Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, it's your girl Cheeky's and you've reached the
Speaker 1: voicemail box for Dear Cheeky's. I'm here to give you
Speaker 1: advice on anything and everything you need help with. Maybe
Speaker 1: you're going through a breakup, maybe you're having issues with
Speaker 1: your family, or maybe you need help figuring out how
Speaker 1: to balance your checkbook or how to start a business,
Speaker 1: whatever the cases, I want to hear from you. Remember
Speaker 1: these are my thoughts and opinions, and if you're suffering
Speaker 1: from an issue or hardship, you should seek help from
Speaker 1: a qualified professional. All right, now go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: your question at the sound of the beat.
Speaker 2: Hi, Cheeky's. So, I've heard you talk about how growing
Speaker 2: up you had trouble reading and how you would get
Speaker 2: extra help in school, how they would pull you out
Speaker 2: of class so you could go to an extra English class.
Speaker 2: My question to you is when do you feel like
Speaker 2: you started to get good at reading? And what did
Speaker 2: you do to get good at reading? And another question,
Speaker 2: do you feel comfortable reading out loud? If you do, now,
Speaker 2: what did you do to feel comfortable to read out loud?
Speaker 2: You get me?
Speaker 1: I like your question? Okay, so yes, all of elementary
Speaker 1: school middle school, I would pray, my hands would sweat,
Speaker 1: do not call me to read up in front of
Speaker 1: this class. I think it had to do with like
Speaker 1: my childhood, and you know, I was going through like
Speaker 1: the whole sexual abuse thing, and I was a big
Speaker 1: secret and at home, I had to be responsible for
Speaker 1: my siblings. So school was never like a huge priority
Speaker 1: in my life. It was just do what you gotta
Speaker 1: do to get by. It wasn't like something that was
Speaker 1: super like pushed on us, I guess, but I was
Speaker 1: expected to get good grades. So anyways, I think that
Speaker 1: all had to do with it, and I just didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, my first language, like I said, was Spanish,
Speaker 1: so I had to learn how to speak English later
Speaker 1: on in my life and learn how to read it
Speaker 1: and all that good stuff. But I think practice makes
Speaker 1: perfect and that's what I started doing. I want to
Speaker 1: say that my reading started getting better for sure in
Speaker 1: high school because there's a lot of reading that you
Speaker 1: got to do, and I would just read more, and
Speaker 1: I started falling in love with reading. And I always
Speaker 1: buy books and I try to like keep them nearby
Speaker 1: to remind me, Okay, I got to read. Even now,
Speaker 1: I don't have as much time as i'd like to read.
Speaker 1: But I think for sure that's where this whole thing
Speaker 1: practice makes perfect applies. And even with me. Now I
Speaker 1: can read publicly. I like reading publicly. I have to
Speaker 1: do it for like award shows, like when I'm presenting
Speaker 1: an award or performance. Now I don't get as nervous.
Speaker 1: But again, it took a while to get there. It
Speaker 1: just takes time and practice and doing it more and more.
Speaker 1: And the more that you do it, the more you
Speaker 1: feel comfortable with it and it becomes more of like
Speaker 1: something familiar. But if you do it once in a while,
Speaker 1: or you don't take that risk of doing it, then
Speaker 1: you're not going to get better at it. So that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I did. And I was okay with
Speaker 1: messing up because there was times in the beginning of
Speaker 1: my career that I had to do it and I
Speaker 1: would stumble on a word or I couldn't pronounce a word,
Speaker 1: mainly in Spanish, and I was like, okay, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I want to learn this. Like I'm very visual, so
Speaker 1: in order for me to pronounce a word, I need
Speaker 1: to see it. And then I'm like, okay, I'll never
Speaker 1: forget it. I have a photogenetic memory. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of what I've done it all. It all depends what
Speaker 1: works for you. Writing things down have also helped me
Speaker 1: a lot, like actually writing things with a pencil, not
Speaker 1: just on the phone, on a notepad, so I can
Speaker 1: remember things. So but yes, as far as reading, you
Speaker 1: just got to do more of it. Take the time
Speaker 1: to say, I'm going to read every day for at
Speaker 1: least an hour, thirty minutes, at least thirty minutes or
Speaker 1: a chap. I don't know. But the more you do it,
Speaker 1: the better you will get. And that's what happened for me.
Speaker 1: So thank you for your question. Okay, guys, next question
Speaker 1: comes from another anonymous listener.
Speaker 3: Let's see Hi Cheeky's first. I want to say that
Speaker 3: I love you. I love this podcast, I love how
Speaker 3: genuine you are, and I love that you are a
Speaker 3: cancer because I am also a cancer. I wanted to
Speaker 3: ask for advice because I feel like I'm going through
Speaker 3: something really, really tough that I've ever gone through in
Speaker 3: my life. I know one of your podcasts you had
Speaker 3: mentioned that you had had an abortion. I also had
Speaker 3: one not so long ago, and I just wanted to
Speaker 3: ask you, how did you overcome this? How do you
Speaker 3: get over the feeling of guilt, the feeling of what if?
Speaker 3: I feel like that this was something that I never
Speaker 3: thought I would have done in a million years, but
Speaker 3: unfortunately it had to be done because I just wasn't
Speaker 3: It just wasn't the right time. I'm growing on my career,
Speaker 3: and I feel so bad because it's like I felt
Speaker 3: selfish putting myself first, but I need deep down inside,
Speaker 3: I just wasn't ready. So yeah, I just wanted to
Speaker 3: ask you, how did you overcome this and how do
Speaker 3: you feel now after so many years?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: Okay, I first of all, I understand you. I know
Speaker 1: what you're feeling, and it's all normal. It's normal because
Speaker 1: you have a heart because you didn't do it. Obviously
Speaker 1: it's willingly, but it's not something like you said. It's
Speaker 1: not something that I was expecting and I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: But this is also going to show you to be
Speaker 1: more responsible with your body and make better choices, and
Speaker 1: that's a lesson that I feel you need to learn
Speaker 1: from this. But I am pro choice. I feel that
Speaker 1: no one that doesn't want to have a child should
Speaker 1: have a baby, because that's a forever thing. A child. Yes,
Speaker 1: is a blessing, but if the time isn't right for you,
Speaker 1: then the time is it right for you because no
Speaker 1: one else is going to come in and take care
Speaker 1: of that child, and you have priorities right now. And
Speaker 1: I think that if that's your choice, I get it.
Speaker 1: For a long time, I also felt very very guilty,
Speaker 1: especially because I come from a very Christian family, and
Speaker 1: it was a secret that I was holding in because
Speaker 1: I'm like, they're going to judge me, I'm going to
Speaker 1: go to hell. I was very afraid of my mom.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to disappoint her. I wasn't ready. I
Speaker 1: was so young. I was so young, you know. And
Speaker 1: I felt very guilty because it was something that I
Speaker 1: was holding in. But I think that when you learn
Speaker 1: to be honest and transparent about your truth, it doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be with the world like I did it.
Speaker 1: But and you just know, Okay, I know God will
Speaker 1: bless me with the baby when the time is right,
Speaker 1: and that's that. Like, I think that that definitely starts
Speaker 1: helping the healing. Of course, therapy, you guys know, I'm
Speaker 1: huge on that. That help me a lot understanding certain things.
Speaker 1: But I think that you need to not think of
Speaker 1: everyone else, because I think that's where the guilt starts coming.
Speaker 1: It's like what are they going to think and this
Speaker 1: and that or what society says in the world that
Speaker 1: we're living in right now. But this is a very
Speaker 1: personal choice and it's going to take some time. But
Speaker 1: you need to be compassionate with yourself and give yourself
Speaker 1: a hug, like literally hug yourself. I started doing that
Speaker 1: not so long ago, like hugging myself and it feels
Speaker 1: so good, and say it's gonna be okay. Because if
Speaker 1: you bring a child into this world and you're not ready,
Speaker 1: it's really a disservice to the child. I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: and you grow resentment towards them, and if you're not ready,
Speaker 1: like it's just a lot of things. But I understand
Speaker 1: you're not alone. I'm here for you. I don't think
Speaker 1: you're a bad person for doing it. I really don't.
Speaker 1: Don't feel selfish. This is your time to be selfish.
Speaker 1: You want to focus on your career, but also learn
Speaker 1: from this. I don't believe in use abortion as a
Speaker 1: form of birth control. That for me is a no no.
Speaker 1: So learn from this, take care of yourself, get on
Speaker 1: birth control, use a condom, like, learn from this so
Speaker 1: you don't have to go through it anymore. And I
Speaker 1: think you need to just forgive yourself, write it on
Speaker 1: a piece of paper, burn it, or throw it into
Speaker 1: the ocean, like something where you're just letting go and
Speaker 1: you're like, Okay, I'm letting bygones be bygones. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let it go. I'm gonna learn from this, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: grow from this, And you have to just let it go.
Speaker 1: You can't carry that with you because it's going to
Speaker 1: cause a lot of issues emotionally and it's not gonna
Speaker 1: allow you to really embrace and get everything that you
Speaker 1: are looking forward to in your career, you know. So yes,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Okay. I'm sending you a big hug,
Speaker 1: and yes, look online there's a lot of emotional support. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your question. Okay, guys, our
Speaker 1: next question comes from it's our last question. It comes
Speaker 1: from Issa Hi Tikis.
Speaker 4: I was just scrolling on Instagram and I saw your
Speaker 4: post about performing at NOT in Mexico City, and I
Speaker 4: just want to tell you how proud I am and
Speaker 4: how beautiful you look and the stage presence that you
Speaker 4: have and I'm just blown away and it almost brought
Speaker 4: tears to my eyes because I know how much this
Speaker 4: means to you, but for us it also means a
Speaker 4: lot because you're such a Chinoana like you are. You
Speaker 4: do everything that you set your mind to, and you're
Speaker 4: so strong and you are so powerful and you've been
Speaker 4: through a lot, and I just want to say, I
Speaker 4: just want to say, don't ever stop doing it, because
Speaker 4: you inspire women like me, Mikanas, Latinas, just women in general,
Speaker 4: to keep doing it and to always be graceful and
Speaker 4: unique and strong and everything that you are you embody
Speaker 4: it in such a beautiful way. And yeah, I just
Speaker 4: wanted to tell you that, thank you so much for
Speaker 4: being who you are. And I'm sending you so much
Speaker 4: love from Atlanta, Georgia. By Tikis. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Oh you said You're gonna make me cry. I felt
Speaker 1: so much honesty, so much love in your voice, and
Speaker 1: I'm so like, thank you, thank you. I still can't believe, guys,
Speaker 1: that there are people in the world that love me
Speaker 1: like this, that wish me well, like they not even
Speaker 1: know me on a personal level, but they feel my
Speaker 1: heart through my music or like this particular show Ali
Speaker 1: Tooia was a huge, huge moment in my career, and
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I can't even explain to you. I
Speaker 1: was a different person, so so on that stage that night,
Speaker 1: I feel like it was definitely the best performance that
Speaker 1: I've ever done. And I'm very proud of myself because
Speaker 1: that's how I want every performance to be, Like I
Speaker 1: want every album to be better in the last I
Speaker 1: have my own competition, so I'm always trying to better
Speaker 1: it and be the best version of myself, especially as
Speaker 1: an artist. So thank you so much. I got a
Speaker 1: lot of great compliments and I feel very proud. It
Speaker 1: wasn't sold out, guys, it was not sold out, but
Speaker 1: I feel like it was full. I felt like it
Speaker 1: was almost sold out. It was. There was a good
Speaker 1: amount of people there. I don't know the count yet,
Speaker 1: but when I walked out on that stage, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: and I saw the amount of people that were there.
Speaker 1: Because I didn't think because of what they were saying, like, oh,
Speaker 1: the tickets are and selling blah blah blah, I just
Speaker 1: I stopped asking after a while. I'm like, I don't
Speaker 1: want to know how many tickets are being sold. I
Speaker 1: just want to go there and focus and give a
Speaker 1: good show. And I know that those people that are
Speaker 1: there are meant to be there, and they're going to
Speaker 1: spread the word and people are going to know that
Speaker 1: I'm a real artist, that I'm a true artist that mentree.
Speaker 1: So the fact that you said that means a lot,
Speaker 1: Like I put my heart and soul, not only me,
Speaker 1: my entire team into the show, and I know a
Speaker 1: lot of them. A lot of us were depleted after
Speaker 1: that show because it was just such a hype and
Speaker 1: such like a build up to this big championship performance
Speaker 1: that we were all all of us were very depleted
Speaker 1: because it took a lot to get, you know, to
Speaker 1: get it done, but we got it done. And I'm
Speaker 1: very proud and this comment and this for you to
Speaker 1: take the moment to leave me this question is just
Speaker 1: you have no idea like it, and then you said
Speaker 1: it with so much love, and I appreciate it. Like
Speaker 1: you guys told me, I inspire you, and you guys
Speaker 1: inspire me because it's like, oh my gosh, I gotta
Speaker 1: keep going. I got this. We're doing good. And for me,
Speaker 1: it was in a way, to be honest, secretly, it
Speaker 1: was a big like not f you, because that's not
Speaker 1: what it was. It was more of like, look for
Speaker 1: all those people that didn't believe in me, because I
Speaker 1: don't want to focus on those people too much. But
Speaker 1: it was nice to be like, you guys didn't believe
Speaker 1: in me, and we're talking so much crap, and we
Speaker 1: went there, We did what we had to do. We
Speaker 1: did it good. People are happy. It went freaking viral
Speaker 1: on TikTok, and I'm just like, oh, I want people
Speaker 1: to see I know what I'm doing on a stage,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Thank God, and little by
Speaker 1: litt I'm getting better. So thank you. Anyways, long ass response,
Speaker 1: but I really really appreciate you taking the time and
Speaker 1: thank you. Thank you so much, Thank you all. Thank
Speaker 1: you guys for your questions. I really enjoy listening to
Speaker 1: you guys and helping you in every way, in any
Speaker 1: way that I can from the bottom of my heart.
Speaker 1: There are times that I'm like stuck and I'm like
Speaker 1: I don't know what to say, But most of the
Speaker 1: time I feel like I have a pretty good advice.
Speaker 1: So if you guys have a question for me, please
Speaker 1: It could be about finances, about love, about school, about anything,
Speaker 1: really anything. I am willing to answer it, So leave
Speaker 1: your question at speakpipe dot com, slash Cheeks and Chill
Speaker 1: podcast e los Qiro Mucho, and I will I'll be here.
Speaker 1: I'll be here waiting for you on the next episode
Speaker 1: of Dear Cheeks. This is a production of iHeartRadio and
Speaker 1: the Microdura podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael
Speaker 1: Dura Podcasts and follow me Cheeky's That's c h i
Speaker 1: q u i s. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit
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