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

24:58It allows me to like, you know, reinstill my hope, like to get every, like to get things where they need to be and just to stay the course. Yeah. So I picked up my phone because there was this thing I looked up about faith the other day. Faith strengthens us during trials. Because we live in a sinful, fallen world, we will face difficulties. But our faith is what helps us remain strong during hard times. We have an enemy and it's our faith that acts as a shield to protect us from his schemes and plots. Above all, taking the shield of faith, which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

25:31Ephesians 6.16. It says, we should not be surprised when our faith is tested. James 2.3 says that the testing of your faith. I love this one. I can just say it without looking because it's one of my favorite scriptures. But the testing of your faith produces perseverance so that you may be mature and not lacking. Right? And it says before that, to consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds. for the testing of your faith produces perseverance. So you will be mature and not lacking, right? That's a whole. But think about that ability to consider it pure joy when you're in the toughest part of your life or feels like the toughest part.

26:07To have faith, to be able to smile through it all. What a feeling. I remember having a really hard time some years ago. And this is a scripture that Russ and I, we love. It's one of our favorite ones. And I remember him saying it to me and it was almost like a weight was lifted because it was a reminder like there's going to be something so good. There is some gold in this valley. In this moment. There is something that's going to be so good that's going to come out of this. And I've just got to like stay the course, you know, like keep my faith. So, yeah. Is that ever hard to have faith like that in Hollywood?

26:46I mean, I'm such an outsider, but people say so many things about the place and how crazy the music world is. Oh, it's a crazy world. You know, it's really interesting. You know, I will say this. I believe that my spiritual foundation is really important. And I think if I went to school, I'd be a psychologist, I swear. Like there's something that I'm really fascinated with about how the mind thinks and processes. And I do think that in our industry, it can be a very dark world. Because oftentimes people are finding themselves. One, you know, you got to be mindful, don't glorify man and things.

27:23We are in an industry that makes you, kind of pushes you to do that. Like you look at others and they may be way ahead of you and you're like, I want their life or, you know, awards. Like you feel like that's the high point, like all these tangible things that you can't even take with you anyways. Right. But people sometimes like in the Bible, it also says, what good is it for a man to gain the world and lose his soul. You can have everything and have nothing. And I feel like that's a more commonality in my industry than not. And I think the examples of that is in, you know, when people like I was reading something about, you know, I want to be mindful because I don't want to feel like I'm calling someone out, but someone, you know, an actor who was massive, like he's living homeless at this moment.

28:10He went through some tough times. And then you see another moment where someone's kind of like, you can see the mentally battling things, like all these different scenarios. And like, it's real, you know, and you can help want to pray for people. But it's like, man, like you just pray for God's protection, right? You know, I'm like, we got to have a foundation of, for me, God and Jesus are important for me, faith, you know, all those things you have to, and then like, run your own race at your own pace. You know, like don't be distracted by what's happening to the right and left of you. Like if someone's having a successful moment and they feel like they've been, you work harder than them and like, why am I not there?

28:53Like, don't even question it. Like your journey of success is perfectly designed for you. Your big moment is going to happen for you when it's supposed to happen for you. So celebrate those moments. Like change that energy. Flip it. Don't be jealous, you know, of it. Like actually celebrate those individuals. Give them a pat on the back. Like, you know, all those things. And just like be good with where you are. Right? Yeah. It's so true. And hard to do, but so true. Yeah. But, you know, you've seen the full spectrum. You've gone through tons of cycles. I'm sure there's been – has there ever been a moment where you got like – you felt like the whole internet hated you?

29:29Like you got a ton of hate. Oh, yeah. Really? Yeah. For sure. It's like every Tuesday. I know it's hard when you're – Listen, I don't know what one great that hasn't, you know, reached some of the highest points that hasn't been told they can't or hasn't been tried to be knocked down, you know, and that's a part of the process. And again, I think those moments like they they make you more bulletproof because I'll be darned if I let a human tell me what I can and can't be. Like, I'm so sorry. Like, you can try and write it all kind of ways. And I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I do. I'll be taking names.

30:04I'd be taking screenshots because I'd be like, I'm going to run this back when I go platinum again. You know, like, oh, remember, you know, like, OK, no, you know, sometimes I actually do that. I might need to share a couple of names. I was like, no, but do it. Yeah, no, no, no. Like there's something about a chip on your shoulder. I keep a name. I had a guy tell me, I hope one day you get more followers because you dumbed down the firm today. Like I remember the exact sentence. Wait, what? And I screenshotted that shit. I have it to this day. Sometimes because I'm real low, I'll have the audience go, F you, Dan.

30:41I wish I was better. I am trying. But it also fuels me. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So it makes me feel better that you sometimes keep names too. No, I do. I know. Yeah, I do. I don't want to spend too much weight on those people. But I do. And I think, you know, you use it as motivation. You know, like it lets you know. Like, you know, they say that, or Russ would say, Elani would say, the greater great, the more they hate. Like, it lets you know that you're doing something right, that they have something to say. Right? You know, it's like, okay, I'm making you feel some kind of way. Let me stay the course.

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31:58Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Let's talk about like love relationships a little bit. Like not only have you had this big successful career, and I know that every relationship has got its things, and I'm very happily married, and he's incredible, but we fight. We just try to fight fairly if we can. Fights are healthy sometimes. I think so. At least we need it. I'm Spanish. She's Greek. We're crazy. Oh, that's good. I mean, yeah, we're not docile.

32:35But, you know, now you have this beautiful partnership. What is some of the things you do, some of the secrets that you have? How do you stay grounded and happily married in a world that is chaotic and a crazy career, too? Yeah, I think, well, we always say, we said it since day one, we got engaged. It was one of the first, it was actually part of the first conversation we had after he proposed to me. It's like we say having Jesus at the center. Having a spiritual foundation is really important because, you know, what is it like lean out on your own understanding? Sometimes when we put the matters into our hands, it gets real tricky, you know.

33:11But I would say communication, man. Sometimes you have to have hard communication moments. And I do believe that, you know, at least historically for us, whenever we've had a conversation where it's like, okay, this is a big conversation. Something, so many good things have come out of it. And we've grown together through those moments. So you can't be afraid to talk about the stuff that makes you uncomfortable. You know, communication rules and nation. I've always said that. And we really believe in doing that, you know. And so I think that's important. How did you decide that he was your dude?

33:47Oh, I knew. Right away? Yeah, they say when you know, you know. It's funny because he and I, when we were talking the first night in person, is a really unique situation, you know, because my dad was actually at my house and my firstborn was at my house too. And, you know, I said, you know, we were meeting up as friends, you know, and he's like, I wasn't coming over. I wouldn't meet up just to be no friends, you know. We laugh about that. Yeah. No, but it was, you know, more so than anything because in this world that we live in, unfortunately, when you step outside, like normal people would when you're dating.

34:26If someone sees you, they preset things for you, you know, and so you want to protect that and give yourself a chance to really get to know each other. So when we were talking, you know, in person for the first time, we literally forgot to eat, right? We were supposed to eat at some point and he had a meeting actually. And then I needed to get my food. We talked about, actually talked about a restaurant that we liked in the conversation. But anyways, we chatted, you know for hours and you know when we were talking I'm like he's different and the conversation the initial conversation that we had felt like no initial conversation I ever had in my life and I remember calling my best friend and makeup artist Yolanda Frederick Thompson um I called her and I said Yoli I was like I don't want to jinx anything I was like but I think and I didn't even want to say it.

35:21And she said, he's the one. And I go, yes. And the same thing for him when he was talking to his friend, you know, after we were together, he said the same thing, right? But you just know when you know, you know, it's a feeling you can't fully describe, but you know the difference. And so that's my, you know, my story. I felt the same way with my husband. You did? Yeah, totally. Well, we've known each other since we were 11. So I guess when I first met him when I was 11, I wasn't feeling that way. But we like reconnected later in life. He stayed friends with my dad. They're very close. But our first date was three days, which is crazy because we went to a music festival.

36:04And then three weeks later, we moved in together. So wait, how did you guys, okay, you're friends, but you, oh, when you reconnected, the energy was like, we're connecting on some other stuff. Okay, because I'm like, how y 'all just turn to like, we're going to go on some dates. Like, okay. So wait, then what happened? You said you moved in when? Three weeks later. Oh my gosh. So it's crazy. Which is unhinged. I'm like not that unhinged. How long have you guys been married for? We've been married for seven years. So good. And been together for 10. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. We're going on year 10 of being married.

36:34Congratulations. That's amazing. Yeah. So it's funny because, thank you. Um, the first, we basically, we, we always say we were hanging out ever since we met. So, you know, shortly after that I'm living in Seattle and, you know, and now here we are. That's wild. It's crazy. What do you think? I mean, I know it's always tricky giving relationship advice, but like it seems like a lot of statistics, people are getting married less than ever. They're finding less love, you know, having less sex. And you could feel a certain way about those things. but I think there are a lot of people out there that are like looking for their person.

37:11What do you tell a young woman or a not so young woman like about how to find their person or how to be a type of person that attracts your person? Well, see, I think it goes back to some of that stuff I was saying earlier about manifestation and speaking life, you know, and I think there's also the take care of self phase. That's important for us, right? We have to, I think, love on ourselves first so we can be good with self. We don't want to be in a place where love is what makes us complete. Love is a cherry on top. Now, there is a saying in the Bible about without love, you have nothing. So now you want to move from a place of love.

37:54You would say God is love. But, yeah, I think that you want to be right with yourself first. right? Like go out yourself sometimes. Like it's okay to eat by yourself. Like it's okay to be by yourself. Like we have to embrace the self phase first, I think. And then I think that you have to like visualize what you want to attract in your life, right? What do you not want? You know, what does he or she look like to you? What are they, how do they love on you? Like how do they love on themselves? How do they love the people around them? Do they make the room better? Like, Like, you know, like you start to visualize all these things.

38:29And I do believe that there is power in that because you know what I do think we do sometimes? When you loftily throw in the air that I want love, but you don't define it, you will get that. But then when you put in the air, like, I want love, but under these conditions or it looks like this, you know, like it feels like this. Like it makes me feel like this. Like you start to like have this thing to where it's like when you see it, you go, that's it. But you're not able to see it if you don't define it. That's so true. Right? It's like trying to explain a zebra to somebody who's never seen it.

39:09You're like, but once you've seen it, you're like, strides, black and white. Yeah, you know exactly. That's exactly it. Kind of a broke donkey. Yeah, totally. Yeah. I also, you know, what's interesting about your relationship, if you guys have built businesses together. So we have one of your businesses right here, which we haven't even tried yet. I can't believe you made me coquitos. So I made you coquitos. Coquitos. I have to shout out Tony Chapman, the chef, because she taught me how to make this for the first time. No way. And when I tell you I cannot stop going back, no, for real. Because you can like slick get lit because it tastes so good.

39:37I had to be hammered by the end of this podcast. But it's a fun holiday drink. Thank you. This is lovely. And this is your rum. Yeah, 10 to 1 rum. I'll tell you a little bit after the first sip. This is delicious. Oh, my gosh. Also, I feel kind of fancy. You just stick this cinnamon stick in here. I'm into things that are fancy but super easy. You know what I mean? The little pops of detail. Yeah, exactly. And it's not complicated. No. Some coconut, condensed milk. We have our white rum and our dark rum. And I'll just tell you, there's zero sugars in our rum. We want people to reimagine rum, right?

40:11Look at rum in a way that you've never seen it before. Get out of the colonial. Got to make it in pina colada, strawberry, daiquiris only. Rum can play. We say that any other spirit, anything you can do, rum can do better. Just facts. But no, seriously, like you can have so much fun with rum. So like, for example, you're Latina and, you know, we like margaritas. I said we because I'm Mexican. I'm Mexican, okay? Black and Mexican. I've never heard that before. I love that. Black and Mexican. But I love a margarita, but I take the rum. I call it a rumarita. So you do the white rum in place of the tequila.

40:46That's hot. Yes, but you can have fun. Like you can have so much fun. and play. And that's been an amazing discovery for me on the journey of rum and sharing my story. That was the first drink I ever had in my life was rum at 21. And so it's a real thing for me. Come on, at 21? Yeah. First time. You never had a drink before 21? Never. Good for you. I accidentally sipped some gin in my mom's fridge. I thought it was water. That sounds awful. That's not okay. I spit that thing out so fast. But my first drink official, like, this is what I'm doing, was 21. That's wild. I was not as good as you. I had a few cocktails.

41:20Well, you're Latina, so you know. I start early. I'm going to blame it on that. I'm Mexican, so I understand. But also you speak Spanish. Actually, I heard a funny thing about you. I heard you can do all the accents. Yeah, kind of. I can. I play around. What's your favorite accent to do? I think it's the military baby in me. Oh, that's probably part of it. Well, plus you're an entertainer. Like even the way you say sentences is interesting because they're thoughtful. Like you said a thing, well, two ways. One, I want to hear your favorite accent. This is so good. Dude, I'm telling you. My favorite accent is Latin.

41:50It's Mexican. Come on. Okay, come on. What's the best accent? Hola, me llamo Ciara. Yo no espero. Yo no espero. Estoy muy agradecida para hoy, o para el día. Nailing it. Y yo, sí, yeah. Yo estoy muy agradecida. Aw, I'm happy to have you too. Sí. I want to tell you, I know you can do a crazy stuff. Oh, my gosh. I think we should embarrass her. She's like, girl, I don't know if I'm going to be up in there like that because we ain't going to be doing that interview if they talking crazy. We ain't doing it. I'm telling them right now. I'm going to call them up. Watch this. You know, I'm from Decatur, Georgia.

42:37You nailed that. People don't know her, but I'm a little bit crying. No, she will. That's that voice, right? I'm going to tell them we ain't cocking his ass. Oh, my God. I'm going to call them right back. She was like, I don't worry about throwing a shoe. And she was like, I can't do accents, but she was like, I told them if you throw a shoe at me, you better knock me out. Because I'm coming at you. Exactly. She said, she's like, I'm a chihuahua. She said something crazy about being a chihuahua in a pit bull's body or something she said that was crazy. A pit bull in a chihuahua's body or something.

43:05And I was like, and the pit bull always wins. You know, something about the tiny ones. They're just so big. You know what? Shout out to the tiny ones. Shout out to the tiny ones, yes. But I am obsessed with languages. So my biggest thing is when I travel, I like to... It's kind of my way of showing respect and appreciation to that region or that country. And I love being able to always say hi and bye and thank you. So if I go to Japan, I say, Choto Nihongo Hanashimasu. Watashi no namai wa Asera desu. Hai. You know, arigatou gozaimashita. Like I'm really big on like knowing, you know, how to communicate, how to get around.

43:50And my biggest thing is to ask how to do it. So if I want to learn because I'm like a little obsessed with learning languages. And so if I want to say in Japanese, how do you say it? I say, nante uno. Nante uno water. Nante uno, where's the bathroom? You know, and they'll say, to de ba do co desuca. So I do that or in Spanish, como se dice, I love you. Or como se dice, you know, which we know, te amo mucho. You know, but I'll say that or, you know, if I'm in France, I would say, bonjour, je m 'appelle Siaga. Como est-ce que vous? Ça va bien et toi? Au plaisir de vous voir. Like I always would say that to my fans, like it's so nice to meet you, you know.

44:31Merci beaucoup. Or if I go to China, ni hao, shei shei, you know, bukachi. Like, I love doing that, you know. And my dad was in the Army. My mother was in the Air Force. So it's a military baby in me that's, like, kind of obsessed, you know. So do you, like, go out on the stage and you say their language, too? Yeah. So if I'm in Japan, I say, migi hidai di. Oh, that they lose it. Oh, yeah. Andu bouj in French is one, two step. I remember back in the days I would see that. I love that. And then if I'm in London, I would say, darling, how are you? You're right. Are you lovely? It's lovely to see you.

45:09You know, I'm going out for some pears to get some Rosie Lee. It's like good, isn't it? Is it all right? I'm like, so amazing, right? Yeah. But whatever. I love to do, you know, it's fun. It's really fun. And I'm going to tell you, talk about being determined. I wanted to learn how to speak with an English accent so bad. And listen, I am not perfect, okay, with it, but I do my best. But I had to audition for a movie. It was a big movie. And I had to speak with an English accent. And I went to go and auditioned for it. And literally in the, I had like three days to learn how to speak with an English accent.

45:49And I had been trying to do it anyways. It was so bad. I pray no one ever sees that tape. But I was like, I've got a baby in my tummy. And I'm like, I've got to. It was worse than that. You know, because I really couldn't get like the – and I was like, you know what? I'm going to get it. Like I was so determined, you know? Good for you. I just – my husband says they all sound like a Mexican-Russian, which is not really good. That's not a good combo. You sound like a Mexican-Russian? Yeah. When I do my accents, they all just like converge to the mixture of the two. It's not good. But I do think, you know, I think there's something really beautiful about this like curiosity, you know?

46:25Like you continue. So your bio is so fast. Like we talked about 10-1 a little bit, which I hear is like one of the most awarded rums out there. I had no idea, by the way. And then you also have Third Brand, which is – Oh, Three Brand. Three Brand. And Three Brand Children's Apparel Company. Is it public that you did$100 million in revenue in 2024? Can we say that? Yeah, you can. That's wild. Yeah, we've been very, very blessed. Yeah, you know, I got to say it's been an incredible journey. You know, I think especially like you mentioned, doing everything together. You know, talk about a why not you attitude because we obviously have our why not you foundation.

47:09And we're just big believers in like, you know, once we believe in something or we set out to do something, most importantly, being connected, genuinely connected to what we do. Right. Is important. Like you got to have that authenticity factor. And so Ten to One Rum, as I mentioned, was a genuine spirit for me that I, you know, love since day one. And I love the challenge of, you know, getting people to understand the beauty of rum. And with Three Brand, you know, Russ is, that's really his jam. You know, we talk about sports, music, and fashion, the three, you know, one of, three of the most powerful forces, you know, in the world.

47:45And the power of what happens when they come together. And when you get to do it through youth, you know, the youth is really important to us. We really love being able to speak life into the youth with the why not you mentality. When it comes to fashion, you know, it's a fun place to play in and a fun place to activate in. We obviously have our kids, you know, family is really important to us. And we get to share, you know, our passion and pour our passion and love into the brand, the three brand as a whole. And it's a gift, you know, when you say those numbers for just 2024 alone. we've been on this journey for like almost three years so you can multiply that by three right which is a blessing and so you know it's not it's not ultimately about that you know it's really about the ability to impact you know that's our ultimate goal we love being able to impact and inspire kids in such a great way and and there's nothing better than than doing it through fashion so it's been a fun journey um and it's the coolest thing you know when we're taking our kids to school and you see other kids wearing three brand it's like hey like russ was like saying to a dad, it's like, hey, that's my brand, you know, and it's the cutest thing.

48:53It makes you feel proud. It makes you feel motivated. And, you know, we've got some exciting things happening for the brand and it's really just getting started. Yeah. I mean, I think what's fascinating about you is like there's, obviously your songs are huge and you've done all these brand deals, but it feels like from a business perspective, you're starting to talk about business even more now with the podcast that you have or the show that you have. Apple Radio, Level Up Radio on Apple Music. There you go. And I think it's really cool because I don't even know that, you know, we've all known you.

49:22I remember when your first album came out, we've like known you publicly for a long time. But even when I was prepping for this, I was like, holy hell, she's done so much more than I realized. Like, what do you think is one of your like business superpowers? Like why is Three Brand$100 million? Like what are the things you're like, we're so good at culture here? Or we think about the design this way that nobody else does. Like, what is that for you, do you think, in some of these brands? Good question. I think it goes back to quality. Quality is everything. You know, you can talk a good game all day, but it comes down to how well does the item perform?

49:59I think that we do really great at quality when it comes to our products and the things that we associate ourselves with. That has to be hard, right? Because you're getting pitched a billion things a day. Yeah, it is. But, you know, fortunately, a lot of the things that we've been doing, we've actually kind of started them, you know, and then there's like investment opportunities that you do. And that's like kind of gambling a little bit. You're taking a risk and those, you know, it's great when it works. But the cool thing is that a lot of the brands that we're focused on right now are ones that have come directly from us to some extent.

50:3010 to 1, actually, my partner, Mark Farrell, I met him a year after he got going with 10 to 1. It was in the middle of the pandemic. And I was pregnant as all get out. And then I also breastfed for 10 months long enough. And it was time for me to celebrate that moment. And I had a mojito with the white rum, the 10 to 1 white rum. And again, I had already had my passion about rum, but I was really curious about this brand. I'm like, oh, this is amazing. And then I met my partner, you know, and then, you know, now we're five years in the journey and I serve as an investor and a proud co-founder and co-owner.

51:08But it goes back to quality and the people too. You know, people are everything. And then culture. I think culture is really key. You know, we think about like the challenges or not even just the challenges, but like the fun parts of like 10 to 1, like the culture people that we get to engage with. You know, I get to work with some of the best chefs in the world. I was with Chef Kwame and we're actually in all of his restaurants, 10 to 1 is. And, you know, know, people like him or, you know, Tony, as I mentioned to Tony Chapman and, you know, all these talented people, we get to like engage with people culturally.

51:41There's an Afro-Caribbean energy that's really coming strong. And like, that's a big part of like our energy too, you know, the Caribbean piece of it. So culture is everything. And then, you know, the place that we get to go to on the ground and how we get to touch and activate with people. And then when it comes to three brand in particular, again, it goes back to culture too, right? There's this sports energy. And as I mentioned sports, music, and fashion. Like those are all big pieces of Russ and I, right? So we get to like, we do this every day, right? And we get to bring it all together. And community, community is really important for us, right?

52:15So I feel like that's another aspect that we really, I would say, tap into really well and are very connected with because we love the people. Yeah. You've talked a lot about partnerships in varying ways. But I'm sure a lot of people want your time and attention. So like, how do you determine, hey, I want to partner with this person? I want this person in my life. Like, what's the screen? Oh, the person, when it comes to people, you gotta, you have to connect, you know. I think it's important that your vision, you know, your, how you see things, you know, how you connect to things, like it has to be aligned, right?

52:57And what's a person's vision? And can they add value, right? You want to be around people that can bring even more than you can at times, right? That you can grow with, you can learn from. Like, I don't want to be a person with all the answers. I think if that's the case, then we're in trouble, right? Because I definitely don't know all the answers. I need help. You know, so you want to be surrounded by like-minded individuals. You want to be around people that, you know, share the same vision as you. And maybe it's people that have already been there before. So they can pass down their wisdom.

53:28Like, that's my greatest goal right now at this point in my career is I want to work smarter, not harder. And also being a mom and being there for Russ. I say I have my four babies, but Russ is my biggest one. Okay? You already know. Okay? You do. Our men, they be babies. They be babying. But, you know, so, like, that's a real thing, right? So it's like how do I work smarter and not harder at this point in my life and in my career? Yeah, it's a good point. You know, it's interesting. I made that mistake so many times early on in my career. I would partner with somebody who like hadn't figured anything out yet.

54:03And then I would work harder than them or they wouldn't, you know, I'm sure with you, it's got to happen. They're like, I see her like I want to be associated with all that. Let me get on that coat train, you know. And at some point we just realized like we're not going to partner with somebody who hasn't already shown like the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, I think. So you got to show that you're winning. You got to show that you want to work harder than I do because there's so many people that don't. And I think a lot of times with partnerships, we like buy into them in the same way we buy into like somebody's potential.

54:36And so we're like, no, no, we'll fix I'll fix him. Yeah. How many of us have said that? And so I think that's really interesting. So have you like with a mark, like if somebody is trying to figure out their avatar of like, all right, how do I trust somebody, which is so big today? Yeah. Like, how are you like, here's what I ask him. Here's what I do. Or here's how I knew. Yeah. I mean, trust, I think you build over time. I don't think I'll ever trust someone from day one. Yes. I think trust is earned. And I can smell very early if I should trust or not trust someone. I can tell you this. I can tell you on day one if I can't trust you.

55:14Oh, that's so good. Yeah. I'm very, like, pretty good with that. I got a good gut. That's the gift that women have. Women have the gift of intuition that is crazy. Yeah. It's a gift. A lot of them shove it down, right? You don't. You listen to it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes people can, but no. I think when you've bumped your head a few times, you just know better, right? And then sometimes, too, you do like to give grace. Like, grace is important. But the moment you show me that I can't give you the grace or the grace past should be revoked, I'm revoking it. No second chances. We ain't even playing with it.

55:50Uh-uh. It's actually smart. There's too many people. There's billions of people on this planet. They can go try with somebody else. Yeah, no. 100. Over there. Exactly. You keep that over there. But no, I think back to your point, you know, people too, I think history is great. Like, for example, my partner, Mark, he was the youngest vice president at Starbucks, right, before he started 10 to 1. And Harold Schultz was actually our first investor. Oh, that's a great sign. On the journey, right? And we have some amazing people at the party that are supporting us along the way. But I think, you know, he also went to Harvard and like he had a great educational background, but also to just his experience within the space and also his education within the space.

56:34And, you know, also, again, it came back to the product. The product says a lot. People can like talk a good game, but what's the product doing, right? Yep. So there's all these different things that you check off the box. to make sure, you know, your foundation is going to be a strong one and that you feel confident in the tools that you have to get going on things. And then time tells you everything, right? So yeah, you know, I think the person that walks into the room is really important in anything that you do. Like, who are they as a human? First and foremost, right? Because you want to work with good humans, right?

57:13You really do. Because I think it makes it worthwhile when the times are tough and you have to come together and grind together. Like, it's not easy, right? Like, grinding for 10 to 1, it's not easy. Because again, rum is a category that's like still telling a story, right? Tequila and vacas and gins, they're already like, they've already like done it, done it. Rum is still doing it, which is exciting because there's so much opportunity. And there's not many of us ladies in this category. Zero. Yeah. I don't know one. Which is exciting. I'm sure there are some, but that is exciting. You know, so.

57:46I love being a first. Yeah. You know, that's amazing. And you know, what's interesting is like you have all of these practices now, it seems like, that you do every day. And these things that have led you to be the person that you are today. What are some of the things that if you knew them when you were 20 that you know now, that you tell like, God, I wish 20-year-old Sierra would have done this every day? Just be patient. That's the greatest thing is like, that's why I say run your race at your own pace, because what life has shown me, like 21 years later, right? I am, you know, and I would say a little bit before 21 years later, you know, after Goodies came out.

58:25But I remember, you know, being signed in the systems and like, you know, wanting to do certain things or achieve certain things. I'm like, when are they going to happen? Like, and I was very blessed. A lot of my songs were really big out the gate. But still, you could have that big hit record, but then you're like, and then what? And then like, I still feel like I'm missing this, this, and this. But it's taken me 21 years to now start having certain things like happen for me how I've always wanted them to. So it just shows me like the power of patience. Like, you know, there's a saying where it's like a parent would be like, patience is a virtue.

59:00They would say that when you're young, like, what is that? What does that even mean. Patience is a virtue. You know, it's like, I'm trying to get to patience. I bump the virtue stuff. Like, this is what I'm trying to do. You know what I'm saying? Like, but you know, when you understand life and the way that it goes, it's all going to work itself out. And you've got to trust the process. Like, you've got to keep your faith, right? So, but if I could, you know, think back to when I was younger, you know, I would just say the patience factor, you know, and, and I would also remind myself, like, again, don't glorify man.

59:40Don't, don't glorify the things on this earth because some of the people that I looked up to that were like, you know, I thought the coolest and the biggest ever, you know, they've had their own journey. I don't want to speak negatively on anyone, but it's like, everything's not what you think it is, you know? So like, just worry about you. Yeah. Worry about you, you know? You have had a bunch of like new albums come out, obviously. They're crushing. Level Up, does it ever happen to you where like you hear a song and you don't realize it's yours? Like Level Up, I didn't even realize was a Sierra song and I was like singing it.

1:00:14And then, but you know, as you're creating today, what does that look like? Like what is, if you want to tap into the muse, if you want to find it, if you want to get your creative juices, what do you do? Is there a process? Well, it depends on what I'm doing. Musically, you know, it's so funny. I'm actually like really in my Afro, the Esporta bag right now. And so I kind of like to let, I let life take me wherever it takes me when I'm making music. You The cool thing about music is that it's a feeling. It's nothing technical. So that's the place I'm playing. And I have my song, Nice and Sweet with Molly and Oxlade, that I just put out.

1:00:54Molly's from Ghana. Yes. Hey, hit it. I'm not dancing. That was good. Okay. Molly's from Ghana. Oxlade's from Nigeria. And then my friend, also Diamond Platinum's on my song, Low. He's from Tanzania. I just recently went to Benin. Cotonou and I got to get my dual citizenship. I got my passport, the first international artist or American artist to, or any person to participate in this new program that they had that His Excellency President Talon granted me the opportunity to have there. And I'm just deeply connected to that place right now, this place right now. So I'm living in that moment, right?

1:01:42And I think that when you're like committed to a creative direction, you start to delve deeper into things just for it's just fun to you. And it just naturally like takes you there. But I think I let life like kind of tell me where I want to go. And then there's also a sonic connection. You know, I can hear sounds or hear a song and be obsessed with like I do know where I want to go next right now in my mind. Right now I'm here. Yeah. But I know what I want to do next. and it may take me a second to just chill and do it. Like I'm not going to rush it, but I'm also not going to take forever either, you know.

1:02:19But I just go with like what feels, how I feel. Music is a feeling, it's not technical. I love that. So you're kind of like following your curiosity down a rabbit hole. Yeah, all my curiosity, you know, going where the music takes me. Yeah, you just flow with it, you know. But you do oftentimes when you go in to make music, you do have some kind of ideal direction because that's what leads you to the producers you want to work with and the writers you want to work with. So you do typically have a creative base. But then there's this thing that when you start to create, then the magic really happens when you just let it happen.

1:02:56Right. But you have some kind of like baseline foundation of where you want to start from. Question for me and for nobody listening. It's like the abs. What are we doing? First of all, let me tell you, you're so sweet because my abs do not be abbing. Let me tell you why I say that, okay? Okay. Okay, listen. I say this because I've had my four precious babies, as we all know, and they gave me something called diastasis recti, okay? Some people say diastasis recti or whatever it is, but my ab wall is like kaputs. Wow. So my abs will never be the same, okay? Now, do I work hard to get down and like back to my base weight?

1:03:35I do. I have not gotten back down all the way after my last baby Amora, and she's almost two. But I'm giving myself some grace, okay? You look so good. I really appreciate that. You know, Russ, he's like, babe, whatever you're doing, don't get too crazy because he likes a little hips, a grip. I know my husband too. It's just women worth the hard part on us. No, no. Let me tell you something. I was looking at something. I said, now where did that don't come from? Because I've been praying for this all my life. praying for that dog. The babies gave me something, you know, so I'm like, I'm gonna hold on for as long as I can hold on, you know.

1:04:15But your babies do give you, they give you some hips, they give you a little bit more, you know, a little bit more than you want sometimes. You know, but I, it's funny because I'm actually going to really like dive into trying to train my core even better. It is a, it's a thing. I'm literally holding on for dear life sometimes because the diastasis makes your belly push. The instinct is for it to go out versus in. Any mom or woman knows. Yeah. So you're like, it's an extra second for the carpet. So it's like, oh yeah. I always like that. I always like that Jamie Curtis thing where she's like, I've been holding my abs in for 30 years.

1:04:57I'm done. She's like, no more. No, not 30 years. I'm out. Listen, I'll be baggy because I'll just be like, I ain't got time for this every day. Now, when I want to get snatched, then I get ready. Like I may eat like different. Like I'm doing a red carpet tomorrow. So today I'm kind of going no carbs. You know, like so I'll be strategic. Oh, yeah. Now this the coquitos is también. See? It doesn't count. See? All right. Well, I have a – I'm going – you're friends with Ashley Graham too, right? Yes. So I have – she has some award show tonight that I'm going to with her. And I told her, I was like, I'm feeling a little – I call it fluffy.

1:05:28Like I feel a little fluffy lately. yeah and so i i bought a dress specifically because it could like like it could like wrangle it in in the midsection but i love her because she doesn't give a fuck no she's amazing no we have another doctor friend who's like trying to like hey i want you to do and ashley's like if you try to make me skinny she's like no glp ones i'm not into it and i'm like i'm over here thinking i would take a glp one if i trusted it you know i don't even know what that is but that's like uh what are those what's it called the thing that's making everybody skinny oh it's um um um um um There's another word for it.

1:06:01What is that thing called? Oh, Ozepics. Oh, yeah. I'm like, what is it? Ozepics. I'll hate me.

1:06:10Yeah, exactly. So we'll just stay a little thick. Listen, man, to each his own. I think the greatest thing is we just have to embrace the journey, honestly. Like, give yourself grace when you need. Like, you know, I think that's been probably one of the best things I could have given myself along the way in the journey of motherhood is grace. you know because you have to like when I say to you life be life in it'd be turd up you know being a mom of multiple kids and you know managing all the personalities you know I was like saying the other day I'm like it's maybe it's called a mama piss you know there's a therapist and there's a mom piss because I'm just telling you like everybody's got a different story every kid has a different story they're walking tv stations and they have their own programming and it's like who are we going to get today?

1:07:00Okay, got it. Like, I'm ready for everything now, you know? But grace, though. You got to give yourself grace. I love this. Okay, I want to end on, what are you most excited for this year? We got 10 to 1. We've got maybe, what else? So we have 3 Rand, which we're super excited about our growth and just the - What's your favorite piece of clothing from it? Like, if I'm going to go buy for my holidays right now, what are you like? You know what? I love our jerseys. I love our - The thing is, is we focus more on the youth right now. So we're not so much into the adult wear yet. What if I'm going to give some gifts to the kids?

1:07:31But if you're going to give some gifts, listen, our backpacks are amazing. Okay, I like this. Never go out of style. I like it. We just actually rusted this really cool gifting experience for Future's team. And, you know, I don't want to steal his thunder because I don't know what all I can reveal right now. But it was amazing to see how excited they were. And we have cool, like, tuffles and all that stuff. So that's amazing. Our bags are awesome. The gift that keeps on giving. But just the whole clothing assortment, honestly. You have, you know, everything in there that you can eat from great sweatpants, you know, matching sweatpants to great athletic shorts and tees.

1:08:09There's a lot of shirts with great sayings on them and slogans. Like Go Time. We have Level Up. We have Why Not You. I love that. We also have, you know, for the, not just the Giants community. We have obviously stuff in red, white, and blue, but we have stuff in all colors, right? Which is awesome. So, you know, you will have everything you need in the three brand shop. Threebrand.com. I love it. Go there. But obviously 10 to 1, you know, super focused on this baby. And we are, as you mentioned earlier, proudly the fastest growing and most awarded rum. You know, again, a great story to tell. We want people to reimagine rum.

1:08:48So we're going to stay on the course to do that. Can we have your recipe for coquitos? You sure can. Put it on the website? Come on. I like this. Of course, you sabes. Yeah. No problemo. Okay. We'll put a little link in. Really, I'm not bullshitting. It's really good. Yay. So good. Right? No, that's like better than eggnog. I think I'd like switch that out. Mix it up. It's a gift that keeps on giving too. Like you give a gift to someone, like Tony was telling me, you know, we were talking about were boricuas when we were making it. Boricuas making coquitas. But you can like, you know, just keep on making it.

1:09:17Like I'm excited to make new Coquita for Thanksgiving. Oh, I love that. I'm excited for that. And then I also have my skincare line, OAM Skin. And OAM stands for On a Mission. I say I'm a woman of ambition on a mission to make clinical skincare simple for all. And I was a girl that used regular body wash and, you know, body lotion on my face. Like I did not give two cents about how I was taking care of me in that regard. And, you know, I, during the pandemic, again, another baby that I also had was OAM. I started building OAM, probably the perfect muse at that point, because you're in the most sensitive place of your, you know, with your skin.

1:09:55And so I started that journey then. My makeup artist, Yolanda, you know, if you see her, like, sorry, Yoli, I always call her out. Everyone knows this, but she does not look her age. She is like a box of like wisdom and like it's like anything she tells me, I really should listen because if you see this woman, you're going to be like, no way. Well, you too. Your skin's amazing. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. I want some of that. Thank you. So, you know, she used to always tell me, she'd be like, did you use your eye cream? Did you use your eye cream? I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

1:10:26Like she just like just stop, you know. And I'm like maybe I should listen to her because like if you see her, I'm like she does it all. She does all the right stuff. And so I started to like really take my skincare serious. And OEM was the result of that. And, you know, I'll be very transparent. We're a baby company, right? We're in the process now of elevating, you know, our formulations. Or I want to say elevating, meaning we're going to increase. We're going to level up because we're going to add more to what we currently have. What's your favorite product? So it's funny because we're completely sold out of my one.

1:11:02That's one of my favorites, which is our hydrating cleanser. We've sold out of it multiple times. Let's get to the one they can buy. We've got to do some marketing for you. Let me tell you. I'm about to do it right now. I'm about to get to it. Okay, okay, okay. I bring it up because I'm so proud that we've sold out of multiple SKUs several times. And we currently have our 20 % serum, which is very special. So it's 20 % vitamin C serum. And the way that our vitamin C is formulated is it's what we call tricepropeptide complex. So it allows the vitamin C to release in micro doses throughout the day.

1:11:35So your skin doesn't get irritated when you use vitamin C. And the 20 % dosage is a very unique dose. It's very potent. And it's very rare you see that amount of vitamin C in a product. But that's also another unique component. But when I tell you, it's so good. Like your skin feels so, it feels hydrated. You feel like it's just a great primer as well. Helps to protect, correct, and prevent. And so we're really big on that. and you can get that now. That is on the site. Okay. And then we also have our brightening pads. So for like anybody that comments, I don't know, level up, we'll give away a bunch of your favorite products.

1:12:15And my team will buy them and take care of them. So go to YouTube. Let's go. Yeah. And we have our brightening pads and those are amazing. Actually, why don't you tell us, like tell us like your favorite beauty quote or something cute and we'll pick one. Favorite beauty quote? Yeah. And I'll have them do it. Yeah. and then I'll send it to you and you can pick this one you like. Oh my gosh, what a beauty quote. Yeah. What is a beauty quote? Like we don't have. Like you know what I think about? It's like Marilyn Monroe was like, she has so many good ones. She's like, if you don't love me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best.

1:12:45I love that. And then Pamela Anderson had one. I really, she's coming into it lately. I like her a lot. She has one that's like sex is a three-letter word but another way. Wait, what did she say? She's like, sexy is a three-letter word, but it hits as hard as a four-letter. And I was like, that's such a good one, too. Like, just being sexy. Okay. So what I say, actually, at my company, my label is called Beauty Marks Entertainment. And I say that all the scars you get from the obstacles you face in life are your beauty marks. Oh, that's hot. Oh, I did see that quote from you. Yeah. That's a good one.

1:13:18So, like, everything you've gone through, all the stuff that didn't feel so beautiful when you went through it, you know, all those things that felt ugly to you, they always amount to something so beautiful and so much greater than you could even imagine when you're going to them and so those things are what we call our beauty marks and even your stretch marks they're your beauty marks right oh i love that so yeah cierra this was amazing thank you so much i'm excited to try your product and give it away and thank you for being like such a generous soul i can't believe you like made me now i didn't i don't have anything for you but thanks for the gift now i owe you listen i am like starting to rock over here it's so good cheers thank you Thank you.

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