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Speaker 1: From day one carry I knew it was a mistake.

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Speaker 1: I broke out, my face was covered in bumps, my

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Speaker 1: hair started thinning and falling out. Um, and I knew

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Speaker 1: the first day I had made a mistake. But it

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Speaker 1: wasn't until nine eleven, when the twin Towers were hit

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Speaker 1: that year, while I was sitting in class, that I said,

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Speaker 1: all right, I gotta live. Those are the wise words

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Speaker 1: of my girl. Um, A leader in very many ways,

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Speaker 1: a visionary Felicia Butterfield Jones, Co President at the Recording Academy.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy this edition of Naked. Every Champion and carry Champion

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Speaker 1: is to be a champion, a champion and carry champion

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Speaker 1: and carry chapiyon Champion and carry Champion and carry Champion.

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Speaker 1: Sports and entertainment can Naked work in the world of

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Speaker 1: vulnerable considerably. Come and remove the veil from entertainmous elite.

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Speaker 1: It's a difference between what it's real and with the

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Speaker 1: public seas. So here's your favorite celebrities behind the scenes.

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Speaker 1: It's refreshing. Then the whole story specific life, all to

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Speaker 1: rendevents to shape the person that you here. We gotta champion,

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Speaker 1: they carry champion, They girl, you did it it's the

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Speaker 1: greatest sports and entertaining connected with very Champion. They carry

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Speaker 1: champions to be a champion of Champion. They carry Champion,

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Speaker 1: and they Girl City Kota Champion, they carry Champion. They

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Speaker 1: carry Champion. Afraid of su Sports and then the Taming

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Speaker 1: Cannaked Wi you all know. Before I jump or dive

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Speaker 1: rather into today's guest, which is a really good friend

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Speaker 1: of mine who I love, and Admyer, who I think

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Speaker 1: is super amazing in many many ways. Felicia Butterfield Jones.

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Speaker 1: I got news and notes. News, I'm fine. Notes, take

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Speaker 1: note because I'm staying fine. Now take that those are

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Speaker 1: the news and notes. But you can put that in

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Speaker 1: there for you. You know, this week we still are

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Speaker 1: watching many both deal with what I have talked about

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Speaker 1: in the past few weeks, obviously Row versus Wade being overturned,

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Speaker 1: and most recently what has been going on with the

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Speaker 1: insurrectionist hearings, the January six hearings, and people are now

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Speaker 1: realizing that the former president was crazy, and not that

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Speaker 1: we didn't know that, but other people from different walks

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Speaker 1: of life who may only watch Fox News are like, oh, okay,

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Speaker 1: this man was crazy. This just in which we already knew. Uh. Nevertheless,

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Speaker 1: I chune not to focus on that. When I give

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Speaker 1: you my news and notes, I want to talk about

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Speaker 1: BT weekend in l A. We're just coming off, you know,

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Speaker 1: the ET weekend here in Los Angeles, and I'm heading

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Speaker 1: to Essence as I record this, And by the time

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Speaker 1: you hear this Essence, the music festival, all of it

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Speaker 1: will have come and gone, and people will talk about

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Speaker 1: the weekend. I can't tell you who did an amazing

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Speaker 1: job at the concert. I'm here for Janet Jackson, I'm

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Speaker 1: here for Tim's I'm here for New Edition. I'm here

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Speaker 1: for Nikki. I mean when I tell you this festival,

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Speaker 1: and I m for getting some greats right now. But

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Speaker 1: when I tell you this festival, it's going to be crazy.

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Speaker 1: I'm too excited to be there. But more specifically, I

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Speaker 1: am here because are there. Rather I get to interview

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Speaker 1: one of my heroes, as a woman by the name

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Speaker 1: of Stacy Abrams. She will be the next governor of Georgia,

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Speaker 1: and that will be a historic moment. And everybody that

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Speaker 1: I know in the state of Georgia, and if you

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Speaker 1: don't know somebody in the State of Georgia, even if

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Speaker 1: you kind of know somebody in the state of Georgia.

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Speaker 1: Let these folks know that is your next governor. So

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Speaker 1: I get to interview her. I get to sit on

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Speaker 1: a panel with a really good friend of mine, Tiffany

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Speaker 1: cross Um. I am also interviewing Michael Eally and his

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Speaker 1: cast because he has a new movie out. And this

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Speaker 1: is what I love about usin It's in New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: It's a beautiful music festival and if you have not been,

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Speaker 1: make the trip. It is worth it. It is a

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Speaker 1: celebration of who we are. It is a celebration of excellence,

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Speaker 1: and it's also just a beautiful experience. I'm currently dating someone,

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Speaker 1: so I can't tell you if, in fact I might

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Speaker 1: need a boom, but you know, you know kidding if

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Speaker 1: you're listening, all right, So on to today's guest, Felicia

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Speaker 1: Butterfield Jones. She has an inspiring story. Many of you

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Speaker 1: know her, and I've met a lot of women who

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Speaker 1: know her because they participated in her Weien Academy, which

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Speaker 1: we discuss um and it's just highlighting women around the world,

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Speaker 1: giving them their flowers, encouraging them to do what they do,

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Speaker 1: a wonderful mentorship program. Some of the graduates are amazing. Um,

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Speaker 1: and then a lot of you know her because of

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Speaker 1: her political affiliation. Her father is a congressman. Her family

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Speaker 1: she comes up by the way, by by way of background,

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Speaker 1: I like, let me keep it a bunk like. That's

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Speaker 1: her family. She comes from a political family, daughter of

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Speaker 1: Congressman G. K. Butterfield, politician Gene Farmer Butterfield. She is

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Speaker 1: a leader because she grew up leading. She talks about

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Speaker 1: this inset podcast. Now, let's be clear, She's always wanted

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Speaker 1: to work in music. So I think it's beautiful as

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Speaker 1: I've watched her career trajectory. She was an unpaid intern

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Speaker 1: for a while for Woutang and then she moved on

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Speaker 1: to do so much more. And I want to make

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Speaker 1: sure I got that right. It was Oh no, it

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Speaker 1: was for Russell Simmons. She was an unpaid intern for

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Speaker 1: Russell Simmons at one point. But her story of how

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Speaker 1: she hustled is absolutely amazing. And now here she is

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Speaker 1: co president at the Recording Academy. At the Recording Academy,

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Speaker 1: let me be clear, let me not talk over that.

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Speaker 1: Get your notes, get your not even your notes, get

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Speaker 1: your pen and paper and take notes is what I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to say, because this is an education, Welcome to

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Speaker 1: Felicia Butterfield Jones to Nate, I would look at you

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Speaker 1: and say words to describe you. Professional, beautiful, elegant, seemingly

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Speaker 1: has it all right, and no one does, but you do.

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Speaker 1: You carry yourself with this genes aqua that suggests I

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Speaker 1: I don't know if I should be here with you people,

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Speaker 1: but I'm gonna hang because you guys need my elegance,

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Speaker 1: but not in a bad way. But let me just

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Speaker 1: upgrade the room. Let me just tell everybody how great

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Speaker 1: I am, um, and it's a beautiful thing to witness,

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Speaker 1: especially as a Brown woman. I really, I really admire

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Speaker 1: what you have been able to accomplish. But I have

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Speaker 1: to get the genesis story. You grew up in a

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Speaker 1: political household, tell the listeners what that looks like. And

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Speaker 1: in your family? More about your family? Well, first, carry

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Speaker 1: I can't start this conversation without first just honoring the

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Speaker 1: queen that you are. And I w we throw the

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Speaker 1: word queen around a lot, but truly, to be in

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Speaker 1: your presence is to be in the presence of greatness

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Speaker 1: and royalty and I and I mean that when I

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Speaker 1: say that like you elevate every room and I feel

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Speaker 1: like I'm at your energy when I'm in. And I mean,

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Speaker 1: and so it was an honor to even be invited

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Speaker 1: to have this conversation, but more importantly to just be

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Speaker 1: a community with you. And when I think of the

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Speaker 1: power community, the cap power of being a black woman

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Speaker 1: in twenty two, I'm reminded of just you know, exactly

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Speaker 1: what you just said. My upbringing, my family. I grew

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Speaker 1: up in a small town in North Carolina that you've

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Speaker 1: probably never never heard of. It's Wilson, North Carolina, to

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Speaker 1: two parents who were and are elected leaders. My dad's

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Speaker 1: a United States Member of Congress. Before that, he was

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Speaker 1: a judge, a Supreme Court judge. My mom served in

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Speaker 1: the North Carolina State legislature. But with a lot of

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Speaker 1: people don't know is that my grandfather was the first

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Speaker 1: black elected official in the state of North Carolina post reconstruction.

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Speaker 1: And so I didn't know that. Yeah, a lot of

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Speaker 1: people don't know that. And so when I say, you know,

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Speaker 1: politics and service runs deep, it's all I know. And

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Speaker 1: so yeah, that's how it all began. I mean, I remember,

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Speaker 1: you know, people knocking on our doors, ringing our doorbelt.

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Speaker 1: Two am wanting advice, wanting support, wanting you know, or

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Speaker 1: just meeting things that our family fortunately was able in

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Speaker 1: a lot of cases and times to provide. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, the service part of what I do is

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Speaker 1: not at all lip service. It's real and it's something

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Speaker 1: that is just a core value for me. So and

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Speaker 1: I know that. And we'll get into the work that

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Speaker 1: you've done in the community, the thousands of lines you've changed,

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Speaker 1: the many people that you've honored with your former academy

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Speaker 1: ween And but when you say someone's knocking on the

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Speaker 1: door in the middle of the night in this town,

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Speaker 1: how small is this town that you speak of? And

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Speaker 1: what kind of help were they looking for when they

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Speaker 1: came knocking on the door? So, but sides, we're talking,

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Speaker 1: you know, maybe in the city forty thousand, maybe in

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Speaker 1: the county seventy thousand. But you know, if you do

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Speaker 1: the math on that, we're talking in the eighties and nineties,

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Speaker 1: when I grew up, the population of black folks right

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Speaker 1: that looked like us was was relatively small, and so

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Speaker 1: we all knew each other. I mean, I couldn't go

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Speaker 1: on a date or go to the store without you know,

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Speaker 1: my parents getting five phone calls about oh, she's with

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Speaker 1: that boy, or she's she's over here. And so it's

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Speaker 1: a very small town, and so what it looked like

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Speaker 1: what we're just people right from from neighbors to you know,

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Speaker 1: kids that I want to school with their parents just

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Speaker 1: saying my son was just wrongfully incarcerated. Can you help?

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Speaker 1: Like things like that? And so I remember vividly still

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Speaker 1: right getting those calls and and hearing those knocks on

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Speaker 1: the door, and never once then my parents say no,

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Speaker 1: not once. I can't recall a moment that my parents

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Speaker 1: said no, but instead they went right to action to

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Speaker 1: do what they could. Growing up like that, knowing that

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Speaker 1: that was service was just a part of what you

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Speaker 1: all did. It wasn't it wasn't it was just life.

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Speaker 1: It was life, brushing teeth, washing face and service. When

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Speaker 1: did you realize that that's what you did instinctually, without

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Speaker 1: without even being hold Oh, that's a good question. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's funny because I know I said the

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Speaker 1: word service, but as I like really sit with the word,

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Speaker 1: it felt less like service, right because we're talking about

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Speaker 1: people like us, right, It's like, um, like it's it's

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Speaker 1: our people, and so instead of service. It felt more

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Speaker 1: like a responsibility, like there was there was no option. Right.

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Speaker 1: You can't be a person that cares in your community

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Speaker 1: and see people that look like you going through a

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Speaker 1: different experience than you are and you not feel this

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Speaker 1: deep sense of responsibility to do your part. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, for me, I think I don't know the

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Speaker 1: day to be honest, carry it was just so inherently

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Speaker 1: a part of my DNA. It's just how I showed

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Speaker 1: up in life. Right, It never clicked for me. It

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Speaker 1: was just a part of how I operated and how

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Speaker 1: I navigate through spaces. Just I do remember this is

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Speaker 1: a funny story. I don't know. This is the first time.

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Speaker 1: I remember in fourth grade, Um, the song super Woman

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Speaker 1: was out. If you look it up, you'll see there

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Speaker 1: was a Superwoman and a song that was a big,

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Speaker 1: big R and B hit. And I remember in fourth

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Speaker 1: grade they're being like this tension between the boys and

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Speaker 1: girls at school, and I remember, if you call my friends,

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Speaker 1: Tiffany Green is one. UM. In fourth grade, I organized

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Speaker 1: the meeting on the playground of the girls in school,

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Speaker 1: the black and brown girls in school, and we had

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Speaker 1: a meeting and I said, all right, we're gonna start

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Speaker 1: the meeting off by singing Superwoman. I'm not joke, Oh no,

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Speaker 1: oh no, And so we're seriously and then we had

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Speaker 1: like I had an agenda and we had a meeting

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Speaker 1: about what the girls were gonna do to stick back

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Speaker 1: our power and so, you know, I mean stuff fourth grade.

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Speaker 1: In fourth grade, I was like, can we exchange lunch

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Speaker 1: a boles like you up here, like let's gather, Oh,

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Speaker 1: let's gather our edgine and get to it. But I

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Speaker 1: do remember that random fourth grade example. But it's just

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Speaker 1: it's just what we do. Oh man, well that is

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Speaker 1: a beautiful thing because I could see that anyone knows

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Speaker 1: you was like that sounds right. Yeah, fourth grade? Perhaps

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Speaker 1: second grade? You just for getting a memory. Um. So

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Speaker 1: then you you have this and it's not, um, well yeah,

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Speaker 1: maybe it is. Maybe you have this this calling on

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Speaker 1: your life. It's evident you have this family that's doing

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Speaker 1: remarkable things, and you are set aside, you're set apart.

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Speaker 1: When you walk in the room. They know who your

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Speaker 1: father is, they know who your mom is, they know

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Speaker 1: who you are. UM. I have this funny story one time.

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Speaker 1: I remember talking to Roland Um one time and I

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Speaker 1: didn't know he knew you, but but everyone knows that

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Speaker 1: rolland Martin shouts rolland Martin, who knows everybody? Sorry, I'm

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Speaker 1: talking very casually to the folks listening. And I was like,

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Speaker 1: you know my friend Da da Da. He was like,

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Speaker 1: excuse me, do I know her? Yes? I do? Do

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Speaker 1: you know her? And he had to give me the

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Speaker 1: whole history, like he was like getting gathering me because

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Speaker 1: I wasn't giving it its respect. And I was like,

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Speaker 1: that's a beautiful thing. So here you go through how

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Speaker 1: school probably again just set apart. People know who you are,

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Speaker 1: you have, you have it in your sphere to help others.

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Speaker 1: And you get to Clark and and you decide when

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Speaker 1: you graduate from high school and you interer college, what

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Speaker 1: is it that's the dream job? What is it that

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Speaker 1: you think you want to do that's easy? I want

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Speaker 1: to be a music executive. I mean from probably that

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Speaker 1: same age, four fifth grade, I knew so clearly that

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Speaker 1: I wanted to work in the music business. But it

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Speaker 1: felt like a real dream, like an unattainable dream. And

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Speaker 1: so I literally chose Clark Atlanta University because it was

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Speaker 1: hot Atlanta freak Nick Era so so tiff Right Era

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Speaker 1: where you know, you had to move to Atlanta if

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Speaker 1: you wanted to work in the music industry and be

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Speaker 1: taken seriously. I mean that was a fact. Right. It's

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Speaker 1: kind of like l A now Atlanta still too, but

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Speaker 1: at that time we're talking nineties six, right, you if

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Speaker 1: you wanted to make it a music you had and

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Speaker 1: moved to the A. And so I remember telling my

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Speaker 1: parents this elaborate story. I'm I'm on a very serious

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Speaker 1: law school track. I planned to enroll at Clark Atlanta

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Speaker 1: University and major in political science, which I did, and

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Speaker 1: I got to Atlanta, and I mean it, I hit

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Speaker 1: the ground running. I mean there was nothing and no

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Speaker 1: one that would have stopped me at eighteen years old

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Speaker 1: in nine to work in the music industry. But me,

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Speaker 1: I knew if it didn't happen, it would it would

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Speaker 1: be my own, like my own doing and so so

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Speaker 1: so it started then. It's early as fourth and fifth grade,

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Speaker 1: and eighteen was like the window in Atlanta for me

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Speaker 1: to go get it. So what does that look like

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Speaker 1: you get to Atlanta, girl? Because I lived in Atlanta,

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Speaker 1: and I would like to tell you that when I

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Speaker 1: got there, I was focused. I lost all focus. It

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Speaker 1: was too many black folks, too many five men around.

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I'm glad I am kind of

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Speaker 1: an adult because I was out there. I was like, oh, Atlanta,

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Speaker 1: I love it, I love it. I love it. So

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Speaker 1: here you are in college and you're about to be

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Speaker 1: in the music industry with your que self. So was

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Speaker 1: there was anyone? Were there any work done? It was

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Speaker 1: because okay, so um eighteen, young single, ready to get

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Speaker 1: in the Atlantage party give me and didn't successfully. But

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Speaker 1: but I knew to stay right if I like, I

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Speaker 1: had my eye on the end goal, which was the

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Speaker 1: land a job. Right, So for sure I was in

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Speaker 1: the parties. I was for sure outside dating, living my

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Speaker 1: best life, doing what we do. And and still I

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Speaker 1: knew my end goal and end game was to land

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Speaker 1: a job. And so I remember the end of my

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Speaker 1: first semester at Clark. You know, I've convinced my parents

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Speaker 1: that I'm on this very serious law track. And I

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Speaker 1: walked physically carry miles and miles and my siles to

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Speaker 1: the Wu Tang store because Wootang clan biggest group in

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Speaker 1: the world at the time, had a store on Peachtree

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Speaker 1: Street in Atlanta. And I walked from let's say two

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Speaker 1: pm to six pm to go give my best elevator

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Speaker 1: pitch to them on why they should hire me on

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Speaker 1: the spot. Wow, that happened. Bud flipped. So I'm telling

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Speaker 1: my age right, this is ninety so no cell phone,

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Speaker 1: no uber for you, Like just four hours. I'm walking.

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Speaker 1: I'm walking until I get to this address on Peachtree Street.

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Speaker 1: And I did and the door was locked. They were

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Speaker 1: done for the night. I broke down in my cheap

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Speaker 1: outfit on the ground on the sidewalk crime hysterically because

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Speaker 1: one now evening to the doors are closed. So I

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Speaker 1: feel like I played myself and three like, who do

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Speaker 1: you think you are? You from Wilson, North Carolina, out

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Speaker 1: here trying to work for Wouchang clan. And so in

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Speaker 1: my mind, in that moment, I felt like I was

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Speaker 1: basically chasing up pype dream and I'll never forget in

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Speaker 1: that moment, trying to figure out with tears in my eyes,

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Speaker 1: what I was gonna do. I walked back like I

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Speaker 1: gotta figure it out, and I stayed there and I

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Speaker 1: was like, I'm just gonna wait until someone comes. And

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Speaker 1: I was willing to wait until the next day, and honestly, care.

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Speaker 1: In less than thirty minutes, someone came down and opened

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Speaker 1: the door to leave open the locked like lights out

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Speaker 1: store to leave, and I gave my best elevator pitch

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Speaker 1: and I was hired on the spot. Oh I got

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Speaker 1: that story gives me chills. Oh my god, I love

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Speaker 1: this story. Well here stuff like that, no more me.

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Speaker 1: I I'm here at the age when I get the hustle,

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Speaker 1: like I'm walking, I'm doing whatever it takes to get

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Speaker 1: whatever it takes. And that's okay. Yeah. So this is

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Speaker 1: before sliding the d m s going to LinkedIn and

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Speaker 1: like a meeting Scott even like it was hardcore hustle

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Speaker 1: and and finally Lin the wrong. So when was it

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Speaker 1: that opened the door, and what was the job? The

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Speaker 1: guy's name, God, she'd take me back twenty three years.

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Speaker 1: I think his name was Mecca. I hope I'm getting

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Speaker 1: that right. I'm sorry if you're out there and i'm

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Speaker 1: getting your name wrong. But he managed them and opened

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Speaker 1: the door, and I remember, you know, he was just

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Speaker 1: walking out to leave for the evening, and I remember

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Speaker 1: kind of dusting myself off standing up again. Right, this

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Speaker 1: is after a four hour walk at night, and I

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Speaker 1: looked you know, you know, And I basically said, he yeah, disheveled,

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Speaker 1: and I said, I'm in Atlanta for college. I want

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to work for for you. I'm willing to

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Speaker 1: do it for free as an unpaid intern. I just

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Speaker 1: want a shot to prove to you why I should

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Speaker 1: work for Wouchang Klan. And he said, he said, tell

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Speaker 1: me more about yourself. Do you have a resume? No,

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Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have a resume. I have no

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Speaker 1: job experience other than working for footlocker in high school.

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Speaker 1: But I can promise you no one is going to

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Speaker 1: work harder than me. And he said, I'm doing better

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Speaker 1: and hired me on the spot with pay, and so

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Speaker 1: that I worked for there for over a year and

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Speaker 1: literally became kind of like the promotion assistant and really

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Speaker 1: found my way from that first opportunity. Um, now first

348
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Speaker 1: and foremost, we're are in our way. So we get

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Speaker 1: the job. We're going to be a music executive. It

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Speaker 1: only makes sense the first job I go after, I

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Speaker 1: get And so how quickly did you learn? Because one

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Speaker 1: thing I've noticed that some people's emotional i Q. I

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Speaker 1: hire people a lot and they don't have the emotional

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Speaker 1: i Q to live in the world they think they

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Speaker 1: want to live in. They don't read the room. They

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Speaker 1: don't understand how there is a persistence waiting outside for

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Speaker 1: six hours high and then there is a need to

358
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Speaker 1: know to pull back right, like you're going too quick.

359
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Speaker 1: You're going too quick. And I used to get scolded

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Speaker 1: all the time for that. Like when I would want

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Speaker 1: to follow reporters around, like local news reporters here now,

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Speaker 1: literally here now that are still working. I used to

363
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Speaker 1: be like, can I follow you around? They'd like, chill out,

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Speaker 1: a little girl, But I was just so excited. What

365
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Speaker 1: did you learn right away? Uh, in this position that

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Speaker 1: you obviously didn't necessarily have experience for. But he liked

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Speaker 1: your he liked your hustle. I would say I learned

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Speaker 1: three things. The first is to never be too big

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Speaker 1: for the small jobs. Like I would will literally in

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Speaker 1: my Toyota camera drive to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport and pick

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Speaker 1: up d B, d um O, d B and method Man.

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Speaker 1: I mean literally, and they would pile into my Toyota

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Speaker 1: camera and I would drive them wherever they needed to go. Right.

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Speaker 1: Things like that hilariously beautiful and amazing. My dad still

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Speaker 1: has that car. By the way, no who you are

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Speaker 1: the seat today my dad still has that car by

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Speaker 1: the way. Um. But but that's what I would do

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Speaker 1: in my navy blue Toyota camera, do airport pick ups,

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Speaker 1: coffee runs. I mean, whatever needed to be done that

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00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,400
Speaker 1: was of course within of the role I would do, right,

381
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Speaker 1: And so there was that never be too big for

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Speaker 1: the small jobs. Um. The second thing I learned was

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Speaker 1: probably to just it only takes one yes, but you

384
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Speaker 1: ought to go get it right. And and so often

385
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: we were so sad and devastated by the nose. But

386
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Speaker 1: it just takes one ye. And then the last thing

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Speaker 1: I'll say that I learned is that, and this is

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Speaker 1: unpopular opinion, but you have to listen more than you

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Speaker 1: speak when you're starting out, right. I I was so

390
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Speaker 1: aware that I didn't know what I was doing that

391
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,159
Speaker 1: I had to be a sponge, like you said, Like

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Speaker 1: I literally had to immerse myself in the environment and

393
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Speaker 1: learned the landscape before I could contribute in a way

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Speaker 1: that was unique. M hm. And so the sponge and

395
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Speaker 1: the listening more than I spoke, again unpopular opinion, right,

396
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,480
Speaker 1: but not in a way that you ran, but in

397
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Speaker 1: a way that you're just observant enough to know, all right,

398
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 1: here's my opening and here's how I add value. Okay,

399
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 1: first of all, that is a word even to this day,

400
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 1: even in the beginning, even to this day, like even

401
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 1: every position you take, every new role I get, every

402
00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 1: new show I do, I should be listening to what

403
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 1: the hell is going on? Even though I know it

404
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:23,040
Speaker 1: never that to me, that last bit of advice never changes. Okay.

405
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Speaker 1: So I don't want to jump, I'm picking forever. I

406
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:26,560
Speaker 1: don't want to jump. I don't want to jump ahead,

407
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 1: but I'm jumping ahead. Uh. So you you get this gig,

408
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,680
Speaker 1: you graduate from Clark Atlanta, and when you graduate, what

409
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,000
Speaker 1: is Because there are so many people, especially with my

410
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: my my foundation, these girls are like, I gotta have

411
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,880
Speaker 1: a job. So was a graduate. I gotta make money.

412
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: I gotta like no one wants to enjoy the ride.

413
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Speaker 1: And realize that you're not gonna be myself included when

414
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 1: I graduated. You're not gonna make this money. You're not

415
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,400
Speaker 1: gonna have this nice title right away. Get the experience,

416
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 1: get the fin experience. So you graduate from Clark and

417
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 1: what are we doing? Are we managing Michael Jackson? Yet?

418
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Speaker 1: Are we? What are we doing what are we doing?

419
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,600
Speaker 1: Workhe prison at the time heavyweight champion of the world,

420
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 1: and you know, how do you get how did you

421
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 1: get that gig? There was so there were a few

422
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: people in my life at the time. Shawnee Jackson is one,

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00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 1: and you may know Shawnny, but Shawnny worked vanished um

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Speaker 1: Mike at the time, and they hired me just as

425
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 1: an assistant kind of office manager um She and Robin

426
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: um So, Shawnny and Robin hired me at the time,

427
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:24,920
Speaker 1: and I worked for them for about a year for

428
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,880
Speaker 1: Mike Tyson and graduation came for Clark, and I remember,

429
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:35,640
Speaker 1: and this goes back to fear and confidence, every insecurity

430
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,680
Speaker 1: that I had in that moment. And at this point,

431
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 1: I had four years of working in some sort of

432
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 1: entertainment space crept in still and it said, there's no

433
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 1: way you're gonna do this for real right after graduation.

434
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,359
Speaker 1: There's no way you're gonna have a real career with

435
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,920
Speaker 1: longevity in the space. And you need to get focused

436
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 1: and get serious. This is what I'm telling myself and

437
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: my parents at the time, and go to law school

438
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: and so out of continuing my job and my career

439
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: in music, and entertainment. I quit and I went to

440
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,159
Speaker 1: law school for a year. M hm. Now do you

441
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: know what do you like? Do you know what incredible

442
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,880
Speaker 1: confidence you have to have to walk away from something

443
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 1: that you love and adore and not worry about what

444
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 1: people say. Now, if it would have been at this

445
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: time of social media, would you have felt like you

446
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,679
Speaker 1: had to prove yourself? Because I feel like then everybody

447
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 1: didn't have to You didn't have to announce what the

448
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 1: hell you were doing. You don't have that. I deal

449
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: with that now. At the time, you're college students still right,

450
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 1: it's expected, and graduation you may make a sudden pivot

451
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 1: or move. So at that time with social media, I

452
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 1: don't think that it would have been as big of

453
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 1: a deal because I was so much more interested in

454
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 1: pleasing my parents and wanting to make them proud. Okay,

455
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 1: But then, yeah, and at that stage, going to law

456
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 1: school would do that. Oh, they were the because they've

457
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: ever been. I mean it was the law school. It

458
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: was the law school they attended in the college where

459
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 1: they met, so they were happy. So you go to

460
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,440
Speaker 1: law school? Is it what you want? From day one?

461
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 1: Carry I knew it was a mistake. I broke out,

462
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,760
Speaker 1: my face was covered in bumps, my hair started thinning

463
00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: and falling out. Um, and I knew the first day

464
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,959
Speaker 1: I had made a mistake. But it wasn't until nine eleven,

465
00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: when the twin Towers were hit that year, while I

466
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: was sitting in class that I said, all right, I

467
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: gotta live and I walked away after that year. But

468
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,879
Speaker 1: nine eleven actually happened while I was sitting in law

469
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 1: school in a contracts class, and we watched the second

470
00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:47,680
Speaker 1: Tower get hit. For true story, we watched the second

471
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: Tower get hit on TV, and I made up my

472
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,120
Speaker 1: mind that day that I was gonna leave, Yeah, yeah,

473
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 1: and do what, go to New York and follow my dreams.

474
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,679
Speaker 1: That was it. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm already nervous.

475
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,639
Speaker 1: I know the end result, but I'm nervous. This is

476
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,640
Speaker 1: her whole story I'm going through. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. Okay,

477
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 1: so we're quitting. So we got to meet the call.

478
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,800
Speaker 1: I'm nervous. So we call our parents and what do

479
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 1: we say. I'm nervous. I already know what happens. I mean,

480
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 1: you seem to work out, you seem to get your stuff. Together,

481
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: but I'm nervous, so we called dad, we called the congressman.

482
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:32,399
Speaker 1: Now I don't I live, I said, Mom, Dad, I

483
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 1: have a clerkship with the judge in New York. We're

484
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: gonna go up to New York for the summer and

485
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: sleep at Sabrana's house on her couch and work for

486
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: this judge for the summer, and I'll be back for

487
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: my second year of law school. Okay. So I went

488
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,640
Speaker 1: to New York. I went to Sabrana's house in Brooklyn

489
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 1: Crown Heights, to the exact uh, slept on her couch,

490
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,320
Speaker 1: and she said, girl, what are you gonna do? And

491
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 1: she worked for Court TV at the time as a producer,

492
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,359
Speaker 1: like a production assistant. She was just ahead of me.

493
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,880
Speaker 1: And I thought to myself, surely I'm going to find

494
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 1: the job, allright, have a pous degree, I have one

495
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: year of law school. I know a couple of people now.

496
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: And it took six months for me to finally land

497
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,360
Speaker 1: my first job, and my parents were done. They cut

498
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,960
Speaker 1: me off financially. They said, I've made the biggest mistake

499
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 1: of my life. Everyone in law school, including the dean,

500
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,840
Speaker 1: blowing up. You know, the phones just trying to find

501
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: me and locate me. True story, and I was up

502
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,000
Speaker 1: in New York trying to figure it out. Chills. I

503
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 1: love this story. We need a lifetime movie. Okay, this

504
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: is the part where you can, you know, fast forward that.

505
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 1: But in fifteen, fifteen, fifteen or thirty whatever it is,

506
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 1: commercials are coming up. Your girl has to be paid.

507
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 1: But so they're here forgive me. I give you guys

508
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 1: this direction every week on the other side of the break,

509
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 1: Felicia Butterfield, Every champion and care every champion is to

510
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 1: be a champion, a champion and carry chappion and carry

511
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: chapiyon a chappion and carry Chappion and carry Chappi and

512
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 1: sports and then the same make and make it work

513
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 1: very chappion and carry champion is to be a champion,

514
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: a champion. They carry Chappi and they champion. They carry

515
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 1: Chappi and they carry Chappi and listen. These commercials get

516
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 1: on my nerves to thank you for fast forwarding through them,

517
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 1: and welcome back to Felicia Butterfield Jones. I understand the

518
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 1: weight of disappointment from people you care deeply about, and

519
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,440
Speaker 1: I understand the pressure of feeling like you need to

520
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 1: succeed because you've always been ahead of the game your

521
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,240
Speaker 1: entire life. You know, first in class, when you're in

522
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 1: high school, class president, all the things, all the titles

523
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: you get that say this kid is gonna do something,

524
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 1: this kid is going to be special. So then you,

525
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: by the way, there's nothing more important than past and

526
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,280
Speaker 1: knowing what you've been called to do. So I say

527
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 1: that hands down. So I I'm nervous because you gotta

528
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: tell your parents, but I already know you obviously kicking

529
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,080
Speaker 1: ass now. So then you get your first job, you

530
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 1: called them up, You're like, yo, this is what I'm doing,

531
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 1: and they say, uh, So, we talked to the d

532
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: N of the law school and they agreed for you

533
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: to spend a year, take a year off, and if

534
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,719
Speaker 1: it doesn't work out for you, which we don't expect

535
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: that it will, that soon you're able to return back

536
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 1: to law school. And it was like, I'm taking the stomach,

537
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 1: like they don't even believe in me. What am I doing? Right? Yeah?

538
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,880
Speaker 1: So you know, I think for me. It started in

539
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 1: New York with a company called the Girsh Agency, an

540
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: agency that represents a lot of big actors and actresses

541
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 1: and talent. That was an unpaid internship. Um, I'll tell

542
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 1: the story fast. There was an older agent there who

543
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 1: just saw me like busting my butt for free. I

544
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 1: was the first person there, last person to leave every night.

545
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: You know the story, every person's grind. And one day

546
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: he said, Hey, I heard about a role at HBO

547
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,760
Speaker 1: that you'd be great for. Would you consider taking on

548
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: the role. And I was like, I'll interview for it.

549
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: Four interviews later, A land a role at HBO Sports

550
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 1: Boxing because of course I have boxing experience at my

551
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 1: resume because of my Jason and said as my work

552
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: room make yeah, huh so HBO Boxing. I'm reporting to

553
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: the president of the group, and my first stand role

554
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 1: he was let go. He was no longer with the company,

555
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: and so that I was foundering around HBO Sports trying

556
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: to figure it out, and finally I landed with Carrie Davis,

557
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,680
Speaker 1: who to this day is a friend and mentor and

558
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,800
Speaker 1: Carry Davis was the president UM soon after of HBO Sports.

559
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: He's now I think at Howard University running their sports program.

560
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 1: But Carry was the one that really guided and mentored

561
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: me UM until I was able to land the next role,

562
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 1: which ended up being with def Jam Enterprises and um

563
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: Russell Simmons Organization in Music Restbance seven years and so

564
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: that was kind of like the Jrgue Carrie. But honestly,

565
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many nights and mornings I

566
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 1: cried I heard the work. I've probably heard no, no

567
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: exaggeration two hundred times, three hundred times before I even

568
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: got the Girci Agency. Yes for an unpaid interns because

569
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,320
Speaker 1: everyone And then it's interesting because everyone's not entitled. Everyone

570
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 1: thinks they are. I don't know, I you and I

571
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: have of that same school. Like I said, we grew

572
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,960
Speaker 1: up the same way in terms of like nothing is given,

573
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: everything is earned. Nothing I can't easily go and knock

574
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,200
Speaker 1: on your door because Lincoln helped me out. Everything is

575
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,040
Speaker 1: so much more convenient nowadays. And while that's great, it

576
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: still takes away from that work ethic, like I'm still

577
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 1: hustling no matter what, and the beauty of your career.

578
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: As I look and I'm going down my research, shout

579
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,440
Speaker 1: out to Payton Wilson, little young brown girl on the team,

580
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,680
Speaker 1: and she's doing her hard work. Good for her. But

581
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 1: I'm looking at all the research and as you're telling

582
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: me this. I know. I'm like, okay, okay, this is

583
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 1: the HBO storry, Okay with the president. Okay, I gotta,

584
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 1: I gotta um. But I noticed how you've been able

585
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 1: to vacillate and not even in a bad way. But

586
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 1: it's very few people who have a skill set that

587
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 1: works in different industries. You have been able to go

588
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 1: from sports from Mike Tyson, to music to tech to

589
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:39,440
Speaker 1: um obviously politics, like you've lived in every world at

590
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: a high level functioning. What is the skill set that

591
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 1: you have that allows you to go from working what

592
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: Russell Simmons for however many years? And I get now

593
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 1: because he was a lot of these people are politically connected.

594
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,320
Speaker 1: But then you know, you obviously have your parents background

595
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 1: where they were you know obviously politicians still are. How

596
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 1: did you get to Obama? How did you become the

597
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,480
Speaker 1: national Youth Vote director for the for Obama administration? Is

598
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 1: campaign twelve? Uh? And and live in that world? How

599
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 1: where did that come from? Where you still at Russell

600
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: Simmons place, living in Chilling and working with him not

601
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 1: his place per se because he's canceled, But you know

602
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: what I mean, I know the office of you have

603
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 1: something to say a blink, but if you don't, we'll

604
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,160
Speaker 1: move on. I met like, how are you working with Russ?

605
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 1: And I and I know Russ, so I I say

606
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,160
Speaker 1: that in jess I say that jess Um. I'll tell

607
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:35,320
Speaker 1: you exactly how it happened. I'm in my office one

608
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 1: day on Seventh Avenue and I got the call from upstairs.

609
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,239
Speaker 1: We had two floors on the forty two floor. Three

610
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: floor called and said, hey, you know, we can't make

611
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,640
Speaker 1: it to this event tonight for um um and a

612
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,000
Speaker 1: politician in the city. Can you go? And I said, sure,

613
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 1: why not? So I go to this event, I mean

614
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,120
Speaker 1: not prepare Jane sneakers, whatever. And I show up up

615
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,520
Speaker 1: and I'm introduced that night to as freshman senator from Illinois.

616
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 1: He was open for the for the evening that no

617
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: one was talking to. So we're in this car dealership,

618
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 1: you know, fundraiser type of political event. I'm walked over

619
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 1: to this guy that again no one is talking to,

620
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: and it's Barack Obama and we were introduced. In that moment.

621
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,920
Speaker 1: We had a five minute conversation about hope and change

622
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 1: and you know, the direction of our country and needing

623
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 1: the entertainment industry more involved and driving change. And I said,

624
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 1: all right, well, here's my card. Let's definitely talk and

625
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,840
Speaker 1: figure out, you know, ways to support youth engagement for

626
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 1: the upcoming election. Had no idea that he was even

627
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,520
Speaker 1: interested in running for office in that moment, five minute conversations.

628
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,520
Speaker 1: Sure Enough, a few months went by and I got

629
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 1: a call from a gentleman named Rick Wade, who ended

630
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 1: up working for President Obama's campaign, and he said, Hey,

631
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,400
Speaker 1: we're really trying to get young people activated. You know,

632
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,080
Speaker 1: we know that you know a lot of people. Oh,

633
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 1: you work in the music space. Could you help us

634
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 1: in the first person? And I said, yes, I volunteered

635
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:08,919
Speaker 1: again unpaid. Now I have this fancy job in music.

636
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,520
Speaker 1: Still volunteered unpaid for um Barack Obama's campaign. Again. This

637
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 1: is when no one I thought he could win. I mean,

638
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 1: this is like month one, month two of his campaign

639
00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:22,840
Speaker 1: and no one was really into it. Or I shouldn't

640
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 1: say that, no one yet. No, but you didn't. It

641
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,239
Speaker 1: didn't pop yet. I know what you're talking about. Then

642
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,320
Speaker 1: one day you were like, oh, this is possible. I

643
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 1: get what you're saying. And I remember picking up my

644
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,799
Speaker 1: phone one day. There you can call them and asked them,

645
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 1: and I called Randy and Maverick and I said, Hey,

646
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: there's this guy, hey, that I'm volunteering for named Barack Obama.

647
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:47,239
Speaker 1: He's a freshman senator from Ohio, from Illinois. He's um

648
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 1: really a real serious contender, but we have to get

649
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:53,799
Speaker 1: behind him. And Ohio is a key battleground state, as

650
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:58,640
Speaker 1: you know, would you consider participating in a rally in

651
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,719
Speaker 1: Akron or Cleveland? Justice when he went by engaged and

652
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,600
Speaker 1: they said yes, shout out to my Everick Carter and

653
00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 1: Ernie ramos Ak, Randy go ahead. It was it was

654
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,799
Speaker 1: Arnie right right, It was Ernie Kay. Ernie pulled up.

655
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 1: Randy pulled up in a pickup truck with Lebron Town

656
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,960
Speaker 1: Center in Cleveland for this rally that we were hosting.

657
00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 1: And there were just a couple hundred people there. And

658
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 1: they were the first to say yes to me when

659
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:32,640
Speaker 1: I was volunteering unpaid for at the time Senator Barack Obama.

660
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 1: And so long story short, he won the election. Um

661
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 1: the night before the election, we were all in North

662
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:40,560
Speaker 1: Carolina and he said, you know, we're gonna call you

663
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 1: if this happens, and sure enough I ended up getting

664
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: the call once he was elected as the first black

665
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 1: president of the United States. And so the lesson here

666
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: for me is one, your relationships really matter. Just be

667
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:59,000
Speaker 1: good to people. Um. The second is again, never to

668
00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 1: be too big for the small jobs. I volunteered for

669
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 1: free because I just believed that this senator from Illinois

670
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,319
Speaker 1: could make it. And I need to take I need

671
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 1: to take a moment because I'm getting so full off

672
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:19,600
Speaker 1: this story. You literally are at the ground, I mean,

673
00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: the foundation of our first black president. You're working like

674
00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:27,200
Speaker 1: foundational steps for our very first black president because there

675
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:30,280
Speaker 1: will be more. And you just talked to this freshman senator.

676
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 1: Nobody was chatt when you're like what what what? What like?

677
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,600
Speaker 1: And he saw it and he knew it, and he

678
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,600
Speaker 1: was impressed and he knew you had it, Like does

679
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,600
Speaker 1: that I give you chills? And it was genuine. I

680
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:44,840
Speaker 1: didn't know and and nor did I expect anything in return.

681
00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 1: If I didn't get the call, I was okay with that.

682
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,800
Speaker 1: You know why go back to this beginning of this conversation.

683
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,399
Speaker 1: If y'all listening, she has services in her blood. That's

684
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: all she knew. And that's where you really get the blessings,

685
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,840
Speaker 1: because it's genuine, it's authentic, like you've been doing that

686
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 1: and it wasn't anything in return when they knocked on

687
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,120
Speaker 1: your parents doors at one thirty in the morning, which

688
00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 1: I need, we go help, we mobilize, you need help

689
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 1: or mobilize. There's such a beautiful group of women and

690
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,320
Speaker 1: men that we know, like we we obviously run in

691
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:17,799
Speaker 1: the same world, but there are so many of us

692
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 1: who have so many wonderful connections that can really change

693
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 1: the world. And when I hear you tell the story

694
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,879
Speaker 1: and you talk about Maverick and Ernie and Randy rather,

695
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,319
Speaker 1: I love this because you see how it all comes

696
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 1: full circle and their success and what they've been able

697
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 1: to achieve in your success and what you've been able

698
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 1: to achieve. And I'm just so blown away because it's

699
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 1: all in the family. It's all in the family. Oh,

700
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,560
Speaker 1: in the family and Carry. It's not transactional. These are

701
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 1: real at all, right, These are not contacts. It's not

702
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,720
Speaker 1: networking relationships, right, Like I know if I ever needed

703
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,719
Speaker 1: to call you Carry, I could and same here and

704
00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,400
Speaker 1: and with zero expectation of anything in return. Same thing

705
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:04,279
Speaker 1: with Randy, and like they didn't want anything back. They

706
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,760
Speaker 1: were just being good people. Who believe in a vision.

707
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 1: And so I think you know, now we've as a

708
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:15,720
Speaker 1: society have become so focused on like networking, deal making

709
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 1: and figuring it out, and it's like, no, just be

710
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,480
Speaker 1: good people who contribute to the world into this universe.

711
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:26,040
Speaker 1: And I promise you was gonna come back tenfold. Okay,

712
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,239
Speaker 1: crazy story, I go. I have so much to say.

713
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 1: We ain't got, we ain't got. Two hours would be

714
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,759
Speaker 1: to our podcast. We're gonna do part two later where

715
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 1: you said we could. But well, so let's go to

716
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 1: Naked after Dark. I don't know, we'll call that then

717
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,000
Speaker 1: in between all the things, because we can't just do

718
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:47,239
Speaker 1: one thing, and I will I will say this. You

719
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,239
Speaker 1: mentioned these things like they're not a big deal. But

720
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,840
Speaker 1: I hope you understand that you do sit back because

721
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,040
Speaker 1: I feel like I do that too. I accomplished things

722
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 1: and it's just check check check check check, check, check, check,

723
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,479
Speaker 1: che che check, next check, next check, next check. Okay,

724
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,279
Speaker 1: I did that, that's great, Yeah, no, check check. I

725
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 1: really just relish and what has been accomplished or what

726
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 1: is happening or where I've come from. And that's so

727
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 1: that's unfortunate, right, that's the part I don't like. So

728
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,279
Speaker 1: that's why I'm here to praise you, because this is

729
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,160
Speaker 1: a beautiful I literally have chills. This is a beautiful story. Now,

730
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,400
Speaker 1: in between a being being great, you create this wonderful

731
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: Academy two thousand and seven, I believe is when you

732
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,319
Speaker 1: created WEEN. I know, right, it's a little shout out

733
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:28,440
Speaker 1: to we Let me pour a little out for the

734
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: home because I'm drinking rose. You at work, I don't

735
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:35,440
Speaker 1: know what you're doing. I think you know. Okay, good, okay,

736
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:38,440
Speaker 1: So tell everyone about WEEN. In the process of changing

737
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 1: the world, you decide what. So once I finally broke

738
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,880
Speaker 1: into the music industry in New York, I looked around

739
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,680
Speaker 1: and I said, it should not have been this hard.

740
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,279
Speaker 1: Why was it this hard to work for free? And

741
00:40:55,440 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 1: so all the way? Um, and so that's little really

742
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:03,080
Speaker 1: how we began which stands for the Women in Entertainment

743
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 1: Empowerment Network. And it was just me and three friends

744
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,800
Speaker 1: in my one bedroom apartment in New York, UM, saying

745
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 1: to ourselves, you know now that we're in right, we

746
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:15,319
Speaker 1: all worked in music, we all have found our our

747
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,480
Speaker 1: space and music and TV. And we said, let's just

748
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:20,759
Speaker 1: make it a little bit easier for the for the

749
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 1: next generation. And so we started this organization, a nonprofit

750
00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:29,640
Speaker 1: focused on access and educating the next generation of young

751
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,759
Speaker 1: women leaders. And and keep in mind I was not

752
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:35,440
Speaker 1: by title a boss yet, right, Like I'm still in

753
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:38,560
Speaker 1: a cubicle at the time, not making a lot of money.

754
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,239
Speaker 1: But I felt again the sense of great responsibility to

755
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,799
Speaker 1: make the path a little bit straighter and a little

756
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,040
Speaker 1: bit easier for the next generation. So eighty six thousand

757
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:53,520
Speaker 1: women went through the program. Uh, there's a placement rate

758
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:57,239
Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry of over eight Gia Pepper's and

759
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 1: bear Alone, Dias and you name it, Um Courtney Whittaker.

760
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:04,640
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many amazing women who we know

761
00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,600
Speaker 1: now is our peers by the way they started, who

762
00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:11,280
Speaker 1: started in that program. And so I'm really really proud

763
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,399
Speaker 1: you started to have the Ween Awards and they grew

764
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,239
Speaker 1: into something very special and you honored so many people.

765
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:18,759
Speaker 1: I am grateful to be one of them. But the

766
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:21,320
Speaker 1: year that I went and I was honored, I was

767
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,840
Speaker 1: really blown away at the level of black excellence that

768
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,320
Speaker 1: was there. And I was just like Felicia's ownership, like

769
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 1: this is this is again the relationships. It's not networking,

770
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:34,800
Speaker 1: it's relationships, truly caring about people. I cannot emphasize that

771
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,799
Speaker 1: enough cause because you're so right, because you meet people

772
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,560
Speaker 1: in passing and it depending on your mood or your day,

773
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,880
Speaker 1: you never know what that means. But remember that might

774
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:45,320
Speaker 1: be a relationship you want to foster, and however you

775
00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:47,000
Speaker 1: want to foster it. It doesn't have to be girl,

776
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:48,960
Speaker 1: let me call you every day, or guy, let me

777
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,879
Speaker 1: reach out to you. And it's just if the world's work.

778
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:53,920
Speaker 1: Hey Carrie, I'm working on something. I think you'd be

779
00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,600
Speaker 1: grateful it. Hey, Alicia, someone asked me, it's a real

780
00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:02,799
Speaker 1: life story Maryann Williamson who ran for president right, which

781
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 1: was a different you know, in right not for say

782
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:08,200
Speaker 1: what you want, but it was bold of her to

783
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:09,719
Speaker 1: even do it as a woman. It was a very

784
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 1: full crowded field whatever um. And so I bumped into

785
00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 1: I have I read all her books before she ran.

786
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:16,799
Speaker 1: I read all her books, and I thought that there

787
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,319
Speaker 1: was things there about her that made sense, but things

788
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:21,920
Speaker 1: that just didn't make sense for obvious reasons. And so

789
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:23,719
Speaker 1: I bumped into her own a plane. This is a

790
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,240
Speaker 1: true story, and she's talking to me about different people,

791
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:28,800
Speaker 1: and I was like, you know, you should meet my

792
00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 1: friend Felicia. I said that just in passing, I mentioned you,

793
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:35,880
Speaker 1: I mentioned Natasha Brown, I mentioned um, who else did I?

794
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:38,439
Speaker 1: Who else did? I? Oh? My friend Aaron who works

795
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:39,840
Speaker 1: for it. It's just a bunch of women that I

796
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:41,880
Speaker 1: thought she could talk to just in life as she

797
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:47,239
Speaker 1: was seeking advice about what's next. And it's true relationships,

798
00:43:47,239 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 1: because that's how I see you, and you you live

799
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 1: in this world and I'll text you about that after this,

800
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:55,279
Speaker 1: and you live in this world and I watch you

801
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 1: just change everything, and it's just excellence upon excellence upon excellence.

802
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,200
Speaker 1: So then I bum been to bump into you at

803
00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:04,840
Speaker 1: a dinner or a luncheon. Maybe the essence was it?

804
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 1: The essence black woman in Hollywood might have been Netflix.

805
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:12,440
Speaker 1: It I don't know you were contemplating black women. Yes

806
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:16,400
Speaker 1: it was, but you were contemplating a job change. So

807
00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:20,040
Speaker 1: at the moment, I don't think you were at Google yet.

808
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,080
Speaker 1: But you have been offered a very or you have

809
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:25,800
Speaker 1: been entertaining a high profile job in sports. You do

810
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:28,800
Speaker 1: you do? You know what I'm talking about? You? I

811
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:31,160
Speaker 1: do remember? Can we talk? Can we talk about that?

812
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,280
Speaker 1: And how we ended up at Google and if if

813
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,960
Speaker 1: my timeline is off, correct me, it might be a

814
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,800
Speaker 1: little off. Uh no, it is a little off. But

815
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,319
Speaker 1: but but the meat is right right, the meat is there.

816
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:44,719
Speaker 1: And and you know it's crazy because I remember, I've

817
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:51,440
Speaker 1: received a few really big CEO level offers now from

818
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:55,760
Speaker 1: big brands one or that you mentioned, and I've turned

819
00:44:55,840 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: them down or not continue the conversation, because my peace

820
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 1: means so much more to me now than any check

821
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:06,800
Speaker 1: or title that I've ever had. And I fought so

822
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:11,040
Speaker 1: hard in life to be in a space now where

823
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:15,480
Speaker 1: I can say no, right, I think about those I've

824
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,719
Speaker 1: heard in my life. Yeah, I have freedom and the

825
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:25,319
Speaker 1: agency two of choice. And it feels so good, right.

826
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:27,719
Speaker 1: And it's not that I don't need the money I do.

827
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:31,440
Speaker 1: I'm not rich. You know, I can't stop working today.

828
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 1: I need all my bars, I need all my bread

829
00:45:33,600 --> 00:45:39,480
Speaker 1: and baskets, go ahead, and revenue strings, but not at

830
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,600
Speaker 1: the extent of my peace. And so I let me

831
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:47,399
Speaker 1: get my red come please, because yeah, we won't put

832
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,480
Speaker 1: this on. They won't. They never had me sipping which

833
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 1: a little part we're us. It is just this little party,

834
00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:05,239
Speaker 1: I can us hilarious. It's it's called living. This life

835
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:13,440
Speaker 1: that we live. Okay, so you really you've turned down

836
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:15,520
Speaker 1: a lot of positions, which I know because you know

837
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:19,279
Speaker 1: what it would require, it would require, what it would do.

838
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:23,680
Speaker 1: I ask questions now and interviews like what level is

839
00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:28,400
Speaker 1: the most senior ranking black person in your organization? Literally

840
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 1: feel the energy change and they're like, let's get back

841
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,200
Speaker 1: to you on that. I mean, I asked now, right,

842
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:36,799
Speaker 1: and I asked like those difficult questions that I didn't

843
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,600
Speaker 1: have the confidence to ask before because I just wanted

844
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:46,200
Speaker 1: it so bad. And so you can remove the expectations

845
00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:48,719
Speaker 1: when you can move back to your earlier point, care

846
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,160
Speaker 1: about like what people would think or say, like, you know,

847
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:53,960
Speaker 1: the role I have now is amazing. I feel happy,

848
00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:58,160
Speaker 1: I feel poured into I feel valued, and I've had

849
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 1: roles that are way bigger in idle right, we like

850
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,759
Speaker 1: would blow y'all's minds, like if I took that thing,

851
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,440
Speaker 1: and as I've said no, because again, I'm in a

852
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:12,840
Speaker 1: space in my life in my forties now where I

853
00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:16,480
Speaker 1: refused to live my life unhappy. I don't want to

854
00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:17,880
Speaker 1: get up every day and go to a job that

855
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:19,839
Speaker 1: I don't enjoy. I don't want to take a check

856
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:22,520
Speaker 1: when I know I have people breathing down my neck

857
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,759
Speaker 1: that don't respect and value me, and so I feel

858
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 1: so blessed and well right, and I know I earned

859
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 1: it right and now I've earned the right to say

860
00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:37,719
Speaker 1: no unapologetically. You are saying the right things, but you

861
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:42,200
Speaker 1: also believe them. People can't People can't understand why you

862
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,279
Speaker 1: walk away from what seems to be the great for

863
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,800
Speaker 1: something that doesn't have that big as big platform or

864
00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:50,239
Speaker 1: big title. And it's it's exactly what it is. You

865
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:52,799
Speaker 1: don't respect me, you don't value me. Why sit here

866
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:57,480
Speaker 1: and pretend like I'm valued or respected? Who wants Let's

867
00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:01,239
Speaker 1: not play games? Right like in life in love like

868
00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:06,279
Speaker 1: like and in life like people will guilt you until yes.

869
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:09,120
Speaker 1: People will shame you into a yes, or they'll just

870
00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:10,840
Speaker 1: make you feel like you should have some sense of

871
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:15,200
Speaker 1: loyalty and gratitude for even having the opportunity to work

872
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:18,640
Speaker 1: with them or be with them. And it's actually know

873
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:24,160
Speaker 1: with the exclamation point, it's a hard no. Okay, it's

874
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:27,400
Speaker 1: a hard no now and and and and without like

875
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: without like with with confidence were not arrogance, It's just

876
00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:37,520
Speaker 1: I know my boundaries now, perious. That is a beautiful

877
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:41,080
Speaker 1: place to be. I think where I'm at is I

878
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:44,040
Speaker 1: agree with you one co sign you know you see

879
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:47,960
Speaker 1: me do it co sign. I think that what I

880
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 1: don't like doing, or what I don't like feel I

881
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 1: don't feel like doing, is explaining that to anybody. I

882
00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 1: almost feel like if you don't get it, you don't

883
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:56,399
Speaker 1: get it, and you won't get it till this time.

884
00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:59,359
Speaker 1: It's one of the things that you can't explain to people, like, well,

885
00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 1: what happened and I want to explain it. You won't

886
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:03,640
Speaker 1: get it until you get there. And by the way,

887
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,520
Speaker 1: getting to that point is a blessing. It's a blessing

888
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 1: to say no, thank you, I'm going to choose me

889
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:14,479
Speaker 1: and do something else like that is a blessing. People

890
00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:16,480
Speaker 1: don't even have that luxury because they're not that one

891
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:20,880
Speaker 1: it desired or qualified. And I still like, Okay, So

892
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,120
Speaker 1: in twenty six you're at Google Global Head of Women

893
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:29,279
Speaker 1: and Black Community Engagement. Well ended, we all inclusion, for

894
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:32,320
Speaker 1: all inclusion for the whole bland. Okay, so tell me

895
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:34,239
Speaker 1: give me the exact title at Google? What was it?

896
00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:39,080
Speaker 1: Global head of Inclusion. So you take this gig and

897
00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:40,920
Speaker 1: I think I remember talking to you being like, do

898
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:43,560
Speaker 1: you have to move up north, up north as in

899
00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:46,880
Speaker 1: northern California, did you have to What was your commune

900
00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:49,319
Speaker 1: like now? It started in New York and then they

901
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:53,000
Speaker 1: allowed me to transfer to the l A office about

902
00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:56,240
Speaker 1: three years and I was there for almost five years. Okay,

903
00:49:56,880 --> 00:50:00,960
Speaker 1: New York in l A, but with teams across Asia,

904
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:06,280
Speaker 1: APAC AMIYA out in London, parts of Africa, in Latin America,

905
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:08,200
Speaker 1: and in the US, so I had a huge global

906
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,600
Speaker 1: team across the world. But I was based in the

907
00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:13,560
Speaker 1: final years in l A. What were you able to

908
00:50:13,719 --> 00:50:15,640
Speaker 1: implement why you were there that you were like, this

909
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:19,359
Speaker 1: is the I'm accomplished. I'm accomplished something that that That's

910
00:50:19,400 --> 00:50:21,719
Speaker 1: why I came here to do this. There were a

911
00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:24,279
Speaker 1: lot of things, but one of the things that I'm

912
00:50:24,320 --> 00:50:28,040
Speaker 1: most proud of was the State of Black Women um Summit.

913
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 1: For the first time ever, I convened all black women

914
00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,560
Speaker 1: employees from across the globe in one room, first time ever.

915
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:37,920
Speaker 1: And so we're talking at this time. I think it

916
00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:41,839
Speaker 1: was around women again, all black women employees in one

917
00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:44,439
Speaker 1: room who had never met or even heard of each

918
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:46,960
Speaker 1: other before. And we brought in our girl Elaine Well

919
00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:48,600
Speaker 1: to Roth and we brought in a lot of great

920
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:52,239
Speaker 1: speakers and just made it amazing. And what I'm most

921
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,080
Speaker 1: proud of is not only did I UM co founded

922
00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:57,640
Speaker 1: UM with with a few other women, but it's still there,

923
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,600
Speaker 1: so they're actually gonna have a big event essence in

924
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,560
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks and so it's still alive and breathing.

925
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:05,840
Speaker 1: But there were a lot of things we did, you know,

926
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,920
Speaker 1: Laftina's at Google. We did a lot of programs that

927
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,400
Speaker 1: came out of it. But I'm most proud that that

928
00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:13,920
Speaker 1: was a program that I was able to do for

929
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:16,880
Speaker 1: women that looked like me in a space where we

930
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:21,160
Speaker 1: felt at times very alone and like we marked m hmm,

931
00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: that's beautiful. Look And by the way, that's when did

932
00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:28,120
Speaker 1: you When did you implement that program? Oh that was

933
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:33,920
Speaker 1: probably and by the way, eighteen years too late, whenever

934
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:36,880
Speaker 1: the hell Google started. Just but it's beautiful and it

935
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:38,920
Speaker 1: took you to come in and do it, like you're

936
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:40,680
Speaker 1: still like it's still too late, but I'm gonna do

937
00:51:40,719 --> 00:51:42,120
Speaker 1: it anyway, you know what I mean, Which is a

938
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:46,480
Speaker 1: beautiful thing. These first ever black moments, I don't say

939
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:48,320
Speaker 1: I I really I really have a hard time celebrating

940
00:51:48,480 --> 00:51:52,479
Speaker 1: the first black president of the Washington Commanders. I can't

941
00:51:52,480 --> 00:51:55,560
Speaker 1: celebrate that in I can't celebrate that in one. I'm

942
00:51:55,600 --> 00:51:58,560
Speaker 1: just like, are we still doing that? Yeah? No more. First, like,

943
00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:02,759
Speaker 1: let's it's just the way. It's normal, it's just what

944
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:05,680
Speaker 1: it is. So then you have this wonderful job that

945
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,480
Speaker 1: you have now. And the thing about you that I've noticed,

946
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:13,520
Speaker 1: even when you make your announcements, they're always done with

947
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:17,120
Speaker 1: this humility and class and it's not overstated. It's just like, oh,

948
00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:19,960
Speaker 1: by the way, here, you just take a look, it's

949
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:23,200
Speaker 1: my thing, it's the mission. Let me just trap that here.

950
00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:24,960
Speaker 1: Just you guys, go ahead and just do what you

951
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:26,920
Speaker 1: want with it. And I love that and I and

952
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,080
Speaker 1: I actually have learned from you from that. It's like

953
00:52:29,239 --> 00:52:31,520
Speaker 1: it doesn't always need to be announced. So oh yeah,

954
00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:35,000
Speaker 1: but by the way, like that's so gangster. You don't understand, Like,

955
00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:38,160
Speaker 1: you get a dope as job and you announced it beforehand.

956
00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:40,399
Speaker 1: You're like, what about I announced it a month in? Hey, guys,

957
00:52:40,440 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 1: I have been busy, but he a little busy y.

958
00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:53,120
Speaker 1: I Oh, absolutely, it's on purpose and it's brilliant. So

959
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:56,720
Speaker 1: tell everyone this new position that you you have wanted,

960
00:52:56,960 --> 00:52:59,480
Speaker 1: you want you actually grace them with your presence. In

961
00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:04,520
Speaker 1: twenty you said, Okay, So I serve now as the

962
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:07,600
Speaker 1: co president of the Recording Academy, which is the home

963
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:10,840
Speaker 1: of the Grammy Awards. I'm the first black woman to

964
00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:14,360
Speaker 1: serve in the role UM as co president. I work

965
00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:17,560
Speaker 1: for an amazing boss. His name is Harvey Mason Jr.

966
00:53:17,600 --> 00:53:20,600
Speaker 1: Who's the CEO, and the co president has eightpen a

967
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:24,239
Speaker 1: and it's a vibe, like a real vibe. You know,

968
00:53:24,719 --> 00:53:27,560
Speaker 1: the Grammy's have been around for sixty five years, and

969
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:31,920
Speaker 1: I feel like the energy and the new legs of

970
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:35,920
Speaker 1: you know, the right person at the right time who's

971
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,719
Speaker 1: just like really driving big, major change the things like

972
00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:42,759
Speaker 1: an inclusion writer we developed for the first time ever

973
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:44,960
Speaker 1: in our sixty four year history and implemented it for

974
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,080
Speaker 1: the Grammy Awards this year. So if you saw the show,

975
00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:51,120
Speaker 1: you saw things like the most inclusive Grammy Awards you've

976
00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:54,000
Speaker 1: ever seen. You saw nis performing, and you saw women

977
00:53:54,640 --> 00:53:57,920
Speaker 1: on stage, and you saw stage ramp for UM creators

978
00:53:57,960 --> 00:54:02,440
Speaker 1: with disabilities on display. I mean all of that boiled

979
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,840
Speaker 1: down to an inclusion writer that I helped develop and

980
00:54:05,040 --> 00:54:07,320
Speaker 1: introduced for the first time ever, and just lots of

981
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:09,959
Speaker 1: things like that, and so, um, I'm in a good,

982
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:13,560
Speaker 1: good space right now, and back to music right my

983
00:54:13,680 --> 00:54:16,759
Speaker 1: first love. It feels good and it feels good to

984
00:54:16,840 --> 00:54:18,920
Speaker 1: be in a president role because I've always been in

985
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:22,359
Speaker 1: the diversity space and the youthure space. So now I'm

986
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:26,480
Speaker 1: overseeing a big, big, big part of the organization. So

987
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:29,080
Speaker 1: I'm growing and learning and expanding a lot in the

988
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 1: process too. Well, I this she was Grammy as well.

989
00:54:32,160 --> 00:54:34,120
Speaker 1: First of all, I'm you know, I'm always ig stalking

990
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:36,440
Speaker 1: and you know again, like I said, with your elegance,

991
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:38,719
Speaker 1: I'm like, she's stunned because you don't everybody right now

992
00:54:38,880 --> 00:54:41,719
Speaker 1: everywhere with the new outfits and stuff and Q and fine.

993
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:44,960
Speaker 1: My thing is, I love to see us winning, but

994
00:54:45,120 --> 00:54:48,680
Speaker 1: be fine as as all get out while winning and

995
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:51,320
Speaker 1: making it just look so effortless. And you know what,

996
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:54,080
Speaker 1: there's nothing wrong with being just beautiful and smart, Like

997
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:56,440
Speaker 1: you can do all of that. And I'm still doing

998
00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:58,279
Speaker 1: my job, you know what I mean, Like we don't

999
00:54:58,320 --> 00:55:01,239
Speaker 1: have to not be all of the of things. So

1000
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:05,160
Speaker 1: so we we are in a lot of fabulous spaces.

1001
00:55:05,239 --> 00:55:07,920
Speaker 1: But I must say, um, I was able to be

1002
00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:14,000
Speaker 1: on the cover of Billboard magazine this year. Yes, and

1003
00:55:14,120 --> 00:55:17,560
Speaker 1: our first shout shout out to Andy Cots, who leads

1004
00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:19,920
Speaker 1: calms for the academy. And I remember the day of

1005
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:22,879
Speaker 1: the shoot, I mean big, what you know, it's all

1006
00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:26,560
Speaker 1: the things right. And I'm on the board with you know,

1007
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:30,360
Speaker 1: Harvey and Panos on my you know, uh, side by side,

1008
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:32,920
Speaker 1: and you know I'm the only woman, and I'm in

1009
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,160
Speaker 1: the moment deciding like I should just wear a suit,

1010
00:55:35,320 --> 00:55:39,960
Speaker 1: I should just h and just be easy and not

1011
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,960
Speaker 1: do too much. And I remember Andy Cots and my mom,

1012
00:55:44,120 --> 00:55:45,520
Speaker 1: who you have to meet one day because she's the

1013
00:55:45,560 --> 00:55:48,440
Speaker 1: most fabulous person you've ever met, said, girl, if you

1014
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:52,360
Speaker 1: don't put on that tom Ford dress and that Versacchi

1015
00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:55,960
Speaker 1: belt and give them what they want to see and

1016
00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:58,200
Speaker 1: what makes you feel good and like a boss. And

1017
00:55:58,280 --> 00:56:00,520
Speaker 1: I did it, and and I'm so glad I did,

1018
00:56:00,600 --> 00:56:05,680
Speaker 1: because the world will have you shrink, right, the world

1019
00:56:06,040 --> 00:56:09,839
Speaker 1: have you reduced who you are and not show up

1020
00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:13,239
Speaker 1: in all of our femininity and all of our fatulousness

1021
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:16,279
Speaker 1: and put on the heels, put on the dress, put

1022
00:56:16,360 --> 00:56:20,440
Speaker 1: on the extra hair. If that's what makes you feel

1023
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:25,279
Speaker 1: good and so right, thank you. And so I'm I'm

1024
00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:30,640
Speaker 1: still working through that because for sure. I hear the

1025
00:56:30,719 --> 00:56:34,040
Speaker 1: comments right like, and I'm not social media comments. I

1026
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:37,560
Speaker 1: hear the actual comments of people, Oh she does she's

1027
00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:41,320
Speaker 1: doing too much or you know, and it's just like, no, actually,

1028
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:44,640
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do more. I'm gonna give you more because

1029
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:51,000
Speaker 1: I'm not doing enough. Actually what I've got okay. So,

1030
00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:54,640
Speaker 1: especially when you're good at what you do, right, So,

1031
00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:58,960
Speaker 1: I've seen that in you. I've seen you give less

1032
00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:01,640
Speaker 1: because you don't want, not even because I think you

1033
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:03,320
Speaker 1: don't want. I just think that that you feel like

1034
00:57:03,440 --> 00:57:05,560
Speaker 1: it's appropriate. Like you know, if you grow up feeling

1035
00:57:05,600 --> 00:57:08,319
Speaker 1: like what has to be appropriate, you live in appropriate land.

1036
00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:10,920
Speaker 1: I don't know what's appropriate. So and that's why I

1037
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:12,520
Speaker 1: get so much push back because I'm like, no, I'm

1038
00:57:12,560 --> 00:57:13,919
Speaker 1: be cute. I don't know to tell you. I'm fine.

1039
00:57:13,920 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 1: I'm about to be out here. I see you, then

1040
00:57:18,840 --> 00:57:20,439
Speaker 1: thank you, and then look, let me tell you something.

1041
00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:22,440
Speaker 1: I see you now I'm like, oh, she's fine, and

1042
00:57:22,560 --> 00:57:24,760
Speaker 1: I'm here and I'm celebrating it. Know that you have

1043
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:27,640
Speaker 1: a group of women who are celebrating you every time

1044
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:30,640
Speaker 1: they see you. Beautiful here. You are a mother wife

1045
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:33,160
Speaker 1: of all these things going on, and you're like I'm

1046
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:36,200
Speaker 1: still celebrating me in my forties and I'm bad, and

1047
00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:38,520
Speaker 1: I'm batter than you women in your twenties and thirties.

1048
00:57:38,560 --> 00:57:42,200
Speaker 1: If if I gotta be honest, like I I I'm

1049
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:44,120
Speaker 1: battering the twenties in the thirties because I got my

1050
00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:45,840
Speaker 1: own bread and I ain't tripping off and none of y'all.

1051
00:57:45,880 --> 00:57:48,040
Speaker 1: And I'm super confident and I and I will. I

1052
00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:50,080
Speaker 1: do what I do. That's it. I do what I do.

1053
00:57:50,120 --> 00:57:51,480
Speaker 1: I ain't trying to figure it out. I do it.

1054
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:56,520
Speaker 1: So I celebrate all of your beauty, the most like,

1055
00:57:56,680 --> 00:57:58,880
Speaker 1: the most extra, you want to be, the sexy, you

1056
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:00,560
Speaker 1: want to be, all of that. I'm here for all

1057
00:58:00,600 --> 00:58:03,600
Speaker 1: of that. And I do understand it comes with critiques

1058
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:05,520
Speaker 1: and you also have to be aware of the room

1059
00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:07,840
Speaker 1: in the positioning. But I love that you at the

1060
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:15,120
Speaker 1: last minute decided for for documentation purposes, Billboard magazine purposes

1061
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:23,520
Speaker 1: cover ranks the same dang, she really lived out loud period.

1062
00:58:23,840 --> 00:58:27,720
Speaker 1: She lived her life out loud and boldly and authentic, authentically,

1063
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:30,720
Speaker 1: And so that's what I pray We'll be the legacy

1064
00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:36,200
Speaker 1: that least Felicia Butter, Phil Jones, Uh, thank you so much.

1065
00:58:36,280 --> 00:58:38,720
Speaker 1: For joining us So Naked, I I have a four

1066
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:40,640
Speaker 1: hard four o'clock because four o'clock right now I can

1067
00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:42,560
Speaker 1: talk to you. Part two was coming up Naked after Dark?

1068
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:47,040
Speaker 1: Can we do that? Done? Say less a couple of

1069
00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:51,680
Speaker 1: things family, I'm update John Essence on the next podcast.

1070
00:58:51,800 --> 00:58:54,120
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you what happened, how the concert was,

1071
00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:56,000
Speaker 1: who saying really well and who didn't, and I have

1072
00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:58,360
Speaker 1: to just keep it about. I'll also tell you if

1073
00:58:58,400 --> 00:59:01,600
Speaker 1: I've met any cute boys, but again, I'm eating someone

1074
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:05,640
Speaker 1: so I'm not looking. And then I will also keep

1075
00:59:05,680 --> 00:59:08,360
Speaker 1: you posted on what else is going on in the

1076
00:59:08,480 --> 00:59:10,160
Speaker 1: world that may involve your girl that I have a

1077
00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:12,640
Speaker 1: share with you all yet. I hope you've enjoyed this edition.

1078
00:59:12,680 --> 00:59:15,120
Speaker 1: I hope you leave inspired. That's all I care about.

1079
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:17,000
Speaker 1: I hope you know that you got to use whatever

1080
00:59:17,040 --> 00:59:19,840
Speaker 1: you have to get what you want. I love that

1081
00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:23,280
Speaker 1: it's ghetto, it's not appropriate English, but you've got to

1082
00:59:23,360 --> 00:59:25,440
Speaker 1: use whatever you have to get what you want, and

1083
00:59:25,560 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 1: you can do it. Thanks for listening to Naked