Speaker 1: That's okay because no one here is.
Speaker 2: Hello.
Speaker 3: Listeners of teen Beat or teats, Hmm, no, it doesn't
Speaker 3: sound like I hoped it would, So let me know
Speaker 3: in the comments what your thoughts are on that one.
Speaker 3: I am Danielle Fischl, the host of teen Beat, a
Speaker 3: podcast where I sit down with interesting people with just
Speaker 3: one goal to make them admit they were awkward teenagers.
Speaker 3: We all were, but some of us had to live
Speaker 3: those years out on television, experiencing puberty and childhood confusion
Speaker 3: in front of millions. So now is my chance to
Speaker 3: settle the score and force other celebrities to spill their
Speaker 3: guts and expose their upbringings funniest memories. The concept is simple,
Speaker 3: I gave you my childhood, it's time we hear yours.
Speaker 3: And this week I'm chatting with one of the funniest
Speaker 3: people in anything that involves a camera. Television, movies, cartoons,
Speaker 3: game shows, talk shows, award shows, after shows, probably dog shows.
Speaker 3: Anything she appears in or on is made infinitely better
Speaker 3: because of her involvement. You probably know her best as
Speaker 3: Shirley Bennett from the cult classic TV show Community, stealing
Speaker 3: scenes like some sort of charming pickpocket and leaving behind
Speaker 3: a path of memes like my favorite donning her passive
Speaker 3: aggressive smile with the catchphrase that's nice, or you know
Speaker 3: her as Helen from Drake and Josh, or her Emmy
Speaker 3: nominated appearance on The Black Ladies Sketch Show.
Speaker 2: How about from movies like Zootopia Too and.
Speaker 3: Somehow Avengers Endgame and here's some range. She's hosted The
Speaker 3: View and The Talking Dead, which probably have more in
Speaker 3: common than we'd like to think. She won Celebrity Family
Speaker 3: Feud but lost Celebrity Jeopardy, was signed to Michael Bivins
Speaker 3: and saying let's hear it for the boy well dressed
Speaker 3: as a bird. Plus, she is also the only person
Speaker 3: in history to have appeared on both Real Housewives of
Speaker 3: Atlanta and Critical Role Guys. She has done it all
Speaker 3: except appear on the teen Beat podcast with Daniel Fischl,
Speaker 3: and we are taking care of that today because underneath
Speaker 3: all that talent and before the incredible achievements, she might
Speaker 3: be hiding an awkward teenager ready to share embarrassment with
Speaker 3: the world. So please welcome to the podcast. This week's guest,
Speaker 3: Yvette Nicole Brown.
Speaker 4: Wow, that might be the best intro I have ever
Speaker 4: received in my entire life.
Speaker 2: Wow, I was like.
Speaker 5: Did I do that?
Speaker 2: I did that?
Speaker 6: Was?
Speaker 5: That was awesome?
Speaker 2: Isn't it so great to.
Speaker 3: Hear your accomplish read back to you in someone else's
Speaker 3: voice when you're just like not really fully prepared for it.
Speaker 2: It's like, Wow, look I did all.
Speaker 4: That, especially when it's someone like you who's climbed the mountain.
Speaker 4: So it's really nice that you took the time to
Speaker 4: do that and to do the research, and that was
Speaker 4: really lovely. Thanks well.
Speaker 3: I am so happy that you're here, so honored that
Speaker 3: you're joining me today. You have truly done just too
Speaker 3: much in your career in the best way possible. It's
Speaker 3: really impressive. I want to start with the East Coast family.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're Cleveland born.
Speaker 3: And bred and yet somehow entered the Philly centric universe
Speaker 3: of Michael Bivens's motown record label BIV ten. How old
Speaker 3: were you when you were signed to him and how
Speaker 3: did you get connected to a member of Bell Bivdevo.
Speaker 4: I was nineteen when I met him. I'd been a
Speaker 4: fan of New Addition since I was twelve when they
Speaker 4: first came out in eighty three.
Speaker 5: I was like that's it.
Speaker 4: That's my group, and they're up for the Rock Hall
Speaker 4: of Fame right now, So please vote, everybody, get out
Speaker 4: and vote for new edition. So I've been an Inny
Speaker 4: for Lifers what they call us, since I was twelve.
Speaker 4: But when I was nineteen, I was a sophomore in
Speaker 4: college and Michael was was, you know, talking about boys
Speaker 4: to men and another bad creation, and he was managing
Speaker 4: and I'm like, I'm a singer. He's got to manage me.
Speaker 4: He's got to manage me. So I kind of stalked
Speaker 4: him after a concert in Cleveland. Jeff Dison, his bodyguard,
Speaker 4: helped me find where they were staying, and I stalked him.
Speaker 5: I was like, mister Bimmins, massing for you. Mister Bimin's
Speaker 5: massing for you. Mind you. Michael was maybe three or
Speaker 5: four years older than me. Mister Bibvens, what am I daughters,
Speaker 5: I'm like two.
Speaker 4: So he finally let me sing for him, and the
Speaker 4: next day called me and said, I want to manage you.
Speaker 4: And then I was in the East Coast family. It
Speaker 4: was the most miraculous thing, but the craziest thing about
Speaker 4: my stir with Michael. So we go from fan of
Speaker 4: New Edition to sign by Michael and on biften Records,
Speaker 4: to working as Michael's assistant when I first moved to
Speaker 4: La to then playing his mother in the New Edition movie.
Speaker 4: So I literally it's a full circle.
Speaker 2: I have that in here that I was going to
Speaker 2: ask you. Didn't you playing his mother in the movie.
Speaker 3: Was that something like you guys had stayed in touch
Speaker 3: and you were like, hey, let's work together, or did
Speaker 3: that just want?
Speaker 4: I mean we stayed in touch, like me and Michael
Speaker 4: have been in touch since I first met him, but
Speaker 4: we weren't like, it's not like we're doing a movie
Speaker 4: of our life.
Speaker 5: Do you want to play my mot No?
Speaker 4: I auditioned to it at least twice with every other
Speaker 4: black woman of a certain age in Hollywood, and just
Speaker 4: so happened that that's the mom I got. We all
Speaker 4: auditioned for random mom right then they once they picked
Speaker 4: the mothers or the actresses they wanted, they then put
Speaker 4: us with the different New Edition member And I got Michael.
Speaker 2: From mister Bivens at nineteen to play in his mom.
Speaker 5: Mom and I'm still friends with his mom. I owe
Speaker 5: a call. His mom is a vibe. Shirley Bibvens is
Speaker 5: a vibe.
Speaker 6: He's a vibe.
Speaker 3: What a trajectory of friendship. I love that you were
Speaker 3: one of maybe two hundred and fifty young adults he
Speaker 3: signed at the time, including like we mentioned, another bad creation,
Speaker 3: Boys to Men and mc brains.
Speaker 2: Was was it as fun as it sounds?
Speaker 4: It was the most fun because you know, one you know,
Speaker 4: you grow up in your dreaming, like I always wanted
Speaker 4: to be a singer, even more than being an actress.
Speaker 5: I want to be a singer.
Speaker 4: So I'm already living like that dream just being around them.
Speaker 4: But it was also at the beginning of Boys to
Speaker 4: Men and Boys to Men became a super nova. This
Speaker 4: is before the Road, you know. So I got to
Speaker 4: watch them grow. And I just went to the amazing
Speaker 4: concert new Edition Boys to Men Tony Brax and go
Speaker 4: see it if you haven't seen, to be at that
Speaker 4: concert and know that everyone on that stage was my friend.
Speaker 4: Everyone on that stage I have their phone number or
Speaker 4: have a memory with them. And to be able to
Speaker 4: celebrate all of them as they celebrated each other. You know,
Speaker 4: I just did a film, a lifetime film with Tony Braxton.
Speaker 4: She's like my sister, so it was like, it's just
Speaker 4: amazing the full circle moments I've had.
Speaker 5: I know you've had a few, probably at your age.
Speaker 5: I'm the older. But even when you get you hold
Speaker 5: you have you cross forty yet?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, forty, I'm going to be forty five.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, you're still a baby. But like, once
Speaker 4: you cross over forty, it's like your life plays in
Speaker 4: front of you a thousand different ways, either the children
Speaker 4: you're raising, or people you worked with, or you know,
Speaker 4: thirty years of a show, like all of that stuff,
Speaker 4: it just comes back in ways, and it's nice to
Speaker 4: still be alive to witness those wins.
Speaker 3: And to correct and like you said, to celebrate those
Speaker 3: accomplishments of your friends who it is rare to have
Speaker 3: a long career in the entertainment industry. So the fact
Speaker 3: that you can count on multiple hands the people and
Speaker 3: going look at you and look at you, and we're still.
Speaker 2: Doing it, it's such a great feeling.
Speaker 3: It's amazing. It's Yeah, my husband is a massive fan
Speaker 3: of the One for All music video you appear in.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, and you know that is the most random
Speaker 4: thing I've ever heard.
Speaker 3: Oh really, Oh yeah, big big fan. What do you
Speaker 3: remember from filming that day.
Speaker 4: I remember that we shot it in Houston, and it's
Speaker 4: my first time going to Texas and it was so hot.
Speaker 5: I remember that.
Speaker 4: I remember just thinking that it was going to be
Speaker 4: a moment, and I think we all thought that this
Speaker 4: was our beginning. You know, it was not true for
Speaker 4: most of us, but we were like, this is it.
Speaker 4: We about to be shot out like a cannon. And
Speaker 4: one of my sharpest memories is I remember Mary J.
Speaker 4: Blige's first album, What's the four One one had just
Speaker 4: come out, so we were on set listening to Mary J.
Speaker 4: Blige and she and I think she's maybe one year
Speaker 4: older than me, but I remember going, gosh, she's amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I was twenty she was twenty one, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: this is so great. She's gonna be a big star.
Speaker 4: Like I just have snapshots of moments like that. And
Speaker 4: then just getting to spend the whole day with everybody
Speaker 4: in the East Coast family was really wonderful. It was
Speaker 4: we did that day and then the day we were recording,
Speaker 4: and we traveled a bit and toured a bit with
Speaker 4: each other. So I have a lot of memories from
Speaker 4: being a teenager just chasing that dream Well.
Speaker 3: One of the very specific questions he wanted me to
Speaker 3: ask you is about Fruit Punch, the kid at the beginning.
Speaker 2: Of the song. He was dressed like Rkle and we
Speaker 2: never heard from him again.
Speaker 4: That was Ryan, That is Michael's cousin. His mom, Dianne Bivins,
Speaker 4: was like our road manager of the East Coast Family,
Speaker 4: and she actually is the first person outside of a
Speaker 4: high school teacher, that told me I should pursue acting
Speaker 4: because I auditioned and stuff while I was I started
Speaker 4: auditioning during the East Coast Family, but I was still
Speaker 4: in Cleveland, so it didn't stick. But she's the one
Speaker 4: that put that in me, besides my my acting teacher
Speaker 4: in high school, MSSC.
Speaker 5: Curry.
Speaker 4: She's the one that told me you could do this.
Speaker 4: So anyway, Ryan Fruit Punch was her son, and so
Speaker 4: I don't know that he ever had dreams of being
Speaker 4: a performer. I just think he was a cute kid.
Speaker 4: And Mike was like, come about this this manhole and
Speaker 4: you know, start the song.
Speaker 2: He's like, all right, done, done.
Speaker 3: Are there any fashion trends from this day or from
Speaker 3: the specific time and hip hop and R and B
Speaker 3: that you would like to see come back. I can
Speaker 3: give you some examples like airbrushed overalls with one strap
Speaker 3: off starter jackets, biker shorts are kind of back, like
Speaker 3: we already have that baggy designer leather jackets on women.
Speaker 2: Maybe even shoulder pads, anything you're fond of.
Speaker 4: I'm a fan of shoulder pads, a good fan. I'm
Speaker 4: a big fan of men's wear. I'm in a tie.
Speaker 4: I'm in a tie only video on a vest i
Speaker 4: like a few French rolls and a little tendrils. It's
Speaker 4: a lot of some hair things that we might or
Speaker 4: may not want to bring back, you know. And then also,
Speaker 4: I this wasn't in the video, but I always fly
Speaker 4: a flag for hair and pants.
Speaker 5: Oh I love it. I love it. Not not an
Speaker 5: empty hammer hammer pants. It's a little too much for me.
Speaker 4: When a low drop crotched. You know, it's a wonderful.
Speaker 3: Garment, absolutely, especially in like a nice thin fabricable.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, linen.
Speaker 5: Silk, come on, come on there, it is there.
Speaker 2: It is so on community. Did you talk music with
Speaker 2: Donald Glover?
Speaker 3: I feel like he was heavily inspired by the era
Speaker 3: you grew.
Speaker 2: Up making music. And I was in a Donald Glover
Speaker 2: music video.
Speaker 5: I feel like I know this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3: I feel like I play I'm in like a dream
Speaker 3: sequence and one of his in one of his.
Speaker 5: Videos, like, I feel like I know this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, did you talk music with him?
Speaker 4: I feel like you would have had a crush when
Speaker 4: you was a kid too, So I think that's well.
Speaker 3: Did he think maybe we I ended up in the
Speaker 3: video because he had?
Speaker 5: I think you did. I think that's how it worked out.
Speaker 4: We did. We? You know, a lot of us on
Speaker 4: the show are musical. Kim Jung actually has a beautiful voice.
Speaker 4: I don't know if people know this about Ken Jong.
Speaker 4: He's an amazing singer, and I think and he plays
Speaker 4: panel too, So we all had a lot of conversations.
Speaker 4: Donald was the most efficient user of time on the
Speaker 4: community set.
Speaker 5: He created Atlanta.
Speaker 4: On off time, on community he created he became Childish Gambino.
Speaker 5: At our community table, we had the.
Speaker 4: Wu Tang I don't know what it was, called the
Speaker 4: Wu Tang aggregator or Wu Tang. It was this thing,
Speaker 4: this Wu Tang clan thing where you could find your
Speaker 4: Wu Tang name by using this little whatever.
Speaker 5: This thing was.
Speaker 4: So we all got our names, and Donald's was childish Cambino.
Speaker 4: That's how he became childish Cambino happened at the table.
Speaker 4: We'd have a break and he'd be with his computer
Speaker 4: doing beats. Like he's always been just an efficient user
Speaker 4: of time. Yeah, you know how they say in Hamilton,
Speaker 4: you know, why do you write like you're running out
Speaker 4: of time? Donald does everything like he's running out of time.
Speaker 4: So we did talk about it, but it was like
Speaker 4: something he was just doing.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, he was just constantly creating.
Speaker 4: He's always creating. He's one of I've said this in
Speaker 4: other interviews, but he's one of the most creative people
Speaker 4: I've ever met. Never met Michael Jackson, never met Prince
Speaker 4: so I can't speak on their level of creativity. But
Speaker 4: Donald can do everything creative. He can bake, he can dance,
Speaker 4: he can draw, he can knit, he can knit. Wow,
Speaker 4: he can dance. He does comedy, he writes, he sings,
Speaker 4: he he raps like he literally anything creative he can
Speaker 4: put his hand to and make it magic. So we
Speaker 4: saw that he would come in go I wrote this song,
Speaker 4: and it'd be a song that ended up on his
Speaker 4: album Camp Like he's just he's a.
Speaker 3: Beast, right, Yeah, I had a wonderful time with him.
Speaker 3: It was clapping for the wrong reasons is the name
Speaker 3: of the video that I was in, And uh yeah,
Speaker 3: I remember also thinking that day, Wow, he never really sits.
Speaker 3: He doesn't he doesn't relax because you know, when I
Speaker 3: was needed, I was there, and then when I wasn't needed,
Speaker 3: I was just like relaxing, and he when he was
Speaker 3: not needed in front, he was on something, he was
Speaker 3: working on something, he was writing something, he was just
Speaker 3: he was.
Speaker 2: Go, go go.
Speaker 3: But boy, it was a really cool experience for me
Speaker 3: to see him in action.
Speaker 6: I love that he's a sweetheart.
Speaker 3: We saw each other recently, you and I both freaking
Speaker 3: out at a Janet Jackson concert, and I don't know
Speaker 3: about you, but I was absolutely blown away by how
Speaker 3: great she still is.
Speaker 4: Listen, I love her so much. And this is not
Speaker 4: news to anyone that's ever heard me talk about Janet
Speaker 4: like she's my number one, Like I think she's just
Speaker 4: First of all, she's very kind. I'm blessed to say
Speaker 4: that we're friends now. She's very kind, very loving, very supportive,
Speaker 4: very accessible. And then that's just her as a human being.
Speaker 4: But then you moved to her as an artist and
Speaker 4: the fact that she has perfect pitch, the fact that
Speaker 4: she can stack vocals like her other stacked vocals.
Speaker 5: She's a beast in the studio.
Speaker 4: Jimmy jam has told me stories of working with her
Speaker 4: and how amazing it is, and she's humble. Yeah, and
Speaker 4: she just regular, you know, she's just she's just the best.
Speaker 4: And she's you know, coming up on sixty and you
Speaker 4: would do sixty where that woman got the knee ware
Speaker 4: at the knees of a thirty five year old, she'd
Speaker 4: be the way she dances, my lord.
Speaker 2: It was. It was really incredible.
Speaker 3: I mean I went in having really no expectations because
Speaker 3: I didn't know, like when was the last time I
Speaker 3: had seen her perform, And literally just kept looking around
Speaker 3: like is this Relia?
Speaker 2: And she sang the entire time, the entire time.
Speaker 3: I kept thinking, when are they gonna put When is
Speaker 3: she gonna sit down to take a break?
Speaker 5: Nope, saying the entire time Mike was on.
Speaker 3: Mike was on the entire time, danced the entire time,
Speaker 3: up and down the stage the entire time, not even
Speaker 3: super long wardrobe changes, just.
Speaker 2: She was just moving.
Speaker 5: She gave us a show.
Speaker 2: She really did.
Speaker 3: She really did who were your favorite singers and rappers
Speaker 3: growing up? I know you mentioned Janet's your number one,
Speaker 3: So who are ausition?
Speaker 4: Okay, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney, Houston. I can't believe Prince,
Speaker 4: Michael Jackson and Whitney being gone. I just don't even
Speaker 4: know where to file that. And then I'm you grew
Speaker 4: up in the seventies and the eighties, so I'm a
Speaker 4: you know, I like some seventies R and B. I
Speaker 4: like some Shallamar, some dbars switch, you know, like when
Speaker 4: people were really playing instruments and really singing heat Wave,
Speaker 4: earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Luther Van dross Aker,
Speaker 4: I mean I could. My R and B list is long.
Speaker 4: And then I also love like Dolly Parton. She's one
Speaker 4: of my favorites. Ronnie Millsap. I used to love country
Speaker 4: back when I was a kid too, so it's everywhere.
Speaker 4: And then my brother loved Kiss, so I grew up
Speaker 4: listening to Kiss and loving Kiss.
Speaker 6: So I'm across.
Speaker 5: I'm all across the.
Speaker 2: Border, You're all across the genres. Yeah, you love it all.
Speaker 3: What was high school like for you? Were you were
Speaker 3: you an entertainer at your school?
Speaker 4: You know, I think I was Junior High was rough,
Speaker 4: and when I talk about my embarrassment, it's gonna be
Speaker 4: a doozy from the seventh grade. But by the time
Speaker 4: I got to tenth grade and I had my braces
Speaker 4: and figured out my acne cream, I think I found
Speaker 4: a sweet spot where I was not the most popular,
Speaker 4: but I also was no longer the outcast.
Speaker 2: Everyone was right sweet spot. Nobody's paying any attention.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm just listen. I'm the same way on red carpets. Now,
Speaker 4: when I get dressed for a red carpet, I'm not
Speaker 4: trying to be best dressed.
Speaker 5: Don't want to be worst dressed. I want to be
Speaker 5: right in the middle.
Speaker 4: Just ignore, just to you.
Speaker 3: Want to give you a good interview, but nothing too
Speaker 3: clickbaitableaven nothing.
Speaker 4: So I got to that sweet spot. And I think
Speaker 4: the reason I bodied that lane so well is that
Speaker 4: I have such a love for other people.
Speaker 5: So throughout school.
Speaker 4: I collected all the other misfits and the underdogs. Everybody
Speaker 4: could sit with me, everybody could hang with me. So
Speaker 4: by the time I graduated, I knew everybody. You know,
Speaker 4: And that's that's the best way I think to go
Speaker 4: through life. I I as a kid. After what I
Speaker 4: tell the story of when I was in junior high
Speaker 4: I never understood who got to decide who was popular, Like,
Speaker 4: why did you get to say that you matter and
Speaker 4: I don't matter? Why do you get to say that
Speaker 4: they don't matter?
Speaker 5: What you know?
Speaker 4: I'm not saying that you're not a great person, but
Speaker 4: why do you have to be greater than me? Why
Speaker 4: do you have to make me feel bad? So I
Speaker 4: decided I'm not I don't believe you.
Speaker 2: Oh you love that.
Speaker 5: You can say I'm not cool or I'm not whatever.
Speaker 5: I don't believe you.
Speaker 4: I think I'm great, and I think these people with
Speaker 4: me are great and we're gonna go be great. And
Speaker 4: if you want to come be great with this, you can,
Speaker 4: but you're not gonna make us feel bad about who
Speaker 4: we are because you've decided that we're not cute enough,
Speaker 4: tall enough, clear skinned enough, straight to you. Whatever the
Speaker 4: thing is, I've never understood that. I've never liked it,
Speaker 4: never understood it.
Speaker 3: I feel very much the same way, But it is
Speaker 3: it really, I think just comes from such a scarcity mindset.
Speaker 2: It's when people feel as though there's.
Speaker 3: Only one spot and if someone's gonna claim it. It's
Speaker 3: gonna be me and I'm gonna fight everyone else away
Speaker 3: from the one spot, and I I thankfully don't. I
Speaker 3: just don't think that in that way, and obviously neither
Speaker 3: do you. So tell me about junior high. Junior High
Speaker 3: I think is rough across the board, because I also
Speaker 3: did not have lovely junior high experiences.
Speaker 2: So what was junior high like for you?
Speaker 5: Okay, well, let me say this. First.
Speaker 4: I grew up in East Cleveland, which is the hood,
Speaker 4: and I'm proudly from the hood.
Speaker 5: And then I moved.
Speaker 4: My mom wanted a better life for us, so we
Speaker 4: moved to the suburbs. So it was like going from
Speaker 4: you know, the inner city to like Beverly Hills. Right,
Speaker 4: we didn't have the Beverly Hills money, so we were
Speaker 4: still in like wrangler jeans and hand me downs, but
Speaker 4: we were in.
Speaker 5: A better school system.
Speaker 4: So it was culture shock for me getting there and
Speaker 4: seeing these girls with their hair freshly pressed, and they're
Speaker 4: in Jordan ash and Gloria Vanderbilt jean's, and you know,
Speaker 4: I'm in my brother's hand me down wranglers, you know,
Speaker 4: or my cousin's hand me downs. So automatically walking in
Speaker 4: I was targeted, like one of these things is not
Speaker 4: like the other, right. And so when I was when
Speaker 4: I was in seventh grade, it was this guy I
Speaker 4: really liked. I thought he was a cue thing I've
Speaker 4: ever seen. Now I will not say his name because
Speaker 4: I do still know him. Okay, I don't wont say
Speaker 4: his name. But I thought he was great. And there
Speaker 4: was a girl friend of mine. She's now a friend,
Speaker 4: but she was really mean to me on this particular day.
Speaker 4: She used to date this guy date.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, they once looked at each other across the
Speaker 3: across the.
Speaker 4: They once held hands at reason, but she used to
Speaker 4: date them, and they had broken up, and she knew that.
Speaker 4: I thought he was super duper cute. And so one
Speaker 4: day she came up to me and she said, so
Speaker 4: and SO likes you And I said no. She said, yeah,
Speaker 4: he likes you, and I think you should write him
Speaker 4: a note and ask him if he likes you too,
Speaker 4: and you should give it to him tomorrow. And I
Speaker 4: was like, oh, my god, he likes me like I
Speaker 4: never thought he would like me. So I'm talking to
Speaker 4: my friends and they're like, okay, well you should wear
Speaker 4: this shirt and one of my friends let me borrow her.
Speaker 4: One of my friends let me borrow her little ear rings.
Speaker 4: I remember I had this this black and white I'll
Speaker 4: never forget the outfit, black and white striped shirt with
Speaker 4: these poof it was the eighties, yes, right. And she
Speaker 4: gave me these spot these plastic spiral earrings that were
Speaker 4: also black and white.
Speaker 5: So I'm ready.
Speaker 4: I got the outfit. Penmanship is on point. I'm writing
Speaker 4: the note dear so and so I I really like
Speaker 4: you too, you know, would you like my number? I
Speaker 4: don't even know what I put the note. It's a
Speaker 4: blur because it was so traumatic. So I get to
Speaker 4: school and I have lunch. I either had lunch first
Speaker 4: or study hall first. I had lunch first, then study all.
Speaker 4: So I go to lunch and he also has lunch
Speaker 4: first and then study all. He's there, heus gorgeous, cross
Speaker 4: the room.
Speaker 5: It's my moment. So I walk up.
Speaker 4: He's talking to his friends.
Speaker 6: I walk up.
Speaker 4: I give him the note, Danielle like, give them the
Speaker 4: note listeners, And he said, what's this? And I said,
Speaker 4: and he didn't say it, like, what's this?
Speaker 5: He said what's this? And I said, you know, oh.
Speaker 3: It looks so confident she really Never for a second
Speaker 3: did you think you think maybe she's doing something to
Speaker 3: screw me over?
Speaker 4: Oh no, I thought, this is this is a lovely
Speaker 4: thing she's doing. She sees the love is supposed to happen,
Speaker 4: and she's just about to happen. So he opened the
Speaker 4: note in front of me. You read the note. He
Speaker 4: laughed at the note. He showed the note to the
Speaker 4: friends with him, and then he passed the note around
Speaker 4: the lunch room. And the bottom line was, how dare
Speaker 4: she think that I whatever? So I, of course am
Speaker 4: face on the ground.
Speaker 5: I scurry out of there. I've never scurried in my life,
Speaker 5: but I scurried, scurried that.
Speaker 4: I scurried out of there, and I got to the
Speaker 4: bathroom because I didn't want to go to study hall too.
Speaker 4: I went to the bathroom, pulled my feet up on
Speaker 4: the on this this things locked the door in the stall,
Speaker 4: just like, okay, what just happened? Like I couldn't I
Speaker 4: was twelve. I couldn't process that level of cruelty. I
Speaker 4: did not understand, because again, I'm the one that's like
Speaker 4: everybody can sit with me, So I don't understand going
Speaker 4: out of your way to.
Speaker 5: Harm I've never understood.
Speaker 4: So I'm in there and then people are coming in,
Speaker 4: girls are coming in, and the only topic is me.
Speaker 3: Everyone, And because your feed are up, they don't even
Speaker 3: know you're there, so they care.
Speaker 2: They're just still talking about you here and all.
Speaker 4: Can you believe that was dumb enough to think blah
Speaker 4: blah blah, just oh my god, he would never like it.
Speaker 5: I can't believe. I die.
Speaker 4: I'm so embarrassed for her. So I didn't have to
Speaker 4: go to study hall because lunch is over, I have
Speaker 4: to go to study hall check in. I get in
Speaker 4: study hall and I just put my head down on
Speaker 4: my desk and I'm just like, I'm crying.
Speaker 5: It's bad.
Speaker 4: The girl that did this to me comes and sits
Speaker 4: in front of me, and she leans down and she goes,
Speaker 4: I can't believe you thought he would ever like you?
Speaker 4: How dumb are you? When I tell you, I was like,
Speaker 4: I do know that evil exists. And really, to this day,
Speaker 4: I'm grateful because I think now, had I not had
Speaker 4: that lesson of how dark and mean people could be,
Speaker 4: I probably would have been hurt a lot more in life.
Speaker 4: But learning that at twelve taught me that everybody smiling
Speaker 4: in your face is not for you.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 4: She and I life went on, And this is one
Speaker 4: thing I know about karma and how fair God is.
Speaker 4: As life went on. Everything in life she wanted, I
Speaker 4: got hm everything. I mean when we got to high school,
Speaker 4: a guy she liked liked me. The sorority I joined,
Speaker 4: she wanted to join. She didn't get it that sorority.
Speaker 4: She loves. A lot of the artists that I love
Speaker 4: that I'm now friends were her favorite artist I ever
Speaker 4: met them. Like it's like it's almost like God was like,
Speaker 4: you gonna do something this nasty that somebody don't bother nobody.
Speaker 5: You need to know. You need to know loss through her.
Speaker 4: You now need to experience loss through someone you tried
Speaker 4: to take down. And she and I are friends now,
Speaker 4: Like she's lovely. I think it was just the a
Speaker 4: child doing something that was unkind, and maybe she had
Speaker 4: been treated unkind maybe so, I don't know the reason,
Speaker 4: but we're friends now. I consider her friend and I've
Speaker 4: forgiven her thirty years ago, but that moment will stay
Speaker 4: with me the rest of my life. And thankfully, thankfully.
Speaker 3: Yes, a rat that is rough. Yeah, and to and
Speaker 3: you're friends with the guy still too, the guy.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't say friends, but I know him. He now
Speaker 4: has reached out a few times because he has a
Speaker 4: magazine and he's reached out now he wants something from
Speaker 4: you made to do his magazine.
Speaker 5: So you know, and I'm thinking, not me, what why
Speaker 5: would you want?
Speaker 3: You know, you made it very clear I should never
Speaker 3: think that you would want something to me, right.
Speaker 4: So you know, and I'm still kind to people like
Speaker 4: I'm still you know, if he hears this story any
Speaker 4: may you know, he may not even remember because it
Speaker 4: was so it was nothing to them, It was everything
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I have a memory of the guy that I liked
Speaker 3: in junior high who was I was in sixth grade.
Speaker 3: He was in eighth grade, and he was so cute
Speaker 3: and I thought, I truly just thought, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: And he was he was cool and I wasn't exactly cool,
Speaker 3: and I just I thought, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: This I just kept every day.
Speaker 3: Was me daydreaming about how it was going to turn out,
Speaker 3: that we were going to end up being together. Absolutely,
Speaker 3: And then in my theater class there was a kid
Speaker 3: who had I think the best way of describing it
Speaker 3: is probably I don't know what he would be diagnosed
Speaker 3: with today or whether or not he had been diagnosed
Speaker 3: with anything at the time, but he was definitely neurodivergent
Speaker 3: and had some learning disabilities. And I saw the guy
Speaker 3: I have a crush on. It was another class he
Speaker 3: had done, like a big science project, like something with cardboard,
Speaker 3: you know, that opened up, and he brought it into
Speaker 3: the theater and the guy I had a crush on
Speaker 3: asked to see it, and the friend opened it up
Speaker 3: and was kind of showing it off and was very
Speaker 3: proud of it, and the guy I had a crush
Speaker 3: on just started laughing at him and pointing at it
Speaker 3: and talking about how stupid he was. And wow, my
Speaker 3: friend closed it and was then embarrassed that he had
Speaker 3: been so proud to share it and put it down
Speaker 3: on the floor, and then he went up on stage
Speaker 3: to do what he needed to do with theater, and
Speaker 3: the kid I had a crush on stomped do you know?
Speaker 3: His project? And from that moment on, I was never
Speaker 3: able to see that guy as cute ever he was, he.
Speaker 2: Was now hideous.
Speaker 3: And I think I was on stage at the time
Speaker 3: with and he saw it happening, and he was.
Speaker 2: Like oh, and I lost it. I became like it
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Was like, how dare you that's not yours? Like just
Speaker 3: fully freaked out and yeah. So the thing that reminded
Speaker 3: me of that story was when you said, you know
Speaker 3: this person, this woman, this girl who you had thought
Speaker 3: was your friend so much so it never even occurred
Speaker 3: to you that she could have been doing something like
Speaker 3: even when he was like, what's this, you were like,
Speaker 3: of course, you know, yeah, you know what this is.
Speaker 3: And then when she came in and just showed you
Speaker 3: that evil, that's it was like, one, take the mask
Speaker 3: off and guess what I am.
Speaker 2: I'm so great full. Thank you. Please everyone wearing that
Speaker 2: kind of mask, please don't reveal it.
Speaker 3: Take it off, please, And no matter what the outcome is,
Speaker 3: we're going to be better off seeing you.
Speaker 4: I I want to just hearing your story. Where does
Speaker 4: that come from in a child? How does a child
Speaker 4: know to destroy a spirit like that, to wings like that?
Speaker 4: Like I am so grateful, Like when I tell people
Speaker 4: when someone does something atrocious and I don't understand, I'm
Speaker 4: so grateful.
Speaker 5: I don't understand.
Speaker 4: I'm so grateful that what is within me does not
Speaker 4: vibrate at the same.
Speaker 5: Level of that level of cruelty. That's horrible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, couldn't agree with you more, couldn't agree with you
Speaker 2: more horrible. Did you have a high school sweetheart?
Speaker 5: I did?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I did, Alan White. We're still friends, oh all
Speaker 4: these years?
Speaker 2: Like how many friends you have still from this time
Speaker 2: of your life?
Speaker 4: I keep them, baby, If I get a good one,
Speaker 4: I keep them, you know, And I feel like first love,
Speaker 4: you got it. If you can they haven't done something
Speaker 4: completely destructive, you should hold on because that's they have
Speaker 4: a cheak code for you that no one else does.
Speaker 4: And I remember, even for years because Allen got married
Speaker 4: really young. I got married a year ago, so I
Speaker 4: got married very late, congratulations, And he got married really young.
Speaker 4: So through the years we would talk every year on
Speaker 4: our birthdays. Through the years, I was just like, why
Speaker 4: is there nobody for me? And he used to always say,
Speaker 4: said he that you you're not a regular chick. So
Speaker 4: you're going to require a guy that's not a regular dude.
Speaker 4: So you're gonna meet twenty guys in a year. Maybe
Speaker 4: one would be the right fit for you, And I
Speaker 4: suggest you wait for who that guy is only someone
Speaker 4: that knew me from the time I was sixteen, could
Speaker 4: say that to me at twenty five or at thirty
Speaker 4: five and have it resonate, you know what I mean. So, yeah,
Speaker 4: if I've got I got a set of girlfriends from
Speaker 4: high school and middle school that I'm still cool with.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just good friends, are not They don't
Speaker 4: were on trees. So if you get a good one, you.
Speaker 5: Hold on, hold on.
Speaker 3: All of my best friends are still from sixth grade.
Speaker 3: We were We went from junior high straight through high school.
Speaker 2: There's about twelve of us. We're all still in touch.
Speaker 3: Of course, some of us are closer to others, like
Speaker 3: everybody's got their best friend, but we are still in
Speaker 3: touch as a group, get together for all of our
Speaker 3: weddings and birth of children and you know, random girls night. Absolutely,
Speaker 3: So I couldn't agree with you more about needing to
Speaker 3: hold on to good ones because they are few and far.
Speaker 5: Between, aren't they aren't they?
Speaker 2: You went to high school with our Cineo Hall, which.
Speaker 5: I feel like a few years apart.
Speaker 2: Okay, the same high school.
Speaker 5: As he's got me by a few years.
Speaker 3: But yeah, okay, Well, because I went to the same
Speaker 3: high school as the Menendez brothers, so it's it doesn't
Speaker 3: feel as inspirational, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, definitely not.
Speaker 3: Did you love of talk shows growing up because you're
Speaker 3: so good at them? I feel like you only get
Speaker 3: that skill when you have been paying attention since you
Speaker 3: were a kid.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And I want to take time to give you
Speaker 4: your flowers. You are really good at this, kiddo. This
Speaker 4: is a delightful conversation. And when you're having a conversation,
Speaker 4: it feels like when you're on a podcast or an interview,
Speaker 4: and it feels like a conversation. Yeah, got an interview.
Speaker 4: That's a good interviewer. You're doing a great job. So
Speaker 4: I want to make sure I say, cue, that's so sweet,
Speaker 4: you're no baby.
Speaker 5: It's so good, so good. I'm glad you're in this space.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I grew up watching Oprah, Phil Donahue, Sally,
Speaker 4: Jesse Rafael, I loved Jenny Jones, Ricky Lake. I can
Speaker 4: name all of them because I like people and a
Speaker 4: talk show was a place where you get to find
Speaker 4: out about people. So I was watching more to see
Speaker 4: what's going on in people's lives, and you know, see
Speaker 4: how how life unfolds. Is a young person, and I
Speaker 4: think during that I like wax On, wax offt Paint
Speaker 4: the fence and Karate Kid. I was learning how to
Speaker 4: do it and the way you do it well. And
Speaker 4: this is why you do it well. You have to
Speaker 4: be interested and you have to want to know the
Speaker 4: ones that excel at talk show hosting because I feel
Speaker 4: like I'm a kindisseur of talk show host at this Sam. Yes,
Speaker 4: if they care more about themselves and this is my
Speaker 4: moment to shine, it's not gonna be a good show.
Speaker 4: If someone wants to provide a space in a spotlight
Speaker 4: for other people to shine, that's gonna be a show
Speaker 4: you want.
Speaker 5: To watch every single day. Yep, every time O day.
Speaker 4: So yeah, So that's I think that's the secret sauce,
Speaker 4: and it's not I think sometimes they feel like you
Speaker 4: have to be a famous person to do it. Forgetting
Speaker 4: that Oprah wasn't famous when she got her show. Sally
Speaker 4: Jesse Rafael wasn't famous when she got her show. Doing
Speaker 4: the show well is what made them famous. So find
Speaker 4: people that like people that are honest about their own lives,
Speaker 4: and then you create a show around that person and
Speaker 4: you're going to have a hit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was the biggest Oprah fan. I watched every
Speaker 3: single episode. I loved it, and Oprah ended up being
Speaker 3: one of the reasons. Her show ended up being one
Speaker 3: of the reasons I went to college late in life
Speaker 3: for psychology. I you know, Boy Meets World ended in
Speaker 3: two thousand and I was nineteen and decided not to
Speaker 3: go to school at that time.
Speaker 2: And then the way.
Speaker 3: The industry works, I had a lot of years of
Speaker 3: struggling and not sure what I was going to do
Speaker 3: and didn't work for a long time, and eventually got
Speaker 3: to be about twenty six years old and realized, I've
Speaker 3: been living off of savings that I made as a teenager,
Speaker 3: and I have to work, but I may not ever
Speaker 3: get hired again, and so what else do I know
Speaker 3: how to do?
Speaker 2: What do I want to do? And I was watching
Speaker 2: an episode.
Speaker 3: Of Oprah where she interviewed a marriage and family therapist
Speaker 3: who specialized in children of divorce. Wow, And it was
Speaker 3: the most interesting, fascinating, heart wrenching and also this feeling.
Speaker 2: Of that's someone who's really of service.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 2: And I was like, I want to do that.
Speaker 3: I want to be And I went to school for
Speaker 3: psychology and then got accepted for my master's degree at
Speaker 3: Chapman University, and I.
Speaker 2: Was just that's it, that's it, that's what I'm going
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 3: And then the opportunity to do a Girl Meets World
Speaker 3: came about in twenty fourteen, and I was likes, Girl
Speaker 3: Meets World once in a lifetime opportunity.
Speaker 2: I can get my master's later.
Speaker 3: And I still I still maintain I will eventually have
Speaker 3: my masters and will use it in some way of
Speaker 3: being of service. But I still every time I think
Speaker 3: about how I ended up going to school for psychology,
Speaker 3: which was such an amazing experience, I think that's only
Speaker 3: because of Oprah.
Speaker 4: But also this is of service, Danielle. So you need
Speaker 4: to realize that every time you're speaking and using what
Speaker 4: you learned, you don't have to. Your psychiatry skill is
Speaker 4: not just used in a room with a couch and
Speaker 4: someone talking to you.
Speaker 5: You're using it now. You're using it when you talk
Speaker 5: to people.
Speaker 4: You're using it when you support people and encourage people,
Speaker 4: or you're there for someone when they're down.
Speaker 5: You're using it.
Speaker 4: So, yes, get your master's if that's what you want
Speaker 4: to do, But do not think that you didn't complete
Speaker 4: the mission, because you did, and you might have did
Speaker 4: it so because the Lord knew where you were going
Speaker 4: to be ultimately, so he needed you to get that
Speaker 4: undergrad degree so that you're ready to do this because
Speaker 4: this is psychology.
Speaker 5: Every time you talk to somebody.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, I appreciate it. I did not mean
Speaker 3: to turn this into a therapy session. You're sorry.
Speaker 5: No, I think it's great.
Speaker 4: But I think sometimes we have these things on the
Speaker 4: list and we don't even realize. Again going to wax
Speaker 4: On wax Off, you have the skill, you're doing the job.
Speaker 4: You're in the space you're supposed to be in, even
Speaker 4: if it looks a little different. Like I always thought
Speaker 4: that i'd be a teacher. I thought I was going
Speaker 4: to be an elementary school teacher. I love five and
Speaker 4: six year olds first grade, and I'm a teacher, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. Everything I do is trying to
Speaker 4: lead people to something that can make them better and
Speaker 4: encouraging people to be better. So I'm using I'm doing
Speaker 4: it in a different space. It's not in a classroom,
Speaker 4: but it is what I do.
Speaker 3: Yes, Yes, And you're leading by example every single time
Speaker 3: you open your mouth. You have guest hosted what I'm
Speaker 3: calling the Triple Crown, the View, the Talk, and the Real.
Speaker 3: Let's say there was going to be a steel cage
Speaker 3: match between the hosts, which show would win.
Speaker 5: Oh that's a good question. It also depends on which
Speaker 5: set of view.
Speaker 3: Let's go with Whoopy, Joy, Sonny and Anna Navarro.
Speaker 4: Oh well, I gotta go with with with those four
Speaker 4: women over now, I was gonna say that for anyone,
Speaker 4: I was going to say the Real, because Lonnie Love
Speaker 4: could go, Jeannie, Mike could go, and Adrin could go.
Speaker 4: I think I think I think Tamara's too much of
Speaker 4: a lady. She would not involve herself in the in
Speaker 4: the cage match.
Speaker 5: The other three.
Speaker 4: Would tie to tie the hair up and put some
Speaker 4: vaseline on and get it done. But I think that Anna, Whoopy, Sonny,
Speaker 4: and Joy, they have that age behind them with they't
Speaker 4: no kind.
Speaker 5: Of sweep that leg.
Speaker 4: So I feel like I gotta go with the View legs.
Speaker 4: I think that they would literally wipe the floor.
Speaker 3: Okay, listen, I am not gonna argue with you for sure.
Speaker 2: Listen.
Speaker 3: If I can sneak any more Bell Bivdevo Talk onto
Speaker 3: my podcast, I am going to do it. So Evett
Speaker 3: will be back with me on Friday for a bonus
Speaker 3: episode of teen Beat, where we will chat some more
Speaker 3: and hear a listener's embarrassing childhood story in the form
Speaker 3: of a voice memo. So subscribe to the dedicated teen beatfeed.
Speaker 3: In that way, you will never miss another episode. Plus
Speaker 3: we're looking for more tales of teenage terror from you,
Speaker 3: so email a voice memo somewhere in the one to
Speaker 3: two minute range to Teenbeatpod at gmail dot com and
Speaker 3: you might hear yourself on an upcoming show. Teenbeat is
Speaker 3: an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel, Executive
Speaker 3: producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of
Speaker 3: production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Sudboch. The theme
Speaker 3: song is by mar Coppus. Yes that Mark Coppus. Follow
Speaker 3: us on Instagram at Teenbeatpod.