Speaker 1: Welcome back, Welcome back. I'm Dawn Day and I want
Speaker 1: to thank you so much for tuning into the Vitamin
Speaker 1: D Podcast. Thank you for joining me on this journey
Speaker 1: of living your best life, for depositing into your life
Speaker 1: bank account, and thank you for entrusting me to share
Speaker 1: some light into your life. I am so excited for
Speaker 1: you to check out this episode because I sat down
Speaker 1: with the legendary, the incomfortable uh, the queen of what
Speaker 1: is now R and B Radio and co host of
Speaker 1: the Steve Robbie Morning Show, Miss Shirley Strawberry. This is
Speaker 1: the past you chose, or the past that chose you,
Speaker 1: however you want to look at it and you deal
Speaker 1: with what comes with that. This is something that is
Speaker 1: calling you. You can't do anything but this. Shirley has
Speaker 1: been a mentor of mind since I started working with
Speaker 1: the Steve Harvey Morning Show back in December seventeen, and
Speaker 1: since then she's been like a source of wisdom and
Speaker 1: insight and being an advocate for my growth and me
Speaker 1: shining my life. She even gave me the nickname Loving Life.
Speaker 1: So you know what's real and what don't want you
Speaker 1: to understand too, is that I've dreamed of being on
Speaker 1: the radio since I was a little girl in high school.
Speaker 1: And to have the opportunity to be mentored by the
Speaker 1: likes of Shirley Strawberry, who has been on air probably
Speaker 1: as long as I've been on this earth, well, that's
Speaker 1: just God. I hope that this episode serves as a
Speaker 1: mode of inspiration for you that anything is possible as
Speaker 1: long as you believe and you are willing to put
Speaker 1: in the work. All you have to do is take
Speaker 1: the first step to living out your wildest dreams. Dive
Speaker 1: in as Shirley talks about what it seems to be
Speaker 1: a woman in radio, sacrifices she's made as a mother,
Speaker 1: being a domestic violence survivor, and the importance of asking
Speaker 1: the torch as for her infamous quarantine sandwich. I have
Speaker 1: no parts of that. So without further ado, it's time
Speaker 1: for your dose of vitamin D D right with me
Speaker 1: and get excited. Hello, Mr Strawberry, Hello with love and life.
Speaker 1: How are you well? Shimmy over here because I am
Speaker 1: at talk it's a fish stop Verry. How you doing well?
Speaker 1: Thank you? I am I'm safe, I'm healthy, I'm doing well.
Speaker 1: Inside of the house. Um, you know that could be
Speaker 1: a challenge. We all know that. Sometimes I like being inside.
Speaker 1: I'm a homebody. I just you know, when you're forced
Speaker 1: to do it, that's something different. I mean, although you
Speaker 1: know things are opening up and we can get out,
Speaker 1: but I still stay in as much as possible, you know,
Speaker 1: I do, And when I go out, I'm definitely in
Speaker 1: my mask right right right. But it's interesting I think
Speaker 1: like even wearing the mask, I feel like I'm being
Speaker 1: suffocated a little bit, like I'm just being hell bag.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you do, especially if you have that rebellious spirit.
Speaker 1: You know, it just flares up anyway anyway with any
Speaker 1: kind of constrictions or restriction. Do you feel that anyway
Speaker 1: in your spirit? But you know you just have to
Speaker 1: repress it. It's going to be over. God is gonna
Speaker 1: pull us through. We're gonna be te you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do think so. But I do think a lot
Speaker 1: of people need to be smart and and about what's
Speaker 1: happening around this. But then also, you know, take this
Speaker 1: moment of why you have to stay at home to
Speaker 1: figure out what's going on with you, and you to
Speaker 1: figure out whatever your dreams and aspirations, who are you?
Speaker 1: Because a lot of people are scared to see themselves surely. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what when when COVID nineteen, the quarantine and
Speaker 1: everything first started, you know, everybody was like, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is it. You know, I'm gonna uh start on this
Speaker 1: new program. I'm going to work out, I'm going to
Speaker 1: eat right. You know a lot of people do that.
Speaker 1: I'm going to see what, you know else is along
Speaker 1: the journey. I'm going to find my purpose and all that.
Speaker 1: And after about a month or so, I discovered my purpose.
Speaker 1: What's going from the bedroom to the living room, watching
Speaker 1: my Netflix shows, catching up on all the Hulu shows.
Speaker 1: That's my purpose apparently, because that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 1: That's what I have discovered. It a new sandwich. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put you on. Okay, come on, come on, give
Speaker 1: it to me. Give it to me. Raisin bread, not
Speaker 1: any old kind of raised bread, pepperage farm race. We're
Speaker 1: talking with the cinnamon in it. Okay, heat it up
Speaker 1: just a smidgen, you know, put some mustard on it. Okay,
Speaker 1: stop it, I'm done. Listen, this is listen. Listen. It
Speaker 1: gets better. Put some deli sliced thinly sliced turkey on there.
Speaker 1: Unless you're a vegan or whatever. And then olives were
Speaker 1: if you wait, listen, if you aren't into olives, dill
Speaker 1: pickles will do just fine. That's my new sandwich. Ladies
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, This is not spotsor by the Vitamin Do podcast.
Speaker 1: It's a perfect combination of sweet and savory. I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you get your life girl. The mustard on
Speaker 1: top of the cinnamon raising bread. Then I'm gonna slap
Speaker 1: some turkey on there, and then you want me to
Speaker 1: put it in my mouth. And then I want you
Speaker 1: to put snow. I want you to put some olives
Speaker 1: stuffed with mementos or dill pickles. Okay, take your choice.
Speaker 1: You know, Shirley, we have been rocking for a bit
Speaker 1: when it comes to food. We we talked about the
Speaker 1: colors and textures. In fact, we have a little moment
Speaker 1: with Eminem's. Wait a minute, wait a minute, do not
Speaker 1: do not bring up Eminem's. All right, So uh, some
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you about my girl.
Speaker 1: Don I love her dearly. I call her loving Light
Speaker 1: because she's loving light to me. She's all about love,
Speaker 1: and she's all about that light. And and I love
Speaker 1: that about her. So Um. When she first started working
Speaker 1: um with us doing our social media on the Steve
Speaker 1: Harvey Morning Show, we had just discovered coffee Eminem's. Coffee Eminem's. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about the regular Eminem's or anything like that.
Speaker 1: This was a new flavor, eminem said, up their game.
Speaker 1: I'm not just talking about the blue when they added
Speaker 1: the blue. This is a whole new flavor. I do
Speaker 1: not drink coffee anything like that, but it's something about
Speaker 1: those coffee Eminem's. I started off with the little bags.
Speaker 1: Every day, every morning, I would bring them in and
Speaker 1: are Because our work schedule is so crazy, we eat
Speaker 1: whatever whenever. Okay, we eat you know, breakfast for dinner,
Speaker 1: and dinner for breakfast and snacks in between all that.
Speaker 1: So every morning we would eat Eminem's. And the bag
Speaker 1: just started getting bigger and bigger. And I would just
Speaker 1: sit there during the show four hours and just eat
Speaker 1: those Eminem's because I love them. I was addicted. And
Speaker 1: John walked as to me. She looked over in my
Speaker 1: seat one day she was in there taking pictures and
Speaker 1: she said, Wow, it's amazing. I won't she eat those
Speaker 1: every day? And it's amazing that you never gain a
Speaker 1: pound just sitting fabulous every day? Not one pound? Okay,
Speaker 1: like how every day? Not one pound? Mind you, she
Speaker 1: only saw me sitting down because one day I think
Speaker 1: I got out of the the shower and looked at myself
Speaker 1: in the mirror. I was like, oh my god, Donna's
Speaker 1: cursed to me. I think I must to gain ten
Speaker 1: pounds in my hands, you know, that's my area, my
Speaker 1: kids and thighs. I was like, I haven't eaten them
Speaker 1: since done, I have not put them down. I have
Speaker 1: not eaten them since. And I was addicted to him,
Speaker 1: but I want to say thank you because you're part
Speaker 1: of your loving life. That light bulb went off in
Speaker 1: my head because I've never even thought about I could
Speaker 1: gain weight because I ate a full big bag. Okay, wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 1: let's be clear, we're not we're They had the personal
Speaker 1: size bag, then they had the king size bag. Then
Speaker 1: you go get to the theater bag. The size but
Speaker 1: this is like the the warehouse size bag that can
Speaker 1: that can fit like twenty people, and it would just
Speaker 1: every to the fact. I jumped on board and I said,
Speaker 1: you know what, let me gift you some Eminem's and
Speaker 1: I love you for that. That must so good. But
Speaker 1: I have not eaten them since because just sitting they're
Speaker 1: eating them. You don't think about it because it's just one,
Speaker 1: you know, at a time, and stuff. You can't stuff
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of them in your mouth. But during
Speaker 1: that period, I don't know what's it, six months or so,
Speaker 1: I think I must have gained about all that sugar
Speaker 1: and chocolate. It was a lot. It was a lot.
Speaker 1: But you know, to a story Eminem's where my like
Speaker 1: my favorite childhood candy, penut Eminem's. I'm not so much
Speaker 1: as the coffee kind of girl, but pen Eminem's. And
Speaker 1: then I used to pair it with um, whoo baby,
Speaker 1: some plain lays chips perfect. What you say, Charlotte, what
Speaker 1: you say? They go with everything. That's what I ate
Speaker 1: with my Raisin brand turkey mustard, and I'll have sandwich
Speaker 1: some chips on the side, lays of course. Okay, So
Speaker 1: I thought, okay, we're gonna leave the sandwich along because
Speaker 1: I'm still trying to say how alive? But if you
Speaker 1: want to, you you got Shirley strawberries a sandwich. Don't
Speaker 1: say that I told you. She told you about it. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's good. It's good because you run out of stuffy
Speaker 1: eat You gotta be creative. When you're in the house
Speaker 1: for this many days, you have to be creative. I mean,
Speaker 1: or because I was tired of eating period at that point,
Speaker 1: so I just try this. I never had that problem.
Speaker 1: Can I say, though, you look beautiful. Your skin looks beautiful,
Speaker 1: your teeth are white and beautiful, You're you look amazing.
Speaker 1: I hadn't seen you in a minute, so it's good
Speaker 1: to see you, honey. That conversation that we had um
Speaker 1: right before you left, we had a conversation on our walk,
Speaker 1: and I said, surely, first of all, I am so
Speaker 1: grateful that we had our moment to chit chat because
Speaker 1: that's pretty much what I want to talk about, just
Speaker 1: being a woman in radio and having those mentors. And
Speaker 1: you said to me, I'm telling you all of my aspirations,
Speaker 1: and you're saying, well, Dawn, you know, you gotta make
Speaker 1: up your mind what it is that you want, and
Speaker 1: you have to be a reflection of that and being
Speaker 1: so that if I'm all about loving life and I'm
Speaker 1: speaking life into people, when was the last time you
Speaker 1: checked in with Dawn? Because by then you I gained
Speaker 1: some weight, you know, and and just being president enough
Speaker 1: in authority because you said, how many people are you
Speaker 1: telling that you want your podcast too, that you want
Speaker 1: to be on air. No one's gonna step to you
Speaker 1: and and ask you that. But here's the thing, Shirley,
Speaker 1: that's not the first time you got into my heart.
Speaker 1: The first time you got into my heart was when
Speaker 1: I first started working with the show. And it was
Speaker 1: probably within that first week I went to the doctor
Speaker 1: and I found out that I had a blood clot
Speaker 1: in my leg. Oh wow. And when you reached out
Speaker 1: and you just said to check in and say, how
Speaker 1: are you doing? If you're okay? Because imagine this is like,
Speaker 1: right before I started working with you guys, I had
Speaker 1: I wasn't working. I was on a bike getting around
Speaker 1: so and then to be at the level of working
Speaker 1: with you guys, and I'm like, I have this element,
Speaker 1: and then that's the whole thing. You know. My mother
Speaker 1: died when I was younger. That's when you want to
Speaker 1: tell Mama, like, Mom, I got this dime and oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, Mom, I got a blood clot in my leg.
Speaker 1: Hold on, Shirley, you my dad died of a blood five.
Speaker 1: So the fact that you yeah, when I was three
Speaker 1: months old, he passed away from a bloodhouse. So it
Speaker 1: was like your dreams and and fear of life are
Speaker 1: hating all at once. But I think that's the journey
Speaker 1: and that's the process that we need to talk about
Speaker 1: when you're going after your dreams and balancing your relationships
Speaker 1: with your husband, your partner, whether or not you have
Speaker 1: a family, and then also being a woman enough to
Speaker 1: balance it with yourself and dealing with other women. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, but that's just part of life now, isn't it.
Speaker 1: You know, no one said this was going to be easy.
Speaker 1: No one said that it was going to be a
Speaker 1: cakewalk or walk in the park any of that. It's
Speaker 1: you know, this is the past you chose, or the
Speaker 1: past that chose you, however you want to look at it,
Speaker 1: and you deal with what comes with that, you know,
Speaker 1: because this, this is something that is calling you that
Speaker 1: you can't do anything. You can't do anything but this,
Speaker 1: but this is it. So you have to deal with
Speaker 1: those things, and it's how how you deal with them. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, you can choose to deal with them in
Speaker 1: a complaining way, in a you know, a self pity
Speaker 1: way or however you want to look at it. But
Speaker 1: you know, you have to understand and realize that you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to deal with it if this is the
Speaker 1: craft and you're chosen profession, and deal with it and
Speaker 1: try to deal with it as gracefully as you can.
Speaker 1: I mean that, that's all we can ask. Gracefully as
Speaker 1: you can, you know, because you do want to try
Speaker 1: and leave a legacy, you do, and you're not necessarily
Speaker 1: thinking about that when you first get into it, of course,
Speaker 1: you know, leading a legacy and all that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I can say that because I've been in it for
Speaker 1: so long and you know, I don't know how much
Speaker 1: longer I'll be in it, but yeah, I've been in
Speaker 1: it for a long time. I'm much older than you,
Speaker 1: and I accept that. I'm cool with it because that
Speaker 1: too is a part of life. You know, it is
Speaker 1: what it is. It just it is it is. And
Speaker 1: consider the alternative, you know, you're even here dealing with it,
Speaker 1: or you're dead or something, right, And and that's how
Speaker 1: I look at it. That's how I look at it.
Speaker 1: And I had such great mentors and great women to
Speaker 1: look up to, and I just want to pass that
Speaker 1: along as much as I can. And you know, you're
Speaker 1: just so sweet and just so love and lighting that
Speaker 1: you know you're a perfect candidate to do that with.
Speaker 1: So it's just how you deal with things because life
Speaker 1: is always going to throw you something and you never
Speaker 1: know what it is. So it's how you deal with it.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about it. Um, about it, love and life.
Speaker 1: That's what let's go down in a little bit. If
Speaker 1: you like, you know I am and I love Um,
Speaker 1: I guess what I was thinking about. Even furthermore, you know,
Speaker 1: you look at the aspect of going into radio and
Speaker 1: finding these mentors and making sure that you you deal
Speaker 1: with what it's like to be a woman in radio,
Speaker 1: and it's it's one thing, sure Lee, to say that
Speaker 1: you started in a radio to eighties. It's a different
Speaker 1: thing for it to be and you're still here now,
Speaker 1: not just so much as how radio has changed, but
Speaker 1: the dealings that a lot of people don't tell us
Speaker 1: that you have to deal with. So when you're talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, being the woman in radio, did you have
Speaker 1: aspirations where you felt like you wanted to leave at times?
Speaker 1: Like why are you here? Um? Okay, I'm here? I'll
Speaker 1: answer that first, because I'm still relevant, you know, Thank
Speaker 1: the good Lord. Um, people still want to hear what
Speaker 1: I have to say. I still mean something to some people,
Speaker 1: you know, who've been listening to me for a long time. Um,
Speaker 1: that's why I'm still here. I still enjoy what I
Speaker 1: do every day. I mean, it's fun to get up
Speaker 1: every day and have a job that you like, especially
Speaker 1: during these times. I mean this, this is considered an
Speaker 1: essential profession. So you know, I'm going to take that seriously, um,
Speaker 1: which means I have something to give. I have something
Speaker 1: to provide. You know. People have to get their information, uh,
Speaker 1: their entertainment, their laughs, their news, things like that that
Speaker 1: we provide on the Steve Harvey Morning Show. They have
Speaker 1: to get that. So that is my job. That is
Speaker 1: my job. That's why I'm still here, uh to answer
Speaker 1: you know, to answer your question. And I think you
Speaker 1: asked me where there are times when I wanted to leave, right,
Speaker 1: And it's based on just the way that you cared
Speaker 1: as a woman. I don't think that a lot of
Speaker 1: people really talk about that enough. And you may mention
Speaker 1: of handling things gracefully, you know, I think it's tough
Speaker 1: and a lot of professions for women, not just this one.
Speaker 1: When I started out many years ago, um, it definitely
Speaker 1: was a man's profession, meaning that most men had the
Speaker 1: morning talk shows, most men had the afternoons. They were jobs,
Speaker 1: they were this, and if you were blessed enough to
Speaker 1: get a job in radio, man or woman, the man
Speaker 1: still you know, made more than you, even if you
Speaker 1: guys did the same jobs and things like that. You know,
Speaker 1: that's just the way it was back then. A lot
Speaker 1: of times. It's like that now. You know, men make millions.
Speaker 1: A lot of men make millions and several hundred thousands
Speaker 1: of dollars. But you could probably count the women on
Speaker 1: your hands that make in the millions in radio things
Speaker 1: like that, or that even lead their own morning shows
Speaker 1: and stuff. You know, women back when I grew up,
Speaker 1: they may have done the midday show, or they may
Speaker 1: have been at night or something like that. But morning
Speaker 1: drive and afternoon drive is the way it was situated
Speaker 1: um then and still is a little bit now. Um,
Speaker 1: those were those were relegated to the men. That's how
Speaker 1: it was, I guess when I first started on. It's
Speaker 1: still a little bit like that now, but more women
Speaker 1: are getting their shows and more women are showing up
Speaker 1: for sure. You know, people UM want to hear from
Speaker 1: the women as well as they want to hear from
Speaker 1: the men exactly. And so thinking of that, did you
Speaker 1: ever have aspirations and do you have aspirations now of
Speaker 1: being the first chair or the lead of the show. Well,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of responsibility, um, to to be the
Speaker 1: lead of the show, and I welcome that. I don't
Speaker 1: mind that, UM. But I like it the way it is.
Speaker 1: It's cool. I like it the way it is, um.
Speaker 1: You know, I I think it kind of works for
Speaker 1: Steve and I. Um, We've been together almost twenty years.
Speaker 1: You know, I've worked with some of the greatest men
Speaker 1: in the business. I've worked with Tom Joyner, um, who
Speaker 1: um just had a stroke recently, I read and yes, definitely,
Speaker 1: And I've known Tom along very very long time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think he's recovering and uh, he's you know,
Speaker 1: he's okay. But it was it was mild, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, my prayers of course go go out to
Speaker 1: him as a colleague in the busines since as a friend,
Speaker 1: I work with the late great Doug Banks um out
Speaker 1: of Chicago. UM. So I've worked with some great people,
Speaker 1: and I was always in this in this position. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like I guess I liken it to don
Speaker 1: a a doctor, a male doctor, and a female nurse.
Speaker 1: You really know how the nurses. She could do what
Speaker 1: the doctor does, but you know she's she stays here,
Speaker 1: holds up the doctor, supports the doctor, and when he
Speaker 1: says scalpel, she passes in the scalpel because he's into
Speaker 1: what he's doing. If he reached for it, he might
Speaker 1: pick up something else. So she's there to make sure
Speaker 1: he's good and that and that's fine. I don't think
Speaker 1: it think of it as a subservient, subservient role. I
Speaker 1: just think of it as a supporting role. And that's
Speaker 1: fine with me. That's okay, and that makes sense. And
Speaker 1: I think that's where it's like one of those things
Speaker 1: that even when I heard coming up in life in
Speaker 1: the business about playing your position, and it necessarily isn't okay.
Speaker 1: You're belittle and you can't do anything more but be
Speaker 1: excellent at what you do and make sure it's your
Speaker 1: piece fits the puzzle. And I think a lot of times,
Speaker 1: like you know, being younger, coming up, you just say
Speaker 1: I want to do this, and I want to jump
Speaker 1: in this and say, wait a minute, little baby, sit down,
Speaker 1: test the water, see what it feels like, see where
Speaker 1: you fit, and then work your move. Yeah, just work
Speaker 1: your move. If that's what you want to do, then
Speaker 1: do that. And I've had my own shows before. I've
Speaker 1: definitely had my own shows. I've done. I mentioned like
Speaker 1: the midday show, the seven and midnights, I worked afternoons.
Speaker 1: I've done almost every shift in radio, come and think,
Speaker 1: every single shift, So I've done that. I enjoy the ensemble.
Speaker 1: I enjoy playing off people in different personalities and things
Speaker 1: like that. I just do it keeps you alert, it
Speaker 1: keeps it more fun. You know. Um, you get to
Speaker 1: use an array of your mental abilities, of your talent
Speaker 1: if you have any, you know, stuff like that. So
Speaker 1: I like that. It's like being at home at a
Speaker 1: dinner party, you know or something, or you know, just
Speaker 1: having friends over for dinner. I like that. I love
Speaker 1: being around people. My mom um was a person that
Speaker 1: loved company. She just loved having her house full of
Speaker 1: people and laughing and talking and cooking grape food and
Speaker 1: all of that. She loved that. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm in that way much like her, because I love
Speaker 1: being around a lot of people, you know I do
Speaker 1: now Now, I love being around a lot of people.
Speaker 1: But I may not always be the most talkative one,
Speaker 1: the life of the party like I once was, because
Speaker 1: that's what I do for a living now, so I'd
Speaker 1: rather sit back and you know, let them entertain me
Speaker 1: and she'll for a while. You want to see what
Speaker 1: I mean? Yeah, I hear you all say so with
Speaker 1: that and coming up and you realizing where your position
Speaker 1: has played. When I think of being a woman and
Speaker 1: coming up in this business, it takes a lot of work.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of guts, It takes a lot
Speaker 1: of balls, and it takes a lot of time. Time
Speaker 1: and balancing a relationship and having aspirations to have children
Speaker 1: and start a family. What's your journey been like as
Speaker 1: far as relationships, marriage, children? How do you balance it? No?
Speaker 1: Because my friend and I like we talk about that.
Speaker 1: She has a daughter and she's on a morning show.
Speaker 1: You think about childcare is sacrifice? Okay, And that is
Speaker 1: the key word that I use all the time. Um.
Speaker 1: I'll say this, um, and I said it earlier. You know,
Speaker 1: it's hard in any field, but this in particular because
Speaker 1: we are performers. In that sense, we have to give
Speaker 1: of ourselves physically to do our job. It's not heavy
Speaker 1: lifting or anything like that, but it's mental, you know,
Speaker 1: and you have to stay focused, and you have to
Speaker 1: stay alert, and you have to know what's going on
Speaker 1: in the world, and you have to, you know, keep
Speaker 1: being mindful of the clock, and you know, on all
Speaker 1: these different personalities and all of this. Then when you
Speaker 1: get off from there, then you have a husband, then
Speaker 1: you have a child, and you you know, you have
Speaker 1: all these things. So I say, for one, you know,
Speaker 1: get a good support system. And in my case, it
Speaker 1: was my mom. When my daughter was growing up, it
Speaker 1: was my mom. And that was my sacrifice because of
Speaker 1: the way I worked, in the hours I worked, I
Speaker 1: just couldn't do it. I couldn't do it, and I
Speaker 1: didn't do it. That was my sacrifice. My mom helped
Speaker 1: me raise my daughter. Um was it the best thing?
Speaker 1: I thought so at the time. I thought so at
Speaker 1: the time. I don't know now if it was the
Speaker 1: best thing, but at the time, it was the best
Speaker 1: thing for my daughter, and I made that decision. I
Speaker 1: made that sacrifice. Now, if you ask my daughter, of course,
Speaker 1: she may say something different. I missed my mommy and
Speaker 1: things like that, and that's what I'll have to live with.
Speaker 1: And that's the guilt that I carry because she wasn't
Speaker 1: there with me every day and I didn't raise her,
Speaker 1: you know, like in a normal let's say, normal household,
Speaker 1: like perhaps you were raised or I was raised or something.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that was my sacrifice that. Um my mom
Speaker 1: was instrumental in helping me raise my daughter. Now I
Speaker 1: was married at the time, but about three or four
Speaker 1: years into my marriage, um we decided to separate and
Speaker 1: eventually divorce. So and then my mom really was the
Speaker 1: only one that helped me with my daughter at the time.
Speaker 1: So when you say help, would she would take your
Speaker 1: daughter to school pick her up? What do you exactly
Speaker 1: mean by that? My mom lived in Arkansas. I lived
Speaker 1: in l A at the time. So my mom would
Speaker 1: stay like six or eight months at the house with me.
Speaker 1: Then she would take shared in with her for like
Speaker 1: four months or six months, and you know, I would
Speaker 1: go on birthdays and holidays and things like that. I
Speaker 1: don't like to talk about this because I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not proud of it, and as as a mom,
Speaker 1: I feel guilt and all moms will tell you that
Speaker 1: they feel guilt about something in their lives when it
Speaker 1: comes to their children. And this is my mom and guilt.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so that's what I mean. My mom would
Speaker 1: help me in that way. And then when Sheridan became
Speaker 1: old enough to go to school, she went to school
Speaker 1: in Arkansas, where my mom lived. And then uh, Steven
Speaker 1: in in the guy's laugh about this. Um but um, Steven, Steve,
Speaker 1: you know I've never heard author said Stephen. I was like,
Speaker 1: step this is just something that came up so once.
Speaker 1: So then Sheridan decided she wanted to come and live
Speaker 1: with me. So she was a little older now, so
Speaker 1: it was easier for me to be able to, um,
Speaker 1: you know, take care of her. I got a nanny
Speaker 1: and that was going well, and Shardon was living with me.
Speaker 1: Her father and I were thinking about, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: trying to uh see if our marriage could work again.
Speaker 1: That didn't work out. So anyway, Shardon was there and then, um,
Speaker 1: one time it was Christmas. I would always spend Christmas
Speaker 1: with them. Are our Christmas vacation and shared and decided
Speaker 1: when we went from l A back down to Arkansas,
Speaker 1: she decided that she wanted to stay. She was like, Mommy,
Speaker 1: I think I want to stay. That's exactly how she
Speaker 1: said it. And the reason I brought up Steve is
Speaker 1: because they would tease me about that all the time,
Speaker 1: because you don't cook. That's why, you know, they would
Speaker 1: tell me all about those things. They would tease me
Speaker 1: all about that. But the first thing you said was
Speaker 1: recommending a sandwich, ladies and gentlemen. But anyway, so, um, anyway,
Speaker 1: so she decided to stay, and she stayed from that
Speaker 1: point on, and she would just come back with me
Speaker 1: for the summers and I would go with her for
Speaker 1: holidays and vacations and things like that. So, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: if there's a I don't know, a black mark in
Speaker 1: my heart or something, you know that that's my mommy guilt.
Speaker 1: That is my mommy guilt because I didn't raise her,
Speaker 1: uh in a normal household. And um. But anyway, I
Speaker 1: think she turned out pretty cool. But I think I
Speaker 1: think that's amazing that you share that and you say
Speaker 1: that because you know my friend she's dealing with that
Speaker 1: right now. Like that's something that I think about, Like
Speaker 1: I can stay up all night and it's like I
Speaker 1: do need to figure out that balance because I gotta
Speaker 1: make room for what's to come, you knowlutely, and we
Speaker 1: do the best that we can with what we can.
Speaker 1: And that's the that's the thing that stood out. And
Speaker 1: I think when we talk about being a boss and
Speaker 1: being Shirley Strawberry and radio, you know that that's something
Speaker 1: that comes with the title, with the weight of being
Speaker 1: that best voice, because there's a whole life that made
Speaker 1: Shirley Strawberry who she is. And I think about the
Speaker 1: fact that humility of when people just say I want
Speaker 1: to be on there and just say I wanted to
Speaker 1: do you know what it really takes do you? And
Speaker 1: and and you know, if somebody were to veer and
Speaker 1: to look in the situation of oh, she should have
Speaker 1: been there with the child, but who's to say that
Speaker 1: you would have been the best use so you and
Speaker 1: get that to her. Absolutely, I had plenty of naysayers
Speaker 1: and people who judged me, you know, but I had
Speaker 1: a lot of support to I'm not gonna lie about that.
Speaker 1: I had a lot of support, you know, and I
Speaker 1: thank God for that too, um my mom physically. But
Speaker 1: but I have very good friends saying, you know, sitting
Speaker 1: me down and like putting their hands on my shoulders
Speaker 1: and looking me in my eyes saying, look, you're doing
Speaker 1: the best that you can right now for this baby.
Speaker 1: This baby is fine. Doesn't this baby look happy? This
Speaker 1: baby is fine. She's okay, you know, she she's fine.
Speaker 1: And and she was, she was fine. I know she
Speaker 1: missed me and I know that. But um, it is
Speaker 1: what it is. That's what happened. And you know I
Speaker 1: only had that one and I do the best by
Speaker 1: her that I possibly could do. And that's all you
Speaker 1: can ask. All you can ask, you know, that's all
Speaker 1: you can ask. I mean, life isn't perfect. You know,
Speaker 1: you get you get dealt with things that you have
Speaker 1: to deal with and you deal with them the best
Speaker 1: way you can. And with God's help, I did the
Speaker 1: best thing I could at the time. But yeah, you
Speaker 1: do you have to make and women do. We do
Speaker 1: have to make choices a lot in our lives, whether
Speaker 1: it's kids, whether it's you know, getting married, moving around
Speaker 1: you know radio, you move around a lot of radio.
Speaker 1: You move around a whole lot. You have to. Um,
Speaker 1: we don't do it as much now, but um, yeah,
Speaker 1: we moved from l A to Atlanta back to l A.
Speaker 1: But you know, uh, New York. You know, we we
Speaker 1: move around a lot. You know, these are some of
Speaker 1: the sacrifices that people don't know that you do. You
Speaker 1: have to set up in a whole new city, get
Speaker 1: a new apartment, get a new house, you know, change
Speaker 1: all your addresses. You you have to do all it
Speaker 1: started all over again. But I guess that's the journey.
Speaker 1: That's part of the process. And you've you've met some
Speaker 1: pretty amazing people and your your journeys. Oh absolutely absolutely,
Speaker 1: and and and and dating it. And I noticed like, well,
Speaker 1: you've gotten a plusthor of awards and I was on
Speaker 1: a to be there when you received your Gracie Awardeen
Speaker 1: like wow, my love and my life. But you know,
Speaker 1: with that, when you think of someone that has resulted
Speaker 1: in triumph, we have to look at anything like in
Speaker 1: the yang, whether it's life that's dark, and you know,
Speaker 1: we talk about the different things of experience and in life,
Speaker 1: whether it was you know, balancing motherhood, balancing dealing with um,
Speaker 1: working with various men and actually just stating your voice.
Speaker 1: There's another thing that I think is amazing that's part
Speaker 1: of your story that I've heard you touch on it
Speaker 1: a bit and I'm sure can save a lot of lives.
Speaker 1: Is that being a domestic violence survivor? Oh? Yeah? And
Speaker 1: when I say this, I say this in a sense
Speaker 1: of really inquiring, how can you easily find yourself involved
Speaker 1: in something like that? Because somebody can easily say, oh,
Speaker 1: you should have known better. You're supposed to be leading women.
Speaker 1: It's like, but I'm a human just like you. I'll
Speaker 1: put it like this until you know, like recently in
Speaker 1: my life, UM, I've never had a good relationship with
Speaker 1: a man. I just never did. I never did. I
Speaker 1: never had uh good self esteem. But I didn't know
Speaker 1: that that's what it was at the time. That I
Speaker 1: didn't know my self worth at the time. Um, I
Speaker 1: didn't know that. Um, you know, there was a better way.
Speaker 1: I just thought this was the way it was. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was always a pretty girl. I was always a
Speaker 1: smart girl all that. But I knew that I was
Speaker 1: cute and smart. But so what knowing it and not
Speaker 1: knowing what to do with it are two different things.
Speaker 1: You know. I didn't grow up with the dad my dad.
Speaker 1: You know, you said your dad died when you were
Speaker 1: very young, So did mine. My dad died when I
Speaker 1: was a year old. So I and my mom as
Speaker 1: beautiful as she was never remarried. That's my story. And
Speaker 1: part of that, I don't know if this is your
Speaker 1: story too. See, see we have so much alike. But
Speaker 1: part of that was because my brother he never wanted
Speaker 1: oh no, no, man could come in my house and
Speaker 1: talk to my mom without my brother being in the
Speaker 1: middle of the conversation. Literally, So she never remarried. Um,
Speaker 1: and so I never had like male role models. The
Speaker 1: closest thing I had to a dad, And I talked
Speaker 1: about that in the book I wrote a few years ago.
Speaker 1: Um was my uncle Strawberry letter book, and that's what
Speaker 1: she's talking about, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, and it was
Speaker 1: my uncle, my one of my mom's brothers. I had
Speaker 1: like seven uncles and we lived very close together. And
Speaker 1: he was the closest thing. He was the one that
Speaker 1: got me into reading and enunciating and getting into words.
Speaker 1: He was that one you know that you say if
Speaker 1: you had a male role model or a mentor. He
Speaker 1: was that for me. He would always like for me
Speaker 1: to read to him, and I didn't know what that meant.
Speaker 1: You know, here, take the paper, read this, what does
Speaker 1: that say you know all that, and so so he
Speaker 1: was that for me. But I didn't have like, like
Speaker 1: I said, my mom stayed single, so there was no
Speaker 1: man in the house. I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 1: All I knew is that when when all of her
Speaker 1: brothers and my uncles came over, they would always feed
Speaker 1: the men first. When we had big dinners and stuff,
Speaker 1: that would always make sure the men were fed. So
Speaker 1: that's the kind that's what I saw. That's the kind
Speaker 1: of a woman I was. You know, if I if
Speaker 1: I did my chance cooked dinner, I would always serve
Speaker 1: him his plate first, you know. So because that's all
Speaker 1: I knew. I didn't know anything else. So I would
Speaker 1: always get into these relationships with with They didn't start
Speaker 1: off bad, but um with bad guys because what I
Speaker 1: allowed them to do to me because I didn't know
Speaker 1: my worth and I had low self esteem. So when
Speaker 1: did you find yourself? Um in an abusive relationship? Was
Speaker 1: it just once? Was it twice? Or the guys that
Speaker 1: I dated? I met him in Chicago, and uh, cute guy,
Speaker 1: really cute guy, but just an abusive guy, just abusive.
Speaker 1: He was just abusive. It didn't start off that way.
Speaker 1: It started off we were both, you know, queue together.
Speaker 1: We like to dress, we liked fashion, we liked all
Speaker 1: of that. And then one day when things didn't go
Speaker 1: the way he thought they should go, then he started
Speaker 1: hitting on me. And then, you know, he would be
Speaker 1: so remorseful afterwards, and I believe the lie that he
Speaker 1: said that it would never happen again. It was just
Speaker 1: a vicious cycle. I mean, people who have been in
Speaker 1: abusive relationships will tell you, you know, they make you
Speaker 1: think that it's your fault. Why did you make me
Speaker 1: do that? You know, all this kind of stuff. So
Speaker 1: it's just a messed up relationship. Were you on the
Speaker 1: radio at the time, were you, Oh, yeah, I've gone
Speaker 1: to work with you know, black eyes, and I still
Speaker 1: have started, but you know, covered with makeup and stuff
Speaker 1: or dark glass or whatever. Oh yeah. And I was
Speaker 1: very very young, very young, maybe twenty two, twenty three,
Speaker 1: something like that. I was really young when these things
Speaker 1: started happening. So finally I got away from him. How
Speaker 1: how did you get away? Did you tell people? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I finally had to. It was in a scape. I
Speaker 1: told my brother. My brother said, look get out of here. Now.
Speaker 1: He helped me get out of there. Now he lived
Speaker 1: in Chicago. I was in Dallas at the time. If
Speaker 1: you don't, I will come down there and I won't
Speaker 1: say what my brother said. But anyway, yeah, that's how
Speaker 1: I did. I had to plan and escape. I had
Speaker 1: to have someone that I worked with um take me,
Speaker 1: you know, arranged to take me to the airport. I
Speaker 1: just left out the next day as if I was
Speaker 1: going to work. I packed my bags in secret after
Speaker 1: he went to sleep, because we lived together at the time,
Speaker 1: and I just said, okay, you know I am while
Speaker 1: he was still sleep. I took my bags and put
Speaker 1: them out in front of the apartment, and then I
Speaker 1: just went back in and got ready and put my
Speaker 1: clothes on, took my bags, got in the car, and
Speaker 1: went to the airport. And then when I didn't come
Speaker 1: back home that night or the next night, then he
Speaker 1: knew something was wrong. And that's how I got out.
Speaker 1: I mean, I escaped. That's the the short version, the
Speaker 1: edited version, but that's basically it. I escaped and was
Speaker 1: that was Now. You know, it's so easily that I
Speaker 1: think we can be in a seat of judgment we're
Speaker 1: not experiencing it was that the only relationship that you
Speaker 1: were in that was abusing. No, I was in one
Speaker 1: more and it didn't happen a lot, which one time
Speaker 1: is too many, we know that. But I was in
Speaker 1: one more and then I finally it's finally started clicking
Speaker 1: to me that hey, something is wrong with this, and
Speaker 1: you know, is it me? Why do I keep repeating
Speaker 1: this pattern picking the same kinds of guys? You know.
Speaker 1: So that's when I started doing so, even though I
Speaker 1: was very young, some introspection and tried to figure out
Speaker 1: what was it that I was doing. So I graduated
Speaker 1: from physical abuse to probably mental abuse, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's a cycle till finally I started
Speaker 1: valuing me, you know. And a lot of that, believe
Speaker 1: it or not, I attribute to my relationship with Steve really, yeah,
Speaker 1: because you know, we're not just we don't just go
Speaker 1: at it on the air, you know, arguing all of that.
Speaker 1: We're we're actually friends. You know, he is one of
Speaker 1: my male friends, and he considers me his only female
Speaker 1: friend that his wife allows. She knows. You know, we're friends.
Speaker 1: Were like brother and sister, uncle and auntie or niece
Speaker 1: or whatever, you know like that. So you know, he
Speaker 1: told me a lot about men and how they are
Speaker 1: are just sitting next to him. I learned a lot
Speaker 1: and how he treated his wife, and you know, hey,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, why have I'm not being treated like that?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. So then I realized, you know, hey,
Speaker 1: it's me. I'm allowing this to happen. You know, you're valuable,
Speaker 1: you, you you have words, you know, you matter surely. You
Speaker 1: know you have to love yourself before anyone can else
Speaker 1: can love you. You You know, all of those things you
Speaker 1: know that you've learned along the way, or that you've
Speaker 1: heard along the way, you actually put into practice. Now,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like something clear, and I got it,
Speaker 1: you know, I finally finally got it, you know all right.
Speaker 1: And I can imagine, like that's just when I talked
Speaker 1: to some friends and be on the outside looking in,
Speaker 1: and it's like, well, can't you see it? But you
Speaker 1: can't say that because when I've come to realize, as
Speaker 1: I've gotten older, I think I'm sort of don't make
Speaker 1: me punch you dead in your throat with love and
Speaker 1: life love, And we just started talking about talking about violence.
Speaker 1: As you've gotten older, as I've gotten as I've I've
Speaker 1: evolutionized around the sun a couple of times, I've come
Speaker 1: to realize I'm like a I can feel things and
Speaker 1: be like an EmPATH. And I was just telling a
Speaker 1: friend the other day about another friend I was with
Speaker 1: and I was around her boyfriend. I said, something isn't
Speaker 1: adding white. How just her responses, the things, how she's
Speaker 1: checking to the point she is a telling me. But
Speaker 1: I almost wanted to call her and say, if you
Speaker 1: need someone to talk to her, I'm here, yes, And
Speaker 1: then here's the thing, just like how you said that
Speaker 1: thing of where they put on remorse, like everything's okay
Speaker 1: or it's your fault. Oh, I didn't mean to. Even
Speaker 1: when he came into the room, I knew it. When
Speaker 1: I was in their place, I felt the energy that
Speaker 1: he projects on her. I was like, oh, this is
Speaker 1: the mind game. You would have felt that with me
Speaker 1: in that relationship as well. Yeah, you the woman will
Speaker 1: retreat and you know she will come I don't know,
Speaker 1: out of herself or something, you know, and become this
Speaker 1: meek little yes person. You know, are you okay? And
Speaker 1: I'm checking in and and I just feel like it's
Speaker 1: just more conversation needs to have upon that, especially when
Speaker 1: we talk about the worth and the love of yourself.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. I was looking at Mr Harvey
Speaker 1: and he was talking about his camp and he was
Speaker 1: talking about, um, you know, supporting the young man. And
Speaker 1: one of the boys said, what happens when not having
Speaker 1: the father there in that importance? But what about the
Speaker 1: young girl else who don't have a father? Because my
Speaker 1: mother gorgeous like could have any man whatever, but my
Speaker 1: father was the love of her life. I've never seen
Speaker 1: my mother with another man. I don't know what that
Speaker 1: reaction looks like. And you know, we talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: being a successful woman and climbing up there. What about
Speaker 1: the young girls that don't know where the place of
Speaker 1: a man should be. Because I've just seen a mother
Speaker 1: that just handle it and scotten it done that. I
Speaker 1: don't know how to let you in. It's not because
Speaker 1: I don't want you to do it. I didn't know
Speaker 1: that you were supposed to quote unquote do that or
Speaker 1: to realize how I need to let down my shield
Speaker 1: and let you do that. And it's not because I'm
Speaker 1: fighting you. It's the only thing that I know that
Speaker 1: has protected me to get through where I'm going through. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, as a mother of a daughter. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: and and her father, Like I said, her father and
Speaker 1: I divorced. Well, you have to make sure that you
Speaker 1: know she has as many tools. Because kids know what
Speaker 1: they see. Okay, you could tell them all day, but
Speaker 1: they go by examples of what they see in the home.
Speaker 1: So you you just have to make sure. You have
Speaker 1: to do all you can to make sure that they're
Speaker 1: as secure as they possibly can be within themselves. You
Speaker 1: have to instill in them confidency. I had no confidence
Speaker 1: growing up, none whatsoever. I mean when I say none,
Speaker 1: I mean none. Surely, how do you become on the
Speaker 1: radio with no confidence? How did you know that you
Speaker 1: were dope enough to be on the radio. You know,
Speaker 1: it sounds crazy because I just wanted it. I wanted
Speaker 1: it so badly, And you know, when I heard people
Speaker 1: on the radio, I was like, I can do that.
Speaker 1: You know, I had gone through I told you my
Speaker 1: uncle with all this reading and stuff and and all
Speaker 1: of that, was like, I can do that. But you know,
Speaker 1: you still have no confidence. I still didn't know what
Speaker 1: I was doing. It took time, you know, to develop
Speaker 1: the style. It took time for all these things. I
Speaker 1: didn't know what I was doing. I just knew I
Speaker 1: wanted to do that. That was my passion, that was
Speaker 1: what was in me to do. And you know in Chicago,
Speaker 1: growing up in Chicago, like listening to w v O
Speaker 1: N and Herb Ken and all those fabulous people, you
Speaker 1: know guy Rustis Soul that were on the radio at
Speaker 1: the time. Uh, you know, you just soaked it all in.
Speaker 1: I just soaked it all in. I listened to the
Speaker 1: radio morning, noon, and night. And I tell this story
Speaker 1: a lot too. That's one of the reasons I got
Speaker 1: so locked into radio is because you know we were,
Speaker 1: uh we were brought up so religious, I'll say, you know,
Speaker 1: handed down from my grand mom to my mom. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we couldn't listen to the radio. We couldn't
Speaker 1: listen to secular music and stuff like that. We weren't
Speaker 1: in church seven like a lot of kids were during
Speaker 1: that time, but we couldn't listen to the radio. So
Speaker 1: in the morning when my mom would leave for work,
Speaker 1: what did you think I would do? I'd have that
Speaker 1: radio blast, and girl, it was blest to droughout the house.
Speaker 1: Thank god she never got sick and came home and
Speaker 1: caught me or anything like that. But yeah, so that's
Speaker 1: how you know, That's how I got into into one,
Speaker 1: having a love for radio. But still when I got in,
Speaker 1: I didn't know what I was doing. I just imitated
Speaker 1: what I heard on the radio, you know. And then
Speaker 1: you talk to people just like you and I have
Speaker 1: developed a relationship. You develop relationships with people. They give
Speaker 1: you feedback, you know, um, they tell you, they give you,
Speaker 1: you know, criticism, feedback, whatever you want to call it,
Speaker 1: and you learn from there. You get better from there.
Speaker 1: You listen to yourself. You compare yourself to others. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people say, well, don't compare yourself, but
Speaker 1: if you want to get good, you have to listen
Speaker 1: to the greats. You have to study the great you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a big proponent of that. You have to study.
Speaker 1: You have to watch their style. You know, every every
Speaker 1: artist out here has seen someone that they look up
Speaker 1: to that they like. They may have taken a little
Speaker 1: bit from them, a little bit, you know, and then
Speaker 1: you take that all together, put that all together and
Speaker 1: develop your own style. That's just how it's done. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's how you develop confidence. And then um just doing
Speaker 1: it because I had none, I had no one instill
Speaker 1: that in me. You know, my talk about this too.
Speaker 1: My thing was I was always up and all over
Speaker 1: the place, and you know, wanting to entertain and and
Speaker 1: all of that. My mom would always say, get somewhere
Speaker 1: and sit down, a little girl. Everyone has seen you.
Speaker 1: Or she would tell me. She would say, have a
Speaker 1: seat before people say it now they say it now.
Speaker 1: She would always say get over there and have a seat,
Speaker 1: Have a seat, because she would always always tell me
Speaker 1: that because I was always up doing stuff, talking, you know,
Speaker 1: in somebody's face, you know, But I didn't know, but
Speaker 1: I learned you just so. And did you think that
Speaker 1: maybe your low self esteem or you know, in your
Speaker 1: journey let's let's look at another way and your journey
Speaker 1: of building your self confidence, did you feel as though
Speaker 1: there was something that your mother didn't provide you with
Speaker 1: or do you think this was your own Shirley journey? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I can't blame my mom. I I refused
Speaker 1: to do that because she taught me everything she knew
Speaker 1: to teach me, you know, So I'll never blame her
Speaker 1: for maybe not teaching me something. How could she if
Speaker 1: she didn't know it herself, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so I would never blame her for that
Speaker 1: she gave. She instilled in me what she needed to
Speaker 1: instill in me. Um, you know, and those things I treasure.
Speaker 1: She taught me how to be a lady, how you
Speaker 1: know those kinds because you need those things too, you know. Um.
Speaker 1: My mom went to school and graduated for cosmetology. That's
Speaker 1: what she did, and she did it extremely well. You know.
Speaker 1: That's what her whole thing was. People couldn't even get that.
Speaker 1: I wasn't that because my mom was so good at that.
Speaker 1: That's that's where her gift was. My mom was Our
Speaker 1: birthdays are one day apart. I'm and she was July nine,
Speaker 1: so we were very very similar. My mom's very creative.
Speaker 1: She could cook her behind end up. That's why I
Speaker 1: never you know, people never asked me why don't I cook?
Speaker 1: But my mom was just such a She was an
Speaker 1: excellent cook. She could cook anything. And my grandmother before
Speaker 1: her as well, So I never I was always my
Speaker 1: mom Susha. There's no way I could even try to
Speaker 1: cook with I have such a genius in the kitchen
Speaker 1: as my mom. That's not what we do. I'll just
Speaker 1: make sure that the space that she has to cook
Speaker 1: in is clean and well. She has all her equipment
Speaker 1: that I do the dish. That was my job. My
Speaker 1: job was to clean and I can clean now, do
Speaker 1: I clean? No, ma'am, because that was my job then
Speaker 1: and and that was the one reason I always wanted
Speaker 1: to get grown so I would never have to clean up.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so you know that's yeah. I will never
Speaker 1: put that on my mom because she taught me what
Speaker 1: she knew. And I think even with my mother like
Speaker 1: that was one thing just going along with you were saying.
Speaker 1: My mother was terribly shy as a child, and it
Speaker 1: was and people used to say how attractive, And because
Speaker 1: she was so shy, she didn't want to say anything.
Speaker 1: Oh you're too good. You can't say anything. You think
Speaker 1: that you're all that. And it was like a force
Speaker 1: where my mother made sure she put my sister and
Speaker 1: I into everything you had to. She was the one
Speaker 1: just like how your uncle. That was my mother. I
Speaker 1: went to a monastory school and she would read out
Speaker 1: of the book and she'd go into these characters and
Speaker 1: I'll look at her, why are you talking like that?
Speaker 1: So funny, don that's so funny, that's so funny. My
Speaker 1: mom could imitate anyone. She was very My mom saying
Speaker 1: and the choir. She had all these talents, but she
Speaker 1: was very, very shy as well. My mom was so
Speaker 1: shy that she used to stutter. My mom would stutter
Speaker 1: if she got nervous, she would stutter, you know, and
Speaker 1: people when they hear me speak, it's like, but your
Speaker 1: mom stutters, you know. And she eventually got over it,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it would come back and she just could
Speaker 1: not get those words out. But she could imitate. If
Speaker 1: she heard your voice, she would she could speak like
Speaker 1: you immediately. You know. That's just how talented she was
Speaker 1: as well. Very creative. Decorated the house all of that,
Speaker 1: and then you know, but you could never go out
Speaker 1: of the house not looking a certain way, all of that,
Speaker 1: all of that. Wait, so are you a leo? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a Leo thing because y'all know, y'all you're gonna
Speaker 1: make sure from head to tell my sister is July
Speaker 1: twenty six, and Charlotte does not play. Okay, So it's
Speaker 1: to the point, I want to feel better. I need
Speaker 1: a whole moment. Let me just do my hair and
Speaker 1: do my makeup and I will sit home and be pretty. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's so crazy, because you know how I am you know.
Speaker 1: I mean for me to even be on here with
Speaker 1: no makeup, the thing about it is is, uh, we're
Speaker 1: in COVID, we're in quarantine. But I would have put
Speaker 1: some on for you, even lashes, But I just got
Speaker 1: home right before this and I didn't have time or else.
Speaker 1: You know, I would have had the lashes on the
Speaker 1: whole nine. But surely when you're cute, you're cute, you
Speaker 1: have it. It's just something that you know you have
Speaker 1: and it's not necessarily anything that we need to put on.
Speaker 1: You just got it. Thank you and it and it's okay.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is me. It's okay. And I love that.
Speaker 1: And I just want to say, even with that, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for being transparent in that, because I
Speaker 1: think sometimes someone would look at you and say, wow,
Speaker 1: she's a wholet of a nationally syndicated radio show. Everything
Speaker 1: is fine. It's like no, when you talk about your dreams,
Speaker 1: there are different things that you gotta step over, step under,
Speaker 1: and pile through. That's the part of the journey, and
Speaker 1: that's the experience we go after. Well, let me say
Speaker 1: this to you. Don you know we know each other.
Speaker 1: We used to be in the studio quite a lot together,
Speaker 1: quite a bit together. Um, I appreciate the fact that
Speaker 1: you and I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you a compliment
Speaker 1: and do not do what you know you do sometimes
Speaker 1: don't do that. I don't want to see any water.
Speaker 1: And those I appreciate the fact that you took it seriously.
Speaker 1: You know, I think you should take your job seriously.
Speaker 1: Not necessarily you're self. You know you you should be
Speaker 1: able to laugh at yourself, but take your your career
Speaker 1: and your job and what you do seriously. That's another
Speaker 1: way to be good at it. So you didn't take
Speaker 1: this situation for granted. You prepared, You knew it was coming.
Speaker 1: You prepared. You sent me a text yesterday because you
Speaker 1: know I'm crazy and today I would be like what
Speaker 1: it was today, the interview. So you send me a
Speaker 1: text to prepare, and you know, and I like that.
Speaker 1: I respect that. Those are the ways, you know, it's
Speaker 1: sometimes those little things, those are the ways that you
Speaker 1: can grow and get better in this business. You take
Speaker 1: care of your business. You know you don't Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: anna interview show. Oh I know, Suirley, I got this.
Speaker 1: I got this. No, you took the time, you prepared
Speaker 1: that's a good thing. So I'm just giving you a compliment. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm giving you a compliment. I want you to reach
Speaker 1: your goals. I want you and this is a part
Speaker 1: of it, you know, just preparing, just saying, okay, what
Speaker 1: am I gonna what are we gonna talk about? We'll
Speaker 1: just flow, of course we're going to flow. But you know,
Speaker 1: you have some specific things in mind that you want
Speaker 1: to get out of me, and you thought about that.
Speaker 1: So that's a good thing. So I want to thank you.
Speaker 1: And it's kind of like, you know, as we wrap
Speaker 1: this up, because no, no, no, it's real. But I
Speaker 1: want to be that example because I do not take
Speaker 1: it for granted. And I know that on my route
Speaker 1: i've learned different things of not because I was arrogant
Speaker 1: and just I didn't know. And I'm just grateful that
Speaker 1: I had grace and I had people like even coming
Speaker 1: and working with you guys. I did some stuff that
Speaker 1: would have pushed the limit, and thank god I got
Speaker 1: somebody like Cat. He pulled me by the collar said listen,
Speaker 1: that's not how this rolls, and it's annoying the environment,
Speaker 1: and even coming today, surely I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: probably so nervous. And I say that to anybody that
Speaker 1: when fear comes, and it's not because I didn't know.
Speaker 1: I'm still looking at you. I admire you so much,
Speaker 1: and I want to make sure that I tell you that.
Speaker 1: I said, oh my god, I am bout to introduce
Speaker 1: Shirley Strawberry. And they said, when fear knocks left, faith
Speaker 1: answer because the fact that you took a chance on me,
Speaker 1: you took a chance out of your day. Yes, it's
Speaker 1: it's surely regardless. Yes, you are amazing. You are a
Speaker 1: regular person. But when you have somebody that comes up
Speaker 1: in the business and you look at them and you're saying, wow,
Speaker 1: I aspire to do something similar what they're doing, and
Speaker 1: you took time on me. Mm hmm, that's what this
Speaker 1: is about, exactly exactly, that is exactly what it's about.
Speaker 1: And and and that's why. That's why, because you know,
Speaker 1: I see your hunger, I see your you know you
Speaker 1: just you just have what it takes, I think to
Speaker 1: make it in this business. You want to go, you
Speaker 1: wanna do it, you want to go further. You don't
Speaker 1: want to just do what you wanna do it. You
Speaker 1: have that and you and it's okay, that is okay.
Speaker 1: It is okay, just like it's okay for me, you know,
Speaker 1: to say pretty soon, I'm probably not gonna I know,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do this for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: That's okay. So if I can whatever I can deposit
Speaker 1: in you, dear love and light, let me do that.
Speaker 1: Let me do that, and it's okay. And we need
Speaker 1: to do more of that. I had great mentors, you know,
Speaker 1: who became my friends. And it's okay. And if I
Speaker 1: can what what is this? What what does this take
Speaker 1: out of me to spend this time with you, to
Speaker 1: talk with you, to to answer your questions, to mentor you.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what we need. We have to keep
Speaker 1: that going. We have to So yeah, I mean, and
Speaker 1: that's it, pure and simple, that's just it. I don't mind.
Speaker 1: I'm having a great time. Thank you, Thank you for
Speaker 1: having me all of that. It's it's fun, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think part of that too, is I it's
Speaker 1: hard for me to look at me the way you
Speaker 1: guys look at me, if you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: it's that part is hard for me. And it's not
Speaker 1: um a false humility is it's just you know, I'll
Speaker 1: say to and it just is what it is. This
Speaker 1: is who I am, and it's what I do. So
Speaker 1: let's just do what we do. So that's how I
Speaker 1: looked at Shirley Strawberry is a real one. They're out
Speaker 1: there and let it be know Detroit, Midwest thorough You
Speaker 1: want a real one, get you a Midwest girl. We can.
Speaker 1: We can be at the debutante and handle it in
Speaker 1: the streets and everywhere in between. Okay, you know they
Speaker 1: called me to push you one on the show, but
Speaker 1: I am I'm from the south side of Chicago. Come on, wait,
Speaker 1: is there where y'all put the hot sauce on on
Speaker 1: the chips? Uh? Yes, thank you? And sometimes pickle juice
Speaker 1: and then the same pickle that you got the pickle
Speaker 1: juice from, you stick a peppermint in there and that boy. Okay,
Speaker 1: do not play with me, loving life, do not play
Speaker 1: with me. Listen, you're going to learn today. So it's
Speaker 1: what's next for you, Shirley. Is there any thing that
Speaker 1: we should look out on the horizon and how we
Speaker 1: can support you? Um? Yeah, but I can't tell you
Speaker 1: right now. I am working on something, something pretty big,
Speaker 1: I am, but I can't tell you anything. I wish
Speaker 1: I could, but I can't. I I'm just scanning. I
Speaker 1: can keep it secret my T shirt. I'll look at
Speaker 1: my T shirt. Can you see that? Oh stop, Strawberry Letter.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, Ladies and gentlemen, that's says Strawberry Letter. Okay,
Speaker 1: and it has a strawberry dipped in something chocolate. Yeah, okay, Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: well they can if someone wants to support you. You
Speaker 1: do have a Strawberry Letter book out now, right? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been out for quite a while. Um. Um, I
Speaker 1: have two more books to to write, but I haven't
Speaker 1: gotten into those yet. Um. I haven't written them yet,
Speaker 1: but they're in my head as soon as I get
Speaker 1: them out. You have two more, two more, I haven't
Speaker 1: done them. Can we still purchase the Strawberry Letter book
Speaker 1: that's out now? I think it's on Amazon. I think
Speaker 1: it's still on Amazon. Yeah. Let's come out for quite
Speaker 1: a while. You may even get it for like little
Speaker 1: or nothing. Now. The book is amazing. It is a bestseller.
Speaker 1: Be sure to check on Amazon the Strawberry Letter Book
Speaker 1: by Shirley Strawberry. Get Inspired, Get Real, Talk, Girl to
Speaker 1: girl conversation. Okay, that's amazing And is there anything else?
Speaker 1: So whom ever's listening is that you would want someone
Speaker 1: to know? What when Shirley Strawberry is gone and and
Speaker 1: and decides to hang up the headphones and cut off
Speaker 1: the mic. I know what do you want to know?
Speaker 1: Your more years left on? Don't let it. I know
Speaker 1: you're coming up, but wait a minute now. I will
Speaker 1: be on the gig tomorrow unless the Lord says something else.
Speaker 1: But under said, when it's all said and done, like,
Speaker 1: what else is there next? Is there anything you would
Speaker 1: want somebody to know that happened to catch you on
Speaker 1: the Vitamin D podcast? May I just say this that
Speaker 1: you talked about a deposit. I consider myself a life
Speaker 1: bank account expert. Will you make deposits into your life
Speaker 1: bank account? And you're your greatest asset? So what kind
Speaker 1: of deposits a liability? So when you said deposit, you
Speaker 1: deposited to me today, queen, and I thank you for that,
Speaker 1: the Queen of Urban a C Radio. If you don't know,
Speaker 1: you will learn today. Okay, that's so sweet. Well, John,
Speaker 1: I love you. I thank you for having me on
Speaker 1: your show. Um, I think you'll be a great success
Speaker 1: on your show on your podcast, which is just radio. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's just a radio show. You know. People think it's podcast,
Speaker 1: it's something you know, otherworldly. It's a radio show, people,
Speaker 1: it's a radio show. And you're going to be fine
Speaker 1: at it. You're going to be wonderful and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: because you do your homework and and that's basically all
Speaker 1: it is. And you have confidence and you have a
Speaker 1: passion for it, and you know how to dig deep
Speaker 1: and get good stuff. You know you'll be fine. Yes,
Speaker 1: dig d dig seven my nails don and like whoever,
Speaker 1: I just you know, I got my eyebrows done for you,
Speaker 1: just for you, because I said I'm not gonna not
Speaker 1: step up here with eyebrows. Not done with Shirley Strawberry.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the hot mess. That's a lie looking good.
Speaker 1: But thank you so much, so welcome than for having me.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, and I wish you
Speaker 1: all all all the peace, the blessings and the love
Speaker 1: and the light. Keep shining, girl, keep shining. Yes, dreams
Speaker 1: come true. You just heard Janesis baby girl talk to
Speaker 1: a legend and radio. So don't tell me that it's
Speaker 1: not possible. Whatever you want know that it's yours for
Speaker 1: the taking. Be bold with the desires of your heart.
Speaker 1: You deserve that, and just like Drake said, no yourself,
Speaker 1: know your worth and watch how your life can go
Speaker 1: from zeo to one hund real quick. Let's go. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining me on this episode of Vitamin D
Speaker 1: and tune in every Monday for inspiring conversations to help
Speaker 1: you get excited about your lying well. Listen for your
Speaker 1: dough survivamin D. I want you to follow me on
Speaker 1: all social media at dawnte speaks. That's Dawn d a
Speaker 1: I speaks on all social media. Until next time, always
Speaker 1: remember you are your greatest asset.