April 23, 2025 • 29 mins
Rebecca Crews is a true multi-hyphenate—entrepreneur, actress, singer, and now, fashion designer. In this episode of Stay A While, Tommi Vincent chats with Rebecca about launching her clothing line during the pandemic, her passion for beauty and style, and how faith has guided her path. She also opens up about the intersection of fashion and ministry as she embarks on a new chapter in leading a church. This conversation is filled with wisdom, reinvention, and the power of embracing one's purpose.
Guest: Rebecca Crews
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Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Guest: Rebecca Crews
| Powered by The House of Joy |
Subscribe & Follow:
Don’t miss an episode of "Stay A While"! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected and get the latest updates by following us on Instagram @StayAWhileShow and follow our host Tommi Vincent @cheftommiv. Watch full episodes on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@ChefTommiV
Join the Conversation:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your insights and stories with us using #StayAWhilePodcast on social media.
Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in Staalwall.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
This episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast, and
I am here with the lovely Rebecca Cruz. Rebecca is
a multi hyphen it. She is a singer, songwriter, She
is an entrepreneur, she is an actress. She is many things,
(00:43):
but one thing we know for sure that she is
a woman on a mission. She is in the season
of life where she is saying, you know what, it's
time for me to do some amazing things through the
gifts and the talents and the treasures that lie within.
So let's talk about that. Rebecca, what do you have
going on right now that you have invested time and
(01:07):
treasure and gifting into well.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
In twenty twenty, during COVID, I launched a clothing line,
which doesn't seem like the right time to launch a business,
but hey, I was stuck at home and needed something
to do, and so I've always had a passion for fashion.
Came out of the roomb like that, I think. But
my mother was an amazing stylish woman. She's a businesswoman,
(01:34):
and so I grew up loving fashion but didn't ever
think I would go to school for it or anything
like that. But I was that girl who would paint
her jeans and like cut things that she purchased and
make them different or if you dazzle them, or however
you want to say. And so in twenty twenty, we
developed this line based around suit wearing tuxedos for women
(01:56):
and it was because I like to wear them and
nobody was making them, and that really is how we
launched Rebecca Cruise LLC.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So Rebecca Cruz LLC is a line of clothing. You
also have handbags, you have makeup. You are not only
dressing with the clothing, but you're also making sure that
there are the elements that accent those beautiful clothing lines.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
What made you get into the makeup component.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Believe it or not, the lipstick was first.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I was working on the lipstick about a year prior
to that because I used to be a hairstylist and
for year and I wore my hair blonde, different types
of blonde, and people would say to me, I love
your hair, Rebecca, I would love to go blonde, but
I can't. And my answer to them was always, anyone
can be blonde. It has to be the right tone
(02:50):
of blonde, right. And so I would get the same
comment about my red lipstick. I'd wear red lips a
lot and they'd say, oh, I would wear it, but
I can't.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
No, you need the right shade. And this idea was
born in my head. Red lips for everyone, right. So
my big idea was I was going to do sixteen
shades of red. Well, obviously by the time you get
the batches together, there are several that are too close.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, So we ended up with eight and those were
already in development when the thought came to me to
start the clothes. So I'm like, well, okay, so they're
in development. I'm working on those. I start coming up
with ideas for the suits and tuxedos, and I reach
out to my friend Nanna Boa Tang. He styles Terry
(03:35):
for a GT and he helped connect me with people
to produce my clothing line, and I wanted to do
these tuxes, and I had the maid and then I thought, oh,
my red lipstick goes with my color. And then I said, ooh,
but you need the shoe because the look was like
the suit and then not a heel, but like a
(03:56):
tuxedo shoe for women.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
And then well, I think Nana suggested doing the bag.
He said you should do the handbag.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So basically we created this capsule where you get the suit,
the shoe, the bag, and the lipstick in one store.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Now I'm going to say this. I know I'm long
with it, but I do a.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Lot of red carpets, and often I would shop and
get the dress and I have to wander all through
the mall to find the shoe, then wander looking.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Through the purpse.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Right, yes, So I thought, why don't I create the
whole collection so they can come here and get everything
for the outfit and go. And I was thinking primarily
of my fellow actresses. People like that, and so that's
why when we launched, we went straight into a style house.
We didn't sell right away. We loaned the clothes out
(04:47):
and they kicked. But I mean, I have over one
hundred and fifty placements with celebrities in La Garcel Bovet,
Gina Davis, Janet Yang, the president of the Motion Pictures,
Arts and Sciences. Everybody you can imagine has worn my
tuxedos and I was like, oh, well, maybe it's time
to sell. So we opened the store in October this
(05:09):
year and we now have our first, our flagship store.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So listen, there's a trunk at the hotel with some
goodies in there for why that I cannot wait to wear.
I'm looking forward to that because I I am. I
love suits.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yeah, I love and we did have nice suit.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah. And that's and that's the thing.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You know, Troy gets all of his suits made custom.
I want some custom suits. So I'm gonna get some
Rebecca Cruz custom suits.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I can't wait. I really can't wait.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Because you can make it whatever you want.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, and we do.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And my turnaround is about three weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Okay, that's fast.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
It is fast. I have a hookup in another country.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay, that's fast.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, we we and we've done some custom We had
custom requests from celebrities, some we couldn't fulfill. I had
a request for a pink suit during the year of
the Barbie movie was out. Yes, well you can imagine
everything pink in the fabric stores was gone. I could
not get textiles to make this lady pink suit.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Because all the pink was gone.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It was gone. But yeah, we do custom. Most of
Terry's stuff is custom too.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah great, yeah, toy can't even buy off the wreck.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, Terry said Terry some things like it's joggers and things,
but not suits or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Okay, enough about them. This is me and you're.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
About the man. We don't care about you.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You also have recently launched a church, yes, and that now,
that is not you know, opening up a store where
you are selling your clothing and your makeup, and that's
something where it's like, okay, you wanted to be successful
and you're working for it to be successful. But when
(07:09):
you open up a church, that's something altogether different, because
that's not just something you just woke up and said,
oh this is a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You opening up a church.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
That means you're called, you were chosen, and the weight
of that is different very much. So how did you
get to this place where you said, you know what
I got to do it.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I'll tell you a story.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I was first of all, I was born to a
preacher's son. My dad was a PK and my grandparents,
the Kings, were Methodist pastors until they passed away. Beautiful people, really,
So this is the Caucasian side of my family, right,
And so ministry is in my blood for one thing.
(07:53):
So from the time I was a child, I had
what my mother would call a religious proclivity. I was
the one preaching to the family. Right, I preached to
my friends. I've preached to the animals, right, I'd quote
the scriptures. I'd read the Bible, and nobody made me
read the Bible. So my mother's like, oh, maybe you're
(08:14):
going to be a speaker, you know. And my family
was a little less religious than their parents, so I
didn't grow up a church kid, so they thought it
all the more odd that I was this little like preacher.
And then in my junior high and high school years,
I sing in gospel choirs.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I had my own choir.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I was a musician and development and I always loved
music that centered around worship and gospel and all these things.
And so throughout my life as a wife, mom, college student,
I served in ministry as a lay person, teens, music
babies by Bible studies. I just wherever the church needed someone,
(08:56):
I'd work and literally, I'm fifty nine. Five years ago,
I began to wake up the middle of the night
with his voice in my head.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Start a church.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I'm like, I rebuke you, devil, because I'm not a pastor.
You know, because I was already speaking traveling. People were
inviting me to miss it. I'm like, I'll get on
the plane and come home. Pastoring is like being a parent,
and I knew it was a big job, so I
(09:29):
just kind of kept ignoring that boys until it just
wouldn't leave me alone. So probably two years into this experience,
I sat up one morning and say, like, God, is
that you? And then he said, get the paperwork. Oh my,
he's not playing. So I became illegal five oh eight.
(09:52):
Took me about three months to get that done because
I know people who know how to do it. Got
my paperwork Forbrecca Cruz Ministries. I'm for one hundred percent legal.
I was already ordained. I'd been ordained for probably ten years,
and I said, what do I do now? He said,
find a building. I said, you're not playing, find a building.
(10:14):
I drove around my town and there was this old
church building that used to have a really fired up
church in it, and I don't know what happened, but
there's like no one meeting in this church. It's a
Nazarene church, seats probably two thousand people, big old church
with a balcony and everything stained glass. And the Holy
Spirit said you could buy that. I said, buy that.
(10:37):
I don't even have my own house, HyET, I'm going
to buy the church. And I said, you want me
to go to my husband and say I want to
buy that church? And it's almost like the lawyer was
laughing at me. He's like, you think too small. I
was like, WHOA. I said, well, can I start with
the Bible study? Can I start with a prayer meeting?
(10:58):
So I started praying and teaching online. And we have
a thing called Monday Night Prayer. So Monday nights at seven,
although we're about to shift, I would go live on
Instagram and TikTok, we'd pray, we'd worship. I'd play this
cool like ethereal worship music in the background. It was
a little you know, local cable access. I'm not gonna lie,
(11:21):
but I just started praying with people and people started
coming then they I invited them in person, they came
to my home. Then we got a theater in Hollywood.
They started coming to the theater in Hollywood. Then they
stopped coming to the theater in Hollywood because it turned
out it wasn't that great a neighborhood, and the sisters
were like.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
We don't want to park over there and pass the Rebecca.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Okay, So now we're launching in my hometown, which is Pasadena,
and what we're doing, and we're actually February second was
supposed to be our first in person Sunday, and then
we had the fires and several of the buildings we
were going to use are burned to the.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
And so pray for Pasadena.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
We have a meeting and one of the ideas that
had come up prior was launching with media first. You know,
many churches start and they do media as they grow,
but many start as media ministries and turn into churches.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
So we're gonna do basically Christian television for YouTube.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
So we're crafting a show that we jokingly say is
like Tiny Desk meets Joyce Meyer. You know, because I'm
a musician, we want to have Christian artists. So we're
gonna have independent as well as well known Christian artists perform.
We're gonna have skits and things about the topic we're
going to teach on, and I'm gonna teach and minister,
(12:50):
and then from that audience we will begin to have
in person ministry, which would be a more of a
formal church.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And it's going to be different.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
God's already kind of boxed my ears about don't do that,
don't do that, don't do what people have been doing,
because there's a generation I'm trying to reach and I
want you to do something different.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So that's what we're doing. And we're excited and we're scared.
But the Lord is with us.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
He's continuously confirming and prophesying everything in terms of direction
to the whole team. And he assembled this amazing team
of believers, some of them I didn't know a year ago,
and they've just come to the call and we're like
this little ragtag army in Pasadena saying, let's go Jesus
(13:43):
and we're going for it.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
What about that keeps you up at a night?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
What about a kid? I'm excited, to be honest. You know,
Becky gets in her head. I can get in my head.
I'm a little analytical, little paralysis of analysis kind of persons.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
But I'm also creative.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
And so when I landed at night, I think to myself, Oh,
I wonder if we could get Toby Mack.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
He's amazing, you know, can we get today?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
You know, because another one of our goals with our
show is to not just feature Christian artists. We want
to feature artists who are Christian in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
People think that doesn't go together, and we are those people,
and so this is really and it's funny I look
at it now. God taking all these parts of me
because I was a theater kid, theater actress till I
got married, did TV, and have done some film as
a mom. But he's taking the performer in me and
(14:49):
the minister in me, which I always thought I had
to choose one yes, and he's kind of created this
lovely mingling of those things that, uh is astonishing to me.
And it's also so full of grace that I feel
(15:10):
like I'm in the best time of my life, Like
I'm I'm kind of finally getting to be what I
always saw. But it just is a little newer version
of that thing, and I'm I'm I feel very privileged.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
You know, when you play a sport, you always say, coach.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Put me in, right, put me in because I played basketball,
I did all that stuff before I became a dancer,
singer and all that. And God says, you're in. You're excited,
and you're scared to death yea. And and that's where
we are. Yeah, and we are, but we're stoked. We
(15:50):
just believe God is gonna really especially in light of
what our city just went to. It's like He was
getting us ready for the people because the people are hurting,
They're really are city's really going through it. And I
felt early on him saying to me, Rebecca, the world's
(16:14):
going through things, and all I want you to just
be there, he said, just be a lighthouse. I want
you to just be there when the people don't know
what to do and they come and say pray for me,
can you can you answer my questions? Can you help
me understand? I don't understand, because that's what they say.
(16:37):
That's what they say is if God loves me, why
did this happen? And the church has to be there
with the answers, and and there are answers to those questions.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
They're not simple answers.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
But but God is love and that we know he
sent his son for this planet. And that's the gospel
we preached, is that God didn't send his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him. A day is coming that
there will everything will be judged. Today we are in
(17:10):
a day of grace and he's offering the whole everyone
to come to his stayshole of the world, the world right.
And I remember him hitting me with that one day.
He said, Rebecca, I love the world.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yes. That means everybody, Yes, everybody.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
You know we think, oh, well, there's believers and non No,
those are people who just haven't understood yet.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
They just that they have to see and it's our Yeah, totally. Now.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I'm gonna be honest. I don't remember a time that
I didn't believe in God. I do remember having doubts
and questions and going through a season of what do
I really believe? But from the time I remember having
a memory or a conscience, I always believed. But even
I see these precious kids that grew up in faith
(18:05):
and have rejected it. They've rejected it because of hypocrisy abuse,
and that's the other thing. He said, I trust you, Rebecca, and.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I said, okay. I always joke. First my first Christian
book will be.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Okay, Jesus, He'll say, Rebecca, do this, okay, send me okay.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
He said, that's your husband. Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
That's how I got Terry Crews. I said, okay, And
I always joke he was Terry Crews, but he wasn't
Terry Crews when I married. He was terryfy Terry with
a yellow T shirt with Charlie Brown on it.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
And he came to church like that. He came to
church in a yellow T shirt with like tweety bird or.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Somebody, and it was so tight. I said, what a
he doing with his muscle shirt on at church? He
trying to catch turned out it was me.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Because my friend brought him to church to meet me.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
And the coolest line he had was, I should liked
the way you played a keyboard.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Sister crew or.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Sister key sister sister Kate, sister Rebecca, sister Becky because
I was Becky in college, sister Becky.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
And I just looked at him. I said, nice to
meet you. Well. I married him two.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Years later.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
He won't my heart. So, yeah, he's a blessing.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
You know what you said, Rebecca that made me just
been kind of sitting in my mind when you said that.
You know, there's the piece where we it's like we
have to choose, we believe we have to choose. So
like I can't and I'm going to use just an example,
like I can't be in entertainment and a believer, right,
(20:02):
And if we're created in God's image and likeness and
there is this gifting inside of me, why would we
believe that that's not him? Yeah, that there's not purpose
in that piece of us and how He created us.
And the believing is the part that's the fixture. It's
(20:23):
the how you show up.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In the world that can change.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I can be an entertainer today, I could be a chef,
I could be any and all things. But the piece
that's supposed to be the constant is that I'm a believer.
And somehow we've gotten into this space where we've decided
that you can't do that and be that when that's
saying that God is limited in his ability.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
To in the creation of how.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
He made us, right, well, and I love that.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I love what you're saying there, because one of the
hallmarks of our church, and the church's name is the
La Life Church. That God gave me that name, I said,
the La Life. That's really funny. And one of our
pillars is that we're abolishing the line between sacred and
(21:17):
seculars because there is that belief that the God isn't
in things that don't have to do with church.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
And how narrow is that?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And I think Satan constructed that ideology, and I believe
he constructed it to take joy away from people, to
make God look like the kill joy and the bad
guy when we know who the bad guy is, and
also to take righteous people out of influential positions. And
so if we all think we can't go into these
(21:48):
places government, entertainment, education, then how are we salt and
light hiding in a bushel? I mean, Jesus didn't say
hide in a cave till I come. He said occupy
until I come. Occupy means rain and rule, and the
Kingdom of God is not by force.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
The kingdom is a kingdom of love. It's a kingdom
of influence, an example, And how are we doing that
if we're afraid to enter into fields that affect humanity.
And I think that, and I'll be honest, the greatest
people I've met in business, entertainment, politics, they're all believers. Yes,
(22:31):
they're all I get.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
You know, you're at dinner with them and they're talking
about their faith. And it does not surprise me, because
the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation and you and
when the righteous are rules, the people rejoice. When they're
good people making decisions about things that affect.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
All of us. That's the kingdom coming. That's the kingdom,
the kingdom come. Yes, what is it?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
The revelation said, the kingdom of our God. The kingdoms
of this world have become the kingdoms of our God
and of his Christ. Meaning now righteousness and goodness is
restored to a place that it was taken from. And yeah,
two many times we run and I get it. I
was in music, I was in the theater world. And
(23:20):
sometimes you go, oh my God, run over the hills.
But the scripture doesn't call this a war. For no reason.
We don't have armor, for no reason. We are swimming upstream.
And not only are we swimming upstreams, we have we
have a chess plate, we have a sword for a reason.
(23:43):
That means that we're taking down things that are against
us and against the goodness of the world, and we
must have that attitude about it and we cannot I tail.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Not in any way.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
And it's so cute because my team, my precious pastor,
he's my executive pastor, George Everley, He's worked in marketing, entertainment, branding,
very experienced business professional. One of my elders, Pastor Shirley Bridwell,
she's an extremely experienced fifth generation minister, right. And then
(24:22):
I've got my two girls that work for me with
my social media and they work with my they do
everything right. We'res this little ragtag army and I had
a vision of us on our horses and our armor
riding behind Jesus and little Shirley had her great ponytail
and she was sitting sideways and little Ayeshaw was riding
(24:44):
with her sword. I was like, oh, my god, we're
just normal people. Jesus He's like, not with that armor on,
you're not. And so we're taking it by horse and
excited to do so. And you should be.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Because I heard someone say God's will, God's bill.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, And even while in the bill, I mean, even
there the opportunities that have come to us with people
granting things and giving things, but more so the courage,
because these are people coming to my side. They're not
(25:28):
being paid, they're not they have nothing to gain except
they feel called by God. And that's like how you know,
in the position I'm in, I could do that. I
could just hire people who don't love God, don't love
the ministry, to do certain kinds of work for me.
(25:51):
But God brought me people that he called who have
the same passion I do, who hear the same voice
I hear yes, and we're all on the chat, you know,
and it's and it's a blessing and it's confirming. It's confirming.
(26:12):
And like I said a year ago, I didn't know
any of them, and that the people, and especially in
the business I do, relationships are much more important than
they're your most important resource, right And because of who
I am, relationships are very precious.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yes, they're very precious.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Because people are attracted to wealth, they're attracted to fame.
So I have to have great discernment to know who's
joining my team and why, Yes, what's the motive, what's
the motives? And so God is so graciously allowed. And
that is actually a greater challenge for us than the
(26:56):
money is. We could probably pay for everything God has
told me to do that, But what I am spending,
He's told me to spend.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
But what I treasure is that He proved.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
To me through the circumstances and events, that he brought
me people who are just as called as I am.
And that means more to me. Their hearts, their loyalty,
their commitment to the Kingdom of God and two people
and to each other and to me. And that's to me,
(27:30):
the richest gift, the richest gift. And I have no
doubt we're just gonna give the devil a really massive
headache in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I count on it. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Well, look, I'm looking forward to seeing the ministry really blossom.
And I can't wait to have the opportunity to be
out in LA and join you for a service and
come to the store, come to church outfit to wear
it to the church, then to go to lunch.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I'm looking forward to it all.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Come see us in old Pasadena.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, But I want to thank you so
much for coming and spending some time with me. Stand
while taking a seat at the table, and I want
you to know that you are welcome here anytime.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Thank you, My pleasure, absolutely, pleasure, absolutely thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t o mmiv
dot com for more inspiration for your mind, body and
(28:49):
soul and let's not forget your belly.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
You're always welcome at my table.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Please be sure to subscribe, make yourself at home and
staal wild.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Stay well, tell me me Gone, Stay well, tell me
me
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in Staalwall.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
This episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast, and
I am here with the lovely Rebecca Cruz. Rebecca is
a multi hyphen it. She is a singer, songwriter, She
is an entrepreneur, she is an actress. She is many things,
(00:43):
but one thing we know for sure that she is
a woman on a mission. She is in the season
of life where she is saying, you know what, it's
time for me to do some amazing things through the
gifts and the talents and the treasures that lie within.
So let's talk about that. Rebecca, what do you have
going on right now that you have invested time and
(01:07):
treasure and gifting into well.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
In twenty twenty, during COVID, I launched a clothing line,
which doesn't seem like the right time to launch a business,
but hey, I was stuck at home and needed something
to do, and so I've always had a passion for fashion.
Came out of the roomb like that, I think. But
my mother was an amazing stylish woman. She's a businesswoman,
(01:34):
and so I grew up loving fashion but didn't ever
think I would go to school for it or anything
like that. But I was that girl who would paint
her jeans and like cut things that she purchased and
make them different or if you dazzle them, or however
you want to say. And so in twenty twenty, we
developed this line based around suit wearing tuxedos for women
(01:56):
and it was because I like to wear them and
nobody was making them, and that really is how we
launched Rebecca Cruise LLC.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So Rebecca Cruz LLC is a line of clothing. You
also have handbags, you have makeup. You are not only
dressing with the clothing, but you're also making sure that
there are the elements that accent those beautiful clothing lines.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
What made you get into the makeup component.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Believe it or not, the lipstick was first.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I was working on the lipstick about a year prior
to that because I used to be a hairstylist and
for year and I wore my hair blonde, different types
of blonde, and people would say to me, I love
your hair, Rebecca, I would love to go blonde, but
I can't. And my answer to them was always, anyone
can be blonde. It has to be the right tone
(02:50):
of blonde, right. And so I would get the same
comment about my red lipstick. I'd wear red lips a
lot and they'd say, oh, I would wear it, but
I can't.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
No, you need the right shade. And this idea was
born in my head. Red lips for everyone, right. So
my big idea was I was going to do sixteen
shades of red. Well, obviously by the time you get
the batches together, there are several that are too close.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, So we ended up with eight and those were
already in development when the thought came to me to
start the clothes. So I'm like, well, okay, so they're
in development. I'm working on those. I start coming up
with ideas for the suits and tuxedos, and I reach
out to my friend Nanna Boa Tang. He styles Terry
(03:35):
for a GT and he helped connect me with people
to produce my clothing line, and I wanted to do
these tuxes, and I had the maid and then I thought, oh,
my red lipstick goes with my color. And then I said, ooh,
but you need the shoe because the look was like
the suit and then not a heel, but like a
(03:56):
tuxedo shoe for women.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
And then well, I think Nana suggested doing the bag.
He said you should do the handbag.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So basically we created this capsule where you get the suit,
the shoe, the bag, and the lipstick in one store.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Now I'm going to say this. I know I'm long
with it, but I do a.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Lot of red carpets, and often I would shop and
get the dress and I have to wander all through
the mall to find the shoe, then wander looking.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Through the purpse.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Right, yes, So I thought, why don't I create the
whole collection so they can come here and get everything
for the outfit and go. And I was thinking primarily
of my fellow actresses. People like that, and so that's
why when we launched, we went straight into a style house.
We didn't sell right away. We loaned the clothes out
(04:47):
and they kicked. But I mean, I have over one
hundred and fifty placements with celebrities in La Garcel Bovet,
Gina Davis, Janet Yang, the president of the Motion Pictures,
Arts and Sciences. Everybody you can imagine has worn my
tuxedos and I was like, oh, well, maybe it's time
to sell. So we opened the store in October this
(05:09):
year and we now have our first, our flagship store.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So listen, there's a trunk at the hotel with some
goodies in there for why that I cannot wait to wear.
I'm looking forward to that because I I am. I
love suits.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yeah, I love and we did have nice suit.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah. And that's and that's the thing.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You know, Troy gets all of his suits made custom.
I want some custom suits. So I'm gonna get some
Rebecca Cruz custom suits.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I can't wait. I really can't wait.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Because you can make it whatever you want.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, and we do.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And my turnaround is about three weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Okay, that's fast.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
It is fast. I have a hookup in another country.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay, that's fast.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, we we and we've done some custom We had
custom requests from celebrities, some we couldn't fulfill. I had
a request for a pink suit during the year of
the Barbie movie was out. Yes, well you can imagine
everything pink in the fabric stores was gone. I could
not get textiles to make this lady pink suit.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Because all the pink was gone.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It was gone. But yeah, we do custom. Most of
Terry's stuff is custom too.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah great, yeah, toy can't even buy off the wreck.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, Terry said Terry some things like it's joggers and things,
but not suits or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Okay, enough about them. This is me and you're.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
About the man. We don't care about you.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You also have recently launched a church, yes, and that now,
that is not you know, opening up a store where
you are selling your clothing and your makeup, and that's
something where it's like, okay, you wanted to be successful
and you're working for it to be successful. But when
(07:09):
you open up a church, that's something altogether different, because
that's not just something you just woke up and said,
oh this is a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You opening up a church.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
That means you're called, you were chosen, and the weight
of that is different very much. So how did you
get to this place where you said, you know what
I got to do it.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I'll tell you a story.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I was first of all, I was born to a
preacher's son. My dad was a PK and my grandparents,
the Kings, were Methodist pastors until they passed away. Beautiful people, really,
So this is the Caucasian side of my family, right,
And so ministry is in my blood for one thing.
(07:53):
So from the time I was a child, I had
what my mother would call a religious proclivity. I was
the one preaching to the family. Right, I preached to
my friends. I've preached to the animals, right, I'd quote
the scriptures. I'd read the Bible, and nobody made me
read the Bible. So my mother's like, oh, maybe you're
(08:14):
going to be a speaker, you know. And my family
was a little less religious than their parents, so I
didn't grow up a church kid, so they thought it
all the more odd that I was this little like preacher.
And then in my junior high and high school years,
I sing in gospel choirs.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I had my own choir.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I was a musician and development and I always loved
music that centered around worship and gospel and all these things.
And so throughout my life as a wife, mom, college student,
I served in ministry as a lay person, teens, music
babies by Bible studies. I just wherever the church needed someone,
(08:56):
I'd work and literally, I'm fifty nine. Five years ago,
I began to wake up the middle of the night
with his voice in my head.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Start a church.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I'm like, I rebuke you, devil, because I'm not a pastor.
You know, because I was already speaking traveling. People were
inviting me to miss it. I'm like, I'll get on
the plane and come home. Pastoring is like being a parent,
and I knew it was a big job, so I
(09:29):
just kind of kept ignoring that boys until it just
wouldn't leave me alone. So probably two years into this experience,
I sat up one morning and say, like, God, is
that you? And then he said, get the paperwork. Oh my,
he's not playing. So I became illegal five oh eight.
(09:52):
Took me about three months to get that done because
I know people who know how to do it. Got
my paperwork Forbrecca Cruz Ministries. I'm for one hundred percent legal.
I was already ordained. I'd been ordained for probably ten years,
and I said, what do I do now? He said,
find a building. I said, you're not playing, find a building.
(10:14):
I drove around my town and there was this old
church building that used to have a really fired up
church in it, and I don't know what happened, but
there's like no one meeting in this church. It's a
Nazarene church, seats probably two thousand people, big old church
with a balcony and everything stained glass. And the Holy
Spirit said you could buy that. I said, buy that.
(10:37):
I don't even have my own house, HyET, I'm going
to buy the church. And I said, you want me
to go to my husband and say I want to
buy that church? And it's almost like the lawyer was
laughing at me. He's like, you think too small. I
was like, WHOA. I said, well, can I start with
the Bible study? Can I start with a prayer meeting?
(10:58):
So I started praying and teaching online. And we have
a thing called Monday Night Prayer. So Monday nights at seven,
although we're about to shift, I would go live on
Instagram and TikTok, we'd pray, we'd worship. I'd play this
cool like ethereal worship music in the background. It was
a little you know, local cable access. I'm not gonna lie,
(11:21):
but I just started praying with people and people started
coming then they I invited them in person, they came
to my home. Then we got a theater in Hollywood.
They started coming to the theater in Hollywood. Then they
stopped coming to the theater in Hollywood because it turned
out it wasn't that great a neighborhood, and the sisters
were like.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
We don't want to park over there and pass the Rebecca.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Okay, So now we're launching in my hometown, which is Pasadena,
and what we're doing, and we're actually February second was
supposed to be our first in person Sunday, and then
we had the fires and several of the buildings we
were going to use are burned to the.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
And so pray for Pasadena.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
We have a meeting and one of the ideas that
had come up prior was launching with media first. You know,
many churches start and they do media as they grow,
but many start as media ministries and turn into churches.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
So we're gonna do basically Christian television for YouTube.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
So we're crafting a show that we jokingly say is
like Tiny Desk meets Joyce Meyer. You know, because I'm
a musician, we want to have Christian artists. So we're
gonna have independent as well as well known Christian artists perform.
We're gonna have skits and things about the topic we're
going to teach on, and I'm gonna teach and minister,
(12:50):
and then from that audience we will begin to have
in person ministry, which would be a more of a
formal church.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And it's going to be different.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
God's already kind of boxed my ears about don't do that,
don't do that, don't do what people have been doing,
because there's a generation I'm trying to reach and I
want you to do something different.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So that's what we're doing. And we're excited and we're scared.
But the Lord is with us.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
He's continuously confirming and prophesying everything in terms of direction
to the whole team. And he assembled this amazing team
of believers, some of them I didn't know a year ago,
and they've just come to the call and we're like
this little ragtag army in Pasadena saying, let's go Jesus
(13:43):
and we're going for it.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
What about that keeps you up at a night?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
What about a kid? I'm excited, to be honest. You know,
Becky gets in her head. I can get in my head.
I'm a little analytical, little paralysis of analysis kind of persons.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
But I'm also creative.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
And so when I landed at night, I think to myself, Oh,
I wonder if we could get Toby Mack.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
He's amazing, you know, can we get today?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
You know, because another one of our goals with our
show is to not just feature Christian artists. We want
to feature artists who are Christian in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
People think that doesn't go together, and we are those people,
and so this is really and it's funny I look
at it now. God taking all these parts of me
because I was a theater kid, theater actress till I
got married, did TV, and have done some film as
a mom. But he's taking the performer in me and
(14:49):
the minister in me, which I always thought I had
to choose one yes, and he's kind of created this
lovely mingling of those things that, uh is astonishing to me.
And it's also so full of grace that I feel
(15:10):
like I'm in the best time of my life, Like
I'm I'm kind of finally getting to be what I
always saw. But it just is a little newer version
of that thing, and I'm I'm I feel very privileged.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
You know, when you play a sport, you always say, coach.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Put me in, right, put me in because I played basketball,
I did all that stuff before I became a dancer,
singer and all that. And God says, you're in. You're excited,
and you're scared to death yea. And and that's where
we are. Yeah, and we are, but we're stoked. We
(15:50):
just believe God is gonna really especially in light of
what our city just went to. It's like He was
getting us ready for the people because the people are hurting,
They're really are city's really going through it. And I
felt early on him saying to me, Rebecca, the world's
(16:14):
going through things, and all I want you to just
be there, he said, just be a lighthouse. I want
you to just be there when the people don't know
what to do and they come and say pray for me,
can you can you answer my questions? Can you help
me understand? I don't understand, because that's what they say.
(16:37):
That's what they say is if God loves me, why
did this happen? And the church has to be there
with the answers, and and there are answers to those questions.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
They're not simple answers.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
But but God is love and that we know he
sent his son for this planet. And that's the gospel
we preached, is that God didn't send his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him. A day is coming that
there will everything will be judged. Today we are in
(17:10):
a day of grace and he's offering the whole everyone
to come to his stayshole of the world, the world right.
And I remember him hitting me with that one day.
He said, Rebecca, I love the world.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yes. That means everybody, Yes, everybody.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
You know we think, oh, well, there's believers and non No,
those are people who just haven't understood yet.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
They just that they have to see and it's our Yeah, totally. Now.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I'm gonna be honest. I don't remember a time that
I didn't believe in God. I do remember having doubts
and questions and going through a season of what do
I really believe? But from the time I remember having
a memory or a conscience, I always believed. But even
I see these precious kids that grew up in faith
(18:05):
and have rejected it. They've rejected it because of hypocrisy abuse,
and that's the other thing. He said, I trust you, Rebecca, and.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I said, okay. I always joke. First my first Christian
book will be.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Okay, Jesus, He'll say, Rebecca, do this, okay, send me okay.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
He said, that's your husband. Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
That's how I got Terry Crews. I said, okay, And
I always joke he was Terry Crews, but he wasn't
Terry Crews when I married. He was terryfy Terry with
a yellow T shirt with Charlie Brown on it.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
And he came to church like that. He came to
church in a yellow T shirt with like tweety bird or.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Somebody, and it was so tight. I said, what a
he doing with his muscle shirt on at church? He
trying to catch turned out it was me.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Because my friend brought him to church to meet me.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
And the coolest line he had was, I should liked
the way you played a keyboard.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Sister crew or.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Sister key sister sister Kate, sister Rebecca, sister Becky because
I was Becky in college, sister Becky.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
And I just looked at him. I said, nice to
meet you. Well. I married him two.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Years later.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
He won't my heart. So, yeah, he's a blessing.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
You know what you said, Rebecca that made me just
been kind of sitting in my mind when you said that.
You know, there's the piece where we it's like we
have to choose, we believe we have to choose. So
like I can't and I'm going to use just an example,
like I can't be in entertainment and a believer, right,
(20:02):
And if we're created in God's image and likeness and
there is this gifting inside of me, why would we
believe that that's not him? Yeah, that there's not purpose
in that piece of us and how He created us.
And the believing is the part that's the fixture. It's
(20:23):
the how you show up.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In the world that can change.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I can be an entertainer today, I could be a chef,
I could be any and all things. But the piece
that's supposed to be the constant is that I'm a believer.
And somehow we've gotten into this space where we've decided
that you can't do that and be that when that's
saying that God is limited in his ability.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
To in the creation of how.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
He made us, right, well, and I love that.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I love what you're saying there, because one of the
hallmarks of our church, and the church's name is the
La Life Church. That God gave me that name, I said,
the La Life. That's really funny. And one of our
pillars is that we're abolishing the line between sacred and
(21:17):
seculars because there is that belief that the God isn't
in things that don't have to do with church.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
And how narrow is that?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And I think Satan constructed that ideology, and I believe
he constructed it to take joy away from people, to
make God look like the kill joy and the bad
guy when we know who the bad guy is, and
also to take righteous people out of influential positions. And
so if we all think we can't go into these
(21:48):
places government, entertainment, education, then how are we salt and
light hiding in a bushel? I mean, Jesus didn't say
hide in a cave till I come. He said occupy
until I come. Occupy means rain and rule, and the
Kingdom of God is not by force.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
The kingdom is a kingdom of love. It's a kingdom
of influence, an example, And how are we doing that
if we're afraid to enter into fields that affect humanity.
And I think that, and I'll be honest, the greatest
people I've met in business, entertainment, politics, they're all believers. Yes,
(22:31):
they're all I get.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
You know, you're at dinner with them and they're talking
about their faith. And it does not surprise me, because
the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation and you and
when the righteous are rules, the people rejoice. When they're
good people making decisions about things that affect.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
All of us. That's the kingdom coming. That's the kingdom,
the kingdom come. Yes, what is it?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
The revelation said, the kingdom of our God. The kingdoms
of this world have become the kingdoms of our God
and of his Christ. Meaning now righteousness and goodness is
restored to a place that it was taken from. And yeah,
two many times we run and I get it. I
was in music, I was in the theater world. And
(23:20):
sometimes you go, oh my God, run over the hills.
But the scripture doesn't call this a war. For no reason.
We don't have armor, for no reason. We are swimming upstream.
And not only are we swimming upstreams, we have we
have a chess plate, we have a sword for a reason.
(23:43):
That means that we're taking down things that are against
us and against the goodness of the world, and we
must have that attitude about it and we cannot I tail.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Not in any way.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
And it's so cute because my team, my precious pastor,
he's my executive pastor, George Everley, He's worked in marketing, entertainment, branding,
very experienced business professional. One of my elders, Pastor Shirley Bridwell,
she's an extremely experienced fifth generation minister, right. And then
(24:22):
I've got my two girls that work for me with
my social media and they work with my they do
everything right. We'res this little ragtag army and I had
a vision of us on our horses and our armor
riding behind Jesus and little Shirley had her great ponytail
and she was sitting sideways and little Ayeshaw was riding
(24:44):
with her sword. I was like, oh, my god, we're
just normal people. Jesus He's like, not with that armor on,
you're not. And so we're taking it by horse and
excited to do so. And you should be.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Because I heard someone say God's will, God's bill.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, And even while in the bill, I mean, even
there the opportunities that have come to us with people
granting things and giving things, but more so the courage,
because these are people coming to my side. They're not
(25:28):
being paid, they're not they have nothing to gain except
they feel called by God. And that's like how you know,
in the position I'm in, I could do that. I
could just hire people who don't love God, don't love
the ministry, to do certain kinds of work for me.
(25:51):
But God brought me people that he called who have
the same passion I do, who hear the same voice
I hear yes, and we're all on the chat, you know,
and it's and it's a blessing and it's confirming. It's confirming.
(26:12):
And like I said a year ago, I didn't know
any of them, and that the people, and especially in
the business I do, relationships are much more important than
they're your most important resource, right And because of who
I am, relationships are very precious.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yes, they're very precious.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Because people are attracted to wealth, they're attracted to fame.
So I have to have great discernment to know who's
joining my team and why, Yes, what's the motive, what's
the motives? And so God is so graciously allowed. And
that is actually a greater challenge for us than the
(26:56):
money is. We could probably pay for everything God has
told me to do that, But what I am spending,
He's told me to spend.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
But what I treasure is that He proved.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
To me through the circumstances and events, that he brought
me people who are just as called as I am.
And that means more to me. Their hearts, their loyalty,
their commitment to the Kingdom of God and two people
and to each other and to me. And that's to me,
(27:30):
the richest gift, the richest gift. And I have no
doubt we're just gonna give the devil a really massive
headache in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I count on it. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Well, look, I'm looking forward to seeing the ministry really blossom.
And I can't wait to have the opportunity to be
out in LA and join you for a service and
come to the store, come to church outfit to wear
it to the church, then to go to lunch.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I'm looking forward to it all.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Come see us in old Pasadena.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, But I want to thank you so
much for coming and spending some time with me. Stand
while taking a seat at the table, and I want
you to know that you are welcome here anytime.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Thank you, My pleasure, absolutely, pleasure, absolutely thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t o mmiv
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(28:49):
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staal wild.
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Stay well, tell me me Gone, Stay well, tell me
me
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