More Time With: Yvette Nicole Brown

Summary

Teen Beat with Danielle Fishel: "More Time With: Yvette Nicole Brown"

Podcast: Teen Beat
Host: Danielle Fishel
Guest: Yvette Nicole Brown
Date: May 8, 2026
Episode Theme:
Danielle Fishel sits down with the ever-charming Yvette Nicole Brown for a heartfelt, funny, and revealing conversation about awkward moments, stage fright, performing in the New Jack Swing era, creative risks, and the realities of directing in Hollywood. The episode weaves in advice for young listeners and plenty of humorous asides, making it equal parts nostalgic, motivational, and entertaining.

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1. Episode Overview

Danielle Fishel, known for living out her adolescence in front of millions as Topanga on Boy Meets World, aims to flip the spotlight onto her celebrity guests, exploring their untelevised growing pains. This episode spotlights actress, singer, and all-around entertainer Yvette Nicole Brown as she discusses formative moments, resilience, and embracing personal growth, sprinkled with warmth and laughter throughout.

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2. Key Discussion Points and Insights

Embarrassing Teen Stories and Lasting Effects

Listener Story – Penelope’s Talent Show Trauma

• Penelope recalls a disastrous fifth-grade talent show performance where her Weird Al lip-sync tape was stopped mid-performance for suspected inappropriateness. The incident, involving her school crush as the sound tech, led to years of stage fright ([02:38]).
• Danielle & Yvette dissect the confusion: Kids, teachers, and administrators all misunderstood the meaning of the song's “white stuff,” with Yvette musing, “I thought that they would think it was cocaine” ([04:06]) and Danielle replying, “You were thinking the other white stuff… bodily fluids” ([04:10]).

Yvette’s Tools for Overcoming Embarrassment

• Yvette shares her mother’s wisdom for handling betrayal and disappointment.
• Notable Quote:

  "Stop expecting you from other people...Because a lot of times we're hurt because someone does something to us that we would never have done to someone."
  — Yvette Nicole Brown ([05:06])

• Yvette emphasizes understanding that others may not share your level of kindness or integrity. The solution, according to her mother: keep your head on a swivel, observe actions, and protect yourself, but don’t let bitterness take root.

Resilience in the Face of Bullying

• Yvette recounts remaining “that girl who did that thing” for the rest of the school year ([06:57]).
• However, she stayed grounded by focusing on her own tribe and passions: “I worked in the library. I still had my friends. I still listened to the music I liked” ([07:14]).

Performance Mishaps and Career as a Performer

Fashion of the New Jack Swing Era

• Danielle asks Yvette to dish on embarrassing performance memories from her early performing days in New Jack Swing ([12:10]).
• Yvette laughs:

  “I mean just everything we wore, but it’s so cool… Anyone looking at those now is not. But that was my thing, like just wanting to dress nice and sound good” ([12:18]).

On Dance Moves and TV Competition Shows

• Yvette humorously rates her Running Man and Kid n’ Play dance skills (“I had a pretty good Kid n’ Play...running man was okay...There was a dance called the ‘wap’.”) ([12:57]).
• She adamantly dislikes competition shows:

  “If you see me on Dancing With the Stars ever. Something has shifted in my life in a way that it was the only choice for me.” — Yvette Nicole Brown ([13:20])

Danielle’s Dancing with the Stars Experience

• Danielle shares how competing brought her unexpected joy and growth post-cancer diagnosis:

  “It was the most incredible experience...you push yourself and challenge yourself and see yourself grow in so many ways” ([15:43]).

• Yvette admits her hesitancy is partly about revealing skin:

  “Everybody seemed really naked. It’s a lot of legs and arms” ([17:57]).

• Danielle reassures her about wardrobe choices:

  “You have full say. They will never push you to wear something you’re not comfortable with” ([18:18]).

Creative Ambition & Facing Failure

Yvette on Taking Risks

• Yvette discusses acting in Anderson .Paak’s film K Pops ([20:00]) and the value of creative courage:

  “I’m leaning more towards failing over never trying. …I’d rather have more stories of failure than stories of things that I never tried.” — Yvette Nicole Brown, paraphrasing Phineas ([21:09])

  “If not now, when? …What am I waiting on? World’s on fire.” ([21:41])

• Danielle and Yvette agree: “We are the creators. …Go and do it.” ([22:17])

• Yvette’s advice:

  “Everyone that does something great, they failed first…You gotta fail to get to the good-good.” ([23:04])

Directing in Hollywood – Real Life Lessons

Yvette’s Directing Aspirations

• Wants to try multi-cam:

  “I know for sure that I know how to speak to actors. That part does not bother me at all. I love that part. It’s where the camera goes… I don’t know those technical terms.” ([27:21])

• Danielle gives a mini-masterclass on collaborating with associate directors and the importance of adapting to the showrunner:

  “Our TV multicam is not the director’s medium…You’re trying to bring their vision to life” ([28:59]).

• Notable bonding moment:

  “I feel like I just went to film school…Oh, girl, I want to shadow you. You're the director I want to shadow.” — Yvette Nicole Brown ([30:27])

Success, Identity, and Representation

• Yvette on career serendipity:

  “I feel like Forrest Gump...I literally end up places I never…I wouldn’t know to dream” ([31:28]).

• Celebrates inclusion and the positive messages behind Zootopia 2 and Inside Out 2:

  “Zootopia 2 is teaching us that there is power in diversity, equity and inclusion. And everyone deserves to have a space that fits them.” ([32:39])

Game Shows and TV Fun

• Yvette’s favorite game shows:
  Hollywood Game Night (“That show is a vibe”), Hollywood Squares, $100,000 Pyramid. Emphasizes strategy and fun over drinking ([33:23]).
• Both agree they couldn’t handle being a villain or “The Traitor” on The Traitors ([34:26]).

Friendship and Gratitude

• Yvette gives a loving shoutout to her oldest friend, Jeanine Atwood Baines, who is a huge Danielle Fishel fan ([35:44]).

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3. Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Stop expecting you from other people.”
  — Yvette Nicole Brown, sharing her mother’s advice ([05:06])

• “If you see me on Dancing With the Stars ever, something has shifted in my life in a way that it was the only choice for me.”
  — Yvette Nicole Brown ([13:20])

• “Everyone that does something great, they failed first...You gotta fail to get to the good-good.”
  — Yvette Nicole Brown ([23:04])

• “I feel like Forrest Gump...I literally end up places I never...I wouldn’t know to dream.”
  — Yvette Nicole Brown ([31:28])

• On directing TV:
  “Our TV multicam is not the director’s medium…You’re trying to bring their vision to life.”
  — Danielle Fishel ([28:59])

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4. Important Timestamps

• [02:38] Penelope’s Lip Sync Disaster Story
• [04:06] Danielle and Yvette analyze the misunderstood song lyrics
• [05:06] Yvette shares her mother’s advice on relationships and expectations
• [12:10] Danielle asks about embarrassing memories from New Jack Swing performances
• [13:20] Yvette discusses why she avoids competition shows
• [15:43] Danielle describes her Dancing with the Stars experience
• [20:00] Anderson .Paak and K Pops film conversation
• [21:09] Embracing risks, creative courage inspired by Phineas
• [27:21] Directing discussion: Yvette’s goals, Danielle’s advice
• [31:28] Yvette reflects on career unpredictability
• [32:39] The importance of inclusion and the messages of Zootopia 2
• [33:23] Yvette’s best game show stories
• [35:44] Shoutout to Yvette’s lifelong friend Jeanine Atwood Baines

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5. Tone and Language

The episode is friendly, honest, self-deprecating, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, with both women swapping wisdom and embarrassing stories. Yvette is especially warm and animated; Danielle is empathetic, insightful, and quick with a supportive word or reassuring anecdote. The conversation moves naturally between light moments and deeper insights about resilience, self-worth, and creative ambition.

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6. Summary Takeaway

For listeners seeking laughs, advice, and a dose of real talk, Danielle and Yvette deliver a heartfelt blend of nostalgia and encouragement. Highlights include a mutual refusal to play villains, honest advice about dealing with life’s unfair moments, and a shared belief that creative fulfillment means pushing through fear—even when the world (or your wardrobe) is on fire.

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End Note:
You can see Yvette Nicole Brown in K Pops (directed by Anderson .Paak) and catch her voice work in Zootopia 2 and Inside Out 2.
Special shout-out to Jeanine Atwood Baines!

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Transcript

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[Danielle Fishel]

Give me money for cigarettes

[Kalpen (Bowen Yang)]

I'll never

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

leave your guilty bed I stay the

[Penelope (Listener Story)]

night and one night we can Two or three years the kids are not alright but that's okay cause no one here is Take me.

[Danielle Fishel]

So Yvette, we asked our listeners to send in their own embarrassing teenage stories so that we've now all shared secrets about each other. That way, any chance of blackmail has been totally eliminated. This week we are hearing from Penelope who had some issues with a musical performance at school.

[Penelope (Listener Story)]

Fifth grade talent show. I'm already trying to get past the new kid ways of being bullied. I think it was a lip syncing contest actually. I chose a Weird Al Yankovic song, the White Stuff, which if you remember was about Oreo cookies and for whatever reason my tape wasn't pre screened so so while I'm on stage dancing like Weird Al Yankovic, the tape stops dead in the middle. Oh, yeah, and by the way, the kid that's, like, running the play and stop button on the side of the stage, he's the, like, the boy. The one I have the crush on. The boy that every kid gets up and goes to school for. Makes this even worse. So I look over at him like, what the heck is going on? And he looks over at me like, you know, the principal said to stop. So I'm laughed off of stage. I have no idea why. I don't come to find out till later that they were stopped. They stopped me because they thought it was not an Oreo and it was something inappropriate for a fifth grader to be singing about, though I was still at the age where I had no idea what that even was. So to this day, 30 years later, I still have a good amount of stage fright that I still try to get over. So anyways, awkward, weird, a little traumatic. Thanks for. Let me tell you my story.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, Penelope, Yvette, you were nodding your head. Did you suspect that?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I thought that they would think it was cocaine.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, cocaine.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You were thinking the other white stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I didn't know until she got to that point. And then I was like, oh, they think bodily fluids.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Oh, I see. That's the second one I thought. But I thought white stuff would be.

[Danielle Fishel]

But.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

But it could be. Oh, that's even worse. If they thought that that baby was talking about bodily fluids. That's way worse.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, Way worse. Way worse. Oh, my gosh. How do they not vet performances? That feels like, yes, absolutely. We're gonna have to screen all of these.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I mean, I hate that it lingered, though. Like, we all have a story that's, you know, like, my situation. It didn't stop me from liking guys and telling guys I liked him. I didn't. It didn't. I wasn't atrophied. It wasn't, you know. So the idea that she still has stage fright breaks my heart because that's. That you shouldn't carry that. 30 years later. I hate that she still has that.

[Danielle Fishel]

How did you get over that? That seventh grade feeling where you looked evil in the eyes and you had just been made fun of by what felt like the entire class?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

It was. Well, it was.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was the entire class. How did that eventually pass?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

My mom was. May she rest in peace, was amazing. And she was a. Was a realist. And she's kind of the one that said to me, this is life, Yvette. Like, there's always going to be someone that you think is your friend. That's not. There's going to be someone who does not move. Like, this is the one thing she said to me at the time that has stayed with me my whole life. She says, stop. Stop expecting you from other people. See, I had the same response. Stop expecting other people to treat you the way you would treat them, to move through life the way you move through life. Because a lot of times we're hurt because someone does something to us that we would never have done to someone. Like, it wouldn't even enter our mind to do that. Right. But it does enter the minds of some people. There's some really dark things that people do. So when you move through life thinking that every. If you're kind and you think everyone's kind, that's a recipe for disaster. Doesn't mean that you become unkind. But you keep your head on a swivel, as they say, and you pay attention to people's actions and, and, and their patterns and protect yourself. So that stayed with me. So when I realized that's life, I. I got hurt because I. I would never have done that to someone. And I didn't even imagine that she would do something like that. And. And I needed to then go, well, then that's her karma. That's something that she's gonna have to deal with because I would never harm anyone like that. And so the understanding of it not being in me was enough for me to go. I feel sorry for the people that perpetrated this harm towards me. I will never do the same. And I'm gonna get back in there. And I now know that he's not the right guy for me. He's not a choice. I need to watch her as a friend, and I'm going to keep moving through life the way I move through life.

[Danielle Fishel]

And did the, The. The memory of the. Was it as quick of a turnover as it is now? You know, like, our attention span is so short. It's like you were the topic of conversation for a day. Had they just moved on the next day?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Oh, no, I was. I was. I was that girl who did that thing for the rest of the school year, I believe, you know, but thankfully, you know, because I had my own group of friends and I wasn't trying to be one of the cool kids. And they had their conversations about me, where they had their conversations. It wasn't like me trying to get to them to find out what they had to say about me. I just went on with my life. I worked in the library. I still had my friends I still listened to the music I liked. Like, it just was not. Yeah, I knew that they weren't. I knew that they weren't kind. So I don't covet being around people that aren't kind or I don't care what unkind people say.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what else I love about what your mom told you is that it even works on, like, a much simpler level of just. It's almost like when in a marriage or in a friendship where you. You. What you would do in that situation, they don't do. And so you think it's obviously a sign that you don't care about me. Because I would have.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

I would have X, Y, and Z.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

If.

[Danielle Fishel]

If you said that, I would have done this and you didn't do that for me, so it must mean you don't care. It's like, well, no, not everyone thinks the way you do the do or see, you know? And so it works on so many levels. Your mom sounds like an incredibly wise woman.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

She really was. She really was.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Danielle Fishel]

So do you have any embarrassing memories from the days of performing in the new Jack Swing era?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I mean just everything we wore, but it's so cool. It's cool in retrospect, it's cool if you went through it. Anyone looking at those now is not. But that was my thing like just wanting to dress nice and sound good and you know all the things and there's so many things you just can't control when you're performing, you know. Is the mic mic right on? Is the monitor on? Can you like so anytime I see someone do an amazing performance, I'm like way to go team. Yeah, exactly. It takes a lot. So yeah, I don't have any, any Real embarrassing moments from then that I can.

[Danielle Fishel]

Did you have a mean running man, A Roger Rabbit kid and play?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I had a pretty good kid and play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had a good kid and play with the kick, kick and. And the. Yeah, I had that running man was okay. There was a dance called the wap.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yeah. Pretty good to do the whop. I like that little running man. There were a couple. I'm not the most coordinated. I have rhythm, but I'm not the most coordinated. So there's some things when it involves your legs and your arms moving at the same time. You know, I got a good two step.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I could never do Dancing with the Stars. If you see me on Dancing with the Stars ever. Something has shifted in my life in a way that it was the only choice for me. I need you to know that because I literally, I am so afraid of ever doing. And I never wanted to do masked Singer either. But I don't like competition shows.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, you don't like competition shows because I mean, Mass Singer is made for you. Someone with a killer voice.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

No, it's the competition. I don't like it. Even when I did this show, I said, you guys got to get me out of here quickly. Like, I don't want to. I don't want to stay long. I'm a stop in, but I don't want to stay long. And the year I was on, which I wish, I wish I hadn't said that now because the year I was on Boyz II Men won. So the next set of. If I'd have made it one more week, the next set of clues would have been me talking about my. My shared relationship with the Buffaloes. So we never got to. To do that. And I never got to do my last song. So that part I wish I would have been more like, yeah, stay. But they knew they had to get me out of there. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

You tried to control it instead of

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

just letting it just being right.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, I know it wasn't for you. Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

It was also an interesting time because I was caring for my dad. I still caring for my dad. But it was right after my dad had had his fall and so I was going back and forth to his nursing rehab every day. Like it was a very stressful time. Yeah. So I just wasn't, you know, if I got a chance to do Mass Singer again, I would really do it the way I should have done it the first time. But I just kind of was like, let me just phone this in right quick and get to My dad. It was really. It was tough.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was a tough time.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yeah. So the fact that anything came out well, like, I'm so happy. I. I'm friends now with Denise Williams, and I sang let's hear it for the boy and. And I became friends with her because her son reached out and said, my mom doesn't always love everybody that sings her song. Yes, yes. But she did enjoy your rendition. And I was like, oh, my God. Denise Williams, who I grew up loving because of my mom. It was just really nice. So a lot of good came out of it, but I did not win.

[Danielle Fishel]

I would like to tell you, I doing Dancing with the Stars. I came in eighth.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

It's amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

I did not win either, but let me tell you, it was the most incredible experience, really. Everyone that I know that's done ever had.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Everyone says that.

[Danielle Fishel]

What?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Why? What is it? What is it? What am I missing?

[Danielle Fishel]

You. The fear that you have going into it is very real. And I had it, too. I had never even taken a dance class.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

So I knew nothing, and I was very scared, but I knew that it just felt very right. So unlike the situation for you with mas Singer where you were like, oh, man, the timing of this isn't perfect. It felt like it was perfect timing for me to be doing Dancing with the Stars. I have two small kids. I had just had cancer the year before. I wanted to. I had just made a commitment to myself to say yes to things that felt risky and scary, but I also knew had the potential to bring me a lot of joy. It was the mo. Like, you push yourself and challenge yourself and see yourself grow in so many different ways every single day, from the time you start to the time you end, you are truly amazed with what you're able to do in spite of the fear, regardless of the nerves. And then once you do it, once you know. You know what it's like to perform live. You get to do it every Tuesday, and it just. It's really incredible. And the bond you form with your partner is something that. Assuming you're both wonderful people, which you are, and I know all those dancers and know now the ones that are on the show currently, all are. It's a bond and a friendship that you have forever. And it's a real. It's a family. You're rooting for each other. And so one of the things that surprised me is I do enjoy competition.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You do?

[Danielle Fishel]

I do. I enjoy competition. I really like competition against myself.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yeah. So, like, I'm cool with that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Every week, I'M gonna get better. I'm gonna push myself, and then I'm to put. To put my best up against your best and let other people decide. It doesn't bother me. Competition doesn't bother me. I forgot all about the fact that it was a competition until those five horrible minutes at the end of a Tuesday night where someone has to go home. And then you're like, oh, man, this part stinks. Because you are just rooting for each other the whole time. And it's. You all feel. We all feel that way. And so it doesn't ever have that competitive. Never once did I look at the. My fellow Dancing with the Stars competitors and think they're hoping I don't do well. Never.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

See, that's. That's the thing too, I think. You know, I don't know what. Can we say the other thing about it? Okay. I liked. I'm fully covered. Like, just. Just a little bit of my shoulder showing through this little hole makes me feel scandalous. Ooh, look. You know what I mean? So I'm always fully covered. And so everybody seemed really naked. It's a lot of leg, leg and arms. It's a lot of legs and arms.

[Danielle Fishel]

I was also a very fully covered person almost right up until basically the day I did Dancing with the Stars. And then I was like, let's take it off. No idea why. Something about dancing just makes you go, do I need to wear all these clothes? Yeah, but that's the other thing is that the wardrobe, the styling, the costume department, you have full say. They will never push you to wear something you're not comfortable with. You want to wear a beautiful long sleeve if you want to wear a crop neck if you want to. And you pick and choose your little moments. If you want to wear a fish net under a high slit, you so anything.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Got it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

That helps you, that helps me, that

[Danielle Fishel]

helps you do it. And. And even the, you know, we've done reality TV stuff, you know, what it can. How produced it can feel. Never did I feel like they were trying to.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Oh, to force it to go.

[Danielle Fishel]

No. They would ask me questions, trying to come up with the storyline for the week. But if I would say, like, no, I don't. That's not what they'd say. Great, then what are you feeling? It's just the most beautiful from top to bottom. The camera people, they've all been there for decades. They're all rooting for you.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I love it.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's beautiful. I really think you would enjoy it.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I will if it Comes around again.

[Danielle Fishel]

I will consider it.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love to hear it. You are in a new movie written and directed by one of the most exciting musicians around today, Anderson Paak. It's called K Pops. Do you ever feel a connection to musicians looking to branch out to Hollywood?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yeah. Anderson, first of all, is just. When I think of him, I think of Sunshine. Have you ever met him?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I never have.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

So fricking delightful. Like, he's one of the most joyous, playful, fun humans on the planet. And when he reached out to. It was during COVID This movie's long time gestating. Long been. Been in the can for a couple of years and just coming out now. But he asked me to meet In Zoom for Covid and during COVID and we talked and he said, I want you to play my mom. And I said, how could I play your mom? I'm so youthful. Yes, but you know Hollywood. So I said, yes, I'd love to. And we got to just create something so sweet and wonderful. It's airing. It's called K Pops. It's airing exclusively at AMC theaters right now. Please go see it. It's a story of Anderson and his son Sol Rashid, finding each other in the film. And it was a way for him to spend more time with his son.

[Commercial Narrator]

They.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

They spent a lot of time during COVID and they wanted to rec. He wanted to reconnect with him, and he created a movie along with this wonderful writer named Kayla Amazon. And it's. It's wonderful. It's really wonderful. So, yes, I do. I do love a multitasking artist.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You know, a Donald Glover. Anderson Paak. Like, somebody that can do a thousand different things and is not afraid to fail. Because I'm realizing now, I think Phineas, Billie Eilish's brother said something today on Threads that stuck with me. He said, I'm leaning more towards failing over never trying. I didn't say it as eloquently as he said it, but he said in this season of his life, he wants to. He'd rather have more stories of failure than stories of things that he never tried.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beautiful.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

As I look at my life, I'm 54, 55 this year. If not now, when? You know, I want to direct. When you go direct, Yvette, when you gonna direct? If I wanted to do a Christmas EP and sing. When you go. When you gonna sing, Yvette? Like, what do you. What am I waiting on? Like, why World's on fire.

[Danielle Fishel]

What about World is. World is on fire? Yes.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

What about Waiting on.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. You know, and the other thing, too, is that now more than ever,

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

if

[Danielle Fishel]

you wait for someone to knock on your door, it just may never happen. You. We are the creators.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Absolutely.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of the things that we want to do. If you want to do a Christmas ep, you. You're gonna do it.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Go and do it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

What are you doing? It's just. It's. I feel like we keep waiting for permission or. And what. I know for sure, and I know you know this as well. In this industry, nobody knows. Nobody knows what they're doing. Everybody's just doing the best they can and hoping for the best. And if it. If it's lightning in a bottle and it takes off, they didn't know. It was. Gonn wanted it to, but they didn't know. So if none of us know how to craft the perfect widget or the perfect sprocket.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

If we don't know how to do it, then that means anybody can do it. So that means anybody could be shot out of, like, a cannon. So don't count yourself out. Always go for what you want to go for. And there's nothing wrong with failing everyone that does something great, they failed first.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Every. Everything. This. This mic. I'm talking on the hair tie, holding my hair up. Whoever made this failed a few times before they made it. Whoever looped this loomed. This sweater made some mistakes before they learned how to loom this sweater. It's. It's. That's part of it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You gotta fail to get to the. To the good. Good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You know?

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. I know most people are surprised to learn what OCD really is because pop culture has spread the idea that it's just about being super neat and organized. But that's not accurate at all. My husband has ocd, and I can tell you it is so much more than that. Real OCD is a serious condition where you get unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts. They're stuck on repeat in your mind, often focusing on people or things we care about, like relationships, identity, or character, making them hard to ignore. And then you feel driven to do certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make the anxiety stop. This obsession and undying desire to make it go away can completely derail you for decades. Jensen ruined his own life and the happiness of those around him purely because he couldn't make the repeated worry go away. But he'd eventually learn it doesn't have to be that way, because OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions. Once you get the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs ERP therapy. That's exposure and response prevention, which has proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended and can actually make OCD worse. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed therapists specialize in ERP Therapy with NOCD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans, and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about starting OCD therapy with NOCD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's n o c d.com Amazon Health

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[Danielle Fishel]

Do you wanna direct? Do you see yourself directing? Single camera Multi camera what do you wanna direct?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I wanna start with multi cam because I know it so well Yep. And you know, this is the thing. I know for sure that I know how to speak to actors. That part does not bother me at all. I love that part. It's where the camera goes and being able to tell these amazing crew members that are great at what they do. I want a two shot coming through the door, but I want you to catch him before, like I need to know how to say that in a way that is respectful to them because I don't know, give me the two limbs and I want the. I don't know those technical terms.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

So that's why I feel ill equipped. So. But I have friends that are. Directors are like, that's what your DP is for.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Cinematographer is for.

[Danielle Fishel]

They know that that's the associate director. So I don't know if you know, I. My full time job outside of podcasting is director, multicam. And yes, that is it. Those are the conversations that you have with your associate director. You walk through some of those things with them first and then it is absolutely your floor if you want to be the person to deliver those shots to the camera people or being the associate producer is the person who's there week in and week out, knows the crew members, has the dialogue, has the shorthand, they can do it for you. But you give your wishes to the associate director so that he is delivering your wishes. And the collaboration really comes between you and the associate director to decide what's best in this moment. And the other thing, thing I'll say is that as a multicam director, your best friend is getting to know what your showrunner wants. Because at the end of the day, our TV multicam is not the director's medium.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

It's not right.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so you're trying to bring their vision to life. And if you keep bringing your vision and it's not their vision, they're not going to bring you back.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

You won't be back.

[Danielle Fishel]

So I now went on all the shows I've worked on. It is my first week there is all about figuring out based on the way they write the notes they give me for blocking. Do they like two shots? Do they like flats? Do they like things that are raked? Do they. What do they. What are they vibing with and how can I do more of that and find more of that and highlight that in their writing and in their shots. And so you. The most important part of being a director is what you said, knowing how to communicate to actors, making them feel safe and seen and giving them the space and freedom to play and to and to come to you if something doesn't feel right. I always come in with a full plan, and I say, listen, I'm coming in because I want to save us all time.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

None of us want to be here. We won't be here all day finding it together.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

I have found something. You are the expert in your character. This is your set.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Oh, that's good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Danielle, if. If I suggest something that feels inauthentic, I don't want to do it. I don't want you to do it. So just say, no, I wouldn't do that. And then tell me what you want to do instead, and let's go from there.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I am literally like. I feel like I just went to film school. Multicam director film school. Because you literally have plugged in so many holes that I had in my mind. And this is. I know that you can do this so well because you've done this your entire life. Right. And I think that's the same reason. There's a shorthand that you have. If you've worked in sitcoms. There's a shorthand that we have that we understand. We know what it feels like when we know we wouldn't go to the door and do that. Our character would never have gone to that door. And someone's forcing us to go to the door, and we can't say, I don't go to that door. So there's something beautiful about you saying, I'm here visiting. What doesn't feel good? Oh, girl, I want to shadow you. You're the director. I want to shadow. I want to shadow you.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love that.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I would love that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I would love that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, great.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Well, let's.

[Danielle Fishel]

I will make sure you have my information. We will do that for sure.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Thank you for that. Thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

This year, you also voiced characters in Zootopia 2, now the highest grossing animated Disney film of all time. I mean, that has to be mind blowing, right?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

It is. I really feel like my career. I feel like Forrest Gump. If I had to tell anyone who I am in the world, I am Forrest Gump, I literally end up places I never. I wouldn't know to dream. But hat I wouldn't know to ask the Lord for that. Yeah. You know, everything that's been most amazing. You know, it's been like a call and someone saying, would you consider. Do you. Would you like to do this? Or I do something? I had no idea Community or Drake and Josh would become what they became like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

There's just no way of knowing I'm having the best time with the Zootopia 2 crew. We have. We went to the Golden Globes together. I'm going to the Oscars for the first time because of that film. Like, it literally is the gift that keeps on giving. And what makes me so proud is that just like Inside out too. I was blessed to be in that film as well. Love that movie. Stories that matter. Like, we're in Inside Out 2. We're talking about the importance of understanding that your emotions, though, they matter. You can't let them control how you move. And you have to, you know, work to make sure your anxiety doesn't overtake you. You know, it's not a bad thing. But you have to make sure you keep it in check so that you can do everything you put on this earth to do. And then Zootopia is teaching you. In Zootopia 1, it teaches you, don't let someone else declare what your trajectory is. No one else gets to decide who you can be and what you can do and how far you can go. And Zootopia 2 is teaching us that there is power in diversity, equity and inclusion. And everyone deserves to have a space that fits them. And we all can work together and live together in harmony. These are lessons that we need told through little animals and little motions. I think it's beautiful. So the fact that those two movies in particular made so much money tells me that we're getting the word out about these things that matter. So I couldn't be more honored to be a part of those films.

[Danielle Fishel]

That is so exciting. I have one more question. Another work question for you. I am yet to appear on any game show, but I love them. Yes. Which one is the most fun and why?

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Oh, gosh. I've done so many. Hollywood game night with Jane Lynch. Oh, I pray they bring that show back. That show is a vibe. First of all, the games are insane. You never know what you're gonna get. They. They bring you a lot of alcohol. And I personally do not drink on the show.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't drink.

[Kalpen (Bowen Yang)]

No, no, no, no.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I don't know. I don't drink really in life either. I drink on my birthday. I have a little. Little mojito on my birthday. But I'm not a big drinker. But I definitely would not drink on that show because I want people to win money. Yeah. And so if you're not mentally there, you're gonna miss something and they're not gonna win money. So everybody else is sloshed. And I'm just like, next Question, you know? Yeah, so that's a fun one. Hollywood Squares is fun. I think you'd be great on Hollywood Squares. What's another one that's really great? Oh, Pyramid is fun. Hundred thousand dollars pyramid. If you can make those connections quickly, I think you'd be. I can't believe you haven't done game shows. You'd be so great on game shows.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love game shows and I've never. I've never done one. Do traitors.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I have not heard enough. I haven't watched an episode fully. I've seen the clips. Yeah. It feel. Is it mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

That's how I feel. I'm like. I couldn't. First of all, I could never be a traitor.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I couldn't be a traitor.

[Danielle Fishel]

Couldn't do it. I'd have to be a faithful. I could. I could be one of the people trying to figure out who the traitors are. But if they made me a traitor, I'd be dead that night.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Just. I'd be dead. I can't. I. Like I said, going back to my childhood, I don't have cruelty in me. Not even cruelty for television or cruelty for fun. That's why I really haven't played a lot of villains, if any, in my career, because I just think my. My joy or my kindness would sneak through. I don't know that I'm a good enough actor to do it. So I don't know if I would do traitors.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I feel like I've accomplished something by just having you agree to consider Dancing with the Stars the next time it comes back up. I'm not gonna. I'm not even gonna push anymore.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Absolutely.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yvette, thank you so much for such a beautiful conversation. It was so lovely seeing you and all of you, my dear listeners. You can see Yvette in the movie K Pops, currently in theaters and directed by Anderson Paak. And honestly, just turn on your TV at any point of any day and you will catch her at some point. So thank you again, so much for being here. I'll make sure you have my information. Please stay in touch. You know, there's not a whole lot of things direct to direct right now.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

I know. But when they. When it comes back, baby, I'm gonna be right there next to you, learning. I wanna say one more thing before I go, because my friend will kill me. We talked about longtime friends. My oldest friend is named Jeanine Atwood Baines. I've been friends with her since I was 10 years old. She adores you. And if I came on this podcast and we and I'm with you. And I don't tell you that Jeanine Atwood Baines loves you.

[Danielle Fishel]

I will get a little Janine Atwood Baines that means so much. Thank you. That's very sweet. Awesome. Well, there's her special shout out.

[Yvette Nicole Brown]

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Talk to you soon.

[Danielle Fishel]

Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Sudbaksh. The theme song is by Mark Hoppus. Yes, that Mark Hoppus. Follow us on Instagram teenbeadpod.

[Podcast Announcer]

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[Kalpen (Bowen Yang)]

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[Yvette Nicole Brown]

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this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.