Ep. 6 - From Law School Struggles to Film Making Triumphs: A Musical Journey of Self-Discovery

June Johnson, our guest for today's episode, provides a fascinating exploration of her life's journey through six memorable songs. These are not just melodies to her; they serve as a soundtrack to her life. June reveals her transformation from a law student and attorney to a writer and filmmaker. Music played a pivotal role in this transition and her creation of True Bliss Television, which is “dedicated to promoting, portraying, and developing positive and loving images of people of color.” We have songs from Yolanda Adams, Alanis Morissette, ODESZA, Lauren Hill, and Marvin Gaye, not to mention an unexpected theme song from Friday The 13th: The Series. Pull up a folding chair, grab a drink, find a spot around the fire, and enjoy the conversation and community.  

Check out True Bliss Television’s Website

Watch True Bliss Television on YouTube

June’s outfit is from Clothes Mentor in Cordova, TN

Follow your hosts David, Raza, and Carolina every week as they embark on an epic adventure to find the songs that are stuck to us like audible tattoos to tell the story of who we are and where we’ve been. It’s a life story told through 6 songs. Take a listen, and as always, if you have someone whose life you’d like to hear in 6 songs, let us know.

WHO WE ARE

DAVID: Creator & Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Drummer | Educator | Philosopher | Combat Veteran | PTSD Advocate 

CAROLINA: Co-Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Storyteller | Head of Learning & Development Services @ReadySet

RAZA: Co-Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Guitarist | Lawyer | Solo Project @Solamente.Band



RESOURCES & LINKS

• Liked songs from this life story? Check out A Life in Six Songs playlist on Apple Music and Spotify
• Follow A Life in Six Songs on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
• Support our work!
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 
• Reach out to us at al

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:38

Hey everybody, welcome to A Life in Six Songs. I'm your host, david Rees, and I'm joined by my co-host, carolina and Raza.

Speaker 3: 0:46

Hey y'all.

Speaker 2: 0:47

Hello. Oh man, I am so excited to bring you another episode of A Life in Six Songs. We're having just an absolute blast doing these interviews, and so I hope you all out there that are listening and watching are enjoying it as well. And if you are enjoying our conversations, you know, let a friend know. Don't be stingy and keep us all to yourself. Spread the word. For those of you new to the podcast, just give you a little bit of framework here. Each week, we embark on an epic adventure to find the songs that are stuck to us like audible tattoos that tell the story of who we are and where we've been, in order to help us figure out where we're going. It's a life story told through six songs. Alright, our guest today is June Johnson, and I'm going to pass it on over to my co-host, raza, to give us a little introduction. Go ahead, raza.

Speaker 4: 1:38

Alright well, thank you, david. And yeah, no, it's my great pleasure to introduce my good friend and colleague, june Johnson. I met June a few years ago on, you know, working on some some some legal sort of projects and contracts, and realized really quickly that we're both, you know, more interested in things like art and music than the law. And yeah, and when I got to know her realized that, well, she's a minister, she's a screenwriter, she's a certified yoga instructor and I figured that what better person to introduce to our you know six song community and see where this conversation goes. So, june Johnson, welcome.

Speaker 5: 2:27

Thank you. Thank you for having me, david Carolina. I am honored to be here, so excited to have an authentic discussion. It's missing in today in society. Nobody wants to talk, so I'm ready.

Speaker 2: 2:44

Awesome, yeah, yeah, and that's that's the plan with with, with this show, we want to have these conversations and, and, you know, talk about things we might not otherwise talk about. Right, it's not about just liking the same music, but it's about, you know, being human and we all connect to music in in similar ways, and so we're gonna, we're gonna tell those stories. And so, june, to kick off, before we get into your six songs, just briefly, you know, tell us what role music has played in your life.

Speaker 5: 3:15

I'm going to say that music has been a soundtrack of pivotal moments in my life. My earliest memories, my dad growing up in Memphis and then see my dad used to be in a band way back and although I've never heard him play an instrument or anything like that, he was kind of like the hype man. So growing up my dad always had music going. He always had kind of musical people. My dad's side of the family's very, very musical, full of artists who just go get a nine to five because they don't believe. You know, art is something that can sustain you. But my dad always would have gospel music playing, marvin Gaye, anything like that playing. And really I just remember pivotal points in my life where you know music is in the background but something significant is happening. So that to me is kind of where I put music. It's almost like my life to me is a movie and things happen in that space and then move and then music is right, that underpinning right underneath it. So you know, when I first told my dad I wanted to be a lawyer, we were driving down the street. I was in high school, in 10th grade, and I don't know why I remember Jodice was playing, but it was. It was like forever my life and I'm like, yes, that's what I'm saying. But you know, if you listen to the music, it's like this very dramatic. You know, park in there and I'm telling my dad, like you know, I was arguing with a teacher today because I thought they were gonna call home anyway. So I was arguing with the teacher today and I'm not that kid right, I was very, you know, kind of straight-laced and I said I was taking up for someone and the teacher was wrong. And the girl I was kind of taking up for said you sound like a lawyer. And I thought to myself before that time I wanted to be a teacher because that's who I knew. I knew teachers, I knew nurses, I knew, you know, the mom is a teacher in a librarian. So this is how I wanted to be a teacher.

Speaker 5: 5:26

And so I said dad, do you think I could be a lawyer? Like he said that is something I don't know. And he turned to me and he said in Jodice's mind and he's like that's what you're meant to do. I always stop it. That's what you go for. You're meant to be a lawyer. And I just couldn't believe it. There's no lawyers in my family. My uncle went to law school. We never passed the bar, so he never talked about being a lawyer, and it just seemed so wild to me, and so I remember driving home. It was a warm day, the sun beating on my face and my dad just filling me with all of this positive talk about what I could do and accomplish and how proud it was of me, and so whenever I hear Jodice for everybody, I mean everybody's listening to it for a different reason.

Speaker 5: 6:22

And I kind of wish it was a different song, so I could be like, oh, it was, you know, like Japan or it was you know, but it wasn't. And it just it makes me think about dad and it makes me, who passed away a couple of years ago, and it makes me think of this moment where he saw me and he began to speak. These really positive things in my life that was that were seeds and I became a lawyer and I'm the first one in my family and I tell people I'm not the last.

Speaker 5: 6:51

Like I don't love saying that I'm like it should be tons of lawyers in my family, not just me. But you know, my thesis is wanting to follow in my footsteps and OB like a Supreme Court justice, something way more than I even think of. But that's how music reminds me of who I am and kind of where I'm going in my life.

Speaker 4: 7:18

So hope for your niece. You're paying a lot more Jodice around the house Just for inspiration.

Speaker 2: 7:24

That's right. Yeah, you got to make that. Listen to.

Speaker 4: 7:26

Jodice you might become a lawyer. You might pass that bar exam and go on to awesome things you never, you never know. Well, you know, they were talking about Justice Soto Mayor in that song.

Speaker 5: 7:42

So just saying well, there you go who I met by. I didn't meet her, but I was like a foot away and then somebody like ran in front of me, but she's so cool.

Speaker 4: 7:52

Wow, that's awesome.

Speaker 3: 7:56

I love that story, particularly because we say this a few times on this podcast. You don't pick the song. It's almost like the song picks you, like what is on at the time, that these like moments in our life happen and you've like no choice over the song that's on. But that's the song now, like glued to that memory for you for life.

Speaker 2: 8:19

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 8:19

And when I hear sometimes it depends on where I am in my grief journey with my dad passing away, I might tear up and people are like wow, forever my lady. Is that, is that your song? And I'm like it's so complicated, for me Like it's just a moment and it's like a time capsule and for me that's what music is. It's just a time capsule of where I am and what I'm about to do. And I could literally and I'm not even joking be anywhere doing anything, so which?

Speaker 2: 8:52

I'm usually doing anything. And that's what's so great about the way music gets attached to these memories is because you might not even be aware of it, right? I've had that happen, where you're walking in the grocery store and you hear a song pops on and you're instantly like crying or something like that, and you're like what? And you're like oh yes that was the one playing when this happened. You know whatever it is, and so yeah, so so great, yeah. Thank you for sharing.

Speaker 3: 9:20

So we'll kick off your six song journey with your first one, and you know I love that. You shared the role music plays for you with this like beautiful story about just a time with you and your dad and you know him having passed away I'm sure has been difficult. Sometimes music can help pull us out of difficult situations, brighten or lift our spirits or our day. So, for your first song in question, what's the song that's helped you through a difficult time or situation and what was that situation? If you're comfortable sharing, the first song.

Speaker 5: 10:03

I'm going to actually look at the chat and see what I wrote, because I thought of another song and I was like stop, don't change it, don't change it. But it was the Alon de Adams. Yeah, and that was when I was in law school and I really wanted to quit because it was harder. So law school is not college and I didn't have a problem in college, like I was like college because I didn't have a problem. I love to read, so that's really what college is right. It's just like you reading and giving the professor what they hope you're paying attention to what you read, right, law school is nothing.

Speaker 5: 10:44

So I went in law school the first day with like a little pad and a pen. And hey, you know, here I am and it literally punched me in the face. It was like this is a professional school of study. You have to go study which I didn't really have to study right, Like in high school, or you don't really have to study, you get it. But law school was like going to a foreign country and learning the language and that's what I had to do. I had to learn the legal language and I wanted to quit because I had taken a quiz and contracts. My law school, university, district of Columbia, my professor for contracts, I had quizzes and all this other stuff because it was such a hard course and I failed it. I was like, oh my God, like I can't, I couldn't remember when I had felt something and I wanted to quit. I was like I don't want to do this, I'm smart.

Speaker 5: 11:44

Like I started thinking I had like dyslexia and all this other stuff and I was calling my mom and I was like you know, I think something's wrong with me, like I don't get it, I can't retain it. And she was like if you want to quit and come home, you can do that, but remember, you quit and now you're home. And I was like what? And she was like you quit, so you have to make your bed, you have to. And she was like listen, I was like oh, no, yeah, oh, that's great.

Speaker 5: 12:16

Yeah, she was like so you quit, so you're not going to be a lawyer, you're just going to be you know kind of whatever, and you'll, you know you'll have to, you know we'll drop you off at work. It's just the way she picked you and I was like, okay, let me call you back when I'm a lawyer. So, so I had, I was already a Christian, but I wasn't going to church as much. So a friend of mine invited me to church and I just started like going to church and pray and I'm not even joking like hard, like Lord, don't let me go home Please. I've already signed for these loans and my mom is not joking Like she is going to baby me and it's not what I want.

Speaker 5: 13:04

So I was listening to, I was studying, I was doing a legal brief and I was listening to the radio and people used to do that and Yolanda Adams yeah. Came on and it was like if God asked me to do something, I'm going to say yeah. And I feel like that was a moment in my life where I had to say yes, yes, I am learning something new. I'm afraid I'm anxious. Everyone seemed smarter. Everyone seemed like they were born lawyers. I felt out of place, but I'm going to stay in this. Yes, I'm not going to quit, because a guy that I used to sit next to we were having fun laughing he quit. But he was so smart and it seemed like everybody down my road was quitting and I said when I heard this song, I say yeah.

Speaker 5: 13:55

I say yeah, I'm going to stay in it, I'm going to believe that God is going to let me be a lawyer for whatever. That means that on the other side of this, I'm going to accomplish the goal that I set out to accomplish. And that's what that word. Every time I hear that song, I'm just like yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:12

Nice.

Speaker 2: 14:12

Nice, let's, let's take a quick talk on the backside of it. Here we go. Yolanda Adams yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 5: 14:54

Yeah, I had to give up a lot going out and have a TV and I love TV I took my TV out of my house. I had a studio apartment on Connecticut Avenue which was a blessing, by the way and it was across the street from the law school and I didn't and everybody's like going out to the bar or whatever I'm not a bar person anyway but I didn't do anything. All I did was study and that made me an attorney. That's all I did. I didn't, you know, I listened to gospel music, sermons and tapes of law school that my friend would let me borrow.

Speaker 3: 15:36

Oh my goodness, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5: 15:38

It was intense, it was very intense.

Speaker 2: 15:42

I love you know, thank you for sharing that story and I just love it. It just so represents that moment right and everybody listening and I know I connect with it of like you hit that moment where you're like I don't think I can do this, I don't belong, whatever it may be, and it's tough to know because, like, sometimes quitting something is the right thing, because it's not what you're supposed to do, right? And so it's like how do you know if it's not what I'm supposed to do or it's just a challenge and that's why I'm doing it and I've just got to lean in and get through this. And so I love that story of how you shared it, of just like you know, prayed and listened to gospel and just got in and said, you know, I'm going to lean in and do this and say, yeah, I love the way you phrase that.

Speaker 4: 16:32

Yeah, it represents that, and I love the fact that that you had this support network right Called home and you said, look, I'm thinking about doing this and making this really important decision. And your mom laid it out and said look, yes, I'm not going to say no, don't do it. But at the same time, option B is the following, which is obviously what you decided that, okay, I'm not doing that, so I'm going to do what I need to do, take the right action, which is, you know I guess it sounds like you got rid of all the distractions and all the all the you know, put yourself in a different mindset and put in the work. And obviously you know, you, you, you, you. You completed the task that you set out to do.

Speaker 5: 17:22

And I never felt like I belonged. I didn't thank you. Thank you Nobody collapse lawyers, but I was.

Speaker 2: 17:29

I was miming applause. For anyone listening. They're like what's going on, what's going on.

Speaker 5: 17:35

But no, but no one like, like I never felt like I belonged, right I? I, during law school, I didn't feel like I belonged until they until graduation. Well, I earned it. So a lot of times you get into a new endeavor and you're like I'm waiting for that moment where it's like ah, this is it. Usually that moment doesn't come and you have to push through something uncomfortable anyway. Like you don't get these epiphany moments all the time. Sometimes you get it At the end of a pursuit. For me, I never.

Speaker 5: 18:13

I never felt like. I always felt like I was watching other people. I never felt present in what was happening. So I had to remind myself that, no, this is for you. You have to understand this is something that you can do and that you will do, so, yeah, Was there something specific or that made you not feel like you belong?

Speaker 2: 18:43

Or was it just a sense of like everybody's smarter than I am, or yeah, it was.

Speaker 5: 18:48

It was. It was the feeling that everyone was smarter. Everyone seemed to have have a legal connection to someone like. Dc is a really really town. You know what I mean. It was like oh I know, Senator Bob, I know, and it's like, who do you know? And I'm like no one, I moved to your two law school.

Speaker 5: 19:09

I had an undergrad, I had gone to DC and I'd gone to American University in Howard for a program at college and I was an intern in DC and I said to myself I'm going to move here because I love this city and I still love DC. But I didn't know anyone. I just I didn't even have really an acceptance letter to law school. When I left college and moved and my parents were like, what are you going to do? And I said I'm going to be in law school. They were like well, where's your acceptance letter? I was like it's coming. You know, I got to apply and I had already applied, but then I studied abroad but I just had faith like it's coming. So when I had to be in DC and my parents are just like fine, like I love them, they were great parents, they're the parents I needed. Because I didn't have any tangible proof, I just moved Right and thankfully I got accepted.

Speaker 1: 20:06

Minor detail.

Speaker 5: 20:08

Minor detail I just. I live my life, I'm going to go. If I feel it, I'm going to go, I'm going to do it, and then the details will work themselves out. Sometimes has been great and sometimes has been not so great.

Speaker 4: 20:26

So I totally get the, that feeling like an outsider perspective, especially in law school, and I don't know, it might have something to do with the whole like being like creative or having this, this, this, this capacity for doing you know other things, but then also knowing that, look, art is kind of you know it's, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And you know you do have to make a living, you do have to, you know, survive and all of that. And you have this like sort of split personality thing that you're always dealing with versus people that are gung ho, and I guess it could be law school, it could be medical school, whatever professional you know thing you're trying to do. But it's like one track mind. It's like they know what they're good at and they're going for it and they'll use you know skills and connections and ability and hard work.

Speaker 4: 21:17

Obviously you know, but I think for some of us it's it's it's this battle between what you're supposed to do versus what you really want to do. But you know it's like this art business juggling act that you have to do, oh, yeah, and then and yeah, yeah, it's difficult, but again, I'm glad you got through it. I mean you did what you needed to do. You know, you buckle down and you put in the work and then you said yeah.

Speaker 5: 21:47

I said yeah, it was between and I wanted to go to film school after college. I had been doing theater from high school, like theater saved my life because I was. I went through a period of depression as a teenager and one of my mentors was a theater person, a professional actress, and so she would just take me along to stuff. I don't even remember how we met to be honest, that's how long I've known her and so I was doing theater and I did theater in college and theater fed me right. I loved it. It was just, you know, I loved it. And I told my dad I call him and say, hey, this is another moment. We were not listening to Joe. I said, dad, I'm a major in theater.

Speaker 3: 22:32

He said no, you're not.

Speaker 5: 22:34

No, no. I said no. I looked at the, I can do it. He said you can't live off theater. Do you know any actresses? That? Because the actor that my mentor was actually a teacher and she did theater on the side. So that was kind of okay. But when I said I want to devote my life to this, no, so I was like I meant political science and theater, like I'm going to do both. He was like, oh, that's great, that's great. So artistry wasn't really, even though there's a bunch of artists in my family is not respected. They would much rather say this is my cousin, the lawyer, this is my cousin. No one ever said so. It's still chartering that unknown territory and still saying yeah, because now I'm a creative, I'm both, I'm a layer of things, I'm not just one thing. So yeah.

Speaker 3: 23:32

And I think this, this theme has, has resonated and come up a few times, not just with you but other guests and even ourselves this feeling of having a calling for creative work for, for the arts in whatever way that manifests for you and our lives can take significant detours as we either fight that urge to create or maybe aren't supported or, you know, life says hold my beer and throw some you know crap at you, but ultimately I feel like we come. We come back to it at some point because it feels like a calling and it's a brave world being a creative. There's a ton of risk and failure and putting your like heart out into the world which can bring on just entirely new perspectives, which, which felt like law school also, was for you just to do world a new perspective. I'll transition us to our second song, because it has a little bit to do with that. What's a song that opened you up to an entirely new perspective and how did that happen?

Speaker 5: 24:37

I see a new dad. I might be saying it wrong because I'm trying to be fancy. When I do that, I'm messing up. I would guess it like this is the song I was still doing the legal work, like contract work, and my soul was like drawing up right, like I was trying to push forward in law, like I had been a prosecutor.

Speaker 5: 25:00

I had done all these things, like I was like I'm going to find happiness doing law and in the back of my mind I was like I don't think this is going to make you happy. But I felt ashamed to because I had gone on this path and started this narrative and now I was going to turn around and say, hey, I changed our mind, I want to be creative and I had already like shook the family a little bit with going to seminary. I said, oh, I have a call to ministry. They were like you know, not a lot of women. You know my aunt is a minister, but she was. She was even like really, but you're a lawyer, so you know it wasn't, it wasn't this yay moment. So I was walking down the street and I had been writing during my I'm just, I'm not going to make, I'm not going to say doing breaks. While I was doing this contract at work, I was writing a screenplay, okay, so it wasn't doing breaks.

Speaker 2: 26:03

It wasn't like oh my God, I was doing this. I was doing this, I love this.

Speaker 5: 26:07

I was like, but I finished it and I had never finished a screenplay, and I walked outside and I was playing YouTube and this song just came up in a, you know, in a scroll. It wasn't like I knew this group or anything like that.

Speaker 5: 26:25

And this song shifted for me. I said you know what I'm going to make? This movie. I'm a filmmaker, writer I'm going to do I don't know how I'm going to do it, I don't know who's going to do it or who's going to be in it, but I have a completed story and this is the. This is the day. It was a word, so it's a war day for me, and I took a picture of it. It's called bloom of love. I took a picture of the book. I wrote it in and it was some flowers. I put it in the flowers and I took a picture and this song was playing. So awesome, just a great moment.

Speaker 2: 27:00

Oh my goodness, let's take a listen, yeah.

Speaker 3: 27:32

Oh, I love that beat.

Speaker 2: 27:50

It's a good beat.

Speaker 5: 27:53

You have to be like driving a car in a foreign country on winding, like it's something like that. But I happen to be walking down L Street and I was like, oh. I was like, oh, I'm a writer, this is this is it. This is it for me, like, I don't know how I'm going to get out of this legal part, but I'm going to do it. So, yeah, it was great.

Speaker 4: 28:15

Was this around the time? Like, is this one good? Because this story to me, I think so, you know when when part of your introduction to me was on one of these like these kinds of projects, and you know, and and that's what I remember is like, yeah, you introduce yourself as someone who's a lawyer, who's doing, who's done a few things Tennessee, I remember and then you're like, yeah, by the way, I wrote a screenplay. So was this, was this around that same time?

Speaker 5: 28:42

This was around that time. It was around that time.

Speaker 4: 28:48

Yeah. I'm just like I'm a writer, I wrote a screenplay.

Speaker 5: 28:56

I wrote a screenplay and I think you are the only one. You are my dear friend, but this year where the only ones I had told and I told you because I didn't know you so you couldn't be like what you were like oh, what a great response.

Speaker 4: 29:14

Yeah, around that time.

Speaker 5: 29:17

And I had been newling. So in law school, when I should have been studying, I was writing stories in my books because the cases were so interesting. I was like, oh, that'd be a great story. Like how did they get here? Yeah, when I should have been like listening to him. But I tell people, the gifts that you have, they're not going to go away. This is why people are in jobs that they hate. This is why life seems to be this like long road, and it's no. Life is because you're squashing the light, doing something you're not supposed to be doing. We're doing something that maybe is either time out for it, you're not supposed to be there, or you've pushed yourself. You're a square peg in a round hole, and that happened to me. Like I was supposed to practice law, that was a part of my life, but then it was time to shift something that was already within in me.

Speaker 5: 30:20

But I was, I was a lawyer. Right, I walk in. I'm a lawyer, I'm walking, I'm a writer.

Speaker 1: 30:27

Like you know yeah.

Speaker 3: 30:31

Oh, I'm not like. I'm like having a moment with this story, and I'll tell you why. Because you know sometimes this path, like we don't know why we're on the path, you know. But when you said that, like you're doing the lawyer thing but you're also, like you know, being exposed to all these stories and you know things that are happening in people's lives, like one, what a just source of inspiration for story writing. But then two, I was like she's going to manifest this for herself and then, as a lawyer, she's going to negotiate the most kick ass contract for the sale of that screen. And then I had to ask you, I was like, are you going to put this song in the score of the movie when it happens?

Speaker 5: 31:15

I, you know what First I receive all of that. So thank you, I'm taking that in. I am manifesting because I have so many stories that in some of them are for sale. Whoever wants to contact me? Yes, but I would love to work with them and create, because now I'm a fan of them, right Like now. I just like, hopelessly, like, listen to all their stuff and I want to go to one of their shows. Either, I'll put it in a score, because I have a story about a mechanic who solves mysteries. I said I wasn't going to say it because somebody take it I'll be mad, but anyway. But he solves mysteries and he, because he was a World War II vet, that's how he gets over into Europe and he can fix anything and he, you know, murder happens and he's always around and all that kind of stuff. But this song I don't know how this song will fit, but it's almost like when he's in the chase to get the bag. It's this. I always see this song.

Speaker 5: 32:20

So, I definitely will use it. I just finished which I'll plug at some point shamelessly Bloom of Love, which is the screenplay I wrote. I just finished a full feature length movie of it Last month. Wait, what month is the subject? The end of last month we? Just filmed it. All these months are running together.

Speaker 3: 32:44

Oh yeah, listen, I know Like wait a minute, what time is it?

Speaker 5: 32:49

But I did, I just finished it. So that's gears in manifestation. You know, I had to get the crew, I had to get the cast, I had to get you know the locations, but thankfully I was able to do that. So, yeah, that story is not for sale. I already finished that one, but I got plenty more.

Speaker 3: 33:10

I love this, and by the way you will.

Speaker 4: 33:12

We will definitely be doing lots of plugs at the end or throughout as the discussion goes.

Speaker 2: 33:22

So yeah, this is your story and we'll link anything we can link in the show notes so people can find it too, if there's oh, that's awesome.

Speaker 5: 33:30

Thank you, yeah, but I received that. I keep manifesting now to owning my own studio. There's a building in town that I just I. It's my building. I don't know, I can't even explain it to people I can tell them. Yeah, that's my building and they're going to give it to me. They're going to give it. I don't I can't even explain to you why I know that, but it's my.

Speaker 3: 33:58

Yeah, when you know, you know that's going to come in handy for that transaction.

Speaker 5: 34:03

Yeah, right now it is. Listen, it's a great skill to have, I'll tell anyone. But you don't have to be a one trick pony. You can do many things. But for the longest time I thought I got to quit law and just do this. Well, I don't have to work in it nine to five, but I can keep the skill that I have.

Speaker 4: 34:24

Yeah yeah, yeah, by the way, especially for the, for the creative types, I think, at least having that background and law and kind of understanding how that stuff works, I found it super helpful. I mean, you know, I'm not completely out of it and things like that, but I've definitely it does help you sort of navigate situations and also I think it helps like prioritize stuff, things that are truly important, versus things that are not, things that are you know, that are like liability type issues or things that will put you in jail or things that will cause fines and things like that. Yeah, I've been known to, like, you know, navigate those situations and go you know what. Maybe don't do this, but do that instead, and that a lot of that comes from just just basic understanding of law. Helps in politics too, but that's for another time.

Speaker 5: 35:21

Yeah, but no, but you have to understand. You know business is an art as well, because if you structure it right, when you're done, like when you want to take a break, your art will take care of you. If you engage in the business correctly, so it's, and you have to have people around you that see it as an art, that see it as a beautiful. A contract can be a beautiful thing and take care of your interests. It's art.

Speaker 5: 35:52

The language can take care of your interests and it can also stop you from being exposed to a lot of things people taking your content, taking your images, not a doing. You know they got six songs in the chat. You're like wait, wait, hold on, like wait a minute, so you have to protect those things. But all of that still is encompassed in your gift, and it's encompassed, it's not one separate thing. It's like oh, the business, no, no, no, no. The business can be beautiful because the fruit of that business is still art.

Speaker 5: 36:28

It's still protecting what you created.

Speaker 4: 36:33

Yeah, you know, they're always. That's such a beautiful point because people, always people think that it has to be, you know, either art or business, and no it, like it can be, it should be both. And, by the way, the you know what we think of as successful popular artists. You're right, you have a team around them of people that help them make really good business decisions, because art is just going to be out there, but in order for it to do the best that it can to reach the most number of people that it can and to provide a living for the artists, like you have to equate the business back into it.

Speaker 4: 37:17

So no, you're absolutely right about that.

Speaker 5: 37:20

And starving artists is not anything anybody needs to be in this day and age. That is an old idea and old. You should not be starving when your gifts will open doors for you, will make room for you. It is something that will sustain you. That is, that is not what should be happening. You should be able to live you should be able to live.

Speaker 5: 37:49

Oftentimes we take for granted. Why is it that companies can take your gift and your thing and they make money, but you can't? So something's wrong with that. Something's wrong with that. You have to look at the business side of things and find people who find beauty in that and not grieve, and that's, to me, a key I found I found a business manager and people I work with who are just like I Want your art to go further and that's why we're gonna take care of the business parts of it with you, not for me. Not for me, because I need to be in on it with me.

Speaker 1: 38:27

We have yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely I think.

Speaker 3: 38:31

I think, june, what's what's um, so awesome about your story is is just the range of skills and talents and things that you feel drawn to. There's that saying you know, jack of all trades is a master of none, but there's like more to that quote. Right, the full quote is, but oftentimes better than a master of one, and I think that that encapsulates you, right, this, this Person with a wide range of just talents and passions and skills, which is which is just amazing as we, as we transition a little bit to your, to your, to your next song.

Speaker 4: 39:10

I didn't realize this whole time it was I was missing a third of that quote.

Speaker 3: 39:16

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 39:19

Yeah, cuz I mean I've been, you know, accused of that as well and and then certainly have like struggled with. That is like you know, am I just? It's like you know, c plus said a lot of things, but you know what.

Speaker 5: 39:33

But you know what, raza? I Tell people life is not a sprint, it's a full journey. Right, and even in parts of a journey you need different tools for different parts. So if you're just using one tool, you're not gonna get the most out of the journey. You need to be flexible, you have to be nimble, you have to pick up things and learn. Things doesn't mean you have to now. Let me tell you there's some things I really didn't need to do at that time. I used to sell insurance. It's just a random. I was talking to somebody one day.

Speaker 5: 40:09

He was like you would be a great salesperson Maybe I would, and I was selling insurance. That was not the right time to do that. It was, you know, but what I learned was I love talking to people. That's what I got out of that experience, and also, we all need to have insurance. But I got from it what up. You know you really have to. You have to not be. You can't be afraid of Jumping in a new Discipline or something that is outside of your realm of Comfortability. Right, and that's where it's for me, and Really my sister is like this too. So maybe I don't know my brother's like no, I'm not gonna do it. But we're like let's go, let's jump, let's try it. And To me, that's a strength that I have, because I don't want to die with any gifts left inside of me. I Want everything gone.

Speaker 5: 41:16

Gone. Just she did with they. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be cremated, but if they erect something for me, I want a bunch of commas. I want a bunch of commas. She did this.

Speaker 1: 41:28

Yeah, yeah, I'm trying everything.

Speaker 5: 41:32

Because one I never know who I'll meet. Like I met Raza, I met you, I met Carolina. I'm a David. I never, I will never, know that. And my life is richer. My wealth lies in my friends and the people that I meet. So I never want to say I don't, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna miss out on something, sure yeah.

Speaker 4: 41:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:56

I love it so much because you're you know you're in good company here.

Speaker 2: 42:02

We are we are, that we've, we've.

Speaker 2: 42:05

We've worn so many different hats and all those things. And and what I love about the way you are framing your story with it is All too often we like think, oh, I went to law school and then I was a lawyer and then after a few years I actually know I left that and sold insurance and then really, you know, no, I want to write scripts and that's what I do. A lot of times when we bounce around like that or we do these different things, like all of us here of on the you know Podcast, we can tend to think that we made a wrong choice. Right, if I, if I chose law right out of the gate and then ended up moving away from that, I somehow made a wrong decision. And the way I love your story is because it's it's not about being a wrong decision. It's like no, that was that, was it for that time, and I learned things from it, got things from it, and that's helping me now in this, this other endeavor. You know, I just yeah, I love that.

Speaker 5: 43:07

Yeah, yeah, no wrong moves.

Speaker 3: 43:12

No, it's whatever is is in that season of your life, like even the mistakes teach you something, right? Even the things that you're like, well, that was, that was unfortunate. Like you still walk away with, like what I learned? You know this, this and this, or I learned not. Yeah, do that again, or that's not for me, or you know, but you never know until until you give it a shot, right.

Speaker 5: 43:32

You have to give it a shot. Yeah, I am, so give it a shot type of person.

Speaker 3: 43:39

I love that. I'll move us along to to your next, to your next song in in your life score here, thinking about just kind of the, the storytelling that we've been talking about, your passion for it, your your sort of drawn to that, to that world, and stories really can transport us instantly to specific times or places in our life. Music has that, that ability as well. So for your next song, which one is it that that when you hear it you are just instantly transported to a specific time or place and on the backside maybe we'll talk about where that song takes you.

Speaker 5: 44:20

I'm gonna go with Marvin Gaye pride and joy, and every time I hear this song I'm gonna try not to get emotional, but I don't know what's gonna happen. I think of my dad and I think of my dad and my mom. So we were at a family reunion and my dad, we didn't know this. They were like now it's time for the talent portion. My dad's like oh, by the way, I wrote us down like we're gonna get up and we're gonna have a talent. And I'm like Like what talent do we all have? We're gonna sing this song.

Speaker 5: 45:04

Like other branches of family they can sing, and I mean professionally. We skip this branch all together Can't do it, can't even mom really good. So they play this song. And my dad was like lip sync, and you know he loves his song. So we, so we're proud and joy, and then we're doing some moves, which is just amazing. It's amazing that we're in sync. We're doing the Pride and joy where together and my dad is doing the Marvin Gaye Lee and like what is happening right now? What is? But he never told us we were gonna do it because he knew we would have been like no, and so, like everybody's script, it was only on the fly. It was solely like hey that's amazing.

Speaker 5: 45:51

Let's get there early so we can, you know, watch, you know, get good seats or whatever. Because it was like at this little like this restaurant or whatever, I'm not get there early, it's family who even cares. So we were there and we were watching people like get themselves together and they're, you know, got all this stuff they're gonna do. And when they start calling people and my dad turned us and this was right before they called us he says hey, I signed this up. They're gonna call us. And what about the time? We're like what are we gonna do? But they called us and my dad's like come on, come on, he gets up. And what are you doing? They like go, you know, it's just like, you know. And he's like pride and we're just in it.

Speaker 5: 46:38

My mom's singing, my mom is so not this person, you know, she's just not and we're. But we're just like get up, do it. And for some reason I remember my dad Really concerned about what we were wearing. He was like let's kind of match along. Why don't we match? Like? Because he knew we have to get up and sing and how it's gonna look.

Speaker 2: 47:03

He was setting it up from the beginning.

Speaker 5: 47:09

My mom always.

Speaker 3: 47:11

It wasn't adorable at the time, kelly, to but my mom he's an scheming to have you all do this like fun thing.

Speaker 5: 47:18

And it was so fun and my mom always, my dad, always up to things, just he was always had these. I did like let's do this, let's try this, and my mom was like, oh, oh, my dad's a really, oh, really, and it, she'll do it. So After we finish, everybody was clapping and I was like what just happened? This is that song.

Speaker 2: 47:41

That's, that's awesome. Let's take a listen.

Speaker 1: 48:12

Oh.

Speaker 3: 48:23

And it's called pride and joy, which just you know like he's great, I have his pride and joy, like show off with him with. How do you feel listening to it now?

Speaker 5: 48:33

I'm mixing you on a like I miss my dad so much every day. I'm gonna go mess with my sister and see if she remembers this like I do. But it makes me One proud to have grown up in the family that I did, with the parents, that I did, and I try to live my life where I will still be there, pride and joy. My dad's past and, you know, my mother's older, but even Regardless I try to. My ethos is to forever Be their daughter and to be their pride and joy, whether they can see me or not. And so every decision I make I think, okay, well, my parents, they have to go to church. Would they be ashamed to Set up and say, hey, juice doing my mom would never stand up, but still I tried to. That that's just a marker in my life that I try to to balance things with To all, because my dad has said some things to me where he was like I'm very proud of who you've become.

Speaker 5: 49:43

And For any daughter if you have, you know, daughter so I don't know about sons but for daughters to get that from your father, it, it made me and I got it at several points in my life when my dad could have, like shut down my imagination. He could have, you know, he shut it down in terms of film school. I think I would have been great, but still, he, he really encouraged me and he always let me know I was loved and I because I was a different kid, like I wasn't, I Was singing outside, I was, you know, I was just different and I can appreciate that. But he always said or showed me I was as bright and joy. So moves that I make, I try to live by that. You know I really do.

Speaker 4: 50:40

Yeah, that's so. That's so great. It's a great to hear Um and and and, uh, I mean I have a daughter and uh, I'm a father, so I I'm certainly taking, you know, mental notes, but also, um, you know, not not everyone Is is in, is in that position, you know, um, that, uh, that that that feels sort of that reciprocal nature of of um, of Not just appreciation but support and just understanding, and and and um, and the fact that you got to you know experience that and you still remember them. You know he's like you said, you still are our Duke. The decisions that you're making and the actions that you, that you take, you still have, you know, both your parents or dad on in the back of your mind. Um, so, yeah, that's really good to hear. Yeah, thank, you for sharing that.

Speaker 3: 51:36

Yeah, yeah, thank you for sharing like what a beautiful, beautiful memory.

Speaker 5: 51:41

Pairings are important. I I don't think they One. They get the the respect. You know it's always we look at the parents and something goes wrong. But for me in my life what I needed, the parents that I needed. I had, because I couldn't have parents that were like don't do this, don't do that. They had to like Almost, let me fail at things Like my mom would be like okay. It would either be a horrible disaster and she'd be like now.

Speaker 5: 52:12

You knew that, what you know and my dad would be like well, just try it, because I had a lot of anxiety growing up, uh, but theater helped me deal with that, because I was afraid of making a mistake or, you know, getting in front of people and not being able to speak, um, which I know you're like what, but yeah, I was like you know, if you can imagine it, and my dad to deal with the exact.

Speaker 5: 52:40

I was just a ball of anxiety, uh, growing up because it just felt everything felt uncertain, like, oh, should I do that? Oh, and instead of like once I was inside thinking about going outside, I was like, oh, I could go outside, I could play with so-and-so, or I could ride my bike or maybe I could, and my dad literally Open the door and push me outside, because I'm the type of person I will sit and think and think in scenario in scenario and that's how I kind of learned to swim.

Speaker 5: 53:16

We were on this high diving board. I have a ton of that stories. I was on this high diving board and you know, back in like the 80s it wasn't you know, it was just kind of like everybody jumping in. I mean, I made it, that's the thing. But I was so afraid I got to the end and I was like whoa, because it was 12 feet, and I was like eight, like Maybe that's a great idea.

Speaker 5: 53:40

It's very hot. Thank you, karen, it's hot. And my dad, I remember him walking around the fence going jump in, jump in. I was like Uh-uh, this is too high, I'm too little and it's too far, I don't know. But he picked me up and he threw me in, and so I'm not the greatest swimmer, you know, but I just remember in my life a lot of points my dad would just say jumping, and it's gonna be okay, uh which which works for me.

Speaker 5: 54:20

It works for me so you know, and, and my parents Parented me the way I should have been parented, so it's different for ever again.

Speaker 2: 54:30

Yeah yeah, yeah, no, I like that in a sense of like talking about the anxiety of you know, we we tend to Be so fearful of failure, right, oh, that it keeps us from doing stuff, and the way when, when you were describing what your dad would do and and things like that, it's it's almost like he was showing you that, like, if you go do it and you fail, it's actually not that big a deal. You just got to get out there and and do it, in a sense, right. And so it's that thing of being a parent and knowing when to give that little bit of a push when you know you know it's gonna be okay versus Okay, no, I don't want to push you too hard to, like you know, push you over the edge or something like that. And yeah, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 5: 55:21

I just couldn't be like Forced. You know what I mean. Like for me. I'm not a person who responds well to like you better and it's I need people to guide and to say it's up to you, but you know why not, and that's kind of how my parents, like I, never grew up with a curfew because my parents knew me. I'm coming home Like I don't want to be far away.

Speaker 2: 55:53

Right right.

Speaker 5: 55:54

I didn't, they didn't have to in. My dad would always say I don't have to tell you what, the way she knows, like I never wore things that were just. You know. I'm saying like my parents knew me enough to say I don't have to give her these stringent rules, I don't have to force her to do. What they did have to force me to do was to Open my mind and try things. You know. They mean like in terms of, if I read something, I say, oh, this, I would like to try this. Well, and I would start listing reasons why I couldn't. Their answer was well, yes, you can and I'll take you. That's fine. It's not even. Or kiss the boss at home, or like that.

Speaker 3: 56:37

You does that make sense when I'm saying yeah it does, and sometimes, when parents Kind of kind of give you the space to make that decision, it can also feel a little bit like and if you mess up, we got you like. Because you know, sometimes parents can, they've got their own fears that they sort of like project onto their kids and like well, if this goes wrong, like X, yz of horrific things are, and so then as the kid you're like well, then you know.

Speaker 1: 57:03

Abort mission, like you know, right, no.

Speaker 2: 57:06

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 57:06

But if you kind of, if they model for you this, this, you know, hey, just try it like it's okay, it can make you feel like all right, well, if I fail which you will, and and you know multiple points in life like it seems like they're gonna be okay with it and they got you and and there you're like safe home base right.

Speaker 5: 57:26

And also Carolina and I, which I'm I'm so much in agreement that I'm getting chills. But it's like you feel like they got you and my parents talked to me. They didn't talk at me, they discussed things with me. It was like college and you know, I knew I was going, my mother had gone to college, so you know my sister always talked about it, but I didn't really I was like college. You know. I mean college to me was I used to watch a different world. All the times I thought that's what college is like.

Speaker 5: 58:04

After 30 minutes you know we'd have a problem, and then it fits and then we'll we resolve it Right. So because I, I almost my imagination does not turn off. It's never turned off, it's never stopped, it's never paused, it's never, it's always going. And sometimes there's like a live track which I yeah, it just is so. But my parents will talk to me like, do that's not how stuff works, like that's not you know. So you know, go places and people clap. You know, you know things like that they would have.

Speaker 3: 58:45

There's no live audience.

Speaker 5: 58:48

That's Like. I grew up on facts of life, so you know facts of life and then they like turn away, like yes. Oh.

Speaker 3: 59:04

Oh my god, that's amazing.

Speaker 5: 59:06

And I would like do that. If I do, it would be like why are you turning away? You think, oh point. And so, yeah, my parents Anchored me, brought me back down. We had a conversation. I still do that. Sometimes my sister tells me I think.

Speaker 3: 59:28

You're like I'm waiting for the applause like where's my? I'm my live studio audience.

Speaker 5: 59:34

When I worked as a prosecutor and we were in staff meeting and I told them I did this beautiful soliloquy, it just was, you know, which I do all the time. And I told them I said you know, let me just stop right here. After I say these things, I expect an applause. And they looked at each other like Is she for real? I was like I, I do expect that. And one of my co-workers who I love, south grair, if he ever watches this, thank you. He went.

Speaker 4: 1:00:06

Nice, there you go. So I do. That's who you want. You don't have to do it.

Speaker 5: 1:00:12

I'm just saying.

Speaker 1: 1:00:15

I don't know where that went or where that came from.

Speaker 3: 1:00:18

Yeah, that applause you. I love that.

Speaker 4: 1:00:21

I love it, love it.

Speaker 3: 1:00:22

Oh, my goodness, um oh, june, we could talk to you forever, but we got let's, let's finish out your questions here, because really you're like.

Speaker 2: 1:00:31

Right, let's just go on and chat. Right, maybe we split it up into two episodes if we need, but we don't want to lose the good content.

Speaker 3: 1:00:38

Right, we're gonna go, we're gonna roll Um you've done a lot, june, like you've, you've been a super busy bee throughout your life. Um, what's a song that sometimes, just like, really connects you to, to an activity that that you might have done could be a book, a location, a trip, something. What's that song for you?

Speaker 5: 1:01:01

Carolina, I really want and, by the way, I love your name. Everybody I know that has the name caroline, carolina care, like they've been so important in my life, like one of my Aww. In in my, in my movie, the mom is played by caroline, who I absolutely love. Um, so that's why I'm like carolina, I'm supposed to be here. Um, uh, I'm gonna say lauren hill, everything is everything, and it is because it's several points of my. First of all, I'm a lauren hill fan. I feel like I will work well with her If she's watching this at any point in her life. Contact me. If you just want to talk, we'll go get coffee or where I'll fly to wherever you are in the world, um, but I'm gonna say that.

Speaker 5: 1:01:53

Um, but I was in, uh, I was studying abroad when I was in a senior Fourth year in college, and you know you really aren't supposed to study abroad your last year of college because you're getting ready and all this kind of stuff. But I had to go to the president of the college and ask him for permission to leave and oh, yeah, because you, you can't. I left in the um Spring semester and I graduated in the spring. So when I came back. Uh, they just had one of my friends had my robe. Like I got back the day of graduation, uh, because I just got it. You know, college to me was kind of my own deal, like I made it what I want and I wanted to be abroad at that point. Um, so I went to college in Minnesota it's an important thing I had.

Speaker 5: 1:02:49

Um, so I went to Ghana, west Africa, to study the slave trail. Uh, there, which is super heavy, like I'm like let's study this right. Yeah, it was super heavy to do and I didn't realize the emotional toll that would take. So I found Kendra's spirits in this remote village named Commenda and I connected with the homestay family and we kept in touch for years and years and years. So I had to leave. They cried and I cried. They were like come back to us and I was like okay, but so in this program they give you much. I don't even know if they do this anymore. They give you a lot of money and they tell you now go live in Ghana and come back and tell us what you learned. So you get a move where you just live on your own. They're like good luck, they don't help you get a place. They don't help with any of that. So I decided to do a play call Welcome Home, and I just remember that, oh my God, the play was so horrible.

Speaker 3: 1:04:08

Anyway, you see, it don't you. You've been meant for the storytelling. You see it right, it just keeps popping up.

Speaker 5: 1:04:14

Oh my gosh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:04:16

I'm on my path now.

Speaker 5: 1:04:18

So I had to go back to the village, but you know I didn't. You know there's no Uber kids, or you know kids don't understand. It was just like. You know, wasn't all this phone and all that for?

Speaker 1: 1:04:33

the young people who are watching.

Speaker 5: 1:04:35

So I went to like this taxi stand and I asked this guy hey, if I give you some money, will you take me to Commender, which was? I was in a car and Commender's like three hours away, and he looked at me and he was like, okay, so he was around like my age, so it's me and him in this taxi, low car, and we just I was like let's get something to eat. So we got like some food from inside the road and I gave him some money and we drove for three hours and we were playing Lauryn Hill. Lauryn Hill it was a tape at that point, but CD, yeah, it was a tape, if you can remember tape, take it out and turn it over and put it back.

Speaker 5: 1:05:30

Yeah, others, the B side, which is still good, and I remember driving by the coastline because we had to go through Cape Coast and so it was a cry. I came close to the commando was on the end. And then I remember this song, everything is everything. And this guy didn't know me and he didn't speak that much English. So you know, I just you know I'm kind of motioning and you know all this kind of stuff. But when I put on the music I was like pointing to the radio. He was like okay. And then I put in the music, he was like, oh, hip hop. And I was like let's go.

Speaker 5: 1:06:13

And we, yeah, and that's a moment in time where I'm just like every kid's going to be okay, what will be will be.

Speaker 1: 1:06:21

Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2: 1:06:22

All right back in that cabin Ghana.

Speaker 1: 1:07:11

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:07:13

To lock my hair. To lock my hair is a lock. You can't see it good. But that also was a pivotal point, because Lauren was so gorgeous and I was like oh, and everybody's like no, you're going to be a lawyer, you're going to be in corporate America. What are you doing? And I said everything. I didn't say everything, but in my mind I didn't ever say that, but in my mind I'm like no, I'm going to be my authentic self.

Speaker 5: 1:07:41

And I've never had a problem in jobs and you know all that other stuff. So that was a good thing, lauren, if you're watching, girl, I lock my hair because of you. I still got them, you cut yours, but that's fine. And also, yeah, I drove to remote village in West Africa.

Speaker 1: 1:08:08

Wow, yeah, I love it that she's going on tour again just because Lauren Hill to me has one of the most just beautiful voices.

Speaker 3: 1:08:17

It's so beautiful I'm going. I don't care what time she gets there.

Speaker 5: 1:08:23

I have to take off work the next day. Whatever I'm going to go, I just feel like that project that she did is such a moment in time Like I remember where I was, what I was doing, and to me it wasn't the old hip hop because I, like, I love hip hop, right, but Okay, I couldn't do the gangster rap, I couldn't listen to that, because what I mean, I don't live. I didn't live that life, like you know, shoot what, like no.

Speaker 5: 1:08:57

I didn't live the super wealthy bling, all that kind of stuff Like no, you know. So where do I fall in love? Where do I fall in this? I love the music, but where is? My story within this genre. Where is it?

Speaker 1: 1:09:11

I couldn't find myself anymore.

Speaker 5: 1:09:13

So I stopped listening to rap for years. My sister loved it, but I started listening to and it's you know, I started listening to like enigma and you know stuff like like that, without words, because that's where I was Like you know I was going into a discipline when everyone talked all the time. So in my music I didn't really want to hear a bunch of talking, I just wanted to hear sound Like just just give me music yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:09:45

My mind's resting that. So, but in this moment I tuned back into it because after Lauren Hill, there were a lot of Bahamida, there were a lot of rap, female rappers that came out and were just storytellers, you know, and I'm tuned out again because now a lot of female rappers are more sexual and things like that, and that's also not me. So you know, it goes in waves, but I try to, and the reason why I'll always be a Lauren Hill fan is because she taps into her personal story and she brings you along in this journey lyrically, and so I'm, I'm for that. Like she's not, like I got a bunch of cars and I, you know, I don't have a bunch of cars. You know, I have one high performance vehicle, that is it. And for me, I think that, um, yeah, I'll always be a fan of hers and I'll always find myself in her music.

Speaker 1: 1:10:53

Mm, hmm, oh, david.

Speaker 3: 1:10:57

You're muted.

Speaker 2: 1:10:59

Uh yeah, back in who you know, you're muted. We had to get one of those right back to the pandemic time when everybody was on zoom and meetings and stuff. Anyway, um, uh yeah, no, I, I, I appreciate the way you described Lauren Hill's music and sort of placing it in the larger. You know we're in the, you know 50 year anniversary of hip hop and things like that, and so you know, just just hearing how it fit for you and how you saw yourself fitting into the genre and what spoke to you, um, that was cool, I like that.

Speaker 1: 1:11:39

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 1:11:42

It's exactly right too. I mean, I think you know there's obviously there's so many different um, there's so many different artists that are out there and and and and. But you're right that we, I think we, we relate to different artists In different ways, and and and um, kind of you know what they, what they talk about, what, what, um, what they're about, what the persona is, what the lyrical content is, what, what the music is. And yeah, I think Lauren Hill fits you to a T, you know from a, from a listener, you know perspective, um, it's like it's chill, it's, it's melodic, it's, it's um, it's introspective, it's deep, it's real, um, you know it's huge. It's about how we really feel, how she's really feeling, um and uh. Yeah, there's definitely no flash, no, no bling, uh to be had and uh. But but a lot of realness, a lot of pain. I remember some pain in some of her songs too.

Speaker 5: 1:12:46

Yeah, and I think that's what I feel most sad about for like my niece's generation, is that there's the, the artists that are being pushed, because I try to find different artists for them to listen to that are that are not so much with things with. I got this.

Speaker 5: 1:13:07

I got the body, I got the hair, I got the lash, I got you know all this, but they're like this is what I'm going through, and it might suck today and it might be this, but this is what it is. That's the timeless music that I want them to gravitate toward. That's the concert you'll stand up for you.

Speaker 5: 1:13:26

If you don't have seats, like I'll just stand here. I'll just listen, because to me that that's how you get a marker. There's songs that you're in a club or whatever. It's going to move the crowd, but it's not going to move you spiritually. To remember this, you know it's it, you're. Those are the artists to me that are timeless. That's why they can be 50 or 60 years old and people will come to see you. They will get a large chair and sit out there in the heat and let you do what you do, because you've moved me. I remember where.

Speaker 5: 1:14:04

I was you know, you know what I mean. That's, that's what I love about you know, music and about, you know, some of the newer artists. Some of them are good, you know. But I like there's an artist, laura Mubala, that I didn't put on there. There's so many I was going to put on there, but she to me, is like I love Nina Simone and she's my Nina Simone, so I like follow her career and she, to me, just sings from her heart, from a place, and it's not all sad, it's just some things.

Speaker 5: 1:14:36

And I'm like, yeah, you, I can tell you wrote this and it wasn't like he or sing this, you know. And that, that, not only it challenges me to be that type of creative, whereas I could just dial it in like, oh, I just put this here. It should be a love story, it should be. No, I want to write authentically and listen when my character speak to me, my characters. They do speak to me, which I tell people. I don't know how I explain it, except I have conversation with people that aren't there, you know. But you know, that's how my creativity comes to me. But in me doing that and me being authentic that way, I feel like this these stories will live with people and that's what I want. I want you to be able to watch them with your family and your mom and your dad and not be like, okay, let's fast forward this part, but, you know, stay in. Stay in the story, stay in it and meet these characters and see how you feel about them and in the backdrop of your life.

Speaker 4: 1:15:44

So it sounds like that's the difference. I think we're on the same page when we look at there's entertainers and then there's artists, right Right, and there's two different things. And I think, like, for example, like Lauren Hill is definitely she's in the artist category, right, she epitomizes an artist and then you know there's other folks that are great entertainers, but it's more about the production and the show and the glam and the glitz and everything. But it's entertainment. It's not really artistry. Not that there's anything wrong and not to take anything away from it, but I think there's a time and place for both, Right.

Speaker 3: 1:16:29

Well, I think I think as a genre there's, there's still sort of a, a figuring out of sorts of where, you know, female artists fit within the genre, right, when you look at artists like like Lauren Hill or like Queen Latifa, all the way to like Missy Elliott, like gifted storytellers, and then the differences between the more entertainers show, I mean, it's a business at the end of the day, right, people are trying to sell albums, sell records and sell but I.

Speaker 3: 1:17:00

I feel like. I feel like in hip hop, women are still trying to figure out how to be those breakthrough storyteller artists, and I think there's still too few of them that we know about.

Speaker 5: 1:17:13

Right, and I I have a funny Queen Latifa story and I I was going to tell it very it's quick. I went to see Queen Latifa. She was touring with Common and they were at the Wolf Sheva and so I'd never seen Common live or anything like that. And he is amazing. Let me just say, if you ever, if he's ever on any bill, just sit there and he's just, he's an entertainer and an artist, he's both. But I was there to see Queen Latifa. I was like this is great Common. But by the time he finished I was in tears because he did Gloria at the end. You know the ghost of the Selma soundtrack. I was like glory, glory, you know all this. And so at the end, it was Queen.

Speaker 5: 1:17:59

Latifa. Now, I went to hear you and it why that is the sole reason I went. But I forgot she does jazz, so she started with the jazz. She didn't like Chicago and she was like give it a big fuck. What is happening? I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:18:19

I don't know.

Speaker 5: 1:18:20

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what is happening. So I will say this if you're a hip hop artist and you're a female, you've got to be, and that's, I think, her staying power To me. You have to be flexible, you have to do a lot of, because there are people who are waiting to see her, that wanted to hear the jazz, that wanted to hear, you know, Chicago, that wanted to hear. So she had all these different fans and it was an eclectic bunch of people. So because I was like, is she not going to do you and I T1? Because you know she has to do that.

Speaker 5: 1:18:57

If you see this is the point for this purpose and she did do it. But by the time she got to it was such a beautiful, beautifully orchestrated moment. By the time she got to it we were all kind of together Like you didn't know what she was going to do next.

Speaker 5: 1:19:13

And so I think, you have to have be true to yourself but have a have a skill at changing and getting into different flavors. I don't think you can just be a one track. I don't know, I'm not a musician, but I don't think you can be just a one track. Pony doing hip hop, I really don't think, because there were people who were like, oh, she does rap and I'm like see, but it's rap. But they knew, like Dana Owens and her jazz stuff, you know because she has a couple of albums with that.

Speaker 5: 1:19:49

So, but you're right, kelly, and I agree with you. I think it's. It's always changing to. For me now it's just too sexual, it's just too more of one thing.

Speaker 5: 1:20:03

And I think that's going to damage the self-esteem of young girls who, if they're like 11 and you're trying to do lashes and all this kind of stuff, like it's a problem. So I'm old school R&B. I'm an R&B and hip hop right now and, of course, pop music, because I listen to that all the time and my nieces hate it, but I still do it. But I think that you still have to find your place as a great rapper. Her name is Chica. She does really good. I'm not a huge fan because I don't listen to all of her stuff, but I like some of her stuff. She's very adapted storytelling and I think that's what's missing. People are afraid to share their stories, but that's where you get the connection. That's the point.

Speaker 2: 1:20:55

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:20:56

Share the story.

Speaker 3: 1:21:00

I think you make a fantastic segue into our next song, which is, which is just like gifted storytelling and the writing of some of these things, and it's kind of a song for part B, because you had another artist in the notes you submitted to us and it was. It was an alternative song. Do you remember what you put down? Also tied to an activity? It was a Lannis Mortis set.

Speaker 5: 1:21:26

Oh yes, oh my gosh.

Speaker 3: 1:21:28

Yeah, we'll do it. We'll do it. A part B, the other side of the tape.

Speaker 2: 1:21:35

That's right. We're going to flip the tape over Yep.

Speaker 5: 1:21:39

So a Lannis Mortis set, which I completely forgot. So thank you for reminding me Anytime I hear, isn't it our first of all, a Lannis Mortis set rule the nineties, in that that era would jagged little pill, like if you didn't know. Jagged little bit if you can't remember where you were when everybody decided we're angry, we're going to wear it's kind of like a top from the gap and some regular cargo pants and that's it. Then I don't know how old you are, but you're not my age and like a neck cap and we're good.

Speaker 5: 1:22:17

So when I heard this song, first of all, this was my freshman year at college and away from home, I went to college with my sister, who's a year ahead of me, and but it was also like going to college by myself because she would be like leave me alone. And then I went to see her for like a couple weeks. So I went to the Sabus Adolphus College it's the same Peter Minnesota, very small liberal arts Lutheran College. And so I'm coming from Memphis, tennessee, and now I'm in St Peter and it's the total opposite of everything Midwest, oh yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:22:55

Midwest syrupy sweet Midwest.

Speaker 3: 1:22:59

Cold freezing.

Speaker 5: 1:23:00

you know, and it's you know, my, my first semester. They closed school for, I think, two days because they were like don't come outside, it's just too cold. And I said where am I, whoa, and why am I here?

Speaker 2: 1:23:16

What did I just do?

Speaker 5: 1:23:18

What did I just do? You know why. But my so my choices after freshman year were to come back to Memphis and, like my mom told me she always would say this to me like, just kind of come back and get back in your life, which would make my bed, like you know, work somewhere for a couple months, then go back. And I said early on, I'm not coming home, I've moved away and I'm going to live away. So I got a internship with inroads and they put me at the same Paul companies, then the same, I think it's like travelers now, and I had to like interview for it and all this kind of stuff competitive, super competitive for some internship. But I had to like find a place to live. It was a very adult time in my life where it was like what is the stuff you're made of? Are you just going to go back home?

Speaker 5: 1:24:18

Because, you're tired of trying to figure it out. Are you going to figure it out? So I found a place to live. I lived on the college of St Catherine's by my. It was the first time I ever lived by myself. I had a job. I had to get to work. I had to take two buses to in the Twin Cities because it was actually in St Paul and it was in Bloomington. So it was outside of St Paul and I was so proud of myself because I would run out of money and not tell my mom. I would just wait till I got paid. I would just like eat things out of the vending machines and I would like to apologize to the people at St Paul companies on the third floor. You're in Bloomington. Yes, I ate your lunch. Yes, I did, because I was starving. I didn't know how to budget my money, so I would sneak.

Speaker 5: 1:25:12

I worked on the second floor, but I would go to the third and fourth floors to eat your lunch, whoever you are. Who had those Linguine lizards? I ate them. I apologize. One time I tried to put it back, but again I got hungry and I went back and got it. So I apologize, I ate it. Oh my goodness, it sustained me, and I did also drink a soda in there, and I didn't even like it because it was diet, but I was just hungry.

Speaker 2: 1:25:46

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:25:48

So this song reminds me of the time where I decided to live as an adult not like taking people's stuff. But I will be honest, I'm only sorry because people think of it as silly, I think of it as communal. If you put something in a work fridge, come on. That's how I feel, cause I've had people take things from me and I'm like that's part of the game, that's how it goes.

Speaker 2: 1:26:19

Don't put it in there. If you don't want it, don't put it in there. I just love the. You know, we tend to always think if someone takes your food in the communal fridge it's just someone being an asshole or something like that. I love the way you explained it, cause if, like now, I'm just always going to assume that someone, someone needed the food, right Someone, and like that, just changes the view of it so much.

Speaker 1: 1:26:43

Right, like hey, I'm glad my food could keep you going?

Speaker 5: 1:26:48

And if I I'm looking at this way, if I said, david, I am so hungry I have like 50 cents until Friday and today is Tuesday, all I have is a bus pass, 50 cents and a go get it attitude. May I have your lean cuisine in the refrigerator.

Speaker 2: 1:27:07

I'm going to go get your lunch.

Speaker 3: 1:27:09

Me like take, take, take take everything, take it. Yeah, and that's not a go. If I knew there was like a college intern, hungry, take it.

Speaker 5: 1:27:17

Let me tell you something I was starving, and I still remember how hungry I was. I got like weak because I was that hungry, because I didn't. I couldn't figure out how to like get my groceries and make it last, and you know that's something you're figuring out as a young adult, young adults. I get it. You're starving, you're hungry, I get it. The point is, thankfully there's some people who decide to bring a bunch of linguines and put them in a freezer, and I felt like this is God helping me. I can't put it on God, though, because you know I didn't ask that part. I guess it was wrong, but it sustained me, and when I I interned I'm not just trying to throw this out there, but when I was in DC, I interned at the White House and the best thing they had was sack lunches in the refrigerator for interns. I don't know if they still do it, but by God you still need to, because, interns, you're starving.

Speaker 2: 1:28:19

They don't have enough money. Yes, yes.

Speaker 5: 1:28:23

This song reminds me of that Absolutely. Yes.

Speaker 1: 1:28:26

Let's listen.

Speaker 3: 1:28:27

Let's take a listen, write that down, feed your interns.

Speaker 5: 1:28:30

Feed your interns, All right here we go.

Speaker 2: 1:28:32

Alanis Morcette ironic, I got it as a knife. It's meeting the man of my dreams.

Speaker 1: 1:28:40

And then meeting his beautiful wife and finishing it ironic, Don't you think? A little too ironic? And yeah, I really do think it's like writing On your running day. It's a free ride On your already paid.

Speaker 3: 1:29:06

it's a good advice, such a dumb day to take, and who would have thought it's bigger. I can't think of a more perfect song for like adulthood and just it was so many.

Speaker 5: 1:29:26

I'm running irony yes, because my mom told me to video for that song. It was her in a car talking to herself.

Speaker 2: 1:29:35

Yeah, like driving yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:29:38

Right, she was so great, she's all the different people.

Speaker 5: 1:29:41

Yeah, and then at the end the car either just stops or run out of gas and she's, and I'm like, perfect. It's ironic.

Speaker 4: 1:29:49

It's ironic, it's ironic yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:29:53

And I want Alanis Morcette when she watches this podcast, because I believe this is a very wonderful idea and concept and you all work well together, which is another thing that you really need I believe that she you're welcome when she watches this. Alanis, stop being upset that that was your biggest blockbuster album, whatever. Like you know, I don't want you to feel like, oh, I need to make another one. Or let me tell you something that album has ushered a lot of people into adulthood. We were angry oh yes, we weren't watching Sandy Morning Cartoon anymore and all of the technology started changing really, really fast. It was email, it was you know, facts, it was all this stuff with in my generation. But we entered into the workforce. It was like email, we ain't doing that anymore, we're doing it. Scan, we're doing it. It was just boom, boom, boom, yeah. And you became at least for me, I became like well, is this a dump truck? I thought it was fun, I thought it was hanging out, you know this is what I've been hoping for.

Speaker 2: 1:31:07

Wanting to grow up for this, right, right.

Speaker 3: 1:31:10

And you began to live.

Speaker 5: 1:31:11

Exactly Real life hits you in the face. Actually it probably punched you on the nose, but you know, whatever, and to me, if she goes around and tours on this, it's going to start like I'm going, I'm going twice. So tour with this, do some t-shirts, because I love t-shirts, and don't be upset Like, don't feel like, oh, I'm going to hear wonder. This album is a time capsule that I bought this CD so many times because all the songs are awesome which is so rare.

Speaker 5: 1:31:50

for music. Usually it's number three, number five, maybe number seven. I don't know why I want to CD, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:31:59

It's just those.

Speaker 5: 1:32:00

I don't know what happens, but with this Aladis, if you're watching, please tour. Thank you, I just want to say that I'm going to speak into this music video Again.

Speaker 4: 1:32:16

I'm thinking I wonder if some of your screenwriting and cinematic interests were also starting to brew around that time.

Speaker 5: 1:32:26

Yeah, I was so.

Speaker 4: 1:32:29

Because you remember parts of that video that I don't remember at all. I remember her, you know, like the multiple personality thing in the car, and I remember her smiling because the video before that this was, it was all Like the angry stuff. I think the other single was the you ought to know.

Speaker 5: 1:32:46

You ought to know, yeah that was real and I don't know why it was so angry, but it was still. I don't know. It's a great breakup song, but it's not a lot of great breakup songs that don't even violence. But I, I was attempting to write, but I would always put it down. So at this point I was more into acting, because I didn't think people would want to hear my stories. So I Was like in different things in college and stuff like that, and when I would get it They'd like you agree, you should write? And I'm like no, no. And this is the point where I really realized that Creativity is a gift and not everyone has it. There are some people who don't have an imagination, and it's not bad. I'm not saying like oh, it's can't, but there are some people who just don't have that. They can't make a story up. They can't, you know sure they can't make a thing.

Speaker 5: 1:33:52

You know they can't sit and think, oh what, I'll do a podcast and I'll have this and I'll do like some people can't do that. And so I actually had a professor to tell me this is a gift, so don't take it lightly, it's not going to run out, it's not going to. You know, you don't shake it in. Oh, you did three things. It's over, it's always in you, but don't treat it with that. It's not something you should protect and something that you should be careful with. If that makes sense. Sure, you know. Yeah, I learned that during this time in college because I would do different. You know little student productions. You know student productions. It's like be angry. You know we're just bad, but it's a part of college. You have to just rage against something. I don't know anything.

Speaker 5: 1:34:51

But the machine yes, and just your, your place in the world, right, Because in 20, you got it all figured out. I'm going to do this. This is what it is Well actually about. 18 is like I know everything, and as you progress it's like how it says you start getting into the muck and mire of emotional choices and decisions and you really start losing some of that night, Timothy, and some of that.

Speaker 1: 1:35:24

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:35:25

You full joy that you used to have at not knowing things, at not knowing how the soft? Is made In part of your life. But now the bills come in your name. You know you're getting into serious endeavors of marriage kids and it's getting real. It's getting real.

Speaker 2: 1:35:47

Yeah, yeah. And so, when you were, when you're younger, you don't ever think should I, should I be spending my time playing drums or writing music or writing screenplays? But you know, as an adult, you're like oh, you know, I need to put my time here, I need to do this, I need to do that and yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:36:08

I need to make some money. That's usually you, you shift from you know it'll be OK to when it's payday, Like you kind of you. For me it went from this oh it'll be all right, like you know, I can get some food as a refrigerator to why don't I have enough money? So it's almost kind of like a sad point too, because I think for me I'm a spiritual person, so my lens is God. I believe God is like he has to like remind us of the joys of life.

Speaker 5: 1:36:45

That's why there's love, that's why there's friendship because, we would be claws, we just be like money, money, money, money, money or cars or you know whatever. So he has to Pivot us so that we don't miss the beauty in this world. And to me, creatives remind us that you're not supposed to be just your job, you're not supposed to be just someone's husband or dad, like. You're a person, you're a human being that has something to create, to contribute, and it's not. You're not just a provider, ok, you're not just a. You're a person, Person that has many layers. In those layers give way to helping, helping other people grow, but not just because of what you do is because of who you are, and many times I've lost sight of that. I've, you know, been. I'm the lawyer, I'm the, but I do my best work, either if I'm writing or I'm learning or whatever, when I remember I'm a person. How does this make me feel?

Speaker 5: 1:37:59

How does and it's hard because I asked my brother-in-law. So a couple of years ago my mother had a stroke and I moved back to Tennessee to help her. I thought she really doesn't need my help. She tells me all the time and when I moved from DC I moved home and I was so. It's been about two years. So I asked, I was asking my brother-in-law.

Speaker 5: 1:38:23

I said, hey, do I seem joy for you? Because that's how people would remember, like, talk about me. And I asked him. I just, it just came up in my mind. I was like I'm a same joyful and he said you have to be joyful for some time. And I said Uh-oh, well, first. Uh-oh like what? Yeah, because Life, watching my mother be sick, be sick, watching my father pass away, watching these life issues, it drains me of that carefree. Now I'm like I need to spend more time. I need to do this, I need to do that, I need to have the money to take our own trips, I want to do this and just like that expands the joy energy that I have. But what brings it back is this is talking to people, is connection, is remembering that I have a voice and I'm not running out of time. I'm using my time with the best way. I know how the best.

Speaker 3: 1:39:34

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, we. All we can do is is the best we can. I think I've I've loved learning so much about you and and your story and your range. You're like just the super interesting and eclectic person with all of these gifts and passions. It does lead us to our last song for you, which is a hard pivot from the other genres and music that you that you've, that you've shared with us, and it's associated, actually, with a perfect moment when everything just felt right. I'm going to preface by saying that, as the host, we are dying to talk to you about this song and where it came from. So go ahead and just give us the name, david will play it and then we'll talk about it on the other side of the clip.

Speaker 5: 1:40:20

So this is Tom with me on this little short journey. It's Friday, the 13th. The series, the themes it's just the theme song. So when I was growing up, my mom used to have these things called girl night. My dad worked at night and my mom would obviously be home with us. It was me, my sister and my brother was older at the time, so he was out doing I don't even know what. It was gone, so my mom would bring him ice cream and she'd be like girl's night. She would always say that, and we would get in her bed and we would watch these shows that were probably too adult. Not that I look back at it like what do we watch it? But that's the, that's what you did. You just you know, whatever.

Speaker 5: 1:41:04

These ratings were more of a suggestion like hey, you probably should be, you know, whatever. So this song whenever I hear it, I think about a carefree time where I was with the women who shaped me, who I love the most my sister and my mom. Yeah, my sister and my mom eating ice cream in her bed was. My dad had no idea we were eating ice cream in the bed and just enjoying then and getting scared out of my minds and my mom going you can sleep in here because at that point it's very scary, and so I was just to me.

Speaker 5: 1:41:47

this is a part of my childhood where everything was fine, like I didn't have to worry about, you know, stuff like bills, getting older and all this other stuff parents getting older, caregiver none of that was in my mind. This is June. This is a young June, just enjoying the present moment of where I was.

Speaker 3: 1:42:14

All right.

Speaker 2: 1:42:15

Nice, all right, let's take a listen. And this was such a good find in the sense of like you went deep with this that we've got to pull it up on YouTube because I couldn't find it on Apple Music and stuff like that. So give me a second while I pull up the screen. Did we mention the series.

Speaker 3: 1:42:34

It is the Friday, the 13th series theme song.

Speaker 1: 1:42:39

Correct so not the movies.

Speaker 3: 1:42:40

There was a series at one point. Yeah not the scary movies.

Speaker 5: 1:42:43

They were very scary.

Speaker 2: 1:42:46

Yeah, all right, here we go.

Speaker 1: 1:43:20

I know.

Speaker 2: 1:43:23

Boy Nice.

Speaker 5: 1:43:25

Yeah, it's, it's, it's. When I hear it, I just think of us all together, smushing together and my mom going. It's just a show, because the theme song even now makes you like, oh, but, oh my.

Speaker 1: 1:43:38

God yeah.

Speaker 5: 1:43:40

Yeah, it's like you know and that's what you watch and it's like this is crazy, but it's my mom. It's just that moment where we're going to do like girl chat, we're going to do girl talk and you know, she just listens to our ridiculous day of ten year old. However, I was at that time, that was like 10. But whatever I was talking about, that was so important I had to say, yeah, it's just a moment in my life where I'm just like everything was great, it's fun.

Speaker 4: 1:44:10

So when we first saw that song on the list, we're like, ok, what? I think that was the first and and I was trying to you know, I've, I've, I've, I've your connection to the show is through me. So I was actually trying to, you know, think if I could maybe provide some context or background. And then we were thinking, well, maybe has something to do with with with, you know, the world of cinema and and and, and you know, sort of exposing our audience to maybe like the horror genre or some inspiration from you know, jason, and you know, and now, completely ironically, it's such a wholesome, it's such a wholesome context that we had never, never expected and and it's so cool actually.

Speaker 5: 1:45:04

I know I wasn't going to put it in love that.

Speaker 1: 1:45:07

I was like.

Speaker 5: 1:45:08

I want to be truthful because I'm glad you did. I'm so glad you do it, I like if I'm having a like a hard day, I will listen to just that. It's on YouTube where it's just a theme song and I was like, oh, let's just connect to this. So I will hit it and I will just be listed to it.

Speaker 3: 1:45:25

I'm like, ok, all right, the movies I listen to these are all, yeah, the little nooks and crannies of our lives that, like you know, make us who we are, and all of our just like yummy little tidbits. You know I love this stuff. I'm so glad you included it.

Speaker 5: 1:45:43

Yeah, and I, my sister, I let her listen to it too, because she's I live with my sister and she's like Army Band, all this stuff. And she breaks out into a low girl's smile Every time I play. I'm like Adria listen to this Like she's an Army girl. So she's like yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:46:09

We both are funny too. Like we also never know what, what is a girl's night and just like a time for you to just, you know, just watch some TV, just a random Friday night. Like at the time you probably not thinking much of it, but like it's amazing. What sticks with you years later is that, as we like, reflect in retrospect like that was a special time.

Speaker 2: 1:46:29

Those were like sacred little nights where we had these little traditions that seemed silly but like just stick with us throughout our lives, yeah, and as a parent, you know you, it's so easy to be like, no, we don't have time for that right now or whatever, just like get ready for bed or something like that, and like realizing to slow down with the young, you know the people that are around us, because those moments are going to be those ones and they might find themselves, you know, decades later on a podcast telling the story right, and so so take those times out, like I would think like.

Speaker 5: 1:47:05

This is what I was running through the woods. Somebody was after me, but it's like a wholesome no, like all movie time in my life. Yeah, but as I would encourage, I'm not a parent, I'm a super. It's what my niece called me was. I love, but love it what, what she, what?

Speaker 2: 1:47:26

what.

Speaker 5: 1:47:26

I try to tell my sister because you know she parent is active, like you're in it, you know you got to stay on the scale, you know. But I try to tell her, like don't miss the moment. Like when her daughters are like talking about something, she's like, okay, I'm like don't miss this moment, because they're trying to, this is a moment for them. So it's always my prayer and everything for parents that you don't miss the moment that there's. There's a moment where it's just it's almost like a seems like a throwaway moment, like a, but this is a pivotal part of their development and you and good parents rarely miss it Like.

Speaker 5: 1:48:09

you know cause I used to do abuse in the college, the children law, which is horrible. But you know, good parent, I can look at kids and say and can tell like, okay, they're being parented. You know what I mean, and not just like you know you're there so I got to feed you, but you're being actively loved and guided, so I tell it, and then she'll tell me something like you don't miss them up, but it's fine.

Speaker 5: 1:48:38

I try to tell my brothers, my brother in law, that I was like you know. It's the little, it's the little, small things.

Speaker 1: 1:48:46

It's, you know, family trips?

Speaker 5: 1:48:47

Nobody ever really remembers those. Yeah, I mean for the most part. Well, June we have. We have come to the end of the year, we have come to the end of the year.

Speaker 3: 1:49:00

We have come to the end of the year. We have come to the end of the year. We have come to the end of your six song journey, and so I love to ask here because this is a unique experience in the way we talk about ourselves in our lives, right how does it feel to hear your life reflected in these six songs?

Speaker 1: 1:49:25

Hi, hi, it feels.

Speaker 5: 1:49:32

How does it feel to hear my song? It feels like I've lived life, like I know I have quite a bit more to go, but it makes me feel like I'm so proud of my journey. Like what cause it? It helps me think back to where I was like when this, all this happened. I'm like, oh, my.

Speaker 5: 1:49:51

God, I'll never make it out of this. Oh my God, I'll never make you know, I'll never eat again or I'll never, you know. But it makes me proud to have lived the life that I live. It makes me feel like I've dug in my feet on a lot of things and that I'm very proud of like the friends that I have, of the life that I lead and have led, and to me it makes me feel whole. I don't.

Speaker 5: 1:50:22

I don't know if that makes sense, but as I listen to it, it makes me feel like I'm whole, like I'm not missing anything, because the things I wanted to try I tried and I've connected with some people that are just have lifted my soul, just lifted me up, and remembering that is a beautiful moment that I think most people need to experience, like I think this podcast is so, because I had to go back to find the songs and the ones that didn't make it, you know, was also an experience for me. Like no, I don't remember that. Or you?

Speaker 5: 1:51:09

know, you know, I think that this is very powerful, because now I want to embrace even more what I'm doing in my life, like I want to be present in where I'm going and what I'm doing even more. So that's what this podcast has been a gift, and giving me that time to just remember and reminisce so good, yeah, so good.

Speaker 1: 1:51:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:51:43

And I know I appreciate that.

Speaker 5: 1:51:45

I'm a preacher and I'm a lawyer. You got to be like zoom, Thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:51:50

Like you got, it's okay, I don't feel, I don't feel bad.

Speaker 3: 1:51:54

I object. Listen to you, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:51:58

No, june, I appreciate that so much because, you know, when I got the idea to start this podcast, it was. It was kind of at first thinking of myself Like this is my part of my healing journey and part of my what's next. And so to hear you say that that the experience you had was good and allowed you to reflect on your life and be like no, I'm doing what I want to do and now I'm motivated and energized to keep getting out there and doing it is just it's wonderful to hear, because that's exactly like what I wanted to get from doing this. So just, you know, thank you so much for being a part of it and sharing yourself with us today. It's been, it's been great.

Speaker 5: 1:52:51

Well, I want to say thank you for having me. Thank you Rosa, david and Carolina. If I say never, I feel like I keep changing how I'm saying it. It's Carolina, carolina, it is, it's Carolina.

Speaker 3: 1:53:02

It's Carolina, I'm saying it right. That drives me crazy. I'm looking American. Okay, I have to say people's names twice. Sorry, kaiser, for.

Speaker 5: 1:53:10

Nasty. Okay, this was a beautiful experience and I just really pray and hope you all realize that you have something and when it gets to be a little bit of like, oh, you stay in it, you know, because that's a part of creativity you get. You have to hit a block because it has to show you what to do.

Speaker 2: 1:53:35

There's going to be the top the struggles.

Speaker 5: 1:53:37

It's the struggle. And when you get over on the other side of that, like you have me, who's just going to share this with everybody? You know it really. It shows you that it's. It's a piece of art that is reshaping something in people. Right, it's a piece of art that's moving a conversation and I think COVID the gift that it gave us. It was a lot of things, but the gift that it gave us, it reconnected us to conversation because we couldn't go talk, we couldn't be in front of people, we just had to sit and talk.

Speaker 5: 1:54:21

And so I think this podcast is is a gift of that and I hope you. I hope you continue on and and you know get great guests and keep moving with it. So I bought this outfit for this podcast. So I'm going to shout out close, mentor. And cut over to the sea because you asked me to, and I will do that because you're wonderful ladies working there. It was like podcast, but isn't on camera. Yes, it is, so that's why I needed that. Oh all right.

Speaker 3: 1:54:57

Love that we appreciate you so much. Thank you so so much for trusting us with your story and the music of your life as we, as we prepare to sign off in just the couple minutes we have left, you know folks might want to get in touch with you or know what you've got going on next, because everybody's now invested in your journey. So tell us what you got going on, what people might be interested in and how they can contact you if they'd like.

Speaker 5: 1:55:24

So you can reach me at true bliss televisioncom. It's on all social media platforms. It's true bliss television and that is our logo. You can't see it really, it's the green hearts and bloom of love is coming out a full feature link. It's family friendly. It's a nice rom com in the same vein of hallmark, but with people of color that are not like the sassy shopkeeper were actually in the story and you can watch that. It's going to be available on to be Amazon Prime and our YouTube channel eventually. So you can subscribe to our YouTube channel to follow us and you'll just get the updates as it comes along. You will be able to watch the second movie, which is recipe of love, which will be start. We'll start filming that in June. So every you know we're just going to start dropping our full feature links and it's just relaxation TV.

Speaker 5: 1:56:33

It is no cursing, it is no sexual innuendo. It is something you can watch with everyone and at the end is a positive story. The girl gets to God, the guy gets to girl. That's it. It's no, I wish they would have. It's none of that. It is very, very nice. So I appreciate this time to to just talk to you guys and write alone about my life. I appreciate that.

Speaker 2: 1:57:05

Yeah, well we have absolutely loved having having you on. We will get all of that information also linked in the show notes. So to all our listeners or viewers, if you're watching on YouTube, you know, go down in those show notes and click those links and, and you know, support June and what she's, what she's doing. I lost my train of thought for a second, got to wrap up, I got to send this off.

Speaker 3: 1:57:33

That's right.

Speaker 2: 1:57:35

I got to send this off, all right, everybody. Thanks for listening. If you like and subscribe, if you've liked what you've heard, share it with a friend, bring other people into this conversation Because, like June had mentioned, you know, it's about connecting, it's about community, it's about conversation. So don't don't hoard us just for yourself. Share us with your, your group, and with that we will see you next time. Thanks for listening.