Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:00:00]: Welcome back to the Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Christiane, and it's my special pleasure to record live today. This is a couple of days before I'm going to be presenting on the TEDx stage in Folsom, California. And so what better situation to have one of the amazing speakers from the stage be right here with us sharing her amazing insights on this podcast episode. All right, so with that, let's get started. Why don't you introduce yourself? J. Ross Parrelli [00:00:38]: Hello. Hello, everybody. I'm J. Ross Parrelli, artist from around the world, as well as founder and owner of Beats Lyrics Leaders, where we teach students to make Beats record lyrics and maybe find something new about themselves. Also sit on the Economic Development Commission and the Arts Council and really trying to figure out how creative economy really juxtaposed to everything in society. So. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:01:03]: So the amazing thing of J. Ross is I just kind of planned this. J. Ross Parrelli [00:01:08]: I was like, let's just record this. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:01:10]: Right now, right here. Woman of the moment. And she was like, yeah, let's just do it. So we found a little corner right here. And if you have been listening to my podcast, you know that one of the first questions is always the one that put the guest right there on the spot. J. Ross, what is your superpower? What do you feel makes you special and different from anybody else out there? Because obviously there's a reason that you were chosen to be one of the TED speakers. And I'm just curious. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:01:41]: Yeah. What do you think is. Is your special gift that you're sharing with the world? J. Ross Parrelli [00:01:47]: I believe it's love. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:01:49]: Oh, I love that. J. Ross Parrelli [00:01:50]: I believe it's love. We really touch base on frequencies and the effect that frequencies have on our body. And in the end, really, I. I can walk out of room and someone says, wow, I feel really loved, or I have hope that's. That's what I would like to bring. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:02:04]: Oh, I love that. So it's, it's something that you, as an audience, you will feel that right now, coming through the sound bites. You're getting that virtual hug right now. So maybe let's talk. So there's, there's love, there are superpowers. Let's talk a little bit about some darker times. What was maybe the most challenging time in your life and why? J. Ross Parrelli [00:02:31]: Wow. I mean, struggle is what makes us human. So so many things come to mind, really. So I. I'm in the hip hop industry, where I started off as a rap battler. And so I was out in the middle of Compton where I won my first rap battle. That led me out to Brooklyn, New York, Bronx, Queens, Harlem, where I would go into more rap battles. And the one thing I noticed is as I would enter onto the stage, I mean, I have a very androgynous name, J. J. Ross Parrelli [00:03:03]: Ross Parrelli. So as I would enter the stage, no one expects a woman. So there would be times I would walk onto the stage and people would be like, oh, you're cute, groupie. Move it along, right? And then to put on top of it, I obviously have lighter skin. So my. My struggle, my trauma is not the same as a lot of who've been through hip hop. So in the end, it was really figuring out my message behind being a woman and how do I make sure I compose that, respect that responsibility of showcasing what it is to be a goddess and a woman so other girls can see this. Right? So you have respect to begin, then responsibility, and then on top of it, at the height of my career, I became a mom. J. Ross Parrelli [00:03:51]: And I didn't even want to tell people I was pregnant because I didn't want to lose any of the gigs. Wow, this is incredible, right? So I really had to figure out, what does it mean to be a woman in the entertainment industry, let alone hip hop? And then on top of that, like, where's my place in this community and how do I be who I am while being a mother, a single mom at that, which I love more than anything, you know, so it was just really challenging figuring out where do I stand and. And what's okay for me in my body, and that looks different for somebody else. So then no judgment what everybody else is doing. So it's just. It was kind of just figuring out what it is to be a woman and. And how to carry yourself. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:04:35]: So there were a couple of things when you talked about that I already adore so much and makes me feel like we are soulmates in some regards. I started my. My job on the tenure track at Cal Poly as a professor while I was pregnant. I think I reached out to them and let them know that I'm going to be arriving four or five months pregnant with my first daughter. And I know, and it, you know, really led to a beautiful example of you can go for your dreams, you can work your job, and there's never a time when you're like, oh, I should have a child now. And then it just happens. You just be blessed when it happens, and the time will be perfect no matter when that is right. So for all of you out there struggling so many different roles, I see you and I Feel you. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:05:29]: And that's just, you know, you. It's life. Exactly. You. You just need to feel the love and embrace whenever that happens. Because there is no such thing as the perfect time. The best time is now, right? Yes. And then secondly, when you were talking about the beats and the hip hop artist, and you might get that question a lot. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:05:51]: Can you demo anything for us right now? J. Ross Parrelli [00:05:54]: This one's what. This is what I do for the kids. So we teach a lot in the classroom. So here we go. Everybody always says, what's the J stand for? So I tell them, J is for the jugular gem and a jugular jaguar Jump in a jack and a jug and jug Suppose, just suppose J rose like a Ross legendary Jesse Jade a Jude like Jermaine and Juice Jav and a Jiffy Jog Jill jam jazz Too many jays for a jug and joy Ori J a Jason Jabber walking a jug Jazz on a jingle so doing it. The Jimmy Jelly with jiggy. Getting jiggy. It's so fun. J. Ross Parrelli [00:06:22]: Oh my gosh. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:06:24]: You have an amazing ability to do this. I was like, wow, this is a good time to try stuff right there. J. Ross Parrelli [00:06:32]: Now it's your turn. We'll get back to you on that one. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:06:37]: Yes. I'm going to practice a little bit on that. And that was beautiful. And it actually reminded me my husband has this 80s song, get the Jiggy on or something like that. J. Ross Parrelli [00:06:51]: Getting jiggy with it. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:06:58]: Will Smith. J. Ross Parrelli [00:06:58]: He's amazing. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:06:59]: Good one. All right. That was. That was that one thing that I thought, oh, my husband will like this one. Awesome. Well, so struggling hip hop artist you started. You got a career right there. J. Ross Parrelli [00:07:14]: That was. Yeah, that was about 2009. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:07:17]: Ish. J. Ross Parrelli [00:07:18]: Oh, beautiful. 2005. I mean, that was a while ago. I toured for a long time around the world. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:07:24]: Wow. J. Ross Parrelli [00:07:25]: And then I came back and to my hometown and ran for school board and started getting involved with politics, which is awesomeness. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:07:35]: Love all that. So now, audience, you heard there was. There is this beautiful career span. And to me, what's always the most inspiring is there is something a dark time, Right. That got you out of struggles or who let you out of that. If you think back, what are. Who helped you to get through some of these challenges? J. Ross Parrelli [00:08:03]: It was really looking up to other women who had done this before. Like, I'm not the first to do this. I wasn't the first to give birth. I'm not the first to do a TED Talk. Like, there have been strong, amazing female that have really led this path. So I think you Know, first and foremost, looking to my mom and my grandma as like, how did you survive what you went through and still made it out okay? And then looking at, even in hip hop, people like Queen Latifah, MC Life, Rhapsody, Bahama, Lauryn Hill, like, really, all these incredible female artists that were known as artists, not just, she's a good rapper for a girl, they're known as artists. And so I knew I had a chance. Like, there's always a moment. J. Ross Parrelli [00:08:49]: So they really knowing that there's been strong women that do this before us and they're going to do it after us. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:08:55]: That's kind of my beautiful. I like that because it's. It's sometimes thinking about people that made seems like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, well, like, you know, they're. They're up there, whatever. But if you really dig down in their stories, they weren't always famous. They might have come from backgrounds that were very challenging, but they kept going. So the situation really is it's not always going to be easy. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:09:27]: No matter whether you're an artist, a professor, or a single mom, the challenge really is to keep telling yourself to keep moving forward. Right. And I call it pity practice. You might have your own word for it. Just keep getting up and getting over those failures and struggles, because there are days where it's just like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I'm doing that. And what is going on? Right. J. Ross Parrelli [00:09:56]: And then lots of them, lots of falling, lots of getting back up. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:10:02]: Yeah. And even being here at TED now, we'll talk to some of the other speakers, and they told me, oh, my gosh, this was like my 290th application or something like that. And even that is an inspiration in itself that getting to the point where you feel like you made it. I always say winning is not easy. Right. So people frequently just look at the final result, but it's really the road that leads there that's actually the real. The real win. Because you always got up and kept going. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:10:36]: And with that audience, how can we get in touch with you, J. Ross? J. Ross Parrelli [00:10:41]: Oh, I love that. You know, I'm an Instagrammer. That's my generation. So, J. Ross Parrelli, P, A, double R, E, double L. I, J. Ross Parrelli, you can find me anywhere, any, any social media. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:10:57]: Awesome. I love that. And with that, I think we got everybody nice and curious about those amazing TED Talks, those videos. So in the show notes, of course, we're going to share the contact information and then stay tuned for the videos because of course, you have to go to YouTube and check out how videos and reshare them with some friends because there are some true, amazing messages in there. It's really something that will help you deep down and maybe even figure out a little bit more about what your superpower is, what's really deep down in terms of your gifts. Or maybe you listen to it on one of those days where it just seems like a little, little bit too much. That's really what the power of that is. Thank you so much for tuning in today to the happy, healthy Hustle. Dr. Christiane Schroeter [00:11:49]: I'm your host, Dr. Christiane, and I can't wait to see you on the next episode. J. Ross Parrelli [00:11:55]: Thank you.