Speaker 1: I had a very sound and respectful conversation with her,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think she took it fairly well.
Speaker 1: I just basically said, you know what, like I want
Speaker 1: more for you. I was my mom's assistant, her personal shopper.
Speaker 1: I was just a little bit of everything. And that's
Speaker 1: what Onmi became for me, which is a good thing
Speaker 1: because she helped me out so much, but with time
Speaker 1: it became a not so good thing. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like a breakup. You guys, like you're used to someone
Speaker 1: who's in your life and helps you so much, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden they're not there. Ola Olan,
Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's episode of Cheeky's and Chill. If
Speaker 1: you haven't stepped outside today yet, be sure to do that.
Speaker 1: It's so important to get some sunshine and fresh air
Speaker 1: every single day. Get that vitamin day. I know a
Speaker 1: lot of us are still working from home, so make
Speaker 1: sure you're taking a few minutes out of your date
Speaker 1: for yourself. Anyways, with that being said, I wanted to
Speaker 1: hop on the mic today to talk about some changes
Speaker 1: that have happened on my team. I haven't really talked
Speaker 1: about this too much publicly, so I wanted to take
Speaker 1: some time to talk about it today here in my
Speaker 1: safe place. So let's get started. This is Cheeky's and Chow. Okay.
Speaker 1: So most of you know that Noah Mi Valdivia or
Speaker 1: Omi or Homie or my lovely or Pepper because I
Speaker 1: call her so many different things has been my personal
Speaker 1: assistant for almost ten years and she's been great and
Speaker 1: we have become very close. But we recently just parted
Speaker 1: ways and she's no longer working for me. So I'll
Speaker 1: get into those details in a second, but I want
Speaker 1: to give you guys a little bit of background first,
Speaker 1: and just for the record, everything is good between us, Okay.
Speaker 1: That's why it was so important that I got on
Speaker 1: the mic and spoke to you guys one on one
Speaker 1: because I was on live on TikTok the other day
Speaker 1: and on Instagram and people were already asking, is only
Speaker 1: not working with you? We haven't seen her around, and
Speaker 1: I just thought it was important because Omi has been
Speaker 1: on the podcast before and we talked about our experience
Speaker 1: and her experience with being my assistant, and I just
Speaker 1: thought that out of respect to her, out of respect
Speaker 1: to myself, our history, and all of my listeners, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to set the record straight. Sony who I
Speaker 1: met Omi in two thousand and nine or ten something
Speaker 1: like that. She went to one of my events. She
Speaker 1: was a huge fan of my mom's and she became
Speaker 1: a fan of mine through the reality show that I
Speaker 1: was doing, Cheeky's and Roxy, and we met at a
Speaker 1: meet and greet and we became like cool, like on Twitter.
Speaker 1: We would tweet each other, you know, and we were
Speaker 1: supposed to go hiking, which we never went hiking. Maybe
Speaker 1: we'll go hiking now, I don't know, but we were
Speaker 1: supposed to go hiking. That's how it kind of all started. Hey,
Speaker 1: I go hiking here, maybe you can come with me
Speaker 1: because I used to love hiking. Well I love hiking,
Speaker 1: but back then, you know. So anyways, then, you know,
Speaker 1: fast forward to twenty twelve, which was when my mom passed.
Speaker 1: And then in twenty thirteen, I think and I just
Speaker 1: started talking a little bit more and it kind of
Speaker 1: just happened organically where I was like, hey, can you
Speaker 1: help me a little bit with social media? And like
Speaker 1: little by little it just turned out or she was
Speaker 1: like my assistant, you know, And according to her, I
Speaker 1: didn't give her the chance to say no, it was
Speaker 1: kind of like, Okay, you're gonna be my assistant. So
Speaker 1: the thing is that she was going to college. I
Speaker 1: think she had stopped going to college. It wasn't like
Speaker 1: really her thing. She was working I think at Smart
Speaker 1: and Final, and she started working with me, and she
Speaker 1: was just like, you know, I like doing this. I
Speaker 1: think I'm just gonna quit my job and work with you.
Speaker 1: I don't really remember the details, you guys, because I
Speaker 1: was like almost ten years ago, but it just happened
Speaker 1: very like organically, and it wasn't like she woke up
Speaker 1: one day and she's like, I want to be an assistant,
Speaker 1: or she knew that that's what she wanted to do.
Speaker 1: It just happened, and I basically taught her everything that
Speaker 1: I knew because I started as an assistant. I was
Speaker 1: my mom's assistant, her personal shop er. I was just
Speaker 1: a little bit of everything. And that's kind of like
Speaker 1: what Omi became for me, which is a good thing
Speaker 1: because she helped me out so much in the beginning
Speaker 1: of my career, but all so with time it became
Speaker 1: a not so good thing because boundaries were blurred and
Speaker 1: because I was also growing as an employer, as an artist,
Speaker 1: and I think that I should have set certain boundaries
Speaker 1: between an employee and an employer, and I don't. That's
Speaker 1: why I'm like, Okay, it was bound to happen, and
Speaker 1: not because it was a bad thing. It was just
Speaker 1: just too much. I don't even know how to explain it,
Speaker 1: because nothing specifically happened to bring us to this point.
Speaker 1: I just think it was a series of things and
Speaker 1: years and me honestly caring so much about her as
Speaker 1: a person that I want more for her, if that
Speaker 1: makes sense, And we'll get to that. But you know,
Speaker 1: Omi has been a huge part of my life, a
Speaker 1: huge part of my career as a singer, even of
Speaker 1: my family. She's really good friends with my sister Jenica,
Speaker 1: and you know, I've been there with her through her
Speaker 1: mom's passing, and I basically have raised her. She always
Speaker 1: tells me, she's like, you know, you raise me. I
Speaker 1: learned so much or like a sister like a mother
Speaker 1: to me, because you know, I taught her how to
Speaker 1: say please and thank you and manners and be nice
Speaker 1: and be polite. So she's I think, very grateful with me,
Speaker 1: and I'm also very grateful with her because she gave
Speaker 1: me the opportunity as a boss. Sometimes make mistakes and
Speaker 1: I've learned so much from that experience, and it was
Speaker 1: a very hard decision to get to this point. But
Speaker 1: I'm very grateful, and like I told her, I'm very
Speaker 1: grateful for everything you've done. I appreciate you very much.
Speaker 1: I don't want there to be any bad blood. It's
Speaker 1: kind of more like certain things did happen that were
Speaker 1: frustrating me, and I didn't want to feel frustrated or
Speaker 1: irritated with her. I just felt like it wasn't fair,
Speaker 1: and I found myself feeling that way way too often.
Speaker 1: And she's also been through so much the past couple
Speaker 1: of years that I think we just grew. She grew up,
Speaker 1: she matured, I obviously did as well, and it just
Speaker 1: so happened to be where it was clashing. I think unintentionally,
Speaker 1: it just wasn't fitting anymore, just wasn't feeling I think
Speaker 1: good on both sides, and I care about her so
Speaker 1: much as a human being that I didn't want to
Speaker 1: hurt her feelings or to be rude to her in
Speaker 1: any way. And I had been praying about this decision
Speaker 1: for a while, and I just said, look, God, I
Speaker 1: feel this help me and my meditation. I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: give me like certain signs talk to me, and I
Speaker 1: got those signs. I had a very sound and respectful
Speaker 1: conversation with her, and you know, I think she took
Speaker 1: it fairly well. And I just basically said, you know what,
Speaker 1: like I want more for you. Maybe you could start
Speaker 1: a business, Like you're a smart girl, and I'm always
Speaker 1: going to be here for you, and I just kind
Speaker 1: of want to see you fly. It's kind of like
Speaker 1: one of my siblings, or you know, when my mom
Speaker 1: with me was like, Hey, I love you, but you
Speaker 1: got to stop working for me and you have to
Speaker 1: stop living here. And it's a shocker and it's hard
Speaker 1: and you're like damn, but it helps you grow into
Speaker 1: the person you're meant to become. And I just thought
Speaker 1: that it was the best decision, and I think that
Speaker 1: she kind of felt it as well but didn't know
Speaker 1: how to verbalize it. Maybe it has been very hard.
Speaker 1: It's been about a month, you guys, but we still communicate.
Speaker 1: She has helped me a lot with like making the transition,
Speaker 1: and I just felt that it was important for her
Speaker 1: peace of mind as well, because there are people out
Speaker 1: there that are going to want to make up stories
Speaker 1: and speculate and all this stuff, and I just don't
Speaker 1: want any drama. Like I'm so over that I want
Speaker 1: to be the one to just let it be known.
Speaker 1: There's no need to get into details. But I do
Speaker 1: feel that it's important that you guys know that we're fine,
Speaker 1: that I wish her the absolute best, that we're still
Speaker 1: in communication, that she's still around, she's still my sister's
Speaker 1: really good friend of her best friends, and I think
Speaker 1: it was just time. Like I said, it has been
Speaker 1: tough for me because I also was very dependent on her,
Speaker 1: like co dependent. I think I think we were kind
Speaker 1: of codependent on each other, and that's not necessarily a
Speaker 1: good thing. Like I want to grow and as an individual,
Speaker 1: as an artist in every single way, and what makes
Speaker 1: me happy is taking care of my things and having
Speaker 1: a little bit more I guess control for the lack
Speaker 1: of a better word, just to really know what's going
Speaker 1: on in my infrastructure and like be hands on with everything.
Speaker 1: And I think because I depended so much on her
Speaker 1: and she was with me through some very tough times,
Speaker 1: I left a lot of things in her hands and
Speaker 1: I felt like I was losing a little bit of
Speaker 1: control in my personal life and in my personal space
Speaker 1: that I'm like, Okay, I think it's time for me
Speaker 1: to really do things differently this time. And yes, I
Speaker 1: have found someone. I was interviewing two people, almost three.
Speaker 1: The third person kind of fell through. The other person
Speaker 1: that I was interviewing was great, but I actually recommended
Speaker 1: her to another friend of mine who needed an assistant.
Speaker 1: And I feel a lot of peace with the person
Speaker 1: that is gonna start working with me, So you guys
Speaker 1: will get to know her a little later. And I
Speaker 1: don't feel like it's necessary to say anyone's name, but
Speaker 1: I have and I am starting to work with someone else.
Speaker 1: But anyways, I feel like so many new things have
Speaker 1: happened like in this past few weeks, and this is
Speaker 1: one of them. So I am excited to see what
Speaker 1: the future holds for me and every way, and I'm
Speaker 1: excited to grow and to become better. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of like a breakup, you guys, like
Speaker 1: you you know what I mean? Yeah, Like, it's like
Speaker 1: you feel like you're used to someone who's in your
Speaker 1: life and helps you so much every single day, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden they're not there. The good
Speaker 1: thing is like her and I have good communication and
Speaker 1: if I need something, like you know, I told her,
Speaker 1: I was like, I just don't like make it as
Speaker 1: easy as possible for me, and same here, you know,
Speaker 1: because I'm gonna take care of her. I just be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm letting you go, and that's it. Like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take care of her. I want her to
Speaker 1: be good and I'm excited to see what the future
Speaker 1: holds for her. And I can honestly say that I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm a big part of her growth as
Speaker 1: now a woman. She's thirty years old and I want
Speaker 1: to see what she does. And like I told her,
Speaker 1: I'm always going to be here to help her and
Speaker 1: to guide her in any way that I possibly can,
Speaker 1: because I'm grateful and I'm grateful for this moment as well.
Speaker 1: Changes aren't always the most comfortable, you guys, But that's
Speaker 1: when I feel like we grow the most, is when
Speaker 1: we make changes and we step out of our comfort zone.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what I had to do. I
Speaker 1: meditated on it, and I feel peace with my decision,
Speaker 1: you know enough to speak to you guys about it.
Speaker 1: And let you guys know what's happening. So, yeah, guys,
Speaker 1: that's what's going on. And I wanted to share this
Speaker 1: new beginning with you guys. And well before we go,
Speaker 1: I do have a quote for you guys. The quote
Speaker 1: is never be afraid to start over again. New beginnings
Speaker 1: sometimes bring the best changes to your life. That that
Speaker 1: was a good one for the topic. And thank you
Speaker 1: guys for listening to this week's episode. We have a
Speaker 1: lot of really interesting guests and topics coming up, so
Speaker 1: look out for those. I love you all and I'm
Speaker 1: so grateful for each and every single one of my listeners.
Speaker 1: Thank you. That's you much. Do you need advice on love, relationships,
Speaker 1: health emails? And I'm so excited to share with you
Speaker 1: that my Cheekies and Chill podcast will have an extra
Speaker 1: episode drop each week. I'll be answering all your questions.
Speaker 1: Just leave me a voice message person a Monday. All
Speaker 1: you have to do is go to speak pipe dot com,
Speaker 1: slash Cheekys and Chill Podcast and record your questions. I
Speaker 1: can't wait to hear from you. This is a production
Speaker 1: of iHeart Radio and the Michael Dura Podcast Network. Follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram at Michael Doura podcasts and follow me
Speaker 1: Cheeky's That's c h i q u i s. For
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