Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
Speaker 1: TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
Speaker 1: a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Speaker 1: Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
Speaker 1: I auditioned every rapper from Biggie Smalls to Tupac, and
Speaker 1: I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
Speaker 1: transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Speaker 1: Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons to name a few. I
Speaker 1: also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel
Speaker 1: I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
Speaker 1: acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
Speaker 1: that room. Now I know, I know actors want to
Speaker 1: get the job. I get that, but being remembered by
Speaker 1: a casting director that is powerful. And now it's time
Speaker 1: for meditation of the day. You can start late, look different,
Speaker 1: be uncertain, and still succeed. Misty Copeland, your uniqueness is
Speaker 1: your greatness. I stress this with actors all the time.
Speaker 1: I remember once where this manager had called me up
Speaker 1: that he wanted me to meet his new artists and
Speaker 1: he said, Tracy, he's just like jay Z. Excuse me,
Speaker 1: I said, we have a jay Z, though we don't
Speaker 1: want another jay Z. What is his uniqueness? And so
Speaker 1: many times we get consumed by the media of what
Speaker 1: we should look like, what we should be like, how
Speaker 1: we should act. However, in taking that information in, we
Speaker 1: should make choices to be comfortable in our own skin
Speaker 1: and in our own uniqueness of who we truly are.
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of your greatness. Embrace it, knowing that
Speaker 1: you are worthy of abundance. You are worthy of happiness, joy, love,
Speaker 1: all of this. You are worthy of this. Change your
Speaker 1: life today. Just do it today. I will take baby
Speaker 1: steps to create a magical life for myself. Before we
Speaker 1: get started, I'd like to remind everyone to look out
Speaker 1: for my new show, Inside the Black Box. I'll be
Speaker 1: co hosting with the great Joe Morton. We'll be on
Speaker 1: Crackle Network real soon. I'll keep you posted. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore. I have
Speaker 1: to inhale, and then I have to exhale from my
Speaker 1: next guest. Tell you something. This business that I love
Speaker 1: and that I eat, drink, sleep, breathe, live in every
Speaker 1: single day of my life. You come across people that
Speaker 1: you never ever want to let them go. I am
Speaker 1: proud to say that I have been friends with our
Speaker 1: guest sister friends, La Joyce Brookshire. I have been friends,
Speaker 1: sister friends, spiritual friends with this woman for over thirty years,
Speaker 1: and I'll never forget when I sat in her office.
Speaker 1: She is beyond phenomenal, infectious with her energy and her
Speaker 1: love and her life. And I'm gonna tell you something.
Speaker 1: I don't care what anybody say about Chicago people, Philly people,
Speaker 1: but Chicago they have a confidence I've never experienced in
Speaker 1: my life. And when I went to Chicago, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I love Chicago. The people here, they're
Speaker 1: just amazing. Before I bring her on, I want to
Speaker 1: read to you about the Joyce. I need you, guys
Speaker 1: to sit down, and I need you to take this in.
Speaker 1: I only want to bring the best of the best
Speaker 1: of the best of the podcast, and you are going
Speaker 1: to have that pleasure today. The Joyce Brookshire was a
Speaker 1: high powered entertainment radio producer, program creator and director of
Speaker 1: Publicity's Publicity and Arista Records in the nineties, handling artists
Speaker 1: such as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, Sean Puppy Combs,
Speaker 1: Tony Braxton, Kelly g Kenny g Outcasts, Monica, Deborah Cox,
Speaker 1: Craig mac Total, Fave Evans, Won Twelve, Usher, TLC. Whitney Hugh,
Speaker 1: and the Notorious Big to name a few. Today, she
Speaker 1: is a natural pathic doctor. Did I say that I did?
Speaker 1: I did? Okay, all right, She's a I love calling,
Speaker 1: a doctor, college professor, and a New York Times bestselling
Speaker 1: author residing in Pennsylvania with her husband and her daughter.
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, you need to stand up and put
Speaker 1: your hands together. But doctor La Joyce Books, Hey, Tracy, welcome.
Speaker 1: You want to make me cry right before we speak,
Speaker 1: because you know what. I'm glad you need to, because
Speaker 1: as I was reading those names, I was like, this
Speaker 1: is the thing. But Joyce is that sometimes and especially
Speaker 1: we were young, yes, in our career, you guys, this
Speaker 1: is young. Okay. You don't take in what you bring
Speaker 1: to the table as well. It's more I'm working with
Speaker 1: you know this person. I'm working with that person. But
Speaker 1: to reading these names right now, I said, oh no,
Speaker 1: they worked with the Joyce. They worked with the Joys.
Speaker 1: Yeah we did.
Speaker 2: You came to my office, you said, sitting in my office.
Speaker 1: Yes, I was sitting in your office. When I want
Speaker 1: to say, you either just got the deal or where
Speaker 1: you were in negotiation with Soul Food. That's how far
Speaker 1: we go back. I started with you on soul Food.
Speaker 2: You started with me before that. You started with me
Speaker 2: with a book called Web of Deception.
Speaker 1: Oh Web, I'm sorry, yes, well, yes.
Speaker 2: Yes, I'll never forget that.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that was such a great book. You
Speaker 1: got all you the Joyce. You might have to blow
Speaker 1: sprinkle us on that and bring that to life right
Speaker 1: now because content movies.
Speaker 2: From your Lips to God's Ears still to be a movie. Yeah.
Speaker 1: When when we come back outside, I'm a sidebar you
Speaker 1: after the show. But I have something for you. I
Speaker 1: have something that you were going to I have a gift,
Speaker 1: my gift to you today, but I need your gift
Speaker 1: to these people because they have no idea the fullness
Speaker 1: of your character and who you are. So I want
Speaker 1: to start off, ladies and gentlemen, this is the book
Speaker 1: that we're talking about today. We're talking about women behind
Speaker 1: the mic curators of pop culture and this is volume one.
Speaker 1: Word to the wise. This here, this is the Joyce
Speaker 1: Brookshire's baby, one of them. She has so many, but
Speaker 1: she I remember when she was birthing this as well.
Speaker 1: So I want to start with the music tell us
Speaker 1: because I did a book signing in Harlem with the
Speaker 1: Joyce and I can listener all day. She has the
Speaker 1: best stories, you guys.
Speaker 2: So do you?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Tracy was great in that at that book signing, and
Speaker 2: I can't wait for us to go back on the
Speaker 2: road and things together. We're going to do DC together.
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to it. But I I am just
Speaker 2: floored Tracy that audiences want to hear all about how
Speaker 2: we were just grinding. And as the fiftieth anniversary of
Speaker 2: hip hop is being celebrated, it is important that the
Speaker 2: stories of the women are being told because one thing
Speaker 2: that we noticed was that the women were glaringly absent,
Speaker 2: and so instead of really getting angry, even though there
Speaker 2: was a little bit of anger, Michelle, Joyce and I
Speaker 2: got to work and the straw that broke the camel's
Speaker 2: back was when Michelle called me and said, did you
Speaker 2: see can't stop? Won't stop?
Speaker 1: Us? Say?
Speaker 2: Yeah, she said it. Did Puffy call you?
Speaker 1: Said no?
Speaker 2: You call you? No? And he didn't call Kelly and
Speaker 2: Leota and Gwynn and he did not call any of us.
Speaker 2: And I said wow. I said, I'm tired. She said
Speaker 2: me too. And we got the work. We got to work.
Speaker 2: We told our sisters, blow the dust off those memories.
Speaker 2: We are about to write a book. And the first
Speaker 2: thing that we did together was in twenty seventeen at
Speaker 2: the Newark International Film Festival where one of our sisters
Speaker 2: was one of the coordinators of the event and they
Speaker 2: needed one more big event and she said, I've got
Speaker 2: one women behind the mic and the owner said, who
Speaker 2: wants to hear women talk about theirs what they used
Speaker 2: to do in the business?
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: When they took our SVPs, they couldn't find a room
Speaker 2: large enough for us and it was standing room only,
Speaker 2: wasn't it. Tracy? She was there and it was the
Speaker 2: second highest attended event at that film festival. And we
Speaker 2: looked around and said, okay, we got something here. And
Speaker 2: we've been at the African American Women Film Festival and
Speaker 2: We've done a speaking engagement about getting your Dream job
Speaker 2: at Rutgers University, and we've spoken at BMCC University in
Speaker 2: New York City and it's just been incredible. So everyone
Speaker 2: has been really perched and waiting for this book and
Speaker 2: it's taken a long time to get it together and
Speaker 2: get it out. So in March we did our launch
Speaker 2: event at the Apollo Theater and it was extraordinary. The
Speaker 2: Apollo never even expected that it was going to be
Speaker 2: an album release party up in there, up and there,
Speaker 2: but we know how to problem and it was a
Speaker 2: sold out audience. We had twelve hundreds juniors and seniors
Speaker 2: from the Department of Education to teach them about career
Speaker 2: paths and the entertainment industry. Because imagine Tracy when we
Speaker 2: were in high school, if we would have known anything
Speaker 2: like this.
Speaker 1: My Lord, I told you at your book site when
Speaker 1: we were at the book sign and I honestly believe
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine, when I was laying on my
Speaker 1: bed listening to Gladys Night and the Pits, I created
Speaker 1: music videos in my head.
Speaker 2: Okay, I believe it, and I dreamt up the whole
Speaker 2: whole situation of me working in radio I used to
Speaker 2: stare at the radio like this, and I asked, my mind,
Speaker 2: are they in there? She said, well, the only time
Speaker 2: they're really in there, honey, is if they're down at
Speaker 2: the studio. So I heard them speaking on the radio.
Speaker 2: I said that we should go down there. She said,
Speaker 2: you just can't show up at a radio station. I said,
Speaker 2: why not. You know, it's my little third three nine
Speaker 2: year old third grade self sitting in the backseat saying,
Speaker 2: they're down They're in there, they're down at the station.
Speaker 2: Let's go to the station, just so created that's right.
Speaker 2: And my my friends used to call me radio because
Speaker 2: I never shut up. I always had a need to
Speaker 2: tell somebody something. So they were like, oh, you have.
Speaker 1: A great voice with Joyce.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Really have like I thought you were a singer when
Speaker 1: I first met you, because the thing that I really loved.
Speaker 1: There's just so many things. But in being in PR,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what my time was like or
Speaker 1: my life was like, but I would sit in your
Speaker 1: audience while I mean in your office, while you were
Speaker 1: on the phone, and I remember your Deak was here,
Speaker 1: and then there was another death on to my left.
Speaker 1: And it was always like a nice mood in your office.
Speaker 1: It was light, was never on high. It was always vibe.
Speaker 1: It was it was a vibe that was a vibe.
Speaker 1: But I remember listening and learning so much and loved
Speaker 1: the way your articulation, Like that's what made me feel
Speaker 1: like you were a singer, because your articulation was just
Speaker 1: Christen on point. That's I remember so many things. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you have a great voice.
Speaker 2: That is so funny. That's the speech teacher. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know it's so. I was each major. Oh yes, yes,
Speaker 2: I wanted to do radio and television broadcasting. And the
Speaker 2: first job that I was hired to do was to
Speaker 2: be at station WOJO in San Juan. And I wanted
Speaker 2: to do Spanish news because I met had a double
Speaker 2: major speech in Spanish. Yeah, and it was three weeks
Speaker 2: before graduation. I was like, I don't know about your culture,
Speaker 2: but my black mom and daddy kill me if I
Speaker 2: don't show up in this graduation.
Speaker 1: I can't come.
Speaker 2: Now, give me three weeks I can come. They were like, oh.
Speaker 2: I was like, there's not for me. So then it
Speaker 2: just changed the whole entire trajectory of my life. Not
Speaker 2: taking that job. But that's where I would have been,
Speaker 2: but I ended up on w JPC, the Amazing Am
Speaker 2: ninety five doing news to New York.
Speaker 1: So when you were because the time, I mean those
Speaker 1: the nineties, oh my lord, Like I remember, you know,
Speaker 1: meeting Biggie for New Jersey Drive or whoever you know
Speaker 1: you would recommend to me. But what was it like
Speaker 1: coming up because I was doing music video coming out
Speaker 1: of music videos at that time. But the artists that
Speaker 1: I've named, they were all huge superstars on their way
Speaker 1: to where they are today.
Speaker 2: Listen, And I just want to say thank you for
Speaker 2: entrusting me with if I called you and said, Tracy,
Speaker 2: I've got a star, that you believed me. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: my hope that you know, I never tell you wrong
Speaker 2: about anything professional and I today, I'll never tell you wrong,
Speaker 2: anything wrong about food and yeah, and I'll never tell
Speaker 2: you anything wrong. And I just want to thank you
Speaker 2: for trusting me with that because that helped to elevate me.
Speaker 2: And I hope it's my hope that bringing you stellar
Speaker 2: talent also elevated you. Apparently it did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was the timing was impeccable because at that
Speaker 1: time they were tapping into artists with like commercials. You know,
Speaker 1: they were getting monies that they had never been introduced before.
Speaker 1: So then here comes the film and TV component, and
Speaker 1: let's just start is to transition as an actor. We'll
Speaker 1: get that acting money, We'll get that soundtrack. You were
Speaker 1: in a really oh my God, and it was a
Speaker 1: sweet spot. It really was. And during that time, because
Speaker 1: you talk about women in the music industry, I know
Speaker 1: what it's like for women in TV and film. But
Speaker 1: do you think that now, moving into twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: that there is progress, you know, changes in terms of
Speaker 1: how women are.
Speaker 2: I think in some ways it's definitely progressed. Michelle says no.
Speaker 2: I say yes. I say yes because we don't have
Speaker 2: to barter and bag as much as we used to.
Speaker 2: And so especially with hip hop artists because back then,
Speaker 2: you know, if I were calling about Biggie or Outcast
Speaker 2: or somebody and they would say, you know, a major
Speaker 2: mainstream outlet would say no, and I would literally package them.
Speaker 2: We'll say, well, you know, Whitney's coming out next month,
Speaker 2: Well say no, and then they go, you know, let
Speaker 2: me get back to you and Georgia have to right.
Speaker 2: So I think in many ways now because back when
Speaker 2: they were just rap artists and it finally evolved into
Speaker 2: hip hop is known today. But we put in that
Speaker 2: work because pop culture as it is known today, hip
Speaker 2: hop is now classified as pop culture. And wow, I'm
Speaker 2: here to tell you we did that. And I'm not
Speaker 2: saying that to be grandiose. No, I'm just saying we
Speaker 2: put in that work for it to be known as
Speaker 2: pop culture as it is today. Michelle Joyce, my wonderful,
Speaker 2: fantastic sister. We've been making good truble for thirty years. Okay,
Speaker 2: we with this book. But what you don't know about
Speaker 2: Michelle is that she was Bad boys first marketing director.
Speaker 2: She wrote every marketing plan for every single one of
Speaker 2: those bad Boy artists that has catapulted them to who
Speaker 2: they are today. She also wrote the first marketing plans
Speaker 2: that help Rock Aware acquire their first ten million dollars.
Speaker 2: So this is, yes, this is Michelle's story. She's a
Speaker 2: woman behind the mic someone you don't know. And we
Speaker 2: always say you may know our work, but you may
Speaker 2: not know our names. Right.
Speaker 1: Well, this is a great, great, great educational tool as well,
Speaker 1: because you know what the I have challenges with the
Speaker 1: youth and the millennials, because you need to know the
Speaker 1: shoulders on which you stand because you did not grow
Speaker 1: up with the Internet and have Instagram to promote and
Speaker 1: market these artists. You know, like when when our audience
Speaker 1: to know, when you talk about we did the groundwork
Speaker 1: we're talking about. There's a terminology called snipes, right, yes,
Speaker 1: and so I remember when you had young people out
Speaker 1: there sniping and what it is you guys, is putting
Speaker 1: up posters of albums coming out, you know, and just
Speaker 1: to see like the machine that you were in charge
Speaker 1: of in terms of getting you know, like in film.
Speaker 1: In film, we're like go to see the the you know,
Speaker 1: our film the first weekend, those record sales, those billboards,
Speaker 1: you know. And then, like I said, the other thing
Speaker 1: that I thought was brilliant during that time was how
Speaker 1: women were able to get companies like Mac to do
Speaker 1: campaigns on eve you know what I mean. But like you,
Speaker 1: you guys were doing things that were totally outside the box.
Speaker 2: Because we had to think of things outside of the
Speaker 2: box because inside of the box it was it was
Speaker 2: an unsafe environment. Inside of the box, it was confining,
Speaker 2: and we were not getting the results that we knew
Speaker 2: they were capable of. So we had to step outside.
Speaker 2: We had to color outside of the lines in order
Speaker 2: for them to garner the success. This is why I
Speaker 2: have brag Wall behind me. And this is why I actually,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't have anywhere to put all these
Speaker 2: golden platinum records that I have in my home. I
Speaker 2: hate to say that some of them are in my shed,
Speaker 2: but I don't have anywhere to put them. You know,
Speaker 2: I can't have a home she has.
Speaker 1: At Ladies and Gelemen, if you listen to the artists
Speaker 1: that I just want the list to name a few.
Speaker 2: But you but you can't attain that inside of this
Speaker 2: little box.
Speaker 1: That's right, okay.
Speaker 2: And then once you push the boundaries further and further
Speaker 2: and further and start stretching it, and then you start
Speaker 2: waking people up to possibility, and that's when they say,
Speaker 2: uh huh. I'll never forget. When Total said they wanted
Speaker 2: to be in a fashion week show, I had taken
Speaker 2: them to Fashion Week and they said, well, we want
Speaker 2: to be in a show, and I said, okay, do
Speaker 2: you know how to walk yet? And then they come
Speaker 2: and do their diddybop down the thing. I said, first
Speaker 2: of all, if I make this phone call, you're not
Speaker 2: going to embarrass me. Come on, and we use aris
Speaker 2: the hallway as a runway. And my old, my old
Speaker 2: modeling day self popped out right and I was like, okay,
Speaker 2: if we gonna do runway, this is how we're doing.
Speaker 2: The girls and I was like, let's walk, let's walk.
Speaker 2: And they were thinking, oh, they thought, oh my god.
Speaker 2: First they didn't know I knew how to do such
Speaker 2: a thing. But it's like, you know, it's a reinvention
Speaker 2: of another life. You bring everything that you are into
Speaker 2: the job. And what these children needed the artist, Yes
Speaker 2: they're all kids, but what they needed was mother ring, nurturing.
Speaker 2: That's what they needed. You had to make sure that
Speaker 2: ate this freaking vegetables. So its like we're going to
Speaker 2: be going o'clock tonight, eat good. You can't have another burger, okay.
Speaker 2: So even back then, when I wasn't the good doctor,
Speaker 2: I knew that if they if I let them just
Speaker 2: eat a steady diet of junk, that they won't have
Speaker 2: the energy to sustain to tonight when they need to
Speaker 2: get on that stage. So I would make sure that
Speaker 2: we got to restaurants that didn't even serve the junk,
Speaker 2: so they didn't even have it as a choice. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, just all of that kind of planning, and
Speaker 2: that was one of the things that angered me so much,
Speaker 2: and I was angry, I have to admit it about
Speaker 2: the New Edition biopic where they left out Renee Foster
Speaker 2: and Defense. Juanita Stephens was vice president of Black Music
Speaker 2: of Publicity excuse me, vice president of publicity at NCAA Records,
Speaker 2: and Renee was her ever ready as assistant, and they
Speaker 2: were left out of the New Edition biopic. When those
Speaker 2: women made sure those boys ate well, slept in good hotels,
Speaker 2: got their schoolwork done, turned in their schoolwork for them,
Speaker 2: and maybe sure they even had kindom skag on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm gonna say, I'm not going to shout
Speaker 1: her out, but I know a mom who would would
Speaker 1: do that with the group of guys and give their
Speaker 1: care of actors and put that in. Yeah you it's important, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, but that's the that's also like the nurturing
Speaker 1: side of us as women, like we're going to make
Speaker 1: sure that you're taking care of it, taking care especially
Speaker 1: you your spiritual morale. This is a good shift because
Speaker 1: I don't want to lose this, because I do want
Speaker 1: to come back for some last words of the book. However,
Speaker 1: in terms of actors today, now you know we're there
Speaker 1: on strike right now, so they have this time. I
Speaker 1: want to talk about foods. I want to talk about stamina,
Speaker 1: because I always stress this about It's not just saying
Speaker 1: some words. It's not just throwing some dialogue, like you know,
Speaker 1: games are throwne you're shooting in cold Ireland, you know.
Speaker 1: So how can actors sustain their mind, their body and
Speaker 1: their spirit through foods and what you teachom?
Speaker 2: Wow, heavy loaded question, but so unnecessary. What I will
Speaker 2: say is if they do not tap into better food,
Speaker 2: the lifestyle currently will not sustain them. That you will
Speaker 2: crash and burn. That's the first thing I want to say,
Speaker 2: because oh yes, you are what you eat. Oh yes,
Speaker 2: you are what you eat. And for you to think
Speaker 2: contrary to that is foolish because if you put junk in,
Speaker 2: you will get junk out. I just suggest that you
Speaker 2: read labels. Would you ever put bad gasoline in your car?
Speaker 2: I went to a gas station the other day and
Speaker 2: I'll had a half tank, but I like to come
Speaker 2: home with a full tank. And I filled up my
Speaker 2: car at an Exxon station and before I could get
Speaker 2: out of the driveway good. I knew that that batch
Speaker 2: of gas was bad, and so I'm never right now,
Speaker 2: I'm letting that batch of gas run out of my
Speaker 2: tank before I refeel it because it's spluttering and speaking
Speaker 2: and squeaking and spitting. And I'll never go back to
Speaker 2: that particular gas station. But would you know what happens
Speaker 2: when you put bad gas in your car and when
Speaker 2: you yourself are experiencing gas bloating, constipation, face breakouts, headaches
Speaker 2: every day at the same time. Those are signals that
Speaker 2: something is awry and if you don't address it, it'll
Speaker 2: eventually catch up with you. And then this is the
Speaker 2: other thing that really sticks in my gold. I cannot
Speaker 2: stand that spirit of I could eat whatever I want
Speaker 2: to and not get sick. Oh that's a lie. Oh
Speaker 2: I'll take my chances. What about the people who have
Speaker 2: to care for you. See, just the other day, I
Speaker 2: was in the post office and I had on my
Speaker 2: mask because I take every precaution. Okay, we mask. COVID
Speaker 2: didn't go away with it's syndemic. Okay, we are living
Speaker 2: alongside of it. And the woman said, oh, I see
Speaker 2: you have on your mask. I said, yes, if you
Speaker 2: knew what I knew, you'd have on a hansmat suit.
Speaker 2: But and she said, not take my chances, And I thought,
Speaker 2: foolish you're standing here dealing.
Speaker 1: With especially when you have a choice. Right, we'll see
Speaker 1: what happened.
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens. Well, you know, numbers are up.
Speaker 2: News reports every everywhere, in every corner of this nation.
Speaker 2: Local news reports are reporting that numbers are up because
Speaker 2: hospitalizations are up because people are no longer testing. But
Speaker 2: bottom line is, if we already saw how COVID came
Speaker 2: in here and tore up America and shook us around,
Speaker 2: we were a rat doll. It exposed a sick America. Yep,
Speaker 2: that's what it exposed. And we need to get with it.
Speaker 2: So all of the eric the actors, for all of
Speaker 2: the spirited actors, take care of your temple first.
Speaker 1: Now you know this. It takes a lot of discipline.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of consistency. I know this as well.
Speaker 1: To be in good health, to shop healthy like I
Speaker 1: used to, you know, just go through the grocery store.
Speaker 1: Now it takes me at least two hours because I
Speaker 1: read everything, and I really enjoy reading everything. Right, So
Speaker 1: what are some small steps, because you know, if we
Speaker 1: throw everything then you know three days in this is hard, right,
Speaker 1: So what are some you know, steps that people can
Speaker 1: take to alter things already you know, yes, in their lives.
Speaker 2: You said it though when you go to the grocery store.
Speaker 2: And one of the reasons why a lot of people
Speaker 2: shun a healthier lifestyle is because they say they can't
Speaker 2: afford it. I want to give you four little baby
Speaker 2: steps that give you pers the perfect health that cost
Speaker 2: you nothing. Oh my god, ready.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Number one is drink a glass of water every hour
Speaker 2: that you're awake. Every hour that you're awake, drink a
Speaker 2: glass of water. Lots of reasons why we won't go
Speaker 2: through them now. Number two, go to bed at ten
Speaker 2: o'clock because you are defying nature when you do not.
Speaker 2: What in the world are you doing up all night anyway?
Speaker 2: Question mark? Question mark question mark I got your Tracy,
Speaker 2: all right. The next thing is pee and poop when
Speaker 2: nature calls you to pee and poop, get up from
Speaker 2: that computer, don't take another meeting, don't take another phone
Speaker 2: call when nature calls, answer it. And the last thing
Speaker 2: is exercise. And I don't mean with a gym membership.
Speaker 2: Run up and down the stairs, run around the house,
Speaker 2: walk up and down your hallway in your building, or
Speaker 2: up and down the stairways in the building. Yeah. Wow,
Speaker 2: exercise and that cost you nothing. And if you do
Speaker 2: that but one side week, it will change your health trajectory.
Speaker 1: Well, we need to do a challenge because yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I definitely number three of the peen and the pooping.
Speaker 1: It's like, I'm only saying this because, like, you know,
Speaker 1: when you are in a high paid, paced job, like
Speaker 1: you know you and and like you forget I know
Speaker 1: I've cast before with Elsa and forgotten to eat or
Speaker 1: she's like, you know, we should should we insert thirty
Speaker 1: minutes to eat? Like I've done that as a casting
Speaker 1: directory in my life. So that's the same with going
Speaker 1: to the restroom.
Speaker 2: You're like, oh, let me tell you what I used
Speaker 2: to do at Ariston. I used to take two hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty calls a day. Oh my god, Okay, that's
Speaker 2: how many used to come from the switchboard. I have
Speaker 2: that number because the switchboard of the receptionist said, you,
Speaker 2: hands down get more phone calls than most people in
Speaker 2: the company. And he started tallying, and he used to
Speaker 2: get a print out, and he said, you get you
Speaker 2: get two hundred and fifty phone calls a day. I'm like,
Speaker 2: that's nuts. What about the people who down my line directly?
Speaker 2: He said, I don't know about those, okay, but that's
Speaker 2: how many were coming through the switchboard. I used to
Speaker 2: have a headset, you know, I had a headset. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I would unplug the headset, tell my assistant, I'm going
Speaker 2: in the bathroom, and I would just say, keep them
Speaker 2: on hold, rack them and stack them so I could
Speaker 2: just take them. Just put people on hold. I'll be
Speaker 2: right back, and I would just run to the bathroom headset,
Speaker 2: I'll come back and plug back up. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 2: were very It was nuts.
Speaker 1: And if you think about the you know, the roster
Speaker 1: that you had, I mean, like, and you're also dealing
Speaker 1: with different temographics. You got Usher and the great legendary
Speaker 1: Aretha Freglin. That's just two during an item exactly. And
Speaker 1: then you got then you and the club in the
Speaker 1: club with Biggie y'all. Fine, what a whole bunch of rappers, but.
Speaker 2: A whole bunch of rappers.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna tell you this one thing that I
Speaker 1: do though. Oh okay, I'll say this really quick. One
Speaker 1: thing I do know is that mad mad mad respect
Speaker 1: that the Joyce always garnered from these artists. I saw
Speaker 1: it in their eyes. I saw it when when she
Speaker 1: with her posture around them, she is considered queen empress
Speaker 1: in their dialogue. No, I know people that, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: when I told him I wrote the book, like you
Speaker 1: know these people. Yeah, So I'm just saying that, you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to maintain the level of respect that
Speaker 1: she has garnered over the years of the music business,
Speaker 1: I'm just saying you, guys, like I know, she has stories.
Speaker 1: She's not going to tell you now, but she has stories.
Speaker 1: Women are not respected like that. I'm just saying I
Speaker 1: need to stress that for y'all to know. But we
Speaker 1: have five minutes. Please tell us what do you want
Speaker 1: to say to know what's our takeaway from the book?
Speaker 1: Because I'm waiting for volume two.
Speaker 2: Ah wait for you actually over, You're actually late with
Speaker 2: your story, so a volume two missing that I want
Speaker 2: the takeaway to be that to understand that this book
Speaker 2: is for anyone who ever thought that they had a dream,
Speaker 2: and it is for dreamers everywhere, for anyone who ever
Speaker 2: thought that dreaming was worthwhile. In this book are twenty
Speaker 2: two stories that proves dreaming is a good thing. Being
Speaker 2: a dreamer is a good thing. The little girl in
Speaker 2: me in the backseat looking at the radio wondering can
Speaker 2: we get down to the station because they are in there.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: I told you guys you were gonna love with Joyce.
Speaker 1: We got to have you come back on because a
Speaker 1: lot of things perculating and I want to be able
Speaker 1: to promote something else when you give me the go ahead,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be able to do that. But we're
Speaker 1: gonna hang tight. Else it's going to come back on.
Speaker 1: Else's going to introduce you to the spirit actor alumni.
Speaker 1: Who is going to ask you a question? All right?
Speaker 3: Yes, So today we have miss Shamika Nelson. Shamika, you
Speaker 3: can come on?
Speaker 1: Do we go? And you can? Hey? How's it going? Hey?
Speaker 1: Sri Rika? Hi? Hi, y'all can't see me? Can you?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: Hey? S Rikan Red? Is the color? Go ahead? Yes
Speaker 1: it is. So. I have a couple of questions.
Speaker 4: One I like to ask everybody who is a fan
Speaker 4: of hip hop? What was this song that made you
Speaker 4: fall in love with hip hop?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: Me mm hmm? It would be jam on it. M Yeah,
Speaker 2: I was at Studio fifty four in New York. Not
Speaker 2: I heard hip hip hepty hopping Rapper's Delight. I had
Speaker 2: heard that, Yes, love that, but fall in love with
Speaker 2: hip hop was at Studio fifty four and jam on
Speaker 2: it for me?
Speaker 1: Wow, Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 4: Now my second question, your book has a welcome notch,
Speaker 4: So I want to know can we expect a series
Speaker 4: because it's too much to put into a film.
Speaker 2: A series. This is volume one. That's why it's entitled
Speaker 2: Volume one. Word to the Wise, okay, words of wisdom
Speaker 2: from those who are wise to those who'd like to
Speaker 2: be wise. And Volume two will be the hip hop edition.
Speaker 2: Oh and what about a TV series coming up? From
Speaker 2: your Lips to God's Ears? Yes, indeed, a docu series
Speaker 2: was what it will be. That's a that's aw Yeah,
Speaker 2: you're right here, Shamika, Yes, you're in it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and bookmarked that. Bookmarked that because I got
Speaker 1: something for you. Thank you for the question, Sami, because
Speaker 1: that was a great question. The first one. I went
Speaker 1: back to what was it brown Sugar? I went to
Speaker 1: Love Jones. Yes, that's what resonated when you said, how
Speaker 1: did you what made you fallward? All tell you everything.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you California Grandmother's flash.
Speaker 2: Yesa the message, the message.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was one for me as well. Great question. Well,
Speaker 1: when we come back with the Spirited After podcast, we
Speaker 1: are going to do class and Session and Shamika Nelson
Speaker 1: is going to do a monologue for the Joyce Berkshire.
Speaker 1: So stick around, yes, and the Joyce you are going
Speaker 1: to give her because the Joyce is a film producer,
Speaker 1: film writer and film director. All right, so we'll be
Speaker 1: back on the Spirited Action Podcast with me Tracy Moore
Speaker 1: for Class in Session. Welcome back to the Spirited Actor
Speaker 1: Podcast with me Tracy Moore. And we're so blessed we
Speaker 1: still have doctor Leachoyce Berkshire with us, and now we're
Speaker 1: going to move into instead of a scene, today, Elsa
Speaker 1: is going to introduce our Spirit Actor alumni and she's
Speaker 1: going to perform a monologue for us.
Speaker 3: Yes, So today on the Spirited Actor we have the
Speaker 3: lovely miss Jamika Nelson. Welcome back, Shamika, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: What are you going to do for us today? So
Speaker 3: today I'm going to.
Speaker 4: Do a monologue from a book play actually call Paradise
Speaker 4: Bloom from Dominique marusso.
Speaker 3: Nice, so on action.
Speaker 4: You can't make no home your way, not how many
Speaker 4: times he put his hands on you. Hm, I mean,
Speaker 4: is it every day or only when he has props?
Speaker 1: Talk? But it ain't none of my consien child.
Speaker 4: Please don't matter whether it's none of my concern or not,
Speaker 4: because I know what I see and I'll tell you
Speaker 4: one thing, girl, If you think he's gonna make a
Speaker 4: life with that man, you're in a whole heap of
Speaker 4: trouble because a man with demons, he ain't gonna see
Speaker 4: you nothing but as a gateway to hell.
Speaker 1: And when them demons coming to call in, he gotta fight.
Speaker 3: Any and everything they tell me.
Speaker 1: And if it's shooting, he's gonna fight you too, sah.
Speaker 1: I tell you, child, wain't on that man to change.
Speaker 1: It's like waiting on the seventh.
Speaker 4: Album and when it comes, it's gonna bring a whole
Speaker 4: lot of destruction in it.
Speaker 1: I won't wait for that.
Speaker 2: If other shoot. See that was so.
Speaker 1: Good, okay, La Joyce, give her whatever feedback or anything
Speaker 1: you want to give her.
Speaker 2: Here's my feedback. You were so daggon believable. Thank you
Speaker 2: so believable that that you know, you're talking to your
Speaker 2: girlfriend or maybe a young adult daughter, but you were
Speaker 2: so incredibly uh emotional, believable. You didn't you didn't spill tears.
Speaker 2: You didn't need to. But I can imagine the other
Speaker 2: person crying after all of that. And it was just
Speaker 2: so matter of fact and that that you knew for
Speaker 2: sure that's the way you delivered it, and you you
Speaker 2: delivered it as if it was like your own story.
Speaker 2: That's why I made it believable. I think that that
Speaker 2: was fantastic.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like the fact that you know, Shamika is like
Speaker 1: a living angel her spirit, like she's really I met
Speaker 1: her during Inside the black Box. She's so committed. She
Speaker 1: drives from Ohio, yes for the show for an a
Speaker 1: like committing with Joyce. And I I like the monologue
Speaker 1: because I know Shamika and and I felt like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is a real mean, nasty, condiving energy. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love the right So that's why I like. But Sharika,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. You did a great job. Really Yeah,
Speaker 1: I love that monologue too.
Speaker 2: Really yes, it's beautiful. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: Good actor alumni, thank you Elsa. All right, now, thank
Speaker 1: you again, Shamika. So this is where you know, get
Speaker 1: a little emotional because you know we're only going to
Speaker 1: say see you later, but I'm gonna see you again,
Speaker 1: the Joyce, you have been a phenomenal guest. I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: if nothing else people are I said to myself when
Speaker 1: you were talking, just listening to you, I'm gonna do
Speaker 1: those four things. I'm gonna repeat it, those four things
Speaker 1: because you know, maybe there's sometimes when I'm not consistent
Speaker 1: with those, but I just think starting out with those
Speaker 1: four things, I didn't know anything about drinking water every hour,
Speaker 1: Like just those four things are so empowering. So thank
Speaker 1: you for that audience. Please, like, instead of conquering the
Speaker 1: whole mountain, take it step by step and stuff four steps,
Speaker 1: you know, and like the the Joyce said, it doesn't
Speaker 1: cost you a dime. So myself, because we invested in you,
Speaker 1: thank you so much today, the Joice, Honey, I appreciate
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1: Wow, I'm a reflection of you because I used to
Speaker 1: sit in that office saying one day I would grow
Speaker 1: up and be just like the Joyce and have me,
Speaker 1: my old office and my old desk. As you know,
Speaker 1: back then I was I was hopping from freelance to
Speaker 1: freelance to free lance, but you were doing it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I no other choice. But I love it. I still
Speaker 1: love it.
Speaker 2: I loved it. I loved it. And thank you so
Speaker 2: much for your support through the years and even now.
Speaker 2: Thank you, my sister, Thank you, my sister.
Speaker 1: Love you, doctor Joyce Brookshire. Everybody stand up together productive
Speaker 1: Joyce Brookshire, thank you so much. And when we come
Speaker 1: back on the Spirit of Acting podcast with b Tracy Moore,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you some boom boom, boom boom.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you some love. And now it's
Speaker 1: time to give love. In two thousand and six, two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, I had caught wind that Nickelodeon was
Speaker 1: looking for write your directors for their Black History Month interstitials,
Speaker 1: which are in the cable world or like they're like
Speaker 1: commercials or chromos right, So we were assigned people who were,
Speaker 1: you know, entering this process. We had to come up
Speaker 1: with five different ideas that would be exciting for three
Speaker 1: to five year old kids. So I remember approaching some
Speaker 1: of my friends who are established as writers and directors,
Speaker 1: and you know, wanted to get some advice some words,
Speaker 1: and one specific director of very known directors said to me, well, Tracy,
Speaker 1: just remember you've never directed a commercial before. You don't
Speaker 1: have any credits of having any interstitials or working with
Speaker 1: a Nickelodeon before, So don't get your hopes up too
Speaker 1: high and baby steps. Well, there were three hundred people
Speaker 1: who applied for this position. Two women were chosen, myself
Speaker 1: and another woman. And I remember saying to myself that
Speaker 1: everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone gets a chance, right.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I always stress is to
Speaker 1: turn off the noise. And the noise was Tracy, you
Speaker 1: don't have credits. Tracy, you've never done this before. But
Speaker 1: the truth was I did it anyway, got the job
Speaker 1: and one appearent choice award from Nickelodeon. Don't forget to
Speaker 1: look out for us on our new show, Inside the
Speaker 1: black Box. My co host will be Joe the Legend Morton.
Speaker 1: It's going to be the Spirited Actor Podcast on Steroids.
Speaker 1: We'll be streaming on the Crackle network. I'll keep you posted.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on the spirit an Actor
Speaker 1: Podcast with me Tracy Moore, I look forward to our
Speaker 1: next Spirited podcast. Thank you,