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Shopify.com setup although it wasn't funny then, it's funny now. So I saw the other day somebody posted our Jet Magazine cover. I'm upset and I' ma tell you why. Dad, I'm talking to you. You want to tell that story?
A
No, I don't.
B
Y' all taught me how to get out of my crib.
A
I didn't teach you how to do that. Angela did.
B
I. I heard that. I supposedly. I don't want to tell her.
A
No, don't tell that story.
B
I'm telling Grandpa.
A
No. Like, why would you even do that?
B
As a kid, she didn't want to talk about, but now she's got Tommy Pickle stuff. He had a paper on his face with poop in it. I'll never forget.
A
Look at that. Never forget his.
B
What you watch, listen to consume affects your mood and affects who you are on the daily. Having the timeline refresh is important for everybody, and I want to be able to provide pages for the listener, the watcher, to go check out, and maybe that'll help switch up the algorithm. This is the For Good podcast, and today's episode is sponsored by Van Damme's, the luxury energy drink that keeps your grind sharp and your vibe clean. Premium energy, no crash level up your day with Van Dammes. Stay woke. What's good, everybody? It's your guy, JoJo Simmons. I'm Vanessa Simmons, and welcome back to the For Good podcast, where we focus on the good, never the bad, and we measure by what we do, not what we have, guys. So a lot of our lives were shown on television growing up, but this podcast has really became a place where we could talk about who we're becoming now.
A
Yep. And sometimes we have amazing guests on the show, but sometimes it's good for us to just sit down and talk about life.
B
So today we're just having a real conversation, me, big sis Vaness, about what's inspiring us lately and what we're working on. Let's get into it. Ness you know what I mean? I'm excited to have this. You know, always love having guests, but I think when me and you get together, we go pretty viral. You know what I mean? People like the conversations we be having. So I would love to know. You know, you've been on the podcast for quite some time now. You've done a lot of episodes, got acclimated, had to fight with the teleprompter on virtual episodes at times, few times. But since starting the podcast, what's been the biggest personal change you've noticed in yourself?
A
The biggest personal change I've been noticing over the last couple of weeks is my willingness to be open again for a really long time. I felt really scrutinized, and through that scrutiny, I kind of shut myself off because I just didn't want to be judged. And a big part of me joining this podcast with you was, of course, to help you build this platform, but also for some personal growth for myself to kind of push myself outside of my limitations that I kind of put in place for myself. So I noticed myself opening up, and I'm learning a lot of amazing things from the guests that we've been meeting with. And it's safe to say, like, I feel like I'm healing. I know we're delivering healing to, you know, the audience and the people who are tuning in, which, thank you guys so much for tuning in. It means the world. But I'm noticing myself growing. I'm noticing myself just, like, stretching out into the woman I know I could be. And I think that in even a few months from now, we should revisit this, because I think that there'll be even more growth. And I'm feeling real proud of myself.
B
There you go. Yeah, dope. Love that. Like, that the podcast was able to do that for you. It's done the same for me. So helping me, definitely helping me heal and personally grow. Continue to grow. So, yeah.
A
Yeah. Well, what's one lesson from a guest that really stuck out to you recently?
B
Ooh. I think the lesson that I've learned from multiple guests was just being in a state of gratitude and being great. You know, being grateful for what we have. And although we may want more, being grateful, but also explaining why I'm grateful for what I'm grateful for. I think that we had a conversation with Guy Winch, and he said that, and I thought that was important. Like, it's easy to wake up and say, well, I'm grateful for my house, so I'm grateful for my car, but why are you grateful for those things? What do they do for you to make you grateful? So I think the main thing I've been learning is being grateful, man. And just being grateful in the moment.
A
Yeah, that's definitely a thing that stuck out to me too, is like so many experts have said gratitude, gratitude and self compassion have been a running theme and something that I've been applying. So yeah, I'm right there with you with the gratitude.
B
And I know we've been talking and you've been telling me that you've been reading a lot lately. What's one book that's really impacted your mindset lately?
A
I'm currently reading a book called Mastery by Robert Greene, which is great. It's just about becoming a master in the things that you do, master in your life, master over your mind, you know, like just be stretching into the best possible version of yourself. Yeah, that's been amazing. And then there's one book that I've had for, I mean, years. Like years before Ava. I was gonna bring it with me, but I didn't get it. Time to pack it. It's called Jesus Calling. And it's just simple daily devotionals, short devotionals that connect you to your faith. I've had this book for probably 20 years or so and I recently found it when I was cleaning up and I started like just doing that again because I have it on an app. But there's just something different about having the book in hand. And it's been really makes you feel
B
like you're actually doing something.
A
Yeah, it makes me feel really good.
B
I mean, we grew up on reading, right? So like, it's the way we know.
A
That's how I'm starting my days. And I find that there's a difference when I'm reading it and then I'm reading a fiction book, which I've started reading more of them again. I used to read them a lot when I was younger, but then as I got older, I started reading a lot of self help books only. And you know, sometimes reading would start to feel like a chore.
B
Yeah.
A
So I wanted to make it more fun and exciting. So I got this book. It's called don't ever bring up book you don't know.
B
Yeah. All right. LeBron James. LeBron's like, yeah, I'm on chapter four.
A
Hold on.
B
No, LeBron ain't started the book yet.
A
If I Ruled the World by Amy dubois. And it, it follows a woman who is a journalist, hip hop journalist in the 90s. And it just takes in new York City, based in New York City. And she takes over a magazine and it just is following her journey through the city in the, you know, late 90s, early 2000y2k era. And I just love it. It just gets my creativity going. And like I said, I like a little fiction in there every now and then to really, like, I don't know, get my mind going, I don't know, create a movie, you know, like.
B
No, no, I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying.
A
We're cutting this out.
B
No, I like. No, but I like what you said. You know, I like what you said, though. Sometimes we get so tired of been reading like self help books or mental health books or personal growth books that sometimes just, you know, get lost in a story. Get lost in the story.
A
I'm trying to say, listen, I was traveling all night into the morning, and so my brain isn't working the way that it needs to be working right now. But yeah, get lost in the story.
B
Get lost in a story sometimes.
A
Yeah.
B
Can we talk about the film that you're. You're involved in called the Therapist and the kind of the connection of what this podcast is in that film?
A
Yeah, it's just coincidental it would come out at this time. Actually, it's a short film that I filmed about two, two years ago and I was attracted to it because it dealt with mental health. And it kind of takes an interesting turn in the film where the therapist and the patient switch places. And I think that that just symbolically shows that anybody could be going through it at any time and to just always be kind and thoughtful of other people and the battles that they may be facing. It could be the therapist that needs help, or the therapist can be the patient.
B
Yeah.
A
So it take turn and I love to be in things that are purpose driven, you know, things that can spark conversation, meaningful conversations, things that can be thought provoking and things that, you know, highlight and bring awareness to things that we should be talking about. And mental health is definitely high on that list. So it is a very emotional piece. I'm very emotional throughout it and.
B
Yeah, but when does it come out?
A
It came out.
B
Oh, it came out.
A
It's on all black.
B
Okay.
A
And it's streaming now.
B
There you go. All black. Streaming now. Make sure I go check out the therapist. The therapist, the therapist.
A
Let's talk about the idea of a timeline refresh. Why do you think it's important to be intentional about what we consume online?
B
I think it's important because, you know, a Timeline refresh, to me, is important. It's something new that I want to do here on the Foregril podcast. Every episode, or at least try to do it every couple episodes, is help people with a timeline refresh. I feel like sometimes the algorithm isn't showing us the greatest things for our mental health. Sometimes the algorithm isn't showing us the greatest things to inspire us because we get so lost in the entertainment and we get so lost in everything else online that we forget there's so many great pages out here that are doing the positive great work, the groundwork, the work that are helping people. And I think that a timeline refresh is important. I think it's important to swap out the bad pages with the good pages sometimes and to kind of switch your algorithm up. Because if you know how the algorithm works, if you click on one video, that's. You're gonna see a bunch of videos like that. So if you look, clicking on something, Ratchet, you're gonna see ratchet. You're gonna be in ratchet world, right? But, you know, and there's nothing wrong with being entertained. There's nothing wrong with having entertainment. I laugh, I joke.
A
On Instagram, you go down a conspiracy rabbit hole, right?
B
It's all cool. But, you know, I think that having a timeline refresh is important for everybody. I think, you know, what you watch, listen to consume affects your mood and affects who you are on the daily. And I wanna provide that to people. I wanna be able to tell as we go on. I want to be able to provide pages for the listener, the watcher, to go check out, and maybe that'll help switch up the algorithm. Like, you know, me personally, like, since we're just doing this randomly, pages that really motivate me are like MD motivator. I think he does a lot of great stuff. He gives out cars and he gives out money, and, you know, he finds people and brings them to special places. He'll fly them across the country or bring them to, you know, courtside of the Lakers game. He just does really great stuff. And then this other guy who's based out of New York, his name is Romeo Bartley, he just talks to the people. He'll go talk to homeless people and make sure they're fed, make sure they have clothes, some. He's made sure that they've had housing, you know, so I just want to shout out those two guys right there for doing the work on Instagram. And if you're looking for a timeline refresh, make sure y' all check out Romeo Bartley's page and MD motivator. Swap out that, you know, swap out some pages that you haven't really been watching that really don't serve you no purpose for pages like that. And that's how you timeline refresh.
A
Love it.
B
Yeah, I want to push that. I think it's very important for, you know, with all the people we've been speaking to, especially therapists and psychologists, they say how important social media plays into our mental health and how we think and it's a lot of comparison and watching everybody's highlights or it's entertainment. And I think we'll get out of that state if we just look at positive things that are inspiring. Right. And not competitive. Not how much money somebody has or what car this person just bought, but what this person is doing for others. And that's what I want people to really take out of the timeline refresh.
A
Yeah, I think that that's really important and it's scientifically proven what we are watching and taking in is, you know, makes our mood or our environment.
B
So have you had any positive pages or creators that have been inspiring you lately on your timeline?
A
I would have to go through and look like I don't know anyone off like top that I could like say, but I would have to go through and look the people I follow.
B
All right, well we'll make sure that when she goes through it, we'll post it on the four good page of Vanessa's picks of the week for your timeline refresh and I'll make sure I have my picks of the week for the timeline refresh and we'll make that a little bit of homework for each other. We'll go check on what because I think it could help us as well. Looking for others will be helping ourselves. Now I heard you've been writing your own column. Yes, Journey to Euphoria.
A
Y.
B
Tell us where we can find it and what insights you're sharing there.
A
Yeah. So I am a wellness. Wellness columnist. Whoa. Well, wellness column.
B
Columnist. Columnist.
A
I write a column. Yeah. So I've been writing a column for Brown Style magazine that is a wellness column and it is based around the company Euphoria. And it's just every month I give different tidbits on wellness being more aligned with your mental well being and share a lot of great information there ways that you can care for yourself. Books have like a book book segment one month. This month is all about how I got my spark back and how it was through faith.
B
I love that.
A
So that is coming out soon.
B
How Vanessa Got Her Groove Back.
A
I talked about pcos. I talk about an amazing pineapple tea that I made.
B
You didn't hear what I just said?
A
What?
B
How Vanessa Got Her Groove Back. I just love Stella Got Her Groove Back. I know it's a totally different story,
A
but you ain't meet a young dude in Jamaica like that little, you know.
B
No, I'm goofy as I'm saying, it's not the same story. I said, you didn't meet a young dude in Jamaica like Stella Got Her Groove Back.
A
That's it.
B
I'm over here being goofy. Cause it's the flash episode of the movie.
A
Was that Taye Diggs in the movie?
B
Taye Diggs, Yes. And Angela Bassett, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was. I don't know. I was too young to be watching that movie, but I liked it.
A
We all watched movies that we were way too young to be watching in the 90s.
B
I mean, Grandpa made me do it.
A
Things that I would never let Ava watch. Why were we watching Tina Turner?
B
Like, I just remember watching so many movies with Grandpop, and that's why I have such a plethora of movies in my mind, because I, you know, he stayed in the same room as me for a very young time, you know, long time growing up, and he. He wouldn't go to sleep without the TV on, so there's always a movie on.
A
He loved movies.
B
I remember when, like, the little strip club scenes, he'd be like, ow.
A
Ow.
B
Sun, close. Y. Gosh.
A
Ow.
B
Grandpa was the man. I love. Grandpa. I'll never forget.
A
Look at that.
B
I will never forget his.
A
That's true. You had to be there. You had to be there.
B
You had to be there. You had to be there to understand. His ow was very serious. It meant, close your eyes, somebody's naked on tv. Ow.
A
Ow. Yeah. What were we talking about to begin with?
B
Oh, man. My last question was about what you were. What you were writing about. What I got.
A
How I got my spark.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. My life, it went into Ow. Same guy used to send me to the store for cigarettes. Ow.
A
Oh, Rest in peace, Grandpa.
B
Rest in peace.
A
Okay, so why was it important for you to create a platform that focuses on growth and positive conversations?
B
Really, not to sound selfish. I created this platform for my growth and positive conversation. I felt like I needed to sit with people and have inspiring, positive conversations to learn from, you know, and to grow from. And, you know, I've always said this podcast was about my vulnerability and me being real with people, me being humanized. And. And I think that's my favorite part about it, is I created it for the person that's like me, that's okay to step out in the spotlight and be uncomfortable or be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And that's why I think that, you know, a lot of people come on here and they cry and they laugh and they have a good time is because I only exude that same feeling of, I'm here with you, I'm hurting, I'm healing with you. You know what I mean? And that's what this is about. I am not a professional in any of the things we talk about. Although I may have some really cute words I say, although I may, you know, may speak like a thought leader at times, I'm still seeing it through. I'm still learning. I'm learning from every person we sit down with. I'm learning from you. I'm learning from everybody that comes on here. So, you know, it was. For me to continue to learn and to talk to people that were in these spaces that really did the research. And, you know, it's serving well for my own mental health, really.
A
No, I definitely feel that. And I feel the same about this platform. I feel like it's helping me to grow and to heal and to learn even more.
B
So kudos now for the people always, you know, watching. You know, what's something about our sibling relationship that people may not realize?
A
What wouldn't they realize?
B
I'm gonna say, I feel like you. You guys all watched it on TV.
A
Everything we've given them on TV, it's been 100 authentic.
B
Yeah, we're goofy, we're close knit. We're. We're. You know what? How else would you explain us, you know, for us? Because I'm starting to find out that there's not a lot of siblings like us. You know what I mean?
A
Really? I think that there.
B
There are. But then I'm starting to realize that people are like, yo, how do you stay so close? Some people grow up and they grow apart as siblings. They always ask me, like, how do you stay so close to your sisters? Like, what's something you think that they don't realize about us? I think. I think we've answered that before.
A
Yeah. I mean, that's just how I stay rooted is to stay in family. To be honest, I'm so far away. I'm in la. You guys are not there with me. So keeping that direct line of access is literally my lifeline. And. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't Know how to answer that question. You get what you like.
B
You get what we gave you. Getting what we gave you.
A
It's right here. You see it?
B
Yeah. There's nothing you. I don't think there's anything you guys don't know. Like, we're close, and we love each other, and we. We support each other. It's no different than, you know, you and your sibling that grew up close to each other, and your parents said, be there for each other or else. Right?
A
We always strategize, and maybe y' all don't know that. We all call and we have strategy calls Angela. I just got off the phone with Angela. She was calling with a strategy.
B
I'll tell you, the first strategy they ever gave me was to get out of my crib. You want to tell that story?
A
No, I don't.
B
Y' all taught me how to get out of my crib.
A
Oh, your crib. What?
B
You know. You know. Here's the story I heard.
A
I don't know how true about a house.
B
I don't know how true this story is. You like. Oh, you least didn't know it was.
A
No, I was. What's going on?
B
I don't remember. As a baby, I might have been two, three. And Angela always tells the story.
A
I didn't teach you how to do that. Angela did.
B
I. I heard that. I supposedly. I don't want to tell her.
A
No, don't tell that story.
B
I'm going. Tell it.
A
What?
B
Grandpa?
A
No, don't.
B
I won't tell.
A
I don't want that story. I don't. I don't want to discuss it. But you did get out of your crib.
B
I didn't do nothing wrong.
A
Play.
B
He just, you know, he got a pamper on his face. It's cool. He had a pamper on his face with poop in it.
A
Smeared it all on his face. Like, why would you even do that as a kid?
B
See, she didn't want to talk about
A
it, but now she's really Tommy Pickles stuff.
B
Yes. They let me out of the crib, and I smeared my diaper.
A
I didn't let you out.
B
I think Angela's on Grandpop's face. And what's worse was somebody came and knocked on the doorbell. Papa came. My other grandfather came, and he opened the door and didn't realize he had it all smeared on his face. So that was a fun time.
A
I don't like that.
B
That first strategy. My first strategy I learned was getting out of my crib. She likes to act like she Wasn't a part of it. If we get Angela on here, she'll tell you different. She'll say it was a team effort getting me out of that crib.
A
Okay, here's a good question. What's one habit of practice that's been helping you stay grounded recently?
B
Meditation. I've been telling people I've been meditating. Every morning I wake up earlier than the whole household to get my meditation in. It's helped me stay grounded. It's helped me deal with people better. It's helped me deal with my kids better, my wife better, Just outside world better. To keep a calm mind. Meditation has done a lot. And, you know, speaking about, you know, you spoke about the books you've been reading. I've been reading Success Through Stillness, which is by our uncle, Russell Simmons. And it's all about how to meditate and why he started meditation and what it can do for you. And that book is a very well written book, and it's helped me understand meditation more because I've had a lot of questions about meditation. What is it? How do you do it? Am I supposed to just stop thinking when I do it? And that's not the case. So. Been reading that book lately, and meditation has really been doing. Doing really well for me.
A
And I gotta pick back up that book because I feel like as an adult now, it might hit just a little bit different than when I read it. What kind of meditations are you doing?
B
What do you mean, what kind?
A
Like what? Like.
B
Like I put on meditation music. I got apple. I don't need nobody talking to me, you know?
A
See, that's why I want to know.
B
I don't need anybody talking because. Just be quiet if I'm meditating. Like, how I feel. Right. I talk to myself. But, yeah, no, I just throw on meditation music from Apple music. And I close my eyes, my lights are off, my candle's lit, and. And I'm doing it for about 20 to 30 minutes. I can't do it too long. I got life. I got things going on.
A
Start getting, like, distracted.
B
No, I started wanting to meditate for 24 hours. I'd be sitting. I would sit here for the whole day if I could.
A
Oh, so you got the Uncle Russell in you?
B
Yeah.
A
You could go to, like a. You think you could go to, like, a meditation retreat?
B
For sure. For sure.
A
How about a quiet for sure. Like.
B
And I need that for how many.
A
How many days?
B
I could do it for a week.
A
Do you really think I need it?
B
I need it. Like, I want my Brain to shut off. That's why I meditate.
A
I've heard other people that went on this experience. It's not easy to just not talk talk. I mean, you might come back like a monk.
B
That's what I'm afraid of. I will come back a monk and just be not talking.
A
No, no, they don't not. Do they not?
B
Oh, I don't know. I'm just. That's how I experienced it. I don't know. I don't know a monk. Oh, I don't think I know monk fruit. You know what I mean?
A
That was very referent of you.
B
What monk fruit?
A
No, but for you to bring it to that. I know monk fruit.
B
Monk fruit is good.
A
It's an alternative for sugar. I know it's a correlation. Just for you to bust out in that van.
B
Deezy Van Dammes, man, the luxury energy drink. You want to keep your grind sharp and your vibe clean with a luxury premium drink. No crash. Make sure you tap in with Van Dammes. Yes, sir. Stay woke. If someone's listening, trying to improve their life or mindset from where you stand right now, what advice would you give them
A
to change their mindset? Yeah, it's definitely starts with yourself and inner work. I would say a practical tool that I could give for that is to start journaling. We talked about the gratitude journaling earlier. It's how you talk to yourself. It's. It's what you're feeding yourself like that timeline refresh that we talked about earlier. What you're seeing, what you're, what you're letting your mind take in and just how you're speaking to yourself. And I mean how you change that approach is giving yourself compassion, being honest with yourself about how you feel. And I would suggest a practical tool to get into talking to yourself more kindly is journaling.
B
It's a great answer. It's a really great answer. Was it, you know, it's really. I have to journal. I have not been journaling. So I'm going to get a new journal and start journaling my page.
A
Have you ever done morning pages since we talked about it with another page?
B
I have not done it yet.
A
It's literally.
B
My handwriting sucks.
A
It doesn't matter. But it's literally the easiest form of journaling because you just wake up and you just write down anything. Doesn't have to make sense, doesn't have to make chronological sense, doesn't you just dump everything out of your brain, like whatever you're thinking, just write it. It doesn't have to make Absolute. Any sense. Periods, commas. None of you don't need any of that.
B
I'm such a stickler on the periods and commas. I think I was like, exactly what
A
you need to say.
B
I'm a English teacher.
A
That's what it's teaching you to break out of that. Not that. That's not necessary for when you're actually, you know, crafting something.
B
I'm like, this is a run on sentence.
A
Yeah. No, you need to. You need to let that go so that you can. Yeah, it, like, frees you up.
B
Yeah, sort of. Yeah.
A
I would say journaling. And I love that brain dump. It's in the Artist Way book, which is one of my favorite books of all times. I started reading it for acting. An acting coach suggested it to me, and I end up using it for, like, life tools. The Artist's way.
B
Start journaling, guys. Just dump it all out. Dump it all out.
A
It's called. It's called the morning. The morning dump.
B
Take a huge dump. That was the wrong words to use.
A
It's called a brain dump.
B
It's a dump, all right.
A
It's a brain.
B
You're gonna dump. Dump it all.
A
Brain dump. How has talking openly about mental health changed the way you approach life?
B
It's empowered me more to talk more about it. It's empowered me to talk to people about their mental health. When my friends or family are going through things, I like that I have some tools to help them. You know what I mean? Especially doing a lot of these interviews with guests and me working on my own mental health, I'm just happy that I have the information and the resources to help other people that need it. So that's why, you know, it's been huge for me when it comes to mental health. And ever since I've entered the space, you know, getting. Getting an award for. For advocating for mental health was huge for me. It was a really.
A
What award?
B
I got the Danica Rising Phoenix Award. I got the Rising Phoenix Award. Basically, like being a social media guy that. That pushes mental health. I couldn't remember if it was Rising Phoenix. I didn't want to be like, Rising Arizona, because Phoenix, Arizona. I was thinking Arizona.
A
Well, that's dope. Congratulations.
B
Yeah. Yeah. I. That really pushed me more towards knowing that I was in the right space and that people were listening to me. And people were like, oh, I hear you. Like, you. You're in this space. So, yeah, man, I love mental health talk. When people come in here like, oh, we gotta talk about. I'm like, let's do it. Like, let's unpack. You know what I mean?
A
And you're getting so good at it. I say it all the time, but you really be blowing me away with your. Like, at the end when we wrap up the conversations we have and you go into, you know, what you took from it.
B
I go in the lock in mode, man, That's Kobe mode. Mamba mode.
A
It flows so nicely.
B
So appreciate it. Sometimes I feel like I'm just saying a bunch of words. So I'm happy to have somebody else on here with me. Let me, Let me know. Like, you ain't just saying a bunch of words. You know, it's hitting. So, you know. You have any more questions? Because I got a few more.
A
Yeah, I do, but no, no, I
B
want to ask your question. I, I, I. My cue cards are done. I'm getting into what I want to get into.
A
What's a childhood memory that still makes you laugh today? Ow. Ow. I can't do it. You do it spot on. Ow.
B
That's how he did it. No, that. Yes, that makes me. No, it's Ow. It has to stretch the. Ow. Ow. It's like different octaves. But no, you know, that is something that makes me laugh for sure. But I'm actually happy you brought this up because it was something that I wanted to bring up.
A
Oh, God.
B
Some things I've been seeing on social media lately of childhood stuff of me and all of us and runs out times, and I'm like, although it wasn't funny then, it's funny now. So I saw the other day somebody posted our Jet magazine cover. Oh, I'm upset. And I'm gonna tell you why. Dad, I'm talking to you. I want you. I'm looking right at you.
A
Dad, I have thoughts, too.
B
I wanna put. Can we pull up the COVID We'll pull up the COVID for everybody to see. I've seen it. You've seen it. You know what it is, right?
A
You know what it is. I have it.
B
Now, if you guys look at this picture, I want you to look at everybody's outfits carefully. Everybody looks so nice. And then pan all the way to the right or the left, I don't know where I put side them on. I am In a that 70s show outfit, the purple shirt. A lavender purple shirt with a white collar, white pants and white loafs. And when I looked at that picture, I said, why was I the only one dressed like I'm in that 70s show? Y' all all look like y' all were going to Church, Right? And it reminded. It reminded me of the story that dad did. So if you remember, maybe two weeks before this Jet Magazine photo shoot, Uncle Russell had an Art for Life. And it was. The theme was lavender. So I had a lavender outfit for this particular event. Dad never tells us about the press we have to do for Run's house when we first start. Like, this was the beginning. I wake up one day, he wakes me up, he's like, hey, get dressed. We're doing a photo shoot in front of the house. Cool. You need to look nice. You need to have, like a suit on. I don't have any suits, Dad. I don't fit any of my suits. Man, you gonna look fly throwing that Art for Life outfit you had on. Cool. I throw on the art. Fly was kind of fly for that event, man. I come outside, I see Diggy in a suit, Russy in a suit. Y' all looking all nice, and I'm looking like Ashton kutching in that 70s show. Dad, why would you do that to me? And if you look. I didn't even have a shape up. Why did you do that to me, dad? It's funny now. I laugh now, but it was the worst, bro. I want y', all, I need y' all to keep this picture up on the screen so people can understand that I didn't choose this outfit to wear. I looked crazy. I agree with everybody, believed that I look crazy. But now I can laugh with you guys. Cuz I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have listened to Pops. No, because we needed a floppy white collar and it just looked crazy. I had a big belt that had the J on it. It was nasty.
A
That was your work.
B
That was my work for sure.
A
Putting the J belt on.
B
But what made it worse was when you go into Jet Magazine, right?
A
Why were belt buckles such a thing?
B
When you go into Jet Magazine, there's more pictures of us. And we were allowed to change into what we really thought, you know, we wanted to dress like. I did even worse, if I think about it. I put on a shirt and a hat with the ti cock. I thought I was so cool.
A
Oh, I remember that. Shoes everywhere.
B
I thought I was so cool. I thought I was tip. And that was even worse than the doggone lavender shirt. So I failed altogether on Jet Magazine.
A
And let me be clear, one of
B
the biggest black magazines ever. I failed.
A
Guys, let me be clear.
B
I failed.
A
Daddy's so used to doing press that we didn't know we were shooting for Jet Magazine.
B
At all.
A
He probably woke me up. I was probably sleeping in from going out with my friends. He said, get dressed. We gotta take some pictures. I'm thinking it's going on the MTV website.
B
Me, too.
A
What are we doing? We're in our driveway. Like, I had no idea. Like, I had 20 minutes. I probably barely have on any makeup. Like, we didn't know that this was going to Jet magazine. We thought we were just shooting some promo, whatever.
B
So that's why I want people to know. Like, don't think I got on Jet magazine and was totally oblivious to what my fit looked like.
A
What? Styled. Nothing.
B
Nothing. That was in my closet. I don't even know if that outfit
A
was washed from the two weeks before bronzer and mascara.
B
I don't know if it was even washed from Boy Art for Life. I think it was still in my glove. Yeah, yeah, throw that on. Throw that back on.
A
Because dad was so used to doing that kind of stuff. Dad looked good.
B
That cover. That's what mattered. He looked good.
A
He was the main character.
B
He was 50 pounds. He had the phantom in the back. His hat was perfectly on. The collar was right, you know. He was good.
A
He was man, character.
B
He didn't look over to that 70s show, JoJo. No.
A
He said, okay, we look good. We came down. We didn't look like bums.
B
Like, I look like I was gonna say ya jive turkey. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. What's up, jive turkeys? Yeah, what's up? What's up, you cool cats and jive turkeys? Look at the outfit.
A
Dad did look fly.
B
What up, you cool cats? This is Don. This Cornelius here with the Soul Train. That's what I felt like.
A
I feel like you were standing at it. I felt like the wind was blowing through your skin. Come on, now.
B
You gotta do that with the big collar. It looked like a bow tie, the way the collar was.
A
Can you bring it up?
B
Where's my phone? I'm gonna bring it up.
A
Let me jog my memory.
B
I'm gonna bring it up.
A
But I'm almost sure he didn't say, because we were shooting for Jet magazine. It was like, meet me in the driveway, the photographer's there.
B
But the wild part was, we didn't just shoot for Jet that day. We did shoot for mtv. I found me on the RUNS House cover DVD with the same purple fit on. I say, yo, I shot more than once in this damn fit, not the dvd. And how ironic. I'm wearing a purple jacket today. But it wasn't that type of purple. Hold on, I'll go. Runs House.
A
Runs House DVD magazine.
B
Yeah, they do. They do. Do we get a doll off of them? No, but they got them. Look. There you go. Come on, man. Look at my dog, Muffin. Come on, dog. Come on, dawg. With the white loaf that gives art for life. Lavender party.
A
Nice, though.
B
But, Vanessa, look at my hairline.
A
Curls that I put on.
B
I have no hair.
A
Angela with the Hawaiian.
B
I didn't wanna say nothing about Angela. She was looking like Angela. I'll just leave it.
A
Why are you saying it like that?
B
Cause look. Look at. Look at the fits. We all look kind of crazy. No, Diggy and Russ is cool, but Diggy got his foot cocked to the left like. No, there was no. Why is Diggy's foot doing that?
A
No, there was no co. There was no theme, nothing.
B
Just come out and dress up.
A
But Ma and Daddy look nice.
B
Yeah, they. They were getting ready. They knew Jet was coming three days before. They knew. Three weeks before, probably. I got woken up. Hey, put on that outfit. Come outside.
A
Lucky.
B
My cold still in my eyes. Taking a picture.
A
I didn't even have a part in my hair. Oh, my goodness.
B
See what I'm saying? Makes you look back and be like, why, though?
A
But also at that time was less people were not doing as, like, you know, people were showing up more just as themselves as you are. Come at the same time.
B
Look, I just. Look at Daddy was chilling. Hand on his thing. Yeah.
A
He was the main character. I'm telling you right now, me crazy.
B
I'm just realizing my. My wrist cuff was big as dog on the doggone collar. G, this is bad work. No, shape up. I just look like. I look like y' all just picked me up from Queens and put a outfit on me.
A
No, it's not. It's not as bad as you're saying.
B
All right, we'll move on. But that is very funny that I saw that the other day and I saw somebody post it and I had reposted it, and it got so much love.
A
And it made you go back and look at it.
B
It just made me go back like, dang, y' all love this. And I looked crazy.
A
Not as crazy as you think.
B
I can't wait to hear the comments and see what people think about it. Because I'm telling you, I'm like, yeah, this book, I'm not gonna lie, I posted the other day, and I got like 10 DMs. Like, the outfit, though, bro. And I was like, don't even tell Me, I didn't dress myself that day at all.
A
Someone said the outfit.
B
Yeah. I mean, I even had Heavy Doe laughing at it. You know, Heav, my guy, I had a couple people laughing at it.
A
But those are your friends you've probably told the story to.
B
No, it's the first time I ever told the story, actually. I called Heavy right after he left. I was like, you want to know the story? It's my dad's fault. And I told him the whole story that I just told.
A
So you've never shared this with dad? Like, why would you make me?
B
No, but I hope he sees this. I'm gonna send him this clip. I'm gonna send him this clip. But, yeah, man, I think, as you know. You had any other questions?
A
You know what? I do have one.
B
What's up?
A
How do you balance faith, family, and business? When life gets busy,
B
you prioritize each. You know, you got to prioritize your family, your faith, and your business, and you got to make sure that they never crash into each other. You got to make time for each and every one of them. So when I'm working, I'm working, but when it's family time, it's family time. And, you know, when it's, you know, it's always time to praise the Lord. So I'm always prioritizing the Lord, you
A
know, every day, all day.
B
I don't really have to prioritize that, but, yeah, I just prioritize, man. I just make sure that every. I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do in every aspect of my life. Like, you know, like I said, from being in the gym to being a dad to being a businessman, I just make sure that I fill each cup up equally nice. I tried to at least try to. Some days, one cup gets more than the other.
A
That's true balance, though. True balance is everything is not going to be. You can't give 100% to everything every day. You got to choose what needs the attention for the day. Like, it might be your family needs more attention today. And everything else got a pause. You know, I think it varies.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you're right, you know, and so that's how I'll continue to do it. And I hope that anybody out there listening use that method. Just sometimes it's all about restructuring your thoughts and restructuring your needs and restructuring your priorities, and you'll find out what's top of the list and what's bottom of the list. You know what I mean? And you'll get done Things accordingly.
A
We'll switch up.
B
Right, right, right. I saw something online the other day, and I wanted to ask what you felt about it. Gene Simmons, he said that hip hop does not belong in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. How do you feel about that?
A
Why would he say that?
B
I mean, he said it's a different week. We are. We. It's a different language. We come from different worlds, basically.
A
I mean, I guess I see he feels like rock and roll is its own, like, genre. Genre. Which it is. But there have been many times when they intersect, like dad with Aerosmith and, you know, having a rock and roll song fused with rap. But then you also see that they're not really that different actually, when you see them together.
B
Yeah, you know, I agree with you.
A
Hear them together.
B
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. And I think that, you know, I think there's a reason why when rap and rock mesh, it sounds so effortlessly and so seamless and so good. And this is an invite to Gene Simmons to come on the For Good podcast. Not to judge you for what you've said, but to talk with you, learn with you, speak with you, and to understand what you truly mean. You know, I took a few things away from what you said. You that, you know, it's a different language. I don't truly believe music to be a different language. I think music is a universal language. I think no matter if it's rock, rap, country, pop, we're all speaking the same language. We're speaking from experience, we're speaking from creativity. And I don't think that there's any difference in language when it comes to that. And then when you go back in time and you realize that rock and roll was created by the ones that are now doing hip hop, it gives you a whole nother kind of light on it. Right? Like, we. This is not a race thing. But I'm just saying that the origins of rock and roll came from rhythm and blues, and the origins of rhythm and blues came from black people, and now black people do hip hop. So I just want Gene Simmons to understand that music. Music is a universal language. No matter how we're speaking it, it's universal. We all have creativity. We've all grown up and have some similarities growing up. No matter the culture, the race, or the environment, I just think that, you know, the reason why hip hop is allowed in Rock and Roll hall of Fame is because hip hop is rock. And for. When hip hop first came on the scene, they had no name for it, and they kind of just Gave it hip hop because it gives you this hippity hoppity vibe, right? Because they didn't think it was gonna last. But, you know, that's why I think that a lot of people like him think it's a different language because of how the media has pushed it and how the world is pushed it. That is a different genre than everything else, and it's its own genre that kind of sits in its own lane. But I believe that every genre is built off of one genre, which is music, which is emotion, which is feeling. And I think that, you know, we don't have a hip hop hall of fame. You know what I mean? There's no pop hall of fame. There's no country hall of fame. I don't know if there's a country hall of fame, but the only hall of fame there is for music is rock and roll Hip Hop hall of fame. And I think that the rappers that were superstars and made impact are true rock stars. You don't have to get on a guitar and yell at a microphone to be a rock star. You don't have to get on the tar and yell at a microphone to do rock music. I think music, once again, is just universal. And I invite Gene Simmons to come on here and discuss it more of what he truly meant that we don't deserve or they don't deserve to be in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. I believe that we're all one when it comes to music. And once again, I think people just didn't know what hip hop was, and they isolated it from every other genre when they truly need to understand that it all comes from rhythm and blues.
A
Boom. And that's why you the phoenix rising star.
B
I'm done with her and that's why I'm the phoenix rising star. She's a fool but now that's just the only thing, man. Coming from a Simmons to another Simmons. You're a Simmons. We probably family for all we know.
A
You know, dad loves Gene Simmons.
B
We love Gene Simmons. We love all rock and roll people with dad, Monero Smith was huge. You know, Steven Tyler, those are like family. So just extending that. That love. And I'm not judging, Eugene. I'm just letting you know that I don't believe what you said is fully true. And maybe you need a different perspective on it. You know what I mean?
A
Yeah.
B
All right. Well, how you feeling? You got any more questions? As we wrap this up, I want to make sure I got you some things I saw on the Internet this week. I Saw that Jet magazine. And then I saw Gene Simmons like 2 weeks ago say that. And it kind of. I'm not gonna say it made me upset, but when I get passionate about things, I'm like, I have to talk about.
A
Yeah, you had a whole. Like, oh, I thought about this. Yeah, this is. Well, thought.
B
I did my. I did my.
A
I was like, well, look up Chuck Berry.
B
You know, I mean, look up Chuck Berry, guys. And then you guys come back and tell me where rock and roll came from.
A
What's Chuck Berry?
B
Look up who he is. I want you to go home and look up Chuck Berry.
A
Tell me.
B
I want you to go look him up. I don't want to tell you he was one of the first to ever really come out here and do it. Black men, that was really doing. I wouldn't say he was doing rock, but he was doing music that wasn't hip hop because there was no hip hop back in the day. And a lot of white artists got inspired by him. And in his time, you know, there weren't album covers or anything. So when Chuck Berry used to get booked for a show, they would think he was a white man because he sounded like a white man. And that was the music they thought related to them. And it was a black man. And they used to turn him around like, you're not Chuck Berry. And he used to be like, yes, I am Chuck Berry. And it would be really hard for him.
A
Did he get his music stolen? Like how they. Chuck Berry's a legend back in the day.
B
Yeah. I mean, some clubs, Some clubs still want him in there. Yeah. And some clubs turned him away when they found out he was black. But it just reminds me of Chuck Berry's sacrifice. And Chuck Berry, everything he's done in the music space, once again, he wasn't no rapper. He had a guitar and he sang on a mic. And that's probably what Gene Simmons is probably referring to when it comes to rock and roll. So that's probably what Gene Simmons is referring to when it comes to rock and roll is the type of music we're making. Right. It's yo, yo, rap, this shoot up, this da da da. But it's not just that. It's all a form of self expression. And those guys that are talking about that are only rapping about their environment because they're a product of their environment.
A
Yeah. They're rapping about what they know, you know? Yeah.
B
Anything else you want to add to that?
A
No. Like I said, you came all well thought out.
B
I hope nobody kills Me for having an opinion? Yeah. You know, people don't like opinions. You know, I mean, people don't like opinions if it isn't theirs, right? Hold on. My fault. I'm gonna show you Chuck Berry. This is Chuck Berry. I want you to look him up when you get out of here. And I want everybody here that doesn't
A
expect a Chuck Berry to look. Even though you told.
B
I knew he was gonna be everybody that don't know who Chuck Berry is. I want you guys to go do your research on Chuck Berry, and you'll. You'll think much different about all music. Rock and roll, to rhythm and blues, to everything we do. Country music, technically, that was country. He was really doing country music to,
A
like, all of our greats like Frankie Lyman, all of them. They were like. It was rhythm and blues, but it was like.
B
Cause rhythm and blues really came from. Blues means sad. And it came from sadness. It came from emotions. And that's where a lot of it came from. And that's where a lot of rock and roll comes from, is emotions. If you listen to. I like rock and roll. I listen to songs. It comes from a lot of emotion, a lot of sadness, a lot of misunderstanding. And that's where our culture comes from. Right. It's emotions, sadness, misunderstanding. So that's why I don't understand how Gene can't see the correlation between hip hop and rock. It's all the same thing, in my opinion.
A
I agree.
B
But I mean, I'm ready to wrap this up. I think I've touched on everything. Do you have anything you want to throw in here before we get out of here?
A
Love you guys.
B
That's all you want to say? Love you guys. Have you seen anything online you want to talk about before we get out of here? People love story time. You got any stories for us?
A
You putting me on the spot?
B
I can't put on the spot.
A
I just came off of a. How many hour travel long time?
B
Nah, it's all good, though, guys. You know, like I said, timeline jump. These Vanessa and Angela episodes aren't supposed to feel like super drawn out mental health therapy sessions. You know, I know we do that a lot, and her and I talk about a lot of how we're growing. But I also want these episodes to feel fun. I want them to have story times. I want them to have information. I want them to have jokes. And I hope that we could continue to bring this to you guys, because as this podcast grows, I want us to be able to touch every bag. Right? I want us to be able to hit every pocket. I want people to also be entertained while they're getting educated.
A
What story time do you want me to tell?
B
Whatever you. My story times usually just be random ones I think about throughout the week. That was like childhood story times or something that could happen the other day that maybe somebody wants to hear and can laugh about or relate to. You know, I. I love a good story time.
A
Like I did with good story time for next time.
B
All right. We gonna get a good story time. I think I told the Jet magazine was a good enough. It was a good enough story time, in my opinion. If I was. She can't let go because I can't
A
stop hearing him do it.
B
Do you know why I do it so well is because my grandfather and I stayed in the same room Till I was 14. And so the day I was like, all right, Grandpa, I'm getting old. I need you to go, like, in another room. Yeah, like, I'm. I'm getting girlfriends and stuff now, so me and, you know, grandpa, you know that. Ow. Sticks in my head.
A
And it definitely was. Anytime. Something a little bit spicy.
B
Oh, anything. Anything a little spicy. Ow. Close your eyes, son. I'm not close my eyes. I'm like this.
A
Do it to Mommy. You gotta do it to do it tomorrow.
B
I'm gonna do it when I get up. We do have our mom in. In the back, so, yeah, this is a. This has been a great day. We've been working. We got our mom here. I got my daughter back there. We did a lot of interviews, and I'm feeling good about this pod. I'm feeling great about the growth. We officially hit over a hundred thousand downloads. Audio downloads. That's a huge, huge, huge, huge milestone because we have not even been on a year. I just want to remind everybody. Yeah, I will never compare, because I see a lot of podcasts that have started the same time as us or maybe even later, and they're blowing up, but they got a lot of different resources, they got a lot of different connections, and we're really doing this ground level and building it up. So I'm just. I'm blessed. I'm happy. I'm excited for the future, and I'm excited to keep on going. So you know what? I'm gonna do something special today. I'm gonna see if Vanessa can close us out. Let's see if she knows the whole mantra by heart. Let's see if, you know. I'll fix it if you don't know it. I got it. We gonna do it together. I said, all right, guys, so. But like I said, it's all good. Guys. We enjoyed this conversation. It's your boy, JoJo Simmons.
A
Vanessa Simmons.
B
And this is the For Good podcast Till Next time where we focus on
A
the good, never the bad.
B
And we're measured by what we do,
A
not what we have.
B
See, she does know it. We'll see you guys to next time. Guys, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button hit Put the comments in the comment section. I'm loving seeing the comments in the comment section. Hit that like button. If you feel all these conversations we've been having or if you're feeling this particular conversation, hit that like button. Make sure you guys engage with us and also make sure you guys go to my Instagram or the four good podcasts. Instagram. So that's @jo underscore Simmons or at For Good podcast or at Vanessa J. Simmons. Hit the link in the bio and please subscribe to our email list. We got a lot of fun stuff coming up. We got a lot of merchandise coming up, a lot of episodes coming up. A lot of great stuff for the For Good universe as a whole. I do not want you guys to miss any of the stuff we have coming up. Please be ahead of the curve and sign up for our email list. We love you guys. Till next time, For Good podcast. Peace.
A
Bye.
B
When I found out I was going to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to BetterHelp to try to look for a therapist to help me with that.
A
My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot. Really getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.
B
Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you. Visit betterhelp.com today.
Host: Joseph "JoJo" Simmons
Guest: Vanessa Simmons
Release Date: May 12, 2026
On this special sibling sit-down, JoJo and Vanessa Simmons open up about their personal journeys of healing, gratitude, and growing up in the limelight as children of hip hop legend Rev Run. With no guest this week, the duo delves into how being vulnerable on the podcast is driving their growth, the mental health practices grounding them, the power of gratitude, funny family stories, and navigating authenticity in front of – and away from – the cameras. Bridging candid laughter with wisdom, they highlight the importance of intentional living and continuous self-exploration, especially for Black families breaking generational cycles.
Timestamp: 02:34–03:42
Timestamp: 03:52–04:43
Timestamp: 04:43–06:59
Timestamp: 07:22–08:38
Timestamp: 08:43–11:44
Timestamp: 12:19–13:17
Timestamp: 16:35–17:59
Timestamp: 19:13–20:42
Timestamp: 21:52–23:47
Timestamp: 24:11–25:31
Timestamp: 25:50–33:15
Timestamp: 33:35–34:38
Timestamp: 34:58–41:56
Timestamp: 42:13–43:32
Timestamp: 44:00–45:38
On growth:
"I feel like I’m healing. I know we’re delivering healing to... the audience... But I’m noticing myself growing. I’m noticing myself stretching out into the woman I know I could be." — Vanessa (02:34)
On gratitude:
"It’s easy to wake up and say, 'Well, I’m grateful for my house.' But why are you grateful? What do they do for you?" — JoJo (03:56)
On curating social media:
"What you watch, listen to, consume affects your mood and affects who you are on the daily." — JoJo (11:03)
On vulnerability:
"It was for me to continue to learn and to talk to people... it’s serving well for my own mental health, really." — JoJo (16:25)
On family:
"That’s just how I stay rooted, is to stay in family... keeping that direct line... is literally my lifeline." — Vanessa (17:16)
On legacy in music:
"Every genre is built off of one genre, which is music, which is emotion, which is feeling." — JoJo (35:45)
Signature Close:
"We focus on the good, never the bad, and we’re measured by what we do, not what we have." (44:52)