0:01

The following podcast is a Dear Media

0:03

production. Thank

0:10

you for tuning into Balance Black Girl

0:12

podcast. This show is all about conversations

0:14

that involve everything we need to feel

0:16

healthy, happy, thriving, and something

0:18

that helps me feel healthy, happy,

0:20

thriving is getting to talk to

0:23

my friends. And so I'm so excited for

0:25

today's episode because I'm welcoming back an incredible

0:27

guest who has been on Balance Black Girl

0:29

before, someone who I'm lucky enough to call

0:31

a friend, actor, activist,

0:34

wellness advocate, Spelman alum,

0:36

Miss Zuri Adele. Welcome

0:38

back. Thank you. Thank you,

0:40

Liz. Thank you for having me. I'm

0:42

so happy to see you in

0:44

person. I'm so proud

0:46

of you. I'm so honored to be here. And

0:49

I'm feeling led to like, I don't know,

0:51

can we set an intention? And yes, can we

0:53

hold hands? I don't know. Just

0:56

give thanks. Yeah. Yeah,

1:00

I just want to feel our feet in the

1:02

ground. I should put my feet on the

1:04

ground. And feel

1:07

our shoulders drop back,

1:10

loosen up our

1:12

jaws and give thanks. Thank

1:15

you, ancestors. Thank

1:18

you, divine wisdom. Thank

1:20

you, God. Thank you, love. Thank

1:24

you, sisterhood. Thank

1:26

you, parents. Thank

1:28

you, community. Thank you to

1:30

every entity that allows

1:33

us to be together and have

1:35

this conversation. We have

1:38

no specific agenda other than

1:40

to reveal more and more

1:42

of who you, power, love,

1:44

God really are through

1:47

us, through liberation,

1:49

through sisterhood. And

1:53

I just pray that we surrender to

1:56

being the vessel, the clay.

2:00

the light so

2:03

that God's

2:05

will, love's will can

2:07

be carried out through this conversation. May

2:11

we just feel

2:13

grounded, feel at ease, feel

2:16

at peace, feel safe to

2:19

share it all, talk about it all.

2:22

May all who can be liberated through

2:24

this interaction be as

2:27

present as possible. And

2:30

thank you. We know that we

2:32

will gain so much more than we

2:35

can ever give just because of all

2:37

the people around us behind the scenes here

2:39

who are pouring in so much

2:42

energy, so much love, so much dedication

2:44

to this

2:46

platform being heightened, being

2:49

expanded, being

2:52

used for good. Thank

2:55

you for this opportunity. Thank you, Les. May

2:58

everything you touch turn to gold. Everything

3:01

that is in motion for you is for you.

3:06

Thank you for sharing your platform with me. Thank

3:09

you for saying yes to your calling. I

3:13

am so grateful for the way in which we met.

3:15

I'm so grateful for the way in which

3:17

you've been sharing

3:19

your purpose with the world and

3:22

allowed me to knock on the door and ask

3:24

if I can join you years

3:27

ago. Thank you

3:29

for being my friend. Thank you for

3:31

helping me grow and learn through your example. Thank

3:34

you for being present with me here today. Oh my

3:36

God. Thank you. I

3:40

told you not to make me cry before. Oh honey.

3:42

Okay. We're going to cry by the end of

3:45

the week. We're going to see. No, I don't

3:47

know how every other episode is going to not

3:49

have that kind of intention setting

3:51

after it. Yeah. Well, you do

3:53

it. You set the standard. Thank you. Thank

3:56

you for being here. Thank you for being you.

3:58

Yeah. Thank you. Oh, that

4:00

was amazing. So

4:02

welcome back. Thank you. Welcome back.

4:04

It's been exactly three years since our

4:07

last episode. We were sick in the

4:09

pandemic. Sick, yeah. In

4:11

it, at home. Yeah. Yeah. I've

4:13

actually never done a podcast conversation

4:15

that's filmed that I can think

4:18

of. And I'm really

4:20

excited. I love, I'm loving motion picture

4:22

and I love conversations and I love

4:25

sisterhood. So I'm like, this feels like

4:27

a party and I'm

4:30

excitedly, I don't know if nervous

4:32

is the word, just like I'm

4:34

excitedly present with no agenda and

4:36

just an open vessel. And it

4:38

feels so good to do this

4:40

with someone I trust so much.

4:43

Oh, yeah. I'm so grateful for that. And

4:45

I do think that us getting to be

4:47

in the same place and it does, it

4:49

ups the energy a lot more. And

4:52

it makes it more conversational. Yeah. Because

4:55

I think sometimes when it's remote, it's like question,

4:57

answer, question, answer. Versus

5:00

we can just flow. Yeah, I

5:02

love that. Yeah, we're not as worried about

5:04

like the sound talking over each

5:06

other and all the different elements from different

5:09

rooms. And yeah, just being able to look

5:11

each other in the eyes. I'm such an

5:13

in-person connector. Like physical touch is

5:15

my love language. If I contact where

5:18

love language is probably one of mine.

5:20

Yeah, and just, yeah, I'm

5:23

loving it. We have no

5:25

technology distractions in separate rooms.

5:28

Such an honor because for so long,

5:30

we were really surrendered to that boundary.

5:33

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, through so

5:36

much. Three years. So

5:38

much has happened in three years in such

5:40

a beautiful way. We have both like I've

5:42

just seen us grow and evolve

5:46

and heal so much. And so many,

5:49

like be torn open. Yes. And then

5:51

come back and torn open.

5:53

You know, that natural process

5:56

of wound, scar, mark. Yes,

6:00

and the world has been doing that. Like

6:02

the world has been Torn

6:06

open, torn apart, brought back together

6:10

Reflected upon and Yeah,

6:14

pokes and prodded. Yeah. Yeah.

6:16

Yeah Last

6:18

time you were here. It was just a few months

6:20

after your 30th birthday You had

6:22

just turned 30 and you were now 33, 33 as you said.

6:24

33 baby. Which was beautiful How?

6:29

Yeah, how are your 30s? How are your

6:31

30s treating you? How are

6:34

you feeling at this point now three years into your

6:36

30s? Girl? Okay The

6:39

30s are nice. The 30s are

6:41

nice. The 30s are a little bit.

6:44

I mean we're in this tumultuous time

6:46

of life Yeah, um, and

6:48

so there are a lot of unknowns and

6:50

I feel really really blessed that my experience

6:52

in my 30s has been an

6:56

experience where I've gotten to really

6:59

dive into like my plan a

7:01

career in terms of Being

7:05

able to support myself full-time as an

7:07

actor and storyteller And

7:10

also it's been a time with the many

7:12

unknowns with the strike and the pandemic all

7:14

of those things starting. Yes At

7:17

this time in these last several years. It's also

7:19

been a time of like really asking myself how

7:23

I really want to sustain and support

7:25

myself and how to empower myself with

7:27

like Multiple

7:30

streams of income and peace and

7:32

and And

7:35

it's also it's been really empowering. It's been a

7:37

time of having more of a platform

7:39

to be mindful of

7:41

and also to be

7:43

honored to like be able to

7:45

share so much and be of service and It's

7:48

also just stretch me like I've I've

7:50

been I've been

7:52

receiving a lot of answered prayers in

7:55

my career and

7:59

Also So learning how to balance

8:02

so many responsibilities at once, like zero

8:05

to 100 in a zero to 100

8:07

type of way. That's

8:10

really required me to

8:12

get specific about my boundaries

8:15

and how I care for my body, how

8:18

I care for my voice,

8:20

my vessel, how I show up

8:22

in my relationships. And

8:25

so yeah, it's been like 30s to 30s. To

8:27

answer your question, it's been

8:29

full of learning. It's been full

8:32

of grief, I think, right

8:34

before we spoke the first time my

8:37

father had passed. And

8:39

it was also at the beginning of the pandemic

8:41

and it was such a

8:43

unique way to say goodbye to

8:46

him because we had to do it virtually. And

8:48

he was in New York and I was in

8:50

Los Angeles. And there

8:53

was a lot of surrender.

8:58

Surrender seems to me to work right now. And

9:00

so and through that, because it was one

9:03

of the most, it was the most challenging

9:07

experience I have ever had in

9:09

my body and emotions,

9:12

it was also the most transformative

9:15

experience. And so my

9:17

30s have been the most transformative. Yeah,

9:20

that's I mean, it's like it's this big.

9:23

I don't know. It's still, you know, we're

9:25

just getting started. I'm in the early parties

9:27

and like it's definitely

9:29

the most empowering decade

9:32

yet so far. Yeah.

9:35

Yeah. And it's fun.

9:37

It's spicy. You know, it's like we

9:40

could do a little more, it's like a little more

9:42

empowerment, more resources to

9:44

like have fun and the adult and

9:47

also like the stakes are so much

9:49

higher. So it's a

9:51

little thrilling, you know, when we learn

9:53

some of these lessons are costly, costly.

9:57

Yeah. The lessons are really. expensive,

10:00

all of it. Exactly.

10:03

Emotionally, physically,

10:05

like our bodies are very

10:07

communicative in the 30s and I'm

10:09

sure it only gets more and more clear from there.

10:12

So yeah it's

10:14

a lot. It's in a beautiful way but it's

10:16

yeah the 30s best decade

10:19

yet so far. Yeah and full of learning.

10:21

Absolutely and the best is yet to

10:23

come. Yeah. This

10:27

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10:29

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10:31

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Listen up. You know that we are

12:20

working on being

12:23

in our successful era over here and if

12:25

you want to know the secret to success,

12:28

it's really being able to drop into

12:30

your mindfulness routine because it's mind over

12:32

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12:34

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12:38

the show for a while or if

12:40

you've been following me for a while,

12:42

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12:44

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12:47

you're like me, you have tried it all. You've read

12:51

all the books, you've taken all the classes,

12:53

you've done all of the things, but I

12:55

really found that so many of the answers

12:57

that I was looking for were within and

12:59

when I have those mindful moments, I can

13:01

get quiet, I can get centered. That's when

13:03

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13:05

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13:32

morning to set me up for a

13:34

really peaceful day. And I also love

13:36

doing the Pilates and yoga classes in

13:39

the afternoons to get a bit of

13:41

movement in to help me stretch and

13:43

to get my blood pumping. And so

13:45

many of their classes are 10 minutes

13:47

or less. So even if you're short

13:49

on time, it's a really great way

13:51

to pour into yourself. And my

13:54

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13:56

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you this app. will be a

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14:31

person. How are

14:34

your 30s? You

14:37

know what? I

14:40

feel like I, in my 20s was

14:42

so un-present and unaware. I

14:48

was so focused on all of these

14:50

things outside of myself and jobs and

14:52

boys and how I was being perceived

14:55

in my very limited definitions of success.

14:57

But that decade ended and I was

14:59

like, wait a minute, where did it

15:01

go? I didn't live. I wasn't present.

15:04

I didn't experience it. I didn't really

15:06

experience anything. And so for

15:08

my 30s, it's been a lot

15:10

more about not having the pressure on myself

15:12

to figure it all out because we realized we'd never

15:14

figure it all out. Part of getting older is

15:17

realizing how much you don't know. We don't know anything and

15:19

I love it here. And embracing it, which is the best. And

15:22

just wanting to live and wanting to experience

15:24

and worrying less about what the end result

15:26

is. Yes. Yes.

15:30

I got excited because my

15:32

therapist just said this quote. She

15:35

just said this to me. She

15:37

said, how I feel

15:39

is more important than how I am perceived.

15:43

She helped me by giving me that

15:45

mantra for how I feel is more important

15:47

than how I am perceived because I say

15:51

I am reminded of that because you're right.

15:53

Like in our 20s, we

15:57

are really focused on how we're perceived.

16:00

Especially, I mean, through many decades and

16:02

I do remember, I do feel

16:04

now a shedding

16:06

of that. It was just like, ooh.

16:09

And maybe that's also through the pandemic. So maybe

16:11

it feels like it's the 30s, but maybe if

16:13

I were in my 40s during this pandemic, like

16:16

I would feel the same, but yeah, how I

16:18

feel, like choosing to prioritize how I

16:20

feel over how I'm perceived and

16:22

like having that vocabulary to

16:25

understand how I'm making my decisions. Is

16:28

this about, am I making this decision based on how

16:30

I want to be perceived or how I want to

16:32

feel? And yeah, being

16:36

more intentional about that has been

16:38

really helpful. And I'm just

16:40

saying it to my 20 something self right

16:42

now. Yeah, yeah. Because

16:45

even how we feel can lead

16:47

to being perceived in our best

16:49

light if we follow how we

16:52

feel first. Whereas going the opposite

16:54

route, like it's still a win-win.

16:56

It's okay to be concerned with how

16:58

we are perceived as long as it

17:00

is led by how we

17:02

want to feel. At least that's what I feel right now.

17:05

Yeah, in this stage of life. Because there's

17:07

a good part of that is self-awareness, which

17:10

is great, but if we let others

17:12

perceptions of us dictate how we feel,

17:14

that's a slippery slope. And I know

17:17

I've been there. Yeah, absolutely. I

17:19

mean, understandably. We want to

17:22

succeed in life and there are so many ways

17:24

in which we give other humans

17:27

the keys to that success. And like you said,

17:29

we're all figuring it out. So we don't need

17:31

to put that in each other's hands. We just

17:33

need to each prioritize how we're feeling so we

17:35

can show up and pour

17:37

from full place. Yeah.

17:40

I think about, I see a lot of things

17:43

online from people in their 20s and

17:45

how kind of anxious they feel and how much pressure

17:47

they put on themselves. I'm like, oh my goodness. I remember

17:49

10 years ago feeling that same way. Girl,

17:51

I was feeling that this morning. Right.

17:54

We still do. Yeah. It's like, am I

17:56

doing the right thing? Do I have it

17:58

figured out? And I. Every time

18:00

I see somebody in their 20s say that,

18:03

I just can't help but breathe. But there's

18:05

so much life ahead of

18:07

you. And I

18:10

really appreciate you talking about the experience

18:12

with your dad and with that grieving

18:14

process. Oh man. And it reminded

18:17

me a lot of when I

18:19

realized how much

18:22

life was ahead was when my granny passed

18:24

a few months after I turned 30 and

18:26

she was blessed enough to make it to

18:28

her mid 80s. And

18:30

I thought if I'm lucky enough to make it

18:32

that far, I have 50 plus

18:35

years to figure so many things out

18:37

and live and experience. Why am I

18:39

putting so much pressure on this one

18:41

age that I'm at right now when

18:43

Lord willing I will hopefully

18:45

get to where she got and have

18:47

so much time to figure things out.

18:50

Yeah. Life is both too long and

18:52

too short to feel good. Yes.

18:55

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Whether it's

18:57

one day or 80 years. Yeah.

19:01

And when we think about surrender, I think sometimes it

19:03

can be tempting to think about the really big

19:05

things. Yeah. I would love to maybe hear about

19:07

some smaller ways that you feel like you kind

19:09

of surrender in your day to day because I

19:12

think the small things that we do add up to

19:14

be the big things. Okay.

19:17

Yeah. So my

19:20

friend and colleague, Sherry Kola and

19:22

I, we say, I love her. That's

19:24

my sister. We have

19:26

this phrase that really helps us because

19:28

in our work

19:30

lives of production and TV projection

19:35

in particular and perhaps also with film,

19:38

but like there are constant changes, you

19:40

know, constant script changes or schedule changes

19:42

and with COVID perhaps

19:44

and just needing to surrender

19:48

and shift and stay ready

19:51

for big changes quickly and

19:53

small changes and be responsible

19:55

for the energy in the room at

19:57

the same time while we process those changes. All

20:01

of that to say because she and I work

20:03

together so often and we

20:06

sort of entered like this space

20:10

somewhat alongside each other in terms

20:12

of navigating like a

20:15

bigger, larger platform in the public

20:17

eye. We really come together with some of our

20:19

phrases because we'll sometimes know of some of the

20:21

changes that are going on for both of us. And

20:24

one of our phrases is pivot to give it. And

20:27

it's just like, okay, we got to pivot to give it.

20:29

Like if we want to give it, we want to give

20:31

our best, we need to pivot right now. And

20:34

we'll just be like, pivot to give it, baby, pivot to give it. Just

20:37

like that reminder. Keep it together, keep

20:40

it calm, keep it kind, keep

20:42

it useful, trust it, just trust it, pivot to give

20:44

it. So even at

20:46

home, you know, I'll say that it

20:49

can be anything. It

20:52

can be news

20:54

about a loved one is, you

20:56

know, our parents are aging, you know,

20:58

a loved one is dealing with something

21:01

physically or has passed or, and not

21:03

just with elders. I mean, our peers,

21:05

we are very used to, for

21:08

better or worse, we are very used to, you know,

21:12

the cycle of life and death amongst

21:14

our peers. And so changes

21:17

like that. And then also just changes

21:20

at home. Everyone's got a different, there's a

21:22

meeting that needs to change or a schedule

21:24

that needs to change or all

21:26

of a sudden the toilet is

21:28

overflowing or the water's not

21:30

on or the electricity is

21:32

out or the dog has

21:34

diarrhea or somebody

21:36

needs a place to stay, whatever, all the

21:38

things. And learning

21:41

and surrendering and knowing

21:43

what's ours, what's ours to

21:46

need to pivot and to take on. But yeah,

21:48

that phrase, pivot to give it. And

21:50

not that it always has to be a phrase, that's

21:53

just one that helps me like, I mean, stay in

21:55

it, let me say, let's the little, the martial arts,

21:57

little like emotional martial arts, if you will. That

22:00

really helps me with the big and

22:02

small things. Even if it's like, okay,

22:04

there's an accident on the road, traffic

22:06

is crazy. I

22:09

don't wanna be perceived as, you know,

22:12

I'm not being mindful of

22:14

people's time. So I

22:16

need to pivot and make a phone call right now.

22:18

I don't wanna text and drive, let me call and-

22:21

Don't text and drive. Make a call or send

22:23

us something with your voice from

22:25

your watch or something and see what we can

22:27

change. We start this 30 minutes later. Can we,

22:30

or I just need to let you know, so you

22:32

know to pivot, or can we do this sooner?

22:37

Whatever it is, but just like this

22:39

constant game of Tetris and allowing it

22:41

to feel easeful, like

22:44

knowing what I can do, what can

22:46

I do in excellence? I think like

22:48

thinking about that constant pivot is

22:50

really helping

22:52

me, is really helping me stay present with like what I

22:54

can do in excellence and what do I need to let

22:56

go? And even just,

22:59

like the most simple things, I

23:01

really wanna cook myself a home cooked meal. Like

23:03

it's been a minute and I'm really craving that

23:06

experience and because of other

23:08

things on my plate, I

23:11

may need a pivot to give it and

23:14

get a salad on the way from somewhere or,

23:16

you know, I mean, that's, there's so

23:18

many, I wanna meditate for 30 minutes

23:21

every morning and every night and sometimes

23:23

I got a pivot to give it. And

23:25

sometimes that's five minutes or sometimes that's in

23:27

the afternoon and that night or whatever, sometimes

23:30

that's at 3 a.m. when everything's

23:32

quiet and nobody's gonna call or email, you

23:34

know, like, but yeah, the pivot, how

23:37

can I pivot to give it, to give it my best? That

23:40

has been my surrender

23:43

mantra lately. Yeah,

23:45

I love, it's just a

23:47

good reminder. When we

23:49

wanna control things, a reminder

23:52

that we can't always, okay,

23:54

what's required of me in this moment,

23:56

how can I adjust? Yeah, and also

23:58

even like in romance, dating. and in

24:00

friendship, like the common friendships and

24:03

romantic friendship, like going on a

24:05

path and excitedly like feeling like

24:07

I'm building maybe perhaps

24:09

potential partnership with someone and then like, okay,

24:11

we're getting some new information about like how

24:13

we vibe in or new information about things

24:15

we didn't know before. And like now it's

24:17

time to, how can we pivot and have

24:19

this relationship be as grounded

24:22

in love as it can be knowing

24:26

that it might need to, that we might need

24:28

to change our dynamics. Cause like staying in it

24:30

and being enemies is also is not gonna be

24:32

healthy for me. You

24:36

know, that's not gonna pour back into my

24:38

cup or a work relationship or a friendship.

24:41

It's just like, what's the fun, what

24:43

are the enjoyable parts about this relationship?

24:45

Is this like the fun, you know,

24:47

maybe our pivot is like, we

24:50

just like to go to dinner together. And like, we

24:53

go to events or something. And

24:56

maybe this is not where I

24:58

consistently have emotional space

25:00

held for like the deep stuff.

25:03

And like if communicating doesn't feel good in that way

25:05

for me, you know, or so yeah, just

25:08

like the constant pivots and that can change in

25:10

each chapter based on what we all have capacity

25:12

for. You know, it's not blaming anyone. It's just

25:14

really like, okay, how do we need to pivot

25:17

to give our best in this chapter given

25:19

all the, we're each the star of our own

25:21

lives, our own show. And like, we're each perhaps

25:24

guest stars in each other's lives in a beautiful

25:27

way. We add a lot. And so in order

25:29

to keep adding to

25:31

each of our lives, like how can

25:33

we pivot and not

25:35

be attached to how it

25:37

used to be. Right. Yeah. Or what we

25:40

think other people should do or how they

25:42

should show up. Yeah. We're

25:44

all experiencing one another. Yeah.

25:47

In various ways. Exactly. In various ways

25:49

from our perspective and something else that's

25:51

really helped me with surrender has

25:54

been to intentionally, as best as

25:56

I can, intentionally be really mindful

25:58

of the word show. good, could,

26:00

and would, and any versions of them.

26:03

So anytime I

26:06

feel tempted to say should,

26:08

could, or would, I really

26:10

try to

26:12

pivot that to something

26:14

stronger, like I want, or next

26:17

time I will, or this helped me

26:19

learn that I need this, rather

26:22

than shoulda, coulda, woulda is just in the

26:24

past. And that feels like

26:26

holding on rather than surrender. Which

26:29

even holding on like feels different in my

26:31

body than when I say surrender in my

26:34

body. And I feel better in my

26:36

whole plumb line when I say

26:38

surrender. And so that

26:40

and the word but. So instead of

26:42

but I try to say and, this is,

26:45

you know, it's a daily practice. So as best

26:47

as I can, I try to

26:49

say and, or though, however, yes

26:52

and. It's like

26:54

one of our exercises as actors

26:56

and writers is we say

26:58

yes and. Like I support that idea. And

27:01

this is what I need to add to it to make it more

27:04

truthful. Rather than resisting

27:07

what the universe is doing. Right. Or

27:09

undermining. Yes. Or

27:11

looking for reasons why something can't

27:13

work. Exactly. It's what but does.

27:15

That's what but does. Yeah. Which

27:18

is an understandable way of protecting ourselves

27:20

when we try to find reasons things

27:23

may not work because we especially have

27:25

had so many experiences of closed

27:28

doors and being

27:30

told why things can't work. I mean, there

27:32

are so many, I mean, generationally,

27:35

ancestrally, there

27:37

were so many doors

27:40

closed to us being in this room.

27:42

Right. You know, and so

27:44

it's understandable that those words are in our

27:47

vocabulary. And now I am

27:50

seeking to use them

27:54

less or not at all. Yeah. In

27:56

order to find and lean into surrender. Absolutely.

28:00

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your first order. I

32:30

love what you just said about doors. Yes.

32:32

I would love to hear more

32:35

about your experiences with getting

32:37

through doors that have been closed,

32:39

how you open them, how you keep them

32:41

open for others because I think that's something that

32:43

you are so good at. You're

32:46

good. You're good, girl. You

32:48

better work. Right? Right?

32:51

Yeah, that was nice. Okay. Thank

32:54

you. I love a segue. I love a

32:56

segue. So, Elastique.co. I love a segue. So,

33:01

I'm on strike. And however, I have

33:03

been for the past five years and I say

33:05

I'm on strike because I want to

33:09

refrain from like promoting the

33:11

exact project that

33:13

I've been working on. And

33:16

I just mentioned it to say that for

33:18

the last five,

33:20

six years now, I have been working

33:24

on a project,

33:27

a show that

33:29

has allowed me

33:31

to consistently support

33:34

myself as an actor. And

33:36

it's also not only that

33:39

the story itself has felt

33:41

really connected to my purpose

33:43

as someone who's passionate about

33:45

black liberation, collective liberation, activism,

33:48

feminism, queerness, all

33:50

the things. And so, that

33:54

I remember at a particular

33:56

time after graduate school, after...

34:00

And I studied, I trained as

34:02

an actor in academia, undergrad and

34:04

grad school. And so I had

34:06

this, in my ego, I

34:08

had this expectation that I earned

34:13

this consistency, like I earned a consistent sort of

34:15

job as an actor. I was like, oh, once

34:17

I have my degrees, I just, I earned it.

34:19

I'll be able to take care of myself, like

34:21

as an actor. And

34:23

that was not the case. I needed to

34:25

go into, you know, getting all my food

34:27

stamps and having part time, you know, minimum

34:29

wage job and making sure I still had

34:32

time to audition and, you know, in the

34:34

daytime and work somewhere at night and all

34:36

of that to prioritize it. I also knew

34:38

I was welcoming in the

34:42

opportunity to work full time as an actor. I

34:44

also needed to build the skill

34:46

set to do so as a business woman and also

34:48

just even the skill set to ask for the camera.

34:50

I needed to get in classes and I had so

34:52

much more learning to do. And

34:56

I challenged myself,

34:58

a friend of mine was

35:00

doing a 40 day challenge

35:02

for herself of yoga. She

35:05

was just like, I'm just challenging myself to show up and practice

35:07

yoga for 40 days. Like she

35:10

just needed, she needed more than 30

35:12

days and she, and biblically 40 days

35:14

is like

35:16

that time where there is an

35:18

extended time of suffering,

35:21

suffering and self dedication.

35:25

And she really, she wanted

35:27

to experience that. She wanted to push past

35:29

those 30 days. And

35:32

so, and I was really inspired by that. And I was like,

35:34

I really, I was really inspired to

35:36

meditate for 40 days. And

35:40

during that time, and I

35:42

can't tell you why, it just was, I

35:44

think I meditate. I was meditating already daily, but

35:47

it was like, I wanted to make it more

35:49

consistent. And I noticed like my

35:51

days were really

35:53

powerful when I did meditate, even if

35:55

it was two minutes. And

35:59

that, time all of that to say like

36:01

when I really dedicated myself to a 40-day

36:04

practice which just led into a

36:06

lifestyle of meditating

36:10

that is when doors

36:12

started really

36:15

opening in terms of my

36:17

career at the time and

36:19

I'm still you know I'm fresh I'm

36:21

still one to open a whole lot

36:24

more doors now although I

36:26

do acknowledge like when you talk about

36:28

the doors and how we can initiate

36:32

the opening of those ourselves I think that

36:34

I could feel that there was when

36:37

I I declared

36:39

something to the

36:42

ether that like I

36:45

surrender I'm sitting still I welcome

36:48

change I'm listening

36:51

and I got I just got so

36:53

much guidance and it just trickled into

36:56

reaching out to mentors and reaching out

36:58

to just opportunities

37:01

that were beyond

37:04

like auditioning and putting the power in someone

37:06

else's hands but I also I started

37:08

reaching out to ask how I could be a servant on

37:11

people sets or how I can learn

37:13

how I can show up and learn

37:16

and sit in

37:18

and sit in a writers room

37:20

with a mentor or like be

37:22

a stand-in and play all all

37:24

these different characters like in one day and so

37:27

they could hear these jokes that they were working

37:29

on and I'm really grateful I have a mentor

37:31

Stacy Evans Morgan who gave me an opportunity to

37:33

like to show up and do that and it

37:35

was I didn't know that she was gonna say

37:37

yes to that I didn't even know she was

37:40

gonna be in production and she

37:42

was working on a show and she

37:44

welcomed me to like come play and

37:46

it just so happened that they were

37:48

starting their process like their shooting

37:50

process like with two days after

37:53

I reached out to her but it was just like

37:55

in that meditation that it was like okay who

37:58

can I reach out to do I

38:00

want to learn from and with and around and

38:02

how can I be of service and yeah That

38:05

was that is one example of like

38:07

the many ways in which I think

38:09

just committing myself to a Spiritual

38:13

practice like when I think the I think

38:15

it was also taking the material part out of

38:17

it Like yeah, it wasn't like because

38:19

at the time I didn't need money now. I

38:21

needed some money Yeah, I needed to pay that

38:23

money, but it was it wasn't it wasn't like

38:26

okay. I need money So I need this

38:28

I need to get Oscar whatever

38:30

I need to get this movie get this contract

38:32

like that's not Scarcity. No once

38:34

it once I took it out of the

38:36

scarcity is when the door opened I think

38:38

that when I was trying to clinch on

38:41

yep To what

38:43

I thought was mine what I thought I

38:45

deserved and also I was ignorantly watching people

38:47

I admire get

38:50

their degrees and them Have

38:52

a job and get an Oscar and I was really

38:54

and that's not how it happened for them It's just

38:56

how I saw it on the outside. Mm-hmm, and

38:59

I Was like that's

39:01

gonna be me like I did that too. Yeah And

39:04

so I think the sitting with it like

39:06

helped me also reflect like I think it

39:08

just did a transformation of my own mind

39:10

Yeah, and day 20 of

39:12

that practice. I believe it was halfway

39:14

through is When

39:16

I received an audition for like the job that

39:18

I've had for the last several years and Not

39:23

that I even expected I've been out there was

39:25

other days I was auditioning for other stuff and

39:27

but there was something about just knowing that like

39:30

There was something in my body that was just really

39:33

surrendered to whatever the divine plan was. Yeah Through

39:35

this practice and I'm also it's so

39:38

interesting. I'm in a challenge of that

39:40

right now. I'm in the 40-day personal

39:43

Meditation you I don't even know. Yeah, I'm going

39:45

till 11 11 Okay, and

39:47

I just put it in my calendar and perfect.

39:49

Yeah, and and I

39:51

want to just continue Yeah, you know, like maybe

39:53

I'll just maybe I won't even look at it

39:55

when it's day 40 because now and now I'm

39:57

going deeper I'm meditating for longer and like

40:00

having greater, even

40:03

greater experiences and doors

40:05

opening and bigger surrenders. But

40:07

yeah, I mean that's that's

40:10

my that's the first answer that comes to mind.

40:12

It's a long-winded one but it really is like

40:16

I mean prayer is really the portal.

40:18

And sometimes for me prayer is not

40:20

speaking. For me sometimes prayer is just

40:22

sitting and surrendering. I

40:24

think you said that. Yeah. Because I think

40:26

sometimes people think that prayer and meditation

40:28

are at odds. No. And the way I

40:31

think of it is they work together. Prayer

40:33

is often me talking and meditation is

40:35

where God is answering. For me that's how

40:37

they work together for me. So they

40:39

don't need to be you know these things

40:42

that are like competing with one another.

40:44

They work together beautifully I think. I agree.

40:46

I'm not an expert but you are. We

40:48

are all experts of what works best

40:50

for us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Prayer

40:53

is yeah that's why

40:55

I sometimes I'm hesitant but I'm like that's

40:58

the first answer that comes to mind. When

41:00

you talk about that portal and I just

41:02

think that prayer can be watering your plants.

41:04

It can be washing your dishes. It can

41:06

be taking a shower. Like meditation sometimes my

41:09

shower is like my meditation. You know and

41:11

yeah it can be whatever it whatever

41:13

it needs to be. It can be

41:15

ironing your clothes. Clearly we didn't you know we

41:18

just don't let it flow today. All right. But

41:20

whatever feels good and

41:22

allows for that moment of pause

41:25

can be someone's prayer. I

41:27

really do think that whatever lets

41:29

us be most present walking walking your

41:31

dog from being in nature even

41:34

sitting and just saying like I'm inhaling now

41:37

I'm exhaling now in the

41:39

midst of chaos or even

41:41

during a calm moment just like I'm just

41:44

going to savor it. Yeah. Eating a good

41:46

meal and tasting every bite like the Dalai

41:48

Lama you know that's

41:50

meditation that's prayer. So being present. Yeah.

41:52

So when I say prayer I really

41:55

want like it's important for me

41:57

it's important to me that the word prayer

41:59

feels accessible. Yes.

42:01

Yeah. And that is, that's

42:03

the portal. Like whatever it is, whatever your

42:06

prayer is, how can I be of service

42:08

today? Where can I

42:10

be more present today? What are five

42:13

things I smell right now? What

42:15

are three things I hear? What

42:17

are seven things I can touch?

42:19

That's prayer. That grounding. Yeah, that's

42:21

prayer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That gratitude

42:23

to even use the senses. Yeah,

42:26

absolutely. And like 40 days

42:28

of that, even if it's just

42:30

a few minutes each day, I

42:33

have found to consistently

42:37

without fail be transformative. And I mean

42:39

in the greatest ways. I started that

42:42

challenge on food stamps and ended it

42:44

with a serious regular contract.

42:47

And not that it's about material things,

42:49

it's just about being present with what's

42:51

already on its way. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

42:54

I think so much of that, it's a

42:56

testament to preparation. Yes. We often want these

42:58

opportunities and want these things. I think of

43:00

some things that I want that if I

43:02

were to get right now, I'm not ready.

43:05

I'm not. So it's maybe for the best

43:07

that I don't have it right now, but

43:09

having a practice like that where you're grounding

43:11

daily, to get an opportunity

43:13

like the one that you've had, your

43:15

ability to ground daily and meditate with

43:18

me to not leave for yourself. It

43:20

was staying in it. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

43:22

Because I'm also a person I have,

43:24

I don't know, I won't be surprised

43:27

if I am one day diagnosed with

43:30

ADD. I don't know. I, but

43:32

in some ways I do know that

43:34

I'm a person who has many

43:38

tabs open in my brain.

43:40

And so meditation and

43:43

stillness are really helpful tools

43:45

for me. Yeah. Especially in, and I

43:47

love all the things I get to do

43:49

and in the life that I love so

43:52

much, I am in

43:54

multiple conversations at one time as

43:56

both a different character and as

43:59

myself. And with family and friends

44:01

and work and like balancing wanting to

44:03

be a leader while also taking

44:06

direction well and all of it just a

44:08

lot at once and keeping

44:10

in mind what's going on at home

44:12

and keeping all the balls

44:14

up in the air, you know, it can be a

44:17

lot. And

44:20

yeah, that some sort of practice

44:23

that brings me to center is

44:25

really empowering for me. Absolutely.

44:28

Yeah. Can we talk a

44:30

little bit about your relationship to creativity?

44:32

I love talking to creative

44:35

people about creativity. Okay. Obviously

44:37

you are an artist by trade. Yes.

44:40

I'm curious how your relationship to creativity

44:43

has evolved over the past few months,

44:45

especially with being on strike. Have

44:48

you had to find other ways to channel

44:50

your creativity? What has that been like? I

44:53

really like that question. Okay. The

44:56

first thing that comes to mind when you say creativity

44:58

and like what that's like, what

45:02

I've learned that's been

45:04

most consistent lately is to

45:06

trust myself, trust my instincts,

45:08

trust my voice, trust my

45:10

vision without needing

45:12

to know why. And

45:14

that is creativity to me. Just

45:17

like I'm being creative when I

45:19

trust my instinct, even if it's like,

45:21

are we cousin over here with nothing?

45:23

Okay. Let me

45:25

be creative. I

45:29

have one of my favorite acting teachers.

45:31

He always says, fuck up gloriously. So

45:34

even if it's something that doesn't work,

45:36

but how willing am I to fuck

45:38

up gloriously and trust my

45:41

instinct? And

45:43

sometimes that instinct is not anything crazy.

45:46

And sometimes it is something like spicy

45:48

and bold and bright, you know, whatever

45:50

it is, trust it.

45:52

That has been the most creative

45:55

thing I can do. So even

45:57

in my creativity, in my. last

46:01

season of filming, most

46:03

recently, I started shadowing directors.

46:05

And just from a place of

46:08

like, I'm really

46:10

curious about how this

46:12

whole, how this whole process

46:15

is and how the story is told

46:17

and how these decisions are made. And

46:19

I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to

46:22

sit in on those conversations

46:24

because I asked. Yeah. And

46:27

like, yeah, just witnessing like how those

46:29

creative decisions are made. And then understanding

46:32

that like, Oh, I can have a say like, even

46:34

though I'm a student I have, and I just want

46:37

to say like, you are ready, you are ready, you

46:39

are ready for any everything that you're thinking

46:41

about, you're ready, like, we're ready. I'm

46:44

terrified. Yeah, me too. You know,

46:46

we're ready, we're ready, we're ready.

46:49

And then during this hiatus

46:51

time in strike, I

46:53

am also in a

46:55

unique situation, perhaps where

46:58

I was really yearning

47:00

for some time to rest

47:03

and reset. And also I

47:05

got really, really blessed that

47:08

I got to start

47:10

a hiatus when I expected to. Now

47:13

I didn't expect to like be on hiatus from

47:16

like the auditioning and the you know, like

47:18

a lot of the other things that came

47:20

with it. Yeah. However, I was excited to

47:22

like, put that character,

47:25

you know, just give her a

47:27

little rest. Yeah. And so my

47:29

creative energy has really been in

47:31

like the

47:33

bringing together of my home space and

47:35

like putting that together and just like

47:38

how I navigate

47:40

my physical wellness, how

47:42

I tap into all

47:45

the different ways in which God wants to use

47:47

me and just like trust it. Like when

47:49

I get an idea, you know, I reach

47:52

out to my team, my

47:55

loved ones and really speak

47:57

like, okay, I'm having this vision about this and

48:00

having this vision of like, oh, we have time to

48:02

really map this out and think it through. And

48:05

so in terms of creativity, that's been

48:08

from more of an entrepreneurial standpoint

48:10

lately and really trusting

48:12

with like, and needing

48:15

to preface everything with like, okay, I know

48:17

nothing about how this works in this industry.

48:19

And I'm having a vision of doing

48:21

it this way, just because this is what I want to

48:23

see different in this, in

48:26

the beauty industry or like marijuana or

48:28

all of the things. I'm just like

48:30

tapping into the things I'm passionate about,

48:32

wanting to make more accessible and like

48:35

take stigmas off of and like be

48:37

of service. And I

48:39

think operating from the place of how I can be

48:41

of service is also a really

48:44

helpful like seed for my

48:46

creativity. And I'm at the

48:48

beginning of it, so I'll be in touch about

48:51

more of that. And yeah, it's been really empowering

48:53

to remember that we have

48:55

so much creative power. I

49:00

think there was a minute where

49:02

my creativity was getting really intertwined

49:04

in the corporation

49:07

of entertainment, the machine.

49:12

And while everyone means well,

49:14

I definitely got in that

49:17

because that is the energy that is

49:20

part of why we're on strike. We

49:23

need more sustainable ways to be creative

49:25

and protect the art. And

49:29

as it currently is

49:33

and was the creativity

49:36

while there and beautiful,

49:39

the creativity was also clouded

49:41

by the machine itself, the

49:44

time crunch, the money decisions

49:46

around it and around the

49:48

storytelling. The storytelling is about

49:50

like saving the world. So

49:53

it's been nice to have a pause to

49:55

reflect on that. And I trust that as

49:57

hard as it is, like, I mean. It's

50:01

this is not an easy time for anyone to be

50:03

on strike and I can it I

50:05

know that if I'm feeling if I'm feeling

50:07

it after having worked consistently

50:10

Recently, then I can only imagine how

50:12

hard it is for those who haven't been Because

50:15

we are feeling it. We're feeling it three

50:17

three months in. Yeah, at least that's the

50:19

time we're recording this three months long Yeah,

50:22

I'm three months in and and During

50:25

a time, you know right before holidays

50:28

and yeah, there are a lot of depending

50:31

on The contracts and

50:33

all there are a lot of things around

50:35

like taxes Yeah, you know towards the end

50:37

of the year and it's it's definitely

50:39

like a really sensitive time to

50:41

not be working Yeah, but just

50:43

trusting. Yeah trusting My

50:47

instincts has been a really

50:49

great first step and I never know that sometimes that's gonna leave

50:51

me to a pole class And

50:53

I don't know what I'm doing. It's singing lesson I'm

50:56

just gonna draw stuff like I very It's

51:01

a very adventurous. Yeah, but it's intentional I'd love

51:03

that though, and I think that that is so

51:05

perfect for you because it is very airy Yes,

51:08

I mean you are in Aries. It is a

51:10

very baby Aries. Yes Such

51:12

a big part of Aries is like that child

51:14

like yeah I think about

51:16

kids and learning everything and they're sponge and

51:18

they want to ask why yeah Understand how

51:21

something works we need to know. Yeah getting

51:23

to explore other things like it

51:25

just is it's perfect for you I know

51:27

it is that we Constantly like I am definitely

51:30

a person who needs to be in like a

51:32

classroom of life all the time But like I

51:34

need to feel like I chose the curriculum. It's interesting I'm

51:37

like, don't tell me what to do, but also I want

51:39

to do all these things. Oh, yeah God

51:43

bless all the people. I love it

51:45

holding space for my Aries energy. No, I love

51:48

it. Yeah, we spice it up I love my

51:50

fellow fireside. Yes. Yes. Would you

51:52

know your human design type? I Don't

51:55

remember. I

51:58

don't remember. Okay, but Is

52:00

it manifesting generator? That was

52:02

gonna be my guess. I was gonna guess

52:04

that you were a manifesting generator. I mean, if I know

52:06

that phrase, that's what it is. Yeah. You

52:10

give manifesting generators. And

52:12

manifesting generators like to do lots of

52:14

things. And we, I'm also

52:16

an MG, love doing things that light us up.

52:19

It's something that does not light us up. We

52:22

can't do it. It's like, it drains us. It

52:25

drains energy for the things we love. Girl,

52:28

zero for the things we don't. We, it's,

52:31

yeah. It's so funny. Yeah.

52:34

I'm about to share too much of my business. But it's the

52:36

truth. It's the truth. But as you were describing that, I

52:38

was like, I think she's an MG. Because

52:40

it sounded very MG. Because there are things we

52:42

just like, we will not, we will

52:44

not walk across the street. For

52:46

like, energy that is not aligned.

52:49

But honey, we will get on the plane for something

52:51

that is. For something that is. It's like there's no

52:53

bounds. Yeah. Yep. I

52:56

love it. I love it. Yeah. It's

52:59

like, speaking of being a student, something that I love about what you

53:01

do is you do a lot of work around education. Yes. That

53:04

I didn't know if people know and how much you

53:06

need to support the education of others. Mm-hmm.

53:09

We talk more about that and why that's

53:11

so important to you. Thank you. Yes. Yes.

53:15

You know, I was definitely raised by people who are passionate about education.

53:17

I'm really grateful for that. Yeah. My

53:19

father was always, was a teacher

53:22

in the New York public school system

53:24

and was also very passionate about me

53:26

having my own

53:28

education. Yeah. Like when I would come

53:30

home, just like my own curriculum to make

53:33

sure I knew black

53:35

history before slavery. Yep. And

53:38

my mom, she's a journalist and

53:40

a creative writer and she also worked

53:43

in education. Mm-hmm. And

53:45

she is

53:47

also very passionate about like

53:50

collective liberation. Yeah. And

53:53

I just love that the fact that I always watch Eyes on the

53:55

Prize and be in drum circles and

53:58

all that to say, like, they're just very passionate about making sure I was learned outside

54:01

of the classroom as well. Like learning

54:03

about my culture, learning about my body.

54:05

And like, I was

54:07

in, I was often the only black person in

54:12

most of my K through 12

54:14

education. One of few, one of

54:16

a small handful. And so it

54:18

was really important to them especially

54:20

that I knew more about my

54:22

education than I

54:25

was being taught from like westernized textbooks, K through

54:27

12. And so

54:30

I know that that's been a seed in

54:32

me. Like I was always coming home to

54:34

like more books to read, more of

54:36

a curriculum and or like, we're gonna go

54:38

to this museum or, you know, just they

54:40

were always like, there's some black history flashcards,

54:42

but like always making it fun. And

54:45

then I went to Spelman, I

54:47

went to an HBCU, which my

54:49

mom put on my radar when I was in high

54:52

school. She was just like, just apply for this

54:54

summer program. And I went to

54:56

the, I didn't know anything about HBCUs. I

54:59

didn't know anything about the HBCUs at that time until

55:01

I went to that program. And once I got to

55:03

Spelman and I started learning and I studied theater there

55:05

and I started learning the craft from

55:08

the perspective of the diaspora and

55:10

like the perspective of the oppressed, also a women's college,

55:12

a women's college. So learning so

55:15

much from the perspective of women and

55:18

women's contributions to the world, well

55:21

before slavery was so

55:23

empowering. I

55:26

want that sense of empowerment and sense

55:28

of truth for everyone. And especially for

55:30

people who have acknowledged African descent because

55:33

so much of the education that we receive,

55:36

you know, it's not mandated to include us

55:38

or include our contribution. And now they're trying

55:41

to take away what little bit of it

55:43

we were taught to be. Yeah, yeah. So,

55:45

and then when I went, and I went

55:48

to graduate school at UCLA and

55:51

that was where, and I had just been

55:53

used to being at HBCU and then I

55:55

went to this PWI for grad school and

55:57

there were a lot of, there were HBCU

55:59

alums. come into the program to visit

56:02

and they really wanted to, they loved

56:04

UCLA's program, they loved being in Los

56:06

Angeles, they loved the idea of pursuing

56:08

the arts from that program.

56:11

However, they were being offered

56:13

full scholarships to train at

56:15

other programs outside of Los

56:17

Angeles. And money

56:20

was the only reason that they weren't wanting

56:22

to come to UCLA's program.

56:26

And it really inspired me to pool together

56:29

as best as possible, like some

56:31

funds, even just a book scholarship

56:33

or something amongst community. I mean,

56:35

we were all still in debt

56:37

too, figuring it out. It's just,

56:39

I didn't want to lose these

56:41

brilliant minds. And I noticed like

56:44

that HBCU education

56:47

that I came in with, it really, it

56:49

really set me apart

56:52

in terms of how I

56:54

navigated storytelling in my program and like what

56:56

I got to bring to the table in

56:58

my conversations and my cohort. And I wanted

57:01

more people to like do that. And

57:03

I was like, I really wanted to set up

57:05

a scholarship for HBCU grads to have access to

57:07

the program. And

57:10

that I reached out to

57:12

the Dean at the time of our school of

57:14

theater, film and television at UCLA. And

57:18

also just to fellow alumni,

57:20

fellow HBCU alumni in the

57:22

industry in LA, just to reach out and

57:25

be like, hey, did you benefit from going

57:27

to HBCU and getting your MFA? Oh, you

57:29

did? Okay, can you like film a clip

57:31

about it? And can we share it on

57:34

the internet and maybe raise some money? And

57:36

that was really just as a community, we

57:38

were raising like a couple thousand

57:40

dollars to offer to a student who

57:43

would pursue the program. So that's,

57:46

I mean, education, education

57:49

is, it's so

57:52

empowering. It is a portal

57:55

when it's done right. Like there are a lot of

57:57

things I pause because like there are so many things

57:59

about it. the system of education that

58:02

clarify the education. Academia is not the only way

58:04

to learn. And it's not the only way

58:06

to train as an actor, storyteller, or

58:08

director, or filmmaker. It is one

58:10

really empowering and beautiful way. And

58:13

it can be better. And my intention

58:15

is to make it better and more

58:17

accessible. And to make education

58:20

just in the sense of

58:22

empowerment, really, whether you have the degree

58:24

or not, the sense of who

58:26

we know we are, that

58:28

really comes from what we get access

58:31

to learn about ourselves. And even the

58:33

characters we get to play or the

58:35

playwrights we read and just that kind

58:37

of access too. And

58:40

what we learn about who really invented

58:42

some of these machines. And once

58:46

we really learn about who we are

58:48

and what our contributions are, there's so

58:50

much more that we can

58:53

do and create and offer.

58:55

Absolutely. Yeah, not just, I'm

58:57

really passionate about academic

58:59

education and then also

59:02

education around wellness. And

59:05

just as a means of also wanting to make

59:08

yoga teacher training, yoga

59:11

practice and wellness practice more

59:13

accessible, especially for people of

59:16

acknowledged African descent and people

59:18

of color, black and brown

59:20

people. And I started with

59:22

people of acknowledged African descent from

59:24

my experience and just wanting more

59:26

experiences, especially

59:30

in yoga practices where I related

59:32

to the music,

59:34

where I related to even sometimes

59:36

with the teacher, some of

59:38

the idioms that the

59:40

teacher is using, I wanted

59:43

to feel like I

59:45

could relate culturally in the practice

59:48

and that my body was

59:50

being considered in that practice. And

59:52

I realized that that really started with

59:55

who was teaching the class. And then

59:58

it turned and I started just doing a

1:00:00

deep dive and I was like, working in

1:00:02

that wellness space and the wellness space is

1:00:04

like in my part-time job and I realized

1:00:06

that it was really about access like access

1:00:09

to the teacher training and access

1:00:11

you know financially and also having capacity

1:00:13

to like take off work to do

1:00:15

a teacher training and it's a commitment. Yoga

1:00:17

teacher training is a big commitment. It's huge

1:00:19

yeah and then even like who's

1:00:21

leading the teacher training and how

1:00:23

accessible and safe those feel and

1:00:25

like that can also be a decision

1:00:28

you know determining factor for people

1:00:30

choosing. So I was able

1:00:32

to pioneer scholarship with Moto Yoga

1:00:34

International which is where I was

1:00:36

working at the time to

1:00:38

set up a scholarship for people of

1:00:40

color to pursue their teacher training and

1:00:43

it's still going now and I was

1:00:45

one of the first people to receive

1:00:48

that scholarship and go they were like okay well you

1:00:50

want to go? Yes, yes. And that's the thing

1:00:52

sometimes I read that trust that intuition and

1:00:54

that creativity is kind of one step at

1:00:57

a time because I didn't necessarily know all

1:00:59

that I was signing myself up for and

1:01:01

I'm so grateful I was able to do

1:01:03

that training and then provide now a more

1:01:07

accessible wellness experience. Yeah,

1:01:09

yeah and so much of it starts

1:01:11

with the practitioners. It's more of us

1:01:13

teaching more of us will want to

1:01:15

take the class because we'll feel safe.

1:01:17

Oh absolutely. Yeah, we'll

1:01:20

feel seen. We'll feel seen.

1:01:22

Yeah, entirely. Yeah and I

1:01:24

see the progress happening in

1:01:27

that space as well and I see it.

1:01:29

I see it happening more and more. We're amplifying

1:01:31

our voices and making it more accessible and

1:01:33

I mean the same thing goes when I think

1:01:36

about the need that

1:01:38

we still have for more access to hair

1:01:41

and makeup artists who like really

1:01:43

know how to work with our

1:01:45

hair textures and skin tones and

1:01:48

that's been a big process for me over the

1:01:51

last several years and I'm also realizing a lot

1:01:53

of that has to do with access to

1:01:56

the unions and to the training and

1:01:58

so it's everywhere accessible. accessibility is like

1:02:01

a really You know,

1:02:03

we talked about doors like access

1:02:05

exactly doors and bridges. Yeah. Yeah

1:02:08

So that's it that is connected

1:02:10

to creativity for sure and yeah

1:02:13

Just purpose in general, but it's

1:02:15

really just coming from like wanting a change

1:02:18

not really knowing what it's all gonna entail

1:02:21

And yeah, education has been

1:02:23

the portal for that 100%

1:02:26

yeah seeing okay. What is the barrier here?

1:02:28

What is stopping people and What

1:02:31

can we do to help people get over that barrier?

1:02:33

Yeah, like what's something what's something we

1:02:35

each can do Yeah, exactly because we

1:02:37

each can do something. Yeah, and it

1:02:39

sometimes it doesn't feel like we can

1:02:41

do enough individually And just

1:02:43

like taking that one step is really all

1:02:46

that it takes Oh my god Yeah Even

1:02:48

your example in creating the fellowship and talking

1:02:50

to other alums and just pulling your community.

1:02:52

Oh, yeah Hey share your experience spread

1:02:55

the word makes a huge difference. Yeah and

1:02:57

bless them. Yeah that has that continues to

1:02:59

be a team effort. I Everything

1:03:02

that I have spoken about has been a communal

1:03:04

effort 100%. Yeah. Yeah and thank you Yeah,

1:03:10

and are we able to donate? Yeah,

1:03:12

donate. Yes. Yes, you can go to Zuri Adele

1:03:14

comm slash philanthropy Perfect and it all be there

1:03:16

and we will link it in the show. Thank

1:03:18

you. Easy for people Absolutely and

1:03:21

support our artists. Thank you. Thank you for

1:03:23

sharing your platform in that way. I really

1:03:25

appreciate it it would be because so much

1:03:27

of art and

1:03:29

I think especially what we're seeing right now

1:03:31

is that it needs to be protected as

1:03:36

More and more economic barriers and physically

1:03:38

happen so many people who are so

1:03:40

talented Oh, yeah, don't get to participate

1:03:43

because they're focused on survival. There's an

1:03:45

idea that Creative work

1:03:47

is not a real job and I'm

1:03:49

like it is absolutely Yeah,

1:03:52

why would it not be? Yeah,

1:03:54

we all rely on that. We

1:03:56

all rely on people telling stories

1:03:59

Yeah, why is that? that scene as

1:04:01

not real, why is it so hard for people of

1:04:03

all backgrounds to be able to do that work? It

1:04:05

shouldn't only be the most privileged who have all

1:04:08

the support to get to make art and get

1:04:10

to tell these stories or who get to be

1:04:12

wellness practitioners. That's the truth. Because there's so

1:04:14

much talent that we miss out

1:04:16

on with those barriers. Yeah, that

1:04:18

is an ongoing push and pull

1:04:21

conversation. Yeah. Yeah.

1:04:25

Because even sharing this

1:04:28

conversation today, there's so many resources,

1:04:31

so many hands go into this

1:04:33

happening who are not

1:04:35

on camera right now. And

1:04:40

that is an ongoing conversation. How

1:04:42

do we make it... How

1:04:46

do we participate in a cycle that

1:04:48

is replenishing

1:04:51

and sustainable? And

1:04:54

then where do we start? Exactly.

1:04:56

Yeah. I think exposure helps,

1:04:58

which is at least what we're trying to

1:05:00

do here. Before we were

1:05:03

recording, we were talking about your experiences at Spelman.

1:05:05

I had mentioned, I was like, I didn't even

1:05:07

know what that... I had no... Growing up in

1:05:09

the Pacific Northwest and also being like, first gen

1:05:11

college students, no one in my family had went

1:05:13

to college. I didn't know what HBCUs were. I

1:05:16

had no exposure to it. And if I would

1:05:18

have known, I would have wanted to

1:05:20

go to one. And so even

1:05:22

just hearing conversations and experiences so

1:05:24

that those people who may not have exposure to

1:05:26

it in their daily life can know that

1:05:28

it's an option for them. Yeah. That's

1:05:30

the door. Yeah. That's the

1:05:33

bridge right there. That's another bridge. Well, we did, after your

1:05:35

last episode, add a young woman, Diemi, who was in high

1:05:37

school at the time, who said that she chose to go

1:05:39

to Spelman because of her. If you... Okay.

1:05:42

If that was you... Spelman sister. Diemi girl.

1:05:44

Let us know how it's... You're a couple

1:05:46

years into... You were like a senior in

1:05:48

high school a couple years ago. Let us

1:05:50

know how it's going. Yes. Congratulations. Yes. So

1:05:53

proud of you. And I want to hear how it's been

1:05:55

through the pandemic and all the changes. I

1:05:58

commend everyone pursuing. their education through

1:06:01

these times. It's incredible. Yeah,

1:06:03

y'all's testimonies are going to

1:06:05

be amazing. Yeah, yeah. Happy,

1:06:08

happy to provide more. Yeah, more

1:06:10

stories, more access. And how full

1:06:12

circle that you said you didn't

1:06:15

know about Spelman at the time when it was time

1:06:17

for you to apply. And you ended

1:06:21

up being used to share

1:06:24

a platform that helps somebody else know

1:06:26

about it. That is

1:06:28

amazing. That's incredible. Which

1:06:30

I'm so grateful. Yeah, yeah. Do you

1:06:32

feel like, how do you process when

1:06:37

you learn about

1:06:39

things later? Do you have regret? Do you trust

1:06:41

it? How do you keep yourself moving forward?

1:06:47

I have struggled with

1:06:49

regret in my life and I'm learning to

1:06:52

let go of that. And you know what

1:06:54

I'm even thinking about right now is in

1:06:57

sharing my stories, my experiences, I went to a

1:06:59

PWI. It was a very traumatic experience, which

1:07:01

I haven't gone into a ton of detail

1:07:03

about. I talked about it a bit in

1:07:05

my student loans episode. But even if me

1:07:07

in sharing those experiences help somebody

1:07:10

make a choice that's better

1:07:12

for them, I'm like, oh, maybe that's why. Maybe

1:07:14

that's what I was meant to do was to

1:07:16

help somebody realize that there could be something that's

1:07:18

a better fit for them so that they don't

1:07:20

have to have that same experience. And I think

1:07:22

that's why it's important to tell those stories. Absolutely.

1:07:24

Even if we don't go into the nitty gritty

1:07:26

of this is what happened in 2009. Yeah,

1:07:30

exactly. And you know

1:07:32

that somehow you were being used where you

1:07:34

were. Exactly. You were sent to be a

1:07:36

soldier in that space. Listen, no limit soldier. This

1:07:38

is how I felt at the time. But we

1:07:41

all come out on the other side

1:07:43

and stronger and more agile. Yeah. Incredible.

1:07:46

I love the way that you're using your

1:07:48

platform. Like you're choosing to learn

1:07:52

alongside your audience. Absolutely. Which is

1:07:54

really empowering and vulnerable. Here's

1:07:56

the mistakes I made. I don't want y'all to

1:07:58

do the same. Here's the information that I didn't

1:08:00

have, I'm gonna give you the information and you

1:08:03

can make the best choice for you. Exactly. Yeah.

1:08:06

I love that. I'm proud

1:08:08

of you. Yeah. And I'm having a memory of coming up

1:08:10

to you and feeling like everything's in divine order.

1:08:12

Do you remember when you said that? Yes.

1:08:15

Yes. Yes. in

1:08:20

that moment, like release and

1:08:22

unclench. And I felt so

1:08:24

much peace after that. I'm glad. I'm

1:08:27

glad. I'm glad that sometimes we can say these things and

1:08:29

it can feel small to us and it can have such

1:08:31

a big impact on another person. Yeah. You

1:08:33

never know. And somebody said that to me, so I'm glad

1:08:35

they said it to me so I can say it to you. Yes.

1:08:38

Yeah. I love it.

1:08:40

It makes me so happy. Sisterhood is a

1:08:43

lifeline. It is. It is. Absolutely.

1:08:47

Yeah. That just reminded me of

1:08:49

that. It's a core value

1:08:51

and I feel really grateful. I mean,

1:08:53

I feel like I've always been a girl's

1:08:56

girl. I was actually recently

1:08:58

just with having some experiences dating and someone was like,

1:09:00

oh, get feedback from your guy friends. I was like,

1:09:02

I don't have a couple

1:09:05

of guy friends, none of

1:09:07

whom are heterosexual. I was like,

1:09:09

all of my friends are women

1:09:11

because I just am

1:09:14

a girl. I just, I love that. All of my friends are, I

1:09:16

was like, I don't have guy friends. I don't have. Yeah.

1:09:19

You're in your sisterhood bag right now. Yeah. Yeah.

1:09:22

Just always, ever since I was young, I just have always been

1:09:24

really fortunate to not have like

1:09:28

heavy female friendship. Yeah. Yeah.

1:09:31

That can be very real for a lot of people and be very deep.

1:09:35

And sisterhood is so important, especially not having

1:09:37

any biological sister. Yeah. Being able

1:09:39

to have chosen sister. Yeah. Is so

1:09:41

powerful. Yeah. I love that. Because

1:09:44

you have biological brother. Yeah. Yeah.

1:09:47

Yeah. Yeah. I'm an only

1:09:49

child. So I like, sisterhood is like, and

1:09:51

I'm sure brotherhood, like I do cherish, I

1:09:53

have, I cherish my

1:09:56

male friends as well. And yeah, the

1:09:59

sisterhood one. is like,

1:10:02

I thank God for my sisters.

1:10:04

I've been growing, teaching me through

1:10:06

y'all's examples. Yeah, just different. Different

1:10:08

depth, but it's just different. And

1:10:10

it's specific, like not every friend,

1:10:14

I don't experience sisterhood in

1:10:16

every friendship with every woman.

1:10:19

I intend to, you know? And

1:10:22

yeah, it's special when

1:10:24

it's mutual and intentional.

1:10:28

Yeah, it's really special. Every act

1:10:30

of being seen, and just being seen, and

1:10:32

who you are in every form.

1:10:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah, safe and seen,

1:10:36

yeah. And there's some people who kind of see

1:10:38

you right away. I felt like you did

1:10:40

that for me, even before we'd met

1:10:42

in person, if we had initially met and connected on

1:10:45

Instagram. Okay, we didn't talk about it yet. Yeah. Because

1:10:48

I feel like I slid in your

1:10:50

DMs. Like, robo. You shared balance with

1:10:52

me. Yeah, and it was

1:10:54

in the early days. It had just started. I

1:10:56

mean, I was maybe six months into it, and

1:10:58

you shared it, and I was like, oh my

1:11:00

God, thank you so much. And then we like

1:11:02

connected on Instagram. And then I was

1:11:04

leaving my hometown, and I didn't know where I was

1:11:06

going, because I needed people to just relax. People were

1:11:08

in my DMs acting crazy, and

1:11:11

you DM me, and you were like, you're coming

1:11:13

to LA, huh? I was like, yes. I

1:11:15

was like, we're gonna be friends. Yes. You

1:11:18

see me already. You already met me in person,

1:11:20

and you already see me. But you were so

1:11:23

open to it, and I appreciated it. I mean,

1:11:25

podcasts have been, maybe it's the only child in

1:11:27

me or something, but I feel like I get

1:11:29

to have a sisterly conversation, like when I really

1:11:32

vibe with the conversation. And

1:11:34

I came across your podcast, and

1:11:36

you were having such great, liberating,

1:11:40

feminist, black, feminist,

1:11:44

queer-positive conversations. And

1:11:48

I was like, I

1:11:50

was just really tapped in. I was loving

1:11:52

those conversations and just having them on, and

1:11:54

I was navigating a lot of newness in

1:11:56

my life and work-wise

1:11:59

and. and personal life, just a lot of

1:12:01

newness. And like, yeah,

1:12:04

there was so much great guidance that

1:12:06

you were offering you and your guests.

1:12:08

And yeah, I do remember sharing

1:12:10

and also just like, reaching out, like, I

1:12:12

feel like we gonna be friends. Like, can

1:12:14

we talk? And I definitely was

1:12:16

like, can we have a conversation on your podcast? Like

1:12:19

all of that, I don't think this girl, she gonna

1:12:21

be like, no. But I'm so grateful.

1:12:23

I was like, of course, please, absolutely. And

1:12:25

I love that you were, and I love

1:12:27

that you were. And that you did not

1:12:29

have to. And I just

1:12:31

love how our friendship has blossomed

1:12:33

so genuinely. Like once we

1:12:35

were living in the same city too, and we

1:12:37

were living on the same side of town for

1:12:39

a little bit too, we were just always like,

1:12:41

linking up and yeah, it's just, it's really genuine.

1:12:44

It's so clear that like, your purpose is so

1:12:46

steeped and a

1:12:48

genuine intention around

1:12:50

sisterhood. Yeah. You received

1:12:52

that and I appreciate that. Yeah. And

1:12:54

I appreciate how much I've learned from you. I,

1:12:58

since like knowing you and being friends

1:13:00

with you have become so much nicer

1:13:02

to myself. And that has been a

1:13:04

direct part of your

1:13:07

influence on me. Like how? Literally,

1:13:09

like my self talk is so

1:13:11

much more kind and compassionate as

1:13:14

a direct line

1:13:16

of your friendship. Wow. Yeah.

1:13:21

I love that. Yeah. I

1:13:24

mean, because I feel like likewise, because I'm listening,

1:13:26

I would be listening to your conversation and

1:13:28

conversations and like it will help me

1:13:30

talk myself through my day. Wow.

1:13:34

I love that. It just makes me so happy. Yeah. That's

1:13:37

a beautiful thing. Thank you for saying that. I'm like, I

1:13:39

could be nothing else. And I mean, it

1:13:42

also holds me accountable to speak nicely and

1:13:44

kindly to myself too. It's a practice for

1:13:46

all of us. It's a practice. It's a

1:13:48

daily, it's your breath every minute. Every, every

1:13:51

breath. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

1:13:55

My heart is like so full from this

1:13:57

conversation. Yeah. Yeah. joining

1:14:00

me. Thank you for having me. Oh

1:14:02

my god. I'm so happy. I'm

1:14:04

honored to be here. I want

1:14:06

more and more. Yeah. Yeah. Thank

1:14:08

you for just offering a safe

1:14:10

space and a celebratory space and

1:14:12

a sisterly space and an authentic

1:14:15

ass space. Happy to

1:14:17

do it anytime. Yeah. Please tell our audience how

1:14:19

they can keep in touch with you, how they

1:14:21

can continue supporting you and your

1:14:24

work. Thank you. So let's

1:14:28

connect on social media. My handle

1:14:30

is Zuri Adele, Z-U-R-I-A-D-E-L-E

1:14:34

on Instagram. Right now I'm taking a little

1:14:36

space from there and I'll be back. So

1:14:39

reach out. I'll be there. Just mainly

1:14:41

just, you know, keeping

1:14:43

the noise a little clear right now

1:14:46

and what's happening. That's where I'll be.

1:14:48

And then my website zuriadele.com, that's where

1:14:50

you can also

1:14:52

help support my philanthropy endeavors

1:14:55

and the scholarships and

1:14:59

stay in tune about all

1:15:01

that's coming next. So yeah. Beautiful. It

1:15:03

feels great. Amazing. We will link all of that in the

1:15:05

show notes to make it easy for people to find you.

1:15:07

You better link it in the show notes, girl. We'll link

1:15:09

it in the show notes. We'll link it in the show

1:15:11

notes. Right down there. Make it easy. Make it easy for

1:15:13

y'all to just scroll. Scroll down. You don't have to hide.

1:15:17

Oh yeah. Thank you so much for being

1:15:19

here. Thank you. And thank

1:15:21

you for tuning in. So if

1:15:24

you like this conversation, please make

1:15:26

sure you follow, subscribe, Apple, Spotify,

1:15:28

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1:15:44

note that this episode may contain paid

1:15:47

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1:15:49

Individuals on the show may have a

1:15:51

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1:15:54

or services referred to in this episode.