Boss Lady Blues featuring Shaun Baker

Summary

ReLiving Single – "Boss Lady Blues" featuring Shaun Baker (Oct 15, 2025)

Episode Overview

This vibrant episode of ReLiving Single is a heartfelt tribute to Living Single’s iconic “Who’s the Boss?” episode (S1E22). Hosted by the magnetic duo Erika Alexander and Kim Coles—sitcom legends and lifelong friends—the podcast blends hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes, character deep dives, and an inspiring conversation with special guest Shaun Baker (who played Russell) about his Living Single debut and creative journey. The central theme: how crisis can spark opportunity, both on-screen and off.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Opportunity in Crisis: Setting the Stage

• [00:02, 01:17] The hosts riff on the quote: “Never waste a good crisis,” introducing the episode’s meta-theme. Both recall real-life showbiz moments when sudden shifts (like replacing a headliner or stepping in for an understudy) forced them to rise and shine.
  • Kim: “If I could follow Sinbad, I could follow anybody... It was a crisis, but I rose to the occasion.” ([02:33])
  • Erika: “You gotta stay ready so you ain’t got to get ready.” ([03:20])

Episode Recap: “Who’s the Boss?”

• [04:33] The hosts break down the episode:
  • Khadijah is bedridden with the flu, pushing Sinclair to run the Flavor office—with Regine as an amusingly reluctant “spy.”
  • Overton plays nurse to a hilariously cranky Khadijah back at the brownstone.
  • The writing/directing team gets love: Kim Nastran Dubai & Jeffrey B. Hodes, directed by Terri McCoy (a Black woman, praised as “beloved Terri”).

Delegation, Trust, and Leadership

• [07:08] Khadijah’s struggle to delegate is unpacked:
  • Kim: “Is she just concerned that Sinclair can't do the job or that she thinks, I'm the only one who can do the job?...Delegating really helps you expand even faster and even stronger. Give people the ability to strengthen their own abilities.” ([07:34])
  • Erika: “She knows that she has not trained Sinclair to really do it well. So maybe she does need some eyes on the prize.” ([08:12])
• Sinclair’s professional transformation is celebrated, from her boss-lady look to decisive management:
  • Kim: “You look like a baller.” ([09:35])
  • Erika: “I think it's showing that she [Sinclair] does [have leadership skills].” ([10:10])

The Arrival of Russell: Shaun Baker’s Debut

• [10:37, 13:11] The episode marks Shaun Baker’s first appearance as Russell:
  • Hosts marvel at Baker’s “musicality” and charisma—body and hands fully in the scene, rooted in his Jamaican heritage and theater background.
  • Baker (in character): “Chicken Yard magazine and you in charge? I can’t work like this. I quit.” ([11:26])
  • Discussion on why Russell’s resignation, however over-the-top, made sense: “When you know your worth, you gotta follow your passion and your dreams.” ([14:10])

Shaun Baker Interview Highlights

On Russell’s Walkout and Knowing Your Worth

• Shaun Baker: “Hell, yeah” Russell should have quit. “When you know your worth...you gotta follow your passion and your dreams. For me, it was also to ruffle your feathers a little bit...I knew you [Sinclair] were out of your element.” ([14:10])
• Baker recounts how Russell was originally a one-episode part—his mother mounted a letter-writing campaign to bring him back: “Being on a series is like winning the lottery… it is the gift that keeps on giving.” ([16:36])

On Becoming Russell: Jamaican Roots & Theatrical Energy

• Shaun Baker: “For me, the character was a tribute to my maternal grandparents and to my mom. The music and the culture—codfish and akee and roti and curry goat—that was all there.” ([15:40])

Early Showbiz Origins and Mentorship

• [27:20–31:20] Baker shares memories of growing up surrounded by arts legends (Loretta Devine, Gregory Hines), the influence of his mother’s artistic dreams, and being a “New York showbiz kid” taught to sing, dance, and act at a high level.

Overcoming Rejection and Turning Setbacks Into Opportunity

• [34:55] Profound story from age 12:
  • Cut from The Tap Dance Kid days before the final callback—devastated, but “woodshopped” in the studio, used the setback as fuel, and ultimately booked My One and Only. “Whatever setback you think is a setback, you use it as ammunition to propel you to great things.” ([35:14])

Scene Spotlights & Memorable Moments

Comic Gold: Overton as Nurse, Sinclair as Boss

• The hosts revel in the physical comedy and the dynamic between cranky Khadijah and fussing Overton, the playful antagonism between Kyle and Max (“karma full circle” with bread and jam), and Sinclair’s leadership improvisation.
• Quote: “Pressure makes a diamond. Yes, but you more like a rock." / "I’m like a cubic zirconia.” ([12:22])

Black Women’s Resilience & Representation

• [25:10–26:18] Discussion about viewers seeing themselves onscreen—as Khadijah, Max, Sinclair—propelling fans in real life to “act as if,” and why that matters for representation.

Health, Humor, and Gender Realness

• Kyle claim: “Men have a higher threshold for pain.”
• Erika & Kim’s response: gleeful comedic takedown—“If you had to endure cramps you'd knock yourself out with a blunt object!” ([20:53-21:26])
• Baker: “Men can’t carry a baby for nine months...to give life and carry life—respect to women. Respect. God bless.” ([21:26])

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Notable Quotes & Highlights

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [02:33] | Kim Coles | “If I could follow Sinbad, I could follow anybody... It was a crisis, but I rose to the occasion.” | | [07:34] | Kim Coles | “Delegating really helps you expand even faster and even stronger. Give people the ability to strengthen their own abilities.” | | [10:55] | Erika Alexander | “He [Shaun Baker] has a musicality to his body...some people act here...he thrusts his body into the room.” | | [14:10] | Shaun Baker | “When you know your worth, you know...you gotta follow your passion and your dreams.” | | [16:36] | Shaun Baker | “Being on a series is like winning the lottery...it is the gift that keeps on giving.” | | [25:43] | Kim Coles | “We have to see ourselves. We have to see our representation. That's why we get so excited—‘That's my cousin, my auntie, that’s me.’” | | [35:14] | Shaun Baker | “Whatever setback you think is a setback, you use it as ammunition to propel you to great things.” | | [43:03] | Erika Alexander | “For Black people, the past is painful, the present precarious, but the future is free. We always see ourselves in the future… Don’t ask us not to see the future.” |

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Reflections: Crisis as Opportunity

Erika Alexander & "Concrete Park"

• [40:30–45:23] Erika Alexander recounts fighting industry stereotypes and gatekeeping to create the acclaimed Concrete Park comic book series, turning Hollywood rejection (“Black people don’t like science fiction because they don’t see themselves in the future”) into a new creative pathway. She underscores the importance of DIY and owning one’s narrative.

Kim Coles on Personal Reinvention

• [46:29–49:40] Kim shares her post-Living Single depression, shopping addiction, and a near-breakdown that eventually led her to a new career in standup, public speaking, and coaching. She emphasizes lateral thinking and using “all your gifts” to forge opportunity, unbound by other people’s decisions.

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Listener Q&A: True Blue Segment

• [50:10] Listener Amber asks: Who has that famous Living Single women’s faces plate from the set?
  • The hosts confirm: Creator Yvette Lee Bowser has it, celebrating Black art as a cultural marker on TV.

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Reverb: Black Excellence

• [37:22–38:42] The hosts riff on “Black Excellence,” joyfully listing family, cookouts, music, hair, and cultural legacy, weaving in humor and pride.

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Closing Thoughts

“Boss Lady Blues” is a multi-layered episode brimming with humor, lived wisdom, and genuine vulnerability. Erika, Kim, and Shaun Baker demonstrate how setbacks—on-stage, onscreen, or deeply personal—can catalyze growth and bold reinvention. Whether it’s Sinclair rising to run the office, Russell taking a stand, or the hosts pursuing new creative paths, the message is clear: embrace crisis as a springboard, stay true to yourself, and don’t wait for permission to shine.

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For More

• Don’t miss Shaun Baker’s stories about his mom’s campaign, his theater roots, and the “boss-lady” scene breakdowns.
• Listen for advice on creativity, representation, and turning hardship into art.
• Submit your own questions and keep celebrating the legacy of Living Single!

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For detailed timestamps, see quotes and discussion breakdown above.

Transcript

[A]

Coming up on Reliving Single now, they.

[B]

Say that someone should never waste a good crisis.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Because. Yes. Because a crisis may create a unique opportunity.

[A]

I agree with that. Was that a real seize?

[B]

I was improv acting.

[A]

Sound really, really amazing.

[B]

Very slowing, though.

[A]

The first question we have for you is, do you think that Russell should have quit?

[C]

Hell, yeah.

[A]

Sean Baker, ladies and gentlemen. Sean Baker.

[C]

Eat it once and you want it twice. Pick napk goes on rice.

[B]

What do you do when you get sick? I'm prone to read my last rites. Hey, man, I've been here. I had a good run.

[C]

Buck cement Chantress. Oh, my stomach's in knots. Buck, box selector. Where you at, man? Roll the next cl.

[A]

Hello there. And welcome back to Reliving Single, the official unofficial living Single re Watch podcast. Woo. I got that out.

[B]

That's awesome, Kim. Now they say that someone should never waste a good crisis. Oh, yes. Yes. Because a crisis, your crisis, may create a unique opportunity.

[A]

I agree with that.

[B]

Yeah. Have you ever had an opportunity to fall into your lap because maybe someone got sick or couldn't fulfill the obligation? Have you ever stepped up to the plate like that?

[A]

Yes. And it changed my life. Okay, so this is back in the day when I was opening for Sinbad. It was like a charity event. It wasn't like his standup and he had to leave early. There was a flight that he needed to get on. I guess it ran late. This is an event, by the way, that Spike Lee was there. He was off to the side. And so it was like, kim, you're gonna have to go on. You know, Kim, you got this meaning. Sinbad was very, very loving and very, you know.

[B]

He was your hype man, right?

[A]

Like, you got this. I was like, I gotta. Cause he did a few minutes. I was like, I gotta follow you. How am I gonna follow you? He said, you got this. And he left. And the legend was. Spike Lee was like, yo, you gotta follow Sinbad. Yo, I don't know how you gonna do that.

[B]

Thanks, Spike.

[A]

That's rough. I got up and did my thing, and the audience loved me. I had a great time. Of course. It was wonderful. It was just fine. I came off stage and Spike was like, you did?

[B]

And it was because, damn, you would faint praise.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Thank you, Spike.

[A]

Sinbad is not easy to follow. Sinbad is incredible on stage. But here's the thing. If I could follow Sinbad, I could follow anybody, anybody. And I did my thing. So it was a crisis, but I rose to the occasion.

[B]

I did a lot of theater and you always have understudies. And I've had two amazing times where I looked at the people that they hired for understudies, went on to be fantastic actors who you wouldn't believe. That's where they start.

[A]

But understudies for you.

[B]

For me, Chandra Wilson from Grey's Anatomy.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And she took over there. And then later on, in about 2003 or so, I did something called the Story at the Public Theater. And there was Susan Calichi Watson, who was my understudy, and she took over and now she's. This is us, right? Right.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, there's no such thing as waiting in the wings. You gotta stay ready.

[A]

Stay ready. Yeah. I was ready that day. I didn't know I would be ready. I was a little scared too. But you step up and do it. So stay ready. Stay ready. So you ain't got to get ready.

[B]

You ain't got to get ready. Woo. That's right. That's up.

[C]

I love it.

[B]

How about that?

[A]

Speaking of getting ready and staying ready, I know y' all are ready to get into this episode right now.

[B]

Red dad.

[C]

Red dad. Those who lead deserve a car that leads with them. Because a car that doesn't move you is a car that falls short of amazing. That's the Lexus standard. The standard of amazing. This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. It's cybersecurity awareness month and Lifelock has.

[A]

Tips to protect your identity. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor.

[C]

Authentication, report phishing, and update the software on your devices. And for comprehensive identity protection, let Lifelock alert you to suspicious uses of your personal information.

[A]

Lifelock also fixes identity theft, Guaranteed or your money back. Stay smart, safe and protected. With a 30 day free [e-mail] podcast terms apply. It's time for the rewind where we watch and relive living single with you.

[B]

Okay, so here we go. Living Single Season 1, Episode 22 who's the Boss? Khadijah is sick with the flu, so Sinclair steps up to run the flavor office for the first time. Now Regine is sent in to assist. Okay, I think that means spy. But instead finds herself bonding with the staff and actually being helpful. Who knew the B story back at the brownstone? Who? Overton takes on the role of caretaker, tending to a hilariously cranky deeja as she recovers. This is written by who?

[A]

Kim Nastran Dubai and Jeffrey B. Hodes. I believe they were a couple, weren't they? Weren't they married?

[C]

Yeah, they were.

[A]

And Directed by Terri McCoy, who is a black woman. And we love Terry. We love Terri. And my beloved Shawn Baker appears as Russell for the first time. The first time seeing Russell, we had John Wesley, who appears as Ed Anderson. And Melissa Mimi, your girlfriend, De Souza, who plays Carmen.

[B]

Oh, it's a full house.

[A]

It's a full house. Let's go. I gotta prepare for this meeting with Ed Anderson.

[B]

We need his advertising.

[A]

Khadijah, I can handle the meeting with Mr. Anderson. In fact, I can handle running the whole office.

[B]

Seclaire?

[C]

No.

[A]

Okay, before you say no. I'm up on every project. I know the office inside out. And although I've never been in charge of anything in my life, I know I've got great leadership skills.

[B]

All right, the office is yours. I'm too sick to argue with you.

[A]

Yes. I mean, get well soon.

[B]

Listen, listen. I want you to reschedule that shoe La La beat.

[A]

I had to add Addison myself.

[B]

Why don't you go down to the office and keep an eye on Sinclair for a bit?

[A]

Khadijah, I'm not about to spend my time off to go down to your office and spy on Sinclair.

[B]

In that case, can you please stay home and take care of me?

[A]

Spying's good. Spying's really good. Khadijah's got the flu but refuses to slow down. Was that a little sneeze? You okay?

[B]

No, I was improv acting. Ding.

[A]

And we know that Latifah was acting. She wasn't really sneezing.

[B]

No, she wasn't.

[A]

But she did a great job even making herself sound really, really nas. Yeah, it was great. It was great.

[B]

Now, the interesting thing about Khadijah is she has a problem with work, life, balance. So here she is, sick, and the crisis is if she's not there, did she. And does she have an alternative?

[A]

I don't know if Khadijah is just concerned that Sinclair can't do the job or that she thinks I'm the only one who can do the job. Or is it a little bit of both?

[B]

Maybe both. I mean, you know, let's just be honest. Cause you've already shown that you have some issues.

[A]

Demonstrated that I've had some issues with.

[B]

But it's like, also her fault. I don't blame Sinclair because she hasn't trained Sinclair to take over, but she hasn't trained anybody.

[A]

Right?

[B]

So who has the trust? Who has the vision? Who has the time?

[A]

And it's one of the things that entrepreneurs do is we. And I'm one. Do we think that we can do it all. We should do it all. And the truth is, delegating really helps you expand even faster and even stronger. Give people the ability to strengthen their own abilities.

[B]

So, yeah, so she must be really messed up. Cause she actually let Sinclair do it.

[A]

But if you remember, she says, put me on the phone. Call me if anything happens. Exactly. And just leave the line open so I can check in on you.

[B]

It's a temporary thing, and she thinks she can even control that. But she can't. But smart girl. She sends Regine the spy, right?

[A]

She wants information. Cause she needs to know this is her baby. And she knows that she has not trained Sinclair to really do it well. So maybe she does need some eyes on the prize.

[C]

Sinclair, you want to see our grown man cry?

[A]

Uh, that's very secure if you wrestle, but no, thank you. Not really.

[C]

We're doing the music issue, right, and I'm the music editor. What makes you think you can make the headline bigger on my layout?

[A]

Well, Khadijah asked me to take care of things while she was sick.

[C]

She got brain fever. Eh.

[D]

All right.

[A]

What would you have done?

[C]

Same thing. But it would have been me doing it. Font, big up. Go. Bobo Gal.

[B]

Overton, I want you to go away. I get very cranky when I'm sick. Very cranky. Luckily, I could take care of myself. Yeah.

[C]

Did you take your medicine?

[B]

That stuff smell like feet.

[C]

Well, let's just see if it tastes like feet. Now say o. O.

[A]

So, first of all, I love that we get to see Overton in his caretaking mode. That means that Sinclair is gonna be well cared for if she ever gets sick. So we're putting that in.

[B]

He's sweet and gentle. And he loves her.

[C]

Right.

[A]

That's really sweet. Let's talk about Sinclair's new look.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

Professional.

[B]

You look like a baller.

[A]

I look what? You know, put my hair away, and I have on a suit. Yes. I'm taking this seriously.

[B]

Yes. Is that how you dress in real life? Like, more like professional?

[A]

No, I'm more bohoho. Heh. Yeah, But I do like a good, you know, snatched, tailored experience. But the truth is, flowy and free is my style, for sure.

[B]

No doubt.

[A]

I'm playing the part and given decisions to be made. The great Mimi Sousa.

[B]

Mimi d'.

[A]

Souza. Mimi d'.

[B]

Sousa.

[A]

It's like, what do you want? Fun? Bigger. Go. I don't know what to do with it, but. So I make a decision. Yeah.

[B]

I think that you have leadership skills, and I think it's showing that she does. You did a good job because you just said. What would she say? You said it to the person who's responsible.

[A]

Because I can't change anything that's happening there. I want to stay in line with. So what would she say to do. Well, then go do that.

[B]

Yeah. And that was great.

[A]

And it proves that her people know her. Right? Her people, you know, her staff knows what Khadijah would want.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And I'm empowering her to go and make that happen.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And listen, so this is the first time we meet Sean Baker. Russell, people love that character.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And love his strength. And I like that he's pushing against Sinclair. It's like, wait a minute. I would have made the same decision, but he wanted to be the one to say, font bigger go.

[B]

You know, I love Shawn Baker. He has a musicality to his body. He puts his whole hands in the scene up here, like some people act here, Right? Oh, no.

[A]

His whole. And if you notice, he thrusts his body.

[B]

Thrusts his body into the room.

[A]

Well, he's a theater kid.

[B]

That's a.

[A]

And as a Jamaican, listen, if you've spent any time. And we all know the legend of the Caribbean people, they are passionate, they are opinionated, they are colorful. And he came in and rocked that role.

[C]

I can't believe this. Chicken Yard magazine and you in charge. I can't work like this. I quit.

[A]

Russell, Russell, you can't quit. We can't do the music issue without you.

[C]

You should have thought of that before you sold. You sold to the man. Bye, everyone.

[A]

Yeah, well, you're fired. Let that be a lesson to all of you.

[C]

Back to work.

[A]

You're all. Get back to work. By the way, little side note. So even though my hair was pulled back and sort of snatched into this very professional do, I had asked the hair department to set it up so that when I did that, that hair would fall all in my face. So that was all set up for the extra comedy.

[B]

Well done. Nice. And I like the revving up.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Get to work.

[C]

Get back to work.

[B]

It's always nice to see, you know, boss lady Sinclair do her thing. You know, they say pressure makes a diamond. Yes, but you more like a rock.

[A]

You know, I'm like a cubic zirconia.

[B]

But, you know, you about to separate the weak wheat from the chaff.

[A]

Right now we have this growth, this moment where Sinclair has to manage the ultimate now, you know, anarchy in the ultimate. Anarchy in the ultimate anarchy.

[B]

Your growth is messed up, though. Cause it always means something has to fall Apart. No offense, Sinclair. She builds. But after she's only destroyed.

[A]

Isn't that how life goes sometimes? Sometimes things have to fall apart in order to come back together. Stronger and newer.

[B]

And we don't know Transformers more than meets the eye. Do you think was Russell right to quit, Kim?

[A]

I don't think Russell was right to quit. I think it was going way overboard. And maybe he felt bad that he was passed over for a promotion or. Passed over. Like maybe he would have been the next. He's the music editor. Certainly he could have stepped up to take over the office.

[B]

Until these are all hypothetical. You know what I think?

[A]

What?

[B]

Do you think we should just ask him?

[A]

Why don't we ask Sean Baker? Sean Baker, ladies and gentlemen, Sean Baker, as I call him.

[C]

Baker.

[A]

Baker, baby.

[C]

Baby.

[B]

Thanks for popping in.

[C]

Jim Coles. Eric Alexander. Looking incredible. Beautiful, sexy, hot, gorgeous.

[B]

Come on.

[C]

Come on now. And legend Le Jean, as y' all say, Legion.

[B]

Le Jean, he's been watching Le Jean Legion.

[C]

But, Martin, you for real, I mean, you're both, you know, legendary.

[A]

So thank you. Thank you.

[C]

Warrior queen beauties.

[B]

That's what we do to make us both warrior queen beauties, you know, scrumptious. Thank you so much.

[A]

So the first question we have for you is, do you think that Russell should have quit?

[C]

Hell, yeah. Well, I mean, he knows his stuff. He knows his worth. Right. When you know your worth, you know, you gotta follow your passion and your dreams. And I think also, too, you know, I wanted to ruffle your feathers a little bit.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

You know what I'm saying? Because I knew that you weren't gonna. You were out of your element, you know, I knew eventually I was gonna get what I wanted. Right, right. So that's why I got that picture.

[A]

Right, Right, right, right.

[C]

But, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, go after your dreams. If you know your worth, know your word, know your worth.

[A]

And Russell certainly knew his worth.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

This is your debut episode.

[C]

That was the very first.

[B]

It's your very first episode. And the first. The first day you throw a fit and quit, which is great. All in the same episode. And when you come on, you come on like a storm, your whole body performs. You, hands are up.

[C]

The writers and Yvettelli Bowser created that character. Created the show, obviously, but also created that character. So I knew going in. Cause I had seen the show, and I was like, okay, they bringing the noise with this show. So I knew I had to bring it. I mean, I didn't know where it was gonna go, but I knew at the time you play full out, did.

[A]

You know that Russell was gonna come back?

[C]

No.

[A]

This was just one episode.

[C]

It was a guest spot. It was a one time shot. My mother, rest her soul, she started a campaign to bring me back.

[A]

Are you kidding?

[C]

I just. On my. Please. My mother, Gloria Mary Baker. My mother. I swear. I swear. Cause I mean, it was a one time deal, right? But so my family, my mother's parents were from Jamaica. A lot of people don't. Yeah, we're from Jamaica, West Indies. So the music and the culture and codfish and akee and roti and curry goat was all them things was around turning me on.

[B]

Turning me on with the food and the.

[C]

Yeah. Picking up Ozana rice tonight. You eat it once and you want it twice. Picknup goes on rice tonight. So for me, the character was. You know, honestly, it was. For me, it was a tribute to my maternal grandparents and to my mom. But being on a series is like winning the lottery.

[A]

That's the truth.

[C]

So my mother was like, okay, who do I know in Cleveland who I know in this call? Got the address to Warner Brothers, I guess, or to produce Fox or whatever. And they started a campaign. And the first season I did one episode. Second season I did one. And then they kept bringing you back. Kept bringing me back. And it is the gift that keeps on giving. Cause I'm so thankful and honored to be here with you all. I haven't seen you since. Can we talk about. What we gonna talk about? We got another clip.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Save it, save it.

[C]

Buck, Buck, Buck selector. Where you at, man? Roll the Next clip.

[A]

Over 10.

[C]

Why.

[A]

Change the channel?

[C]

Use the remote.

[A]

I can't reach it.

[C]

Promising Claire Overton. Man, you're going about this all wrong. Her highness wants toast. I don't think so. Slap some jelly on this bread like this, she'll eat it and like it. Observe. Uh, yo, Khadija.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Oh, Max is so good to see.

[B]

Oh, man, Daggone. Well, Overton, here's that jacket I borrowed from you, man.

[C]

Hey, Kyle, that jacket I borrowed from you.

[A]

I want to shout out Overton for taking care of my cousin. Isn't that sweet? But the patience is wearing very thin overtones.

[C]

What?

[A]

And I love that. Each one of his. What? You know, elevated each time.

[C]

Yeah, brilliant.

[B]

What do you do when you get sick? Because I'll tell you, I'm pretty intrude to read my last rites and give my wishes. I do it all the time. Like, hey, man, I've been here. I had a good run. You know, I'm cool, and it's. And if I go. No, I just tell people. And if tonight's a night, you know, then it's been real.

[C]

Right. But do you go out and party? Do you party?

[B]

No, no, this is me. I'm. I'm sick. Right.

[C]

But I'm saying, do you still. Do you have a party at home?

[B]

No.

[C]

You could have a. You can still celebrate. Like, I'm about to check out.

[B]

This is hunkered down. No.

[A]

Do you have a pity party? So it's a pity party?

[B]

No, it's not pity. It's literally like, don't cry for me, Argentina.

[C]

Right? Right.

[B]

You were supposed to have been immortal.

[A]

Dig it?

[B]

That's all they wanted.

[A]

Not much to ask for.

[B]

That's what I am, man. I'm telling people, don't cry for me, Argentina. And actually, so that's what I'm prone to do. My sickest behaviors are to do that.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you do?

[C]

I want to live a long time. So I don't. I don't, you know?

[B]

But what do you do when you're sick? How do we know you sick? You get babyish.

[C]

No, I just lay in the bed and wrap up. You know, I got the flu years ago when I first came to la. I got the flu. And something about the flu out here where you just feel it all over, just everywhere, everything hurts.

[B]

That's that illuminate.

[C]

Well, I don't know about that, but listen. So my mother, my car, I said.

[A]

Ma, I got this flu.

[C]

She said, okay, baby, you make you a hot toddy, right? Get you some tea, put some liquor in it, put some Vicks Vapor, rub all over your body and wrap up. And that's what I did. And I sweated it out. The next day. I was like, I'm free. Wow. Give us free. Give us free. I was free.

[A]

You've always taken good care of yourself. We're gonna talk about that when we talk about you.

[B]

I feel on him. I feel like I need to feel on him. By the way, you know, we gotta say one about Kyle's arrogance. He comes in and he fixes that piece of bread and throws that jam on it and says, this is how you treat a sister. Go in there, just give it to her, and she'll like it. He came back, that thing was plastered on his shirt. And then he, being mean, evil, hugs Max. Max goes, oh, man. Overton, here's your jacket. Overton says, oh, Kyle, here's your jacket. So that's like karma full Circle. Great writing.

[A]

Great writing.

[C]

Great writing and great acting.

[A]

And great.

[C]

You all played it. Honestly. You're very, you know, fantastic. So I love it.

[B]

Yeah, I love it when those things happen.

[C]

And direction. All of those elements.

[B]

All of those.

[C]

All those elements.

[B]

That was so fun. Okay, okay, next clip.

[C]

Next clip. They say we make the worst patients. Personally, I think men have a higher threshold for pain.

[B]

Oh, please, Kyle. If you had to endure cramps once a month, you'd knock yourself out with a blunt object. May cause severe drowsiness. I'm going to knock her out and then I'm going to raid the fridge and I'm going to.

[C]

Too bad that stuff doesn't come in the dark. Just be like, the bottle stays up. The bottle stays up.

[A]

The bottle stays up.

[C]

The bottle stays up. The bottle stays up.

[A]

Kyle says that men can tolerate pain more than women. Come on.

[B]

So we have a man here. So we have to ask, is that true?

[C]

I don't think so. I mean, you know, men can't carry a baby for nine months.

[A]

Thank you. And push that hole.

[C]

I mean, obviously they can't, but I mean, you know, to give life and carry life respect to women. Respect. Respect.

[A]

Thank you.

[C]

God bless. God bless you.

[B]

Can you imagine your hole opening up enough to deliver like a whole five pound bag of potatoes? That's what's going on sometimes eight or nine pound bag of potatoes.

[A]

Can we just take a moment to really revel in this beautiful moment of comedy where Overton talks about hitting her with a dart and they both imitate what would happen if you go down. And what happens, Sean?

[C]

Genius.

[A]

Genius.

[C]

And his genius. They're genius. No, but they're both brilliant. TC And John, both brilliant. And the bottle. The bottle that just doesn't go down.

[A]

The bottle that doesn't go. Cause he had to keep it up.

[C]

Had to keep it up.

[A]

You gotta have strong legs. He took it down, but he kept that bottle up. He had extra.

[C]

An extra comedic genius. Both of them.

[A]

What do you ever want? I'm dancing as fast as I did. Get away.

[B]

Excuse me. What? What do you want?

[C]

I've got a two o' clock meeting. The name is Ed Anderson. I'm from Shoe La la.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Well, in that case, please have a seat in our waiting room. I mean, room. Let's cut straight to the chase, shall we? Your stores in Manhattan are doing well.

[C]

Very well.

[A]

And how about your stores in Brooklyn?

[C]

Well, it could be better. Oh, that's why I'm here.

[A]

No, sir, that's why I'm here. The Majority of our readers live in Brooklyn and spend a good deal of their disposable income on clothing, accessories and footwear. We could put a coupon ad in next month's issue. And if your Brooklyn sales don't increase, your ad is free.

[C]

Yeah, that's true.

[A]

If I'm wrong, I'm dead.

[C]

Ms. James, may I call you Khadija?

[A]

Of course.

[C]

Then, Khadijah, you've got a deal.

[A]

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'll have my incredibly efficient assistant, Sinclair send over the paperwork.

[B]

Let's talk about sister Sinclair, though. She's a baller and she does a risky. She does a little piece of risky business here, right? Because she makes a promise.

[A]

She makes a promise that she doesn't know how it's gonna work, but she is given this, again, pressure. You know, it's a challenge. And she rises to the challenge and makes this deal after nearly messing things up. Cause she forgot about the meeting. She forgot about the meeting. And, you know, you talked about this while we were watching the clip. There's chaos going on. There's running around.

[B]

Like, what was Maynard or whoever doing.

[C]

You know, directing off to just utter chaos.

[A]

Utter chaos.

[B]

Yeah, but she says if Ed Anderson sales don't increase, the ad is free. That's not hers to make meaning a promise like that. But I actually think that Khadijah wouldn't have offered that.

[A]

Oh, no way. Oh, no way.

[B]

So I think it was a good deal.

[A]

So maybe I'm more. I'm gonna take this chance.

[C]

You flew by the seat of your pants. You followed your intuition, followed your gut and went for it.

[B]

She's being like Khadijah and she's channeling Khadij because that means that she's more like her cousin than she thinks. And I think that that's cool. I mean, if you were Khadijah, but you did act like Khadijah. And so acting like Khadijah is acting like a Queen Latifah. And in that space, a lot of people, I think, take on Personas they see on TV and go, I'm gonna be that person here. I know how they would do it. And then next thing you know, it propels them forward, shows them the way.

[A]

So she acted as if.

[C]

Well, I also, too, think that fans will watch the show, Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And they see the characters. We have to see ourselves. We have to see our representation. That's why we get so excited to see. Oh, my God, I know that person. I know that that's my cousin. That's my auntie. That's my. You know. And they will take on that Persona when they're getting ready for a meeting or a big meeting for a job opportunity, or if they want to run a corporation, they will, like you said, they're taking. As if they're taking on that Persona of a Khadijah or a Maxine Shaw or Sinclair, whatever.

[B]

You know, if you transfer that onto. How many Kings of Wakanda now are out there, how many, Sean, who understand that they can express themselves? Even though he was, I think, a character inside of a comedy, he said what he wanted in life.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

And he was never not black and Jamaican and everything, he was always himself in that space. And I think that it's important for us to know as performers because we take on Personas all the time. That inside of those, all those Personas is a piece of us, of course, a huge piece of us. And so we gotta give ourselves props.

[A]

Come on, can we get a high five?

[B]

You know what I'm saying? There ain't no.

[C]

Well, you know, it takes a lot to do what we do as creatives. Right. You wanna be able to inspire somebody. I feel like if you're coming out, you wanna be able to inspire somebody and uplift somebody and motivate somebody. And so my prayer is to always to be able to give to people and do your part, you know, play full out.

[B]

I do have one question. Why is there a full page picture of Russell in the magazine?

[A]

It was the only thing I could do to coax him back. He has a real problem with women in power.

[C]

Khadijah, good to see you. Boss lady. Got you a little welcome back gift. Don't mention it.

[A]

We're in the presence of someone who comes from the background. Theater, dance, music. You couldn't not bring your all because you've been trained in all of that.

[B]

He's a show biz kid.

[A]

You are. And you're a New York showbiz kid. Right. And so let's talk a little bit about your beginning. Didn't you go to the High School for the Performing Arts? What's your story?

[C]

I did. I did. But before that, I have to, you know, again, go back to my mother. My mother, you know, she wanted to go to the performing arts high school, but she ended up going to George Washington High School with her friends. So she made a choice at a very early age, but she still had a passion for the arts. So she instilled that in my brothers and sisters and I and just encouraged us to you know, to find our way through the arts. First Broadway show I saw, I think I was eight. It was a show called Coming Up Town on Broadway with the late great Gregory Hines.

[B]

Oh, come on.

[C]

And Loretta Devine was in that production. And so many. Kevin, Jeff, oh man, so many. Phenomenal. But I knew from seeing that that, okay, this is it, this is what I want to do. And I did a lot of theater. I did American folk theater at 10 years old. I played Adam, the story of the creation. It was Oscar Brown Jr. Called Indie Beginning. And I played in the beginning, Oscar Brown Jr. Phenomenal, phenomenal playwright and author. In Indie Beginning. There was a gentleman, wonderful, talented man named Joe Lynn who became my theater dad. He became my mentor and he was in the are original production of Dreamgirls. So I was, I grew up backstage seeing, you know, Ben Harney and Cheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, Terry and. And Debbie Burrell and Von D. Curtis hall and Charles Randolph Wright. That's where I first met Charles Randolph Wright. And Felicia Rashad was in that. And Vanessa Bell Calloway. Absolutely. So these were, these, these are and were at that time my heroes. So in order to work in New York, you had to be able to sing, dance and act. You had to be able to do a little bit of everything. And so those are the people who I emulated and they were my mentors. So yeah, definitely.

[A]

No wonder you baked in, right?

[B]

That's just it.

[C]

I remember as a kid, my mother was like, okay, I got you the Little League. I got this, that and this. You got this recital and we got this rehearsal. Shawn needs you to make a decision like all over the place.

[A]

I got to play with you on Living Single. You know, I got to see you in this space. And Charles Randolph Wright, as you know, is a great playwright and has gone on to like produce all the amazing things on the Broadway. He and I co wrote what I affectionately call a one woman show with four men in it. So it's really a play called Homework. And I asked you to audition to be in this show, I think. Did you audition or did I just give it to you? I don't remember.

[C]

She should have just gave it to you.

[A]

I should have just given it.

[B]

But here's the Gracious enough to audition.

[A]

You were. But here's why I had people audition because the show required these men to play up to 12 characters each. And so I had seen you as Sean, I had seen you as Russell and I knew that there was a character, there was a character that was playing my Jamaican father. So I knew you could handle that.

[C]

Right.

[A]

But I wanted to see all the other things. It was a lot. It was a lot from my perspective. So you want to talk a little bit about our experience in homework?

[C]

The joy, the joy, the joy. There was a lot of laughter.

[A]

Oh, my goodness.

[C]

On living Single, but also working with you on homework.

[A]

You got to dance in the show.

[B]

Yeah, that's what I remember dancing, by the way. Phenomenal dancing.

[A]

What are those things? Rhondajo.

[B]

Unreal.

[A]

What are they called? Rhondajan. I'm sorry.

[C]

Rhondajohn.

[A]

So Shawn is playing a character who's an alcoholic, sort of a little bit broken down. And by the way, the show, we only. You know, all you had was a hat or a jacket or a scarf. You just. There was no time to babble.

[C]

We had to switch characters.

[A]

And so here you are with a flask, and we would all to get ready for the show, for the rehearsal, and you would do a Ronda Jam, and the audience would just lose their mind.

[B]

What is a Rondajean?

[A]

Explain. One of the hardest dance moves.

[C]

She's pulling dance moves out of the air. But Aaron Dejan would be taking your. And I'm not gonna get up and do it, but you take your leg and you would wrap it around. You can do it. Leg like this, across the stage, Right. And then you can turn with it. But I have to say this, too. So I took from a lot of different people that I had known and worked with, but the voice was the late, Great Fear. Nicholas from Legendary. From the Nicholas Brothers. Because I had worked with Harold Nicholas, and I don't know if you. The Nicholas Brothers, looked them up.

[B]

Do you understand what's happening here? But people should know how close it's. That's why Shawn is a genius.

[A]

No, I'm not a genius. No, no, no, no.

[B]

But it's real, because look who trained and poured into you. Look how your people are.

[C]

Definitely, definitely.

[A]

My mother, who's 95 years old.

[C]

Wow. God bless her, man.

[A]

Has a memory of you that she still brings up to this day.

[C]

Are you serious?

[A]

She came to the show, and she met each one of the guys, and to this day, she says, I remember Sean coming and hugging me and laying his head on my bosom. And you had talked about, told me that his mother had just passed away, and you just came. You just embraced her, and she was like, I don't know what's going on. Oh, but I know what's going on. And Tim, he laid his head buxom Enchantress.

[C]

Buxom enchantress.

[A]

To this day, she's still.

[C]

She's shimming for me one time, you know. Shimming for me one time.

[A]

No, it wasn't that. It was Mother.

[C]

I love.

[A]

I love.

[C]

The mother's calling me like, what. What you doing?

[A]

Buxom and ch.

[C]

No, I mean, you know.

[A]

And so.

[B]

And now will you lay on my bosom?

[A]

Right.

[B]

I haven't.

[C]

Anytime. Anytime.

[B]

Entranced. Bosoms.

[A]

I do.

[C]

You do.

[A]

I lay you on my bosom.

[C]

Oh, my stomach's in knots.

[A]

Welcome to the show.

[B]

Right off stage.

[A]

When you did that show with Pam Anderson.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

What was the name of that show?

[C]

It was called vip. So this is funny now. This is funny. And I have to. Again, I have to thank Yvette Lee Blouser. I. I have to thank all of you. As a result of doing Living Single, I got a call about Vip, and I never auditioned. I met with Jonathan Lawton, who was the creator and director and producer, and Pam Anderson. And first thing that came out of her mouth was, I got a crush on you. And I said, I got a crush on you, too. And I left the meeting film like, yeah, we going to be working together.

[A]

It's a beautiful scene of you being, you know, tortured, Captured, shirtless.

[B]

She's looking at your torso all muscly.

[A]

All muscly.

[C]

The nipples going.

[A]

The nipples going. And I think I believe you have a panther.

[C]

Right, right.

[A]

Tattoo.

[C]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

And you're there being, you know, tortured.

[C]

You have that on your wall somewhere.

[A]

No, I have it in my heart. Maybe we can create that as sweaty. And listen up. I was like, nobody could have done this but Sean Baker.

[B]

You showed Daniel Craig how to do it before they did it in Bond. What's up? Anyway, in the midst of every crisis lies a great opportunity. It's kind of attributed to Albert Einstein. In the midst of every crisis lies a great opportunity. Perhaps, whether somebody didn't show up or you stepped in, or maybe Crisis was with you and something happened. What can you tell everybody?

[C]

When I was 12, I think I auditioned for the Tap Dance Kid. It was me and Alfonso Ribeiro, Jimmy Tate, David Calloway. And they came to me and they said, listen, Sean, you don't have to come to any more of the workshops because you have everything we need for the Tap Dance Kid. But we can't go into rehearsals. There's a Broadway show coming up. We can't go into rehearsals with just one. We need three. Three, one and then two. Understudies. They cut me from the process two days before the final producers were supposed to see me. And when I tell you it was. I was a kid. I was 12. It was devastating. I mean, devastating. So I went and just got in the studio and just wood shopped. Just. I took it, like, personally. I just was like, no, I got to get better. I got to be better. I got to sing better, I got to act better. I got to be better. So same people were casting my one and only. They said Sean might be too young, but we want to send him anyway because I had prepared, and I used that opportunity, that setback, so to speak, went in for my one and only and book the job with my one and only. Whatever setback you think is a setback, you use it as ammunition to propel you to great, great, great, great things.

[B]

Come on. That was bravo. Sean Baker, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, right? Yeah, it's true, Shawn. We'll have to do a deep dive on season two on the show. Will you come back, please?

[C]

Absolutely not. No. Absolutely no. Of course he said yes. Yes, of course I would come back. Seriously, it's an honor and a pleasure to be with both of you. I love you both dearly, and congratulations, continued blessings on everything you're doing. I'm so inspired by both of you and have been for many, many years. I had a crush on all y'. All. Seriously. On the real, are we gonna be real? I got a question, you know. Well, I couldn't. I couldn't say it at the time. No, you don't shit where you. You know what I mean? I was in a relationship. All of you guys really embraced me and encouraged me. So of course I'm gonna come back.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

Please, please.

[A]

You heard it here.

[B]

Thank you for coming on.

[A]

Thank you for coming on.

[B]

Let's go to the Reverb.

[A]

Let's go to the Reverb.

[C]

Reverb.

[A]

Okay, Erica, talk to me. Black Excellence. Go. I'll start living single.

[B]

Okay. Our beautiful melanin in all shade family cookouts. Hip hop, R and B. Basically every genre of music.

[A]

Okay? You know how we invented all them line dances? And people know the songs and they know how to do all. How do we do that, Black Excellence?

[B]

I don't know. In our hair. Our hair. The way it grows from our scalp. We can do so much natural locs.

[A]

Cornrows, and it fades. Exactly. See, Black Excellence has layers. You see what I did there?

[B]

I saw it.

[A]

And Lexus, well, they understand and deliver the luxury that we deserve.

[B]

Because when you embody excellence. You need a ride that moves like you do. Smooth, smart, and impossible to ignore.

[A]

From the moment that you touched that wheel, Alexis says, I didn't just show up, I showed out.

[B]

No, it's more than a car. It represents how you walk through the world. Intentional, grounded, fly without even trying.

[A]

Because that's what Alexis does. It makes you feel amazing and look good, too. Well, then there's that. All right, y', all, welcome to the Reverb brought to you by Lexus. Y' all know this is where we reflect and connect and talk about how the episode's themes still echo in the culture. Because just like our stories, Lexus keeps raising the bar. That's the standard of amazing.

[B]

Cooler days are here. And baby, that means layers. Good layers. And for me, that means quints. They're $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters, soft as a whisper and fine as fall wine. The premium denim fits like it was tailored by somebody who knows you personally. And don't get me started on the wool coats. I'm eyeing their oversized pea coat and navy designer vibes, but for a fraction of the price. Here's the thing. Quint's works directly with ethical factories and skips the middleman so you get luxury quality for way less. It's smart, it's sustainable, and it looks damn good. I've got their cashmere crew neck on rotation. And that mulberry silk robe? Well, let's just say my mornings are upgraded. Find your fall staples at quints. Go to quints.com Single for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com Single this episode.

[D]

Is brought to you by Rakuten. If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of a deal. But are you getting the deal and cash back? Rakuten shoppers? Do they get the brands they love, savings and cash back, and you can get it too. Stack sales on top of cash back and feel what it's like to know you're maximizing savings. It's easy to use and you get cash back sent to you through PayPal or check. The idea is simple. The brands you love pay Rakuten for sending them shoppers, and Rakuten shares the money with you as cash back. Download the free Rakuten app or go to rakuten.com to start saving today. It's the most rewarding way to shop. That's r a k u t e n rakuten.com wow, Kim.

[B]

Amazing. I mean, Shawn Baker is a masterclass. And we were going to have a masterclass. We wanted to talk on this show because we started talking about, you know, this saying, this quote, that in the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity. And there he was, There he was to give us examples of it. But now we need to talk about between ourselves, like what that means for us. And one of them that I think is pretty unique is the creation of Concrete park, which is my comic book. And the comic book is a graphic novel. Now, me and my ex husband, Tony Perrier, who's my creative partner, we wanted to tell a science fiction story, a science fiction story about the future. And we said, what if Earth sent its poor, its youth off to another planet? Would they reproduce the tribalism, the hostility and the racism, or would they make something new? We figured they'd make something new. It's gonna be called Concrete Park. Robert Alexander, my brother, he was involved in it as well. So we went around and started pitching it. And since Tony has a background in advertising from J. Walter Thompson, he used these kind of mock ups to show the people, he says, you know, they have a little trouble sort of seeing the future through our eyes. And we wanted it to be a multicultural future. And we'd waited a very long time and had been sort of of encouraged. You know, you could be encouraged to death. Oh, that's amazing. Oh, we love that. But then nobody wants to pull the trouble. It's just too risky because they see the black and brown faces. And we thought, we've got to get this going. So we waited a very long time, actually many years, for a meeting with a Hollywood president. And we got in there and we started to do our pitch. Tony laid it out and just like at the beginning of our pitch, he said, let me stop you right there. He said, black people don't like science fiction because they don't see themselves in the future. That's a quote. And then he tells us about this movie he made. And this movie was a science fiction movie, and it was actually not that good. But off of that, they had had a focus testing, and there was a young black man who was in the theater who stayed and was just sort of looking at the screen like, what? And they came out and said, did you have any questions? And he said, the young man looked at him, young black man looked at him and said, yeah, I just want to know, how'd that nigga get to Mars?

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Now, what's interesting about that is he's telling two black people that we don't see ourselves in the future, and we're pitching him a science fiction show. Tony Perrier was the first African American to write a movie that made over $100 million with Eraser. And I may not have a background in science fiction, but off of this one young black man, probably just being sarcastic.

[A]

Probably.

[B]

So he thought, they can't see themselves in the future. What Tony said, for black people, the past is painful, the present precarious, but the future is free. We always see ourselves in the future. In fact, the future that you're living in is because black people created it. The blues, rock and roll, all these things, you know, everything that you think is great about America culturally, it came from black people. And y', all, you know, it's a community thing. But don't ask us not to see the future.

[A]

And he said, sometimes that's all we had. That's all we had.

[B]

That's all we had. You took our past away from us, didn't give us a present. We have to look to the future in order to live and survive. Plus, he said, look at Octavia Butler, the science fiction star, and Samuel Delaney and all this. And he says, I don't want to say anything, but maybe y' all figure it out from here who this studio head is. He said, the number one science fiction star in the world is Will Smith.

[A]

Will Smith.

[B]

And he's at your studio, Independence Day. Didn't they call him the men in black?

[A]

Mr. July 4th? Cause every. Every July 4th did it.

[B]

He actively, strategically said, I'm going after sci fi and those things. I am legend. He didn't even know who was paying his check. So we walked out of there, and we really kind of down. He said, oh, eff it. I'll draw it. And he taught himself after 50, how to draw and illustrate comics. And he sent a few of those panels to Mike Richardson of Dark Horse. And Mike Richardson said, I'll publish this. By the end of the year, we had a published comic that became a best American comic. And in a few years, we got Concrete park, the graphic novel, which. Which Forbes said was one of the best graphic novels in America. That is turning a crisis into opportunity. But it took us having to also recreate ourselves and realize that the world would not see us the way we wanted to. So we had to create the way. And the way was not going to be through that door, but through a door that had DIY in it. Do it yourself. And then another, a different Man, a different white man who said, I'll publish this. It shows you the community is there. There are people who do see the future, but first see the future for yourself. If not, create the wave, create the spaceship. And I always said that if that became successful and I've got to write this book, that I would write a book called how this Nigga Got to Mars and dedicated to that studio head. Booyah.

[A]

Ladies and gentlemen, Erica Alexander.

[B]

That's the masterclass. Hello.

[A]

Nice. Nice. So my off road moment or my. My crisis that turned into an opportunity was after living single ended, I went into a depression, you know. You know, not coming to work with your friends and family every day. It was rough not getting booked on another show or being called to audition for something that I just. I don't. This is not it. This is not it. And so my depression. Everybody has their way that they deal with depression before they get help. Some people drink, some people eat, some people do drugs. Mine was shopping. And I've told the story many times of shopping through all of my money. I would, you know, all the stores, and I didn't discriminate whether it was a 99 cent store or Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus. I wanted to fill myself up with things. And I think now, after getting some therapy, there's. Because I didn't think I deserved this. I'm just a girl from Brooklyn who was funny and goofy. And here it was. I had reached, you know, as high as you can reach. You know, to be a number one show on a network is no small feat. And I didn't feel that I deserved, like, you know, I always talk about not being educated like my parents. My. My generation is the first generation that didn't finish college. My grandmother had her master's. What am I doing, you know, foundering show business and not working. So I was depressed. I didn't make much money. I was shopping through the residual checks and got to that place of desperation. What am I gonna do? Because I thought, this is what I'm supposed to do. I wanted to be Carol Burnett and Lucy and Whoopi and all the things, and it just wasn't happening right now. I was going to drive off of Mulholland Boulevard. Drive. I was gonna drive. I was gonna drive off.

[B]

Please forgive me. Forgive me.

[A]

Why? Cause it's dramatic.

[B]

Cause it's Barry James Dean.

[A]

Oh, it's.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Are you serious? Oh, I was gonna drive off of Mulholland. Oh, yeah. I was gonna go out in a blaze. And it's very, very easy. To just drive off the road.

[B]

Yeah, but. And hit a tree and go nowhere.

[A]

Or end up a paraplegic and not end up like, yeah, that's.

[B]

That's a rough ride.

[A]

I asked myself, what are my gifts? And my gifts are humor and heart. And I could always go back to stand up. And I did. And then I transitioned from standup into speaking. Same skill set. I could be on stage. I can write my material. I just added inspirational messages to it. And then that led to. It went on to be a speaker. I went on to then develop books and develop products and services and teaching people, teaching actually entrepreneurs how to tell their story effectively and develop this whole other arm of the Kim Kohl's brand, such that, to be honest, Hollywood is now something I do for fun. I'm glad that I get called. I'm glad that I get opportunities. But my main gig is coaching entrepreneurs, helping people tell their story, helping people become better speakers, helping people to add humor to their story in a way that really connects with an audience. And so that through this crisis of being broke and broken and shopping through all my money and wanting to off my, like, say, I don't belong here anymore, to find a new way that I could belong and a new way that I could teach, help people publish their books, help people write their books that I love to now exercise all parts of myself. And so the opportunity is and always is for everybody to go searching for what you can do, all the things that you can do, and then activate all of those things. And in that moment, you'll find. In those moments, you'll find opportunities for yourself that are not tied to some guy in a suit going, she's the right girl for the job. Like, I'm not. The money that I make as Kim Cole's coach, storyteller, speaker, has nothing to do with some guy in a suit in an office, corner office, somewhere. It's going directly to the people going directly.

[B]

I love that your Swing Low, sweet chariot moment.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Gave you a gift, literally. And that's what you named it. And you became, again, that lateral thinking to say, I'm more than this. And yet it took everything that you had built inside of who you are to actually pull that off.

[A]

That was my way back and the way I stay on the off road of my choose.

[B]

Using Amen. Okay, now that is a master class.

[A]

All right.

[B]

You're welcome.

[A]

You're welcome. That's my favorite phrase. You're welcome. Welcome to True Blue. This is the segment in which we hear from you. You write in you call in, you send your video, and you ask us a question. We're ready for you right now, Amber. Who do we have? Have. Who has the plate that was behind.

[C]

The couch that has all of your.

[A]

Faces on it, except for the guys.

[C]

Faces, but all the women's faces on it.

[A]

Do y' all know where that plate.

[C]

Is or who has it at all?

[A]

That great question. And people have talked about that, that beautiful plate. I'm pretty sure that Ivette Le Bowser has that plate.

[B]

No, I'm very sure, actually. She talks about it. She has that plate. So that plate was behind the couch, on the side, on the console. Thank you. Have the right word.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you look at the Cosby show, they always had art on the walls. And I think that people started to realize that black people had great artists, too. And looking at the shows from Fresh Prince on, that was the one thing that could be a silent sort of marker of the show was that if you look at our walls, it was a platform for artists of color.

[A]

Beautiful art. Beautiful African art. And so Yvette has that plate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Thank you, Sean Baker, for coming on and just blessing us with history and masterclass and your excellence. And we really did laugh a lot during Living Single and Doing Homework, the show that we did together. And he is excellence in human form and tight Nippily shirts.

[B]

Right. And by the way, if you want to send a question to True Blue, there was a video question, which is cool. We love the video questions as well. You can send it to reliving singlepodcastartbeat.com.

[A]

And we'd be happy to answer them for you. That's our show.

[B]

Yes, that's our show.

[A]

It's a good one.

[B]

That was a great one. It's a great one. So, yeah, it's okay to get sick. It's how you come back. Yes, yes. Make sure you click the follow and.

[A]

Like, share it with your friends.

[B]

Share with your friends and help us build and create a pathway to the other side.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah. We love you.

[A]

We'll see you next week.

[B]

Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe.

[A]

You're not gonna be here.

[B]

I am. You are my avatar.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Reliving Single is hosted by me, Erica Alexander, and me, Kim Coles. Reliving Single is a production of Heartbeat in association with Color Farm Media, executive.

[A]

Produced by Kevin Hart, Jeff Clanagan, Eric Eddings, Leslie Guam, Erica Alexander and Ben Arnon.

[B]

The show is produced by Kim Coles.

[A]

Amber Watson is our senior producer.

[B]

Our associate producer is Kenny Jackson.

[A]

Our other associate producer is Electra Telesford. Our video editor is Nee Kirschman.

[B]

Our sound engineers are Eric Hicks and Cedric Wilson.

[A]

Production supervision by Razak Boykin and Brett Calkins.

[B]

Additional production support from Alex Atkins and Z. Taylor.

[A]

Special thanks to BK Augustine Dean and Dr. E.J. johnson.