and the big
move of moving to a city like Los Angeles after
being in Nashville and Cincinnati. Could have made it work
if I had picked up and moved into a studio town, maybe,
but I was afraid that there would be limited opportunities
for someone like me, and so I took the safe
(14:26):
rout and went into finance. Had an incredible job during
real estate, private equity, and then real estate development. Well,
ultimately I felt a significant void because I knew that, Yeah,
you could feel it deeply, to the point where I
even became depressed for a bit, especially after I had
my first son, Leo. I knew that I wanted him
(14:48):
to be anything that he could be and go for
his wildest dreams. But I wasn't doing the same for myself.
And I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing,
but was afraid I had him that I started pushing
myself a little bit harder. I was still performing on
the weekends and whenever I was asked, but I started
really focusing on practicing auditioning. I sent an audition packet
(15:11):
out to the Jim Hinton Company and didn't expect to
hear anything back because their website clearly said we are
not accepting.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
As I said it, though, you know you're.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Going to do it anyway, And that's what I did.
And so I did the University of Cincinnati project. And
I did that while working full time in real estate
with a two year old, and I would wake up
early in the morning to write.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And you got that project.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
That was the project that I got.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, Emmy, Yeah, that's when you did that right after
you had the baby.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, I did. So we started right around uh.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So that's when that's when you really started to kick
it in a year, so you're like, okay, and then
you went an Emmy for it. So it's almost like
confirmation right exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And so I was waiting for some sign in the
guy to tell me, Okay, now's the right moment to
take a chance on your dreams. But I also realized
that that perfect moment would never come. I had to
take the leap and believe for myself. And it was
in March of twenty twenty that I got an email
from Sesame Street. They shut down production because of the
(16:20):
pandemic and they had extra time. So one of the
producers had access to the applications at the Jim Henson
Company and he said, based on this was like three
years later that I sent the packet. He said, based
on your letter, we think you would be interested in
working with us. Would you be willing to learn our
style of puppetry. So not only was it a oh
(16:42):
you know, we got your packet, it was an invitation
to come into the world to be mentored. And so
I joined their mentorship program. And realistically I probably should
have said no. I had I was six weeks pregnant,
in a global pandemic, working full time in real estate
with a two year old, with a phenomenal job. Why
do I need to be learning a new style of
puppetry over zoom? But I said yes because I realized
(17:04):
there wasn't going to be a perfect moment for me
to take a chance, and I did, and I'm so
grateful I did.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So this was the packet you sent in three years
ago to the company that said don't send in applications.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
That's correct, somebody was keeping the I thought it was
in a trashcan, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
That just goes to show you should I mean, you
should never not try.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, that's right. You never know what doors will open.
And also you know, you never know how the environment
can change three years from when you first meet someone.
So after I went full time as a puppeteer and performer,
I just meent with lots of people, just introductory networking.
(17:50):
And three years later that I've been full time, a
lot of those meetings have turned into projects. But it
really just takes time, patience, and faith and persistence.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So tell me about your experience at Sesame Street. Because
you grew up watching Sesame Street, right like you, I
feel like you're a big manifestor too, Like I feel
like you like manifest Well.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, and it's very strange. I manifest a lot of things,
and this is super simple and random, but I post
all of my dreams on my pinterest board. Good for you?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Why do you do that?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
It's a good way, you know, to vision board. Just
as you would on a piece of paper and stick
it on the wall. Pinterest is just a little bit
easier because you can find the image and put it
on the board. And it's a good way of tracking
my dreams over time. So I'll to check in on
my dream board like once a month or so. But
there have been dreams that I've posted on my vision
board with certain intentions, like I posted Sesame stream on
(18:49):
some Sesme Street on my dream board maybe and I
don't know, maybe twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. And the reason
that I posted them on my dream board was not
that I wanted to work with them. It was because
I aspired to their level of excellence and programming, and
so it was I, this is what I would like
to be like, not I want to be with them.
(19:11):
And so when I got the message from Sesme, stems like,
oh okay, I've manifest that one. Really it's really hard.
And I also I also had Cherry Lewis on my
dream board. Cherry Lewis, who does you know character lamb Chop?
Oh yeah, yeah, because I studied her and I loved
her voices, I loved her poise, everything about her, and
(19:35):
two years ago I was invited to be one of
the features on her documentary. So you know, I manifest
in really interesting ways. And so I continuously and trying
to dream bigger, and I keep my old pins to see,
you know, the things that I've been able to cross
off the list. And I realized earlier this year that
(19:56):
I crossed off a lot of my dream board and
that's not good because it also means that I'm not
dreaming big enough for myself, and so.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You're just crushing your dreams.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Now, bigger things on there, and also goals of the
kind of person that I want to be, the things
that I want to share. Values. I put on my
dream board too, how I want to spend my time.
So I have this like goofy picture. Yeah, I have
a picture of a mom holding both of her kids,
one of the kids on her back on this on
(20:25):
the front. And I just thought that was, you know,
beautiful quality time and that's something that I aspire to
always with my kids.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Man, Okay, so you've said I love that you have
such a well rounded vision board, Like obviously you have
your career goals, which is so great, but then it's
like it's like actually the full person, like what are
your values? Where do you how do you want to
spend your time? But then that's so crucial because I
feel like how we spend our time. Effects are nervous
system so much, you know, and like how what you
(21:03):
prioritize and you know, it's like you have it's like
a big puzzle you got to put together. So what
would you say you crossed off your vision board this
year that like you're shocked that you're already moving so
fast through it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Oh, this is this is also really this is all
of these things that I aspired to but not actually
dream of interacting with them. So I put Tammerin Hall
on my vision board because she's just so stylish and
so poised and authentic. And I would watch her every
morning on the Today Show before work. And she came
(21:36):
to Sesame Street two years ago and I got to
meet her and I let her know it's like, you're
such a role model for me. I admire you, thank
you for everything you do, that kind of thing. And
then we were too, And I pined her on my
vision board because she was a model of the kind
of woman I want to be as first how I
care myself, the authenticity, and then also in the picture
(21:56):
she had people around her, so she has like a
team of people that she works with. So I dreamed
of being that type of person that also you know,
works with a team, is a team player. And two
months ago I got an email from my agent saying
she wanted to meet and I'm like, uh, a man,
what And they said, I don't know. So I get
(22:19):
on the call and she says, you know, I'm really
excited to be working with you. I'm proud of everything
that you've been doing. Blah blah blah. And I said,
I'm sorry, you have to excuse me. What are we
talking about?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
What are we doing together?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
But she was just, you know, a fan of everything
that I've been doing in the children's space and wanted
to be a part and support And she invited me
on to be a guest on the Tameron Hall Show
and I got to promote my new single A Niece, Cinderella,
on the show. So that was a really beautiful manifestation
in a way that was much deeper than I could
(22:52):
have imagined. I now have a supporter, friend and mentor.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Dang, yeah, what do you think this is? Do you
think it's just because you're so true to your connections,
Like it truly does feel like divine, Like your calling
feels like this is like a divine thing for you.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
It is a divine thing. For me. I'm a Christian.
I grew up in the church, and I consider myself
more spiritual than necessarily religious. But I do believe that
we all are brought here with a purpose, and as
long as you are living in your truth and purpose,
doors will align for you where exactly where you need
(23:32):
to be, and you'll have everything you need to not
just survive as a person, but also live wholly, happily
and with joy. And that's hopefully what I'm teaching my
kids through my life and all other little kids as
well too. It's not too early and it's not too
late to find your purpose. And when you're living in
(23:53):
your purpose, everything is so much easier.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
So to someone out there who's listening to you and
like feeling super inspired, but they're like, dang it, I
am not in my purpose and I know I'm not,
and there's I can feel it. How do you get
into your purpose? Because I feel like that involves a
lot of bravery and some big moves sometimes and like
kind of like shaking the solar system.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, it does. It does feel like shaking uh the
solar woman and breaking chain. I would say the first
thing to do is write write it out. So and
kind of my dark days of realizing that I wasn't
doing what I wanted to be doing, I made I
made a board and a little bit different than a
(24:36):
country's board. I just first started off with my values,
like three four values.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
What would you say are your top values?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
So my values hope, love, joy, and I think the
word for it, maybe carrying such generosity in the same
bugget of carrying for other people. And what activity like
that contribute to those values? What are my dream projects?
And so it was maybe a board of maybe twenty
(25:06):
post its of what what would be my dream project,
my lifestyle, and so imagine what your life would be
if you could change it, and then make a plan
for doing some of those goals. And so I just
slowly checked off task on that list of Okay, am
(25:27):
i am I doing this? Does this project fit this value?
But start small because it can be seemed very overwhelming
to make such a big life shift, But if you
put it down on paper and make small steps towards
getting there, it can happen.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Do you feel like you changed your lifestyle? Like what
is your dream lifestyle? Because I feel like you're you
have you have to be in it because you're so
awesome and you've made such intentional moves. But what is
your dream lifestyle for you?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
I partially chose my or I mostly chose my career
and my career change. Wanting to spend more time with
my kids too. So when I was working in real estate,
it was a very structured lifestyle. As far as when
I worked, it was. It was a seven to six
I would pretty much stay most days, some days eight
(26:16):
to six, so that was the entire time that my
son was at daycare, and I, you know, had a
limited amount of time that I could take off to
go work on creative projects or even you know, vacation
with friends and family. So I just dreamed of having
the flexibility to spend more time with my kids, so
(26:39):
dreaming of being able to take them to lunch on
a random Tuesday, or going up to see family on
you know, a different week. So I just dreamed of flexibility.
So I honestly really dreamed and prayed of my dad's lifestyle.
He's a pastor in Cincinnati, and he's a creative. He's
a musician and song and so he would take me
(27:02):
to school every morning and pick me up in the
afternoon as well, and he would spend most of his
day creating, and he would spend a lot of his
time giving to the people around him between rehearsals with
the choir and Bible studies. So he was part of
his community but also had the flexibility to create and
be part of my sister's life. And so that's what
(27:25):
I wanted specifically.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
You had a good example.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Yeah, I had a wonderful example.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Wow, So tell me about your time on Sesame Street.
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Sesame Street is like walking into your childhood it is. Yes,
what's special about Sesame Street is you can touch and
fill the set and interact with it. You can sit
on the one, two, three steps, you can walk inside
Hooper Store, you can go into Big Bird's Nest, and
so all of the imagery and characters and feelings that
(27:57):
you had watching the show you can experience when walking
into that room. And the energy is so beautiful, creative, collaborative.
The culture is incredible. It's a culture of excellence, but
also community. Everyone is very caring and really preparing you
(28:19):
to be their lifetime. Really effected the environment. If you
super competitive, like oh, you have to do well but no,
everyone is looking to teach you and help you to
be your best because they want to keep you within
the neighborhood. Which is beautiful, well.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I guess because truly these characters are created by each individual,
and so you are a vital member of the Sesame
Street community. It's not like anyone else can just come
in and play your role. It's almost like that role
would have to move out of the neighborhood and someone
would have to move in almost or something. What I mean,
what you know, because it's like it's such you. You
(28:58):
are such the energy coming through in that character, and
so that makes so much sense. Y'all are a little
family and everyone really matters and plays a part.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, we all have very special connections to our characters
and the purpose of the characters and the communities that
they that we serve. So we're very diligent in making
sure that we're doing them right.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So talk to me about how you feel outside assessme
street and like your song a New Cinderella and your
music that you're making, it's like so centered towards young girls,
And tell me about your mission about it and how
this became where you wanted to put your energy and
use your creative talents.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
For My goal was to make music specifically for young girls.
There's a lot of music that young girls listen to
that wasn't made for them, and I think there's a
lot of things that they need to hear, and so
the goal was to write songs of the things that
I wanted to hear when I was at age and
needed to be listening to, and also to make anthems
(30:01):
for them to know that they are loved, they're special,
they're beautiful, they're full of potential, and they're fun.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that was the goal. But beyond that goal, we
actually included the young girls in the project. So we
partnered with Saving Our Daughters, which is an organization that
mentors girls and the arts across the country and they
have celebrity godparents that mentor the girls. So the godparents
(30:32):
range from actresses, singers, journalists, athletes, and they all have
adoptive schools and they go to the schools and spend
time with the girls and even bring them to their workplaces.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
So that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, Kiki Palmer, for example, gave the girls tickets to
see one of our shows. The journalists will bring them
on the television set, the news set, and as a
mentor I brought them to the side of Sesame Street
for a virtual tour, which was fun. But further, as
a god parent, I said, you know, I could give
the girls not only this album, but also the experience
(31:09):
of being recording artists. And so we went to three
studios between New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles and had
about twenty girls at each at each recording and they
each recorded about three songs, and they learned the process
of recording and learned about records and engineering, and got
exposure to Grammy Award winning producers. And you would think
(31:32):
after these recordings they would be like, oh, I want
to be a singer now, I want to be a
producer now, But really their mind was open to all
the possibilities of what they could be. So the girls
one by one got in line and said, I want
to be a baker when I grow up. I want
to be a chief financial officer when I grew up.
I want to be a judge. I want to be this.
(31:53):
And they were just full of excitement and encouragement that
they could do it. Because many of them weren't singers,
they'd never been recording our studio before, and so they
were trying something new and getting confidence by doing something
that may have been uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
That's really powerful. Yeah, that's so cool. How does it
feel to see a ripple effect actually like playing out
like this.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It's still happening. I get little pieces of it. We're
still in the midst of promoting the album and getting
the music out there, and next single comes out June sixth,
ABC's of Me, and the album comes out July eleventh,
and the end of April, I performed at the Los
Angeles Times Festival of Books, and the girls who were
(32:38):
on the recording in La came to the performance and
performed with me. And this second time around of working
with them, they had a lot more confidence in getting
out on stage. And they even had another performance after
they left me. They were doing a talent show and
so they were telling me about all the things that
they were gonna be doing the talent show, and so
(32:59):
they became little performers.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
That's amazing. And I feel like that kind of goes
back to like your values that you're talking about earlier,
instilling like hope and love into yourself and others. In
generosity because it's like you felt that of the kid,
you feel bad about your own life, and then now
you're passing that on and these girls, like you're saying
like now they're saying like, oh my gosh, all sorts
of dreams can happen and it's all right here. But
(33:23):
you just have to have someone show you the door.
You know. That's incredible. I mean, that's just so awesome.
The ABC's of Me, Tell me about this song, tell
me what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So ABC's of Me is a fun trap R and
B song, and we go through all of the professions
that you can be a t Z. So the leaders a,
I'm an AX, B, I'm a bob see chief office, D,
I'm a d emergency you talked, I'm a five five G.
(33:58):
I'll just age their stylist. And then the choruses, I
can be anything I want to be. If I can see,
I can dream. And so it's also kind of a
message of representation too, is when you can see what's possible,
then you can be.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
That is so true. That is so amazing. Okay, so
the whole album tell me. Some other songs on the album,
like which what they really mean to you? Just because
I feel like every song has such a great message.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, my favorite song on the album is Stars and Galaxies,
just because as I started to write it, I knew.
I was like, oh my god, this is going to
be so easy for kids to sing, which I love
because it can be an anthem for them. And as
I was writing it, I got my fiance's daughter and
(34:49):
my kids to learn it immediately. And they're really young,
like three four years old, and they picked it up immediately.
And I also caught them singing it to themselves, you know,
in the bathroom in the car. But the song was
I love myself and I can tell there's no one
(35:09):
else quite like me. And when I think of all
I can be, I see starts and God sees and
that's pretty much the whole song. There's a verse, but
that's pretty much the whole song. And I dream of
that song being sung at preschool graduations and Kennt graduations
(35:33):
and just affirmation of them loving themselves. That's so awesome.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Okay, so the album, what's the full album called?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
The full album is called Cinderella Sweep.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Cinderella Sweep. Okay, how'd you come with that title?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
That's so good? Game Show them. So all of our
recordings that we had seven features on the app. Celebrity
features on the album from the Saving Our Daughter's Organization
came Lelane, who was in the movie Wonka Jasmine Forstburg
who's in the Broadway Music musical six and Disney Stars
and so they came to the recordings and mentor the girls.
(36:10):
But we also had some fun time and did trivia
questions just on you know, believing in yourself. So one
of the games we had was Midnight Dash to Dream.
If someone tells you your dream is too hard, should
you should quit? True or false? And so we just
had fun games like that. So we have interludes on
the album that are game show themed.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
That's so on the album. Yeah, yeah, that's creative.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
That's so fun. So there's like a cool little break
in between each song with another little experience.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yes, So who knows, maybe later we'll be able to
turn it into a fun game show for kids. But
that was the vision in calling it Cinderella Sweep, and
the girls from the organization are called Cinderella's and so
I wanted to make sure it's fairy tale thing.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Did you did your first song a Cinderella wasn't inspired
by the girls. Did you write it for them or
did it all just come together.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
And we wrote it for them? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Okay, so you wrote it with them in mine and
then you went and got them on it. That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
So yeah, when we sat down, we had the track
Sarah and I and we thought of the story of
Cinderella and transforming Cinderella into more of an independent I
will get it done and all calls perseverance through it all,
she lost, but she's still going. And that was the
story that we went with.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Okay, now I sir, your fiancee? Yes, okay, And how
did you guys meet? Because y'all are he's musical. I
mean I checked out his stuff too, and it's like, whoa,
y'all are like a powerhouse going on here musically and creatively.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yeah, we started off working together and then became best
friends and then best friends the boy where it's hard
to live without each other, but it's fun to be,
you know, be able to create with someone you love
in such a creative and imaginative, imaginative place.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Do y'all just create all the time?
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah? We we live in this world and especially with
me being a children's performer. There's really not a time
that I'm not working. Even when I'm with my kids.
I get I.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Bet you get a ton of ideas. Honestly, a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Of I write a lot of songs. Actually, in their room,
Extra Stars and Galaxies started on one of their play guitars.
The guitar sounded terrible. It was untuned. It was like
this tory little ukulele thing.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Oh this is your last album.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
This is the current album.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Oh wait you Stars and Galaxies.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah, starts sing The Galaxy is a song that's going
to be coming out in July. So I was tuning
it for them, and then I just started playing around
a little bit and I was like, oh, I kind
of like that, and that turned into the song.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Well, I mean you said, what the amount of playtime?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
So play? You started this interview with play how like
playing was so important to you and like your whole
album came out of playtime and you are playing like sessame,
you keep your sense of play. Tell me the importance
of play because I feel like we lose it as
adults sometimes, like we forget that that is such a
huge part of this magical existence. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
I think play is a way to take the pressure
off of life and almost existence, and it also forces
you to use the part of your brain that is imagination,
and imagination requires like six different core brain functions, like
it involves memory in play, and I think it's important
(39:54):
to use that part of our brain. And that's what
makes us different from every other species on Earth is
our ability to imagine stories and tell them to each other.
No true species on the planet can do that. And
if that's what's special about us we are using.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
That is so true because every other space is kind
of just like going on instincts, and we actually have imagination.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
So what do you have, I mean, what don't you
have going on right now? You have a children's book
coming out as well, like in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Yeah, I have a children's book coming out, Talk to
the Hand. It's about my story of finding my voice
through puppetry.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Talk to the Hand. Oh my gosh, that is so good. Yeah,
so that's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
I'm really excited about the potential for it. There's an
activity at the end of the book where you can
build your own puppet at home, very inexpensively with everything
you probably already have in your house, And that actually
been actually helped me with my kids, help my son
break out of his show and overcome a speech impairment
and delay.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Really how so, so he's very.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Shy and had a speech delay from some hearing issues,
and doing puppetry helped him gain confidence to speak. And
so he would walk around the house interacting with his
paperbag puppet that he had made and trying out different
voices and just one on one. He was kind of
one word sentences here and there, but he would have
(41:26):
full conversations with the puppet.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
What do you think that is like? Because like that
is so true, Like it's something is what's happening there?
You were talking about it earlier. But is it just
like not having to present as yourself, like you can
say it with a little bit of distance from like
people focusing on you per se.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
I think it's a less pressure environment, less stress to
interact with, you know, And it's really in a situation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
You can control, you can control the puppet and control
the outcome and bounce back and forth and imagined and
imaginative dialogue, and so I think it really just lightens
the pressure of conversation.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Okay, so you have your book coming out, your album
and songs or they're to the world. July six is
your new song? Jeah's June six, because we're in I
feel what we're in May Somber right now, June six,
so that will be out by the time this comes out.
It'll be right around the corner. I think this will
probably well, Eric right around the same time, So this
(42:30):
song will be out, which is so exciting. Stream it everywhere,
stream it everywhere. Sesame Street is happening, mm hmm, how
is that? So? Is that so you're still doing that.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yeah, we're in production right now for a season fifty
six at Sesame Street and the show was actually just
picked up by Netflix, so it will be Sesame Street
was Yeah, it'll be area Netflix and Phebus. I think
later this year or early next year.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
I mean, how amazing that it's been going on with
this movie CS.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and I mean that's why I put them on
my dream boards like that. Yeah, I had that kind
of legacy and I've learned too. They've been able to
stay around for so long is because they're willing to
evolve and change and also respond to what's relevant in
our world.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So you were the first black woman puppeteer on Sesame Street?
Is that tell me about that?
Speaker 2 (43:22):
Yeah? And I didn't realize it either until I was there.
I was walking around the set on my first day
and saw all these behind the scenes pictures from over
the years, and I didn't see any black women puppeteers.
And we took lots of pictures after my first day,
take pictures of my character, and I got back to
my desk because I went to work the next day
in real estate. I got back to my desk and
(43:44):
I realized I was like, I wonder if I was
the first, because it kind of seemed like a big
moment when we were taking pictures, and so I texted
one of the producers. I say, hey, was I the first?
And she said, yeah, We're so proud. And I immediately
broke down tears in my cubicle because I realized in
that moment that I wouldn't spy your kids to know
that they can make a difference, even in an organization
that's been around for over fifty years.
Speaker 3 (44:07):
Wow, Yeah, that's big.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, but I'm grateful because it shows all of the
wonderful things impossibilities of what you could be and unique
things that you can find as careers.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Truly, Megan, I mean, this is so exciting. So you
did a post to earlier where you were like, you
make big decisions for your life, which I find so
inspiring because you're willing to go for yourself. But you said,
I don't know what it was. The thing was like,
at the end of twenty twenty four, you decided to
embrace becoming a single mom. You said, I'm I embraced
(44:46):
becoming a single mom. Though it wasn't an easy path
or decision. I know that my boys will enjoy life
with the healthiest, happiest, best version of my mommy. That
is so big that you knew it was time to
move on. How did you get to that place where
you're like, Okay, this is my next chapter Because I
feel like a lot of my audience is women, our
age and mothers, and it's like we're in so many
(45:07):
different seasons of life. How do you know when it's
time to make that kind of move.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Yeah, it became very clear when I realized that I
had to become a different person and really step into
a lane that wasn't authentic to myself.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
It's a great distinction.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I also realized that, you know, I told you how
important it was for my kids to see me living
out my dreams, and I never wanted to be anything else.
I went into finance because I felt like it was
more stable, but I had the incredible opportunity of becoming
a full time performer, and I walked boldly in then
(45:49):
in that, and the more that I walked boldly, the
more that, you know, I realized my relationship wasn't working,
and I didn't want my kids to see me have
to dim my life for someone else's coming through. And
so I realized they would see the best version of myself,
even if that meant being single, by me being able
(46:10):
to live exactly who as who I was meant to be,
and have the freedom to be able to take they
take them with me to set and know that I
can be an incredible mother and have a career. I
can be an incredible mother and be on set for
a week or two at a time and know that
(46:30):
Mommy will either bring you or Mommy will be back
and leave you with the community of people that will help.
But I realized that I wasn't alone and that I
could be a wonderful, stable mother and have a career
and if anyone is telling me otherwise, it doesn't support
That's not what my kids need to see. And I
made that decision for myself.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
So how did you get through that initial transition? Like
did you You said you had a great community, Like
what does it like going from one life to another?
You know, because I feel like the past five years,
I've kind of come out of like a gone through
some valleys and then come out on the other side.
But it's always so worth it once you get out
of the valley, but it's just surviving the valley. Like
(47:13):
what did you lean on in that moment?
Speaker 2 (47:15):
And that's you brought up a really interesting word that
everyone kept throwing to me that was kind of hard
to see at the time, is the other side, Because
when you're in a valley, it's hard to imagine what
life will feel like on the other side, and you
can feel yourself slowly creeping up to normalcy and into
another life. And I am fully on the other side,
(47:38):
which is beautiful because I can look back and those
moments in the valley and realize that I still had
hope in those moments. So my encouragement to listeners is
to journal, journal your darkest moments, because you will be
so proud of yourself looking back of how you pulled through.
And also I leaned so much on my friends and family,
(48:02):
and it was beautiful to see how many people knew
that I needed a change in confirmation and we're waiting
for the moment to step in and help. Yeah, my
friends were flying down with you hauls. I'm like, let's
go and ready, you know, to guide me through my
(48:24):
next journey in life. And I'm really grateful.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
What do you want to tell people about the importance
of just trusting your intuition.
Speaker 2 (48:33):
There is a special intuition in purpose in you, and
I believe your soul will tell you when you're following
in the right path. And I've been grateful to have
that intuition since I was very young. From the moment
I first performed in front of my elementary school, I
(48:56):
knew that my purpose was to spark the imagination of
kids by using imagination and stories. So when you have
that burning passion inside of you when something when something happens,
you know that you're on the right path. So I've
seen that light in that mother's eyes. She's a educator
(49:17):
of over forty five years. And this is really bizarre,
but I did a reading camp with her one summer,
and her eyes light up with happiness and passion when
she tells the kids what to do, When she tells
them to sit down, it's like she gets energy, like
the hocus Pocus Ladies. For me, it was draining to
you have to discipline kids, So I knew that that
wasn't for me.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
That is so true though, like what lights her up
drains another That's why. And like you said with the
girls when you did the project, like they didn't all
want to be singers. They have all these other dreams
because everyone has their own unique path.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, so good to.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
Have that distinction.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
You're on the right path.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So I always wrap up with
leave your Light. But before we get to this last question,
I just want you to tell everyone what to where
they can find all that you have going on, where
to watch for you, and just like any information that
(50:15):
we need to know so we can stay on track
with knowing what you're dropping. Because everything you're putting out
to this world is so inspirational and you're just such
a bright light.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
Megan, Thank you so much for giving me time to
talk with you and your listeners. You can find me
on Instagram, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok all under my
name Megan pipe Is and I'm also on all the
streaming platforms still under my name Megan Pipes.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
That's amazing. I always wrap up with leave your Light
and it is just super short and inspirational. What do
you want people to know? Just dropping an inspiration from
your own life.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Inspiration for my own life. I believe that if you
use your imagination, you can make the impossible. What's what made?
Let me start it again?
Speaker 3 (51:10):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Like a little cell word need. If you use your imagination,
you can turn what seems impossible possible. And I found
that in my journey and being able to transition out
of a seven year career into my dream job and
lifestyle with my kids.
Speaker 3 (51:35):
And I've always loved when did you move to Nashville? Uh?
Speaker 2 (51:40):
So, I've been to Nashville a long time. So I
grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I moved to Nashville
in twenty ten for college and I moved away for
four years, so I was gone from twenty fourteen to
twenty nineteen. But then I came back, and how.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
Do you shoot for Sesame Street? Do you go like
fly on set?
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah, so we're recording Queens, New York. But the seasons
only record about three months long, and we record one
week one one week off, so it's to go back
and forth. And I'm not needed every day of the season,
so I just go back and forth.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
So this is going to be like for the rest
of your life, Sesame Street, I hope. So. I hope
so too. That's awesome. So how cool just to just
to what a what a life? Megan? I mean, seriously,
what's left on the bucket board? I'll wrap up with
this because you said you check some many things off.
What are our next big dreams? Because you are crossing
them off? What's on there now?
Speaker 2 (52:35):
I would love to go to Broadway. I'd love to
produce a Broadway musical. I'd love to turn some of
the content that we're making into a television show. But
I also would love a platform for other authors and creators,
just to be a champion for other creators to be
able to share their work, just like you being able
(52:56):
to help other people share their work.
Speaker 3 (52:58):
Well, you're freaking doing it. I mean, you have me
so inspired. I I've been checking you out so hardcore
for the past few days and I'm literally like I can't.
Like it's like with some people, you research them and
you get the gist of who they are and you're like, Okay,
this person's awesome. But with you, it's like it just
keeps going and going and going. You are just like
this such this deeply rich soul and what you're doing
(53:21):
with your life, it's just so mesmerizing. It's just who
you are, and it's so cool to see your creative
spark and like you said, everybody has this, but your
creative spark just coming out in all these different forms,
and you're impacting young women and you're just changing the
world by just being your true, authentic self. And it's
super inspiring to get to talk to you and hear
(53:44):
your story and thank you for sharing it with me.
It really means a lot that you come give your
time and share all that you've done and all that
you're doing because it's so inspiring and you're just an
example that literally anyone can do their dreams like you
made being a puppeteer of vent Triloquist, like you have
become like one of the best in the world and
(54:05):
who even knew you could do that. It's so awesome,
And you're also reminding us to play, Like, thank you
for that, because we forget that, and you can have
a life of play. You don't have to become an
adult and just turn it all in and get serious
and like not enjoy the play and the imagination of life.
Like I feel like you're probably more imaginative than you've
(54:27):
ever been at this point. I would think.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
My favorite thing that my son could ever ask me is, Mommy,
can you play with me? I just it's the sweetest
thing in the world. And I actually got him saying
that on the album because it's also a reminder to
me that the answer shall always be yes, even if
it's not in that moment. I always say yes. If
I can't do it now, I give him a time
for later, because that's a part of him that I
(54:50):
want to share together, and I want him to continuously
know he can do as an adult and know that
my mom played with me. She was thirty. He thinks
I'm five now, but she was thirty two and she
was sitting down on the floor playing. I want him
to remember that.
Speaker 3 (55:07):
That's amazing. Megan Piface. Thank you so much for joining me.
Could I would you stick around and can I ask
you like a few questions. I do this game called
tell Me More, where you just like answer a few questions.
It'll take like five minutes with this little bonus for
our listeners. Okay, thank you so much for joining me.
This was truly amazing. You're so awesome and I just
can't wait to follow along with your journey.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
Thank you, and thank you for your words. That means
the real.
Speaker 3 (55:32):
I'm just speaking the truth. I'm just seeing, I am
reflecting back to you all the greatness you are because
you are such an inspiration and honestly, like I like,
I can't wait to show my daughter all the things
that you've done, starting with your first Emmy, like all,
you're just like making creations that are so enriching for
(55:54):
children and for women in particular, and that's just huge.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Thank you. Yeah, that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (56:00):
You're amazing. You're amazing. Okay, Well, well y'all tune in
on Thursday for a quick little bonus episode with Megan.
You're the best
Host
Caroline Hobby
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