Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have very
Speaker 1: special guests. World renowned dancer in the Building and founder
Speaker 1: owner of wellness brand be Greater Than in the Building,
Speaker 1: Ashley Everett. Yeah, yes, thanks for having me girl. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was here. I was excited. I was on a
Speaker 1: phone call with a friend and he was like, have
Speaker 1: you had Ashley on the show? And I was like, actually,
Speaker 1: what what? And then I heard a little bit of
Speaker 1: Beehi was involved. I said, yes, we gotta have her.
Speaker 1: We gotta find out what your story is. I think
Speaker 1: just saying you started with Beyonce. Yeah, we should never
Speaker 1: ever scratch that narrative that never doesn't exist wild right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but seventeen at seventeen seventeen.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. I can't wait to get into this story.
Speaker 1: But before we get into the story, I must know
Speaker 1: what you're gonna have me eating today.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, girl, we are making iconic ramen noodles iconic. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but it's elevated.
Speaker 1: It's elevated, yeah, because you know, we don't allow just
Speaker 1: ramen on the show. We are anti ramen. After what
Speaker 1: seventy five episodes. No, you can't just submit ramen and
Speaker 1: beyond package. I literally send an email back like no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: what are you doing to the rock? Yeah, we're elevating,
Speaker 1: So what are you doing to elevate your ramen.
Speaker 2: We're adding some chicken. We're gonna like, grill it up, well,
Speaker 2: skill it, skill it up. And then we're gonna add
Speaker 2: a harboiled egg if you like eggs. I like to
Speaker 2: add a little green and they're a little vegetable of
Speaker 2: some soor either cabbage or spinach. And then we have
Speaker 2: some corn. I love corn. I hear there's no benefits
Speaker 2: to it, but I love corn.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love corn. And every time someone tries to
Speaker 1: tell me how terrible corn is and how it doesn't benefit.
Speaker 2: Us and do anything, first, it's not bad for us.
Speaker 2: So either it's not good, not bad, and just I.
Speaker 1: Guess it's good. It goes in and out the same way,
Speaker 1: but or the whatever, not that we want to think
Speaker 1: about that right now. But I will say that after
Speaker 1: living in La, the way LA does corn is very unique.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time someone did the corn with
Speaker 1: the mao and the butter and the parmesan cheese. I
Speaker 1: was like, y'all crazy. I took one bite and I say, well, Craig,
Speaker 1: I know, I get another one.
Speaker 2: I know. And it's so popular out here. It's so popular.
Speaker 1: I literally like there would be days where I'll be
Speaker 1: driving through the streets like where are you? Where are yo?
Speaker 2: Yo?
Speaker 1: And I always tell people like never to haggle the
Speaker 1: street vendors, because if you do the research on those
Speaker 1: street vendors, they're not even making like one hundred dollars
Speaker 1: iron profit, Like they're really struggling.
Speaker 2: I know. So I'm always looking it for the passion
Speaker 2: and yeah, should I get started?
Speaker 1: Yes? Started? Okay, got started. So while you're making this
Speaker 1: elevated ramen, take me back to either when you was
Speaker 1: eating ramen before it became elevated, you know, before you
Speaker 1: became the chef of you know, I've had ramen so
Speaker 1: many times I gotta elevate it. Take me back to
Speaker 1: what was going on then.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, well, I mean I've been eating ramen
Speaker 2: noodles probably like my entire life. You know, I'm a
Speaker 2: dancers before like anything, you're an entrepreneur before model, actor,
Speaker 2: any of that.
Speaker 1: I'm a dancer. I evehancer since I was two.
Speaker 2: Yeah. See. And you know the reason why we're doing
Speaker 2: ramen is because a lot of people think, like when
Speaker 2: you're on tour with a superstar and like life is
Speaker 2: like all this glitz and glam and luxury all the time.
Speaker 1: That's what I'd be thinking. I'd be like, what should
Speaker 1: mean natal show? But like they give you like a
Speaker 1: don't they give you what do they call it? The
Speaker 1: little budget?
Speaker 2: Every day? Oh?
Speaker 1: Per dimn per dim? Yeah, do you get those?
Speaker 2: But you but it's like that's for breakfast, lunch and
Speaker 2: dinner for you to feed yourself every day. So you know,
Speaker 2: it's like depending on where you are, like a norm
Speaker 2: p dem is like seventy five to maybe one hundred,
Speaker 2: maybe one hundred and fifty if you're like overseas somewhere
Speaker 2: a day, you know, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Speaker 1: So they're like simple meals.
Speaker 2: You know. Everything else is on your own. And we
Speaker 2: eat a lot of ramen. We're on tour buses a lot.
Speaker 2: We're like backstage a lot, but we like live on
Speaker 2: the tour bus on the roads.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. And you're limited there, girl.
Speaker 2: We don't have all this. We don't have a stove,
Speaker 2: We only got the microwave, and like, you know, whatever
Speaker 2: couldie get into the fridge, you know all that. So
Speaker 2: I ate a lot of Ramen noodles in my early
Speaker 2: tour days. Wow. So and then as we got older
Speaker 2: and all that, Like once we got home, I still
Speaker 2: liked Ramen noodles. You know, that's like a quick go
Speaker 2: to meal line. But we learned how to like elevate it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: started adding the kitchen of course. Of course I love
Speaker 2: hearing people's remakes on ramen.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So you started dancing at the age of two.
Speaker 1: I started when I was too. I'm guessing your mom
Speaker 1: or who who was the one that was like, we're
Speaker 1: gonna put your little booty in ballet.
Speaker 2: My mom yep, put me in ballet at two two
Speaker 2: and a half. And she like comes from the art
Speaker 2: she I say, she like vicariously lives through me. She's
Speaker 2: like my biggest fan. She's gonna start following you after this.
Speaker 2: She's gonna be all over reposting everything like she's I
Speaker 2: love that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Okay, So are you an only childer?
Speaker 2: No, I'm the only girl though, okay, and I'm the
Speaker 2: baby okay, Okay. That's also like why I'm a little tomboyish,
Speaker 2: you know, Okay, but yeah, so she put me in
Speaker 2: dance because she always like wanted to dance and wanted
Speaker 2: to sing, dance, act all of that. I took her
Speaker 2: to the Michael Jackson musical, which is here.
Speaker 1: In La Shall see It? Is it really good?
Speaker 2: It's so good, girl, and she loved and she was like,
Speaker 2: if I could do this right now at my age,
Speaker 2: I would get up there and sing and dance in
Speaker 2: this ensemble.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I love Dang. I don't even know
Speaker 1: that's happened. I'm gonna look. I'm gonna look it up now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta go see a girl, it's so good.
Speaker 1: Should I start with this? Yeah, go ahead, start start
Speaker 1: with the chicken. And I'm yeah, you guys, we're just cooking.
Speaker 1: We're just we're cooking. We're like too homegirls. Yeah, hang,
Speaker 1: is this on? I don't know did you turn it on?
Speaker 2: I did turn it on.
Speaker 1: Okay, it's for me. It's electric, it's I know, I
Speaker 1: don't have that fire girl. Yeah, that's the fans stuff.
Speaker 1: This was originally when we designed the table, I thought
Speaker 1: we were just gonna pop up on people's backyards with
Speaker 1: the table and shoot at they houses and stuff. I
Speaker 1: didn't really have a full plan on how we're gonna
Speaker 1: do eating while broke. I just knew we needed a
Speaker 1: cook top, and uh, that's how we did that. But
Speaker 1: we're making it work. So your mom's having you do
Speaker 1: all the arty things.
Speaker 2: Yeah. She put me in dance when I was young,
Speaker 2: and I just like fell in love with it. I
Speaker 2: started with ballet, and I was like that quiet girl,
Speaker 2: the student, just like focused, you know, paying attention, like
Speaker 2: wanting to learn. I loved it, and I think I naturally,
Speaker 2: like was decent at it. And then when I was
Speaker 2: like when did I start traveling around like thirteen, No,
Speaker 2: maybe it was a little younger, like twelve, I started
Speaker 2: doing summer intensives and that it's like really in ballet
Speaker 2: or in ballet modern. I did competitions like growing up too,
Speaker 2: So that was like where the hip hop and the
Speaker 2: jazz and the tap and all the other styles came in.
Speaker 2: So I would do nutcrackers during the winter and competitions
Speaker 2: during the spring, and that was like my dance life,
Speaker 2: like reality, you know, it was like my job as
Speaker 2: a kid.
Speaker 1: And your mom was fully invested in taking you around and.
Speaker 2: From that Yep, to stay at home mom just in it.
Speaker 1: You know, she was in it. She was invested invested.
Speaker 1: Was it ever hard on you dealing with a mom
Speaker 1: that was like really that in it?
Speaker 2: No, she was never like a crazy dance mom like
Speaker 2: the abby knees and all that. Yeah, she was never
Speaker 2: crazy like that. Okay, I'm gonna do just like a
Speaker 2: few little pieces, okay are.
Speaker 1: Yeah you could it for both of us.
Speaker 2: They didn't tell you. Yeah, yeah, I mean I don't know.
Speaker 2: You might be like vegan or something grown now on
Speaker 2: the one egg so well, that's what I say.
Speaker 1: It's that hard boiled egg. So I've pre boiled that
Speaker 1: right before you came to I was trying to help
Speaker 1: you out. But no, I get to rate the it's
Speaker 1: just this, oh lord, yeah, not rating. It's funny because
Speaker 1: I look at I have a two year old daughter,
Speaker 1: and I know her little best friend at school does ballet,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, are they old enough to really understand
Speaker 1: it that age what they're doing? Yeah, at ballet, you know.
Speaker 1: But it's interesting you started.
Speaker 2: It teaches you like discipline, you know, and like how
Speaker 2: to follow, and like I just think, yeah, I just
Speaker 2: think it teaches yah, that's what you know. I have
Speaker 2: this conversation a lot because I have nieces and nephews.
Speaker 2: I don't have any children, but nieces and nephews, and
Speaker 2: I feel like they're older. They're like in their teens
Speaker 2: and stuff like seventeen fifteen, and I feel like they
Speaker 2: don't They're like if they're not into anything, they're like,
Speaker 2: it's it's crazy, girl, Like they need to be involved
Speaker 2: in something, you know, so like I already here to
Speaker 2: tell me that at the other day early or like
Speaker 2: a sport or whatever teaches them discipline, like and then
Speaker 2: once them. I feel like that that's why I'm so disciplined,
Speaker 2: Like and I can like I know how to like
Speaker 2: make myself disciplined or like, you know, I'm a hard worker,
Speaker 2: like I will work hard and blood, sweat, tears, you know,
Speaker 2: like all of that.
Speaker 1: So I didn't know, did you did you ask your
Speaker 1: mom like was it like she saw you dancing? I
Speaker 1: know I'm getting all stuck into the details, but I'm
Speaker 1: genuinely curious. Did she notice you were into like music
Speaker 1: and then she puts you in or was it like.
Speaker 2: No, I want to just put me in it, Okay,
Speaker 2: Hoping I liked it okay, and I did awesome.
Speaker 1: You know. So you're doing all these competitions and you're
Speaker 1: doing different types of dance.
Speaker 2: Yep, this is like all in my younger years, is there?
Speaker 1: And were you watching the like, say the Last Dance,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, all that because those boys would make
Speaker 1: you want to dance, right.
Speaker 2: Save the Last Dance was like wanted, like I that's why.
Speaker 2: So I don't know if you know this, but I
Speaker 2: was about to go to Juilliard. Julia was like a
Speaker 2: dream of mine, and that's like the story of Save
Speaker 2: the Last Dance. She like wants to go to Julliard,
Speaker 2: but then like starts doing hip hop and like all
Speaker 2: this was like a ballet girl. And I'm like that
Speaker 2: was me because I was like a ballet girl. But
Speaker 2: then I like would do hip hop. Two and I
Speaker 2: went to Juilliard summer intensive when I was sixteen.
Speaker 1: I auditioned for the college.
Speaker 2: When I was seventeen, I got accepted, and then I
Speaker 2: auditioned for Beyonce's tour and went on tour at seventeen
Speaker 2: and I was like, oh, okay, so we still in
Speaker 2: high school. I was still in high school. I went
Speaker 2: to high school in New York City called Professional Children's
Speaker 2: School that like it was all professional children like ice skaters, actors,
Speaker 2: ballet dancers, you know, musicians, and they like allowed us
Speaker 2: to leave school to work. And so I got that
Speaker 2: job and it was like alignment, girl, like boo picked alignment.
Speaker 1: Did you have the job before you went to the
Speaker 1: school or did y'all?
Speaker 2: I moved to New York at sixteen. My parents put
Speaker 2: me in private school for the first time ever. Professional
Speaker 2: children at school, well made them want to move. You.
Speaker 2: They saw my potential and they took when they moved,
Speaker 2: the whole family. Yeah, my well, my parents are in
Speaker 2: real estate, so just my mom and I moved. My
Speaker 2: dad like came with us, set us up, and then
Speaker 2: he moved back home and like kept raising my brother
Speaker 2: who was eighteen but just had like graduated from high
Speaker 2: school and stuff. Okay when I was sixteen, And so
Speaker 2: it was like the sacrifice of the family for my career.
Speaker 1: And they really believed in you. Did you feel any
Speaker 1: type of pressure with that level of belief in you?
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think I realized I did, but
Speaker 2: maybe I did now looking back, you know, And that's
Speaker 2: why I like phil like if these kids now I'm like,
Speaker 2: y'all need to be in something. Don't you want to
Speaker 2: make us proud? Like, yeah, they wanted to make my
Speaker 2: parents proud because they believed in me so much. And
Speaker 2: now that we're having this conversation, I'm like, oh, maybe
Speaker 2: I was like pressuring myself. Even still, I'm like, I
Speaker 2: owe them so much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are you getting a most rye? You're now like
Speaker 1: I can't watch people die. That's the way because I
Speaker 1: thought about parents growl be like I waited so much
Speaker 1: for me. That's so sweet.
Speaker 2: Well, cooking and crying, this isn't it. This is a
Speaker 2: show girl cooking cry.
Speaker 1: I love when it sounds terrible, but I love when
Speaker 1: people cry on the show because I think there's it's
Speaker 1: like you're taking it because you said it before, and
Speaker 1: I was like, but I think it's because you're like
Speaker 1: the cool thing about the whole eating while broke experience.
Speaker 1: It's like, I'm trying to get you back into that
Speaker 1: like seat of the beginning you are. Really here's a
Speaker 1: little tissue.
Speaker 2: I know, girl, I know I started to thank you
Speaker 2: so when you started.
Speaker 1: So you get into this school, your parents get you
Speaker 1: into the school, A team effort gets you into the school. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they and a book Beyonce. Uh, how what year
Speaker 1: was that? What what Beyonce album was going on at
Speaker 1: that time?
Speaker 2: Because I this is the B Day album. That's like
Speaker 2: when I that was.
Speaker 1: The whole to the Left to the Left, No, then
Speaker 1: the box is irreplaceable. It was. Yeah, I think there
Speaker 1: was a bunch of great records.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 1: I'm a diehard jay Z fan. So and my twin
Speaker 1: sister is a die hard Beyonce fan, which is kind
Speaker 1: of weird because they're together now, but like, I was
Speaker 1: always a diehard Jane and then he gets with Beyonce
Speaker 1: and now she's like, you ain't listening to Beyonce record.
Speaker 1: I'm like, you ain't listen to day Z record?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Did you guys go to on the Run?
Speaker 1: On the Run? No, I mean I've only been to
Speaker 1: one jay Z concert. That's it. I mean, I'll be
Speaker 1: having money. My money is always funny.
Speaker 2: Girl. One of the things that I like love the
Speaker 2: brag about is like I can say I was a
Speaker 2: jay Z dancer, Like that's.
Speaker 1: Cool to me because hell, yeah, you.
Speaker 2: Have one of the coolest people. I named my dog
Speaker 2: after him, like his name is so really Yeah, I
Speaker 2: think it's like one of the coolest people ever really,
Speaker 2: so yeah, he's like just so smart too, and like
Speaker 2: really nice, like a really nice guy.
Speaker 1: So yeah. Yeah, and always like been consistent consistent you
Speaker 1: mean consistent in character. Yeah, and like with me to
Speaker 1: me personally, because really speaking personally. But yeah, you know
Speaker 1: I have I brag about I say this on almost
Speaker 1: every episode, but I have an original, one of a
Speaker 1: kind painting of jay Z in the lobby, oh my
Speaker 1: little tiny lobby. You'll look at it afterwards be like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's true. I got it customized. I got it custom
Speaker 1: made when I was like twenty four. Yeah, it's huge
Speaker 1: by who my mom. I was like, Mom, I'll pay
Speaker 1: you whatever if you can make this painting on a
Speaker 1: five foot canvas for me. And then she didn't ship
Speaker 1: it to me till like four years later after I
Speaker 1: bought my first house. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so shout
Speaker 1: outs it's it's one of a kind. She always calls me,
Speaker 1: you know, Jay would buy it. I'm like, Mom, this
Speaker 1: is I don't even got real quick. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: fast with it.
Speaker 2: I'm only doing that amount of chicken how much you
Speaker 2: want you want some none of I.
Speaker 1: Mean it's okay. It's okay because you know what we're
Speaker 1: going to be hearing your story. You got you. It
Speaker 1: sounds like you have a lot of stories.
Speaker 2: I'll be like, what are YOUULTI tasking girls? Sometimes I'd
Speaker 2: be like, scatter right.
Speaker 1: Where are you when you find out that you? First
Speaker 1: of all, where are you when you I want to
Speaker 1: know what's going on in your head when you're auditioning,
Speaker 1: But I also want to know where you were when
Speaker 1: you found out you booked it.
Speaker 2: I was at home when I found out I booked
Speaker 2: at home meeting in New York because I had moved
Speaker 2: to New yor sixteen end of six I'm.
Speaker 1: And they knew you were a seventeen year old.
Speaker 2: They eventually knew I was seventeen year old. I don't
Speaker 2: think like when I was first auditioning, they knew once
Speaker 2: they like wanted to book me and stuff. They like
Speaker 2: asked me how old I was, and like, you know
Speaker 2: what my situation was because I lived in New York
Speaker 2: and they first they asked me to fly to LA
Speaker 2: and shoot a bunch of music videos and that was
Speaker 2: the B Day album, my first music video ever in
Speaker 2: my first job, like with her was they Get Me
Speaker 2: Bodied music video O Kaind of that song.
Speaker 1: How does It Go?
Speaker 2: Oh? Were doing me tonight?
Speaker 1: I never hurt nobody. I remember that video.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I'm in that video. And then
Speaker 2: like two days later, I shot the green Light music
Speaker 2: video and they put me like right next to her,
Speaker 2: and I remember on set everybody kept just saying, like,
Speaker 2: you guys really like resemble each other. Our hair was
Speaker 2: slicked back in a bun and were like standing like
Speaker 2: at side by side, like or like in a line profile,
Speaker 2: and everybody was like, you guys just resemble each other,
Speaker 2: Like are you related? And said whatever and so, and
Speaker 2: I remember her mom saying that she was like on
Speaker 2: set that was when she was doing wardrobe and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. And yeah, I just remember them my saying
Speaker 2: yeah about me on that set. And so after those
Speaker 2: music videos, I went back to New York and got
Speaker 2: a call to be a part of the tour. That's
Speaker 2: like how the tour stuff like started. And then I
Speaker 2: went on tour. This is at the top of seven,
Speaker 2: my senior year of high school. But I went to
Speaker 2: the professional children's school that allowed me to like leave
Speaker 2: school and work and go on tour. I came back
Speaker 2: in June. I graduated, walked in my class, caught up
Speaker 2: on my school work, went back on tour, and then
Speaker 2: dropped out of my dream college because tour.
Speaker 1: Was oh dream college of Juilliard.
Speaker 2: Juilliard, Yeah, get.
Speaker 1: The freak out.
Speaker 2: Dropped out because I was enrolled, girl, I was enrolled.
Speaker 2: I was supposed to start like September seventh or something.
Speaker 2: I remember like very vividly, and I dropped out like
Speaker 2: the first, like literally a week before. I'm not mad
Speaker 2: because the spot actually went to a friend of mine
Speaker 2: who also was another dancer in New York, and I
Speaker 2: was like, great, that's cool. She is also black. I
Speaker 2: was like okay, because that's only like one of us
Speaker 2: at the time. It's always like one little token. And
Speaker 2: then I went back on tour for like a month
Speaker 2: and then was like, now what with my career? Now?
Speaker 2: What do you do? Oh?
Speaker 1: What were your parents saying too? When you're like, were
Speaker 1: they involved in the discussion of you possibly leaving Juilliard?
Speaker 2: And yes they were, you know, and that was like
Speaker 2: my first like adult decision. They were like, we support
Speaker 2: you either way. We're here for you. You know, whatever
Speaker 2: you want to do, we support you, you know. Juilliard
Speaker 2: is great, great option, Beyonce, you want to keep touring
Speaker 2: and start your career also great? Eh.
Speaker 1: And let's go back to that first. So your first
Speaker 1: time working with her, what are you? What are your
Speaker 1: thoughts when you're standing next to her? Are you nervous
Speaker 1: at all? You just like I got this in a bag, Like, oh.
Speaker 2: My gosh, the first time working with her, I mean
Speaker 2: I was just like so green and like didn't know
Speaker 2: anything about the industry a but also like coming from
Speaker 2: the ballet, we're all very like, you know, like discipline,
Speaker 2: so like.
Speaker 1: Ballet requires a lot of discipline. Huh my god.
Speaker 2: What girl, maybe like hitting you with rulers and stuff
Speaker 2: and you're like like tighten up, you know, like it's
Speaker 2: very like okay, like Russians and stuff.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and when you were going to ballet and
Speaker 1: all that stuff where they're kids that look like you.
Speaker 1: When I say that black and you know, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say, No, are you her mixed? Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: What are you? Black and white? Black and white? Okay?
Speaker 1: I'm black and white, do you? Oh? I'm Josh and Jamaican.
Speaker 1: I have a white father.
Speaker 2: I have a white dad too, Okay, okay, cool, which
Speaker 2: is like it's very rare. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I always get the opposite.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, if there was a little I would put
Speaker 2: a lid on.
Speaker 1: But there's a lid in the back. But it's okay,
Speaker 1: it's okay.
Speaker 2: So just gonna let her simmer down on This is
Speaker 2: so funny because I know when you're like not cooking
Speaker 2: in your kitchen, everything's a little different.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and you're you're trying to keep it like
Speaker 1: tidy and all that, and it's not. It's going all
Speaker 1: over the place. Look at me, see Okay, so you're
Speaker 1: so take me back to the first time you're working
Speaker 1: alongside her, like what are your thoughts? Clearly you're very
Speaker 1: your posture and everything's on point. Actually, and you did
Speaker 1: practice before, like they make you practice a lot before.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yeah, we do a lot of rehearsals. And
Speaker 2: she this is back like in the beginning of her like.
Speaker 1: Branching off from the Destiny Chong.
Speaker 2: Chow and all that. So she was like involved and
Speaker 2: included in a lot, you know, like always in rehearsals,
Speaker 2: like there all day with us, just like involved a
Speaker 2: lot and even taking you back a little bit further
Speaker 2: before I even auditioned. I was training at Alvin Ailey,
Speaker 2: if to Alvin Ailey before. It's a modern company, like
Speaker 2: black modern company New York. It's one of the most
Speaker 2: famous ones. And I was that's the school I was
Speaker 2: like dancing at, and I thought I was going to
Speaker 2: be like in the company there. I thought they were
Speaker 2: going to recruit me while I was like before I
Speaker 2: graduated high school or whatever. And Beyonce was rehearsing at
Speaker 2: the studio because it was one of the nicest, most beautiful,
Speaker 2: like bigger studios in New York for people to rent
Speaker 2: out and rehearse at. And she was rehearsing for some
Speaker 2: awards show at Radio City in New York, and her
Speaker 2: choreographer was outside of the rehearsal room and he stopped me,
Speaker 2: like just based on my looks. I was in a
Speaker 2: leotardan tights, girl bun whatever. But everybody had heard like
Speaker 2: Beyonce was there. Yeah, there was a security guard standing
Speaker 2: out like you know where gets around, especially like a
Speaker 2: dance studio or whatever. So everybody was like kind of
Speaker 2: like whispering. I had like a class down there, so
Speaker 2: I was kind of just like, oh whatever, and the
Speaker 2: choreographer stops me and it's like, excuse me, Can I
Speaker 2: talk to you for a second. I'm like yes, And
Speaker 2: he's like, you're very beautiful, Like do you do more
Speaker 2: than ballet? I see you do ballet. I'm like, yes,
Speaker 2: I do ballet of monter, jazz, hip hop, tap, you know, lyracle,
Speaker 2: everything I'm training.
Speaker 1: You're like, here's my whole rest man. I'm like, what
Speaker 1: do you want?
Speaker 2: And he invited me into the rehearsal space and that
Speaker 2: was like my first time meeting her ever. And she
Speaker 2: she was so sweet, so sweet and so like just
Speaker 2: humble and like she looked like a dancer, you know.
Speaker 2: Her hair was down and big, and she had no
Speaker 2: makeup on, she had no shoes on, she was barefoot,
Speaker 2: just like regular rehearsal clothes and sweating and just working
Speaker 2: like all of us in that studio, you know, and
Speaker 2: it was just beautiful. That was like my first like
Speaker 2: actual meeting with her. And I was like, oh, this
Speaker 2: is so nice, you know. And then he took my
Speaker 2: information and told me he would call me and never
Speaker 2: call me, very like my introduction to the NDAA. I
Speaker 2: was like, ah, this is what it's like.
Speaker 1: What was he? I hate to ask this, But do
Speaker 1: you think he was like trying to holliway low key
Speaker 1: or was he just like a professional?
Speaker 2: No? No, no, I think he was actually like genuine
Speaker 2: because he is like known in this industry for kind
Speaker 2: of finding and discovering talent.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: He is still I say, like responsible for discovering me
Speaker 2: because he's like a mentor of mine.
Speaker 1: Kandfather came full circle in the end. Oh wow.
Speaker 2: So I the like months later, they're having open call
Speaker 2: auditions and like all my friends are like, oh, let's go,
Speaker 2: let's go Beyonce auditions whatever. And the line is literally
Speaker 2: like down the block, round the corner. This is in
Speaker 2: New York City, Yeah, six blocks, you know, and this
Speaker 2: is in November. It's freezing.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm not standing in this line, Like I'm
Speaker 2: not doing it. My mom's like my biggest thing.
Speaker 1: She like, you all stand in his line. We got
Speaker 1: the hook.
Speaker 2: She's like, girl, we didn't move all the way to
Speaker 2: New York for you not to stand in this line,
Speaker 2: So you go ahead and go and stand in this
Speaker 2: line like whatever. She always would say, what do you
Speaker 2: have to lose? And I still tell myself that to
Speaker 2: this day, like anytime I like, am wanting to do
Speaker 2: something or like taking your risk or like a little scared,
Speaker 2: and it's like what do you have to lose?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Nothing, you know, if you have nothing to lose, then go.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I went. I help with some friends stun line
Speaker 2: for three hours. Still girl freezing. But when I got
Speaker 2: in there, he Frank Gatson, the choreographer, recognized me from
Speaker 2: that time in the dance studio. Oh wow, and he
Speaker 2: was like I know you, and like he's that guy
Speaker 2: he remembers faces, he like remembers people and all of that,
Speaker 2: and he's like he kept me to the end. Everybody
Speaker 2: else was getting cut left and right. Girl like bye.
Speaker 2: Think it because it was an open call. It was
Speaker 2: like people off the street like beyoncely audition, Okay, I
Speaker 2: want to go, like you know, like Grandma's like.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, I tried dancing for like one
Speaker 1: I tried dancing out. It was like I was going
Speaker 1: through a break and I was like, I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: all the things that I was always interested in that
Speaker 1: my parents couldn't have. And uh, let's just say dancing
Speaker 1: is is just you? Definitely, I don't know. It's maybe
Speaker 1: built for some and not for all, but then you're terrible.
Speaker 1: This looks like you gotta start at the kindergarten level.
Speaker 2: And I mean, you know, it can definitely be taught though,
Speaker 2: but yeah, I get it. Some people are naturals. And
Speaker 2: then somebody knew it.
Speaker 1: Was some girls that was killing it, and I said, oh,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't remember stuff. My memory was bad. Uh.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: A lot of people ask that, like how do you
Speaker 1: remember all the steps? It's a muscle in it memory,
Speaker 1: is it. And then I think you also have to
Speaker 1: be very comfortable in your body because I'm like always like,
Speaker 1: even when I see girls do squats and they stick
Speaker 1: their asshole out, I'm like, I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: comfortable doing.
Speaker 2: It, being like all the way right for the position
Speaker 2: to go to the squad?
Speaker 1: Do you hit the squad right? You thought was right form, Yeah,
Speaker 1: But when I see girls do it and I'd be
Speaker 1: like I try to do it, I'm like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing that. I'm not doing that.
Speaker 2: I feel it, but I feel like this is like
Speaker 2: kind of okay, Okay, I know, looks raggedy, give me
Speaker 2: your ball, okay, a little bit.
Speaker 1: So you so you so you make it to the
Speaker 1: end of the audition, then what happens?
Speaker 2: And then I get that call to come to LA
Speaker 2: and do a bunch of music videos or like you know,
Speaker 2: basically audition. It was like a big audition in LA
Speaker 2: of like fifty dancers and she was shooting ten music
Speaker 2: videos and they didn't know who they were using for what,
Speaker 2: so like that's what it was like. I came and
Speaker 2: I stayed for like a week, and we did a
Speaker 2: bunch of rehearsals and I shot two music videos.
Speaker 1: And then and when you're doing this, is your parents
Speaker 1: have to pay out of their own pocket or is
Speaker 1: it like on their time? At this point?
Speaker 2: At that point, I think I think they did ask me. No.
Speaker 2: I actually think they flew a group of us from
Speaker 2: New York out and we stayed at a hotel. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: I stayed with I met this other girl. She was
Speaker 2: in New York too, have like a roommate and all
Speaker 2: of that. But a lot of times they will ask
Speaker 2: you if you're willing to to come out as a local,
Speaker 2: which means okay, yeah wow, And and when you're.
Speaker 1: You better serve yourself a plot too, Yes I am,
Speaker 1: I am.
Speaker 2: And then we have like other like siracha if you
Speaker 2: want to add who spice? And then the garlic pace also,
Speaker 2: that's something I got from the restaurants. Okay, at a
Speaker 2: little garlic in there, isn't it be.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm bomb? So you uh so, after you make
Speaker 1: let's let's skip forward to like your after the tour
Speaker 1: ends for a month. I hate to skip around on y'all,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna do it. After you're on tour, you've
Speaker 1: done the videos, you bail out on Juilliard, you're off tour,
Speaker 1: You're sitting there like, what's next, chicken? Uh So tell
Speaker 1: me what happens next?
Speaker 2: So then I'm like real life, you know, like here
Speaker 2: we are, like what do we do now? Because like,
Speaker 2: tour doesn't mean you're guaranteed a full time job.
Speaker 1: You're you know, but they didn't tell you. Did they
Speaker 1: tell you it was only going to be a month?
Speaker 2: Yeah? They said I was getting extended for like another month,
Speaker 2: and I was like, okay, I'm willing to take that risk.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So after that, girl, I mean, I like, I'm very
Speaker 2: blessed and grateful because I have had a great career
Speaker 2: of a dance career, especially of consistently working.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you've worked for a lot. So what happens
Speaker 1: after the tour ends?
Speaker 2: So after the tour ends, I'm back in New York.
Speaker 1: I go home.
Speaker 2: And I think, I think I'm like auditioning for stuff again,
Speaker 2: just like back to you know.
Speaker 1: But now you have Beyonce on your record. I'm on
Speaker 1: your resume, sorry record.
Speaker 2: So now my agents, now I get I'm starting to
Speaker 2: get a little dose of what it's like to get
Speaker 2: a direct book, you know, and not have to audition.
Speaker 2: They're like, oh, we want her in the music video
Speaker 2: because we recognize her for Beyonce. Okay, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: And then you're saying agents and managers. So at this
Speaker 1: point after her you get an agent and a manager.
Speaker 2: Before, Yeah, because I didn't have an agent before.
Speaker 1: Okay. And then how did they get How did they
Speaker 1: find you? They just from the video. They just reach
Speaker 1: out and say, hey, I.
Speaker 2: Went to them. I said, I just got off tour
Speaker 2: with Beyonce. I need I need representation, you know whatever. Actually,
Speaker 2: I think I got an agent like while I was
Speaker 2: on tour, more than for them to make sure everything
Speaker 2: was right, because you know, we were doing DVD deals
Speaker 2: stuff like that. We needed like just people professionals who
Speaker 2: knew what they were doing. That's what I learned as
Speaker 2: I got in the industry. I was very thrown in
Speaker 2: the industry. You know. I didn't know about agencies and
Speaker 2: auditions and all that. Like clearly I went to an
Speaker 2: open call audition. I needn't go to an invited call.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I learned by just being in it. But yeah,
Speaker 2: after tour, girl, So after that first tour, I'm in
Speaker 2: the grind now, like learning about these other jobs.
Speaker 1: I'm still living in New York at the time, so.
Speaker 2: I think I actually after that first tour, the year
Speaker 2: after I did the Radio City Rockets, I was back
Speaker 2: at Have.
Speaker 1: You ever seen that show?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: But I feel like I need to I need to
Speaker 1: stay in tune with all the shows with here's a
Speaker 1: list of all the things you need to check out.
Speaker 2: Okay, the Rockets are the girls who do the kick lines?
Speaker 1: Oh oh yeah.
Speaker 2: Women okay yeah, yeah, like Candy Cane kick Yeah, people
Speaker 2: like refer to that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I did that for one year and I still
Speaker 2: to this day say that is like one of the
Speaker 2: hardest jobs of my life.
Speaker 1: Really, why is it?
Speaker 2: Because of the rehearsals, the rehearsals and the shows. We
Speaker 2: were doing four shows max, four shows a day, four
Speaker 2: four and night.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh in one the first one. And were
Speaker 1: you eating Ramen Journey these days too?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's crazy. So there's like, that's crazy because
Speaker 1: you have this crazy workout ethic, but are you really
Speaker 1: fueling your body at the level that No?
Speaker 2: I mean most like athletes, dancers, you know, especially dancers,
Speaker 2: Like maybe athletes probably take better care of themselves. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so like because they got like coaches and stuff, like
Speaker 2: we don't.
Speaker 1: We just be making it work, you know, stretching. And
Speaker 1: I'm curious in regards to By the way, out of
Speaker 1: all the dishes on this show, this by far looks
Speaker 1: more the most restaurant, doesn't it look at that? I
Speaker 1: don't know if the cameras I try to like give
Speaker 1: it a little seat, like literally with all the I
Speaker 1: don't know what's going on with my mic By the way,
Speaker 1: it's like looking like it wants to fight me. But
Speaker 1: this dish looks like you could bite at a restaurant.
Speaker 1: I don't know. It's so pretty. It's got the green,
Speaker 1: the yellow, the chicken looks all seasoned. I can't wait
Speaker 1: to try this. I feel like I'm loving your story,
Speaker 1: like absolutely, like live for stories like this because it's
Speaker 1: like you're carrying me through it. There's a million and
Speaker 1: one questions I can ask, and yeah, I will trust me.
Speaker 1: I love it though, I will.
Speaker 2: We did, we've even gotten anywhere. I know, we're like
Speaker 2: twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. I can't wait.
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so let's try this amazing looking dish. It
Speaker 1: looks good. Let's see if it tastes good. Know what
Speaker 1: it's gonna like. Yeah, this is not my kitchen. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna hate a little bit. Yeah, okay, it tastes great.
Speaker 1: I than the corn. I fucking love corn. I don't
Speaker 1: know why I don't add corn. So all my dishes
Speaker 1: with the spinach works. Okay, you over cook the noodle.
Speaker 1: I know I left them in, but that's because I
Speaker 1: was talking to you.
Speaker 2: I looked over and I was like, these noodles, they
Speaker 2: soaked up all the water.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you didn't even dream, right, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let me tell you some noodles are definitely overcooked. The
Speaker 1: spinach in the corn. Now that corn has that little crunch.
Speaker 1: The spinach too. It's just I'm gonna take like two
Speaker 1: more bites and I can question you a lot. I
Speaker 1: want to try the chicken.
Speaker 2: Too, see, And you know, normally we'd be adding like
Speaker 2: a lot more season hangs and things and there.
Speaker 1: But you know, I love when you kept it's simple today.
Speaker 1: I promise you Guess will come on the show, oh
Speaker 1: and they'll start questioning like they're cooking skills. And sometimes
Speaker 1: it's really good, like this is really good. But Ramen, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's like elevated. It's not just some noodles
Speaker 1: chicken you dig right know you know what saltmn pepper
Speaker 1: on chittiness in that band.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially if you're trying to be healthier. So and
Speaker 2: on his longer pieces like this, that's it's not even
Speaker 2: al I can kill this whole dish. I'm not la.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you like it.
Speaker 1: Seecram well, now you know how to make it. That
Speaker 1: is a great way to make ramen. Chicken thinly slice
Speaker 1: salt pepper, you used alibol and vegetable that used olive oil.
Speaker 1: Hands down, amazing Ramen ten out of ten.
Speaker 2: Thanks.
Speaker 1: Even noodles as long as I did the spinach I
Speaker 1: think really adds to it. I don't know why. I
Speaker 1: never thought of that, and you just put the spinach
Speaker 1: in the water while I was boiling. Awesome. I thought
Speaker 1: you were gonna sell tape for some strange reason.
Speaker 2: I actually was thinking you would saute and it would
Speaker 2: already be saute in here, so you know, I don't had.
Speaker 1: It in But you know, the only help you got
Speaker 1: from me he was boiling that one egg. I don't
Speaker 1: know why I.
Speaker 2: Thought stuff was gonna be like prepped and I just
Speaker 2: like put it in the plate. No, we're gonna be like, no,
Speaker 2: you gotta cook a girl.
Speaker 1: I'll like it. I'm gonna try to stop eating. Those
Speaker 1: people get annoyed and were like smacking on the mic,
Speaker 1: but I know I'll be trying. I don't know why
Speaker 1: it's so delicious. Doesn't it feel delicious to you?
Speaker 2: It does, and it's like am I starving?
Speaker 1: Or is it really delicious? I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think it's like the weather all too, and it's
Speaker 2: just like it's.
Speaker 1: Perfect, great dish. It looks like restaurant quality, amazing upgrade
Speaker 1: on the ramen. All right, now, let's go back to
Speaker 1: your story. I wanted to ask, actually, so when you're
Speaker 1: you were talking about you were doing the not the Candygate,
Speaker 1: the radio, the radio City rickets. Yeah, and that was
Speaker 1: the hardest soul. What is your money looking like while
Speaker 1: you're doing all these projects?
Speaker 2: Well, girl, I mean, first of all, like my first tour,
Speaker 2: like I said, I had no representation. I went to
Speaker 2: an open call, like I didn't have anything to compare to.
Speaker 2: So my first like tour rate was much lower than
Speaker 2: what it ever should have been.
Speaker 1: But I didn't know that, you know, But I was
Speaker 1: so new, Like you know, do they do tears like
Speaker 1: the newer you are versus the older you are? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Like as as I came like dance Captain, and like
Speaker 2: you know, by my last year or whatever, I was
Speaker 2: at like my highest rate awesome and like highest paid
Speaker 2: dancer because I've been there the longest or whatever. You know,
Speaker 2: But you gotta fight for the money, girl, every little.
Speaker 1: Do you have to fight for it? Every little now? Yes? Now,
Speaker 1: do you go to your team and tell them to
Speaker 1: push back or do you.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, damn, that's what the agents are for.
Speaker 1: You ask them.
Speaker 2: But you know, as I developed a personal relationship, I
Speaker 2: guess and say it could be in conversation with the
Speaker 2: right people, but you know, that's what the agents are for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I've seen some be your managers and agents
Speaker 1: to be brutally honest, Like I feel like some of them,
Speaker 1: I don't want to get caught up in this one
Speaker 1: carefully worded. Some of them kind of just take the
Speaker 1: first offer, and I'm like, you're lucky to have this offer,
Speaker 1: so we're gonna take it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I've seen that side.
Speaker 2: And I have too. I have too, and I've been
Speaker 2: told that, and I have been that. I've been the
Speaker 2: grateful I'll do it for free.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's how I am still to this dam. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're gonna okay, thank you Jesus. I know I kissed
Speaker 1: the pinky ring.
Speaker 2: I know. It's like we're like traumatized a little bit
Speaker 2: from the way that we were taught to always like
Speaker 2: be grateful. You're replaceable. You should you know, like yeah,
Speaker 2: like you are replaceable. That's what I was definitely taught,
Speaker 2: especially as a dancer, Like you are replaceable. So don't
Speaker 2: you step out of your line, you know, like shit,
Speaker 2: we will replace you in a heartbeat, and if you
Speaker 2: don't take this rate, we'll find somebody who does.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, kidding. I feel like that's the industry. That's
Speaker 1: how the industry moves. Yeah, but you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know if you saw that thing with Taraji where she
Speaker 1: was like crying, Yeah, I was great, but I didn't.
Speaker 1: Gabrielle Union was saying it long before her, like how
Speaker 1: they starting to just collab on text like we're all
Speaker 1: a group, stick to this ring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and its Ray always says, like, you know, you gotta.
Speaker 2: We always are like trying to like work with people
Speaker 2: who are like up here, up here from us. We
Speaker 2: have to like collab across you know, across the table
Speaker 2: instead of like trying to work with Jeff Bezos and
Speaker 2: stuff like he's not We're sitting here together, so we
Speaker 2: should be working together, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 2: you gotta collab across the table.
Speaker 1: When did you realize that you had to start using
Speaker 1: your voice when it came to like your money and
Speaker 1: like saying I want more?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: When when was that moment when you did it?
Speaker 2: Like I mean, way more recently than what it should
Speaker 2: have been, honestly, Like you know, honestly, but I would
Speaker 2: say more so like during the pandemic, I really like
Speaker 2: started owning my my what my rate should be you know,
Speaker 2: like and learning that people will pay it, you know,
Speaker 2: the right people will pay it.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, are in the pandemic. The pandemic wasn't everything
Speaker 1: like shut down for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's like when I, like, I started doing
Speaker 2: a lot more social media stuff during the pandemic, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I just was paid my rate. Like that's like when
Speaker 2: I started learning like that my rate could be better
Speaker 2: in situations.
Speaker 1: You know, it was like, oh, what did your parents
Speaker 1: say when you had the epiphany that, like you wanted more?
Speaker 2: Well, my parents, I mean when I wanted more. I
Speaker 2: think I've always just wanted more. You know. I've always said,
Speaker 2: like I don't want to be a dancer forever. I
Speaker 2: don't want to only be a dancer. I don't want
Speaker 2: to you know. So my parents have always been supportive
Speaker 2: through like everything. I'm very grateful for their support. They're
Speaker 2: still married, I take it, okay. Yeah, Yeah, the few
Speaker 2: that made it, I know they're hanging in there. They are.
Speaker 2: Not that it's been easy, but they are my whole
Speaker 2: life too. It's been great. They're a great example for sure.
Speaker 2: Definitely want that. Yeah, you know, I think we call
Speaker 2: want it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know if it's really gonna happen in
Speaker 1: the New Age, because I feel like the New agees
Speaker 1: I know for it.
Speaker 2: I know, And I'm like, are we like leaning more
Speaker 2: into like the never get married era?
Speaker 1: That's what I think. I tell my twin. I'm like,
Speaker 1: by the time our kids are old enough, marriage is
Speaker 1: gonna be Do you have a twin? I have a twin. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's why I said. I said. She likes Beyonce and
Speaker 1: I like Jay and it's weird because we band it
Speaker 1: up together. That's so cool. But uh so sorry, I
Speaker 1: don't mean to bounce around your story. So let's go
Speaker 1: back to when you're doing the Rockets. Yeah, okay, so
Speaker 1: you're on this strenuous schedule at this point. What's your
Speaker 1: next biggest play?
Speaker 2: Well, okay, so I did the Rockets. I did one
Speaker 2: tour with Beyonce. I did the Rockets Tour, and that
Speaker 2: gave me like a very diverse resume. You know, It's like,
Speaker 2: oh wow, she can do a lot of different things.
Speaker 2: So that was great, a great look for me, I
Speaker 2: feel like. But yeah, money was always coming and going,
Speaker 2: you know, because the projects come and they're they're great,
Speaker 2: but they only last so long. And then you're like,
Speaker 2: where's it coming from next?
Speaker 1: You know, are you budgeting, living like a budget life,
Speaker 1: or are your parents just kind of helping the offset?
Speaker 1: What's going on?
Speaker 2: Yeah, my parents were in real estate, so the place
Speaker 2: I was living in at the time, I didn't have
Speaker 2: to I didn't have to pay rent, you know, so
Speaker 2: that was a huge thing. I didn't start paying rent
Speaker 2: until I moved to LA at twenty one.
Speaker 1: Okay, damn, you're all so young. Geez damn, you're making
Speaker 1: moves for twenty one. You done been around the block
Speaker 1: at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did. I mean, yeah, I'm so
Speaker 2: grateful that, like, like I said, my parents support and
Speaker 2: then like being able to support me in that way,
Speaker 2: you know, and so I could save because I was
Speaker 2: actually my first door. I was really good girl. I
Speaker 2: used to have like a stack of that pretteem like
Speaker 2: could they used to could stap it?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yes, I love having Like I was young, I was
Speaker 2: like I was seventeen, but this is my first like
Speaker 2: real job.
Speaker 1: You're like, I live off ten dollars a day.
Speaker 2: I got this Literally, I'm like, I'm just gonna use
Speaker 2: my card when I need it, and I'm going to
Speaker 2: collect this cash. I came home and brought my family
Speaker 2: like a stack of my I'm like, look at the
Speaker 2: cash that I accumulate. This is the extra. And they
Speaker 2: were like, you're so good at saving. Great job. And
Speaker 2: then as you, like, you know, time goes on, then
Speaker 2: you're like, I guess I'll buy this bag. I deserve it.
Speaker 2: I've been working hard, you know, and start treating yourself
Speaker 2: a little better. You get your nails done, you know whatever,
Speaker 2: and you grow up and then you spend your money.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you realized and you realize you're not really.
Speaker 2: Getting paid that much. You're like, hold on, your bills
Speaker 2: get higher, everything is and you're like, wait a minute now, Yeah,
Speaker 2: so it all one in La. I moved to La
Speaker 2: when I was twenty one. This is after I did
Speaker 2: I did Beyonce Tour, I did Rocket Tour, and then
Speaker 2: I shot actually while I was on tour with the Rockets.
Speaker 1: It's so crazy, So.
Speaker 2: Right before I went, this is the thing people don't realize,
Speaker 2: like the the sacrifices and the like crazy shit that
Speaker 2: you have to do sometimes in order to make your
Speaker 2: career work. So like when I was about to do
Speaker 2: the Rockets, I I was we were getting ready to
Speaker 2: shoot the single Ladies music video.
Speaker 1: Okay, oh yeah, famous thing, infamous.
Speaker 2: Single Ladies music video. But I was like a part
Speaker 2: of like the creative, you know, workshop process of the video.
Speaker 2: I didn't know I was going to be in it.
Speaker 2: I like basically kind of auditioned a little bit like
Speaker 2: the rest of them. Like I I like, well, we
Speaker 2: were like auditioning people that could match me and her,
Speaker 2: and then if it didn't work, they were gonna go
Speaker 2: with short girls and I was gonna be out. So
Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, well hopefully a tall girl comes along.
Speaker 2: That makes sense, you know. And so once they decided
Speaker 2: on another tall girl and that I was going to
Speaker 2: be in the video, I had to pretend like I
Speaker 2: was sick girl for the Rockets because I missed like
Speaker 2: the first three days of rehearsal.
Speaker 1: And the Rockets do not play like they're.
Speaker 2: Like, oh it's you drop out, you can never come back,
Speaker 2: you will X, Y and Z. So I literally had
Speaker 2: to play like Beyonce was in on it. I've told
Speaker 2: this story before, so we.
Speaker 1: Want to hear he told us it.
Speaker 2: I know it's crazy though, because like I know the Rockets.
Speaker 1: If you said Beyonce was in on it.
Speaker 2: Beyonce was in on it. Like I would get calls
Speaker 2: while we were rehearsing for single Ladies, and I knew
Speaker 2: that it was like radio city people calling and I'd
Speaker 2: be like, you guys, it's STEMP and they and Frank
Speaker 2: like had a doctor, like write me a note and
Speaker 2: all that, and they would like.
Speaker 1: Go take the call.
Speaker 2: Take the call. They cut off all the music and
Speaker 2: I pretend like I was sick in bed and I'd
Speaker 2: be like, hey, yeah, and I think I'll be able
Speaker 2: to come in a day or two. Like the girl
Speaker 2: was crazy.
Speaker 1: It was crazy.
Speaker 2: And then as soon as we wrapped that music video,
Speaker 2: the single Ladies' music video, it was like a twenty
Speaker 2: hour shoot. It was like three in the morning or
Speaker 2: something when we wrapped and I got in a car,
Speaker 2: went straight to like Pennsylvania or wherever we were rehearsing
Speaker 2: somewhere on the East Coast, but not in New York,
Speaker 2: and started rocket rehearsal the next day. And everybody thought
Speaker 2: I was like recovering from an illness, and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: m hm. I was exhausted because I just shot the
Speaker 2: music video, the single ads music video of the night
Speaker 2: before and then like cut to like a month or
Speaker 2: something later. The video comes out while I'm touring with
Speaker 2: the Rockets, and everybody's like, is that you with Beyonce?
Speaker 2: And I was like, oh yeah, we shot that a
Speaker 2: while ago. Yeah. I was like, oh yeah, it's crazy. Yeah.
Speaker 1: They're like, when did you shoot that?
Speaker 2: I'm like right before, like you know, like a while before.
Speaker 2: Here crazy, that's funny.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So that iconic video came out while I was on
Speaker 2: Rockets tour, and then after Rockets we go straight into
Speaker 2: another tour rehearsal because she dropped the song single Ladies,
Speaker 2: she dropped other singles and then the album I Am
Speaker 2: Sasha fears Wow.
Speaker 1: So we got another tour and then I moved to
Speaker 1: LA after that tour. Okay, and at this point you
Speaker 1: and her camp are like just obviously family at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, that like second tour that I did, that's
Speaker 2: when I got like promoted to dance Captain. That was
Speaker 2: like my first little like money promotion.
Speaker 1: And what is dance camptain mean as dance just for
Speaker 1: people like met I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, like the dance captain is kind of like
Speaker 2: the the leader of the dancers.
Speaker 1: Like if he the one with the ruler kind of
Speaker 1: the rule, you know what I'm saying, Like, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: but man, I get that step right.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I make sure everybody's like on their p's and
Speaker 2: q's while we're on the road, because people can get
Speaker 2: lazy or like do their own thing or you know,
Speaker 2: like change it up, like do what the job is,
Speaker 2: you know. But also like if there's any issues, like
Speaker 2: the voice for the dancers, like oh, okay, come to
Speaker 2: me and we'll I'll go to management or like, you
Speaker 2: know anything if management needs to talk to me, your
Speaker 2: dancers need to X y Z, you know, like the voice,
Speaker 2: because it's a lot it became a lot of dancers.
Speaker 1: As time went on, it was like low was the
Speaker 1: best part of being on the road.
Speaker 2: Mmm. I mean I would say, just like the fans
Speaker 2: and like the performances, you know, the crowds and the
Speaker 2: travel experiences. Like I love being in different cities and
Speaker 2: experiencing the culture and exploring you know, the vibes of
Speaker 2: the city. So I love that. But the crowds, girl,
Speaker 2: are like insane. There's nothing like.
Speaker 1: Is there ever any drama on the road of course,
Speaker 1: like do people like cook.
Speaker 2: Up and yeah, Oh my god, there's all tour mances.
Speaker 2: There's tour mancesances, that's what it's called tour mances. There's fights,
Speaker 2: there's arguments, there's people who don't get along.
Speaker 1: You know, like whatever, freak out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like college, that's what it feels like. It's like, yes, something,
Speaker 2: I know. I'm like, I cannot believe a reality show
Speaker 2: has not shot a tour, Like, I can't crazy because
Speaker 2: no one wants to expose like the Honestly.
Speaker 1: I do like that. Beyonce has been releasing these first
Speaker 1: of all, I want to say, she's like one of
Speaker 1: the first to do it, like where she's doing, like
Speaker 1: the visuals, the visuals behind. I haven't been able to
Speaker 1: see The Renaissance one yet.
Speaker 2: I haven't seen the film either, but I went in
Speaker 2: at the concert Yeah, and she shouted me out. She
Speaker 2: was like Ashley, Hey, Gary, we love you, Ashley, and
Speaker 2: you were like I was like hey, and everybody who
Speaker 2: thinks there's drama, there's not, so there you go. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because everybody thought there was drama, girl, and I didn't
Speaker 2: do this tour. They were like, you got fired and
Speaker 2: even Beyonce, Beyonce hates you.
Speaker 1: I'm like, do you I have this sick thing like
Speaker 1: if people comment negative stuff for whatever reason, I look
Speaker 1: at it like I feed off the negative. And then
Speaker 1: like if someone says, like nice stuff, I'm like whatever,
Speaker 1: but like negative.
Speaker 2: Does it like drive you?
Speaker 1: Like you comment back? I don't comment back. I just
Speaker 1: kind of chuckle because you know, no, I mean goative too,
Speaker 1: because they don't know nothing nothing.
Speaker 2: They don't know nothing. I know how to laugh it
Speaker 2: off too, But girl, it can get wild. So take
Speaker 2: me back to all right, so you moved to LA.
Speaker 2: Moved to La. Yeah, and that's when I was like.
Speaker 1: Okay, really, and your parents aren't with you at this now?
Speaker 2: My parents aren't with me. But girl, when I first
Speaker 2: went on tour, like at eighteen, once I turned eighteen,
Speaker 2: my mom moved back to California with her husband and
Speaker 2: her other kids. You know, she was like, I'm going
Speaker 2: back home. So I was in New York like those
Speaker 2: last couple of years by myself. You must have liked that, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was nice.
Speaker 1: I like grew into an adult out there.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So you're out here twenty one in Calli at this
Speaker 1: point in Kelly, We're gonna go over time. Jared and
Speaker 1: we had even got halfway to the store. I'm so sorry,
Speaker 1: but but yeah, twenty one moved here.
Speaker 2: That's like really when I really like started expanding, because
Speaker 2: at first I thought I was gonna move out here, girl,
Speaker 2: and I was like, I'm gonna be Bi Colstal. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna still have my New York place, and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: come to La like when work needs me, girl. I
Speaker 2: never I never went back to New York. I like
Speaker 2: work kept me out here. I was like, oh, I
Speaker 2: guess this is where I'm gonna be living. So eventually,
Speaker 2: like I told you, my family owned the condo in.
Speaker 1: New York, Yeah, they sailed it.
Speaker 2: Oh shoot, so was sad because now I wish we
Speaker 2: still had it. I'm like I would use it now. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I was ungrateful when I was twenty one, you know,
Speaker 2: and I was stuck out here. I was working.
Speaker 1: I was a workaholic. Girls, and you're taking care of yourself,
Speaker 1: no parents help, You're living on budgets. I'm assuming yeah,
Speaker 1: and yeah, I mean I kind of wasn't really living
Speaker 1: on budgets.
Speaker 2: I did a good job, like saving you know, I
Speaker 2: had did a couple of good tours and back then,
Speaker 2: like touring was where you do save your money, and
Speaker 2: that's like the biggest.
Speaker 1: Thing, oh, because on the road you're not really spending
Speaker 1: your money.
Speaker 2: Right yeah, And I didn't have like I wasn't like
Speaker 2: paying rent or anything, so like, yeah, you could just
Speaker 2: save save, okay, and then if you save your pretty
Speaker 2: m you can spend that he has your little extra stuff.
Speaker 2: But you spend your money easily on the road because
Speaker 2: you want to like whine and die in yourself and
Speaker 2: shop in the different cities and stuff like that. But
Speaker 2: when I was very young, I was better at saving
Speaker 2: more money because I was like stingy, yeah you know,
Speaker 2: but I wasn't. I still really wasn't making a lot.
Speaker 2: I just was saving better. Yeah, moved out here, wasn't
Speaker 2: really budgeting like that, you know. I was kind of
Speaker 2: like enjoying my life.
Speaker 1: And I started.
Speaker 2: I had worked with like a bunch of different artists
Speaker 2: out here, worked with like Neo, toured with him, Usher,
Speaker 2: another artist, I toured with Sierra, and then every other
Speaker 2: year basically I was going on tour with Beyonce. So
Speaker 2: again like on the road, not home, you know whatever,
Speaker 2: And that was my reality girl up until twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Okay, and then what happened in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: Twenty eighteen was the last tour that I did, and
Speaker 2: then twenty nineteen was I wasn't on tour. I worked
Speaker 2: on TV shows and other personal things.
Speaker 1: And then when you're say TV shows, what were you
Speaker 1: doing on the TV shows?
Speaker 2: I did a TV show called Hit the Floor acting.
Speaker 2: I was like acting and dancing. Yeah, I had a
Speaker 2: role called Peyton, but I was a dancer on the show.
Speaker 2: And then I think I did like Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 2: and you know, just other award shows or like TV
Speaker 2: appearances like what is this that the Morning Show? I
Speaker 2: shot an episode of that, like just televised stuff that
Speaker 2: requires dancing.
Speaker 1: You know, That's what I do.
Speaker 2: When I'm like when I wasn't on tour, it would
Speaker 2: be like a year on tour and then a year
Speaker 2: at home doing like TV commercial films.
Speaker 1: Are you able to have like a dating life or
Speaker 1: a personal life or.
Speaker 2: Is that I you know, I have always kind of
Speaker 2: been in a relationship actually, so yeah, from like when
Speaker 2: I moved to LA I got in a relationship pretty
Speaker 2: much right away, and that was until twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: And then in twenty nineteen I turned thirty so I
Speaker 1: was like, can't bring damn girl thirty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're good, all right, god go think I was
Speaker 2: trying to figure out.
Speaker 1: I wonder I'm like, how old is?
Speaker 2: I know? It?
Speaker 1: Just like all right, even away, No, that's good. I'm
Speaker 1: approaching forty.
Speaker 2: Oh I don't know nothing like it.
Speaker 1: It's because the braids, man, they just pull your head
Speaker 1: back a little bit, snatch it all up.
Speaker 2: I know. Same at the bun give me life, pull
Speaker 2: it back.
Speaker 1: Yeah all right. So you so then twenty and twenty
Speaker 1: or what have you? Were we at two.
Speaker 2: Thousand, yeah, twenty eighteen or something?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Well actually okay, so let me give you this little tea.
Speaker 2: In twenty sixteen, that relationship I was in, he jumped
Speaker 2: on stage.
Speaker 1: Girl. You can look it up if you just type
Speaker 1: Beyonce proposal. I think I remember that, gone, that was me.
Speaker 1: Oh he proposed to you on stage. I remember that.
Speaker 1: I saw it a couple of times. What you talk about?
Speaker 2: That was you?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Okay, So what happened to day.
Speaker 2: And then we broke up in twenty eighteen? Girl? Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: because that whole proposal I mean in general, he did
Speaker 2: that for him, not for me, Like I'm not even
Speaker 2: that kind of girl who wants that kind of attention.
Speaker 2: You know, he was desperate times called for desperate measures.
Speaker 2: I guess, you know, it very for him. What was
Speaker 2: the beginning?
Speaker 1: Was it like when I was like when Opset jumps
Speaker 1: on stage recorded me and does the grand and she's like,
Speaker 1: was he like retrying to coop a mess up or
Speaker 1: something like trying to make up.
Speaker 2: For I think he was just trying to get attention,
Speaker 2: Like Okay, Literally as soon as it happened.
Speaker 1: He was like, we went viral. We got to capitalize
Speaker 1: off this. I said, Oh, that's what you want to
Speaker 1: got it?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Shit?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So it was like that, like you know, and
Speaker 2: then it was like the next year, everybody was like
Speaker 2: when's the date? And I was like, I can't even
Speaker 2: envision myself setting one. So wow, it was very much
Speaker 2: the beginning of the end, but it was the best,
Speaker 2: Like I needed that, needed that for it to end
Speaker 2: that relationship. Because then the next year, like I said,
Speaker 2: I was turning thirty.
Speaker 1: That was like the year I poured into myself and
Speaker 1: did you do the whole like love yourself thing? Yes? Girl?
Speaker 1: Like was it hard?
Speaker 2: And nineteen was like the year of transition for me.
Speaker 2: It was great though I needed it. And then twenty
Speaker 2: twenty I the pandemic hit and I loved it. I
Speaker 2: was like, yes, we could stay at Oh, it's amazing.
Speaker 2: And then I just poured more into myself and I
Speaker 2: was like, I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it here and I love it here.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's like the self love thing. I even
Speaker 1: paid this. This is really embarrassing, but I remember I
Speaker 1: actually paid for her course online. They never said it
Speaker 1: to me on like how to.
Speaker 2: Do self loving?
Speaker 1: That's how ghetto. I was desperateirl, So my brand being
Speaker 1: greater than yay, look at that pivot go on, please period,
Speaker 1: We're gonna bring it fold. So this is how God works,
Speaker 1: because I literally I promise you I paid. I don't
Speaker 1: I paid. There was like a self love course. I said,
Speaker 1: I gotta pay for that because I don't. I'm studying
Speaker 1: this and I don't.
Speaker 2: Know coming how to do it.
Speaker 1: March, we're doing.
Speaker 2: Yeak. We did a soft launch in November Girl in Atlanta,
Speaker 2: and it went over like better than we could have
Speaker 2: ever envisioned. You know. Ever, imagine like people were like
Speaker 2: I didn't know how bad I needed this, Like when's
Speaker 2: the next one.
Speaker 1: Where can we more so, what can people expect for
Speaker 1: be greater than? And like what was the thing that
Speaker 1: made you create it?
Speaker 2: The thing that made us create it. So it's three
Speaker 2: of us, three friends who were all on this like
Speaker 2: self love journey. You know.
Speaker 1: Oh I love that you guys were all on the
Speaker 1: same boat together.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, and everyone's like timing was a
Speaker 2: little different. I feel like I started it like before
Speaker 2: everybody else, and then they saw some things change in
Speaker 2: my life and like how great it looked. And then
Speaker 2: they were like I need to love on myself more,
Speaker 2: you know, and like it inspired other friends and these
Speaker 2: these are like close friends of mine who are like family,
Speaker 2: you know. So once they jumped on their self love journey,
Speaker 2: I was like, yes, I'm so proud of you guys.
Speaker 2: And that's like really where the idea started from. The
Speaker 2: Jazzmine Harper, she's like another founder, one of the other founders,
Speaker 2: and Randy Bonds is the other one. But Jazz is
Speaker 2: like a little sister of mine. We dance with Beyonce together.
Speaker 2: She danced on So you think you can dance?
Speaker 1: Actually? Oh okay, Oh that's okay, So that's okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, b grand then yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: she yeah, so she was from the show she We
Speaker 2: did Beyonce together, like have been through a lot together,
Speaker 2: you know, and she was like, I really want to
Speaker 2: do something for myself, like something that I own, something
Speaker 2: that I am a creator of, the founder of Da
Speaker 2: Da Da Da. And she's like, I know, I can't
Speaker 2: do it alone, like I need I need you, like
Speaker 2: I need your help whatever.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm with you.
Speaker 2: Let's do it, and then we just started exploring. I
Speaker 2: brought in Randy. He's a publicist. He's been a friend
Speaker 2: of mine since the beginning of my Beyonce days since
Speaker 2: nine basically it's when we started working together. We were
Speaker 2: both nineteen. He found me on Facebook and he was like,
Speaker 2: I see like your stardom as not just a dancer
Speaker 2: and he was like, I want to do pr for
Speaker 2: you and I yeah, okay. And so I've had a
Speaker 2: publicist also. That's been like something very different about me
Speaker 2: than like most dancers. I've had like a publicist or
Speaker 2: like a manager, you know, most of my dance career,
Speaker 2: and that has put me in like magazines or like
Speaker 2: in people's faces that most dancers wouldn't be in their face,
Speaker 2: you know, like allure or you know, I can't even
Speaker 2: think of these the magazine's essence and you know, just
Speaker 2: like tons of outlets, tons and tons of outlets. So
Speaker 2: that's been like very helpful, I think, and for my
Speaker 2: career as well and getting my name out there. Where
Speaker 2: was I?
Speaker 1: So we were talking about the inception of be Greater
Speaker 1: Than Yeah, I'm so curious now, you know, it might
Speaker 1: have to be like a hundred questions, but yeah.
Speaker 2: So me and Jasmine, she she brought it to me,
Speaker 2: and I was like, let's bring Randy in. He's on
Speaker 2: this journey too, Let's talk ideas. He's publicist, blah blah.
Speaker 2: And so the three of us like just explored and
Speaker 2: you know, talked ideas, and it was it was going
Speaker 2: to be called be Greater Than Humble because we were always,
Speaker 2: you know, talking about how we are told to be humble,
Speaker 2: and we looked up the definition of humble.
Speaker 1: Have you ever looked up deaf?
Speaker 2: No? What is it?
Speaker 1: I feel like Kanye talked about it at some point.
Speaker 2: But yeah, other like rappers and stuff have because it's
Speaker 2: like technically not like something that should be praised. It
Speaker 2: almost it's basically saying to make yourself less than for
Speaker 2: others to feel better about them.
Speaker 1: Is that what humble is?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's like so you can feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: Basically I used to do that, to be honest, when
Speaker 1: for a long a long time, even being a twin.
Speaker 1: To be honest, I'm just sure it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: you want to make everyone feel comfortable, so you know,
Speaker 1: And I started doing it in relationships guys, would you?
Speaker 1: I would like plaques, shoe story And I remember the
Speaker 1: guy we were engaged, and I just knew he started
Speaker 1: to hate my accomplishments.
Speaker 2: That's why we moved engaged in relationship was too.
Speaker 1: Girl and I started to be like anytime there was
Speaker 1: a plaque or an award, I would literally there was
Speaker 1: a closet and I would hide it and I just
Speaker 1: got in yeah, And I remember throwing out all my
Speaker 1: like like my dad started saying like, you need to
Speaker 1: start putting your stuff on your wall because you seem
Speaker 1: to forget all your milestones and I have big posters.
Speaker 1: And I remember just throwing him in the trash and
Speaker 1: his brother being like, why are you doing this? And
Speaker 1: I just remember being like, well, clearly, it's starting to
Speaker 1: become a problem. In my relationship, so I would I
Speaker 1: got in the practice of dimming my life. Well after that,
Speaker 1: I was like an next relationship, Man, I just want
Speaker 1: to be me. I just want to be able to
Speaker 1: be like this is who I am.
Speaker 2: Like, you know, it should celebrate, Yeah, it should heighten that,
Speaker 2: you know, and like brighten my light, not dimn it.
Speaker 1: So you guys were looking like you got girl. I'm wet.
Speaker 1: I'm still learning, but I remember, just I remember there
Speaker 1: was a I did something for nick Can and I
Speaker 1: did the whild out like booklet that went into all
Speaker 1: the CDs or stores, and I remember just hiding it
Speaker 1: from him. I remember asking for the sea looking at it,
Speaker 1: and like when he came home, I threw it in
Speaker 1: the trash. I was still mad to this day that
Speaker 1: I threw it out. But I was so scared of
Speaker 1: him seeing these accomplishment. Yeah, because it just became ub Yeah,
Speaker 1: of my relationship. That's crazy. Sorry, Yeah, but I love
Speaker 1: the fact that you guys took the initiative to even
Speaker 1: look up be greater than because when you first said
Speaker 1: it be greater than be's like be greater than what?
Speaker 1: But I love that you eliminated humble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like, be greater than your insecurities, be greater
Speaker 2: than your traumas, be greater than your childhood, be greater
Speaker 2: than your mistakes, be greater than yesterday, be greater than anything,
Speaker 2: you know, like anything, it's limitless. So yeah, and that's
Speaker 2: the brand. It's a lifestyle brand. What you can expect
Speaker 2: at So far, we've only had one soft launch live activation,
Speaker 2: so they're Me and Jasmine. Since we come from the
Speaker 2: dance world, we did a little like dance moment, but
Speaker 2: it wasn't even like four dancers. It was more so
Speaker 2: so you can build your confidence and you know, learn
Speaker 2: how to like hold your shoulders back and stay with
Speaker 2: your chest out and be proud, you know, like more
Speaker 2: of like self confidence Mooster. We had a guy come
Speaker 2: in who's like a martial arts specialist who taught people
Speaker 2: how to like break through your traumas. And they kept
Speaker 2: pounding on this thing until they released their traumas. They
Speaker 2: had to repeat a saying. I don't know what they
Speaker 2: were saying. I was we were teaching the dance class
Speaker 2: at the same time he was doing that, so I
Speaker 2: don't remember what they were saying, but they had to
Speaker 2: keep saying it, and everybody girl, people were breaking down crying, like,
Speaker 2: you know, in a great way. They were just like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, I felt so.
Speaker 1: Good, Like I needed that.
Speaker 2: We had a woman come in who led us through
Speaker 2: breath work and taught us about the importance of just
Speaker 2: breathing and remembering to intentionally breathe. You know, we just
Speaker 2: sit around and like, see, like, I think that's really great, girl.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, same because it's so important, and you know,
Speaker 2: we really started this.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: I can't see people crying girl either, because that makes
Speaker 2: me go. But like we started this because we pour
Speaker 2: so much of ourselves into our jobs, our careers, other people.
Speaker 2: We forget about ourselves. We forget about ourselves, and it's like,
Speaker 2: don't forget to pour into you. We have the power,
Speaker 2: We possess it all whatever we want. And I'm sorry
Speaker 2: this episode people are gonna be like, we can't even
Speaker 2: understand you. Stop getting here each other.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: But yeah, don't worry about yourself, you know, quarantine you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So they So that's some of the stuff. And you
Speaker 1: guys thought through every different angle from traumas to confidence.
Speaker 2: Yeah, self confidence to breathing to feeding yourself from the inside.
Speaker 2: Out with healthy things. We had a girl's share her
Speaker 2: juices and her recipes and the reason why she's vegan,
Speaker 2: and you know why we should go on fast every
Speaker 2: now and then and just take breaks from meats or
Speaker 2: you know, processed foods or whatever. Just education, you know,
Speaker 2: and inspiration and relatable people like just people, you know,
Speaker 2: not somebody who we like look up to and feel
Speaker 2: like we can never get to.
Speaker 1: That level, you know, just like every like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it is it a couple of days or
Speaker 2: how it was one day? The one in March we're
Speaker 2: planning for one day as well. It was like an
Speaker 2: eleven to five o'clock kind of thing, I'll.
Speaker 1: Know, And how do people sign up for it? We're
Speaker 1: gonna I want gonna be I'm gonna be on the list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're gonna be on the list. But we're gonna
Speaker 2: sell some tickets.
Speaker 1: Yeah you know, no, no, no, I'll to buy a ticket.
Speaker 1: I just make sure I get to buy one before
Speaker 1: it sells out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we got you, grown, But yeah, we want we
Speaker 2: want people to be able to like have access to
Speaker 2: this and pour into themselves and you know, remember the
Speaker 2: importance of that. And it's a community, you know, and
Speaker 2: we'll continue to hold each other accountable and our other
Speaker 2: dreams and all of that, and same with holding each
Speaker 2: other accountable, you know, be greater than once to eventually
Speaker 2: expand into like clothing and you know, like online courses
Speaker 2: and stuff like that too, but one thing at a
Speaker 2: time because it's a lot.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, that's awesome. And then so the next
Speaker 1: one will be probably in March.
Speaker 2: In La yep, yep in La mm hmm, and we're
Speaker 2: doing it in women's history months, so it's gonna be
Speaker 2: for the.
Speaker 1: Women, but everyone. Now, have you gotten sponsors that have
Speaker 1: tried to get be a part of it or.
Speaker 2: We have not yet? Girl, because we did that stops
Speaker 2: watch just like we were like, we'll just invite like
Speaker 2: ten people, and then like because we like knew some people,
Speaker 2: it became maybe like twenty, but it was great. And
Speaker 2: then we have like press and stuff. So now we're
Speaker 2: going to like get put it out there. But we
Speaker 2: have not gotten sponsors yet, but we plan on yeah,
Speaker 2: plan on it. Yeah, and I think that people will.
Speaker 1: Align with it. Is it is it going to be
Speaker 1: just for women or is it going to be for
Speaker 1: It's for everybody? And we eventually want to do it
Speaker 1: for kids or like.
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, I think it's a start early, right,
Speaker 2: we need this, Like I feel like we're all learning
Speaker 2: this too late, you know, like if we were doing
Speaker 2: this in our twenties, Like, yeah.
Speaker 1: I realized, like I I'm very rarely ever single, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Like, I'm like, I think the
Speaker 1: longest I was ever single was like barely made it
Speaker 1: a year, and that was me going I was still
Speaker 1: technically dating pub this is lose. We don't have the title. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I could make it a year, but yeah, it's like
Speaker 1: you're constantly distracting yourself from yourself in a way when
Speaker 1: you're in these relationships or you're taking on some you know,
Speaker 1: I don't drink or smoke or do any of that stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's bad or anything. I just it
Speaker 1: doesn't do anything for me. Never has. Yeah, But I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe this is this scape that's not benefiting
Speaker 1: me at all at this point. Maybe I need to
Speaker 1: like me myself and I so and that's kind of
Speaker 1: the road you came to, right Yeah, Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I was in long relationships and yeah,
Speaker 2: God in relate felling them, you know, like that's how
Speaker 2: it turned into yeah or whatever. So by when I
Speaker 2: was turning thirty, girl, I was like, I need to
Speaker 2: pour in to me, like self love first. Whoever doesn't
Speaker 2: align with me loving on me gotta go. Okay, you
Speaker 2: know like literally my whole circle of friends changed.
Speaker 1: Even your friends changed. Uh huh yeah, I'll my whole
Speaker 1: sirg Now, did you ever struggle with boundaries or anything?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Of course, okay, of course, I'm I still work.
Speaker 1: On I'm like, uh, my producer shout out to him,
Speaker 1: like he's reading books. I don't mean to put your
Speaker 1: business out there. I love my team. Yeah, but yeah
Speaker 1: he's like reading books and I'll be, oh, let me
Speaker 1: you know, like yeah, I'll let you trick it out afterwards.
Speaker 1: But like I love that he's at his age, like
Speaker 1: even reading books on boundaries of stuff and like just
Speaker 1: even learning that word. Yeah yeah yeah. And I heard
Speaker 1: with little kids when they're little, you have to be
Speaker 1: careful because kids organically have boundaries. But then we as
Speaker 1: adults who are like, well, no, allowed this or share
Speaker 1: this or did it and just like really shouldn't do
Speaker 1: that with with their they got their little voice. Even
Speaker 1: though we're looking out for them. But that's kind of
Speaker 1: where the boundaries start.
Speaker 2: Little starts a childhood and then we have to like
Speaker 2: reteach ourselves everything in our adulthood.
Speaker 1: And it's that's why it's called a journey, you know.
Speaker 1: It's constant, girl, constant. Your journey was constant. So take
Speaker 1: me back to the pandem So you enter the pandemic single.
Speaker 2: Technically, actually no, okay, So twenty eighteen, I left that
Speaker 2: relationship where it was at twenty nineteen, I'm pouring into me.
Speaker 2: Part of pouring into me is personal training, and I'm
Speaker 2: now in the gym. I'm working out fall in love
Speaker 2: with fitness, and then.
Speaker 1: I actually can't fall in love with fitness. I keep
Speaker 1: trying to convince myself that, but gone.
Speaker 2: I think you can, Yeah, you definitely can. And you know,
Speaker 2: for me, I feel like it was really like the
Speaker 2: mental benefits, Like it put me in such a better space,
Speaker 2: you know, and it made me make better choices throughout
Speaker 2: the rest of the day, you know, and just have
Speaker 2: more inspiration because it was me pouring into me, you know.
Speaker 2: And then everything else from there helped remind me to
Speaker 2: pour into me, you know. But during that I met
Speaker 2: my current boyfriend now because he's a personal trainer. Okay,
Speaker 2: so it's crazy because he was so professional too. I
Speaker 2: like we were like literally just client and and trainer
Speaker 2: for so long. And then I would like ask him,
Speaker 2: like what do you do out here? Like do you
Speaker 2: have friends?
Speaker 1: Do you hang out? Do you have fun?
Speaker 2: Do you do anything at night? You know? You want
Speaker 2: to come out with me and my friends? Like whatever?
Speaker 2: So I like had to drag him out. Basically, I
Speaker 2: invite him out like three times he always turned me down,
Speaker 2: and finally, like that third he came and hung out
Speaker 2: and like that's when we like started our friendship, you know,
Speaker 2: and then.
Speaker 1: Eventually it became a relationship.
Speaker 2: Okay, nice, but he you know, he's I feel like
Speaker 2: he was like sent to me because yeah, he helped
Speaker 2: me the timing and everything, and he has always been
Speaker 2: like an advocate of me, pouring into me. You know,
Speaker 2: it's nice. I like it. I like that.
Speaker 1: And then and now we take you up to here
Speaker 1: where you're writing this be greater.
Speaker 2: Then be greater than company business.
Speaker 1: Now are you are you still dipping your toe every
Speaker 1: once in a while into Dan still or yeah?
Speaker 2: I am, I am, But I pick and choose where
Speaker 2: you know, Unfortunately, I still feel like dancers are like
Speaker 2: the like lowest paid and the least respected in this industry.
Speaker 1: So it's.
Speaker 2: Hard, like you know, like sets and stuff sometimes that
Speaker 2: we have to be in our situations that it just
Speaker 2: makes it hard for me to be like, yeah, I
Speaker 2: want to go do that. Now I've done it also.
Speaker 1: Bajillion times of the negative side, yeah, I mean like
Speaker 1: just like, how did you see that interview recently where
Speaker 1: the cast of The Color Purple was talking about and
Speaker 1: co signing with Taraji about how they didn't have like
Speaker 1: dressing rooms or anywhere to like sit down, and they
Speaker 1: were like that like where they had to like she
Speaker 1: had to ask them for like a ride to set
Speaker 1: or some.
Speaker 2: Food or whatever, like we don't have any food in
Speaker 2: our rooms?
Speaker 1: Can we get snacks?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: And you're on set, locked it on all day, you
Speaker 1: can't leave, right, Yeah, Dancers get treated like that a lot.
Speaker 2: You know, we don't have if we have a holding room,
Speaker 2: there's no chairs where we're just on a dusty, dirty floor.
Speaker 2: You know, there's no snacks, where's the water we're dancing,
Speaker 2: we're sweating, you.
Speaker 1: Know, like wow? And then are they usually contractors so
Speaker 1: there's no like labor laws or anything, right because it's
Speaker 1: contract work. Get the freak.
Speaker 2: That's why television, that's why I started falling in love
Speaker 2: with that too, because that's sag. There's a union, there's
Speaker 2: a representation, you know, like people look after you, there's rules,
Speaker 2: there's you can't if you work overtime, you're paid for it.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Like but now when you're a dancer and you're on
Speaker 1: contract and you have rehearsal, do they consider the rehearsal?
Speaker 1: Do they help nothing?
Speaker 2: Is it?
Speaker 1: Like it's scary out there because you look at these
Speaker 1: dancers in the videos and you look at them on
Speaker 1: tour and you're like, that's amazing, what an amazing opportunity.
Speaker 3: But you don't think them like sitting in a room, yeah,
Speaker 3: just starving to daddy of be eating one thing or
Speaker 3: like yeah I'm not drinking water or freezing maybe all
Speaker 3: day or something like depending on the settings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2: And then yeah, it's all based on like those kind
Speaker 2: of contracts if they're not a set like music video rate,
Speaker 2: like rehearsal rate is this, and then the shoot rate
Speaker 2: is that, and the eye out is that you can
Speaker 2: negotiate whatever. You know, if it's a tour rate and
Speaker 2: you're like I want three thousand a week, like you
Speaker 2: can negotiate that. But a lot of times they're like
Speaker 2: we only have X, yeah, and it's either take it
Speaker 2: or leave it, you know. So the industry is crazy.
Speaker 2: It's crazy, and a lot of times they'll take that
Speaker 2: main rate and cut it in half for rehearsals like that.
Speaker 2: Then that's your rate, weekly rate, no, well like daily, yeah,
Speaker 2: you rate.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I'm going that people are starting to speak
Speaker 1: out about it because it's starting to like humanize, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the industry for all these people that are on looking
Speaker 1: like you're a turagi or you're you're.
Speaker 2: No, yeah, And that's why like even me myself, like
Speaker 2: I'm like I'm in the working smarter not harder era,
Speaker 2: you know, Like I've been a dancer for professional dancer
Speaker 2: for like twenty years almost and I've done literally everything,
Speaker 2: worked very hard for it, and like we shouldn't have
Speaker 2: to always work that hard, Like we should be taken
Speaker 2: care of. We shouldn't have to beg for water, we
Speaker 2: shouldn't have to beg for you know, certain things or
Speaker 2: like a seat or a cushion or like not dance
Speaker 2: on concrete or something, you know, like, but it happens
Speaker 2: all the time. And then like social media comes around,
Speaker 2: and you know, the rates are crazy and brands are
Speaker 2: paying influencers crazy hundreds of crazy amount of money, treating
Speaker 2: them like superstars, flying them out to this place in
Speaker 2: that place, and it's like, wow, we can't even like
Speaker 2: get that in the industry.
Speaker 1: You know, I got some friends that are influencers in
Speaker 1: the money they make is crazy.
Speaker 2: I make more as an influencer than a dancer or
Speaker 2: an actor or wow.
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, the world has definitely flipped. Yeah, it's definitely flipped.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Crazy. That's a big reason why I didn't go on
Speaker 1: this tour. Yeah yeah, you know, it's like work smarter,
Speaker 1: not harder, guys, It's not always and I think too
Speaker 1: in this age, like people are getting caught up in
Speaker 1: the likes and the followers. It's like, oh, I have
Speaker 1: three hundred thousand. It's weird. It's like some people don't
Speaker 1: even have that much in their bank account and they're like,
Speaker 1: I'm a superstar because I have fifteen thousand followers. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say humble yourself, but do live in reality.
Speaker 2: Do live in reality, Yes, and be aware and yeah,
Speaker 2: have a sense of humility.
Speaker 1: You know, but definite in reality. I always tell people
Speaker 1: before you look at your likes and your followers, like,
Speaker 1: also assess. Also assess your bank account along with it. Yeah, sorry,
Speaker 1: because you have to.
Speaker 3: You have to.
Speaker 1: Your bank account still matters at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: It does, and you have to be smart. Like rich
Speaker 2: people are where they're at because they were smart with
Speaker 2: their money. You know, a lot of them, Yeah, unless they.
Speaker 1: It was just this is kind of random, but I'm
Speaker 1: I'm deathly curious. Do you read a lot? I know
Speaker 1: we're almost done. I don't know if they're that's not
Speaker 1: even for us, But uh, what books do you read?
Speaker 1: Are you a reader?
Speaker 2: You know, I am not a big reader, but I
Speaker 2: am trying to be so if you have recommendations, I'm
Speaker 2: a reader because I'm that's the era I'm in now.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I need to learn, and like you know,
Speaker 2: I'm always telling people be a sponge, like always learn learn,
Speaker 2: learn from everyone, So please, I'm a booker.
Speaker 1: I'm a booker. But well, i'll tell you off camera.
Speaker 1: But there's a couple of favorite books I have. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I definitely like to read if I have an opportunity
Speaker 1: now that I have a two year old. Every time
Speaker 1: I open a book, she like rips it out of
Speaker 1: my hand and she's like reading. I'm like, that's for me,
Speaker 1: and then it's like the rip war and so she
Speaker 1: wants to read it. Yeah, so unless it's like the
Speaker 1: bear and the squirrel get along, like I basically have
Speaker 1: to hide my books.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you like a physical book too. I like the
Speaker 2: audible love physical.
Speaker 1: I've been getting into audio lately with her because otherwise
Speaker 1: there won't be that much reading. But I've been doing
Speaker 1: more of a like it's you know, I used to
Speaker 1: be all into business books, but now I'm all into
Speaker 1: like self help, please save me from myself, well and your.
Speaker 2: Mom, you know, And that's you know. Jasmine also has
Speaker 2: a two year old who I'm her godmom, and that's
Speaker 2: what made her pour into her was having to prioritize
Speaker 2: her daughter and herself better and not be like a
Speaker 2: dancer who's just like jumping around from rehearsal rehearsal at
Speaker 2: someone else's time whenever they asked for you. Like, she
Speaker 2: had to like prioritize her daughter and like work different,
Speaker 2: you know, and like so she was like, I want
Speaker 2: to create something that makes sense for me as a mom.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember I try to get all these like
Speaker 1: books on like stay at home mom work or how
Speaker 1: to balance your schedule. But I think having I was
Speaker 1: married going through a divorce, but one of the things
Speaker 1: I learned was like I was taking care of everyone
Speaker 1: but me, and like I was always the last. It
Speaker 1: got to the point where I'm making my daughter's lunch
Speaker 1: and I make it like psycho level. I'm that parent
Speaker 1: that's fruit, vegetables, snack.
Speaker 2: Cheese like layers.
Speaker 1: They open the lunch box and they're like, your daughter,
Speaker 1: for one, doesn't eat out of this stuff. But I'm like,
Speaker 1: you never know what mood she's gonna be. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: then I'll have all these healthy options for her. Right
Speaker 1: And as many times as I do her thurrows chips
Speaker 1: and I'm eating none of this stuff that's in the house,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, do you know what I mean? Like
Speaker 1: what about you? Like why can't you eat a blueberry
Speaker 1: or BlackBerry or cutting out eat some of the apples
Speaker 1: you're cutting? Yeah, you know, And I realized that I'm
Speaker 1: everybody else and I'll work thirteen million jobs to make
Speaker 1: sure that every bill is taking care of and everyone's comfortable.
Speaker 1: I mean, not only sucky addiction kind of is I
Speaker 1: like to drive nice cars, like my only thing. That's like,
Speaker 1: but you know, once she's okay, yeah, but.
Speaker 2: They all have that's not a bad one.
Speaker 1: It's literally the only thing. Like I switched them out
Speaker 1: like every three years. But I will say that, like,
Speaker 1: it's still not enough to just be like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: got the car that I want for the next three
Speaker 1: years or however long you know, the new one comes out.
Speaker 1: But that's not really enough to say I'm taking care
Speaker 1: of myself. That's just like, that's just that's a.
Speaker 2: Nice luxury thing girl that you just that's like it's
Speaker 2: like like like you deserve that, you know.
Speaker 1: But but where can people keep up with? Be greater
Speaker 1: than and and shout out how people can keep up
Speaker 1: with Ashley.
Speaker 2: Be greater than is on Instagram, be greater than Underscore
Speaker 2: and then myself Ashley C M. Everett Yeah, on all
Speaker 2: social media platforms.
Speaker 1: All right, So guys, if you want to keep up
Speaker 1: with Ashley, go ahead, and thanks for listening to another
Speaker 1: episode of Eating While for more Eating While Broke from
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and the Black Effect, Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.