Ep. 23: Nelita Villezon: Martial Arts Athlete to Hollywood - Empowering Wellness & Inner Resilience

[00:00:00] Literally the arts that I do and one in particular um Filipino martial arts it is the art that we use to literally defend ourselves and our land so when the conquistadors came and mangelan came this is the art that we use to defeat them when they initially came and that we continue to practice throughout their colonization so for me when I do martial arts it's it's deeper than this cool flashy stuff you see online like you see that cool flashy stuff and that's nice and all like on ads but I'm like every time I do it there's this inherent like visceral feeling deep inside

[00:00:30] where my ancestors are moving through me welcome to champion this with Brianna Salvatore-Dewick and Chelsea Poppins where we share the incredible stories of athletes and entertainers who are using their platforms to create positive change in the world and the communities they live in today we have Nelita Villezon on the podcast Nelita is a professional martial arts athlete she's also an actress who's been featured in action films and tv shows including snapchat's breakwater among many others where she blends her acting skills and

[00:01:10] her combat skills she's also a model and has worked with some incredible brands including being the face of the Fenty Savage sports campaign which is Rihanna's brand for our listeners who don't know about Fenty Savage you should know she's also a passionate wellness and fitness content creator with a strong online presence and she even has her own fitness app called the Nelita Ville app and above all else she's really passionate about helping individuals embrace their strength and power with a particular passion

[00:01:40] for women welcome to the passion for women welcome to the podcast Nelita wow that made me nervous you really go hold this off so thank you you guys are amazing that was that was an absolute badass bio

[00:01:52] yes I want to meet this lady who's she

[00:01:56] sexy and powerful

[00:01:58] I love it so to kick it off

[00:02:03] martial martial arts is such a huge piece

[00:02:06] to your story obviously after listening to your bio

[00:02:09] it's kind of laced throughout everything that you're doing

[00:02:12] let's kick it off by you telling us where did the martial arts journey for you begin

[00:02:17] absolutely

[00:02:18] martial arts is interroven into the fibers of my being

[00:02:22] it is my culture

[00:02:23] it is my ancestors

[00:02:25] it is my everything

[00:02:25] I am half Filipino and half black

[00:02:27] my father is Filipino and

[00:02:29] did martial arts his entire life

[00:02:31] my grandmother was a secret agent in the Philippines

[00:02:33] and did a lot of combat

[00:02:35] wow

[00:02:35] for the Philippines government

[00:02:36] right

[00:02:36] what

[00:02:37] yeah

[00:02:38] so the badassery is genetic

[00:02:41] it's just in the DNA

[00:02:43] it is

[00:02:44] I know

[00:02:44] that's what I said

[00:02:45] it's literally my ancestry

[00:02:46] and so growing up

[00:02:48] my dad never had sons

[00:02:50] and

[00:02:51] my sister and I are the closest

[00:02:53] with my dad

[00:02:54] and so he taught us martial arts

[00:02:55] and

[00:02:55] the really cool thing about that

[00:02:57] is like I grew up with it

[00:02:58] every day of my life

[00:02:59] I grew up under the lineage of

[00:03:01] Dan and Asanto

[00:03:01] which is Bruce Lee's best friend

[00:03:03] and number one student

[00:03:04] that's my father's instructor

[00:03:05] I used to see my dad

[00:03:06] sparring with Brandon Lee

[00:03:07] who was Bruce Lee's son

[00:03:09] and just many other greats

[00:03:10] within martial arts

[00:03:11] and

[00:03:11] it's just something that was natural

[00:03:13] to me growing up

[00:03:14] and doing it with him

[00:03:15] and he told me when I was a little girl

[00:03:16] he said

[00:03:16] Nelisa

[00:03:17] he said

[00:03:18] I am not only teaching you martial arts

[00:03:20] so that you know how to defend yourself

[00:03:22] but I'm teaching you this

[00:03:23] so that if ever

[00:03:24] you don't have a job

[00:03:25] or you need money

[00:03:26] or you're lost in life

[00:03:27] you can always rely on martial arts

[00:03:29] and that sounds like a really crazy concept

[00:03:31] so the people you hear them

[00:03:32] like what?

[00:03:33] like martial arts

[00:03:34] can save you in life

[00:03:34] and it's funny

[00:03:35] because like you said

[00:03:36] within my bio

[00:03:37] and everything that I have done

[00:03:39] in my life

[00:03:40] martial arts has allowed me

[00:03:42] it has been the catalyst

[00:03:43] in that

[00:03:43] to not only survive in life

[00:03:45] but to thrive

[00:03:45] so when you hear these things

[00:03:46] like being in Savage Fenty

[00:03:48] being like on the fashion week

[00:03:50] New York fashion week

[00:03:51] and all this sort of stuff

[00:03:51] it was because of martial arts

[00:03:53] that I got there

[00:03:53] and so that's been the amazing thing

[00:03:55] of how I dove into that

[00:03:56] and then additionally

[00:03:58] my dad wanted me to be really great

[00:04:00] like my dad was an amazing martial artist

[00:04:01] he's still alive

[00:04:02] but he's unable to practice now

[00:04:04] but he didn't want me

[00:04:04] only to learn from him

[00:04:05] so I would train at our school

[00:04:07] then he was like

[00:04:08] oh I love what this style has over here

[00:04:10] they have great kicks

[00:04:11] so you're gonna go train

[00:04:11] at this school now

[00:04:12] so he would send me to that school

[00:04:13] and he's like

[00:04:13] well I like this school's ground game

[00:04:15] so you're gonna go to that school

[00:04:16] so I was like a little monk

[00:04:17] just traveling around

[00:04:18] to martial arts schools

[00:04:19] learning my whole life

[00:04:20] I was homeschooled

[00:04:20] so I had a lot of time on my hands

[00:04:21] so he was like

[00:04:22] you're gonna go train

[00:04:22] and that was the beginning

[00:04:24] and the fabric

[00:04:25] that has woven my life

[00:04:26] in martial arts

[00:04:28] how did you feel

[00:04:29] about bouncing around

[00:04:30] from school to school

[00:04:32] I loved it

[00:04:33] I loved it

[00:04:34] I thrived

[00:04:35] I um

[00:04:36] it's funny enough

[00:04:37] even with all this

[00:04:37] but people hear these types

[00:04:38] of like achievements

[00:04:39] and accolades

[00:04:40] and they're like

[00:04:40] oh wow

[00:04:41] you know you must have

[00:04:41] such an amazing life

[00:04:42] and I did

[00:04:43] but a lot of people

[00:04:45] don't know

[00:04:45] that I was horribly

[00:04:47] I don't even want to say picked on

[00:04:48] I was tormented

[00:04:49] growing up

[00:04:50] so to the point

[00:04:51] where I left

[00:04:52] and went into homeschool

[00:04:53] that's how

[00:04:53] that's how I got into homeschool

[00:04:54] was that I was being picked on

[00:04:55] so much every day

[00:04:56] physically attacked

[00:04:57] and people were like

[00:04:58] well you're a kid

[00:04:59] like why don't you

[00:04:59] fight back

[00:05:00] but I wasn't taught

[00:05:01] like to just beat kids up

[00:05:02] sort of thing

[00:05:02] that's not what martial arts is

[00:05:03] and so um

[00:05:05] I ended up going into homeschool

[00:05:06] so my parents became

[00:05:07] my best friends

[00:05:08] and like hanging out with them

[00:05:09] and I loved it

[00:05:10] because I learned

[00:05:11] all these adult skills

[00:05:12] and these really cool skills

[00:05:13] that other kids

[00:05:14] didn't have the time for

[00:05:15] while they were in school

[00:05:16] like I was still learning

[00:05:17] but I got to go train

[00:05:18] at different schools

[00:05:19] and meet these great

[00:05:20] legendary martial artists

[00:05:21] who were

[00:05:22] some of them

[00:05:22] are no longer here with us

[00:05:23] yeah

[00:05:24] wow

[00:05:25] that is

[00:05:26] yeah

[00:05:26] that's really powerful

[00:05:27] that's so cool

[00:05:28] and you

[00:05:29] you know

[00:05:31] being in the training

[00:05:32] since a young age

[00:05:33] like obviously

[00:05:34] that took you to

[00:05:34] an extremely high level

[00:05:36] of martial arts

[00:05:37] like being a full professional

[00:05:38] and I know

[00:05:39] that you also

[00:05:40] were an Olympic hopeful

[00:05:42] and training

[00:05:43] kind of

[00:05:44] to make the Olympic team

[00:05:45] and be at that highest level

[00:05:47] um

[00:05:47] that said

[00:05:48] during our prep call

[00:05:49] you kind of expressed

[00:05:50] that you had

[00:05:50] a bit of a negative experience

[00:05:52] with your coach

[00:05:53] that kind of undercut

[00:05:54] these dreams

[00:05:54] and not dissimilar

[00:05:56] to a lot of

[00:05:58] women's experiences

[00:05:59] in this

[00:05:59] uh

[00:06:00] across sports

[00:06:01] but if you're comfortable

[00:06:02] sharing

[00:06:02] a little bit more

[00:06:03] about this experience

[00:06:04] um

[00:06:05] yeah

[00:06:06] would you mind sharing

[00:06:07] a little bit more

[00:06:07] about kind of this experience

[00:06:09] absolutely

[00:06:10] um

[00:06:10] um

[00:06:11] so yes

[00:06:12] I trained my entire life

[00:06:13] and I think

[00:06:14] like a lot of athletes

[00:06:15] you want to reach

[00:06:16] your highest achievement

[00:06:17] and for me

[00:06:18] that was to one day

[00:06:19] be in the Olympics

[00:06:19] to be a professional fighter

[00:06:21] for people to

[00:06:22] know me for that

[00:06:23] and so that's what I trained for

[00:06:24] I've fought in many tournaments

[00:06:25] growing up in live

[00:06:26] Junior Olympics

[00:06:27] US Open

[00:06:27] and things like that

[00:06:28] and um

[00:06:30] as I said

[00:06:30] I won't disclose names

[00:06:31] uh

[00:06:32] but I did have

[00:06:33] some amazing coaches

[00:06:34] throughout my life

[00:06:35] and unfortunately

[00:06:36] I did have

[00:06:37] one coach

[00:06:38] that was

[00:06:39] inappropriate

[00:06:40] and um

[00:06:41] it's funny

[00:06:42] or I don't want to even use that word

[00:06:44] it's interesting

[00:06:45] that

[00:06:46] you know

[00:06:46] things come out later in life

[00:06:47] about this

[00:06:48] like so now we're more aware

[00:06:49] of these sort of things happening

[00:06:50] but at that time

[00:06:51] it wasn't a talked about subject

[00:06:53] uh

[00:06:53] and so

[00:06:54] when I was fighting in the US Open

[00:06:56] I had a coach

[00:06:56] to physically molest me

[00:06:58] and probably would have gone further

[00:07:00] if I did not

[00:07:00] have the wherewithal

[00:07:01] to try to get away

[00:07:02] and that

[00:07:04] not only

[00:07:04] just definitely killed my dream

[00:07:06] so that's my coach

[00:07:06] that's taking me to all these tournaments

[00:07:07] like he was the one

[00:07:08] supervising me

[00:07:09] going to these tournaments with me

[00:07:10] so now I don't want to physically be around you

[00:07:12] so that kind of deterred me

[00:07:13] from training

[00:07:14] from being there

[00:07:15] and then secondly

[00:07:16] what I tell people

[00:07:16] it's like

[00:07:17] the mental toll

[00:07:18] that it took on me

[00:07:19] to

[00:07:20] you know

[00:07:21] this is a person

[00:07:21] that not only my parents entrusted

[00:07:23] that I entrusted

[00:07:24] that I had known

[00:07:25] since I was nine years old

[00:07:26] so I saw them as a mentor

[00:07:27] as like

[00:07:28] kind of like a father figure

[00:07:29] and all these sort of things

[00:07:30] for this to happen

[00:07:31] completely stained

[00:07:32] my desires

[00:07:33] to want to do that

[00:07:34] or even trust

[00:07:35] within this field

[00:07:36] and so for many years

[00:07:37] that stifled

[00:07:38] what I was doing

[00:07:39] my parents were trying to figure out

[00:07:40] why I didn't want to train anymore

[00:07:41] and like

[00:07:42] I would do it at my parents school

[00:07:43] but I didn't want to go anywhere else

[00:07:44] and I thought I was doing the best thing

[00:07:46] by protecting them

[00:07:47] by not telling them

[00:07:48] in the beginning

[00:07:49] and so this is what kind of

[00:07:50] stifled my dreams

[00:07:51] of going to the Olympics

[00:07:52] was that situation

[00:07:53] but it wasn't a place

[00:07:54] where people talked about it

[00:07:55] at that time

[00:07:57] yeah

[00:07:57] totally

[00:07:58] and it's so difficult

[00:07:59] to talk to your parents

[00:08:01] about it

[00:08:02] because

[00:08:02] like I think

[00:08:03] there's a lot of shame

[00:08:04] and embarrassment

[00:08:05] that we as women

[00:08:06] carry around

[00:08:07] around those type of conversations

[00:08:09] because it's

[00:08:09] like you said

[00:08:10] it's not very talked about

[00:08:11] but

[00:08:13] it's just

[00:08:13] it's just like

[00:08:14] having those conversations

[00:08:15] it's oftentimes

[00:08:16] put back on us

[00:08:18] as the

[00:08:18] like we're like

[00:08:20] we

[00:08:20] they did this

[00:08:21] this to us

[00:08:22] and then a lot of times

[00:08:23] we either we feel like it

[00:08:24] or other people put that on us

[00:08:25] where it's like

[00:08:26] we put

[00:08:27] we did this

[00:08:27] this and this

[00:08:28] that put us in that situation

[00:08:29] and the blame

[00:08:30] is very easily

[00:08:31] kind of misplaced

[00:08:33] absolutely

[00:08:34] you know

[00:08:34] it's

[00:08:35] I'm sorry to interject

[00:08:36] but

[00:08:37] I feel the same way

[00:08:38] that's definitely what it was

[00:08:39] I think

[00:08:40] and we'll talk about this later

[00:08:41] because this wasn't the

[00:08:42] the only time in life

[00:08:43] I was ever

[00:08:44] attacked

[00:08:44] or like you know

[00:08:48] harassed

[00:08:48] and a lot of times

[00:08:49] you look internally

[00:08:50] you're like

[00:08:51] well what did I do

[00:08:51] did I make them think

[00:08:53] did I

[00:08:53] you know

[00:08:53] did I do this

[00:08:54] and this is not only

[00:08:55] you know

[00:08:55] I talk about this a lot

[00:08:56] because now that I've opened up

[00:08:57] about it to many people

[00:08:58] it's like

[00:08:59] it happens to everyone

[00:09:00] men and women

[00:09:01] you know

[00:09:01] and I've even had men

[00:09:02] on top of that

[00:09:04] where it's like

[00:09:04] they're deemed as men

[00:09:05] so it's like

[00:09:06] they don't even want to go

[00:09:07] talk to people about it

[00:09:08] or tell people about it

[00:09:09] they feel ashamed

[00:09:09] because like

[00:09:10] what did they do about it

[00:09:11] and we kind of talked

[00:09:12] about that too

[00:09:12] where it's like

[00:09:14] one

[00:09:14] it was putting it on myself

[00:09:16] like okay

[00:09:16] what did I do

[00:09:17] what could I have done

[00:09:17] to prevent this from happening

[00:09:19] two

[00:09:20] being a teen girl

[00:09:21] to be like

[00:09:21] hey

[00:09:21] I had the wherewithal

[00:09:22] to think

[00:09:23] what will my parents think

[00:09:24] won't they be ashamed

[00:09:25] that they entrusted

[00:09:26] this person

[00:09:27] with me

[00:09:27] so I was like

[00:09:29] oh I want to save them

[00:09:30] from that

[00:09:30] because I don't want them

[00:09:31] to think that they didn't

[00:09:31] do their job

[00:09:32] and now they failed me

[00:09:33] you know

[00:09:33] it was just all these

[00:09:34] different emotions

[00:09:35] going into this sort of thing

[00:09:36] and then yeah

[00:09:37] on top of that

[00:09:37] being a martial artist

[00:09:38] for people to say

[00:09:39] well what did you do

[00:09:40] to stop that person

[00:09:41] oh I bet you did this

[00:09:42] I bet you did that

[00:09:42] and the honest truth

[00:09:43] was I didn't

[00:09:45] I froze

[00:09:45] with all the training

[00:09:46] that I had

[00:09:47] I froze

[00:09:47] because I had never prepared

[00:09:48] for someone to violate me

[00:09:50] let alone

[00:09:51] someone who was close to me

[00:09:52] that I trusted

[00:09:53] yes

[00:09:55] yeah for sure

[00:09:56] Nelita

[00:09:57] thank you for your

[00:09:58] bravery in sharing that

[00:09:59] and I think it is

[00:10:01] really important

[00:10:02] because a lot of women

[00:10:04] don't feel like

[00:10:05] they can speak up

[00:10:06] and share their experiences

[00:10:07] like in our prep call

[00:10:08] I even shared

[00:10:09] I had a coach

[00:10:12] in California

[00:10:13] that was inappropriate

[00:10:14] with me

[00:10:15] and didn't take it

[00:10:16] any further

[00:10:17] like physically

[00:10:18] but I also had

[00:10:21] you know

[00:10:22] a really negative experience

[00:10:23] and I didn't tell

[00:10:24] my parents

[00:10:25] I told a couple teammates

[00:10:27] but I'm like

[00:10:28] I can't get taken off

[00:10:29] this team

[00:10:29] because it's the top team

[00:10:30] in the county

[00:10:31] or in the

[00:10:32] all of Southern California

[00:10:33] and I want to play

[00:10:35] college division one basketball

[00:10:36] so I better just be quiet

[00:10:38] about it

[00:10:39] but I think

[00:10:40] you know

[00:10:40] as we as women

[00:10:43] are bold

[00:10:43] and brave

[00:10:44] and it's easier

[00:10:45] as grown women now

[00:10:46] than when you're

[00:10:46] like a 15 year old

[00:10:47] but it is

[00:10:49] it's really important

[00:10:50] because we're making sure

[00:10:51] that we're changing

[00:10:52] the culture around sports

[00:10:53] and bringing the right coaches

[00:10:54] into these environments

[00:10:55] to be able to

[00:10:58] support women

[00:10:59] and girls

[00:10:59] you know

[00:11:00] that are pursuing

[00:11:00] their dreams

[00:11:01] and yeah

[00:11:02] so thank you

[00:11:03] for your bravery

[00:11:04] and yeah

[00:11:06] just for being a voice

[00:11:06] more largely

[00:11:07] for women

[00:11:08] in this space

[00:11:09] yeah

[00:11:09] I appreciate

[00:11:11] just to add

[00:11:11] to that notice

[00:11:12] it's true

[00:11:13] we had this

[00:11:14] in our kind of talk

[00:11:15] together

[00:11:16] when we spoke about it

[00:11:17] and I think

[00:11:19] it's a thing now

[00:11:20] where

[00:11:21] when you feel

[00:11:22] comfortable enough

[00:11:22] it's important

[00:11:23] for you to speak up

[00:11:24] about these things

[00:11:24] because

[00:11:25] I never truly

[00:11:27] understood

[00:11:27] the power

[00:11:28] the empowerment

[00:11:28] that it gives

[00:11:29] other people

[00:11:29] to do so

[00:11:30] because when I first

[00:11:31] opened up

[00:11:31] about this stuff

[00:11:32] I had people

[00:11:33] I had known

[00:11:33] for almost my entirety

[00:11:34] of life

[00:11:35] and never knew

[00:11:36] that things

[00:11:37] had happened

[00:11:37] to them

[00:11:37] but because

[00:11:38] I started

[00:11:39] sharing my story

[00:11:39] they felt

[00:11:40] open up

[00:11:40] like well

[00:11:41] actually

[00:11:41] I was raped

[00:11:42] actually

[00:11:43] this did

[00:11:44] happen to me

[00:11:44] and I'm

[00:11:45] I'm shocked

[00:11:45] because I was like

[00:11:46] I've known you

[00:11:46] my entire life

[00:11:47] how did I not

[00:11:48] know this

[00:11:49] but again

[00:11:49] we internalize

[00:11:50] a lot of stuff

[00:11:50] and it goes

[00:11:51] across the board

[00:11:51] so I can't

[00:11:52] speak more

[00:11:53] to the importance

[00:11:53] of being open

[00:11:55] to share

[00:11:55] with other people

[00:11:56] because again

[00:11:57] there's a lot

[00:11:58] of us

[00:11:58] who have a lot

[00:11:59] of collective

[00:11:59] experiences

[00:12:00] that we would

[00:12:00] never know about

[00:12:01] yeah

[00:12:02] 100%

[00:12:03] I think

[00:12:04] I think a lot

[00:12:05] of the

[00:12:06] like what

[00:12:06] what this reminds

[00:12:07] me of is

[00:12:08] the USA

[00:12:08] gymnastics

[00:12:09] of a lot

[00:12:10] of the young

[00:12:11] girls who

[00:12:12] had coaches

[00:12:13] and physicians

[00:12:14] who had

[00:12:15] similar stories

[00:12:16] and then

[00:12:17] they started

[00:12:18] to speak out

[00:12:18] which I think

[00:12:19] is amazing

[00:12:20] that more and

[00:12:20] more women

[00:12:21] are actively

[00:12:22] speaking out

[00:12:23] on their

[00:12:23] experiences

[00:12:24] and sharing

[00:12:24] stories

[00:12:25] so that

[00:12:25] people

[00:12:26] this

[00:12:26] this generation

[00:12:27] coming up

[00:12:28] isn't going

[00:12:28] to have the

[00:12:29] same experience

[00:12:29] that we did

[00:12:30] absolutely

[00:12:31] absolutely

[00:12:34] okay

[00:12:34] well

[00:12:35] from

[00:12:36] getting back

[00:12:37] to kind of

[00:12:38] your story

[00:12:38] of like

[00:12:39] being an

[00:12:40] Olympic hopeful

[00:12:41] and then

[00:12:42] having this

[00:12:42] experience

[00:12:43] that kind

[00:12:44] of took

[00:12:44] you

[00:12:44] kind of

[00:12:45] tarnished

[00:12:45] that experience

[00:12:46] a bit

[00:12:47] you did

[00:12:48] end up

[00:12:48] going to

[00:12:48] the University

[00:12:49] of Texas

[00:12:49] for college

[00:12:50] and you

[00:12:51] continued

[00:12:51] to practice

[00:12:52] martial arts

[00:12:53] while in school

[00:12:54] at this time

[00:12:55] you got involved

[00:12:56] in teaching

[00:12:56] at your dad's

[00:12:58] martial arts

[00:12:58] school in Texas

[00:12:59] correct?

[00:13:00] yes

[00:13:01] that is

[00:13:01] correct

[00:13:02] how did

[00:13:03] this experience

[00:13:03] kind of help

[00:13:04] shift your

[00:13:04] mindset

[00:13:05] from that

[00:13:05] negative

[00:13:06] experience

[00:13:06] with your

[00:13:07] coach?

[00:13:08] absolutely

[00:13:09] so you know

[00:13:09] I had a

[00:13:10] number of

[00:13:10] years where

[00:13:12] I had lost

[00:13:13] I don't want to

[00:13:14] say the passion

[00:13:14] because I've

[00:13:14] always had the

[00:13:15] passion for

[00:13:15] martial arts

[00:13:16] and never went

[00:13:16] anywhere

[00:13:17] but the love

[00:13:18] of wanting

[00:13:18] to do it

[00:13:19] and the safety

[00:13:19] to do it

[00:13:20] in certain

[00:13:20] places

[00:13:21] this definitely

[00:13:22] stifled me

[00:13:23] I always felt

[00:13:24] safe in my

[00:13:25] father's school

[00:13:25] we had one

[00:13:26] in Los Angeles

[00:13:27] they ended up

[00:13:27] moving to Texas

[00:13:28] and we did it

[00:13:28] there

[00:13:30] it's funny

[00:13:30] because I wish

[00:13:30] there was

[00:13:31] like a martial

[00:13:31] arts program

[00:13:32] within colleges

[00:13:32] and universities

[00:13:33] but there isn't

[00:13:34] you would be

[00:13:35] the national

[00:13:35] champion girl

[00:13:36] oh my gosh

[00:13:37] I would have

[00:13:37] loved to have

[00:13:38] had that

[00:13:39] of the men

[00:13:40] and the women

[00:13:40] yeah

[00:13:41] thank you for

[00:13:42] that Brie

[00:13:42] yes

[00:13:44] yeah no

[00:13:45] I would have

[00:13:45] loved to have

[00:13:46] done that

[00:13:46] but I did

[00:13:46] start like a

[00:13:47] Filipino club

[00:13:48] in my school

[00:13:48] where we had

[00:13:49] like martial

[00:13:49] arts demonstrations

[00:13:50] and then I joined

[00:13:51] like a parkour

[00:13:51] club

[00:13:52] so whatever

[00:13:52] there was

[00:13:52] active I would

[00:13:53] do

[00:13:53] but then my dad

[00:13:55] had a school

[00:13:55] did you say

[00:13:56] a parkour

[00:13:57] club

[00:13:57] I did

[00:14:01] like what

[00:14:02] people really

[00:14:03] don't know

[00:14:04] parkour

[00:14:04] parkour

[00:14:05] right no

[00:14:06] the office

[00:14:07] right

[00:14:09] I'm such

[00:14:10] a nerd

[00:14:10] I like to

[00:14:11] just join

[00:14:11] clubs

[00:14:12] and do

[00:14:12] random stuff

[00:14:12] and I love

[00:14:13] being a nerd

[00:14:13] being a nerd

[00:14:14] is amazing

[00:14:15] I love it

[00:14:15] I was that kid

[00:14:17] a part of

[00:14:17] every club

[00:14:18] but in

[00:14:19] Texas

[00:14:19] my dad

[00:14:19] opened a

[00:14:20] school

[00:14:20] and so

[00:14:20] I began

[00:14:21] to train

[00:14:21] there

[00:14:21] and teach

[00:14:22] and so

[00:14:22] I actually

[00:14:22] was like

[00:14:23] kind of

[00:14:23] going back

[00:14:23] and forth

[00:14:23] on my

[00:14:24] off days

[00:14:24] I would

[00:14:24] fly to LA

[00:14:25] and teach

[00:14:25] and then

[00:14:26] I would

[00:14:26] come back

[00:14:26] to Texas

[00:14:26] and teach

[00:14:27] there

[00:14:27] and that's

[00:14:28] what tethered

[00:14:29] and kept

[00:14:29] my love

[00:14:29] for because

[00:14:30] it reminded

[00:14:31] me of

[00:14:32] the why

[00:14:32] of why

[00:14:33] I started

[00:14:33] it's

[00:14:34] it's my

[00:14:35] culture

[00:14:35] it's my

[00:14:36] ancestors

[00:14:37] it's my

[00:14:37] family

[00:14:37] it's literally

[00:14:38] the arts

[00:14:38] that I do

[00:14:39] and one in

[00:14:39] particular

[00:14:40] Filipino

[00:14:40] martial arts

[00:14:41] it is

[00:14:42] the art

[00:14:43] that we

[00:14:43] use to

[00:14:44] literally

[00:14:44] defend

[00:14:45] ourselves

[00:14:45] and our

[00:14:46] land

[00:14:46] so when

[00:14:47] the conquistadors

[00:14:48] came

[00:14:48] and

[00:14:48] manjillin

[00:14:49] came

[00:14:49] this is

[00:14:50] the art

[00:14:50] that we

[00:14:50] used

[00:14:51] to defeat

[00:14:51] them

[00:14:51] when they

[00:14:51] initially

[00:14:52] came

[00:14:52] and that

[00:14:52] we

[00:14:53] continue

[00:14:53] to practice

[00:14:53] throughout

[00:14:54] their

[00:14:54] colonization

[00:14:55] so for

[00:14:56] me

[00:14:56] when I

[00:14:56] do

[00:14:57] martial

[00:14:57] arts

[00:14:57] it's

[00:14:58] it's

[00:14:58] deeper

[00:14:58] than

[00:14:59] this

[00:14:59] cool

[00:14:59] flashy

[00:15:00] stuff

[00:15:00] you

[00:15:00] see

[00:15:00] online

[00:15:00] like

[00:15:01] you

[00:15:01] see

[00:15:01] that

[00:15:01] cool

[00:15:01] flashy

[00:15:01] stuff

[00:15:02] and that's

[00:15:02] nice

[00:15:02] but I'm like

[00:15:04] every time I do it

[00:15:05] there's this

[00:15:05] inherent

[00:15:06] visceral feeling

[00:15:07] deep inside

[00:15:07] where my ancestors

[00:15:08] are moving

[00:15:09] through me

[00:15:09] wow

[00:15:11] powerful

[00:15:11] I love that

[00:15:12] that's what

[00:15:13] heathered me

[00:15:13] back

[00:15:14] was being

[00:15:14] able to

[00:15:14] train

[00:15:14] with my

[00:15:15] dad

[00:15:15] again

[00:15:15] yeah

[00:15:16] that's

[00:15:16] beautiful

[00:15:18] and so

[00:15:19] I know

[00:15:20] while you

[00:15:20] were in

[00:15:20] school

[00:15:21] you're

[00:15:21] in

[00:15:21] Texas

[00:15:21] at about

[00:15:22] age 20

[00:15:23] your dad

[00:15:24] got some

[00:15:25] news

[00:15:25] that he

[00:15:25] was sick

[00:15:27] and

[00:15:28] during

[00:15:28] this time

[00:15:29] again

[00:15:29] kind of

[00:15:30] bringing it

[00:15:30] back to

[00:15:31] martial

[00:15:31] arts

[00:15:32] in order

[00:15:33] to kind

[00:15:33] of help

[00:15:34] encourage

[00:15:34] and inspire

[00:15:35] your dad

[00:15:35] in his

[00:15:35] recovery

[00:15:36] you began

[00:15:37] inviting him

[00:15:38] to your

[00:15:38] coaching

[00:15:39] sessions

[00:15:39] and getting

[00:15:39] feedback

[00:15:40] from your

[00:15:40] dad

[00:15:41] on your

[00:15:41] coaching

[00:15:42] style

[00:15:42] but how

[00:15:43] did this

[00:15:44] experience

[00:15:44] with your

[00:15:45] dad

[00:15:45] kind of

[00:15:46] help you

[00:15:46] both

[00:15:47] take on

[00:15:47] this

[00:15:47] challenge

[00:15:48] together

[00:15:49] and draw

[00:15:49] you

[00:15:49] closer

[00:15:50] together

[00:15:51] yeah

[00:15:51] absolutely

[00:15:52] sorry

[00:15:53] someone

[00:15:53] was

[00:15:53] talking

[00:15:53] in the

[00:15:53] window

[00:15:55] yeah

[00:15:55] no

[00:15:56] absolutely

[00:15:56] so

[00:15:57] for me

[00:15:57] again

[00:15:57] my dad

[00:15:58] got sick

[00:15:58] when I

[00:15:58] was 20

[00:16:00] basically

[00:16:00] long story

[00:16:01] short

[00:16:01] he got

[00:16:01] tuberculosis

[00:16:02] meningitis

[00:16:03] in his

[00:16:03] brain

[00:16:03] which was

[00:16:04] undetectable

[00:16:05] seemed like

[00:16:05] the flu

[00:16:06] but my

[00:16:07] dad

[00:16:07] lost all

[00:16:08] of his

[00:16:08] memory

[00:16:08] he ended

[00:16:09] up having

[00:16:09] two

[00:16:09] strokes

[00:16:09] because

[00:16:10] of the

[00:16:10] damage

[00:16:10] on his

[00:16:11] brain

[00:16:11] and became

[00:16:12] a vegetable

[00:16:12] so he

[00:16:13] lost

[00:16:13] memory

[00:16:14] of who

[00:16:14] I

[00:16:14] was

[00:16:14] teaching

[00:16:15] me

[00:16:15] growing

[00:16:15] up

[00:16:16] all these

[00:16:16] different

[00:16:16] things

[00:16:17] that we

[00:16:17] shared

[00:16:17] throughout

[00:16:17] the years

[00:16:18] which was

[00:16:18] devastating

[00:16:18] in itself

[00:16:20] and thankfully

[00:16:20] he survived

[00:16:21] but was left

[00:16:22] physically

[00:16:22] disabled

[00:16:22] and during

[00:16:23] the time

[00:16:24] of his

[00:16:24] recovery

[00:16:25] the thought

[00:16:26] that I

[00:16:26] had to

[00:16:26] myself

[00:16:26] was that

[00:16:27] I just

[00:16:27] want to

[00:16:27] be close

[00:16:27] to my

[00:16:28] dad

[00:16:28] again

[00:16:28] I want

[00:16:29] him to

[00:16:32] remember

[00:16:32] these

[00:16:33] things

[00:16:33] and be

[00:16:33] able

[00:16:33] to

[00:16:33] connect

[00:16:33] with

[00:16:34] him

[00:16:34] in this

[00:16:34] way

[00:16:34] like we

[00:16:34] used

[00:16:35] to

[00:16:36] and

[00:16:36] again

[00:16:36] at the

[00:16:37] time

[00:16:37] my dad

[00:16:38] was a

[00:16:38] primary

[00:16:38] caregiver

[00:16:39] for us

[00:16:40] so he

[00:17:08] took care

[00:17:11] of the

[00:17:11] to bring

[00:17:11] my dad

[00:17:11] here

[00:17:12] I want

[00:17:12] him

[00:17:12] to come

[00:17:12] and see

[00:17:13] because

[00:17:13] maybe

[00:17:13] that'll

[00:17:13] help

[00:17:13] him

[00:17:14] to get

[00:17:14] better

[00:17:14] maybe

[00:17:14] that'll

[00:17:15] help

[00:17:15] him

[00:17:15] to

[00:17:16] want

[00:17:16] to

[00:17:16] survive

[00:17:17] because

[00:17:17] he

[00:17:17] had

[00:17:17] been

[00:17:17] through

[00:17:18] so

[00:17:18] much

[00:17:18] I was

[00:17:19] like

[00:17:19] this

[00:17:19] could be

[00:17:19] the

[00:17:19] catalyst

[00:17:20] of

[00:17:20] helping

[00:17:20] him

[00:17:21] to

[00:17:21] live

[00:17:22] and have

[00:17:22] a better

[00:17:22] life

[00:17:23] so I

[00:17:23] would

[00:17:23] come

[00:17:23] along

[00:17:24] he

[00:17:24] was

[00:17:24] in a wheelchair

[00:17:24] at the

[00:17:24] time

[00:17:25] I would

[00:17:25] bring

[00:17:25] him

[00:17:25] in

[00:17:25] the

[00:17:25] wheelchair

[00:17:26] to

[00:17:26] my

[00:17:26] trainings

[00:17:26] and I

[00:17:27] would

[00:17:27] ask

[00:17:40] him

[00:17:41] I

[00:17:41] really

[00:17:42] love

[00:17:42] your

[00:17:42] relationship

[00:17:42] with

[00:17:43] your

[00:17:43] dad

[00:17:44] and how

[00:17:44] it shines

[00:17:47] through

[00:17:48] and

[00:17:48] each

[00:17:48] aspect

[00:17:49] of

[00:17:49] your

[00:17:49] story

[00:17:50] because

[00:17:50] there's

[00:17:50] a lot

[00:17:50] of

[00:17:50] people

[00:17:51] who

[00:17:51] wouldn't

[00:17:51] want

[00:17:52] you

[00:17:52] get

[00:17:53] prideful

[00:17:54] when

[00:17:54] you

[00:17:54] don't

[00:17:54] want

[00:17:55] that

[00:17:55] input

[00:17:55] from

[00:17:55] your

[00:18:11] and

[00:18:11] how

[00:18:12] martial

[00:18:12] arts

[00:18:12] brought

[00:18:13] it

[00:18:13] really

[00:18:14] is

[00:18:14] in

[00:18:14] the

[00:18:14] DNA

[00:18:15] of

[00:18:15] who

[00:18:15] you

[00:18:15] are

[00:18:16] and

[00:18:16] the

[00:18:17] love

[00:18:17] that

[00:18:17] you

[00:18:17] share

[00:18:19] absolutely

[00:18:21] it was

[00:18:22] in

[00:18:22] 2013

[00:18:23] then

[00:18:24] that

[00:18:24] you

[00:18:25] actually

[00:18:25] got

[00:18:25] the

[00:18:26] opportunity

[00:18:26] to

[00:18:27] move

[00:18:27] to

[00:18:28] Los

[00:18:28] Angeles

[00:18:28] is

[00:18:29] it

[00:18:29] 2013

[00:18:30] or

[00:18:30] what

[00:18:30] year

[00:18:30] it

[00:18:31] around

[00:18:31] that

[00:18:31] I

[00:18:31] want

[00:18:32] to

[00:18:32] say

[00:18:32] 2011

[00:18:32] around

[00:18:33] 2011

[00:18:36] you

[00:18:37] decide

[00:18:37] to

[00:18:38] move

[00:18:38] to

[00:18:39] LA

[00:18:40] what

[00:18:40] was

[00:18:41] it

[00:18:41] particularly

[00:18:41] that

[00:18:42] brought

[00:18:42] you

[00:18:42] to

[00:18:42] Los

[00:18:43] Angeles

[00:18:45] yeah

[00:18:46] I

[00:18:46] was

[00:18:46] like

[00:18:46] what

[00:18:46] does

[00:18:47] everyone

[00:18:47] come

[00:18:47] to

[00:18:47] Los

[00:18:47] Angeles

[00:18:47] for

[00:18:48] no

[00:18:48] I'm

[00:18:48] kidding

[00:18:49] basically

[00:18:51] again

[00:18:52] this

[00:18:52] was

[00:18:53] during

[00:18:53] the

[00:18:53] time

[00:18:53] when

[00:19:09] my

[00:19:09] we

[00:19:10] lost

[00:19:11] our

[00:19:11] home

[00:19:11] the

[00:19:24] first

[00:19:36] time

[00:19:37] got

[00:19:38] got

[00:19:38] sick

[00:19:38] it

[00:19:39] kind

[00:19:39] of

[00:19:39] dissipated

[00:19:40] and

[00:19:40] disappeared

[00:19:40] people

[00:19:40] disappeared

[00:19:41] from

[00:19:41] our

[00:19:41] lives

[00:19:41] because

[00:19:42] I

[00:19:42] learned

[00:19:42] that

[00:19:43] when

[00:19:43] you

[00:19:43] can

[00:19:43] no

[00:19:43] longer

[00:19:43] give

[00:19:44] to

[00:19:44] people

[00:19:45] and

[00:19:45] you

[00:19:45] are

[00:19:45] no

[00:19:46] longer

[00:19:46] abused

[00:19:46] to

[00:19:46] them

[00:19:47] you

[00:19:47] kind

[00:19:47] of

[00:19:47] see

[00:19:48] who's

[00:19:48] truly

[00:19:48] there

[00:19:48] for

[00:19:49] you

[00:19:49] sort

[00:19:49] of

[00:19:50] thing

[00:19:50] sorry

[00:19:50] I'm gonna

[00:19:50] wipe my nose

[00:19:51] for a second

[00:19:51] you're good

[00:19:52] um

[00:19:53] and so

[00:19:53] there's

[00:19:54] just so many

[00:19:54] things

[00:19:55] that I

[00:19:55] went

[00:19:55] through

[00:19:55] mentally

[00:19:56] of

[00:19:56] learning

[00:19:57] about

[00:19:57] life

[00:19:57] learning

[00:19:58] about

[00:19:58] beliefs

[00:19:58] and

[00:19:59] who

[00:19:59] I

[00:19:59] was

[00:19:59] as a

[00:19:59] person

[00:20:00] and

[00:20:00] so

[00:20:00] at

[00:20:00] that

[00:20:00] time

[00:20:01] I

[00:20:01] said

[00:20:01] something's

[00:20:02] gotta

[00:20:02] change

[00:20:02] something's

[00:20:03] gotta

[00:20:03] give

[00:20:03] we

[00:20:03] cannot

[00:20:03] keep

[00:20:04] living

[00:20:04] like

[00:20:04] this

[00:20:04] is

[00:20:04] not

[00:20:04] supposed

[00:20:05] to be

[00:20:05] life

[00:20:05] it was

[00:20:05] like

[00:20:05] one

[00:20:05] you know

[00:20:07] like

[00:20:07] with my

[00:20:08] parents

[00:20:08] religious

[00:20:08] belief

[00:20:08] I'm

[00:20:29] to

[00:20:30] bring

[00:20:30] in

[00:20:30] more

[00:20:30] income

[00:20:31] what

[00:20:32] can

[00:20:32] I

[00:20:32] do

[00:20:32] to

[00:20:32] have

[00:20:32] more

[00:20:33] money

[00:20:33] to

[00:20:33] help

[00:20:33] my

[00:20:33] parents

[00:20:33] I was

[00:20:33] like

[00:20:34] well

[00:20:34] my

[00:20:34] dad

[00:20:34] used

[00:20:35] to

[00:20:35] act

[00:20:35] why

[00:20:35] don't

[00:20:56] I

[00:21:00] 40

[00:21:01] I

[00:21:01] was

[00:21:01] like

[00:21:02] that's

[00:21:02] the

[00:21:02] standard

[00:21:03] I

[00:21:03] was

[00:21:03] like

[00:21:03] I

[00:21:03] gotta

[00:21:03] lose

[00:21:04] 40

[00:21:04] pounds

[00:21:04] so

[00:21:05] I

[00:21:05] went

[00:21:05] on

[00:21:05] this

[00:21:29] it's

[00:21:30] a lot

[00:21:30] of

[00:21:30] stuff

[00:21:30] I

[00:21:30] was

[00:21:30] like

[00:21:30] mom

[00:21:31] I

[00:21:31] don't

[00:21:32] care

[00:21:32] about

[00:21:32] any

[00:21:33] of

[00:21:33] these

[00:21:33] physical

[00:21:33] things

[00:21:34] this

[00:21:34] can

[00:21:34] all

[00:21:34] go

[00:21:35] away

[00:21:35] as

[00:21:36] long

[00:21:36] as

[00:21:36] we're

[00:21:36] together

[00:21:37] that's

[00:21:38] all

[00:21:38] that

[00:21:38] matters

[00:21:38] to me

[00:21:38] let

[00:21:39] the

[00:21:39] house

[00:21:39] go

[00:21:40] I

[00:21:40] can

[00:21:40] get

[00:21:40] another

[00:21:41] house

[00:21:41] we

[00:21:41] can

[00:21:41] do

[00:21:41] all

[00:21:41] these

[00:21:42] things

[00:21:42] for life

[00:21:43] dad

[00:21:44] you're

[00:21:44] here

[00:21:47] I

[00:22:00] as

[00:22:02] like

[00:22:02] a

[00:22:03] 21

[00:22:03] year

[00:22:04] old

[00:22:04] you're

[00:22:05] young

[00:22:05] at

[00:22:06] this

[00:22:06] age

[00:22:06] and

[00:22:06] you're

[00:22:07] like

[00:22:07] hey

[00:22:08] listen

[00:22:08] I'm

[00:22:08] gonna

[00:22:09] do

[00:22:09] this

[00:22:10] thing

[00:22:10] I'm

[00:22:10] gonna

[00:22:10] metaphorically

[00:22:11] put

[00:22:11] the team

[00:22:12] on my

[00:22:12] back

[00:22:12] the team

[00:22:13] being

[00:22:13] my

[00:22:13] family

[00:22:14] and

[00:22:15] make

[00:22:15] this

[00:22:15] decision

[00:22:17] it's

[00:22:17] really

[00:22:18] impressive

[00:22:19] how many

[00:22:20] other

[00:22:20] siblings

[00:22:20] did

[00:22:21] you

[00:22:21] have

[00:22:21] I

[00:22:22] have

[00:22:22] one

[00:22:22] other

[00:22:23] sibling

[00:22:23] and

[00:22:23] I

[00:22:24] love

[00:22:24] her

[00:22:24] to

[00:22:24] pieces

[00:22:25] unfortunately

[00:22:25] at the

[00:22:26] time

[00:22:26] we

[00:22:30] well

[00:22:30] for

[00:22:31] her

[00:22:31] I

[00:22:32] was

[00:22:32] really

[00:22:32] close

[00:22:32] to

[00:22:32] my

[00:22:32] parents

[00:22:33] at

[00:22:33] the

[00:22:33] time

[00:22:33] and

[00:22:33] she

[00:22:33] was

[00:22:33] a little

[00:22:33] bit

[00:22:34] older

[00:22:34] and

[00:22:34] doing

[00:22:34] her

[00:22:34] thing

[00:22:35] in

[00:22:35] life

[00:22:35] and

[00:22:35] so

[00:22:36] the

[00:22:36] responsibility

[00:22:37] fell on me

[00:22:37] for that

[00:22:38] yeah

[00:22:39] it really

[00:22:40] does

[00:22:40] I mean

[00:22:41] it's

[00:22:42] pretty

[00:22:42] incredible

[00:22:43] how

[00:22:44] mature

[00:22:44] you

[00:22:45] had

[00:22:45] to

[00:22:45] like

[00:22:46] how

[00:23:01] you

[00:23:01] had

[00:23:02] to

[00:23:02] learn

[00:23:02] that

[00:23:02] at

[00:23:02] such

[00:23:02] a

[00:23:02] young

[00:23:03] age

[00:23:03] you

[00:23:03] also

[00:23:04] had

[00:23:04] to

[00:23:04] learn

[00:23:04] how

[00:23:04] to

[00:23:04] take

[00:23:04] care

[00:23:04] of

[00:23:05] your

[00:23:05] parents

[00:23:05] and

[00:23:06] and

[00:23:06] put

[00:23:06] them

[00:23:06] on

[00:23:07] your

[00:23:07] back

[00:23:07] and

[00:23:07] how

[00:23:08] old

[00:23:08] were

[00:23:08] you

[00:23:08] when

[00:23:30] Thank you. It's interesting because that's the one thing I tell people, the place that I'm in in life today, because people wonder about that. And at times too, I've always picked up from the things that I've learned, but I want to say that pivotal moment in life at 2021, 2022, 23 was the moment and the catalyst into who I am today about learning about life.

[00:23:51] Like, this is why my perspective changed on how people are, like still being able to love people, but understanding like sometimes some people are conditional in how they love and sometimes people are conditioned in how they care. Also being able to let go, let go of a lot, not hold on to material things, not hold on to people and all that sort of stuff. It was a lot of things. And like you said, responsibility. And it's, for me, I had no other choice. It was that or like, again, if we hit rock bottom, where else are we going to go? I don't know. And I don't want to find out. I don't want to find out.

[00:24:20] Yeah. So being, being in LA at this time, you're modeling, you're acting. What was it kind of like being in that industry and how did you handle some of the pressure? Because I know it can get really intense in LA.

[00:24:34] Oh man. So I am an LA native, just to clarify, like I'm an LA native. I moved to Texas for school and then I came back to LA. So I was no, yeah, I was no stranger to the ways that LA worked and, you know, my dad had been acting my whole life, but I'd seen it.

[00:24:49] Now coming back at that time, it's a different Hollywood than we're in today, but still kind of the same.

[00:24:55] And so it's the same thing. It's like, you have your fun. You as a young girl, you're like, oh, I want to be on a runway show. I want to be in this. You have all your dreams and that's, it's wonderful, but it's a nasty business.

[00:25:04] It was a very, I like to be honest with you. Hollywood is not for the faint of heart. It is like what I tell people, I was like, okay, just know what you're signing up for when you go.

[00:25:13] You have to have a really strong tethering to your values and who you are, because if you don't, this is why it's so easy. And so we're so quick to see people spiral, either spiral into drugs, spiral and die, get into all these crazy things.

[00:25:27] Or now what you see in the media stuff coming out, this is not new. It's been happening forever.

[00:25:32] And so at that point in time in life, I had moments of enjoyment where I got to do fun things and meet cool people and have these cool experiences.

[00:25:39] But deep down inside, it's like, you're either again, being harassed by people or people just like in order for you to be a star to make it, you've got to do this. And I wasn't willing to do so.

[00:25:50] Or it's also being called fat onset, being scrutinized, like you're 200 different people. And at that point in time, it's like 200 of us come in and we know that only one of us people of color are going to be chosen out of like the whole cast.

[00:26:04] We're going to be like, there's 200 of us. We only know it will be one of us. We look at each other. We're like, good luck. Hopefully it's one of us.

[00:26:09] We don't know. So I don't want a demon to be like, oh, it's not fun. Like you make good money. You have all the fun. So there's fun moments, but it will suck the life out of you. It will. It will.

[00:26:20] So I enjoyed it at that time. But at the same time, I knew it was like, I've got to figure something out. I know it can't be forever, even though I hope it's forever.

[00:26:29] Yeah, totally. So and then so you moved to L.A. in 2013. And then in 2016, you ended up moving to Dubai.

[00:26:39] Talk to us. Talk to us about that. That decision. Like, why? I don't know. What was your mindset? You're like, let's go to L.A. and then you're like, all right, Dubai, here we go. Where we come?

[00:26:50] Um, my mindset was this. I was beat down. I was tired in life. As amazing moments I've had in life, to be honest, I don't want to make it seem like life was all depressive. And it was like, there were so many amazing moments and cool things I got to do. However, I think a lot of people can relate to this. At this point in time, I felt like I was just a shell.

[00:27:11] A shell walking around doing what I had to do. So I had to work or I even had to model in order to make money so I can help my parents, so I can feed them sort of thing. It wasn't like I didn't take the time to enjoy moments. I live five minutes, like 10 minutes from the beach, or I live not too far from the beach. And I would rarely go. So these places that people wish to be in, I didn't even take the time to enjoy it.

[00:27:31] But I just felt like I had gone about life. And also to never really dealt with the issues that happened to my dad and losing all of our house. I just I went on go mode. As soon as my dad got sick, I was on go mode. Like we got to fix it. So I never allowed myself time to heal to process and to figure out what all that was. So in 2016, I was at a place in life where I was just completely unhappy. I'm just gonna do anymore. I was like still acting doing stuff. I was still training people because that's my passion.

[00:27:56] And doing all the things. But I just I needed something more or just needed something different. Secondly, it was also to the pressures of people. So people would be like, Oh my gosh, like I just saw you on TV. That's cool. When's your next show? Yeah. Oh, that's cool. But I'm like, okay, so when are you gonna be in a movie? And it's like, do you think I'm not trying? What's next? What's next? What's next? Right? I was like, do you think I like it's not like I just show up and they're like, you're the one you're gonna be you're gonna be in. So it's like that sort of pressure. I was like, well, also, why can't I just be normal? Right? Let me let

[00:28:25] like, you know what I mean? You know, or just just just be because we have us. Yeah, let me just be because I didn't want to say normal. Because normal. I was cool. Like, but back then, people like Oh, you work a job? Oh, you do this? I'm like, what? What's the matter with that? There's there's people who would beg and die to be in your position to have the job you have. Yeah. And so to cut the story short, is that I was there. And I was like, I just wanted to go figure it out and do something different. And I was like, I want to go travel. And I had mentioned Dubai. I had never been. My mom had worked for the Arab

[00:28:55] Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. So I was always around the culture, but had never been to Dubai. So I mentioned it. And it's kind of like that manifestation thing or speaking it into existence. Once you say it, it just starts picking up. And the more people I told that I want to go, they're like, Oh, I've got a friend there. Oh, I've got a cousin there. Oh, so it started adding up. And then there's another lady who had lived there. And she said, You know what, Nelita, you could do really well in Dubai. She was like, there's no one else out there like you, who does what you do. She was like, male or female, no one does martial arts like that. You would actually do well. You paid well for it. I'm like, huh.

[00:29:25] The wheels are turning. Yeah. And so in that process, another girl had connected me with her cousin, who was a trainer. She's a Pilates trainer. And so she was training the royal family out in Dubai. She was like, Hey, one of the sheikhs wanted to learn how to box. Do you think you would want to coach them? I'm like, heck yeah.

[00:29:43] Yeah, I do. Why not? Yeah, exactly. So eventually what I found myself doing in Dubai was training the royal family and that spread out to other people and things like this. And that's

[00:29:55] kind of how I got my start or even this journey where people see me now is out in Dubai. I took a leap of faith. And I'll let you guys go into the next one. But I was like, I'll dive more into how you even got there. Cause that's a whole other thing in itself.

[00:30:07] There's not too many people that can say they trained the royal family. Those words never come out of normal people's mouths.

[00:30:14] I was going to say, if you live in Dubai, it comes out of everyone's mouth.

[00:30:16] Oh, really?

[00:30:18] Yeah. It's like the job to have when you're in Dubai. Almost everybody trains someone within the royal family.

[00:30:24] Oh, wow.

[00:30:26] Yeah.

[00:30:26] Wow. Crazy. What was it like being in Dubai? Like what's the culture like?

[00:30:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:30:32] I love it. Dubai is amazing. So in Dubai, how do I explain it? A lot of us say like this. It's the multicultural Las Vegas. Think about it like that.

[00:30:44] Okay.

[00:30:45] It's this desert and you come into the oasis and it's like these tall futuristic buildings. I remember first arriving and I just was in awe. I'm looking like, look at these amazing tall buildings. It looks like you're living in the future.

[00:30:57] Everything is really beautifully curated. About 90% of the country are expats of people who are not even from Dubai. They're not local. So you get a mix of like different cultures. Like the way it was told to me, it's like it's very cosmopolitan. It's like people from all over the world. You hear different languages being spoken. Food's there. And it's just really ocult.

[00:31:17] There's a down like cool stuff you get to do.

[00:31:19] I love that word.

[00:31:21] Yeah. It's really ocult. And it was like, you honestly, you live in a bubble there. Meaning it's like I had those training jobs or even like doing a corporate job there at one point. But you're there and it's like, hey, would you like to come to this restaurant for free? Because I got into influencing and stuff.

[00:31:38] Because of martial arts, people started annoying me for that. So it started growing in Dubai. And they're like, oh, you're the martial arts girl. Would you like to come stay at the hotel for the weekend for free with you and your friends?

[00:31:46] And then it was like, I got to be on like, I was a Puma athlete for a while because Puma, I love what I did. So Puma flew me around and for different trainings and stuff like this. Then it's like, hey, we've got a yacht party. We've got this. So it sounds really fun. It is really fun. But after some time, it can become a bubble because it's like how long can you do this? How many, how many yacht parties can I go to? And it's funny because I didn't drink at the time. So it's like, I wasn't even drinking, but imagine me drinking. They're like, hey, you get free this, you get free that. You get it's like, it's, it's amazing. It's really amazing.

[00:32:14] But for me at a point in time in life, I was like, okay, we're getting older. I want to share with someone. These experiences are cool, but I think it'll be cool if I had it with somebody else. And so that's the point in life that I got to where I was like, I love Dubai. I highly recommend anyone to, sorry, my nose running, to go to Dubai and maybe like spend a week or two there.

[00:32:33] Um, and if you choose to live, just know that you've got to stay focused. It's kind of like LA where it's like, you've got to stay focused because if you don't, it's easy to get distracted.

[00:32:41] Yeah, for sure.

[00:32:43] I do think there are definitely seasons of life for things because like with pro ball, you it's fun playing. It's fun competing. It's fun going after your dream. But for me personally, I reached a point where I was like, what's the next chapter for me?

[00:32:58] What, what, this can't be all that I am capable of doing. And so I do think there are seasons for things like, like you, like you said, I want to do this with somebody, not just on my own.

[00:33:10] Um, you, you, you hit a nail on the head there. That's really interesting because a lot of times, so even like with what I do, people will fast forward, but like with me and entertainment and, um, social following and stuff like this, there's a point I got burned out and I got tired of it.

[00:33:26] And it was like, because people felt like that's all I was or what I did. And I was like, I've done this for so long. I still love martial arts, but that's not all I am. I want more.

[00:33:35] Yeah.

[00:33:35] You know, and we're, and we are allowed to change our minds and we're allowed to evolve and grow. It's ever going.

[00:33:40] Yes.

[00:33:41] I saw this quote from Cat Williams where he said, um, what's the worst that someone asked him? Like, what's the worst advice that you ever got? And he said, never change.

[00:33:51] Like when people like say, when you make it like, Oh, never change, stay who you are. And it's like, that's actually the worst advice. You actually want to change. You actually want to evolve.

[00:33:59] You know?

[00:33:59] Yes. A hundred percent. Yeah, exactly. Um, yeah, no, that's beautiful. So you kind of foreshadowed to it a little bit, but you're in Dubai, you know, you're doing your thing, growing your social media following.

[00:34:11] And then in March of 2020, you ended up moving back to the U S a little bit unexpectedly. Initially you had mentioned your, your grandma was quite sick. And so you came back, um, to be with your grandmother.

[00:34:26] Yeah. And, um, and then during that time also, you kind of started to really lean into your martial arts, uh, presence online. You already were a content creator in Dubai, but really started to grow this a little bit. It was also pandemic started to share your message, um, a little bit more even stateside.

[00:34:47] Um, but what kind of fueled your decision to lean more into content creating? I think at one point you had a nickname sensei Bay.

[00:34:57] Curious about all of this.

[00:34:59] Yeah. Okay. This is a lot to unpack.

[00:35:02] Yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot.

[00:35:04] Okay. So first of all, I just want to give a shout out to my grandmother, my Lola. I'm named after her. Her name is Melissa as well.

[00:35:11] Or what?

[00:35:12] So I want to give a shout out to her. Cause again, without all of this, I feel like it's interwoven at me.

[00:35:17] Uh, she and I were extremely close before her passing and, um, around the beginning of 2020, I'd already know. I remember having, I was in New Year's in Dubai, staring at the Burj Khalifa and fireworks going off and all this. And it was amazing. But I was like sitting by myself.

[00:35:31] On your yacht boat.

[00:35:32] No, I was like, I was at a beautiful beach party, but I went off to myself and I'm watching this. And I was just like, my heart wasn't as happy as it was when I first started in Dubai. And I was like, Oh God, I was like, this seems so wonderful. I can keep doing this, but I want more. I want something different.

[00:35:46] I want to be somewhere different. And so my head, I was like, okay, let's have a new change of senior. We're going to go to Europe next. We're going to go live in Europe.

[00:35:52] And then we'll spend part of the time in the Philippines to go back and forth. And so I'd already began to pack up my stuff and put it away, but I wasn't sure where I was going to go next.

[00:36:00] In March, 2020, I got the message saying that my grandmother was going to pass and that I had to come back home right away to try to see her.

[00:36:08] And oddly enough, the same way that I came to Dubai, it's kind of the same way I left Dubai, meaning I had to pack up my life into three bags when I left to Dubai. And that's like a different construct.

[00:36:20] I left with five bags and went to Dubai. And then coming back to the States, I had to rush. I was like packing whatever I could. And I was like, what do I bring? I don't know. I don't know where I'm going.

[00:36:28] I need to go to Europe after this. I'll just bring five bags. I brought five bags, came back to the States. I landed. And unfortunately, my grandmother passed about an hour before I landed.

[00:36:39] And it's very sad. I felt the moment she passed. I was on the airplane. I felt the moment my grandmother passed. That's how connected we were.

[00:36:45] But when I landed, it was one of those things where it's like, I spent the most time with her as I could when she was alive.

[00:36:52] I loved on her. So I have so many memories to rely on. So although I was sad that I physically didn't get a chance to see her before she left, I knew she was, even now, she's always with me.

[00:37:01] I know it was for a fact. And so oddly enough, when I landed, I felt it was almost like a calling from my grandmother because this is March 2020, where the beginning of the pandemic, where I was in a bubble.

[00:37:12] So we didn't really know about what was going on. Like all I know is that I had heard some stuff was happening in the world, but we didn't know. It wasn't affecting us in Dubai at the time.

[00:37:19] Yeah. And I get here and it's mayhem. And all I see on the news is like, you know, everything that we all saw and COVID hit.

[00:37:26] And then we're told that there's lockdown. So I could not even go back to Dubai. Dubai went in a 24 hour lockdown.

[00:37:31] So even if I wanted to go back for my stuff, whatever it was, I couldn't, I was stuck in the States.

[00:37:35] And so I came to this realization. I was like, okay, well, I'm here for now. I don't, you know, like everyone else, like it'll be two weeks, whatever.

[00:37:41] We'll figure it out. And that became very, very long. And it gave me and allowed me time to be with my family, reconnect with people throughout where I want to be.

[00:37:51] But it was also gave me some time to figure out that I was very lost, that I was very lost.

[00:37:56] And I was like, well, if you are here now, what are you going to do to start over?

[00:38:00] What are you going to do to take care of yourself? It was like starting off from scratch again.

[00:38:03] I felt like a kid again. I was back at my parents' house at the time they lived in Vegas.

[00:38:07] I'm back in one of their rooms and I'm like trying to myself, like, I can't go out and get a job.

[00:38:12] No one's working in person. Like what? Yeah.

[00:38:15] What is all I'm just living the high life in Dubai and I've come back here and I'm in my parents' house.

[00:38:18] Like, what am I going to do? So I was like, you know what? Okay.

[00:38:21] Well, I'm just going to go back and teach martial arts. I'm going to rely on my martial arts.

[00:38:26] Again, like kind of like my dad said something, okay, I've got this little bit of falling, whatever.

[00:38:30] I'm going to go online and start hosting classes.

[00:38:32] So like everyone else during the pandemic, I started getting online.

[00:38:35] I started hosting classes that started to grow.

[00:38:37] And I got bigger and bigger.

[00:38:38] And then I got this message from someone who used to train with my dad.

[00:38:43] He's like, Hey, would you happen to be back in the States?

[00:38:45] Because there's someone who's going to be filming a show about Filipino martial arts.

[00:38:49] And I thought of you.

[00:38:50] And I was like, this is funny.

[00:38:51] I literally just got back.

[00:38:53] I was like, I just got back.

[00:38:56] And ended up auditioning, booking the show and having to go back out to LA.

[00:39:00] So that's kind of where that story goes.

[00:39:01] This is like, yeah.

[00:39:02] Came back to the States for my grandmother.

[00:39:05] But it was a, I guess, a blessing in disguise to be back with my family during the pandemic and then end up booking something upon coming back.

[00:39:13] For sure.

[00:39:14] And so that TV series that you said the Filipino martial arts show called Mahari Leakey.

[00:39:21] Yeah.

[00:39:22] It's a tough one.

[00:39:23] We're not even going to mention the name of it.

[00:39:25] Oh, we'll bleep it out.

[00:39:27] We're going to bleep it out.

[00:39:28] It was based upon Filipino martial arts, but I don't know what they're going to do with the production in a different way on some things.

[00:39:34] So I don't know what's going to happen with it.

[00:39:36] But I love that it was about Filipino martial arts.

[00:39:37] And that was the catalyst that launched a lot of other stuff happening after that.

[00:39:41] Yeah.

[00:39:43] Well, what was it like stepping back into the acting and modeling after you had previously left it?

[00:39:48] Yeah.

[00:39:49] So it's interesting.

[00:39:50] When I was in Dubai, I told myself, I learned to live.

[00:39:54] So remember what I told you guys?

[00:39:56] I was like, before I left, I felt like a shell.

[00:39:57] So I kind of skimmed over some stuff in Dubai.

[00:40:00] When I went to Dubai, I told myself that I wanted to be different.

[00:40:06] And in the way, I said, I'm going to keep my morals about me.

[00:40:08] I'm going to keep my values about me.

[00:40:10] But I don't want to be the same Elita that I was in the States, meaning I don't want to be here in this beautiful place five minutes from the beach and never go.

[00:40:16] I don't want to not have these experiences with people.

[00:40:19] So I don't know if you ever watched the movie Yes Man with Jim Carrey.

[00:40:23] Yeah.

[00:40:24] Love that film.

[00:40:25] One of my favorite films.

[00:40:26] That's great.

[00:40:26] I was like, I want to be like, yes, man.

[00:40:29] I want to say yes to life.

[00:40:30] And it sounds so funny.

[00:40:31] I was like, I want to say yes to life.

[00:40:32] I was like, if someone asked me to go do something, I'm just going to say yes.

[00:40:34] If it's not going to kill me.

[00:40:36] Yeah.

[00:40:36] And if it's not going to go against my morals and values, I'm going to say yes.

[00:40:40] You're on the pod with two yes women.

[00:40:42] So it's true.

[00:40:44] We don't know how to say no.

[00:40:47] Yeah.

[00:40:47] It's like, I've learned that in Dallas.

[00:40:49] But it's like when I was there, I was like, when someone said, hey, you want to try this

[00:40:51] food?

[00:40:52] Like, yeah.

[00:40:53] They said, hey, you want to go?

[00:40:55] We're traveling to this country.

[00:40:56] You want to go with us?

[00:40:56] I'm like, yeah, I want to go.

[00:40:58] Yeah.

[00:40:58] Even to the point where I was like, there was a person who at the time, I had just met this

[00:41:01] person.

[00:41:01] They were like, hey, we're going to go skydiving tomorrow.

[00:41:03] Do you want to come with us?

[00:41:04] I was like, yes.

[00:41:05] I went skydiving.

[00:41:06] Absolutely.

[00:41:07] With a person I just met and it happened to be Hoist Gracie.

[00:41:10] Oh my gosh.

[00:41:11] Yeah.

[00:41:12] So it was one of the greatest martial artists to ever live.

[00:41:15] I went skydiving with Hoist Gracie the next day.

[00:41:17] So I've had this really incredible experience.

[00:41:19] So I came back on this high where I was like, I feel good.

[00:41:23] I'm joyful.

[00:41:24] Everyone around me, when I came back to the States, they were like, you're so calm and peaceful.

[00:41:28] Like, what's going on?

[00:41:29] And I was like, I've learned to live.

[00:41:31] Like, I'm good.

[00:41:32] You know, whatever.

[00:41:32] And then the pandemic basically almost destroyed all of that.

[00:41:37] The pandemic brought me back.

[00:41:38] And so when I booked this show and I came back to LA, I was like, okay, I left Hollywood because

[00:41:44] I didn't want to be in it anymore.

[00:41:45] I was like, but you know, this has fallen into my lap.

[00:41:47] I said, I will do this as long as I can remember that I'm going to keep these thoughts

[00:41:51] about myself.

[00:41:52] I'm going to keep this mindset, this feeling that I have about myself.

[00:41:54] And the minute I feel myself no longer having this joy or whatever it is, I'll walk

[00:41:59] away.

[00:41:59] That's what it is.

[00:42:00] So coming back into acting was actually really exciting.

[00:42:04] And I was able to deal with things differently because I had grown so much by living over

[00:42:08] there.

[00:42:09] I knew the things that I could handle and not to put myself in certain situations and how

[00:42:12] to say no to people and to, you know, boundaries and all these sort of things you want to

[00:42:15] say.

[00:42:15] I learned all that.

[00:42:16] So I handled coming back to Hollywood a lot easier.

[00:42:20] Yeah.

[00:42:20] And so it was exciting in the beginning when I came.

[00:42:22] Yeah, for sure.

[00:42:24] For sure.

[00:42:24] And there were some, you know, we talked about the martial arts, Filipino martial arts show,

[00:42:29] but you also filmed a TV show for Snapchat called Breakwater.

[00:42:32] And then to fast forward a little bit, you had an incredible campaign with Savage Fenty Sport,

[00:42:43] Rihanna's brand.

[00:42:44] Yeah.

[00:42:45] I love it.

[00:42:46] It is so powerful.

[00:42:47] We're going to link the moment into the clips and into the show notes.

[00:42:51] But how did this opportunity come about?

[00:42:54] What was it like to model for Rihanna to be the face of Fenty Sport?

[00:42:59] So epic.

[00:43:00] I'm laughing because my outfit was so small.

[00:43:02] My butt cheeks are going to be everywhere on your podcast.

[00:43:04] I'm kidding.

[00:43:04] We're going to get so much engagement.

[00:43:07] I was like, it's basically butt cheeks.

[00:43:12] No.

[00:43:12] So yeah, like after I booked that show, things just started falling into my lap and coming

[00:43:17] for me.

[00:43:17] So I filmed the show Breakwater, which was an incredible experience.

[00:43:20] I sidelined to that.

[00:43:22] I got to film it on the set where Titanic was filmed.

[00:43:24] So this big tank.

[00:43:25] We basically filmed it on water the entire show.

[00:43:27] So cool.

[00:43:28] Yeah.

[00:43:29] Yeah.

[00:43:29] So I got to be there filming in Mexico, all those amazing things.

[00:43:33] And then one day, I think there's like two people hit me up.

[00:43:36] Someone hit me up online.

[00:43:37] I was like, hey, have you seen this little, someone's looking for a nunchuck girl.

[00:43:41] Because we didn't know it was Savage Fenty.

[00:43:42] They were just like, they're looking for someone who does nunchucks.

[00:43:44] And obviously we thought of you because I was known as like the nunchuck girl online.

[00:43:47] So you should submit for it.

[00:43:48] And then the next thing I know, my social media management team hits me up.

[00:43:52] I was like, hey, there's this video thing they need for a nunchuck.

[00:43:54] So like three or four people hit me up.

[00:43:55] And I'm like, okay.

[00:43:57] And so they're like, what we need you to do is to do a nunchuck kind of drill, whatever.

[00:44:03] And then you need to blow out candles with the nunchuck.

[00:44:06] So basically, if you ever saw those videos back then in like 2022, where they have candles lined up, you do the nunchucks and you swipe across and all the candles blow out.

[00:44:14] Yes.

[00:44:14] So I'm like, yeah.

[00:44:15] I was like, I could totally do that.

[00:44:16] Never tried it in my life.

[00:44:18] Never tried it.

[00:44:18] I was like, I do nunchucks, but I've never blown out candles with nunchucks.

[00:44:23] So I get into my living room and they're like, I guess they tell me it's for some type of like sporty whatever campaign.

[00:44:28] But again, we don't know what it's for.

[00:44:31] And so I go get these candles in my house.

[00:44:34] And oddly enough, the only candles I had were black candles.

[00:44:37] So I had black candles, little tea light candles.

[00:44:41] I line them all up and I just put the camera from my living room and I start to do the nunchuck drill, whatever.

[00:44:46] Boom, try to go.

[00:44:47] It's not blowing out.

[00:44:48] I'm like, what the crap is going on?

[00:44:49] And mind you too, because I will tell you this, the nunchucks and the weapons I use, one, I make them.

[00:44:54] So I made my own nunchucks.

[00:44:55] Oh, wow.

[00:44:56] So cool.

[00:44:56] Yeah.

[00:44:57] They're made out of steel.

[00:44:58] They're made out of metal.

[00:44:59] So they're not lightweight.

[00:45:01] They're not going to blow a lot of air.

[00:45:02] You've got to like whip these things with some power.

[00:45:04] And so I was like, I do not have time to go buy other nunchucks that are going to be lightweight that are going to help blow these candles out.

[00:45:09] I'm like trying to figure it out.

[00:45:10] So I'm like, after take, after take, after take, I'm getting so frustrated because I need to turn this thing in.

[00:45:15] And eventually I told myself, I was like, this is going to work.

[00:45:18] You're going to do it.

[00:45:19] So like, I, this in my mind, it's like, you know, like kind of athlete mindset where I'm like, no.

[00:45:22] Lock in.

[00:45:23] Mental game first.

[00:45:24] You've got this.

[00:45:25] You're going to blow these candles out.

[00:45:26] I'm like, cool.

[00:45:27] So I go for this one last go.

[00:45:29] And I do it.

[00:45:30] And then the candles all blow out on soon.

[00:45:32] I'm trying to keep my straight face composure on the camera.

[00:45:34] Yeah.

[00:45:35] Be a badass when you do it.

[00:45:36] But, but what people didn't know is that I hit the last candle or two and black wax sprayed everywhere.

[00:45:43] Like on my sofa, on my wall.

[00:45:46] I destroyed my face.

[00:45:47] My entire, everything had black wax everywhere.

[00:45:51] Oh my gosh.

[00:45:52] Yeah.

[00:45:53] It was insane.

[00:45:53] I was like, so I cut the camera.

[00:45:55] I'm like, I'd better effing get this.

[00:45:57] Whatever this is.

[00:45:58] I better get it.

[00:45:59] Because I got to pay for this sofa to be clean.

[00:46:01] I got to pay for this wall.

[00:46:02] All this.

[00:46:03] So we submitted in and come to find out that I ended up booking it.

[00:46:08] And it's for Rihanna Savage Fenty Squirt Campaign.

[00:46:11] They had just started their squirting line.

[00:46:13] And I got signed for that.

[00:46:14] I was geeked.

[00:46:15] Because I was like, first of all, who doesn't love Rihanna?

[00:46:17] Who does not love our girl Riri?

[00:46:20] Yes.

[00:46:20] Right.

[00:46:20] I'm so like, I want to be with bad girl Riri.

[00:46:22] Okay.

[00:46:22] Yeah.

[00:46:23] So it was that.

[00:46:24] And then two, I'm like, okay.

[00:46:25] We got to, they were like, you got to fly to New York.

[00:46:27] You're shooting it in New York during Fashion Week.

[00:46:29] I had another gig to go do something.

[00:46:31] In fact, another historical thing in Fashion Week then.

[00:46:33] And it was just like a whirlwind of like, I cannot believe it.

[00:46:36] And again, let me go back to this.

[00:46:38] Once I got the news that I got it.

[00:46:40] I remember I was in the room with my boyfriend.

[00:46:43] And I just started breaking down crying.

[00:46:44] I broke down into tears.

[00:46:45] So I was like, oh my God.

[00:46:47] Again, like there's all this stuff in life.

[00:46:48] And I was like, who would ever think?

[00:46:51] I was like a little girl in me.

[00:46:52] It was like, who would ever think that I would get to do this?

[00:46:55] Yeah.

[00:46:55] Like being in the garage with my dad where he's like, hey, do this non-truck to the world

[00:47:00] 100 times on the center.

[00:47:01] Do it 100 times on the other side.

[00:47:03] I would have never thought in a million years that fast forward, I would have a campaign

[00:47:06] that's in New York during Fashion Week and being able to do this stuff.

[00:47:10] And I'm like, oh my God, my dad was so right.

[00:47:12] I was like, he truly gave me a gift.

[00:47:15] He truly gave me a gift.

[00:47:16] Who gets to do this?

[00:47:18] I do.

[00:47:19] I do.

[00:47:20] How did your parents react?

[00:47:22] Oh my God.

[00:47:23] They were over the place.

[00:47:23] Were they like, who is that?

[00:47:25] No.

[00:47:27] They know exactly who it is.

[00:47:28] But they were like, what are you going to be doing?

[00:47:30] And so we didn't, again, I don't know the outfits or anything that's happening.

[00:47:33] So they were just happy to initially hear about the campaign.

[00:47:36] Because they know how hard I work and all the things that we've been through.

[00:47:38] So they just want to see me win in whatever capacity.

[00:47:41] And so I love that.

[00:47:42] So they're very supportive of it.

[00:47:44] But no, it was, I just, I cried like a baby.

[00:47:46] Because I was just like, you know, again, I had been through so many hard times in life.

[00:47:50] I had been through being told no in the industry and all these things.

[00:47:53] And I was like, now I'm in the Savage Trinity campaign.

[00:47:56] You know, and being able to do what I love.

[00:47:58] Not me just being a model.

[00:48:00] And that's fine.

[00:48:00] Like if you're just modeling or whatever.

[00:48:01] But I was like, I get to do this lifetime practice.

[00:48:03] It's like, if they only knew how many hours I've put into training and drilling and going.

[00:48:11] The bruises I put on my body.

[00:48:12] The knots I've had on my head from being knocked in the head with a nun shut.

[00:48:14] Like all this sort of stuff.

[00:48:16] Yeah.

[00:48:16] Like truly, it truly came down to that moment where it was like, you did it.

[00:48:21] Yes.

[00:48:22] All this hard work paid off.

[00:48:24] Amazing.

[00:48:25] Yeah.

[00:48:25] So, so cool.

[00:48:26] And there have been some, like, I mean, you've had so many awesome opportunities in the space.

[00:48:33] Another really cool pivotal one that you spoke to us about in the prep call was modeling for

[00:48:38] actively black.

[00:48:39] So this is a really cool company.

[00:48:43] And you were the first black martial artist to walk in a fashion show during fashion week

[00:48:49] for actively black.

[00:48:50] But yeah.

[00:48:51] What was this experience like?

[00:48:52] And yeah.

[00:48:54] And how did it compare to maybe some of your other experiences in the fashion industry?

[00:48:59] Man.

[00:48:59] Okay.

[00:49:00] So this week was like a redeeming week.

[00:49:02] This is fashion week of 2022.

[00:49:04] I believe September, 2022.

[00:49:06] And all these different gigs had lined up for me to be in New York.

[00:49:09] So not only did I book the Savage Fenty ad campaign, but actively black who I've always

[00:49:14] supported their brand from the beginning.

[00:49:16] It's owned by Alani Smith, who's a former NBA basketball player who decided to start his

[00:49:21] own black-owned athletic line, athleisure line.

[00:49:24] And they'd always supported me in what I've done.

[00:49:27] And they're really about being able to show the different facets of being black and not

[00:49:32] only in athletics, but highly on that so that we can do almost anything that is like

[00:49:36] we don't only play basketball.

[00:49:37] We don't only play football.

[00:49:38] We don't only run track, but we can do all these other things, including do martial

[00:49:42] arts.

[00:49:42] And so that's what I got chosen for was that reason.

[00:49:46] And so it was just an incredible experience, one, because he chose during that time.

[00:49:51] He told New York Fashion Week that he did not want any runway models from the agencies there.

[00:49:55] He was like, we're going to recruit our own people.

[00:49:57] I know what I want.

[00:49:58] And in the really coolest way, it was the coolest black experience I've ever had.

[00:50:05] If you know, you know, the vibe is different because fashion week is usually like, oh,

[00:50:09] yes, we're here for fashion week and we're showing off the clothes.

[00:50:12] And this was like, we just got to be ourselves.

[00:50:14] And we got to show the crowd what black culture is, meaning like the love.

[00:50:20] I think we had gone through so much through 2020 and those things happened.

[00:50:22] But we got to be like, this is what black, being black is.

[00:50:26] This is how black people are and how we accept and how we treat and all these sort of things.

[00:50:30] So this crowd was ecstatic when we came out.

[00:50:33] We had people dribbling basketballs out on the court.

[00:50:35] We had people dancing and doing, bringing traditional African dances and street dances from LA.

[00:50:40] We had me doing martial arts.

[00:50:41] There was so many things.

[00:50:42] And I think the coolest moment was having the crowd of swag surf with us.

[00:50:45] So we got everybody to do the swag surf.

[00:50:47] Let's go.

[00:50:48] At New York Fashion Week.

[00:50:49] So that was cool.

[00:50:51] That's the most lit fashion show in all of New York.

[00:50:54] For sure.

[00:50:56] It had so much press and media afterwards.

[00:50:58] It was amazing.

[00:50:59] And so this was kind of like my redemption moment because I had modeled my whole life growing up.

[00:51:04] And I had been in Fashion Week three years before that.

[00:51:06] But every show I got into, I got cut last minute.

[00:51:09] That's the part that people don't see.

[00:51:10] They see me having this monumental moment.

[00:51:12] But years before when I'm like 20 times when I'm in New York, I get onto a fashion show with a major network or whatever.

[00:51:17] And I show up on the day for the fashion show.

[00:51:19] And they tell me at the door like, hey, sorry, you've been cut.

[00:51:21] We haven't even told you.

[00:51:22] You've been cut.

[00:51:22] You can go home.

[00:51:23] And so to go from that to having this like, I'm going to stop a trip again.

[00:51:27] And I think, oh, my God, because it's back.

[00:51:28] It's this.

[00:51:29] And then also tie all this in.

[00:51:32] There's another Filipino brand as well called El Caravan who allowed me the same thing to do the runway fashion show.

[00:51:38] And for both of those shows, I did Filipino martial arts.

[00:51:40] Again, bringing it back to my dad and bringing it back to my ancestors and my grandmother.

[00:51:44] So imagine me being in this place and I step on that runway and I'm like, this is not great.

[00:51:50] I'm basking in this moment.

[00:51:51] I love it.

[00:51:51] This is not only for me.

[00:51:53] This is for my dad.

[00:51:55] This is for my grandmother.

[00:51:55] This is for my ancestors who fought in their land or who fought Magillan the Conquistador when they first came.

[00:52:01] And I get to be here on this one because of them.

[00:52:03] I get to be here on this one.

[00:52:04] Why are you doing this?

[00:52:05] What is life?

[00:52:07] What is life?

[00:52:08] You know?

[00:52:09] Yeah.

[00:52:10] I love how every single piece of your journey set you up for that moment, those moments, whether it's modeling.

[00:52:18] Because even if you didn't really enjoy modeling, it set you up for the modeling with your other passion, martial arts.

[00:52:25] Right.

[00:52:25] And it was just, it's funny how like those things you look back on, you're like, oh, it makes sense now.

[00:52:32] Why I had to go through this in order to be where I'm at now, to be successful where I'm at now.

[00:52:37] Because if I didn't go through those, I would not be as prepared.

[00:52:40] I would not be as humble.

[00:52:41] I would not be as grateful for this moment.

[00:52:44] Chelsea, you...

[00:52:45] Okay, so I literally was having this conversation last night.

[00:52:48] Literally.

[00:52:49] It's interesting because we always hear these things where people are like, I have no regrets.

[00:52:53] Because of what life...

[00:52:54] And I used to be like kind of frown at that and be like, I don't know if I wouldn't have regrets.

[00:52:57] Or something that you have no regrets in life.

[00:53:00] But kind of what I was telling my friends yesterday is that, you know, there are certain things that were hard in life.

[00:53:04] And you definitely wish they didn't happen.

[00:53:06] Like, I wish that my dad had gotten sick.

[00:53:08] I wish I had all those things.

[00:53:10] However, there is instances now, like the older that I get and all these things, these pieces start to fall into place.

[00:53:15] Where I'm like, oh, that's what that was.

[00:53:19] That's what that was for.

[00:53:20] That thing that I went through that I didn't necessarily enjoy.

[00:53:23] Thankfully, I learned from it.

[00:53:25] And thankfully now this has put me into a place for this.

[00:53:27] Or just like you said, it aligns to a place where I'm at now.

[00:53:31] So I now get where people say, like, all these things and experiences that I've had in life, I had to have them.

[00:53:38] Because if I had not, I promise you, I don't believe that I would have been the same person I am today.

[00:53:43] Or in this place that I'm at today.

[00:53:45] If I hadn't gone through those things to be here.

[00:53:48] And every day it continues to be that way.

[00:53:49] And I feel like it will.

[00:53:50] Even when I'm 60 and 70, I'm going to be like, oh, remember that time on that podcast when this happened?

[00:53:54] I was like, it's going to come back to me at some point.

[00:53:56] So it's very, very true that experiences in life are needed.

[00:54:00] And hopefully you learn from them.

[00:54:02] Hopefully.

[00:54:03] Yeah.

[00:54:04] I think there's a lot of lessons in life that you end up learning from.

[00:54:07] And where you're at now in that martial arts space, there's obviously challenges of being a woman in a male dominated world.

[00:54:16] Because as you said, there's not a lot of women dominating that space.

[00:54:20] So how have you handled the sexism that comes with it?

[00:54:23] And how have you been able to handle that in general?

[00:54:28] Yes.

[00:54:29] The way that I've handled sexism in martial arts has been interesting.

[00:54:33] Because I started at a time where women in MMA, women in martial arts, wasn't as prevalent.

[00:54:39] And so another lesson that my father gave me when I was a little girl, when he would train me, he said, Nelita, he was like, you're going to have to fight twice as hard as everybody else.

[00:54:50] He said, because you're a girl and people are going to look at you differently.

[00:54:54] He was like, also, because of the way that you look, people are going to look at you differently.

[00:54:58] They're going to think that you don't know what you're talking about.

[00:55:01] They're going to think that you can't do the things that you can do as well as you can.

[00:55:04] So you're going to have to fight twice as hard.

[00:55:05] And I've always kept that mentality about me back into the ancestors back in the day when I used to coach.

[00:55:10] I think I told you both the story where it's like, I'm on the treadmill training and some guy comes up next to me.

[00:55:14] It's like, oh, you know, trying to check me out, whatever.

[00:55:16] Like, oh, you're warming up.

[00:55:17] I get down to the floor.

[00:55:18] He's like, do you need help wrapping your hands?

[00:55:20] I'm like, no, I'm good.

[00:55:22] He's like, oh, is this your first time taking this class?

[00:55:24] And I'm like, no, actually, I'm your coach.

[00:55:27] You know, and people look up his face for that.

[00:55:29] There's so many ancestors.

[00:55:31] Do you need help wrapping your hands?

[00:55:34] Right.

[00:55:34] I was like, I'm going to be teaching you a lot of stuff here, but it's wrapping hands one of them.

[00:55:39] So, you know.

[00:55:39] Yeah.

[00:55:41] So I've had that.

[00:55:42] And again, it's like, even when I walk into a place in an audition, I tell people, hey, I do martial arts and they see me have nails and they see me like to do my makeup and stuff.

[00:55:49] And unfortunately, we're still in this day and age when we look at people and we're very judgmental.

[00:55:53] We put people into a box.

[00:55:54] Like, oh, because she's dressed as a way she may not be.

[00:55:56] She can't fight.

[00:55:57] She can't do this.

[00:55:59] And so I dealt with it by fighting twice as hard.

[00:56:04] I dealt with it by performing the way that I was supposed to.

[00:56:07] I dealt with it by showing them exactly what I can do and that I knew what I was doing by, you know, letting my dad's work speak through my movement and what I did.

[00:56:16] Yes.

[00:56:16] And I'm very grateful that I've been respected in the industry because of that.

[00:56:21] I was talking to another martial artist.

[00:56:23] His son is actually a fighter within Bellator right now.

[00:56:26] They're a great family of martial artists.

[00:56:27] And he was telling me about that.

[00:56:28] We hadn't spoken in years.

[00:56:30] We reconnected.

[00:56:30] And he was like, there's always been something about you that's always been so respectful and that you were so good at what you did.

[00:56:37] And I appreciate that because it spoke volumes of who I am.

[00:56:39] I've always shown up as who I was supposed to be and that I knew what I was doing.

[00:56:42] So I've never really had that big of an issue with sexism.

[00:56:46] There's things you go through, but I didn't let it phase me.

[00:56:49] That was the least of my problems at that time.

[00:56:50] I was like, yeah.

[00:56:52] I had bigger issues.

[00:56:53] And now that women's martial arts and MMA has opened up, it's a lot better.

[00:56:58] It's definitely a lot better.

[00:56:59] Like, I don't really face those issues.

[00:57:01] I think we always have the typical stuff, but now it's so much easier than it was back then.

[00:57:07] For sure.

[00:57:08] Yeah.

[00:57:08] Even as like seeing the evolution in women's basketball and like the respect for the game versus even when I was a kid growing up and some of the things, no one cares about women's sports.

[00:57:20] No one watches women's sports.

[00:57:21] Oh, like why is there a WNBA game on TV?

[00:57:24] No one cares about this.

[00:57:25] Turn it to the NBA game or men's match madness or whatever.

[00:57:28] Ever.

[00:57:30] And we're seeing, no, people do care.

[00:57:33] Actually, like more people watch March Madness for the women's side than the men's side this year.

[00:57:37] So nothing against the men because we love the men also.

[00:57:40] But like just to say like, yeah, I think it's shifted a lot.

[00:57:45] Yeah.

[00:57:46] Yeah.

[00:57:47] And I love that you were like, no, I'm focused on me.

[00:57:49] I'm doing me and I'm letting my work speak for itself.

[00:57:52] Exactly.

[00:57:53] Game speaks louder than any words you could say.

[00:57:55] And yeah, I love that.

[00:57:57] Absolutely.

[00:57:58] I was going to say that and adding on, it's like I learned in that time was that the way that you combat that is just to empower more women to do so.

[00:58:07] You know what I mean?

[00:58:08] And that's what got us in this place because I think it was a thing, especially back then with every person, where you walk in and it feels like you have to be the only one because there was very few women in the space.

[00:58:19] When I would walk into the gym, the immediate thing was for women to be like, oh, man, I've got to be the elf.

[00:58:23] I've got to be the only one.

[00:58:24] I've got to be this.

[00:58:25] And it's like, no, we both can coexist here.

[00:58:28] And I'm going to just walk in and be like, show this girl so much love for this.

[00:58:31] Like, I want you to win too.

[00:58:32] And I think by doing that, it helped to cultivate more of a culture of that.

[00:58:35] Even with the reason I started sharing online more because I wanted people to see a female and a woman of color doing martial arts and these traditional things and also not having to be so traditional with it.

[00:58:45] And so I like to say since then, I've seen an influx of women doing this now.

[00:58:50] And I'm like, I love it.

[00:58:51] I love to see it.

[00:58:53] But this is how we break down that stereotype and make it bigger.

[00:58:56] It's like we keep spreading the love.

[00:58:57] We keep empowering more women to do it.

[00:58:59] Yeah.

[00:59:00] Yeah.

[00:59:00] I think you really embody that in not just empowering women, empowering people in general, but also we kind of bringing it back to the beginning of the show where we talked about sharing stories and empowering other women to speak their stories out loud.

[00:59:14] And I think that's a huge piece of what's going on in this day and age.

[00:59:18] Women are feeling more empowered.

[00:59:20] They have a different platform.

[00:59:21] More people are willing to hear, I guess, and listen to these stories because they're more receptive to them.

[00:59:28] And I think that's huge.

[00:59:29] And it starts with stories like yours where you're sharing your story and you're sharing kind of all the challenges and things that you face to get to where you are today.

[00:59:41] Absolutely.

[00:59:41] And it also starts with you all having a podcast.

[00:59:43] So allow us to come on here and share the story.

[00:59:46] Thank you, Nelita.

[00:59:47] It's really cool though, because I think that flows well into our next question, which is really you, Nelita, core to who you are, you have this message of empowering your wellness, which is really about focused on empowering people and specifically women, not only, but women to live well, feel joy, embrace the fullness of life.

[01:00:07] How today have you been able to really champion that message?

[01:00:10] We've heard a lot of that, but how are you continuing to grow and build into that message?

[01:00:15] Absolutely.

[01:00:16] This message that I have now is built on what we talked about earlier that Chelsea mentioned is experience.

[01:00:24] And evolutions are my experience.

[01:00:26] So, you know, in the beginning of my career, it's always been martial arts focus.

[01:00:31] And then most of my audience and clients at the time were men because women really weren't that big into martial arts.

[01:00:36] And so I like to say the experiences of like what happened with my dad moving overseas, coming back, have collectively got me into this place.

[01:00:43] And most recently I have been going, I went through a lot of health issues.

[01:00:48] So I'm a woman, I was diagnosed with PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome.

[01:00:53] Ever since I was young, my mom had polycystic ovary disease.

[01:00:56] So she had infertility issues, hormonal issues, all of that sort of stuff.

[01:01:00] But she didn't have, when I look back now, my mother didn't have the resources like I have now.

[01:01:06] Fast forward about last year, I knew something was gravely wrong because as healthy as I am, as wonderful things that I do in my life and movement, I had gained 25 pounds.

[01:01:16] I was consistently bloated.

[01:01:18] I did not feel like myself.

[01:01:21] I lost 70% of my hair.

[01:01:22] I had bald spots all throughout my hair.

[01:01:25] My hair was receding in male pattern baldness.

[01:01:27] It was a lot of different things.

[01:01:28] And I'm like, what's going on?

[01:01:29] I looked in the mirror and I did not recognize myself at all.

[01:01:34] And that brought me back to a lot of things because I think as a coach, as a trainer, back in the day when I was younger, you hear people and you empathize with them, but you don't really know.

[01:01:42] So when someone says, hey, I'm having a hard time losing weight, I'm doing all I can, you do encourage them and they back your mind and be like, are you really doing all you can?

[01:01:49] Or maybe you haven't tried this.

[01:01:50] Maybe you give all the suggestions.

[01:01:52] And about last year, I found myself in a place where that was me, where I'm a certified trainer.

[01:01:57] I'm a certified nutrition coach.

[01:01:59] Lifetime of this.

[01:01:59] Never had these issues, but all of a sudden I'm in this place.

[01:02:02] And I'm like, oh, that's what it is.

[01:02:04] I'm going through this right now so I can be like, oh, that's what it is.

[01:02:07] So this put the fire under me to be like, if I'm going through this as a person of health and this known as a staple of wellness and this figure that people would see, it's like, oh, that's what I aspire to.

[01:02:16] It's my responsibility to now share and let people know what I'm going through and how I'm feeling myself because I want you to feel empowered.

[01:02:23] I felt as empowered as I am.

[01:02:25] I felt so weak when that happened to me.

[01:02:27] Yeah.

[01:02:27] So I had to find my power again.

[01:02:29] I had to reawaken that warrior inside of myself.

[01:02:32] And so that's what the mission came from was like wellness for a lot of people.

[01:02:36] And I think it's changing.

[01:02:37] There's a lot of people who live holistically and all this sort of stuff, but we already know it doesn't have a look to it.

[01:02:42] It doesn't have a certain diet to it.

[01:02:44] It doesn't have a certain activity, whatever it is.

[01:02:46] Wellness is different for people.

[01:02:48] The example that I give is that my meditation, I used to hate the word meditation because I couldn't fathom just sitting and not doing all this sort of thing until one day I realized movement is my meditation.

[01:02:57] When I flow with martial arts, when I'm doing my weapons, that is my meditation.

[01:03:00] When I dance, that's my meditation.

[01:03:03] And so that's what started that movement to be like, okay, I want to empower people to live well, not only in how you eat, how you work out, how you feel, what you look like, but this.

[01:03:13] Because I found that the key to all the things I've gone through, it was this, the learning, the hard times, the good times, the joy.

[01:03:21] It was a muscle that I had to work in here.

[01:03:22] And so this is where I'm about empowering people's wellness, every single person.

[01:03:26] But I definitely have a passion now to really help women because of the things that I've gone through.

[01:03:32] Because I'm like, my mom never had help.

[01:03:34] When I saw her struggling, I called her after I was going through my son.

[01:03:39] I said, Mom, you know, I just want to say if you never had someone to hear you or listen to you or see the stuff that you're going through, I get it now.

[01:03:46] And I see it.

[01:03:47] And I want to be here to help you.

[01:03:49] So this is part of the mission now is to be able to help other women and share the experiences that I've had.

[01:03:54] Yes.

[01:03:55] Yeah, totally.

[01:03:57] I love it.

[01:03:58] And you're like, you're so authentic and true to that mission and to that heartbeat.

[01:04:04] It is very visible in how you show up in the world and how you encourage other people and the content that you put out.

[01:04:10] It's all consistent with your character, which I think is huge because sometimes there can be just so much noise on social media and wellness experts that really are actually touting something that's like very unhealthy and like an unattainable standard of beauty or what it means to be holistically well.

[01:04:31] But yeah, I think it's so powerful what you're doing.

[01:04:35] Absolutely.

[01:04:35] It was interesting because when I went through all of that, I decided to step off line for a year.

[01:04:39] I quit the industry again because I was like, obviously something's not working.

[01:04:43] I'm not happy.

[01:04:43] Like I'm stressed.

[01:04:44] So I was like, I'm walking away from the entertainment industry again.

[01:04:48] I am studying now social media, all this sort of stuff because I always shared authentically, but I got to a point where I felt like I was feeding a beast where people didn't know me from martial arts, but it was like, okay, well, we need another martial arts video.

[01:05:00] Oh, you're not going to, if I talk about my charitable contributions, if I talk about something I'm passionate about, no one wants to like that post.

[01:05:07] No one wants to share that post.

[01:05:08] But as soon as I'm up there kicking and doing martial arts, I was like, it gave me this rude awakening again where I was like, what are people really here for?

[01:05:14] What am I really doing?

[01:05:15] Because it can be cool if you have a large amount of following.

[01:05:19] That can be cool to certain people.

[01:05:20] But for me, I was like, what does all this following mean if I'm not actually affecting people?

[01:05:26] If I'm not actually impacting people in some sort of way, like what impact am I actually making in someone's life?

[01:05:31] So for me, it was to have a dad write me and say, hey, my daughter looks up to you.

[01:05:36] I show her your videos every single day.

[01:05:38] Or a lady be like, I haven't worked out in years.

[01:05:40] Or even when I opened up about my hair loss, I had an influx of women write me, which I was scared to even open up about my hair loss, my pico journey.

[01:05:47] Because I was like, I've got this martial arts following.

[01:05:49] They're used to seeing me kick.

[01:05:50] They're not going to want to hear me talk about, I'm losing my hair today.

[01:05:52] This is what I ate.

[01:05:53] You know what I mean?

[01:05:54] But I was like, I'm going to do it anyway.

[01:05:55] And when I got the outpouring message from women, I was like, oh my gosh, thank you for speaking up.

[01:05:59] I'm losing my hair.

[01:06:00] I didn't know what to do.

[01:06:01] You know, I didn't know what was going on.

[01:06:03] It's just something so important to me to be able to share in that way.

[01:06:07] Because again, like you said, social media, it can be beautiful in many ways.

[01:06:12] Entertainment can be beautiful in many ways.

[01:06:13] But you have to be able to read through the BS.

[01:06:15] Because I found myself in a place where I was supplementing all these healthy supplements.

[01:06:19] But I was like, my goal was to get away from westernized medicine if I could.

[01:06:23] I didn't want to be on medications.

[01:06:25] But yeah, I'm taking 20 supplements.

[01:06:27] Like this is where it could be like really skewed.

[01:06:29] So I was like, I'm detoxing.

[01:06:30] I'm freaking out my life.

[01:06:31] And I just want to be well to where I need very minimum of any of these things if I need it.

[01:06:35] Mm-hmm.

[01:06:36] Mm-hmm.

[01:06:37] But kind of going back to your journey, looking back on your life journey, what advice would you give to your 13-year-old self?

[01:06:46] You guys are trying to make me cry on today's podcast.

[01:06:50] Bring the tears.

[01:06:52] I am like, every time I'm like this, I'm either like...

[01:06:55] We love the tears.

[01:06:56] Yes.

[01:06:59] This is really tough because there's...

[01:07:01] I think it's hard to boil down what I want to say to my 13-year-old self or anyone else.

[01:07:05] There's just so much that I want to pour into them.

[01:07:09] The few things that I would say is experience and feel.

[01:07:17] Like experience it all.

[01:07:18] The heartaches, the horrible times, the joys, the fun times.

[01:07:24] Like be open to that experience.

[01:07:27] That would be one.

[01:07:29] Two, allow yourself to feel.

[01:07:31] Because I think in a society we're told like, oh, pick yourself up.

[01:07:34] You're like, you'll be fine.

[01:07:35] Go, go, go.

[01:07:36] And it's like, allow yourself to feel.

[01:07:38] Allow yourself time to feel the joys, to feel the highs, to feel the lows.

[01:07:42] Feel all those sort of things.

[01:07:43] And then lastly, trust your gut.

[01:07:47] Trust your instinct.

[01:07:49] I think especially as young women, we naturally...

[01:07:53] As women in general, we naturally have an innate instinct of feelings.

[01:07:57] And we're oftentimes trained not to trust it.

[01:08:01] We're taught like, if you know something that doesn't feel right, oh, it's fine.

[01:08:05] It'll be fine.

[01:08:05] Just go ahead and go with it.

[01:08:06] But trust your gut on that.

[01:08:08] Those are the basics that I would give myself.

[01:08:10] And then lastly, it's going to be okay.

[01:08:13] Yeah.

[01:08:13] Literally.

[01:08:14] Yeah.

[01:08:14] It's going to be okay.

[01:08:16] Okay.

[01:08:17] The thing that you think is the worst, somehow you're going to be okay through that.

[01:08:22] Yeah.

[01:08:23] So good.

[01:08:24] I love that.

[01:08:25] I feel like it's not enough.

[01:08:27] No, that was awesome.

[01:08:28] It was so powerful and succinct and just true words of wisdom.

[01:08:35] And that takes us to our very last question of...

[01:08:38] Before the lightning round.

[01:08:39] So not very last question, but last, last one.

[01:08:42] We ask all of our listeners, what advice do you have for listeners regarding achieving their full potential and using their giftings to share love and light and make the world a better place?

[01:08:53] Absolutely.

[01:08:54] My advice to you all out there is to just keep up the practice.

[01:09:00] Keep up the training.

[01:09:01] One thing I've learned about as much as we want to grow, help, and as much as we learn and how we want to share that, life is going to continue to happen.

[01:09:10] And so all those things that you've been through, all those things that you think you've grown past, it always reemerges in some way and somehow.

[01:09:17] And so keep up the practice even within yourself.

[01:09:19] Like I was telling my friends last night that we feel like we've gotten to this place.

[01:09:23] Like I've grown past that.

[01:09:24] I've learned from when I was 13.

[01:09:25] I've learned from when I was 20.

[01:09:26] But guess what?

[01:09:27] All of a sudden it shows back in your life.

[01:09:29] Life is going to happen all around you.

[01:09:31] And it is our duty and our jobs for ourselves just to continue that practice and continue that focus through all that you do.

[01:09:38] And that's as simple as that.

[01:09:40] People learn by you doing.

[01:09:41] People learn by you doing, not by what you say.

[01:09:44] So we have to live this life and continue this practice so that someone else can see that and be inspired by it.

[01:09:51] That's great.

[01:09:53] That's great.

[01:09:54] Especially because there's a lot of people talking and not a lot of people doing.

[01:09:57] So I love that.

[01:09:58] I love that.

[01:09:59] I jive with that one.

[01:10:01] Yeah.

[01:10:01] Yeah.

[01:10:02] Who am I to tell people about like, my premise is that I share my life.

[01:10:08] I'm not telling you what to do.

[01:10:09] I share things that are happening with me so that maybe it resonates with you.

[01:10:12] Maybe I'm not for you.

[01:10:13] I may not be for you.

[01:10:14] That's okay.

[01:10:15] Maybe someone else speaks to you.

[01:10:16] But the biggest thing that I do in my life is I constantly and consciously think about just me doing.

[01:10:22] The only person I have to worry about in this life is me.

[01:10:25] And there are the people that, yes, I care about you.

[01:10:28] That doesn't mean I don't care about you.

[01:10:29] But if I'm concerned about what I'm doing and making myself the best person I can, it's going to innately affect you.

[01:10:36] It's going to innately affect how I interact with this person and what I teach this person and what I show this person.

[01:10:40] So this is my job and my duty.

[01:10:43] Yeah.

[01:10:44] Love.

[01:10:45] That's good.

[01:10:45] All right.

[01:10:46] Well, I think that takes us into our lightning round.

[01:10:50] Let's go.

[01:10:51] Can we put in a little shout?

[01:10:55] I know in the beginning of our podcast, I was like, I'll get music for this.

[01:10:58] But it's much more fun just to put it in there.

[01:11:04] All right.

[01:11:05] First question.

[01:11:06] What's the most memorable stunt or fight scene you've ever done?

[01:11:12] The most memorable stunt I've ever done was probably in Sofia, Bulgaria.

[01:11:18] I got chosen to do an aspirin commercial.

[01:11:23] So it's actually a commercial.

[01:11:24] But this was filmed on the set of 300 and where they filmed so many amazing things.

[01:11:29] So I got to actually wear the clothing that they had at 300.

[01:11:31] I was dressed as a gladiator for this.

[01:11:34] And yeah, it was amazing.

[01:11:35] But what was really cool about it was that I had to jump from like a three.

[01:11:40] I forgot how many stories this was.

[01:11:41] It was a tall building.

[01:11:42] Yeah.

[01:11:43] They put me on wire work and they're like, we need to jump off the edge of that building.

[01:11:46] And at that point in time, I had not jumped off a building ever in life, let alone for a stunt.

[01:11:50] Even though you're tied to a rope, you're entrusting people to hold you.

[01:11:53] Yeah.

[01:11:53] Off this building.

[01:11:55] So I had to jump off that building and then also get thrown through a wall.

[01:11:59] So they threw me through a breakaway wall and all this.

[01:12:01] But that was my coolest experience.

[01:12:03] It looks like a movie.

[01:12:05] It's a commercial that's filmed like a movie.

[01:12:07] But it was an amazing set.

[01:12:09] Great, great, amazing team and people that were there.

[01:12:12] And just fun to do because I got to do all the cool stuff I've ever wanted to do in life.

[01:12:16] And you got to keep the costume, right?

[01:12:19] I wish I could say that.

[01:12:20] I got to keep the photos of me in the costume, but not the actual one.

[01:12:24] Oh, shame.

[01:12:25] So cool.

[01:12:27] Okay, next question.

[01:12:29] What is your favorite martial arts movie of all time?

[01:12:33] Five Deadly Venoms is my favorite martial arts movie of all time.

[01:12:36] A lot of people don't know this.

[01:12:37] This is an old school.

[01:12:38] So my dad and I used to watch a lot of old school films, like kung fu films.

[01:12:44] And his favorite one now in mine is called Five Deadly Venoms.

[01:12:48] And basically, it's like that old school, like what you can imagine, the guys in long hair,

[01:12:52] the beards and all this.

[01:12:53] And it's martial artists who have learned different styles.

[01:12:56] So like a toad style, the lizard style, the snake style.

[01:12:59] So throughout this movie, they're battling their style, whose style is better.

[01:13:02] So you get to see like people do like a snake style thing, a thing like a toad and his different

[01:13:06] moves.

[01:13:07] It's really cool.

[01:13:08] Five Deadly Venoms.

[01:13:10] Okay.

[01:13:10] I'll put it on my list.

[01:13:12] Yes.

[01:13:14] All right.

[01:13:15] Next question.

[01:13:16] On the Fenty Savage shoot, did you get the chance to hang out with Rihanna in person?

[01:13:22] You guys are going to make me cry again.

[01:13:24] This one wasn't even a tearjerker.

[01:13:27] It's not a tearjerker, but I'm sad because no, I didn't.

[01:13:30] Oh.

[01:13:32] I know.

[01:13:33] I was like, I think everybody was like, I got there.

[01:13:35] I was like, Rihanna's got to be here at some point.

[01:13:37] She's going to show up today.

[01:13:38] She was like, I got to be on it.

[01:13:39] And so she didn't show up that day.

[01:13:40] I think she was still making something else.

[01:13:42] But her assistant, her name is Melissa.

[01:13:43] She was there.

[01:13:44] But either way, I just made sure because I was like, one, I know she has the end

[01:13:48] all, be all, and the say of stuff.

[01:13:50] And so I was like, she obviously chose all these people here for a reason.

[01:13:54] They're here for a reason, whether it's down to the wardrobe stylist, the hair stylist.

[01:13:59] I was like, this is an amazing place to be in.

[01:14:01] Because a lot of times, I walked to that place not knowing a lot of people.

[01:14:03] But when I walked out, I was like, oh my gosh, this is a world-renowned hairstylist

[01:14:06] that just did my hair.

[01:14:07] Are you kidding me?

[01:14:08] Like, you know, all this.

[01:14:09] I got to meet so many cool and amazing people.

[01:14:11] So I was like, I got to be in her curation of coolness.

[01:14:15] But I was like, one day, Riri, call me.

[01:14:17] I'm ready for the Amazon show.

[01:14:18] Oh, what's happening?

[01:14:20] Yes.

[01:14:20] Riri, you heard it here.

[01:14:23] Melissa, come head up.

[01:14:26] Feel free to call me whenever this is coming back in.

[01:14:30] I'm here.

[01:14:31] Yes, exactly.

[01:14:33] All right.

[01:14:33] Our last, last question.

[01:14:34] If you could have dinner with any person in history, who would it be and why?

[01:14:40] This is a loaded question.

[01:14:44] There's so many people.

[01:14:45] Like, initially, my gut feeling is that I want to go have dinner with someone like one

[01:14:48] of my ancestors and my family.

[01:14:49] That would be my thing.

[01:14:51] But that's not in history.

[01:14:52] So we'll go to history.

[01:14:53] I would probably say I would like to interview Dean Kotech, who is like an ancient architect

[01:14:59] in Egypt, to find out one because I'm very much into celestial beings and things.

[01:15:05] I'm like, was it the aliens that built the pyramids?

[01:15:08] Or was it actually the other people?

[01:15:10] Like, that's what I want to know.

[01:15:11] It's like, how were the pyramids built?

[01:15:13] Because it's still a hypothesis.

[01:15:14] We still don't know.

[01:15:15] Yeah.

[01:15:15] And so that's one of the world secrets that I want to know.

[01:15:18] And I'm like, whoever is the oldest architect, whether it's Inhotep or somebody else, I want

[01:15:22] to find out how the pyramids were built.

[01:15:25] Love that.

[01:15:26] That's valid.

[01:15:27] Yeah.

[01:15:28] I'm pretty sure people would not expect that to happen.

[01:15:29] They're like, it's probably the oldest architect.

[01:15:30] No.

[01:15:31] It is like ancient architects.

[01:15:32] That's what I love.

[01:15:33] I love it.

[01:15:34] I mean, yeah, that's a big question mark in the back of my mind, too.

[01:15:39] Oh, yeah.

[01:15:39] Yeah.

[01:15:40] It's funny.

[01:15:40] I've studied Egyptology as well as celestial beings ever since I was a teenager.

[01:15:46] Before there was like an actual like Mac computer or whatever, I was on a word processor

[01:15:49] and all these other things.

[01:15:50] Yeah, a big encyclopedia open.

[01:15:52] Yeah.

[01:15:53] Encyclopedias.

[01:15:53] I had floppy disks.

[01:15:54] I'm aging myself, but I had floppy disks.

[01:15:56] Okay.

[01:15:56] And so I used to research this sort of stuff.

[01:15:59] So things that people used to think were conspiracies, but obviously now people are very much open

[01:16:02] to hearing it.

[01:16:02] I am that person.

[01:16:03] So whatever conspiracies you have questions about, that's what I need to start a company on,

[01:16:07] conspiracy theories.

[01:16:08] Yeah.

[01:16:09] It's a rabbit hole.

[01:16:12] My husband, he knows the conspiracies.

[01:16:17] And because of that, by default, I've kind of gotten into it.

[01:16:20] You know it, too.

[01:16:21] Yeah.

[01:16:21] It's a dark place.

[01:16:23] It's a very dark place.

[01:16:24] I'm emotionally distraught half the time.

[01:16:27] I will tell you, it's a dark place, but I backstroke in those waters.

[01:16:31] So you're like, let's go.

[01:16:33] I was like, what else do you have for me?

[01:16:35] Yeah, sure.

[01:16:35] I'll go.

[01:16:36] Here we go.

[01:16:37] Yeah, I love all that.

[01:16:38] So any questions people have, I light a blackable.

[01:16:41] Like I could talk for days regarding these sort of things.

[01:16:43] I love it.

[01:16:45] Well, I think that's great because our listeners can all reach out to you about their conspiracy

[01:16:49] theories and ask you any questions that they have.

[01:16:52] They can go down that rabbit hole with you.

[01:16:55] I will love it.

[01:16:56] Please do reach out to me.

[01:16:57] Yes.

[01:16:59] Well, Nelita, it's been amazing having you on the show.

[01:17:03] I think there's so many key pieces to your story that are going to be powerful and resonate

[01:17:07] with our listeners.

[01:17:09] And I think everybody's going to find something to relate to and a lesson to take into their

[01:17:14] everyday life.

[01:17:15] And you're a testament to your story.

[01:17:18] And you're living, like you said, by action and not just speaking it.

[01:17:23] And I just, I love everything about your story.

[01:17:25] But thank you for coming on the show and joining us and sharing your story with us.

[01:17:30] For our listeners out there, we will link Nelita's media profile and resources in the

[01:17:34] show notes.

[01:17:35] And maybe we'll include some of those badassery moments at the fashion show and other things

[01:17:41] in our show notes or maybe on the B-roll for our social clips.