WEBVTT

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Hello, Black Women Amplified family. This is

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your girl, Monica Wisdom, and I am excited that

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you're here with us today. We have a very special

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guest in the building. But before we get into

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a conversation with her, you know the routine,

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push subscribe, tell a friend, and keep this

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movement going. Now I'm not going to chat too

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much because this is a juicy conversation. And

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I would just want to say it's for grown women.

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This is an adult conversation, and those of you

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who are not ready for that, you have been warned.

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But I promise you, you will want to stay until

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the end. I have with us a journalistic icon,

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a producer, a person who has worked all across

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this nation sharing people's stories. And I am

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excited that she is with us today to talk about

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her new mission in life, her company, and the

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pursuit of pleasure. Ms. Annette, how are you

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today? Please welcome to the Black Women Amplified

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podcast. Thank you so much, Monica. It is such

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a pleasure to be here with you. I'm so grateful

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that you extended the invitation to be with you

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and your audience. Thank you for saying yes.

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We were just chatting offline. She's normally

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the producer. So we're going to gently ease her

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into being an interviewee. Now, Annette, you

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have this amazing background. It's so impressive

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and it's powerful to be a Black woman storyteller.

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You are a producer and a journalist with an extensive

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background. What sparked your curiosity or desire

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to tell the stories of other people? Well, it

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goes back to when I was young. You know, my father

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and I, we bonded over the evening news with Walter

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Cronkite. People who were, who grew up in the

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60s and 70s knew about Walter Cronkite. And that

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was a way of bonding with dad to watch the evening

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news. And so I was always interested in journalism.

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I was one of those kids that ran home to not

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watch cartoons but watch the news. When CBS Sunday

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Morning started, I think it was in 1977, 78,

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something like that, I was in high school and

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that was my favorite show, CBS Sunday Morning,

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like a news show. And I've always loved news

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because I always loved hearing about stories,

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about other people. on how other people lived,

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what was going on. And I just needed to keep

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up with current events. And so I've always had

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that passion for that. Now, are there other storytellers

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in your family? Well, no, I'm pretty much the

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only one. My parents were from the Caribbean.

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And my father worked for Pan American Airways.

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And my mother worked for Chemical Bank, which

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is now morphed and morphed and morphed into now

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it's JP Morgan Chase. But no, I was the only

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person, one, my first person in my family to

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get a college degree. And my college degree was

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actually in psychology. But what was interesting

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was, is that I went into business, but gnawing

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at me to be in television and to do documentaries

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was always there. So I worked in corporate America

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for 12 years, and then I have to go and pursue

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my passion. So as I was going up the ladder in

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corporate America, I left and I went back to

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school. I got accepted to Columbia University

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Graduate School of Journalism. I was a single

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mother at a five year old at the time and I got

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accepted. I couldn't believe it, but I got accepted

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and then I started my journalism career. That's

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amazing. What was it in you that said, I'm despite,

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because here's the thing, I find that we tend

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to live the lives that other people think that

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we should live. What in you said, I have to do

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this and I'm going to pursue it? Well, the knowing

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was always there. And I also had a cousin. of

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mine who he actually was in the film business.

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But the way he got there was very interesting

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because he lived in Brooklyn and at the time

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in the 70s, Dino De Laurentiis, I think it was

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Dino De Laurentiis, was making a film in Bed

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-Stuy called The Education of Sonny Carson. and

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my cousin who was about 15 or 16 at the time,

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he was recently brought here to this country

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from the Dominican Republic. That's where my

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father's, so his mother brought him up from the

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Dominican Republic and he didn't really speak

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much English, but he got to be a PA on the education

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of Sonny Carson and worked in the field team.

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And then they liked him so much that they brought

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him into work as an intern at the Paramount office

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building at Columbus Circle at the time and worked

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for Dino. And then Dino went to California and

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then brought Hector, him. So without a real education,

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and then learning the language, my cousin ends

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up in Hollywood at around 19 years old, working

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for one of the best producers in the business

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at the time, Dino De Laurentiis, and he became

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his projectionists. So when I was growing up,

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it's like I saw this trajectory of my cousin.

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And although ever wanted to go to Hollywood per

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se, the idea of working and seeing the stories

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in the movies interested me to pursue journalism.

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But my parents were Caribbean, and they were

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like, you should be a doctor. You should go to

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school and be a doctor. And so when I went to

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college, I started in chemistry and I took math

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and I was just going to be in biology and be

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on that science track to be a doctor and I hated

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it. So then I decided that I was always really

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good with with people. And so I said, well, if

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I'm going to be a doctor, maybe I can be like

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a psychologist. So I left the medical track and

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went into the psychology track. And I graduated

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from Howard with a bachelor of science in psychology.

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But even with that psychology, I'd never pursued

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like a higher higher education. I got recruited

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by a company in New York. And then I started

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working in a public utility because it was like,

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Oh my God, you're going to pay me this amount.

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And, and I got recruited right out of school

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and my grades weren't all that, but I have a

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job. Um, and so that made my parents happy because

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I'm graduating out of school. I'm going right

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into a job. It's for the public utility and you'll

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have a job for life. And so I satisfied my parents.

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wills and wishes for me. I was set. I was done.

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So that was like, I couldn't, I worked there

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for 12 years and some of it was really good,

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but that wasn't my passion, Monica. That wasn't

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my passion. And so it did get to a point where

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it's like, you know, I had to make that move

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and I did. I never looked back. So what was your

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first entry into journalism? So my first position

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was a news associate at NBC News. It's a program

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for people of color coming out of college, graduate

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school, because I don't think they take undergrads,

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coming from graduate school. And you do a year.

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and you get to work in three or four different

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news programs at NBC. And so when I came in,

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my first division was I worked in news productions,

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which was like the documentary division of NBC.

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Then four months later, I got transferred to

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the Today Show. So I worked a couple months at

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the Today Jo. And within that time, if a department

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wants to hire you full -time, they can do that.

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So by the time I was with the Today Jo, the first

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department that I worked at wanted to hire me

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full -time. So I got hired out of the program

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before I finished. And that again was a god end

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because now I'm full time. Now I've got full

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benefits. Now I can then start my career at NBC.

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I had a contract. And so I started in the news

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productions division, which was their documentary

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division, a division of Dateline, NBC. Cool.

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That's amazing and you I mean you went straight

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into hard like traditional news That's that's

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and and you were at a time where news was news

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Yeah, yeah, I mean let me just you know be real

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real straight up with you when I graduated from

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Yeah, I grew I was the class of 2000 And 9 -11

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was 2001. So I had been out of school for a year

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working in the news division, working in this

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documentary unit and then 9 -11 happened. And

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I have to say like that day I saw, oh, you are

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now a journalist because That day I came to work,

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I had on like a suit, I had on heels that day.

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And I remember when I got into my office, it

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was on all the televisions, because I was on

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the train when it happened. I got to the office

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and we all had it on. It was like we all had

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it on. And I was like... I don't know what to

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do. Because at that time, I was an assistant

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producer. We did documentaries. And so our senior

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executive producer got us all together. And then

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I realized, oh my god, I'm wearing heels. So

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I went out really fast around the corner. I went

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into a store. I bought some sneakers. And I went

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right back to work and was at work. for hours,

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because you couldn't get on the subway. And then

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I had to realize like, oh my God, my son, he's

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in school. So at the time, my dad, he was my

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ex -husband at the time, we really weren't speaking,

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but I had to make sure that my son was picked

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up from school. And of course he picked him up.

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And I remember not getting home until maybe three

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o 'clock in the morning. and then having to be

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right back at work, right back at work, right

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back at work, you know, for weeks on end. And

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I'm grateful that I had a support system of my

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aunt, my mother, my dad. They were all there

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to help me through that situation because everybody

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was in work at the time. I mean, it was horrible.

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And being in the news, was the most stressful

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time in my life during that time, because not

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only was it physically hard, because you had

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to be at work, working on stories nonstop. You

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had people who were affected in the city, of

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course, by 9 -11. And then you're looking at

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this footage that you're still in disbelief at

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what you're seeing. And then the smells in the

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city, you couldn't get away from the smells of

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the city. So that really was an eye -opening

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experience of being a journalist in New York

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covering 9 -11. That really was like, okay, you're

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in. That's it. It's... Yeah, you could no longer

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be working on it. You had to be in it because

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not only did you have to manage your own emotions

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of being a person in this country that just got

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attacked, you had to tell the stories. And then

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you had to check the stories. And nobody knew

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what was going on. I remember it vividly. And

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I went to New York actually for something Ezease

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was doing. And I remember walking around and

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I can still smell it. And I was like, Oh my God,

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I said the smell and you can, and I could still

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see the soot on the side of the buildings that

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weren't hit. And I was like, and it just, I just

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stood in the middle. I don't know what street

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I was on, but I just stood in the street and

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you know, New York is, I'm a Midwestern or so

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we're just gonna stay in there. And I just remember.

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Being like, I could not imagine, I can't even

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fathom what it was like that day, or even that

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week, because I can still smell it. And so if

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I can still smell it and it's been through snow

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and brain and all the things, I can't imagine

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living here and having that memory every time

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you breathe. And so, wow, amazing. Yeah, I went

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down to, you know, ground zero, you know, a few

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times just to look because I my job was to go

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through footage. You know, I was an assistant

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producer at that time. So assistant producers,

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you, you know, you scroll, we tape at the time.

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So we scroll through tape after tape after tape

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after tape, you know, logging it what you know,

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what do you see on that tape? So when a story,

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when you need to give that tape to an editor

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and a producer and writer to create the story,

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they know what shots and where they show up on

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that tape. So that was my job to log a lot of

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that material that was coming in. You saw much

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of what we would never see. You would never see.

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That, and that's like for every story that, you

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know, working in the news business, like, you

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know, people give journalists a hard way to go

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in the media, a hard way to go, but they shouldn't

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really because like we end up, we can't show

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you everything. You know, there are stories that

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I, it was one story I told my producer, my executive

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producer that I wasn't going to work on. that

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I refused to look at this. And that was when

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the Al -Qaeda had beheaded that journalist, that

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Wall Street journalist. And I said, I refuse.

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I said, I can't watch that. I don't want to see

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that. I've seen other things like the aftermath

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of suicide bombings and school shootings and

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the stuff that you will never see on air, because

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you just can't. But those of us in the office,

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we have to go through that footage to make sure

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that you don't see that. Or if you're scrolling

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through something, people will try to highlight,

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not go past this point or else you will see.

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So working in the news business, it was hard,

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but was very rewarding because you are the person,

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you are the people that gets to take the story

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from what's happening on the streets and give

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it to the world. And I was very happy to be a

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journalist. It was a very fulfilling and a wonderful

00:19:05.730 --> 00:19:09.750
career. And I'm so grateful that I was able to

00:19:09.750 --> 00:19:12.849
do it for as many years that I was able to do

00:19:12.849 --> 00:19:17.589
it. And you just were able to see I mean, it

00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:19.970
had to broaden your perspective of the world,

00:19:20.710 --> 00:19:23.210
as a woman in this world, as a Black person in

00:19:23.210 --> 00:19:26.369
this world, to see all the details of the full

00:19:26.369 --> 00:19:32.930
scope of a story. So when you went into doing

00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:39.589
documentaries, how important was it to you to

00:19:39.589 --> 00:19:42.670
get the full scope of a story out? Because I

00:19:42.670 --> 00:19:44.470
love documentaries. I just finished watching

00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:47.640
the one about John Baptiste. because I like hearing

00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:52.099
people's oh girl beautiful I love hearing people's

00:19:52.099 --> 00:19:56.700
the full scope of a person of humanity did you

00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:59.680
ever want to go into another area of news like

00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:04.460
entertainment or finance or was documentary work

00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:10.039
your your space oh documentaries were my jam

00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:17.140
I watch documentaries All my free time. I mean,

00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:19.920
documentaries were my life. I love documentaries.

00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.279
That's what I studied really at Columbia. Like

00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:27.039
you could go into different, after you took the

00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.440
basic curriculum, you can choose whether you

00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:34.220
would do news magazine, you do nightly news,

00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:37.119
or you could do documentaries. And I chose documentaries

00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:40.799
because I was a documentary fiend. I never wanted

00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:43.460
to go into anything else. Like even working on

00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:49.359
the sexy today show, sexy. You know, I was, I

00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:56.059
remember like staying like almost all night because

00:20:56.059 --> 00:21:01.220
my job was to find out what Laura Bush second

00:21:01.220 --> 00:21:04.279
term, what was going to be her inauguration dress,

00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:07.930
right? That was my job for the today show and

00:21:07.930 --> 00:21:10.329
I should I needed to be they needed to be the

00:21:10.329 --> 00:21:13.849
first people to find what Laura Bush's dress

00:21:13.849 --> 00:21:18.990
was going to be And I you know, so I stayed my

00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:21.569
shift and then I had to stay later and then I

00:21:21.569 --> 00:21:24.109
could get through to the people who would know

00:21:24.109 --> 00:21:27.569
that information So I end up calling that I found

00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:30.130
out who the dress designer was they were located

00:21:30.130 --> 00:21:33.490
in this strip mall in Texas Tried to call them

00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:36.339
phone was busy Remember there was no cell phones

00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:38.799
at the time so i'm just calling calling calling

00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.640
and then i was like oh you know what you need

00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:43.740
to do you need to find every store in that strip

00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.240
mall and you need to find somebody that can answer

00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.539
the phone and run to the hurt that shop and tell

00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:52.980
her that the today show is calling. So i find

00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:56.019
somebody they worked and i don't know cleaners

00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:59.200
in that strip mall or something and then. They

00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.839
I said would you let her know and you I want

00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:04.259
you to run there and tell her give her my number

00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:06.559
and I'll be right here and then she calls me

00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.819
back the designer calls me back finally it's

00:22:08.819 --> 00:22:11.720
like 10 o 'clock at night I had or I had been

00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:16.839
at work since 5 a .m. covering the show that

00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:21.339
morning so 5 a .m. and now it's 10 p .m. I'm

00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:24.279
still at work finally get this dress designer

00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.019
to call me she called me back I said Are you

00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:30.079
the design for laura bushes inaugural address

00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.720
she said yes i am good to talk to you. And i

00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:36.279
said we would love for you to come on the today

00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.900
show to talk about her dress i know you can't

00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:42.259
show the dress but maybe you can show us some

00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:45.400
some some designs that she has in mind she's

00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.700
like of course i would love to okay i said so

00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:52.990
well said so we'll send a crew. to you and we're

00:22:52.990 --> 00:22:56.089
going to do a satellite and we'll you know we'll

00:22:56.089 --> 00:22:59.250
schedule you for the you know like 7 30 or whatever

00:22:59.250 --> 00:23:02.670
after the hard news is like 7 30 or 7 45 she'd

00:23:02.670 --> 00:23:05.890
be on she's like great but i just want to let

00:23:05.890 --> 00:23:09.450
you know that um good morning america is going

00:23:09.450 --> 00:23:13.089
i told them i would do them first so you guys

00:23:13.089 --> 00:23:16.230
are going to be second so i was like uh okay

00:23:16.230 --> 00:23:19.420
great so i hang up i call the senior producer

00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:22.259
i said i finally got the dress designer on on

00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:25.859
on on the line she said she'll do our show but

00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:30.880
she's gonna do gma first did i get a cussing

00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:34.980
out that night what do you mean i'm gonna do

00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:37.559
gma first they gotta do the taste show if they

00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:39.680
don't do the taste show first we don't want her

00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.079
call her back and tell her it's fine i was like

00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:48.180
oh my god i got home that evening at like midnight.

00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:54.359
I crawled in. My son was sleeping. I was like,

00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.059
I'm home. Luckily, I lived my aunt upstairs,

00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:02.579
so he was with my aunt. And I was like, I am

00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:06.039
not going to spend my career doing this. I'm

00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:10.420
not. It sounds sexy. Today's show, celebrities,

00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.960
and all of that. But you know what? That's not

00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:16.039
my interest. And that's when I said yes to the

00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:23.279
documentary unit. I mean, the violence that would

00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.640
have come out of me in that moment. And to have

00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:30.259
to suppress that level of violence that would

00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:33.759
have come out of me in that moment, I applaud

00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:36.819
you because I promise I'd have been in his front

00:24:36.819 --> 00:24:46.099
door. Oh my God. I was like, what? I got her.

00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:49.319
I got her on the line. She should come on after.

00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:53.579
After GMA. That wasn't good enough. And you know,

00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.420
that's, that's what makes the Today Show the

00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:59.299
Today Show back then. It did. It just, you know.

00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:03.279
That's how you get number one. Right. It was

00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:09.990
Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Al and Ann Curry. The

00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:14.450
dream team. The dream team. So you have worked

00:25:14.450 --> 00:25:17.329
in the documentary world and you have done something

00:25:17.329 --> 00:25:21.829
that I'm super curious about. I'm curious about

00:25:21.829 --> 00:25:25.009
all things Obama. So please tell us about Inside

00:25:25.009 --> 00:25:29.009
the Obama White House with Brian Williams. Oh

00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:32.349
yeah. Oh my gosh. What an experience that was.

00:25:32.430 --> 00:25:36.890
That was really an amazing experience. So I was

00:25:36.890 --> 00:25:41.460
approached by the the specials team at an NBC

00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:45.400
inside the Obama White House was a full on NBC

00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:49.880
specials production. And that means that every

00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:54.079
like they chose producers in different units

00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.920
to work on that team. I mean, I was on a team

00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:01.859
of about 100 people. However, as a producer,

00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:06.339
there were 12 of us as producers. And then the

00:26:06.339 --> 00:26:09.039
rest of the team, of course, were like the associate

00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:15.900
producers, the assistants, the crew. And so I

00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:20.559
was asked as part of the unit, I was the only

00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:22.900
one in my unit that was asked. They took people

00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:25.079
from the news, they took people from Dateline,

00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:28.019
they took people from the Today Show and assembled

00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:32.339
a crew with Brian Williams plus Brian Williams

00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:37.779
team to go into the White House. So I'm so excited

00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:43.799
about this. And so we were, we had our briefing

00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:51.460
meetings and we then ascended onto the White

00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:57.859
House grounds. The day before, We had to get,

00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:01.180
of course, you know, the Secret Service passes

00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:05.099
and all of that. And then, you know, we all met

00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:10.200
there in the White House briefing room as a team.

00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:14.779
And we were given our assignments. And so as

00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:19.059
a producer, my assignment was to cover Valerie

00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:23.259
Jarrett's area and the White House counsel area,

00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:29.460
Greg Craig. Every producer had a particular assignment.

00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:33.059
So Brian Williams' producer covered the president.

00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:39.059
Other producers covered other areas in the White

00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:44.980
House. And then after we did the shooting, we

00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:51.900
came back to New York and assembled a two -hour

00:27:51.900 --> 00:28:00.579
show. that aired over two days in 36 hours. So

00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:04.279
we were at the White House on a Friday where

00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:11.059
we shot. We came back to New York on trains Friday

00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:17.160
afternoon, evening. Saturday and Sunday, we spent

00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:22.420
writing and editing. And the show aired, I think

00:28:22.420 --> 00:28:26.000
that Monday and Tuesday. So that meant that we

00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:30.519
were putting together a two hour show in a matter

00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:34.680
of a couple of days, which is unheard of. It's

00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:39.720
just, we were slamming it. And so every producer

00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:44.960
had a particular act that they would write. And

00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:48.559
that's how it was broken down. So the show could

00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:56.480
get, Completed. And so my area to write was when

00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:01.960
he went into Five Guys and like Brian Williams

00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:06.180
and him get in the beast at the White House and

00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:10.599
they drive to Five Guys and he gets out the car

00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:16.359
and the crowd wild. They're like rock star. So

00:29:16.359 --> 00:29:19.299
right. So when I tell people, you know, they

00:29:19.299 --> 00:29:21.660
were like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, inside the Obama

00:29:21.660 --> 00:29:24.880
White House. I said, yeah, the one the the piece

00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:28.339
that I wrote was him going into five guys and

00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:34.140
they were like, I remember seeing that. So it

00:29:34.140 --> 00:29:38.539
was an amazing, amazing experience to be in the

00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:42.920
White House, to be in, you know, a black woman

00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:48.460
on the team covering the first Black president

00:29:48.460 --> 00:29:55.900
and his administration for a major network. I'm

00:29:55.900 --> 00:29:58.119
literally getting chills as you're saying this

00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:00.920
because I would have bust out crying at one point.

00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:07.099
Yep, that's how it was. It was like I couldn't

00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:11.799
believe that I get to be here at this particular

00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:19.210
time in history. And another thing about being

00:30:19.210 --> 00:30:25.549
a Black woman at that time covering the Obama

00:30:25.549 --> 00:30:31.829
White House was before he was elected, there

00:30:31.829 --> 00:30:39.230
was the primaries. And we didn't have a documentary

00:30:39.230 --> 00:30:43.529
made about Obama at the time. At the time, people

00:30:43.880 --> 00:30:46.740
I figured it was going to be a Hillary John McCain

00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:53.720
scenario. So, and this Barack Obama was kind

00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:56.559
of like, you know, he's coming out of kind of

00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:59.079
nowhere. You know, he's a senator and it's great.

00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:02.920
But people were, you know, they were on the Hillary

00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:06.500
team. If you were a Democrat, and if you were

00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:09.240
a Republican, you were on the John McCain team.

00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:17.769
So, Barack Obama wins Iowa and the news, our

00:31:17.769 --> 00:31:21.569
news division goes crazy because we now start

00:31:21.569 --> 00:31:27.130
to realize this guy is in contention and we have

00:31:27.130 --> 00:31:33.029
no background on him. There's no documentary,

00:31:33.369 --> 00:31:37.309
there's no historical anything that the news

00:31:37.309 --> 00:31:40.599
division had put together. Now, if you know news

00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:44.140
divisions, they usually will have, like you wonder,

00:31:44.579 --> 00:31:47.720
how do people, how do they get those like, you

00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:49.279
know, when somebody passes away, how do they

00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:53.920
get those documents about them out so fast? It's

00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:58.299
already done. They only put on a new top and

00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:01.400
a new bottom, but the rest is there. So we've,

00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:04.059
you know, you have already something about Hillary.

00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:05.599
You already have something about John McCain.

00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:08.859
You already have stuff around people. who you

00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:13.059
kind of feel is going to be in the news. We had

00:32:13.059 --> 00:32:17.279
nothing on Obama. So I was asked to be part of

00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:19.660
this team to put together the first documentary

00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:23.019
about his life. And here's how it came in to

00:32:23.019 --> 00:32:25.799
be wonderful to be a black woman, is that I went

00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.619
to school with Santita Jackson, who I had heard

00:32:29.619 --> 00:32:32.500
through the grapevine was Michelle Obama's maid

00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:36.519
of honor. And Santita and I went to Howard together.

00:32:36.859 --> 00:32:43.299
Now, I hadn't spoken to Santita in a while, since

00:32:43.299 --> 00:32:49.359
college. And now we're in 2008. I call her up

00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:52.519
and I say, hey, I heard that you and Michelle

00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:55.599
Obama is made of honor. I'm doing a documentary

00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:58.940
on Barack Obama and I would love you to be a

00:32:58.940 --> 00:33:02.519
part of it. And she said, you know, Annette,

00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:07.039
I've got to make some phone calls, but because

00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.700
I know you from Howard, and I know you treat

00:33:09.700 --> 00:33:15.400
this with the utmost of integrity and professionalism,

00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:21.680
I'm gonna do it. So she gave me the first interview

00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.480
that was ever done about Michelle and Barack

00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:29.200
from an insider's perspective. And no one at

00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:33.000
the time had known really, unless you were on

00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:35.710
the inside. that they were so close, that her

00:33:35.710 --> 00:33:38.930
and Michelle went to school together. I think

00:33:38.930 --> 00:33:42.289
and, you know, her, Michelle's dad used to drive

00:33:42.289 --> 00:33:46.829
them to school. They were best friends. And so

00:33:46.829 --> 00:33:49.089
people in the news division didn't even know.

00:33:49.309 --> 00:33:54.089
And so it became like, oh, Annette knows something.

00:33:54.710 --> 00:33:58.490
She's got some intel. We're all good. So yeah,

00:33:59.150 --> 00:34:06.829
yeah, yeah, we're all good. So it was that HBCU

00:34:06.829 --> 00:34:12.250
connections and it is true. We treated that documentary

00:34:12.250 --> 00:34:15.550
with the utmost professionalism, the utmost care.

00:34:15.769 --> 00:34:18.369
It was very well done. We had to do it in a very

00:34:18.369 --> 00:34:21.230
short amount of time, but I think they're selling

00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:25.969
it in the NBC experience store today. And it's

00:34:25.969 --> 00:34:28.630
so interesting because I can always tell when

00:34:28.630 --> 00:34:32.360
I'm watching something if a black person did

00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:36.719
it because the differences are there that other

00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:40.900
people miss. And, you know, how we look at each

00:34:40.900 --> 00:34:43.679
other, just an inflection in our mouth or how

00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.119
we move our neck. Other people would miss that,

00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:49.219
but it's important to our culture because we

00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:53.980
have such a strong nonverbal communication. Right.

00:34:54.099 --> 00:34:56.800
I can always tell them like, black girl didn't

00:34:56.800 --> 00:35:00.679
do this one. Yes, our black man didn't do this

00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:04.860
one. This is somebody else. That's beautiful.

00:35:08.019 --> 00:35:11.599
That's amazing. And the fact that you all trusted

00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:13.699
each other because you had that shared experience

00:35:13.699 --> 00:35:16.980
of HBCU. That's beautiful. I love that. I love

00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:23.239
it. Now, your career from journalism, are you

00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:30.219
still doing documentaries? I am, but But not

00:35:30.219 --> 00:35:34.679
for a network. I'm a consulting producer now

00:35:34.679 --> 00:35:41.380
on a documentary on Minnie Evans. She is a Black

00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:45.840
woman folk artist, as they say, from the South.

00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:50.860
And her story is so powerful. She lived here

00:35:50.860 --> 00:35:59.630
in Wilmington. She got messages to draw. or die

00:35:59.630 --> 00:36:07.389
as she was a gatekeeper for a white family here

00:36:07.389 --> 00:36:12.690
in Wilmington. And so she's now getting some

00:36:12.690 --> 00:36:17.329
recognition from the arts community because of

00:36:17.329 --> 00:36:24.269
her work is transcendent. And so I'm a consulting

00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:27.170
producer on that documentary. But other than

00:36:27.170 --> 00:36:31.860
that, I've really kind of stepped away from that,

00:36:31.960 --> 00:36:36.760
from television and that life. And you have stepped

00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:42.860
into a whole new world. You and I met in Detroit,

00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:44.960
I think Detroit, I don't know if it was New York

00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:47.980
or Detroit, but I do remember us being at a conference

00:36:47.980 --> 00:36:51.239
together, Circles of Light. And that was such

00:36:51.239 --> 00:36:56.059
an amazing experience. And you and I both, you

00:36:56.059 --> 00:37:00.159
know, hang out in the non -traditional areas

00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:05.699
of life, especially for Black folk. And at a

00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:08.280
time when other people were not in it. A lot

00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:10.780
of people are in it now. And I love that the

00:37:10.780 --> 00:37:13.440
conversation is so mainstream now, but back in

00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:17.019
the day, it was, to go to that conference and

00:37:17.019 --> 00:37:19.079
see so many people that look like us there was

00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:23.500
just, it was an all, it was an amazing experience.

00:37:24.179 --> 00:37:27.260
When did that? What we were studying. When did

00:37:27.260 --> 00:37:30.840
that journey of that type of studying begin for

00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:42.840
you? As a young, I was young. I fell into spirituality

00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:51.059
at a young age. I was brought up Methodist, but

00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:55.420
my minister was one of those new agey. kind of

00:37:55.420 --> 00:37:59.539
ministers. And so we were doing like those trust

00:37:59.539 --> 00:38:04.920
falls and trust walks and having conversations

00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:10.360
about beyond religion from the time I was in

00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:12.840
junior high school. So by the time I got to high

00:38:12.840 --> 00:38:18.380
school, I had become a leader in the youth movement

00:38:18.380 --> 00:38:23.920
of my church conference. But the kinds of stuff

00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:28.039
that we talked about involved God, of course.

00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:35.739
But it went beyond that. And I remember we would

00:38:35.739 --> 00:38:39.500
have speakers come in to talk about transcendental

00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:43.320
meditation. I had a camp. We had a camp in upstate

00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:46.360
New York. And so I led that camp. And I remember

00:38:46.360 --> 00:38:49.349
bringing in like you know Mr. Transcendental

00:38:49.349 --> 00:38:52.809
Meditation and there we are like 16 years old

00:38:52.809 --> 00:38:55.650
and we're like doing Transcendental Meditation

00:38:55.650 --> 00:38:59.889
in the barn and then I brought in like you know

00:38:59.889 --> 00:39:07.070
an abortion advocate to talk about abortion and

00:39:07.070 --> 00:39:10.710
you know what that meant and you know so I was

00:39:10.710 --> 00:39:15.909
always in that work. And so by the time I got

00:39:15.909 --> 00:39:21.949
to Circles of Light, it was like opening up more

00:39:21.949 --> 00:39:28.909
realms of information that I was yearning for.

00:39:29.730 --> 00:39:33.869
And I loved it. And I would take the information

00:39:33.869 --> 00:39:41.409
that I learned in that group into work. Like

00:39:41.409 --> 00:39:44.170
I would have my Course in Miracles book on my

00:39:44.170 --> 00:39:49.530
desk. And I'm not hiding it. People would know

00:39:49.530 --> 00:39:55.429
they're like. I would go into meetings with my

00:39:55.429 --> 00:39:58.670
boss and I would have a folder and I would have

00:39:58.670 --> 00:40:01.909
the course in there with me. Just like, all right,

00:40:01.909 --> 00:40:04.030
I don't know what it's about to say, but I'm

00:40:04.030 --> 00:40:08.030
going to need this with me. They wouldn't see

00:40:08.030 --> 00:40:10.289
it, but I would have it with me. It was part

00:40:10.289 --> 00:40:18.130
of my research. I studied and I incorporated

00:40:18.130 --> 00:40:29.300
it into my life. When you I Know for many people

00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:32.400
that are listening it's an either -or situation,

00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:37.840
but you integrated into your life What? What

00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:41.920
was it that you said? This is just who I am take

00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:45.519
it or leave it and You just like you said you

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:47.880
took it to work. You took it in meetings. You

00:40:47.880 --> 00:40:50.769
took who you were with you and you didn't leave

00:40:50.769 --> 00:40:52.750
her at home and then take somebody else out of

00:40:52.750 --> 00:41:01.710
the door. Where did you get that from? I don't

00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:08.110
want to speak for you, but it's part of my makeup,

00:41:09.510 --> 00:41:15.309
how I and why I was put here, I think, on the

00:41:15.309 --> 00:41:19.579
planet to make those that it's not either or,

00:41:19.820 --> 00:41:26.239
it's all. Because I am all, we are all. And I

00:41:26.239 --> 00:41:30.940
knew the information was helpful in my life.

00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:35.920
I brought it with me so I wouldn't lose it with

00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:41.440
folk. That I would show up as much as I could

00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:49.400
as a loving, embracing human being. in this experience

00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:56.880
of life. I brought it for others, so I would

00:41:56.880 --> 00:42:02.079
treat them with kindness and non -judgment and

00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:08.820
all of that, because that's how I wanted the

00:42:08.820 --> 00:42:14.079
world to work for me. So if I'm learning this

00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:17.940
in these books, how can I be learning it and

00:42:17.940 --> 00:42:23.199
not instituting it in my life? Because it was

00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:27.639
one thing about sometimes with, people can become

00:42:27.639 --> 00:42:31.579
very insular and only work it with the people

00:42:31.579 --> 00:42:35.619
that we know and with the language. But I always

00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:43.360
found that I've got to put it out there in the

00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:51.179
ether. Because this is how I want humanity to

00:42:51.179 --> 00:42:55.400
run. So if it doesn't start with me, who does

00:42:55.400 --> 00:42:57.960
it start with? I'm the only one that has control

00:42:57.960 --> 00:43:03.239
over how I am, who I am, and how I'm being. That's

00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:06.420
it. I can't control you. I can't control anything.

00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:10.800
But I can control me. And if I can show up at

00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:20.989
a meeting, and I can be a complete channel and

00:43:20.989 --> 00:43:28.489
hear you out without judgment and just have you

00:43:28.489 --> 00:43:31.610
be who you are and I be who I am. It makes a

00:43:31.610 --> 00:43:37.070
difference incrementally in the news business.

00:43:38.630 --> 00:43:40.690
And people will tell you even now, like after

00:43:40.690 --> 00:43:43.989
I've left, there's people who I have interacted

00:43:43.989 --> 00:43:48.530
with and I have met and I become unforgettable.

00:43:51.150 --> 00:43:53.550
I'd be like, oh yeah, remember that producer,

00:43:53.710 --> 00:43:55.969
I don't know my name, but they know they would

00:43:55.969 --> 00:43:59.289
remember the experience they had with me. And

00:43:59.289 --> 00:44:04.309
that goes for when I showed up at Virginia Tech

00:44:04.309 --> 00:44:08.869
in Blacksburg at a school shooting, right after

00:44:08.869 --> 00:44:11.840
a school shooting. I was sent down there to do

00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:16.420
a story and bring back footage for a documentary

00:44:16.420 --> 00:44:22.719
we're doing and how I show up with victims and

00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:28.940
their parents. It makes a difference. It does

00:44:28.940 --> 00:44:33.940
make a difference because you see them, not the

00:44:33.940 --> 00:44:38.239
idea of them. You see the people and that helps

00:44:38.429 --> 00:44:41.909
them open up to you and it builds a trust factor.

00:44:43.070 --> 00:44:45.769
But more of that, you have integrity with your

00:44:45.769 --> 00:44:49.269
work. You're not being one way just to get the

00:44:49.269 --> 00:44:53.710
story. You were just truly curious and open to

00:44:53.710 --> 00:44:56.289
whatever they feel like sharing. And so that

00:44:56.289 --> 00:44:59.309
makes your storytelling much stronger and more

00:44:59.309 --> 00:45:01.489
impactful because it's the truth. It's the honest,

00:45:01.550 --> 00:45:05.860
it's the honesty. Right. I'm not trying I'm not

00:45:05.860 --> 00:45:08.500
trying to you're not trying to be a producer

00:45:08.500 --> 00:45:11.719
you are telling a story I'm a person I'm a human

00:45:11.719 --> 00:45:15.860
being and I'm a human being that has this works

00:45:15.860 --> 00:45:21.780
whose work is to tell your your story how did

00:45:21.780 --> 00:45:24.719
it affect you how did you what did you see what

00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:27.460
did you know what did you notice how did you

00:45:27.460 --> 00:45:31.849
know in that way There's some people who go down,

00:45:31.969 --> 00:45:35.789
it's like, oh yeah, I got this, this. Make sure

00:45:35.789 --> 00:45:38.250
you get this main person. Make sure you get this.

00:45:38.829 --> 00:45:41.530
And they come back with all the right elements,

00:45:42.230 --> 00:45:45.869
all the right ones. And they get promoted because

00:45:45.869 --> 00:45:49.469
they always come back with the right ones. Most

00:45:49.469 --> 00:45:54.309
of the time, I come back with the stories, the

00:45:54.309 --> 00:45:59.969
stories that will resonate with people. That's

00:45:59.969 --> 00:46:04.090
powerful. And so I may come back with three interviews.

00:46:04.869 --> 00:46:09.369
Other people come back with nine. I spent a little

00:46:09.369 --> 00:46:12.210
bit more time. Their parents wanted to be involved.

00:46:12.769 --> 00:46:16.369
I had to wait a little bit because whatever,

00:46:16.469 --> 00:46:18.130
they were on the phone with their grandparents.

00:46:19.530 --> 00:46:22.190
So I come back with three interviews, but they're

00:46:22.190 --> 00:46:29.980
good instead of nine or whatever. And now - I'm

00:46:29.980 --> 00:46:34.420
no longer doing that. Like I'm done with that.

00:46:34.420 --> 00:46:40.219
I can look myself in the mirror every day because

00:46:40.219 --> 00:46:46.219
I went to work with the best of intentions and

00:46:46.219 --> 00:46:50.579
my heart was in every story, every single one

00:46:50.579 --> 00:46:56.360
of them. You left yourself wherever you were.

00:46:57.390 --> 00:47:00.090
And that's why when people see you, they're like,

00:47:00.250 --> 00:47:06.929
oh my God. And you touch deeper than just, you

00:47:06.929 --> 00:47:09.869
didn't just tell a story, you told their story.

00:47:10.369 --> 00:47:15.170
Exactly. Now you are working to help women transform

00:47:15.170 --> 00:47:19.929
their stories with the power of pleasure. You

00:47:19.929 --> 00:47:23.820
have not only done the work with yourself, And

00:47:23.820 --> 00:47:25.960
you can talk a little bit about that, but you

00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:30.199
have moved into your own company, your own business.

00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:35.780
My own business. The Goddess Portal. Tell us

00:47:35.780 --> 00:47:39.159
about the Goddess Portal. Oh, definitely. Thanks

00:47:39.159 --> 00:47:44.380
for asking. So the Goddess Portal is a coaching,

00:47:44.440 --> 00:47:47.159
a movement, and an events company that educates

00:47:47.159 --> 00:47:51.059
professional women in the art of pleasure. and

00:47:51.059 --> 00:47:54.119
it helps them to know themselves really deeply

00:47:54.119 --> 00:47:58.940
at a deep deep level in order to manifest their

00:47:58.940 --> 00:48:02.800
greatest and their deepest desires. And we help

00:48:02.800 --> 00:48:07.679
women unlock and unleash their authentic selves

00:48:07.679 --> 00:48:11.840
and so they can tap into their gifts and so they

00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:14.989
can show up powerfully in their personal and

00:48:14.989 --> 00:48:17.269
in their professional lives and in the world.

00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:20.889
And people are like, how do you do that? What

00:48:20.889 --> 00:48:23.449
are you talking about? What are you talking about

00:48:23.449 --> 00:48:29.750
when you say that? Yeah. And it's like, it's

00:48:29.750 --> 00:48:38.389
a complete 180 from what we think about how to

00:48:38.389 --> 00:48:43.179
manifest our desires and to go after our Goals

00:48:43.179 --> 00:48:54.880
or whatever through pleasure What? Go ahead No,

00:48:54.900 --> 00:48:58.119
I was saying, you know, I have to say that it

00:48:58.119 --> 00:49:06.840
came as a complete like Brain For me to learn

00:49:06.840 --> 00:49:12.300
this and to experience it and put it into practice

00:49:12.300 --> 00:49:17.099
like I've done my entire life and to see what

00:49:17.099 --> 00:49:20.380
my life looked like before and what it looks

00:49:20.380 --> 00:49:26.400
like now. So I come with that inner knowing because

00:49:26.400 --> 00:49:30.420
I've done it. I continue to do it and how it's

00:49:30.420 --> 00:49:32.300
the things that have come out and manifested

00:49:32.300 --> 00:49:36.420
in my life and how quickly things manifest is

00:49:36.420 --> 00:49:41.030
really, it's beyond me. And so I'm teaching it.

00:49:41.070 --> 00:49:43.469
I'm teaching it because I want all women to learn

00:49:43.469 --> 00:49:47.050
what it means to live a life through pleasure.

00:49:48.110 --> 00:49:50.510
So when you talk about pleasure, the first thing

00:49:50.510 --> 00:49:55.630
that comes to top of mind is sex and sexuality.

00:49:56.449 --> 00:49:58.670
Is this something, when you speak of pleasure,

00:49:59.070 --> 00:50:02.570
is it something just beyond the physical experience

00:50:02.570 --> 00:50:08.150
and sexuality? Is it about a... 180 lifestyle

00:50:08.150 --> 00:50:11.590
change or is it, and when you say through pleasure,

00:50:12.429 --> 00:50:15.809
what do you mean by that? Yes. Yes. And thanks

00:50:15.809 --> 00:50:18.550
for asking that really great question. Um, when,

00:50:18.570 --> 00:50:20.570
yeah, when people think of, um, pleasure, they,

00:50:20.769 --> 00:50:23.190
they think of sex and having sex with somebody

00:50:23.190 --> 00:50:26.070
else and, you know, um, all the ways that they

00:50:26.070 --> 00:50:28.650
can have it. And, and they, sometimes they think

00:50:28.650 --> 00:50:33.130
like, you know, I'm like, I'm a like, I, I teach

00:50:33.130 --> 00:50:36.750
technique and stuff like that. and that has nothing

00:50:36.750 --> 00:50:42.949
to do with this. Pleasure for women is an area

00:50:42.949 --> 00:50:47.710
about how do you live from turn on. And what

00:50:47.710 --> 00:50:53.750
I mean by turn on is like when a woman is turned

00:50:53.750 --> 00:51:02.369
on, she is in her flow. So you can get turned

00:51:02.369 --> 00:51:08.019
on by touching yourself. You can get turned on

00:51:08.019 --> 00:51:12.579
by self -pleasure. You can get turned on by a

00:51:12.579 --> 00:51:17.400
man doing it, helping you, stroking you. You

00:51:17.400 --> 00:51:21.519
can get turned on by just taking your finger

00:51:21.519 --> 00:51:26.280
and rolling it down the side of your arm to your

00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:31.139
elbow and feeling what that feeling feels like.

00:51:32.139 --> 00:51:39.760
You can get turned on by watching an adult movie.

00:51:40.119 --> 00:51:46.860
You can get turned on by sitting in a bath and

00:51:46.860 --> 00:51:51.280
rubbing and touching yourself. I mean, turn on

00:51:51.280 --> 00:52:02.269
is when a woman feels herself and her yoni produces

00:52:02.269 --> 00:52:07.570
that fluid, which we say when she's wet, it's

00:52:07.570 --> 00:52:14.530
that feeling inside when you feel her and you

00:52:14.530 --> 00:52:18.929
tune into her. And some women have forgotten

00:52:18.929 --> 00:52:23.730
what that even feels like. And I liken it to

00:52:23.730 --> 00:52:27.030
like, remember when you were young and there

00:52:27.030 --> 00:52:32.679
was a guy and you saw him say across campus and

00:52:32.679 --> 00:52:37.659
you were like, Oh my God, it's so and so. Or

00:52:37.659 --> 00:52:41.960
you saw a woman who you just thought she was

00:52:41.960 --> 00:52:43.780
so beautiful. And you're like, Oh, I want to

00:52:43.780 --> 00:52:48.920
go out with her. And something happened in your

00:52:48.920 --> 00:52:54.400
yoni, in your vagina. And it started to come

00:52:54.400 --> 00:52:58.320
alive and get on fire. And then like, when you

00:52:58.320 --> 00:53:02.480
start kissing someone, before you even go into

00:53:02.480 --> 00:53:09.460
anything else. It's that feeling of turn on that

00:53:09.460 --> 00:53:13.840
is pleasure. That's what I'm talking about. And

00:53:13.840 --> 00:53:19.559
then when you're turned on, you know when you're

00:53:19.559 --> 00:53:25.750
turned off. So when you're turned on, if you

00:53:25.750 --> 00:53:28.650
start making decisions based on whether you're

00:53:28.650 --> 00:53:32.250
turned on or not, will then lead you to a life

00:53:32.250 --> 00:53:38.849
of turn on. And if you make decisions just based

00:53:38.849 --> 00:53:43.630
on, like you're turned off, but you're just like,

00:53:43.909 --> 00:53:45.969
okay, so this checks the box, this checks the

00:53:45.969 --> 00:53:47.809
box, this checks the box, okay, I think I'll

00:53:47.809 --> 00:53:51.090
go there, I check the box, great. It doesn't

00:53:51.090 --> 00:53:55.210
seem very pleasurable. But if checking those

00:53:55.210 --> 00:53:58.650
boxes makes you turned on, I say, go for it.

00:53:59.309 --> 00:54:02.889
So that is what I'm talking about, is making

00:54:02.889 --> 00:54:06.550
your life so that the decisions that you make

00:54:06.550 --> 00:54:10.250
in your life comes from pleasure and it can be

00:54:10.250 --> 00:54:14.909
done. And I teach tools. They're real tools that

00:54:14.909 --> 00:54:23.010
can help access that. I wanted to say this, if

00:54:23.010 --> 00:54:28.289
I can, because this is my mantra is taken from

00:54:28.289 --> 00:54:31.110
the Course in Miracles, because this is really

00:54:31.110 --> 00:54:34.630
what the art of pleasure and moving from pleasure

00:54:34.630 --> 00:54:37.250
is really about. And I hope if it's okay, I'd

00:54:37.250 --> 00:54:42.829
love to read it to you. So the Goddess Portal

00:54:42.829 --> 00:54:46.670
is the gateway to pleasure and desire. It's courses

00:54:46.670 --> 00:54:50.119
and tools. do not aim at teaching the meaning

00:54:50.119 --> 00:54:53.539
of pleasure and desire, for that is beyond what

00:54:53.539 --> 00:54:57.639
can be taught. Each woman is free to chart her

00:54:57.639 --> 00:55:02.139
own pathway to what truly brings her bliss. It

00:55:02.139 --> 00:55:06.420
does aim, however, at removing the blocks to

00:55:06.420 --> 00:55:10.420
the awareness of pleasure, which is her inheritance,

00:55:11.139 --> 00:55:14.679
that she may manifest and experience her truest

00:55:14.679 --> 00:55:20.590
and deepest desires. So that's what I do, is

00:55:20.590 --> 00:55:23.789
to remove the blocks to the pleasure and the

00:55:23.789 --> 00:55:28.269
desire that's already there. So when you're doing

00:55:28.269 --> 00:55:32.730
your work, what are some of the blocks that you're

00:55:32.730 --> 00:55:34.750
coming across, that people are saying that they're

00:55:34.750 --> 00:55:37.289
dealing with or that's keeping them from fully

00:55:37.289 --> 00:55:40.010
getting into the flow of the pleasure that you're

00:55:40.010 --> 00:55:45.710
speaking of? That's a good question. Some of

00:55:45.710 --> 00:55:50.489
it comes from Say a person goes through like

00:55:50.489 --> 00:55:53.090
say a relationship breakup, right? They're broken

00:55:53.090 --> 00:55:57.090
up with somebody and they go to their girlfriends

00:55:57.090 --> 00:56:02.869
and You know Like you would and you just kind

00:56:02.869 --> 00:56:07.710
of talking it out with them But that doesn't

00:56:07.710 --> 00:56:11.550
seem to it helps a little bit but like you go

00:56:11.550 --> 00:56:15.989
home and you're still Next to your bed on your

00:56:15.989 --> 00:56:19.579
knees crying then they're like, Oh, okay. So

00:56:19.579 --> 00:56:22.320
you seem to be, you know, this is distressing

00:56:22.320 --> 00:56:24.199
you too much. Why don't you, you might want to

00:56:24.199 --> 00:56:28.619
go see somebody like a therapist, right? So you

00:56:28.619 --> 00:56:31.079
go to therapists and, and you, you know, talk

00:56:31.079 --> 00:56:34.559
it out and they give you ways to handle and stuff

00:56:34.559 --> 00:56:37.760
like that. And that's great, but you're still

00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:44.539
talking about it. What we do is we give you actual

00:56:44.539 --> 00:56:52.530
tools that doesn't give you advice, but allows

00:56:52.530 --> 00:56:59.829
you to move through your emotions in a way that

00:56:59.829 --> 00:57:05.630
takes them through your body and into the universe.

00:57:06.909 --> 00:57:10.889
So what we found and what I found, I'll talk

00:57:10.889 --> 00:57:15.469
for myself in my life, I was dealing in a relationship

00:57:15.639 --> 00:57:18.219
for a number of years. And this man told me that

00:57:18.219 --> 00:57:23.820
I was too old. No harsher words have ever been

00:57:23.820 --> 00:57:30.639
said to a woman that she's too old. I had that

00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:36.159
tick in my head for most of my late 40s and early

00:57:36.159 --> 00:57:40.119
50s, because I was 48 at the time. And it hurt

00:57:40.119 --> 00:57:44.840
me so deeply, more than I could have even realized.

00:57:45.840 --> 00:57:50.579
it prevented me from dating anymore, even though

00:57:50.579 --> 00:57:53.039
people were like, oh, you know, oh, you're going

00:57:53.039 --> 00:57:55.199
out here. And I would be like, yeah, I'm fine,

00:57:55.239 --> 00:57:58.199
I'm fine, I'm fine. But that tick was in my head.

00:57:58.219 --> 00:58:01.000
I'm too old, I'm too old. And it just stuck there

00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:05.760
until I went to the School of Womenly Arts and

00:58:05.760 --> 00:58:09.579
I learned this technique called spring cleaning.

00:58:11.699 --> 00:58:16.940
And spring cleaning, allowed to get out that

00:58:16.940 --> 00:58:26.300
tick to where I can now feel myself, be more

00:58:26.300 --> 00:58:31.900
accepting of myself, tap into my turn -on so

00:58:31.900 --> 00:58:37.900
that I could move past that trauma into looking

00:58:37.900 --> 00:58:42.440
at my life in a different way. And that happened

00:58:44.079 --> 00:58:47.739
in like a couple of months. So I've had this

00:58:47.739 --> 00:58:52.480
tick for years and within a couple of months

00:58:52.480 --> 00:58:56.900
of actively doing this particular tool and some

00:58:56.900 --> 00:59:00.659
others, which I'll explain, I could move past

00:59:00.659 --> 00:59:04.980
that person saying that to me and me taking it

00:59:04.980 --> 00:59:09.820
on like it was the truth. And I didn't need any

00:59:09.820 --> 00:59:17.489
advice from anybody. I didn't need pills, drugs,

00:59:18.090 --> 00:59:22.949
alcohol. What I needed to do was hear myself.

00:59:24.090 --> 00:59:28.869
And as I heard myself, I was received in a judge

00:59:28.869 --> 00:59:34.769
-free, confidential environment by another sister.

00:59:37.150 --> 00:59:44.039
I was able to heal that. within me so I can move

00:59:44.039 --> 00:59:49.800
on to another relationship. If I had stayed without

00:59:49.800 --> 00:59:54.260
this work, I would have still been in that mindset.

00:59:55.059 --> 00:59:59.000
You're too old, Annette. Just go over there and

00:59:59.000 --> 01:00:02.519
sit down. You're an old black woman. Who's gonna

01:00:02.519 --> 01:00:08.280
want you? And I didn't want that for myself.

01:00:09.130 --> 01:00:12.429
And so anyone who's listening to that, if anything

01:00:12.429 --> 01:00:15.989
has ever happened like that to you, you know

01:00:15.989 --> 01:00:21.889
how horrible it feels to have that over and over

01:00:21.889 --> 01:00:24.289
and over and over and over in your head and can't

01:00:24.289 --> 01:00:29.369
get it out. So yeah, that's one of the tools.

01:00:31.929 --> 01:00:35.889
It's like, it becomes this movie that plays in

01:00:35.889 --> 01:00:40.320
your head and trauma colors everything that you

01:00:40.320 --> 01:00:43.519
do, because you see the trauma before you see

01:00:43.519 --> 01:00:46.079
the opportunity. The opportunity is there, but

01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:48.079
you look at it through the lens of your trauma.

01:00:48.199 --> 01:00:51.500
If you don't clear that, you won't see the opportunity,

01:00:51.940 --> 01:00:55.139
whatever the opportunity is. That's what people

01:00:55.139 --> 01:00:58.079
need to understand about trauma, is it colors

01:00:58.079 --> 01:01:02.039
every decision you make in your life, from the

01:01:02.039 --> 01:01:04.159
color of lipstick that you wear, the clothes

01:01:04.159 --> 01:01:07.679
that you wear, to the friends that you have to

01:01:07.679 --> 01:01:11.400
the job that you take. It is such a powerful

01:01:11.400 --> 01:01:18.000
monster. And it speaks for you. And so, and I'm

01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:19.880
just clarifying this for the audience. So what

01:01:19.880 --> 01:01:23.559
you're saying is, is that you go in with your

01:01:23.559 --> 01:01:27.920
work and you deal with the monster so that people

01:01:27.920 --> 01:01:31.900
can feel free. Exactly. And the ultimate goal

01:01:31.900 --> 01:01:36.619
of it is freedom. And for black women, we have

01:01:36.619 --> 01:01:39.699
such compounded trauma because it's not only

01:01:39.699 --> 01:01:43.019
our personal experiences, it's experiences of

01:01:43.019 --> 01:01:47.300
living in the society, and it's generational.

01:01:48.480 --> 01:01:51.880
So we have it coming from all areas. And once

01:01:51.880 --> 01:01:55.059
you have the trauma, then you're triggered. And

01:01:55.059 --> 01:01:58.360
so what Annette is saying is that this is a method

01:01:58.360 --> 01:02:02.260
beyond what you hear about that can help you

01:02:02.260 --> 01:02:04.619
deal with those monsters that color your life.

01:02:04.889 --> 01:02:08.530
so that you can be free. And so tell us about

01:02:08.530 --> 01:02:12.849
other methodologies that you use within your

01:02:12.849 --> 01:02:17.849
work that help people get free. Oh, sure. Another

01:02:17.849 --> 01:02:26.869
big one is called the swamp. And a swamp for

01:02:26.869 --> 01:02:31.809
me was similar, you know, that same tick, you

01:02:31.809 --> 01:02:40.500
know. And also, it's for me was generational.

01:02:42.659 --> 01:02:46.880
So when a person said they're in a swamp, it's

01:02:46.880 --> 01:02:51.340
something that like, they're having a hard time

01:02:51.340 --> 01:02:55.199
dealing with something. They're having a really

01:02:55.199 --> 01:03:02.099
difficult time, say with rage, like, You know

01:03:02.099 --> 01:03:04.300
somebody at work is always bullying them and

01:03:04.300 --> 01:03:07.760
they don't know how to Get back at that person

01:03:07.760 --> 01:03:10.440
or they don't know what to do with themselves

01:03:10.440 --> 01:03:15.039
They could have a hard time with their Significant

01:03:15.039 --> 01:03:17.900
other but they don't want to they don't want

01:03:17.900 --> 01:03:20.099
to lash out at them or they do lash out at them

01:03:20.099 --> 01:03:25.860
all the time It's very aware they're having a

01:03:25.860 --> 01:03:30.000
really difficult time that brings up rage and

01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:33.920
anger a person that might have a difficult time

01:03:33.920 --> 01:03:39.860
with grief that they can't seem to let go or

01:03:39.860 --> 01:03:47.519
sadness or worry. And so we have this tool called

01:03:47.519 --> 01:03:52.699
swamping. And a woman will identify what her

01:03:52.699 --> 01:03:57.000
swamp is. What is it that's causing you such

01:03:57.000 --> 01:04:01.360
grief or rage? She'll write it down. And then

01:04:01.360 --> 01:04:09.400
we go through movements with music to move that

01:04:09.400 --> 01:04:17.239
energy out of her body. So we'll swamp with a

01:04:17.239 --> 01:04:25.000
rage song. We'll get pillows or, you know, objects

01:04:25.000 --> 01:04:30.079
and bang them on the floor. We'll scream. We'll

01:04:30.079 --> 01:04:35.099
let loose in that rage, we'll kick, we'll punch,

01:04:35.900 --> 01:04:40.940
we'll press against the walls or the floor and

01:04:40.940 --> 01:04:46.699
move that energy. Then another song, and it's

01:04:46.699 --> 01:04:50.400
more of a grief or a sad song. And we let the

01:04:50.400 --> 01:05:01.599
woman experience that emotion in that time. we

01:05:01.599 --> 01:05:05.559
would want to stay in those emotions a lot of

01:05:05.559 --> 01:05:08.960
the times, or we won't want to go deep into those

01:05:08.960 --> 01:05:11.820
emotions, because we think if we go deep into

01:05:11.820 --> 01:05:16.900
our rage, we will never come out of it. But the

01:05:16.900 --> 01:05:25.099
transformational alchemical thing to do after

01:05:25.099 --> 01:05:31.809
we experience those emotions is turn on. it is

01:05:31.809 --> 01:05:38.429
turn on that will release you from those emotions.

01:05:39.269 --> 01:05:46.409
And so after we've played a rage song, a sad

01:05:46.409 --> 01:05:58.909
or grief song, we'll put on some sexy music and

01:05:58.909 --> 01:06:07.250
let a woman turn herself on by moving in a sensual

01:06:07.250 --> 01:06:13.710
way, touching herself, enjoying herself, playing

01:06:13.710 --> 01:06:21.309
with herself to that song. And I'm telling you,

01:06:21.869 --> 01:06:27.789
there's nothing out there like this. It is amazing

01:06:27.789 --> 01:06:34.340
to see someone go into the swamp having such

01:06:34.340 --> 01:06:38.340
an emotional roller coaster with the same issue.

01:06:38.440 --> 01:06:45.940
And then after she's turned on, it's like another

01:06:45.940 --> 01:06:52.159
person. But the hardest thing to do is go from

01:06:52.159 --> 01:06:56.840
those dark and deep emotions to the turn on because

01:06:56.840 --> 01:07:00.510
it's not natural. But it is natural. It's natural

01:07:00.510 --> 01:07:04.429
for a woman. It is natural for us. That is the

01:07:04.429 --> 01:07:06.909
issue sometimes when we get, especially when

01:07:06.909 --> 01:07:08.929
we start getting older and it's like, oh, we

01:07:08.929 --> 01:07:11.769
don't have a partner or nobody wants me, blah,

01:07:11.969 --> 01:07:13.650
blah, blah. And we just start shutting down.

01:07:13.650 --> 01:07:15.329
And when we start shutting down, guess what?

01:07:15.409 --> 01:07:18.289
Our juices dry up. And when our juices start

01:07:18.289 --> 01:07:21.039
to dry up, we start to get stiff. And then we

01:07:21.039 --> 01:07:23.760
start to just being a little bit less flexible

01:07:23.760 --> 01:07:26.860
and we start saying no more often. And so we

01:07:26.860 --> 01:07:29.420
start shutting down our lives. But it is the

01:07:29.420 --> 01:07:33.579
turn on, it is the flow of the woman that is

01:07:33.579 --> 01:07:38.340
going to keep us viable and fun and sexy and

01:07:38.340 --> 01:07:42.260
flexible. So we can go after our desires, no

01:07:42.260 --> 01:07:45.199
matter how old we are, no matter what we've been

01:07:45.199 --> 01:07:52.539
through. you introduce people to themselves.

01:07:54.920 --> 01:07:58.480
And areas that they may have forgotten or never

01:07:58.480 --> 01:08:01.219
tapped into because of the shame. Because, oh

01:08:01.219 --> 01:08:06.380
no, I can't touch my vagina. I can't self -pleasure.

01:08:06.400 --> 01:08:13.099
Or if I do, I feel so much shame around it. I'm

01:08:13.099 --> 01:08:26.500
touching mine right now. See how much fun it

01:08:26.500 --> 01:08:36.000
is? It's so much fun. You know, it's a beautiful

01:08:36.000 --> 01:08:41.319
thing because God gave us a whole body. And society

01:08:41.319 --> 01:08:44.359
said you can only focus on a couple of parts

01:08:44.359 --> 01:08:50.649
of it. And because of that idea, we become, we

01:08:50.649 --> 01:08:54.210
begin to oppress ourselves with that feeling

01:08:54.210 --> 01:08:57.489
of shame that you're talking about. So to see

01:08:57.489 --> 01:09:01.649
women meet themselves, many for the very first

01:09:01.649 --> 01:09:07.550
time, it's a beautiful process. And it's a, what

01:09:07.550 --> 01:09:12.300
a calling on your life. You know, what a calling

01:09:12.300 --> 01:09:15.020
on your life to not only do the work for yourself,

01:09:15.060 --> 01:09:18.000
but to just say, I want everybody to have this

01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:21.779
work. That's, that's beautiful. So you're talking

01:09:21.779 --> 01:09:26.500
about, just one thing before you get into that

01:09:26.500 --> 01:09:29.500
talk to us about, or you can say what you're

01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:31.539
going to say, but I really want you to talk about

01:09:31.539 --> 01:09:35.460
the power of the divine feminine because we get

01:09:35.460 --> 01:09:39.250
stuck in terms and the understanding of what

01:09:39.250 --> 01:09:41.569
femininity is and what the divine feminine is

01:09:41.569 --> 01:09:45.510
and what feminism is. And I really like for people

01:09:45.510 --> 01:09:49.270
who are in this work to help us understand the

01:09:49.270 --> 01:09:53.930
distinctions because I feel one is from society

01:09:53.930 --> 01:09:58.550
and one is about us meeting ourselves. So continue

01:09:58.550 --> 01:10:00.810
on and if you can get into it. Yeah, thank you.

01:10:00.909 --> 01:10:03.130
You know, it's we're like on the same the path

01:10:03.130 --> 01:10:05.229
of wavelength because I was going to talk about

01:10:05.229 --> 01:10:12.260
that, you know. I was gonna talk about the femininity,

01:10:12.380 --> 01:10:15.859
I mean, not femininity, spirituality and sexuality.

01:10:17.020 --> 01:10:21.800
Spirituality and sensuality. We've learned separate

01:10:21.800 --> 01:10:26.079
those two. We've been taught like, you know,

01:10:26.079 --> 01:10:28.739
it's like the Mary and the Mary. You know, there

01:10:28.739 --> 01:10:31.520
was the Mary who was the prostitute, Mary who

01:10:31.520 --> 01:10:35.399
was the mother. And either you're the mother

01:10:35.399 --> 01:10:42.899
or you're the whore. We're both. We're at all.

01:10:44.699 --> 01:10:47.460
And that's where the divine feminine comes in,

01:10:48.439 --> 01:10:53.720
is that we don't have to push to get our needs

01:10:53.720 --> 01:11:00.520
met. We just need to be whole and authentic and

01:11:00.520 --> 01:11:05.699
turned on. We need to find our power. within

01:11:05.699 --> 01:11:10.699
every single cell of our body. We've been co

01:11:10.699 --> 01:11:21.039
-opted saying that our vagina is only for a man's

01:11:21.039 --> 01:11:32.560
pleasure or objectifying our vagina and our breasts.

01:11:33.000 --> 01:11:39.399
for his enjoyment. Or we dress, you know, to

01:11:39.399 --> 01:11:46.399
impress, you know, our, or try to woo, you know,

01:11:46.560 --> 01:11:52.460
our other, other women. We get into that ridiculous

01:11:52.460 --> 01:11:56.539
competition game around who's better looking

01:11:56.539 --> 01:12:00.279
and who's thinner enough and who's blah, blah,

01:12:00.560 --> 01:12:09.149
blah. As women, we are beautiful in all our iterations

01:12:09.149 --> 01:12:16.609
on the planet. And that's what the Divine Feminine

01:12:16.609 --> 01:12:23.390
is all about, is finding our power from within

01:12:23.390 --> 01:12:34.689
and using what we've been given our turn on to

01:12:34.689 --> 01:12:40.250
enhance our lives. We've turned, we used to turn

01:12:40.250 --> 01:12:44.529
over our turn on to only those times when, you

01:12:44.529 --> 01:12:47.649
know, uh, with somebody or, you know, maybe,

01:12:47.829 --> 01:12:50.029
you know, we were trying to like impress and

01:12:50.029 --> 01:12:52.350
go out to an event and, you know, we could try

01:12:52.350 --> 01:12:54.829
to be sexy, but what if we were just sexy and

01:12:54.829 --> 01:13:00.069
sensual all the friggin time for ourselves? Right.

01:13:01.339 --> 01:13:05.279
All the time, you know, like you show up on a

01:13:05.279 --> 01:13:09.920
call and you're like, Hey, how y 'all doing?

01:13:11.380 --> 01:13:13.800
Okay, we're going to start this meeting now.

01:13:14.039 --> 01:13:17.680
Okay. Why don't we play first, you know, stuff

01:13:17.680 --> 01:13:23.039
that would actually bring women like joy and

01:13:23.039 --> 01:13:28.460
pleasure. What if we did that? Um, so that's

01:13:28.460 --> 01:13:32.680
what I'm introducing. is the stuff that brings

01:13:32.680 --> 01:13:35.579
us pleasure, you know, from our, first we have

01:13:35.579 --> 01:13:38.600
to know pleasure. That's another thing. You ask

01:13:38.600 --> 01:13:41.100
women like, what are the, what pleases them or

01:13:41.100 --> 01:13:45.420
what their desires are? Many can't even tell

01:13:45.420 --> 01:13:50.800
you. So first what we do is we go in with a woman

01:13:50.800 --> 01:13:56.399
and we find where her pleasure centers lie. What

01:13:56.399 --> 01:14:02.010
brings her pleasure for real? Because if you

01:14:02.010 --> 01:14:05.909
don't know what pleases you, how can you ask

01:14:05.909 --> 01:14:10.369
for that or encourage or manifest that if you

01:14:10.369 --> 01:14:17.329
don't even know? So that's number one. And then

01:14:17.329 --> 01:14:24.210
we then allow her to then just find herself with

01:14:24.210 --> 01:14:28.750
these tools, removing the blocks. getting out

01:14:28.750 --> 01:14:32.130
the grief. Not getting it out, but like anytime

01:14:32.130 --> 01:14:34.649
grief does come with you, guess what? You have

01:14:34.649 --> 01:14:40.489
a tool that you can use that would help move

01:14:40.489 --> 01:14:43.329
the emotions through. If you're stuck on something,

01:14:43.529 --> 01:14:45.989
somebody pissed you off today, you can spring

01:14:45.989 --> 01:14:48.569
clean about it. You're not asking for advice.

01:14:49.329 --> 01:14:51.789
You're not asking for somebody to just sit down

01:14:51.789 --> 01:14:54.350
and like fix it for you. You have the answers

01:14:54.350 --> 01:14:57.829
within yourself. So with the spring clean, you

01:14:57.829 --> 01:15:01.329
can do that. Because in a spring clean, which

01:15:01.329 --> 01:15:04.210
I didn't share, it's a completely confidential

01:15:04.210 --> 01:15:08.029
space. The person who is receiving the information,

01:15:08.029 --> 01:15:11.590
they say nothing except for thank you. And at

01:15:11.590 --> 01:15:14.569
the end of it, it's gone. Like you never bring

01:15:14.569 --> 01:15:16.930
it up again. You never talk about the subject

01:15:16.930 --> 01:15:22.350
with the woman. It's gone. So, you know, these

01:15:22.350 --> 01:15:30.779
tools, and there's so many more, they work. How

01:15:30.779 --> 01:15:33.420
did you find that these tools, because you said

01:15:33.420 --> 01:15:39.300
you did the work with Mama Gina, what bloomed

01:15:39.300 --> 01:15:45.819
in you when you got into this work? Well, the

01:15:45.819 --> 01:15:51.140
first thing was when I first saw her and experienced

01:15:51.140 --> 01:15:55.750
this work, I was like, oh my God, where has this

01:15:55.750 --> 01:16:05.170
been? And I was so gone. Like somebody said,

01:16:05.329 --> 01:16:07.109
Annette, how are you doing? Oh, I'm fine. I'm

01:16:07.109 --> 01:16:10.789
fine. Everything is good. I'm smiling. Hey, everything's

01:16:10.789 --> 01:16:12.989
good. And on the outside, seriously, you would

01:16:12.989 --> 01:16:16.470
think that everything was really cool. But on

01:16:16.470 --> 01:16:23.420
the inside, I was really empty. So when i heard

01:16:23.420 --> 01:16:29.279
an experience this i was like all in like. All

01:16:29.279 --> 01:16:35.340
in i had no more freaks to give because i had

01:16:35.340 --> 01:16:40.439
reached my pinnacle like okay i worked at nbc

01:16:40.439 --> 01:16:44.970
i had done. I had done the career of my dreams.

01:16:45.789 --> 01:16:51.029
I won an Emmy. I had a beautiful son. He is going

01:16:51.029 --> 01:16:55.590
to college. You would think that all those things

01:16:55.590 --> 01:17:00.590
would have just been enough. And I knew that

01:17:00.590 --> 01:17:07.029
there was more. And when I heard Mama Gina talk

01:17:07.029 --> 01:17:10.979
and I heard the testimonials of the women. And

01:17:10.979 --> 01:17:15.539
I saw the women, I saw them, I saw the difference

01:17:15.539 --> 01:17:19.579
in their eyes. I saw the difference in the way

01:17:19.579 --> 01:17:23.479
they walked. I saw the difference in the way

01:17:23.479 --> 01:17:30.539
that they spoke. It was authentic. It was the

01:17:30.539 --> 01:17:33.880
light was coming from within didn't matter what

01:17:33.880 --> 01:17:39.409
they had on the light. was coming from within.

01:17:40.010 --> 01:17:46.609
And I said, I want that. Whatever she has, I

01:17:46.609 --> 01:17:50.989
want that. I remember when I went to Miami, because

01:17:50.989 --> 01:17:55.689
Regina, Mama Janie used to have a big in -person

01:17:55.689 --> 01:18:00.449
events. She came in the Miami Convention Center

01:18:00.449 --> 01:18:08.060
riding a horse with six men, shirtless, honky

01:18:08.060 --> 01:18:17.960
men next to her. She had on a mini skirt with

01:18:17.960 --> 01:18:23.939
feathers and no panties. And I was like, who

01:18:23.939 --> 01:18:31.140
is she? I love her already. Because when a woman

01:18:31.140 --> 01:18:38.189
is turned on, you can tell. She doesn't care

01:18:38.189 --> 01:18:42.750
about what you think about her. She knows who

01:18:42.750 --> 01:18:49.569
she is. She loves herself, really. And you can't

01:18:49.569 --> 01:18:53.569
take that away from her. And she's powerful.

01:18:55.090 --> 01:19:02.369
And that's what I got. My life is really different,

01:19:03.029 --> 01:19:08.600
Monica. I'm living... in a beautiful place in

01:19:08.600 --> 01:19:12.600
North Carolina. I'm looking out over a river

01:19:12.600 --> 01:19:15.880
which is right outside my living room window.

01:19:17.159 --> 01:19:25.100
My partner who courted me at 55 years old told

01:19:25.100 --> 01:19:31.199
me, said, Annette, if you move with me here,

01:19:31.199 --> 01:19:39.310
you don't have to work. And for someone who was

01:19:39.310 --> 01:19:45.550
a single mother, Caribbean, worked two, three

01:19:45.550 --> 01:19:50.510
jobs, was a journalist, in the news business,

01:19:51.270 --> 01:19:58.050
working my ass off. Someone for me to vibrate

01:19:58.050 --> 01:20:04.130
in a way that I have attracted a man. who loves

01:20:04.130 --> 01:20:09.850
and adores me, says to me, I'm going to take

01:20:09.850 --> 01:20:15.329
you out of New York, and you don't have to. That

01:20:15.329 --> 01:20:20.350
was five years ago, and I've been having the

01:20:20.350 --> 01:20:26.789
time of my life. A round of applause for him.

01:20:27.029 --> 01:20:38.090
Yes, Lord. That is so beautiful. I mean, that's

01:20:38.090 --> 01:20:45.069
freedom. That is freedom because you feel safe.

01:20:45.869 --> 01:20:49.229
And for black women, it is so hard for us to

01:20:49.229 --> 01:20:54.229
feel safe. So for someone to provide a space

01:20:54.229 --> 01:20:57.890
for you to be yourself says a lot about him as

01:20:57.890 --> 01:21:02.600
a person, just as a human being. But it also

01:21:02.600 --> 01:21:05.560
says something about, it's a testament to the

01:21:05.560 --> 01:21:09.159
work that you have been doing. Because it's not

01:21:09.159 --> 01:21:11.720
something that you were looking for. You just

01:21:11.720 --> 01:21:14.460
knew you wanted, you just knew you knew that

01:21:14.460 --> 01:21:17.319
you deserved better, but you didn't know what

01:21:17.319 --> 01:21:19.220
better was gonna look like. So you just did the

01:21:19.220 --> 01:21:22.520
work. And this is what you manifested. You did

01:21:22.520 --> 01:21:24.699
the work and this is what manifested. So you're

01:21:24.699 --> 01:21:28.340
a testament of the work that you do. Exactly.

01:21:28.819 --> 01:21:33.239
I didn't know. One of the things that we say

01:21:33.239 --> 01:21:38.300
in this work is, when a woman says her desire,

01:21:39.199 --> 01:21:42.399
we say, and so shall it be, or something even

01:21:42.399 --> 01:21:47.020
better, way beyond your wildest dreams, to affirm

01:21:47.020 --> 01:21:55.140
what she has said. And it's true. This is my

01:21:55.140 --> 01:22:00.819
so shall it be. it's also and something even

01:22:00.819 --> 01:22:04.020
better because this was way beyond my wildest

01:22:04.020 --> 01:22:09.659
dreams. I did the work. I took on this work like

01:22:09.659 --> 01:22:13.260
it was a PhD program. I was in it for the study.

01:22:13.859 --> 01:22:19.739
I did the work. I did the tools. I created sisterhood

01:22:19.739 --> 01:22:24.100
within the women in which I do create sisterhood

01:22:24.100 --> 01:22:27.899
and community so women can do these tools together.

01:22:28.199 --> 01:22:31.500
And it's not just me, there are hundreds of thousands

01:22:31.500 --> 01:22:34.319
of women who have gone through this kind of training.

01:22:35.619 --> 01:22:42.100
And Mama Gina has only opened this up for her

01:22:42.100 --> 01:22:44.300
students, some of her students to teach. So there's

01:22:44.300 --> 01:22:49.500
only 50 of us around the world that can teach

01:22:49.500 --> 01:22:53.840
these tools besides her. And she's no longer

01:22:53.840 --> 01:22:57.239
doing anything in person. And she's also doing

01:22:57.239 --> 01:22:59.859
things like overseas, like right now she's in

01:22:59.859 --> 01:23:09.340
Morocco. So I'm taking these tools to the people,

01:23:10.439 --> 01:23:18.260
to our people, to black women, because I know

01:23:18.260 --> 01:23:25.939
it works. And we need to be We need to be shored

01:23:25.939 --> 01:23:32.359
up, especially in these days and times, because

01:23:32.359 --> 01:23:36.239
we have big fights ahead of us. We have big fights

01:23:36.239 --> 01:23:43.140
on us. And if we don't stay healthy, turned on,

01:23:44.180 --> 01:23:48.520
we're not gonna be able to fight the fight. So

01:23:48.520 --> 01:23:53.770
I'm tapping into an area that we haven't looked

01:23:53.770 --> 01:24:00.329
to do to find our power. Tapping into that area

01:24:00.329 --> 01:24:05.350
where that would have gone, crying about some

01:24:05.350 --> 01:24:12.369
man somewhere or some woman somewhere. Or we've

01:24:12.369 --> 01:24:15.729
shut her down because we're in the fight. We

01:24:15.729 --> 01:24:18.770
can't think about that right now. And I'm saying

01:24:18.770 --> 01:24:25.100
we've got to. We have got to, we need to say,

01:24:25.439 --> 01:24:31.439
wake up because we need more power here to get

01:24:31.439 --> 01:24:38.060
through what we're facing. And so this work is

01:24:38.060 --> 01:24:43.140
not just kind of trivial to turn yourself on,

01:24:43.159 --> 01:24:46.939
which is beautiful, but it's to turn yourself

01:24:46.939 --> 01:25:00.409
on so you can access more power. Exactly. The

01:25:00.409 --> 01:25:03.369
only thing I could say is that's power because

01:25:03.369 --> 01:25:08.090
the biggest thing that you teach is that we have

01:25:08.090 --> 01:25:12.010
a choice because most people feel when they get

01:25:12.010 --> 01:25:14.329
to a certain age that this is just how it's going

01:25:14.329 --> 01:25:17.130
to be and this is just how it is because that's

01:25:17.130 --> 01:25:20.000
what our parents taught us. And the truth of

01:25:20.000 --> 01:25:24.020
the matter is we always have a choice. And you

01:25:24.020 --> 01:25:28.199
are showing people a different choice that they

01:25:28.199 --> 01:25:30.819
may have never thought of before, but it puts

01:25:30.819 --> 01:25:35.279
you into a place of just pure personal power,

01:25:38.539 --> 01:25:41.760
which connects us to the divine, it connects

01:25:41.760 --> 01:25:43.880
us to the universe, and it connects us to each

01:25:43.880 --> 01:25:47.680
other. So I love what you're doing now. I love

01:25:47.680 --> 01:25:50.659
how your work has evolved. I have, you know,

01:25:50.720 --> 01:25:53.079
watched you from afar and I get to see bits and

01:25:53.079 --> 01:25:55.699
pieces of it, but to hear your, the full breadth

01:25:55.699 --> 01:25:58.680
of what you're doing and the full arc of your

01:25:58.680 --> 01:26:02.979
story is just absolutely beautiful because it's

01:26:02.979 --> 01:26:05.340
not even about a second chapter. People talk

01:26:05.340 --> 01:26:07.180
about I'm on the second chapter. It's like, no,

01:26:07.180 --> 01:26:11.760
you're evolving into yourself, which is a different

01:26:11.760 --> 01:26:17.470
experience because we, as Black women, are often

01:26:17.470 --> 01:26:20.670
told that we don't deserve for a man to take

01:26:20.670 --> 01:26:23.350
care of us the way that we want a man to take

01:26:23.350 --> 01:26:28.090
care of us. You know, that we don't deserve to

01:26:28.090 --> 01:26:31.770
not work. We have to work hard. Like, you know,

01:26:31.829 --> 01:26:35.430
L. Hooks calls us the mule of society. You know,

01:26:35.510 --> 01:26:38.949
so you can move into a space of power, manifestation,

01:26:39.270 --> 01:26:47.130
and ease. Let's go. Let's go. Right. Right. And

01:26:47.130 --> 01:26:52.210
now I work, I'm working because I want to work.

01:26:52.609 --> 01:26:56.170
I love to work. And I love this work. That's

01:26:56.170 --> 01:26:58.869
the thing. I love this work. And I get to do

01:26:58.869 --> 01:27:02.390
this work. You know, there are other women who

01:27:02.390 --> 01:27:04.829
have done all kinds of other stuff with this

01:27:04.829 --> 01:27:09.489
work. You know, there are women who I know who,

01:27:09.489 --> 01:27:13.130
you know, they were rich women. one rich woman

01:27:13.130 --> 01:27:15.949
that I had met in the program. And she used to

01:27:15.949 --> 01:27:18.810
give her money away to lovers here and there.

01:27:19.350 --> 01:27:22.229
Just, you know, he find, you know, they get involved

01:27:22.229 --> 01:27:23.909
in a relationship and like, oh, he wants to start

01:27:23.909 --> 01:27:25.569
a business. And so she's given the money away

01:27:25.569 --> 01:27:28.729
to that person. And she came into this work.

01:27:29.689 --> 01:27:33.909
And he's like, she made other choices. And so

01:27:33.909 --> 01:27:38.710
a choice that she made was she family who had

01:27:38.710 --> 01:27:44.420
was produced in broad on Broadway. And instead

01:27:44.420 --> 01:27:48.520
of giving her money away to some lover, she's

01:27:48.520 --> 01:27:52.020
decided for the first time that she was going

01:27:52.020 --> 01:27:58.500
to invest in a play. That play ended up going

01:27:58.500 --> 01:28:03.239
on to Broadway and then winning a Tony. So it's

01:28:03.239 --> 01:28:05.859
not - Okay, what's the name of the play? I can't

01:28:05.859 --> 01:28:11.039
say because I can't, I can't tell you. I'm saying

01:28:11.039 --> 01:28:13.460
a story that was something that, you know, was

01:28:13.460 --> 01:28:16.659
in, you know, we have confidentiality, but it

01:28:16.659 --> 01:28:19.060
ended up winning a Tony. And it's over the last,

01:28:19.100 --> 01:28:21.500
like, I've been in this work for nine years.

01:28:21.539 --> 01:28:28.220
So it's one of those best picture. But that's

01:28:28.220 --> 01:28:32.760
to say that this work, when you say a desire,

01:28:34.439 --> 01:28:37.199
and so shall it be or something even better way

01:28:37.199 --> 01:28:40.199
beyond your wildest dreams. Once you start removing

01:28:40.199 --> 01:28:44.659
the blocks to your awareness of pleasure, which

01:28:44.659 --> 01:28:49.140
the tools do, you don't know what's going to

01:28:49.140 --> 01:28:54.539
unlock for you. That will be the exact thing

01:28:54.539 --> 01:29:02.239
that you needed to catapult you to your desires.

01:29:04.679 --> 01:29:06.979
Well, thank you. That's what this work does.

01:29:08.479 --> 01:29:12.020
That is absolutely beautiful. I don't know what

01:29:12.020 --> 01:29:14.500
more we could say right now about all of this.

01:29:14.699 --> 01:29:17.699
It's a lot to take in because for many people,

01:29:17.699 --> 01:29:21.399
this is a new conversation. And I just want to

01:29:21.399 --> 01:29:27.359
thank you for sharing your entire story and to

01:29:27.359 --> 01:29:29.479
see, you know, like I said, to see the arc of

01:29:29.479 --> 01:29:32.800
what you've done and what you're doing in all

01:29:32.800 --> 01:29:37.039
of it. you have been true to yourself, which

01:29:37.039 --> 01:29:40.579
is in itself is powerful. And I think that Mama

01:29:40.579 --> 01:29:43.399
Gina just gave you new language for what you

01:29:43.399 --> 01:29:49.739
already knew within yourself. So before we conclude

01:29:49.739 --> 01:29:52.619
our beautiful conversation, I could talk to you

01:29:52.619 --> 01:29:57.100
forever. What is one thing that people can do

01:29:57.100 --> 01:30:01.920
at home? What is one question that a woman could

01:30:01.920 --> 01:30:06.289
ask herself? to start her journey of finding

01:30:06.289 --> 01:30:13.949
herself? That's a good question. I would say

01:30:13.949 --> 01:30:23.109
this. If a woman, like when she's on the phone,

01:30:23.770 --> 01:30:28.590
or like when she wakes up in the morning, or

01:30:28.590 --> 01:30:30.850
she goes to bed at night, or anytime during the

01:30:30.850 --> 01:30:37.000
day, Just take her, take your hand and cup your

01:30:37.000 --> 01:30:41.239
vagina. Just cup her. You don't have to do anything.

01:30:42.579 --> 01:30:48.020
You don't have to make any moves. You just put

01:30:48.020 --> 01:30:55.420
your hand on her. Let her know that she's not

01:30:55.420 --> 01:30:59.520
forgotten. Let her know that you're giving her

01:30:59.520 --> 01:31:03.479
attention. to let her know that you love her.

01:31:04.399 --> 01:31:09.760
And she doesn't have to do anything. And then

01:31:09.760 --> 01:31:13.220
see how your day goes. Or see how that conversation

01:31:13.220 --> 01:31:20.020
goes. Because they can't see you. So just see.

01:31:21.180 --> 01:31:26.189
So that's what I'll offer. Well, Miss Annette

01:31:26.189 --> 01:31:29.590
Freeman, thank you so much for this beautiful

01:31:29.590 --> 01:31:37.289
conversation. I am glowing. I love talking about

01:31:37.289 --> 01:31:42.609
this kind of stuff. I think for us, we need a

01:31:42.609 --> 01:31:46.350
journey of liberation like none before. And I

01:31:46.350 --> 01:31:48.869
love everything that you're talking about. So

01:31:48.869 --> 01:31:51.949
how can people find out about your work or how

01:31:51.949 --> 01:31:57.359
to get in touch with you? Sure. So my website

01:31:57.359 --> 01:32:05.560
is goddessportalcoaching .com. It's a simple

01:32:05.560 --> 01:32:08.979
website. There's an area to book a call. I have

01:32:08.979 --> 01:32:15.140
free discovery calls. I have an in -person workshop

01:32:15.140 --> 01:32:18.960
that's coming up in January, which is also available

01:32:18.960 --> 01:32:22.310
through that website. It's happening in Wilmington,

01:32:22.510 --> 01:32:28.430
North Carolina. And I also have a virtual course

01:32:28.430 --> 01:32:32.409
offering similar to the in -person that's also

01:32:32.409 --> 01:32:36.810
available on that website for you to find out.

01:32:37.250 --> 01:32:40.890
But set up a call with me. I'd just love to talk

01:32:40.890 --> 01:32:43.489
about it. You don't have to sign up for anything.

01:32:44.409 --> 01:32:48.310
Just call, because I love talking about this

01:32:48.310 --> 01:32:55.579
work. Yeah. Well, thank you again. And thank

01:32:55.579 --> 01:32:59.300
you for saying yes to your calling. I've been

01:32:59.300 --> 01:33:02.399
in conversation about calling with my friends

01:33:02.399 --> 01:33:07.399
and it's like, it's a lot of us are getting called

01:33:07.399 --> 01:33:11.020
to do something different and we all don't understand

01:33:11.020 --> 01:33:13.699
it. So for you to say yes, lets me know that

01:33:13.699 --> 01:33:16.640
you're a leader in this and people can trust

01:33:16.640 --> 01:33:18.720
that what you do works because you've shown it

01:33:18.720 --> 01:33:23.279
in your own life. So thank you so much. Thank

01:33:23.279 --> 01:33:28.479
you, Monica. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

01:33:28.479 --> 01:33:30.640
And I appreciate all of this. And the Black Women

01:33:30.640 --> 01:33:34.920
Amplified family, please share this conversation

01:33:34.920 --> 01:33:37.680
with your girls. It's something that we all need

01:33:37.680 --> 01:33:42.359
to hear. And open your heart when you listen.

01:33:42.859 --> 01:33:47.100
And listen with your heart. Because we are having

01:33:47.100 --> 01:33:51.069
our own renaissance now. And we need all of the

01:33:51.069 --> 01:33:56.529
tools in our toolkit to fully be liberated from

01:33:56.529 --> 01:33:59.970
everything everybody told us that we were, so

01:33:59.970 --> 01:34:02.890
that we can be the person that we were born to

01:34:02.890 --> 01:34:06.569
be. So thank you all for listening and I will

01:34:06.569 --> 01:34:08.289
see you on the next episode.