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What Does it Mean to be Tapped In to Culture? With Va$htie · QUESTION EVERYTHING

0:04
Speaker 1: Big things happen when you're pretty, pretty bold, pretty clever,
0:08
Speaker 1: pretty strong. I'm Danielle Robe, and each week my guests
0:12
Speaker 1: and I have conversations that put a new spin on pretty.
0:17
Speaker 1: This is pretty smart. Vashti Kola is known as Downtown's sweetheart.
0:23
Speaker 1: What does that nickname mean? Well, it depends on who
0:27
Speaker 1: you ask. This New York Times profile might put it best.
0:31
Speaker 1: It says Vashti is a kind of renaissance woman who
0:34
Speaker 1: moves easily among fashion, film and music. She's emerged as
0:38
Speaker 1: a role model for young tastemakers. In other words, Vashti's
0:43
Speaker 1: kind of like the OG influencer. She's a DJ, designer, filmmaker,
0:50
Speaker 1: and entrepreneur who has directed music videos for stars like
0:53
Speaker 1: Justin Bieber and Kendrick Lamar. She's a staple in the
0:57
Speaker 1: New York hip hop scene. Just take a look at
0:59
Speaker 1: her instace friend stars studded with picks of her with
1:02
Speaker 1: Tianna Taylor, Kid Cuddy, future Cardi B just to name
1:06
Speaker 1: a few. She broke barriers in twenty ten when she
1:09
Speaker 1: became the first woman to ever craft a collaborative air
1:13
Speaker 1: Jordan sneaker, and it all started with a birthday cake.
1:17
Speaker 1: Today we're deep diving into Vashti's contributions to culture, but
1:21
Speaker 1: also how those contributions made her reflect on her own
1:25
Speaker 1: cultural crossroads, her struggles with defying expectations and traditions of
1:29
Speaker 1: her West Indian upbringing, and what does it really mean
1:32
Speaker 1: to be tapped into culture in the digital age. So
1:40
Speaker 1: you are from Albany, New York. Your parents are from
1:44
Speaker 1: Trinidad and Tobago. How did they end up in Albany.
1:47
Speaker 2: My uncle had come to the States first, I think
1:50
Speaker 2: in the seventies or the eighties, and he settled in
1:52
Speaker 2: the Bronx because he had friends who were in the Bronx,
1:55
Speaker 2: and my dad later on went, you know, my mom
1:59
Speaker 2: uh and my brother and sister were already born in Trinidad,
2:02
Speaker 2: and my dad was like looking for places to bring,
2:04
Speaker 2: you know, his family, and he went to the Bronx
2:07
Speaker 2: in the eighties and was like, this is not the
2:09
Speaker 2: place I want to be with my family. And so
2:12
Speaker 2: I think he had friends that were living in Albany
2:15
Speaker 2: and working and they told him, you know that there's
2:17
Speaker 2: work here if you come up here. So he went
2:19
Speaker 2: to visit and he really enjoyed it more than the
2:22
Speaker 2: Bronx that's how we ended up in Albany, of all places.
2:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean so, I actually just went to the
2:29
Speaker 1: Bronx for the first time last month, and there are
2:32
Speaker 1: parts that are still really rough. But my friend that
2:34
Speaker 1: I went with was like it was all rough twenty
2:37
Speaker 1: years ago, Like it was a hard place to grow up,
2:41
Speaker 1: so your parents were it was not for the faint
2:44
Speaker 1: of heart.
2:45
Speaker 2: No, no, And what's interesting about I have to say
2:47
Speaker 2: about the Bronx is that it was definitely back then.
2:51
Speaker 2: It was in a much different situation. But you know,
2:55
Speaker 2: so much beauty and art and culture was born out
2:58
Speaker 2: of that particular burrough, specifically the culture of hip hop,
3:02
Speaker 2: the music of hip hop, so that is the burrow
3:05
Speaker 2: that is credited with it. And to look back on
3:07
Speaker 2: it and realize, like, wow, there was like nothing that
3:10
Speaker 2: was there for these people. It was very unfortunate situation,
3:13
Speaker 2: and beauty came out of it.
3:15
Speaker 1: So well, I'm glad you mentioned art and hip hop
3:19
Speaker 1: because I feel like those are two things that really
3:21
Speaker 1: influence your work online. You're called one of the OG influencers,
3:25
Speaker 1: but you didn't really start out as an influencer, which
3:29
Speaker 1: is really interesting, Like what was your first experience with entertainment.
3:34
Speaker 2: I guess for me, there's a long history to it.
3:37
Speaker 2: But basically, I came to New York to study film
3:41
Speaker 2: and was a kid who was just very enveloped in
3:44
Speaker 2: hip hop, music culture, film, photography, skate just all of
3:49
Speaker 2: the subcultures that at that time weren't heralded, were not
3:53
Speaker 2: in the forefront, were definitely not given its flowers. And
3:58
Speaker 2: you know, I came to New York to to filmmaking
4:02
Speaker 2: and all of my creative endeavors, and I think maybe
4:05
Speaker 2: that moving to New York was really my like first
4:08
Speaker 2: like step into it. But it was all of the
4:09
Speaker 2: things I'd been doing as a kid, like going hanging
4:12
Speaker 2: out outside of skate shops and going to record shops
4:15
Speaker 2: and like, so you know, I kind of have always
4:18
Speaker 2: been that kind of kid, and now I'm a grown
4:22
Speaker 2: up and I'm still sort of interested in all of
4:24
Speaker 2: those worlds.
4:25
Speaker 1: You know, hip hop at that time was somewhat still counterculture.
4:29
Speaker 1: State has always been a counterculture. What about that were
4:33
Speaker 1: you drawn to?
4:34
Speaker 2: I grew up in the hood, so the music itself
4:37
Speaker 2: was like just the inspiration, the fashion, like the community
4:42
Speaker 2: I grew up in, just like sneaker culture street where
4:45
Speaker 2: you know, hip hop, like graffiti. All of it was
4:49
Speaker 2: just I was immersed in it, which was incredible because
4:52
Speaker 2: it was just my first dose of what would then,
4:55
Speaker 2: you know, create this obsession to me and this huge
4:58
Speaker 2: inspiration for me. I think it was just part of
5:01
Speaker 2: the natural day to day for me, and I think
5:04
Speaker 2: as I got older, I realized that, you know, for
5:06
Speaker 2: some people, that's not the same situation.
5:08
Speaker 1: So you moved to New York, and even though you
5:11
Speaker 1: grew up in New York, moving to the city is
5:14
Speaker 1: a whole different experience, and you start directing films, So
5:17
Speaker 1: how did you start doing that?
5:19
Speaker 2: Well, So when I came to New York, I was
5:21
Speaker 2: studying film, and I studied it properly. It was literally
5:26
Speaker 2: editing film on a Steenbeck, which was like the original
5:29
Speaker 2: machine that all filmmakers used to edit film. It was like,
5:33
Speaker 2: you know, a real film going through and then if
5:35
Speaker 2: you had to make an edit, you had to splice
5:37
Speaker 2: the film physically and then tape it together to actually
5:41
Speaker 2: make a continuous piece of film.
5:44
Speaker 1: That's so wild. I have some broadcast mentors who because
5:48
Speaker 1: like in what I do, we have a reel which
5:50
Speaker 1: is like your highlight tape. And I have some mentors
5:52
Speaker 1: who are like, you have no idea what I went through.
5:55
Speaker 1: When I would put my reel together, I would have
5:57
Speaker 1: to cut the tape exact I'm driving. I can't even
6:00
Speaker 1: imagine that.
6:01
Speaker 2: It's so fascinating. I mean, technology has evolved so much
6:05
Speaker 2: in wonderful ways, but you know, I'm really grateful to
6:09
Speaker 2: have been able to like touch that machine. And I
6:11
Speaker 2: remember the year that I started school, they like they
6:14
Speaker 2: ended up like breaking down those machines and getting rid
6:17
Speaker 2: of them, and I was so sad because it just
6:18
Speaker 2: felt so just so important and just to be able
6:22
Speaker 2: to touch something that other filmmakers had used and like
6:25
Speaker 2: you know, poured their heart and soul into just to
6:29
Speaker 2: get like the right edit. It's just it gave me
6:31
Speaker 2: a deeper appreciation, especially looking at older films.
6:35
Speaker 1: There is an analog part of you. As much as
6:37
Speaker 1: you are in this digital world, your heart is very analog,
6:40
Speaker 1: it seems it is.
6:42
Speaker 2: I have started using my paper planner again because I
6:46
Speaker 2: have a hard time managing like apps and like digital calendar.
6:51
Speaker 2: I mean, I use a digital calendar, but I'm like,
6:52
Speaker 2: I need to write something down, I need to be
6:54
Speaker 2: able to scratch it off. Yes, I'm a creature of habit,
6:59
Speaker 2: and those were like all of my habits as a kid,
7:01
Speaker 2: and I feel like I'm just like reverting back to
7:03
Speaker 2: like the analog side of myself.
7:05
Speaker 1: It's beautiful. Okay. So you went to film school, yes,
7:10
Speaker 1: and you're working with film Yes.
7:12
Speaker 2: I was doing a lot of collaborative work. We were
7:14
Speaker 2: doing like short films. We were doing like spec commercials
7:17
Speaker 2: and like things of that nature to sort of like
7:19
Speaker 2: get us, you know, ready for the real world. And
7:22
Speaker 2: at the same time, I was interning at big production companies,
7:26
Speaker 2: and when I graduated, it kind of took me some
7:29
Speaker 2: time before I got acclimated into like where I wanted
7:33
Speaker 2: to go. How do I go about it.
7:35
Speaker 1: It's a very competitive field.
7:36
Speaker 2: And at that time it was not very common. I
7:41
Speaker 2: feel like for a girl who looked like me to
7:43
Speaker 2: be like, hey, like hiring me as a director or
7:45
Speaker 2: look at my reel, you know, trying to get work.
7:48
Speaker 2: It's specifically in music videos, because that was where I
7:50
Speaker 2: wanted to go. I wanted to direct music videos, so
7:53
Speaker 2: I really I started my career doing music videos for
7:55
Speaker 2: a lot of artists who were independent and sort of emerging,
7:59
Speaker 2: and I ended up showing my reel to this wonderful woman,
8:02
Speaker 2: this wonderful human being, Grace. And so she had been
8:06
Speaker 2: working at a record label in the video department and
8:08
Speaker 2: was like, you know, oh, like you want to be
8:10
Speaker 2: a director, let me check out you're reel. I'll give
8:12
Speaker 2: you some pointers on how to like edit and adjust
8:14
Speaker 2: it to help you get work. And so she checked
8:16
Speaker 2: out my reel and was like really really gracious in
8:19
Speaker 2: helping me. And then a few weeks later she hit
8:22
Speaker 2: me up and was like, Oh, my husband is actually
8:24
Speaker 2: starting a production company and he's looking to sign new
8:27
Speaker 2: emerging directors. And I got signed to his production company
8:31
Speaker 2: and started directing that way.
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Speaker 1: That's very cool. And so what was your first big Like,
8:39
Speaker 1: I'm sure when you said unsigned artists, it's like you're
8:42
Speaker 1: building your portfolio. And then I think everybody who gets
8:46
Speaker 1: like a foothold in their career has that one video,
8:49
Speaker 1: that one moment. For me, it's like that one interview, right,
8:52
Speaker 1: that sort of changes things? What changed things for you?
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Speaker 2: I would say, So at that time, I was doing
8:59
Speaker 2: a lot of videos for you know, independent artists, but
9:02
Speaker 2: at the same time, I was also writing for the
9:04
Speaker 2: other directors that were on my production company. So I
9:07
Speaker 2: was writing concepts for music videos for them, and one
9:11
Speaker 2: of which I wrote for Anthony Mandler, who was a
9:14
Speaker 2: mentor of mine. He's a wonderful, wonderful person. I was
9:18
Speaker 2: given the opportunity to write for a video that he
9:21
Speaker 2: would direct because at the time he was so busy.
9:24
Speaker 2: I'm sure he had other people writing for him maybe,
9:27
Speaker 2: And it was for Commons Video Testify, and I just
9:31
Speaker 2: wrote this concept and you know, sent it over and
9:34
Speaker 2: they ended up using it. And I watched this video
9:38
Speaker 2: on MTTV and I was so thrilled. Like to me,
9:41
Speaker 2: it was like, I mean, it was like everything I'd
9:43
Speaker 2: worked for, everything I'd come to New York for. I
9:45
Speaker 2: was like just to see something that I had a
9:47
Speaker 2: part of, like on the big screen. It was incredible.
9:51
Speaker 2: So I think that was like a really great moment
9:53
Speaker 2: for me.
9:54
Speaker 1: That's huge as a kid growing up who loves music,
9:57
Speaker 1: to see your video on MTV holds so much weight.
10:03
Speaker 2: Yes, I feel like MTV at some point had raised
10:06
Speaker 2: me because I was just watching TV as a kid,
10:08
Speaker 2: like NonStop, specifically MTV and all the music videos at
10:12
Speaker 2: the time that they played music videos, and it was
10:15
Speaker 2: just so profound for me.
10:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned Anthony and there's really not a lot
10:21
Speaker 1: of female music video directors. But you've now done videos
10:26
Speaker 1: for Kendrick Lamar, for Justin Bieber. What's it like to
10:30
Speaker 1: be a woman in that space?
10:32
Speaker 2: It was a different time. So I feel like when
10:34
Speaker 2: I was just starting out, it was like the mid
10:36
Speaker 2: two thousands, I would say that the music video industry,
10:40
Speaker 2: specifically with directors, was heavily like male dominated. There were,
10:45
Speaker 2: you know, a couple of female directors that I knew
10:48
Speaker 2: of because I'd been so immersed in watching all the
10:51
Speaker 2: videos on TV, so I knew that a couple had existed,
10:55
Speaker 2: but not very many. So when I started, you know,
10:58
Speaker 2: shopping my reel round, going to offices, trying to meet
11:01
Speaker 2: these executives to like, you know, think about, you know,
11:04
Speaker 2: considering my work, consider me. You know, I definitely dealt with,
11:08
Speaker 2: you know, some men who were like, oh, are you
11:10
Speaker 2: sure you want to be a director? Are you here
11:12
Speaker 2: to like model? I mean I even showed up onto
11:15
Speaker 2: some of my sets as a director early on, and
11:17
Speaker 2: as soon as I walk in, They're like, okay, talent
11:19
Speaker 2: goes over there, and I'm like, oh, I'm the director.
11:22
Speaker 2: Like so I had moments like that definitely. I think
11:25
Speaker 2: now it has evolved a lot. There's so many different
11:31
Speaker 2: kinds of directors that look like me, that look like
11:33
Speaker 2: all kinds of women. Representation is huge right now, I think,
11:37
Speaker 2: specifically in the directing field, which I think is great.
11:40
Speaker 2: But when I was coming up, it was not commonplace.
11:43
Speaker 2: For sure.
11:48
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Speaker 1: healthy with one skin. So you're doing these videos and
14:04
Speaker 1: then you're starting to become friends with the people you're
14:07
Speaker 1: working with. Of course, that's like how it goes. Right
14:09
Speaker 1: when I was researching, I see you online and there's
14:12
Speaker 1: all these celebs that you've posted with that they've posted
14:15
Speaker 1: with you, and you kind of step into this influencer
14:18
Speaker 1: space and it happened by accident, it seems, yes.
14:21
Speaker 2: So I'm always confused when people use the word influencer
14:24
Speaker 2: because so for me, I just call myself an artist.
14:27
Speaker 2: But I think, you know, for me being enmeshed in
14:31
Speaker 2: so many different worlds, like with celebrity or with downtown cool,
14:36
Speaker 2: all of these things, I feel like, for my you know, origins,
14:42
Speaker 2: it was me being this kid who was interested in
14:45
Speaker 2: so many different weird worlds, and I had a visibility
14:49
Speaker 2: because I was just sort of like this kid hanging
14:52
Speaker 2: out downtown. I also made friends with other people who
14:55
Speaker 2: were like minded, so we were like these young creative
14:59
Speaker 2: kids just like creating by default, like just like making
15:03
Speaker 2: things for fun. And now we're all in this really
15:06
Speaker 2: wonderful position. We were just these kids who had no money,
15:08
Speaker 2: working like odd jobs, but making things for fun and
15:12
Speaker 2: sort of like creating a name for ourselves. And I
15:14
Speaker 2: think at the time of when we were doing it,
15:17
Speaker 2: there was no social media. So when you heard about someone,
15:21
Speaker 2: you saw them in a magazine because it was like
15:23
Speaker 2: their street style photo or you knew that, you know,
15:26
Speaker 2: if you wanted to get like good styling, you went
15:29
Speaker 2: to this certain person downtown. It was all word of mouth,
15:32
Speaker 2: and I think that that weight was really there. I
15:36
Speaker 2: think now it's different. I'm going to bring this both circle.
15:39
Speaker 2: Now it's different where I think that the visibility of
15:42
Speaker 2: people on social media it's harder to discern like, oh,
15:46
Speaker 2: what kind of person are they or are they really
15:49
Speaker 2: this you know, creative or are they like using Pinterest
15:53
Speaker 2: for their whole in sption of their work. And it's
15:57
Speaker 2: no shade because I feel like, at the end of
15:59
Speaker 2: the day, if anyone is, you know, working and making
16:03
Speaker 2: a name for themselves, like you know, more power to you.
16:06
Speaker 2: But I think at the time of when I was
16:08
Speaker 2: coming up, it wasn't easy to be known for something
16:13
Speaker 2: or to be sort of like in these circles. It
16:15
Speaker 2: then became the situation of like, oh, like I know
16:19
Speaker 2: this person, you should meet this person, which also ended
16:22
Speaker 2: us up into like the world of celebrity where people
16:24
Speaker 2: wanted to work with us, or being out at an
16:27
Speaker 2: event and them knowing your name because they knew of
16:29
Speaker 2: your work or knew about you. I mean, obviously that
16:31
Speaker 2: happens now, but it happens in a different way.
16:34
Speaker 1: I think I read that you've said that you're a
16:36
Speaker 1: good representation of the culture in this strange digital era.
16:40
Speaker 1: So tell me what you mean, Like, where do you
16:43
Speaker 1: see yourself in this digital era now? Because I love
16:46
Speaker 1: this tension that you have between the analog and digital.
16:51
Speaker 1: I feel it too. I get where you're coming from.
16:54
Speaker 2: I try to be the best representation. I don't take
16:57
Speaker 2: it lightly. To me, it's really important. These cultures that
17:01
Speaker 2: we exist in and you know that are ultimately influencing
17:06
Speaker 2: the world. And for me, I feel like, you know,
17:09
Speaker 2: even down to the fact that like you know, using
17:13
Speaker 2: the technology that predated digital, so like even like analog
17:18
Speaker 2: things like a turntable, things of that nature. Like, I
17:21
Speaker 2: feel like it's important to keep those elements alive as
17:26
Speaker 2: much as we are evolving, important to embrace the future.
17:30
Speaker 2: But I do think it's important to like talk about
17:33
Speaker 2: like the influences, the people who came before me, the
17:37
Speaker 2: you know, the people who created this space that often
17:40
Speaker 2: were not credited for their work. You know. I think
17:42
Speaker 2: it's I think it's fine that people adopt things into
17:47
Speaker 2: their own culture, but I think it's super important that
17:49
Speaker 2: they know where it came from and who started it.
17:54
Speaker 2: I just think the attention to the origins is really important.
18:00
Speaker 1: So when I think of culture, one of the things
18:04
Speaker 1: I think of is sneakers, for sure. And you were
18:08
Speaker 1: the first woman to design a sneaker for Jordan, which
18:13
Speaker 1: was really really cool. I wish I had it on
18:15
Speaker 1: my mantle right now. I'm from Chicago, so I have
18:18
Speaker 1: the Chicago ones up.
18:20
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
18:21
Speaker 1: But I heard that the opportunity happened because of a
18:23
Speaker 1: birthday cake. So can you tell me how that occurred?
18:27
Speaker 2: Yes, So it occurred basically because was known as a
18:32
Speaker 2: girl who was always wearing Jordan's sneakers, and I was
18:35
Speaker 2: having a birthday party and me and my friends were
18:38
Speaker 2: planning it, like, Oh, it's going to be this big thing,
18:40
Speaker 2: you know. And we were talking about the birthday cake
18:43
Speaker 2: and everyone's like, Oh, what's to the birthday cake be?
18:45
Speaker 2: And I'm like, Oh, I want it to be a
18:47
Speaker 2: Jordan three I'm obsessed with the Jordan three is, specifically,
18:51
Speaker 2: were the Sneakers I wore to death, and I wanted
18:54
Speaker 2: a giant cake version of them because I love them
18:56
Speaker 2: so much. And we had a cake made. I hadn't
19:01
Speaker 2: seen pictures of it until it arrived, and I was
19:04
Speaker 2: thrilled when I saw it. I could not believe it.
19:06
Speaker 2: I think I took one hundred million photos with it
19:10
Speaker 2: because I was so impressed with how incredible it turned out,
19:14
Speaker 2: to the point where I wouldn't let anyone cut into
19:16
Speaker 2: it because I was convinced that I could take it
19:18
Speaker 2: home and preserve it, which didn't end up being true
19:23
Speaker 2: at all, because I got home and then the cake
19:25
Speaker 2: couldn't fit in the refrigerator and of course the cake's
19:28
Speaker 2: not gonna lash, just like on your counter, so I
19:30
Speaker 2: had no choice but to cut into it, and I
19:32
Speaker 2: was so sad. Anyway, at that time, you know, the
19:36
Speaker 2: cake had become not a viral moment, but I mean
19:40
Speaker 2: it was covered by hype Beasts and was sort of
19:42
Speaker 2: like a popular post, I think. And then a couple
19:45
Speaker 2: weeks later, I'd run into a friend named Astra Chambers.
19:49
Speaker 2: He and I were catching up. I had known that
19:51
Speaker 2: he was working at a sneaker company, but you know,
19:53
Speaker 2: I basically was like, oh, look at my you know,
19:55
Speaker 2: did you see my birthday cake from hype Beast and
19:58
Speaker 2: showed it to him and he was like, oh my god,
19:59
Speaker 2: this is incredib Well, He's like, do you know I'm
20:00
Speaker 2: a brand Jordan. Now, you know, we should totally get
20:03
Speaker 2: you design a Jordan because you're a girl who is
20:06
Speaker 2: obsessed with Jordan's. I was like, immediately yes, But also
20:09
Speaker 2: at the same time, you know, in business and in
20:12
Speaker 2: a lot of industries, you know, you talk about doing
20:14
Speaker 2: something with someone and it doesn't pan out and it's
20:16
Speaker 2: neither here nor there. So I was like, Okay, sure
20:18
Speaker 2: I would love that, but I mean, what's is that
20:21
Speaker 2: really going to happen? But the next day we were
20:23
Speaker 2: on the phone and we were discussing like the approach
20:27
Speaker 2: and the deadline and like just all the details for it.
20:30
Speaker 2: So it was really a whirlwind. How it happened.
20:34
Speaker 1: How long does that process take?
20:36
Speaker 2: Well, for me and my process, it was a year.
20:38
Speaker 1: Okay. I read once you launched this shoe, you felt
20:42
Speaker 1: like it wasn't really embraced by the company and the brand.
20:45
Speaker 1: So what was the sneaker culture like when you entered
20:48
Speaker 1: it and how do you feel like you left a
20:49
Speaker 1: mark on snaker culture with your shoe.
20:53
Speaker 2: I would say that the company and the brand, you know,
20:58
Speaker 2: while they gave me this incredible opportunity that I will
21:01
Speaker 2: be forever indebted to, I don't think the project was
21:05
Speaker 2: aligned with all of the different you know, departments, because
21:09
Speaker 2: when they unveiled the sneaker, it sort of just came out.
21:12
Speaker 2: I wasn't given much information on what the release date
21:16
Speaker 2: was and where it would be sold in things of
21:19
Speaker 2: that nature. So I think I'm giving grace to them
21:23
Speaker 2: for not having been maybe prepared or maybe you know,
21:27
Speaker 2: foreseeing what they could have prepared for it. So having
21:30
Speaker 2: said that's sort of like, you know, it came out
21:33
Speaker 2: and there wasn't much I could do but like play
21:36
Speaker 2: catch up because I didn't know when they were releasing it,
21:38
Speaker 2: and try and figure out ways that I could support
21:40
Speaker 2: this collaboration. For me, entering the sneaker world, it was
21:46
Speaker 2: I feel like I was born into it just for
21:49
Speaker 2: me in my perspective, I'm always going to say that
21:52
Speaker 2: I think that sneaker culture is Black culture. It is
21:58
Speaker 2: you know, specifically where I grew up in the hood.
22:00
Speaker 2: It was like that was a representation of style. It
22:04
Speaker 2: was more than shoes, It was more than sports. It
22:07
Speaker 2: was a lifestyle. It was something that as a young person,
22:12
Speaker 2: my family couldn't afford a brand anything. So you know,
22:15
Speaker 2: as much as I desired them, it became an obsession
22:18
Speaker 2: because I could then couldn't also afford them. The sneakers
22:22
Speaker 2: just represented just this epitome of just style that It's
22:28
Speaker 2: hard to explain, but I guess at that time it
22:31
Speaker 2: was everything to me, and I think to the culture,
22:34
Speaker 2: even though maybe it wasn't verbalized and it wasn't something
22:37
Speaker 2: that you know, was the topic of discussion. It was
22:41
Speaker 2: just like, you know, if you have a like cool look,
22:43
Speaker 2: like what are you going to what shoes you're gonna wear?
22:45
Speaker 2: Or you know you have these shoes, what outfit are
22:47
Speaker 2: you gonna then pair with it? It was like that
22:49
Speaker 2: was the culture of it.
22:50
Speaker 1: You still care, like when you get dressed today. Do
22:53
Speaker 1: you still think about your sneakers or do you care less?
22:56
Speaker 2: Now? I think I it depends on the day and
23:00
Speaker 2: it depends on the outfit, but day to day I
23:03
Speaker 2: generally don't care. I am also this, you know, I'm
23:07
Speaker 2: a tourist. I like comfort. I like wearing almost the
23:10
Speaker 2: same thing every day without having to worry about like
23:13
Speaker 2: this smash or is this good whatever. So I often
23:16
Speaker 2: will just slip on the same pair of sneakers. I'm
23:18
Speaker 2: always wearing.
23:19
Speaker 1: What do you always care about?
23:21
Speaker 2: Lately it's just been air Force ones, and I've was
23:25
Speaker 2: white air Force one lows and now it's Black air
23:27
Speaker 2: Force one Lows, which controversial. It is very controversial, but
23:32
Speaker 2: you know what, I'm trying to change the narrative of
23:35
Speaker 2: the Black Air Force Ones. I don't know if it's working,
23:38
Speaker 2: but you know, we'll see.
23:40
Speaker 1: It's definitely a statement. You like to go against the grain.
23:43
Speaker 2: I sometimes, you know, that's how trends were born, and
23:47
Speaker 2: you know that's how you know things start. You have
23:50
Speaker 2: to start a revolution somehow. But yeah, so sneaker culture,
23:54
Speaker 2: when I entered it was to me it was like
23:56
Speaker 2: black it was hood culture. You know. I ended up
23:59
Speaker 2: getting a scholarship to an all girls school that was
24:02
Speaker 2: in the suburbs, and I just remember realizing, like, oh,
24:04
Speaker 2: they don't care about sneakers. Like not to say that
24:07
Speaker 2: they represent the entire world at large, but I was like, oh,
24:10
Speaker 2: like this is not a big deal for them, And
24:12
Speaker 2: like I'd see girls with really nice sneakers, just like
24:15
Speaker 2: beat up sneakers, like you know, like oh I didn't care.
24:17
Speaker 2: I'd just wear them for gym, and I'm like, oh
24:19
Speaker 2: my god, like do you know what you have? It
24:21
Speaker 2: was just a whole different culture, so I think, you know,
24:23
Speaker 2: when I also moved to New York, I realized that
24:26
Speaker 2: the sneaker culture was bigger, but it was definitely not
24:30
Speaker 2: what it is now. In general, hood girls were sneakers
24:34
Speaker 2: from what I gathered, it was like that was like
24:38
Speaker 2: the style, like to wear a cute outfit and like
24:40
Speaker 2: a wear a pair of cute Jordans or Airmax, but
24:43
Speaker 2: like other girls were not like, oh, I'm wearing like
24:46
Speaker 2: a cute look and sneakers. Sneaker culture evolved with you know,
24:50
Speaker 2: magazines and with blogs and with stores and all of
24:55
Speaker 2: those things, and I think now it's just it's so
24:57
Speaker 2: fascinating to see like, you know, just like everyone wearing sneakers,
25:03
Speaker 2: like fashion magazines who never would have done a story
25:05
Speaker 2: on sneakers, like you know, ten ways to wear your
25:08
Speaker 2: Air Force ones or like.
25:09
Speaker 1: You know, it's just range. But yeah, it sounds like,
25:12
Speaker 1: as you're telling me this, that they mean more to
25:15
Speaker 1: you than just shoes.
25:18
Speaker 2: I think that that's also the sentiment of like where
25:20
Speaker 2: the culture was born from for me, Like when I
25:24
Speaker 2: look back at you know, growing up in the hood
25:26
Speaker 2: and you know, seeing kids who like don't have much,
25:29
Speaker 2: like they put all of their full detail and energy
25:32
Speaker 2: into like their look. You know, to me, that is
25:35
Speaker 2: something I adopted and it again, I think for me,
25:40
Speaker 2: if I'm trying to hold a torch and like keep
25:43
Speaker 2: these cultures alive, the authentic core of these cultures, it's
25:47
Speaker 2: also that it's like, you know a little bit, it's
25:49
Speaker 2: also like kind of a tribute to sort of be
25:52
Speaker 2: like I'm thankful again for being a part of this
25:55
Speaker 2: world and then also want to like do it as
25:58
Speaker 2: like true as possible.
26:00
Speaker 1: When you think of taste makers, Now, whose sneakers are
26:06
Speaker 1: you looking at?
26:07
Speaker 2: I'm always looking at a Laily May Like she is
26:11
Speaker 2: just hands down my absolute favorite. I just think that
26:15
Speaker 2: she is also someone I think who is like this
26:18
Speaker 2: old soul who's also preserving culture in a way that
26:22
Speaker 2: is like so important and so beautiful and at the
26:26
Speaker 2: same time like making huge strides for women. Just like
26:30
Speaker 2: everything that she's doing I think is so exciting and wonderful.
26:34
Speaker 2: And anytime she posts them like what are you wearing?
26:36
Speaker 2: Where'd you get it? Who are you tagging? Like, it's
26:38
Speaker 2: just she's just incredible.
26:40
Speaker 1: What do you think the tie is between hip hop
26:42
Speaker 1: and sneakers?
26:44
Speaker 2: I think it goes back to what I was saying
26:45
Speaker 2: that it's part of black culture. It's just that's that
26:48
Speaker 2: was it like for me, Like growing up in the hood,
26:50
Speaker 2: it was like it was like sneakers were just part
26:52
Speaker 2: of everyday life culture, not everyday life like oh, I'm
26:56
Speaker 2: wearing sneakers to like work out like sneakers, to like
27:01
Speaker 2: perfect my look and to like, you know, it was
27:03
Speaker 2: part of the style and the expression. It was much
27:06
Speaker 2: more ingrained that almost like you couldn't like walk out
27:11
Speaker 2: the house everyone like you had to have like a
27:13
Speaker 2: nice pair of sneakers, and if you whatever you had
27:16
Speaker 2: had to be clean, it had to be pristine, Like
27:18
Speaker 2: there was no way you were walking out the house
27:20
Speaker 2: like with scuffed sneakers or something like just not cute.
27:24
Speaker 2: And I mean a lot of that could be there
27:27
Speaker 2: could be like further discussion of what that DNA is
27:30
Speaker 2: and what that actually comes from, and you know, maybe
27:34
Speaker 2: not having much and like, you know, having the nice
27:37
Speaker 2: things that you haven't taken.
27:37
Speaker 1: Care of it properly.
27:39
Speaker 2: And but to me, sneakers and hip hop, I don't
27:43
Speaker 2: even know if I'm explaining it properly, but for me,
27:45
Speaker 2: it's a no brainer. I mean, they're just like so interconnected.
27:47
Speaker 2: It's just part of the culture.
27:53
Speaker 1: It feels like the holidays sneak up on us faster
27:55
Speaker 1: every single year. Just when you think you have all
27:58
Speaker 1: the time in the world, it's time to start checking
28:00
Speaker 1: off your gift list. I pride myself on giving thoughtful gifts,
28:04
Speaker 1: and when in doubt, I've had three go tos because
28:06
Speaker 1: I think they're things that everybody loves but don't necessarily
28:09
Speaker 1: want to buy for themselves. Candles cute pajamas are the
28:13
Speaker 1: ultimate Ocea's super glow body set. I've used Osea for years,
28:19
Speaker 1: actually ever since my friend Brent introduced me to the
28:22
Speaker 1: founder years ago. They sent me a few products and
28:25
Speaker 1: I was hooked, hooked to the body care especially That's
28:29
Speaker 1: why I'm excited about this box set. It has three
28:33
Speaker 1: of the body care products in one set, the full
28:36
Speaker 1: size Algae Body oil, the cleansing body polish, and a
28:39
Speaker 1: travel sized Algae Body butter. They're packed in a beautiful box,
28:43
Speaker 1: so it eliminates the need to gift wrap, which I
28:46
Speaker 1: love because it saves time and it's better for the planet.
28:49
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30:00
Speaker 1: Are you still djying now? So? How often are you djying?
30:04
Speaker 1: Because you also are a mom now? Which you really
30:08
Speaker 1: that you that changed you? When I read and listened
30:11
Speaker 1: to interviews you talk about how like this was the
30:14
Speaker 1: best role and job you've ever had.
30:17
Speaker 2: Yes, but now I have a two and a half
30:19
Speaker 2: year old, so that statement could.
30:21
Speaker 1: Be could be justed terrible twos are real.
30:27
Speaker 2: I do love being a parent. I do love being
30:29
Speaker 2: a mom. It's it loves that you're a mom and.
30:32
Speaker 1: A DJ that makes me smile because I think that's
30:36
Speaker 1: those are two titles I don't see a lot together.
30:38
Speaker 2: Yes, and you know what, And I'm sad about it
30:41
Speaker 2: because I think that there are plenty of women who
30:45
Speaker 2: were or are moms and DJs and like just trying
30:49
Speaker 2: to figure out the balance is like, it's a lot.
30:52
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure trying to just be a person
30:55
Speaker 2: who works at a store and be a mom is
30:57
Speaker 2: also you know, there's so much to it. So I'm
30:58
Speaker 2: not saying that my situation is more difficult than anyone else's,
31:03
Speaker 2: but I do acknowledge that there are a lot of
31:06
Speaker 2: women who were djaying and probably transitioned into motherhood and
31:10
Speaker 2: maybe at that time, like you know, potential bookers or
31:14
Speaker 2: clients didn't see them as like, you know, viable because
31:18
Speaker 2: now they're a mom and this and that. So I'm
31:20
Speaker 2: hoping that also with what I'm doing, is that they
31:23
Speaker 2: see like, no, you can still book me and plenty
31:26
Speaker 2: of other women who are now moms, and we can
31:29
Speaker 2: still do our job and do it even better now.
31:32
Speaker 1: So, you know, speaking of moms, I read that on
31:36
Speaker 1: Instagram that you said I moved to New York City
31:38
Speaker 1: to fulfill my dreams and also my mother's dreams. So
31:42
Speaker 1: what did you mean by that? What dreams of hers
31:45
Speaker 1: were unfulfilled? That you lived out my mom?
31:48
Speaker 2: My parents, they don't understand what it is I do.
31:51
Speaker 2: They don't really understand the creative world. But you know,
31:56
Speaker 2: when I think about my parents, And I think about
31:58
Speaker 2: my mom specifically, I just you know, I think about
32:02
Speaker 2: how much they did and sacrificed to come to this
32:06
Speaker 2: new country to give their children a better way of life.
32:09
Speaker 2: You know, my parents didn't go to like proper school.
32:12
Speaker 2: I think in their country at the time, they maybe
32:16
Speaker 2: got up to like six or seventh grade, and they
32:19
Speaker 2: were expected to like help with the family and go
32:22
Speaker 2: get a job to also contribute to the family. So
32:26
Speaker 2: I think for me to be able to, like I
32:28
Speaker 2: did my thig up, I got showered and dressed and
32:30
Speaker 2: cut and I'm sitting here, you know, being interviewed is
32:33
Speaker 2: like it's a dream. It's like something that you know,
32:36
Speaker 2: a lot of people don't have the ability to do
32:39
Speaker 2: or the opportunity to do. And I think for me,
32:42
Speaker 2: you know, my parents are people who work with their hands,
32:46
Speaker 2: like you know, they do jobs that are physical labor jobs.
32:52
Speaker 2: And I'm fascinated and thankful and honored that I'm able to,
32:58
Speaker 2: you know, have a job that allows me to like
33:01
Speaker 2: have a vision or have an idea and then sort
33:04
Speaker 2: of project that out into the world and to have
33:08
Speaker 2: it be received. So I think that like for me
33:11
Speaker 2: to go back to you know, Trinidad to visit my
33:14
Speaker 2: family where they're from and to see, you know, like,
33:18
Speaker 2: I had so many more opportunities in this country. Not
33:21
Speaker 2: to say that Trinidad doesn't have amazing opportunities for other people,
33:24
Speaker 2: but specifically for my family and where they're from in
33:27
Speaker 2: the country. You know, my parents moved to America. Was
33:32
Speaker 2: I can't even imagine what that was like to go
33:34
Speaker 2: from this tropical country to this cold, upstate, you know place,
33:39
Speaker 2: and then try and raising three kids.
33:41
Speaker 1: So you're in a cross cultural relationship and that was
33:45
Speaker 1: a weird pivot. But we don't have a ton of time.
33:51
Speaker 1: And I'm always curious in cross cultural relationships if there's
33:56
Speaker 1: something that you can pinpoint that you really appreciate about
33:59
Speaker 1: it and then maybe like an unforeseen challenge in it.
34:02
Speaker 2: Yes, so my husband is Danish, He's from Copenhagen. He's
34:06
Speaker 2: this wonderful, talented designer, creative, like he's super incredible and
34:12
Speaker 2: I love him tearly. And yeah, it's interesting because I
34:17
Speaker 2: think for me, I've dated and I've dabbled, you know,
34:23
Speaker 2: people from my own culture, people from my own country.
34:27
Speaker 2: You know, I've never really had a type. I've just
34:30
Speaker 2: dated whoever. I've liked, and it varies, like if you
34:33
Speaker 2: saw like a side by side of these people, you'd
34:36
Speaker 2: be like, I don't understand, but it's just, you know,
34:39
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm into people, and with my husband, I
34:44
Speaker 2: feel like he's just so different. And I don't know
34:49
Speaker 2: if that is attributed to his culture, because I've talked
34:52
Speaker 2: to people who are Danish about like his personality or
34:56
Speaker 2: you know, the way he approaches things, and I think
34:59
Speaker 2: it down to his parents and maybe the fact that
35:02
Speaker 2: he is Danish. But his approach towards me is completely
35:06
Speaker 2: different than I've ever had with another man, Like he
35:09
Speaker 2: just he's like like listening to me, like you know,
35:13
Speaker 2: it's like, I mean not to say that there aren't
35:15
Speaker 2: men here that listen on I mean that sounds rude,
35:18
Speaker 2: but in my experience, it's just like he's so different
35:21
Speaker 2: than anyone I've ever dated and or been with. And
35:24
Speaker 2: you know, I think that his culture also is they
35:30
Speaker 2: have this like way of functioning that's kind of hard
35:34
Speaker 2: to describe, where it's sort of like it's a specific
35:37
Speaker 2: word for it. It's called the Antelovin. I think it's
35:40
Speaker 2: like there was like I don't know if it was
35:42
Speaker 2: a person who came up with this ideology that you
35:45
Speaker 2: are not better than the group. Like that was the
35:48
Speaker 2: like the statement it's like you are not better than
35:50
Speaker 2: the whole. But I just think that he has this
35:53
Speaker 2: openness that's definitely different than I've ever experienced. And he's
35:57
Speaker 2: also very communicative. I don't know if that's because he's
36:00
Speaker 2: a Libra or he was just raised by wonderful people,
36:03
Speaker 2: but he you know, we're able to communicate, and I
36:06
Speaker 2: think that's like a number one thing that's so important
36:08
Speaker 2: in relationships. The other way I think can be difficult
36:12
Speaker 2: is that I think in our culture, in American culture,
36:16
Speaker 2: it's very common that we sort of like we almost
36:20
Speaker 2: like put on a show of like like empty conversation
36:24
Speaker 2: just to be like, oh, how are you and what's
36:25
Speaker 2: going on? And like people a lot of people don't
36:28
Speaker 2: do that in other cultures, like that's not part of
36:30
Speaker 2: their DNA to like go to a you know, buy
36:32
Speaker 2: something at a store and then be like, hey, how's
36:35
Speaker 2: your day, and it's like, you know, So there's a
36:38
Speaker 2: certain level of it where I'm aware that we as
36:41
Speaker 2: Americans sort of like have this sort of like this
36:44
Speaker 2: culture of talking to each other, even though it's not
36:46
Speaker 2: really saying much. Whereas his culture, I think they don't
36:50
Speaker 2: say it, they don't do that.
36:51
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is all of the things that
36:53
Speaker 1: you mentioned have to do with language, which is fascinating.
36:58
Speaker 1: I love that because I do you think that language
37:01
Speaker 1: informs culture and culture informs language. So that's cool that
37:04
Speaker 1: that's yes, it's important. Yes. So we have just a
37:09
Speaker 1: few minutes, so I'm going to do a little rapid
37:10
Speaker 1: fire with you. What is a book that you've read
37:13
Speaker 1: that changed your life, something you think everybody should read.
37:17
Speaker 2: Okay, it's going to be two and I'll be quick.
37:19
Speaker 2: It's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Condo,
37:23
Speaker 2: which to me when I read it was like completely ridiculous.
37:27
Speaker 2: I was like, why does this woman keep talking about
37:29
Speaker 2: objects having feelings? And it took me. I read the book.
37:33
Speaker 2: I don't watch her show, Like if you catch her
37:35
Speaker 2: on like on the surface, you're not going to really
37:37
Speaker 2: understand what she's talking about. So for me, I read
37:41
Speaker 2: that book and what I gathered from it is that
37:43
Speaker 2: like everything you touch and feel has feeling and you
37:46
Speaker 2: need to like have this respect for it. That changed
37:49
Speaker 2: my perception and I did the life changing magic of
37:52
Speaker 2: tiding up once. I have big brands who send me wonderful,
37:56
Speaker 2: beautiful designery things, and I know immediately because I read book,
38:00
Speaker 2: I was like, Nope, I don't need this. I don't
38:01
Speaker 2: want this, and thank you, thank you. I'll accept it
38:04
Speaker 2: and give it to a loved one or a friend.
38:06
Speaker 2: But I'm like, I don't need these things. That's one.
38:10
Speaker 2: Two is nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosen. It's so good,
38:16
Speaker 2: so good. It's something that I read and I need
38:19
Speaker 2: to read it again. But it's definitely something I'm trying
38:23
Speaker 2: to adopt more into, like how we communicate with each
38:26
Speaker 2: other and not using you know, exaggeration to like talk
38:31
Speaker 2: to someone and using like real emotion, being present, stating
38:35
Speaker 2: actually what is upsetting you? But and then and taking
38:40
Speaker 2: responsibility for your emotions, not saying like you're you're making
38:44
Speaker 2: me crazy or you're making me upset. It's like, no,
38:47
Speaker 2: I am upset. I feel upset when this happens. So
38:51
Speaker 2: that is huge.
38:52
Speaker 1: It's huge, it's dense, but it's really good. Okay, I
38:55
Speaker 1: do a pretty smart question. So because we're virtual, oh
38:59
Speaker 1: tell me when to stop up? Stop? This is interesting
39:04
Speaker 1: because of what you just said one thing you're trying
39:07
Speaker 1: to or need to let go of expectation.
39:10
Speaker 2: Especially having a child now. And today was a day
39:15
Speaker 2: I'm surprised that I was here and on time and
39:18
Speaker 2: ready to make this happen thanks to showsh but like
39:20
Speaker 2: cannot believe it happened. And I had an expectation of
39:23
Speaker 2: how my day would go. We had a situation with
39:26
Speaker 2: the nanny, and you know I had I was holding
39:29
Speaker 2: onto this expectation and upset and angry and then trying
39:33
Speaker 2: to remind myself that I need to like let go
39:36
Speaker 2: of expectation.
39:37
Speaker 1: So I just read something that blew my mind. Tony
39:41
Speaker 1: Robbins was like, as soon as you let go or no,
39:44
Speaker 1: as soon as you replace expectation with appreciation, your world
39:47
Speaker 1: will change.
39:49
Speaker 2: That is going to make me cry. That I totally
39:51
Speaker 2: agree with one hundred percent.
39:53
Speaker 1: I know it made me emotional too, because I was like,
39:56
Speaker 1: every time I'm upset, it's an expectation. Let me just
39:59
Speaker 1: say thank you instead.
40:00
Speaker 2: I should have called you in the middle of all
40:02
Speaker 2: the drama and you could.
40:03
Speaker 1: Have told me this, sometimes we need to feel it
40:08
Speaker 1: so we could let it go. Yeah, Okay, the smartest
40:11
Speaker 1: decision you've ever made moving to New York City.
40:14
Speaker 2: I feel like I could track all of my successes,
40:16
Speaker 2: all of my wins, even losses that helped to grow
40:19
Speaker 2: me from moving to this beautiful, frustrating city. It's just
40:25
Speaker 2: it's multifaceted. But I love it and I adore it,
40:28
Speaker 2: and I'm very appreciative that I'm able to live here,
40:31
Speaker 2: considering how hard it is to actually work successfully and
40:36
Speaker 2: be able to afford to live here. So I'm very
40:39
Speaker 2: very thankful.
40:40
Speaker 1: You know, there's something about New York. I've never lived there,
40:43
Speaker 1: so I don't think I understand it, but it becomes
40:46
Speaker 1: a character in people's lives the way that other cities don't.
40:50
Speaker 1: Paris maybe is like that too.
40:52
Speaker 2: Yes, it's definitely. It's my hero of my story. It is.
40:57
Speaker 1: Oh wow, thank you so much.
41:00
Speaker 2: Thank you.
41:06
Speaker 1: Okay, you know what time it is. Today's a good day.
41:09
Speaker 1: To have a good day. I'll see you next week.