WEBVTT - Ep 347: Our Personal Hair Journeys

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, Hey, Hey, we're back. We're black Crown Ambition Ambition, Ambition, Ambition, Ambition,

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<v Speaker 1>were real quick. I'm super excited because this episode is

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<v Speaker 1>sponsored by Doves Haircare Crown Collections. Hey, manager, how are

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<v Speaker 1>you girl?

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<v Speaker 2>I am ironically having a bad hair day, but I

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<v Speaker 2>am so excited. I know, but I was upstairs, well

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<v Speaker 2>you know how you're like. I don't know if you know,

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<v Speaker 2>but I was like standing in the mirror with the scissors,

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<v Speaker 2>like do I trim the bangs or do I just

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<v Speaker 2>walk away? I chose non violence today. But yeah, so

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<v Speaker 2>excited to have this show sponsored by not just Duve,

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<v Speaker 2>but Dove's Haircare Crown Collection, which is all about the curly,

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<v Speaker 2>the coily, the kinky.

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<v Speaker 1>The way.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, and we're gonna definitely get into, i don't know,

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<v Speaker 2>like an in depth, like sister girl conversation about our hair,

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<v Speaker 2>because you can't separate. I feel like black women and

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<v Speaker 2>their hair in their careers, money, business, personal life. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just it infuses everything. So I'm gonna get a little

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<v Speaker 2>candid with y'all. But I haven't seen you in a while.

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<v Speaker 2>We had like the best beautiful brown ambition. We'll call

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<v Speaker 2>it a summit a self care summit. Yes, a couple

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<v Speaker 2>of weeks ago, and then my life fell apart, like

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<v Speaker 2>the day after, but I feel like you saw me

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<v Speaker 2>on a high and then the next day just yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>everything kind of went downhill. But that was so nice.

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<v Speaker 2>I just wasn't acknowledge that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, I just so what happened was like Mandy and

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<v Speaker 1>I were like, you know, I told you this is

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<v Speaker 1>my year of connectedness, well just in general my life

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<v Speaker 1>of connectedness, but this year I'm really leaning into it.

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<v Speaker 1>And I was like, I'm gonna come to wood Chester.

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<v Speaker 1>Maddy was like, it's actually.

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<v Speaker 2>Stop calling it Worchester. Are you talking that purpose at

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<v Speaker 2>this point?

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<v Speaker 1>No know that time I did, I just say, and

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<v Speaker 1>Mandy corrected it said like it's west Chester. Ill, So

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<v Speaker 1>I said, okay, I've never been here. Yes, you always crazy.

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<v Speaker 1>You said a whole baby where I've never met, I know,

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<v Speaker 1>and like a whole house. I mean, it's just a

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<v Speaker 1>lot has happened not I haven't seen Mandy since then,

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<v Speaker 1>but I have not come to where she is. And

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, you know what, and then she texted

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<v Speaker 1>me was like, let's make it. I was like, how

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<v Speaker 1>about Saturday? She was like how about Friday, and I

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<v Speaker 1>was just going to come to the house and Mandy

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<v Speaker 1>was like, let's actually go to a spot. I was like, girl,

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<v Speaker 1>say less, so went since what one? I met her

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<v Speaker 1>at her beautiful home. It's so crazy because Mandy's home

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<v Speaker 1>and my home. The decor could be cousins, right, because

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<v Speaker 1>it's like similar colors. Back I was like, Oh, I

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<v Speaker 1>can't live hea, it's so key. Her house is beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>and so literally like similar wall color, similar tower color.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just super comfy, super cozy. And so we met

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<v Speaker 1>up and then we went to I guess it used

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<v Speaker 1>to be a rich Carlton or it is still like

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<v Speaker 1>a they've kind of like reframed, right, like a Chancy.

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<v Speaker 2>Hotel downtown is what it is. And they have a

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<v Speaker 2>Larry Night and I got a little because my cousin

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<v Speaker 2>does work there, so we him King Olmes. That's count

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<v Speaker 2>you know. I'm not gonna we can be transparent about that.

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<v Speaker 2>But I started to go there because I sneak in

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<v Speaker 2>and I can use the pool because this has been

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<v Speaker 2>a tough pregnancy and I haven't been able to walk

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<v Speaker 2>as much as I used to, so anyway, and then

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, oh, you do massages too, and it's

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<v Speaker 2>really nice. So that's my little home away from home now.

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<v Speaker 2>And it felt really special because I'm like, come, I don't.

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<v Speaker 1>Remember people's names, but I remember I said, Linda gird

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<v Speaker 1>we go together. What size were you were, Linda? But

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<v Speaker 1>Linda massides me down, hoodie. I was like, wait a

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<v Speaker 1>minute now it was so I got a pool together.

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<v Speaker 1>I know, no, it was like warmish, but that was

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<v Speaker 1>just so nice to just like way through the pool,

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<v Speaker 1>me and Manny just talking. It was just awesome. And

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<v Speaker 1>then we went to pick up the baby, the big baby.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we had our fancy lunch ladies. Yeah, so that's right,

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<v Speaker 2>very delic We had lunch in a nicely beautiful Mediterranean

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<v Speaker 2>place in the middle of the day on a Friday. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>I just feel it feels better to me when I

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<v Speaker 2>do those types of things during the work week, because

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<v Speaker 2>I'm like, this is because you can when you have

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<v Speaker 2>your own you know, you can manage your own schedule.

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<v Speaker 2>But I love going to an empty restaurant in between,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, like when there's on any people there. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it was lovely. And then you finally got to meet

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<v Speaker 2>my baby.

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<v Speaker 1>I know. We went to pick him up from daycare?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it daycare or school? Now? Is a season? We

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<v Speaker 1>call it? Well, he calls it cool and okay, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>well he can win wait to cool to pick him up.

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<v Speaker 1>At first, I could tell he was like, who this lady?

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<v Speaker 1>It took him a little while to warm up, but

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<v Speaker 1>what do you tell you something about me and my bestie? Yo?

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<v Speaker 1>Just so you know, when you say a little while,

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<v Speaker 1>you mean like thirty seconds. Right now. We got to

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<v Speaker 1>the house and I could tell he was like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>this lady's in my house. Her name is Tiffy obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>and then just out of the blue, he was like,

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<v Speaker 1>I've decided I like her. He climbed over the cap

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<v Speaker 1>and just wrapped his arms on my neck. Was like,

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<v Speaker 1>I live with her now.

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<v Speaker 2>My mama never seen him do that with someone he

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<v Speaker 2>just met. Honestly, I think that kids feed off of

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<v Speaker 2>our energy. And he's like, Mama clearly loves this lady,

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<v Speaker 2>so I love her like we are related now. So

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<v Speaker 2>I was so cute, and instantly I was like, a trick.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you know how it is? Mom's by trick Tiffany

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<v Speaker 2>into babysitting. I was like, so he's cool. You guys

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<v Speaker 2>are snuggling. I'm gonna go get husband and I'll be

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<v Speaker 2>right by. And I came back and y'all were in

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<v Speaker 2>the exact same snuggling position. Yes, we have left.

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<v Speaker 1>We were.

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<v Speaker 2>You can't ever tell my mother in law that because

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<v Speaker 2>she would be so jealous.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh but it was. He was just like, so we're

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<v Speaker 1>friends now, actually best friends, and Molly's a friend too.

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<v Speaker 1>Molly was like, girl, what about me?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, yeah you saw my Listen Molly. Molly

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<v Speaker 2>surprises everyone with her her girth? Is that the right word?

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<v Speaker 1>She think?

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<v Speaker 2>She photographs her face is like little, but it hides

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<v Speaker 2>the body. The body, YadA, YadA, yadda.

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<v Speaker 1>Legs and hips and body. Molly's giving a body, but

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful body. Okay, because we love all bodies here.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, she's a natural girl.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah she's she's a duels.

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<v Speaker 2>So special that really, I was like, so cause it's

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<v Speaker 2>different when you It really meant something to me that

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<v Speaker 2>you got to see, like how I live. I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>that you know, but just like where I live in

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<v Speaker 2>my home and stuff. It made sense and I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>of course you should be here, and I wish you

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<v Speaker 2>lived next door. You know.

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<v Speaker 1>My favorite part was was like, and this was like

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<v Speaker 1>I was telling us to doctor Greens. I had like

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<v Speaker 1>therapy on Saturday, and I was like, oh, I went

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<v Speaker 1>to visit. Mandy was so great. I said, one of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite parts is that I pulled up and you

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<v Speaker 1>were like, you know, you asked me something to the

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<v Speaker 1>effect of like you know, what time do you have

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<v Speaker 1>to leave? Or like do you have a timeframe? And

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<v Speaker 1>I said, this is the only thing I planned today

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<v Speaker 1>and it felt so good to say it, and your

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<v Speaker 1>face lit up, like and I'm like, that's how I

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<v Speaker 1>want to go. But that's where I want life to go,

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<v Speaker 1>right that, like you connect with friends in a way

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<v Speaker 1>that's like, no, you are important to me. And as

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<v Speaker 1>a result, like this is it? Like I didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>anything else, It was just this. So I was going

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<v Speaker 1>to stay as long or short as Mandy would have me.

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<v Speaker 2>And so so it was awesome time you can I

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<v Speaker 2>spend the night would end up leaving to be like

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna go to the store. So I'm gonna go

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<v Speaker 2>walk around Target for a two hours. You're like, I

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<v Speaker 2>got enough sisters who do that to me?

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<v Speaker 1>No, I don't want I love it. Oh love.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait, Well we got to make that. I don't want

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<v Speaker 2>to put pressure on it, but we gotta make it. Wait,

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<v Speaker 2>we're gonna well, I know for sure, I'm gonna see

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<v Speaker 2>you this summer because where are we going?

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<v Speaker 1>Where we are to see babe. Mandy blessed me with

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<v Speaker 1>be all tickets. I mean, I gotta paid for them.

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<v Speaker 1>But the fact that I even have access to be

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<v Speaker 1>on tickets yes, many was like awesome. Cash, Hey girl,

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<v Speaker 1>got some tickets. They're awesome. I want to go.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm like, is he is this cracksy smoking Yes, well

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<v Speaker 2>it's in Jersey. I had been trying to get tickets

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<v Speaker 2>to her show in Atlanta, but it did not I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't get any codes. I signed up for the Beehive,

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<v Speaker 2>the the City thing. But my bestie Baron, who you

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<v Speaker 2>met at my wedding, he got a code and it

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<v Speaker 2>was so funny because he got he wasn't expecting he

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<v Speaker 2>got it at work. He happened to have forgotten the

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<v Speaker 2>city credit cards.

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<v Speaker 1>So he called me.

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<v Speaker 2>He's like, Mandy, I got the code, go get your

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<v Speaker 2>city card. I'm gonna put it on your card. And

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<v Speaker 2>like we were fighting over what seats to get because

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<v Speaker 2>barn was being a little cheapy cheap, and I said, Baron,

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<v Speaker 2>we agreed, the budget is fifteen hundred. I want to

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<v Speaker 2>drop a washer dryer on this show because I don't

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<v Speaker 2>cause I went to Formation the Formation tour, and I

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<v Speaker 2>tried to get good seats, but I did, I got

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<v Speaker 2>the nosebleeds, and I was like, I owe this to myself.

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<v Speaker 2>Plus I ain't been nowhere in three years. I haven't

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<v Speaker 2>even seen a show like the theater, like it's been

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<v Speaker 2>so long, so I deserve okay. Yeah, And so Baron

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<v Speaker 2>got four tickets and he said, okay, so you can

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<v Speaker 2>bring a date and I can bring a date. And

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, who the hell am I gonna get

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<v Speaker 2>pay that much money for?

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<v Speaker 1>You know me? I was like mmmm yeah, I love

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<v Speaker 1>it because both of us are typically very very very frugal,

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<v Speaker 1>like we're we're like legendary like b and Nady are

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<v Speaker 1>legendarily frugal. But what she was like, it's fourteen hundred.

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<v Speaker 1>I said, done, done. But that's what I love, Like,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, if we're going to bring it back to

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<v Speaker 1>like Brian ambition and personal finance, that's what I love

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<v Speaker 1>about this journe is because you know, I don't spend

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<v Speaker 1>money on things that really don't enhance my life. So

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to something like this, I have it

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<v Speaker 1>readily available and I'm like, you know, right now I'm

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<v Speaker 1>wearing my my my target sweatshirt and swetpants and I'm like, okay, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>look at us. But then when it was like fourteen tickets,

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, girls a less, yeah, pair of shoes.

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<v Speaker 2>Some people drop that on a pair of shoes, like no,

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<v Speaker 2>But for I just know this is going to be

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<v Speaker 2>so fun. Baron's got to pick out who's Poo's bringing.

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<v Speaker 2>And I was like, the vibe has to be right.

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<v Speaker 2>I need approvals. I had to get you pre approved

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<v Speaker 2>by Baron because like b like like Beehive, I renaissance

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<v Speaker 2>vibes only like we need it has to be lit

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<v Speaker 2>like but I'm so excited and that's something to look

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<v Speaker 2>forward to this summer too. So I'll be two months postpartum.

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<v Speaker 2>Should I bring the baby and like ask her to

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<v Speaker 2>maybe we'll be close enough that like some of her

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<v Speaker 2>sweat and baptop.

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<v Speaker 1>Or I'll just like lift the baby up. We gotta

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<v Speaker 1>figureut how we go do our hair?

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<v Speaker 2>Speaking of hair, Oh my gosh, yeah, well my hair

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<v Speaker 2>is yeah, should we should we should we segue into

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<v Speaker 2>the hair convo?

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<v Speaker 1>Because should we take a break real quick first?

0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:18.760
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, let's do that. That's what professionals would do.

0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.880
<v Speaker 2>Let's take a break and be right back when more

0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:26.719
<v Speaker 2>Brown Ambition again sponsored by Doves Crown Hair Care Collections.

0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:28.520
<v Speaker 2>So excited we're gonna come back and have a juicy

0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.760
<v Speaker 2>convo about our locks, our luscious locks.

0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:37.040
<v Speaker 1>And we're back in fabulous. So yeah, speaking of hair,

0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.640
<v Speaker 1>because I'm just like, Oh, I'm gonna wear my hair.

0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.600
<v Speaker 1>I was just thinking that. But you know it's crazy

0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.320
<v Speaker 1>because I'm like, I feel like, as a black woman,

0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.360
<v Speaker 1>that's what we're always thinking, Like, how we gonna wear

0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:45.760
<v Speaker 1>our hair?

0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, how's the hair gonna wear us today?

0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.520
<v Speaker 1>Yes? Exactly, because sometimes the hair just be decided for us.

0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.320
<v Speaker 1>What about you, Mandy? Like so like I would like,

0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.319
<v Speaker 1>I'm curious because our hair is so well, I mean

0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.439
<v Speaker 1>it's similar but different, Like lots of curls like mine

0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.920
<v Speaker 1>are extra tightly coirl. Like the girls would say, I

0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.600
<v Speaker 1>have four c do you know what You're like? What

0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:08.040
<v Speaker 1>your curl pattern? What would they say?

0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.079
<v Speaker 2>I have all of them? It is like a hodge.

0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.280
<v Speaker 2>I have so many different curl patterns. My hair is

0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.440
<v Speaker 2>so confused, and it took me a long time because

0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.680
<v Speaker 2>I let's talk about like from baby, like from early

0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.920
<v Speaker 2>childhood to now, like what the journey has been because

0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.520
<v Speaker 2>I part of me feeling as comfortable as I do

0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.360
<v Speaker 2>now and my skin and my career and myself has

0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.400
<v Speaker 2>coincided with me finally embracing and letting my hair do

0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.400
<v Speaker 2>its thing. But yeah, the curl patterns, like I have

0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.840
<v Speaker 2>tried to diagnose and there's just there's a million different

0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.680
<v Speaker 2>you know, curl patterns in there, and it really obviously

0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:48.120
<v Speaker 2>I'm multiracial. My mom is white, she's super dup white European,

0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.560
<v Speaker 2>European and English. I got the twenty three and me

0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.439
<v Speaker 2>I know exactly my percentages. And then my dad is

0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.920
<v Speaker 2>black and the black black black, Yes he is. Yeah,

0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:59.920
<v Speaker 2>So I am like a lot of like, you know,

0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.280
<v Speaker 2>I think like a lot of mixed kids, especially mixed

0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.520
<v Speaker 2>kids raised by a mom who doesn't have textured hair.

0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.040
<v Speaker 2>My earliest hair memories, I don't even know what my

0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.520
<v Speaker 2>texture was because I got my first relaxer maybe four

0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.360
<v Speaker 2>or five years old. I do see there are some

0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.120
<v Speaker 2>pictures in my archive of me with like really cute

0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.520
<v Speaker 2>my mom would like put it in pick like these

0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:22.079
<v Speaker 2>poofy ponytails and stuff cute curly hair. But then it

0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.439
<v Speaker 2>just stopped and then I had these like long straight

0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.520
<v Speaker 2>you know, pin straight. And I asked her, I was like,

0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.640
<v Speaker 2>who suggested that? And she said, I thought it was

0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:31.600
<v Speaker 2>my aunt's like on my dad's side, but apparently she

0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.760
<v Speaker 2>was walking through the mall and women would like comment

0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.320
<v Speaker 2>on my hair. Black women would comment on my hair

0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.400
<v Speaker 2>and be like you need to take that baby and

0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.400
<v Speaker 2>get her perm and you know, a relaxer and so yeah,

0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.360
<v Speaker 2>it started out with that. I don't remember my first

0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.440
<v Speaker 2>relaxer experience, but when I tell you, I remember the

0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:53.160
<v Speaker 2>ones after that, like from burning my scalp and in

0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:55.439
<v Speaker 2>my mom doing the just for me kids at home.

0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.320
<v Speaker 2>Was there ever a time when you were getting like,

0:12:58.320 --> 0:12:59.839
<v Speaker 2>what was your hair growing up? When you were like

0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.920
<v Speaker 2>young young and you had all these sisters too, alse

0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:04.880
<v Speaker 2>hold the understand hair?

0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:08.800
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Yeah, well yes, because so my hair is like

0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.880
<v Speaker 1>really really little, like the tightly curls that you can

0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.880
<v Speaker 1>get like you know, afro texture hair, like if I

0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.040
<v Speaker 1>didn't have like locks, now my hair you know, be

0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:19.079
<v Speaker 1>like Michael Jack the afro like you know, it grows

0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:24.079
<v Speaker 1>out not down. And so I've been natural like almost

0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:25.280
<v Speaker 1>my whole life. I want to say I had a

0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.120
<v Speaker 1>part maybe two years out of my life. So literally

0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:29.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm forty three, so for forty one years I have

0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.680
<v Speaker 1>worn my hair naturally, just different natural styles like braidsen things.

0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.760
<v Speaker 1>But when I was really little, like my mom, like

0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:40.640
<v Speaker 1>she wasn't like this super braider. Some of my earliest

0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.600
<v Speaker 1>memories are like of like other black women braiding my hair.

0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.000
<v Speaker 1>Like I remember there's this little girl, well now I

0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:47.679
<v Speaker 1>call her little girl, but she probably was a teenager

0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.439
<v Speaker 1>that would come and like braid my like my my,

0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.280
<v Speaker 1>my mom would we would visit one of my cousins,

0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.079
<v Speaker 1>like and I think they lived in Irvington or whatever,

0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.720
<v Speaker 1>and she must have been like fourteen, and we kind

0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:57.160
<v Speaker 1>of would just line up and get our hair braided

0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:01.400
<v Speaker 1>by this young girl. We were little, I remember I

0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.760
<v Speaker 1>did used to especially for Easter Sunday and things. We

0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.560
<v Speaker 1>would get our hair pressed. That's on some of my

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:11.120
<v Speaker 1>earliest memories, which is the worst because hooch like that

0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.680
<v Speaker 1>grease you know, like you know, hold your ear down,

0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:15.600
<v Speaker 1>and sometimes it's too much grease, so we would literally

0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:20.640
<v Speaker 1>burn your scalp. And then I don't know why, but

0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.680
<v Speaker 1>maybe I just was really stubborn about getting my hair done.

0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.720
<v Speaker 1>But around like fourth or fifth grade, my mom gave

0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 1>me a Jerry curl. Jesus be a fence. It wasn't

0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.840
<v Speaker 1>even in then. Like I look back and I'm like,

0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:33.480
<v Speaker 1>why would you give me a Jerry curl? No, none

0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.960
<v Speaker 1>of my sisters had it. Just Tiffany, I almost like,

0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:36.760
<v Speaker 1>did you have hand.

0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:38.720
<v Speaker 2>Done created Jerry curl? How do you create that? Is

0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:39.960
<v Speaker 2>it product or is it like a So.

0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.960
<v Speaker 1>It's basically like a curly it's a relaxer basically that

0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.320
<v Speaker 1>you put like that instead of like straight. You put

0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.560
<v Speaker 1>like rods in it so it'll be curly, but you

0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.640
<v Speaker 1>have to keep it moist, so you're you're literally walking

0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:56.000
<v Speaker 1>around with a wethead. Twenty Oh my god, we gotta

0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.400
<v Speaker 1>see pictures, girl, Yes you do. I have a picture

0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.440
<v Speaker 1>of me in sixth grade where like this Easter Sunday

0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.440
<v Speaker 1>outfit and my first my first foray into public school.

0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:05.680
<v Speaker 1>I did not know they did not dress up for

0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.480
<v Speaker 1>public school, but I learned that day, and so I

0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.360
<v Speaker 1>have a purple headband in this purple Easter Sunday outfit

0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.680
<v Speaker 1>and my jeriker on full display. So I just remember,

0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.480
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, like I was such a tomboy, but

0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.440
<v Speaker 1>I hated the notion of like getting my hair done.

0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.920
<v Speaker 1>You know. It just seemed like the world was telling me,

0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.080
<v Speaker 1>something's wrong with your hair, you have to do something

0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.360
<v Speaker 1>with it. And I just remember being like I wish

0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.000
<v Speaker 1>it was like I remember distinctly being like in like

0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.640
<v Speaker 1>second grade, that I loved the Brady bunch and I

0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.840
<v Speaker 1>always saw myself as jam because she was the second

0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.440
<v Speaker 1>girl and I was the second girl. So I would

0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:43.840
<v Speaker 1>put on turtleneck like so imagine a turtle, like the

0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:45.400
<v Speaker 1>neck part goes here, but I would put it like

0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.920
<v Speaker 1>almost like a headband, the neck part on my head

0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.720
<v Speaker 1>and then let the rest fall, and we would walk

0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:52.800
<v Speaker 1>around the house and be like, that's our hair. Like

0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:54.320
<v Speaker 1>I must have been like a first and second grade

0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.200
<v Speaker 1>and literally I just would have it swinging and say,

0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.480
<v Speaker 1>I wish my hair swung like this, because something must

0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.840
<v Speaker 1>be wrong with mine because it doesn't do this. And

0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.120
<v Speaker 1>so my first memories of my hair were that it

0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.920
<v Speaker 1>was like a nuisance and that something was wrong with

0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:07.520
<v Speaker 1>it because it didn't look like Dan Brady.

0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:09.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and I can so relate to that. I mean

0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:13.600
<v Speaker 2>my mom sitting there trying. I remember crying, thinking and

0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.240
<v Speaker 2>my is my mom going to live with me for

0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:16.760
<v Speaker 2>the rest of my life? Am I ever going to

0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:20.400
<v Speaker 2>be able to detangle my own hair? Because detangled like

0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.800
<v Speaker 2>the pain of get you know her washing my hair

0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:24.920
<v Speaker 2>in the sink and then doing the relaxer in the

0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.240
<v Speaker 2>you know her fighting with the like the pink like

0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.600
<v Speaker 2>should we do the pink grease? Was it called the pink?

0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:34.200
<v Speaker 2>What's the pink moisturizer? Literally the pink bottle? And like

0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.320
<v Speaker 2>the or the or the blue there was like some

0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:37.480
<v Speaker 2>kind of blue gel I don't.

0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.720
<v Speaker 1>Know, yes, blue magic.

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 2>And then and then I like rebelled in my teenage

0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.320
<v Speaker 2>years just wanted to like at least be able to

0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.600
<v Speaker 2>do my own hair, but then of course I couldn't.

0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.600
<v Speaker 2>So there are some there are some tragic, tragic yearbook

0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.680
<v Speaker 2>photos of me and for me, like it was I

0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:57.480
<v Speaker 2>went to I think we both went to like I

0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:58.920
<v Speaker 2>don't know, majority white schools.

0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:00.200
<v Speaker 1>I did, right, I.

0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.920
<v Speaker 2>Went to like several different high schools somewhere more like

0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.639
<v Speaker 2>less diverse than others, but certainly like really white middle school.

0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.640
<v Speaker 2>And then later my senior year really like non diverse,

0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.040
<v Speaker 2>and I would get picked on so bad, especially by

0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.800
<v Speaker 2>other black girls, for my hair, like you need and

0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:19.760
<v Speaker 2>we were like struggling financially. Relaxers cost money. We all

0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.520
<v Speaker 2>know that, right, Like fifty dollars to get a you know,

0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.720
<v Speaker 2>and if you weren't able to keep touch ups, it'd

0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.480
<v Speaker 2>be more expensive. They want like eighty dollars. But yeah,

0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:29.440
<v Speaker 2>I would get I would get picked on, and I

0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.679
<v Speaker 2>never loved my hair. I always felt like it was

0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.200
<v Speaker 2>something to hold me back. I couldn't get it wet.

0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.520
<v Speaker 2>Everyone had pool parties and I'd be worried about getting

0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.439
<v Speaker 2>it wet. And my mom, Like my mom loved me,

0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.639
<v Speaker 2>but I could tell she didn't love my hair. And

0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:46.639
<v Speaker 2>that had an impact. And we've talked about it since,

0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.119
<v Speaker 2>but it really and I feel like more women go

0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:54.199
<v Speaker 2>through that too, like to feel that your mom or

0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.200
<v Speaker 2>you're the women in your life or whoever you're with,

0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.160
<v Speaker 2>like look at your hair as a burden. It does

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.600
<v Speaker 2>not make you love anything. You know, it doesn't make

0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.400
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't it doesn't make you feel good about it.

0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.200
<v Speaker 1>I will say I was at least fortunate to grow

0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.440
<v Speaker 1>up in a house like everybody's hair was like my hair,

0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.159
<v Speaker 1>So I didn't feel although I went to white Westfield

0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.520
<v Speaker 1>High School and it was largely white, like nine to

0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.439
<v Speaker 1>nine point nine to nine percent, you know. In the

0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.280
<v Speaker 1>house there were four other little girls who had hair

0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.159
<v Speaker 1>like mine and my mom although she had like a

0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.000
<v Speaker 1>perm and she used to wear wigs. Sorry, Mom, I

0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.359
<v Speaker 1>know it's like, don't play tell peop about these weeks.

0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.800
<v Speaker 1>But like still like everything right now, you know, but

0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.240
<v Speaker 1>like under it all, like her hair was like much.

0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.320
<v Speaker 1>I didn't feel weird. I one thing I did I

0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.560
<v Speaker 1>will remember is that like I, you know, after the

0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:39.359
<v Speaker 1>Jerry Coro grew up, I was like mm hm, and

0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.320
<v Speaker 1>I just started to get braids because braids started to

0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.000
<v Speaker 1>be really popular, so we would get braids. And I

0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.600
<v Speaker 1>played sports, and so that was like because I played

0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.720
<v Speaker 1>like sports, like I used to run track, I played tennis.

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.200
<v Speaker 1>It was just easier, especially when Brandy came out when

0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.520
<v Speaker 1>I was around fifteen. Brandy and I are the same age,

0:18:57.600 --> 0:18:59.840
<v Speaker 1>so she came out she was about fourteen fifteen, and

0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.960
<v Speaker 1>I was like, oh my gosh. She really popularized natural

0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.359
<v Speaker 1>hair via braids until all of us had braids. I

0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.800
<v Speaker 1>remember microbraides, which took forever to do and put in,

0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.639
<v Speaker 1>but it gave me this sense of like, Okay, I

0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:13.320
<v Speaker 1>don't have to do my hair daily, but they can

0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.920
<v Speaker 1>still look really nice. And I really like I loved

0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.040
<v Speaker 1>that period of like of braids other than like you know,

0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.159
<v Speaker 1>the because it was very low maintenance, other than the

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:23.359
<v Speaker 1>taking it out and putting it in. And then for

0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:27.320
<v Speaker 1>some reason, I it was like because I wasn't gonna

0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.040
<v Speaker 1>play sports in college, and so I decided my I

0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:31.960
<v Speaker 1>think I wanted to be like grown and sophisticated. That's

0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:33.240
<v Speaker 1>what I thought it would look like. I got a

0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:37.480
<v Speaker 1>palm freshman year right before college. My freshman year in college,

0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.680
<v Speaker 1>and you know, like it just my hair was like, girl,

0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:42.280
<v Speaker 1>what are you doing? At one point, I was like,

0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:43.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna be one of those monks that only has

0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:45.120
<v Speaker 1>like a little piece of ponenty out in the middle

0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:48.240
<v Speaker 1>because it was eating up all of my sides the back.

0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:50.760
<v Speaker 1>I went to this It was this West Indian woman.

0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:53.720
<v Speaker 1>She was making a lowist I'll never forget. And I

0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:55.639
<v Speaker 1>used to go to her to get my perm and

0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.000
<v Speaker 1>I was like, and she was the one that told me,

0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:03.560
<v Speaker 1>She's like, honestly, tiffany texture here is so opposed to

0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.919
<v Speaker 1>the straight texture of the permit you're trying to achieve

0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.760
<v Speaker 1>that you would either have to get perms so frequently

0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.600
<v Speaker 1>that it's dangerous, or you know, like when your hair

0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:15.439
<v Speaker 1>grows in, which is like this tight curl and the

0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:18.560
<v Speaker 1>permit is this really straight where they're meeting. It's breaking

0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:22.480
<v Speaker 1>no matter what we're doing. So she was like, girl, honestly,

0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.119
<v Speaker 1>and this is before the natural movement, and I remember thinking,

0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:28.119
<v Speaker 1>what am I going to do? I took scissors. I

0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.280
<v Speaker 1>wasn't thinking, and I just cut off all of like

0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:32.639
<v Speaker 1>it was just breakage everywhere. I would comb it and

0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:34.639
<v Speaker 1>here it would just be on my shoulders. Hair was

0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:36.960
<v Speaker 1>always everywhere, and it was devastating, Like I felt like

0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.960
<v Speaker 1>I was going bald, and I was just like, so

0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.560
<v Speaker 1>I just cut it. And I started this kind of

0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.639
<v Speaker 1>like teeny weeny afro that everybody was horrified by. I mean,

0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:47.200
<v Speaker 1>black women would stop me in the street and say,

0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:48.800
<v Speaker 1>why would I do this to myself because it's not

0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.480
<v Speaker 1>like now, nobody was natural, you know, like maybe with

0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:55.320
<v Speaker 1>braids or whatever, but like a fro. And so I

0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:59.640
<v Speaker 1>rocked a fro for years when I was I rocked

0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:01.920
<v Speaker 1>a fro like I want to say, the last maybe

0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:04.480
<v Speaker 1>like year in college and then beyond. That's why I

0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:06.840
<v Speaker 1>met Jerreal. He used to love my little fro. He's like,

0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:08.680
<v Speaker 1>I ain't never seen nobody with a frow you look.

0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.920
<v Speaker 1>And so I love my fro. Although the fro because

0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:19.400
<v Speaker 1>every hairstyle requires different products. So with braids sometimes it's itchy,

0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:21.600
<v Speaker 1>so you have like these itchy hair spray things, and

0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.280
<v Speaker 1>then you want to like, you know, you keep your

0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:25.040
<v Speaker 1>like they would have you grease your scalp, you know,

0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:31.320
<v Speaker 1>like the parts right, and then with a fro, like

0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:35.399
<v Speaker 1>for my hair, it's so thirsty. So I was putting

0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.199
<v Speaker 1>so much product in it just for it to not

0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:42.320
<v Speaker 1>be super dry because with afro texture here, you cannot

0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:45.760
<v Speaker 1>typically comb it just dry out there like you will

0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:48.240
<v Speaker 1>just be yes, it's painful and you're going to see

0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:49.719
<v Speaker 1>hair all over the place. So it has to be

0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:51.919
<v Speaker 1>in a state of moisturization, like you have to have

0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:54.920
<v Speaker 1>just least washed it. Maybe it has conditioner in it.

0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.000
<v Speaker 1>But I used a lot of product when I had

0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.520
<v Speaker 1>a fro, and it was a lot of work. People

0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:02.120
<v Speaker 1>think that natural hair is not a lot of work.

0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:06.639
<v Speaker 1>That compared it to like per so much work and

0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.080
<v Speaker 1>so but I love that fro. I used to get

0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:11.080
<v Speaker 1>twisted outs. With it, I learned all these different things

0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:12.840
<v Speaker 1>to do. I would get like twist outs, I would

0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.200
<v Speaker 1>get braid outs, I would get all these fun things.

0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:17.560
<v Speaker 1>And then I want to say, maybe like four or

0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.320
<v Speaker 1>five years into having a FRO, I really contemplated getting locks,

0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, and I was just like, I think, I

0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:28.000
<v Speaker 1>want to not I want the freedom of like the

0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:33.240
<v Speaker 1>braids without the takedown and put in of the braids,

0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:35.600
<v Speaker 1>you know. And I considered, I did a lot of

0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:38.680
<v Speaker 1>research on like what kind of locks to get. And

0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:40.359
<v Speaker 1>one of the things I always hated about a parm

0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:43.560
<v Speaker 1>is the dryer time. Oh my gosh, the drier time.

0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:45.400
<v Speaker 1>If you get a PARM, I.

0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:47.199
<v Speaker 2>Can't even always wonder like, why can't you just use

0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:48.400
<v Speaker 2>a blow dryer, because.

0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:50.239
<v Speaker 1>Regular locks are like you twist them, like you use

0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:52.920
<v Speaker 1>whatever palmade or whatever jel or whatever, and you twist

0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:55.040
<v Speaker 1>them and you sit on the dryer for hours. I said,

0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:58.399
<v Speaker 1>not me. And something called sister locks was just starting

0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.600
<v Speaker 1>to gain popularity. And it's basically this inter this ancient

0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:05.960
<v Speaker 1>interlocking system that was born in Africa, where you don't

0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:09.479
<v Speaker 1>twist them. It's almost like backward braiding. You take the

0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:11.680
<v Speaker 1>end of the lock and then you loop it through

0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:14.239
<v Speaker 1>like the gap in your root, and you pull it

0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:17.359
<v Speaker 1>through and so when doing that a number of times,

0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.080
<v Speaker 1>it actually begins to braid the root, and so you

0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:22.639
<v Speaker 1>never have to sit under the dryer. And they were

0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:24.119
<v Speaker 1>really expensive back that I don't know or like if

0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:26.399
<v Speaker 1>they're super expensive now, but to start them you anywhere

0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:28.720
<v Speaker 1>from like two three hundred dollars to like five six

0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:31.720
<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars to start them. And so I started my

0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:33.720
<v Speaker 1>sister locked journey I want to say my mid twenties,

0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:35.600
<v Speaker 1>maybe I was twenty five, twenty six something like that,

0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.600
<v Speaker 1>and I have had them ever since. Like now have

0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:39.159
<v Speaker 1>you had to see me?

0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:39.320
<v Speaker 2>Now?

0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:41.840
<v Speaker 1>What'd you say? Mid back? My hair's kind of mid back,

0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:45.000
<v Speaker 1>but it was longer before and I cut them to

0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:46.960
<v Speaker 1>my chin and now they're back again. So I've had

0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:49.960
<v Speaker 1>them like what twenty years now, maybe not twenty, maybe

0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:53.040
<v Speaker 1>like fifteen, But either way, I love them, Like you know,

0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:55.119
<v Speaker 1>I consider cutting them all off one day like the

0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:57.040
<v Speaker 1>other day, but not the other day. But I just

0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:00.600
<v Speaker 1>the other day, but I meaning like maybe a few

0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:03.199
<v Speaker 1>years ago with the scissors, just because I was like, oh,

0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:05.880
<v Speaker 1>may we do something different, But honestly, I really I

0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:07.840
<v Speaker 1>love them because I'm kind of a tombois so I'm

0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:09.760
<v Speaker 1>not someone who is going to do my hair a ton,

0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:12.520
<v Speaker 1>so it's like it's done. And what I love about

0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:16.040
<v Speaker 1>them is locks, especially anything past ten years, you get

0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:18.200
<v Speaker 1>what they call mature locks. So in the beginning, your

0:24:18.280 --> 0:24:20.920
<v Speaker 1>locks are like just like basically like a braided fro,

0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:23.840
<v Speaker 1>and then they start to bud, which when they get

0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:26.080
<v Speaker 1>like these like they look like these fat, chunky caterpillars.

0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.439
<v Speaker 1>You ever see people with that? And then the bud

0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:31.520
<v Speaker 1>there's an awkward stage or teenage stage to locks, where

0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:34.600
<v Speaker 1>like the top part is tighter, but then there are

0:24:34.600 --> 0:24:37.080
<v Speaker 1>bud's at the bottom and people typically don't like that stage.

0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:39.080
<v Speaker 1>You stay there for a few years and then they

0:24:39.080 --> 0:24:42.159
<v Speaker 1>start to fully almost look like a braid all throughout.

0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:45.080
<v Speaker 1>So I am fully mature locked. It's over ten years

0:24:45.440 --> 0:24:49.320
<v Speaker 1>and as a result of them being so tightly compacted

0:24:49.480 --> 0:24:50.960
<v Speaker 1>in these necks, I when I tell you, Landy, I

0:24:50.960 --> 0:24:53.280
<v Speaker 1>don't put anything in my hair. I wash my hair

0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:57.679
<v Speaker 1>like with shampoo. I use like a little bit of

0:24:57.720 --> 0:25:00.240
<v Speaker 1>like really conditioner and that's it. Like day to day,

0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.760
<v Speaker 1>I don't put anything because there's no space for them.

0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:06.200
<v Speaker 1>It will just like kind of sit on top and I, yeah,

0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:08.800
<v Speaker 1>this is the easiest and like my favorite style. Yeah,

0:25:08.840 --> 0:25:10.800
<v Speaker 1>I mean I likely will ride off into the sunset

0:25:10.840 --> 0:25:12.680
<v Speaker 1>with this style. But I'm in a space now where

0:25:12.680 --> 0:25:14.679
<v Speaker 1>I can honestly say that I love my hair. I

0:25:14.680 --> 0:25:16.960
<v Speaker 1>think it's I think it's beautiful, and I think it's strong,

0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:19.399
<v Speaker 1>and it reminds me of my great grandmother that I

0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:21.320
<v Speaker 1>met one time in Nigeria, which I wish I took

0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:23.800
<v Speaker 1>a picture because I remember staring at her curl pattern

0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:27.360
<v Speaker 1>and thinking it looked exactly like mine. And so, yeah,

0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:28.080
<v Speaker 1>I love my hair.

0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:29.480
<v Speaker 2>Now, well, I love it too.

0:25:29.520 --> 0:25:30.480
<v Speaker 1>It's just you.

0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:34.080
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it really becomes and it's so versatile and beautiful.

0:25:34.200 --> 0:25:37.320
<v Speaker 2>It's beautiful. I when you mentioned Brandy, I was like

0:25:37.960 --> 0:25:41.680
<v Speaker 2>my hair icons when I was little were the sister

0:25:41.720 --> 0:25:45.440
<v Speaker 2>sister twins Tia and to Mayow because I was like, wait,

0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:47.639
<v Speaker 2>they have curly hair until the later years when they

0:25:47.680 --> 0:25:49.920
<v Speaker 2>got them they all had relaxers, and then I wanted

0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:52.120
<v Speaker 2>the relaxer even more when Ta and Sa Mary got

0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:55.119
<v Speaker 2>it done when they straightened their curls. But that was

0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:57.760
<v Speaker 2>my first inkling that maybe there could be a different

0:25:57.800 --> 0:25:59.800
<v Speaker 2>life for me. But no one would ever, let me

0:25:59.800 --> 0:26:01.960
<v Speaker 2>get to that point, because as soon as it grew out,

0:26:02.440 --> 0:26:04.800
<v Speaker 2>it was a mess. It was nappy, it was we

0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:06.159
<v Speaker 2>had it had to be. It was a problem that

0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:09.080
<v Speaker 2>needed to be taken care of. Right. I wonder for

0:26:09.119 --> 0:26:11.199
<v Speaker 2>you because this is called like the Dove Crown Collection.

0:26:11.240 --> 0:26:13.040
<v Speaker 2>It reminds me of the Crown Act. Actually, I'm Dove

0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:16.320
<v Speaker 2>co sponsored the Crown Act, which is not federal law yet,

0:26:16.320 --> 0:26:19.480
<v Speaker 2>but it is in some several states, which basically says

0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:22.439
<v Speaker 2>in the workplace because black women like we have. I mean,

0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:25.720
<v Speaker 2>there's so many examples of people who have been and

0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:28.399
<v Speaker 2>even it's written into dress codes and like schools and

0:26:28.440 --> 0:26:33.679
<v Speaker 2>even some workplaces where braids locks are not considered appropriate

0:26:34.040 --> 0:26:37.760
<v Speaker 2>for the workplace or for you know, in a school setting,

0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:40.760
<v Speaker 2>and it's anyway. So I'm I'm so happy now that

0:26:40.800 --> 0:26:43.680
<v Speaker 2>there's actual and it needs to be like written into

0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:46.840
<v Speaker 2>the law. You cannot discriminate against us for our hair.

0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:51.080
<v Speaker 2>And I know for me, as my career shifted from

0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:54.600
<v Speaker 2>writer Mandy like I was behind the scenes writing the

0:26:54.600 --> 0:26:56.960
<v Speaker 2>minute I got on camera, like when I was at

0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:01.960
<v Speaker 2>Yahoo Finance in my early twenties, that that's when my

0:27:02.240 --> 0:27:06.440
<v Speaker 2>confidence would just be like knocked every time I sat

0:27:06.480 --> 0:27:09.000
<v Speaker 2>down in the hair and makeup room because and it

0:27:09.040 --> 0:27:12.600
<v Speaker 2>would come from stylists of all different backgrounds, but they

0:27:12.600 --> 0:27:14.639
<v Speaker 2>didn't really want to touch my hair. It was like

0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:17.720
<v Speaker 2>can you And when I when I started to transition,

0:27:18.240 --> 0:27:22.320
<v Speaker 2>which was around that time I was maybe twenty twenty six,

0:27:22.359 --> 0:27:26.639
<v Speaker 2>twenty five twenty six, it was, well, the curls don't

0:27:26.680 --> 0:27:31.320
<v Speaker 2>look good on camera. It's fuzzy. It's like, can you

0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:35.040
<v Speaker 2>get them smooth? Could they be the perfect ringlets? You know?

0:27:35.440 --> 0:27:37.480
<v Speaker 2>Like cause I feel like in pop culture, if there

0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:41.320
<v Speaker 2>were natural curlies, they'd be like they would be natural,

0:27:41.359 --> 0:27:43.520
<v Speaker 2>but they'd be all like they would have used a

0:27:43.560 --> 0:27:46.560
<v Speaker 2>curling iron or a mini curl or something to get

0:27:46.600 --> 0:27:48.679
<v Speaker 2>the perfect coils, and I don't have that. Look at this,

0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:50.080
<v Speaker 2>there's like a million different textures.

0:27:50.160 --> 0:27:51.280
<v Speaker 1>They are the perfect coil.

0:27:51.480 --> 0:27:54.000
<v Speaker 2>Some of the gurlies want to be European and have

0:27:54.080 --> 0:27:56.359
<v Speaker 2>my mom's blonde straight hairs, and some of the girlies

0:27:56.400 --> 0:27:59.200
<v Speaker 2>are like, we are from the western coast of Africa

0:27:59.240 --> 0:28:01.119
<v Speaker 2>and we are proud of it. Like there's just a

0:28:01.119 --> 0:28:04.640
<v Speaker 2>million different textures. But I'm so glad I stuck with

0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:07.520
<v Speaker 2>it because it was a falling in love process. For me,

0:28:08.359 --> 0:28:10.840
<v Speaker 2>it started at my temples. I could see, well, really

0:28:10.880 --> 0:28:13.040
<v Speaker 2>what it started was I became too broke for New

0:28:13.119 --> 0:28:16.359
<v Speaker 2>York City relaxer prices. Okay, they were like hundreds of

0:28:16.400 --> 0:28:18.959
<v Speaker 2>dollars to get, you know, a relaxer from a good salon,

0:28:19.880 --> 0:28:21.280
<v Speaker 2>and I just was like, I don't want to pay

0:28:21.359 --> 0:28:23.400
<v Speaker 2>for that. So I would go longer and longer in between,

0:28:23.880 --> 0:28:25.399
<v Speaker 2>and then I could start to see at my temple

0:28:25.440 --> 0:28:29.639
<v Speaker 2>the curls, and I just stopped. I just stopped getting relaxers.

0:28:29.680 --> 0:28:32.760
<v Speaker 2>And then thank God for YouTube cause you mentioned like

0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:37.040
<v Speaker 2>doing the research about locks. I was researching like and

0:28:37.080 --> 0:28:39.680
<v Speaker 2>I learned about protective styles band two knots. I could

0:28:39.680 --> 0:28:42.400
<v Speaker 2>get a natural curl, you know, from learning how to

0:28:42.440 --> 0:28:44.880
<v Speaker 2>do band two knots. And just so for all the

0:28:44.920 --> 0:28:47.480
<v Speaker 2>YouTubers out there who do hair content, I'm like, thank

0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:51.280
<v Speaker 2>you for providing the guidance that those of us who

0:28:51.280 --> 0:28:53.880
<v Speaker 2>don't have family or loved ones who understand our hair

0:28:53.920 --> 0:28:58.640
<v Speaker 2>culture or styles like that was really my education. And

0:28:58.720 --> 0:29:00.880
<v Speaker 2>I rocked a little baby fro because for me, I

0:29:00.960 --> 0:29:03.920
<v Speaker 2>transitioned and I would do the same. I would cut

0:29:03.960 --> 0:29:06.200
<v Speaker 2>like where the because eventually it breaks. You have the

0:29:06.200 --> 0:29:08.640
<v Speaker 2>curly hair and then you have the relaxed parts, and

0:29:08.720 --> 0:29:12.240
<v Speaker 2>I would just cut more and more, and finally I

0:29:12.600 --> 0:29:13.960
<v Speaker 2>ended up trimming it all. I think I had like

0:29:14.000 --> 0:29:17.520
<v Speaker 2>three or four inches of curls at that point and

0:29:17.920 --> 0:29:20.880
<v Speaker 2>that was it. I just it just was like, Oh,

0:29:21.080 --> 0:29:24.080
<v Speaker 2>this is what it's supposed to be, and there's no

0:29:24.200 --> 0:29:27.240
<v Speaker 2>looking back ever since. It just feels like part of me.

0:29:27.320 --> 0:29:29.880
<v Speaker 2>And of course I think back to those years at

0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:33.120
<v Speaker 2>Yahoo and I didn't I hadn't yet found my own

0:29:33.160 --> 0:29:35.040
<v Speaker 2>confidence in it. I definitely would have stuck up for

0:29:35.120 --> 0:29:38.760
<v Speaker 2>myself more and not have been using flat and irons.

0:29:38.840 --> 0:29:40.600
<v Speaker 2>And there's nothing wrong with flat irons and all that,

0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:43.960
<v Speaker 2>but you know, for a lot longer. But I don't

0:29:43.960 --> 0:29:49.880
<v Speaker 2>have to worry about it anymore. So, Yeah, it's.

0:29:47.720 --> 0:29:50.920
<v Speaker 1>Funny because I had celebrity style is like I don't know.

0:29:50.960 --> 0:29:52.680
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I always come with my hair done because

0:29:52.680 --> 0:29:56.320
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, what you're not gonna do is play me? Yeah. Same,

0:29:56.560 --> 0:29:58.360
<v Speaker 1>But every once in a while they'll be like when

0:29:58.360 --> 0:30:00.400
<v Speaker 1>I went to the Jennifer Hudson's show out to their

0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:02.800
<v Speaker 1>style was there, I want to say, he's Latino and

0:30:02.920 --> 0:30:04.320
<v Speaker 1>at first he was like, I'm gonna do your hair.

0:30:04.360 --> 0:30:06.920
<v Speaker 1>I was like it's okay, it's done, and he was like, no, no,

0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:11.320
<v Speaker 1>but he did this beautiful braid that was so I

0:30:11.360 --> 0:30:15.360
<v Speaker 1>was really impressed and he actually had some So sometimes

0:30:15.360 --> 0:30:17.960
<v Speaker 1>the really kinky, curly girls, they have to decide if

0:30:17.960 --> 0:30:19.800
<v Speaker 1>they're going to like lay their edges down with Jael.

0:30:19.880 --> 0:30:21.480
<v Speaker 1>Like if you are watching on YouTube what you want

0:30:21.480 --> 0:30:24.280
<v Speaker 1>to be, you can see that I typically don't lay

0:30:24.280 --> 0:30:25.920
<v Speaker 1>my edges down with y'all. I'm my girl, this is

0:30:26.080 --> 0:30:29.080
<v Speaker 1>this is my edge, get into it. But sometimes for

0:30:29.160 --> 0:30:32.240
<v Speaker 1>like TV or whatever, I will give it a little smoother, slicker,

0:30:32.720 --> 0:30:35.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, more quote unquote professional, just because you know

0:30:35.560 --> 0:30:38.600
<v Speaker 1>that's what the people be asking for. But he so

0:30:38.720 --> 0:30:40.600
<v Speaker 1>he actually put me onto like a new jeil that

0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:42.680
<v Speaker 1>I had not, so I was really surprised that not

0:30:42.720 --> 0:30:45.520
<v Speaker 1>only did he know about like my hair, but also

0:30:45.640 --> 0:30:48.360
<v Speaker 1>products that worked, because oftentimes, because my hair is so

0:30:49.000 --> 0:30:51.760
<v Speaker 1>tightly curled that most jails are like my hair laughs

0:30:51.800 --> 0:30:57.280
<v Speaker 1>at are like, girl, we've bested better than you. But yeah,

0:30:57.400 --> 0:30:59.600
<v Speaker 1>so you know, we put this gel in it. It was great.

0:30:59.640 --> 0:31:02.480
<v Speaker 1>But I just yeah, like, now where I am now

0:31:02.600 --> 0:31:05.880
<v Speaker 1>is that like I come with this assumption that you

0:31:05.920 --> 0:31:07.680
<v Speaker 1>don't know how to do my hair, and that's fine.

0:31:07.680 --> 0:31:09.520
<v Speaker 1>I will come my hair done. We just pray that

0:31:09.520 --> 0:31:11.880
<v Speaker 1>the makeup artist knows how to do my browskin at

0:31:11.880 --> 0:31:17.040
<v Speaker 1>this point thankfully. If I'm being candid, one of the

0:31:17.080 --> 0:31:21.120
<v Speaker 1>reasons why I also like sister locks is because traditional

0:31:21.160 --> 0:31:25.560
<v Speaker 1>locks are typically bigger and thicker, and they're usually when

0:31:25.600 --> 0:31:28.800
<v Speaker 1>people say locks are unprofessional, that's what they mean. So

0:31:28.840 --> 0:31:31.680
<v Speaker 1>if I'm being candid, sister locks was like a safer

0:31:31.800 --> 0:31:35.360
<v Speaker 1>lock option, you know, meaning that like it's like it's

0:31:35.400 --> 0:31:39.400
<v Speaker 1>more palatable yes to like to the you know, to

0:31:39.400 --> 0:31:42.600
<v Speaker 1>to you know to in the professional space. Yeah, you know.

0:31:42.640 --> 0:31:45.960
<v Speaker 1>So I've never felt that my hair was you know, unprofessional,

0:31:47.160 --> 0:31:49.440
<v Speaker 1>but because I chose these kind of like with this

0:31:49.640 --> 0:31:52.640
<v Speaker 1>underlying like, ugh, let me get these skinnier locks, so

0:31:52.680 --> 0:31:54.920
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't feel like, oh she got locks, you don't.

0:31:54.920 --> 0:31:57.080
<v Speaker 1>We had black power, even though I am Black power.

0:31:58.760 --> 0:32:00.720
<v Speaker 1>But even like being on the cover of my book,

0:32:00.760 --> 0:32:03.719
<v Speaker 1>it good with money, you know, like to be like

0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:05.959
<v Speaker 1>this sister Lot girl. You should have seen when they

0:32:05.960 --> 0:32:09.040
<v Speaker 1>did the cover. So Tanta Bell, who's an amazing photographer,

0:32:09.160 --> 0:32:11.120
<v Speaker 1>she did like all of me and Mandy's pictures from

0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:14.160
<v Speaker 1>Brown Ambition. She's done all my head shots. So Tanda

0:32:14.200 --> 0:32:16.880
<v Speaker 1>took the picture and at first when the cover came back,

0:32:17.240 --> 0:32:19.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, because that's not the background of the book

0:32:19.280 --> 0:32:21.400
<v Speaker 1>is green, but I think like the actual background of

0:32:21.400 --> 0:32:24.040
<v Speaker 1>the picture was like brown or white or whatever. So

0:32:24.040 --> 0:32:26.080
<v Speaker 1>they had to cut me out, you know, like you know,

0:32:26.160 --> 0:32:27.320
<v Speaker 1>like cut me out so they could put me on

0:32:27.320 --> 0:32:29.520
<v Speaker 1>this green background. You should have seen how they cut

0:32:29.560 --> 0:32:33.200
<v Speaker 1>my hair out. It was just like it looked like,

0:32:33.280 --> 0:32:35.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, just the smooth circles have a bun on

0:32:35.440 --> 0:32:38.000
<v Speaker 1>my blace. Yeah, So Tanetta came in was like, no,

0:32:38.680 --> 0:32:41.960
<v Speaker 1>absolutely not. She made them zoom in and cut around

0:32:42.400 --> 0:32:45.400
<v Speaker 1>my small little So that's why, like the book looked

0:32:45.440 --> 0:32:48.800
<v Speaker 1>so great because they kept the texture of what my

0:32:48.880 --> 0:32:51.480
<v Speaker 1>hair actually looks like. But that's what I mean about

0:32:52.040 --> 0:32:55.680
<v Speaker 1>taking the extra step, because when you it looked, the

0:32:55.680 --> 0:32:59.640
<v Speaker 1>book looked didn't look as good because the initial care

0:32:59.720 --> 0:33:02.400
<v Speaker 1>was not taken to ensure that the way my hair

0:33:02.480 --> 0:33:05.160
<v Speaker 1>is actually shaped shows up, you know. And I'm just

0:33:05.200 --> 0:33:07.840
<v Speaker 1>so grateful to that Assistan. Hey girl, you know, like

0:33:07.920 --> 0:33:10.400
<v Speaker 1>stepped in and was like, no, we're not doing that.

0:33:10.720 --> 0:33:12.760
<v Speaker 1>Like I took this beautiful picture and part of the

0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:16.320
<v Speaker 1>beauty is Tiffany's kinky curly, beautiful hair. We're going to

0:33:16.360 --> 0:33:19.120
<v Speaker 1>honor that on the book cover. And so yeah, professionally,

0:33:19.840 --> 0:33:21.560
<v Speaker 1>sometimes I do think about it, but you know, I'm

0:33:21.600 --> 0:33:23.040
<v Speaker 1>at a point now where I'm like, girl, take it

0:33:23.080 --> 0:33:25.000
<v Speaker 1>or leave it, and you know, but I'm grateful that

0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:29.160
<v Speaker 1>many times the places that I've been invited, people know

0:33:29.240 --> 0:33:30.760
<v Speaker 1>something about my hair, or at least I know how

0:33:30.760 --> 0:33:32.600
<v Speaker 1>to do it enough myself. Well, I just come like

0:33:32.640 --> 0:33:35.080
<v Speaker 1>I know how to do enough myself, where like I

0:33:35.160 --> 0:33:37.200
<v Speaker 1>come ready because you know, you just never know, and

0:33:37.200 --> 0:33:38.200
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to take the risk.

0:33:38.760 --> 0:33:40.800
<v Speaker 2>When was the first time someone tried to touch your hair?

0:33:40.840 --> 0:33:41.400
<v Speaker 2>Do you remember?

0:33:42.800 --> 0:33:45.960
<v Speaker 1>I remember in high school, like probably middle school, but

0:33:46.000 --> 0:33:48.400
<v Speaker 1>I distinctly remember in high school that like someone came

0:33:48.480 --> 0:33:50.800
<v Speaker 1>up behind me, you know. It was I had gotten

0:33:50.840 --> 0:33:53.520
<v Speaker 1>braids over the weekend, and one of the girls, and

0:33:53.560 --> 0:33:55.560
<v Speaker 1>I'm melanated, was like, oh my god, your hair grew

0:33:55.600 --> 0:34:00.280
<v Speaker 1>so fast. And I was like, at your your own

0:34:00.320 --> 0:34:02.240
<v Speaker 1>age or fourteen, I'm just gonna use it, like just

0:34:02.280 --> 0:34:04.720
<v Speaker 1>a little common sense. And I was like, I didn't

0:34:04.720 --> 0:34:06.040
<v Speaker 1>know what to say because I honest say, I was

0:34:06.080 --> 0:34:09.480
<v Speaker 1>embarrassed because back then it was like you have fake hair.

0:34:10.080 --> 0:34:12.120
<v Speaker 2>You know, and I just something to be ashamed of.

0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:14.440
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And I just said yeah, because no one was

0:34:14.440 --> 0:34:16.920
<v Speaker 1>wearing extensions then, you know, like as far as like

0:34:16.960 --> 0:34:18.959
<v Speaker 1>you know, as far as I knew, like I knew,

0:34:19.040 --> 0:34:20.400
<v Speaker 1>like all the black girls knew, like oh you get

0:34:20.440 --> 0:34:21.920
<v Speaker 1>your you know, you get your braids or whatever. But

0:34:22.360 --> 0:34:25.040
<v Speaker 1>like now like everyone black, white, Asian, everyone gets like

0:34:25.040 --> 0:34:28.319
<v Speaker 1>hair extensions, but it wasn't as common. And so I

0:34:28.360 --> 0:34:31.200
<v Speaker 1>remember like people always wanted to touch my braids, and

0:34:31.400 --> 0:34:33.920
<v Speaker 1>I didn't have kind of like the language to tell

0:34:33.960 --> 0:34:35.680
<v Speaker 1>people no. I would just be kind of like the

0:34:35.719 --> 0:34:40.120
<v Speaker 1>petting zoo animal, like okay, And so like I'm all

0:34:40.160 --> 0:34:43.480
<v Speaker 1>for curiosity because I too sometimes curious about somebody's hair,

0:34:44.000 --> 0:34:47.040
<v Speaker 1>but to reach out and touch someone without their consent,

0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:50.200
<v Speaker 1>whether it's their fuzzy sweater or their hair, is absolutely

0:34:50.200 --> 0:34:52.520
<v Speaker 1>a no no. And you know, when you would think

0:34:52.520 --> 0:34:54.799
<v Speaker 1>that people would have enough common sense to know you

0:34:54.840 --> 0:34:57.799
<v Speaker 1>don't touch anyone for whatever reason without their consent, like

0:34:57.840 --> 0:35:01.200
<v Speaker 1>you know, you just just don't. And so it's crazy

0:35:01.239 --> 0:35:03.360
<v Speaker 1>now because I have my niece a Milliam and just

0:35:03.360 --> 0:35:05.160
<v Speaker 1>saw them yesterday. So I called Roman and a million

0:35:05.200 --> 0:35:07.440
<v Speaker 1>the crazy. So I want to go visit the crazies

0:35:07.560 --> 0:35:10.600
<v Speaker 1>yesterday and Amelia had the little band two knots which

0:35:10.600 --> 0:35:12.440
<v Speaker 1>were like indicative of she must have just got her

0:35:12.440 --> 0:35:15.759
<v Speaker 1>hair washed yesterday, you know, and I was like, oh me, me,

0:35:16.239 --> 0:35:17.920
<v Speaker 1>you got your hair wash. You could tell she was like.

0:35:18.480 --> 0:35:20.560
<v Speaker 2>My life cause she won't stay on tee.

0:35:20.680 --> 0:35:24.000
<v Speaker 1>I know she could tell that. She was just like

0:35:24.480 --> 0:35:27.160
<v Speaker 1>she's just so she's all natural. My sister Carol, who

0:35:27.200 --> 0:35:30.239
<v Speaker 1>those are her kids, they're all natural. And we tried

0:35:30.280 --> 0:35:32.440
<v Speaker 1>with braids with Amelia. She just can't sit like she's

0:35:32.440 --> 0:35:34.600
<v Speaker 1>still so little. She's only five, so like getting like

0:35:34.760 --> 0:35:37.520
<v Speaker 1>a whole intricate braided style. She's kind of well what

0:35:37.719 --> 0:35:40.759
<v Speaker 1>black folks call tenderheaded, and so like Carol does like

0:35:40.840 --> 0:35:43.319
<v Speaker 1>more like afro puffs for her, so it's like not

0:35:43.400 --> 0:35:45.839
<v Speaker 1>as much time sitting down. And so you know, I'm

0:35:45.840 --> 0:35:48.399
<v Speaker 1>curious to see like what Amelia's like hair journey will

0:35:48.400 --> 0:35:50.560
<v Speaker 1>be because her texture. I was looking at it and

0:35:50.600 --> 0:35:52.160
<v Speaker 1>I was like, oh my gosh, it looks just like

0:35:52.200 --> 0:35:55.440
<v Speaker 1>my great grandmother's looks just like mine, like tightly curled.

0:35:55.480 --> 0:35:58.399
<v Speaker 1>It's beautiful, you know, And I just was like, so, yeah,

0:35:58.400 --> 0:35:59.600
<v Speaker 1>she's an afropuff girl.

0:35:59.400 --> 0:36:01.960
<v Speaker 2>For now though, But now Mimi and all the other

0:36:01.960 --> 0:36:03.960
<v Speaker 2>little girls. You got a whole aisle almost at the

0:36:03.960 --> 0:36:07.640
<v Speaker 2>grocery store now of options for yourself. Like Rio, I

0:36:07.760 --> 0:36:11.000
<v Speaker 2>use Shay moisture in his hair, and like Canto conditioner

0:36:11.120 --> 0:36:14.040
<v Speaker 2>he's got really he's got loose curls. But I am

0:36:14.080 --> 0:36:16.919
<v Speaker 2>like hyper vigilant of how I talk about my hair

0:36:16.960 --> 0:36:19.799
<v Speaker 2>and his hair because I want him to love it.

0:36:20.200 --> 0:36:22.200
<v Speaker 2>And I finally got him now, he says, and he

0:36:22.320 --> 0:36:24.840
<v Speaker 2>loves playing in my hair. And I remember when I

0:36:24.880 --> 0:36:26.520
<v Speaker 2>was little it used to hurt me because my little

0:36:26.560 --> 0:36:28.880
<v Speaker 2>brother loved my mom's and my sister's hair. My sister's

0:36:28.920 --> 0:36:31.399
<v Speaker 2>full white, my mom is full white, but my brother

0:36:31.400 --> 0:36:33.919
<v Speaker 2>and I are both biracial. And he would just love

0:36:33.960 --> 0:36:36.560
<v Speaker 2>the silky strands of my sisters and my mom's hair,

0:36:36.600 --> 0:36:38.400
<v Speaker 2>and he would play, and then I would kind of feel,

0:36:38.719 --> 0:36:40.600
<v Speaker 2>you know, I would be like, no one wants to play.

0:36:40.640 --> 0:36:43.279
<v Speaker 2>You can't run your comb your fingers through this, like

0:36:44.600 --> 0:36:47.279
<v Speaker 2>not even like you know, you would need some heavy

0:36:47.320 --> 0:36:51.759
<v Speaker 2>duty equipment to do that. But Rio loves playing with

0:36:51.800 --> 0:36:54.160
<v Speaker 2>my hair. He says, Mommy, you'll have flu fee. And

0:36:54.200 --> 0:36:55.880
<v Speaker 2>I said, your hair is because I call it flufy,

0:36:55.920 --> 0:36:57.880
<v Speaker 2>And he's like my hair flufee too, and he kind

0:36:57.920 --> 0:37:01.080
<v Speaker 2>of like pats his little poof Yeah, I just want

0:37:01.160 --> 0:37:04.319
<v Speaker 2>him to. I'm happy for kids today because they there.

0:37:04.680 --> 0:37:07.680
<v Speaker 2>I hope anyway that they can grow up loving it

0:37:07.719 --> 0:37:11.120
<v Speaker 2>and really embracing the uniqueness of it. And no one's

0:37:11.160 --> 0:37:13.480
<v Speaker 2>going to try to Although people do try to touch

0:37:13.560 --> 0:37:17.360
<v Speaker 2>Rio's hair, I mean, I don't necessarily blame them because

0:37:17.480 --> 0:37:20.279
<v Speaker 2>it's so freaking cute. No one tried to touch my

0:37:20.320 --> 0:37:22.279
<v Speaker 2>hair until I started going natural, and then in the

0:37:22.280 --> 0:37:25.440
<v Speaker 2>workplace it would happen, usually in the bathroom. Can I

0:37:25.640 --> 0:37:28.400
<v Speaker 2>just I'm just this is so cool, Like this is great,

0:37:29.040 --> 0:37:32.160
<v Speaker 2>and like I feel like as I was transitioning, that

0:37:32.280 --> 0:37:34.279
<v Speaker 2>was something I had to get used to. Was now

0:37:34.320 --> 0:37:37.040
<v Speaker 2>my hair. People comments on it even more, but I

0:37:37.080 --> 0:37:40.359
<v Speaker 2>get so much love. It's healing to me from being

0:37:40.400 --> 0:37:41.920
<v Speaker 2>and I might get a little emotional, but like it's

0:37:42.000 --> 0:37:45.120
<v Speaker 2>healing from me from being. Like in middle school, dreading,

0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:48.959
<v Speaker 2>like picking alternative routes. If I saw, you know, black

0:37:49.000 --> 0:37:50.799
<v Speaker 2>girls walking down the hall, the same the ones who

0:37:50.840 --> 0:37:54.040
<v Speaker 2>would bully me, cause I mean and black girls, like

0:37:54.080 --> 0:37:55.920
<v Speaker 2>I have some of my best friends in school, I

0:37:55.960 --> 0:38:01.080
<v Speaker 2>was usually you know, I gravitated toward well I gratificated

0:38:01.120 --> 0:38:03.440
<v Speaker 2>Toortum in band class like all the sax players. They

0:38:03.440 --> 0:38:06.239
<v Speaker 2>were like dope, Like all my friends were black. But

0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:09.200
<v Speaker 2>I would still get picked on in the hallway. But

0:38:09.320 --> 0:38:11.640
<v Speaker 2>now women stop me and they'll be like, I love

0:38:11.680 --> 0:38:14.000
<v Speaker 2>your hair at TJ Max or at Target or whatever.

0:38:14.960 --> 0:38:17.359
<v Speaker 2>And I try to do the same, because you know,

0:38:17.480 --> 0:38:19.319
<v Speaker 2>I think we're all healing, We're at some I feel

0:38:19.320 --> 0:38:21.960
<v Speaker 2>like every black woman you see, every woman with textured hair,

0:38:22.040 --> 0:38:26.200
<v Speaker 2>you see, black, brown, whatever, there's a healing little girl

0:38:26.200 --> 0:38:30.359
<v Speaker 2>inside them who's learned to love their curls. And it's

0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:33.120
<v Speaker 2>because of products like Dove, of course, that make it

0:38:33.160 --> 0:38:36.040
<v Speaker 2>possible that we can actually take good care of our

0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:37.840
<v Speaker 2>hair and embrace it. Finally.

0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:40.880
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And what I love too is that, like I

0:38:40.960 --> 0:38:42.360
<v Speaker 1>use Dob products and not just for my hair, but

0:38:42.400 --> 0:38:45.400
<v Speaker 1>for my body too, because there's there's options for sensitivity.

0:38:45.440 --> 0:38:48.759
<v Speaker 1>Because I am really I've got super sensitive skin. I

0:38:48.840 --> 0:38:51.439
<v Speaker 1>just can't put just anything, any product in my hair.

0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:53.560
<v Speaker 1>Like I'm very product light when it comes to my

0:38:54.080 --> 0:38:57.200
<v Speaker 1>you know, hair, because it's locked now. And so I

0:38:57.239 --> 0:38:59.640
<v Speaker 1>love the option to be able to use products that

0:38:59.640 --> 0:39:02.080
<v Speaker 1>because when you're putting products in your hair, it's not

0:39:02.120 --> 0:39:04.120
<v Speaker 1>just your hair. It rolls down into your face and

0:39:04.120 --> 0:39:07.000
<v Speaker 1>your body and your back. So I'm like hyper vigilant

0:39:07.200 --> 0:39:10.080
<v Speaker 1>about like I just can't use just anything. And so yeah,

0:39:10.080 --> 0:39:13.280
<v Speaker 1>we're super happy that they've decided to create a space

0:39:13.280 --> 0:39:15.280
<v Speaker 1>for us to talk about our hair and our journey.

0:39:15.520 --> 0:39:17.680
<v Speaker 1>So we will say that we both agree that like

0:39:17.719 --> 0:39:19.640
<v Speaker 1>we're in a space with our hair. Were like girl,

0:39:20.239 --> 0:39:23.239
<v Speaker 1>ten out of ten I would recommend yes.

0:39:23.760 --> 0:39:26.000
<v Speaker 2>And hey, if y'all have ever, yeah, ten out of ten.

0:39:26.120 --> 0:39:28.319
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's not an easy life, this life, this

0:39:28.440 --> 0:39:31.759
<v Speaker 2>natural hair, this maintenance is not the easiest. But I

0:39:31.800 --> 0:39:33.600
<v Speaker 2>have my go to style. This is my version of

0:39:33.600 --> 0:39:35.520
<v Speaker 2>sister locks. Now it is like a pony and a

0:39:35.520 --> 0:39:37.680
<v Speaker 2>big bang and just all like to do is trim

0:39:37.719 --> 0:39:39.760
<v Speaker 2>it like a hedge. I haven't had a proper haircut,

0:39:39.800 --> 0:39:42.719
<v Speaker 2>as you can probably tell in a long time. Yeah,

0:39:42.800 --> 0:39:46.399
<v Speaker 2>I'm really proud, and I feel like for anyone out there,

0:39:46.520 --> 0:39:48.839
<v Speaker 2>I mean I do know it still happens, like even

0:39:48.960 --> 0:39:52.560
<v Speaker 2>especially if you have a public facing, like you're in

0:39:52.600 --> 0:39:55.480
<v Speaker 2>front of people, the comments will come through. And like

0:39:55.520 --> 0:39:58.239
<v Speaker 2>if there's anyone who wants to share if you've had

0:39:58.280 --> 0:40:00.839
<v Speaker 2>experiences like that and how you've handled it, because even

0:40:00.880 --> 0:40:02.600
<v Speaker 2>though it's written in law now that you can't be

0:40:02.640 --> 0:40:05.399
<v Speaker 2>discriminated against because of your hair and how you wear it,

0:40:06.160 --> 0:40:09.160
<v Speaker 2>that doesn't mean it's it's also you know, illegal to

0:40:09.200 --> 0:40:11.439
<v Speaker 2>pay women less than men for the same work. But yeah,

0:40:11.560 --> 0:40:14.680
<v Speaker 2>hear me have the wage gap, So it's still happening,

0:40:14.760 --> 0:40:16.520
<v Speaker 2>and I want to live in that place of reality.

0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:20.360
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, I feel like if you've ever had that issue,

0:40:20.400 --> 0:40:22.880
<v Speaker 2>or even when you're interviewing, it's like, how do I

0:40:22.880 --> 0:40:25.480
<v Speaker 2>wear my hair for an interview? Should I straighten it?

0:40:25.600 --> 0:40:27.799
<v Speaker 2>You know? Should I tame it? You know for the

0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:31.239
<v Speaker 2>first interview, for the first impression, that still happens. And

0:40:31.320 --> 0:40:35.080
<v Speaker 2>I totally get why you have that, why you have

0:40:35.120 --> 0:40:36.719
<v Speaker 2>to like go back and forth like that, And it's

0:40:36.719 --> 0:40:40.560
<v Speaker 2>just like this mental burden that like other people just

0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:41.480
<v Speaker 2>don't understand.

0:40:41.960 --> 0:40:44.560
<v Speaker 1>You know. We'd love to hear you guys though, well,

0:40:44.560 --> 0:40:46.000
<v Speaker 1>like when have you fallen? When did you fall in

0:40:46.080 --> 0:40:48.320
<v Speaker 1>love with your hair? If you have, and yeah, you know,

0:40:48.440 --> 0:40:51.120
<v Speaker 1>you can tweet us dm us. We'd love some beautiful

0:40:51.120 --> 0:40:53.920
<v Speaker 1>heartwarming or we have a heartwarming hair story so we

0:40:53.960 --> 0:40:56.920
<v Speaker 1>can share because I think, you know, maybe this is

0:40:56.920 --> 0:40:58.719
<v Speaker 1>a great episode. You got a little girly, a little

0:40:58.760 --> 0:41:02.560
<v Speaker 1>curly girly for sit next to you and listen, or

0:41:02.680 --> 0:41:08.680
<v Speaker 1>curly boy yeah, curly boyly. I forgot that's true. Oh thanks, y'all.

0:41:08.840 --> 0:41:11.720
<v Speaker 1>I think that's our brown boost too, Like right.

0:41:11.640 --> 0:41:14.719
<v Speaker 2>Love your hair, yeah, loving your hair and letting that

0:41:14.840 --> 0:41:16.960
<v Speaker 2>and just falling in love with it, that relationship that

0:41:17.000 --> 0:41:18.640
<v Speaker 2>you have. I'm really happy that I've gotten to a

0:41:18.640 --> 0:41:21.600
<v Speaker 2>place now in my thirties where Okay, I feel like,

0:41:21.760 --> 0:41:24.960
<v Speaker 2>no more hating it, just embrace it. I'm not gonna lie.

0:41:25.040 --> 0:41:30.120
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes I do hate it because a detangling process is special.

0:41:30.640 --> 0:41:34.520
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, yeay hair, yay. Thank you to for sponsoring

0:41:34.520 --> 0:41:35.160
<v Speaker 2>this episode.

0:41:35.280 --> 0:41:37.279
<v Speaker 1>Yes, we will see you guys, and next week well

0:41:37.280 --> 0:41:40.279
<v Speaker 1>we'll see you hopefully on Friday for b AQA. You've

0:41:40.280 --> 0:41:44.920
<v Speaker 1>got questions, We've got answers until next week slash Friday.

0:41:45.000 --> 0:41:46.360
<v Speaker 1>Bye y'all, Bye ba.

0:41:46.200 --> 0:41:49.560
<v Speaker 2>Fam, Hey ba fam. We could not do this show

0:41:49.600 --> 0:41:51.880
<v Speaker 2>without your support or the support of our.

0:41:51.760 --> 0:41:52.960
<v Speaker 1>Team behind the scenes.

0:41:53.239 --> 0:41:56.880
<v Speaker 2>The Brown Ambission podcast is produced by Cumulus Podcast Network.

0:41:56.920 --> 0:42:00.440
<v Speaker 2>It's edited by the wonderful Emani Crosby and produced by

0:42:00.480 --> 0:42:04.680
<v Speaker 2>Tanya Bustos. Dennistimplinsky is our in house tech curu and

0:42:04.840 --> 0:42:07.760
<v Speaker 2>I am Bandy Wichard Santos, your co host, and I

0:42:07.840 --> 0:42:12.040
<v Speaker 2>will see y'all next week.