Latest / Cyrus Webb's tracks / Media Personality/Entrepreneur Shener discusses the journey and what's to come

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Media Personality/Entrepreneur Shener discusses the journey and what's to come · Cyrus Webb's tracks

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  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your host,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Cyrus Webb. Glad you all could join us once again.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: For our radio audience tuning in at WYED 94.1 FM
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  Speaker 1: and WYEDonline.com, we're glad that you all can be with us. Also,
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  Speaker 1: showing us online worldwide via our podcast at our radio
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  Speaker 1: and Amazon Music, we're glad you all could be with
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  Speaker 1: us as well. We're excited to welcome Shanere to our
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  Speaker 1: broadcast today. Many people have gotten to know her as
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  Speaker 1: a media personality and entrepreneur. We're going to talk to
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  Speaker 1: her not only about the success she's been able to
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  Speaker 1: have in her career, but also what it's been like
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  Speaker 1: for her to reflect on what's coming up next And
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  Speaker 1: some important decisions she's made as she's going throughout the
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  Speaker 1: rest of this year and into the future. If you
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  Speaker 1: guys are not staying connected with Shanere, let you guys
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  Speaker 1: know how to do that as well. Shanere, thank you
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  Speaker 1: again for stopping by. I really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Cyrus, for having me. I appreciate
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  Speaker 2: you taking your time out of your busy day to
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  Speaker 2: interview with me. It's such a blessing.
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  Speaker 1: The pleasure is definitely all mine. I had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of fun prepping for this segment, Shanere, because here's the
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  Speaker 1: thing about you. You've been able to do the work.
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  Speaker 1: And a lot of times people... you know, they'll have
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  Speaker 1: a goal for themselves. You've been able to make your
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  Speaker 1: goals a reality. I want to first talk about the reflection.
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  Speaker 1: What has it been like for you to reflect on
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  Speaker 1: the hard work that got you to where you are today?
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  Speaker 1: You know what?
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  Speaker 2: I've accomplished so much in my career. With the new
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  Speaker 2: shift in the direction, I would say the accomplish is
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  Speaker 2: the key word. And I'm looking to accomplish all the
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  Speaker 2: goals that I set out, all the goals that I
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  Speaker 2: plan for myself. I don't have to tell people it's
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  Speaker 2: I don't believe it's a shift. I believe it's part
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  Speaker 2: of my journey. It's just set and it's just destined
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  Speaker 2: for me to be just, not only just great, greater
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  Speaker 2: and the greatest of what I do. And so on
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  Speaker 2: my journey of accomplishment, I find most gratifying and challenging
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  Speaker 2: when I enter into other levels within my career.
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  Speaker 1: So to talk about that, let's talk about how we
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  Speaker 1: got here. Because I think, you know, for a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people, You know, either they are told, you know,
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  Speaker 1: that they have a gift or they recognize a gift
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  Speaker 1: in themselves or even their own creativity, right, may lead
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  Speaker 1: them in a certain direction. How did you end up
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  Speaker 1: in the world of entertainment in the beginning?
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  Speaker 2: I ended up in the world of entertainment when I
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  Speaker 2: was young. So I started off in modeling probably around
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  Speaker 2: eight or nine or ten, and I then got into acting.
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  Speaker 2: My parents were from the military. They were both in
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  Speaker 2: the Army, right? So I was able to move around.
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  Speaker 2: I moved from New York to Virginia to California. And
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  Speaker 2: that's when my mother put us in acting school. So
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  Speaker 2: that was a great teachable moment when I was able
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  Speaker 2: to go to acting classes, meet new people. After that,
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  Speaker 2: to sum it up real quick, I ended up back
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  Speaker 2: in New York with my parents. And then we ended
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  Speaker 2: up back in California where I attended college at Cal
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  Speaker 2: State University, Dominguez Hills. So I went to college in California.
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  Speaker 2: I started off in radio in California. I did radio,
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  Speaker 2: and then I got back into television work. But my
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  Speaker 2: television work was more on walk-ons. It wasn't really speaking engagement.
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  Speaker 2: So I was able to do a lot of extra
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  Speaker 2: work on television sets.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that is an important part of what you,
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  Speaker 1: as you're moving forward, Shanere, I'm so glad you mentioned that. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, for yourself, Dennis, you were kind of being
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  Speaker 1: able to build this resume and You were doing it,
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  Speaker 1: of course, using your skills, but you were also doing
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  Speaker 1: it under the name Yellow Ray. When did you realize
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  Speaker 1: that Shanier was the one that really needed to be
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  Speaker 1: coming to the forefront and really making her own presence known?
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  Speaker 2: That's a good question. That's a very good question. I've
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  Speaker 2: always been known as Shanier. Yellow Ray was incorporated as,
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  Speaker 2: I would say, when I was around 21. Okay. I
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  Speaker 2: became Yellow Ray, and it was because of the resemblance
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  Speaker 2: to Lisa Ray.
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  Speaker 1: Got it.
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  Speaker 2: So everybody started calling me Ray, and then they started
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  Speaker 2: calling me Yellow Ray because it was just my skin complexion.
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  Speaker 2: I was light-skinned, so they're like, we're going to call
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  Speaker 2: you Yellow Ray. Me being Shanere now, like I said,
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  Speaker 2: Shanere has always been here. So it's all about growth.
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  Speaker 2: It's all about evolving. So now that people are going
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  Speaker 2: to see me now as Shanere, like I said, Shanere
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  Speaker 2: has always been here, never went anywhere. It's just that
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  Speaker 2: now when you start to build your brand, you want
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  Speaker 2: to see, you want people to know you. I'm not changing.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just evolving. I'm elevating. I want people to see, like,
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  Speaker 2: I'm still going to be Yellow Ray, but I'm also Shanere,
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  Speaker 2: which is my birth name. Right.
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  Speaker 1: And one thing that's happened that you've been able to
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  Speaker 1: see in particular where you are is that You know,
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  Speaker 1: we all have heard that saying, the scene of the
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  Speaker 1: world is changing. Definitely the media landscape has changed. How
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  Speaker 1: much has that impacted how you see yourself moving forward now,
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  Speaker 1: being able to embrace all the different ways you have
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  Speaker 1: of reaching your audience and being able to build your
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  Speaker 1: own platform?
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  Speaker 2: Well, my followers are faithful. I have faithful followers. And
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  Speaker 2: they're very respectful in regards to me aiming for the
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  Speaker 2: next level. And as far as I want to share
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  Speaker 2: my journey with them. As an interviewer, as a journalist,
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  Speaker 2: I believe what I do is energy. So it's a vibration.
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  Speaker 2: I want to continue to give my followers all the
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  Speaker 2: energy and inspiration that God grants inside of me to
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  Speaker 2: deliver back to them. So in regards to my following
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  Speaker 2: and how the industry is moving, I'm pretty sure if
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  Speaker 2: I move, I'm 100% sure that my followers will come
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  Speaker 2: with me to the next level in my career. And
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  Speaker 2: I always just trust that they'll do that. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: One thing I think that they appreciate about you is,
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  Speaker 1: of course, the authenticity and the passion that you have
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  Speaker 1: in a world that has changed so much, in an
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  Speaker 1: industry that has changed so much. What has helped you,
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  Speaker 1: do you think, to keep from getting lost in it?
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  Speaker 2: The key to getting lost is to be yourself, to
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  Speaker 2: build genuine relationships with people. Don't lose who you are
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  Speaker 2: in the process because we're in an industry where you
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  Speaker 2: can easily become consumed and lost.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that is, again, a big reminder for
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  Speaker 1: our audience as people who are looking at you and
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  Speaker 1: looking at what you've done and, of course, thinking about themselves.
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  Speaker 1: I think one of the things that caught my attention
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  Speaker 1: when I was first told about this, and shout out
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  Speaker 1: to our mutual friends at Double Exposure Media Relations, is
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  Speaker 1: that one of the things you wanted to do, you mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: of course, television, but that's something you want to explore more.
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  Speaker 1: but also your plans to even expand into modeling as well.
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  Speaker 1: What has that been like for you to have set
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  Speaker 1: that more as an intentional goal and to reach that goal?
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  Speaker 2: So modeling, acting, whether you're an actress or actors, whatever
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  Speaker 2: the title that you are given, to me it's all
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  Speaker 2: a big stage. We are all major actors and actresses
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  Speaker 2: and models, and I'm just trying to take it to
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  Speaker 2: the next level of the platform lifestyle. as I see it.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm still learning and growing and I'm still evolving
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  Speaker 2: into the next level I want to be. I'm a builder.
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  Speaker 2: I build on my strength. I build on my energy.
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  Speaker 2: I build on all the things that make sense of
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  Speaker 2: my plans, my goals, and pretty much my career.
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  Speaker 1: And you want to, as you kind of build that, Shanira,
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  Speaker 1: it sounds like you also want to be able to
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  Speaker 1: remind other people about what's possible. Did you know from
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  Speaker 1: the very beginning that I know you know you had
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  Speaker 1: people watching you, but did you know that you had
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  Speaker 1: people who were inspired by you?
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know I had people that were inspired by me.
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  Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure there's quite a few that may be
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  Speaker 2: inspired by me.
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  Speaker 1: Sure, without a doubt. Without a doubt. Well, look, I
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  Speaker 1: have no doubt. I mean, even when I was prepping
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  Speaker 1: for this year and I was going on Instagram, you
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  Speaker 1: can tell even by some of those who follow you,
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  Speaker 1: they're people who either aspire to be able to have
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  Speaker 1: a career, you know, like what you are building, or
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  Speaker 1: someone who's looking for examples of what's possible, right? You know,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, how does that feel to know that you
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  Speaker 1: can be that for them, though, that you can be
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  Speaker 1: an example of what they can do, too, if they're
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  Speaker 1: willing to put in the work?
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  Speaker 2: It feels good. As far as becoming an interviewer and
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  Speaker 2: what inspires me is I was fascinated by strong women
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  Speaker 2: in television and journalism who are able to connect with
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  Speaker 2: other people and command the audience. So one of my
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  Speaker 2: earliest inspirations was Oprah. I watched how she emerged in
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  Speaker 2: the 80s. I was a little baby then, but a
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  Speaker 2: little bit older. Became a dominant force in television and
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  Speaker 2: eventually created opportunities not only for herself, but so many others.
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  Speaker 2: Her ability to connect with people, to have meaningful conversations
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  Speaker 2: really stood out to me.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I think one thing that, and I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: you've heard these conversations as well, Shanere, is that one
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  Speaker 1: of the things that stops so many people is fear, right?
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  Speaker 1: Fear of what may or may not happen or fear
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  Speaker 1: what people may or may not think. How have you
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  Speaker 1: not allowed that fear to stop you as you've gone
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  Speaker 1: from one level to the next?
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  Speaker 2: That's a good question. So a lot of people, like
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  Speaker 2: you said, they have fear. And I was one of
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  Speaker 2: those people. I was extremely fearful. I was extremely scared.
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  Speaker 2: But I put my trust and faith in God. And
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  Speaker 2: then when I started trusting and believing him more and
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  Speaker 2: I stepped out on faith, I started seeing the changes
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  Speaker 2: like immediately. I started seeing it. And then I thought
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  Speaker 2: to myself, well, if I would have stepped out on
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  Speaker 2: faith a long time ago and wasn't so fearful, I
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  Speaker 2: probably would have been a little further. But now that
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  Speaker 2: I've chosen to step out on faith and it has
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  Speaker 2: really everything has been put to everything has been coming together. Amazing.
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  Speaker 2: And I have an amazing team. Shout out to my team, too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm so glad you mentioned that. I want
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  Speaker 1: to talk to you more about that. I want to
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  Speaker 1: say for those who are just tuning in, welcome. You're
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  Speaker 1: listening to Conversations Live. We're excited to welcome Shanira to
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  Speaker 1: our broadcast today. Shanira is not only a media personality,
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  Speaker 1: she's an entrepreneur, an individual who's been able to build
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  Speaker 1: her own personal brand, but also is now gearing up
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  Speaker 1: to continue to expand and remind other people about what's possible.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I have definitely benefited myself, Shanier, from surrounding
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  Speaker 1: myself with people who are there to inspire and encourage me,
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  Speaker 1: but also to push me. You mentioned, of course, your team.
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  Speaker 1: Is that kind of also what you feel like makes
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  Speaker 1: them so valuable for you?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. My team, I've always wanted the next level of
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  Speaker 2: my career. I wanted more now than ever because I've
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  Speaker 2: been introduced to so many people. And I believe that
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  Speaker 2: can aid me and assist me in leading the charge, right?
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  Speaker 2: So I'm not an Indian. I'm the chief. And everybody
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  Speaker 2: else is a part of my tribe. We are designed
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  Speaker 2: to work together and to be together, but I'm leading
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  Speaker 2: my own tribe in this. They are just aiding me
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  Speaker 2: and strengthening me because it takes a body of people,
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  Speaker 2: as you know, to raise our efforts in a community
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  Speaker 2: or whatever it is we choose to do.
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  Speaker 1: Right. I totally agree with that. And it's so exciting
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  Speaker 1: watching you, Shanira, seeing what you've already done, but knowing
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  Speaker 1: that there's more to come. And that leads me to
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  Speaker 1: the last thing I want to talk to you about,
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  Speaker 1: because there are some people who would say, and you
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  Speaker 1: may have even heard this, But, Shanere, you've done so
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  Speaker 1: much great stuff. Why do you want to try to
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  Speaker 1: leave this box? You've done so much already. What would
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  Speaker 1: you say to people, Shanere, about the importance of not
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  Speaker 1: being comfortable? It's great to look at what you've done, right?
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  Speaker 1: But what do you say to people about the importance
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  Speaker 1: of continuing to push themselves towards more of their own
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  Speaker 1: personal greatness?
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  Speaker 2: Good question. I would pretty much say you don't want
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  Speaker 2: people to look at you as just being able to
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  Speaker 2: do one thing. You want to be able to do
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  Speaker 2: multiple things. You don't want people to be like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: she just does hip-hop and then that's it. You want
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  Speaker 2: people to be like, oh, she does, she interviews models,
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  Speaker 2: she interviews actors, she interviews singers. Because I feel like
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  Speaker 2: in this industry, if you do too much of one thing,
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  Speaker 2: you get stuck. And it's just like people didn't categorize
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  Speaker 2: you as, oh, the hip hop interviewer or the, just
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  Speaker 2: the movie interviewer. I am evolving. This is about growth.
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  Speaker 2: This is about evolution. This is me showing people that
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  Speaker 2: Shanere doesn't, Shanere is most, she's just a big, she's multidimensional.
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  Speaker 2: So she can do a lot. Right.
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  Speaker 1: We're so excited about seeing what's coming. Again, everyone, Shanere
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  Speaker 1: has been our guest, everyone. Shanere, congratulations to you. So
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  Speaker 1: glad we had a chance to catch up with you.
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  Speaker 1: How can our audience stay connected with you and keep
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  Speaker 1: up with what's coming?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me, first and foremost.
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  Speaker 2: You're just amazing. They can catch up with me. My
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  Speaker 2: Instagram is TheRealShanere, that's spelled T-H-E-R-E-A-L, Shanere, S-H-E-N-E-R-E. Darrell Chenier
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  Speaker 2: on Instagram, and I really appreciate you having me today.
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  Speaker 2: And I just want to encourage everyone to never give up,
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  Speaker 2: keep going, stay motivated. If one door closes, you'll have
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  Speaker 2: multiple ones that will open up for you. But just,
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  Speaker 2: you know, don't let fear dominate what you have going on.
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  Speaker 1: Such a great reminder. Chenier, so excited for you. Congratulations again.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: And looking forward to our next conversation together.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person
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  Speaker 2: one day as well. Thank you for having me so much.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, glad that I am as well. I appreciate that.
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  Speaker 1: And we thank your audience for tuning in to another
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: great segment of Conversations Live. Until next time, I'm your host,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Cyrus Webb, saying, as always, enjoy your day, enjoy your life,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: enjoy your world. Thank you for being with us here
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: at Conversations Live, and let's go make today amazing. Take care.