#108 Ciara: How To Manifest Anything (And Win At Life)

You didn't have a safety net growing up. You know, you were kind of like an army kiddo. How did you learn to take this risk, to go big?

You can't get to where you want to get to in life without a compass. And I think the most important thing is just reminding myself the power of speaking life and manifestation. There's something that just happens psychologically for me, and I just start to will myself in that direction. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Now! Grammy Award-winning superstar, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and cultural icon, Ciara. If you're tired of chasing someone else's definition of success and you're ready to design your own. Today we are going to start that journey with you. Has there ever been a moment where you felt like the whole internet hated you? Like you got a ton of hate? Really?

I don't know one great that hasn't been told they can't or hasn't been tried to be knocked down. And I think those moments, like, they make you more bulletproof. It lets you know that you're doing something right, that they have something to say.

It's like, okay, I'm making you feel some kind of way, let me stay the course.

You're going to be challenged. You're going to fall. And when you fall, what do you go to? My faith is the one thing that gives me peace to get things where they need to be and just to stay the course.

What do you think is one of your, like, business superpowers? Like, what are the things you're like, we think about the design this way that nobody else does? Like, what is that for you, do you think?

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So I was going through your bio. Holy hell, not a slouch. Like, you know, 23 million albums sold, probably more now because this is Outdated, all of these companies. Then I see some of your fashion stuff and I was wondering like, is there something that you say to yourself before you go out on a stage to like tens of thousands of people to hype yourself up?

Yeah, I'd probably say a few things. I always pray before I go on the stage. That's a, a, a must do. Even if I'm like rushing to the stage before I go, I can be in my little side, little, you know, silo on the back, on the, in the backstage on the side, like in the wing, literally. And I'm like, get that prayer in. So I'm really big on that. I normally do it with my team, which is always a beautiful thing. And I'm pretty much on time for the most part with stuff like that. But yeah, I would say before I go on stage, you know, I also take a deep breath sometimes. The nerves, depending on the situation, the nerves can be like really high, you know? So I'm like, we got to bring them down. And I'm like, let's go. Like, we got this. Like, You're supposed to be here. Like, God called you here. Let's go, let's go get it. Like, I'll hype myself up inside. Like, you got this. That's probably the most consistent sentence. You got this. Like, let's go. You know?

So you still get nerves?

Oh yeah. Yeah. I do.

That never goes away.

You know, I used to have a rule. I would say, we don't say the nervous, we don't say that word. Cool. There was something psychologically for me that I felt like it could trigger more nerves.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes you get that fresh nervous feeling all over again. I'm like, why do I feel this way? God, I've been doing this a lot now and why does it feel new? You know, all over again. And I remember being on, um, Jenna Bush, you know, co-hosting some shows with her. And she said to me, I love, she said, you know, those nerves are like what lets you know, like, you know, like you're thriving. Like it's like a feeling that you get, like it's, you know, like you're alive. Like it's something to those nerves. Like something good's gonna happen when you have that feeling. Yeah. So I've, I really worked and I continually work at like embracing when I'm having that moment, like, okay, it's a part of it. Like, we got this. And then literally whenever I hit the stage, the first 3 seconds or 3 to 5 seconds, nerves are gone and now we're in the zone. Yeah.

I do feel like that. I, you know, I always think pressure is a privilege.

Yes.

And so like recognizing those little butterflies, like this means it's game on.

Yeah.

Like at least we're doing something big now. We're not playing small.

There we go.

I like that. Which I think is so cool.

Yeah.

I've never done anything like you have, but I've given a bad speech before, where I just know it's bad. And it hasn't happened that much, which is so cool, or I'm not aware of it yet. But I'll get off, and it's such a horrifying feeling. Have you ever bombed a performance and thought, ah, this was so bad? And then what do you do to snap out of it after you've, quote unquote, failed?

Performance? I've definitely had some moments where I'm like, man, that could have been better. I wish I had one more take. You know, I think it's like you kind of have to, like, I love this word embrace. Like, you embrace the moment. You're like, OK, how do I learn from this? You know, and it's like you got to psychologically kind of psych yourself out.

Yeah.

Like, you know, it's like, OK, that happened, but all right, and we're on to the next. Like, you literally have to— it's like have amnesia. That's what it is. Like, you got to have a little amnesia when you, you know, have your blunders in life or you make your big mistakes. Mistakes, it's like, OK, I've got to have amnesia so that I don't hold on to that upset and disappointing feeling for too long. It's like, OK, where did we mess up? Why did we mess up? OK, now note it. All right, amnesia. Forgot about it. Let's go. Because it is a psychological thing. And because I'm a perfectionist, I will let the moments where I feel like I didn't do my best or I wish I could have done something differently, I will let those things— get in my head and I try to do like good mind control for my mental sake. Because the more you like, you know, you harp on things not being right, there is a negative impact to that. If you hold on to that energy and that weight. So I have to like reset, clear slate, nothing happened. All right, now what are we doing today? Where are we going next? You know? And then you're like, the next time I get that shot, I am never doing that again. Right. And it can be to your point, whether it's on the stage or it can be a meeting like you said, you know, it can be a speech, you know, any of those scenarios.

Yeah.

Yeah. You gotta clean the slate.

Yeah. I think it's all contextual too. Right. Yeah. When you're at your level, you're like, ooh, I was supposed to be here, you know, and maybe I was right here.

Mm-hmm.

But I think we all, wherever you are in life, it can feel like it's, it's the end of the world. Even though, yeah. You know, later you is not gonna think anything about it. We were talking before the podcast about how like young you has to be kind of, you used the word delusional.

You gotta be delulu.

And I think you do.

I mean, when I was younger, well, I don't wanna stop you. I wanna hear it. Well, what I realize is that hindsight 20/20, you know, when I was a little girl and I walked into rooms and also being a woman of color, I never walked into the room thinking that I had any issue, like anything against me. I didn't think there were any odds stacked against me because I was so committed to my vision and I believed so much in it. And I think I just saw like the vision happening and coming to life in front of, in my mind that when I walked into rooms, like I was like very like fearless and like, I mean, I probably would've been outspoken to some. Like they're probably like, this girl, she's saying too much or she needs to shut up, you know? Or they probably were saying all these things, but I was like, I was a little delulu. I wasn't like really mindful of like I didn't think about those things first. Right. And I think that you kind of have to have that mentality, especially being a woman. You know, I think there's an automatic perception of us when we walk into rooms, especially back then. I think it's kind of starting to change a little bit, bit by bit for us. But you have to have that, that mental approach. Like you, the moment we start putting all these thoughts in front of our— in our minds and in our heads, we start to like curtail things or like to change it up versus like, what's your instinct tell you to do? What's your gut tell you? Like, I still have to challenge myself to stop prefacing things like, you know, if I mean, if this sounds right, you know, or, you know, stuff like that. Like, you know, does that— if that makes sense, like I'll say that kind of stuff. It's like, no, it does make sense, right? But when you're young, it's just like a little puppy. Like, you don't know. You just do what you feel. And I'm so glad that I had that. And then I also had to learn along the way, okay, there's ways you have to like, you know, do things. And most importantly, as a woman, emotions left at the door. Emotions have to stay at the door. Like when it comes to business, there's no black and white there. I mean, there's no gray, it's black and white. Emotions, put 'em like this, toss 'em and attack, you know, like, so it took me some time to learn a lot of things along the way. But I'm so glad that I was a little Delulu, a young girl coming up, 'cause I went for it and I'm so glad I did.

No kidding. But it's a great point that you say, which is is I don't think we were told, like, I'm Latina and sometimes people will say, oh, well, it must have been hard as like a Latina in finance or whatever. And I'm like, bitch, those guys all look the same. It was Chad and Brad and Matt and, you know, whatever. And at least I look different. So like, I don't know, I think you kind of can write your own narrative and say like, maybe it's a, maybe it's a win.

Yeah.

So like now you have, you have kids, like, what do you tell them? Like, are there words in Ciara's house you're like, no, no, no, you don't label yourself this way. Like, this is how we talk about ourselves.

I think the greatest thing is like, you know, really catching my kids if they say negative things about themselves. Like, I can't, you know, do this, or I'm not good at math, or I'm not good at this. Like, I'm really big on removing that negative thought. And I'm just consistent. I follow through with like, you can, like, you're so smart, you're so capable. Like, always speaking life, you know? Like, you're so amazing. Like, You know, you're so awesome. Like, you're so fun to be around. Like, if there's friendship challenges, like, I try to like go opposite of the things that like, you know, I know their little minds start to process. And I'm like, let me speak life into them. So the biggest thing for me that's been a standard internally is like, we don't quit, right? Just because something didn't work out and maybe you, you know, you didn't ace a scenario doesn't mean you're a failure. To me, failing is when you quit. Right? So that's kind of like my mentality. And I'm really big on that, passing that down to my kids. 'Cause I think that's really served me well. And yeah.

Well, you, you know, it's interesting. So you have, you know, this giant career, but from what I can see, like you didn't have a safety net growing up. You know, you were kind of like an army kiddo.

Yeah.

You moved around constantly. You didn't have connections in music. Mm-mm. And so, How did you learn to, to take this risk to go big?

So I will say I'm an only child. Okay. I think that when you're an only child, you have a lot of time on your hands to dream and like, you know, imagine things and like, you know, just do all that kind of stuff. And I, I've naturally been a very ambitious individual and I don't know if it's my only child in me. Like, it's kind of like I, I'm gonna get what I want. You know, I think I am, but most importantly, I was given a lot of love growing up.

Mm.

You know, we didn't have a lot financially, but my love made me feel like I was so rich on the inside, especially. My greatest thing though, what I did is I'm always big on like, you can't get to where you want to get to in life without a compass. And that was like a natural instinct for me. So the moment I decided I was going to be an entertainer, I literally sat in my room. I was probably 13. Ish years old, um, and I had a goal sheet and I was like, I'm gonna write down my game plan because I had decided— I had a conversation with my classmates at lunch and I was like, we were talking about life after high school and it's time to start talking about, you know, the colleges you're going to go to and registering, registering and all that stuff. And I'm like, I run track, I'm fast, I am leaving a couple people in the dust, but I ain't breaking records, okay? Um, I did long jump, triple jump, 4x100. I mean, like, I was thriving. But again, I was realistic. I'm not breaking records. That's— holding up a gold medal just may not be for me. And I also did cheerleading, which I loved, but I was like, that's not gonna be my ultimate job. But I love it and respect the sport. Shout out to the cheerleaders in the world. Okay? It is a sport. All right? But I was like, I know I can sing and dance and was never trained to do any of it. Like, it was me just kind of being within myself. Again, only child, you know, energy. Like, you just— you're like, I got— I think I have some talents here. Like, okay, let me channel these talents. And I knew I wanted to be an entertainer. And the moment I decided that, like, me being a determined little girl and, like, ambitious, you know, I said, let me write down my game plan to get there. And literally 2 weeks after I wrote down my game plan, which was— it was a yellow blue-lined paper. I've got to go to my mom's house to find this, my mom and dad's house. Basically, I had 3 goals. My first goal was to get discovered. And then I said— I wrote down how I was going to do it. So I was going to put myself in talent shows and, you know, find ways to be exposed so someone could discover me. And I remember signing up for the national anthem at my high school. It was the first thing I ever did publicly, right? Now mind you, I'm coming raw. I ain't had no training. Nobody's told me, you know, how to do this. I'm just doing what I— thought I saw on TV or like, you know, what I was studying. So I'm singing the national anthem and then I'm on, and the rocket's red glare, I crack. And then I'm like, sorry, the bombs bursting, but I mean, I was really so nervous. Okay, but that was the beginning, right? I said, put myself in talent shows, go do the national anthem, just do anything to be exposed. That was the first goal, get discovered and how to do it. So the second goal was once I got discovered, to sell 3 to 4 million albums. And then the third goal was have longevity. Okay? So this was like my little short list, my short goal list.

At 13?

Yeah. So I did the national anthem, you know, talked to my friends at school about this is what I'm gonna do, you know, at that same table where you're talking about our goals post-high school. And one of my friends remembered that I said I wanted to be an entertainer. And he comes up to me like 2 weeks later and he's like, "Hey, see, there's this group. They're looking for a third member. Would you wanna audition?" And I'm like, "Yeah." So I get on the phone, I start singing, and I sound a hot mess. I don't even know— I don't know why they wanted to see me, to be honest with you, but they still wanted to see me. Maybe my friend, like, pumped me up and was like, "I'm telling you, she's so talented," or something. I don't know. But they still wanted to see me. I went to the group's house, and this third member they were looking for— I was probably, like, the fifth person to audition for this, like— they had already had 4 girls before me kind of thing, right? So, and the 3rd member just, just was not working out for this group. But I made the group, was there, made the group, and then clearly that didn't work out. But I still had my eyes set on the prize, and I ended up pursuing my solo career with the same person that discovered the group or was working the group. Signed my first admin deal when I was 15, and then I signed my first recording contract with a major label at 16.

That is wild.

Okay, so now goal 1, check.

Check.

Get discovered. Thank God it happens, right? Then I put out my first album, Goodies, when I turned 18. Well, the song Goodies came when I was 18, album 19. Wow. All in the same year.

That was insane.

And, mm-hmm. And I put that out and then thank God, you know, we not only did 3 to 4 million albums, we did 5. And it's still rolling, right? And then the third goal was to have longevity. And so now I sit here talking to you, you know, 21 years later since I put out the album, you know, but I just always been a big believer that you can't get to where you wanna get to without a compass. And I think the most important thing is just reminding myself the power of speaking life and manifestation because it is real. Like a lot of things that have happened in my life, it's happened of course by working hard for it, but also by speaking life into it and like, manifesting it. Like, and I'm really big on like when I say I wanna make something hap— like once I believe it and then I start saying it, there's something that just happens psychologically for me and I just start to will myself in that direction. Right?

Yeah. So if somebody wants to manifest like you, what is the process? Do you write it down, then you say it out loud? Yeah. Then you start taking action to it. Like how do we copy Ciara?

For me, I would say you gotta have a vision first. Right? And we gotta be realistic with our vision. I knew I could sing and dance, you know, I knew I was raw at it. Like a lot of my training happened in front of the world in real time.

Wow.

Right. I didn't have a lot of show experience or any of that stuff, but you know, I had a vision. It was very clear. And I think that vision that you have, it's gotta give you goosebumps. Oh, that's a good one. It's gotta give you an exciting feeling, right? 'Cause you're gonna need those, you're gonna need that exciting and passion feeling more times than you can imagine. Yeah. Right. Because it's a passion. They say when you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. So it's my passion that like gives me the will and like sustains me through it all because I love what I do. 'Cause it's hard sometimes, you know? So I think it has to give you that excitement. Like, are you gonna be ready to wake up every day early in the morning, have some sleepless nights, be tired as a dog, eyes red, everything exhausted, mad at the world sometimes? Like, are you gonna be ready? It's like, are you gonna be ready for that? You know, and that passion again is what's gonna like push you through it. Right.

Yeah. Especially cuz you do the stilettos too on the stage, which was one of my glaring questions is how does that, like, we'll get to it later, but I, I don't think people quite understand. I, I don't do what you do, but like even a YouTube video, the 42 takes you have to do for a YouTube video. I can't even imagine. Right.

Because you, the passion, that's how I'm like, I wanna make this great.

Yeah.

So you might go to bed, you know, sore. Like, I mean, beat up, shot. But it's like, for me, you know, what do they say? What do they say? Sometimes beauty is pain. Like, you know, it's worth it for me because my mission is to be the best I can be. My passion is what, like, drives me. Like, I want my fans to have the best experience and visual, right? Like, visual experience, performance experience, song experience. So, like, again, it goes back to my passion for that. Right? So I'm always like, the day that I stop having that passion and love for what I do, then I stop.

Then you're out.

'Cause I know I won't, I mean, what you have to put into it, like there's not enough zeros to quantify, you know, the hard work, you know, or at least you're trying to work to get enough zeros to quantify, but who knows, you may never get it. So that's why the passion is so important. Yeah. Yeah.

There's this quote from Emma Bombeck. She was like an old school feminist, but she says like, when I stand before God at the end of my days, I hope I will be able to say I'm wrung dry. I have not one drop left.

Mm, I love that.

I know, I always think about that.

Yeah.

Like that's what it takes.

Yeah.

You gotta like do the work that is fun for you that other people feel like is work.

100%.

And then you win.

Yeah, 100%. So I would say the passion, I would say, you know, once you've locked into that vision of what you wanna do, it is big to write it down, like to write down your goals, like, surrounding it, you know? And then if you have other goals in general that aren't even connected to it, like write down your goals because again, like what's your compass? Like, you know, for me in this very moment in my life, I'm overdue a whiteboard session. Like I love whiteboard sessions.

I love a whiteboard.

Right? Yes. And like you put everything up on the board, it helps you to see clear, like what do you have going on at this moment? And then what do you need to do less of? And then are we staying focused?

Yeah.

You know, so like, again, check your compass, start, set your compass and then continually check it.

Yeah.

But yes, write it down, right? And then there's this part of like believing, right? Believing in the vision and then speaking life into it.

I love that line. So when you're whiteboarding, is this like, do you and your husband whiteboard?

We whiteboard together.

Stop it, that's adorable.

We do.

Who's in charge of the marker?

We do the white team. We both get on the board. We are both so passionate and so determined together to accomplish our goals. Goals that we have individually and together. You know, it's important, I think, for one hand to know what the other hand is doing. We both feel that way. And so we love a whiteboard because it also, in the midst of our like hectic lives, 'cause his world goes a mile a minute, my world goes a mile a minute, our minds go a mile a minute, but it helps us to kind of be like in sync in the midst of the chaos. Yeah. Yeah. So, and we love doing it with our teams, you know? So yeah, I think if you have those visualize, you know, visualization, you know, writing it down, believing in it, writing it down and speaking life into it, those things work. Yeah. You know, and they have worked. And then obviously, you know, I'm a spiritual person, so I believe in praying over what I'm trying to accomplish. It's really significant and it's a very important piece. You know, like I believe it's Habakkuk 2:2, and please forgive me if I'm misquoting it. All the people that like have the Bible down to the T, which is one of my goals, right?

They'll tell us.

But you know, it says, You know, write it and make it plain. You know, like it's a really, you know, or faith without, what is it? Faith without works is dead. Or there's these different things that they say. Like, it's like, you know, you gotta believe in the vision. You gotta be clear in your vision. Like, don't be all over the place. Like, hone in on what you really want to accomplish. Like, and then go for it. Yeah.

You know, my pastor the other day said something that I was like, that's so good. I feel a little guilty asking for like material things or stuff in life, right? And he was like, who are you to think that God is so small that he can't handle that and everything else? And I was like, I don't know, but I feel that, you know? So is there a, I mean, I love that you're talking about faith. I think it's like we were talking about it before, it's having like a little bit of a resurgence. Like it's okay to talk about it publicly. I feel like for a while it wasn't so public. But I'm curious for you, like, How do you integrate faith into what you do? Your husband and you are both faith-based from what I can understand. And what does even praying over it look like to you?

Oh man, you have to have faith. 'Cause you're gonna be tested. You're gonna be challenged. You're gonna fall, right? And when you fall, what do you go to? Like, what is your, like, you know, what do you fall back on? What helps you to get back up? It's your faith. Like, it's the ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And for me, I'm always looking towards the light. And even if I have a moment where I have to pause and regather myself, I'm sincerely— I really mean what I'm saying. I'm not even saying it just to say it. Like, I always see the light at the end of the tunnel. My philosophy is also too, like, the sun is shining no matter where I am, right? You hear people talk about, like, the weather. And they're like, you know, living in Seattle, they're like, "It's always so gloomy." I'm like, "Listen, the sun is always shining no matter where I am." Like, that's my mentality. Right? But you have to see the light because again, it goes back to that passion, right? Your passion's gonna drive you. But man, when it gets tough and you're like, can this really happen? Like, this feels impossible. This feels insurmountable. Like, I gotta stand on something. And my faith is the truest thing. It is, it's the one thing that also gives me peace. It's the one thing that makes my weight or the heaviness of things feel lighter because it allows me to believe again. It allows me to, like, you know, reinstill my hope, like to get every— like to get things where they need to be and just to stay the course.

Yeah.

So I picked up my phone because there is this thing I looked up about faith the other day. Faith strengthens us during trials because we live in a sinful, fallen world. We will face difficulties, but our faith is what helps us remain strong during hard times. We have an enemy and it's our faith. That acts as a shield to protect us from his schemes and plots. Above all, taking the shield of faith, which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16. It says we should not be surprised when our faith is tested. James 2:3 says that the testing of your— I love this one. I can just say it without looking because it's one of my favorite scriptures. But the testing of your faith produces perseverance so that you may be mature and not lacking, right? And it says before that, to consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, for the testing of your your faith produces perseverance. So you will be mature and not lacking, right? That's the whole, but think about that ability to consider it pure joy when you're in the toughest part of your life, or feels like the toughest part, to have faith, to be able to smile through it all. Oof. What, like, what a feeling. I remember having like a really hard time, like, you know, it was some years ago, And this is a scripture that Russ and I, we love. It's one of our favorite ones. And I remember him saying it to me, and it was almost like a weight was lifted because it was a reminder, like, there's gonna be something so good. There is some gold in this valley.

This moment.

There is something that's gonna be so good that's gonna come out of this. And I've just gotta, like, stay the course, you know, like, keep my faith. So, yeah.

Is that ever hard to have faith like that in Hollywood? I mean, I'm such an outsider, but people say so many things about the place and how crazy the music world is.

You know, it's really interesting. You know, I will say this. I believe that my spiritual foundation is really important. And I think if I went to school, I'd be a psychologist, I swear. Like, there's something that I'm really fascinated with about how the mind thinks and processes. And I do think that in our industry, it can be a very dark world because oftentimes people are finding themselves, one, You know, you gotta be mindful, don't glorify man and things. We are in an industry that makes you, kind of pushes you to do that. Like, you look at others and they may be way ahead of you and you're like, "I want their life," or, you know, awards. Like, you feel like that's the high point. Like, all these tangible things that you can't even take with you anyways, right? But people sometimes, like, in the Bible it also says, "what good is it for a man to gain the world and lose his soul?" You can have everything and have nothing. And I feel like that's a more commonality in my industry than not. And I think the examples of that is in, you know, when people— like, I was reading something about, you know, I wanna be mindful 'cause I don't wanna feel like I'm calling someone out, but someone, you know, an actor who was massive, like, he's living homeless at this moment. He went through some tough times. And then you see another moment where someone's kind of like, you can see them mentally battling things, like all these different scenarios. And like, it's real, you know? And you can help wanna pray for people, but it's like, man, like you just pray for God's protection, right? You know, I'm like, we gotta have a foundation of, for me, God and Jesus are important for me, faith, you know, all those things you have to. And then like, Run your own race at your own pace. You know, like, don't be distracted by what's happening to the right and left of you. Like, if someone's having a successful moment and they feel like they've been— you work harder than them and like, why am I not there? Like, don't even question it. Like, your journey of success is perfectly designed for you. Your big moment's gonna happen for you when it's supposed to happen for you. So celebrate those moments. Like, change that energy, flip it. Don't be jealous, you know, of it. Like, actually celebrate those individuals give 'em a pat on the back. Like, you know, all those things and, and just like be good with where you are.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

Yeah. It's, that's so true and hard to do, but so true. Yeah. But you know, you've seen the full spectrum. You've gone through tons of cycles. I'm sure there's been, has there ever been a moment where you got like, you felt like the whole internet hated you? Like you got a ton of hate? Oh, really?

Really? For sure.

It's like every Tuesday. I know it's hard to hear.

No, I mean, listen, I, I don't know what I don't think there's not one great that hasn't, you know, reached some of the highest points, that hasn't been told they can't, or hasn't been tried to be knocked down. You know, and that's a part of the process. And again, I think those moments, like, they make you more bulletproof. 'Cause I'll be darned if I let a human tell me what I can and can't be. Like, I'm so sorry. Like, you can try and write it all kind of ways. And I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I do. I be taking names. I be taking screenshots. 'Cause I'll be like, I'mma run this back. When I go platinum again, you know, like, oh, remember, you know, uh-huh. Like, okay, noted. You know, sometimes I actually do that. I might need to share a couple of names. I was playing. No, but— Just do it. Yeah, no, no, no.

Like, there's something about a chip on your shoulder. I keep a name. Yeah. I had a guy tell me, I hope one day you get more followers because you dumbed down the firm today. Like, I remember the exact sentence.

Wait, what?

And I screenshotted that shit. I have it to this day. Sometimes, because I'm real low, I'll have the audience go, Fuck you, Dan. I mean, sorry, I wish I was better. I am trying, God. But it also fuels me.

Oh my God.

So it makes me feel better that you sometimes keep names too.

No, I do. I do. I don't wanna spend too much weight on those people, but I do. And I think, you know, you use it as motivation, you know, like it lets you know, like, you know, they say that, oh, Russ Woods, Ilani would say the greater you're great, the more they hate. It lets you know that you're doing something right, that they have something to say, right? You know, it's like, okay, I'm making you feel some kind of way. Let me stay the course.

Let's talk about like love and relationships a little bit. Like, not only have you had this big successful career, and I know that every relationship has got its things, and I'm very happily married and he's incredible, but we fight. We just try to fight fairly if we can. Yeah.

Fights are healthy sometimes.

I think so. At least we need— I'm Spanish, he's Greek. We're crazy.

Oh, that's good.

I mean, yeah, we're not, we're not docile. Um, but you know, now you have this beautiful partnership. What, what is some of the things you do, some of the secrets that you have? How do you stay grounded and happily married in a world that is chaotic and a crazy career too?

Yeah, I think, um, well, we always say, we said it since day one, we got engaged, it was one of the first It was actually part of the first conversation we had after he proposed to me. It's like we say, having Jesus at the center. Having a spiritual foundation is really important. 'Cause you know, what is it, like, lean not on your own understanding? Sometimes when we put the matters into our hands, it gets real tricky. You know, but I would say communication, man. Sometimes you have to have hard communication moments. And I do believe that, you know, at least historically for us, whenever we've had a conversation where it's like, okay, this is a big conversation. Something— so many good things have come out of it, right? And we've grown together through those moments. So you can't be afraid to talk about the stuff that makes you uncomfortable. You know, communication rules the nation. I, you know, I've always said that. And we really believe in doing that, you know? And so I think that's important.

How did you decide that he was your dude?

Oh, I knew.

Right away?

Yeah. They say when you know, you know. It's funny because he and I, when we were talking the first night in person, it was a really unique situation, you know, because my dad was actually at my house and my firstborn was at my house too. And, you know, I said, you know, well, we were meeting up as friends, you know, and he's like, "I wasn't coming over, I wouldn't meet up just to be no friends," you know. We joke about, we laugh about that. Yeah, no, but it was, you know, more so than anything because in this world that we live in, unfortunately, when you step outside outside like normal people would when you're dating. If someone sees you, they preset things for you, you know? And so you want to protect that and give yourself a chance to really get to know each other. So when we were talking, you know, in person for the first time, we literally forgot to eat, right? We were supposed to eat at some point. And he had a meeting actually. And then I needed to get my food. We talked about— actually talked about a restaurant that we liked in the conversation. But anyways, we chatted. You know, for hours. And, you know, when we were talking, I'm like, he's different. And the conversation, the initial conversation that we had felt like no initial conversation I ever had in my life. And I remember calling my best friend and makeup artist, Yolanda Frederick Thompson. I called her and I said, Yoli, I was like, I don't want to jinx anything. I was like, but I think— and I didn't even want to say it. And she said, "He's the one." And I go, "Yes." And the same thing for him when he was talking to his friend, you know, after we were together, he said the same thing, right? But you just know, when you know, you know. It's a feeling you can't fully describe, but you know the difference. And so that's my, you know, my story. Yeah.

I felt the same way with my husband.

We laughed. You did?

Yeah, totally. Well, we've known each other since we were 11, so I guess Oh my gosh. When I was 11, I wasn't feeling that way. But we like reconnected later in life. He stayed friends with my dad. They're very close. But our first date was 3 days, which is crazy because we went to a music festival and then 3 weeks later we moved in together.

And so wait, how did you guys— okay, you're friends, but you reconnected. When you reconnected, the energy was like, we're connecting on some other stuff. Okay. Because I'm like, how y'all just turn to like, we going to go on some dates? Like, okay. Okay. Yeah. So wait, then what happened? You said you moved in when?

3 weeks later.

Oh my gosh. Which is crazy.

Which is unhinged. I'm like, not that unhinged.

How long have you guys been married for?

We've been married for 7 years.

So cool.

And been together for 10. Yeah.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

Yeah. We're going on year 10 of being married.

Congratulations. Yeah. That's amazing.

Yeah. So it's funny because, thank you. The first, we basically, we, we always say we were hanging out ever since we met. And so, you know, shortly after that, I'm living in Seattle and, you know, and now here we are.

That's wild.

It's crazy.

What do you think? I mean, I know it's always tricky giving relationship advice, but like, it seems like a lot of statistics, people are getting married less than ever. They're finding less love, you know, having less sex. And you could feel a certain way about those things. But I think there are a lot of people out there that are like looking for their person.

Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

What do you tell a young woman?— or a not so young woman— Yeah. Like about how to find their person or how to be a type of person that attracts your person?

Well, see, I think it goes back to some of that stuff I was saying earlier about manifestation and speaking life, you know, and I think there's also the take care of self phase. That's important for us, right? Like we have to, I think, love on ourselves first so we can be like good with self, right? And we don't want to be in a place where love is what makes us complete. Like, right? Love is a cherry on top right now. There is, you know, a saying in the Bible about without love, like, you have nothing. So now, you know, you want to move from a place of love. Like, you know, you would say God is love, you know. But yeah, I think that you want to be right with yourself first, right? Like, go out yourself sometimes. Like, it's okay to eat by yourself. Like, it's okay to be by yourself. Like, we have to embrace the self phase first, I think. And then I think that you have to, like, visualize what you want to attract in your life, right? What do you not want? You know, what does he or she look like to you? What do they— how do they love on you? Like, how do they love on themselves? How do they love the people around them? Do they make the room better? Like, you know, like you start to visualize all these things. And I do believe that there's power in that because you know what I do think we do sometimes? When you loftily throw in the air, that I want love, but you don't define it, you will get that. Wow. But then when you put in the air, like, I want love, but under these conditions, or it looks like this, you know, like it feels like this, like it makes me feel like this, like you start to like have this thing to where it's like when you see it, you go, that's it. Yeah. But you're not able to see it if you don't define it.

It's so true.

Right?

It's like trying to explain a zebra to somebody who's never seen it. You're like, but once you've seen it, you're like stripes.

Yeah. You know, that's exactly it.

Donkey. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. I also, you know, what's interesting about your relationship, if you guys have built businesses together, so we have one of your businesses right here. Yay. Which we haven't even tried yet. I can't believe you made me go eat this.

So I made you poquito. I have to shout out Toni Chapman, the chef, because she taught me how to make this for the first time.

No way.

And when I tell you, I could not stop going back. No, for real. Oh, no. Because you can like slick, get lit, because it tastes so good.

I had to be hammered by the end of this podcast.

Yeah. But it's a fun holiday drink.

Thank you.

This is lovely.

And this is your rum?

Yeah.

And do you want to—

It's one rum. I'll tell you a little bit after the first sip.

This is delicious.

Oh my gosh.

Also, I feel kind of fancy. You just stick this cinnamon stick in here. I'm into things that are fancy but super easy. You know what I mean?

Lots of detail.

Yeah, exactly.

And it's not complicated.

No.

Some coconut condensed milk. We have our white rum and our dark rum. And I'll just tell you, we are— there's zero sugars in our rum.

Mm.

We want people to reimagine rum, right? Look at rum in a way that you've never seen it before. Get out of the colonial, gotta make it in piña colada, strawberry daiquiris only.

Yeah.

Rum can play. We say that any other spirit, anything you can do, rum can do better. Just facts. But no, seriously, like you can have so much fun with rum. So like for example, you're Latina and you know we like margaritas. I said we 'cause I'm Blexican. I'm Blexican, okay? Black and Mexican. I've never heard that before. I love that. Black and Mexican. But I love a margarita, but I take the rum, I call it a Rumarita. So you do the white rum in place of the tequila.

That's hot.

Yes, but you can have fun. Like you can have so much fun and play. And that's been an amazing discovery for me on the journey of rum and sharing my story. That was the first drink I ever had in my life was rum at 21. And so it's a hard thing for me.

Come on, 21?

Yeah, first time.

You never had a drink before 21?

Never.

Good for you.

I accidentally sipped some gin in my mom's fridge. I thought it was water.

That sounds awful.

I was like, that's not okay. I spit that thing out so fast. But my first drink official, like this is what I'm doing, was 21.

That's wild. I was not as good as you. I had a few cocktails before.

Well, you're Latina, so you know. It's so early.

I'm gonna blame it on that.

I'm Mexican, so I understand.

But also you speak Spanish. Actually, I heard a funny thing about you. I heard you can do all the accents.

Uh, yeah, kind of. I can, I play around.

What's, what's your favorite accent?

I think it's the military baby in me.

Oh, that's probably part of it. Well, plus you're an entertainer. Like even the way you say sentences is interesting because they're, they're thoughtful.

Mm-hmm.

Like you said a thing, well, two ways. One, I wanna hear your favorite accent.

This is so good.

Dude, I'm telling you.

My favorite accent is Latin. It's Mexican.

Okay, come on. Or Spanish. What's the best accent?

Hola, me llamo Ciara. Yo no espero. Yo no espero. Estoy muy agradecida para hoy. O para el día.

Daily.

Y yo, sí, yeah. Yo estoy muy agradecida.

I'm happy to have you too.

Sí.

I want to tell you, you can do crazy stuff.

Oh my gosh.

I think we should embarrass her.

She's like, girl, I don't know if I'm going to be up in there like that because we ain't going to be doing that interview if they talking crazy. We ain't doing it. I'm telling them right now. I'mma call them up. Watch this. You know, I'm from Decatur, Georgia.

So you nailed that. People don't know her, but like, I'm a little bit crying.

No, she will. That's that voice, right? Yeah, I'mma tell him we ain't copping his ass.

Oh my gosh.

I'mma call him right back.

She told us a story about like throwing a shoe and she was like, if you— I can't do accents. She was like, I told them, if you throw a shoe at me, you better knock me out.

That's exactly—

I'm coming at you.

Exactly. She said, she's like, I'm a chihuahua. She said something crazy about being a chihuahua in a pit bull's body or something. She said that was crazy. A pit bull in a chihuahua's body or something. And I was, I was like, and the pit bull always wins. You know, something about the tiny ones, they're just so big. But I am obsessed—

Shout out to the tiny ones.

Shout out to the tiny ones. Yes. But I am obsessed with, like, you know, languages. So, like, my biggest thing is when I travel, I like to— it's kind of my way of showing respect and appreciation to that region or that country. And I love being able to always say, like, hi and bye and thank you. So if I go to Japan, I say, "Chotto ne hongo hanashima." What's your name? I'm Sarah Desu.

Hi.

You know, arigato gozaimashita. Toide wa doko desu ka? Like, I'm really big on like knowing, you know, how to communicate, how to get around. And my biggest thing is to ask how to do it. So if I want to learn, because I'm like a little obsessed with learning languages. And so if I want to say in Japanese, how do you say, say nantei uno, nantei uno water, nantei uno where's the bathroom, you know, and they'll say toide wa doko desu ka? Or like, so I do I do that. Or in Spanish, ¿cómo se dice I love you? Or ¿cómo se dice, you know, which we know, te amo mucho? Or, you know, but I'll say that. Or, you know, if I'm in France, I would say bonjour, je m'appelle Ciara, comment allez-vous? Ça va bien, et toi? Au plaisir de vous revoir. Like, I always will say that to my fans. Like, it's so nice to meet you, you know, merci beaucoup. Or if I go to China, ni hao, xie xie, you know, bukashi. Like, I love doing that, you know. And my dad, my dad was in the Army. My mother was in the Air Force. So it's a military baby in me that's like kind of obsessed, you know?

So do you like go out on the stage and you'd say their language too?

Yeah. So if I'm in Japan, I say, "Miki, hidaidi." Oh, that's like boots. You know, like right side. Oh yeah. Andou bouge in French is one-two step. I remember back in the days I would do that.

I love that.

And then if I'm in London, I would say, "Darling, how are you? You all right? Are you lovely? It's lovely to see you." You know, I'm going out for some pears to get some rosé lee. It's like good, innit? Is it all right? I'm like, so amazing, right? Yeah, but whatever. I love to do, you know, it's fun. It's really fun. And I'mma tell you, talk about being determined. I wanted to learn how to speak with an English accent so bad. And listen, I am not perfect, okay, with it, but I do my best. But I had to audition for a movie. It was a It was a big movie and I had to speak with an English accent. And I went to go and audition for it. And literally in the— I had like 3 days to learn how to speak with an English accent. I had been trying to do it anyways. It was so bad. I pray no one ever sees that tape. But I was like, I've got a baby in me tummy. And I'm like, I've got to— it was worse than that, you know, because I really couldn't get like the And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna get it. Like, I was so determined, you know?

Good for you. I just, my husband says they all sound like a, like a Mexican Russian, which is not really good. That's not a good combo.

You sound like a Mexican Russian?

Yeah. When I do my accents, they all just like converge.

Oh my God.

To the mixture.

Hilarious.

It's not good. But I do think, you know, um, I think there's something really beautiful about this, like curiosity, you know, like you continue. So your bio is so fascinating. Like we talked about Tenwan a little bit, which I hear is like one of the most awarded rums out there. I had no idea. By the way. And then you also have Third Brand, which is—

Oh, Three Brand.

Three Brand. Mm-hmm. And Three Brand Children's Apparel Company. Is it public that you did $100 million in revenue in 2024? Can we say that?

Yeah, you can. It's wild. Yeah, we've been very, very blessed. You said big businesses. Yeah. You know, you know, I gotta, I gotta say it's been an incredible journey. You know, I think especially like you mentioned, doing everything together. Yeah. You know, talk about a why not you attitude because we obviously have our Why Not You Foundation and we're just big believers in like, you know, once we believe in something or we set out to do something, most importantly being connected, genuinely connected to what we do, right, is important. Like you gotta have that authenticity factor. And so since one rum, as I mentioned, was a genuine spirit for me that I, you know, love since day one. Yeah. And, and I love the challenge of, you know, getting people to understand the beauty of rum. And with 3BRND, you know, Russ is, that's really his jam. You know, we talk about sports, music, and fashion, the three, you know, one of, three of the most powerful forces, you know, in the world and the power of what happens when they come together. And when you get to do it through youth, you know, the youth is really important to us. We really love being able to speak life into the youth with the Why Not You mentality. When it comes to fashion, you know, it's a fun place to play in and a fun place to activate in. We obviously have our kids, you know, family is really important to us and we get to share, you know, our passion and pour our passion and love into the brand, to 3Brnd as a whole. And it's a gift, you know, when you say those numbers for just 2024 alone, we've been on this journey for like almost 3 years. So you can multiply that by 3. Right, which is a blessing. And so, you know, it's not ultimately about that, you know, it's really about the ability to impact, you know, that's our ultimate goal. We love being able to impact and inspire kids in such a great way. And there's nothing better than doing it through fashion. So it's been a fun journey and it's the coolest thing, you know, when we're taking our kids to school and you see other kids wearing Freebrand, it's like, hey, like Russ was like saying to a dad, he's like, hey, that's my brand, you know? It's the cutest thing. It makes you feel proud, it makes you feel motivated. And you know, we've, we've got some exciting things happening for the brand and it's really just getting started.

Yeah. I mean, I think what's fascinating about you is like, there's, you obviously your songs are huge and you've done all these brand deals, but it feels like from a business perspective, you're starting to talk about business even more now with the podcast that you have or the show that you have.

Oh, Apple Radio. Yeah. Level Up Radio on Apple music.

There you go. And I think it's really cool because I don't even know that, you know, we've all known you. I remember when your first album came out. We've like known you publicly for a long time. But even when I was prepping for this, I was like, holy hell, she's done so much more than I realized. Like, what do you think is one of your like business superpowers? Like, why, why is 3brand $100 million? Like, what are the things you're like, we're so good at culture here, or we think about the design this way that nobody else does? Like, what is that for you, do you think, in some of these brands?

I think it goes back to quality. Quality is everything. You know, you can talk a good game all day, but it comes down to how well does the item perform? I think that we do really great at quality when it comes to our products and the things that we associate ourselves with. I think that's—

and that's hard, right? Because you're getting pitched a billion things a day.

Yeah, it is. But, you know, fortunately, a lot of the things that we've been doing, we've actually kind of started them. You know, and then there's like investment opportunities that you do and that's like kind of gambling a little bit. You're taking a risk and those, you know, it's great when it works.

Yeah.

But the cool thing is that a lot of the brands that we're focused on right now are ones that have come directly from us to some extent. 10to1, actually, my partner Mark Ferrell, I met him a year after he got going with 10to1. It was in the middle of the pandemic and I was pregnant as all get out. And then I also breastfed for 10 months long enough. And it was time for me to celebrate that moment. And I had a mojito with the white rum, the 10 to 1 white rum. And again, I had already had my passion about rum, but I was really curious about this brand. I'm like, oh, this is amazing. And then I met my partner, you know, and then, you know, now we're 5 years in the journey and I serve as an investor and a proud co-founder and co-owner. And but it goes back to quality and the people people too, you know, people are everything. And then culture. I think culture is really key. You know, when we think about like the challenges or not even just the challenges, but like the fun parts of like 10to1, like the culture of people that we get to engage with. You know, I get to work with some of the best chefs in the world. Like I was with Chef Kwame and he, we're actually in all of his restaurants, 10to1 is. And you know, people like him or, you know, Tony, as I mentioned to you, Tony Chapman and you know, all these talented people, we get to like engage with people culturally. There's that Afro-Caribbean energy that's really coming strong and like, that's a big part of like our energy too, you know, the Caribbean piece of it. So culture is everything. And then, you know, the place that we get to go to on the ground and how we get to touch and activate with people. And then when it comes to 3BRAND in particular, again, it goes back to culture too, right? There's this sports energy. And as I mentioned, sports, music and fashion, like those are all big pieces of Russ and I, right? So we get to like, we do this every day, right? And we get to bring it all together and community. Community is really important for us, right? So I feel like that's another aspect that we really, I would say, tap into really well and are very connected with because we love the people. Yeah.

You know, we've talked a lot about partnerships.

Yeah.

In varying ways.

Yeah.

But I'm sure a lot of people want your time and attention. So like, how do you determine, hey, I want to partner with this person, I want this person in my life.

Like, what's the screen? Oh, the person, when it comes to people, You gotta, you have to connect, you know. I think it's important that your vision, you know, your, how you see things, you know, how you connect to things, like it has to be aligned, right? And what's a person's vision? And can they add value, right? You wanna be around people that can bring even more than you can at times, right? That you can grow with, you can learn from, like, I don't want to be the person with all the answers. I think if, if that's the case, then we're in trouble, right? Because I definitely don't know all the answers. I need help, you know? So you want to be surrounded by like-minded individuals. You want to be around people that, you know, share the same vision as you. And maybe it's people that have already been there before.

Yeah.

So they can pass down their wisdom. Like, that's my greatest goal right now at this point in my career is I want to work smarter, not harder. And also being a mom, him and being there for Russ. I say I have my 4 babies, but Russ is my biggest one. Okay. You already know.

Okay. I do. I do.

Our men, they be babies. They be babying. But you know, so like that's a real thing, right? Yeah. So it's like, how do I work smarter and not harder at this point in my life and in my career?

Yeah, it's a good point. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I made that mistake so many times early on in my career. I would partner with somebody who like hadn't figured anything out yet.

Yeah.

And then I would work harder them, or they wouldn't, you know, want— I'm sure with you it's got to happen. They're like, I see her, like, I want to be associated with all that. Let me get on that Codie Sanchez train, you know? And, and at some point we just realized, like, we're not going to partner with somebody who hasn't already shown— like, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, I think. So you got to show that you're winning. You got to show that you want to work harder than I do, because there's so many people that don't. And I think a lot of times with partnerships, we buy into them in the same way we buy into like somebody's potential. And so we're like, no, no, we'll fix— I'll fix him.

Yeah.

Like how many of us have said that?

Mm-hmm.

And so I think that's really interesting. So have you, like with a mark, like if somebody's trying to figure out their avatar of like, all right, how do I trust somebody? Which is so big today.

Yeah.

Like how are you like, here's what I ask them, here's what I do, or here's how I knew.

Yeah. I mean, trust, I think you build over time. I don't think I'll ever trust someone from day one.

Yes. Word.

I think trust is earned. And I can smell very early if I should trust or not trust someone. I can tell you this. I can tell you on day one if I can't trust you.

Oh, that's so good.

Yeah, I'm very like, pretty good with that. I got good gut. That's the gift that women have. Women have the gift of intuition that is crazy.

Yeah.

It's a gift.

Or you just shove it down, right? You don't let it listen to you. Sometimes you do.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes people can, but no. I think when you've bumped your head a few times, you just know better, right? And then sometimes too, you do like to give grace. Like, grace is important. But the moment you show me that I can't give you the grace, or the grace pass should be revoked, I'm revokin' it.

No second chances.

We ain't even playing with it. Uh-uh.

Yeah, that's, it's actually smart. There's too many people. There's billions of people on this planet.

Yeah.

They can go try with somebody else.

Yeah. Love. 100%. Over there. Exactly. You keep that over there. But no, I think back to your point, you know, people too, I think history is great. Like for example, my partner Mark, he was the youngest vice president at Starbucks, right? Before he started 10to1. And Harold Schultz was actually our first investor.

Oh, that's a great story.

On the journey. Right. And we've had, we have some amazing people at the party that are supporting us along the way. Way. But I think, you know, he also went to Harvard and like he had a great educational background, but also too just his experience within the space and also his education within the space. And, you know, also again, it came back to the product. The product says a lot. People can like talk a good game, but what's the product doing, right? Yep. So there's all these different things that you check off the box to make sure you know, your foundation is going to be a strong one and that you, you feel confident in the tools that you have to get going on things. And then time tells you everything, right? So, yeah, you know, I think the person that walks into the room is really important in anything that you do. Like, who are they as a human first and foremost, right? Because you want to work with good humans, right? You really do. 'Cause I think it makes it worthwhile when the times are tough and you have to come together and grind together. Like, it's not easy, right? Like grinding for 10 to 1, it's not easy because again, rum is a category that's like still telling a story, right? Tequila and vodkas and gins, they're already like—

That's a good point.

They've already like done it, done it. Rum is still doing it.

Yeah.

Which is exciting 'cause there's so much opportunity and there's not many of us. Of us ladies in this category.

Zero. Yeah, I don't know one, which is exciting. I'm sure there are some, but that is exciting.

You know, so.

I love being a first.

Yeah.

You know, that's amazing. And you know what's interesting is like you have all of these practices now, it seems like that you do every day and these things that have led you to be the person that you are today. What, like, what are some of the things that if you knew them when you were 20 that you know now, would you tell like, God, I wish 20-year-old 'Old Ciara would've done this every day.' Just be patient.

Mm. That's the greatest thing is like, that's why I say run your race at your own pace because what life has shown me, like 21 years later, right? I am, you know, and I would say a little bit before 21 years later, you know, after Goodies came out. But I remember, you know, being signed to the Systems and like, you know, wanting to do certain things or achieve certain things. I'm like, when are they gonna happen? Like, and I was very blessed. A lot of my songs were really big out the gate. But still, you could have that big hit record, but then you're like, and then what? And then like, I still, if I miss, I'm missing this. I still feel like I'm missing this, this, and this. But it's taken me 21 years to now start having certain things like happen for me how I've always wanted them to. So it just shows me like the power of patience. Like, you know, there's a saying where it's like a parent would be like, like, patience is a virtue. They would say that when you're young, like, what is that? What does that even mean? Patience is a virtue? You know, it's like, I'm trying to get to page— I'm bump the virtue stuff. Like, this is what I'm trying to do, you know what I'm saying? Like, but you know, when you understand life and the way that it goes, it's all going to work itself out. And you got to trust the process. Like, you've got to keep your faith, right? So But I, if I could, you know, think back to when I was younger, you know, I would just say the patience factor, you know. And, and I would also remind myself, like, again, don't glorify man. Yeah, don't, don't glorify the things on this earth. Because some of the people that I looked up to that were like, you know, I thought the coolest and the biggest ever, you know, they've had their own journey. I don't I don't wanna speak negatively on anyone, but it's like, everything's not what you think it is, you know? So like, just worry about you. Yeah. Worry about you.

You know, you have had a bunch of like new albums come out. Obviously they're crushing. Um, Level Up. Does it ever happen to you where like you hear a song and you don't realize it's yours? Like Level Up, I didn't even realize was a Ciara song and I was like singing it. And then, um, but you know, as you're creating today, what does that look like? Like what is, If you want to tap into the muse, if you want to find it, if you want to get your creative juices, what do you do? Is there a process?

Well, it depends on what I'm doing musically. You know, it's so funny, I'm actually, like, really in my Afro diaspora bag right now. And so I kind of like to let— I let life take me wherever it takes me when I'm making music. You know, the cool thing about music is that it's a feeling. It's nothing technical. So that's the place I'm playing. And like, I have my song "Nice and Sweet" with Molly and Oxley that I just put out. Molly's from Ghana. Yes. Hey, hit it. I'm not dancing like Sam.

That was good. Okay.

Molly's from Ghana. Oxley's from Nigeria. And then my friend also, Diamond Platinumz, on my song "Low," he's from Tanzania. I just recently went to Benin. Cotonou, and I got to get my dual citizenship. I got my passport, the first international artist or American artist to, or any person to participate in this new program that they had that His Excellency President Talon granted me the opportunity to have there. And I'm just deeply connected to that place right now, this place right now. So I'm living in that moment, right? And I think that when you're, like, committed to a creative direction, you start to delve deeper into things just for— it's just fun to you and it just naturally, like, takes you there. But I think I let life, like, kind of tell me where I want to go. And then there's also a sonic connection. You know, I can hear sounds or hear a song and be obsessed with— like, I do know where I want to go next right now in my mind. Right now I'm here.

Yeah.

But I know what I want to do next. And it may take me a second to just chill and do it. Like, I'm not going to rush it, but I'm also not going to take forever either, you know? But I just go with like what feels— how I feel. Music is a feeling. It's not technical.

I love that. So you're kind of like following your curiosity down a rabbit hole.

Yeah. All my curiosity, you know, going where the music takes me. Yeah, you just flow with it, you know? But you do— oftentimes when you go in to make music, you do have some kind of ideal direction, 'cause that's what leads you to the producers you wanna work with and the writers you wanna work with. So you do typically have a creative base.

Mm-hmm.

But then there's this thing that when you start to create, then the magic really happens when you just let it happen. Yeah. Right? But you have some kind of, like, baseline foundation of where you wanna start from.

Love that. Question for me and for nobody listening is like the abs. What are we doing?

Okay, first of all, let me tell you, you're so sweet because my abs do not be abbin'. Let me tell you why I say that. Okay?

Okay.

Okay, listen, I say this because I've had my 4 precious babies, as we all know, and they gave me something called diastasis recti. Okay? Some people say diastasis recti or whatever it is, but my ab wall is like kaput. Wow. So my abs will never be the same. Okay. Now, do I work hard to get down and like back to my base weight? I do. I have not gotten back down all the way after my last baby, Amora, and she's almost 2, but I'm giving myself some grace. Okay.

You look so good.

I really appreciate that. You know, Russ, he's like, babe, now whatever you are doing, don't get too crazy. Because he likes a little hips to grip.

Okay. My husband too. Yeah, I don't blame you. It's just women work the hard part on us.

But let me tell you something. I was looking at something, I said, "Now, where did that don't come from? Because I've been praying for this all my life. Praying for that don't." The babies gave me something, you know? So, I'm like, "I'mma hold on for as long as I can hold on." You know? But your babies do give you, they give you some hips. They give you a little bit more, you know, a little bit more than you want sometimes. You know, but I— it's funny because I'm actually going to really, like, dive into trying to train my core even better. It is a— it's a thing. I'm literally holding on for dear life sometimes because the diastasis makes your— it makes your belly, like, push. Like, the instinct is for it to go out versus, like, in. Any mom or woman knows. Yeah. So you're like, it's an extra second for the carpet. So it's like—

Oh yeah.

Keep it together.

I always like that. I always like that Jamie Lee Curtis thing where she's like, I've been holding my abs in for 30 years. I'm done. She's like, no more, no more. 30 years, I'm out.

Listen, I be baggy because I just be like, I ain't got time for this every day. Now when I want to snatch, get snatched, then I, you know, I get ready. Like I may eat like different, like I'm doing a red carpet tomorrow. So today I'm kind of going no carbs, you know, like, so I'll be strategic. Oh yeah. Now this is the poquito. Está bien. Sí.

It doesn't count.

Sí, it's all right.

Well, I have a, I'm going, you're friends with Ashley Graham too, right? Yes. So I have, she has some award show tonight that I'm going to with her. And I told her, I was like, I'm feeling a little, I call it fluffy. Like I'm feeling a little fluffy lately.

Yeah.

And so I bought a dress specifically because it could like, like it could like wrangle it in in the midsection. But I love her 'cause she doesn't give a fuck.

No, she's amazing.

No, we have another doctor friend who's like trying to like, hey, I want you to do, and Ashley's like, if you try to make me skinny, She's like, no GLP-1s, I'm not into it. And I'm like, I'm over here thinking I would take a GLP-1 if I trusted it, you know?

I don't even know what that is, but—

That's like, what are those? What's it called? The thing that's making everybody skinny?

Oh, it's—

There's another word for it.

What is that thing called?

Oh, Ozempic.

Oh, yeah. I'm like, what is it?

Ozempic.

Oh, ain't it? Yeah.

Exactly. So we'll just stay a little, stay a little thick.

Listen, man, to each his own. I think the greatest thing is we just have to embrace the journey, honestly. Like, give yourself grace when you need. Like, you know, I think that's been probably one of the best things I could have given myself along the way in the journey of motherhood is grace. You know, 'cause you have to. Like, when I say to you, life be lifin', it be turnt up. You know, being a mom of multiple kids and, you know, managing all the personalities. You know, I was like saying the other day, I'm like, it's maybe it's called a mama-pissed. You know, there's a therapist and there's a mama-pissed because I'm just telling you, like, everybody's got a different story. Every kid has a different story. They're walking TV stations and they have their own programming. And it's like, who we gonna get today? Okay, got it. Like, I'm ready for everything now, you know?

But grace though, you gotta give yourself Grace. I love this. Okay, I wanna end on what are you most excited for this year? We got 10to1, we've got maybe what else?

So we have 3Rand, which we're super excited about our growth and just the—

What's your favorite piece of clothing from it? Like if I'm gonna go buy for my holidays right now, what are you like, you know what, I love our jerseys, I love our—

Well, the thing is, is we focus more on the youth right now. So we're not so much into the adult wear yet.

Well, so we're gonna give some, some tips.

—some gifts. Listen, our backpacks are amazing. OK, I like this. Never go out of style. I like it. We just actually rusted this really cool gifting experience for Future's team. And, you know, I don't want to steal his thunder because I don't know what all I can reveal right now. But it was amazing to see how excited they were. And we have cool, like, duffels and all that stuff. So that's amazing. Our bags are awesome, the gift that keeps on giving. But just the whole clothing assortment, honestly, you have, you know, everything in there that you can need from great sweatpants, you know, matching sweatpants to great athletic shorts and tees. There's a lot of shirts with great sayings on them and slogans like Go Time. We have Level Up, we have Why Not You. I love that. We also have, you know, for the not just the Giants community, we have obviously stuff in red, white, and blue, but we We have stuff in all colors, right? Which is awesome. So, you know, you will have everything you need in the 3brand shop, 3brand.com. I love it. Go there. But obviously 10 to 1, you know, super focused on this baby. And we are, as you mentioned early, probably the fastest growing and most awarded rum. You know, again, a great story to tell. We want people to reimagine rum. So we're gonna stay on the course to do that.

Can we have your recipe for coquitos? You sure can. On the website? Come on.

Of course. You sabe. No problemo.

And then also— We'll put the whole link in. It's really— I'm not bullshitting. It's really good.

Yay. So good. I know.

That's like better than eggnog. I think I'd like switch that out.

Mix it up. I'm so into it. It's a gift that keeps on giving too. Like you give a gift to someone like Tony was telling me, you know, you know, we were talking about where Boricua is when we were making it. Boricua is making coquitas. But you can like, And I, you know, just keep on making it. Like, I'm excited to make new coquita for Thanksgiving. Oh, I love that. I'm excited for that. And then I also have my skincare line, OAM Skin, and OAM stands for On a Mission. I say I'm a woman of ambition on a mission to make clinical skincare simple for all. And I was a girl that used regular body wash and, you know, body lotion on my face. Like, I did not give two cents about how I was taking care of me in that regard. And, you know, I, during the pandemic, again, another baby that I also had was OAM. I started building OAM, probably the perfect muse at that point because you're in the most sensitive place of your, you know, with your skin. And so I started that journey then. My makeup artist, Yolanda, you know, if you see her, like, sorry, Yoli, I always call her out. Everyone knows this, but she does not look her age. She is like a box of like wisdom and like like, it's like anything she tells me, I really should listen. Because if you see this woman, you're going to be like, no way. Well, you too.

Your skin's amazing. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Thank you. I want some of that. Thank you. So, you know, she used to always tell me, she'd be like, did you use your eye cream? Did you? I'm like, eh, eh, eh. Like, she's just like, just stop, you know? And I'm like, maybe I should listen to her because like, if you see her, I'm like, she does it all. She does all the right stuff. And so I started to like really take my skincare serious and OAM was the, the result of that. And, you know, I'll be very transparent. We're a baby company, right? We're in the process of— process now of elevating, you know, our formulations or I want to say elevating, meaning we're going to— we're going to increase, we're going to level up because we're going to add more to what we currently have. What's your favorite product? So it's funny because we're completely sold out of my one. That's one of my favorites, which is a hydrating cleanser. We've sold out of it multiple times.

I know, but let me tell you, I'm about to do it right now.

Okay, okay. I bring it up because I'm so proud that we've sold out of multiple SKUs several times and we currently have our 20% serum, which is very special. So it's 20% vitamin C serum and we have the way that our vitamin C is formulated is it's what we call triceptopeptide complex. So it allows the vitamin C to release in micro doses throughout the day so your skin doesn't get irritated when you use vitamin C. And the 20% dosage is a very unique dose. It's very potent and it's very rare you see that amount of vitamin C in a product. But that's also another unique component. But when I tell you it's so good, like your skin feels so— it feels hydrated. You feel like it's just a great primer as well. Helps to protect, correct, and prevent. And so we're really big on that. And you can get that now. That is on the site. Okay. And then we also have our brightening pads. Yes.

For like anybody that it comments, I don't know, level up, we'll give away a bunch of your favorite products. Yeah. And my team will buy them and take care of them. So go to YouTube.

Let's go. Yeah. And we have our brightening pads and those are amazing.

Actually, why don't you tell us like, tell us like your favorite beauty quote or something cute and we'll pick one. Favorite beauty quote? Yeah. And I'll— For like what they have to say? I'll have them do it. Yeah. And then I'll send it to you and you can pick this one. Oh my God.

Beauty quote. We don't— Yeah. What is a beauty quote? Like we don't have—

Like, you know what I think about? It's like Marilyn Monroe was like, like she has so many good ones. She's like, "If you don't love me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best." I love that. And then Pamela Anderson had one. I really, she's coming into it lately. I like her a lot. She has one that's like, "Sex is a 3-letter word, but another way." Wait, what did she say? She's like, "Sexy is a 3-letter word, but it hits as hard as a 4-letter." And I was like, that's such a good one too. Being sexy.

Okay, so what I say actually at my company, my label is called Beauty Marks Entertainment, and I say that all the scars you get from the obstacles you face in life are your beauty marks.

Oh, that's hot.

Oh, I did see that quote. Yeah. So like everything you've gone through, all the stuff that didn't feel so beautiful when you went through it, you know, all those things that felt ugly to you, they always amount to something so beautiful. And so much greater than you could even imagine when you're going through them. And so those things are what we call our beauty marks. And even your stretch marks, they're your beauty marks, right? Oh, I love that.

So yeah. Sierra, this was amazing. Thank you so much. I'm excited to try your product and give it away. And thank you for being like such a generous soul. I can't believe you like made me— now I didn't, I don't have anything for you, but thanks for the gift. Now I owe you one.

Listen, I am like starting to rock over here in this chair. It's so good. Cheers.

Thank you.

Cheers. Salud. Thank you.