The Entertainment Biz- Seasons of Uncertainty w/ Shornell & Manny

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to this episode of Keep It Positive, Sweety. Today we are talking about the entertainment industry and seasons of uncertainty. Right now, we are in the middle of a strike and it is affecting not just actors and writers and directors and producers, but it's also affecting our crew.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: Members and many families.

00:00:28
Speaker 1: Hair stylists Chiranelle and my makeup artist Manny. These two keep me calm, on said they work with me. I'm very, very particular about everything. We'll get into that a little later, but I thought it was important to get different perspectives on what we're dealing with as it pertains to this strike.

00:00:46
Speaker 2: And I met you many at Green.

00:00:51
Speaker 1: Bar Studio when I was a costumer and a long time ago. And Charanelle we knew each other when I was costume designing and hadn't yet.

00:01:01
Speaker 2: Flipped towards to the talent side.

00:01:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, but Coco was head of hair at that point in time, and she said that you were the one that I needed to work with Yah for Fatima's hair from there on.

00:01:12
Speaker 2: Yes, and that was it. She was right.

00:01:15
Speaker 1: I'm so happy she's been stuck with me forever, so she's responsible for my hairstyles for the Soul Train Awards Sisters and Zatima and BT Awards this year.

00:01:27
Speaker 2: Yeah the p grind pretty cover shoot.

00:01:30
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so she knows responsal.

00:01:32
Speaker 2: For all those hairstyles.

00:01:33
Speaker 1: And Manny is responsible for the beautiful beat that you're always like, Oh the Teama's makeup, that's him.

00:01:39
Speaker 2: I get a lot of my makeup tricks from Mannie and my hair tricks. And can we get into the makeup you did so good?

00:01:47
Speaker 3: Thank you.

00:01:48
Speaker 4: I was going back and forth like should I get a makeup party? Should I have Manny coming here an hour before? But no, I I decided to go ind and take on the challenge. And you know, look at everything that Manny.

00:02:05
Speaker 3: That you taught me, Crystal. You taught me some things too.

00:02:08
Speaker 4: Because you are really good at applying makeup. I always want you to do like tutorials and stuff like that. But I mean you're just you know, perfect in a lot of different ways, so many different categories.

00:02:21
Speaker 3: I tell you, oh stop, it gotta gets her. It gets her, I mean, full package for real. So in the soul too, And that's where.

00:02:34
Speaker 4: It's more, you know, the most important is when it exudes from within absolute and I absolutely love that the most about you.

00:02:46
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you so much. I want a personally thank you both for dealing with me. I know that the way we shoot the schedule, we're all exhausted, and I am an artist that is very particular about everything. Many you call me a backseat makeup.

00:03:06
Speaker 2: What are we doing? Man?

00:03:07
Speaker 5: I mean, it's just a very demanding schedule and you just roll with the punches and we're just you know, making you happy.

00:03:14
Speaker 2: You know, y'all do a very good job with that. Do I get on your nerves when I'm like, you.

00:03:18
Speaker 6: Know, I think I've been doing it for long enough. It's not.

00:03:21
Speaker 5: It doesn't get my nerves, So it just helps me understand what you like.

00:03:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, and I'll make sure now when it comes to my ways, I'm very particular, but I'm like, I.

00:03:31
Speaker 3: Mean, extremely particular.

00:03:34
Speaker 2: Do you hear me?

00:03:38
Speaker 4: But I love that, you know, because I am a person that do like to interact with my talent and try to satisfy.

00:03:47
Speaker 3: Them in any way possible.

00:03:48
Speaker 4: So with them communicating with me what they like, what they want, what they see, that helps me as a hairstylist to you know, advance my talent and my craft. Yeah, so I absolutely enjoy working with you because you make me a.

00:04:05
Speaker 7: Better Oh yeah, I appreciate you both because sometimes as talent, if there's something I'm very particular about everything, if you don't have people that you can talk to you and feel comfortable saying, hey, can we fix this or.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: Fix that, it can like be mm.

00:04:20
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying As a woman, I don't know how this is for men, but as women, we want to feel like completely ourselves and like what we see in the mirror absolutely and what the camera reflects, yam. And if we can't tell a person here, I don't really like this and they take some people take it the wrong way.

00:04:35
Speaker 2: They like, like.

00:04:37
Speaker 1: Y I'm trying to tell you how to do your job. It's like, no, I just this is I like, I'm just I like what I like. You know, So thank you both for letting me be myself on setps And I just.

00:04:46
Speaker 2: Love you guys.

00:04:47
Speaker 1: So I wanna know, cause I know there's so many people probably watching that would love to be a makeup artist on set and break into the industry, that would love to be a hairstylist and break into the industry.

00:04:56
Speaker 2: Manny, just give me some.

00:04:58
Speaker 1: Of your backstory where you're from, you upbringing, what brought you to this point that made you say, Hey, this is what I want to do.

00:05:05
Speaker 6: Makeup is the thing.

00:05:06
Speaker 5: Well, I never thought that film was going to be my goal, and it wasn't a goal per se. I started working for Macus Medics. I'm from Orlanta, Florida, but nobody will hire me in Orlando because back then Mac was quite It had a prestige that he'd work for Mac. You can work anywhere, and it wouldn't hire me. I needed to have some you know, portfolio ready and stuff, and it wasn't something I had ready. So when I moved to Atlanta that it just happened in a whim for me to move to Atlanta. I came and applied here to all the counters, and the job kind of found me. That's the story for another time. But I thought I was just going to do retail. And at that time, there is an artist, his name is Geno Freeman. He's also in the industry as well. He was working at the Mac counter himself and he was doing a lot of strip clubs, and to me at that point, that was what I wanted to do. I was like, oh, I want to work with yeah, and I never ended up working with strippers. But two years into the industry, I met Mona Scott Young and she gave me my opening. You know, she opened the door for me, and she did say, and I quote to the people that hired me, she was just make sure he never goes back.

00:06:16
Speaker 6: To one nine two five. And I never went back to one nine two five.

00:06:19
Speaker 5: And I did a lot of the seasons from Love and Hip Hop and some of her shows in New York as well, and yeah, my story just kind of went on from there. And then I went on to Tyler Perry Studios, which was my first film industry job scripted.

00:06:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, and he was.

00:06:35
Speaker 5: Really opening as well, really nice, very kind, and he was so kind. Yeah, and my career took off from there. And that's been almost I think now ten years.

00:06:44
Speaker 6: I think.

00:06:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, from me wanting to do strippers too, now working with actors.

00:06:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's amazing, amazing, very unplanned. Yes, I love it and shut out Mona Scott. I love when people see something that say to the people that's working with her and that, how do you make sure he does not go back to a nine to five to see that in you, It's just it speaks a lot.

00:07:06
Speaker 5: Yeah really, and it was so like something that she did. I don't think she even remembers it, but it changed my career. Admitted into your career.

00:07:15
Speaker 2: What did I love that? I love that? Chanelle? Tell us about me? About you? Where are you from?

00:07:21
Speaker 1: How did you get started? And what sparked? Was it always hair that you wanted to do.

00:07:26
Speaker 4: I've always had a natural grasp for anything here m you know, I can look at something and I can create it naturally.

00:07:38
Speaker 3: When I was like ten years old to.

00:07:40
Speaker 4: Work with my barbiees Barbie, I used to do my Barbie hair, and then my mother started aking me sewan out, you think you could do my hair or my aunt? So every event, you know, everybody was coming to me. When I was younger, I didn't I did not say I'm going to be a hairstylist. I didn't imagine that being my career. It kind of just happened, you know. I used to work at this bakery in New York when I was very young, and the New.

00:08:16
Speaker 3: York life that I came from. I'm from Brooklyn, New York, born in Guyana, South America. Near Brazil. So I came here when I was three years old.

00:08:26
Speaker 4: So you know, where I was raised was Brooklyn, New York, and so the environment and everyone around me, we didn't see this was in film and the film industry or anything like that, and it wasn't even here because people thought hair was not lucrative at that time.

00:08:45
Speaker 3: It was not a so called like amazing career to like blurt out.

00:08:53
Speaker 4: Everybody wanted to say, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a lawyer, and all those type of things. So when I did eventually tell my mother that I wanted to pursue or do hair, I had gotten fired to let go, not necessarily fire, but let go from Amy's Bread. I remember them asking me what I'm gonna do next, and I just said, I'm gonna move to Atlanta.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: Wow, just just like that, just.

00:09:21
Speaker 4: Got up, moved to Atlanta. I was a single mom. Came to Atlanta, and I said that I was gonna do a little call and everything that never happened. So I called my friend and I asked her. I was like, do you know any hair schools that I can go to. I went to the hair school off Candle Road. Yeah, the hand road and got my license there and then just pretty much continue doing what I was doing. End up opening up a salon. Wow, very very successful business. I worked NonStop from sun up to sundown, and I pretty much kind of, I would say, ultimately was burnt out that so I don't have any desires to go back to the salon. Eventually started working with I was referred to Mila from the group seven oh two. She came here and was looking for hairstylists when she moved here, and I did her hair. She invited me on a photo shoot with Derrick Blanks. Oh wow, right, that was my first time ever doing anything in the industry. Like I was a hairstylist, and I never thought of this rem of things ever. I I didn't have any mentors, anyone that I looked up to. I looked at a magazine or a television show, and I didn't say, oh, I would like to be a hairstylist. I was just a successful business owner and I did really well in the salon.

00:10:54
Speaker 2: Well.

00:10:54
Speaker 4: Once I had that experience, that opened up my eyes and my drive to.

00:11:00
Speaker 3: More and work less.

00:11:05
Speaker 4: So I did her hair for that one photo shoot a couple of hours, went home, got paid for the whole day, and it was.

00:11:15
Speaker 3: Just like, ding, what am I doing this salon? I need to get out of this salone. So pretty much that's where I worked. I worked up into That's.

00:11:26
Speaker 4: Where my passion and my drive to get into this industry started. I stayed in contact with Derek on Facebook because Instagram.

00:11:34
Speaker 3: Wasn't around then, and he put up a.

00:11:40
Speaker 4: He put up a notice saying that he wanted to invite a hairstylist to work alongside with him on a magazine shoot and if you want to do it, just go ahead and submit your information.

00:11:53
Speaker 3: Spoke to a million and one of my clients and they were like, go ahead and do it. I would say, but I have really nothing.

00:12:00
Speaker 4: I don't know at that time. I didn't know what what was editorial, what was this?

00:12:04
Speaker 3: What was that?

00:12:05
Speaker 4: And I went to the you know, to the interview, not knowing that I was actually going against like a whole lot of hairstylists around the world when I got there. So I end up winning, okay, and Derek just pretty much started working with me on most of his celebrity clients. Tell and so I would get invited, He'll call me his assistance, you know, would invite me to these shoots and then from.

00:12:31
Speaker 3: There on, literally doors just started opening NonStop.

00:12:37
Speaker 4: And I've never had a manager like God, literally I can say he's my agent.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: I know, that's right, that's good.

00:12:49
Speaker 6: Wow.

00:12:50
Speaker 3: Wow.

00:12:51
Speaker 1: So right now we are in the middle of a strike. Have either of you ever been on the strike before or had.

00:12:57
Speaker 2: The experience this?

00:12:58
Speaker 6: I have not, but I have plenty of friends gone through.

00:13:01
Speaker 5: The last strike that we experienced was in two thousand and eight, but I believe it was a writer's strike.

00:13:07
Speaker 6: If I'm not mistaken, I don't think it was.

00:13:10
Speaker 5: What today is happening is basically it's a historic moment for our industry, just because it's two of the biggest writers.

00:13:17
Speaker 6: Yes, so it's.

00:13:19
Speaker 5: I've never been through one, period, but let alone both of this what's happening right now, it's completely different.

00:13:25
Speaker 6: Not something I've dealt with before.

00:13:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, me, neither. Absolutely. What about you? Have you ever dealt with the stirt.

00:13:31
Speaker 3: Never dealt with a strike before?

00:13:33
Speaker 4: And it Yeah, it's definitely a moment, that's just it's a learning definitely a learning learning process.

00:13:45
Speaker 1: How are you both handling as many I know I've talked to my friends who are in the industry. We just saw where people are having to sell their homes. There's they've opened up food bags for people to come and feed their families. It's like really starting to like hit because first it was the writers, the directors, they figured theirs out before they had to go on strike, and now the actors, the Screen Actors Guild is on strike. For me, whenever I have these type of moments, I kind of look at it, like even ourselves described as our own pandemic. I think you may have too, Eva described as that, and so did you, Manny, And just like when COVID and we were quarantined and had to sit still for a while. I use those moments to figure out how I can restructure things. I'm inspired to, like figure out other avenues and revenues of stream I mean streams of revenue. And also it just gives my creative juices on how can I come out better on.

00:14:48
Speaker 2: The other side of this, Some people are.

00:14:50
Speaker 1: Dealing with depressions, some people are dealing with spurts of creativity. Some people are just trying to like figure it out, or some people just like and ride this thing out.

00:15:01
Speaker 2: Where are you guys in the middle of all this?

00:15:05
Speaker 5: I thankfully. I come from a very humble, humble, humble beginning. I am from Mexico, though I consider or Land on my home. That changed from coming from a throwall country to like the United States at a very young age.

00:15:21
Speaker 6: What's already kind of shocking for me. And like how you have to change.

00:15:24
Speaker 5: Everything, you know, with a single mother of five kids, you know, she could have easily left us with her father back home.

00:15:31
Speaker 6: And we had to learn. I learned so much from her, from a mom and how to be very I don't want to say frugal is the best word to use.

00:15:42
Speaker 5: So because of this industry once it became a career, knowing how volatile work can be, like you know, one day you can be working for weeks months and then you're in a dry spell for however many.

00:15:56
Speaker 6: Months, you know.

00:15:57
Speaker 5: So luckily, from my beginnings to now, I've learned to be very to live within my means, you know, never you know, try to keep up with the joneses or whatnot. Yeah, just because I don't know when my work is uncome. Yes, so it the only thing that if it's affected me, has been.

00:16:15
Speaker 6: In networking as much as I'm used to.

00:16:20
Speaker 5: But like you said, and like we talked about before, this is not our own little lockdown going on right now, that little locktime. It's just a lockdown that we're going through right now. We have to just sit at home and then trying to either finesse something, you know, pivot into something new.

00:16:38
Speaker 6: Yes, That's where I'm finding.

00:16:40
Speaker 5: Myself right now, Like what am I What am I Am I about to do? Because I don't want to keep relying on this industry for the future, you know, because it may happen again and again and again, and I just want to be ready for it. Luckily I have the financial down, so it's not affected me in that way.

00:16:55
Speaker 6: Thanks God.

00:16:57
Speaker 2: That really stressful.

00:16:58
Speaker 5: Yes, I I've lived with my mom, you know, and I've seen what it does too, you know. And now I'm like, oh, I'm seeing people friends of mine, colleagues, like they're starting to like have to borrow money or you know, call the banks, or you know, sell their homes.

00:17:16
Speaker 6: So it's scary.

00:17:18
Speaker 5: But I I pray a lot now, you know, just to try to stay centered because this is just life happening to us. Anything can come our ways, but if you're centered, if you are faithful, that something is going to happen good out of this, then you know, we'll just move forward like we always do, right, we do. So it's affected me in many ways, but I'm trying to because of the pandemic was a great training on what not to do or how to go all the way down. Yes, so that's, you know, the one thing I do like about this. And I'm like, you know what, I'm not going to stress. I'm not going to go into a deep depressive whole like I did during the pandemic. And we can talk about that later too. But yeah, it's it's a pivoting time.

00:18:09
Speaker 2: I love that pivoting time. I love that.

00:18:11
Speaker 1: What about you should know how has this strike impacted you or affected you?

00:18:19
Speaker 2: Well?

00:18:19
Speaker 4: For me a lot of ways, and what you mentioned and Manny too also, it's just it is.

00:18:28
Speaker 3: A moment of understanding yourself too. In the process of course, you know, being still and listening to God.

00:18:41
Speaker 4: I have my moments when I have to be quiet and be away from people to you know, get my mind and my thoughts back together in regards to how I'm going to move forward in life now, I make sure that I'm not into two hating anything in my head that will allow me to go into a negative way of thinking. Because God has seasons for a reason. Okay, we have summer, fall, spring, All those seasons are there to literally show us naturally how life is supposed to be, you know. So I know this is a season for our industry. It is my first experience, but I'm trying to be glad in it. So when I'm glad in it, I'm gonna come out with whatever message or feeling or anything that it's supposed to teach me coming out of it a better person. And then I'm reaching out to, you know, as many people as I can to encourage us to stick by each other, you know, because the only way we're gonna get through this, because this is to me the whole you know of humans and how things sometimes get a little bit uncomfortable with negotiations and people, you know, sometimes being a little bit more greedier than some and those type of things.

00:20:17
Speaker 3: You just you just have to, you know, just just stay as healthy in your thought process as possible.

00:20:26
Speaker 4: Oh, and then reaching out to people to like let them know, this is the time for us to really come together and work with each other. If you have a skill or something that you can help someone grow in this season. So when we get back, you know, we get back, then we're able to.

00:20:46
Speaker 3: Be stronger as a community.

00:20:49
Speaker 4: You know, this is supposed to try to tear us down, but if we stick together and help each other financially. You know, if you know someone that's not doing well and you are doing well, this is a time where you bless someone. It doesn't even have to be something you know along you know, speech or anything like that. It just with you know what, I'm gonna bless this person, And it could be with a skill, It could be with teaching them how to grow, you know, their business, giving them knowledge, and any way.

00:21:23
Speaker 3: That you can be a blessing.

00:21:24
Speaker 4: I feel like the way we're going to overcome this and come out stronger and a situation like this not happening as easily happening again is by us bonding with each other and helping helping each other as much as possible.

00:21:43
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:21:45
Speaker 1: So you kind of answer my next question. You talked about Caesus, the stillness. We talked about holding on different things during these times. For me, I'm definitely holding on different passions. I know, when COVID came, I was like, I'm gonna come out of this with.

00:22:01
Speaker 2: Knowing a different language, you know.

00:22:03
Speaker 1: I took the time and then that lasted for like two weeks and I was like, okay, Spanish.

00:22:10
Speaker 2: I was like, get those alerts saying we miss you, come back.

00:22:14
Speaker 5: And DUELINGO is bully if you don't do your lessons.

00:22:19
Speaker 3: Yes, I was communicating with her in Spanish.

00:22:25
Speaker 1: Right when I went to Mexico City, Mexico, I actually remembered a little more than I thought I was able to say things in my friends.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: She was fluent in Spanish, and she goes, yeah, that's right. I'm like, I love that. Shut shut.

00:22:44
Speaker 1: I love that I had had tyler on here and I shared with him the first time he asked me, had I bought a house or like did I own my home? And I was like no, I'm reading and I think a lot of people don't understand.

00:22:58
Speaker 2: We work in this industry, like touched on.

00:23:01
Speaker 1: We make money and we save it to live and we're not working. So it's hard to really save money, like like a nice amount of essential amount of money when you literally like we work, and then when we're not working, we're living off of what we saved while we were working, and hoping that it lasts until we get the next job. When I was when I was on the crew side, and that's b I love that I'm an actor who has been on the other side.

00:23:28
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.

00:23:30
Speaker 4: Speaking to my mom about this, because there's a certain way in how Crystal operate with people. She's so it's like she's so passionate, but she's so precise.

00:23:44
Speaker 3: She's very particular, but she is You can just tell that you came from this time.

00:23:54
Speaker 6: Yes, with the crew members.

00:23:57
Speaker 1: Yes, because all that like when I see like a new person who hasn't really worked in our ecosystems, cause Tyler Perry Studios is totally different than the other studios and sets that.

00:24:05
Speaker 2: We work on, and I'll have to I'll love it, know, hay Let tell.

00:24:10
Speaker 1: You this because I've been in your position and I'm not asking you to anything that I haven't done, you know, But I need you to focus on these things. You're gonna be okay, you know. And I know, going back to like just how we live. Have you guys been able to rise above the normal like living paycheck to paycheck or is it still like a part Cause I know for me, like when I was part of the crew.

00:24:33
Speaker 2: It was like hard, you know, and I know, just.

00:24:36
Speaker 1: Trun so they can kind of get a better understanding of what we really deal with in this industry.

00:24:41
Speaker 6: So at the beginning, that was one of my biggest fears.

00:24:43
Speaker 5: I remember experiencing it during while I was doing non union stuff like you no nonscript rather. I remember the the first show I did, the reality show that I did. I remember when it ended, I was like, Okay, I quit my job.

00:25:00
Speaker 6: What do I do now?

00:25:01
Speaker 5: And it was that feeling of you know that like okay, the anxiousness and you know, it's like a rat race. I was like, okay, I need to find the next job, and people that were more seasoned in the game were very chill, like, oh yeah, already got this three jobs.

00:25:15
Speaker 6: Lined up, and I'm like.

00:25:18
Speaker 2: What do I do?

00:25:19
Speaker 1: You know?

00:25:19
Speaker 5: So it was really choking of a moment and I remember then telling myself like I don't want to live like this and this this is going to be my.

00:25:28
Speaker 6: Career, which I already didn't even think it was a.

00:25:34
Speaker 5: Path for me, but once I was thrown into it, I was like, how can I you know, what do I do?

00:25:39
Speaker 1: Do?

00:25:39
Speaker 6: I go back to what I know, having a job that pays me every week. Luckily I stuck.

00:25:44
Speaker 5: By it, and you know, I was doing a lot of freelancing work. Once you learn that work is going to come, it doesn't matter when you wanted to come, It's going to come. We're not meant to just always work. So I started dealing more with like go to the gym, you know, fix my house, do things you know around that, because when the job will come at that, when I was still not seasoned enough, I'll be like, oh my god, why did I stress for all of this for no reason. I could have been you know, learning a new language, learning how to play an instrument, something for fulfilling for me, you know.

00:26:24
Speaker 6: So I'm no longer.

00:26:26
Speaker 5: In that red race of paycheck to paycheck, thankfully. But I mean we did go through a pandemic and then that left us for so long, you know, with no help, no nothing, and then now we're going through this, it's like, all right, we can only take so much, you know.

00:26:42
Speaker 6: So I'm thankfully good financially, but.

00:26:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's a you have to learn that bad moments don't.

00:26:53
Speaker 6: Last forever, Like you said, it's a season, you know. Yeah, So that.

00:26:57
Speaker 5: Helps you in getting out of that paycheck to paycheck mentality.

00:27:00
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it.

00:27:03
Speaker 1: I've talked about me trying to create multiple streams. Has this been a time where you guys like, what else can I do to break more money in?

00:27:09
Speaker 6: Baby?

00:27:09
Speaker 5: But I'm telling you only fans I've been milking. I'm like, you know what, I'm kidding.

00:27:16
Speaker 6: Not rad no, but I'm like, if like, what what it? What can I do to listen?

00:27:26
Speaker 5: I don't have the best feed, but I'm like, I just said that I hate my beat.

00:27:31
Speaker 2: I said, I know somebody out there like these bunnions.

00:27:33
Speaker 5: I said, listen, we got to break into a new Maybe they're like the back of my knee somebody that kind of thing you never know, you.

00:27:41
Speaker 6: Know, So I don't know. I'm just, you know, thinking of ways to make somebody.

00:27:44
Speaker 5: Definitely not only fans, I'm joking, but yeah, I'm definitely.

00:27:47
Speaker 6: Thinking like how can I make it? There's so you can look anywhere in your house.

00:27:51
Speaker 5: Let me share this quick. I just finished a show and there was a there was roaches because the person was ah the character was a hoarder, so they brought roaches onto set.

00:28:04
Speaker 6: Right, Yes, now, mind you.

00:28:07
Speaker 5: They had wranglers for the roaches and people from the Humane Society for them as well. So when I was, of course I'm looking at them like bros.

00:28:15
Speaker 6: Roaches. But if you're yes, who.

00:28:19
Speaker 5: In the hell thought, you know, like, you know what, I'm gonna put these roaches to work? You know.

00:28:24
Speaker 6: And then not only was the yeah, now.

00:28:26
Speaker 5: They're actor roaches, you know, you know, but also the wrangler.

00:28:32
Speaker 6: Is getting a check.

00:28:34
Speaker 5: The humane people is making sure the roaches are being humanely treated. That's a check. And I was like, everywhere you look in our industry, it's a job. Like when people tell me what are you doing? You know, are you an actor? There's of course you think of the top job. But in the industry there's so much you can do. Same thing just even if you're not in the industry. You look around your house from the depth bolts in your you know, doors, like any thing you can make money anyway. So now more than ever again going through the second you know past of making money.

00:29:06
Speaker 6: Yes, I'm like, I'm gonna make some money.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: You can be a road.

00:29:10
Speaker 5: Track now, okay, gather okay, how.

00:29:19
Speaker 2: Much they got paid to day?

00:29:21
Speaker 3: Okay, that's day, right, that's a good day, rate a road.

00:29:28
Speaker 1: Is there anything that you've started like tapping into to make more money?

00:29:31
Speaker 4: Well, funny enough, right before the strike hit, I started having in you know, the.

00:29:40
Speaker 3: Desires to do real estate.

00:29:42
Speaker 4: Really yeah, so I wanted to start investing in property.

00:29:48
Speaker 3: Do certain things like that.

00:29:49
Speaker 4: Now I'm quite very fresh, very new to this, but that's what I wanted to start. I still have the desire to do that, but I of course have to scale back just for right now until we get back in. But yeah, I'm going to reach out to people while we have this downtime and connect as much as possible, and then pretty much anything that I'm doing outside of this, I needed my money to work for me. Hello, I'm not trying to work for my money no more. I want my money to work for me. I've put enough labor and my body traveling all those type of things, and I still enjoy I have a passion for this, so I want to continue to be a hairstylist. But I need my money to work for me.

00:30:44
Speaker 2: I know that's right.

00:30:45
Speaker 1: I like that.

00:30:46
Speaker 2: What did they say on Players Club? Make the money, don't let the money make it?

00:30:50
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, perfect, Chanelle, you are a mother So as a mom, how has this strike impacted you in that area?

00:31:02
Speaker 4: Well, it's given me the opportunity to teach my two kids, beautiful girls that I absolutely love and endure so much. Teach them how to preserve, teach them how to get through difficult times, because they're gonna have moments when they have you know, they have to cut back on leisure things, things that you know they don't have to do, and but scale back, you know. And that's another thing about you know, this world showcase so much of I can do this. I can have fun and not have pullbacks. My daughter, she's on social media, you know, so this gives me the opportunity to actually really show her what real life is.

00:31:44
Speaker 2: Yes, ooh that's good Manny.

00:31:47
Speaker 1: You said that during COVID you dealt with depression, and you've pretty much got that under controled in this situation. But mental health is something that's very important. How have you during this time been able to really just kind of keep that depression down where it's not it has encrypt in.

00:32:04
Speaker 5: Come on, Crystal Winfrey. You know the pandemic was I like to always My friends would also attest to this, like I like to find a silver lining two things. Yeah, my mother taught me this. She always has the looks at the brighter side of things, and I love that about her. I love that she's my north, my north start in life. And I went really into a dark hole during the pandemic.

00:32:35
Speaker 6: I think, you know the toes.

00:32:38
Speaker 5: It was going to be two weeks, yep, and then after two weeks went into three, four five a month. And you know, it went from us being at home learning from a recondo on Netflix, how to you know, fold stuff and get rid of stuff, you know, when we started organizing our closets and eventually we ran out of things to do at home, and then we started picking into our own trauma what you call scabs. Yeah, and that really affected me because not only did depression show up, also missed anxiety showed up. And when those two bitches hold hands, they get a hold of.

00:33:13
Speaker 6: You and do a dance on you.

00:33:14
Speaker 5: And I was not myself, Like, I literally lost myself really badly. I went back home to be near my family because things got really dark. When it made me understand that, okay, this is a mental issue because my mind is telling me things that never in my life, you know, I would have thought of, you know, and it got really scary. I did a lot of therapy, still going through therapy.

00:33:40
Speaker 6: That helps a lot.

00:33:41
Speaker 5: I always recommend people to do therapy, talk to someone that it actually is. It's good to talk to your friends. It's really good to have your confidence, you know, but a professional really knows how to guide you.

00:33:54
Speaker 6: Through those moments. That helped me a lot.

00:33:57
Speaker 5: Being near my family, people that really loved me and know me from you know, since I was a child, really really helped me. That was like a training moment for moments like this. So now I'm not like picking out a scap like I see you at the gym often, you know. I make sure that if one thing I'm going to do for myself, even in the days in these past weeks that I don't want to get up and do nothing, I just want to stay at home, I'm like, no, don't let that anxiety depression kick in again. Go to the gym, do something just so that, you know, the happy hormones come into your body. So I'm never getting get a little better. I'm being kinder to myself. I again, in my practice, we call it chanting, but praying is the best way I can say it.

00:34:39
Speaker 6: I pray a lot.

00:34:42
Speaker 5: It's keeping me healthy here, you know. So depression is a journey. You know, it's something that it can It's hard to explain because everybody experiences that differently. So some days you're up here and some days you're down, and life is the same way absolutely, so you know it's always going up and down. So yeah, it's I think the pandemic. I get there's no silver lightning to it because a lot of people suffered through it, But it was a training moment for today what we're doing in our industry.

00:35:16
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely good. I'm glad you had that under control. I'm happy that you are in therapy and being kind of yourself and I do see you taking the time to just get that many that.

00:35:27
Speaker 2: Self care he needs. So I'm proud of you.

00:35:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, in seasons like this where people can often become hopeless, how do you remain hopeful God?

00:35:39
Speaker 3: Period?

00:35:41
Speaker 4: And it depends if I'm having a really emotional day or I'm struggling emotionally, even if I have to pray or say something good to myself every second of.

00:35:52
Speaker 3: The moment, I do it.

00:35:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't say like I'm gonna wake up pray in the morning and that's gonna be it for the.

00:36:00
Speaker 3: Rest of the day. As much as I need to.

00:36:04
Speaker 4: Cast down the thoughts that I'm not supposed to be thinking and encourage myself and pray to God, that's what helps me.

00:36:14
Speaker 2: You've got that love that what about you.

00:36:15
Speaker 5: Maybe I've in the free time that I've had, I've donated my time to shelters, and it helps you realize that things could always be worse, you know. And the most beautiful thing about those experiences when you donate your time is that though you think they're going through the worst, that you imagine yourself in those in their situation and you're like, oh my god, I would hate it that was me, you know, like what would I do if that was my situation. They're the happiest, the most thankful, the most you know, lovely people you'll ever meet, and it helps you remember that, you know, your life is not that bad you can be.

00:36:59
Speaker 6: There's people in.

00:36:59
Speaker 5: A high little wishing they had an extra day, you know. There's people that are dealing through, you know, with death, wishing they had you know, another day, you know, with their family member they love. So that keives me hopeful to like you know, okay, you know what this is just momentarily again, we're not meant to just always be working. Working yourself, make yourself happy, make other surrounds you happy.

00:37:23
Speaker 6: We work so much in this industry. We're at work more than we're at home.

00:37:28
Speaker 5: And spend it with your family, you know, go be with your kids, with your you know, nephew's nieces, sisters, you know a bit. So that's giving me hopeful that I know work is going to come back again eventually, hopefully when this corporate greed ends, you know, we can get back to it. But until then, I'm like, just be happy, you know, make yourself.

00:37:51
Speaker 6: Enjoy this free time. Yeah, yeah, we have to live.

00:37:55
Speaker 2: We do that.

00:37:56
Speaker 1: Actually into my next question, how would you offer someone if I maybe struggling this season, so you really just into that.

00:38:02
Speaker 2: What about you? How advice would you give someone?

00:38:05
Speaker 3: I would definitely.

00:38:08
Speaker 4: Say, enjoy what you enjoy doing. It doesn't matter what it is, Yeah.

00:38:14
Speaker 3: Just do it. I enjoy cooking.

00:38:18
Speaker 4: I cook, you know, have a glass of wine at nine o'clock in the morning if I want to, that's right, I just do me. I try to comfort myself and what makes me happy as much as possible. I enjoy days where I'm walking my daughter to school and I'm making her lunch.

00:38:39
Speaker 3: When she gets home, the house is smelling a.

00:38:41
Speaker 4: Certain way, you know, instilling, you know, taking care of me mentally, like you know, we don't have when we are working.

00:38:52
Speaker 3: We do work very.

00:38:54
Speaker 4: Long, stringuous hours. So enjoying this moment and relaxing and not. The struggle with this is that once I started NonStop busy all the time, so when it does slow down mentally, you're kind of like, what's going on because your body is.

00:39:18
Speaker 3: Used to a certain case in life.

00:39:20
Speaker 4: Well, when you learn how to slow down and just really enjoy the moment, and.

00:39:27
Speaker 3: That's what you're supposed to live for.

00:39:29
Speaker 4: You're supposed to be living in the moment for the moment, and then when you're blessed with more, just go ahead and God just like, okay, let me blessed with some more, and you just go with the flow.

00:39:41
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that. Guys. Thank you so much for coming to sit on the couchch with me. We are of course, no you guys.

00:39:48
Speaker 1: I feel like we definitely touch on somethings that are going to help a lot of people, people that we know people that we may not know. We're gonna get to my my favorite part of the show, which is all positive outcomes where they write into us and ask us for advice.

00:40:05
Speaker 2: So you guys ready to give some good advice? Okay, all right?

00:40:08
Speaker 1: This one says Dear Crystal. Last year was my season of rejection. I received a lot of nose and some goals did not come to truition. During that time, I took a step back and actually felt the emotions that came with it and actively understood the lessons. This season was trying to teach me patience because I don't have any, and I'm always rushing to accomplish certain goals at a certain time. Last Christmas, I received a lot of opportunities. I was given the opportunity that would change my life if I kept focused and worked hard at it. I had to eventually resign for my job, which paid well.

00:40:41
Speaker 2: I thought if I.

00:40:42
Speaker 1: Applied for a month's leave of absence, I could go see if the opportunity would pay off, and if not, I would still have my job if things go south. But my request for leave of absence was denied and I was asked with urgency to make a decision whether I'm staying with the company or resigning. I felt sad, unappreciated for my work, and replaceable by my employer based on their response to my requests. This basically forced me to make a decision in less than a day. I decided to resign, but I had a bittersweet emotion to the whole situation. I'm afraid of taking a risk like this, but I am more afraid of not betting on myself and chasing my dreams.

00:41:23
Speaker 2: How do I navigate my feelings.

00:41:24
Speaker 1: Of doubt and regret with a decision that made that I with the decision that I made, and pushed forward with the opportunity that I was presented with.

00:41:33
Speaker 2: M Wow, M I didn't.

00:41:38
Speaker 1: Get her name, but first of all, thank you for writing in I. I wasn't presented with an opportunity when I decided to leave Capitol Hill. It was more so God tugging at me, saying, hey, you know there's something bigger and something better for you.

00:41:58
Speaker 2: And I did. I left my job.

00:41:59
Speaker 1: I did ask for do it like you didn't ask for a leave paid leave of absence. But I did take a leap of faith and it is the best decision I ever made.

00:42:08
Speaker 2: But it was so hard.

00:42:11
Speaker 1: I had the probably the toughest year of my life when I first moved to Atlanta. So to you, I would say, if this is something that you really believe in, always.

00:42:22
Speaker 2: Bet on yourself and God will make away. What do you guys think?

00:42:27
Speaker 3: I feel the same exact way.

00:42:29
Speaker 5: I believe that I listened to the universe, your angels, your ancestors, however you want to call it, whatever you want.

00:42:37
Speaker 6: To tap into.

00:42:39
Speaker 5: Nothing happens for I mean, everything happens for a reason. If she's having those feelings, because I've had that feeling too when I had to leave my job that was paying my check every week to go into this field. If it's happening, it's God really telling you jump.

00:42:55
Speaker 6: Yes, you know, do it.

00:42:58
Speaker 5: And even if you have doubt, like if it goes south, if it goes really really bad for the first few months, maybe years, don't give up because it was percent percentage to you for a reason.

00:43:09
Speaker 6: You know, God already has a plan.

00:43:11
Speaker 5: It already has it all mapped out for you, maybe taking you another way in the road, and that's why it goes bad, but you're going to get back in it again, you know, I say jump and do it. Always when you do something, when you live life without regret. Yes, I always say I don't want to be sixty seventy and say like I don't want to do you know, like.

00:43:29
Speaker 6: I wish I would have done this, I wish up. Just do it, do it and then see what happens.

00:43:34
Speaker 5: The worst that can happen is what you get another job right like you tried it, and then when you come back at it again, you have way more experience at it.

00:43:43
Speaker 6: Exactly, you know, So just jump.

00:43:45
Speaker 1: I love that.

00:43:46
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:43:50
Speaker 1: So we do something on the show called what I'm going Through and what I'm growing through? And in this season as we're changing to the strike, I am going through making sure that I don't go into a state of depression because I battle anxiety.

00:44:09
Speaker 2: I can't get low.

00:44:10
Speaker 1: I do have moments where I don't want to go to bed or I just feel like I don't feel like it today, but I have to force myself to get up. I'm going through that and I'm growing through understanding that there is a season for everything and this too shall pass.

00:44:29
Speaker 2: I know you guys, what are you going through? What are you growing through?

00:44:32
Speaker 3: Well?

00:44:33
Speaker 4: I'm going through definitely a season of understanding who I need around me, who I enjoy around me, and not feeling bad that I have to let some things go, some people go, and.

00:44:54
Speaker 3: Not let them go.

00:44:55
Speaker 4: But just you know, I just am going through a season of and join a space around me and that surrounds me that's full of light that can allow the light that's in me to shine brighter.

00:45:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love it. What about you?

00:45:16
Speaker 5: Maybe I'm going through So I've recently converted to Buddhism, and it's it's interesting because growing up Catholic, it's you know, I still find myself saying like, oh, thank you God, or God this I mean I speak to I think God is in many things, you know, God, the universe, you know, it can be in any religion.

00:45:35
Speaker 6: God is presented in different forms. So I still speak to God every day.

00:45:41
Speaker 5: But I'm going through a change of you know, tapping into different ways of you know, getting in line with the universe, with God everything to align myself. And I'm going through it because I am learning that I'm being more kind to everything around me, like, you know, most importantly being more kind to myself, you know. So it's a great season for me. Right now, because I just can't wait to see what's going to happen when I get to my forties, when I get to if I get blessed to get to my fifties and my sixties, and then I see how much I've grown through, then you know I've made it all the way here to my thirties. Now, I just want to see what's coming for the rest of you know, my life.

00:46:23
Speaker 2: Good, good, good.

00:46:27
Speaker 1: So we do a thing called keep it Blank, Sweetie, where the show is called Keep It Positive, Sweetie, but we feel in the blanks, as it be, changes to the episode or something that you can take away from the episode. And from this one, I will say, keep it hmmm, patient, sweetie, keep it patient? Yeah, what would you guys feel in the blak with.

00:46:51
Speaker 6: Keep it hopeful, Sweetie? Keep it hopeful?

00:46:56
Speaker 4: I was saying, oh no, just keep it ready, get yourself prepared for what's next.

00:47:03
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right, that's right.

00:47:05
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for tuning into this episode of Keep It Positive, Sweetie. If you want to write into our positive Outcomes listener letter, writ into keep It Positive Sweetie at gmail dot com.

00:47:15
Speaker 2: And that's Sweetye with an.

00:47:16
Speaker 1: I e and then you can follow keep it positive on all platforms, and you can follow me on all platforms at love chrysorinee and that's l u V Crystal Renee.

00:47:26
Speaker 2: Guys, tell them where they can find you.

00:47:28
Speaker 4: Sure now, I used to be here on Instagram only s h o r n e l L and I had to add anohing l because dang, I just want right. But it's s h o r n e l l L.

00:47:46
Speaker 2: There we go, got it?

00:47:47
Speaker 5: And many where he can find me at the Pink And I'm kidding up, No, I'm actually taking taking a break from social media so you can just find me.

00:47:59
Speaker 3: Uh.

00:48:00
Speaker 6: I mean when you find me booth. You're gonna come back eventually.

00:48:03
Speaker 5: But I'm changing all my social media, So Manny Devella d A V I l A go ahead.

00:48:07
Speaker 2: And tap in so when he comes back, you can stay tapped in. All right, Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it.

00:48:13
Speaker 1: I hope you guys are blessed, have a great week, and in the meantime, you know what to do.

00:48:18
Speaker 2: Keep it positively like