WEBVTT - Chasity Melvin 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.600 This is cut to It with Steve Smith Senior at 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.879 production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.200 Steve Smith Senior and I'm John And this is cut 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:16.840 to it. Good do what good do? They's getting down 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.520 to do it? Good do it. We asked the questions 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.880 you always want to know, but no one ever asked, 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:29.840 let's cut to it. You ain't heard about it, then 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:39.080 we're about to let you know. It's all given. That 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:45.600 hit the stands nothing, that's that's old school right there. 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.320 What's on your mental? What's on my mental? So I 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.000 did this fantastic. So I'm not bragging, but I'm I 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.880 am going as you listen to this podcast, you will 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.680 find out. Um, I will let you into my life. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:04.240 And so I have a Peloton treadmill. Okay, I love 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.440 the Peloton treadmill. Huh No, they're not paying us, but 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:11.160 I'm just telling you I like the treadmill. And hopefully 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:16.039 if I continue to explore how the treadmill is intertwining 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.480 itself with my life, maybe something to come out of it. 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:22.800 If not, I will be in Paleton. Brought to you 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.680 by I will be in studio at some time, at 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:29.120 some point, though I already have linked up with them somehow, 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.759 some way and getting into the Peloton studio in New York. 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.600 So um, so I'm starting to become an avid runner. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:44.480 So I was running the other day and there is 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.520 this thing. It's a heart rate zone. And his heart 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.840 rate zone was a power run and it was forty 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.760 five minutes, and so I'm going in his heart rate 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:55.800 and so I'm I know my heart rate and all 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.720 that stuff. And I was in a in a UH 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.480 zone three up for four and we're probably about ten 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.600 minutes left for this forty five minute run. And we 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:12.280 have probably five minutes a run, three minutes of of 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.880 short bursts, and then a two minute cool down. So 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.680 that's ten minutes. So we hit the regular five minutes 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.000 back and go the last two minutes. Let me tell 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:26.720 you something, these these last two minutes, this machine is 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.040 really showing me that it is not just a machine 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.720 that just sets up in the up in the room. 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.600 It is a machine that it can. Really it's given 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.240 me a perspective of life that I never knew. So 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.000 this ain't it's a two wheel with coat. This is 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.680 using it. Yeah, I'm using it. Like so here's how 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:49.880 I use it. I got in mid September. I ran 0:02:50.000 --> 0:03:00.919 about October build up to forty two miles November fifty two. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:07.440 Look at you, right, I'm enjoying the space. But on 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:11.280 this treadmill has a big old screen, and then it 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.600 has two buttons. One button is a stop, and then 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.720 that stop in the middle says stop. On the right 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.880 it says sleep. On the other part of the stop 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.240 it says wait, just to get it going. Then there's 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.840 this button that I have not known. I've had a 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:32.360 six September. I have not known what this button is for, 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.640 but I damn show found out this week. I had 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.400 a moment of discovery. No, I didn't have a moment 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:44.240 of discovery. I had a crashing burn on on this button. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:48.560 You know what the word is free? And what's what's free? 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.560 Please ask me what free is? What's free? Free is 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:58.520 free mode? Yes? That was my mom was going there too. 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.840 But guess what was no pleasure in this one, bro 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.640 Free is when the treadmill comes to a complete stop 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.880 and you now have to make the treadmill move on 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:14.680 this You know what I got off that treadmill and 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:19.920 these are my words directly off the treadmill. I don't 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:24.720 want nothing else for free. No more. I kind of 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.599 joke around and say, hey, you know you can always 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:29.680 get a free bu whipping. But I'm telling you that 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.839 is I didn't want know, I want no more free ship. 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:39.400 I don't want any more free stuff. It's yes, hey, 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.760 what you liking? No no, no, no, I have post 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.120 them out of stress. If you say free, I just flinched, bro. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.480 It was so crazy in this free mode is basically 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.240 you can't you go to a complete stop? Did you 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:59.240 run holding the bar and you make it go? And 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.680 she see that to tell us by your own strength, yes, 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.320 at what speed we're supposed to go? This is this 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.520 is like your old school training, like you in the league. 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.720 You ain't want that. I don't want a free exercise 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:15.000 like that. That that is, let's make money for workout. 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.280 It's different levels to it. I got off that treadmill. 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:21.840 I looked at that treadmill and I flinched at it 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:27.080 like I was. It might have in the way it 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.120 was going, it might have jumped, but it was such 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.359 an awesome moment because this treadmill is really I'm starting 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.839 to discover and figure out in this trip, in this 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:42.680 world of running, what a recovery run is what a 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:48.400 endurance run is is. I am learning how to exercise 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.159 without the money carrot being dangled. This is more of 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.680 a health It's just a lifestyle for me. And I'm 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.479 extreme workout guys. So when I say extreme, like I've 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.640 been able to lose five or six pounds in a week, right, 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:06.240 I'll starve myself. Then I become angry because I'm hungry 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.000 and angry. Right I I've been on crashed, I've done 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.640 all of this stuff, but this this time has really 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:19.040 been pretty cool to see. How do I slowly just 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.520 create good happens? And I'm telling you that free molde 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.320 it made me question myself no more. I don't if 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.320 someone would have walked up to the door, rang the door, 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.480 be say hey I got a free dozen of donutam right? 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:39.400 Don't I don't want any? It was it was crazy, 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.120 but so think about it in three months. So my 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:46.640 question is for the listeners right now, take this moment. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.400 What things in your life or person or or household 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:58.400 item has been there for years but you never really 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.040 known is there? You never really pushed that free button 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:07.599 to discover what does this really mean? Look at you 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.920 dropping knowledge? But I'll take you on the motivational Speaking 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:15.520 to It, I ain't free. Hey, who we got next? 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.000 Coming up on the Cut to It Podcast, We've got 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.960 Chastity Melvin, an assistant coach with the w NBA's Phoenix Mercury, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.680 a star at North Carolina State, and the author of 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.480 At the End of the Day. Chastity Melvin on the 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:35.000 Cut to It Podcast. Chastis, thanks for coming on the 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.600 Cut to It Podcast. Hope you're doing all right. I'm 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.280 doing great. You know, I can't complain. I got back 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.360 to basketball, I was able to coach, so I'm okay. 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.200 That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Hey, coming up, we have our 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.840 own version of our Icebergers called get iced Up. So 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.880 they're gonna be random questions. You have no idea what's coming, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.160 may or may not have a follow up. You just 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.559 don't know, right, So I'm gonna let Steve go ahead 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.239 and fire off the first question to you. You ready, 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:07.720 I was born? Ready, let's go, since you were born? 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:14.280 What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten? Then? Strange? That 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:21.120 ain't strange? Chart that was baked? Okay, look at you up? 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:29.280 It was bag. How many states have you been to 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:36.880 as at least all right, tell tell me a random 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:42.400 one that just like, why were you there? Wisconsin? Yeah? 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.800 I can get that. Are you thinking Wisconsin? I've been 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:51.120 in Wisconsin. I know it's Wisconsin is like outside of cheeseheads. Yeah, 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.319 Wisconsin is one of those places if you've never been 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.440 and then you go. It's like when you walk into 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:01.920 a store and you realize, uh, whoops, Steve, you couldn't 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:07.920 explained it any better exactly. You know. I'm just you know, 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:09.920 I'm coming in. I went to a pizza's joint. I 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:11.880 just sat down and then I sat there for a 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:13.400 while and everyone was staring at me. And then I 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:20.760 looked around, like, oh I was I went there. Me 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.280 and my son went there. The Dodgers were playing the brewery, 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:26.160 so we went out there and uh went to a 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:31.679 Dodgers game. Uh, unbelievable stadium. It was. It was remarkable. 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.200 Then we also went myself was like, hey, dad, let's 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.040 go to mall, you know, to get a souvenir or something. 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.280 All right, same thing like that piece of when we 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.960 walked in the mall. I don't really call it them 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:51.559 all so, but it was cool. Okay, when did you 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:56.960 first feel like an adult when I first got my 0:09:57.000 --> 0:09:59.400 first check as a pro and I saw the taxes 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.840 taken out of it. Oh, that's the way. That is 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.080 the humbling part of it. I gotta check who is 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:11.760 what's good. I actually called my mother and said yeah. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:13.600 I was like, Mom, that's something wrong with my check. 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:19.200 She's like, I gotta give him money. She said, welcome, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.679 Welcome to the grown world, honey, welcome to the world. 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:31.760 All right, last one, what's your dream job? A dream? 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:34.520 My dream job would probably be traveling all over the world, 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.520 just having campers and clinics and someone else paying for 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:42.640 everything in first class trouble. That's my dream job. Oh 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.520 so you wanna be a rich kid then huh. I 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:47.920 don't necessarily have to have the money, but someone can, 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:51.240 you know, fund me, you know, fund my travel, fund 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.679 all the expenses. I'm not asking for much, Steve. That's 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.840 not asking a lie, I know it's not. Yeah, I 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.400 just want to travel around the world, no responsibility, someone 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:05.760 else pay dreamers. Yeah, I gotta get it all right, 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.400 let's get right into it. You really appreciate you coming 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.440 on and and and we really just want to know 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:18.560 who is Chastity Melvin, Like, why what when where? So, uh, 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.800 we have some staples that we always go to. And 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.400 I always love asking this question because the response that 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:30.200 we usually get it is always well received. So where 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.679 are you from? And the place you call your hometown? 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.320 So my home, I'm from Humble Beginnings in Roseville, North Carolina. 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.680 Obviously it's a small town right southeast of Fayeville, so 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.319 fayet nomen as they call it, or whatever Port Bragg 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.679 area basically there. You know, my town wasn't even really 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.240 twelve hundred of people. My graduating class was. I had 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.559 ninety eight kids and my senior class and I graduated 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.800 from high school. I can. Yeah, just a very small town. 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.440 And I came up playing basketball in the dirt rose 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.440 and you know here I am. So that's the brief story. 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.600 What's humble Beginnings, man? Because it means different for everybody. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.160 It means different everybody. I'm from the city, you know, 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:16.720 I'm from inner city of l A. So different from 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:20.439 someone in Lexington, like like gee, Gee's from Lexing to 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.680 North Carolina. I got back up with me today, careful. Yeah, 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:26.880 so my humble Yeah, you know what, Steve, I've I've 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.560 actually throughout my travels and Obviously, when I went to college, 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.760 I learned my humble beginnings were a lot different from 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:35.000 like some of my teammates that grew up in Jersey 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.400 and Newark in different places. Obviously, I was raised by 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:40.840 a village, so you know, I felt a lot of 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.280 love and I always had food to eat, so I 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.160 was it was, you know, it was. It wasn't anything 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.240 as a bigger sacrifice as that, but I mean basically 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.640 growing up, I guess for us growing up in a 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:54.760 single wide I had two sisters, two brothers with my 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.760 mom and dad and a single wide trailer. Um just 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.200 kind of like sleeping together on top of each other 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.600 pretty much. And my my dad and my mom didn't 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:05.840 really didn't go to school. But my dad was a minister, 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.600 so our foundation was based on you know, it's just 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.320 our faith and um, my parents, my dad. You know, 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.080 it was just drove us stat station wagon, drove us 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:17.840 all around. So we got made fun of a lot 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.640 growing up. But you know, when the the you know, 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:22.880 when the welfare when they had extra food to come, 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:24.840 like I had, my mom was sent me out to 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:27.360 get the welfare cheese and the extra food that you know, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.280 they passed out in Sampson County. So, um, it was 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.560 really humble beginnings. Grew up working on the farm with 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:37.320 my grandmother, um cropping tobacco, and I knew very early on. 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.240 I told my grandmother was gonna be doing this when 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.760 I grew up. So I knew there was only a 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:45.400 better life for me somewhere. How did she take that 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.280 that responds to your grandmother when you said, um, no, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.920 she was very she you know, she said, as long 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.040 as you worked hard and get your education, you can 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.120 do what you you know. She she believed in me 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.000 from day one, and she just told me to give 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.400 everything to God and give my desires to God. And 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.800 so she was very instrumental because growing up in the 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:08.040 country as a southern girl, I wasn't really supposed to 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.160 be playing with the boys, and so I had to 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.160 fight to get on the basketball courts out on the 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.480 dirt courts, and I remember they wouldn't let me play. 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.120 So I went to my grandmother. She was kind of 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.200 the matriarch of the family, and I'll never forget she 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:21.600 came out to the court with me. She was holding 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:23.400 my hand and I was scared. I was like, oh gosh, 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:28.560 I got everybody in trouble. Grandma's name. Her name was Dixie, 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:34.320 but everyone called her mother. Everyone called her mother in 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.160 the town. So I walked over there and she was 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.800 like and the guy stopped because they saw walking, and 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.040 she said, okay, boys. She was like, do we all 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.240 eat together? And they said yes, ma'am. They was like, well, 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:46.280 Chastie doesn't play, you guys won't be eating today. So 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:55.800 I was on the court from then all. Yeah, Miss 0:14:55.800 --> 0:15:01.400 Dick did Miss Dixie? Did she have how shoes on 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.640 most of the time. No, But she always wore a dress. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.080 She always wores Yeah, she always wore a dress. She 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.560 never wore pants, So we struggled with that a little bit. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.440 I remember coming home for church. I had gone overseas. 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.560 I thought I was growing up. I was an adult, 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:17.440 and I came to the church with the pants soon 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.400 all and I'll never forget she she and all her 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.160 other free as at the church, though, Liken, it was 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.160 gonna strike like they couldn't believe I walked in church 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:30.920 with the pants suit. She the reason why. She sounds 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.760 like she wore house shoes like she always needed to 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.480 be ready and got in case something dropped. We went 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.200 got that house coach that's missing the tile around, so 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.560 she gotta hold it like, you know, button together with 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:46.720 the fingers pinched together with her fingers thing. I say, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.000 she's a looking at you know. For sure she had 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.320 a rope. My mom's mom was the one that had 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.400 house shoes and was ready to go. She was my 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.240 real life media, my mom's mom. And her name was Geebo. 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:02.480 People called her Geebo. Her name was Geneva, so yeah, 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.200 Gibo was Yeah, you didn't mess with Gibo at all. 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.600 So are you from a generation of are you that 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.240 from the time out generation or to go get your 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:16.760 switch generation? Now I'm from the go get the switch generation? Yes, 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.160 very much so. And you got to pick the right one. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.000 I got to pick the right one. And if my 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.520 mom and dad weren't available to get you know, make 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:26.440 me go get a switch. And my grandparents on my 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.440 aunt and uncle like, I was raised by vility, so 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.320 everyone had, you know, equal rights to giving you a 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:39.720 butt whopping. What experiences? What experiences did you have growing 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.040 growing up there? I mean outside of you know what 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:47.520 you've just explained to us that and and how did 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:52.480 those experiences really shape you, um and impact you to 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:57.840 see the world today? Basically almost of my experiences are 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.480 you know, I guess I like idea because, um, she 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.480 reminds me of my my grandmother's. But just my faith 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.720 based being in church all the time, that was my foundation. 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:09.640 So my dad was a minister, so I was basically 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.720 in church Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We were just 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:14.440 joking when I was at home. We would come home 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.879 and everyone's on our basketball court when we would come 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.240 home from church, and we had to wait, you know, 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.240 three or four games to get in on our own court. 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.920 So just that foundation has carried me. I think it's 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.800 just given me a sense of peace. Um always obviously 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:35.199 always hope, you know, always having hope, and a bigger 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.080 understanding that you know, the world is a bigger place, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.520 and I could obtained pretty much anything I wanted with 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.080 my faith in my work ethicum. Growing up under my 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.240 grandmother's they always woke us up early the crack of dawn. 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:49.040 They thought we were lazy if we slept past six o'clock, 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.000 so you know, they would come get us up over 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.280 the summer and work in the field. So that's kind 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:58.760 of where I learned about hard work. And I always 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.040 also learned how you have to work smarter to really 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:04.680 make the most money. So they taught me. They gave 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.720 me a lot of wisdom early on. But just coming 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.879 from a big family, whether it was playing outside with 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:14.200 my cousin's basketball or riding dirt bikes or whatever. Um, 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:16.639 just to learn how to play, how to be a 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:20.959 team player. And I learned a lot about loyalty and 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.040 being good to people. Is always going to come back. 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:30.240 So that's pretty much it. Walk this through the process 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:39.359 as a young young chastity picking tobacco. And the reason 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:44.120 I asked is we're here. We're based here in Charlotte, 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.800 North Carolina. I live in between and then I live 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:51.560 in between Charlotte slash rock Hill. So I'm in between 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.679 North and South Carolina. Outskirts on the outskirts and there 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.080 are some back rolls if you could hit the left 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:59.600 to hit the right. The first time out I've ever 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.200 seen cotton out of outside of a shirt, of a 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.199 of a package, a cotton ball or swab or some 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.960 of that has been you know, in the spring and 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.119 the winter or whatever, wind winds blowing and I'm like, 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:19.840 what is this white stuff cotton? And seeing that, So 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.480 I've experienced a lot of different things here living in 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:27.040 North Carolina. I never experienced back home, and so you 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.320 give me that opportunity of you know, you've born here 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.119 in the South and then such a young girl getting up, 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:37.120 getting woken up, and your family faith based telling you 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:40.960 and teaching you about hard work. Yeah, it was terrible. 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:43.960 I'm not gonna lie. My younger sister always struggled because 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.800 she never quite got out to the fields on top. 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:48.600 She's still late to this day, so I don't know 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:57.560 she learned much from that. But the momentum, um, no, 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:00.560 it's just for me. You know. It just gave me 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.120 a sense of what our ancestors went through. I mean 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.600 it was very backbreaking work. I hated the flies, the 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.760 farmer's ten and just getting your hands dirty with the 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.600 you know, getting all the green from the tobaccos, the 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.320 tobacco worms. I was afraid of the worms. So my 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.320 cousins thought that was cool to chase me around with 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.960 tobacco worms. Uh. So, um, you know, we picked cucumbers. 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.639 I was joking with someone yesterday, like we made Kate's 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.840 pickles in mount all of rich because we used to 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.359 pick cucumbers. And then you know that was like the 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:33.760 end of the day, we get all the back of 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:35.959 the pick up with my uncles and take all the 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:38.919 cucumbers over there and distribute them to Kate's Pickles. And 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.600 that's how my grandmother got paid. So um, you're like, hey, 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:44.400 all that's hard work and this is all we get. 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:47.879 And and as young as the kids, we never saw money. 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.240 Our our reward was like navs and a coat or 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:52.800 a piece of candy from the store and the coat. 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:57.280 That's how we got paid. You getting paid through You're 0:20:57.280 --> 0:21:00.520 getting paid through the labor. Yeah, yeah, more with food. 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:03.200 So from our early age, I was like, there's gotta 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.840 be more. This can't be like we have to take 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.080 a break and morning any thing. We gotta pay some bills. 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:17.760 You got check. I love cut to It and I 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:21.720 love it even more when you download us and subscribe, 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:24.960 and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.000 where where at? That's at cut to It on Instagram? 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:33.200 What about Twitter? At cut to It? Facebook? Cut to 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:37.240 It featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online? And you 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:39.680 can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.040 where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:46.159 us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:50.600 answers questions. Um, yeah, I got all my questions answered. 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:53.200 That's what I'm here for, a brother cut to a 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.960 podcast dot com. You've told us a lot about kind 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.480 of painting the picture of what it's like in rural 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.720 North Carolina outside of basketball. What are the sports did 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.800 you play? And you mentioned playing boys versus girls? How 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:11.040 How did how did that impact your life playing with 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.600 the boys playing basketball so early and what other sports 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.800 were you playing? I played everything. I played everything that 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.359 we had our high school. I played in middle school. 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:24.439 I played volleyball, basketball, softball, and I ran track. Um. 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:26.680 Just being able to play with the boys obviously made 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:29.600 me the player I am today, obviously prepare me to 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:33.480 be a professional athlete, because I had to be able 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:35.439 to handle the basketball i'd be. I had to be 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:37.480 able to have a quick release on my shot, or 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:39.400 I didn't. I wasn't able to stay on the court. 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.560 You know, guys are a lot faster, stronger. They blocked 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:44.639 my shot a lot when I first started playing, So 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:48.000 I had to, um really developed my game just to 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:50.159 be out there with the boys and be able to 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:52.919 be successful. So I think that's I know, that's what 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.760 helped me become not only a great college athlete but 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:59.280 a great bro At what moment did you start to 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.000 think about playing in basketball beyond high school or or 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.520 starting to play a U When did you take that serious? 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:08.919 I started taking it serious pretty much in the fifth grade. 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.399 Um there was another, uh, one of my classmates that 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:14.600 was taller than me, and he was a guy. He 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:17.600 played football, and we kind of just made a pact. 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:19.680 He said he was going to be a professional football player, 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:21.920 and I said I was gonna be a professional basketball player, 0:23:21.960 --> 0:23:24.480 even though there weren't professional basketball teams at the time. 0:23:25.160 --> 0:23:27.600 But I just made that my goal and I fell 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:29.639 in love with the game the moment I scored my 0:23:29.680 --> 0:23:32.000 first basket. So I went home and told my mother 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:34.760 that's what I was gonna do. So I've just been 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:37.200 pretty focused. I don't know if it was just because 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:40.800 I was young, country, you know, naive girl, but uh, 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:43.440 that's that's what. That was my story, and I was 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:46.120 sticking to it. So what was your mom's response when 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:48.000 you said you wanted to play basketball for a living? 0:23:48.720 --> 0:23:51.919 She just said, they don't have professional teams here, baby, 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:54.080