Speaker 1: Hey guys, It's Sammy Jay and welcome back to this
Speaker 1: week's episode of the Let's Be Real Podcast. You guys,
Speaker 1: do you know what's crazy? This is our season two finale.
Speaker 1: I still can't believe that. I can't believe we've had
Speaker 1: two seasons of Let's Be Real Podcast. It still feels
Speaker 1: like a dream to me. I'm so grateful that you're listening,
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad that we get to end season
Speaker 1: two with the amazing Rachel plattin Now. You might know
Speaker 1: her from her mega hit Byte song, but she is
Speaker 1: one of the most inspiring and creative people I've talked to.
Speaker 1: We talked about her new song Soldiers, which is out now,
Speaker 1: which you should listen to. We talked about her children's
Speaker 1: book How to Stay Creative, How to Get Out of
Speaker 1: a Creative Red Meditation Manifestation. She may or may not
Speaker 1: walk us through a manifestation meditation exercise. That was the mouthful. Rachel,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on my podcast again.
Speaker 1: I love this episode so much. Don't forget to subscribe,
Speaker 1: and I hope you enjoy it. I am so excited
Speaker 1: to have you all my podcast, Rachel, but you're so
Speaker 1: welcome I've loved your music for so many years, but
Speaker 1: just beyond your music, you are one of the very
Speaker 1: few people that are so honest and vulnerable and authentic.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing that I've that was a catalyst
Speaker 1: for me starting the podcast. And you have to wait
Speaker 1: a long time for your first hit. What was it
Speaker 1: over thirteen years? Yeah, you had to wait a minute.
Speaker 1: And I feel like you be here in a time
Speaker 1: where we very much have to practice patients for the
Speaker 1: world to get back to normal, and you know patients
Speaker 1: better than anybody. So what advice do you have for
Speaker 1: just patients, because I think we all need it right now.
Speaker 1: Oh it's such a good question, And I honestly I
Speaker 1: probably need my own advice too, because I don't really
Speaker 1: feel like I was that patient during the time. I
Speaker 1: just more, um, I was strong, like I could deal
Speaker 1: with the failure and the setbacks and the rejection well.
Speaker 1: And then I did. And I'm like a good comeback kid,
Speaker 1: Like I'm not all enlightened and know every thing I
Speaker 1: figured out. But one thing I can do well is quickly, um,
Speaker 1: realign myself and like figure out again how to pick
Speaker 1: myself back up and get myself back on my feet.
Speaker 1: And it's so funny because I'm teaching my toddler right
Speaker 1: now patients and yeah, we say the word all the time,
Speaker 1: and watching it in so many different forms in the
Speaker 1: way that we've had to be patient this year with um,
Speaker 1: you know, missing people and missing our normal lives and
Speaker 1: the struggle that obviously you and I are going through,
Speaker 1: but other people are affected even more. And there's just
Speaker 1: so much that we're all missing, and I've had to
Speaker 1: sacrifice and give up right now. And some of it's
Speaker 1: for the better. I mean, I know that there's benefits
Speaker 1: to it, but I think my advice right now, oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, would just be And I'm doing it myself
Speaker 1: every day A come up with a gratitude practice to
Speaker 1: be in the moment and appreciate little things and the
Speaker 1: things that we do have rather than the stress of
Speaker 1: what we don't have. Like yesterday, I was feeling really
Speaker 1: lonely and missing my family there on the East Coast,
Speaker 1: and I wanted a hug so badly from just a
Speaker 1: girlfriend or family member. But I realized I did a
Speaker 1: little meditation, and I centered myself and I realized, you know,
Speaker 1: I've done so much work. I can be that loving
Speaker 1: presence for myself. I can put a hand on my
Speaker 1: heart and give myself the nurturing that I need, and
Speaker 1: even give myself a hug. It sounds silly, but you know,
Speaker 1: we can do it. I can give myself the love
Speaker 1: that I'm seeking. And I think maybe the lesson is
Speaker 1: like finding, yeah, what we do have, not what we're lacking.
Speaker 1: And in general, I think it's a beautiful lesson because
Speaker 1: it reminds us that we have so much to give,
Speaker 1: and often we're looking to receive and get, but we
Speaker 1: forget all the power and love that we have to
Speaker 1: give in our own hearts. I think that's so true.
Speaker 1: And I feel like we're in a time where I've
Speaker 1: been trying to figure out a form of self care.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what that is at the moment um.
Speaker 1: I've been applying to college the first semester, I've been
Speaker 1: doing five classes. I'm still in high school. I've been
Speaker 1: balancing the podcast with during a pandemic. It's been really
Speaker 1: interesting and I think I'm very drained at this point
Speaker 1: um And I can't imagine it's hard, but I've tried
Speaker 1: um meditating and I can't focus for that long. What
Speaker 1: advice do you have for that, because you seem very
Speaker 1: into it. I am into it, but I don't know
Speaker 1: that I was into it at eighteen. I think I
Speaker 1: think it's tough when you're younger and unless you've grown
Speaker 1: up with being a common thing that you're taught. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to teach my two year old now to take
Speaker 1: deep breaths and like I'll like do a meditation and
Speaker 1: I'll have her sit on my lap and just be
Speaker 1: comfortable with the being still with yourself without doing anything.
Speaker 1: And obviously she can last maybe like realistically a minute
Speaker 1: and a half or two minutes. But that's impressive for
Speaker 1: a two year old. Though. I think it's I mean,
Speaker 1: it's pretty cool, um, but I think it's really hard
Speaker 1: if you having grown up with it. I think my
Speaker 1: mom introduced me to yoga when I was seventeen or eighteen,
Speaker 1: maybe right around your age, and I was feeling so
Speaker 1: much stress. I remember that age is really really confusing
Speaker 1: and hard, harder than we give it credit for. It's
Speaker 1: like it's so much pressure. So you're supposed to you
Speaker 1: think you're supposed to figure out the whole entire rest
Speaker 1: of your life, and you think these certain set of
Speaker 1: decisions are going to dictate. But the truth is emmy
Speaker 1: at least for me, I had no idea what path
Speaker 1: of my life was going to take when I was eighteen.
Speaker 1: I planned it in one way. I think there are
Speaker 1: always open doors that come There's all these like these
Speaker 1: miraculous opportunities that show up, and I think you just
Speaker 1: take the next best step and take the pressure off
Speaker 1: a little bit and just say what feels good for
Speaker 1: right now, not what's going to be like my you know,
Speaker 1: life plan in ten years. So much stress. Okay, but anyway,
Speaker 1: now me that advice meditating, No I do because I
Speaker 1: feel like we're in this place. If you're a senior
Speaker 1: right now, you probably understand where. You know, we're applying
Speaker 1: to colleges that we've never even visited, and so we're
Speaker 1: determining we're supposed to go. There are these virtual tours,
Speaker 1: but you can only get so much out of that.
Speaker 1: I have to decide by May first, like what I'm
Speaker 1: going to be doing next year when I have no
Speaker 1: idea what that is. Oh my god, that is I
Speaker 1: didn't even think about that. For you guys, that is
Speaker 1: really hard. There's so much you get from the energy
Speaker 1: of feeling a place and feeling if you fit into it,
Speaker 1: and like even just going into cafeteria or like a
Speaker 1: library and seeing is this like my vibes, this feel.
Speaker 1: I'm really sorry that you're having to go through that,
Speaker 1: you know, but we compare. I'm so lucky that I
Speaker 1: am able to have the opportunity to go through it
Speaker 1: and to have I'm lucky to be able to be
Speaker 1: stressed about it, you know what I mean, Because people
Speaker 1: don't even get that opportunity. Um, But I have lived
Speaker 1: in New York my whole life. I go to school
Speaker 1: in New York, and it's doing school online at home
Speaker 1: in an apartment. Is what's stressful? Where did you grow up?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I really feel for you, guys. I
Speaker 1: can't imagine what that feels like to have to do homeschool.
Speaker 1: I've seen it my my friends where moms who are
Speaker 1: trying to put their kids through home school. But I
Speaker 1: don't know that many um high school age kids who
Speaker 1: are like having to deal with it. And honestly, I
Speaker 1: am so sorry for all of you. It's sounds horrible,
Speaker 1: but I love that you. I love that you shifted
Speaker 1: yourself even that like shift from like oh, this is
Speaker 1: a problem, and this is something that is hurting me
Speaker 1: to how lucky you are. I really think that mindset
Speaker 1: is so integral and important in how we're able to
Speaker 1: have you keep our mental health, keep mentally healthy. UM.
Speaker 1: I grew up in Boston, right outside of Boston, and
Speaker 1: I actually moved to New York when I was um
Speaker 1: one where in New York I lived all over I
Speaker 1: lived um When I first moved there, I was in
Speaker 1: the Upper East Side, and then I was down in
Speaker 1: the village for years, for like seven years, so fun
Speaker 1: would you ever move back? I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: there for twelve years and it was a really beautiful time.
Speaker 1: I was just talking to my friends and the other
Speaker 1: night about out the scene, the music scene in the
Speaker 1: West Village. Did you guys ever check out shows? And like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was around the Bitter End
Speaker 1: or the Red Lion or we never. We didn't really
Speaker 1: do that growing up. But it's as I've gotten older,
Speaker 1: I've been to a few shows downtown and it's it's
Speaker 1: the energy where it's in a little place, but it's
Speaker 1: still electric and it's even more special than the big
Speaker 1: arenas because you feel this connection. But I don't think
Speaker 1: a lot of people realize, Oh, I'm so glad you do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's exactly it. That was what I came up. That
Speaker 1: was the scene that I came up in, and that
Speaker 1: infused how I look at arena shows now, Like the
Speaker 1: the smallness and the intimacy and the connection of those
Speaker 1: tiny little clubs that were like candle it where you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it was like five or ten people in them.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I was playing um piano like covers for three
Speaker 1: hours to try to make my rent, but it was
Speaker 1: there'd be this like electric moments if I played a
Speaker 1: song that everyone loved, where every one singing along in
Speaker 1: some stuffy, tiny little New York City bar, and it's
Speaker 1: the most magical that I felt like. I saw Julia
Speaker 1: Michael's um it was more than there was a couple
Speaker 1: hundred people, but it was still in the small venue
Speaker 1: in downtown New York, and it was she went into
Speaker 1: the audience and it was she was singing her song Anxiety,
Speaker 1: which I was like the first song. I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: I relate to this and everyone started screaming and it
Speaker 1: was like the most Matt. I felt like it was
Speaker 1: magic and I've never experienced that before, and I think
Speaker 1: that's the power of music. Do you remember when you
Speaker 1: first realize, you know, like music, I want to do this. Um. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was in Trinidad at the time. So I went
Speaker 1: to school at Trinity College in Connecticut, and um, I
Speaker 1: wasn't doing it, wasn't pursuing music. I didn't really grow
Speaker 1: up with the belief that, like, I was that special
Speaker 1: or talented. I grew up in outside of Boston and
Speaker 1: it was really heavily on education, like go to graduate school,
Speaker 1: be serious. I didn't really know a lot of artists
Speaker 1: and so that that path didn't seem like very realistic
Speaker 1: for me. And I also wasn't I wasn't like always
Speaker 1: getting the solos. I wasn't like that I had a
Speaker 1: good voice. It was fine, my parents liked it, but yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really nice. Um. But I went to Trinidad when
Speaker 1: I was a junior because there was some presentation in
Speaker 1: one of my international relations classes. I was international relations
Speaker 1: major by the way, in case you're curious, and I
Speaker 1: was in one of my classes. They were they did
Speaker 1: a presentation on carnival in Trinidad, and they were like,
Speaker 1: music infuses all of Trinidad. In life, music is the
Speaker 1: soul and the heartbeat and something in me. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've always been inquires acapella groups and I played piano
Speaker 1: since I was five, and so music was a part
Speaker 1: of my life, but I'd never put it first. And
Speaker 1: hearing this presentation and feeling the pulse of of a
Speaker 1: country that was like kind of born on music and
Speaker 1: spoken music and you know, I don't know, something lit
Speaker 1: up in me and I was like, I need to
Speaker 1: go there, and so I went to Trinidad for an
Speaker 1: abroad program. I ended up staying throughout the summer and
Speaker 1: I joined a band when I was there, and it
Speaker 1: was a SOACA band, which is soul meets calypso and um.
Speaker 1: I ended up my first real concert concert was on
Speaker 1: stage in front of eighty thousand people at the International
Speaker 1: SACA Monarch Finals. Bananas. Okay. I did not feel intimidated.
Speaker 1: So I got on the stage and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: I felt this. I don't know if you felt this
Speaker 1: moment in your life. Actually you probably have because you're
Speaker 1: doing it. But I felt this moment of true calling,
Speaker 1: like I am exactly where I'm supposed to be, this
Speaker 1: is who I am. I was not able to hear
Speaker 1: it before because I was scared, But oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: this is what I'm supposed to do with my life.
Speaker 1: And like light lightbulbs went off everywhere and I was like,
Speaker 1: I need that mic in the front of the stage.
Speaker 1: Obviously I didn't go grab it, but that the most
Speaker 1: magical thing because I know exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: After I have like one of my first interviews, I
Speaker 1: was like, WHOA, I don't know what this feeling is,
Speaker 1: but this feels like I I feel like at home
Speaker 1: in a weird way. Yes it's a weird feeling, but
Speaker 1: it's great, Sammy. You know how lucky you are to
Speaker 1: have that feeling so young. It's really a gift. It
Speaker 1: just feels like I feel like I've always been a
Speaker 1: lot older than my age, even when I was young,
Speaker 1: and I feel like I was like a third year
Speaker 1: old in a twelve year old body. Um and so
Speaker 1: I never really I didn't like the middle school to
Speaker 1: high school, just the priorities, the shenanigans, a gossip, it
Speaker 1: was so um ridiculous to me getting swarmed up and
Speaker 1: wondering about who's invited to this party? And I always
Speaker 1: felt like there's something so much bigger going on. Um
Speaker 1: and I just that's how I created my podcast. My
Speaker 1: anxiety was an all time low of my sophomore and
Speaker 1: if you have anxiety, probably know distraction can be your
Speaker 1: best friend. Um And so I started listening to podcasts
Speaker 1: and I couldn't find anything I related to. So then
Speaker 1: I decided to create one just for fun, because again, distraction.
Speaker 1: Here we are today. It's season two. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: that's very incredible. Wow. I hope my daughter's like you.
Speaker 1: I really do. And it's it's all that my husband
Speaker 1: and I wish for her is that she um find
Speaker 1: something that she loves and we don't care what it is,
Speaker 1: but that she pours her heart into it. And honestly,
Speaker 1: I know it. It is hard. And I felt the
Speaker 1: same way growing up, like I don't quite fit in
Speaker 1: to the to the agenda here. I don't get it.
Speaker 1: In middle school, I wasn't very popular. Um. I haven't
Speaker 1: really told anyone this part before. I don't think I
Speaker 1: was ever asked, but I wasn't bullied, But I just
Speaker 1: no one. I wasn't like I just I just didn't
Speaker 1: get it. But you know, the kids were like smoking
Speaker 1: cigarettes under the bleachers before school because that was cool.
Speaker 1: And see if for your work it was vaping in
Speaker 1: the bathroom, that's what the equivalent was, don't kids, don't
Speaker 1: don't do it and don't do any of it. It's
Speaker 1: just like, or you can if that's your truth, We're
Speaker 1: not judging for you. But if that's your truth, maybe
Speaker 1: everyone has to take their own path to getting to
Speaker 1: where they are. But you know, for me and I
Speaker 1: would like I just didn't get it. I was like,
Speaker 1: why are we doing this? Why can't we be kind? Like?
Speaker 1: Why is it being nice cool? Why isn't there things
Speaker 1: happened trying? Why isn't trying cool? Like I was. I
Speaker 1: wanted to do well with my homework and do well
Speaker 1: inquired and it was so dorky. And I was always
Speaker 1: petrified of like authority. I was the one I couldn't
Speaker 1: skip lunch if they counted. I was that okay back,
Speaker 1: yeah me too. I was so afraid of I still
Speaker 1: this way if anyone I'm so sensitive that if anyone
Speaker 1: say sizes me, I will just burst into tears. It's
Speaker 1: like so ridiculous. I honestly this is like one of
Speaker 1: my favorite things because when I started the podcast, I
Speaker 1: just felt so alone. And I've realized people that I
Speaker 1: look up to an artist like you, you know, where
Speaker 1: so similar people don't realize that you're human. And I
Speaker 1: feel like, if you have any type of social media following,
Speaker 1: you're put on this pedestal as if you're not a human.
Speaker 1: And it makes me so mad. So I how have
Speaker 1: you dealt with that? The social media fakeness and all that.
Speaker 1: I have a love hate relationship right now with social media.
Speaker 1: I'm saying I'm not doing a great job with it.
Speaker 1: I mean, thank you, I'm so glad that you feel
Speaker 1: like I am I And I get so many comments
Speaker 1: like that, actually, like, thank you so much for keeping
Speaker 1: it real. But the truth is I I've watched myself
Speaker 1: like lose followers since not playing the right game, like
Speaker 1: since not posting like the cute outfits and like the
Speaker 1: perfect makeup and like the things that I was posting before.
Speaker 1: And I've watched myself lose followers, and it hurts my
Speaker 1: soul because I'm like, wait, I'm doing the wrong thing,
Speaker 1: but I'm actually doing the right thing because I'm speaking
Speaker 1: my truth and just like being like, hey today I
Speaker 1: feel like shit or today I'm anxious or sorry for
Speaker 1: this work today, I'm weaking curse on here. Okay, I
Speaker 1: don't know, Like I I struggle with it because on
Speaker 1: the one hand, sometimes I wake up and I'm like, oh, dang,
Speaker 1: I have a platform. It's my responsibility to share how
Speaker 1: I feel. But but you're too that wants privacy at
Speaker 1: the same time, I want privacy right now, especially because
Speaker 1: I'm going through a lot and I'm making an album
Speaker 1: and I really don't know how to do the same
Speaker 1: to them at the same time, like I don't understand
Speaker 1: the artists. More power to them that can continually create
Speaker 1: content and fill their wells enough to create maybe the
Speaker 1: kind of creating I do. Um. I don't hope. I
Speaker 1: don't mean to sound I'm not special than more special
Speaker 1: in other artists. But I go really, really deep. I
Speaker 1: like to have there like journal injuries. A lot of
Speaker 1: artists do this. But for some reason for me, maybe
Speaker 1: I don't know. At least this time I've been I've
Speaker 1: had to excavate so much and almost go into this
Speaker 1: cocoon to really like go through my dark knight of
Speaker 1: the soul and and feel like I don't know, becoming
Speaker 1: a mother all these changes, dealing with fame whatever, you know,
Speaker 1: the highs and lows of all of it. Um I
Speaker 1: really had to go deep and it's been really hard
Speaker 1: for me honestly to then share publicly at the same time.
Speaker 1: So have a good day, friends, I'm doing great. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm doing a job right now. I'm trying,
Speaker 1: but it's fine that you're not doing your best. I'm
Speaker 1: in a weird place to a social media where you know,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of it more as um as
Speaker 1: for my career then for like being a team. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, I am eighteen years old and
Speaker 1: then I do have that social media pressure of anxiety
Speaker 1: and seeing having Polo and all that. So I'm trying
Speaker 1: to find this balance where I need to grow in
Speaker 1: order to technically have be more successful because you know,
Speaker 1: companies look at your followers at the same time my
Speaker 1: much real health. I try not to look at it.
Speaker 1: I am the same way. It's really really tough. I
Speaker 1: wonder how many people listening feel the same way that
Speaker 1: we do and wish there was a solution, because I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's more of us than just you,
Speaker 1: and I feel like it's a really talk. It's not
Speaker 1: talked about. I know, I try to talk about it,
Speaker 1: and then I feel like, oh, I guess I shouldn't
Speaker 1: criticize social media. On social media, that's a little silly.
Speaker 1: But I know what you mean. But you know what
Speaker 1: I think that I've watched. Also, I've also watched friends
Speaker 1: who are really have excellent mental health and excellent relationships
Speaker 1: social media. I've tried to learn from them a little
Speaker 1: bit more. And and when I'm really when maybe i'm
Speaker 1: not creating like an album, I'm better balanced and able
Speaker 1: to live able. I'm able to live my life and
Speaker 1: share my life at the same time. At the same time,
Speaker 1: You've two year old and you're creating an album and
Speaker 1: you're in a pandemic girl, thank you Sammy. People need
Speaker 1: to realize that it's this weird. You know, someone gave
Speaker 1: me advice. They said, um, the best thing to do
Speaker 1: is share, and then observe, share observed, share observed. And
Speaker 1: the observe is not observe what hurts you or what
Speaker 1: makes you feel bad, but observe how it all makes
Speaker 1: you feel. So like, for instance, if I'm following and
Speaker 1: I'm following a ton of fellow musicians, I'll feel fomo too.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm I didn't grow out of it either.
Speaker 1: I don't know that we ever truly do. And I'll
Speaker 1: look and I'll be like, oh, dang, they're doing this,
Speaker 1: or they look how keep they look? Look at their
Speaker 1: abste you know, just whatever, just the feeling that we're
Speaker 1: all we all have. UM. I use my meditation practice
Speaker 1: then to watch that feeling. And this is where I
Speaker 1: actually do want to share a little meditation thing with you.
Speaker 1: This is what I think, um her meditation can be
Speaker 1: really beautiful because it isn't necessarily about trying to quiet
Speaker 1: your mind. For me, it's about watching my mind and
Speaker 1: being the observer because the waves of our minds are
Speaker 1: going to keep going. You know, they're not going to
Speaker 1: ever stop that shatter that anxiety. That's just what a
Speaker 1: mind does. It's natural. It's called monkey mind and Buddhism,
Speaker 1: it's just what a mind does. I love that. It's okay,
Speaker 1: you don't need to stop it. But what meditation has
Speaker 1: helped me do is realize that I am not the mind.
Speaker 1: I am not those waves going up and down. I
Speaker 1: am actually part of the ocean. I am the ocean
Speaker 1: watching them. And so I think beneath the thoughts and meditation,
Speaker 1: I just let them go on, but I just go
Speaker 1: to a deeper place that's beautiful. Wow, thank you. Okay,
Speaker 1: we have to take a quick break, but when we
Speaker 1: come back, I want to take you up on your
Speaker 1: offer to try some meditation during this conversation, I also
Speaker 1: want to talk to you about where and how you
Speaker 1: find creative inspiration for your music and of course your
Speaker 1: mega hit Bite song and we're back. It's hard to
Speaker 1: start your career and be a musician. Like you said,
Speaker 1: you were performing in front of ten fifteen people, but
Speaker 1: I think that's so special that you were content with that.
Speaker 1: How have you dealt with um? As humans, you know,
Speaker 1: we always want more and we keep trying to chase
Speaker 1: something else even when we get to it. How have
Speaker 1: you have you found a place of contentment or are
Speaker 1: you still working on that? These are such good questions, Sammy. Um. Sorry,
Speaker 1: I needed to process that, and I think in some
Speaker 1: ways that isla almost like this mountain that is never
Speaker 1: ending in my life. It's like, but there are plateaus.
Speaker 1: So I did reach a point three years ago, right
Speaker 1: before I had my daughter, where I had been hurting
Speaker 1: so much because I wanted so much more, and I
Speaker 1: wasn't able to get so much more, even though I
Speaker 1: already had had a crazy amount according to anyone who
Speaker 1: would trying to, you know, achieve a musical. Scus's sold
Speaker 1: ten million records, Like what is you know, what's wrong
Speaker 1: with my mind that I can't understand and register? That's enough.
Speaker 1: So it was so much pain and so much not enoughness,
Speaker 1: and so much trying and and like looking for that
Speaker 1: feeling of fulfillment outside of myself that finally just cracked,
Speaker 1: like it collapsed. And it was really a painful like
Speaker 1: they all are. It was a painful growth. And I
Speaker 1: went on a really incredible trip, like a spiritual trip
Speaker 1: with friends. And on that trip, I climbed this mount
Speaker 1: where you go to Israel. Oh my god, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with my brother for birth right, so amazing, it's
Speaker 1: so incredible. And I climbed Mountain Assiah, which is the
Speaker 1: I hope I'm getting, I think, the trail of Tears.
Speaker 1: And at the top of it, I had been feeling
Speaker 1: so angry at God, like why didn't you you took
Speaker 1: me so high? You gave me like two hits, and
Speaker 1: then you know, albums it's sold and all the success,
Speaker 1: and then I put out this album, this next album
Speaker 1: that I loved so much, and it really didn't do
Speaker 1: very well, and it was really hurt and confusing to
Speaker 1: my ego, and I was so mad. I was like
Speaker 1: blaming and looking around, like, whose fault is it? My
Speaker 1: publist fault at all? About just becoming someone that I'm not.
Speaker 1: I didn't get there by being that person. I got
Speaker 1: got there by being the kind like full of light
Speaker 1: love soul that I am. But I was turning into
Speaker 1: this I don't know who. It was, some like crazy
Speaker 1: answer and I and all this blame and anger, and
Speaker 1: I climbed the mountain and at the top of the mountain,
Speaker 1: I had friends that were so amazing and supporting me
Speaker 1: and helping me all throughout this. And this was a
Speaker 1: long journey of therapy and everything. But by the by
Speaker 1: the time I got to the mount something cracked open
Speaker 1: and I just started sobbing, and it shifted. It's talking
Speaker 1: about what we talked about earlier. I shifted from anger
Speaker 1: to gratitude. And I had this big, huge realization that,
Speaker 1: oh my God, like everything in my life, this was
Speaker 1: not happening to me. This is happening for me. If
Speaker 1: I continued down this path of success at the rate
Speaker 1: that I was going, I was going to become someone
Speaker 1: that I didn't like. My family, didn't like, my friends,
Speaker 1: didn't like. Someone I didn't want to be in the world.
Speaker 1: Who cares about fame If you are not a good
Speaker 1: kind person, none of that matters. And I was becoming
Speaker 1: someone that I did not want to be. And so
Speaker 1: I realized at that moment, oh my god, this was
Speaker 1: a humongous, beautiful door shutting so that I could pause
Speaker 1: and be still and take stock of who are you, Rachel?
Speaker 1: What do you want? What's your true intention in this world?
Speaker 1: And it was just like sobbing tears of gratitude. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you for stopping me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: So I did reach a point then of deep appreciation
Speaker 1: and enoughness, and that lasted about a year and I
Speaker 1: had my daughter and it was beautiful, and then I
Speaker 1: just put an Instagram post up about this. The stillness allowed,
Speaker 1: and like the rest allowed that natural fire to come back,
Speaker 1: and it then was an organic wanting more. It wasn't
Speaker 1: a needing more from an ego place. It was like,
Speaker 1: oh wait a second, I have more to share. I
Speaker 1: just birthed a human, I just went through a whole
Speaker 1: dark knight of the soul. I have so much to
Speaker 1: share with the world again, and now I want more,
Speaker 1: but from such a place of love, like I want
Speaker 1: to share and more because I have more love to give,
Speaker 1: you know, like I don't need more fame. I just
Speaker 1: want to share more truth and love. And that's when
Speaker 1: you know you're doing it from the right place. And
Speaker 1: I feel like, especially during the pandemic, it's hard to
Speaker 1: stay creative when every day feels like it's groundhog Day.
Speaker 1: Um dude, yeah, I'm in a creative at myself. Do
Speaker 1: you have any advice because it's a struggle. Well, I don't.
Speaker 1: I I was too, and then I went through a
Speaker 1: huge creative surge and now it dried up again, so
Speaker 1: I'm totally understand. I think my biggest advice is that
Speaker 1: artists in general were like volcanoes. People think that we're unstable,
Speaker 1: but actually the volcano is the most stable force in
Speaker 1: the world. In order to you know, birth all that lavea,
Speaker 1: you have to be so stable. So we are screative.
Speaker 1: People are stable, but we have to remember that the
Speaker 1: creativity comes in these gigantic like and then it dries
Speaker 1: up and that's just the way it goes. That's just
Speaker 1: the way than the rhythm of a volcano. And kind
Speaker 1: of the acceptance again, the acceptance of what is is
Speaker 1: what my meditation practice has taught me too, is like
Speaker 1: it sucks, but when you're like, Okay, I guess it's
Speaker 1: just isn't my creative period? And then yeah, just kind
Speaker 1: of the compassion for yourself, like this hurts. It hurts
Speaker 1: an artist when you don't get to be in the
Speaker 1: creative It feels incredible to be the volcano erupting. It
Speaker 1: really is painful when it dries up. So the compassion
Speaker 1: for yourself and then I think my other piece of
Speaker 1: advice to get the creativity going again is to just
Speaker 1: at least what I do. Maybe you'll tell me what
Speaker 1: you do, But I just soak up all of life,
Speaker 1: like through podcasts, music, movies, books, I read tons of books, walks, nature, hikes,
Speaker 1: the ocean. I just let all of life kind of
Speaker 1: whisper to me and I just take it easy. I've
Speaker 1: had to do this recently. I just like literally stop
Speaker 1: forcing the faucet. I stopped trying to like stop trying
Speaker 1: to write just like quieted down journal, be still, and
Speaker 1: then let it bubble it back up again organically. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm hoping happens with me. Um it's hard, though,
Speaker 1: Well that that's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping it that
Speaker 1: was it, you know what I mean? Like, what if
Speaker 1: that was it and there's no more creativity? Oh my god.
Speaker 1: I talked about the therapist. I talk about this all
Speaker 1: the time. It's like, that is our biggest fear. That's
Speaker 1: all creative people biggest fear. When it tries up. You're like, well,
Speaker 1: that was that? Was it? How I enjoyed there? Right? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not, though I can tell you even though I
Speaker 1: had that fear literally last week. It's not. Though we
Speaker 1: know better. I mean I've lived a little longer, so
Speaker 1: I can tell you I have more experience with the
Speaker 1: comings and goings of how it interrupts. But um, it
Speaker 1: never is. It's never the end. You'll always you'll have more,
Speaker 1: and oh my god, Sam, You're gonna have so much more.
Speaker 1: And any artists listening, there's so much more to come.
Speaker 1: You just have to we have to be patient with
Speaker 1: ourselves and come. It's hard, I know, it's perseverance. I
Speaker 1: I think when you wrote fight song, because it's such
Speaker 1: a beautiful song. I know you've heard that a million times,
Speaker 1: but when you've when you wrote that, you know it
Speaker 1: came from such an honest place of like do you
Speaker 1: persevere in this moment in time? How do you continue fighting?
Speaker 1: How did you end up writing that song? Thank you
Speaker 1: so much. I was at a moment of really being
Speaker 1: kicked down and like thinking, dude, this is really getting
Speaker 1: pathetic that I'm still trying to make music. I'm like
Speaker 1: I was thirty one or something at the time, or
Speaker 1: thirty two, and I've been trying for like you said,
Speaker 1: like twelve years and without any success, and it was
Speaker 1: just painful, and um, I was coming to a moment
Speaker 1: of like I really need to face reality, probably like
Speaker 1: my friends. But what made you doubt that if you
Speaker 1: were going for so long? Was it like a run
Speaker 1: out of theme or was there a certain moment. I
Speaker 1: think my publisher called me I was Sony ATV. That
Speaker 1: was like a blessing that I had gotten signed got
Speaker 1: a publishing deal, So that was like one you know,
Speaker 1: I had little markers throughout the ten years or was
Speaker 1: that kept me going like, okay, I have a publishing deal. Now, Okay,
Speaker 1: I got this tour, Okay, I have a little song
Speaker 1: on the radio, like I had a manager at that
Speaker 1: point that was It's tough because in some ways it
Speaker 1: was such a blessing and he was incredible for my
Speaker 1: for my art. But the other time, it was a
Speaker 1: little emotionally tough, you know he was it wasn't the
Speaker 1: most emotionally healthy relationship, and um, it wasn't like he
Speaker 1: wasn't using the best tactics to encourage someone. And so
Speaker 1: I think it was just wearing me down, like the
Speaker 1: way that he was kind of giving me attention and
Speaker 1: then withdrawing it, like an honestly unhealthy relationship. Relations but
Speaker 1: it was manifesting in my manager relationship. And I think
Speaker 1: the rejection of that, of feeling like, oh I suck
Speaker 1: what might have been the thing that finally made me
Speaker 1: feel like I can't do this. So anyway, I reached
Speaker 1: that point of just like And I also think my
Speaker 1: father and my I know we were talking about our dads.
Speaker 1: I think my dad, who was such a believer, okay
Speaker 1: I should write all that back, maybe not such a believer,
Speaker 1: but loved me so much and was like, if that's
Speaker 1: what raised Rachel happy. Um even they my parents were
Speaker 1: kind of like, what are you doing, Like, honey, what
Speaker 1: are you doing? And that's hard here, oh so painful.
Speaker 1: I got this. Um my grandfather passed away, had passed
Speaker 1: away right around that time, and I remember I was
Speaker 1: praying or manifesting or some some kind of version of
Speaker 1: that I needed money for this recording, like I needed money.
Speaker 1: So I was totally broken. Um, I needed this exact
Speaker 1: amount of money to give to a producer to try
Speaker 1: to produce fight song. Actually, and I my grandfather pressed away,
Speaker 1: and my dad called me and he's like, and we didn't.
Speaker 1: He didn't. My grandfather wasn't like a rich man. It
Speaker 1: was a little He lived in a tiny little house.
Speaker 1: My dad called me and he said, you're never gonna
Speaker 1: believe this, but your grandfather left you the exact amount
Speaker 1: of money. And that was the sign from God like okay, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: like I'm supposed to keep going. And that money was
Speaker 1: the first production I used for fight Song. I skipped
Speaker 1: how I wrote it though, I'm so sorry. Sure I'll
Speaker 1: hear that. Yeah, well I just okay. So I was
Speaker 1: driving in mal Malibu, I think I was on the
Speaker 1: way to a session and my publisher called me and
Speaker 1: she said to me, you have been doing everything but
Speaker 1: telling your story and these songs you're sending. You've been
Speaker 1: sending me songs for years, for like four years. You
Speaker 1: have not told me exactly your story. You have said
Speaker 1: all these other things and danced around it. Tell me
Speaker 1: your truth. Who are you like? What has kept your
Speaker 1: little fire going? And I was so frustrated because at
Speaker 1: that point, I was like like every artist, I was like,
Speaker 1: I have told my story. And I got to this
Speaker 1: session and I just was so frustrated and angry and
Speaker 1: like and I just got to that piano, and all
Speaker 1: of that passion in the years of I don't know,
Speaker 1: it just came out. It came pouring out that chorus,
Speaker 1: and the co writer, Dave, he just sat there kind
Speaker 1: of like, yeah, keep going that. But then that song
Speaker 1: took me quite a while longer to finish that I didn't.
Speaker 1: I had to get the verses. It took the sorry
Speaker 1: excuse me, I had to write like ten more versions
Speaker 1: of the verses until I got it right. So it's
Speaker 1: another story about patients in itself. But um, that's where
Speaker 1: it came from Wow and Now You Soldiers, which is
Speaker 1: such a beautiful song too. I feel like that's also.
Speaker 1: I feel like your music has been so authentic and honest,
Speaker 1: which is it's so important because it makes people feel
Speaker 1: this alone, and I love that you're doing that. Okay,
Speaker 1: we had to take one more quick break, but when
Speaker 1: way I come back, I'd love to talk to you
Speaker 1: about something else. You're super passionate about manifesting, and I
Speaker 1: love to have you walk us through a little exercise
Speaker 1: around manifestation and meditation if you don't mind that, and
Speaker 1: a lot more right after that, and we're back. Now
Speaker 1: you're really big on manifesting. I'm trying to get into it.
Speaker 1: What advice do you have? What? Okay, let's talk about
Speaker 1: it because I'm just getting back into it too, and
Speaker 1: I did a lot back then. I was like, humongous.
Speaker 1: Do you like wholeheartedly believe in it? Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I will tell you some tips. I will tell you
Speaker 1: guys whatever you want to know about ladies and gentlemen. Yo.
Speaker 1: It is really it's real. And but the part of
Speaker 1: it that is really important to know is that, yes,
Speaker 1: you can manifest anything you want, but you have to
Speaker 1: be careful, because I think really important is to not
Speaker 1: just try to manifest things that you want, but peace
Speaker 1: and happiness and joy and the feeling, because what you
Speaker 1: think might make you happy and full of peace and
Speaker 1: joy might not. As it happened for me, I was
Speaker 1: got everything, every single thing I wanted to, except for
Speaker 1: one thing that I think is still coming. But um,
Speaker 1: every think coming on this like twenty twenty thing list
Speaker 1: of wild things, things I had no business thinking could
Speaker 1: be mine. I was like, you know, thirty one, broke
Speaker 1: no reason to believe that I would be successful. And
Speaker 1: I have manifested selling millions of records, being on a
Speaker 1: tour bus, being presented with plaques, seeing thousands and thousands
Speaker 1: of people singing my song with like their fists in
Speaker 1: the air. And I would do these techniques and I'll
Speaker 1: share one with you right now if you'd like, let's please, Okay.
Speaker 1: So one of the most important parts about manifesting is
Speaker 1: how viscerally you have to feel it. It can't just
Speaker 1: be thinking it. We have to get out of our
Speaker 1: heads with it. So you're not just thinking what you want.
Speaker 1: You have to feel what you want. You have to feel,
Speaker 1: you have to taste it. You have to see it,
Speaker 1: smell it, here it and most imporant, you have to
Speaker 1: feel it in your heart. Feel the feeling that is
Speaker 1: the most That is the biggest secret. That's it. Okay.
Speaker 1: So for instance, um, everyone can do this at home.
Speaker 1: Is there something I want you to think of, something
Speaker 1: that you really want right now? You don't have to
Speaker 1: tell me. Yeah, okay. And I want you to close
Speaker 1: your eyes, and I want you to take a deep breath,
Speaker 1: and I want you to ground into the earth. Just
Speaker 1: imagine roots going from the bottom of your feet down
Speaker 1: through the dirt, soil, rock, into the center of the earth.
Speaker 1: And imagine golden light from the center of the earth
Speaker 1: coming back up through the bottoms of your feet. They're
Speaker 1: your calves, knees, thighs hips, stomach. It's golden light filling
Speaker 1: your body, filling your chest, your shoulders, down your arms
Speaker 1: to your fingertips, golden light up through your neck, your jaw,
Speaker 1: just relaxing as you go. It's deep bones, your nose,
Speaker 1: your eyes, your hair, the strands of your hair, your skull.
Speaker 1: Just feeling your whole body flooded with golden light. Take
Speaker 1: another deep breath, Okay, I want you to imagine that
Speaker 1: thing that you most most want in the world right now,
Speaker 1: and I want you to get a picture of it,
Speaker 1: not just what it looks like, but what it feels like.
Speaker 1: What would it feel like if you had that thing
Speaker 1: right now? How would your heart feel? Would you feel excited?
Speaker 1: Would you feel giddy? Would you feel like you wanted
Speaker 1: to burst out and screaming and dance around the room like?
Speaker 1: Would you feel like you want to hug someone like
Speaker 1: you want to celebrate? What calls would you make? What
Speaker 1: kind of basis would you be kind of feeling? Would
Speaker 1: you be on your face? And then I want you
Speaker 1: to get even deeper with the visilation. What would it
Speaker 1: look like around you if that thing came true? What
Speaker 1: would the air feel like? What would what would be
Speaker 1: physically in your presence? What kind of messages would you see?
Speaker 1: Would you seeing on your phone? What kind of things
Speaker 1: if it's maybe a dream of performing on a stage,
Speaker 1: would you see that microphone? Which you can you see
Speaker 1: those people in front of you, really see them? And
Speaker 1: then what kind of smells would you be smelling at
Speaker 1: that time make it so real? What sounds would you
Speaker 1: be hearing would you be hearing massive applause? Here that applause,
Speaker 1: really hear it. And then I want you to put
Speaker 1: all that together at once in one big burst out
Speaker 1: to the universe. So right now you're going to imagine
Speaker 1: what would it feel like, Feel that feeling in your
Speaker 1: heart of pure joy fulfillment. What would it sound like
Speaker 1: here here, whatever the sounds would be, What would it
Speaker 1: smell like, what would it taste like, what would it
Speaker 1: look like? And just feel it like every five of
Speaker 1: your being exploding from your heart into the universe like
Speaker 1: one big cosmic wish. Take a deep breath and in
Speaker 1: the exhale, I want you to burst it out, radiate
Speaker 1: that out. Okay, now I need to land back in
Speaker 1: your body. Feel the floor beneath your feet, feel a
Speaker 1: close on your body, blacks your jaw, blacks your shoulders,
Speaker 1: feel the air through your nostrils and out. And now
Speaker 1: this is the most important part of manifestation, is the
Speaker 1: absolute faith that you have done your part. You have
Speaker 1: done what you needed to do. You did your work today.
Speaker 1: Now it is up to the universe to deliver you,
Speaker 1: like magic, what you put out there. And your job
Speaker 1: is to have absolute faith that you've done your part.
Speaker 1: And now the last step is the peace and the
Speaker 1: joy knowing that it's already yours. It doesn't even matter
Speaker 1: if it comes or not, because you already felt the
Speaker 1: feeling of what it feels like. So you can just
Speaker 1: relax with it. You can be easy with the whole thing.
Speaker 1: The dream can have a lighter touch because you already
Speaker 1: felt like what it felt like. And that's the whole
Speaker 1: point of getting your dream. Anyway. Can you read a book?
Speaker 1: Oh you have? I have any children's book? By the way,
Speaker 1: how did you what was the inspiration for the children's book?
Speaker 1: How was that experience for you? By the way that
Speaker 1: I'm like, I felt it? You did? You? Like? Should have? Like? Um?
Speaker 1: When of those meditation apps? Just like, why do you
Speaker 1: have a podcast? I don't know? Is it hard? No,
Speaker 1: you can do it. I'm busy. I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: kind of tired momm ng to record here? Meditations? Are
Speaker 1: you kidding? Maybe I should? Okay, I'll tell my manager.
Speaker 1: I'm I don't really. I share them often with like session,
Speaker 1: you know, people when I'm in session, or I share
Speaker 1: them with friends, or but I haven't really done it publicly.
Speaker 1: It was really fun to get to do that. Maybe
Speaker 1: I will. I mean, I think it's way to connect
Speaker 1: with people. That's true, and it's something that I'm really
Speaker 1: passionate about clearly. Yeah. Okay, so my children's book. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I released it last year right in the beginning of
Speaker 1: the pandemic. It was so special and also scary to
Speaker 1: release it then. I mean it wasn't like it wasn't
Speaker 1: an album, so there wasn't so much pressure, but it
Speaker 1: still felt like, oh wait, this is a baby of
Speaker 1: mine and my giving it the best chance to succeed.
Speaker 1: If I can't go out and promote it, yeah, I
Speaker 1: get that, but I'm so proud of it. I love it.
Speaker 1: I actually have one right here. Can I see anything? Yes,
Speaker 1: this is one of my goals. One of my goals
Speaker 1: is trying. It's going to write a children Oh you should,
Speaker 1: you will, I'll send you one. Please do yes, because
Speaker 1: I'm looking for inspiration. Oh, it's really fun. It's a
Speaker 1: whole process and learning about m H. I am just
Speaker 1: so happy that you are my finale in my podcast,
Speaker 1: my season two final water so I manifested season three
Speaker 1: that we're gonna get picked up. Yes, it's yours. No,
Speaker 1: it's yours. It's done, it is, it's already as it
Speaker 1: is you know, and so it is. That's that's your belief.
Speaker 1: Now your season three will get picked up. I like that,
Speaker 1: and keep doing that little visualization and keep listening to
Speaker 1: that meditation. I'm just going to replay your audio. Do it.
Speaker 1: There's also one there's also on YouTube, tongue of different.
Speaker 1: My voice might not be like that. No, I like
Speaker 1: your voice. What are you talking about? But I mean
Speaker 1: for anyone listening, we all have our own tastes and
Speaker 1: like what five of us, So maybe you listen to
Speaker 1: it and you're like, well, that was really a cool process.
Speaker 1: But like I would really like to hear an Australian
Speaker 1: guy saying it you can find it or like you know, YouTube,
Speaker 1: you can on YouTube. And I also feel like it's
Speaker 1: so important with this industry and mentorship and just having
Speaker 1: like women to have your backs. I'm so glad that
Speaker 1: you're on my podcast because I feel like, my god,
Speaker 1: I love getting to know you. You're so cool. I
Speaker 1: believe in you. Thank you. That means a lot, it
Speaker 1: really does. Do I didn't mean to interrupt you, so no,
Speaker 1: you didn't know, but it's I think we should all
Speaker 1: if you're you're listening to this episode and you just
Speaker 1: want advice, We're here. Reach out here exactly. Yeah, reach
Speaker 1: out to me on Instagram. The one thing I am
Speaker 1: really good at is responding to messages. I love hearing
Speaker 1: from people. I'm also doing some TikTok's lately, although I've
Speaker 1: taken the hiatus. It's a TikTok star Nope, but she's
Speaker 1: she's learning books. Rachel, thank you so much for coming
Speaker 1: on my podcast. I'm so glad that we got to
Speaker 1: do this. You're so welcome it with so much fun.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me as an honor. You're so inspiring.
Speaker 1: Thank you so are you. Thank you guys so much
Speaker 1: for listening to the season too finale of my podcast.
Speaker 1: I still can't believe that. I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Speaker 1: Rachel again, thank you so much for coming on my podcast.
Speaker 1: If you haven't already, subscribe and follow me on Instagram
Speaker 1: and it's Sammy J. That's I T S S A
Speaker 1: M M Y J A y E. And don't forget
Speaker 1: to follow Rachel and all of her socials. It's Rachel
Speaker 1: Platton again. Thank you for sticking along with me for
Speaker 1: two seasons, hopefully too many more. I will see you guys,
Speaker 1: next time, Bye,