Embrace Your Inner Hottie with Megan Thee Stallion

This week, three-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, philanthropist and entrepreneur Megan Thee Stallion joins the show! Fresh off a plane from Fiji, Megan shares more about the behind-the-scenes of her appearance on Love Island, her new music, and goes deep with Michelle and Craig on her Houston childhood and the people that formed her. Plus, she shares her surprising theory on aliens. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Can an old guy like me be a hottie?

• 0:03Speaker 01

  Okay. Every. The way the question was asked.

• 0:09Speaker 01

  Like, just the room. I'm like, I don't know.

• 0:12Speaker 00

  The way the question was asked.

• 0:13Speaker 01

  Yes. Of course. Like, hotties can be hot boys, hot girls, hot everybody, hot people.

• 0:19Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 0:19Speaker 01

  Like, a hottie is just a hot person and a person that like Megan said.

• 0:29Speaker 02

  This episode of IMO is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

• 0:35Speaker 00

  How are you?

• 0:35Speaker 02

  I am good. I'm doing really good. I'm feeling hot girl summery, but we'll get to that later.

• 0:45Speaker 00

  Uh, do the hotties, do the, can you be a guy hottie?

• 0:49Speaker 02

  Well, we'll find out, but I don't know.

• 0:51Speaker 00

  We gotta, we gotta find this out.

• 0:52Speaker 02

  But that means you really gotta be hot.

• 0:54Speaker 00

  I know. I might not qualify.

• 0:56Speaker 02

  You gotta have a little, like, you'd have to have that T-shirt off and three buttons down.

• 1:01Speaker 00

  I'm definitely not hottie.

• 1:04Speaker 02

  But what you been up to, Craigie, Craig?

• 1:07Speaker 00

  You know, we, we just came back from the opening of the OPC, the Obama Presidential Center.

• 1:14Speaker 02

  Yes, yes. This may not air until later, but yeah, we just did that.

• 1:18Speaker 00

  That was a wonderful experience.

• 1:20Speaker 02

  It was, you know, it was just, um, it was just really, uh, full circle.

• 1:27Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:28Speaker 02

  For us to be able to open up that. It's, it's not even just a presidential center, it's a campus.

• 1:34Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:35Speaker 02

  And seeing it activated for the first time, users in it, the community using it. It opened on Juneteenth, so there was just a lot of love and good feeling. I mean, it was really, it really, oof.

• 1:49Speaker 00

  And in our neighborhood.

• 1:50Speaker 02

  Right, right down the street from all of it.

• 1:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, so that was really nice.

• 1:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:55Speaker 00

  But while I was there.

• 1:58Speaker 02

  In Chicago?

• 1:59Speaker 00

  In Chicago, of course.

• 2:00Speaker 02

  In between all the things we were doing?

• 2:02Speaker 00

  We were doing. I stayed at an Airbnb and I did an Airbnb experience that I wanted to share with you.

• 2:08Speaker 02

  Oh, so, cause, so now, remind me, the Airbnb experiences, are these in addition to, you can sign up? Do you have to be in an Airbnb?

• 2:17Speaker 00

  So, what I, what, what I'm finding out is if you stay at an Airbnb, you can choose an experience, but you don't have to stay at an Airbnb in order to do an Airbnb experience.

• 2:30Speaker 02

  Oh, that's great, yeah.

• 2:31Speaker 00

  So that's really neat to know because I didn't know that until I started getting involved with it. But this one was really a cool experience.

• 2:40Speaker 02

  What'd you do?

• 2:40Speaker 00

  We got to design our own sneaker, and I have mine right here.

• 2:47Speaker 02

  Oh, my goodness.

• 2:48Speaker 00

  So this started out as a all-white Air Force One.

• 2:53Speaker 02

  And then you colored it in like a kindergartner.

• 2:57Speaker 00

  It, it does. I know. It looks like a five-year-old did this, but.

• 3:00Speaker 02

  It's like, you were never the artistic one.

• 3:02Speaker 00

  I was not. Everybody in our family is artistic, except me.

• 3:06Speaker 02

  I know.

• 3:07Speaker 00

  But what, what do these colors remind you of?

• 3:10Speaker 02

  Uh, IMO.

• 3:11Speaker 00

  These are the IMO colors.

• 3:13Speaker 02

  Wait, no, wait a beat. Did you figure that out all by yourself?

• 3:15Speaker 00

  I did. I did this. So, so my, my creativity.

• 3:18Speaker 02

  So were the orange, did you pick the orange?

• 3:21Speaker 00

  I picked this orange to go with the orange in, in our logo.

• 3:26Speaker 02

  But the shoe came with the orange.

• 3:28Speaker 00

  I'll get to that part.

• 3:29Speaker 02

  Excuse me.

• 3:30Speaker 00

  No. The shoe did not come with this leather on the back there. I added that leather. And I was gonna stencil in IMO, but we ran out of time.

• 3:39Speaker 02

  Well, that's the main part. Can you take it back and get that done?

• 3:42Speaker 00

  This is a work in progress. I think I'm gonna add some more color to this, but I found the laces, which are the color of the dot over the I in IMO. And if you, if you notice, I got these little eyelids on the laces, but it was really fun.

• 3:57Speaker 02

  It's a great effort, yeah.

• 3:59Speaker 00

  It was really fun, really therapeutic, and I look forward to my next.

• 4:02Speaker 02

  Are you gonna wear those?

• 4:03Speaker 00

  As soon as I finish them, I'm gonna wear them. I was really pleased with Hersch. I was really proud of myself, really proud of myself, so.

• 4:10Speaker 02

  Well, that sounds fun. Maybe one day when I go back to the center, we can do that. That'd be a fun.

• 4:16Speaker 00

  That would be.

• 4:16Speaker 02

  That'd be a fun group activity.

• 4:18Speaker 00

  That would be a good family activity.

• 4:20Speaker 02

  It would be.

• 4:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 4:21Speaker 02

  See whose shoe would be better. Bet it would be mine.

• 4:24Speaker 00

  Yes. Now we can get down to business.

• 4:28Speaker 02

  Now that we have fully explored your kindergarten shoe, we can do what we came here to do. I'm so excited for our guest today. I, I love this woman. Um, uh, she, like, we only met once, but she left a deep impression on me, um, because of her energy, her spirit, um, you know, her, you know, just, there's a maturity and grace about her that I, I just don't think a lot of people can see from her persona, but it's, it is there. She's smart as, as a whip, and I can't wait to talk to her more.

• 5:09Speaker 00

  You know, we just met her briefly. I just met her briefly. You, you've known her, and what I would say is that she reminds me of someone who would be in our family.

• 5:19Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:20Speaker 00

  You know, immediately, very warm, very welcoming, um, and just a sweetie. So let me, let me give her a proper introduction. So hailing from Houston, Megan Thee Stallion is a three-time Grammy-winning recording artist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. Over the course of her career, she has earned three Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits and has been honored multiple times for her advocacy efforts, which we're gonna get into as well. Megan made history in 2022 as the first black woman to appear on the cover of Forbes' prestigious Under 30 issue.

• 6:04Speaker 02

  Mm, mm, mm.

• 6:06Speaker 00

  So it is.

• 6:06Speaker 02

  Baby billionaire.

• 6:07Speaker 00

  Our pleasure to introduce Megan Thee Stallion.

• 6:11Speaker 01

  Welcome to IMO.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  Thank y'all for having me.

• 6:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, girl.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  What an intro.

• 6:22Speaker 02

  It was, did you, it was looking good.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  That's you, that's you, girl, that's you.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  Have you gotten used to just being fabulous and, and known as being fabulous? Does that ever become?

• 6:34Speaker 01

  I feel like you just never get used to it, you know? Like, you know, you wake up in the morning and you're like, I think I look good today. And then people get to see you and they're like, yeah, you look good. And it's like, okay, yeah, I ate that.

• 6:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 6:44Speaker 01

  Yes, I just a little eat. You know, I ate that.

• 6:47Speaker 02

  You remind me of Sasha, my youngest, yeah.

• 6:51Speaker 01

  I love that.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. You, you and Sasha have similar sass levels, you know?

• 6:57Speaker 01

  I feel like I hung out with Sasha, um, after a Saturday, my Saturday Night Live performance.

• 7:04Speaker 02

  Oh, probably so.

• 7:06Speaker 01

  And I was like, hello.

• 7:07Speaker 02

  Cause they just show up.

• 7:09Speaker 01

  I said, we're the Secret Service.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  You're my girl.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  It's like, oh, excuse us.

• 7:15Speaker 01

  Yes, but I definitely wrapped her around and made my security be all around. I was like, hold on, y'all, we got the president daughter in here.

• 7:23Speaker 02

  And she just, she just is all up in it, but there's, it's, uh, your, your energy is just, it just, it's so familiar. It's.

• 7:32Speaker 01

  Yay. I love that. I feel the same way.

• 7:34Speaker 02

  It's like family.

• 7:35Speaker 01

  You know?

• 7:36Speaker 02

  So thanks for being here, but you are fresh, girl. You were fresh off of.

• 7:40Speaker 01

  Fiji.

• 7:41Speaker 02

  Fiji.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  Yes, Love Island.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  Okay, Love Island, just, I just watched it. Craig?

• 7:47Speaker 00

  I don't.

• 7:47Speaker 02

  He doesn't.

• 7:48Speaker 00

  I don't know what you're talking about.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  You don't know what we're talking about?

• 7:51Speaker 00

  No, I do. I do, only because.

• 7:53Speaker 02

  He doesn't.

• 7:54Speaker 00

  Well, let me tell you, when, when they were telling me that you were on Love Island, I said, oh, that's the show where all the, the bachelors and bachelorettes who lost go on the island? And they were like, no, that's not it.

• 8:06Speaker 01

  Traitors?

• 8:07Speaker 02

  He doesn't know. Like I said, he doesn't know. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

• 8:11Speaker 01

  But Traitors is a good show, too.

• 8:12Speaker 02

  I love Traitors.

• 8:13Speaker 01

  I wanna be on Traitors.

• 8:14Speaker 02

  You would be great on Traitors.

• 8:15Speaker 01

  I keep saying, I think if I went on Traitors, they would immediately vote me off because they would think I'm the traitor.

• 8:20Speaker 02

  Well, see, nah, y'all, I think you'd know how to play it. I think you know how to play it.

• 8:26Speaker 01

  I feel like when you have a big personality, people just automatically assume it's you.

• 8:30Speaker 02

  They just took Portia out.

• 8:32Speaker 01

  Poor Portia.

• 8:33Speaker 02

  I mean.

• 8:34Speaker 00

  Wait, are we on the, are we on a different show now?

• 8:37Speaker 01

  We're on a different show.

• 8:38Speaker 02

  This is a different show.

• 8:39Speaker 01

  Catch up with Traitors and Love Island.

• 8:40Speaker 02

  I keep telling them, we are doing a podcast, we talk about pop culture, and this dude is, you know, he's at the gym with his little boy.

• 8:47Speaker 01

  He's making shoes.

• 8:48Speaker 02

  He just doesn't.

• 8:49Speaker 01

  Did you like my shoes? I did like your shoes.

• 8:52Speaker 00

  You didn't.

• 8:52Speaker 01

  I did. I saw how it's blue. It's my favorite color. Like, when I saw the blue. It was blue. It was blue.

• 8:57Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  It was cute.

• 8:58Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 8:59Speaker 02

  Okay. Did you see it up close, girl?

• 9:02Speaker 01

  I saw it from back there.

• 9:03Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 9:03Speaker 01

  I was like, this looks very nice.

• 9:05Speaker 00

  Sit, sit.

• 9:06Speaker 02

  Very art.

• 9:08Speaker 00

  I was very proud of my shoes.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Your shoe is wonderful, but back to Love Island. What was, what was, what was it like? What was the vibe of the villa? Because this was your second season.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  This is my second time doing it.

• 9:23Speaker 02

  What is that like?

• 9:25Speaker 01

  I feel like every time Love Island brings me on, it is just to bring the positive vibes inside the villa. Because when I got there, it was very tense.

• 9:32Speaker 02

  It sure was.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  Yes. But when I came, everybody was having a good time. I came in and spoke to all the ladies first. I made TikToks with them. We just talked for a little while. And then I went to go see the boys. And I ain't staying there that long.

• 9:48Speaker 00

  Now, Megan, how many people are on Love Island?

• 9:50Speaker 01

  I couldn't tell you. It's, it's a bunch of people.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  They come and go, they come and go. So, you know, they start out with like maybe a group of 10, 12. And then they couple up and then some of them don't. And then they bring in new people. So it's always.

• 10:06Speaker 00

  10 each or 10 total?

• 10:08Speaker 02

  Like six girls, six guys.

• 10:12Speaker 01

  It's very interesting.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:14Speaker 01

  Very, I love keeping up with it. Something about watching people's love life unfold on TV.

• 10:19Speaker 02

  It's a sociological study. The men in my life, my husband, my brother, they just don't understand reality TV and the love of it. But I was like, it is like a sport.

• 10:30Speaker 01

  It's like my fix.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. Because you are always analyzing, well, what would I do in that situation? And I'm, why did you do that?

• 10:37Speaker 01

  Right.

• 10:38Speaker 02

  You know, that reminded me of the time that, you know, it's very like live playhouse.

• 10:43Speaker 01

  Like this is a scenario that I probably would never be in. But I like putting myself in their shoes.

• 10:48Speaker 02

  I know, I keep saying, oh, my God, why did y'all do this?

• 10:51Speaker 01

  I don't get that. Why did you say that? Did you forget you was on TV?

• 10:53Speaker 02

  Yes. It's like, don't you know, there are cameras everywhere.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  But I feel like at the end of the day, when you're famous or you're putting yourself in a position to be seen by so many, whether you're an artist, whether you are the first lady, just anything like that. Like everybody's watching you. Everybody have their eyes on you all the time. And you just have to remember, these people are humans. And I feel like sometimes we forget that about people that we're watching on TV, people we see in magazines.

• 11:21Speaker 02

  It is amazing.

• 11:22Speaker 01

  And I feel like we got to remember to have a little compassion because they're still just humans.

• 11:25Speaker 02

  For sure. And they're young humans at that, you know? But making regular mistakes that we all make.

• 11:32Speaker 01

  But they're just on camera.

• 11:33Speaker 02

  That's all.

• 11:33Speaker 01

  Because to be honest, a lot of ladies and men make these same mistakes.

• 11:38Speaker 02

  Same mistakes, right?

• 11:39Speaker 01

  But these people are just on national TV doing it.

• 11:41Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 11:41Speaker 00

  That just seems so cringey.

• 11:45Speaker 01

  No!

• 11:46Speaker 02

  That is not the word we use.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Cringey, no. It's entertaining.

• 11:50Speaker 02

  And it's life, you know? It is, it's like people at their best and worst.

• 11:56Speaker 00

  I mean, I, yeah, I don't want to see people at their worst.

• 12:01Speaker 01

  You get to see people learn lessons and find love. I love love.

• 12:06Speaker 02

  I do too.

• 12:07Speaker 01

  Yes. So when I see people thriving and doing good, like.

• 12:10Speaker 02

  It brings a tear to your eye no matter what.

• 12:12Speaker 01

  Y'all really like each other?

• 12:13Speaker 02

  You know, like the letter exchange.

• 12:16Speaker 01

  Like will they or won't they?

• 12:17Speaker 02

  I was, I was tearing up when they were, wrote their letters to each other, which is why you get so mad when it's like, why, why you do? Why did you do her like that? Like what happened to the letters just yesterday?

• 12:28Speaker 01

  This, this literally happened yesterday.

• 12:29Speaker 02

  You just wrote this letter? And then you were just done. But anyway.

• 12:36Speaker 02

  How do you do it all? I mean, how do you, how do you, how do you feel? How you feeling in yourself, in life? You know, you just flew in here from Fiji looking fabulous. You must be exhausted.

• 12:49Speaker 01

  I am so tired, but like when Michelle Obama get on their phone and say, get up here, that's what you do, you go. But I'm, I'm so excited to be here. So I definitely was like, I have to, I have to come sit down. And now I'm y'all cousin. I feel so, I feel so grateful to be here.

• 13:05Speaker 02

  You are. That's why I want to know my cousin, how you doing?

• 13:08Speaker 01

  That flight from Fiji was like 11 hours.

• 13:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:11Speaker 01

  And then I came straight here. But like I said, I'm really grateful. Being me is, it's a, it's a roller coaster.

• 13:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  Like some days I feel like, yes, like, hell, yeah.

• 13:25Speaker 02

  We on top.

• 13:26Speaker 01

  I'm doing it, yes. But then some days I feel like, oh, my gosh, I need to go get under my bed. Like I don't want to see anybody. I don't want anybody to see me. I'm so tired. I'm tired of people talking about me.

• 13:37Speaker 01

  I'm just tired.

• 13:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:38Speaker 01

  But then I have to take a step back sometimes and realize I'm very blessed. So even though I have like a lot of good days, I, I mean, I can't have the good without the bad.

• 13:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:48Speaker 01

  But what I've been learning lately is how to like express more gratitude. And just like, instead of praying all the time about can I have, can I have? Like I, I start praying and, and saying like, oh, my gosh, I'm so thankful. I'm glad I have this, like.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  I'm just, I'm just practicing having more gratitude.

• 14:06Speaker 00

  And when you have a bad day, how do you handle that? What do you do when you have a bad day? How do you get yourself back to, to being a good day?

• 14:16Speaker 01

  I used to feel like when I have a bad day, I have to do something to fix it. Like maybe I need to call my therapist and I need to tell her everything that's going on right, right now. And you need to tell me something that's going to fix it right now. I need you, what's wrong with me?

• 14:28Speaker 02

  Help, make this go away.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  Make this go away, make it feel better. And then I used to think like, okay, well, I just can't think about it because I have things to do. And which I do, like I, I can't be under the bed all day. I got to go perform. I have to go do an interview. I have to go to things for my foundation. Like I, I always have something to do. So I can never like just wallow in how I feel. But that's how I used to feel.

• 14:52Speaker 01

  Then I started realizing, okay, I need to take these couple of days to myself. I need to have this week to myself. Because then I started learning like there's nothing anybody's going to be able to say to me that's going to fix it in 10 minutes. There's nothing I'm going to be able to do to, to hurry up and put a Band-Aid over how I feel right now. So I've learned to just feel what I'm feeling and just feel it. Like if it's pain, if it's sadness, I have to express it. I might get, I might get under my bed and cry. I don't know, but I have to feel it.

• 15:20Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 15:21Speaker 01

  Because I'm never going to be able to come out of it if I don't get it out of my system.

• 15:24Speaker 02

  Well, you got to practice. You have to practice your way through all kinds of feelings, right? You got to build the muscle, just like you learned. Like I thought I, you know, that I, not talking about it or trying to fix it right away was the answer. But you had to go through it enough to realize, yeah, you're, you're going to have to develop some muscles, some tools to deal with these times. And the only way you develop them is to do it, you know? But it takes some time, you know? And the fact that you are the age you are and you're learning that now.

• 15:56Speaker 01

  It took a lot to get here, though.

• 15:58Speaker 02

  But you, no lie, you 12 years old, girl. You 12 and a half.

• 16:04Speaker 01

  But I feel like I've experienced like so much, though.

• 16:09Speaker 01

  I don't know, like I've went through a lot of different emotions over the years.

• 16:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:14Speaker 01

  And still even talking about being happy sometime make me emotional.

• 16:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:18Speaker 01

  Because I definitely used to like, be like, okay, you got to be strong. You got to be tough. I must be going through all these things because I'm supposed to be some kind of example of how to be tough and how to be strong. So I never wanted to cry or like feel anything.

• 16:42Speaker 00

  I cannot stop thinking about the Obama Presidential Center opening. It was so fun to be back in Chicago with everyone. What was your favorite moment from the weekend?

• 16:53Speaker 02

  Oh, I think it was just watching the city enjoy the campus. You know, to use park space that hadn't been accessible ever.

• 17:04Speaker 00

  Right.

• 17:05Speaker 02

  It was just beautiful to see families playing in the playground and dancing to music in the courtyard and just enjoying the sunshine and feeling this sense of hope, dare I say?

• 17:19Speaker 00

  Dare you say.

• 17:22Speaker 00

  It was so cool seeing the higher ground family out there. Everyone was all over the South Side, hitting Hyde Park, walking the lakefront. And I even heard some folks went to Gino's East and tried deep dish pizza.

• 17:35Speaker 02

  That's the best place to get it.

• 17:37Speaker 00

  Yes. Since everyone was buzzing about the city, what are your top five must do's for someone visiting Chicago?

• 17:45Speaker 02

  I've got this. First of all, coming to the South Side and seeing the Obama Presidential Center. That's number one.

• 17:53Speaker 00

  Of course.

• 17:54Speaker 02

  Because even if you don't have tickets, the campus is wide open. The park space is beautiful. You can see most, 90% of what you need to see without a ticket. And then hopping over to our shared campus mate, the Museum of Science and Industry, one of the best museums on the planet. We used to take our kids there all the time. There's so many, you could spend the day in just those two campuses. So I think that's day one. Next, I'd say on a nice, clear day during your visit, take an architectural boat, boat tour.

• 18:26Speaker 00

  Love it.

• 18:26Speaker 02

  It's like the most beautiful way to see the city from the river into the lake. You see all the landmarks, the historic landmarks, all the beautiful sights. It's a great way to experience the city. And then I think you got to hang out in Millennial Park, around Buckingham Fountain. Because it's a beautiful park, you're on the lakefront, you see the Chicago skyline in an interesting way. So those are some of my must do's, along with eating anywhere. The food in Chicago, you got to get an Italian beef. You got to get your deep dish pizza.

• 19:05Speaker 00

  Got to get some rib tips.

• 19:06Speaker 02

  Got to get some ribs, got to get some ribs. But I, I could go on. Chicago is my favorite city on the planet. It is one of the most beautiful cities, well planned, easy to experience and very welcoming.

• 19:18Speaker 00

  Boy, I'd agree with all of that. Whenever there's a big event, from a sporting event to let's say a Presidential Center opening, it attracts, it attracts a ton of travelers. So if you've got an extra room, a guest house, or you're heading out of town yourself, listing your space on Airbnb can be a great way to earn some extra income. During the opening weekend for the Obama Presidential Center, we were able to meet people who had traveled from all over the country to be there. Plus, there's something fun about helping someone experience your hometown. So the next time a big event is coming to your city, consider listing your space on Airbnb.

• 20:04Speaker 00

  Your home could be part of someone's favorite memory from that trip.

• 20:08Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 20:15Speaker 02

  Barack, my husband, you know, he tries to demonstrate that sadness. We both do, you know, when we, you know, I mean, I'm just like you. Anything can make me break, right? You know, words I say out of my mouth. I have to get ready for it, right? And what we've learned is like, man, we've, we've got to be the model of those emotions.

• 20:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:37Speaker 02

  You know, we've got to be like, you can be the President of the United States, be a strong, smart man and feel the sadness.

• 20:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:44Speaker 02

  And let it show. Cause you just saw something tragic happen, you know? And I think, you know, I want you to, I want you to understand that those, you are modeling. You know, you are giving more young women, young black women, young, you know, all kinds of people the permission to not have to be strong all the time. You know?

• 21:08Speaker 01

  I feel like strong like shows up in so many different ways.

• 21:12Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 21:12Speaker 01

  It's not about being like tough or like just stoic. It's not about like what you look like. I think it's about like being

• 21:23Speaker 01

  like brave enough to keep going.

• 21:25Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 21:26Speaker 01

  Brave enough to be like, I don't want to do this.

• 21:28Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 21:30Speaker 01

  Just brave enough to feel how you feel.

• 21:33Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 21:34Speaker 01

  And have your boundaries.

• 21:35Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 21:37Speaker 01

  You could say no.

• 21:38Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 21:39Speaker 01

  Saying yes to everything don't make you strong. I had to learn that too. Cause I used to be like, yeah, what you want me to do? Sure, I'm there. What, what can I do? How can I make everybody happy?

• 21:46Speaker 02

  And then you learn that when you say no, life goes on.

• 21:49Speaker 01

  Yeah. I used to think if I said no, I'd be like,

• 21:52Speaker 02

  I disappointed everybody.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 21:53Speaker 02

  And it won't happen. And they just move to the next person on the list. Be like, okay, Megan couldn't go. We'll still, you know? And that's strength too.

• 22:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:02Speaker 02

  You know, those, that boundary setting, girl, that's a, whoo.

• 22:06Speaker 01

  I'm learning all the things.

• 22:07Speaker 02

  That's a power.

• 22:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:08Speaker 02

  That's power. So, well, that's, that's, that's cool. That's good. I'm happy for you. I'm happy that you're getting there. And you're gonna always be working to get there, you know?

• 22:19Speaker 01

  Definitely.

• 22:19Speaker 02

  I am.

• 22:20Speaker 01

  It's an everyday thing.

• 22:21Speaker 02

  It's an everyday thing forever and ever. And that's a good thing.

• 22:24Speaker 01

  Cause you started journaling, like, not that I just started, but like consistently doing it. I'm like, okay. I, I feel better to write it down. Even if it sounds ridiculous. Like I'll go back and look at what I wrote sometime and I'll be like, girl, what was going on?

• 22:38Speaker 02

  Doesn't matter, right?

• 22:39Speaker 01

  What is this scribble scribble?

• 22:40Speaker 02

  That's true.

• 22:42Speaker 01

  What is this? But I was like, dang, I can't believe I felt like that two weeks ago. And then this is where I am today. And even looking at what I wrote six months ago. Oh my God. Hello? We made it.

• 22:53Speaker 02

  We made it.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  You're still here.

• 22:55Speaker 02

  We made it.

• 22:55Speaker 01

  Congratulations.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  And not just making it, but thriving.

• 22:58Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 22:58Speaker 02

  I mean, you are just killing it. You were doing all the things, you know? And showing up in a beautiful way.

• 23:07Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 23:07Speaker 02

  You are so welcome.

• 23:08Speaker 01

  That makes me feel very nice.

• 23:10Speaker 02

  You should, you should. We were talking about, Craig and I, about just childhood. You know, we, we go there a lot here. Cause it's like, that's the side of us oftentimes that makes us who we are. You know? And I started thinking there, the familiarity that I feel with you, I don't know whether it's that Houston, Chicago thing.

• 23:34Speaker 01

  You know, I think so.

• 23:35Speaker 02

  That kind of, that kind of, the southernness of our upbringing, you know? It just, so I'm, we were both curious about like, what was, what was Houston?

• 23:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:48Speaker 02

  What was baby Megan like? You know, what was Houston like? What was the neighborhood like? What was your bedroom like? What was, you know? I, I just wanna, I want, I want to picture all that.

• 24:02Speaker 01

  Okay, where can I start? Okay, so I'm from the south side of Houston. And for probably like the first seven, eight years of my life, my dad was in jail. And it was me, my mom, my grandma and my great grandma. So I was raised around like all women.

• 24:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:20Speaker 01

  And me and my mom lived with my grandmother at first. And then we moved out. We got an apartment and then my dad got out of jail. So then now it's just me, my mom and my dad all the time. And my dad is like my bestie. My mom is my bestie. But me and my daddy were like.

• 24:33Speaker 02

  How old were you then? When he, we got, when he got out?

• 24:36Speaker 01

  Like seven. So it was, I had to really adjust to what was going on. Cause I sleep in the bed with my mama all the time.

• 24:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:43Speaker 01

  And then now it's the man in here.

• 24:46Speaker 02

  I like you, but.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  But like, this is my mama. What you mean I can't sleep in the bed? Like, what's going on?

• 24:51Speaker 00

  And what, what made you and your dad be besties?

• 24:56Speaker 01

  I don't even know, to be honest, like, I don't know when it clicked in my head that he was not against me. Cause he took my sleeping spot.

• 25:06Speaker 01

  But once, once, cause my mom went to work all day long. So it would be me and my dad at home. And once I started spending more time with him and we start figuring out, okay, we got a lot in common.

• 25:17Speaker 01

  I was his little shadow. Like I wanted to do everything like my daddy. I wanted to be just like him. I looked just like my daddy. He was just so cool and he just taught me so much self-worth at such a young age. Like even if I didn't know what he was talking about, like now that I'm older, I'm like, okay, I could see where my daddy was coming from with that. But he was just giving me so much advice and so much like, just speaking so much life into me from so young.

• 25:41Speaker 01

  I just carry it with me as an adult.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 25:44Speaker 01

  And then my dad passed away when I was 14. So then now it's just me and my mom again. And then now it's really me, my mom and my great grandmother and my grandma. And I'm going back and forth between my grandma's house and my mom's house. And my two grandmas were like another set of parents. And my great grandma was just like the best lady in the neighborhood.

• 26:05Speaker 02

  Did everybody, did you, did your grandparents live in a house neighborhood?

• 26:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:10Speaker 01

  The, the, my school was like right next to my grandma's house. And like a lot of my classmates would come. Cause I, I never walked to school before. My, my mama would always take me to school or my grandma would take me to school. So, um, once my mom had to start dropping me off at my grandmother's house, uh, so she can go to work and I could go to school. I went to the school my grandmother taught at.

• 26:30Speaker 02

  Oh, your grandmother's a teacher?

• 26:31Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 26:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:32Speaker 01

  So like a bunch of the kids from school would come, like pick me up from my great grandma's house and walk with me to school. It was such a great experience, like living in like, like the neighborhood. My, everybody in the neighborhood loved my great grandma. We call her Big Mama. She used to just be giving money out, giving candy out, like just giving love and advice out. Like you couldn't pass by my grandmother's door without her giving you something. So I think I learned like a lot of my kindness and like generosity from my great grandma. And she just always taught me like, my grandma was not rich. Like we didn't have a lot, but I, I thought I was a princess. I thought I was the princess of the neighborhood. I didn't know we was poor. Cause they just, they, they took care of me so much and they made me feel so good. I didn't realize what we didn't have. I only knew what I had and I knew I was so thankful for it.

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Like her biggest thing that she always wanted me to do was go to school. She wanted me to go to college, so I did. And I thought I was gonna be a nurse.

• 27:26Speaker 02

  Well, everybody was supposed to be a nurse.

• 27:28Speaker 01

  Everybody was supposed to be a nurse.

• 27:29Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  So I started going to PV, uh, AMU. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna be a nurse. Cause my grandma said I should be a nurse. I did not even want to be a nurse. I just wanted to go to school cause my grandma wanted me to go to school.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  What would, what was your, were you always this personality? Were you always talking?

• 27:45Speaker 01

  Yes, running my mouth. And when I get in trouble at school, it's for talking.

• 27:50Speaker 00

  But, but when did you know you wanted to be a performer?

• 27:54Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 27:56Speaker 01

  Let my grandma tell it, it was probably like five. But me, like my mom was a rapper. So then that was very interesting, growing up in a house where everybody's an entrepreneur. My mama definitely had a nine to five, but like when she came home, she was, my momma and my mom was a rapper. And I'm watching her write songs. I'm going to the studio with her. So I kind of just assumed I was gonna do that too.

• 28:17Speaker 02

  What you do. It was a possibility.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  Like I didn't know that.

• 28:20Speaker 00

  It's a family business.

• 28:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was like, okay, yeah, I do this too. So I would like take her CDs, like, cause back then it would be like, all the instrumentals would be on CDs. So I would steal her CDs and I would start writing. She'd be like, have you seen my CD? And I'd be like, no.

• 28:34Speaker 02

  I don't know what you're talking about.

• 28:35Speaker 01

  Right. So I would be writing every day after school.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  Did you have your own bedroom in your grandparents' house?

• 28:42Speaker 01

  Oh, no, no, no, not in my grandma's. What, why would I even say that? Yes, I did have my, right.

• 28:46Speaker 02

  Cause I was like, I bet you're gonna spoil yourself.

• 28:49Speaker 01

  No, at my nanny's house, I definitely had my own room. And my nanny loved a good project. So we definitely were like, it was, it was like we was decorating that room every day. Like we, I, I, it's never ending. I'm pretty sure at the room now, she's still doing stuff to it.

• 29:03Speaker 02

  What was your, what was your theme? What was your, what, what were you trying to, what was your edge?

• 29:08Speaker 01

  Pink cheater print, zebra print, rainbow, like fur. It was too much going on in there. But it was, it was like a little girl's dream room.

• 29:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:16Speaker 01

  But my room at my granny's house was definitely better than the room at my house.

• 29:19Speaker 02

  Cause your mother probably was like, you're not putting all that stuff in my house.

• 29:22Speaker 01

  My mama just was like, you're going to your granny's house anyway. So you just go ahead over there with that. But nanny, she definitely loved a project. So she just let me, well, I don't know if y'all have Big Lots in Chicago?

• 29:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:34Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah, we'll be at Big Lots, Walmart, Dollar Tree, all kinds of stuff. Anything I see that looked like it could go in my room, nanny getting it for me.

• 29:41Speaker 02

  What was your favorite thing in your room?

• 29:43Speaker 01

  I had like a pink satin comforter.

• 29:46Speaker 02

  Oh, yes.

• 29:46Speaker 01

  Yes, and I would go in my room every day and just like slide. Yes, like I'm just, I know I'm home from school. I'm excited, I'm just sliding in the room. Yes. And I just feel like I remember the smell of these like feathery pink pillows I had. Like you know what the plastic on feathers smell like? Yes, that, that's what I remember about my room the most.

• 30:07Speaker 00

  So you took your mom's CDs?

• 30:09Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 30:09Speaker 00

  And you were writing songs at like six or seven? Or more, is it more like 10 or 12?

• 30:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, maybe when I started around 10 or 12, I would take her CDs and do that. Like I had my own like little Barbie, I don't even know what to call it. There was a thing that Barbie had at the time and it played instrumentals for some reason.

• 30:29Speaker 02

  I missed that.

• 30:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, but I don't think it was a popular toy. It was just like random songs on like this little Barbie speaker. And I started writing songs over the Barbie instrumentals. And then I was like, yeah, I do this, I could do this. I see my mama do it every day. And then when I turned like 10 and in that, in that vein, I definitely started being Megan. I wasn't a stallion yet, but I knew I was gonna be something.

• 30:54Speaker 00

  Really?

• 30:54Speaker 01

  Yeah. And then eventually, I didn't tell my mama I could rap until I was like 18.

• 30:58Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 30:59Speaker 01

  Cause I wanted to curse.

• 31:02Speaker 01

  And I just didn't feel like she was gonna be ready to hear me cursing.

• 31:05Speaker 02

  It's like, but and it's a part of who I'm gonna be. So you don't need to know about this side.

• 31:10Speaker 01

  You don't need to know her yet.

• 31:11Speaker 00

  So how did you practice or do that without her knowing?

• 31:16Speaker 01

  I think that, so when I was in the ninth grade, that's when I changed all my social media to the stallion. So on Facebook and on Instagram.

• 31:24Speaker 02

  How old were you?

• 31:25Speaker 00

  Ninth grade.

• 31:26Speaker 01

  Ninth grade? I think you like.

• 31:27Speaker 00

  Fourteen.

• 31:28Speaker 01

  Fourteen, yeah. So I was the stallion already. So I was like, pretty, pretty popular, you know? And nobody knew I could rap, they just thought I was cool, you know? But when I got to college, that's when I was like, okay, I'm a rapper. I do this. And I started freestyling at school. And then I was like, I gotta tell my mom, cuz I really wanna, and she see it on the internet, cuz it's definitely on my Instagram. But I don't think my mom was even on Instagram at the time. But I was like, she gonna see it, probably. So I needed to just tell her that I'm cursing.

• 31:59Speaker 02

  What was that conversation like?

• 32:01Speaker 01

  I was like, Mama, uh.

• 32:03Speaker 02

  Got some news for you.

• 32:04Speaker 01

  I wanna rap. And she was like, really? And I was like, yeah. And I was like, well, don't whoop me.

• 32:11Speaker 02

  Let's start there.

• 32:12Speaker 01

  But I'm cursing. And she was like, what you saying?

• 32:17Speaker 01

  And I was going hard. I was like, okay, Mama, for real, don't be mad. Cuz I was, I was talking crazy.

• 32:25Speaker 01

  Like, my mama had me grow up listening to Pimp C, Bun B.

• 32:29Speaker 02

  So you knew.

• 32:29Speaker 01

  Three Six Mafia.

• 32:30Speaker 02

  It's like, come on.

• 32:31Speaker 01

  Don't get, don't be confused about where this came from. You, like, so when I let her hear what I was rapping, what I was rapping about, she was like, who is this? Where did you learn how to talk like that? Mind you. She is the rapper and she's also cursing. But we definitely were not talking about the same thing.

• 32:53Speaker 01

  I definitely was, I was probably her on ten. And once she figured out I could rap, like, we both would like, get in the car when we were going places and we'll be freestyling in the car together. Yes, and I just wanted to be better than her at rapping. So I was, that was my competition, my mom was my competition. But she was also like my biggest supporter. I just wanted to make her proud. And I wanted her to know I'm serious about this and I really can do it. And I'm really good at it, so. And I wanted her to know I'm serious. So I started trying to go to the studio by myself. And that wasn't, that wasn't really working out that well. I was getting places, I was doing things. But when I told my mom, and she knew I started going to the studio by myself, she was like, girl, you are a young woman trying to be in the studio by yourself.

• 33:37Speaker 01

  I'm taking you to the studio and I'm gonna be your manager if this is really what you wanna do. And then ever since then, it's just been, it was just us two.

• 33:44Speaker 00

  Now, was your mom hesitant about you going to the studio on your own because of the environment? Or what was she worried about?

• 33:55Speaker 01

  Now being who I am and seeing what can go on in the studio. I know that she definitely was like, you are not going anywhere. Nineteen, eighteen, in the studio with a bunch of guys by yourself. I'm coming. Yeah, and at first I would go to the studio and it's me and my mom. I'm like, oh my gosh, she's cramping my style. My mom is in the studio, everybody trying to sit up straight. Nobody's doing regular studio things. But I was fine with that. I was like, my mom is up here, nobody better mess with me. We came here to do our work and I'm gone. But I try to keep that same etiquette too. Even now, when I go to the studio, I know exactly what I'm about to say. Even if I, sometimes I go in there and I freestyle and I spend more time in there. But learning from my mom, she would probably have six songs written

• 34:40Speaker 01

  cuz studio time costs money. So she using her time wisely. She didn't come in here to play. She not messing around, she's not relaxing, she's not hanging out.

• 34:48Speaker 00

  She was a professional.

• 34:49Speaker 01

  Yes. So I still do the same thing in the studio.

• 34:52Speaker 00

  So she taught you how to be a professional, yeah.

• 34:54Speaker 01

  And even though I can relax in the studio at this point, it's just been in me so long to go to the studio and get my work done. And get out.

• 35:02Speaker 00

  Well, this is what we talk about, the process. Like, a lot of people want the fame without the hard work that goes into it, right?

• 35:10Speaker 01

  I mean, honestly, it's a little bit easier to do that though now. You can go viral on Instagram and have a terrible song. And just boom, famous.

• 35:21Speaker 00

  Though, you don't last that way, do you?

• 35:25Speaker 01

  Sometimes, and sometimes not. Like, just the internet has made it really easy to be famous. Good or bad. So I think when people, I think you can tell the difference between people who really love what they do and people who just wanna be famous. Yeah. And like, I feel like I fall on the side of I really love what I do.

• 35:52Speaker 00

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• 39:40Speaker 02

  Did you have to learn how to be in and out of your different personas? I mean, I just think about, you were, you were one kid at your granny's house, and then you were another kid, you know, when you went home, you know? Were you doing that throughout life? Like, were you one kid in school? Were you another when you were a rapper? I mean, were you even bifurcating like that? Did you, did you know that was going on?

• 40:06Speaker 01

  I think unintentionally, like, I'm the kind of person who shows up for everybody in the way that they need.

• 40:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:15Speaker 01

  So I think maybe my mom and dad needed me to show up this kind of way at home.

• 40:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:21Speaker 01

  And then my grandma needed a baby. So I'm, I'm letting her baby me over here. At school, I'm this kind of friend. As a, as an artist, I'm this kind of artist. Like, I feel like I'm, I just am able to, like, get in pockets of what I feel like people need from me. And I've been doing it for a long time.

• 40:40Speaker 02

  Is that exhausting?

• 40:42Speaker 01

  Sometimes, yes.

• 40:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 40:46Speaker 02

  So what do you need for you?

• 40:48Speaker 01

  I don't know. I'm still figuring that out.

• 40:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:53Speaker 01

  I don't know. That's a really good question. I'm still working through that.

• 40:57Speaker 01

  Like, some days, I wake up and, the, the one thing I know that I like to do is make music.

• 41:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:01Speaker 01

  It's my favorite thing. I can't, I'm, I don't want to change that.

• 41:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:06Speaker 01

  Everything else, I'm still figuring out.

• 41:08Speaker 00

  Can an old guy like me be a hottie?

• 41:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 41:13Speaker 01

  The way the question was asked.

• 41:17Speaker 01

  Like, that's the rule. I'm like, I don't know.

• 41:21Speaker 01

  Yes, of course. Like, hotties can be hot boys, hot girls, hot everybody, hot people. Like, a hottie is just a hot person and a person that like Megan Thee Stallion. That's all you gotta do, just like me.

• 41:33Speaker 02

  What would we have to do to hot him up, though?

• 41:35Speaker 01

  You don't think he hot?

• 41:37Speaker 02

  You know, I told him, I told him he could take off his T-shirt and button that down.

• 41:41Speaker 01

  It's not buttoned.

• 41:42Speaker 02

  Right.

• 41:44Speaker 01

  He already unbuttoned. He knew what type of time he was on today. Hot boy.

• 41:49Speaker 02

  Hot boy.

• 41:49Speaker 01

  Hot man.

• 41:50Speaker 02

  Hot boy.

• 41:52Speaker 00

  Oh, Aaron, my, my youngest would be loving this.

• 41:55Speaker 01

  Yes. Where's Aaron?

• 41:57Speaker 00

  He's just going into high school.

• 41:58Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 42:00Speaker 02

  So this is business, Megan, because you had the brilliance of, of trademarking?

• 42:06Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 42:07Speaker 02

  Hot girl, summer. That was like, tell, tell us about that idea. And how in your young, your young life, did you kind of go, wait a minute?

• 42:16Speaker 01

  This is my thing. Um, so sometimes I feel like in just being awesome and black, you know, we, we do so many things that are cool and just so impactful on the culture. We start a lot of trends. Just, we just are trendsetters, you know? So I, I feel like when I first started saying hot girl summer, and everybody was like, yes, like, I love that, I want that, I, how do I be a part of this? How do I get in? It was just already so big. It just started being everywhere. Like, I would see Hot Girl Grill or Hot, Hot This Summer, Hot That, and I'd be like, wait a minute.

• 42:56Speaker 02

  Excuse me.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  Hold on. Now, Chipotle.

• 43:02Speaker 01

  This is definitely my thing. So if, if you want to be an extension of hot anything, it's Megan Thee Stallion. So y'all just gonna remember that every time. You gotta come ask me to use it.

• 43:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:12Speaker 01

  You know who to call.

• 43:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  I feel like it's just important to have a handle on your name, your brand, your likeness. And luckily, I just have such amazing management. Like, they see things before I see it sometimes. And just being with Roc Nation, like, I feel like they are just, they just have helped me be so business-minded. They have let me know the world is bigger than what I thought it was. I could be a lot of things I'd never even thought of being. So just maybe since 2019, just being a part of the culture and being a part of Roc Nation, like, my business mind has just expanded so much. And just shout out to Desiree Perez, because that's the woman who definitely, like, took me in

• 43:58Speaker 01

  and started helping me and guided me through being Megan Thee Stallion in these past years.

• 44:03Speaker 00

  And you own all your own music and all of that stuff.

• 44:06Speaker 02

  That's so good.

• 44:07Speaker 01

  That's such a blessing.

• 44:09Speaker 00

  And, and, you know, I'm just new to this whole show business stuff, but can you talk a little bit about how you accomplished that feat?

• 44:16Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah. So when I first ever, like, in, entered the music industry and started getting signed to any kind of label or doing label deals or meetings and all the things, it was just me and my mom. And all I knew was, I wanted to help my mom and pay her bills. I didn't want my mom to struggle. So in, in my mind, I was like, oh, my gosh, I have to hurry up and sign something so I could help me and my mom. Like, we gotta, we gotta get out this department. So I think like every, well, I'm not gonna say, I'm not gonna say every, I'm not gonna speak for everybody. But I think for a lot of young artists, I could speak to wanting to have something. Because you, you're coming from just being broke.

• 44:59Speaker 01

  And, and you want to help everybody you can help. I think that's the position I was in. I didn't sign, like, such a great deal. And I was so miserable ever since then. Like, I definitely had some good times. But like, the bigger you get as an artist, like, the more your name means, the more your likeness means, the more your music means. And it's hard having somebody basically own you.

• 45:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:24Speaker 01

  And sometimes it could be these phases where you don't even feel like making music. Like, it feels like you, for me, it felt like I was doing it all for nothing. Somebody talking to me crazy, somebody telling me what I can and can't put out, somebody trying to control my artistry, I just was not having fun. Like, I was like, if this is what music is turning into, I don't want to do it. So luckily, I was able to, you know, get out of this deal. And ever since then, I was like, I don't ever want to be in a position where I feel like somebody has their foot on my neck. I don't ever want to be in a position where I feel like somebody can openly disrespect me and be like, yeah, go get on their stage after this, or yeah, put out this music. Or actually, no, you can't put out music. I never wanted to be in a position where I feel like somebody owned me. So everything that I've done, like, going forward, has been Hot Girl Productions,

• 46:09Speaker 01

  my own label, in partnership with somebody else.

• 46:13Speaker 02

  When I, I think about that a lot, when I see more female entertainers embracing themselves and their power. And I always wonder, knowing the industry, it's like, whoa, whoa, is that, is that the saying, or is that actually happening? You know, you, you know what I mean? Like, are we, are we in charge?

• 46:35Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 46:36Speaker 02

  Or are we in charge, right? Because I think about videos that are, you know, sexually explicit. I was like, well, whose, whose idea was that? Was that, who, are you, is one thing if it's the artist's idea.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:48Speaker 02

  But then I'm like, are there times when it isn't? And I know you've pushed through that, but, you know, what do you see in the industry when it comes to, you know, female empowerment, you know? It's like, are we in power, or?

• 47:04Speaker 01

  You know, or is that what you're supposed to say?

• 47:06Speaker 02

  Is that what we're supposed to say?

• 47:08Speaker 01

  I feel like it's, it's tricky. Because for me, I've always been really expressive, okay? Like, I've always known exactly what I wanted. So any situation I walked into, like, I might not have had all of the knowledge that I have now. But I definitely would put my foot down about who I was and who, what I wanted to look like and who I want to be and what my message is. I feel like I was always pretty clear about that. So I didn't walk into any situation where anybody had to build the person I was. Like, I already came here, Megan Thee Stallion. So is y'all gonna hop on this train or what?

• 47:45Speaker 02

  This is what it is.

• 47:47Speaker 01

  This is who I am, right. And I feel like maybe in some instances, with a lot of artists, not just girls, not just women, some artists don't know who they are or what message they're trying to convey, or how they want to be seen or perceived. They just know that they can do music, or they have this talent or this skill, and all they know is they have that. And when you're really young doing it, it take a while for you to find yourself. But luckily, I was able to have my mom at the time and, and my grandmothers. And just, just being brought up the way I was, I already knew who I was when I came in the industry.

• 48:29Speaker 01

  I didn't have all the knowledge I have now, but I already knew who I was. So I think it's easy to get in a situation when you're trying to figure out who you are as an artist, and you start listening to what everybody at the table has to say, you start listening to what the internet has to say, and you let other people build your personality. So you're gonna go through a few phases. You're gonna go through a few things that you maybe look back on and be like, now, why did I do that? And that was, that's so not me. But I feel like sometimes you have to give, like, some of, some artists grace, because they're trying to figure it out, but unfortunately, they're doing it at everybody's face.

• 49:02Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 49:03Speaker 01

  I feel like I didn't go through that as, like, an artist. I went through that as a person. Like, when my mom passed away, I immediately still was having to be Megan Thee Stallion. And so I'm, I'm literally trying to figure out how to grieve, how to perform, how to go through everything I'm going through and still. Do it in front of everybody.

• 49:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:22Speaker 01

  So I think a lot of artists are going through finding themselves in front of a lot of people. And they don't, you know, we don't get to get the grace as a, as a public figure, as somebody in their normal life would be, you know, like you, you're not on camera 24/7, nobody's checking your social media 24/7 to see what you're doing. Of course you bumping your head and nobody knows about it. Like you, you could pretend to be perfect because we don't know what's going on. But when you are a person that's in the public, ah, whatever you do is, that's a magnifying glass over the top of it. So I just feel like sometimes we gotta give people a little grace because they figuring it out too.

• 49:59Speaker 02

  For sure. How have you managed it? I mean, how are you learning to manage, manage it? What, what are some real clear do's and don'ts? Let me just tell you one thing I learned. I just can't take it in, you know? It's like, I, I have social media, I've got followers, all that sort of stuff, but I don't, I don't have it on my phone.

• 50:19Speaker 01

  Same.

• 50:20Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 50:20Speaker 01

  I had to get there.

• 50:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:22Speaker 01

  Um, so I definitely had to realize, okay, what, what is triggering me? What upsets me? What's making me feel sad? And how can I, how can I control my own emotions? I can't control other people's emotions. I can't control what they say. Um, I definitely had to start coming to the realization, if somebody has chosen not to like you, there's nothing you're gonna be able to do or say to make them like you. Like every day I would think, dang, everybody hates me. Okay, what can I do to make it better? Like what, what can I say? Like, how can I be, what can, how can I dress? What, what can I do to make people like me? And then it just started really clicking over time, like it don't matter what you do. Like you could look your best, you could feel your best, you could deliver your best speech, you could deliver your best song, your best performance. If somebody doesn't like you, they're just not gonna like you.

• 51:06Speaker 01

  And they might not even per se not like you. But if, if people on the internet, people on the internet are gonna talk regardless. People are gonna have their opinion, there's nothing you can do about it. But you wanna know what I can't control? Not having it on my phone. I don't have to see it. Like I don't have Twitter, I don't have Instagram on my phone. Um, the two apps I have on my phone is Pinterest and TikTok. And I, and I

• 51:28Speaker 01

  I have a lot of puzzle apps on my phone.

• 51:30Speaker 02

  Me too, games.

• 51:31Speaker 01

  A lot of cooking games, I got every game you could think of on my phone. And my whole TikTok algorithm is like aliens and Frenchies, French Bulldogs, um,

• 51:42Speaker 02

  And I don't even have, I don't even have TikTok. People will send me something.

• 51:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:47Speaker 02

  And then I can see it for a second.

• 51:49Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 51:49Speaker 02

  And that's about enough because if I really like it, then I would be, that's what I'd be doing all day.

• 51:55Speaker 01

  I feel like I get a lot of my food videos from TikTok.

• 51:58Speaker 02

  See, I'm glad I don't have that.

• 51:59Speaker 01

  I gotta keep TikTok. And sometimes I'll go down a rabbit hole and be like, girl, get off this. But luckily TikTok is one of the, the apps where your algorithm is so curated to you.

• 52:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:10Speaker 01

  Like I just see what I wanna see.

• 52:12Speaker 02

  It's the joy.

• 52:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, if you go look for something bad, then it's still popping up on algorithm. I had to learn that too. I was like, why am I seeing this? Get this off my

• 52:19Speaker 02

  Well, it's a good message for the hotties out there. It's like, you know, because you've learned the lessons.

• 52:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:26Speaker 02

  And that's, it, you don't have to be Meg Thee Stallion or, or Michelle Obama. It's true. It's the same thing is true for all young people trying to find themselves and relying too much on what their phone says.

• 52:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:39Speaker 02

  You know, it's like, it's, it's gotta be a part of being a hot girl. It's like, let it go, put it down, don't take it in, you know? It's not real. It's not true. It's not a clear reflection of anything other than what somebody happened to be going through when they said something horrible.

• 52:56Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh.

• 52:56Speaker 02

  You know, and you can't psychoanalyze everybody and everything, so.

• 53:00Speaker 01

  I feel like it's easier said than done.

• 53:02Speaker 02

  It is easier said than done, which is why we have to keep saying it.

• 53:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:07Speaker 02

  You know, cuz it is true. You found it, even though it's easier said than done, you found that by doing it.

• 53:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:13Speaker 02

  You've earned back more of your sanity.

• 53:16Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 53:17Speaker 02

  I know I, I do, you know? And they still say crazy stuff about me, you know?

• 53:23Speaker 01

  You wanna know what's crazy? So like from the outside looking in, um, when I see, I, I, both of us can probably relate to this. I see so much positive Michelle Obama content because that's what I'm looking for. Like that's what I wanna see. My algorithm is curated to say positive things about Michelle Obama. Like I love that Michelle Obama's a tall queen. I love everything that she does in the, in the health space. She be dressed, have y'all seen what Michelle Obama had on today? Like, you know, this, these are the like, these are the things that I see, like positive things. But then for some reason, when it's you yourself seeing things, it's always something horrible. Like I never see bad things.

• 54:06Speaker 01

  Like it'll be like a trickle here and now, I'll be like, oh, this is hate, this is hatin'. Like if you, if you hate no Michelle Obama, like

• 54:13Speaker 02

  But when it's you, it's the same thing.

• 54:16Speaker 01

  But people tell me that too, and I'll be like, what do you mean? I'm seeing it all the time.

• 54:19Speaker 02

  That's right, that's right.

• 54:20Speaker 01

  It is a lot of Meg Thee Stallion hate. And then my manager be like, girl, what part of the internet are you on?

• 54:32Speaker 00

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• 59:34Speaker 02

  Can you be outside of a bubble yet? I mean, is your life bubblefy?

• 59:41Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 59:42Speaker 02

  So what are some of your escapes? Speaking as a bubbled up person.

• 59:49Speaker 01

  As another bubble community member.

• 59:51Speaker 02

  As another bubble community. How are you breaking out of your bubble?

• 1:00:01Speaker 01

  You know what? Like recently, I've tried to start like going back out like publicly more again. Like even if it's as simple as going to dinner.

• 1:00:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:13Speaker 01

  It was a point in life, I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to go anywhere. I don't want to be filmed eating. I don't want to be filmed getting coffee. I don't want to be filmed talking to people like just, just bye, I'm not going outside. And I would be like a vampire in my room in the dark all the time until I had to go do, until I had to go be social.

• 1:00:32Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:00:33Speaker 01

  But like I feel like my glam team, like a lot of them are, my best friend is my hairstylist. So like even as, yeah.

• 1:00:42Speaker 02

  Kellen.

• 1:00:43Speaker 01

  Even as simple as going to dinner with Kellen or like Ferris, T. Ferris is like, like a brother at this point. And will maybe take all my dogs out on the walk or something like just, just simple things like. So I'm starting to do the simple things again. Cause I definitely was in my head for a long time. I was not in a good space. I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to be seen. I didn't want to talk to nobody until I had to just turn into Megan Thee Stallion. But now I'm doing more Megan things.

• 1:01:09Speaker 02

  How does that feel?

• 1:01:10Speaker 01

  I feel better. Like I feel a little less heavy.

• 1:01:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:14Speaker 01

  Like everything is not so serious all the time. I was like, I'm not using my 24 hours like as, as fun as I could be. Let's go to Iceland or something. Yeah, just wake up and do whatever. Like I, I can do this.

• 1:01:26Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  So why am I being boring?

• 1:01:28Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:01:29Speaker 01

  I'm looking at people travel on TikTok and I'm like, I can do this. Go out there, go eat.

• 1:01:33Speaker 02

  And that's the thing you have to learn. Like becoming famous, you know, who teaches you that?

• 1:01:41Speaker 01

  There's no class.

• 1:01:42Speaker 02

  There's no class on that. There's no class on even to expect that that's gonna happen to you.

• 1:01:46Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:01:47Speaker 02

  You know, everybody's all picturing the convertible, going down Sunset Boulevard and you got your music on. When you're famous, you can't do that.

• 1:01:55Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:01:55Speaker 02

  You don't even want to ride in a car. It's like I just started driving. I just for the first time drove in a car with my daughters by ourselves.

• 1:02:05Speaker 01

  What?

• 1:02:06Speaker 02

  That was my, their Mother's Day gift for me and I could cry, right? Cause they, they don't live in a bubble as you've seen. And one of the, and one of the reasons is like they did.

• 1:02:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:17Speaker 02

  And they will, they don't want it. Like they don't want parts of it. So you, so they are doing what you're doing. You just gotta push through.

• 1:02:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:25Speaker 02

  You know, you just gotta do some, you gotta do the things and then you'll get practice at it. But for my Mother's Day gift, I was in LA and we were gonna go to Palm Springs. So they surprised me and arranged for me to ride in the car with them.

• 1:02:39Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:02:39Speaker 02

  So Sasha drove, Malia was in the back.

• 1:02:42Speaker 01

  And how did you feel about being a mom in the passenger seat?

• 1:02:45Speaker 02

  It was good. I mean Sasha was a good driver. I'd never driven with her cause we didn't, we couldn't drive with them when we were in, well, I still can't. I mean, we are driven, we are secured in a motorcade, right? So I, they didn't learn how to drive for me. They learned how to drive from their agents, right?

• 1:03:03Speaker 01

  Okay, yes.

• 1:03:04Speaker 02

  So they, they were, they were taught well. But I'd never experienced that. So that like freedom, we drove from LA to Palm Springs. We went to In-N-Out Burger, the drive-through.

• 1:03:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, I bet the people in the drive-through was like, girl, you wouldn't believe.

• 1:03:18Speaker 02

  They didn't even know. Cause it was like they weren't expecting it. I had on a hat, Sasha order, we went and got McDonald's french fries.

• 1:03:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:03:26Speaker 02

  We stopped.

• 1:03:27Speaker 00

  Wait, you didn't, you didn't have In-N-Out french fries?

• 1:03:29Speaker 02

  No, because I hadn't had McDonald's french fries in a while. So they were like, well, let's go to.

• 1:03:34Speaker 01

  First of all, you gotta eat In-N-Out french fries out the fryer.

• 1:03:36Speaker 02

  Right, you know?

• 1:03:37Speaker 01

  By the time they get in the car, it's a piece of paper. In-N-Out gotta be eaten right then.

• 1:03:44Speaker 02

  There you go. But that was like, I'm 62 years old. My kids, yes, child.

• 1:03:50Speaker 01

  Oh, come on.

• 1:03:52Speaker 02

  But that's like starting to put some normal back into it. It's just like a simple car ride.

• 1:03:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:58Speaker 02

  That's like joy, that's gratitude, that's happiness.

• 1:04:01Speaker 00

  So tell us about Megan, Act Three.

• 1:04:04Speaker 01

  I'm still working on my title right now. It's, it's a persona that I feel like everybody has been acting like, oh, I want Tina Snow back. I want, we need Tina Snow. I don't think she ever just actually left. I don't think she was never, just not there. But I think giving her a proper rollout, a proper title, a reintroduction to, to hotties that may not have been with me since 2017, 2018. I think that this is like gonna be a new experience for them. I think I'm just reintroducing my alter ego, Tina Snow. Like Tina is grown now, babe. Like she has been through lots of, lots of life since y'all heard from her last.

• 1:04:49Speaker 01

  And I have so many collaborations that I feel like the hotties have been asking me for, like from niche collaborations, like just like personal interests amongst me and the hotties. Collaborations that's overdue, collaborations that are shock the people, like really gag the lives.

• 1:05:06Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  It's just, I feel like Act Three is gonna be one of my favorite projects I ever put out because I definitely took my time with this one. I feel like it was a portion of life where I was so super busy. I still gotta be Megan Thee Stallion, but I can't be Megan Thee Stallion without no music. So I was in a rush to like do everything. I was like, dang, I gotta hurry up and record these songs. And I'm trying to figure out parts of time where I can squeeze in recording. But for Act Three, I went home and I was like, nobody bother me. I gotta finish my album. Y'all want good music? Y'all want me to push? I can't keep on going out here with no music, y'all. And I was like, okay, you know what? Leave her alone. Let's not put anything on the schedule. So this, this has been like the most organized and the most calm I've been making music in a while.

• 1:05:50Speaker 02

  But let me just say, you were on Broadway.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. I was definitely writing music during Broadway. You know what, yeah.

• 1:05:57Speaker 02

  That's a little crazy. It's like they left me alone, but then I did live Broadway.

• 1:06:02Speaker 01

  And then they left me alone again. Broadway was like so much fun. Like I am committing myself to at least going to two Broadway shows every year.

• 1:06:10Speaker 02

  I, I do it at least once a quarter. I'm gonna go, I went just, I missed you and I would have, if I could have got myself together, I would have gone to see you specifically, but maybe we.

• 1:06:23Speaker 01

  The Moulin Rouge was just such an amazing experience. Meeting all of those people, like I feel like I made so many really, really good friends. Two shows a day, two times a week.

• 1:06:36Speaker 02

  That's crazy.

• 1:06:37Speaker 01

  And you get one day off, which is Monday.

• 1:06:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:06:41Speaker 01

  I'm like, y'all are superheroes. And I feel like I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to have this kind of work ethic. Like those people are up there busting they butt every day, every night.

• 1:06:50Speaker 02

  Twice a day. Real, real live talent.

• 1:06:54Speaker 01

  We doing this for real. I'll be like, I'll see you in a few hours.

• 1:06:58Speaker 02

  What was it like your fir, your opening night? I mean, was, like I always, like I do a lot of stuff. I speak, all that, but I look at Broadway, I was like, how do you, how do you do it? What does that feel like?

• 1:07:09Speaker 01

  I was very nervous because I can be Megan Thee Stallion, I could be Megan Pete all day long. I was neither one of those people. And I was like, you, who am I? What you want me to say? Like I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this. But I'm gonna do it, but I'm scared.

• 1:07:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:07:26Speaker 01

  So my first night, I was just like, please just remember the lines. And if you mess up, just please keep talking to these people. Y'all pick me up, help me. If I say something wrong, you knew what I meant. But I, we, the show was smooth all the way through. I didn't mess up any of my lines, thank God. The hotties would be in the crowd and they would be laughing at the most craziest times. And I'll be like, Sateen is dying, like this is not funny. Sateen has 30 minutes. And the hotties would be up there like really clowning. So I feel like they, they definitely made the experience like so much better. Cause they felt like I was performing in front of a bunch of my friends every night. A bunch of my friends, my cousins, like just, and a lot of people did come to see me.

• 1:08:10Speaker 01

  So like, I don't know, I felt very, I felt comfortable immediately. And then like the people who were a part of production.

• 1:08:19Speaker 01

  They need, I want to hire them to come over here.

• 1:08:21Speaker 02

  Professionals, they just do it.

• 1:08:22Speaker 01

  On my tour.

• 1:08:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:08:23Speaker 01

  I had never felt so carried through everything. Like, running backstage, before I had to run onstage sometimes, I'd be like, okay, this is my line. Like, we'll be, me and the production man is back there, running the line before I gotta go back onstage. And I'm like, how you know my line? Shout out to Jason. Jason, I miss you.

• 1:08:41Speaker 02

  Way to go, Jason.

• 1:08:42Speaker 01

  But he would be in the back like, okay, girl, what you want to say? What should I say?

• 1:08:46Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:08:47Speaker 01

  But like, and it'll be literally right before I have to go right back onstage. I don't know, everybody there was just so nice and they definitely made me realize, okay, I need to step it up.

• 1:08:55Speaker 02

  Would you do it again?

• 1:08:56Speaker 01

  I would do it again.

• 1:08:56Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 1:08:57Speaker 01

  Because I want, I want that Tony.

• 1:08:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, okay, okay, okay.

• 1:09:01Speaker 01

  That's on my list of things I need.

• 1:09:03Speaker 02

  And that's what you were doing when you were taking it easy.

• 1:09:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:06Speaker 02

  Was my point.

• 1:09:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was my taking it easy. But I don't even know why I thought that was gonna be easy.

• 1:09:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:09:13Speaker 01

  I encourage everybody to go to New York, or wherever your nearest theater is. And I don't care what it is, you need to go watch.

• 1:09:22Speaker 02

  That's some real talent.

• 1:09:23Speaker 01

  Whoever is on that stage, because there's so many talented people.

• 1:09:26Speaker 02

  People we never heard of.

• 1:09:27Speaker 01

  Yes, and they're working so hard.

• 1:09:30Speaker 02

  And they're so good at what they do.

• 1:09:31Speaker 01

  Yes, it's such an experience. So I highly encourage people to go support the theater.

• 1:09:37Speaker 02

  Well, congratulations. Thank you for taking that risk.

• 1:09:39Speaker 01

  Yes, I was so nervous. I had never done anything like that before, but now I'm like, yeah, what else y'all want me to do?

• 1:09:44Speaker 02

  That's what I was about to say. You, you, you, put your cape on.

• 1:09:48Speaker 01

  Yes, they had me up there singing. I said, oh my gosh, then they wanted me to sing Chandelier. I was looking at everybody like, who about to sing this?

• 1:09:56Speaker 01

  But y'all think I can sing? And they was like, you can sing. I was like, I love, I'm, I'm, I can do a lot of things.

• 1:10:03Speaker 01

  If I put my mind to it, I can do it, but let's see how it sound. And I was able to put my own spin on it, and I think it was very entertaining. And, you know, I thought about what my mom would say. She would be like, you better get out there and get on that, you better get on that stage. Yes, and you better.

• 1:10:17Speaker 02

  Don't go out there.

• 1:10:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, don't go out there to embarrass me. So I was thinking like, dang, what, how could I make this be Megan? Like, it's Ziegler, but how can I make it Megan? And I just had fun every night.

• 1:10:27Speaker 02

  The Tony opening.

• 1:10:29Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:10:30Speaker 02

  I mean, the opening number, oh, man.

• 1:10:32Speaker 01

  So iconic, I was like, y'all got me up here with Pink.

• 1:10:34Speaker 02

  You, it was a, it was a killer opening.

• 1:10:36Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:10:37Speaker 02

  And you, you held it down, girl.

• 1:10:39Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:10:39Speaker 02

  You held it down. Is there another bucket list thing?

• 1:10:44Speaker 01

  I'm really like wanting to take my artistry bigger. Like, I don't only want to do music, I do want to get into acting. I do, that's just something I really want to pursue right now. Like, I'm trying to figure out what, what space do I fit in? What do I do next? Like, so you know, Queen Latifah is my girl, and I'm definitely like a student of hers.

• 1:11:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:07Speaker 01

  And luckily, I'm also a friend of hers now. And I always gotta give her her flowers because she is just so inspirational, yes. And I'm like, okay, Queen Latifah, this is, this is my route. This is who, this is my, this is who I'm modeling this after.

• 1:11:22Speaker 00

  Well, you know, Megan, we try and offer some advice to our listeners.

• 1:11:26Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:11:27Speaker 00

  By letting our listeners ask a question.

• 1:11:31Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:11:32Speaker 00

  So we have a question for you.

• 1:11:34Speaker 01

  For me?

• 1:11:35Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:11:36Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:11:36Speaker 00

  From Gigi, who's in California.

• 1:11:39Speaker 01

  Okay, Gigi.

• 1:11:40Speaker 03

  Hi, Mrs. Obama and Craig, my name is Gigi. I'm 35 years old and have been working out on and off for 10 years. Lately, I've noticed changes in my body where it's a bit harder to lose weight than it used to be. I'm very proud of what my body has accomplished over these years, but I can't help feeling frustrated with these changes. Your dedication to fitness has been so inspiring. What are some realistic approaches for maintaining your fitness motivation, especially on days when you don't want to? How do you maintain your health as you get older?

• 1:12:12Speaker 02

  Well, uh, Gigi. It's like, well, and Gigi and everybody. It's like, I tried to all my young people, I don't know if you started to see this because you're still 12. But 12 and a half, maybe.

• 1:12:26Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:12:26Speaker 02

  But every decade, at least for a woman, I found that it just got harder. You know, you're just hormonal, hormonal changes, what? So it's like, each decade, who, what your health sort of baseline is, changes, you know? And what it takes to maintain it changes. Like, when I was in my twenties, I could eat what I wanted, not work out, do whatever I wanted, and maybe I'd gain two pounds, right? Right? Hit 30, and it's just like, oh dang.

• 1:12:58Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:12:58Speaker 02

  Well, why, why, why won't, why won't these two pounds just go away like they did, right? And then, talk about 40, you know, or talk, don't mention having a baby and what that does. So, as women, we are just evolving.

• 1:13:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, constantly.

• 1:13:15Speaker 02

  Constantly.

• 1:13:16Speaker 01

  Getting better like wine, though.

• 1:13:18Speaker 02

  It's getting better like wine, but we have to be mindful of it, right? That's, that's, that's the sort of the beginning. So it's like, Gigi, you're not crazy. It does change, and it's, it's part of our journey. And so for me, I've, I've had to kind of first understand my baseline, sort of who, who, what, what am I when I'm healthy?

• 1:13:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:13:40Speaker 02

  What does that mean, you know? You know, is that, is that physical strength? Is that, you know, is that weight? Is that how my clothes fit? You know, understanding what, how do I feel? Am I sleeping well? Am I feeling tired? Do I feel grumpy? All of that. And I think as a woman, not I think everybody, but as a woman, we gotta get in touch with those baseline feelings. So that means we have to be quiet enough and give ourselves time to kind of figure that out. You know, because it's like, if we don't know what, when we're right, then how do we know when we're off?

• 1:14:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:14:17Speaker 02

  So, I guess my point is, Gigi, it's a process, start it now. And that's what I do. It's just like, it's just a part of my, my world. You've just started getting, or have you just started getting full? How would you describe your, your fitness journey?

• 1:14:34Speaker 01

  But the way that I went on my fitness journey wasn't like I had a, a real body goal. Like, I got into fitness for my mental health. So I think like, when I, when I see people, when I see women online and men comparing their bodies to people they see online, just things that are pretty unrealistic, things, having these fitness goals for the wrong reasons. Like, I definitely, if anybody asks me about working out, I say, well, okay, you have to figure out what your goal is and why that's your goal. Like, if you want to have this shape because you want people to think you're attractive, like, that's probably

• 1:15:15Speaker 01

  why you're not being consistent in the gym, that's probably why you're not happy with your body, because you're not doing it for yourself. You're doing it because you want people to like you or give you an approval. When, and it's unrealistic to do that because, first of all, somebody's always gonna have something to say. You could work out as much as you want to, you're not gonna look like the person who is your body goals, because that's their body. You don't know what they put themselves through to look the way that they look. Everybody's body don't respond to the same diet. Everybody's bodies don't respond to the same exercises. Everybody's body is different. So if you working out and you have like these goals, just so other people can think that you're attractive, I guess,

• 1:15:57Speaker 01

  like, it's just never gonna work out, because you're gonna be upset when you don't see a result right away. Like, working out is like discipline over your mood. Like, I go to the gym even when I don't want to. I'm going to the gym when I'm sad. I'm going to the gym when I'm mad, I need to run, I need to lift something up, I need to punch something. I'm going to the gym so in my mind I can feel better. And then eventually, when I started seeing a change in my body, I was like, oh my God, wait.

• 1:16:24Speaker 01

  Wait, I see. And I, I feel good. So now I'm working out with purpose. Like, I was going because I was just trying to get lost in something else besides whatever thoughts I was having at that moment.

• 1:16:36Speaker 02

  Get out of your vampire lair.

• 1:16:37Speaker 01

  You know? I got out of my lair and I went to the gym, that became my other lair. And then I did start to seeing changes and improvements in my body.

• 1:16:47Speaker 01

  And I didn't, I didn't know what my goal was at first. I didn't know what I wanted to look like. I just wanted to get my body moving and my mind moving. I just wanted to be distracted. Kind of like when you're driving, you are, you can kind of zone out a little bit because you are only focused on the road.

• 1:17:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:17:02Speaker 01

  So when you're in the gym, I feel like it's the same thing. Like, I'm only focused on what I can control in this moment right now. Like, I'm only thinking about these weights. I'm only thinking about finishing this run. I'm only thinking about getting through this Pilates class. This hurts. Like, this is, this is the only thing I'm thinking about. And then eventually, you get in the swing, you get in the mood, and you go home and you're like, girl, I done did all this work. I'm not about to mess this up.

• 1:17:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right.

• 1:17:24Speaker 01

  Like, I, I can have a little bit more discipline because I'm starting to like what I see. I'm starting to like how I feel. And even if it's like a, a slow burn, like, it's, it's, you're not gonna.

• 1:17:34Speaker 02

  Well, that's the best burn, right? The slower the transition, the longer and more sustained it will be. You know, that's the other thing. It's like, quick results don't last.

• 1:17:45Speaker 01

  They don't last.

• 1:17:45Speaker 02

  So you want, you know, you want to be, if you're trying to lose weight, you want to lose a pound. You know, or two.

• 1:17:52Speaker 01

  You need to be kind to yourself and kind to your body, because when you get frustrated, you give up. You don't see something fast enough, you give up. You, you fall off one day, you don't want to get back on, like, it's just, it's, it's, it's not a race.

• 1:18:05Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:18:06Speaker 01

  It's definitely a long, yes, it's a marathon.

• 1:18:08Speaker 02

  I was like, what's the word I'm looking for?

• 1:18:11Speaker 00

  I agree with both of you. And the one thing that I would share with Gigi, because Gigi's saying that she's frustrated with the lack of results. And sometimes that frustration can lead to us kind of depression, because you're like, not getting the results, so you're like, I'm not doing this. And the only, the only thing that I would add to what both of you have said, which so eloquently, is that I have found that having a workout partner, somebody you go with, make it a community. And then when you do get frustrated, you've got a team around you that says, all right, you gotta keep going.

• 1:18:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:18:51Speaker 00

  You know, for me, it's, you know, I've got a family full of people who are like, all right, let's go for a walk. Let's go do this. When you don't feel like doing something. I think it's really important when you've made it a part of your process. When you've made a working out part of your process. In order to keep it going, it can't be a, it can't be a sole endeavor. It can be at times, but in the long run.

• 1:19:18Speaker 02

  Some people are good at that.

• 1:19:19Speaker 00

  Some people are good, but it's not natural for humans to not be social even when they're working out. So that, I can't add too much more to that. Because I grew up as an athlete. So I was trained at a young age to, all right, I gotta get some exercise. And no matter what happens during the day, I gotta get up out of this chair and go for a walk. Or, you know, take the kids to the gym and rebound for them if I'm just doing that.

• 1:19:47Speaker 01

  Pilates has definitely been there for me.

• 1:19:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've been doing a lot of Pilates now. Yeah. Do you do solo or do you do in a class?

• 1:19:57Speaker 01

  I take a class, yeah. And I didn't, I didn't think Pilates was a real thing at first.

• 1:20:02Speaker 02

  It's a thing.

• 1:20:02Speaker 01

  I thought it was a myth. I thought all these ladies was just snatched in just, in yoga pants. I don't know. I was like, girl, tell me how you got those abs. Like, make me understand.

• 1:20:12Speaker 02

  It couldn't be just by doing that one little move.

• 1:20:14Speaker 01

  No, I saw you six months ago and you.

• 1:20:16Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:20:17Speaker 01

  But now you got abs? And my friend was like, um, Pilates. I was like, no way. Like, no way y'all little ladies isn't here strictly doing Pilates. And now y'all ripped up. And I started going to Pilates. I was like, ooh, it hurts.

• 1:20:28Speaker 02

  It does. It does.

• 1:20:30Speaker 01

  It's whooping me.

• 1:20:31Speaker 02

  It is.

• 1:20:32Speaker 01

  So now I'm like a regular at Pilates and I do see a difference in my body. But I'm somebody who has to be stimulated. If I'm gonna take a class, like I need to be moving. I need you to be yelling. I need music. Like, I need intensity. And I feel like the Pilates class I take is very intense.

• 1:20:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:20:49Speaker 01

  They ain't messing around in there.

• 1:20:50Speaker 02

  Yeah. Is it like a solid core?

• 1:20:54Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:20:55Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:20:55Speaker 01

  But actually, I don't know what solid core is. I'm just now getting hip to this new Pilates. And I'm like, okay, so I need to go to New York and I need to go to solid core.

• 1:21:03Speaker 02

  It's a performer kind of class, but it's more intense a lot of times.

• 1:21:08Speaker 01

  Solid core sounds serious.

• 1:21:09Speaker 02

  They do, you know, it's like you're on the mega former. And you like, let's say you hold a plank, but you're gonna hold it for three minutes.

• 1:21:16Speaker 01

  Oh, baby.

• 1:21:17Speaker 02

  And then they're gonna have you crunch in from the holding position and small little movements.

• 1:21:23Speaker 01

  I'm gonna try it.

• 1:21:24Speaker 02

  And you're sweating your butt off and, you know.

• 1:21:28Speaker 01

  I feel like my Pilates class is really intense.

• 1:21:31Speaker 02

  They're all intense.

• 1:21:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:21:32Speaker 02

  That's why it's like they're different types of it.

• 1:21:34Speaker 01

  But solid core sounds like military.

• 1:21:35Speaker 02

  It's, it could be. I think it also depends on who the instructor is and how they run it. You know, when I was doing, I was first lady. And it was when the founder of it started it in DC. And she was, it was a military kind of situation.

• 1:21:50Speaker 01

  Well, yeah, I like stuff like that though.

• 1:21:51Speaker 02

  That's why I was like, you might want to try that.

• 1:21:53Speaker 01

  I already asked my people in New York, can y'all find me a solid core class? But I, on TikTok, I see so many girls talking about solid core. And I'm like, okay, I can do that.

• 1:22:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:22:05Speaker 01

  And everybody's always asking me, what are you training for? Is this something that we don't know about that's going on? No, like, but you never know. You gotta stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

• 1:22:15Speaker 01

  And I feel like the little ladies that are in solid core, whatever's coming up, they ready. So I need to join this.

• 1:22:20Speaker 02

  They are ready.

• 1:22:21Speaker 01

  I need to get a partner.

• 1:22:22Speaker 02

  Well, they, they got a ton of them around here in DC. I know you're not gonna be here for a while, but.

• 1:22:27Speaker 01

  Right after this, I'm going.

• 1:22:28Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:22:28Speaker 01

  I'm leaving.

• 1:22:29Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:22:30Speaker 00

  You can protect me from those aliens.

• 1:22:32Speaker 01

  I'm, I'm gonna, I might need to.

• 1:22:34Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:22:34Speaker 01

  But don't play.

• 1:22:36Speaker 00

  I know, I know.

• 1:22:38Speaker 01

  Cause you know, y'all know about them.

• 1:22:43Speaker 01

  I heard Mr. Obama say something about the aliens.

• 1:22:48Speaker 02

  Well, I'm not even gonna try to clarify what he was saying.

• 1:22:51Speaker 00

  And on that note.

• 1:22:54Speaker 01

  See, y'all don't wanna talk about it.

• 1:22:57Speaker 00

  We have really enjoyed having you on.

• 1:22:59Speaker 01

  Oh, y'all, now they kicking me out.

• 1:23:03Speaker 02

  It's like the minute we get to the national security secrets. Oh, and the brother just cut it off.

• 1:23:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:23:11Speaker 02

  Just cut it off.

• 1:23:12Speaker 01

  And Craig said, we have to go.

• 1:23:13Speaker 02

  A raid.

• 1:23:14Speaker 01

  So that's the hottest that's into aliens like me.

• 1:23:21Speaker 02

  We are not alone. Have you seen Disclosure Day, the movie?

• 1:23:24Speaker 01

  Not yet.

• 1:23:25Speaker 02

  You will enjoy that.

• 1:23:26Speaker 01

  Every movie that, well, I'm a horror movie girl.

• 1:23:28Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:23:29Speaker 01

  So I, that's one thing I do. I take myself to the movies a lot.

• 1:23:32Speaker 02

  Okay, that's good.

• 1:23:33Speaker 01

  I love the movies.

• 1:23:34Speaker 02

  You go to the theater?

• 1:23:35Speaker 01

  I go to the theater.

• 1:23:35Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:23:36Speaker 01

  And I'll be in there, babe.

• 1:23:37Speaker 02

  If you can go to the theater, you can go anywhere.

• 1:23:40Speaker 01

  Kinda.

• 1:23:41Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:23:42Speaker 01

  It's dark in there.

• 1:23:44Speaker 01

  If you ask me for a picture in the movies, you, you wrong.

• 1:23:47Speaker 02

  Well, you know.

• 1:23:48Speaker 01

  You are wrong.

• 1:23:48Speaker 02

  That's like boundary setting.

• 1:23:50Speaker 01

  You in here flashing.

• 1:23:52Speaker 02

  That's right. It's like, don't do this.

• 1:23:53Speaker 01

  They said no cell phones in here.

• 1:23:54Speaker 02

  It's like, don't do that.

• 1:23:55Speaker 01

  Don't do that.

• 1:23:56Speaker 02

  Don't do, but you like Disclosure Day. It's not completely horror, but it's sci-fi. It's gonna.

• 1:24:01Speaker 01

  I'm excited about it.

• 1:24:02Speaker 02

  It's gonna tickle that alien funny bone.

• 1:24:05Speaker 01

  It's my favorite thing to talk about.

• 1:24:06Speaker 02

  And Barack went to one of the filming.

• 1:24:11Speaker 01

  He went to the filming?

• 1:24:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, he went to one day on, on the scene.

• 1:24:14Speaker 01

  I bet he did.

• 1:24:15Speaker 02

  That doesn't mean, unset.

• 1:24:16Speaker 01

  He had to come just to make sure that was accurate.

• 1:24:22Speaker 01

  He said, yeah, that's right. All right, Mr. Spielberg, you got that right.

• 1:24:29Speaker 01

  I knew it, guys.

• 1:24:52Speaker 04

  I'm Emma Greed, host of Aspire with Emma Greed, the podcast where I sit down with people who don't just dream big, they build big. If you love Michelle and Craig on IMO, just wait until you hear their episode on my show. Michelle told me about the moment at 26 when she lost her father and her best friend in the same year. It made her walk away from her corporate law career to figure out her why. That's the kind of conversation you get on Aspire. We talk about mindset, ambition, and doing the work that actually moves the needle. So if you're ready to raise your standards and take charge of the life you're building, Aspire is where you start. Follow and listen to Aspire with me, Emma Greed, available wherever you get your podcasts.