Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have a
Speaker 1: very special treat for you all. Pun intended. Terry J. Vaughn, actress, director, producer.
Speaker 1: Terry J. Vaughn's in the building. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for coming. I was extremely and I told you off camera,
Speaker 1: extremely excited to have you on today. I've watched you.
Speaker 1: I feel like we family, Like I've watched you so much.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: I know people probably come up to you and say, hey.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's like we're family, and I don't mind that.
Speaker 1: You don't mind it, Okay for all our listeners, you
Speaker 1: don't mind. Yeah, let me eat my mail and come over.
Speaker 1: But what will you be having us eat today?
Speaker 2: I Am going to make us some fish tacos.
Speaker 1: Fish tacos.
Speaker 2: Yes, so very excited, very exciting, favorite thing to do.
Speaker 2: I love Mexican food, so I love I'm a taco fanatic.
Speaker 1: Really are you based out of Are you from California?
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: I'm from the Bay Area, from San Francisco. Okay, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1: Whenever someone says they love Mexican food, I'm like that. California.
Speaker 1: It is a California thing.
Speaker 2: It is, it is.
Speaker 1: I have some great news for all the listeners. We've
Speaker 1: never had fish tacos on the show. Okay, we've taped
Speaker 1: like one hundred and twenty episodes, so that's amazing and
Speaker 1: it's affordable. But what will be going into your dish?
Speaker 1: By the way, I've never had homemade fish tacos?
Speaker 2: Oh really?
Speaker 1: Oh, you're in for a tree not Judge Hard. I'm
Speaker 1: like that, who's that white guy that he's the chef,
Speaker 1: that he's really mean? I forgot his name.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: You don't watch cook you don't want to cook it
Speaker 1: though you want a cook It show except for yours. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's great, all right. Tell me what the ingredients are
Speaker 1: for your fish tacos.
Speaker 2: Okay, for my fish tacos, we're gonna use tilapia fish.
Speaker 2: I like corntertias because I do a little crunch on
Speaker 2: my tacos. And we have avocados, onions, jalapeno, garlic, tomatoes,
Speaker 2: and lime in cilantro.
Speaker 1: Nope, but you got it all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I like it all fresh, okay.
Speaker 1: And we did it fresh because I like to sneak
Speaker 1: in the two garlic and I was like man when
Speaker 1: they put a real garlic what's official? And then you
Speaker 1: have a sauce.
Speaker 2: Yes, So I love taco sauce and I like the green.
Speaker 1: Verdet sauce day sauce.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: I was talking to my Meda glasses. What is Verdet sauce?
Speaker 1: Show me picture? Yes, okay, so get in the kitchen woman.
Speaker 2: Okay, so I cook?
Speaker 1: Now you cook, you cook. It's so weird because you're
Speaker 1: taking a busy time out of your schedule. We have
Speaker 1: this beautiful resume and then you're cooking for me a
Speaker 1: broke dish, that's right, yes, yes, And I didn't know
Speaker 1: if you needed that extra. I don't really know how
Speaker 1: to make tortillas for real, So.
Speaker 2: Well, did you know? This is a shame? Come on,
Speaker 2: you need to learn.
Speaker 1: I'm a New York native. New York. You don't eat
Speaker 1: Mexican over there, not really. Some people do, but I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a big We're like a Chinese pizza
Speaker 1: type of state.
Speaker 2: And I do love Chinese food. Chinese food is big,
Speaker 2: not in LA in the Bay Area, really, I'm saying.
Speaker 2: In San Francisco, yes, we have a huge Chinese population.
Speaker 2: One of the best chinatowns in the.
Speaker 1: World what And I love Chinese. I need to go
Speaker 1: hit a month.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so we Chinese food and Mexican food are
Speaker 2: huge in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: And then, just so you all listeners know, she did
Speaker 1: use avocado oil, and I gotta know why.
Speaker 2: I just try to eat as healthy as possible, and
Speaker 2: I'll be honest.
Speaker 1: That's why you look good.
Speaker 2: I try, so I'll be honest. So I know we're
Speaker 2: making the broke dish like something I ate, but I
Speaker 2: did not use avocado oil. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was growing up and I was assuming you didn't
Speaker 1: always have avocados either.
Speaker 2: And I didn't always, So this is an upgraded broke.
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. I appreciate the treat because sometimes people
Speaker 1: really make me relive for real. Okay, so you're putting
Speaker 1: the tilapia in the pan and avocado oil. I saw
Speaker 1: you did both sides. By the way, we did play
Speaker 1: with some of your seasonings. You should tell the guests
Speaker 1: what seasonings you have.
Speaker 2: So I like to put a little garlic, even though
Speaker 2: I'm using fresh garlic. You know what, I don't need
Speaker 2: to do both.
Speaker 1: You don't want to do the both garlic powder.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm going to use the fresh garl like
Speaker 2: pepper salt, of course, and then Cooman mm hmm.
Speaker 1: I always wonder what people use cooming for.
Speaker 2: It's Mexican food.
Speaker 1: Oh that's what I make for me.
Speaker 2: That's the only thing I use it for. When I'm
Speaker 2: making my tacos or if I'm making guacamole.
Speaker 1: I use Cuman. And really, is it Cooman or Cuman?
Speaker 1: It's Cooman Cooman? Okay, you know what? It wasn't in
Speaker 1: the studio. I went home and I was like, I know,
Speaker 1: I haven't in my yeah, but I even understand why
Speaker 1: I have it in my cabinet. I was like, I
Speaker 1: must have taken it from point eating while broke or something.
Speaker 1: And then you used to whole Himmalayan salt.
Speaker 2: I love it again that this is your upgrade. This
Speaker 2: is a part of the upgrade. It was just regular
Speaker 2: ass white sauce salt, Morton.
Speaker 1: And why do you feel like this salt is better?
Speaker 1: Is it healthier?
Speaker 2: It's healthier. It's not well processed. Okay, so you see
Speaker 2: it's still and you guys got the good kind too,
Speaker 2: because it's still in the big crystal flakes and we
Speaker 2: gotta spin it to grind it.
Speaker 1: Okay. So that when you go, if we were to
Speaker 1: go in your house, would your pepper be the pepper grind?
Speaker 1: We have it back there by the way, And they
Speaker 1: played a tad of this because you we didn't get
Speaker 1: the sodium.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you guys got the one with a lot of sodium.
Speaker 2: And the whole point is we're trying to be a
Speaker 2: little bit more healthy, isn't it right? Aren't we?
Speaker 1: I really need to lose a lot of weight. So yes, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get there.
Speaker 2: Okay, so this is gonna let this fry a little bit.
Speaker 2: It's a heat. I'm just gonna say I do not
Speaker 2: like cooking on the electric stoves.
Speaker 1: But everyone on this show, i'd say, like nine hate election.
Speaker 2: Yeah it's terrible. So hopefully the dish comes out.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, so you're cooking those up, and then what
Speaker 1: do you do with these tortillas?
Speaker 2: Are you gonna know the tartilla? I am also going
Speaker 2: to just do a little I don't know if you
Speaker 2: call it fried because it's not like really fried, but
Speaker 2: I am gonna I guess it's fried. I'm going to
Speaker 2: put more avocado oil on this pain. Then I'm gonna
Speaker 2: put the tortilla on and I'm gonna fry it up
Speaker 2: a little bit because I like my shells crunching.
Speaker 1: Now, is there a way to get the whole shell
Speaker 1: really crunchy.
Speaker 2: Listen, if you fry it hard, it'll be very crunchy.
Speaker 1: So I watch you do it. I love crunching. I
Speaker 1: love crunching. Matter of fact, back in the day, when
Speaker 1: Chipotle first came out, I would always get the bowls,
Speaker 1: and then I discovered they had the taco shells, the
Speaker 1: hard shells. You will never catch me in Chippole without
Speaker 1: a hard taco shell.
Speaker 2: But you know what, and I get so in the
Speaker 2: broke day when I was doing like sometimes, we would
Speaker 2: have the taco shells that are already in the box.
Speaker 1: I still use some. Okay, are you mad at me?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: So that guys see how she looks in real life.
Speaker 1: She looks exactly how she looks on TV.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: And the crazy part is we've been watching her all
Speaker 1: for a very long time, so just imagine seeing her
Speaker 1: in person. It's crazy how beautiful you are.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay, So now that my fans know that they should
Speaker 1: be googling you and looking at you, and you have
Speaker 1: Instagram too, we can keep it you I do.
Speaker 2: Everything is under Terry Jbond.
Speaker 1: Terry Jbon. You know, like when I say the JA,
Speaker 1: I do like.
Speaker 2: I don't like when people forget my jay.
Speaker 1: Oh really, I don't good because I like saying it's
Speaker 1: Terry J.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Isn't it cooler? Yeah? And I've always gone by it.
Speaker 2: It's it's my middle name starts with a J.
Speaker 1: I love it. It's very in a.
Speaker 2: Million years, you cannot guess when my middle name. Man,
Speaker 2: it starts with the J. Obviously, but everything you say
Speaker 2: is going to be off.
Speaker 1: I bet I'm gonna go with jam jam Jam s jam.
Speaker 1: What is the J stand for? Are you gonna tell us?
Speaker 2: I will? I just wanted to at least take jam jelly. No,
Speaker 2: why are you saying weird?
Speaker 1: Because I'm trying to think of what name is giving
Speaker 1: a J Jackson girl? Wait, I got excited.
Speaker 2: People say like Jeanett or jan answer they say regular regular.
Speaker 1: No, I'm sure it's gonna be a bomb name.
Speaker 2: It's not necessarily it isn't. I love my middle name,
Speaker 2: but will give us a hand? Just want okay? The
Speaker 2: J is silent.
Speaker 1: One?
Speaker 2: Keep going?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna get that right from the jump.
Speaker 1: I was thinking that from the jump. Does anyone ever
Speaker 1: guess it that way?
Speaker 2: Ever?
Speaker 1: But does anyone ever guess one in the beginning? No,
Speaker 1: So I'm like the first.
Speaker 2: I gave you about a thousand hens.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, but if you give someone the silent jh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, the silent J gives it away.
Speaker 1: Okay, J that's nice. Cherry Juanita, Ye, Terry, okay, Terry,
Speaker 1: take me back to what was going on now with
Speaker 1: the elevated fish tacos? What was going on with the
Speaker 1: broke of fish tacos?
Speaker 2: Okay? So, yes, this is elevated because when I was
Speaker 2: growing up, like I said, we love Mexican food in
Speaker 2: my house, and so we would make tacos really out
Speaker 2: of all kinds of stuff. So on a normal day
Speaker 2: it was just the ground beast, regular kind of tacos.
Speaker 2: But I don't eat meat anymore. I only eat fish fish.
Speaker 2: Yeah you chicken, Nope.
Speaker 1: No, we're slowly learning her beauty tips right here.
Speaker 2: Guys, I gave it up. I just felt, to be honest,
Speaker 2: I feel like our country doesn't take good care of
Speaker 2: how they get our meat. So that's what it. This
Speaker 2: is gonna sound so weird, I literally because I used
Speaker 2: to eat bacon back then. We would make bacon tacos. Really,
Speaker 2: that's some ghetto ship. Yeah, that's ghetto.
Speaker 1: You really love tacos? Really, really you would make it?
Speaker 1: Did you have like breakfast tacos reastc eggs? Okay? You
Speaker 1: just like the shell?
Speaker 2: I too, I love and the shell just gives the
Speaker 2: taste of Mexican. But I love Mexican. But I love
Speaker 2: the rice, I love the beans.
Speaker 1: I love you really love it?
Speaker 2: I do? I really?
Speaker 1: Do you still eat Mexican every day? You just earlier
Speaker 1: about eating Mexican?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes. When we finished with you guys, we're
Speaker 2: gonna go out tonight and Mexican.
Speaker 1: Okay, you really like Mexican. Take me back to what
Speaker 1: was going on in this household of Mexican food.
Speaker 2: So I grew up in a single parent household, raised
Speaker 2: by my mom. It was me and my sister. I
Speaker 2: have a sister that's two years younger than me and
Speaker 2: my mom. She worked two jobs when we were young,
Speaker 2: so me and my sister were we're home a lot
Speaker 2: by ourselves, and.
Speaker 1: So well she when did you become a When did
Speaker 1: she become a single mom?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: How old were you then?
Speaker 2: I was really young, probably about.
Speaker 1: Four, Okay, so that's pretty much all you've known is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't have a lot of memory.
Speaker 2: I definitely don't have anything. So yeah, So it was
Speaker 2: always just me, my mom, and my sister, and we
Speaker 2: have a family full of amazing, powerful, badass women, so
Speaker 2: like my grandmother would of course we would go to
Speaker 2: her house sometimes or my aunt. So we were always
Speaker 2: very well cared for and we always ate really well.
Speaker 2: It's funny as a kid, you never know that you
Speaker 2: were poor, Like I never thought I'd never even thought
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 1: What about when you got older though, in high school
Speaker 1: and middle school, did you start to were you poor then?
Speaker 2: Or no, yeah, you're still living in the same household.
Speaker 1: Did you start to realize you guys were didn't have
Speaker 1: as much as others or yeah.
Speaker 2: One time I overheard my mom talking to somebody. And
Speaker 2: this is when I was really young, maybe I was
Speaker 2: in high school and I or with her. My mom
Speaker 2: having a conversation telling somebody that they had to she
Speaker 2: needed to borrow five dollars or something so she could
Speaker 2: get something from McDonald's for us to eat, And that
Speaker 2: always stuck with me. I was like, and I never
Speaker 2: knew that she was doing that, but she was talking
Speaker 2: to somebody, telling somebody that's what she had done. And
Speaker 2: I was like, dang, I never even knew. Made me
Speaker 2: appreciate my mother a lot more.
Speaker 1: Did you ever approach about it or you just kept
Speaker 1: it to yourself?
Speaker 2: I just came to myself. I just kept it to myself.
Speaker 1: Did you tell your sister about it?
Speaker 2: I'm sure we've talked about it now, but back then
Speaker 2: we didn't talk about it. But yeah, it just made
Speaker 2: me have a greater appreciation for her. And we always
Speaker 2: tried to be very hopeful around the house, making sure
Speaker 2: that we didn't bring too much drama into her life
Speaker 2: because we knew that she was a single mom and
Speaker 2: working her ass off and so good grades. We always
Speaker 2: did really well in school. It was just I was
Speaker 2: just a fast girl.
Speaker 1: I was what does that mean?
Speaker 2: I was liked boys and that was probably the most
Speaker 2: drama that I brought.
Speaker 1: I love you, Yes, I was not expecting that.
Speaker 2: Just telling on myself. I don't know why you make me.
Speaker 2: I'm just opening up and tell my business.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the boys liked you a lot, did you?
Speaker 1: Was your dad semi around even though? Did you see
Speaker 1: him in passing.
Speaker 2: No, not really. My dad suffered from alcoholism and for
Speaker 2: my mom left my dad because of that, Like he
Speaker 2: just wasn't it just wasn't good. And when she decided
Speaker 2: that she was divorcing him, I think a part of
Speaker 2: and it's weird, I think a part of his get
Speaker 2: back at her was to not be accessible for him,
Speaker 2: not to help out with us. Okay, then you got
Speaker 2: it on your own. That's what it feels like to me. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I do remember a couple of times. There were
Speaker 2: several times when I was waiting for him, like he
Speaker 2: was supposed to come pick us up, do something, and
Speaker 2: he just was a no show. And that was very hurtful. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but then I remember.
Speaker 1: Oh, you real cook, you real cook. You see how
Speaker 1: she did that? Very rare we get guests to do that.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 1: By the way, I didn't know how these fish tackles
Speaker 1: going to look. First time watching anyone make fish tackles,
Speaker 1: this would be this time I do mine. But I
Speaker 1: love that you broke up the meat.
Speaker 2: I like to do that, okay, because it were mine.
Speaker 2: It's like eating like the ground beef, but it's ground turkey.
Speaker 1: Okay, But I do know people that do it, Yeah, use.
Speaker 2: Quiet. So anyway, so I was about to say, I
Speaker 2: remember one time we were going to spend our summer
Speaker 2: with him, and he had moved to Oklahoma at this time,
Speaker 2: and we were still in San Francisco, and so we
Speaker 2: go to visit him, and unfortunately he was still an alcoholic,
Speaker 2: and I remember just not being feeling comfortable being in
Speaker 2: his house. I think like for the first couple of days,
Speaker 2: it was fine, and so at some point we were
Speaker 2: we were just calling my mom and we were like, look,
Speaker 2: we want to leave. We don't want to stay here,
Speaker 2: because we were supposed to stay like for a few weeks.
Speaker 2: And I was like, there's no way, I can't do it.
Speaker 2: I cannot stay here. And I think I'm about maybe
Speaker 2: ten or maybe twelve, but the most I don't think
Speaker 2: I wasn't twelve. And so we're calling my mom. We're crying, like, Mom,
Speaker 2: we don't want to stay, we want to come home.
Speaker 1: So does he catch wind of it? Does she tell him?
Speaker 2: Yeah? My grandmother at the time, she was on her
Speaker 2: way to Texas for her family's family reunion, because my
Speaker 2: grandmother's from Texas, my mom's mom, and so she my
Speaker 2: mom had my dad because Oklahoma and Texas are pretty close.
Speaker 2: Drive them to Texas and they'll be with my mom
Speaker 2: and their grandmother and they'll come back.
Speaker 1: With her on his side of the family. No, on
Speaker 1: your mom's side, yes, okay, okay, my mother's mom. Okay.
Speaker 2: So he agrees. So I remember driving, riding in the car.
Speaker 2: My sister sleep in the back seat. I'm sleeping in
Speaker 2: the front seat. And this is a horrible story, but.
Speaker 1: I want to hear it. I'm all in it.
Speaker 2: So we're driving. So I fall asleep and I wake
Speaker 2: up and the car swerving.
Speaker 1: Oh heck no, this is a terrible shit.
Speaker 2: And so I look at him and I see that
Speaker 2: he had a drink, a bottle in the center council,
Speaker 2: and so I wake up. I was like, you're drinking.
Speaker 2: I was like, you're crazy, you are drinking and you're
Speaker 2: driving us. And he got mad. He raised his hand
Speaker 2: like he was gonna hit me, but he didn't, and
Speaker 2: that's all I can remember from it. But we got
Speaker 2: there safely. But ever since then, I was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm never going back.
Speaker 1: Wow again. I was gonna ask you if at some
Speaker 1: point did he plead with you guys that he could
Speaker 1: make the trip better or did he just was it?
Speaker 2: So? Yeah, you only remember the traumatic shit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah that's pretty traumatic though.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was pretty traumatic.
Speaker 1: Did you tell your mom on him?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And what she say?
Speaker 2: She was pissed, She was pissed, pissed. I was just
Speaker 2: so happy to get in my grandmother's arms with this dude.
Speaker 1: So after that, did you ever request to see him again?
Speaker 2: As we got older and just started learning more about
Speaker 2: his family and his childhood trauma and all that stuff
Speaker 2: as well, do you become a little bit more forgiving?
Speaker 1: So you guys were close with his side.
Speaker 2: No, not really because we didn't grow up with her.
Speaker 1: So how did you hear his stories and all that?
Speaker 2: So the funny thing is, so my father is from LA.
Speaker 2: And when I got into the business and I moved
Speaker 2: to LA, that's when I got to know some of
Speaker 2: his more of his family, my aunt whom I love her,
Speaker 2: his sister, his mom was still alive then, so I
Speaker 2: used to go visit her, my grandmother, and that's how
Speaker 2: I got all the stories. Okay, okay, that's how I
Speaker 2: got all the stories.
Speaker 1: Your food looks really good. It looks official, It looks
Speaker 1: and the tackles look good too. You're gonna make a lot.
Speaker 1: I eat a lot.
Speaker 2: It doesn't look like a lot, but I do.
Speaker 1: I'm a real eater. Okay, all right, girl, go for it.
Speaker 1: Go for it. So fast forward to you're starting to
Speaker 1: get older and figure out what it is you want
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I so I went to college in the
Speaker 2: Bay Area as well. This was before I ever knew
Speaker 2: anything about having a career as an actor. I was
Speaker 2: in college and I just knew I wanted to be
Speaker 2: a boss. I was like, I'm going to college because
Speaker 2: I want to be a boss. I want to be
Speaker 2: a business owner. But I didn't know what kind of
Speaker 2: business I was going to be in. The boss of
Speaker 2: the business of me in a boss.
Speaker 1: And you told your mom and all this, everybody like yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Was like so in my mind, I was like, okay,
Speaker 2: so I will be in a business as my major
Speaker 2: because I don't know what kind of business I want
Speaker 2: to be in, but I want to learn how to
Speaker 2: be a boss in business. And oh yeah, these are
Speaker 2: cooking good. Now. I use my hands a lot.
Speaker 1: Don't I love it? Oh, I see how you've been
Speaker 1: in them. Okay, Okay, don't bring yourself. Geez, do you
Speaker 1: need a utensil? You need an INTENSI I'm terrible. She
Speaker 1: over here doing it with her fingers. Is these are good?
Speaker 2: Oh good?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I'm excited.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I hope they taste good. That's gonna be so
Speaker 2: embarrassing if they don't.
Speaker 1: How much I'm gonna judge you really, and I want
Speaker 1: you to.
Speaker 2: Be honest, Be honest girl. So yeah, so I was
Speaker 2: God talkt Okay, hold on a second.
Speaker 1: I just want I hope you make more. I hope
Speaker 1: you don't too much time on these little curved tackles. Please,
Speaker 1: you love the utensil. She's over here struggling.
Speaker 2: You gotta bend it. You gotta flip it over and
Speaker 2: bend it before it gets too hard. Hold on, hold on, everybody,
Speaker 2: just be quiet and calm down. I'm fixing it. There
Speaker 2: we go. Okay, So there's one.
Speaker 1: I don't know this, This moment with you feels really special.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's because I watched you on
Speaker 1: TV for so long, but it feels really I love
Speaker 1: it special to me.
Speaker 2: Thank you? Okay. So yeah, I was so a business school.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be a bus So I started taking all
Speaker 2: these business classes.
Speaker 1: Oh they're flipping right back, It's okay.
Speaker 2: And I didn't like it. I didn't like the classes
Speaker 2: I have to take for a business major. So I
Speaker 2: was like, what else could I do? And so I
Speaker 2: changed it to Liberal Arts because I heard that I
Speaker 2: can go into advertising. That was a good major if
Speaker 2: you want to go into advertising, and it's far as advertising.
Speaker 2: I was introduced to it and it was a business
Speaker 2: but it was super creative and I was like, that
Speaker 2: feels good to me. I want to do that, man.
Speaker 2: And so I got an internship at this advertising agency
Speaker 2: and one of my class projects was to interview the
Speaker 2: people in the company. And it was with Gray Advertising,
Speaker 2: when the biggest advertising agencies based in San Francisco. And
Speaker 2: when I did the interview, everybody, Mama, I mean oh
Speaker 2: I did with garlic and anyase more garlic tastes hilarious.
Speaker 2: Everybody I interviewed at the company had come from theater
Speaker 2: or something artistic like that, like they used to be
Speaker 2: an actor in theater or something in theater. And I
Speaker 2: just thought it was so weird. I'm like, this whole
Speaker 2: advertising agency is full of people that used to be
Speaker 2: in theater. And I just thought it was interesting. Fast forward,
Speaker 2: returning the shills off.
Speaker 1: And this is your first job in advertising, you're realizing this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, So it was an internship and everybody
Speaker 2: was talking about how they took theater and fast forwards.
Speaker 1: I would have never thought that either, me either.
Speaker 2: I was very surprised. Fast forward to my fifth year
Speaker 2: in college now and a friend was recruiting girls for
Speaker 2: a Miss Black California pageant. So weird, so random, and
Speaker 2: so me and some of my girlfriends we were like, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll do the pageant. So what do you do? What's
Speaker 2: the thing? What do you do for a beauty pageant?
Speaker 2: Because I was just not that girl, and so we
Speaker 2: were like, okay, we'll do it. And we did the pageant.
Speaker 2: I'm concentrating here.
Speaker 1: I know it's hard to talk, it is, but your
Speaker 1: stories are very captivating. So eight, come on, go back
Speaker 1: to the story.
Speaker 2: Okay, I still feel like it needs more.
Speaker 1: Wait, what did they say you needed to do for
Speaker 1: the talent part?
Speaker 2: So we had to wear a bathing suit, we had
Speaker 2: to wear a gown, and we had to do a
Speaker 2: talent part. So I was like, what the fuck am
Speaker 2: I going to do for her? Talent. I don't know
Speaker 2: what to do. And so me and my mom and
Speaker 2: my aunt we came up with this idea for me
Speaker 2: to recite a poem from a play, and so I
Speaker 2: recited a poem from a play called for Colored Girls
Speaker 2: who considered to a side when the rainbow is enough?
Speaker 1: And one of the poems I know, does it dark? Wait,
Speaker 1: consider suicide? Wait say it again? For Colored girls who
Speaker 1: can commit.
Speaker 2: Consider suicide when the rainbow is enough? Geez, but it was.
Speaker 2: It's a very powerful play. They actually did a movie
Speaker 2: off of it too. It's very powerful play. So anyway,
Speaker 2: so I took one of the monologues from the play
Speaker 2: and I performed it. And one of the judges in
Speaker 2: the pageant was a producer of a play that was
Speaker 2: getting the casting and getting ready to tour the country,
Speaker 2: and he asked me if I would be interested in
Speaker 2: auditioning for his play. And I was like, what do
Speaker 2: you do for an audition in the play? What is that?
Speaker 2: And so he gave me all the information, told me
Speaker 2: to bring a picture and a resume show up at
Speaker 2: the theater, which was the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, California.
Speaker 2: And I was like Okay, a picture and a resume,
Speaker 2: all right, I got it. I'll do it just random.
Speaker 2: My life is full of random stuff. I love it,
Speaker 2: really love it, really I love it.
Speaker 1: By the way, for all your listeners, she added lime
Speaker 1: to the pot, and she added the red as sausa. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so she still got to make a lot more taco though.
Speaker 2: She's crazy. Okay, I want I want you to taste it.
Speaker 2: I want you to taste I know if it is anything.
Speaker 1: In it, it's anything like this store where it's gonna
Speaker 1: be good.
Speaker 2: Salt or pepper or something.
Speaker 1: Don't change anything. Perfect okay, yeah, really good?
Speaker 2: Okay, really good.
Speaker 1: And it's not dry, guys, Oh good?
Speaker 2: Because yeah, and I should turn it off so it
Speaker 2: doesn't get dry.
Speaker 1: That's why you're adding the water and the sauces and
Speaker 1: all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I like it to feel most.
Speaker 1: I like it. Yeah, I was scared it was going
Speaker 1: to be dry, but not at all. That's why you water.
Speaker 2: Okay, So this is yours you want, I'll make yours first.
Speaker 1: You better make way more tackles. We ain't on diet
Speaker 1: eating while.
Speaker 2: Broka, you want me to keep making the showy. So
Speaker 2: this was yours. I was making it.
Speaker 1: We'll just switch plates. This looks really good. Miss a
Speaker 1: little messy, and then why do I feel so comfortable
Speaker 1: with you?
Speaker 2: Alvocado?
Speaker 1: Yes, I want to do it. How you would do
Speaker 1: it the elevated version?
Speaker 2: Yeah, because we definitely did not have bitch tacos.
Speaker 1: This is so good looking. We shouldn't when they have
Speaker 1: the cameras, the picture when you take a picture of
Speaker 1: your food, I feel like we should.
Speaker 2: I should have done that.
Speaker 1: Well we should. We can see technically do it with
Speaker 1: these tacos.
Speaker 2: Okay, you want something, any extra stuff because this I.
Speaker 1: Want to do tomato here, I'll do the about your.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, oh yeah. So I go to the Black
Speaker 2: Repertory Theater. I show up with a picture and a resume.
Speaker 2: So again, I don't know anything about about acting as
Speaker 2: a career or anything like that at this point. So
Speaker 2: I show up with a regular working resume. I haven't
Speaker 2: marry out hotel and this rent a car.
Speaker 1: I would have done the same time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. He said bring a picture in
Speaker 2: a resume, So I brought my picture in my resume
Speaker 2: and the picture and a picture, So it was this
Speaker 2: is I'm totally aging myself. Look guys, I'm totally aging myself.
Speaker 2: I brought a polaroid picture that I had my college
Speaker 2: roommate take of me the night before.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, you are real green.
Speaker 2: So I showed up with my working resume and my
Speaker 2: little polaroy picture, and I walk into the into the
Speaker 2: theater and it's full of real actors. And if you
Speaker 2: know anything about San Francisco, in the whole Bay area Berkeley,
Speaker 2: it's very artsy, it's a very artsy town. So these
Speaker 2: were like real thesbian and I walk in and they
Speaker 2: are like doing all these weird theater exercises, like with
Speaker 2: their voice there stretching, They're moaning me all the just
Speaker 2: weird shit. I was like, this is weird. They are weird.
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna sit in the corner and wait for
Speaker 2: them to call my name.
Speaker 1: At this point, did you see what other people's pictures
Speaker 1: in what they saw all.
Speaker 2: The big eight by tens, they were black and white
Speaker 2: eight by tens. Back then, I was like whatever. I
Speaker 2: didn't have a way to feel because I didn't know shit,
Speaker 2: and I've been doing a lot of dropping curse words.
Speaker 1: You literally only curse twice because me sit down, Terrace
Speaker 1: sit down. Okay, let's try this while we hot. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to eat this, guys, because it looks really delicious.
Speaker 2: Hey, I hope it tastes good.
Speaker 1: I want to Cilantro. I just want to be like
Speaker 1: you right now. I want to experience it. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you buy first.
Speaker 2: I'm scared.
Speaker 1: You know you ain't got to be scared. You know
Speaker 1: you make this.
Speaker 2: It's good.
Speaker 1: That's way better than any restaurant. You're sure you want
Speaker 1: to go to the restaurant. The dish, Yo, it's juicy,
Speaker 1: it's really good. That crunch. We're on a tight tom crunch.
Speaker 1: But you're gonna make more of these before you leave.
Speaker 2: I got you.
Speaker 1: This is a plus one of my favorite top three
Speaker 1: dishes on this show.
Speaker 2: Yay, yay. Oh all right, let me finish my story.
Speaker 1: Wait, even without all the jobbings, I know, it's just
Speaker 1: you murdered that fish. You annihilated the fish tacco.
Speaker 2: It's so good.
Speaker 1: No one makes a fish taco this juicy and flavorform.
Speaker 1: You can't get it to no Mexican restaurant. No, no,
Speaker 1: you better make moreities at home, girl. Okay, So get
Speaker 1: back to this story. Yes, you are auditioning for this
Speaker 1: play and yes.
Speaker 2: So I walk into the Black Repertory Theater. I see
Speaker 2: all these real actors in there, and they're doing all
Speaker 2: these theatrical exercises warming up for their big audition. Their
Speaker 2: nat it was crazy, all kinds of stuff, and I
Speaker 2: was like, Okay, these people are weird. I'm just gonna
Speaker 2: sit over in the corner and wait for them to
Speaker 2: call my name. I'm sitting on a corner with my
Speaker 2: little working resume and my little polaroid picture and and
Speaker 2: they finally call my name and I go in. I
Speaker 2: meet the director. His name is Paul Roach, and I
Speaker 2: meet the playwright who I'll say who the playwright is
Speaker 2: and it in because you guys might know of him.
Speaker 2: And so they give me some material.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited, you like leaving these little cliffhangers going.
Speaker 1: They give you the material, you read it.
Speaker 2: Oh, they give me the material. So I read it
Speaker 2: with the director and then he gives me a note.
Speaker 2: He's okay, that was good, but this character, she's really sassy.
Speaker 2: She has a lot of spice, and can you read
Speaker 2: it again and give me some of that? And I
Speaker 2: was like absolutely, so basically, you just want me to
Speaker 2: be myself if I used to get in trouble all
Speaker 2: the time for being too sassy, get popped in the mouth.
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, so I'll just be myself. So
Speaker 2: I read it again, did the audition and they were
Speaker 2: like okay, great, And so I go home that night
Speaker 2: and they call me and they offer me apart in
Speaker 2: this play to tour the country. And it was David E.
Speaker 2: Talbert's very first play. Wow Talbert is one maker now wow.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was his very first play. And I
Speaker 2: toured with that play. It's called telling It like It
Speaker 2: TI is Okay. I toured with that play for two years,
Speaker 2: off and on and the Beauty and what changed my
Speaker 2: life forever was Paul Roach, our director. He was a
Speaker 2: very astute Thesbian had studied at act in San Francisco,
Speaker 2: so he was a very well respected theater director and
Speaker 2: he traveled with us the whole time and was training
Speaker 2: us in the art of acting. He introduced me to
Speaker 2: all the greats that I just started studying about acting
Speaker 2: in theater, ud Hoggins, Demislowski, check Off, and I just
Speaker 2: fell in love with it. I fell in love with
Speaker 2: the craft. I fell in love with all the theater
Speaker 2: exercises that I was laughing at all the other people.
Speaker 2: So now I'm doing all these Oh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, that was good. I wanted to know. So
Speaker 1: you do do those now, so now make it all
Speaker 1: makes sense to you.
Speaker 2: It all makes sense. It all makes sense. And that
Speaker 2: just changed my life forever. So I always tell people that,
Speaker 2: oh my career to Paul Roach.
Speaker 1: Wow, so what did your mom say when you booked
Speaker 1: this tour?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So when they called me that night, the first
Speaker 2: thing I did was I was like, okay, I'll call
Speaker 2: you back. I was like, Mom, these people are offering
Speaker 2: me this role to travel with a play and we're
Speaker 2: going to travel around the country and they take care
Speaker 2: of all of it, and they're going to pay me
Speaker 2: four hundred dollars a week.
Speaker 1: Oh snap, I was like.
Speaker 2: And I was like, can I go? Should I go?
Speaker 2: And she was like absolutely. She was like, when is
Speaker 2: this ever going to happen in your lifetime?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, to get an offer like this, to travel the
Speaker 2: country to perform on stage.
Speaker 1: And how old are you at this time?
Speaker 2: Land At this time, I'm twenty oh.
Speaker 1: Girl, Yes go mom for that shut out of support.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and you were excited about it too.
Speaker 2: I was, Are you changed my mouth? Yes? Again, I
Speaker 2: had never done anything like that ever, And so we started.
Speaker 2: We went into rehearsals, and that's how I learned the craft.
Speaker 1: Was there any part of it that was like a
Speaker 1: little rigorous where you wanted to quit at all? Or
Speaker 1: was it all?
Speaker 2: It is very rigorous, But I was so in my
Speaker 2: element and felt so excited and connected to this new
Speaker 2: thing that I have found acting.
Speaker 1: Did you have to drop out of college to do?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you was like peace.
Speaker 2: That's why I had to ask my mom. Okay, but yeah,
Speaker 2: but it changed the whole trajectory of my life.
Speaker 1: So after are you getting interior at up in the house? Snap?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you after the tour ends? Huh?
Speaker 1: What's it like?
Speaker 2: So the tour. When the tour ended, it was a
Speaker 2: group of us. We decided we were going to move
Speaker 2: to la and pursue acting.
Speaker 1: Are you made friends too?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Were any of the people from the audition room? Do
Speaker 1: you remember any of them? And then they made it?
Speaker 1: Kalita Smith a so a known actress. She was it
Speaker 1: was her first start too.
Speaker 2: So we were all from the Bay Area, and we
Speaker 2: all moved to LA after the show went down and
Speaker 2: just started pursuing it as a.
Speaker 1: Career with a real picture.
Speaker 2: Yes, I got a real black and white by tea
Speaker 2: and glossy. This is like so old, so you know
Speaker 2: you We would mail our phus to different agencies and stuff,
Speaker 2: trying to get agents. Again. Was always very adamant about
Speaker 2: the craft. So the first thing we did find acting
Speaker 2: classes to get into. Okay, when we moved to LA.
Speaker 1: Even after all that work and training you went on
Speaker 1: the road, you still wanted to do more to perfect it.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, okay, it's never ending.
Speaker 1: You still do take Do you still take acts?
Speaker 2: I teach acting classes now, which is also for me
Speaker 2: a form of study for myself as well. But I
Speaker 2: do also watch Masterclass a lot or and for directing,
Speaker 2: I definitely like ye taking all that information and I
Speaker 2: can get still.
Speaker 1: So between the touring and you booking major roles, how
Speaker 1: long is that gap and what was that struggle looking like?
Speaker 2: I would say it was a five year build, which
Speaker 2: is really a blessing because I have several friends that
Speaker 2: I've been in it, doing it for well beyond five
Speaker 2: years and still hadn't gotten their break. But so, yeah,
Speaker 2: so I just I started booking like small parts. And
Speaker 2: I want to say, yeah, five years in of me
Speaker 2: living here, I got the audition for the Steve Harvey Show.
Speaker 1: Wow. And then how are you surviving in between this
Speaker 1: five year?
Speaker 2: Like a waitress?
Speaker 1: You did the waitressing thing?
Speaker 2: Okay, I waitressed, and I worked at a clothing store
Speaker 2: that was in the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Yes, okay, I
Speaker 2: used to work at the Sherman Oaks Galleria at a
Speaker 2: store called Benetton. Yeah, I don't think company. I think
Speaker 2: it's folded, but yeah, that's where I was, Okay, and
Speaker 2: then so so so I have been waitressing a lot longer.
Speaker 2: And then I got tired of waitressing and I got
Speaker 2: the job at ben Aton. And I have been at
Speaker 2: Benaton like two weeks and I booked the Steve Harvey Show.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: So I gave ben Aton my two weeks notice. I
Speaker 2: didn't just leave. I gave them a two week notice.
Speaker 2: And I still worked at ben Aton after I first
Speaker 2: booked the Steve Harvey Show.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's cool. And then but it wasn't out yet, no,
Speaker 1: so nobody.
Speaker 2: Was on because I came in the second season, but
Speaker 2: I hadn't started.
Speaker 1: People hadn't seen you yet because you that two week notice.
Speaker 1: Now I'm curious, so you become like a household name household,
Speaker 1: everybody knows who you are. You from that point on,
Speaker 1: is your career completely consistent or is it like a
Speaker 1: little roller coastery in there?
Speaker 2: There's nothing consistent in this business. Nothing, no. So I
Speaker 2: did the Steve Harvey Show for five seasons, and when
Speaker 2: it went down, I, like you, just said, thought, Oh,
Speaker 2: I'll just get my next gig. This is great. The
Speaker 2: Steve Harvey Show was great for me. It's gotten my
Speaker 2: name out there, fun character, everybody loves it, so I'm
Speaker 2: sure I'll get another gig. It didn't happen that quick.
Speaker 1: How long would that get?
Speaker 2: To be honest, it wasn't long in the aspect of
Speaker 2: what we do, because even if I was out of
Speaker 2: work for four months, that's not really a long time
Speaker 2: in his business. So it was probably something like that
Speaker 2: before I got a call from Felicia Henderson, who was
Speaker 2: the showrunner and producer of Soul Food that was on
Speaker 2: Showtime at the time, and she offered me a part
Speaker 2: for a reoccurring character on Soul Food, which they shot
Speaker 2: in Toronto, so that was a huge blessing. So I
Speaker 2: did fly to Toronto and I worked there for one season.
Speaker 2: I can't remember how much time I spent out there,
Speaker 2: but that was huge for me because I was going
Speaker 2: from this sitcom really funny, silly kind of character, and
Speaker 2: then I was going on to a Showtime show that
Speaker 2: was a drama and a more astute kind of character.
Speaker 2: So they were totally different from each other. So I
Speaker 2: just always really thanked Felicia Henderson for seeing.
Speaker 1: Pass and not communicat yeah.
Speaker 2: And not just putting me in the box, which a
Speaker 2: lot of people tried to do. So she immediately came
Speaker 2: and gave me that opportunity. So that was huge.
Speaker 1: And then where does along this journey, where does directing
Speaker 1: and producing start to peak its little head in were you?
Speaker 2: So? After the so thing, I want to say, the
Speaker 2: next series that I was a regular on was All
Speaker 2: of Us Will Smiths and Jada Pikett Smith Show. And
Speaker 2: when that show went down, it was dry. The industry
Speaker 2: was really dry. It was when a lot of the
Speaker 2: black shows got taken off air. They weren't really producing
Speaker 2: a lot of black television shows anymore. And that's when
Speaker 2: I got frustrated and I met a girl who was
Speaker 2: a writer. I was working on an independent project in
Speaker 2: Atlanta at the time, and I met a girl that
Speaker 2: was a writer and she had given me her novel.
Speaker 2: She had written her first novel, and she asked me
Speaker 2: if I were read it. So on my flight back
Speaker 2: to home to LA I started reading her book and
Speaker 2: I loved her book. It was called a Girl Named Lily.
Speaker 2: And when I got home, I called her. I was like,
Speaker 2: have you ever considered turning this book into a television show?
Speaker 2: And she was like, no, I never thought about that.
Speaker 2: And I was like, I would like to try to
Speaker 2: do that. Would you be okay with that?
Speaker 1: And how did you guys intersect it? To begin with?
Speaker 2: On a film project that I've done in Atlanta, And
Speaker 2: she was actually the costumer, and she slipped her book
Speaker 2: and she slipping her book, and so once she said
Speaker 2: yes to taking this journey with me of trying to
Speaker 2: sell and this is my first time ever doing something
Speaker 2: like this. But I had been in the business. I
Speaker 2: had great relationships from the shows that I had been on,
Speaker 2: So I thought I was always so naive. I was
Speaker 2: so like I could do anything, give it this book,
Speaker 2: I'm not making a TV show, and so my agent
Speaker 2: at the time, they set up some meetings for me
Speaker 2: to pitch this book. And the feedback we kept getting
Speaker 2: was sounds like a great idea, but it doesn't sound
Speaker 2: like a black voice. It doesn't sound like a black person.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, that's strange because it's written by a
Speaker 2: black person. This is her book, her voice, what are
Speaker 2: you talking about. So that was the feedback we got,
Speaker 2: and it just really lit a fire under our butts.
Speaker 2: It's like, Okay, they're not going to tell us what
Speaker 2: a black voice is. Yes, will We're going to make
Speaker 2: content together that is our voice and that is So
Speaker 2: that's how we started our production company that's called the
Speaker 2: Nina Holliday Entertainment And the first project that we did
Speaker 2: right after we went through that pitching cycle was we
Speaker 2: shot a documentary called Angels Can't Help But Laugh, and
Speaker 2: it was me interviewing a bunch of my peers that
Speaker 2: were in the business just about their journey and how
Speaker 2: they stay motivated and inspired to keep going when the
Speaker 2: opportunities are so small, when we're constantly put in boxes
Speaker 2: like what motivates you to keep doing this? Why don't
Speaker 2: you just quit. So the documentary was amazing.
Speaker 1: It sounds amazing, It was incredible.
Speaker 2: It was Shirley out making good, Melinda Williams, Vanessa Williams,
Speaker 2: Kim Whitley, Regina King, and we had some really great
Speaker 2: people in the documentary and it was like our calling card.
Speaker 2: This is what we are about. We're about the voices
Speaker 2: of the black women in this industry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so how old did that do?
Speaker 2: So that did good. We ended up doing a lot
Speaker 2: of college screenings and talkbacks. It was available on Amazon
Speaker 2: or something. But this is the thing, and I really
Speaker 2: want to tell everybody to handle your business like we
Speaker 2: were just artists.
Speaker 1: So that was gonna be my next question. How are
Speaker 1: you funding? How are you maintaining during this whole project?
Speaker 2: So we made it. It only cost us like five
Speaker 2: thousand dollars, so we just paid for it ourselves because
Speaker 2: we were just It was just a camera person, lights
Speaker 2: and stuff that we and we would go to people
Speaker 2: to interview them.
Speaker 1: I love that, by the way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it got out and still to this day it's
Speaker 2: out and you can order it, but I don't know
Speaker 2: where it's being ordered and delivered from. It's really weird.
Speaker 1: What do you mean, if I were to go on
Speaker 1: Amazon type it in, I could order it, but you
Speaker 1: don't know where the money goes.
Speaker 2: I don't know where the money's going, and I don't
Speaker 2: know who's sending it to you. Somebody to this day, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: like you could work because I did it because I
Speaker 2: saw it. Somebody had hit me up and was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: isn't this your documentary? It's so good? I love it,
Speaker 2: blah blah blah blah. And I was like, where did
Speaker 2: you get it? And they were like, oh, I ordered
Speaker 2: it off of I think it's Amazon, And I was like, really,
Speaker 2: So I went in not ordered it, and I got it,
Speaker 2: and I don't know. It's really weird.
Speaker 1: So you did you try to call Amazon and find out.
Speaker 2: I had an attorney to try to reach out to
Speaker 2: the name that was on it. It looks like it's
Speaker 2: coming from somewhere from China, so it was really weird.
Speaker 2: It's really weird.
Speaker 1: But so does that mean did you just find this out?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Not too long ago, like maybe year ago.
Speaker 1: So are they is there a way to find out
Speaker 1: or stop it?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I just wanted to do But wait, what's
Speaker 1: the name of the documentary One more Time.
Speaker 2: Can really take care of your business when you're doing stuff.
Speaker 1: You still want to see it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it just it's called Angels can't help but laugh.
Speaker 1: Angels can't help but laugh. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, damn.
Speaker 1: So it's like I want to say, go out there
Speaker 1: and go out and still watch it.
Speaker 2: Really good. It's super informative, some great interviews and advice
Speaker 2: and yeah, it's really good. I want to Smith as
Speaker 2: in it. It was like a lot of my peers Essens, Adkins,
Speaker 2: Jasmine Guy.
Speaker 1: And we could probably order on Amazon. I hate to.
Speaker 1: Let's still check it out.
Speaker 2: It's still also I know, but that's the thing. Of course,
Speaker 2: we want to make money off of stuff. But you
Speaker 2: know sometimes and so this is why I want artists
Speaker 2: to do better to handle your business. But I really
Speaker 2: just I want to give my gifts to the world,
Speaker 2: and that documentary is really a gift to young people
Speaker 2: and it's a gift, and so I still want people
Speaker 2: to see it even I want to see it. Yes,
Speaker 2: I still want business.
Speaker 1: I was very inspirational.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that was our that was my entry into producing.
Speaker 1: That was that and then from there the whole time
Speaker 1: this is going on, what your mom saying she still
Speaker 1: support everyone's support. You're fully sustained on acting, you're handling
Speaker 1: your money right.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I've always been very frugal. Okay, good,
Speaker 2: I'm very frugal and I learned a long time ago
Speaker 2: in this business. You're working this great great getting them checks,
Speaker 2: give them check, and then you could go years without working. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I've always been very smart with my money. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I always tell people it's all about managing cash flow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like people, will you get check a big check and
Speaker 1: you're like, whoa, we can go here and buy this,
Speaker 1: but no, let's make sure that we cover your monthly
Speaker 1: for at least six months. Take exactly exactly minimum, hopefully exactly.
Speaker 1: Actually that is it.
Speaker 2: But at that time, so yeah, so I was sustaining
Speaker 2: myself but still still okay, I need to check. I
Speaker 2: still got a mortgage. I still got that.
Speaker 1: You had a mortgage too, Yeah, oh girl, yeah. Do
Speaker 1: you get married having kids in between all them?
Speaker 2: Okay, that's where I was about. So at that time, yes,
Speaker 2: I was married and I had a son, but I
Speaker 2: was breaking up. In the middle of breaking up, it
Speaker 2: was a very stressful time in my life. Personally but creatively.
Speaker 2: I think that's why I really poured so much into
Speaker 2: especially that particular project, because it featured women and I
Speaker 2: wanted to just get their voice and.
Speaker 1: With the empowerment. Yeah you needed it at that time.
Speaker 2: I really did. I really did. And yeah, so yes
Speaker 2: I was married, and yes I had my first son
Speaker 2: at that time.
Speaker 1: So after that, you go into after producing, you go
Speaker 1: into directing.
Speaker 2: So the directing came in years later. So I did
Speaker 2: finally go through a divorce and I ended up moving
Speaker 2: meeting my current husband who was based in Atlanta, and
Speaker 2: when we got married, I ended up moving to Atlanta.
Speaker 2: That's how I ended up.
Speaker 1: In Atlanta almost just so you know, I wanted you
Speaker 1: so bad. I was like, man, we may have to
Speaker 1: make this trip to Atlanta.
Speaker 2: Ah. I wish I would have known that. I would
Speaker 2: have said, oh, that would have been some fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you guys could trust me. It was a lot
Speaker 1: better on my budgets.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure I got you both.
Speaker 1: I got you here, but I was willing to. We
Speaker 1: got to see if we can make it happen.
Speaker 2: But so yeah, so I'm so now. I moved to
Speaker 2: Atlanta in two thousand and nine when I got there,
Speaker 2: so I had been working there already. I had done
Speaker 2: three projects in a row that was based in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: So I was there and then I would come back
Speaker 2: to LA there and so when I decided I was
Speaker 2: moving there, I was like, Okay, I want to help
Speaker 2: contribute to the film industry there because if I'm going
Speaker 2: to live there and be considered now a Atlanta actor,
Speaker 2: I need all the games to be up. So I
Speaker 2: was on a mission to really pour into the film industry.
Speaker 2: And that's when I started teaching acting classes. I had
Speaker 2: a lot of young actors, aspiring actors that I worked with,
Speaker 2: and I fell in love with doing that. I really
Speaker 2: fell in love with just really teaching them how I
Speaker 2: learned acting. And it was really study the books, study
Speaker 2: the craft, watch films, and we would do a scene
Speaker 2: study class. So in scene study, I'm directing actors in
Speaker 2: the scenes. And so we got ready to produce a
Speaker 2: movie that it was independently funded. It was like maybe
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, but the script was funny.
Speaker 2: It was a hood comedy. It was called a hashtag
Speaker 2: Digital Lives Matter, Okay, and it was starting DC Young
Speaker 2: fly Me, Little Hudson, I do too, Ernestine Johnson, b Simone.
Speaker 2: So it was a lot of new actors, new faces,
Speaker 2: but they were growing in their social media platforms, right,
Speaker 2: So we produced this movie for them, and we didn't
Speaker 2: really have money to pay a director. So I was like,
Speaker 2: I can do it. I was like, I've been directing
Speaker 2: young talent for a few years now. It's a comedy.
Speaker 2: That's my sweet spot. Ann it's hood, that's my background. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: so I could do this, and that's how I directed
Speaker 2: my first project.
Speaker 1: Wow. And in between all this, you're still acting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, still acting. So when I first moved to Atlanta,
Speaker 2: I called Tyler Perry Studio.
Speaker 1: I was about to get to that. Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like, I just want to let y'all know
Speaker 2: that I live in Atlanta, so if there's any parts
Speaker 2: on your show, I'm here and I'm available. And so
Speaker 2: they did end up calling me and giving me a
Speaker 2: role on Meet the Browns.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And that's how I got on Meet the Browns. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so it was still acting and what else was going
Speaker 2: on at the time. I also opened up wanting to
Speaker 2: pour into the community there, the art community. I opened
Speaker 2: up a coffee shop, slash theatrical bookstore right because when
Speaker 2: I was teaching the acting classes, there was nowhere for
Speaker 2: me to send them to get these books that I
Speaker 2: was telling them about. We're here, we have Samuel French,
Speaker 2: and as a young actor, I spent so much time
Speaker 2: in Samuel French. But they didn't have anything like that
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. So I opened up a store and had
Speaker 2: a contract with Samuel French store here and so I
Speaker 2: offered some of the books at my store. And it
Speaker 2: was a coffee shop, it was a lounge, we had
Speaker 2: a stage, so I would do my acting class.
Speaker 1: Run that business too, very.
Speaker 2: Very I loved all the just the community of it.
Speaker 2: I loved pouring into the people. People loved it. But
Speaker 2: running the business was really stressful. For It's very stressful
Speaker 2: and it was like I had to be there every
Speaker 2: day and I was like, I gotta go make money.
Speaker 2: So it stayed open for three years and then I
Speaker 2: eventually had to close it just because it was just training, mentally, financially,
Speaker 2: all the things. But people still ask me about it
Speaker 2: all the time and was like it was just before
Speaker 2: it's time. If you opened it up now, it would
Speaker 2: blow up so much. And I'm like yeah, I don't
Speaker 2: have the time or the wherewithal to do that again,
Speaker 2: so I don't know, but who knows what the future holds.
Speaker 2: But those were the things that I was doing before
Speaker 2: I did the directing thing and having babies, had two
Speaker 2: more and more kids.
Speaker 1: Yes, how can everybody keep up with everything?
Speaker 2: Ary Jay on all the platforms? I am Terry Jay
Speaker 2: Vaughn on all the platforms. And I do have to
Speaker 2: plug my new series right here, okay, straight ahead? Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's a beautiful Do we have time just for
Speaker 2: me to tell this quick little story?
Speaker 1: I love it?
Speaker 2: Okay. I've had this TV show idea for at least
Speaker 2: seven years. It was inspired by a girlfriend of mine,
Speaker 2: London Breed, who became the mayor of San Francisco. Black Girl.
Speaker 2: She's the only black female mayor that has ever been
Speaker 2: in the city of San Francisco, and it was just
Speaker 2: her journey and all the stuff she had to go
Speaker 2: through was very interesting to me as a story. She's
Speaker 2: a girl from the hood, all the things, and here
Speaker 2: she is the mayor of one of the richest cities
Speaker 2: in the country. Right. So I had this show idea,
Speaker 2: and every time I pitched it to people, they were like, no,
Speaker 2: I don't want to do anything political blah blah blah
Speaker 2: blah blah blah blah. So I put it aside, got
Speaker 2: busy directing, acting and other stuff. But the strike happened
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three, the writer strike and a brutal strike.
Speaker 2: It was brutal, and I was like, so all my
Speaker 2: jobs went away. Had jobs lined up through the year,
Speaker 2: and they all went away. And so I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm going to focus back on my dream, which is
Speaker 2: to have my own series. And so I picked the
Speaker 2: show back up and I called my writing partner who
Speaker 2: was working on the show for me with me, and
Speaker 2: her name is Nia Palmer, great writer, and I was like, look,
Speaker 2: I know we're in the strike, but would you be
Speaker 2: willing to just write a fifteen minute proof of concept
Speaker 2: so we can shoot a proof of concept of this
Speaker 2: show so when the strike is over we can send
Speaker 2: it out and pitch it. And she was like, hell, yeah,
Speaker 2: let's do it. So because I was nervous because a
Speaker 2: lot of writers just wasn't to they were not and
Speaker 2: I was like, we'll just do it, you know, I'll
Speaker 2: call on friends, call the favors, and we'll shoot it,
Speaker 2: so we did. I did that because it was in
Speaker 2: the political space I wanted to add I wanted to
Speaker 2: have a consulting producer, just to add some cachet for
Speaker 2: when I go out to pitch it. So I met
Speaker 2: with Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was our mayor in Atlanta
Speaker 2: some years ago, and we've always had a good relationship.
Speaker 2: So I called her and I was like, I have
Speaker 2: an idea. I want to share it run by you.
Speaker 2: And I met with her and when I pitched her
Speaker 2: the idea, she loved it and she was like, absolutely,
Speaker 2: I will join you on this journey. So now I
Speaker 2: got Keisha Lance Bottoms as a producer with me. I
Speaker 2: got the script, I got my producing team all together
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. Oh, and I had to find somebody to
Speaker 2: fund it because it's still so Keisha was like, I
Speaker 2: know an investor that would invest in this because he
Speaker 2: supports black women. Oh okay, this is one of the
Speaker 2: reasons why I love living in Atlanta. I cannot lie.
Speaker 2: I love it. The support there and that black pride
Speaker 2: and stuff there is amazing. So he was like, yep,
Speaker 2: I got it. I'll cover it. So shot this proof
Speaker 2: of concept in twenty twenty three at the end of
Speaker 2: the year at the beginning of the next year. Now
Speaker 2: the strike is over. I got it edited when my
Speaker 2: guy Victor editor back in Atlanta. He edited. He got
Speaker 2: it just like I wanted it. I was like perfect
Speaker 2: because I was like, I needed to look like it
Speaker 2: can air on TV. I needed to look like that,
Speaker 2: and it did. So the music was great, everything was great. Okay,
Speaker 2: it was like, so, let's put it out into the
Speaker 2: world and see what happens. So my agent sent it out.
Speaker 2: We got calls left and right of people wanting to
Speaker 2: meet with us about it. So we started setting up meetings.
Speaker 2: Every meeting we had, they were pitching us why they
Speaker 2: want our show. We did not have to pitch anything.
Speaker 2: And the perfect fit for me was Tyler Perry.
Speaker 1: Of course I was wanting it.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, he was the perfect person. Yeah, that's what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. For several reasons, he was the one, and
Speaker 2: working with him has been amazing, like incredibly collaborative. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so he got it. He got us right away. He
Speaker 2: was like the wind beneath our wings. And he had
Speaker 2: a deal at Netflix already in place.
Speaker 1: What's the name of it again?
Speaker 2: So the show is she the People, She the People,
Speaker 2: She the People. It will It's starring me, created by me,
Speaker 2: Linda's it are in May, So May launching May on Netflix.
Speaker 2: Please look out for it.
Speaker 1: She the People, She the People, and I will be
Speaker 1: watching it. I'm really excited and very happy. That was
Speaker 1: the most beautiful story. Thank you, beautiful ending, So She
Speaker 1: the People. Watch it on Netflix now, and you keep
Speaker 1: up with Terry J. Vaughn on all social media platforms. Yep,
Speaker 1: don't forget the Jay, don't forget the JA, don't forget
Speaker 1: the Jay. Peace out.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks honey.
Speaker 1: For more Eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect.
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