Latest / Stronger With Sophie / The Side of Billie You Don't Know

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The Side of Billie You Don't Know · Stronger With Sophie

• 0:05
  Speaker A: We can't control what makes us different, but we can control how much power we allow other people to have over us.
• 0:12
  Speaker B: Today we want to talk about Billie Eilish.
• 0:15
  Speaker A: Billie Eilish, she's famous singer, songwriter, she's amazing. And she is one of the youngest people ever to win a Grammy. She. I think her music career started when she was about 17 years old, 16 or 17 years old, and she was actually diagnosed with Tourette's system syndrome. And basically, if you don't know what Tourette's is, it's. You have like these tics that are completely out of your control. Just like mid conversation sometimes.
• 0:42
  Speaker B: Yeah, they. They yell things in the middle conversation or they have bodily movements that are.
• 0:48
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's different for everyone. And so she's had this since she was 11. And during her career, especially, like, kind of starting out in her career, she would have these interviews and, you know, because as famous people do, you know, they talk in front of big crowds and they have interviews and all these things and people were starting to notice little, like, tics and movements that she was doing. And, you know, people are confronting her about this and she ends up coming out publicly and telling the public that she has Tourette Syndrome. And. Yeah. And so that's what we want to talk about today. She.
• 1:25
  Speaker B: I think it's. I think it is a very important lesson to look at her and to look at what she's doing. Done.
• 1:32
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:33
  Speaker B: Despite the fact that she has Tourette syndrome. Because you would think. Think about this. If you have Tourette syndrome, where you have tics or you. You can't control some of your movements, it might kind of make you want to not be in public.
• 1:48
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah, definitely. It can become a huge insecurity.
• 1:51
  Speaker B: A huge insecurity. You don't want to be in front of people. But despite that, she actually leaned into her public Persona and became super famous, where she's being interviewed by everybody. She's got crowds of people that are watching her.
• 2:06
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 2:06
  Speaker B: So she didn't. So what I love about Billie Eilish and the story is that she did not let the limitation or she didn't let Tourette syndrome be a limitation for her.
• 2:18
  Speaker A: Absolutely.
• 2:18
  Speaker B: And. And the thing that she would have. That a lot of people would have feared the most, she actually chased. Yeah, right.
• 2:28
  Speaker A: Absolutely.
• 2:28
  Speaker B: Not only faced her fear, she went after it.
• 2:31
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
• 2:31
  Speaker B: She became a super duper superstar.
• 2:35
  Speaker A: Yeah. It's great that she didn't allow that to, like, control how she ended up, you know, being in public. It's. I Mean, if I personally were diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, I wouldn't go out of my way to become a world famous superstar and be, you know, maybe.
• 2:53
  Speaker B: Actually not true.
• 2:54
  Speaker A: Maybe. But let's say Sally over here, you know, insecure Sally over here, like, she. She wouldn't do this.
• 3:02
  Speaker B: Right.
• 3:03
  Speaker A: You know, it's. It's really admirable that Billie Eilish is able to just like kind of take that and just, you know, brush it off of her shoulder. Yeah.
• 3:13
  Speaker B: Not even make it a thing.
• 3:14
  Speaker A: Exactly.
• 3:14
  Speaker B: And just pursue her dream.
• 3:16
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 3:17
  Speaker B: So I'll tell you what it makes me think about is, you know, that I'm a convicted felon.
• 3:21
  Speaker A: I do.
• 3:22
  Speaker B: Right now. I'm also a lawyer.
• 3:24
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 3:25
  Speaker B: Also a pretty successful lawyer. And so it's fascinating when I think about it because a lot of people in my position would have said, well, I'm a convicted felon. There's no possible way I could ever be a lawyer. And despite that, I went after. Despite the, the very clear possibility of failure, I went after being a lawyer with a vengeance. I was not going to take no for an answer. Yeah, it was fascinating.
• 3:56
  Speaker A: So, dad, like, you've probably faced a lot of backlash from it, too. I mean, people. Yeah. Other people's opinions and, you know, perspectives like it. And you didn't let those get the best of you.
• 4:07
  Speaker B: I never. It's fascinating because I. I'm sure that people have talked about it behind my back. I'm sure that people have used that against me. For example, like if somebody's trying to win over a personal injury case.
• 4:24
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 4:24
  Speaker B: That, you know, they might say, oh, well, don't go to Fasig. He's a convicted felon. And I have never once let it bother me. It has not even. It never even enters my mind.
• 4:35
  Speaker A: Right.
• 4:36
  Speaker B: So it's absolutely fascinating.
• 4:37
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 4:38
  Speaker B: Yeah. So what kind of. What about you? So what kind of challenges have you faced? Well, you have.
• 4:44
  Speaker A: I mean, it's nothing really like about myself, but in middle school, I mean, remember you had an America's Got Talent stage fall. And, and my. Oh, yeah, we are going to talk about that. D. A lot of my classmates.
• 5:02
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 5:02
  Speaker A: A lot of my classmates would like, show me the video.
• 5:06
  Speaker B: Don't know. I was on America's Got Got Talent and I was trying to rap.
• 5:12
  Speaker A: And it was, it was poetic.
• 5:15
  Speaker B: Total 100% a fail. And I.
• 5:18
  Speaker A: No, it was poetic, dad. Don't worry. He did. He did.
• 5:23
  Speaker B: And I, I literally fell off the stage. Stage. And then Howie Mandel made fun of me. And you had Piers Morgan there, and he made fun of me. And then the lady. There was another lady, famous lady there. She was just laughing. And so it was really embarrassing. Yeah, well, okay. So anyway, so I didn't. I. You know what? I hate the fact that it affected you. So tell me.
• 5:43
  Speaker A: I. I mean, honestly, now, I do not care. People still bring it up and I. I end up laughing with them, which is, you know, in that way I can, like, I can relate to Billy. I mean, she's embraced, you know, her, like her Tourette's. And you've embraced the fact that, I mean, you're a convicted felon and that you follow this. You know, just all the embarrassing things that you've done. Yeah, but I think. Yeah, at the time, it was definitely just. It was definitely frustrating when people would bring it up just because, like, in middle school, you're, you know, you're still figuring out who you are and, like, who you. You want to be in the future and, you know, how other people perceive you. But now, I mean, so people still bring it up. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This happened, I think, like, before I was born or.
• 6:35
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah. So it's probably before you were.
• 6:36
  Speaker A: Yeah, years ago.
• 6:38
  Speaker B: Yeah, people still bring it up. It's on. It's still on.
• 6:40
  Speaker A: You people. People do still bring it up.
• 6:43
  Speaker B: So I'm really sorry.
• 6:46
  Speaker A: No, it's fine. Because I've learned to embrace it.
• 6:49
  Speaker B: But now you think it's funny.
• 6:50
  Speaker A: Exactly. I think it's hilarious.
• 6:52
  Speaker B: Now you can laugh about it.
• 6:53
  Speaker A: Exact.
• 6:53
  Speaker B: That's the same. Same thing with me. So for me, I. I laugh about it.
• 6:57
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 6:57
  Speaker B: I think, actually, I think it's really cool because whenever you have kids and your sisters have kids, that's going to be a cool story to tell.
• 7:05
  Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. That is a story that will be legendary. They're gonna love it for everybody. But it's. I mean, tying it all back to the main theme here. Like, Billie Eilish, she, you know, she's facing since 11 years old when she was diagnosed with it and probably before then, because, you know, who knows, whenever you go to the doctor and, like, finally get yourself diagnosed like she is, she's been dealing with this. And at first she said that it was frustrating, I mean, because people, you know, don't understand. Yeah. And it's scary because, you know, there's, like, this transition that, you know, people don't really speak of when. Whenever you're, like, starting to, like, feel those tics and things like that are starting to happen to you. And so I think like, ultimately, she ended up handling it beautifully.
• 7:49
  Speaker B: Have you seen the videos of the young lady, blonde, beautiful blonde young woman who. She's probably your age, and she has Tourette's syndrome and she has a pretty bad case of it where she.
• 8:02
  Speaker A: Wait, yes, yes, yes. Because she was with her boyfriend and she was. Oh, my gosh. Yes. She has these hilarious breakouts through tress.
• 8:13
  Speaker B: She has embraced it.
• 8:15
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 8:15
  Speaker B: And she has come.
• 8:16
  Speaker A: She's with.
• 8:17
  Speaker B: And she's.
• 8:18
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 8:18
  Speaker B: Like a total YouTube star.
• 8:21
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
• 8:21
  Speaker B: Social media star. I don't even know how many followers she has.
• 8:24
  Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I see clips of her all the time. And it. I mean, honestly, she just, like, laughs with everybody about it, and it's really nice that she's, like, she's kind of been able to shape that into, like, who she is online. Like, she's kind of made that her mission to, like, you know, show that she's confident with it and that she's able to live with it. So.
• 8:43
  Speaker B: So here's. Here's what I want you to take away from all of that, all these stories, is that most of the time, not sometimes, most of the time, your greatest challenges ultimately become your greatest strength. Right. And it's by facing your greatest challenges, that's where you find your greatest strength.
• 9:07
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 9:07
  Speaker B: Example, Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish, she faced her greatest challenge, which was to be seen, and probably, I'm just assuming, but to be seen in public, and found out that she's got these tics. And she. She went into it, she faced that fear and she became super famous. The. The young woman on TikTok that has Tourette's, she embraced it and that became her greatest strength. Now she's super famous. TikTok star. And then. And then. And then, of course, you being a convicted felon, I have actually embraced it, and I wrote a book about it called when life knocks you down, come back stronger. Right. And so I've written a book about it. I've used it as part of my story. It's become my greatest strength.
• 9:54
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 9:54
  Speaker B: So that's what I think the biggest takeaway is, is the biggest challenges that we face, they are all almost always gonna be our biggest strength.
• 10:03
  Speaker A: Absolutely. And I think that's an amazing note to end it on. So thank you guys so much for watching. I mean, Billie Eilish, we don't even can. We don't even think about the Tourette's. Whenever we listen to her music or see her, you know, just like her interviews or her talking online like that. You know, it just kind of. It's just something that exists and that people are able to ignore because of how amazing of a public figure she is. She's. I mean, she has a great influence, a great story. Yeah.
• 10:32
  Speaker B: It means nothing.
• 10:33
  Speaker A: Exactly.
• 10:34
  Speaker B: Nothing. And unless you make it something.
• 10:38
  Speaker A: Exactly. And that's why you guys should never allow public opinion to, you know, control you. Exactly. Because no one else's opinion matters but yours. So, thank you guys so much for watching. Make sure to tune in on future episodes. We're on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all your other podcast streaming platforms. Make sure to, like, comment, subscribe, and we'll see you next time.
• 11:00
  Speaker B: See you next time.
• 11:01
  Speaker A: Bye.