Latest / How Hard Can It Be? with Diana Maria Riva / Shaun Robinson on Aging Out Loud, the Power of Representation, and Helping the Next Generation
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: You know how some of your girlfriends are your cheerleaders
- 0:03Speaker 1: and others are your bodyguard and a few of them
- 0:05Speaker 1: out there are your Yoda? Well, my next guest is
- 0:08Speaker 1: all three and we'll talk about it. We'll also talk
- 0:10Speaker 1: about carrying the weight of other people's opinions, a soft
- 0:13Speaker 1: launch on being 60, and what would happen if we
- 0:16Speaker 1: let go of the fear. Really, how hard can it be? Hi,
- 0:25Speaker 1: I'm Diana Maria Riva, host of How Hard Can It Be,
- 0:28Speaker 1: a podcast where we discuss midlife and navigating its most
- 0:32Speaker 1: fantastic bullshit. And I'm here with an incredibly smart, talented,
- 0:38Speaker 1: beautiful woman. She's also an award-winning psychologist.
- 0:41Speaker 2: Journalist.
- 0:42Speaker 1: She got her start as a TV news reporter, came
- 0:45Speaker 1: out onto the scene on Access Hollywood. And we know
- 0:49Speaker 1: her today from being the host of 90 Day Fiancé
- 0:52Speaker 1: and all of his franchises and navigating that drama, something
- 0:55Speaker 1: that I do want to talk about. She's also an
- 0:57Speaker 1: author and a philanthropist. Please welcome my guest, Sean Ross.
- 1:00Speaker 2: Thank you. I got to tell you, you are so fly.
- 1:03Speaker 2: I love you so much. You are just so fly.
- 1:05Speaker 2: Your energy. You just like, there's some people when they
- 1:08Speaker 2: walk into the room, like the, it just, the room
- 1:10Speaker 2: is just lighter and funnier. And you know, yes. So
- 1:14Speaker 2: you have that. That's very special. Look at how we're
- 1:17Speaker 2: starting this. She flatters me. Thank you. I am in
- 1:22Speaker 2: awe being given the opportunity. I'm an actor. I'm not
- 1:25Speaker 2: a journalist.
- 1:26Speaker 1: I'm not a journalist. I didn't study journalism like you did.
- 1:30Speaker 1: And being given the opportunity to sit with a journalist,
- 1:34Speaker 1: an accomplished one, an acclaimed one.
- 1:37Speaker 2: Makes me nervous.
- 1:38Speaker 1: But I also know how much you welcome women into
- 1:42Speaker 1: your space and want them to dive in and try.
- 1:46Speaker 2: Yes.
- 1:47Speaker 1: So I am just very grateful that you are... When
- 1:51Speaker 1: your name came up, I was like, could you please
- 1:53Speaker 1: ask her? Because I met you for the first time
- 1:54Speaker 1: very briefly a few months ago.
- 1:56Speaker 2: Yes, we were at Soho House. We were at Soho House.
- 1:59Speaker 2: West Hollywood. Yes. And you were with one of my
- 2:02Speaker 2: favorite ladies, Lisa Vidal. I mean, she is... Amazing. The
- 2:06Speaker 2: Shirley to Myla Verne. And do you remember what we saw,
- 2:09Speaker 2: what I told you was coming that night? The lunar...
- 2:11Speaker 2: It was a rising of the full moon. Oh, it was... Yeah, remember?
- 2:16Speaker 2: The moon came over the horizon. I've never seen it
- 2:19Speaker 2: that big. I know, it was beautiful. And so I'm
- 2:21Speaker 2: like a moon child and I follow the phases just
- 2:24Speaker 2: because I find it... So it makes me realize that
- 2:27Speaker 2: there is something so much bigger out there than us. Yes.
- 2:31Speaker 2: And so I'm glad that we had that moon rising
- 2:34Speaker 2: experience together.
- 2:35Speaker 1: I'm glad that you mentioned it because I'm a moon child.
- 2:38Speaker 1: I am the last day of cancer, July 22nd.
- 2:43Speaker 2: You're a cancer?
- 2:44Speaker 1: Yes.
- 2:44Speaker 2: Stop it. Yes. You are too, aren't you? July 11th. Yes.
- 2:48Speaker 2: You're my sister's birthday. That's right. You're my sister's birthday? Yes. 7-11.
- 2:51Speaker 2: I have to say, that is the best birthday of
- 2:54Speaker 2: the entire year. You cannot find a better... It's the
- 2:57Speaker 2: middle of the summer. It's the middle of the summer.
- 3:00Speaker 2: Everybody's happy. They're on vacation. 7-11. Listen, your sister and me, we've...
- 3:08Speaker 2: It's the best birthday. It is. And you double that,
- 3:10Speaker 2: you got 22. It's 7-22. And this year, I celebrate
- 3:16Speaker 2: my 64th birthday. And you know what?
- 3:20Speaker 1: When you talk about embrace the age, embrace the stage,
- 3:23Speaker 1: you do it beautifully.
- 3:25Speaker 2: You are gorgeous. Thank you. I brought in beauty light.
- 3:28Speaker 2: We don't need them for her. You are beautiful. Well,
- 3:30Speaker 2: thank you. I didn't always embrace it, though. When I
- 3:33Speaker 2: got to Access Hollywood in 1999... Uh-huh. That was before
- 3:39Speaker 2: social media. That was before Wikipedia. The good old days.
- 3:43Speaker 2: All that. So when I remember when I got there,
- 3:47Speaker 2: there's a girlfriend of mine who lives in L.A. We
- 3:50Speaker 2: were in third grade together in Detroit, Michigan. And she
- 3:53Speaker 2: lives there. And she would always say, Sean, can you
- 3:56Speaker 2: just remind me how old we are? Because I know
- 3:59Speaker 2: I see all these interviews you're doing in magazines and
- 4:01Speaker 2: you're mentioning a different age in every single interview. I
- 4:06Speaker 2: would shave off like 12 years. Oh, yes. I'm hitting
- 4:10Speaker 2: the big 42. Can't wait. And she's like, Sean, I
- 4:14Speaker 2: just want to just tell me how old we are
- 4:16Speaker 2: just so I can keep up. And so then when...
- 4:20Speaker 2: Your friends will keep you straight. I remember when Wikipedia
- 4:23Speaker 2: came out. And girl, they had my age up there.
- 4:27Speaker 2: I said, who do I call at Wikipedia to get
- 4:32Speaker 2: this off of this thing called the internet? What is
- 4:36Speaker 2: this about? Yes, yes.
- 4:39Speaker 1: Do you ever live with any kind of clock telling
- 4:42Speaker 1: you to hurry up, do more things, live more? I
- 4:45Speaker 1: constantly question whether I'm working too much, hustling too much,
- 4:49Speaker 1: and not truly having those moments of real life.
- 4:52Speaker 2: Yes, yes. And I try to remind myself that... Happiness
- 4:57Speaker 2: is not coming down the line. Happiness is right here
- 5:01Speaker 2: where we are right now. I woke up last night
- 5:05Speaker 2: and I made the mistake of looking at my phone
- 5:09Speaker 2: and there was a text from a high school classmate
- 5:13Speaker 2: of ours. And she said that a classmate of ours
- 5:18Speaker 2: had passed away. Oh, no. And I went to— and what's
- 5:24Speaker 2: so crazy is I had just seen— we had just had
- 5:27Speaker 2: our reunion, our high school reunion, 10 months ago in Detroit, Michigan. Oh,
- 5:31Speaker 2: and that person was there? Yes. She was the one
- 5:34Speaker 2: who arranged the high school reunions. Oh, my God. Okay. Yeah.
- 5:38Speaker 2: She was the one who would arrange the high school
- 5:40Speaker 2: reunions and would notify us if any classmate of ours
- 5:44Speaker 2: had passed away. Now, my class, we had about 800
- 5:49Speaker 2: kids in my graduating class in high school. That's big.
- 5:52Speaker 2: Grew up in Detroit, Michigan, Cass Tech High School. Dinah
- 5:55Speaker 2: Ross was one of our famous alumni. And- She, this woman, Arisa, who,
- 6:05Speaker 2: God rest her soul, she was the one that would
- 6:08Speaker 2: always keep us updated on what classmates had passed away.
- 6:13Speaker 2: Last August, when we had our, but I graduated from
- 6:18Speaker 2: high school in 1980. So we had our reunion. Was
- 6:24Speaker 2: that 45? 45th or 45th reunion. And there was a
- 6:25Speaker 2: table there. And little, like little kind of plaques, if
- 6:35Speaker 2: you will, small plaques of all of our classmates that
- 6:38Speaker 2: had passed away. There were 51, 51 high school classmates
- 6:49Speaker 2: who had passed away. But granted, this was a class
- 6:52Speaker 2: of 800 plus, really closer to 900. Right. but there
- 6:58Speaker 2: were 51 people that were no longer there. Wow. And
- 7:02Speaker 2: when I looked at, and I took a picture of it,
- 7:04Speaker 2: and when I looked at the table, I said, shit, man.
- 7:08Speaker 2: There before the grace of God, go I. Go I.
- 7:11Speaker 2: And listen, one day, We're all going to be dead. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
- 7:17Speaker 2: So you better enjoy it right now. You better stop
- 7:20Speaker 2: thinking about that little bullshit that makes you upset. Somebody
- 7:23Speaker 2: said something about you or your fat thighs or your wrinkle.
- 7:28Speaker 2: You better start enjoying it right now. Yeah. Because pretty
- 7:32Speaker 2: soon there's going to be another generation of people looking
- 7:36Speaker 2: back on us. Yeah. And we're going to be out
- 7:39Speaker 2: of here. Yes. So I've had to adopt that attitude. Yeah.
- 7:43Speaker 1: Yeah, and how about in the moment course correcting? Are
- 7:46Speaker 1: you good at that? When you find yourself in that
- 7:48Speaker 1: little what I call swirling the toilet bowl?
- 7:50Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Well, it depends on what it is. I
- 7:54Speaker 2: get when it's something about myself, like, oh, you know,
- 7:59Speaker 2: somebody said something that made me upset. You know, I
- 8:03Speaker 2: find I kind of wallow in it, and then I
- 8:07Speaker 2: have to kind of snap myself out of it. If
- 8:09Speaker 2: it's somebody that I'm concerned about, somebody else. Mm-hmm. Then
- 8:13Speaker 2: I start, I look at it differently, but I want
- 8:17Speaker 2: them to get out of it. I'm like, step out
- 8:20Speaker 2: of it, you know? And I have to remind myself
- 8:22Speaker 2: that I need to do the same. Yeah.
- 8:24Speaker 1: But how do you, are you good at letting go
- 8:27Speaker 1: what's not yours?
- 8:29Speaker 2: I didn't used to be. I used to be horrible
- 8:32Speaker 2: at letting go. I used to really, really be horrible
- 8:35Speaker 2: at letting go of something. And it was, I think
- 8:39Speaker 2: it was based in the fear of, that that was
- 8:42Speaker 2: as good as it was going to get, whether it
- 8:45Speaker 2: was a person, a relationship, whether it was a job,
- 8:49Speaker 2: whether it was just a project. I was thinking, is
- 8:56Speaker 2: that all there's going to be? And that's why I
- 8:59Speaker 2: need to hold on to it. And then I remember
- 9:02Speaker 2: as I, you know, as I go along and I
- 9:07Speaker 2: create more opportunities and I meet more people and I
- 9:10Speaker 2: have more ideas about creativity and I help more lives,
- 9:15Speaker 2: I realize, why was I hanging on to that? There
- 9:18Speaker 2: was this guy in high school. He had an afro
- 9:24Speaker 2: out to here. That's me on a Sunday picture. We
- 9:28Speaker 2: thought he was the finest thing.
- 9:29Speaker 1: Yes.
- 9:30Speaker 2: Finest one. I'm not even going to mention his name
- 9:36Speaker 2: because he might be listening to this. Was he at
- 9:37Speaker 2: the reunion? He was actually two years ahead of me. Okay, okay. Sorry,
- 9:43Speaker 2: I digress. Go ahead. So he really wasn't feeling me.
- 9:47Speaker 2: But I remember seeing him. We were like, oh, my God,
- 9:51Speaker 2: there he is walking down the hallway. And I remember
- 9:54Speaker 2: seeing him just kind of years later. You know, wow.
- 9:59Speaker 2: Think of all that time. I really thought that that
- 10:02Speaker 2: was like the cat's meow. Like I thought that was it. And,
- 10:06Speaker 2: you know, it wasn't. That happens a lot. Yeah. You
- 10:10Speaker 2: see people and you're like, I was like, it would
- 10:13Speaker 2: have been the everything. Oh, yeah. If I had been
- 10:17Speaker 2: asked out by that person. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. No question.
- 10:19Speaker 1: You wrote a book in 2009. So it's been a
- 10:24Speaker 1: minute since you came to a piece of clarity in
- 10:26Speaker 1: your life where you decided to write this book. And
- 10:28Speaker 1: this is why I'm bringing it up. Called Exactly As
- 10:31Speaker 1: I Am, Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice With Today's Girls
- 10:35Speaker 1: On What It Takes To Believe In Yourself. You wrote
- 10:38Speaker 1: this in 2000 life. It wasn't even midlife. Yeah, but
- 10:42Speaker 1: you felt that this was a time to speak up
- 10:44Speaker 1: and have this conversation with women. What propelled you or
- 10:46Speaker 1: what was the moment? Because this is like, I want
- 10:49Speaker 1: to give this to myself and my 21-year-old daughter.
- 10:51Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I remember and I've been trying, you know,
- 10:54Speaker 2: one of these days I'm going to write a sequel.
- 10:56Speaker 2: I'm going to get to that sequel. More candid advice
- 10:59Speaker 2: for today's girls on what it takes to be. And
- 11:02Speaker 2: I wrote that, you know, 2000, I actually started writing
- 11:05Speaker 2: it exactly as I am in 2007. And I wrote
- 11:11Speaker 2: it to teen girls about believing in yourself and dreaming big.
- 11:16Speaker 2: Back then, I would get all of these basically letters
- 11:20Speaker 2: back then from girls asking me about the celebrities that
- 11:26Speaker 2: I interview on the red carpet. Are they as beautiful
- 11:29Speaker 2: in person? As they are on TV or on the
- 11:33Speaker 2: magazine covers or in the movies, you know, oh my gosh,
- 11:37Speaker 2: you know, the perfection, you know, and I realized then
- 11:40Speaker 2: that even though I had this incredible job. Mm-hmm. There
- 11:45Speaker 2: were so many girls that were looking at me on
- 11:47Speaker 2: TV and were looking at the celebrities because back then
- 11:50Speaker 2: they didn't have their own Instagram account where they were
- 11:52Speaker 2: being raw and real and whatever. It was you had
- 11:55Speaker 2: to turn on the TV. You had to buy the
- 11:58Speaker 2: magazine to see the celebrity. And so I wanted I
- 12:02Speaker 2: wrote this book to teen girls to let them know
- 12:06Speaker 2: that it doesn't matter how what you're what you look like.
- 12:10Speaker 2: how much money you have, how much fame you have.
- 12:12Speaker 2: True self-esteem comes from another place. It comes from a
- 12:15Speaker 2: much deeper place. And so the celebrities that I talk to,
- 12:19Speaker 2: I ask them, what is your advice to teen girls?
- 12:23Speaker 2: What should they know about where does true self-esteem come from?
- 12:28Speaker 2: And I also interviewed girls around the country. I had
- 12:31Speaker 2: these task force groups and I asked girls what made
- 12:35Speaker 2: them feel good about themselves and what made them feel
- 12:37Speaker 2: bad about themselves. And And I remember this young lady said,
- 12:42Speaker 2: I think she was about 15 years old. She said,
- 12:45Speaker 2: you know, I've never had anybody tell me I was pretty.
- 12:49Speaker 2: That's my father. How old was she? She was 15. Okay.
- 12:53Speaker 2: She said, you know, my father never said it to me.
- 12:55Speaker 2: I never have a boy said it to me. I
- 12:59Speaker 2: never had anybody to tell me I was pretty. So
- 13:02Speaker 2: the first boy that told me I was pretty said,
- 13:06Speaker 2: I slept with him and I got pregnant and had
- 13:09Speaker 2: a baby. And then I had no boyfriend anymore. And
- 13:14Speaker 2: I really felt really unpretty then. And hearing stories from
- 13:19Speaker 2: girls like that made me realize how much that book
- 13:24Speaker 2: was needed and how much we as women, whatever generation
- 13:28Speaker 2: we come to, reach back to those younger girls and
- 13:31Speaker 2: tell them that, It's not that outside validation that you need.
- 13:35Speaker 2: It comes from in here.
- 13:36Speaker 1: Did you have, because it said here that it was
- 13:39Speaker 1: a book with great quotes and advice from a lot
- 13:43Speaker 1: of famous people.
- 13:44Speaker 2: Did you have one famous or favorite one? Yeah, I did.
- 13:47Speaker 2: I wish I had brought the book with me today,
- 13:49Speaker 2: but it was from India Ari. Oh, love. And I
- 13:53Speaker 2: can't remember exactly verbatim, but she said, you know, she
- 13:56Speaker 2: said something about, I was told in the music industry
- 14:01Speaker 2: that I did not have a place. My nose did
- 14:05Speaker 2: not have a place. My skin color did not have
- 14:08Speaker 2: a place. My hair did not have a place. So
- 14:12Speaker 2: what I did is I made my own space and
- 14:16Speaker 2: a space that is unapologetically mine that I stand firm in.
- 14:21Speaker 2: And I wish I could say it as incredibly beautiful
- 14:25Speaker 2: as she said it. But that was one of my
- 14:29Speaker 2: favorite quotes in the book.
- 14:41Speaker 1: What would you say today is one of those things
- 14:44Speaker 1: that you feel women need to hear today?
- 14:47Speaker 2: You know, I think that I remember Diane Sawyer in
- 14:51Speaker 2: the book talked about as much as she had accomplished.
- 14:55Speaker 2: She said, you know, when do I feel insecure? And
- 14:58Speaker 2: she says, anytime I look in a three-way mirror. And
- 15:02Speaker 2: we are constantly looking at our bodies, looking at our hair,
- 15:06Speaker 2: looking at whatever and saying it is not good enough.
- 15:11Speaker 2: And now it's so interesting. We got to be, let
- 15:15Speaker 2: me just say, we got to be super duper, duper
- 15:19Speaker 2: savvy people. about these AI images online. Yes, we do.
- 15:24Speaker 2: And I consider myself kind of savvy, and then afterwards,
- 15:28Speaker 2: like I'm looking, I'm following an influencer, and I'm looking...
- 15:33Speaker 2: And I'm looking, I'm following them for like a few weeks.
- 15:36Speaker 2: And then I realized, I said, something is off about
- 15:40Speaker 2: this person. And then I look on the account and
- 15:43Speaker 2: I see, oh, it's AI. Yes. There are a lot of,
- 15:48Speaker 2: it's getting better and better. And the reason I bring
- 15:50Speaker 2: it up is, you talk about perfection in terms of
- 15:55Speaker 2: what we think of as looks before. Now, it's Like
- 16:03Speaker 2: it is literally crazy. And so my concern, obviously, is
- 16:11Speaker 2: with the younger generation coming up that are seeing these images.
- 16:15Speaker 2: These are their first images of what beauty is supposed
- 16:18Speaker 2: to be. And we as the OGs. Yes. Okay. We
- 16:23Speaker 2: as the OGs. We've been through this. Yeah. But even
- 16:27Speaker 2: we're kind of being fooled by it. So it is
- 16:30Speaker 2: imperative among all of us. to say to whatever generation, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s,
- 16:38Speaker 2: that do not compare yourself to anybody, nobody. There's no comparison.
- 16:46Speaker 2: There's no comparison between the sun and the moon. There's
- 16:49Speaker 2: no comparison between you and anybody else. And if somebody
- 16:54Speaker 2: likes you, apple pie and you a peach cobbler, let
- 16:59Speaker 2: them have at it. That's right. Yeah. So, you know,
- 17:04Speaker 2: I just want us, you know, I just want us
- 17:08Speaker 2: to stop being so hard on ourselves.
- 17:11Speaker 1: Oh, that's the holy grail, I think, right now. I
- 17:13Speaker 1: think any generation, but right now, the giving ourselves grace
- 17:18Speaker 1: is And grace doesn't mean like, it's okay that you
- 17:21Speaker 1: have the thighs now. It's grace that, no, your thighs
- 17:26Speaker 1: look beautiful and you've earned the smile lines. And I
- 17:32Speaker 1: have my scars for a reason. I look back on
- 17:35Speaker 1: my life and I'm really proud of it. And raising
- 17:38Speaker 1: my children, even as a single mother, I raised a
- 17:40Speaker 1: son and he is out there being an impeccable gentleman
- 17:44Speaker 1: and working hard. And I've raised a resilient ass daughter
- 17:47Speaker 1: who can mow the lawn and take care of herself
- 17:52Speaker 1: and love herself fiercely and unapologetically. So I had my
- 17:56Speaker 1: own bumps along the way, but I don't apologize for
- 18:00Speaker 1: those bumps.
- 18:00Speaker 2: Yeah. And, you know, I don't, scars that I've had,
- 18:05Speaker 2: physical scars from surgeries or whatever or falls or whatever.
- 18:10Speaker 2: I used to be so self-conscious about them, and I
- 18:12Speaker 2: am no longer that way anymore. I really, it's like,
- 18:16Speaker 2: you know, there are, sometimes I see, you know, my
- 18:20Speaker 2: sisters out there, and I used to be, and I
- 18:23Speaker 2: used to be like, oh, wow, that's kind of short.
- 18:26Speaker 2: That's kind of tight. That's kind of this. I don't
- 18:30Speaker 2: know about that. But now you mean like when you
- 18:33Speaker 2: see somebody. But now I'm just like, listen, you wear
- 18:38Speaker 2: it for you and I'm going to wear it for me.
- 18:41Speaker 2: And there, you know, yeah, sometimes I would, you know,
- 18:44Speaker 2: I would try on something and I'd go, oh, no,
- 18:48Speaker 2: this is too tight. I don't know. This might be
- 18:50Speaker 2: too tight to see through. And I'm thinking, you know what?
- 18:54Speaker 2: If it is a little too see-through, they shouldn't be looking.
- 18:56Speaker 2: That's right. Just don't look. That's right.
- 18:59Speaker 3: Okay?
- 18:59Speaker 2: Just don't look. Yes. Okay. Yeah.
- 19:01Speaker 1: There's nothing that bothers me more than, look, I grew
- 19:04Speaker 1: up with body issues, and I still have them sometimes.
- 19:09Speaker 1: Oddly enough, in my business, I have such stone-cold issues. resilience, self-esteem,
- 19:18Speaker 1: that you can't say shit to me about my body
- 19:20Speaker 1: and the business and I will ever buy into it.
- 19:22Speaker 1: And for some reason then, nobody has ever said shit
- 19:25Speaker 1: to me about my body and the business. I've worn
- 19:27Speaker 1: tighter clothes in this industry, being a full-figured woman than
- 19:32Speaker 1: I ever do in my life. And I wish I
- 19:35Speaker 1: had had that self-esteem and that self-confidence in other areas
- 19:38Speaker 1: of my life, but that's just where it was. It
- 19:40Speaker 1: landed with work, which was good because it was very protective.
- 19:42Speaker 1: But I think that one of the most important things
- 19:45Speaker 1: about this chapter is how we do it for each other.
- 19:48Speaker 1: And when some criticizes something that I'm wearing, I don't
- 19:53Speaker 1: handle it well. It's just I start to deal with this.
- 19:57Speaker 1: I battle the insecurity, which is historical. And then I
- 20:01Speaker 1: have to figure out how I come out of it
- 20:05Speaker 1: so it doesn't keep me back in the past.
- 20:08Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're saying when somebody says something about what
- 20:10Speaker 2: you're wearing, you are internalizing it or are you saying,
- 20:14Speaker 2: screw you?
- 20:15Speaker 1: I first start to internalize it because it's a trigger.
- 20:18Speaker 1: It's a natural trigger. And then I have to find
- 20:20Speaker 1: a way of saying, screw you, without saying, screw you.
- 20:22Speaker 2: Right, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 20:24Speaker 1: Because I think this is what, I get it if
- 20:27Speaker 1: you don't, you know, like it on me, but don't
- 20:29Speaker 1: make me feel bad about it. You know, I, you know,
- 20:32Speaker 1: on my worst days, I'm still... A presentable woman. Like,
- 20:36Speaker 1: what the fuck?
- 20:37Speaker 2: And it's triggering. Yeah, yeah. Were you... Do you mind
- 20:42Speaker 2: me asking? When you say full-figured, are you talking about...
- 20:45Speaker 2: Were you a larger size than you are now?
- 20:49Speaker 1: I was a larger size than I was. But even then,
- 20:51Speaker 1: I don't know if people would have called me full-figured.
- 20:54Speaker 1: I think just those are the terms that I go
- 20:56Speaker 1: in the industry, that I'm considered a full-figured woman.
- 20:59Speaker 2: And that's okay. I've got curves and I like them. Like,
- 21:02Speaker 2: I'm like... But I'm not, you know.
- 21:05Speaker 1: You know, the standard in television film is like this big.
- 21:10Speaker 2: Great.
- 21:10Speaker 1: There's a place for it. But I will say that
- 21:14Speaker 1: my figure never got in the way of my work.
- 21:16Speaker 1: It didn't keep me from the roles that I was
- 21:18Speaker 1: going up for. But I also went in unapologetically for
- 21:23Speaker 1: those roles.
- 21:24Speaker 2: Yes.
- 21:25Speaker 1: And my team supported me with that, too. And I
- 21:28Speaker 1: kind of wonder, what does full figure mean?
- 21:31Speaker 2: I mean... I think it depends on the generation you ask.
- 21:34Speaker 1: I think in our generation, it was, you know, I
- 21:37Speaker 1: look at Marilyn Monroe and I see that the dresses
- 21:39Speaker 1: she wore and I'm like, how the hell was she
- 21:42Speaker 1: a 14?
- 21:42Speaker 2: The size 14 has changed. She's this big. This big.
- 21:46Speaker 2: When I go to a museum and I see her dresses,
- 21:48Speaker 2: I'm like, she was tiny. She was tiny. I don't
- 21:50Speaker 2: get it.
- 21:51Speaker 1: I think for me, I have that hourglass shape, but
- 21:56Speaker 1: I'm just not, I'm not skinny.
- 21:58Speaker 2: I'm not tiny. Well, see, I guess maybe that's what
- 22:02Speaker 2: I'm getting at, is that we have been sold this
- 22:04Speaker 2: bill of goods. You're a full-figured woman. Yeah. Look at
- 22:10Speaker 2: me using their language. Yeah. What does that even mean?
- 22:13Speaker 2: You're right. Does it mean you have breasts? I don't
- 22:17Speaker 2: know what that means. That I have booty?
- 22:21Speaker 1: Right.
- 22:21Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah. Once again, we are centering what they have
- 22:28Speaker 2: told us we need to be. You're a woman. I'm
- 22:33Speaker 2: a woman, yeah. Right.
- 22:36Speaker 1: I have curves and hips and things that God gave me.
- 22:42Speaker 2: Yes, right. And I have an awesome pair of legs.
- 22:44Speaker 2: I have my things, you know? And have you always
- 22:48Speaker 2: been this way? No. Okay.
- 22:51Speaker 1: Let me just go back a little bit more. Did
- 22:54Speaker 1: I read somewhere that you had a large family? So
- 22:58Speaker 1: I have a large extended family. I ask because I
- 23:02Speaker 1: just wondered, did you grow up with women? Were you
- 23:05Speaker 1: nurtured in this? Or did you learn this in growing
- 23:08Speaker 1: and becoming the woman that you are?
- 23:10Speaker 2: So I have always, in terms of, let's just talk
- 23:13Speaker 2: in terms of body image. Mm-hmm. I always had, I've
- 23:17Speaker 2: always been thin framed, full figure, thin framed. Okay. I've
- 23:23Speaker 2: always been thin framed. I could eat whatever I wanted
- 23:28Speaker 2: and still be a size, whatever the sizes that they had, zero,
- 23:33Speaker 2: double zero, two, whatever. So I was, you know, listen,
- 23:39Speaker 2: I grew up with women. Oh, how do you get
- 23:41Speaker 2: so thin? How do you, how do you, how do
- 23:44Speaker 2: you do it? You know? So I never had that
- 23:48Speaker 2: type of body image. I think maybe, you know, at
- 23:53Speaker 2: one time, like I said, maybe I should, you know,
- 23:55Speaker 2: get a boob job. So I never really felt that
- 24:02Speaker 2: my body should be different. Now, when I started to
- 24:06Speaker 2: get older and I would always go to the gym,
- 24:08Speaker 2: I've been very physically active throughout my life and I eat,
- 24:12Speaker 2: I've got a, thing for candy, jelly beans, licorice, things
- 24:19Speaker 2: like that. But I pretty much maintained a healthy lifestyle. However,
- 24:26Speaker 2: getting older, I realized that I have to work at
- 24:29Speaker 2: it a little harder, a little more. And what I'm
- 24:33Speaker 2: working on is strength, like strength training. Because when I
- 24:39Speaker 2: see older women in my family and they have trouble
- 24:42Speaker 2: getting up the stairs or they have trouble getting off
- 24:45Speaker 2: the sofa, whatever, I think, okay, it may just be
- 24:51Speaker 2: me trying to get up. So I may be the
- 24:53Speaker 2: only person I can depend on to get me up
- 24:56Speaker 2: off the floor. So let me try to make sure
- 25:00Speaker 2: I stay in as good a shape as possible. My
- 25:05Speaker 2: thing when I was growing up, was always, and especially
- 25:08Speaker 2: like in my community, you know, hair was my hair,
- 25:13Speaker 2: just like India Arie said in the book about, did
- 25:15Speaker 2: her hair fit? And wanting to have, you know, maybe
- 25:23Speaker 2: slimmer features, keener features, and looser curled hair, things like that,
- 25:31Speaker 2: you know, and thinking that You know, I would be
- 25:35Speaker 2: prettier if I had that. So those were the messages
- 25:44Speaker 2: that I was getting. As a girl watching TV, you know,
- 25:46Speaker 2: I was watching television in the 60s and 70s and
- 25:49Speaker 2: didn't see women that looked like me. I remember I
- 25:54Speaker 2: would come home from school. My elementary school was near
- 25:58Speaker 2: my grandmother's house, so often I would stay at her
- 26:01Speaker 2: house during the week and, you know, Evening news. I'd
- 26:05Speaker 2: watch my cartoons, Speed Racer, Little Rascals, Monsters. And then
- 26:12Speaker 2: my grandmother would turn on the evening news and there
- 26:14Speaker 2: was this black woman on the evening news. Her name
- 26:17Speaker 2: was Beverly Payne. She was the first African-American female anchor
- 26:22Speaker 2: in Michigan. And I remember just sitting at the TV,
- 26:26Speaker 2: just gazing at her and looking at her and thinking
- 26:29Speaker 2: she was different because she looked like me. And I
- 26:31Speaker 2: didn't see any other images that looked like me. And
- 26:35Speaker 2: even though I never met Beverly Payne, she was the
- 26:37Speaker 2: first person that put me on the path to becoming
- 26:39Speaker 2: a journalist. She was the one that I looked at
- 26:42Speaker 2: and said, there's something different about her that is really special.
- 26:49Speaker 2: And just years later, I always tell the story about
- 26:52Speaker 2: that was the inspiration because I didn't see myself validated. Mm-hmm.
- 26:58Speaker 2: On the shows that I was watching. Yeah. And she
- 27:00Speaker 2: was the only one that validated that.
- 27:02Speaker 1: So that was your one area. That was an area
- 27:04Speaker 1: of vulnerability.
- 27:05Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely.
- 27:07Speaker 1: And it seems to have sparked a lifetime with starting
- 27:13Speaker 1: with that book that you wrote in 2009 and now
- 27:17Speaker 1: a foundation that you founded for women. This recurring theme
- 27:21Speaker 1: of you really going in and empowering and uplifting women
- 27:25Speaker 1: to come from Less place of vulnerability.
- 27:28Speaker 2: Yes, yes. I want to credit, first of all, I
- 27:31Speaker 2: want to credit my beautiful mother, Joanne, and the wonderful grandmothers.
- 27:36Speaker 2: I had five grandmothers at one time. So I want
- 27:39Speaker 2: to take, oh God, oh God, rest their souls. But
- 27:45Speaker 2: my college was an all-women's college, Spelman College in Atlanta.
- 27:50Speaker 2: And it was there that I saw extraordinary women like
- 27:56Speaker 2: Coretta Scott King, who would come to the campus. Christine Ferris, Dr.
- 28:06Speaker 2: Martin Luther King Jr. 's sister, was my English professor. Oh,
- 28:11Speaker 2: my goodness. Who demanded excellence of us every single class.
- 28:17Speaker 2: And she would tell us stories about her brother, Martin
- 28:19Speaker 2: Luther King. And Nikki Giovanni was who would come in
- 28:24Speaker 2: and who would talk to us about her poetry. I mean,
- 28:29Speaker 2: we saw women who were at the forefront of the
- 28:33Speaker 2: civil rights movement. And I came out of Spelman with
- 28:39Speaker 2: such a sense that I could accomplish anything that I
- 28:45Speaker 2: wanted to. And also growing up in Detroit, Michigan, where
- 28:51Speaker 2: You know, we had in our community black doctors and
- 28:55Speaker 2: lawyers and businesses. And so once I graduated from college
- 29:01Speaker 2: and got out into the workforce, and I realized that
- 29:07Speaker 2: there were so many folks out there that were saying, oh,
- 29:10Speaker 2: you can't accomplish this, Sean, because of your skin color.
- 29:14Speaker 2: I was thinking... Screw that, because I've seen it done already.
- 29:18Speaker 2: I've seen the women, and I've been in front of
- 29:20Speaker 2: the women who have done it. So don't you tell
- 29:23Speaker 2: me that I can't do it. So in terms of
- 29:26Speaker 2: the womenhood, so I had this sense of sisterhood from
- 29:29Speaker 2: Spelman College, and I want to credit my mother and
- 29:34Speaker 2: my grandparents, especially my grandmothers, for being philanthropists in my family.
- 29:40Speaker 2: And I'm not talking about the philanthropists who had a
- 29:42Speaker 2: lot of money. I'm talking about the ones that gave
- 29:44Speaker 2: of their time and gave of their blood and gave
- 29:48Speaker 2: of their expertise. So these women instilled in me that
- 29:53Speaker 2: if God gives you a platform, use it to give back.
- 29:56Speaker 2: So I sat on the board of Girls Inc. I
- 30:01Speaker 2: also have written a book on girls and self-esteem. And
- 30:05Speaker 2: then I was at Access Hollywood for 16 years. And
- 30:10Speaker 2: then after I left and I was thinking about this
- 30:13Speaker 2: next chapter, I wanted to start my own nonprofit. And
- 30:17Speaker 2: I started the Shawn Foundation for Girls. So, yes. So
- 30:21Speaker 2: that's where that journey started.
- 30:23Speaker 1: And in addition to that, it's a foundation for women,
- 30:29Speaker 1: young women, and it stands for STEM, health, arts, unity,
- 30:33Speaker 1: and neighborhoods. And what does it say? You're in your
- 30:37Speaker 1: 10th year, and it helps with grants and underserved and
- 30:42Speaker 1: underrepresented girls and young women.
- 30:45Speaker 2: And we need.
- 30:46Speaker 1: Allies like this.
- 30:47Speaker 2: We need big sisters like this.
- 31:00Speaker 1: But I also see you posting a lot about Women
- 31:05Speaker 1: Over 60. You are such a beautiful, joyous representation and
- 31:13Speaker 1: cheerleader for Women Over 60.
- 31:14Speaker 2: Yes.
- 31:15Speaker 1: And I love that you use your platform to also
- 31:18Speaker 1: serve women. your sisters, meaning the women in our category
- 31:24Speaker 1: of life. And what prompted you to get really vocal
- 31:27Speaker 1: about that, even though it's clearly like in your veins?
- 31:30Speaker 2: Well, well, once again. hiding my age was a big
- 31:35Speaker 2: thing for me. So what was your turning point there?
- 31:39Speaker 2: And there wasn't one aha moment. There just wasn't one.
- 31:43Speaker 2: But there were many conversations with colleagues and friends that
- 31:50Speaker 2: I have who were like, Sean, this is it, okay?
- 31:55Speaker 2: This is it. This is it. It's, you know, once again,
- 32:00Speaker 2: We're about to be out of here, okay? So stop
- 32:05Speaker 2: living in fear that your age is going to prevent
- 32:10Speaker 2: you from getting opportunities. And I think that's what the
- 32:14Speaker 2: main thing was. Not I think. I know that was
- 32:17Speaker 2: the main thing. When I was... You know, when I
- 32:19Speaker 2: was on this show, this huge show, I was afraid
- 32:25Speaker 2: for people to know my age because I thought that
- 32:27Speaker 2: would hinder the opportunities that I had.
- 32:28Speaker 1: I mean, that's a real-life threat in many areas and
- 32:32Speaker 1: many types of work.
- 32:33Speaker 2: Sure. So that's why I hid it. Yeah. And then
- 32:38Speaker 2: I realized that, okay, maybe, maybe there are more opportunities
- 32:46Speaker 2: to be had. Mm-hmm. If I just embrace it. Yeah.
- 32:51Speaker 2: And you know what? I started looking at... I started
- 32:55Speaker 2: looking at these women, you know, these over... and over
- 32:59Speaker 2: 60 influencers on social media that seem to be having
- 33:05Speaker 2: a damn good time. I know, right? They were like...
- 33:09Speaker 2: And a lot of them are making some good money
- 33:11Speaker 2: on it, too. They were getting PR from the agencies.
- 33:15Speaker 2: They got boxes of clothes and beauty products sent to them. Yes.
- 33:20Speaker 2: And they're sashaying around and they're mini skirts. And, you know,
- 33:24Speaker 2: I'm watching from the outside... Thinking, ooh, you know, ooh,
- 33:29Speaker 2: they told their age. Ooh, they told their age. I
- 33:32Speaker 2: don't know what's going to happen to them. You know
- 33:34Speaker 2: what happened? They're having a freaking party. That's what's happening.
- 33:37Speaker 1: They're like wine tasting in Italy, sponsored by some wine group.
- 33:41Speaker 2: They're like, you know, by the pool. And I was like,
- 33:46Speaker 2: so what have I been afraid of? Yeah. So I
- 33:50Speaker 2: was like, okay. So the first thing I posted, It
- 33:56Speaker 2: was on TikTok. And I said, okay, I'm not going
- 33:58Speaker 2: to do the over 60 yet. And this was last year.
- 34:01Speaker 2: It's going to be a soft launch. Yeah, it was
- 34:03Speaker 2: going to be a soft launch. I said, I'll just
- 34:05Speaker 2: do over 50. Okay, I'll just do over 50. And then,
- 34:10Speaker 2: so I did this video of me walking down. I
- 34:13Speaker 2: had a short dress on. And, you know, I was
- 34:16Speaker 2: looking cute and everything, bagged and everything. I said, I said,
- 34:21Speaker 2: I said, I walked down the stairs. So I set
- 34:24Speaker 2: my ring light up at the bottom of the steps
- 34:28Speaker 2: and I walked down. And so I walked down the
- 34:33Speaker 2: steps and I go, there's one thing that women over
- 34:39Speaker 2: 50 should not wear. And I put on my sunglasses
- 34:43Speaker 2: and I said, and that is The weight of other
- 34:47Speaker 2: people's opinions. Yes! And then I walk off the plane.
- 34:53Speaker 2: Do you know that post... hook off, went viral. I mean,
- 35:00Speaker 2: like it just went bizarre. Like, I mean, I had
- 35:03Speaker 2: all these women, younger women in their forties, thirties, like,
- 35:07Speaker 2: oh my God, I can't believe it. Oh, wow. You're what?
- 35:12Speaker 2: How old? Oh my God. Oh my God. Like it
- 35:16Speaker 2: went crazy. And I was like, Okay, the world did
- 35:20Speaker 2: not implode when I said it. And you're still working. Yeah.
- 35:24Speaker 2: Now I just got to tell them the truth and
- 35:26Speaker 2: do over 60. Wait until they see that. Wait. Oh,
- 35:33Speaker 2: my God. So great. So, yeah. So, that's really what happened.
- 35:38Speaker 2: And also, it was a fear that I was thinking, okay,
- 35:44Speaker 2: if I start posting stuff for women over 60, maybe
- 35:46Speaker 2: the 40-year-olds or 30-year-olds won't listen. Oh, no. They're like, okay,
- 35:52Speaker 2: let me take some notes here. You know, especially where
- 35:57Speaker 2: we're talking about, and I get people all the time,
- 36:01Speaker 2: you know, saying, oh, my God, I heard you or so.
- 36:04Speaker 2: I can't believe it. And what do you eat? What
- 36:06Speaker 2: do you do? What do you work out? What do
- 36:08Speaker 2: you drink? What do you, you know? So I said, okay,
- 36:11Speaker 2: let me just start sharing it. And so it's been
- 36:15Speaker 2: really very interesting.
- 36:17Speaker 1: And I want to know now, though, with this wisdom
- 36:21Speaker 1: and this embracing of your age and allowing it to
- 36:26Speaker 1: be seen and heard and felt, how is that when
- 36:29Speaker 1: you are sitting there gallimanting with a bunch of people on, like,
- 36:32Speaker 1: I don't know what the age range is on 90
- 36:35Speaker 1: Day Fiance, but there's.
- 36:38Speaker 3: A lot of, like, I want to get in there
- 36:40Speaker 3: and be like, you guys, you guys. You guys, you guys. Listen,
- 36:45Speaker 3: I was in... the Delta Sky Lounge one day. It
- 36:50Speaker 3: was like 5.30 in the morning. And I was talking
- 36:54Speaker 3: to one of the servers and this guy has a
- 36:59Speaker 3: Wall Street Journal newspaper and he was sitting across from me.
- 37:02Speaker 2: He's like this. And then he peeks over the newspaper
- 37:05Speaker 2: and he says, are you on that show 90 Day Fiance?
- 37:11Speaker 2: And I said, oh, yeah. I said, I am. And
- 37:16Speaker 2: I want to say he was very conservative looking, so
- 37:18Speaker 2: I didn't necessarily think he might have been the audience.
- 37:22Speaker 2: But I said, yeah. I said, did you watch? He said, oh, yeah.
- 37:25Speaker 2: He says, my wife and I love the show. I said,
- 37:29Speaker 2: tell me, what do you like about it? He says, well,
- 37:31Speaker 2: it's the universal theme of wanting to be loved. Wow.
- 37:36Speaker 2: And the lengths that people will go to just to
- 37:40Speaker 2: be loved. To find it. Yes. Yes. And so I
- 37:44Speaker 2: looked at it really different. I was like, wow. I said, yeah,
- 37:46Speaker 2: I guess it is. That's an amazing perspective. Yeah, it is,
- 37:50Speaker 2: I think. You know, some of the choices that people
- 37:53Speaker 2: make to be loved are choices that surprise.
- 37:58Speaker 1: You or things that are being overlooked in a house
- 38:00Speaker 1: that yeah in a marriage oh absolutely.
- 38:02Speaker 2: You know that I'm that I would hope is yeah
- 38:04Speaker 2: like you don't like you really did not discuss if
- 38:07Speaker 2: you wanted to have children until after you got married
- 38:10Speaker 2: okay that's that's interesting why did you wait until then
- 38:13Speaker 2: you know um there are folks that get married and
- 38:16Speaker 2: still don't know anything about their spouse so and that's
- 38:20Speaker 2: what some other people watch for exactly they watch for
- 38:23Speaker 2: the fallout Exactly. So, yeah.
- 38:27Speaker 1: One of the things I like to ask my guests,
- 38:30Speaker 1: because I want women to go ahead and feel comfortable
- 38:32Speaker 1: putting it out there if you haven't. What's something, and
- 38:35Speaker 1: maybe you have already, what's something you still want to do?
- 38:39Speaker 1: What's that magical one thing that you're like, I haven't
- 38:41Speaker 1: done this. This is a real important bucket list thing
- 38:44Speaker 1: for me or a midlife thing.
- 38:45Speaker 2: I don't have to be bucket list. What's it putting
- 38:48Speaker 2: out there, giving it light? You know, I have in
- 38:52Speaker 2: terms of What I would love, well, with my foundation,
- 39:00Speaker 2: I would love to meet Mackenzie Scott. Yes, girl. And
- 39:06Speaker 2: have Mackenzie take a look at the Shawn Foundation for
- 39:08Speaker 2: Girls and see what we're doing and see all the
- 39:11Speaker 2: amazing work that we're doing. But I say that not serious,
- 39:17Speaker 2: but also I feel that with the platform that God
- 39:22Speaker 2: has given me, I feel that there is an opportunity
- 39:27Speaker 2: to help more people. underserved girls and young women out there. Yeah.
- 39:34Speaker 2: And I really am very passionate about that and passionate
- 39:38Speaker 2: about spreading the word and getting more people to understand
- 39:44Speaker 2: that we have to lift up people who are less
- 39:47Speaker 2: fortunate than us. Absolutely. It's very important. Yes. In terms
- 39:50Speaker 2: of like a fun bucket list of things I would
- 39:54Speaker 2: like to do, one is, and maybe some of this
- 40:00Speaker 2: has come from hosting 90 Day Fiance, but I realized
- 40:03Speaker 2: that the world, we get on our heads because sometimes
- 40:08Speaker 2: the world seems very small. This world is so big
- 40:13Speaker 2: and I want to explore it. I want to explore
- 40:17Speaker 2: being me. Absolutely.
- 40:35Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 40:36Speaker 2: We get more pieces of clarity. Yes. Yes, we do.
- 40:38Speaker 1: Like even with that couple watching 90 Day Fiance, they get,
- 40:41Speaker 1: I guess, parent clarity in their own marriage.
- 40:45Speaker 3: Yes.
- 40:45Speaker 2: Yes. Absolutely. That's really important. That's one of mine as well. Yeah.
- 40:49Speaker 2: And after you meet Mackenzie Scott. Yes. Give her my
- 40:54Speaker 2: number because I would love. Love her to be on.
- 40:57Speaker 2: For two Latinas acting up. Yes.
- 40:59Speaker 1: Serving Latinas in television and film arts and entertainment from
- 41:03Speaker 1: in front of and behind the scenes.
- 41:04Speaker 2: That's right.
- 41:05Speaker 1: Bringing up their visibility and recognition in the arts.
- 41:08Speaker 2: Yes. And... Yes. And I... Tells you to do a
- 41:11Speaker 2: two for one. Yes. I salute anybody who is using
- 41:17Speaker 2: their platform to help other people to start their own
- 41:21Speaker 2: nonprofit or... work and help another nonprofit. Yeah. That is
- 41:26Speaker 2: my thing. Yeah. So. I can see that.
- 41:28Speaker 1: You've started, there's a long history of you doing this.
- 41:33Speaker 1: That's why I brought up the book that even though
- 41:35Speaker 1: you wrote it in 2009, it clearly has been a
- 41:38Speaker 1: part of who you are.
- 41:39Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 41:40Speaker 1: To continuously connect with women in this way.
- 41:44Speaker 2: Yeah. Please write the sequel. I will. We need it.
- 41:47Speaker 2: I will.
- 41:48Speaker 1: And here's how, now I'm going to turn the table
- 41:51Speaker 1: and ask it to see If you have a question,
- 41:54Speaker 1: one of my closers I like to do is for
- 41:57Speaker 1: you to present what I call, is it just me
- 42:01Speaker 1: or is anyone else blank?
- 42:04Speaker 2: You fill in the blank.
- 42:05Speaker 1: It could be serious. It could be funny. It could
- 42:07Speaker 1: be thoughtful. It could be goofy.
- 42:10Speaker 2: Is it just me? Is it just me or is
- 42:15Speaker 2: anyone else blank? Hot. Girl, you have to ask, are
- 42:21Speaker 2: you not hot? Wait a minute, where's my fan? I
- 42:26Speaker 2: lose my habit like right here. Yes, yes, yes.
- 42:29Speaker 1: You don't like it because you are well put together here.
- 42:33Speaker 2: You look amazing. It's the powder. 24-7. Oh, wow, that powder.
- 42:36Speaker 2: Then I need the name of that because mine breaks through.
- 42:41Speaker 2: I got spackle on my face and I'm still sweating. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 42:45Speaker 2: I'm telling you. It's real. I have been on set
- 42:49Speaker 2: and it used to be that I was always the
- 42:51Speaker 2: one that was cold. Yeah. I was always the one
- 42:54Speaker 2: that was cold on set. I'd be like, ooh, go cold.
- 42:57Speaker 2: And my mother will come visit me in my house
- 43:04Speaker 2: here and she says, Sean, why is the heat so
- 43:09Speaker 2: On 58. Yes, that's magical to me. Why is he
- 43:12Speaker 2: on 58? Why is he on 58? I'm like, you know, right, so.
- 43:20Speaker 1: Do we need to get one of those beds? My
- 43:22Speaker 1: girlfriend has this sleep eight bed. I'm still trying to
- 43:25Speaker 1: get them to sponsor us because it's like it's cooling
- 43:28Speaker 1: and you can adjust the temperature and then it vibrates
- 43:32Speaker 1: you awake so that you don't wake up to like
- 43:34Speaker 1: a loud alarm. And if you're sleeping with a partner,
- 43:38Speaker 1: you can adjust their the way how cool it is
- 43:41Speaker 1: on their side.
- 43:42Speaker 2: Why is it vibrating? To wake you up? Oh, to
- 43:45Speaker 2: do what?
- 43:46Speaker 1: So that it's more gentle than like your alarm going off.
- 43:49Speaker 2: Oh. I mean, I don't know if I need that feature.
- 43:51Speaker 2: I just need. Oh, I see. I see. Instead of
- 43:53Speaker 2: an alarm clock. Yes. It vibrates. I don't know if
- 44:00Speaker 2: we need all that. Eva Longoria swears by it. How
- 44:03Speaker 2: do you know it's not an earthquake? She's like, you don't. Yeah,
- 44:06Speaker 2: I don't know if we need all that. I don't
- 44:08Speaker 2: know if we need a vibrating bed. Give me some
- 44:11Speaker 2: peace and quiet in the bed, please. Oh, God. I know.
- 44:17Speaker 2: I was like, if it's cheaper without it, I'll take it. Right. Exactly. Oh,
- 44:19Speaker 2: I love this.
- 44:20Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on here and continuing
- 44:25Speaker 1: your conversation of bringing women up because the core of
- 44:30Speaker 1: the podcast is to do that. I say how hard
- 44:33Speaker 1: can it be because sometimes it can be really hard.
- 44:36Speaker 1: And we just need to hear from our our peers
- 44:40Speaker 1: and our sisters and other women in the trenches with
- 44:43Speaker 1: us that it might be hard, but we're here and
- 44:45Speaker 1: we're experiencing it together.
- 44:47Speaker 2: Yes. Yes, we are. And I challenge all of us
- 44:52Speaker 2: to ask ourselves, what would happen if I let go
- 44:57Speaker 2: of the fear? You know, what would tell? How would
- 45:02Speaker 2: my life be different? And Listen, you know, yeah, we
- 45:07Speaker 2: have the aches and the pains and the wrinkles and
- 45:10Speaker 2: the jiggly, jiggly stuff. But what would happen if I
- 45:15Speaker 2: just said, okay, you know, that's how it is. But also,
- 45:21Speaker 2: while I'm trying my best to not reverse aging, but
- 45:25Speaker 2: just to stay. stay the healthiest that I can. Yes.
- 45:28Speaker 2: You know, that gives you back some of that control. Yeah.
- 45:31Speaker 2: But just let go of the fear and live life
- 45:34Speaker 2: because we're going to be dead soon. Okay? So you
- 45:39Speaker 2: better enjoy it now, sister. Do it now. Okay. Enjoy
- 45:42Speaker 2: it now because don't worry about nobody and just have,
- 45:47Speaker 2: you know, this is the time when you are supposed
- 45:49Speaker 2: to be enjoying life. Agreed. You know. Agreed. So.
- 45:52Speaker 1: I cannot thank you enough for everything allowing me to
- 45:55Speaker 1: come into your world, act like you.
- 45:58Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 45:59Speaker 1: And try to do my best at being a journalist
- 46:02Speaker 1: and having this really meaningful conversation.
- 46:05Speaker 2: Thank you. I loved it. I loved it. It was
- 46:07Speaker 2: very fun.
- 46:08Speaker 1: How hard can it be? With Diana Maria Riva is
- 46:11Speaker 1: a Hyphenate Media Group production in partnership with iHeart's My
- 46:14Speaker 1: Cultura podcast network. For more of your favorite shows, visit
- 46:17Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.