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Speaker 1: I remember saying, do I want to be an entertainer

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Speaker 1: like Michael Jackson or do I want to be an

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Speaker 1: athlete like Jerry Rice? And I remember going back and forth,

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Speaker 1: which one would I want to be? I want like

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Speaker 1: Criles to cheer for me because I'm dancing and making

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Speaker 1: people laugh and singing, or do I want them to

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Speaker 1: cheer for me because I'm catching touchdowns. I remember going

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Speaker 1: to sleep that night and waking up and I said,

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Speaker 1: I can inspire way more people through entertainment than I

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Speaker 1: came with athletics. And I was like that. I was like,

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Speaker 1: I am going to do something bigger than just myself

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Speaker 1: myself myself.

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Speaker 2: At nine years old, he knew that he would either

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Speaker 2: play sports or he would entertain in order to reach

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Speaker 2: the masses. And what do you know? He did both.

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Speaker 2: You're going to be encouraged by this story. Everybody, sit

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Speaker 2: back and enjoy. Deval Ellis on this edition of Naked,

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Speaker 2: It's the.

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Speaker 1: Greatest suspension in the tainment. Cannete with Larry Champion.

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Speaker 3: And Carrie Champion is to be a Champion, A Champion

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Speaker 3: and Carrie Champion. They girls play yat a Champion and

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Speaker 3: Carrie Chapion and Carrie.

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Speaker 1: Champy great great suspion entament, can nack you wear?

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Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, Welcome back to another edition of Naked. I'm

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Speaker 2: excited about today's episode. I've been excited with all of

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Speaker 2: my guests this season three. They've been really great. But

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Speaker 2: today's guests reminded me of something that's really simple, something

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Speaker 2: that I think we all should remember. That dreams do

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Speaker 2: come true. I have been very bold and loud about

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Speaker 2: my foundation, Brown Girls Dream, and the reason why I

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Speaker 2: started it was because I wanted to let everybody know

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Speaker 2: that you can dream and you're allowed to dream, especially

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Speaker 2: in our culture. So many times we don't feel like

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Speaker 2: we can say what we want out loud for fear

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Speaker 2: people would laugh at us, or it sounds too big,

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Speaker 2: or it sounds like wow, that's just never going to happen.

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Speaker 2: My guest today, daval Ellis, tells the story of being

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Speaker 2: someone bigger than himself, being put here on this planet

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Speaker 2: to do work that was bigger than him, which I

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Speaker 2: absolutely love. And it's interesting because you may know him

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Speaker 2: from the Dead Ass podcast.

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Speaker 4: He's an actor.

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Speaker 2: He is on several shows that you may have seen

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Speaker 2: across BTBT plus Tyler Perry shows. He is a working actor,

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Speaker 2: but a multi hyphen it, YouTube, social influencer, whatever you

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Speaker 2: want to call it. He is known with over two

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Speaker 2: million Instagram followers. He and his wife have been able

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Speaker 2: to build I think, a nice little empire on black love,

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Speaker 2: most recently a book We Over Me, a New York

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Speaker 2: Times bestseller in February of twenty twenty three, where they

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Speaker 2: just tell their love story and throughout the entire interview,

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Speaker 2: I hope that you will be the way that I

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Speaker 2: or you will feel, at least the way that I feel.

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Speaker 2: And I felt incouraged. I felt encouraged about a black

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Speaker 2: love story. I felt encouraged about a black man loving

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Speaker 2: his four sons and his wife.

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Speaker 4: I felt encouraged about a.

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Speaker 2: Young couple falling in love and staying in love in

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Speaker 2: their twenties all the way through adulthood and growing together

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Speaker 2: and encouraging each other's dream I have said on this

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Speaker 2: show many times that I knew when I was a kid,

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Speaker 2: I was set apart. I knew that I was going

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Speaker 2: to do exactly what I'm doing now. I just didn't

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Speaker 2: know how. But I was going to use this platform

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Speaker 2: to reach touch and effect. And he tells the story

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Speaker 2: of being nine years old and knowing that he was

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Speaker 2: going to reach touch and effect and he's still doing

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Speaker 2: that to this day. And I mean, listen, if I'm

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Speaker 2: honest with you, he probably has just really started scratching

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Speaker 2: the surface of his talent and what is capable. But

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Speaker 2: I encourage you to sit back, relax, listen to this

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Speaker 2: podcast actually will follow him if you don't already, and

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Speaker 2: listen to his podcast Dead podcast. He and his wife

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Speaker 2: Kay that he talks about often are really honest and

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Speaker 2: authentic and that's so refreshing in the world where everybody

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Speaker 2: tries to be something that they are not. Again, daval

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Speaker 2: ls on Naked.

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Speaker 3: Y'all Champion and Carried Chappy and the Carrie Chatby.

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Speaker 2: So before we get into marriage and the best selling

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Speaker 2: book and all of the wonderful things, I want to

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Speaker 2: know when you grew up in Brooklyn, and I think

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Speaker 2: you talk about that a lot. How do you think

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Speaker 2: you that changed you or made you being raised born

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Speaker 2: and raised here in Brooklyn or raised in Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's a great question. It's funny. I think about

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Speaker 1: this a lot. I give a lot of credit to

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Speaker 1: my parents. First, I grew up with both my parents,

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Speaker 1: my mom and my dad. My mother worked for the city.

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Speaker 1: My father worked for Chase Manhattan Bank at the time,

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Speaker 1: but he also bounced, so he was out late nights.

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Speaker 1: He used to bounce. You know I'm saying, cause my

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Speaker 1: father was a big dude. So I feel like I

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Speaker 1: raised myself in a way. I was a latch key kid,

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Speaker 1: like from a time t when I was eight years old,

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Speaker 1: my parents moved from Flatbush to Canarsie and I had

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Speaker 1: to walk to school myself, pick my brother up from school,

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Speaker 1: walk home every day. They told us, don't come outside

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Speaker 1: until we get home, stay inside with your brothers. But

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Speaker 1: of course me and my brother was out in the street,

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Speaker 1: and it was like that for most of my life.

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Speaker 1: I feel like living in Brooklyn taught me how to

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Speaker 1: navigate everything else in my life, like I can move

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Speaker 1: among sharks. You imagine being ten years old and taking

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Speaker 1: mass transportation to get from Canarsi to Queens and Queens

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Speaker 1: to Manhattan, like I've been doing that since I was

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Speaker 1: a young kid. So I feel like Brooklyn told me that.

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Speaker 2: Oh wow, that is actually the latch key aspect I

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Speaker 2: can relate to because that's how I grew up, and

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Speaker 2: it does mature you in ways that you probably shouldn't be,

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Speaker 2: but it does help you. Also, there's such a benefit

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Speaker 2: to that. When did you realize that sports was where

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Speaker 2: you wanted to be, you wanted to play football. When

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Speaker 2: did that love come in to play for you?

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Speaker 1: Well, that's actually funny because I never loved football like

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Speaker 1: I love basketball. I grew up in Brooklyn. I grew up,

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Speaker 1: you know, watching step from l Marberry and thinking that

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Speaker 1: I was Alan Iverson and I had braids. I was

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Speaker 1: a beast of basketball, but I wasn't tall. I was

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Speaker 1: only about five. That was a late bloom. I was

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Speaker 1: only about five eight all of high school and I

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Speaker 1: was playing basketball and I blocked someone on the defensive end,

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Speaker 1: came down to dunk it on the offensive end, and

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Speaker 1: the football coach comes over to me and he goes, yo,

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Speaker 1: my man. His name is Jeffrey Ishmael A, my guy,

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Speaker 1: you want to go to college for free? And this

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Speaker 1: is the truth of the matter. I never saw myself

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Speaker 1: as a professional athlete. I always saw myself as an

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Speaker 1: artist and an entertainer. But I grew up in Brooklyn

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Speaker 1: in the nineties, and you can't walk around telling other

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Speaker 1: kids that you want to be an artist like, that's

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Speaker 1: just not what young black men did at that time.

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Speaker 1: So I was just focused on trying to find my

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Speaker 1: way out of Brooklyn. And he asked me if I

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Speaker 1: want to go to school for free? So I was like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I want to go to school for free. So he

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Speaker 1: said you should play football, and he was like, I

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Speaker 1: was like, why I don't not hitting nobody? I'm mad, Skinny,

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Speaker 1: I'm five eight, like I'm not playing football. He said,

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Speaker 1: how many five eight basketball players do you know? The time?

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Speaker 1: I said, I know, spud Web. You said be at one.

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Speaker 1: But I can tell you plenty of five eight football

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Speaker 1: players that have made great things out of their life.

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Speaker 1: So I was like, he got a point. He was like,

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Speaker 1: if you dedicate the same energy you get to basketball

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Speaker 1: to football, I guarantee you go to school for free.

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Speaker 1: And that was my origin story with football. It was

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Speaker 1: that promise that football would take me somewhere further than Brooklyn.

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Speaker 2: Football would take you somewhere further than Brooklyn. Where there's

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Speaker 2: in terms of taking you somewhere further than Brooklyn, What

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Speaker 2: does that distance mean? What were you trying to get

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Speaker 2: away from?

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Speaker 1: It wasn't even a distance. It was just expanding my mind,

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Speaker 1: like my parents always made us see different things. Like

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Speaker 1: my parents took us on since spring break. They took

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Speaker 1: us to Vegas. We used to go ski tripp every

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Speaker 1: year we move to Skeeech Trip. I used to go

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Speaker 1: see my grandparents in Florida, I mean in Tennessee every summer.

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Speaker 1: It's like we were always traveling places. But then they

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Speaker 1: just wanted us to see different type of things. And

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Speaker 1: I don't know what it was. I think it's you know,

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Speaker 1: it's heaven sent, it was something divine. But God always

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Speaker 1: told me there's so much more out there that you

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Speaker 1: don't know. You just gotta go see it, like you

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Speaker 1: gotta go find it, just go see what it is.

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Speaker 1: And that's just always been my mindset since I was

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Speaker 1: a kid. I just knew that there was something greater

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Speaker 1: than me that I was supposed to do for humanity.

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Speaker 1: And I was just like, I gotta go see what

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Speaker 1: it is. And that's what that meant to me, Like

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Speaker 1: this is getting out of Brooklyn.

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Speaker 2: That's a very interesting way to put that. I always

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Speaker 2: feel that people who are doing what they love, whether

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Speaker 2: it is a multi hyphenate such as yourself, and people

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Speaker 2: know you as maybe a personality, know you as an actor,

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Speaker 2: know you from your podcast you always knew that you

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Speaker 2: were set apart? And what age were you when you

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Speaker 2: knew that you were set apart?

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Speaker 1: I remember exactly the day I was in my car,

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Speaker 1: my parents car in the back seat. We were on

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Speaker 1: my way back from my Grandma Wowa's house. We were

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Speaker 1: driving down the Belt Parkway. I was nine years old.

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Speaker 1: They were listening to Luther Vandros. I'm in the back

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Speaker 1: seat and We're coming around the flagpole of Exit thirteen

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Speaker 1: or Rockaway Parkway, and I remember saying, do I want

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Speaker 1: to be an entertainer like Michael Jackson or do I

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Speaker 1: want to be an athlete like Jerry Rice? And I

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Speaker 1: remember going back and forth my mind, like I remember

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Speaker 1: going back and forth in my line, Mawama, which one

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Speaker 1: would I want to be? I want like cryos to

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Speaker 1: cheer for me because I'm dancing and making people laugh

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Speaker 1: and singing. Or do I want them to cheer for

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Speaker 1: me because I'm catching touchdowns? And I remember going to

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Speaker 1: sleep that night and waking up and I said, I

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Speaker 1: can inspire way more people through entertainment than I can

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Speaker 1: with athletics. And I was like that, I was like,

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Speaker 1: I am going to do something bigger than just myself.

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Speaker 2: Isn't that crazy? He's nine years old? For you, right,

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Speaker 2: nine years old and you knew you were going to

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Speaker 2: entertain or you knew that you were going to be

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Speaker 2: an athlete. But for me, it was when I was seven,

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Speaker 2: and so it was. And so what was it about

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Speaker 2: that moment listening to that Luther Vandro song where you

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Speaker 2: were like, hmm, I gotta pick one of two. What

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Speaker 2: was it about the song, the mood, the day, all

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Speaker 2: of it?

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Speaker 4: Do you know?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? I do remember because my parents put us in

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Speaker 1: martial arts when you were young. And we were coming

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Speaker 1: back from a karate tournament. My brother and I always

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Speaker 1: won karate tournaments and stuff like that, and my father

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Speaker 1: said to me, you know, this is your second tournament.

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Speaker 1: You guys get you know, you guys got first place.

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Speaker 1: And I was like, hey, yeah, he said, you know

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Speaker 1: what that proves? I was like what, He's like, you

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Speaker 1: guys can do anything you want to do. And he

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Speaker 1: just said it like he just said it, and I

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Speaker 1: just believed it. And then because I believed it, and

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Speaker 1: I was in the call like do I want to

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Speaker 1: do this or do I want to do that, and

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Speaker 1: then you know, it's like my father said, I can

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Speaker 1: do whatever I want to do, So I'm going to

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Speaker 1: do whatever I want to do. And to be honest,

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Speaker 1: I've carried that with me my whole life.

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Speaker 2: Like the parallels are beautiful. The yes is from the

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Speaker 2: people who build you up. The yes is from a teacher,

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Speaker 2: the yes is from the parent. The world is yours

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Speaker 2: from the people who rear you are so significant. And

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Speaker 2: this helps me transition to your family and to how

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Speaker 2: you have made a name for yourself where there's YouTube,

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Speaker 2: social media acting. You are a multi hyphenate across the board,

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Speaker 2: and you and your wife have a podcast. You also

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Speaker 2: have co authored a book together which I would like

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Speaker 2: to get into, and I believe in February of twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty three it was a New York Times bestseller, made

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Speaker 2: the New York Times Bestselling Less. Is that correct? Yes,

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Speaker 2: ma'am and it congratulations. First of all, I have I

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Speaker 2: can count on like all of my limbs, hands, fingers, toes, arms, legs.

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Speaker 2: All my friends have written books and very few have

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Speaker 2: the opportunity to make it to the New York Times

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Speaker 2: bestseller list. Can you tell everyone listening the name of

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Speaker 2: the book. Please, thank you so much. First all for

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Speaker 2: your con wills carry.

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Speaker 1: The name of the book is called We over Meet,

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Speaker 1: The counter intuitive approach to getting everything you want out

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Speaker 1: of your relationship.

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Speaker 2: What made you and your wife write that book? Was

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Speaker 2: it because of the success of the podcast, and in

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Speaker 2: part it was.

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Speaker 1: In part it was a little bit of my foresight.

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Speaker 1: I'm always creating plans for myself, plans for my wife

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Speaker 1: and what we wanted to do, and all of this

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Speaker 1: was part of the plan. When on our first date,

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Speaker 1: which is part of the book, which why I'm going

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Speaker 1: to tell the story. On our first date, she came

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Speaker 1: to my dorm room and we sat down on my

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Speaker 1: bed and she looked at me. She said, what do

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Speaker 1: you want to do with your life? And Martin was

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Speaker 1: on television and I said that I want to do

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Speaker 1: that right there, and she was just like, you want

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Speaker 1: to be an actor? And I was like yeah, And

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Speaker 1: she didn't laugh, she didn't like make no funny face.

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Speaker 1: I Goh, you ain't gonna do this. She looked at

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Speaker 1: me and she said, well, how are we going to

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Speaker 1: get there? And it was the how we are going

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Speaker 1: to get there was always like resonated with me. I

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Speaker 1: was like, she just included herself in my dream, which

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Speaker 1: first of all, means that she can see what I see.

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Speaker 1: So it kind of like it resonated with me, like, Wow,

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Speaker 1: this person is not clowning me. I just met her

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Speaker 1: and she says she could see what I see. So

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Speaker 1: then I asked her what she wanted to do, and

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Speaker 1: she told me what she wanted to do, says she

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Speaker 1: wanted to be an entertainment reporter. And I said, so,

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Speaker 1: how are we going to get there? And I told

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Speaker 1: her the plan. I said, I'm going to go to

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Speaker 1: the NFL. If I can make a practice squad, I'll

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Speaker 1: get one hundred thousand dollars. This is back in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and two. She's way more money now, but I'll

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Speaker 1: get one hundred thousand dollars in four month. I can

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Speaker 1: buy a Brownstone in Brooklyn. We can live downstairs and

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Speaker 1: run out the upstairs to Floridas where we don't have

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Speaker 1: to be starving artists and we can focus on our dreams.

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Speaker 1: And she said, cool, let's do it. And we worked.

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Speaker 1: We worked on that for like years, all of college,

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Speaker 1: and we got it. I got I made it to

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Speaker 1: the NFL. I played a lot longer than just the practice.

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Speaker 1: But I ended up plenty three years and then I

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Speaker 1: ended up buying property back in Brooklyn and doing all

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Speaker 1: of those things. So when it came to the book,

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Speaker 1: I foresaw the same things I saw with us. I

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Speaker 1: saw it in another realm of television, and I said,

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Speaker 1: you know, ultimately, I want to get a first little

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Speaker 1: deal for TV and film so that I can create

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Speaker 1: the type of content I want to see. Because part

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Speaker 1: of the reason why I even got into social media

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Speaker 1: was because I was always auditioning and I was always

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Speaker 1: getting picked as a drug dealer, the x con, the

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Speaker 1: ex boyfriend, ruse, the thug. I always get the same roles.

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Speaker 1: So I really started creating my content for social media

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Speaker 1: to show producers that daval Ellis can do something else

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Speaker 1: other than be the thug, because I have a beard

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Speaker 1: and tattoos and muscles. And I also wanted to, you know,

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Speaker 1: showcase who I was as a person. Like people think

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Speaker 1: that I'm just a personality, for example, that wants to act.

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Speaker 1: You know, I'm a classically trained actor. I went to

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Speaker 1: school for performance in theater. I did a two year conservatory.

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Speaker 1: Yet esper studios like I've trained to be an actor,

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Speaker 1: So when people you like even life. For example, when

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Speaker 1: people see me the first eight things, I don't know

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Speaker 1: what you are? You a YouTube book, you're an author,

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Speaker 1: you're a podcaster, And I said, I'm an actor, but

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Speaker 1: I happened to put my talents and other things from

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Speaker 1: time to time, so and then now people understand it.

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Speaker 1: But when it came to the book, I told Kay,

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Speaker 1: I said, look, if we can write a book and

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Speaker 1: become New York Times bestsellers, that's the best opportunity you'll

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Speaker 1: have of getting a first love picture deal. I said,

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Speaker 1: if you just look at the track rug of everybody

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Speaker 1: else who wrote books, written books and become authors and

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Speaker 1: become New York Times bestsellers, this is the path they

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Speaker 1: going on. And just like in college, she said, I

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Speaker 1: how we're gonna do it? And we didn't.

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Speaker 4: What do you think that book offers people?

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Speaker 2: I know that everyone likes to write a memoir that's

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Speaker 2: the first book, and those are really hard to write

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Speaker 2: about unless you're super duper famous, like perhaps Viola Davis,

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Speaker 2: you know, or you know, but when you have a

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Speaker 2: I think self health books, books on relationships are always

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Speaker 2: really needed or much needed, and black love is not

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Speaker 2: as celebrated. So what do you think you've offered everyone

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Speaker 2: in that book? You and your wife have offered everyone

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Speaker 2: in that book.

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Speaker 1: This is a simple one for me. We just offered

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Speaker 1: our love story and our testimony. Like I tell people

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Speaker 1: anytime they ask, like, you know, what is this book about,

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Speaker 1: the first thing I tell them this is not a

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Speaker 1: how to book, because if I'm if I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: tell you to tell or make your love to our loves,

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Speaker 1: then you're gonna fail every time because we can only

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Speaker 1: be us. So it's not a how to book. It's

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Speaker 1: just a different approach at love. You get to learn

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Speaker 1: through stories that we're willing to share, and that's really

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Speaker 1: what it is. It's our love story from its conception

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Speaker 1: to where it is now. And it's also a look

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Speaker 1: at generational love because we speak about how the things

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Speaker 1: we watched in our parents became who we were as people.

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Speaker 1: And when we were trying to become the best versions

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Speaker 1: of ourselves as a couple, we had to kind of

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Speaker 1: lose some of the stuff that we thought we saw

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Speaker 1: that was positive and healthy in our families. And now

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Speaker 1: that we have four sons, we're trying to pass down

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Speaker 1: a better version of that love to them. So it's

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Speaker 1: just to look at our Brooklyn love story. You laugh,

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Speaker 1: you'll cry, you won't feel judged because we're not here

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Speaker 1: telling you this is how you need to do it,

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Speaker 1: because this is the only way it works. We're actually

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Speaker 1: saying the opposite. We were actually saying at the end

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Speaker 1: of this book, if you're trying to make your marriage

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Speaker 1: like ours, then you've got nothing out of this book.

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Speaker 2: The book is just telling your love story and letting

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Speaker 2: it know that it exists. Is that what you're saying,

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Speaker 2: Love exists and it can be done, and not say

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Speaker 2: do what we did, But it exists, and it's here,

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Speaker 2: and that's beautiful and special and it's simplicity.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, that's exactly what it is. If I had to

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Speaker 1: sum it up, well, this is why you're amazing at

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Speaker 1: what you do because you literally something up. Well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's what it is. That's exactly what it is.

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Speaker 4: I love that.

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Speaker 2: I love that, and I love that story and it's encouraging.

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Speaker 2: Perhaps another reason why it was a New York Times bestseller.

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Speaker 2: I was scanning through and I haven't read the book,

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Speaker 2: but you know I am now. I was scanning through

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Speaker 2: some of your social media and you tell the story,

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Speaker 2: which I love because the way in which your wife

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Speaker 2: wanted to do be an entertainment reporter. I remember, you know,

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Speaker 2: when I was first starting out in the business, how

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Speaker 2: tough it was. But you tell this a really great story.

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Speaker 2: And I think you might have been doing it live

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Speaker 2: in Detroit your podcast at ASS. I think you guys

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Speaker 2: might have been doing it in Detroit. I'm not for sure. Yeah, okay,

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Speaker 2: it was. And can you tell the story about how

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Speaker 2: you were playing for the Lions and she was and

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Speaker 2: she was auditioning to be a meteor, not a traffic reporter.

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Speaker 2: I was going to say whether or I didn't want

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Speaker 2: to make it that simple. Okay, a traffic reporter, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: tell me.

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Speaker 1: So. The funny part is people see my wife now

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Speaker 1: and they just think that she's a I don't know what.

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Speaker 1: They call it, an influencer, right, Like that's what they think. Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's just an influencer. Okay. Also she's not. She's actually

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Speaker 1: got a master's degree in speech communications and performance with

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Speaker 1: a minor and broadcast journalism. So she always had this

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Speaker 1: dream of being in some sort of journalism, but she

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Speaker 1: was trying to figure out how to get into it.

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Speaker 1: And she had just graduated from hofstra and I was

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Speaker 1: at Detroit at the time. So she was like, Yo,

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Speaker 1: if I moved to the Midwest with you, I have

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Speaker 1: a greater opportunity to get into those smaller markets because

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Speaker 1: here in New York, like these are the big markets

401
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Speaker 1: in New York. You gotta go inwork in the country,

402
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Speaker 1: work in those small markets, and get some experience. So

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Speaker 1: I was like, cool, let's go come out here. Plus,

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Speaker 1: of course I would love to have my beautiful girlfriend

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Speaker 1: come live with me while I'm playing for the Lions.

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Speaker 1: So it was just perfect for the two of us.

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Speaker 1: And she when that WDID was doing the traffic report,

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Speaker 1: the search, so they had about five hundred people come

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Speaker 1: out here and every week they were going to announce

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Speaker 1: the next set of finalists and finalists. So she goes

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Speaker 1: in there. I'm trying to be as supportive as I

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Speaker 1: can wiless football season, and I'm just like, bo, you've

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Speaker 1: got this big opportunity. Let's go to the mall. I'll

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Speaker 1: let you buy whatever you want to buy in the mall.

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Speaker 1: So she's like, you really devout, Like we just two

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Speaker 1: broke kids coming from college, just enjoying this opportunity. And

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Speaker 1: she goes to the mall. She gets out of a

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Speaker 1: nice pencil skirt and her shirt and her blazer and

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Speaker 1: she ready to go. Somebody boom, that's my baby. She

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Speaker 1: goes into the rug, goes into the audistrict, comes out,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, how did it go? She was just

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Speaker 1: like from man to the next round. So I'm like,

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Speaker 1: all right, well, you know what that means. We got

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Speaker 1: to go back and get to another outfit. So now

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Speaker 1: we'll be about five weeks in and she didn't get

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Speaker 1: acted them all, and I'm like, man, they need to

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Speaker 1: pick somebody. Like they eliminating people one bout one. That's

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Speaker 1: a lot of weeks. That's a lot of tips to

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Speaker 1: the ball, like just starting to be a lot now.

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Speaker 1: So and we lived right across the street from the

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Speaker 1: mall at the time. That was phil Lane mall we

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Speaker 1: were at, and we used to just really walk right

433
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 1: across the street. So I'm not back. I think you

434
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,040
Speaker 1: have enough outfits. I don't think we should do that

435
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,200
Speaker 1: mall anymore. She said, you know what, you might beib

436
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:24,960
Speaker 1: I don't think we should do that mall anymore neither.

437
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,720
Speaker 1: I was like, oh cool, we as long as we're

438
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,639
Speaker 1: on the same page as she was like, yeah, I

439
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,840
Speaker 1: want to go to Somerset Mare. I'm like, Summer step More.

440
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,720
Speaker 1: Summer step More is forty five minutes away and it's

441
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 1: about fifteen feet of snow outside. She's just like and oh.

442
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 4: Yeah, because how we about to pursue this dream?

443
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 2: Snow at your snow at your nose, and You're like,

444
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 2: is that a problem? She's like, is that a problem? No,

445
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 2: not a problem.

446
00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 1: Carry She didn't even blink, she didn't say anything. She

447
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:07,840
Speaker 1: was just looking at me, like. So, I was like,

448
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,679
Speaker 1: you know what, it's time for me to be the

449
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 1: man of the house, all of my twenty three year

450
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 1: old self. And I said, up putting my foot, we

451
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:27,200
Speaker 1: are not go way to the mall. Period, he says, period,

452
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: you're ruining my opportunity. If I was at home, my

453
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 1: mother would have took me to the mall. And I

454
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: was like, fine, fine, so then go live with your

455
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:43,359
Speaker 1: mother then. And then she was just like really okay.

456
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,600
Speaker 1: Then she walked away. Didn't say nothing to me. I

457
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,719
Speaker 1: say nothing, urge, She ain't say nothing to me. We

458
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: slept on opposite sizes in the bed. Right next day,

459
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: she goes into the traffic for the search. Guess what happens?

460
00:22:58,280 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 4: What happened?

461
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 1: She lost?

462
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 2: No, it is wait a second, it's because you didn't

463
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 2: get her the outfit.

464
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,199
Speaker 1: That's what she said. She gonna say to me, you

465
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 1: know this is your fault because you didn't get me

466
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:15,600
Speaker 1: the new.

467
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 4: Did you feel bad when it was all said that?

468
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 4: Did you feel bad? Did you think the outfit played

469
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:26,440
Speaker 4: the part?

470
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,399
Speaker 1: No? I didn't think the outfit played a part, but

471
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: I did, actually, But I didn't feel bad. But you

472
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,879
Speaker 1: know what made me feel worse was because you know

473
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,600
Speaker 1: I was You know, we also had another routine that

474
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,640
Speaker 1: we was doing. Every time she won, I was getting something.

475
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 1: So this night she didn't win. No, I wasn't getting none.

476
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,880
Speaker 1: But not only did I not get none, she dressed

477
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,640
Speaker 1: full in full clothes that she wore the whole day.

478
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 1: She kept on the pencil skirt with the blouse and

479
00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,639
Speaker 1: the jacket had slept in that I was tight. I

480
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 1: was like, you petty, you mad, petty Kate, you mad.

481
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:06,639
Speaker 2: Okay, we have to take a quick break. We have

482
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,159
Speaker 2: to pay some bills. I need you all to hit

483
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,280
Speaker 2: that that fast forward button because it might be like

484
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,359
Speaker 2: three minutes of commercials, but I have to I have

485
00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,119
Speaker 2: to get this in here otherwise your girl doesn't make

486
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:15,679
Speaker 2: her money.

487
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 4: We'll be right back in just a few moments.

488
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 3: Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a

489
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,680
Speaker 3: champion and carry champion and carry chat be out a

490
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 3: champion and carry Champion and carry Chappe's Sports and Entertainment.

491
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,080
Speaker 1: And Naked Weird God.

492
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 3: Erry Champion and carry champions, to be a champion on

493
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 3: a champion and carry champion, nig girl shout a champion

494
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 3: and carry champion and carried Champiam.

495
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 2: Naked word, Welcome back to Naked. I have multi hyphen

496
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 2: it in every aspect of the way. Daval Ella is

497
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,399
Speaker 2: here on the podcast sharing his story. I know that

498
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 2: you are enjoying this.

499
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 4: Take a listen. Now, let me ask you this.

500
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,440
Speaker 2: This is a This is really this is really interesting

501
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,159
Speaker 2: because I mean, the world is so the world that

502
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 2: we do begin to work in, this world of trying

503
00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 2: to be in front of the camera is crazy. And

504
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,840
Speaker 2: you said three times in this conversation that is your

505
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 2: wife's dream. Is that still her dream?

506
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: Yes, it actually is still her dream, but it's her

507
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: dream has changed a lot because she's a mom, of course,

508
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: and she loves being a mom. And although I've told

509
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:29,920
Speaker 1: her a thousand times, like, yo, if this is something

510
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,720
Speaker 1: you want to pursue, like you know, there are ways,

511
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 1: like we have resources now where we can make sure

512
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: you know, both your parents live with us. I'll make

513
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,720
Speaker 1: sure the kids are good. And she's like, no, some

514
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:40,359
Speaker 1: days she wakes up and she wants to be in

515
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,359
Speaker 1: front of the creak camera. She wants to get glammed up,

516
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,560
Speaker 1: and she wants to be a journalist. But then some

517
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 1: days she wants to get up and just be a mom.

518
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,480
Speaker 1: And what she likes what we do now in having

519
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 1: our own podcasts and doing our own live shows, is

520
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,640
Speaker 1: that we get to work around the schedule that we want.

521
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 1: And I think that she loves that. She's a little

522
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,359
Speaker 1: bit afraid of committing to something. And you know, she

523
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 1: had a couple opportunities in journalism, but she turned them

524
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: down and she was just like I can't commit to

525
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,119
Speaker 1: that time of spand like, I can't the kids love her.

526
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: When I'm not there for a matter of weeks. I

527
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: can only imagine if she's not there, you know, I

528
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: think the house would fall apart, to be honest. So

529
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,440
Speaker 1: I think that she's in a good place now. Where

530
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 1: she's trying to figure out how she can make the

531
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,440
Speaker 1: balance work. And if it changes in another couple of years,

532
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 1: it changes again, you know, and then at that point

533
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 1: hopefully we have some time to make it happen.

534
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I love that because the dream is never dead.

535
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 2: I often say women especially, but this is in general.

536
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 2: You have so many iterations of your career like it

537
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,760
Speaker 2: can always come around. Your dream is never dead. It

538
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 2: just gets pivoted or reinvented and you change it in

539
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,119
Speaker 2: different ways. With that being said, I know that as

540
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,719
Speaker 2: acting goes for you, you're doing really well. I think

541
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 2: you're working with my girl Gabby coming up soon, and

542
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about your acting, Gabrielle Union.

543
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,680
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about your your your

544
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 2: your acting ambitions like I read research. Shout out to

545
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 2: the researcher on the podcast Tommy is here too. You

546
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 2: you want to be a household name like a Will

547
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 2: Smith if you will yees? Are those still was that?

548
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 2: Is that?

549
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,000
Speaker 4: Are those still your? Are those still your ambitions?

550
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: Oh? Yes, absolutely, those are definitely still my ambitions. And

551
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: I'm still a work in progress. Like it helps me

552
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 1: being on the number one showing Cable and Sisters, you know,

553
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 1: shout out to Tyler Perry and all of the women

554
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,640
Speaker 1: of Sisters, and then having my own spin off as

555
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,400
Speaker 1: a team of this on BT Plus. Also sixty first Street,

556
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: which I have a recurrent role, is coming out and

557
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: c W soon. But I'm working, you know. I'm at

558
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,639
Speaker 1: the infant stages of what I want to be a

559
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 1: long career of doing great work that represents not only

560
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 1: myself but my family and my culture in a positive way.

561
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: And I want it to be a career that people

562
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: recognize around the world world for who I am as

563
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 1: a man, but also who I am as a Black

564
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,200
Speaker 1: man and father, like I want to represent that. I

565
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 1: want people to see that you can do both. You

566
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 1: can have your dream and your career, but also be

567
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 1: a loving husband and like Adupe involved father. I feel

568
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: like when I watch a Lebron James and a Steph

569
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 1: Curry and I watch how much they actually mean to

570
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: their families as well as being icons to the rest

571
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 1: of the West Side. These men are icons to the

572
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 1: world but still fathers and husbands, and That's what I

573
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,920
Speaker 1: want to be for an actor. I want to be.

574
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,560
Speaker 1: I want to have that type of longevity and impact.

575
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 2: And do you feel like you're already achieving that though

576
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 2: I feel like that is the progress that is not

577
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 2: even the work in progress that it's happening.

578
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 4: Do you feel that way, not necessarily on that large scale.

579
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 4: But you know what I mean?

580
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 1: Oh, you know absolutely, I definitely, I definitely know what

581
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: you mean. And I understand. Like you said, there's so

582
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,240
Speaker 1: many different iterations of your career. I understand the journey.

583
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 1: You know. You use Will Smith as an example. Will

584
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 1: Smith didn't just come out as a movie star. Will

585
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: Smith started as a rapper, correct, you know, had a

586
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,080
Speaker 1: dope album, won a Grammy, then his second album flops,

587
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: and then became a TV star, then a movie star.

588
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 1: And that didn't happen overnight. That took a matter of decades.

589
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: So when I think about the fact that I played

590
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 1: in the NFL for four years and then owned a

591
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 1: gym to kind of support my family, I didn't really

592
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 1: start getting into acting until I turned thirty, and I

593
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: know that's late for some people. When I think about

594
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 1: the fact that I'm only thirty nine, it's like, Wow,

595
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,360
Speaker 1: I haven't even hit the decade part yet. Like Taraji said,

596
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 1: it takes you a decade to become an overnight celebrity,

597
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 1: and then that's when the real work comes in to

598
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: build a legacy. So I haven't even reached the point

599
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: that I could even say I've done anything, and I've

600
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 1: achieved a lot, So I'm excited about that.

601
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 2: I'm excited about that for you as well, I think

602
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 2: that you have a wonderful disposition, so that makes it

603
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 2: even EASi What is it that you think in terms

604
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,160
Speaker 2: of what's next for you? Because you've been able to

605
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 2: and I know you said this earlier when people say, well,

606
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 2: what exactly do you do? Are you a personality that

607
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 2: became an actor? And You're like, no, everything seems to

608
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 2: be very calculated. How would you like to if if

609
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 2: someone said, what's your title? Like, if we are putting

610
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 2: a title, would you like to be multi hyphen it?

611
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 2: Would you like to be actor? Multi hyphen it? What

612
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 2: is your title? How do you see yourself?

613
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,440
Speaker 1: Man, that's a great question, and to be honest, I

614
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: probably would say multi hyphen it because I can't just

615
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 1: say I'm an actor. You know, I'm in the process

616
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 1: of finishing my second book deal after the first book deal.

617
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 1: I love podcasting, you know, I love creating content so

618
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 1: I can't even choose which one. And I think sometimes

619
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: you have to allow it doesn't matter who you pray to, God,

620
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 1: the universe. You have to allow the world to kind

621
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 1: of put you in that right space and accept what's

622
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: happening in that moment. And I don't want to put

623
00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 1: a title in a cap on myself, so I would

624
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 1: probably say a multi hyphen it because I just I

625
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm going to want to do next.

626
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 1: You know, I may start doing acting for a couple

627
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: of years and say, you know what, I'm tired of this.

628
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 1: Let me develop more businesses, you know, let me do

629
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 1: something else. So I would say multi hype in it.

630
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 2: How do you think you and your wife and the

631
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 2: podcast that as podcasts, how do you all? How do

632
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 2: you think you help and serve the culture?

633
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 1: I think we help and solve the culture by being

634
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: honest and transparent and also being accessible and available. You know,

635
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,920
Speaker 1: there's there's a thing in our culture now they call

636
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: us celebrity cultures, and it kind of kills me because

637
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,360
Speaker 1: I hate to consider myself a celebrity, but so many

638
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 1: peoples like you have to start accepting what you are

639
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:41,800
Speaker 1: so that you can be who you want to be.

640
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 1: And we look at our celebrities and we expect our

641
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:52,120
Speaker 1: celebrities to be perfect, brand oriented versions of humans, not

642
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 1: just human. And I feel like Kadana and I from

643
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 1: the very beginning when we were just a couple creating

644
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 1: videos in our apartment until now living in a big

645
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,480
Speaker 1: house in Atlanta, have remained the same people and so

646
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,480
Speaker 1: still tell the same stories. Yeah, we still argue, yeah,

647
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 1: we make a little bit more money now than we

648
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: did before, but yeah, I still pick my kids up

649
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: from school.

650
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 2: You know.

651
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 1: I still send my wife flowers on the weekend. My

652
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: wife still cooks for me. My wife still does things

653
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 1: that a wife is expected, I guess to do in

654
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 1: whatever you expect the marriage to look like. But I

655
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: feel like we just represent a place of normalcy for

656
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,640
Speaker 1: blacks who have grinded and made it to a certain level.

657
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:37,719
Speaker 1: But it's like, oh, but they go to Ellison, they

658
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: still doing the same old stuff. I think that's what

659
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 1: we represent. Normalcy.

660
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, normalcy in a society that will often get confused

661
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 2: by celebrity, which is why I know you struggle with that,

662
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:58,959
Speaker 2: because social media celebrity is very different than other celebrity. Yes,

663
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, I mean like movie star, celebrity,

664
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 2: and so many people are quote unquote famous socially, but

665
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 2: you're like, no matter how many followers I have or

666
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 2: we have together, You're you're just doing you. And I

667
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 2: think that's beautiful. I think you can remind people that

668
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 2: you It's sobering, I kind of from being honest with you.

669
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 2: I get annoyed when I meet people who are brand

670
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 2: new to being famous, right, maybe viral, and they get

671
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 2: millions of followers and they act as if, well, we've

672
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 2: made it, or oh I haven't made it because I

673
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 2: don't have millions of followers, right or whatever it is.

674
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,000
Speaker 2: You're just like, yeah, you're just like, wait, that's because

675
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,800
Speaker 2: we all have When you were nine years old driving

676
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 2: in the car listening to Luther Vandrel, so you knew

677
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,240
Speaker 2: that you were set apart. And I don't necessarily know

678
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 2: if you fall I want to be famous, rich and famous,

679
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 2: but I know you knew you had something that would

680
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,200
Speaker 2: serve the culture, serve the people. Maybe perhaps you didn't

681
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,600
Speaker 2: articulated that way at I you know what I mean, No,

682
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,479
Speaker 2: I know I know exactly what you mean, because there

683
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 2: was a woman at our church, missus Braxton. She had

684
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 2: pulled me aside one day and she said, young man,

685
00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:08,440
Speaker 2: I don't know what it is you want to do

686
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,400
Speaker 2: in your life, just you need to.

687
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: Know at whatever it is is gonna be bigger than you.

688
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 1: And at the time I didn't know what she was

689
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 1: talking about. I had no idea what you're talking about.

690
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,400
Speaker 1: But to this day I remember Mims Braston saying that.

691
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: But then I got old enough to understand, like, this

692
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,160
Speaker 1: is what she meant. And to be honest, it really

693
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:28,680
Speaker 1: happened when I started playing sports and I realized that

694
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,920
Speaker 1: I had the ability to influence a group of people.

695
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,839
Speaker 1: And I started realizing every time I'm on a team,

696
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: I'm the MVP of the team, I'm always a captain. Like,

697
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 1: I just realized that people gravitate towards me. So I

698
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 1: just felt like I had a responsibility to make sure

699
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 1: that we were doing the right thing, all right, Like,

700
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,320
Speaker 1: if y'all gonna gravitate towards me and we're doing this,

701
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,280
Speaker 1: No we're not robbing that store. No we're not jumping

702
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,800
Speaker 1: the other team's mascot. No, you know, like we're not

703
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 1: doing that stuff. We are gonna do the right thing.

704
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,160
Speaker 1: If y'all want to do community service. We can that

705
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:00,840
Speaker 1: you know?

706
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 3: You know Erry Champion and Kerry Champion is to be

707
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 3: a champion, out a champion and carry Chappion and carry

708
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 3: chat be out a champion and carry Chappie and and

709
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 3: Kerry chap.

710
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:11,600
Speaker 2: Entertainment.

711
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 1: Getting naked weird, Kerry.

712
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 3: Champion and carry Champion is to be a champion, out

713
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,880
Speaker 3: of champion and carry Champion. Nigirl, got a champion and

714
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 3: carry Champion and carry Chappy Entertainment, getting NACKI work.

715
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 4: What you're going to do is going to be bigger

716
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 4: than you. Do you feel that? Do you feel that

717
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 4: now that what you're doing is bigger than you?

718
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,920
Speaker 1: Absolutely? I don't feel like any of this was an accident.

719
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,359
Speaker 1: I felt like this was God speaking to me, then

720
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:47,319
Speaker 1: speaking through me, and him just ordering my steps. Cherry.

721
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,040
Speaker 1: There's so many times I could tell you in this

722
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 1: process that I should have quit, I should have stopped.

723
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 1: I should have just been like, you know, let me

724
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 1: just take the easy wayout to do this. But something

725
00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,680
Speaker 1: in me was just like, nah, bro, don't don't keep

726
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:03,960
Speaker 1: going this way. Trust me. And when everybody around you

727
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 1: is telling you this is not the way to go,

728
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 1: and something's telling you to do it and it works out.

729
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 1: That's bigger than me. That means not only did I

730
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:15,840
Speaker 1: not see it, nobody else around me saw it, only

731
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 1: he saw it, and that that's bigger than all of us.

732
00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,640
Speaker 1: So I just listen. I wake up every day and

733
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,920
Speaker 1: I just listen, like I just what do y'all got

734
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 1: for me?

735
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 4: And then I go, tell me.

736
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,320
Speaker 2: Before I let you go? What is the next project

737
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:31,919
Speaker 2: that you're working on? You said you guys are writing,

738
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 2: you have a second book? Deal?

739
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:34,400
Speaker 4: Is it going to be you and your wife or

740
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 4: is it just you?

741
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:35,840
Speaker 2: No?

742
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,200
Speaker 1: Actually, the next one I'm going to be working on

743
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,120
Speaker 1: is going to be it for me. It's a book

744
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 1: about my sons. It's his Fatherhood. I haven't really released

745
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: the title yet, but I like raising kings on how

746
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:50,359
Speaker 1: fatherhood saved me from myself because I've learned so much

747
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: about who I am as a person by watching how

748
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,960
Speaker 1: my sons respond to me. That it's like having four

749
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,800
Speaker 1: sons is like the big reflection, Like I get refreshes

750
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 1: all over. I have no blind spots. They're constantly making

751
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,160
Speaker 1: me check myself and it's made me a better version

752
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: of myself. Like I can honestly say my kids made

753
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:12,880
Speaker 1: me better.

754
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 4: Ay Man.

755
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,439
Speaker 2: Deval Ellis, I am a fan. I'm really a fan,

756
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,520
Speaker 2: and I'm smiling throughout the podcast because I am telling

757
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,480
Speaker 2: you you spoke life into me and I love to

758
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:28,440
Speaker 2: see that your steps have been ordered and you one

759
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 2: of one in many ways, and I wish you nothing

760
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,440
Speaker 2: but success, continued success for that matter. Thank you for

761
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 2: coming on our podcast and sharing your story and encouraging

762
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 2: people because I'm encouraged. Y'all encouraged, We all encouraged.

763
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 1: Kerrie, Thank you so much. I appreciate you. I've been

764
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,919
Speaker 1: a fan of you for a long time, time time time.

765
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 2: By way of brief recap, we have had Kirk Franklin,

766
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,800
Speaker 2: whom I love on the show. We had Larry Wilmore,

767
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,919
Speaker 2: who is arguably to me one of the biggest black

768
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,839
Speaker 2: writers and influencers in Hollywood, tell a great story about

769
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 2: the writer's strike and how he's been able to mentor

770
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,800
Speaker 2: so many amazing young Black women who have went on

771
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,680
Speaker 2: to create the works of Insecure, Anissa, ray Abbod, Elementary

772
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:16,360
Speaker 2: and Quinta.

773
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:18,760
Speaker 4: I mean, his legacy is huge.

774
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 2: And then today we have devale Ellis, and I hope

775
00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:26,399
Speaker 2: you see the theme here, your dreams can come true.

776
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 2: Everyone started somewhere believing in something, hoping to be something,

777
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 2: And the only thing that I can think about that

778
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:38,320
Speaker 2: they all have in common is that they just believed,

779
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:40,919
Speaker 2: no matter how tough it got, no matter how heart

780
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 2: it seems, no matter how impossible it may have felt

781
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,399
Speaker 2: in many moments of their careers, they still push through.

782
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:52,160
Speaker 2: And I love those kind of stories. Those stories motivate me.

783
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 2: Those stories remind me to keep pushing. And it's not

784
00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,840
Speaker 2: so much about being not content with what you have.

785
00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 2: It is knowing that what you are doing is bigger

786
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 2: than you. Val said it best. It's knowing that the work,

787
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,719
Speaker 2: the gift that you are giving, the talent that you

788
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 2: are providing, is bigger than you. You're here to serve,

789
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 2: and all of my guests have done that. Gosh, I'm

790
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,400
Speaker 2: so excited about it. I hope you feel encouraged. I

791
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,040
Speaker 2: hope you understand that you should keep going and the

792
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,399
Speaker 2: work that you are doing truly, if it's inspired, it's

793
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,800
Speaker 2: not for you. It's bigger than you. Thanks for listening

794
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:33,280
Speaker 2: to this edition of Naked