December 9, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode of Finding Your Niche with Neish, I sit down with the multi-talented Nzinga Imani—an Atlanta-based actress, model, and singer. Join us for a relaxed, candid girl chat as we dive into the world of body image, self-confidence, and making empowering choices in both life and career. Nzinga opens up about how she navigates the perceptions people have of her and how she harnesses her gifts and talents to live authentically. It’s all about embracing who you are and using your strengths to carve out your own niche. Tune in for an inspiring and fun conversation that will leave you motivated to make the most of your own journey!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
And zinga money.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
No, it's finally happening. I'm so excited. Like we had
to spend the blot. Yeah, they had depends the blot.
I had you around a couple.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Of years ago, and there's some technical difficulties.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
But we're here now.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Now everything happens who it's supposed to exactly, and you
look so beautiful, so amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I'm so excited to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Uh. First of all, congratulations on everything. Is your life
when you think about it now and you wake up,
pinch me? Is this really my life? Or what do
you think about this current season that you're in.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
This is gonna sound a.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Little arrogant, okay, but it is.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This feels very normal to me. I'm ready for the
next level and the next level.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I appreciate where I am and I'm like, I've worked
and grinded for this, but I'm always looking to the next.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Although I appreciate the time I'm in, I'm ready to
get more busy, do more things.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You know, it never stops.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes, that's what I was wondering, Like when you're coming
up here coming from another event and then last night
shout out to the show friend Zone shout out to Angelo.
That's that's fan right here. So yeah, I have to
check that movie. Yes, I was like, does she sleep No?
Not no, not lately no. But last night we had
the premiere for friend Zone. It's on All Black now,
(01:19):
so y'all go check that out. It was fantastic working
with Angelo. I've known him for many years, so to
be able to play with him on screen like that, it.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Was really so Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And with your schedule, are you feeling like, you know,
like you said, it's normal, how are you adjusting to
the pacing of the non stop thing after thing? You
know there after gigs? Are very familiar with that kind
of pacing in life. I take my breaks when I
need to. I'll definitely hop on a flight real quick,
dip my feet in some water and just unplug. I
don't get to do that as much as I would
(01:49):
like to nowadays. But at the same time, before there's
a burnout, before there's a crash out, I make sure
that I do schedule that time.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
That me time for myself for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I think that's important that you just mentioned that, because
I think it's important that people realize how they can
misunderstand the actual work that it takes behind the success
that we all see.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Absolutely, so the.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Work that you're doing behind closed doors, What does that
look like to show up in the way that you've
been showing up. People are always surprised at the hats
that I were, the amount of hats that I wear,
a lot of what I do. They expect that I
have an assistant or someone else. Like I was sending
out the invites for the premiere and people were responding.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You could tell they didn't think it was me.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And even now they're like, wait, it was really you
sending out invites and responding to people who couldn't get it.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Because we had to get a second theater. The the
what does it called?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
The response was so was so big that we ended
up having to get a second theater in the venue
and show that time. So doing all of that and now,
mind you, we found out that the show was coming
out like not too long before.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So I had about four days to plan the premiere.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But oh my god, happened. It worked.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Shout out to Bay that vision.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He definitely supports me and all of that, and he's
the one who really pushed me, was like, don't let
an opportunity to celebrate what you did in that And
I appreciate him saying that because I was definitely gonna
allow this time to pass. But I'm so glad that
we took the time put it all together and celebrate
it because it was truly.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, what a nye.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
That's so exciting for your roles, in particular that one specifically,
Do you still find it exciting to kind of jump
into the craft itself right of acting because you can
kind of just get stuck in the ringer, get monotoness,
especially if you're playing a certain character for so long.
But what work did you have to do to be
excited about the craft of really developing a character. I'm
(03:36):
always excited about that part. Luckily, in this part, I
feel like a lot of the roles that I've been
given are ones that are loosely based off of my
real life. So it makes it a little bit more
fun and a little bit easier to get into it
because I get to kind of play me in some
of the pieces. But I think friend Zone is a
good example of that. Courtney ar Let, the writer director,
(03:58):
has been a friend of mine for a long time.
She was one of the first people to give me
a leading role in Pretty for a Big Girl, the
web series we did, so she kind of loosely based
this character off of the character in that series, which
was also very similar to my life, and I think
naturally I bring a lot of my personality and similaration
into the character. So it makes it kind of easy,
(04:19):
It makes it fun. It's really just all about bringing
the story to life and the people that you're working with.
If you have a good team around you, a good
cast around you, it makes it all that much more
exciting to come to work every day. And to what
you just said, like being surrounded by the right people,
I think that is one of the things that actually
helps you stay protected in terms of like your mental wellness,
your health, healing, any growth that you're going through. What
(04:40):
things do you make sure that are in place so
that you can still be full and whole.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I'm an Aquarius, so I very if I sense bad energy, I.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Get away from it, yeah, immediately.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And sometimes that looks weird to people because because people
feel like you're obligated.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I'm not obl get it to anything, and if it's.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Not gonna add to my peace and my growth, then
why am I doing it? And why am I gonna
put myself in that position. I've I've had too many
experiences that backfire. Ultimately, you know, you put time and
energy and work into something, and if you're doing it
with the wrong people, it will fall apart every time.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So I don't.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
I don't put myself in a situation no more.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
If it feels wrong, I'm getting up out of there
as gracefully as I can. I that's funny you say that,
because I just made a post for a couple of
weeks ago that talks about like the power of just
changing your mind, yeah, and like being able to just
decide I.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Don't, I'm good on it, I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I don't actually want to do that, or I
don't want to do that anymore. Was that something that
you kind of learned over time? Was there an isolated
moment that you can be like, yeah, see that that's
what made me decide I'm gonna honor myself and not
be a part of things when I feel like it
doesn't really service me. That ability has definitely grown over time,
but it started pretty young.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I come from a Caribbean household. I come from a.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Very harsh look I love you, mom, but she was
very harsh, and I learned early on that I was
either going to have to bendfold and be miserable trying
to please somebody else, or I was gonna do what
was best for me and do the things that I
wanted to do. And being able to make that decision
early on has blessed me so missed in so many
(06:20):
different ways. And as I continue to grow in my
career and do so much stuff for myself, it makes
it easier to be able to say no to the
things that I don't want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I don't have to do anything now.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
There are things that I probably could get a little
more publicity, could get a little bit more money doing,
but that's not my end goal and not my all
in focus like that. There are so many things that
are more important, and I want control over how the
world sees me and my story.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So I ain't gonna live that, right.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I think initially when we all first started learning about you,
the way the world saw you was literally through a sex.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Scene on All the Queens. Man.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, when you think about that, now, do you still
I say I'm glad I did that? Or you kind
of like m if I had to do it all
over again. I would do it differently.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'll absolutely do it again. I would.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I would, And I'll say why. I feel like it
was revolutionary in a lot of ways. I get people.
It's funny because I'm a series regular on a different
show now, but I get recognized for that scene, that
one scene, that one episode of All the Queens Men.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Way more people related to that so much. They love
being able to.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
See a three x three hundred pound person in an
intimate love scene.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And it I mean, it was shot so beautifully. It
was so romantic. I love the way it came out,
and it was liberating.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Truly.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I feel like it opened opened me up as well,
like I felt a lot more.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I don't know how to explain it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It just felt free and the moment did it feel free, Yes,
really in the moment, yes, But but I'll tell you why.
I guess it's a sibling thing.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
It's a protector thing. But I was doing the scene.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And Rashaun Alle was also in it, and I knew
that she was nervous about it. She's got a very good,
established career, She's been in front of people for a
long time. She's got kids, and a husband, and I
knew that she was nervous about it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, so in my mind it was like create a
safe space, like welcome her that kind of energy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, and it made me not think about me and
it at all.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Like I was ready.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
They were like, Okay, now it's time I dropped my
robe before everybody else is even ready, Like they literally
started taking There's some shots that the other people are
literally getting ready and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
They're just filming me, like dry humping a pillow.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
But where is that pillow?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Look, I don't know now, probably still a TPS set.
But it was really liberating and I still get so
much great feedback on it and what it meant to
so many people.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So I don't regret it at all. The place I
am in my career.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Now, I probably wouldn't do that scene again right now
unless I was a lead, and it was very relevant
to the story because at the end of the day.
The other the flip side of that is it's out
there forever, you know what I mean, And yeah, people
reshare it. It's all over Twitter.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I got classmates that probably think I'm just out here
doing flicks because it's out of context.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
But I don't regret it. It is what it is.
But the Internet does live forever, so be mindful of
that too.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
That is so good.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I think one of the more so glaring obvious transitions
that you've made now if anybody follows your brand, is
your brand. Your philosophy has been so tied to being
a plus sized actress, plus size model. You are clearly
on the verge of exiting out of the plus size realm.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
How have you been able to navigate that?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Because for so long your weight journey has been tied
to your brand, and now that you're losing so much weight,
what is that like for you?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
For me, I still feel the same way.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I probably have a bit of body dysmorphia when it
comes to because I still go into stores and I
was like, I can't get nothing in here, and I'm like,
oh wait, I probably can. But at the same time,
I don't think I'll ever not be plus sized.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm one X now.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
My body fluctuates, it always has. I mean, when I
did Friend Zone three years ago, the way I look
there is different than how I looked in the last
season as a tema, which is different from the first
season as a team.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, nobody can keep up.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
We're trying to figure out, like, wait, where is the.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That version, because there's so many different things.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I don't know either, because you know, I know I'm
locked in and I'm doing the work now when I'm consistent,
but I slip up every now and then, and I
do hope to continue and stay focused and do what
I'm doing, because ultimately it was about stamina, feeling healthy.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
I'm getting older.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I wanted to be mindful that as I get older,
the snap back ain't quite the same, you know, little
things like that. So I am I am trying to
maintain the work that I'm doing now, but at the
same time, I'm open to it because it was never
about just being plus sized.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It was about body positivity.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
It was about loving you where you are in your journey,
wherever that may be at the time.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
So I don't feel like I feel like I was
a back yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Then and I'm back now, right, And if I go
up or if I go down, it's the.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Same thing for me.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And I feel like your journey this whole time has
been has been very inclusive to people being able to
give feedback, to tell you how much it means to
them that they feel seen and they feel heard. What
has the response been for you and what is your
answer to people who are like in Zinga, how are
you losing all this weight?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I mean, I feel like I'm pretty transparent.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I was very clear that I'm not about to make
my page a weight loss page.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I've always shown what I've done.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I've shown the dance classes, I've shown the work the
six a M workouts. I've shown when I do my
three day cleanses. I do a three day cleanse at
the top of every month. These are things that I
do to manage my my intake.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I also stop smoking.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Now I don't tell everybody else smoke, but that was
a big bargaret no, I was about to say even
smoking cigarettes and man, no, but whatever I was making
me eat things that I didn't even necessarily wasn't even
hungry for, you know, and then you're you're going to
bed and on a full stomach, or you're craving things
that you wouldn't normally crave.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And that started in twenty during the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It was a coping thing and my weight drastically increased
during that time. So it is just cutting out that
one thing has changed.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
So much about everything.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So there's there's a lot of little things that if
I mean, if I put a list, it would be
so long.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But you know, cut it out, carbs, cutting out sugar.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Drinks, things like that. It's it's a lot. But at
the end of the day, it was also movement. I
had an injury in my wrist, the injury and my
ankle injury and my knee, so I had stopped doing
as much work as I used to when it came
to just being physical and moving. So working with my trainery,
he's got me doing like little things to strengthen the
press of me that I had kind of let slip. Yes,
And the movement, the consistency, the community of like my
(12:44):
line dance.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Classes and stuff like that, Soca classes, that is what
helps me maintain and keep going. And it's been great.
I love Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So you never actually decided to consider the shots, Well,
I will say this. I tried one for a month
for me, and I knew it wasn't for me because frankly,
I'm not a medicine person. Like I will barely take
a Tilenel for a headache, Like you'll have to force me.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I'll have to be crying in the bathtub before I'll
take a pills, so.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
To do an injection was just a lot, and I
was like, I wanted to try it only to see
like how it could jump start, you know, but I
didn't like it.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
It didn't It didn't quite work for me. But of
course I know that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It takes longer than a month to actually work, but
I was not comfortable committing to continuing to do that.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
There's not enough research.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
To me, I just didn't like it, and I was like,
you know what, this is also something that I don't
feel like I could maintain because I feel like that's
what everybody's thinking.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Absolutely, you know they're thinking, like and I'm glad that
you're like clearing that up. They're thinking this girl's out here,
like absolutely, she got skinny. To us, it looks like
on content and yeah, especially because of the new season
came out, you know, sixteen months later, and so they're like, wait,
I just saw you on TV. But that was a
(14:02):
year and a half ago, so you know, and even
during that time, I was already working towards losing.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
So it's I know, it.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Looks overnight is not overnight, And there's nothing wrong with
the shot.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I can't say there's anything wrong.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I know people who have sitt in whom they loved
it and it worked for them, and I know people
who have had bad reactions and don't like it. For me,
I just would not commit to injecting myself, but I
don't that doesn't work for me. Have you noticed, because,
like you're saying, you kind of still feel like I'm
the exact same person. I'm just showing up a little
bit better, more whole, I mean, cause no matter what
I look, we don't know what where we'll take.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know if I'll go up and down.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
What I did know is that if I depended on
the shot to do it, then I will probably have
to continue in order to not gain it back. I've
seen that happen to people, So for me, it was
just like, I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Get trapped in that cycle.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I want to learn the habits that will not just
make me look smaller but actually help me get physically
ready for the next step. I want to join you
in the motherhood club all of those things, and I
want to be able to do it in the best
way I can ready for it. So have you recognized
though with this new transition and you're showing up differently
that people are treating you differently.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yes and no.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
It's it's interesting to see the reaction, especially when it
comes to men. I feel like I was always somebody
who could pull them and things like that, but now
it's a little bit more open.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
It's a little like I always got the.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Looks in the stairs in the dms, but now it's
a little bit more in your face. Okay, ain't no
shame in it, and there should have never been, but
there's that. And then also also women, but I feel
like women it's more so just they won't.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What are you doing? Tell me what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And they won't tell me I'm a liar to my face,
yea on the shot, And I'm like, I wouldn't lie
if I if I was on That's what I'm just saying.
I tried it for a month. I cannot commit to it,
but I wouldn't lie about it, and I wouldn't I
wouldn't shame anyone who does it because at the end
of the day, do what works best for you. I
just knew it wasn't for me.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
M that's good.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Well, they're it is cock.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
That wait don't get me started, because the kids already
piss off.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I don't lie, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
But anyways, you have done such an incredible job, like
I said that, just building your brand, creating a name
for yourself, and you're consistent in your content. What would
you say, is it that you've done strategically to position
yourself just to kind of be in the position that
you aren't in now in terms of branding, Like what
can people learn from you and branding? You know, I'm
(16:30):
not really sure if there's like a particular strategy that
I use. I just kind of show up and show
the process and show what I do, show my personality.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I probably could.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Do better if I did sit down and really do
the planning and hashing it out. But for me, it's
just been show the people your journey and be authentic
in that. So that's another reason why it's shocking all
when now people are accusing me of things of like
you're a liar, and I'm like, I've shown y'all everything.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
It's right here.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
It's all of the pay just all Like if you
scroll back, if you read the comments, you know I
don't answer every DM because that would be all I
do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
If I try to. Yeah, and I know that pisses
some people off. It's my life, y'all.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I only have so many hours in the day and
I'm running several businesses. Like I think people to understand that,
so it is what it is. But I love just
showing up and showing up authentically. People resonate with that,
and I think that's what I've been able to transition
into so many different parts, from makeup artistry.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
To clothing design, to modeling to acting to singing. Hey okay,
so top of the year.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Okay though, Yeah, I mean, and I think that is
because I just I just show up and show the process.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I love that, And I think the key word that
you said there is that authenticity. Have you ever found
yourself where it's like, Okay, you know what I'm just
posting to post now, this is any this is not
even like my true self? And did you take that
content down or is it just you kind of recognizing like, Okay,
I can't show up that way.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
I don't think I've ever just posted to post now.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
There are sometimes where it's sponsored content or something that
I'm doing for a brand, but I never truly get
behind a brand or agree to do anything with the
brand that I don't actually like a regular Yeah, Like if.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Somebody sends me something it's ugly, you won't see it.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So so everything else is it's it's still me. Sometimes
the scheduling of when certain things go out, that's probably
the most hectic part of like trying to make it
make sense and not like overwhelm people.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
But at the end of the day, it's all me.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So I never really feel like I'm doing something that
doesn't feel authentic.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So, in terms of your role on Zatima, talk to
me about what it's like to work with the cast
just kind of a day and day out of being
on set because there, for a lot of people, Tyler
Perry Studios is on their bucket list to go. So
for you, what is it actually like to be in
that atmosphere. I've been there once and it was it's
(18:51):
a very like visceral kind of feeling that you get
when you're there is very inspiring and hopeful. And so
now that you're in this position, what is it like
to actually be He's.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Truly a dream come true.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
I feel like the way that I got ushered in
is probably like the most perfect way. The first time
I auditioned, it was Four Sisters, I auditioned for the
role of Danny, and I didn't get it, but just
being on that campus seeing everything, meeting Tyler for the
first time, him kind of affirming me, letting me know
he was You're absolutely stunning, Like yeah, like that was
that moment, Like did he walk into a room auditioning,
(19:25):
so it was he was already there.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Yeah, it was a callback. We all like came into
a room. There were a bunch of studio execs and
stuff sitting in the theater, and then you go up.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You do your scene and I don't. I don't in
my recollection, I didn't do the best in my scene.
But when I was leaving, he still stopped and he was like,
you're absolutely beautiful, And I was like, I mean, I
turned into a.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Three year old. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
My brain turned off, but either way, it was affirming
and I felt great about it. And so then when
the next time I met him, well, I actually wasn't
on all the Queens Men because he didn't direct the
first half of the but that was the first time
I was in the bubble at CPS during the pandemic,
if you were working, if you were working at all
as an actor, you were most likely quarantined. And Tyler
(20:11):
Perry Studios is so effective in that because it's a town.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's truly a town.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It's an old fort, like a military fort, so it
has everything in there, from.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Church to the housing to cafeteria, like they.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Have everything there. So while we were quarantined in there,
it was kind of like a summer camp.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
We were there with you couldn't leave.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
You were there with all of your castmates, and it
was a really like it made it feel more like
a family experience, and even though I was only in
that one episode, it made me feel like I was
truly a part of TPS. So then when I got
to come back and do because they added some time
to the All the Queens Men series and I got
to come back, and that was the first time I
met Tyler Well again.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Yeah, the first time, I was like acting and.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I must have made a good impression because then I
got asked to audition for Zatima and to go from
one episode basically one series, to being a series regular
on another show and then being written into Sisters because
Zatima is a spin off of Sisters. It's like when
it rains, it's poorest and the blessings come. And then
to also see the way that he has changed so
(21:17):
many people's lives, because when you're on that campus you
really realize, I mean, there's thousands of people that he's employing,
and that's families multiplied exponentially.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Like he's changing all of these people's lives.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I mean, I can think of how many people in
my life he's impacted just by impacting me, you know,
and the things that I've been able to do with
the income and the experience and the now that people
know me. That's part of the Tyler Perry universe. So
to think about that over and over. I mean, he's
doing probably twenty to thirty shows a year and not
(21:51):
to mention the movies. Like he's got so much going on.
So it's really inspiring to like it makes you want
to do more and you can do this and run
this and do that. It's like what am I doing
to serve the I mean because then these guys philanthropy
at the same time, I mean, so many things, so
many it's it's truly inspiring. So it just makes you
want to do more. Yeah, are you still kind of
(22:12):
tapped into the modeling space. Is that still like a
high priority for you or is it just like okay
acting for now. I'm open to whatever I feel like
God has. He always directs my steps, so I don't
say no to anything if I have the capacity to
do it and it's something that I like. I love
modeling on the way in here. Yeah, I just was
watching a Porstra Show episode that I'm modeling in right
(22:35):
now for one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
That's what my sister was telling me.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
My friend Summer, She's one of the first people to
ever style me. She was going on the Porstra Show.
She's like, would you mind modeling?
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm like, yeah, girl, I love the Porta Show. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Like I was seeing that that episode today, that taping.
What was it like to see yourself when it's like, wow,
this is this is full circle?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Like it was great.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I mean, mind you, it's like the third time I've
been on the Porstra Show. I had my own own
feature on there about a month ago where we talked
about my boutique. I brought my models in and they
got to model. So to return the favorite it felt
full circle for sure, Like I feel like nobody's better
or like too good to do anything. You just have
to fall in line and support the people who support you.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, someone was there for me in the beginning.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I'm gonna be there for her now and through the
trajectory of my career. And that's how you maintain relationships
and you all grow together. Like same thing with Courtney
and the friend Zone. My first feature film is out now,
and the same person who gave me my first shot
as a leading role in a web series is now
the director and writer of the first feature film that
I got to put out.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
So it feels amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
And what words would you have for people who are
just like they feel like, I just have these big dreams.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
I just want to hit it big, like speaking.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
To the idea of it's okay to still have an
indie project or do your first feature film, like on
your own budget, but get out there and actually make
something of yourself because people see this, you know, the
glace and the glam sart, and they just kind of
want to jump forward and it's not realistic because at
the end of the day, people want to see you
are able to do it before they give you the opportunity. Yeah,
if I had not had content on my Instagram, content
(24:08):
on YouTube that showed that I already knew how to
to show up and do the things that I was doing,
I probably wouldn't have got that opportunity to jump from
one episode to a serious regular. But when you're already
out there doing it and growing with your team, literally.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Like Easter Ray said, like we can all come up together.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You don't have to shoot for the sky and expect
that somebody will open a door for you. If you're
not putting into work and doing it yourself, they're they're
not going to or you'll get there and then you'll
drop right off cause you don't have that foundation.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
I I think that's key.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like when you think of your growth and development over time, right,
is there anything right now that you're like, Okay, I
have room for improvement in that. That's an area that
I'm like, Okay, I still need some tecks and balances there.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I I feel like that and everything.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I I feel like I'm constantly I'm creating anyway, because
you're never perfect, but I I when it comes I'm
still and acting classes. I got to acting coach. I'm
doing the music, but I still vocal lessons. I mean
there's there's really not a.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thing that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah that I don't feel like there can be improvements on.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
If you want to be incredible and be the best
and be on your Beyonce status, you have to do
the rehearsals, you have to put in the work.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So yeah, I definitely always room for improvement.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
And I guess because you have so many different facets,
so many different talents, how do you know when is
the right time to really exercise specific skills and talents
that you have, Because I feel like it's hard for
people to like sometimes finding your niche, Like when you
can do so many different things, how do you still
find kind of like your brand identity with being somebody
(25:40):
who's multifaceted, I feel like my brand is me, So
anything that I do is gonna fall in line with that.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, there's not like one. I don't feel stuck to
any one thing.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And then I also, like I say, I let the
Lord lead, So when opportunity comes, if it feels right,
I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Whether that is modeling, where there is acting, whether that's singing.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
I mean I have a song on the friend Zone soundtrack,
So it's like, these opportunities come and I'll jump on board,
like I'm always gonna say yes if it makes sense.
If you were to say yes to like an ideal role,
an ideal play, singing, anything that would be considered your
(26:21):
pinch me moment, what would that opportunity look like for you?
I know this is gonna sound generic, especially because the
movie's coming out and like and now it's like known
and everybody knows it, But Wicked has forever been like
my dream. Really wrong way to play Elpaba or Honestly
or Glinda, Okay, either one.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I wouldn't mind playing either one because I love Kristin Tenna.
With either of those characters.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
On Broadway, that would be probably like the pinnacle of
I would just melt, really, I would just thinking about
it right now, like I'm about to tear up.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Let me tell you, Yeah, what is it about that?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
About that story?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
It's so moving, but the music is so powerful, and
then it's just one of those things that like growing up,
I feel like it got me through a lot, like
that soundtrack that and I'm talking about the original Broadway
cast soundtrack, like it's so moving and the story is
so much deeper than what people really know and see.
Like there's it's about race, It's about just so many things.
(27:20):
There's so many underlying politics and things that go into
that musical. It's not just like a frivolous, you know thing.
So I feel like musicals in general are always gonna
be you gonna melt? Yeah, but wicked, Yeah, wicked would probably.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Be do you know how to hit that note? I
do it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
You're not gonna mess me up right now. You're not
gonna set me up? Okay, I have you gonna be warm?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
No? I just had Wendy's in the car. Girl. I
can't do that right now. You got to prepare for you.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
She did that, she did Yeah, No, Cynthia revol killing it.
Indiana Menzel and Chris the Originator just powerhouses.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So yeah, you ain't gonna catch me up over him,
not today, not to day.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Well, speaking of your singing, like, you're also widely known
for the parodies that you do with different songs and
stuff like that. Where did that come from? Like to
be able to add that level of just really creative direction,
comedy all of the things. Well, I was doing parodies already,
but the to hoppened to the Queen of the Ratchet
like musical parodies.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Nat Craig goes fully to Joshua Gilliard. He is the
creator and originator of Queen of the.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Ratchet okay, and he was the one who really like
wrote those parodies. I was his Ratchet Princess, Disney princess,
and I did all of like I just played that
role and filled in and did those notes and played
the characters. But he is really the creative genius behind that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It was a pleasure working with him. It was really cool.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
To be able to bring those things to life but
also grow and build my fan base on the back.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Of that as well. So shout out to josh on
Friday Jobs, shout out to josh Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I think one of the cool things in terms of
being a creative because you are a creative, is sometimes
we get stuck with just starting, Like we have these
big visions, these big creative ideas, but they never actually
come to fruition because of fear, because of fair failure.
What would you say has been able to give you
the drive and the ambition to just you know what,
(29:24):
I'm just gonna I'm just gonna put it out there.
I'm just gonna do it even though I'm afraid. Yeah,
I mean, just just doing it anyway. I feel like
I'm not scared for people to see me fail. And
I think that's the power in that, Like so many
people will hold and wait and try to wait until
something's perfect, and it's like that's not realistic, and people
want to see the journey.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah, like, so why not.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I mean, once I started getting a little bit more
known and on TV and stuff, I had to pull
a little bit away from the the Ratchet parody. But
it was also cause I'm shifting as a person. I'm
getting a little older. I'm thinking about what my one
day kids will see what, and what the messages that
I'm trying to send on my platform. So things had
to shift a little bit. But I never will regret
the things that I did. I love those parodies. I
(30:08):
still post them and share them. They are a pivotal
part of my journey and my story. So I feel
like you just gotta not be scared to let people
see you.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Try things like have fun.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
At the end of the day, people take themselves too
serious and seriously, and I've never been somebody who's very serious,
right even sometimes I watch back my interviews, I'm like,
I probably shouldn't have said that, but hey, I'm joking,
and I'm hoping that people understand it to be humor
and just like playfulness and not complete arrogance. I think
(30:39):
when I complete I think when I watch you in
for most people, you come across extremely confident, like you.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Are just that girl.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Where where did that come from? And do you show
up that way every day? Like do you turn something
on and just say or do you just wake.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Up like I'm hurt?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
It's I mean it, I do feel like it's just this.
This is how I live. I don't really know another way.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I once again, that came from how I was raised.
It was like you can shrink, you can just hate yourself,
or you can just bump what everybody else's saying.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
How do you feel about yourself?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, I'm gonna always do my best to make myself
feel good about me. So doing that work makes me
feel confident enough to show up and be.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Like, hey mm it's not and.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
You know sometimes people don't like that, but that's not
my problem, right, So, And can you feel that like
when you're in a room and you can kind of
sense like, mm, she has a problem with y with
me or how I am? Yeah, cross, how do you
navigate that kind of space?
Speaker 3 (31:37):
That's not my business? Wow, that is not my business.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
If you have a problem with someone loving themselves celebrating themselves,
that is your problem, and I pray for you, but
that is not my responsibility.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So I'm gonna continue to show.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Up the way I do.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
And in terms of continuing to show up and what
it is that you do, what would you say for you?
Has been I guess maybe the most pinnacle thing that
you've experienced in your career.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
The most pinnacle.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I feel like every part of the journey is just
like another step to where I'm going. Uh, having the
premiere and be having like a lead role in a
film that's out now is fantastic. That felt like one
of those steps. Being a serious regular going into the
fourth season. Yeah, of a A a show that is
so loved and so many people resonate with, feels incredible.
Having my own boutique, Like, all of these things are
(32:28):
things that I'm like, I did it, Like, Yeah, I
did it, Let's go what's next?
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
That's really kind of how I and I think juggling
all of the hats that you were too. It takes
a certain level of discipline to be able to really
like manage them all, do them all?
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Do you have help?
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Is it kind of just like a learned habit from
your upbringing, your childhood? Did you have to kind of
carrying the load and your family growing up?
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I'm Caribbeans, so I think the like we're used to
having all the jobs, okay. And I also think being
a theater kid.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Being a theater kid, you are so solution oriented, like
you will find a way to do and fix whatever. Yeah,
and like the from the smallest things to like sewing
a rip in my dress to you know, sending out
the emails to being the one planning and coordinating things
like I do most of it.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I have some help. Bay is always a great help.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
He's like my main videographer photographer, so he helps with
a lot of the content and things like that. My
older sister is my business partner for my boutique.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Yes, now, she.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Had a baby as soon as we started, so her
role shifted a bit. I love you, says and she
still definitely helps, but that made me have to take
on a little bit more of the responsibility than I
intended to.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
When we started. It was supposed to be me more
of the face and heard.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
More of the behind the scenes, but that once we
started and she couldn't really maintain that.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
It was like, my face is already.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
On this, so we gotta we gotta keep pushing, and
so I have, but.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I just roll with the punch.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Is That's really where I'm at when it comes to
all of it, And I do most of the work.
I don't really have a lot of help. I have
a pr but I don't really have like an assistant.
I'll hire people for like a day or things like that.
I typically style myself, but I do have a stylist
that I bring in every now and then, like when
I went to fashion Week.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
So for things like that, especially when.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
When I need to take some of the load off
and I know that I'm overwhelmed, it's like I don't
mind asking for helping that since but I don't have
a team that consistently works with me in that way.
What are the indicators for you personally where you can
recognize and sense within yourself that you are on the
verge of a burnout and how do you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Mitigate?
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Sometimes it can hit you all at once.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I will say that, and I will quickly step back. Hey,
if I need to cancel some things, if I need
to pull back, because I never want to show up
not fully. I never wanna make that bad impression making
people feel like, you know, I'm either not prepared or
don't care about what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
So I'll pull back if I need to.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
But typically I would say maybe every like two months
or so, Okay, I end up on some kind of
trip or sabbatical, especially with Bay. I mean, we we
do a lot of work trips, and I always try
to extend them, especially if it's somewhere that we like,
so we have those couple extra days.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Yeah, because you don't have to work all the time.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
That is so while we can and move and travel
and live that way, it's like, let's do it, let's
enjoy it. And that's I was asking Terry Vaughan, she
was on the show earlier. I was asking her kind
of like what you're saying, like, yeah, that's so funny,
Like how to balance that tension between like Okay, I'm going,
I'm going, I'm going, I'm successful, I have more things
(35:43):
to accomplish more things to achieve versus you know, I'm
just gonna be present in this moment and accept that
this is amazing, Like sitting in that right, like that
balance between being content and being ambitious. I feel like
Terry Vaughan can do that. Yeah, I'm not in a
place right now where I feel like I can just
sit down and and I don't feel like, yeah, you know,
I feel like ament like, when you're in a moment,
(36:04):
are you able to be present?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, I mean that moment or is it just putting
like depends because it also depends how many hats some
wearing during that premiere bruh, because I was I literally
was hosting the event and people didn't really know or
expect that. But it was difficult to be the leading
lady in the show and be you know, present in
(36:27):
that way, but also be putting out fires. You know,
the show in the second theater, it stopped and I'm like, wait,
the person who's running it forgot to download it, so
they're streaming. So now I'm putting out that fire and
you know, I'm bringing in backdrops and like things that
people wouldn't expect the star to be doing.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
But I don't see it like that. I feel it's
a part of the job.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
It's what I'm doing. We're gonna get it done.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
That's where I'm at, and I feel like I'm in
grind mode until I'm in a place where I can
put people in position to be grinding and living their
best life. Like I want to have the that Tyler
Perry effect. I want to be able to impact the
community and put so many people on you know what
I mean, that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
So right now, Yah, I ain't no time for.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
That in film specifically. You know, there's that concept around
the starving artist.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, is that still a real thing?
Speaker 3 (37:16):
No? Oh, not for me, not for me right now.
But of course it's a real thing.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
I mean, there are lots of people who are pursuing
this and it requires funds. I mean, I'm so grateful
to have had the trajectory that I've had where now
you know, and I still live like.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
A starburn artist.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I don't know if it's the Caribbean me or what,
but I haven't touched most of my money from the show,
like I put it away.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I don't see it.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I don't see it because at the end of the day,
I want to be able to do things like if
I have a baby, I want to be able to
sit my butt down for a year and not have
to think about anything. I move that way, but I
know not everybody does or can, or it's.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
In a position too. So there's definitely the starving artist.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
But luckily I'm in a position where I just budget well.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
I live well below my means.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
It took me four years of being on that show
before I traded in my two thousand fourteen d son
or a new car. I would pull up place if
they'd be like, why are you still in that car?
And I the only reason I could think of is like,
until I know I could buy something like four or
five times over without even thinking about it, I don't
wanna do it. I think that's so interesting because we
get these opportunities and then it's like, Okay, I got
(38:21):
now show up with keep up with the Joneses, right?
What kept you from like doing that immediately? Because you
w you know, like when you get around certain people,
you start to feel like, Okay, I gotta level up
to the rooms that I'm getting in. Why did you
decide to get that? Is a real thing, But uh,
I've never cared as much about what other people think.
I care about the position I'm in and how it's
(38:43):
gonnaffect me and my family. So I didn't have a
real f like, I didn't feel a lot of pressure,
although I didn't know it was there. I I definitely
felt the judgment. I saw the looks. That's never really
mattered too too much to me. But yeah, I mean,
eventually it was more so about, like, I wanna invest
in the future family that I want and the things
(39:04):
that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
If I didn't have that big.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Old truck that I got now, when lugging all that
stuff to the premiere might've been different. So it was
just kind of like it had to make sense for
my business. It had to make sense for my life,
and not just because somebody else thinks.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
That I need to be driving this.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Now. You can keep that cause you ain't got to
pay the bill, you ain't got to worry about me.
That's how I feel about that. Yeah, I'm not gonna
pressure me into being broke.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
And you've mentioned a couple of times I really wanting
to start a family. Is there something that toyles within
you where you're trying to figure out, like why my
career is really taking off, but for whatever reason, I
can't seem to get this family box checked. Is it
something that you want right now or is it something
that you're something I want and I'm ready for when
it happens. I'm not in a rush, but I'm also
(39:47):
not shying away from it. I'm like, I'm I'm definitely
open to it.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Me and by are in a great place. I know
he would be a great father.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
I know I'm in a position where I'll be a
great mother and I'll be able to do the things
that I I need to do as well. So I'm
really just kind of in a space now where I'm
letting godly. Once again, I don't rush anything, So if
it happens, let's go. And Luckily, I'm like being a
part of the CPS universe makes me feel very comfortable
with doing that.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Because he's all about family.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Like there's really not anybody on our show aside from
Crystal and I who haven't had a baby since we started.
Everyone else has added to their family and they work
around it. You know, it means something to them. So
I don't feel like that would slow me down or
stop me. I feel like it would happen when it's
supposed to exactly how it's supposed to, and I'm good. Wow,
that's beautiful when you think of the legacy essentially that
(40:37):
you want to leave. When people say your name, what
is it that you want to follow? I just want
to be the person that they think of about confidence
and living out loud and not shying away from anything
like just go for it, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Well, thank you so much, first time you do. Thank
you you so proud of.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
You doing the work. And where do you want the
next string? Can't wait to see that or anything that
you back.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I'll be back to get y'all a little journays and
if I had some.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Warm upbody to get y'all a little sia.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
But you can't just spring out.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Okay, Well, thank you so much and we're gonna be
watching you. Congratulations on all your sciss with you with
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Y
And zinga money.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
No, it's finally happening. I'm so excited. Like we had
to spend the blot. Yeah, they had depends the blot.
I had you around a couple.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Of years ago, and there's some technical difficulties.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
But we're here now.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Now everything happens who it's supposed to exactly, and you
look so beautiful, so amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I'm so excited to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Uh. First of all, congratulations on everything. Is your life
when you think about it now and you wake up,
pinch me? Is this really my life? Or what do
you think about this current season that you're in.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
This is gonna sound a.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Little arrogant, okay, but it is.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This feels very normal to me. I'm ready for the
next level and the next level.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I appreciate where I am and I'm like, I've worked
and grinded for this, but I'm always looking to the next.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Although I appreciate the time I'm in, I'm ready to
get more busy, do more things.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You know, it never stops.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes, that's what I was wondering, Like when you're coming
up here coming from another event and then last night
shout out to the show friend Zone shout out to Angelo.
That's that's fan right here. So yeah, I have to
check that movie. Yes, I was like, does she sleep No?
Not no, not lately no. But last night we had
the premiere for friend Zone. It's on All Black now,
(01:19):
so y'all go check that out. It was fantastic working
with Angelo. I've known him for many years, so to
be able to play with him on screen like that, it.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Was really so Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And with your schedule, are you feeling like, you know,
like you said, it's normal, how are you adjusting to
the pacing of the non stop thing after thing? You
know there after gigs? Are very familiar with that kind
of pacing in life. I take my breaks when I
need to. I'll definitely hop on a flight real quick,
dip my feet in some water and just unplug. I
don't get to do that as much as I would
(01:49):
like to nowadays. But at the same time, before there's
a burnout, before there's a crash out, I make sure
that I do schedule that time.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
That me time for myself for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I think that's important that you just mentioned that, because
I think it's important that people realize how they can
misunderstand the actual work that it takes behind the success
that we all see.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Absolutely, so the.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Work that you're doing behind closed doors, What does that
look like to show up in the way that you've
been showing up. People are always surprised at the hats
that I were, the amount of hats that I wear,
a lot of what I do. They expect that I
have an assistant or someone else. Like I was sending
out the invites for the premiere and people were responding.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You could tell they didn't think it was me.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And even now they're like, wait, it was really you
sending out invites and responding to people who couldn't get it.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Because we had to get a second theater. The the
what does it called?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
The response was so was so big that we ended
up having to get a second theater in the venue
and show that time. So doing all of that and now,
mind you, we found out that the show was coming
out like not too long before.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So I had about four days to plan the premiere.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But oh my god, happened. It worked.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Shout out to Bay that vision.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He definitely supports me and all of that, and he's
the one who really pushed me, was like, don't let
an opportunity to celebrate what you did in that And
I appreciate him saying that because I was definitely gonna
allow this time to pass. But I'm so glad that
we took the time put it all together and celebrate
it because it was truly.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, what a nye.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
That's so exciting for your roles, in particular that one specifically,
Do you still find it exciting to kind of jump
into the craft itself right of acting because you can
kind of just get stuck in the ringer, get monotoness,
especially if you're playing a certain character for so long.
But what work did you have to do to be
excited about the craft of really developing a character. I'm
(03:36):
always excited about that part. Luckily, in this part, I
feel like a lot of the roles that I've been
given are ones that are loosely based off of my
real life. So it makes it a little bit more
fun and a little bit easier to get into it
because I get to kind of play me in some
of the pieces. But I think friend Zone is a
good example of that. Courtney ar Let, the writer director,
(03:58):
has been a friend of mine for a long time.
She was one of the first people to give me
a leading role in Pretty for a Big Girl, the
web series we did, so she kind of loosely based
this character off of the character in that series, which
was also very similar to my life, and I think
naturally I bring a lot of my personality and similaration
into the character. So it makes it kind of easy,
(04:19):
It makes it fun. It's really just all about bringing
the story to life and the people that you're working with.
If you have a good team around you, a good
cast around you, it makes it all that much more
exciting to come to work every day. And to what
you just said, like being surrounded by the right people,
I think that is one of the things that actually
helps you stay protected in terms of like your mental wellness,
your health, healing, any growth that you're going through. What
(04:40):
things do you make sure that are in place so
that you can still be full and whole.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I'm an Aquarius, so I very if I sense bad energy, I.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Get away from it, yeah, immediately.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And sometimes that looks weird to people because because people
feel like you're obligated.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I'm not obl get it to anything, and if it's.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Not gonna add to my peace and my growth, then
why am I doing it? And why am I gonna
put myself in that position. I've I've had too many
experiences that backfire. Ultimately, you know, you put time and
energy and work into something, and if you're doing it
with the wrong people, it will fall apart every time.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So I don't.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
I don't put myself in a situation no more.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
If it feels wrong, I'm getting up out of there
as gracefully as I can. I that's funny you say that,
because I just made a post for a couple of
weeks ago that talks about like the power of just
changing your mind, yeah, and like being able to just
decide I.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Don't, I'm good on it, I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I don't actually want to do that, or I
don't want to do that anymore. Was that something that
you kind of learned over time? Was there an isolated
moment that you can be like, yeah, see that that's
what made me decide I'm gonna honor myself and not
be a part of things when I feel like it
doesn't really service me. That ability has definitely grown over time,
but it started pretty young.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I come from a Caribbean household. I come from a.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Very harsh look I love you, mom, but she was
very harsh, and I learned early on that I was
either going to have to bendfold and be miserable trying
to please somebody else, or I was gonna do what
was best for me and do the things that I
wanted to do. And being able to make that decision
early on has blessed me so missed in so many
(06:20):
different ways. And as I continue to grow in my
career and do so much stuff for myself, it makes
it easier to be able to say no to the
things that I don't want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I don't have to do anything now.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
There are things that I probably could get a little
more publicity, could get a little bit more money doing,
but that's not my end goal and not my all
in focus like that. There are so many things that
are more important, and I want control over how the
world sees me and my story.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So I ain't gonna live that, right.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I think initially when we all first started learning about you,
the way the world saw you was literally through a sex.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Scene on All the Queens. Man.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, when you think about that, now, do you still
I say I'm glad I did that? Or you kind
of like m if I had to do it all
over again. I would do it differently.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'll absolutely do it again. I would.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I would, And I'll say why. I feel like it
was revolutionary in a lot of ways. I get people.
It's funny because I'm a series regular on a different
show now, but I get recognized for that scene, that
one scene, that one episode of All the Queens Men.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Way more people related to that so much. They love
being able to.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
See a three x three hundred pound person in an
intimate love scene.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And it I mean, it was shot so beautifully. It
was so romantic. I love the way it came out,
and it was liberating.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Truly.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I feel like it opened opened me up as well,
like I felt a lot more.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I don't know how to explain it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It just felt free and the moment did it feel free, Yes,
really in the moment, yes, But but I'll tell you why.
I guess it's a sibling thing.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
It's a protector thing. But I was doing the scene.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And Rashaun Alle was also in it, and I knew
that she was nervous about it. She's got a very good,
established career, She's been in front of people for a
long time. She's got kids, and a husband, and I
knew that she was nervous about it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, so in my mind it was like create a
safe space, like welcome her that kind of energy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, and it made me not think about me and
it at all.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Like I was ready.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
They were like, Okay, now it's time I dropped my
robe before everybody else is even ready, Like they literally
started taking There's some shots that the other people are
literally getting ready and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
They're just filming me, like dry humping a pillow.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
But where is that pillow?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Look, I don't know now, probably still a TPS set.
But it was really liberating and I still get so
much great feedback on it and what it meant to
so many people.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So I don't regret it at all. The place I
am in my career.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Now, I probably wouldn't do that scene again right now
unless I was a lead, and it was very relevant
to the story because at the end of the day.
The other the flip side of that is it's out
there forever, you know what I mean, And yeah, people
reshare it. It's all over Twitter.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I got classmates that probably think I'm just out here
doing flicks because it's out of context.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
But I don't regret it. It is what it is.
But the Internet does live forever, so be mindful of
that too.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
That is so good.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I think one of the more so glaring obvious transitions
that you've made now if anybody follows your brand, is
your brand. Your philosophy has been so tied to being
a plus sized actress, plus size model. You are clearly
on the verge of exiting out of the plus size realm.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
How have you been able to navigate that?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Because for so long your weight journey has been tied
to your brand, and now that you're losing so much weight,
what is that like for you?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
For me, I still feel the same way.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I probably have a bit of body dysmorphia when it
comes to because I still go into stores and I
was like, I can't get nothing in here, and I'm like,
oh wait, I probably can. But at the same time,
I don't think I'll ever not be plus sized.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm one X now.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
My body fluctuates, it always has. I mean, when I
did Friend Zone three years ago, the way I look
there is different than how I looked in the last
season as a tema, which is different from the first
season as a team.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, nobody can keep up.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
We're trying to figure out, like, wait, where is the.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That version, because there's so many different things.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I don't know either, because you know, I know I'm
locked in and I'm doing the work now when I'm consistent,
but I slip up every now and then, and I
do hope to continue and stay focused and do what
I'm doing, because ultimately it was about stamina, feeling healthy.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
I'm getting older.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I wanted to be mindful that as I get older,
the snap back ain't quite the same, you know, little
things like that. So I am I am trying to
maintain the work that I'm doing now, but at the
same time, I'm open to it because it was never
about just being plus sized.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It was about body positivity.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
It was about loving you where you are in your journey,
wherever that may be at the time.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
So I don't feel like I feel like I was
a back yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Then and I'm back now, right, And if I go
up or if I go down, it's the.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Same thing for me.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And I feel like your journey this whole time has
been has been very inclusive to people being able to
give feedback, to tell you how much it means to
them that they feel seen and they feel heard. What
has the response been for you and what is your
answer to people who are like in Zinga, how are
you losing all this weight?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I mean, I feel like I'm pretty transparent.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I was very clear that I'm not about to make
my page a weight loss page.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I've always shown what I've done.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I've shown the dance classes, I've shown the work the
six a M workouts. I've shown when I do my
three day cleanses. I do a three day cleanse at
the top of every month. These are things that I
do to manage my my intake.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I also stop smoking.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Now I don't tell everybody else smoke, but that was
a big bargaret no, I was about to say even
smoking cigarettes and man, no, but whatever I was making
me eat things that I didn't even necessarily wasn't even
hungry for, you know, and then you're you're going to
bed and on a full stomach, or you're craving things
that you wouldn't normally crave.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And that started in twenty during the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It was a coping thing and my weight drastically increased
during that time. So it is just cutting out that
one thing has changed.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
So much about everything.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So there's there's a lot of little things that if
I mean, if I put a list, it would be
so long.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But you know, cut it out, carbs, cutting out sugar.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Drinks, things like that. It's it's a lot. But at
the end of the day, it was also movement. I
had an injury in my wrist, the injury and my
ankle injury and my knee, so I had stopped doing
as much work as I used to when it came
to just being physical and moving. So working with my trainery,
he's got me doing like little things to strengthen the
press of me that I had kind of let slip. Yes,
And the movement, the consistency, the community of like my
(12:44):
line dance.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Classes and stuff like that, Soca classes, that is what
helps me maintain and keep going. And it's been great.
I love Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So you never actually decided to consider the shots, Well,
I will say this. I tried one for a month
for me, and I knew it wasn't for me because frankly,
I'm not a medicine person. Like I will barely take
a Tilenel for a headache, Like you'll have to force me.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I'll have to be crying in the bathtub before I'll
take a pills, so.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
To do an injection was just a lot, and I
was like, I wanted to try it only to see
like how it could jump start, you know, but I
didn't like it.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
It didn't It didn't quite work for me. But of
course I know that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It takes longer than a month to actually work, but
I was not comfortable committing to continuing to do that.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
There's not enough research.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
To me, I just didn't like it, and I was like,
you know what, this is also something that I don't
feel like I could maintain because I feel like that's
what everybody's thinking.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Absolutely, you know they're thinking, like and I'm glad that
you're like clearing that up. They're thinking this girl's out here,
like absolutely, she got skinny. To us, it looks like
on content and yeah, especially because of the new season
came out, you know, sixteen months later, and so they're like, wait,
I just saw you on TV. But that was a
(14:02):
year and a half ago, so you know, and even
during that time, I was already working towards losing.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
So it's I know, it.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Looks overnight is not overnight, And there's nothing wrong with
the shot.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I can't say there's anything wrong.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I know people who have sitt in whom they loved
it and it worked for them, and I know people
who have had bad reactions and don't like it. For me,
I just would not commit to injecting myself, but I
don't that doesn't work for me. Have you noticed, because,
like you're saying, you kind of still feel like I'm
the exact same person. I'm just showing up a little
bit better, more whole, I mean, cause no matter what
I look, we don't know what where we'll take.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know if I'll go up and down.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
What I did know is that if I depended on
the shot to do it, then I will probably have
to continue in order to not gain it back. I've
seen that happen to people, So for me, it was
just like, I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Get trapped in that cycle.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I want to learn the habits that will not just
make me look smaller but actually help me get physically
ready for the next step. I want to join you
in the motherhood club all of those things, and I
want to be able to do it in the best
way I can ready for it. So have you recognized
though with this new transition and you're showing up differently
that people are treating you differently.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yes and no.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
It's it's interesting to see the reaction, especially when it
comes to men. I feel like I was always somebody
who could pull them and things like that, but now
it's a little bit more open.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
It's a little like I always got the.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Looks in the stairs in the dms, but now it's
a little bit more in your face. Okay, ain't no
shame in it, and there should have never been, but
there's that. And then also also women, but I feel
like women it's more so just they won't.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What are you doing? Tell me what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And they won't tell me I'm a liar to my face,
yea on the shot, And I'm like, I wouldn't lie
if I if I was on That's what I'm just saying.
I tried it for a month. I cannot commit to it,
but I wouldn't lie about it, and I wouldn't I
wouldn't shame anyone who does it because at the end
of the day, do what works best for you. I
just knew it wasn't for me.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
M that's good.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Well, they're it is cock.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
That wait don't get me started, because the kids already
piss off.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I don't lie, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
But anyways, you have done such an incredible job, like
I said that, just building your brand, creating a name
for yourself, and you're consistent in your content. What would
you say, is it that you've done strategically to position
yourself just to kind of be in the position that
you aren't in now in terms of branding, Like what
can people learn from you and branding? You know, I'm
(16:30):
not really sure if there's like a particular strategy that
I use. I just kind of show up and show
the process and show what I do, show my personality.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I probably could.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Do better if I did sit down and really do
the planning and hashing it out. But for me, it's
just been show the people your journey and be authentic
in that. So that's another reason why it's shocking all
when now people are accusing me of things of like
you're a liar, and I'm like, I've shown y'all everything.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
It's right here.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
It's all of the pay just all Like if you
scroll back, if you read the comments, you know I
don't answer every DM because that would be all I
do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
If I try to. Yeah, and I know that pisses
some people off. It's my life, y'all.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I only have so many hours in the day and
I'm running several businesses. Like I think people to understand that,
so it is what it is. But I love just
showing up and showing up authentically. People resonate with that,
and I think that's what I've been able to transition
into so many different parts, from makeup artistry.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
To clothing design, to modeling to acting to singing. Hey okay,
so top of the year.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Okay though, Yeah, I mean, and I think that is
because I just I just show up and show the process.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I love that, And I think the key word that
you said there is that authenticity. Have you ever found
yourself where it's like, Okay, you know what I'm just
posting to post now, this is any this is not
even like my true self? And did you take that
content down or is it just you kind of recognizing like, Okay,
I can't show up that way.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
I don't think I've ever just posted to post now.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
There are sometimes where it's sponsored content or something that
I'm doing for a brand, but I never truly get
behind a brand or agree to do anything with the
brand that I don't actually like a regular Yeah, Like if.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Somebody sends me something it's ugly, you won't see it.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So so everything else is it's it's still me. Sometimes
the scheduling of when certain things go out, that's probably
the most hectic part of like trying to make it
make sense and not like overwhelm people.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
But at the end of the day, it's all me.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So I never really feel like I'm doing something that
doesn't feel authentic.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So, in terms of your role on Zatima, talk to
me about what it's like to work with the cast
just kind of a day and day out of being
on set because there, for a lot of people, Tyler
Perry Studios is on their bucket list to go. So
for you, what is it actually like to be in
that atmosphere. I've been there once and it was it's
(18:51):
a very like visceral kind of feeling that you get
when you're there is very inspiring and hopeful. And so
now that you're in this position, what is it like
to actually be He's.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Truly a dream come true.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
I feel like the way that I got ushered in
is probably like the most perfect way. The first time
I auditioned, it was Four Sisters, I auditioned for the
role of Danny, and I didn't get it, but just
being on that campus seeing everything, meeting Tyler for the
first time, him kind of affirming me, letting me know
he was You're absolutely stunning, Like yeah, like that was
that moment, Like did he walk into a room auditioning,
(19:25):
so it was he was already there.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Yeah, it was a callback. We all like came into
a room. There were a bunch of studio execs and
stuff sitting in the theater, and then you go up.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You do your scene and I don't. I don't in
my recollection, I didn't do the best in my scene.
But when I was leaving, he still stopped and he was like,
you're absolutely beautiful, And I was like, I mean, I
turned into a.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Three year old. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
My brain turned off, but either way, it was affirming
and I felt great about it. And so then when
the next time I met him, well, I actually wasn't
on all the Queens Men because he didn't direct the
first half of the but that was the first time
I was in the bubble at CPS during the pandemic,
if you were working, if you were working at all
as an actor, you were most likely quarantined. And Tyler
(20:11):
Perry Studios is so effective in that because it's a town.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's truly a town.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It's an old fort, like a military fort, so it
has everything in there, from.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Church to the housing to cafeteria, like they.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Have everything there. So while we were quarantined in there,
it was kind of like a summer camp.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
We were there with you couldn't leave.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
You were there with all of your castmates, and it
was a really like it made it feel more like
a family experience, and even though I was only in
that one episode, it made me feel like I was
truly a part of TPS. So then when I got
to come back and do because they added some time
to the All the Queens Men series and I got
to come back, and that was the first time I
met Tyler Well again.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Yeah, the first time, I was like acting and.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I must have made a good impression because then I
got asked to audition for Zatima and to go from
one episode basically one series, to being a series regular
on another show and then being written into Sisters because
Zatima is a spin off of Sisters. It's like when
it rains, it's poorest and the blessings come. And then
to also see the way that he has changed so
(21:17):
many people's lives, because when you're on that campus you
really realize, I mean, there's thousands of people that he's employing,
and that's families multiplied exponentially.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Like he's changing all of these people's lives.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I mean, I can think of how many people in
my life he's impacted just by impacting me, you know,
and the things that I've been able to do with
the income and the experience and the now that people
know me. That's part of the Tyler Perry universe. So
to think about that over and over. I mean, he's
doing probably twenty to thirty shows a year and not
(21:51):
to mention the movies. Like he's got so much going on.
So it's really inspiring to like it makes you want
to do more and you can do this and run
this and do that. It's like what am I doing
to serve the I mean because then these guys philanthropy
at the same time, I mean, so many things, so
many it's it's truly inspiring. So it just makes you
want to do more. Yeah, are you still kind of
(22:12):
tapped into the modeling space. Is that still like a
high priority for you or is it just like okay
acting for now. I'm open to whatever I feel like
God has. He always directs my steps, so I don't
say no to anything if I have the capacity to
do it and it's something that I like. I love
modeling on the way in here. Yeah, I just was
watching a Porstra Show episode that I'm modeling in right
(22:35):
now for one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
That's what my sister was telling me.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
My friend Summer, She's one of the first people to
ever style me. She was going on the Porstra Show.
She's like, would you mind modeling?
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm like, yeah, girl, I love the Porta Show. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Like I was seeing that that episode today, that taping.
What was it like to see yourself when it's like, wow,
this is this is full circle?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Like it was great.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I mean, mind you, it's like the third time I've
been on the Porstra Show. I had my own own
feature on there about a month ago where we talked
about my boutique. I brought my models in and they
got to model. So to return the favorite it felt
full circle for sure, Like I feel like nobody's better
or like too good to do anything. You just have
to fall in line and support the people who support you.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, someone was there for me in the beginning.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I'm gonna be there for her now and through the
trajectory of my career. And that's how you maintain relationships
and you all grow together. Like same thing with Courtney
and the friend Zone. My first feature film is out now,
and the same person who gave me my first shot
as a leading role in a web series is now
the director and writer of the first feature film that
I got to put out.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
So it feels amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
And what words would you have for people who are
just like they feel like, I just have these big dreams.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
I just want to hit it big, like speaking.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
To the idea of it's okay to still have an
indie project or do your first feature film, like on
your own budget, but get out there and actually make
something of yourself because people see this, you know, the
glace and the glam sart, and they just kind of
want to jump forward and it's not realistic because at
the end of the day, people want to see you
are able to do it before they give you the opportunity. Yeah,
if I had not had content on my Instagram, content
(24:08):
on YouTube that showed that I already knew how to
to show up and do the things that I was doing,
I probably wouldn't have got that opportunity to jump from
one episode to a serious regular. But when you're already
out there doing it and growing with your team, literally.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Like Easter Ray said, like we can all come up together.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You don't have to shoot for the sky and expect
that somebody will open a door for you. If you're
not putting into work and doing it yourself, they're they're
not going to or you'll get there and then you'll
drop right off cause you don't have that foundation.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
I I think that's key.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like when you think of your growth and development over time, right,
is there anything right now that you're like, Okay, I
have room for improvement in that. That's an area that
I'm like, Okay, I still need some tecks and balances there.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I I feel like that and everything.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I I feel like I'm constantly I'm creating anyway, because
you're never perfect, but I I when it comes I'm
still and acting classes. I got to acting coach. I'm
doing the music, but I still vocal lessons. I mean
there's there's really not a.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thing that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah that I don't feel like there can be improvements on.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
If you want to be incredible and be the best
and be on your Beyonce status, you have to do
the rehearsals, you have to put in the work.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So yeah, I definitely always room for improvement.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
And I guess because you have so many different facets,
so many different talents, how do you know when is
the right time to really exercise specific skills and talents
that you have, Because I feel like it's hard for
people to like sometimes finding your niche, Like when you
can do so many different things, how do you still
find kind of like your brand identity with being somebody
(25:40):
who's multifaceted, I feel like my brand is me, So
anything that I do is gonna fall in line with that.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, there's not like one. I don't feel stuck to
any one thing.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And then I also, like I say, I let the
Lord lead, So when opportunity comes, if it feels right,
I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Whether that is modeling, where there is acting, whether that's singing.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
I mean I have a song on the friend Zone soundtrack,
So it's like, these opportunities come and I'll jump on board,
like I'm always gonna say yes if it makes sense.
If you were to say yes to like an ideal role,
an ideal play, singing, anything that would be considered your
(26:21):
pinch me moment, what would that opportunity look like for you?
I know this is gonna sound generic, especially because the
movie's coming out and like and now it's like known
and everybody knows it, But Wicked has forever been like
my dream. Really wrong way to play Elpaba or Honestly
or Glinda, Okay, either one.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I wouldn't mind playing either one because I love Kristin Tenna.
With either of those characters.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
On Broadway, that would be probably like the pinnacle of
I would just melt, really, I would just thinking about
it right now, like I'm about to tear up.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Let me tell you, Yeah, what is it about that?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
About that story?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
It's so moving, but the music is so powerful, and
then it's just one of those things that like growing up,
I feel like it got me through a lot, like
that soundtrack that and I'm talking about the original Broadway
cast soundtrack, like it's so moving and the story is
so much deeper than what people really know and see.
Like there's it's about race, It's about just so many things.
(27:20):
There's so many underlying politics and things that go into
that musical. It's not just like a frivolous, you know thing.
So I feel like musicals in general are always gonna
be you gonna melt? Yeah, but wicked, Yeah, wicked would probably.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Be do you know how to hit that note? I
do it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
You're not gonna mess me up right now. You're not
gonna set me up? Okay, I have you gonna be warm?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
No? I just had Wendy's in the car. Girl. I
can't do that right now. You got to prepare for you.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
She did that, she did Yeah, No, Cynthia revol killing it.
Indiana Menzel and Chris the Originator just powerhouses.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So yeah, you ain't gonna catch me up over him,
not today, not to day.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Well, speaking of your singing, like, you're also widely known
for the parodies that you do with different songs and
stuff like that. Where did that come from? Like to
be able to add that level of just really creative direction,
comedy all of the things. Well, I was doing parodies already,
but the to hoppened to the Queen of the Ratchet
like musical parodies.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Nat Craig goes fully to Joshua Gilliard. He is the
creator and originator of Queen of the.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Ratchet okay, and he was the one who really like
wrote those parodies. I was his Ratchet Princess, Disney princess,
and I did all of like I just played that
role and filled in and did those notes and played
the characters. But he is really the creative genius behind that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It was a pleasure working with him. It was really cool.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
To be able to bring those things to life but
also grow and build my fan base on the back.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
Of that as well. So shout out to josh on
Friday Jobs, shout out to josh Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I think one of the cool things in terms of
being a creative because you are a creative, is sometimes
we get stuck with just starting, Like we have these
big visions, these big creative ideas, but they never actually
come to fruition because of fear, because of fair failure.
What would you say has been able to give you
the drive and the ambition to just you know what,
(29:24):
I'm just gonna I'm just gonna put it out there.
I'm just gonna do it even though I'm afraid. Yeah,
I mean, just just doing it anyway. I feel like
I'm not scared for people to see me fail. And
I think that's the power in that, Like so many
people will hold and wait and try to wait until
something's perfect, and it's like that's not realistic, and people
want to see the journey.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah, like, so why not.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I mean, once I started getting a little bit more
known and on TV and stuff, I had to pull
a little bit away from the the Ratchet parody. But
it was also cause I'm shifting as a person. I'm
getting a little older. I'm thinking about what my one
day kids will see what, and what the messages that
I'm trying to send on my platform. So things had
to shift a little bit. But I never will regret
the things that I did. I love those parodies. I
(30:08):
still post them and share them. They are a pivotal
part of my journey and my story. So I feel
like you just gotta not be scared to let people
see you.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Try things like have fun.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
At the end of the day, people take themselves too
serious and seriously, and I've never been somebody who's very serious,
right even sometimes I watch back my interviews, I'm like,
I probably shouldn't have said that, but hey, I'm joking,
and I'm hoping that people understand it to be humor
and just like playfulness and not complete arrogance. I think
(30:39):
when I complete I think when I watch you in
for most people, you come across extremely confident, like you.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Are just that girl.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Where where did that come from? And do you show
up that way every day? Like do you turn something
on and just say or do you just wake.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Up like I'm hurt?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
It's I mean it, I do feel like it's just this.
This is how I live. I don't really know another way.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I once again, that came from how I was raised.
It was like you can shrink, you can just hate yourself,
or you can just bump what everybody else's saying.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
How do you feel about yourself?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, I'm gonna always do my best to make myself
feel good about me. So doing that work makes me
feel confident enough to show up and be.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Like, hey mm it's not and.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
You know sometimes people don't like that, but that's not
my problem, right, So, And can you feel that like
when you're in a room and you can kind of
sense like, mm, she has a problem with y with
me or how I am? Yeah, cross, how do you
navigate that kind of space?
Speaker 3 (31:37):
That's not my business? Wow, that is not my business.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
If you have a problem with someone loving themselves celebrating themselves,
that is your problem, and I pray for you, but
that is not my responsibility.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So I'm gonna continue to show.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Up the way I do.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
And in terms of continuing to show up and what
it is that you do, what would you say for you?
Has been I guess maybe the most pinnacle thing that
you've experienced in your career.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
The most pinnacle.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I feel like every part of the journey is just
like another step to where I'm going. Uh, having the
premiere and be having like a lead role in a
film that's out now is fantastic. That felt like one
of those steps. Being a serious regular going into the
fourth season. Yeah, of a A a show that is
so loved and so many people resonate with, feels incredible.
Having my own boutique, Like, all of these things are
(32:28):
things that I'm like, I did it, Like, Yeah, I
did it, Let's go what's next?
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
That's really kind of how I and I think juggling
all of the hats that you were too. It takes
a certain level of discipline to be able to really
like manage them all, do them all?
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Do you have help?
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Is it kind of just like a learned habit from
your upbringing, your childhood? Did you have to kind of
carrying the load and your family growing up?
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I'm Caribbeans, so I think the like we're used to
having all the jobs, okay. And I also think being
a theater kid.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Being a theater kid, you are so solution oriented, like
you will find a way to do and fix whatever. Yeah,
and like the from the smallest things to like sewing
a rip in my dress to you know, sending out
the emails to being the one planning and coordinating things
like I do most of it.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I have some help. Bay is always a great help.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
He's like my main videographer photographer, so he helps with
a lot of the content and things like that. My
older sister is my business partner for my boutique.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Yes, now, she.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Had a baby as soon as we started, so her
role shifted a bit. I love you, says and she
still definitely helps, but that made me have to take
on a little bit more of the responsibility than I
intended to.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
When we started. It was supposed to be me more
of the face and heard.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
More of the behind the scenes, but that once we
started and she couldn't really maintain that.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
It was like, my face is already.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
On this, so we gotta we gotta keep pushing, and
so I have, but.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I just roll with the punch.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Is That's really where I'm at when it comes to
all of it, And I do most of the work.
I don't really have a lot of help. I have
a pr but I don't really have like an assistant.
I'll hire people for like a day or things like that.
I typically style myself, but I do have a stylist
that I bring in every now and then, like when
I went to fashion Week.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
So for things like that, especially when.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
When I need to take some of the load off
and I know that I'm overwhelmed, it's like I don't
mind asking for helping that since but I don't have
a team that consistently works with me in that way.
What are the indicators for you personally where you can
recognize and sense within yourself that you are on the
verge of a burnout and how do you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Mitigate?
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Sometimes it can hit you all at once.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I will say that, and I will quickly step back. Hey,
if I need to cancel some things, if I need
to pull back, because I never want to show up
not fully. I never wanna make that bad impression making
people feel like, you know, I'm either not prepared or
don't care about what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
So I'll pull back if I need to.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
But typically I would say maybe every like two months
or so, Okay, I end up on some kind of
trip or sabbatical, especially with Bay. I mean, we we
do a lot of work trips, and I always try
to extend them, especially if it's somewhere that we like,
so we have those couple extra days.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Yeah, because you don't have to work all the time.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
That is so while we can and move and travel
and live that way, it's like, let's do it, let's
enjoy it. And that's I was asking Terry Vaughan, she
was on the show earlier. I was asking her kind
of like what you're saying, like, yeah, that's so funny,
Like how to balance that tension between like Okay, I'm going,
I'm going, I'm going, I'm successful, I have more things
(35:43):
to accomplish more things to achieve versus you know, I'm
just gonna be present in this moment and accept that
this is amazing, Like sitting in that right, like that
balance between being content and being ambitious. I feel like
Terry Vaughan can do that. Yeah, I'm not in a
place right now where I feel like I can just
sit down and and I don't feel like, yeah, you know,
I feel like ament like, when you're in a moment,
(36:04):
are you able to be present?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, I mean that moment or is it just putting
like depends because it also depends how many hats some
wearing during that premiere bruh, because I was I literally
was hosting the event and people didn't really know or
expect that. But it was difficult to be the leading
lady in the show and be you know, present in
(36:27):
that way, but also be putting out fires. You know,
the show in the second theater, it stopped and I'm like, wait,
the person who's running it forgot to download it, so
they're streaming. So now I'm putting out that fire and
you know, I'm bringing in backdrops and like things that
people wouldn't expect the star to be doing.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
But I don't see it like that. I feel it's
a part of the job.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
It's what I'm doing. We're gonna get it done.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
That's where I'm at, and I feel like I'm in
grind mode until I'm in a place where I can
put people in position to be grinding and living their
best life. Like I want to have the that Tyler
Perry effect. I want to be able to impact the
community and put so many people on you know what
I mean, that's the goal.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
So right now, Yah, I ain't no time for.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
That in film specifically. You know, there's that concept around
the starving artist.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, is that still a real thing?
Speaker 3 (37:16):
No? Oh, not for me, not for me right now.
But of course it's a real thing.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
I mean, there are lots of people who are pursuing
this and it requires funds. I mean, I'm so grateful
to have had the trajectory that I've had where now
you know, and I still live like.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
A starburn artist.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I don't know if it's the Caribbean me or what,
but I haven't touched most of my money from the show,
like I put it away.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I don't see it.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I don't see it because at the end of the day,
I want to be able to do things like if
I have a baby, I want to be able to
sit my butt down for a year and not have
to think about anything. I move that way, but I
know not everybody does or can, or it's.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
In a position too. So there's definitely the starving artist.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
But luckily I'm in a position where I just budget well.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
I live well below my means.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
It took me four years of being on that show
before I traded in my two thousand fourteen d son
or a new car. I would pull up place if
they'd be like, why are you still in that car?
And I the only reason I could think of is like,
until I know I could buy something like four or
five times over without even thinking about it, I don't
wanna do it. I think that's so interesting because we
get these opportunities and then it's like, Okay, I got
(38:21):
now show up with keep up with the Joneses, right?
What kept you from like doing that immediately? Because you
w you know, like when you get around certain people,
you start to feel like, Okay, I gotta level up
to the rooms that I'm getting in. Why did you
decide to get that? Is a real thing, But uh,
I've never cared as much about what other people think.
I care about the position I'm in and how it's
(38:43):
gonnaffect me and my family. So I didn't have a
real f like, I didn't feel a lot of pressure,
although I didn't know it was there. I I definitely
felt the judgment. I saw the looks. That's never really
mattered too too much to me. But yeah, I mean,
eventually it was more so about, like, I wanna invest
in the future family that I want and the things
(39:04):
that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
If I didn't have that big.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Old truck that I got now, when lugging all that
stuff to the premiere might've been different. So it was
just kind of like it had to make sense for
my business. It had to make sense for my life,
and not just because somebody else thinks.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
That I need to be driving this.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Now. You can keep that cause you ain't got to
pay the bill, you ain't got to worry about me.
That's how I feel about that. Yeah, I'm not gonna
pressure me into being broke.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
And you've mentioned a couple of times I really wanting
to start a family. Is there something that toyles within
you where you're trying to figure out, like why my
career is really taking off, but for whatever reason, I
can't seem to get this family box checked. Is it
something that you want right now or is it something
that you're something I want and I'm ready for when
it happens. I'm not in a rush, but I'm also
(39:47):
not shying away from it. I'm like, I'm I'm definitely
open to it.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Me and by are in a great place. I know
he would be a great father.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
I know I'm in a position where I'll be a
great mother and I'll be able to do the things
that I I need to do as well. So I'm
really just kind of in a space now where I'm
letting godly. Once again, I don't rush anything, So if
it happens, let's go. And Luckily, I'm like being a
part of the CPS universe makes me feel very comfortable
with doing that.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Because he's all about family.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Like there's really not anybody on our show aside from
Crystal and I who haven't had a baby since we started.
Everyone else has added to their family and they work
around it. You know, it means something to them. So
I don't feel like that would slow me down or
stop me. I feel like it would happen when it's
supposed to exactly how it's supposed to, and I'm good. Wow,
that's beautiful when you think of the legacy essentially that
(40:37):
you want to leave. When people say your name, what
is it that you want to follow? I just want
to be the person that they think of about confidence
and living out loud and not shying away from anything
like just go for it, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Well, thank you so much, first time you do. Thank
you you so proud of.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
You doing the work. And where do you want the
next string? Can't wait to see that or anything that
you back.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I'll be back to get y'all a little journays and
if I had some.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Warm upbody to get y'all a little sia.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
But you can't just spring out.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Okay, Well, thank you so much and we're gonna be
watching you. Congratulations on all your sciss with you with
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Y
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