WEBVTT - Nely Galán: Self-Made Media Mogul 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.156 Pushkin. There's this tension a lot of us struggle with 0:00:22.236 --> 0:00:25.116 as we're coming of age and even sometimes into adulthood, 0:00:25.676 --> 0:00:28.796 and that's what do I owe myself versus what do 0:00:28.836 --> 0:00:32.036 I owe my family? I've learned it can be especially 0:00:32.076 --> 0:00:34.636 tough for children of immigrants, people who grew up having 0:00:34.636 --> 0:00:37.316 to translate for the parents helping them figure out life 0:00:37.316 --> 0:00:40.916 in a new country, which was the case for Nelli Galan. 0:00:42.316 --> 0:00:44.676 She was born in Cuba and her parents fled to 0:00:44.716 --> 0:00:47.836 America when she was just five years old. But when 0:00:47.876 --> 0:00:50.596 she was still a teenager, she got the job opportunity 0:00:50.756 --> 0:00:53.676 of a lifetime. Her parents begged her not to take 0:00:53.676 --> 0:00:55.996 the job, to stay close to home to take care 0:00:56.036 --> 0:00:59.716 of them. It was a tough decision, but Nelly took 0:00:59.756 --> 0:01:02.396 the job and it set her on a career course 0:01:02.476 --> 0:01:05.436 that included building one of the biggest Spanish language TV 0:01:05.556 --> 0:01:11.516 networks in America and eventually becoming that company president. This 0:01:11.756 --> 0:01:14.996 is started from the bottom, hard earned success stories from 0:01:15.036 --> 0:01:21.676 people like us. A conversation with Nelly starts way back 0:01:21.876 --> 0:01:24.636 when her family first came to the US. 0:01:26.316 --> 0:01:29.156 When we landed here the United States, in order to 0:01:29.196 --> 0:01:32.236 allow an immigrant to come to this country, you had 0:01:32.276 --> 0:01:36.356 to be sponsored by another family, and in our case, 0:01:36.636 --> 0:01:40.756 the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church took on the 0:01:40.796 --> 0:01:45.596 mission because of the Cold War of taking in Cubans, 0:01:45.676 --> 0:01:48.756 and so we got taken in by a Presbyterian family 0:01:49.276 --> 0:01:52.436 in southern New Jersey. The wife was redheaded like I 0:01:52.476 --> 0:01:58.156 love Lucy. And so the trauma my parents experienced from 0:01:58.276 --> 0:02:00.236 one day to the next. They came to this country 0:02:00.516 --> 0:02:06.476 late thirties, early forties, right, and to have to you know, 0:02:06.516 --> 0:02:09.956 college degrees, and your college degree is worth nothing, to 0:02:10.316 --> 0:02:14.436 have no money, to have lost everything, like literally not 0:02:14.556 --> 0:02:17.276 a dollar in their pocket, and they come here and 0:02:17.316 --> 0:02:19.236 the shame that you feel having to live in an 0:02:19.236 --> 0:02:22.316 American family's house and they have to pay for everything 0:02:22.396 --> 0:02:25.236 for you, and then you ask them to give you 0:02:25.276 --> 0:02:27.436 a running tab of what you're spending so you can 0:02:27.476 --> 0:02:32.036 pay them back. So, yes, that is what my experience. 0:02:31.596 --> 0:02:34.836 Is as a child. So you came here with nothing, nothing, 0:02:34.956 --> 0:02:38.356 And how did you feel being with this American family? 0:02:38.396 --> 0:02:41.636 Well, I felt like from the time I got here 0:02:41.676 --> 0:02:44.956 and I was five, I felt like I became a 0:02:44.996 --> 0:02:48.156 grown up. I felt like I was the parent and 0:02:48.236 --> 0:02:51.236 my parents were the children. Because they didn't speak English. 0:02:51.316 --> 0:02:55.236 I picked up English in two minutes. I was the 0:02:55.276 --> 0:02:58.396 one that had to communicate with the family. My parents 0:02:58.436 --> 0:03:00.396 were afraid of if somebody knocked on the door. It 0:03:00.396 --> 0:03:04.196 was like a major thing. And I think their personality changes, 0:03:04.676 --> 0:03:07.516 and I think they're depressed. And I think that you 0:03:07.676 --> 0:03:10.876 also hear them and like, when you're with them by themselves, 0:03:10.956 --> 0:03:14.116 they sound smart because these are college educated people, but 0:03:14.156 --> 0:03:17.836 then when they're around Americans, they sound really stupid. They 0:03:17.876 --> 0:03:20.436 can't speak English, right. You know your mother when your 0:03:20.436 --> 0:03:23.516 mother says, oh, I need to change the shits, and 0:03:23.556 --> 0:03:26.916 I go, mom, sheets, sheets, sheets, it's seats, and she 0:03:26.996 --> 0:03:28.996 sounds like an idiot, And all your friends look at 0:03:29.036 --> 0:03:31.556 her like she's an idiot, you know, So you do 0:03:31.676 --> 0:03:35.236 feel a lot of shame about your family. And I 0:03:35.276 --> 0:03:38.116 think you immediately feel like I got to like grow 0:03:38.196 --> 0:03:42.276 up quick and listen. I've had the most unbelievable ride, 0:03:42.316 --> 0:03:44.156 because you know, one of the things that I talk 0:03:44.196 --> 0:03:45.996 about is life is a lot about being at the 0:03:46.036 --> 0:03:48.356 right place at the right time. And I was at 0:03:48.356 --> 0:03:50.676 the right place at the right time, being Latina at 0:03:50.676 --> 0:03:54.676 the dawn of Latino television. So if you know, I 0:03:54.956 --> 0:03:56.836 tell a lot of young people, if you're first to 0:03:56.876 --> 0:03:59.596 market in anything. You could be the stupidest person in 0:03:59.596 --> 0:04:01.036 the world. You're going to hit. You're gonna hit it, 0:04:01.716 --> 0:04:04.916 hit because timing is everything in life. So I hit it, 0:04:05.036 --> 0:04:06.396 you know, and I've hit it a couple of times 0:04:06.436 --> 0:04:09.316 in my life, and that's all the people remember. But 0:04:09.356 --> 0:04:11.196 the fact of the matter is I gave a lot 0:04:11.236 --> 0:04:15.716 for that hitting it because some of the things that 0:04:15.716 --> 0:04:18.436 you realize later in life is that life is relational 0:04:19.356 --> 0:04:22.476 and that it isn't about transactional things. It is And 0:04:22.596 --> 0:04:26.636 especially if you're ethnic, where your life is all about 0:04:26.716 --> 0:04:29.076 family and your cousins and you're this, and you're that, 0:04:29.396 --> 0:04:32.076 it's hard to break out of that and go be 0:04:32.356 --> 0:04:38.196 very goal oriented type a all the time without having 0:04:38.236 --> 0:04:39.156 repercussions to that. 0:04:39.396 --> 0:04:41.076 Well, how did you break out of that? How did 0:04:41.116 --> 0:04:45.676 you break I mean a lot of immigrant communities are 0:04:45.956 --> 0:04:49.876 very close knit Latino communities. If you've been fortunate enough 0:04:49.916 --> 0:04:52.636 to grow up around large Latino communities that I have 0:04:52.716 --> 0:04:56.116 here in Los Angeles, you realize Latino families are very 0:04:56.196 --> 0:05:01.076 tight knit oftentimes too A lot of times, and especially 0:05:02.116 --> 0:05:04.076 kind of an area you grew up, there's a lot 0:05:04.076 --> 0:05:06.996 of traditional thoughts about the roles of women versus men. 0:05:07.636 --> 0:05:11.516 Oh yeah, you've seen to have really broken that mold. 0:05:11.556 --> 0:05:15.876 You broke out of just sort of this type you 0:05:15.916 --> 0:05:19.996 sort of this family, tight knit family mentality to succeed 0:05:20.036 --> 0:05:22.316 in business. How did you so? How did you do that? 0:05:22.556 --> 0:05:25.796 I think, listen, I think that some people are born 0:05:26.316 --> 0:05:30.796 with a self motivation. Not everybody has that. But I 0:05:30.836 --> 0:05:34.916 also think self motivation comes often from trauma, right. I 0:05:34.956 --> 0:05:37.876 think that I've had marker moments where I had to 0:05:37.916 --> 0:05:41.516 make a decision, and sometimes I made great decisions, and 0:05:41.516 --> 0:05:44.876 sometimes I made bad decisions. And I am the sum 0:05:44.956 --> 0:05:45.956 of all those decisions. 0:05:45.996 --> 0:05:47.916 So go back to some Marc moment. Let's start at 0:05:47.916 --> 0:05:49.516 the beginning, Okay. 0:05:49.596 --> 0:05:53.116 I think my marker moment happened sophomore year of high school. 0:05:53.156 --> 0:05:55.556 My parents had sent me to all girl Catholic school 0:05:55.636 --> 0:05:57.956 because at the time we lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, 0:05:58.636 --> 0:06:01.436 and it was kind of a treacherous time in Teaneck. 0:06:02.076 --> 0:06:04.556 There were issues in the public schools, and so they 0:06:04.596 --> 0:06:06.476 sent me to this Catholic school, but they really couldn't 0:06:06.476 --> 0:06:09.636 afford it. I was writing. I decided I thought I 0:06:09.676 --> 0:06:12.636 really wanted to be a writer, and I was writing 0:06:12.676 --> 0:06:15.516 stories for English class and this nun who is my 0:06:15.596 --> 0:06:19.556 favorite teacher. I walk into school one day and the 0:06:19.636 --> 0:06:22.276 nun says to me, I don't I'm sorry, but I 0:06:22.636 --> 0:06:24.836 don't believe you wrote the story. I think this is 0:06:24.876 --> 0:06:28.836 an Ernest Hemingway short story. And I have to suspend 0:06:28.876 --> 0:06:33.916 you for three days. And she sends me home and 0:06:33.956 --> 0:06:36.396 I am crying because I'm such a goodie two shoes. 0:06:36.436 --> 0:06:40.116 I mean, kids of immigrants don't cheat because we get 0:06:40.156 --> 0:06:42.996 told you better not screw this up again. Remember, let's 0:06:42.996 --> 0:06:47.036 remember the mentality. They just came from a revolution. If 0:06:47.076 --> 0:06:49.556 you speak up, you go to jai at political prison, 0:06:49.676 --> 0:06:52.596 or you disappear and you're called this up. I see you, though, right, 0:06:52.996 --> 0:06:55.396 and nobody sees you ever again. So you come to 0:06:55.436 --> 0:06:57.076 this country and the first thing your parents tell you 0:06:57.156 --> 0:07:01.836 is don't speak up, be under the radar, don't make waves, 0:07:01.916 --> 0:07:05.236 shut the hell up, and just be good. Everybody in power. 0:07:05.316 --> 0:07:07.676 You just do whatever they tell you to do. So 0:07:07.756 --> 0:07:10.276 I come home and I tell my parent, I'm so distraught. 0:07:10.276 --> 0:07:13.116 There's not things I didn't write this. And my mother 0:07:13.196 --> 0:07:16.316 and father take the side of the nun and they said, 0:07:16.396 --> 0:07:20.356 it doesn't matter. You go apologize to the nun. She's right, 0:07:20.396 --> 0:07:24.076 you are wrong. I go, I didn't do anything wrong, 0:07:24.876 --> 0:07:29.556 and they're like, well, maybe you by mistake you read 0:07:30.196 --> 0:07:33.556 Ernest Hemingway, you know, like they kept finding me wrong. 0:07:34.436 --> 0:07:36.956 And I was so angry at my parents. I locked 0:07:36.956 --> 0:07:40.396 myself in my room and I didn't know how to 0:07:40.396 --> 0:07:44.156 deal with my anger. So I did what I knew 0:07:44.156 --> 0:07:46.036 how to do, which is right, and I wrote an 0:07:46.156 --> 0:07:49.196 article about why you should never send your daughter to 0:07:49.236 --> 0:07:52.116 all girl Catholic school, and I sent it into the 0:07:52.156 --> 0:07:55.076 only publication I read at the time, which was seventeen magazine, 0:07:55.596 --> 0:07:58.836 and I just mailed it and at least it got 0:07:58.836 --> 0:08:02.156 off my chest. And a few days later I went 0:08:02.196 --> 0:08:04.316 back to school and the first thing the nun says 0:08:04.356 --> 0:08:07.116 to me, she goes, I'm so sorry. In fact, you 0:08:07.116 --> 0:08:10.156 should be complimented because your story was so good that 0:08:10.236 --> 0:08:12.556 I was convinced it was an Ernest Hemingway story. But 0:08:12.636 --> 0:08:15.276 in fact no, and I almost like yours better and 0:08:15.316 --> 0:08:17.916 you got an A plus. Wow, So the whole thing 0:08:17.956 --> 0:08:18.756 blew over. 0:08:19.676 --> 0:08:22.436 Why did you think Ernest Hemingway because you're Cuban. No? 0:08:22.436 --> 0:08:24.716 No, because a story took place in a fishing village 0:08:24.716 --> 0:08:30.476 in Quba, it did have some Ernest Hemingway elements, but 0:08:30.716 --> 0:08:34.076 very few, and it was about an old lady, not 0:08:34.116 --> 0:08:36.076 an old man, so like, but she thought I had 0:08:36.116 --> 0:08:40.436 just taken the idea, gotcha, and tweaked it. So anyway, 0:08:40.476 --> 0:08:43.916 it passed. Three months pass and I get a letter 0:08:43.956 --> 0:08:46.996 in the mail from seventeen magazine with one hundred dollars 0:08:47.076 --> 0:08:49.636 check and it says, we loved your article and it's 0:08:49.636 --> 0:08:50.796 coming out in the next issue. 0:08:50.876 --> 0:08:51.396 Wow. 0:08:51.636 --> 0:08:55.196 And I'm shitting a brick pardon the French. I'm like, 0:08:55.276 --> 0:08:58.276 oh my god, oh my god, what did I write? 0:08:58.356 --> 0:09:01.996 Oh my god? And I'm like, how can I buy 0:09:02.076 --> 0:09:04.796 every single issue? So no one sees it? Like it 0:09:04.836 --> 0:09:07.836 was insanity what I was thinking. And every girl in 0:09:07.876 --> 0:09:11.516 America read seventeen, I mean, think about today's you know, 0:09:11.636 --> 0:09:16.196 the internet, social media there was I mean, it was like, 0:09:17.196 --> 0:09:20.116 so I went to school and every girl in the 0:09:20.116 --> 0:09:23.636 school was like talking about like, oh my god, it's 0:09:23.636 --> 0:09:26.036 going to be in big trouble because I like because 0:09:26.116 --> 0:09:28.876 by the way, the article was very funny. It was 0:09:28.916 --> 0:09:30.836 actually very good. It was very It was more like 0:09:30.916 --> 0:09:33.556 tongue in cheek, like like these are the horrible things 0:09:33.556 --> 0:09:35.836 about being in all girls. It was very funny, but 0:09:35.876 --> 0:09:39.196 it was brutal, right. I get called to the principal's 0:09:39.196 --> 0:09:42.196 office and the head nun says to me, and this 0:09:42.276 --> 0:09:44.636 nun was kind of like treacherous, right, and she's like, 0:09:44.876 --> 0:09:47.116 we don't like your kind here. And I get expelled. 0:09:47.796 --> 0:09:49.916 What wait, we don't like your kind here? 0:09:50.076 --> 0:09:53.276 She says that to me, like almost like I can't 0:09:53.276 --> 0:09:54.796 believe we took you in and this is how you 0:09:54.956 --> 0:09:56.116 repay us kind of thing. 0:09:56.836 --> 0:09:57.196 Wow. 0:09:57.236 --> 0:10:01.356 And I go home and I tell my parents that 0:10:01.396 --> 0:10:05.676 I've been expelled, and it's like World War three. My 0:10:05.716 --> 0:10:07.716 mother starts calling me, why did you why do you 0:10:07.716 --> 0:10:10.036 who do you think you are? Shage Ada? Why do 0:10:10.076 --> 0:10:11.956 you have to be revolutionary? Why do you have to 0:10:11.956 --> 0:10:14.396 craz problems for us? Blah blah blah blah. This is 0:10:14.396 --> 0:10:17.436 a shame on the family. I mean, it was like horrible. 0:10:18.076 --> 0:10:21.116 And then I got really I got really mad because 0:10:21.156 --> 0:10:24.236 I thought to myself, wait a minute, you guys told 0:10:24.276 --> 0:10:26.796 me that one of the reasons that you turned on 0:10:26.836 --> 0:10:30.516 the regime of Cuba is that there was no freedom 0:10:30.556 --> 0:10:32.996 of speech. And I said, so, now you're not giving 0:10:32.996 --> 0:10:35.396 me freedom of speech and you're not backing me that. 0:10:35.796 --> 0:10:37.916 I mean, how could they even expel me? For writing 0:10:37.916 --> 0:10:41.236 whatever the hell I want. And my parents like, you 0:10:41.276 --> 0:10:43.956 are wrong, and you are going to go on your 0:10:43.996 --> 0:10:46.036 hands and knees and you are going to beg because 0:10:46.036 --> 0:10:50.116 you're not bringing shame on this family. And I was 0:10:50.316 --> 0:10:55.356 so upset and hurt at my parents more than the none. Yeah, 0:10:55.396 --> 0:10:59.076 And I did something really insane. I went to the library, 0:10:59.156 --> 0:11:01.716 which was half a block from my house. I looked 0:11:01.796 --> 0:11:04.196 up the board of Education. That's another thing. Back then, 0:11:04.396 --> 0:11:06.956 we didn't have the internet. You guys are all spoiled. 0:11:07.716 --> 0:11:08.996 I had to look up who was the head of 0:11:09.036 --> 0:11:11.756 the board of education. I called the Board of ed 0:11:11.796 --> 0:11:14.796 of the State of New Jersey. He did not answer, 0:11:14.996 --> 0:11:18.236 but an African American man answered. And I say, I 0:11:18.356 --> 0:11:21.156 bless that man the rest of my life, because he 0:11:21.236 --> 0:11:23.276 picked up the phone. And I was hysterical and I go, 0:11:23.396 --> 0:11:24.236 this nuts. 0:11:24.036 --> 0:11:26.036 Eh, that expelled me. 0:11:26.196 --> 0:11:29.516 That's a fair and he goes, young lady, you're right, 0:11:29.596 --> 0:11:33.276 it's not fair, he said. Unfortunately, they can do that 0:11:33.676 --> 0:11:37.876 because it's a private school, and they can fire you. Basically, 0:11:37.916 --> 0:11:40.756 it's like being an outwill employee. They can get rid 0:11:40.796 --> 0:11:43.356 of you for any reason. However, you don't have to 0:11:43.396 --> 0:11:46.836 take it, and you do have rights and you do 0:11:46.956 --> 0:11:50.596 have a voice, and I defend that voice. And I'm 0:11:50.636 --> 0:11:53.716 going to call a local reporter and a local newspaper 0:11:54.036 --> 0:11:56.396 and you're going to tell your story. And I didn't 0:11:56.396 --> 0:11:58.436 even give it a second thought, which I probably should have, 0:11:59.836 --> 0:12:03.436 and I was scared, but I did it anyway, and 0:12:03.476 --> 0:12:09.716 I gave my interview and the very next day, driving 0:12:09.836 --> 0:12:13.716 like ridiculous. But it comes out in the paper Cuban girl, 0:12:13.996 --> 0:12:18.756 Cuban immigrant gets expelled for first Amendment. And it was 0:12:18.796 --> 0:12:23.356 a scandal, full blown scandal. Everyone in the town read 0:12:23.356 --> 0:12:26.356 the newspaper. My parents got a million calls. My parents 0:12:26.436 --> 0:12:29.436 are like literally thank god my parents weren't into hitting 0:12:29.436 --> 0:12:32.196 me or I would have been dead. They were literally 0:12:32.236 --> 0:12:35.836 like hitting the furniture, freaking out. I mean, it was 0:12:35.956 --> 0:12:40.196 full blown chaos. The nun from the school calls and says, 0:12:40.316 --> 0:12:43.756 come into the school immediately with your parents. My parents 0:12:43.836 --> 0:12:46.516 are screaming at me the entire way of my mother, 0:12:46.556 --> 0:12:47.996 why are you making me do this? I now I 0:12:48.076 --> 0:12:48.956 have to speak Kinglish. 0:12:48.956 --> 0:12:50.676 It's bad. I don't speak Kinglish. 0:12:50.796 --> 0:12:53.276 And my father's like this is a shame on the family. 0:12:53.356 --> 0:12:53.676 In it. 0:12:54.276 --> 0:12:59.996 We get there and the nun is like nice because 0:12:59.996 --> 0:13:04.036 we forget bad press is a beautiful thing. And the 0:13:04.116 --> 0:13:06.636 nun's like I never said that. I never said that 0:13:06.676 --> 0:13:09.036 I didn't like your kind. I said, well you she goes, 0:13:09.276 --> 0:13:10.796 and she goes. I said that I didn't like what 0:13:10.836 --> 0:13:14.356 you did. But you know, the truth is I looked 0:13:14.436 --> 0:13:17.396 up all your records and you're the number three student 0:13:17.436 --> 0:13:21.236 in the school, and you have done all ap classes 0:13:21.236 --> 0:13:22.836 and you've gotten straight a's. In fact, you have so 0:13:22.916 --> 0:13:25.316 many credits that we can graduate you a year and 0:13:25.356 --> 0:13:28.676 a half for early And my mother and father called, oh, 0:13:28.716 --> 0:13:31.036 this is an honor. I go, yes, it's a big honor. 0:13:31.996 --> 0:13:34.756 And it went right over my parents' head that she 0:13:34.836 --> 0:13:36.636 was getting rid of me, but in a nice way. 0:13:37.396 --> 0:13:41.596 I get home and there is a voice message from 0:13:41.956 --> 0:13:45.756 the editor in chief of seventeen magazine, who happens to 0:13:45.756 --> 0:13:50.756 be a former nun, Midge Richardson, and she calls me 0:13:50.796 --> 0:13:54.236 and says, please call us back, and she says, we 0:13:54.436 --> 0:13:59.356 are so proud of you. We are just beside ourself 0:13:59.516 --> 0:14:02.196 that you did that article and that you went and 0:14:02.236 --> 0:14:04.916 spoke up for yourself, and that you got expelled on 0:14:04.956 --> 0:14:08.236 our behalf. We have decided to make you the youngest 0:14:08.276 --> 0:14:12.756 guest editor in the history of the seventeen magazine. 0:14:13.116 --> 0:14:15.436 What yes, what? 0:14:16.396 --> 0:14:19.476 And so I think when something like that happens to you, 0:14:21.356 --> 0:14:23.036 I mean, I can't just tell you that my life 0:14:23.156 --> 0:14:30.156 changed dramatically, completely immediately in the most magical way. 0:14:32.076 --> 0:14:36.436 Nelly Golan really knows how to get people's attention. You'll 0:14:36.436 --> 0:14:48.516 hear more from her after the break, we're back with 0:14:48.596 --> 0:14:51.916 Nelly Galan, who's fresh out of Catholic school and now 0:14:52.036 --> 0:14:55.476 the youngest ever editor at seventeen magazine. 0:14:56.036 --> 0:14:59.116 They loved me at seventeen Magazine when the editor in 0:14:59.196 --> 0:15:01.756 chief used to be a nun and she left the 0:15:01.836 --> 0:15:05.196 nunhood and now she's got a protege that was like 0:15:05.516 --> 0:15:08.676 rebelled against the nuns and made them look good. How 0:15:08.676 --> 0:15:09.116 good does that? 0:15:09.636 --> 0:15:12.236 There's also this thing of like when you're fifteen and 0:15:12.236 --> 0:15:14.156 if you're able to go in the city, like you're 0:15:14.196 --> 0:15:17.156 in the suburbs and you go into the city. You're 0:15:17.196 --> 0:15:19.676 an editor at a magazine, you're graduated high school early, 0:15:20.196 --> 0:15:23.036 and now the most fashionable people on the planet are 0:15:23.076 --> 0:15:25.076 telling you and they're making you us. In a way, 0:15:25.156 --> 0:15:28.516 it's kind of like but in another way, it's like, Wow, 0:15:28.556 --> 0:15:30.396 I got the key, I got the key. To life. 0:15:30.396 --> 0:15:33.116 Here. This is it, I really did. I mean, it's 0:15:33.156 --> 0:15:35.436 like winning the Teenager. 0:15:35.556 --> 0:15:37.396 Like sweet Steaks forget about it. 0:15:37.436 --> 0:15:39.956 Yeah, okay, here's what happens. I go there, I work 0:15:40.036 --> 0:15:42.756 with the model editor and it's the whitest girl from 0:15:42.756 --> 0:15:46.756 Connecticut and she's casting all blonde blue Remember that was 0:15:46.796 --> 0:15:51.076 the era of Cheryl Tigus. Sure, and girls are coming 0:15:51.116 --> 0:15:53.676 in to be the models for the cover and this 0:15:53.716 --> 0:15:55.996 and that. It was all blonde, blue eyed girls. And 0:15:56.076 --> 0:15:58.236 one day walks in Phoebe Kate's. 0:15:58.916 --> 0:15:59.876 Wow from Fast Times. 0:16:00.036 --> 0:16:02.116 Well, she wasn't an actress, and she was just like 0:16:02.116 --> 0:16:04.516 like a little school girl that was like half Asian 0:16:04.596 --> 0:16:08.836 and half Jewish. And then walks in like Bill Cosby's 0:16:08.876 --> 0:16:11.476 dog her and in walks in these people that are 0:16:11.996 --> 0:16:14.996 different girls of color, and she was never picking them. 0:16:15.876 --> 0:16:18.796 And one day and again they loved me so much 0:16:18.836 --> 0:16:20.716 that I felt like I could do anything. I felt 0:16:20.716 --> 0:16:23.476 like I was the ship there. And I said to her, 0:16:23.556 --> 0:16:25.756 you know, you really need to put some ethnic people 0:16:25.796 --> 0:16:29.876 in this magazine. And she goes, well, nobody's ever said that, 0:16:30.116 --> 0:16:33.196 nobody's ever done that. And I said, yeah, well I 0:16:33.196 --> 0:16:36.036 think we should do that. And I put Phoebe Kates 0:16:36.036 --> 0:16:36.476 on the cover. 0:16:37.556 --> 0:16:37.876 Wow. 0:16:37.876 --> 0:16:41.436 To this day, Phoebe Kates tells everybody she got me 0:16:41.476 --> 0:16:43.836 on the cover wow, because I fought for her and 0:16:43.836 --> 0:16:44.756 then I fought. 0:16:44.516 --> 0:16:48.836 For her career. Just something made her to a certain degree. 0:16:48.916 --> 0:16:50.596 Help it did. Yeah, my son. 0:16:50.716 --> 0:16:52.436 I always told my son that I put Phebe Kates 0:16:52.436 --> 0:16:53.916 on the cover. He didn't believe me. And then one 0:16:53.996 --> 0:16:55.956 day we're literally walking to New York and she's married 0:16:55.956 --> 0:16:59.436 to Kevin Klein and she goes, no, hey, in the 0:16:59.436 --> 0:17:01.236 middle of the street. She goes, Kevin, this is the 0:17:01.276 --> 0:17:03.756 girl that made my career. And my son goes, mom, 0:17:03.756 --> 0:17:06.276 you weren't lying. I go you think I lie? You 0:17:06.316 --> 0:17:11.236 think so? Anyway, and then I started putting black girls 0:17:11.316 --> 0:17:14.956 on the cover and like Latina on the cover, and 0:17:14.996 --> 0:17:16.716 like then the lady goes, okay, we need another white 0:17:16.716 --> 0:17:22.676 girl again. But here's what happened that the Girls of 0:17:22.716 --> 0:17:26.356 Colors issues started selling, and then I get a call 0:17:26.556 --> 0:17:29.956 from Elite Models and they said to me, we want 0:17:29.996 --> 0:17:31.556 to we want to get all those girls and bring 0:17:31.556 --> 0:17:34.836 them to Elite and it's Elite like it was John Casablanca's. 0:17:34.916 --> 0:17:37.396 Okay, so one of the top biggest agencies. 0:17:37.796 --> 0:17:41.836 And then they're like we want to hire you as 0:17:41.876 --> 0:17:45.396 our consultant. Like if you see people that you think 0:17:45.436 --> 0:17:47.556 are going to be cool that come to because they 0:17:47.556 --> 0:17:50.596 all would come into seventeen, not to them that you 0:17:50.676 --> 0:17:52.836 tell us about them, because we'd love to be their 0:17:52.836 --> 0:17:55.516 booking agents. So I become a On top of that, 0:17:55.556 --> 0:17:59.356 I become a consultant to Elite and John Casablanca's who is, 0:17:59.356 --> 0:18:02.996 by the way, a dog to models, And John cas 0:18:03.036 --> 0:18:05.756 blanc is like, I want to invest in your career 0:18:05.796 --> 0:18:08.156 because you're going to go places. And I said, well, 0:18:08.156 --> 0:18:11.396 you can help me pay for car and so he's like, okay, 0:18:11.396 --> 0:18:13.996 well if you do, if you consult for us on 0:18:14.076 --> 0:18:15.916 like these, you know, because I think you have a 0:18:15.956 --> 0:18:17.916 real eye, we're going to pay for it. So I 0:18:17.956 --> 0:18:22.716 got into Barnard Early Admissions with a complete between the 0:18:22.756 --> 0:18:25.196 scholarship and John casablancaz any lead paying for me, I 0:18:25.236 --> 0:18:28.076 didn't have to pay for shit. And I was working 0:18:28.076 --> 0:18:31.156 at seventeen and they, after the my internship was over 0:18:31.196 --> 0:18:32.796 there like we want we're going to hire you, so 0:18:33.356 --> 0:18:36.396 in between school or whatever, you work here. Because I 0:18:36.436 --> 0:18:40.596 was a real teenager, they realized what people now realize, 0:18:40.596 --> 0:18:42.676 which is like we need somebody in here who's a 0:18:42.716 --> 0:18:45.796 real teenager. So anyway, all that was going on and 0:18:45.836 --> 0:18:47.516 then the most unbelievable thing happened. 0:18:47.756 --> 0:18:49.796 No, no, this is unbelievable. 0:18:49.836 --> 0:18:53.676 No, it gets better, It gets better. This lady who 0:18:53.756 --> 0:19:00.956 is the first Latina executive producer in news, this lady 0:19:01.076 --> 0:19:04.876 gets this job producing the teenage version of sixty minutes. 0:19:05.796 --> 0:19:08.676 Remember Lisa Ling when she started out, she was a 0:19:08.716 --> 0:19:11.076 teen order for this thing called I forget what it 0:19:11.076 --> 0:19:13.556 was called, but it was a news show that was 0:19:13.596 --> 0:19:18.476 in schools, yes, many moons ago. Yes, Well before that, 0:19:18.756 --> 0:19:22.636 there was this teenage version of sixty minutes licensed sixty 0:19:22.676 --> 0:19:27.236 minutes to PBS for a Saturday morning show. Wow, And 0:19:27.316 --> 0:19:29.876 it was going to be people that were older than teenagers, 0:19:29.876 --> 0:19:32.276 like twenty somethings, but they kind of could pass for 0:19:32.356 --> 0:19:36.956 teenagers that were telling stories that were important to young 0:19:36.996 --> 0:19:40.836 people in America. And the lady calls me at seventeen 0:19:40.836 --> 0:19:43.836 magazine and she goes, I love all the articles you've written. 0:19:44.116 --> 0:19:46.436 She says, I want to meet you. And so she 0:19:46.516 --> 0:19:50.156 comes to New York. She's living in Texas. She's in Austin, Texas. 0:19:50.556 --> 0:19:52.676 So I meet her and she goes, Okay, I want 0:19:52.676 --> 0:19:54.996 to hire you. I want you to be one of 0:19:55.036 --> 0:19:59.036 our three correspondents of the show. She goes, but you 0:19:59.076 --> 0:20:00.916 have to move to Austin, Texas in two weeks. 0:20:01.276 --> 0:20:01.796 Wow. 0:20:02.476 --> 0:20:05.236 I tell my parents. I'm now sixteen and a half. 0:20:05.316 --> 0:20:09.076 At this point, I met Barnard in my first semester 0:20:09.356 --> 0:20:11.596 and I'm working at seventeen. I'm working for Elite and 0:20:11.636 --> 0:20:15.196 all this shit. And I say to my parents, I 0:20:15.236 --> 0:20:18.356 am leaving and I'm going to Austin, Texas. Oh Ostano 0:20:18.436 --> 0:20:20.356 say you do not leave here till you are married 0:20:21.116 --> 0:20:25.076 Latino culture and I said, you guys don't get this 0:20:25.596 --> 0:20:28.476 because you don't understand what sixty minutes is. But that's 0:20:28.516 --> 0:20:32.996 like a big deal. And I'm doing this and my 0:20:33.036 --> 0:20:35.476 parents are like, oh no, you're not You're not going right. 0:20:36.916 --> 0:20:39.236 I go back and tell seventeen. I go back and 0:20:39.276 --> 0:20:41.556 tell Elee. I even go tell the school. I go 0:20:41.636 --> 0:20:44.036 I need to put this Barnard thing on freeze. I'll 0:20:44.036 --> 0:20:49.036 come back. And everybody was like congratulating me, throwing me parties. 0:20:49.076 --> 0:20:50.676 Oh my god, you're going to be on TV. You're 0:20:50.716 --> 0:20:55.756 going to be a correspondent sixty minutes. Amazing. And two 0:20:55.796 --> 0:20:58.116 weeks later, I wake up at three in the morning, 0:20:58.916 --> 0:21:00.716 I had a Chevy Chavette, which I don't even know 0:21:00.756 --> 0:21:03.116 what that is, but it's like the smallest, shittiest car 0:21:03.116 --> 0:21:05.716 on the planet. And I pack up my car and 0:21:05.756 --> 0:21:07.876 my parents wake up and I go, what are you doing? 0:21:08.436 --> 0:21:09.076 I go, I'm leaving. 0:21:09.276 --> 0:21:10.636 You were trying to leave them the middle. 0:21:10.476 --> 0:21:15.196 Of the Yeah, I'm leaving. And they first they like, go, well, 0:21:15.196 --> 0:21:17.276