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Welcome back to The School of Greatness, everyone.
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I m your host, Lewis Howes and today we have an inspiring guest on.
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Her name is Tabitha Brown.
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She s an actress, a vegan foodie and she s captured the hearts of millions with her infectious positivity and wisdom.
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And today she talks a lot about
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overcoming health issues and navigating the complexities of Hollywood.
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All the different things that she s faced with grace and resilience.
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In this episode, she shares her story of finding freedom and abundance and aligning with her true self and deepening her spiritual connection.
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I really think you re gonna love this one.
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So let s go ahead and dive in.
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A goal, you can be like, I ain t make that goal.
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Or I did it, chat.
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But the dream won t let you rest.
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Even when you manifest it and it comes, it still is persistent.
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There s more to do until we are called home.
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The dream is just, it lives inside of us.
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Emmy award winning actress, CEO of several major product lines, social media star with millions of followers, and a New York Times bestselling author.
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Please welcome the amazing Tabitha Brown.
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The very thing that I used to cover about myself is the thing people love about me the most now.
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Wow.
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I believed what I was sold.
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Somebody sold me a lie, and I bought it.
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But now, honey, I returned it and got all my money back.
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When you are pretending to be someone else, God can t bless who you re not.
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Ooh.
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If I am pretending to be somebody else, what are these blessings that I m getting?
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Those aren t mine.
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That s something I created.
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Freedom and being true to who you are is the best gift you can give to yourself.
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I wasn t ready for everything I was going to gain.
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I also wasn t ready for everything I was going to lose.
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What did you lose?
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Friendships, relationships.
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When I started walking in my freedom, they started to disappear.
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Wow.
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But God revealed to me, he said, everybody s not ready to walk in their freedom.
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So being close to you while you re in yours is disturbing their spirit.
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Oh.
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What do you think is the true key to attracting and manifesting exactly what is meant for us in life?
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I think...
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Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness.
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Very excited about our guest.
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We have the inspiring Tabitha Brown in the house.
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So good to see you.
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Very good.
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Thank you for having me.
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Welcome.
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Welcome to the show.
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It s been amazing to watch your journey, specifically over the last five years, just kind of expand and explode in a positive, powerful way.
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And we were just talking off camera about how when you fully stepped into who you authentically were,
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That s when everything started to expand and you started to attract the right things for your life.
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You started to magnify your audience and community.
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You started to expand financially, relationally.
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with positive abundance.
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And I think it s really cool that this all happened for you.
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And I m curious, your new book, it s called, I Did a New Thing, 30 Days to Living Free.
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I m curious, what was the thing that set you free to create more abundance in your life in a positive way?
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Oh, I think the thing that set me free, you know, my story, I was sick, right, for quite some time, about a year and seven months.
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And I really thought in that dark season, because, you know, I was seeking doctors can tell me what was wrong with me.
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They were doing, you know, running tests all the time and giving me guinea pig medication is what I would call it, because they can t diagnose you.
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But try this and see if you feel better.
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Right.
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you fall into this depression, which I did.
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Cause it s like, I know something s not right with my body.
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I know I don t feel normal.
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Um, and they can t tell me anything.
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Right.
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And I thought God had forgotten about me.
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And so I think when I got to that lowest point, I was like, you know, I m from North Carolina.
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I grew up in the church and I used to be this, this person.
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And I still am who was, um, excited to be a woman of faith.
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Right.
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And I was like, here I am,
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really thinking, like, I have all this faith, but I feel like God has left me.
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Really?
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And so I was like, OK, Lord, this time, because what I also realized was I was habitually praying.
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And that means I was just praying out of habit.
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But I wasn t really meaning or believing what I was saying.
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Can you give me an example?
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You know how you grow up and it s like, just for example, God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food, right?
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You taught that as a kid on how to pray for your food.
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That s a habit that we pick up.
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It wasn t an intention.
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It wasn t intentional.
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Feeling it.
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Even though I was praying, God, please help me to feel better, God, please heal me.
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I was just saying it because it s like, oh, this is what we do at church.
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So I realized like, oh, wait, I need to unlearn how to habitually pray.
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And I really need to seek him truly and let him have me.
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Wow.
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Right.
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What s the difference between habitual prayer and seeking God and faith and allowing him to be inside of you?
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The difference is, habitually, you re taught.
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I was taught how to pray that way.
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I was taught how to be a person of faith.
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I was taught how to go to church, how to worship.
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But when I said, God, I m going to strip me clean, my prayer was, God, if you heal me, you can have me.
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Wow.
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That meant I m not going to do it my way anymore and how I was taught.
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I m gonna do it the way you created me to do it.
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That mean I m gonna allow you to deposit inside of me like only you can.
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Nobody else will get this credit or the glory for it, right?
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And so that s what got me free.
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I started taking layers off.
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And when I prayed that prayer, I was in my bathroom, I remember, and my prayer was, God, if you heal me, you can have me.
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Something changed that day.
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I can t explain it.
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I just felt different.
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I wasn t healed in the moment, but when I left the bathroom, I felt different.
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And from that day, I ve just been taking layers off ever since and allowing myself to be who God has called me to be.
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Wow.
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So yeah.
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Do you feel like you were sick physically and depressed emotionally or mentally because you were out of alignment with who you were meant to be?
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Absolutely.
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I definitely think that plays a huge, huge role in it.
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I think that I also have a gift, right?
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So we all have gifts.
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I was born with the gift of where I can dream things that come to pass.
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I see things, I can hear things.
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And I remember a time when I tried to pray that away because it was scary, you know, growing up that way.
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And, you know, people think you crazy because you can dream something and tell them and then it happens or you see something and you tell them.
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It wasn t a fun gift to have as a kid or as a young adult.
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Right.
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But I remember I went like a good felt like about six years where I prayed like, God, I don t want this anymore.
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And when I didn t have it as often, it felt like I was missing a part of me.
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Wow.
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Right?
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But what I realized is when I would have a dream and I m supposed to give a message to somebody, if I didn t, I would get sick.
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Wow.
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I would get nauseous.
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My head would spin.
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I would have to lay down.
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But the moment I got it out, I d be completely fine.
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So you had a lot of premonitory dreams, or?
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Yeah, like just, it s crazy.
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Like a vision, or like a message?
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Yeah, visions, I can dream it while I m asleep, or sometimes while I m awake, like right now I m looking at you, and then something could appear right beside you.
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I cannot control it, it just happens.
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Wow.
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But sometimes it s like a movie screen, like a little box, and I could see something play out.
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Sometimes it s an actual, just a vision, just as clear as you sitting there, you could sit right here.
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Wow, and when you wouldn t speak it,
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when I won t say, like there s times when God shows me something, but it s not meant for me to say anything, it s just for me.
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To be aware of, yeah.
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To be aware.
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When you feel like you re supposed to say it and you don t.
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Oh, I m not well.
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Interesting.
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Yeah, so I feel like because I wasn t living my truth for so long, I had created this Tabitha that I thought would win.
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Like I was suffocating through me, so I couldn t breathe.
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Wow.
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And so the more and more layers I took off, the better I got.
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Why did you feel like you needed to put a mask on for either the industry you re in or the relationships you re in or whatever it might be?
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I mean, I know from a personal experience, I wore a mask to feel like I needed to fit in and feel safe for many years.
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Growing up playing sports and in school and as a young adult, I felt like I needed to protect myself with a mask.
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But why did you wear masks?
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Ooh, for many reasons.
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One, I m from North Carolina, right, from the South.
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I grew up learning how to code switch and conform watching my mama, right?
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So we go to the bank, and if she talking to the white lady that work at the bank, but her voice is different, I m like, oh wait, is this how we talk?
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Interesting.
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Oh, okay, if my mama came to school and talked to teachers, and all my teachers were white.
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In my town, it was only black and white.
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There was no in between.
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I didn t see Hispanics or any of that stuff until I grew up and became an adult.
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she would change her voice.
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So I learned very early, oh, this is how we have to talk to people who are not black.
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I didn t know that that was code switching back then, but it was like, oh, to be treated a certain way, to be respected, to be seen.
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That s what we have to do.
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And then growing up and working in corporate America, being told, like, in a call center, people hearing my voice saying, oh, are you black?
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I don t want to speak to somebody black.
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No way.
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Oh, absolutely.
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Come on.
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Oh, absolutely, honey.
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And so I would learn to mask it even more, to push it down even more.
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And then getting into entertainment, hearing, oh, you sound country.
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You re going to have to learn to cover that.
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So it became like, I m doing it for,
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you know, just my normal school and work.
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I m doing it for corporate America, now I m doing it for entertainment.
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And then it came to like, oh, you can come to LA.
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I used to, you know, have, my hair was already natural, but they were like, for your skin complexion, straighter hair.
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Okay, certain size.
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Sound neutral used to be the word I would always be given.
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No accent.
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No accent.
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Be as neutral.
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No one should know where you re from.
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And I believed that.
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And so I created that Tabitha to get jobs.
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The one thing that my mom and them, they named me Tabitha.
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So my first job at Winn-Dixie, I ll never forget, I put in the application, dropped it off, and I got a call.
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And they were like, oh, we want to bring you in for an interview.
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I said, okay, great.
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So I get there and the assistant manager, when I walked up, clearly thought I was white from my name and how I sounded on the phone, right?
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So when she looked at me, I was like, I m here for an interview.
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She s like, did somebody call you for an interview?
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I was like, yes, ma am.
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Said her name and it was her.
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She was like,
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I ll be right back. 
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Ended up getting a job because the actual store manager had came.
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His name was David.
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He was an older man who was great.
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He was like, I ll interview him.
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And so he loved me and I worked there for a while.
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But my name always used to get me jobs, crazy enough, because people thought I was white.
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There weren t no black Tabitha s around.
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It s a Bewitched name, it s a name from Bewitched.
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That s where my mama named me from.
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So, it was conforming to survive.
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My ancestors had to do it to survive, right?
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And it was passed down, but we don t have to do that anymore.
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I m enough just as I am, from Eden, North Carolina.
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Honey, the very thing that I used to cover about myself is the thing people love about me the most now.
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Wow.
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It s crazy, but I didn t know.
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I believed what I was sold.
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Somebody sold me a lie and I bought it.
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But now, honey, I returned it and got all my money back.
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And that s with interest.
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Do you feel like it was more challenging in North Carolina growing up trying to succeed or get opportunities or more challenging in Los Angeles, Hollywood?
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Oh, definitely Los Angeles.
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Really?
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah.
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In the South, it s like, the thing about the South is, especially in North Carolina, I love my, you know, North Carolina is the best place.
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I mean, I love it.
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But it was always very clear.
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It wasn t hidden.
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You know exactly who you re talking to.
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Interesting.
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Right?
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Ain t no secret about it.
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Whether they like you or not, it s clear.
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Yeah, if I want you around or not, it s very clear.
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I ll hear you.
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It s Hollywood, honey.
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They hide the truth.
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You don t know that they don t really fool with you until after the fact, right?
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Or if you find it out in an email or you see it in the trades or whatever, you re like, oh, wait a minute.
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You acted like we was cool.
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But we really won t.
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You didn t really like me, you know?
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So it s more hidden here.
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People be out here acting.
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They be wearing masks out here.
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Yeah.
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They say they want to do a project, but then they don t talk to you.
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Right.
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And you know what?
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I don t even care about that.
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Like, whatever is meant for me, I wholeheartedly, in this season of my life, I truly know what God has for me, it is for me.
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And if it ain t, it ain t.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah.
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I was just saying this to my, my fiance, Martha recently, actually, I was like, you know, uh, I was telling her she got excited.
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She did a great audition recently for something.
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And she was really excited about the possibility.
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I go, you re going to get this if it s meant for you.
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And if it s an alignment with your truth and your future, and if you don t get it, it wasn t meant for you.
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It wasn t meant for you, huh?
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And you don t need to be upset about it or, you know, maybe you can have a little moment of like, oh, OK, this idea of I wish I could have got it.
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But you don t want to go through years of stress on something that s not meant for you.
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That s right.
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That s right.
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Listen, when the thing is meant for you, there is nothing that will stop it.
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Like God is not even complicated.
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He s not.
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He s very clear.
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We complicate things.
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We re in our head too much.
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Yeah, we re in our head too much.
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We re overthinking it.
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We ll get an opportunity, and before the opportunity is ours, we will play out every single thing.
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Oh, if I do this, and then I ll do this.
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We ain t even got it yet.
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Let s see if it works out for us first, and then we can expand on it.
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What do you think is the true key to attracting and manifesting exactly what is meant for us in life?
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I think walking in your truth will do that, right?
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Showing up exactly who you are allows the things that belong to you to come, you know, because when we create a different person, as I did for myself, right?
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When you are pretending to be someone else, God can t bless who you re not.
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He can only bless who you are.
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So if I am pretending to be somebody else, what are these blessings that I m getting?
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Those aren t mine.
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That s something I created.
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But when I just be me, I can get everything he has for me.
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And the interesting thing, you see people who are blessed for being someone they re not.
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They re usually depressed, anxious, stressed, or it s never enough.
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It s never good enough because they still aren t good enough.
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They re not being who they re meant to be.
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They re always chasing something else.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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And that s almost a greater challenge.
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It s like you re being blessed, but you don t feel enough.
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You have everything, but you feel worthless.
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Or empty.
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Empty.
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No peace.
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No peace.
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Yeah.
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And that s the freedom and being true to who you are.
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It s the best gift you can give to yourself.
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How can someone know what their truth is when they ve been wearing a mask for so long?
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Oh, honey, we all, I feel like we know our truth, right?
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Um, your truth is in your silence when no one else is around, right?
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It s, it s the things that you say to yourself, it s the things that you do.
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Um, like childhood memories before you were taught that you weren t enough and before you believed it.
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That s your truth.
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Sometimes we have to go back to our childlike thoughts because as children, we re free.
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We re born knowing what we re supposed to do, but we re taught how to have fear.
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We re taught no.
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We re taught yes.
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We re taught how to speak, all the things.
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But we re also influenced by our parents, by our friends and peers and different things.
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Sometimes unintentionally, it just naturally happens in your influence.
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But what your truth is, how you feel when you re alone, the things that you used to enjoy doing as a kid that nobody had to tell you to do.
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Like, that s your truth.
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Right?
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Sometimes that s also your passion and purpose.
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We have to go back to that before we were taught, oh, no, you can t have that dream.
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Oh, no, you can t do that because, you know, they don t make money.
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You should do this X, Y, and Z. You go back to what did you used to love to play when you were a kid?
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Right?
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Did you love to play office?
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Did you love to play sports?
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Did you love to play, you know, did you take care of dolls and treat them like you were a doctor?
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Like, what was your thing that you did every day without hesitation until somebody told you that that was just a game?
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Sometimes that s your purpose.
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That s the thing that you were put here to do before somebody told you you couldn t.
1
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And so you go back to that, and then it s like, oh, that was my truth that I let somebody tell me was a lie.
1
SPEAKER_02
But that belongs to me.
1
SPEAKER_02
Those are your feelings.
1
SPEAKER_02
Those are your things that still matter for you.
1
SPEAKER_02
But we have to tap back into it.
1
SPEAKER_02
Got to get back to that.
1
SPEAKER_01
And when you were in that bathroom having that conversation with God, what was it again you said?
1
SPEAKER_01
If you heal me, you can have me.
1
SPEAKER_01
If you heal me, you can have me, and that s powerful.
1
SPEAKER_01
And you said when you left that, something shifted inside of you.
1
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I felt lighter.
1
SPEAKER_01
Interesting.
1
SPEAKER_02
I felt lighter, and I just felt different.
1
SPEAKER_02
You know, it s hard to explain that.
1
SPEAKER_02
But every day from that day, it was just like, something is happening.
1
SPEAKER_02
I have this thing sometimes where I can walk outside and the air will feel different on my skin.
1
SPEAKER_02
And I know a shift is happening.
1
SPEAKER_02
Like I know it s coming.
1
SPEAKER_02
I m like, oh, something s about to happen.
1
SPEAKER_02
It s a weird thing, but I can feel it.
1
SPEAKER_02
I remember I used to work this job.
1
SPEAKER_02
I was working a nine to five in LA and we had a warehouse and then we had office space.
1
SPEAKER_02
And so I would go, cause I was in charge of like shipping and coordinating.
1
SPEAKER_02
So I would go to warehouse sometime to take paperwork and then
1
SPEAKER_02
I walked back to my office and there was a very long hallway.
1
SPEAKER_02
And this particular day I had felt the wind shift.
1
SPEAKER_02
And so when I had left the warehouse to come back down this long hallway, I, and I sometimes still do this, but I remember this day I would close my eyes and I wouldn t even care about where I was going.
1
SPEAKER_02
I would just walk with my eyes closed.
2
SPEAKER_00
long hallway, because it was just, I could just envision whatever the shift was, like, God got something else for me that s coming.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I remember a girl that was working, she was coming out of the bathroom, so she was like, standing in the hallway, she was like, Tabitha, Tabitha.
2
SPEAKER_01
She had her eyes closed, walking ahead.
2
SPEAKER_00
And it started me, she was like, you were just walking with your eyes closed.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, oh girl, honey, sometime, honey, I do that, cause I m just seeing where he s taking me.
2
SPEAKER_00
You know, it s a,
2
SPEAKER_00
It s a weird thing.
2
SPEAKER_00
I can t even.
2
SPEAKER_00
I can t explain why I do some of the things I do.
2
SPEAKER_00
Also, I feel like it s part of the gift.
2
SPEAKER_01
Absolutely.
2
SPEAKER_00
But after I left the bathroom that day, it was about two or three weeks later, I had this dream.
2
SPEAKER_00
And in the dream, I saw myself on a show, right?
2
SPEAKER_00
But the screen was small.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I ve told this story many times.
2
SPEAKER_00
And when I woke up, I was like, OK, Lord, reveal that to me.
2
SPEAKER_00
Because during this time, I m not really auditioning.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not doing any acting.
2
SPEAKER_00
I wouldn t do a stand-up.
2
SPEAKER_00
I wouldn t do anything that would land me on the show.
2
SPEAKER_00
Because I was not well.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I had a conversation with God and he said, start doing videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, I m not doing no videos.
2
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Honey, I m an actress, a broke actress, but an actress nonetheless.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ain t doing that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Why would I do that?
2
SPEAKER_00
And also because, you know, as an actor, then we were always told when I would go to action classes and different things, stay away from social media.
2
SPEAKER_00
They won t take you serious in Hollywood.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I believed it.
2
SPEAKER_00
Okay.
2
SPEAKER_00
And so the voice was clear, start doing videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, Lord, I don t want to do videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
And he was like, listen, when you were out doing standup, you were trying to get a TV show and them little, you know, open mic nights, you getting 15, 30 people to see you a night.
2
SPEAKER_00
You start doing videos, you reach thousands in minutes.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, that s where I got you.
2
SPEAKER_00
Cause I ain t got thousands of followers to reach in minutes.
2
SPEAKER_00
the voice again, start doing videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I was like, I don t want to do that.
2
SPEAKER_00
So then he reminded me, he said, remember in the bathroom, he said, if I heal you, I can have you.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I said.
2
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Do you want to be healed or not?
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, oh, he caught me on a bad day that day, but I did say that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Did I really say that?
2
SPEAKER_00
Did I really say that?
2
SPEAKER_00
You know, I was having a rough day that day.
2
SPEAKER_00
But that s the only reason I started doing videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right?
2
SPEAKER_00
Because you heard the voice that said start doing videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you didn t have a big audience then.
2
SPEAKER_00
No.
2
SPEAKER_00
I had, you know, my Facebook.
2
SPEAKER_00
I had my regular Facebook family foot, you know, 3,000 to 5,000 people, whatever your thing is on Facebook.
2
SPEAKER_00
I might have had like, I don t know, 1,300 followers or something on my Facebook actor page.
2
SPEAKER_01
Small, small audience.
2
SPEAKER_00
Oh, as small as you can get it in, you know, probably the same on Instagram.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, well, I ain t even got thousands of followers to watch me.
2
SPEAKER_00
Thousands of minutes?
2
SPEAKER_00
What are you talking about?
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, OK, but I also was trying to live a life of obedience.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I was like, OK, I got to start doing these videos.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, Lord, what am I going to do a video about?
2
SPEAKER_00
So when I first started doing the videos, I was telling jokes and telling stories of, you know, being a mama and a wife.
2
SPEAKER_00
Same stuff I used to kind of tell on stage.
2
SPEAKER_00
And during that time, those same, you know, few weeks, my daughter had came home and told me about the documentary that she watched at school, What the Hell, because she knew I was sick.
2
SPEAKER_00
We watched it as a family, and I decided to do a 30-day vegan challenge.
2
SPEAKER_00
And after the 30 days, I was like, oh, I was feeling better.
2
SPEAKER_00
10 days, the first 10 days, I d had a headache for a year and seven months in the back of my head every day.
2
SPEAKER_00
Every day.
2
SPEAKER_00
I would fall when I would walk.
2
SPEAKER_00
I lost my vision for a day.
2
SPEAKER_00
My body was just attacking itself.
2
SPEAKER_00
First 10 days, my headache disappeared.
2
SPEAKER_00
After every drug, I was getting shots in my head.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was getting everything they offered me.
2
SPEAKER_00
If anything, it was probably making me worse.
2
SPEAKER_00
Nothing worked.
2
SPEAKER_00
10 days of eating plants, headache disappeared.
2
SPEAKER_00
And so I told my husband, I was like, I think this is going to be my life.
2
SPEAKER_00
I think I m going to go vegan.
2
SPEAKER_00
And the moment I said that out of my mouth, on that day 30, I was like, I m not going to go back.
2
SPEAKER_00
I think I m going to be vegan.
2
SPEAKER_00
The same boy said, told me to start doing videos like a hummingbird would fly by your ear.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s how I can explain it.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s how it sounds.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, I ll tell people what you re eating in your video.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I said, Oh Lord, I don t know if I want to do that because
2
SPEAKER_00
that makes it kind of permanent.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m from North Carolina.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not doing a challenge.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m doing, for real, this is my life.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m going to be vegan.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I never wanted people to feel like I was trying to shame anybody or anything.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I was just like,
2
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
2
SPEAKER_00
I had also shaved off all my hair at the time, because my hair was always long and straight.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I was just doing a whole new transformation.
2
SPEAKER_00
And so I was like, OK.
2
SPEAKER_00
I just started telling people, I m going vegan.
2
SPEAKER_00
And when I find food items, I m going to share it with y all.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m going to cook some recipes and share when I find good vegan food.
2
SPEAKER_00
And that s how it started.
2
SPEAKER_00
And nobody was watching.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, there s 33 people on here, Lord, while I m cooking live.
2
SPEAKER_00
You said thousands of minutes.
2
SPEAKER_00
Where are they?
2
SPEAKER_00
I would cry.
2
SPEAKER_00
Because I d be like, I don t know why God has me doing this.
2
SPEAKER_00
I don t know what I m doing.
2
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, that was August of 2017.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I think by October, I started, I was feeling so much better.
2
SPEAKER_00
I started driving Uber because I didn t go back to work.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ve been on disability for over a year.
2
SPEAKER_00
And so I told my husband, I was like, mm hmm.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, I don t want to go back to a nine to five.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m going to just see what God got out here for me.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m in LA.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m going to drive Uber, probably pick up a producer or director.
2
SPEAKER_00
They re going to love me.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ll call you from set.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s how I think.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m like, I m about to get discovered in my car out here in LA.
2
SPEAKER_00
In December 30th of 2017, I dropped somebody off by Whole Foods, driving Uber that morning.
2
SPEAKER_00
Went in there and got me a breakfast sandwich because I was still, you know, vegan, new to being vegan, but Whole Foods always got a vegan option.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I was like, oh, I m going to go in and get me breakfast.
2
SPEAKER_00
I had never heard of vegan bacon at that time.
2
SPEAKER_00
They had a sandwich in the prepared food section and it was called a TLTA and it was like tempeh, bacon, and lettuce, tomato, avocado.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, oh, I ain t never heard of that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Throw me a little pickle on there, honey, a little onion and stuff.
2
SPEAKER_00
Ate the first half so fast, I was like, oh wait, I need to do a video to tell people I found a new vegan option.
2
SPEAKER_00
Sat in my car, because I was on my Uber break, did a video, posted it, went on back to driving Uber.
2
SPEAKER_00
By the time I got home, that video had like 50,000 views.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, who watching this video?
2
SPEAKER_00
Next morning, over 100 something thousand.
2
SPEAKER_00
I told my husband, I said, I think I m going viral.
2
SPEAKER_00
He was like, what that mean?
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, I don t know.
2
SPEAKER_00
People are watching though.
2
SPEAKER_00
Exactly.
2
SPEAKER_00
He s like, you gonna make any money?
2
SPEAKER_00
I was like, I have no idea.
2
SPEAKER_00
Four days later, Whole Foods reached out and they were like, we saw your video.
2
SPEAKER_00
On Facebook, they DM d me.
2
SPEAKER_00
And they were like, we would love to work with you.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I became their brand ambassador for plant-based living, did over 15 campaigns and the rest is history.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yep, honey, ain t drove Uber since, but I will if I have to, but I haven t.
2
SPEAKER_00
And my life has been on this journey ever since.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s amazing, so December 2017.
2
SPEAKER_00
Mm-hmm, December 30th of 2017.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you started making videos a couple months prior.
2
SPEAKER_00
August, mm-hmm.
2
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yep.
2
SPEAKER_01
Isn t it interesting, what if after like a month of doing these videos, you just said, you know what, this isn t working, I m not getting thousands of views right away, so I m gonna stop.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
Where do you think your life would be if you stopped a day before you post that video, just said, I don t wanna do this anymore, it s not working right away,
2
SPEAKER_01
You know, God said it would happen right away.
2
SPEAKER_01
It s not happening.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m going to stop.
2
SPEAKER_01
Where do you think your life would be?
2
SPEAKER_00
I d probably be working, you know, still auditioning, but I d be working a nine to five.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I d still be pursuing the dream of acting.
2
SPEAKER_00
And the thing about acting is, and I told you this before, that used to be my
2
SPEAKER_00
My only focus, right, I had put myself in this box where all I thought about was like, oh, I want to be a series regular.
2
SPEAKER_00
Or, you know, of course, I would love to be, you know, the lead in a film.
2
SPEAKER_00
Those were my big break ideas.
2
SPEAKER_00
And God was like, you can do that.
2
SPEAKER_00
You can do that, Tabitha.
2
SPEAKER_00
You can do that.
2
SPEAKER_00
But let me show you what I can do.
2
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
This is what he can do.
2
SPEAKER_00
This is my fourth book, but my third New York Times bestseller.
2
SPEAKER_00
I never ever even had an idea to write a book.
2
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right.
2
SPEAKER_00
I have seasonings.
2
SPEAKER_00
I have a haircare line.
2
SPEAKER_00
I have a major partnership with Target.
2
SPEAKER_00
I have my own food, my own clothes, my own furniture.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right.
2
SPEAKER_00
I have all these things that I never imagined.
2
SPEAKER_00
And that s because God says it s more than what you can imagine if you trust me.
2
SPEAKER_00
And so I do.
2
SPEAKER_01
Wow, this is inspiring.
2
SPEAKER_01
This is inspiring.
2
SPEAKER_01
If someone is feeling, maybe not like in a complete depression or completely sick or completely out of it, but they just know there s something more for them.
2
SPEAKER_01
Maybe their relationships aren t where they want them to be, or maybe their career is just off a little bit, or they just feel like, I just don t feel like the fire inside of me is driving me to where I need to be.
2
SPEAKER_01
You talk about 30 days to living free.
2
SPEAKER_01
What s the first few steps someone can take in starting to live free to get that alignment back inside of them?
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it s so funny because this is why I started this challenge, right?
2
SPEAKER_00
This is a challenge that I started in 2014 because I was trying to, because what you re describing is feeling stuck, right?
2
SPEAKER_00
It s like, you know, there s something else, but you don t know what it is.
2
SPEAKER_00
We get in such a routine that we forget we haven t done anything outside of our routine for so long.
2
SPEAKER_00
So I always say, start with doing something new.
2
SPEAKER_00
It can be as simple as driving a different way to work or a different way to a friend
3
SPEAKER_00
house, whatever, or walking a different way, just so that your eyes can see something it s never seen before.
3
SPEAKER_00
Something new that shifts the brain, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Like even wearing something you normally don t wear.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like for me, I would tell people, if you wear black all the time, throw some color on.
3
SPEAKER_01
I gotta throw some color on soon, you know?
3
SPEAKER_00
Like for me, I don t like wearing black, but I found this and I was like, it got a little color on it.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s cool.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m doing a new thing, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
And so it s little things, even trying a new food, you know, going to a dinner or lunch by yourself.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know how many people are afraid to eat alone?
3
SPEAKER_00
I know.
3
SPEAKER_00
Doing things that challenge you, that will open up a new space inside of you.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s what doing a new thing does for us.
3
SPEAKER_00
And that s how we start to think, oh, okay.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then going back to like, what is your dream?
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, what s the thing that won t let you rest?
3
SPEAKER_00
And I talked about this recently, because people sometimes they get confused by a dream versus a goal.
3
SPEAKER_00
Goals are things that we create.
3
SPEAKER_00
Dreams are deposited inside of us.
3
SPEAKER_01
Let s go.
3
SPEAKER_00
We don t make them up.
3
SPEAKER_00
They live there.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s why we can t rest, because they re constantly nagging us.
3
SPEAKER_00
A goal, you can be like, I didn t make that goal, or I did it, Chet.
3
SPEAKER_00
But the dream won t let you rest.
3
SPEAKER_00
Even when you manifest it and it comes, it still is persistent.
3
SPEAKER_00
There s more to do until we are getting called home.
3
SPEAKER_00
The dream is just, it lives inside of us.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s born inside of us.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I always say, do one small thing every day towards your dream.
3
SPEAKER_00
Even if you re stuck in the nine-to-five job or in a relationship that, you know, or business, whatever the case is, that makes you feel like, oh, I don t have time to do something towards me.
3
SPEAKER_00
Right.
3
SPEAKER_00
Which we are worthy of doing something toward ourself every day.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
3
SPEAKER_00
do one small thing, whether it s reading something that can help open up, you know, an idea in your mind to help you get closer to your dream, whether it s watching a movie or a TV show or listening to a podcast that can help inspire or open up something in your mind, something small every day.
3
SPEAKER_00
One little thing.
3
SPEAKER_01
There s a lot of people that I feel like that want to be they want to achieve their dreams or be successful so quickly.
3
SPEAKER_01
You know, if they haven t made it by 27, it s like they re a failure.
3
SPEAKER_00
I don t know who put that time frame on us, Lord.
3
SPEAKER_01
But you started to really gain traction in your late 30s, early 40s, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
Yes.
3
SPEAKER_01
What was the biggest lesson for you for, I guess, having success later in your 30s and early 40s versus in 20s?
3
SPEAKER_01
What did you learn about yourself?
3
SPEAKER_00
I learned that I was not ready when I thought I was.
3
SPEAKER_00
I wouldn t have had nothing to show for it, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
I needed to do, as my dada would say, keep on living.
3
SPEAKER_00
I needed to do more living before it came so that I could, A, know how to pray for it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Cause a lot of times I used to pray, pray, pray for all these things to happen.
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh God, I want my dreams to come true.
3
SPEAKER_00
And you know, I m fast and I m praying on it, but I was never praying God when I get it, prepare me to keep it.
3
SPEAKER_01
Let s go.
3
SPEAKER_01
This is the biggest challenge for a lot of people.
3
SPEAKER_01
I m so glad you said this because early on, I was probably 25, 26.
3
SPEAKER_01
I remember being broke, living on my sister s couch for a year and a half, no money.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I had a mentor at the time that I was working for for free, learning from him.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I was like, man, I m really struggling.
3
SPEAKER_01
I could really use some money right now.
3
SPEAKER_01
And he said, money comes to you when you re ready for it.
3
SPEAKER_01
I was like, I feel pretty ready.
3
SPEAKER_01
I feel ready for this.
3
SPEAKER_01
But he s like, it ll come to you when you re ready for it.
3
SPEAKER_01
Otherwise, if you get it too early, you ll probably lose it.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I think it s similar to having a dream.
3
SPEAKER_01
If you re not prepared for success or prepared for the pressures that might come with it, you might sabotage it.
3
SPEAKER_01
You might lose it.
3
SPEAKER_01
You might squander it.
3
SPEAKER_01
You might not be ready.
3
SPEAKER_01
for all of the responsibility, the weight, that potentially could come with it, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
That s right.
3
SPEAKER_01
So you don t feel like you would have been ready for it in your 20s or early 30s, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh, absolutely not.
3
SPEAKER_00
I wasn t ready for everything I was going to gain.
3
SPEAKER_00
I also wasn t ready for everything I was going to lose.
3
SPEAKER_00
What did you lose?
3
SPEAKER_00
Friendships, relationships, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Things that, people that I thought I would have in my life forever.
3
SPEAKER_00
And when I started walking in my freedom, they started to disappear.
3
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_00
But God revealed to me, he said, everybody s not ready to walk in their freedom.
3
SPEAKER_00
So being close to you while you re in yours is disturbing their spirit.
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I couldn t allow that to affect me in a way that I know it would have affected me in my 20s or early 30s.
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh my gosh.
3
SPEAKER_00
But in this 45,
3
SPEAKER_00
I m all right with it.
3
SPEAKER_00
I love them, but I understand.
3
SPEAKER_00
45 feeling alive.
3
SPEAKER_00
I feel alive.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_01
So, man, I can resonate with that because, you know, in my teens or my early 20s, there were certain relationships that I had formed that made me feel good and safe.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yep.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I remember losing relationships almost every few years.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
And I would be really sad that I was losing these relationships, that people want to call me back or they didn t want to hang out anymore.
3
SPEAKER_01
But I also know that I was in such a pursuit of my mission and pursuing things.
3
SPEAKER_01
that later I found out that some of my friends told me like it scared them, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
Because I was pursuing certain things and they weren t pursuing the things they wanted.
3
SPEAKER_01
So I felt really hurt that they didn t want to hang out anymore, but it also kind of set me free to have more time for mentors or people that were wiser or older than me who I could learn from and build relationships with them to give me counsel and to kind of guide me forward.
3
SPEAKER_01
That s right.
3
SPEAKER_01
And that s one of the most challenging things, I think, is leaving the friend tribe.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
When you want to bring people with you, but they may not be ready for your next level.
3
SPEAKER_01
Everybody can t go.
3
SPEAKER_01
They can t all go.
3
SPEAKER_00
Everybody can t go.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know, I feel like a lot of times we feel bad because we, especially when you love people.
3
SPEAKER_00
I love people.
3
SPEAKER_00
Me too.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m a people lover.
3
SPEAKER_01
if you re a loyal person, all these things, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
You always want to turn around and bring them back.
3
SPEAKER_00
And God revealed one day to me, he said, listen, everyone who you need to bring along, you don t have to turn around to get them.
3
SPEAKER_00
He said, because when you turn around, that s when you get distracted from it.
3
SPEAKER_00
You got to keep your eye forward.
3
SPEAKER_00
The moment you do this, you might have just crashed.
3
SPEAKER_00
He said, the people who are supposed to come, all you got to do is go like this.
3
SPEAKER_00
You never got to turn around.
3
SPEAKER_00
They right there.
3
SPEAKER_00
They right there.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s just like a hand off a baton.
3
SPEAKER_00
You watch a marathon.
3
SPEAKER_00
They ain t never turning around to reach for it.
3
SPEAKER_00
They just right here.
3
SPEAKER_00
So the ones who are supposed to come with you, you don t have to turn around to go get them.
3
SPEAKER_01
So you ve been married for 20 plus years, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yep.
3
SPEAKER_01
How has that worked with your relationship and marriage?
3
SPEAKER_01
You know, with you and your husband, have you, did you have struggle when you started to step into your authentic self?
3
SPEAKER_01
Because you became a different person.
3
SPEAKER_01
Maybe you became the person you always were, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
Was there ever challenges in your marriage or relationship as you started to thrive?
3
SPEAKER_01
Or was there alignment right away and just like everything was perfect?
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh honey, listen, my husband was so happy.
3
SPEAKER_00
He was like, finally, the world get to see who I know.
3
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
I mean, for years, he hated the industry of Hollywood, because he saw how it changed me.
3
SPEAKER_00
He would always say, why you can t just be you?
3
SPEAKER_00
I mean, it would be all the time.
3
SPEAKER_00
Why you can t just be Tab?
3
SPEAKER_00
We know.
3
SPEAKER_00
The same Tab that talked to your daddy.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I d be like, that ain t what they want.
3
SPEAKER_00
I gotta be this Tab.
3
SPEAKER_00
Those were the arguments.
3
SPEAKER_00
And all the no s I would get, and all the hard work I would be studying and going to class, and he d be like, you re doing all of this, and they still don t like you.
3
SPEAKER_00
So he hated the industry for a long time.
3
SPEAKER_00
So when I became free and started walking in my freedom walk, he was like, now the world gets to see who I love.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I was like.
3
SPEAKER_00
You was kind of right about it, I guess, all along.
3
SPEAKER_00
But no, it actually has made our relationship better and stronger.
3
SPEAKER_01
That s great.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
I think Jim Carrey had a quote, I m going to paraphrase it, where he said his father got fired from a career that he didn t love.
3
SPEAKER_01
And it wasn t his main thing he wanted to do.
3
SPEAKER_01
He always wanted to be a comedian, but he never pursued the dream.
3
SPEAKER_01
And he said something like, you can get fired at what you don t love, what you re not good at, so you might as well go after what you do love.
3
SPEAKER_01
It s kind of like you, it s like people weren t choosing you for who you weren t, so you might as well be who you want to be.
3
SPEAKER_01
And get not chosen for who you are.
3
SPEAKER_01
Something you brought up earlier about the walking in the hallway, closing your eyes, it reminded me of the Helen Keller quote, I m paraphrasing, where she said something like,
3
SPEAKER_01
A lot of people have sight but no vision.
3
SPEAKER_01
And you were able to close your eyes and visualize literally walking and not hitting the walls, but also visualizing the dream that you had for yourself in those moments.
3
SPEAKER_01
If you were able to have vision, a lot of us are seeing but we don t have vision.
3
SPEAKER_01
What do you think is blocking us from having true vision?
3
SPEAKER_00
I think a lack of faith, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Because faith is, you know, believing things unseen, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So I think that, you know, what is the word is walk by faith, not by sight.
4
SPEAKER_01
So I have faith in the things I feel, the things that I believe.
4
SPEAKER_01
I have faith that they re going to work.
4
SPEAKER_00
Even if you haven t seen them yet?
4
SPEAKER_01
Even if I haven t seen them, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
I ve never seen God s face.
4
SPEAKER_01
But I believe, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
I ve heard a voice.
4
SPEAKER_01
I believe.
4
SPEAKER_01
I have faith in the visions that he has shown me in my dreams or while I m awake.
4
SPEAKER_01
I have faith in those things.
4
SPEAKER_01
I believe in confirmation, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
I remember people used to ask me and still ask me often,
4
SPEAKER_01
How did you keep going after all this time?
4
SPEAKER_01
It took you over 20 years to get to success.
4
SPEAKER_01
On the moments where you felt like giving up, what were the things that kept you going?
4
SPEAKER_01
And I always tell people, I would look at the signs of confirmation.
4
SPEAKER_01
I remember I used to work in a staffing company in Greensboro, North Carolina.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I was on my lunch break, went through the drive-thru, and a little guy, when I got to the drive-thru to pay, he was like,
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, hey.
4
SPEAKER_01
He was like, aren t you the lady on the show?
4
SPEAKER_01
Aren t you on Nickelodeon or something like that?
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, oh no, I work at Selective Staff off of High Point Road.
4
SPEAKER_01
He was like, okay.
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, okay.
4
SPEAKER_01
He was like, no, don t you have the show with the kids?
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, I don t know what you re talking about, honey.
4
SPEAKER_01
I must look like somebody.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I remember thinking like, huh, why did he say that?
4
SPEAKER_01
You know, back then in, in God spoke to my spirit and said, cause he can see your destiny.
4
SPEAKER_01
So little moments like that will confirm.
4
SPEAKER_01
And we re talking 2003, 2004 when that happened.
4
SPEAKER_01
I just want to end me for my children s show.
4
SPEAKER_01
I didn t even dream of having all 20 years later.
4
SPEAKER_01
I d have never thought I was going to have a children s show.
4
SPEAKER_01
It was confirmation, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
So if we pay attention to the little signs, I remember thinking, like, I used to work at a nursing home, assisted living home, and we had to wear our uniforms.
4
SPEAKER_01
It was like khaki pants and polo shirts.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I worked the night shift.
4
SPEAKER_01
And it was hard.
4
SPEAKER_01
It was hard.
4
SPEAKER_00
This was like 2010.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I remember I would take breaks and go to the bathroom and put water on my face, because overnight you re working at 11 at night to 7 in the morning, and I m trying to stay awake.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I would just stare at myself in the mirror, and some days I would just cry.
4
SPEAKER_01
I d be like, I look at myself, and for a flash, I would see myself on a red carpet.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I would be like, I m clearly in khakis and a blue polo.
4
SPEAKER_01
But for a quick second, I could see myself.
4
SPEAKER_01
I said, something is coming.
4
SPEAKER_01
It would just give me this boost.
4
SPEAKER_01
I would just get excited.
4
SPEAKER_01
I would get so excited.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I know from being there, so many things happen, very supernatural things.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I used to be like, Oh, why?
4
SPEAKER_01
Cause I kept getting drawn to go work at a nursing home.
4
SPEAKER_01
My mother was a hospice worker.
4
SPEAKER_01
She was a social worker, but as a kid, she always taught me to respect our elders and just understand how much wisdom they hold.
4
SPEAKER_01
Right.
4
SPEAKER_01
And so I would read to them when I was a kid.
4
SPEAKER_01
So after she passed away, I had this urge to go work in a nursing home and specifically the night shift, which was crazy.
4
SPEAKER_01
Right.
4
SPEAKER_01
So all these supernatural things would happen when I was there.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I feel like God had me there because one day I ll make a show about it, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
Also because seniors and elderly people are the best people in the world.
4
SPEAKER_01
They are the funniest.
4
SPEAKER_01
They don t care.
4
SPEAKER_01
There s no more fear.
4
SPEAKER_01
They don t care about what you think about them.
4
SPEAKER_01
They ve seen it all, done it all, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
And so sometimes I think the flash that I saw of myself on these like red carpets and like lights and stuff, maybe it s because I ll do a show, I ll create a show about my experience there and then I ll win, you know, maybe some awards or something for it.
4
SPEAKER_01
I don t know.
4
SPEAKER_01
But little things like that were always signs for me.
4
SPEAKER_01
So I always tell people, look for your signs.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes you can be, I don t know, talking to a friend that you have a certain relationship with, but you don t tell them your dreams.
4
SPEAKER_01
But they may say to you one day just out of nowhere, you ever thought about doing such and such?
4
SPEAKER_01
And it s the thing that lives inside of you.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s your sign.
4
SPEAKER_01
You never told them that.
4
SPEAKER_01
How did they say that?
4
SPEAKER_01
That s your sign.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s confirmation.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s how you keep going.
4
SPEAKER_01
Look for your signs.
4
SPEAKER_00
You have a quote that I saw said, obedience is better than sacrifice.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
What does that mean?
4
SPEAKER_01
Oh, honey, because obedience is the thing that it s hard to do.
4
SPEAKER_01
Right.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s hard to be obedient sometimes because sometimes we want to be in control.
4
SPEAKER_01
You know that feeling you get under your, that gut feeling as we call it, I call that the gift under the tummy.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s what I say gut stands for.
4
SPEAKER_01
Cause we all got it.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s obedience, obeying that.
4
SPEAKER_01
Like when something is happening, you got to make a decision.
4
SPEAKER_01
You got to be obedient.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes it s not the thing you want to sacrifice to do.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes it s the thing that you have to be obedient and do so that you can go to the next place.
4
SPEAKER_01
Cause I think that we all have,
4
SPEAKER_01
a certain amount of grace God gives us all.
4
SPEAKER_01
But I feel like we can get at a road that has a left and a right.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sacrifice is to the left, obedience is to the right.
4
SPEAKER_01
He also gives us the grace to make a decision.
4
SPEAKER_01
One turn might get us there quicker.
4
SPEAKER_01
Blessings may feel better.
4
SPEAKER_01
The other turn may be a whole different, uncomfortable ride.
4
SPEAKER_01
Right?
4
SPEAKER_01
So obedience is better than sacrifice.
4
SPEAKER_00
Where was a time in your life where you sacrificed as opposed to were obedient?
4
SPEAKER_00
And what happened for you?
4
SPEAKER_01
So many times.
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean, about 20 years, I was living a lot of sacrifice.
4
SPEAKER_00
How does it look different for someone when they do something based on making a sacrifice, and maybe they think they re supposed to do this, versus being obedient?
4
SPEAKER_01
I think sometimes we could say some people, you know how you may want to start a business, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
And so you may sell your house, but something inside you feels like, this is not right.
4
SPEAKER_01
But you make the sacrifice and you do it anyway.
4
SPEAKER_01
Business fail.
4
SPEAKER_01
You ignore the obedience.
4
SPEAKER_01
You ignore the thing that said, don t do it that way because you thought you were in control and that your way, your idea was better.
4
SPEAKER_01
Right.
4
SPEAKER_01
And sometimes it s hard to decipher, like, is this my thinking or is this,
4
SPEAKER_01
the gift, is this God speaking to me?
4
SPEAKER_01
Is this the thing that lives inside of me, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
And so I always say, like, if you can come up with the idea and you can write it down and, you know, it s great, you can kind of come back to it, but you can also kind of forget about it a little bit.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s you thinking.
4
SPEAKER_01
But if he s giving it to you, it s not gonna let you rest.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s gonna keep on nagging.
4
SPEAKER_01
And also signs will come to confirm it.
4
SPEAKER_01
And like I said before, he ain t complicated.
4
SPEAKER_01
it s a little bit easier sometimes.
4
SPEAKER_01
Sometimes there s roadblocks.
4
SPEAKER_01
Cause now there are roadblocks sometimes, but if we read the sign on the roadblock, it may not be a roadblock.
4
SPEAKER_01
It may just be, okay, there s a little bump here, but read the sign.
4
SPEAKER_01
You can still go this way.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s just going to be a little bit harder.
4
SPEAKER_01
Reward will be greater later, but we just got to make sure we know which, which way we re going.
4
SPEAKER_01
And so,
4
SPEAKER_01
I ve done that many times, but every time I went against that thing, I get burned every time.
4
SPEAKER_01
Really?
4
SPEAKER_01
Oh, every time.
4
SPEAKER_01
Something doesn t work out.
4
SPEAKER_01
It just doesn t.
4
SPEAKER_01
I remember, and this happened recently, I had an opportunity to go in business with somebody to do a restaurant.
4
SPEAKER_01
and absolutely love my business partner.
4
SPEAKER_01
His name is Neiman, love him.
4
SPEAKER_01
He has a restaurant in Chicago that I fell in love with, kill my name.
4
SPEAKER_01
And so he was like, I wanna open one in LA.
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, I ll be your business partner.
4
SPEAKER_01
I ain t never did restaurant business.
4
SPEAKER_01
I did food, but I ain t never did restaurant business.
4
SPEAKER_01
I didn t know all this stuff, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
But I was like, I know I can get people to come type of thing.
4
SPEAKER_01
And so I invested.
4
SPEAKER_01
and did it.
4
SPEAKER_01
A lot of things happened with this building.
4
SPEAKER_01
A lot of things happened that we couldn t keep the business open.
4
SPEAKER_01
Really?
4
SPEAKER_01
Right?
4
SPEAKER_01
And so
4
SPEAKER_01
While we were in the process of, before we ever opened, I kept coming in and I was like, I don t know, I got a feeling.
4
SPEAKER_01
Maybe this is not the right location.
4
SPEAKER_01
And he kept saying, oh, no, no, no, I know it is.
4
SPEAKER_01
And he had his reasons.
4
SPEAKER_01
He had his own reasons.
4
SPEAKER_01
And so I said, OK, we ll go with it.
4
SPEAKER_01
And my prayer was, God, if it s not meant to be, don t let it last.
4
SPEAKER_00
Ended quick.
4
SPEAKER_01
And baby, it ended quick.
4
SPEAKER_01
It was grand opening, grand closing.
4
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s how it felt, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
But I had so much peace with it, because I knew.
4
SPEAKER_01
I was like, I went against the good one.
4
SPEAKER_01
But he s still doing amazing and successful with his restaurant in Chicago.
4
SPEAKER_00
That s right.
4
SPEAKER_00
And it s almost, you know, the greatest blessing had, you went against your obedience, but it ended quickly.
4
SPEAKER_00
It didn t go on for five years of misery.
4
SPEAKER_00
Right.
4
SPEAKER_00
Like, at least it ended within a year or something.
5
SPEAKER_01
And it was, okay, I only lost a little bit, and it didn t work out, and it didn t take all my time and energy, as opposed to years, where some people are disobedient, and they stay in a relationship for 20 years too long.
5
SPEAKER_01
Or they stay in a business because they have pride, well, I started this, and I want to make sure it doesn t fail.
5
SPEAKER_01
And they go against obedience, and they suffer more.
5
SPEAKER_00
And then the hope is that when you come out of it, that you learned.
5
SPEAKER_00
Right, because I definitely learned.
5
SPEAKER_00
To me, it was like God is saying, okay, now remember, I ve already shown you this.
5
SPEAKER_01
Don t do it again.
5
SPEAKER_01
Or it might be more painful.
5
SPEAKER_00
Exactly.
5
SPEAKER_01
Might be more painful.
5
SPEAKER_01
How did you know you were prepared and ready for the pressure and the weight of the success that came your way or the abundance that started coming your way five, six years ago?
5
SPEAKER_00
I think because I didn t necessarily know I was necessarily ready, but I felt normal, if it makes sense.
5
SPEAKER_00
My husband used to say, he talks about this sometimes, but we ve been together for 26 years this year, so he s been with me since I ve been pursuing acting and all this stuff in entertainment.
5
SPEAKER_00
And when we first moved to LA, it didn t matter what I auditioned for.
5
SPEAKER_00
this is it.
5
SPEAKER_00
I would come home and be like, this gonna be it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Honey, I know this is the road that s gonna take me here.
5
SPEAKER_00
It could have been a short film.
5
SPEAKER_00
It could have been a commercial.
5
SPEAKER_00
Whatever it was, it was always a thing.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I would come home just overly excited.
5
SPEAKER_00
Like, oh, I can t wait.
5
SPEAKER_00
We re gonna win the film festival.
5
SPEAKER_00
I would just be all over the place excited.
5
SPEAKER_00
And that went on for years, right?
5
SPEAKER_00
This stuff started happening in the last, we ll say the last five years, but about three years ago, 2020, things really just went crazy.
5
SPEAKER_00
So much was happening.
5
SPEAKER_00
I mean, campaigns, money, brand deals, products, everything.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I was very calm, very grateful, always in a state of gratitude, but very calm.
5
SPEAKER_00
So my husband came to me, he said, hey, listen, I m a little concerned.
5
SPEAKER_00
I said, why, what s going on?
5
SPEAKER_00
He was like, so for years when you was doing the acting thing and you were not making money, we were struggling.
5
SPEAKER_00
you would be so excited, so, so, so excited about, oh, this is it, this is it.
5
SPEAKER_00
And it wasn t it.
5
SPEAKER_00
He said, now, this is it.
5
SPEAKER_00
And you re not excited the same way.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I said, oh, I said, oh, I get it now.
5
SPEAKER_00
I said, because back then my flesh was excited and I was all over the place.
5
SPEAKER_00
But my spirit was like, girl, no, no, no.
5
SPEAKER_00
You got to keep on going.
5
SPEAKER_00
This ain t it.
5
SPEAKER_00
This, this not it.
5
SPEAKER_00
I said, well, now my spirit and flesh, we are in alignment.
5
SPEAKER_00
So this feels like home.
5
SPEAKER_01
It feels normal to me.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, your nervous system is safer.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s safe.
5
SPEAKER_00
It feels like, oh, I feel balanced.
5
SPEAKER_00
I was out of balance before because I wasn t in alignment.
5
SPEAKER_00
I said, so now I can be in a full state of gratitude.
5
SPEAKER_00
I cry a lot because I m so happy, but I m not all over the place.
5
SPEAKER_00
I was like, so now I know this is what God had prepared me for.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I feel at peace.
5
SPEAKER_00
And so it gives me, when we re at peace and we have a understanding that I m doing what God has planned for me and has purposed me to do, I know I m ready for it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
I also don t have a problem saying no.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s how you really know when you re ready.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_01
When someone s trying to give you money and you re saying, I m good.
5
SPEAKER_00
And you re like, nah, I m all right.
5
SPEAKER_00
God bless y all.
5
SPEAKER_01
I m alright.
5
SPEAKER_01
That s a big move.
5
SPEAKER_01
That s like obedience at a high level.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, because I said no to a whole lot of things in the beginning of this journey before money started coming in.
5
SPEAKER_00
And it was money, good money.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I was like, that s not an alignment where God has taken me.
5
SPEAKER_00
I gotta pass on it.
5
SPEAKER_00
And that s how I knew that I really was living and believing what God has for me is for me.
5
SPEAKER_00
Because I ve been like, we need that money, but I m not gonna sacrifice.
5
SPEAKER_00
I m gonna have to be obedient.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that s so good because we ve been doing this show for 11 years.
5
SPEAKER_01
I ve never been drunk in my life or high.
5
SPEAKER_01
I just don t do drugs or anything.
5
SPEAKER_01
And we ve had different, you know, gambling companies or alcohol companies always wanted to sponsor.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I just said no to all of it.
5
SPEAKER_01
And they ve got big money.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_01
Like, OK, that money could be nice and I could hire more people and do these things.
5
SPEAKER_01
But if it s not in alignment with me.
5
SPEAKER_01
It just doesn t feel right.
5
SPEAKER_01
Not saying that other people shouldn t take that.
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Right.
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That s somebody else s blessing.
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Exactly.
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It s not for you.
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That s right.
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And I feel like I feel good even though I haven t taken that type of money or those opportunities.
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And I feel like it s growing in the way that I want it to grow.
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I don t need those things.
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I think that s really hard for people to say no.
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Yeah.
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When it s out of alignment.
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Yeah.
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And so that s challenging to do.
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Yeah, it is.
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You have to get to a place where you can do that.
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But I also understand desperation.
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Yeah, yeah.
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You might have to take stuff.
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Sometimes, yeah.
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I mean, back in the day, some of the movies and stuff I ve done from way back, I d be like, oh, Lord.
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But I was like, I got paid $500 to do that, or $5,000, and that $5,000 was the only money I made for six months, right?
5
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So I m grateful for all of it though, because it s my story.
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I did scripts that were terrible, and I thought were funny, and now I m like, oh God, it was not funny.
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you know, just learning.
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But that s my story to tell, you know?
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And that also can help inspire somebody else that is in that season in their life.
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We all go through different seasons.
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Yeah.
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What have you learned about the keys to having a healthy relationship and successful marriage when you didn t have the success, the fame, the notoriety, you know, for the first, I guess,
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15 years to now having more of that.
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What have you learned as one person in a relationship, you know, gets more famous and successful and financially well off?
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What have you learned or what advice would you give others in relationships?
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For us, it s always been, we all we got.
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Right?
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You know, the saying, don t believe the hype.
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I live by that.
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Don t believe the hype.
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My husband, we are our foundation.
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That s where it begins.
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It s God first and then us.
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Right?
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Then the children and all the things.
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But together, we can do everything together.
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You know, my husband was, we moved to LA and so that I could pursue my dreams.
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For 15 years, he was a Los Angeles police officer.
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Wow.
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He was like, I can go get this job and we can at least have one solid income that has benefits, you know, cause we had kids and you could pursue your dream and never have to get, you know, a career like a job, job, although I always had a job, but I might have a job for a year or two and then quit or, you know, whatever.
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So he sacrificed.
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Right?
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He did that.
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And I used to tell him, five years I m going to blow up out here in LA and I m going to take you out of there.
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And he d be like, don t, I don t care about that.
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I just want, I m fine.
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Pursue your dream.
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Pursue your dream.
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Right?
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We did that together.
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And so it didn t happen in five years, but after 15 years, I was like, listen, this don t even make sense for you to be working no more.
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Please retire, like from LAPD and do something that you want to do, you know, something else.
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So being together and never letting the noise in, like people start believing the hype.
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I am Tabitha Brown only because I carried my husband s last name.
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Right.
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So
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I am a wife first.
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Like that s what it is.
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Like me and my husband, that s it.
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Everything else is added on.
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That s all.
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It s just work is work, but we never let it, I don t know how to explain it.
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I think that people, sometimes they forget that marriage should be first.
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And for me, it s family first.
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It s gonna always be that.
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My career is my bonus that I get to live.
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All the other things, it s the bonus.
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My dream, God gave me.
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I also feel like my husband was part of my dream.
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That s part of who I am.
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This is who he chose for me to do this life with.
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What s his name?
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Chance.
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Chance.
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What s the thing you love about Chance the most?
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Honey, he makes me feel safe.
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But Chance is not going to do nothing that Chance don t want to do.
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You d be like, hey, you want to go to?
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Nope, not doing that.
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Like, it s just sometimes it gets on my nerves.
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But it s also admirable, like, oh, you re not easily influenced.
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He s authentic to who he is.
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Oh, yeah.
5
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Oh, yeah.
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Absolutely.
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I guess at a marriage, you got to have to deal with certain things you don t want to do all the time.
5
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Oh, yeah.
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Let me tell you now, there s many days, though, he get on my nerves with that.
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I d be like, you know what?
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I can t stand that about you.
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And then other days, like, I love that.
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about it, you know?
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But I think another thing is he s a phenomenal father.
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I ve been able to witness my husband in all stages of his life, right?
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We grew up together.
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We ve known each other pretty much our whole life since we were 10.
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And so I ve seen him as a boy.
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I ve seen him as a young man.
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And now, you know, a man, man, you know, he s 45.
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And it s been an honor to watch him evolve and grow and mature.
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But fatherhood has been one of the best things to witness.
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That s beautiful.
6
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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Chance the man.
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You talk about fears a lot in the book, I Did a New Thing.
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What do you think
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was the biggest fear when you were not fully obedient or fully living the most authentic life that was meant for you?
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And what is the biggest fear now?
6
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Stepping into owning you 100%.
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I think the biggest fear before was, you know, dying with this thing inside of me.
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like never letting it be seen, right?
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Fear now doesn t necessarily live with me as much.
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I don t know if I have a necessary, like I don t know if I have a fear I want to
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I want to change people, right?
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I want to affect them in the best way possible, right?
6
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And sometimes trying to spread love and positivity, people don t want to buy into that sometimes.
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Why is that?
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I think misery loves company.
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You know, and sometimes happiness scares people.
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You know, you can have people that everything s going great, and they ll be like, I know something bad s gonna happen.
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Why?
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We alive to go through it either way, you know?
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So I think sometimes I don t necessarily fear it, but I am concerned.
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Am I doing enough?
6
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with spreading love and trying to reach people.
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Am I doing it the right way?
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Even though I feel at peace about it, I always, you know, I m in prayer like, God, is this really what you want me to do?
6
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I want to make sure I m not ever being triggered to get back into being in control.
6
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Because healing is a journey.
6
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And so sometimes we can be triggered to going back to our old things.
6
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And my old thing is being, I m in control.
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Instead of, no, no, I m letting God be in control, and I m walking.
6
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And I never want to go back.
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I never want to go back.
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How do you know when you re on the right path in surrender versus in control?
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I think it s that feeling.
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For me, it s the feeling off balance.
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When you feel like you re trying to control things?
6
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Yeah.
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You feel more off balance.
6
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Yeah.
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And when nothing seems to be lining up, oh, Tab, you trying to do this.
6
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Step back.
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Step back and let s look at every piece of the puzzle.
6
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and make sure you re not trying to create the puzzle, create the pieces, and put it all together.
6
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Sit back and let God do what God does.
6
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We still have to do our part, because faith without work is dead, right?
6
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But still, you got to let him orchestrate.
6
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Yeah.
6
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Yeah.
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What do you feel like will be the thing that holds you back the most moving forward?
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Besides, you know, being and trying to be in control or not be obedient.
6
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Is there anything else?
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You don t have the fears anymore.
6
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What are you preparing for?
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Like with the abundance coming your way, what are you preparing for to make sure you don t get in your own way?
6
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I think just staying true to who I am.
6
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Right.
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I don t I don t fear.
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I don t fear or project negative, right?
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I m not preparing for negative.
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I m expecting the unexpected, right?
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Which I m always in my mind thinking of God saying it s more than what I can imagine, right?
6
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That s greatness.
6
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That s what I m looking forward to.
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I don t look forward to cloudy days, although I know they will come.
6
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but it s not something I m like, oh, I m planning for a bad day.
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No, I m planning for all good days.
6
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I am being mindful and intentional with joy, right?
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So I don t think, and listen, that may be the thing that holds me back.
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And if it does, then we ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
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But I don t plan on,
6
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allowing anything to shift me outside of the position God has put me in.
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I think that I trust God.
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I believe that he has me on this journey.
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And I m all right with whatever come my way.
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There you go.
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That s just kind of how I feel about it.
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What do you think is the greatest lesson God has taught you?
6
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I was always enough.
6
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I didn t need to try to do his job.
6
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Because the thing about when you conform and when you try to create another person, that s me saying, God, you didn t do a good enough job on me.
6
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I had to fix me.
6
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But he taught me.
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He did a great job, and I was enough just as he created me to be.
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It s inspiring.
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You ve done only three books in the last four years?
6
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Yeah.
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Is that right?
6
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Three in the last four?
6
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Yeah, in a little journal, like a workbook journal, but yeah.
6
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I was keeping track.
6
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Four books in four years, yeah.
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This one s called I Did a New Thing by Tabitha Brown, your number one New York Times bestselling author, multiple New York Times bestselling author.
6
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This is all about the 30 days to living free.
6
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You talk about how to really create new habits and a framework around setting yourself up for freedom, stepping into your truth, overcoming your fears.
6
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I m excited for people to get a copy of I Did a New Thing.
6
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What else are you most excited about these days that you re working on and how we can support and serve you?
6
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Yes, I know we were talking about it.
6
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I m excited to get back into doing more acting.
6
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And I love that, you know, sometimes, and this is important for somebody to hear, somebody needs to be reminded of this.
6
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Sometimes we have a dream, right?
6
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But our journey to get to it doesn t always look like how we envision it.
6
SPEAKER_01
And so God took me on this whole different path that has led me back to be able to do the thing that I ve been dreaming of since I was a kid.
6
SPEAKER_01
And so more acting, I just finished a film, television, you know, doing things that really matter to me, making people laugh, sometimes making them cry, right?
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That s what we do as actors, making people feel, that s it.
6
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Creating more products that people can use in everyday life, because I think that s the most important.
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And I know my fan base, I know my, as I call them, my fam base, they my family.
6
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And, you know, feeding people good food, good recipes, but also feeding their soul with inspiration.
6
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staying true, right?
6
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And I m expanding with my haircare line.
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I don t know if you know my hair.
6
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Her name is Donna.
6
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I named my hair.
6
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She twisted up right now, but, and I normally have a big old afro and her name is Donna.
6
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So I have Donna s recipe because I don t do desserts, but Donna, she can give you desserts for your hair.
6
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So I have a sweet potato pie collection of hair products.
6
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It s at Ulta Beauty, also at Target now.
6
SPEAKER_01
And we re expanding the line and doing more things with that.
6
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So just trying to, you know, build,
6
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an empire, but off of truth.
6
SPEAKER_01
Just like you said, you ll never put your name on no alcohol, because that s not an alignment.
6
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I ll never just throw my name on a product.
6
SPEAKER_01
It s going to be something that you know, oh wait, that s definitely Tab, because this is how she lived her life.
6
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So I just keep on doing things that matter and that are real to me.
6
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That s beautiful.
6
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I am Tabitha Brown on all of her social media.
6
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your TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, you know, YouTube is blown up as well.
6
SPEAKER_00
You got amazing recipes.
6
SPEAKER_00
Alexandra, she s vegan.
6
SPEAKER_01
She told me, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_00
And she was talking about how she wants to try one of your latest recipes.
6
SPEAKER_00
I think it was like a carrot and bacon.
6
SPEAKER_01
Oh, yeah.
6
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I was like, that sounds incredible.
6
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So I m gonna have to have someone make it up.
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And that was like one of my first viral videos on TikTok that took me through the roof in 2020.
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So I got to try that.
7
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someday.
7
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So people can get all your content on social media.
7
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I m tabithabrown.com as well.
7
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But make sure to get the new book, I Did a New Thing.
7
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I ve got a couple final questions for you Tabitha.
7
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First one, before I ask the final two questions, I want to acknowledge you Tabitha for the transformation you ve made and for sharing your transformation so publicly.
7
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and the success that you ve received by owning your truth.
7
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I think a lot of people wear masks in the world.
7
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I wore masks for many years to protect myself, to fit in, to feel like I belonged, all these different things because I was afraid.
7
SPEAKER_01
And we can only create so much success
7
SPEAKER_01
with a mask on, but I think we can create true fulfillment and greatness as our authentic selves.
7
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So I acknowledge you for leaning into that, listening to the voice and being obedient to what you felt was right for you and the impact you ve made by the continual actions you take and how you show up is just really inspiring.
7
SPEAKER_01
So I really acknowledge you for
7
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listening to the voice and taking action to be of service to so many people that watch and listen to you and read your books.
7
SPEAKER_01
So congrats on everything.
7
SPEAKER_01
Thank you for that.
7
SPEAKER_01
Of course.
7
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This question is called the three truths.
7
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So it s a hypothetical scenario.
7
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Imagine you get to live from this moment for as many years as you want to live, but it s eventually your last day on this earth.
7
SPEAKER_00
Okay.
7
SPEAKER_01
And in this hypothetical scenario, you get to create all of your dreams.
7
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They all come true.
7
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You live the life you envision.
7
SPEAKER_01
and you have unexpected things that come to your life as well that are beautiful, but it s the last day.
7
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And for whatever reason on this last day, you have to take all of your work with you.
7
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So no one has access to this book anymore, this interview and anything you create for whatever reason, it s gotta go with you.
7
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But you get to leave behind three lessons to the world.
7
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And this is all we would have to remember you by.
7
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I call it the three truths.
7
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What would be those three truths for you?
7
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I ll live free, spread love, and eat well.
7
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I like it.
7
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Simple and powerful.
7
SPEAKER_01
Final question, Tabitha, what is your definition of greatness?
7
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The definition of greatness is freedom, right?
7
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Being completely free in your world and in everybody else s.
7
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I hope today s episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness.
7
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Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today s show with all the important links.
7
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And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me as well as ad free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our greatness plus channel on apple podcast.
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Leave us a review over on Apple podcast and let me know what you learned over on our social media channels at Lewis Howes.
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I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better.
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And if you want more inspiration from our world-class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness Newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
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And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.
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And now it s time to go out there and do something great.