Ms. Pat: The American Dream Money Can't Buy

0:00Mick Hunt:Butcher Box makes dinner easy for me because I know I've always got great protein ready to go. Go to butcherbox.com slash Mick to get$20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, New York strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year with free shipping always. It was rough. I was in a place that I wasn't familiar with. I didn't know anything in my scripts. I didn't know nothing about table read. I came in straight as a comedian. I didn't know no language. I didn't know nothing. But one thing about me, I have street knowledge. So I use the same skills. To this day, I still use everything I learned from the street.

0:41Mick Hunt:Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today's guest is a true bucket list for me. You've seen her on TV. You've seen her in films. You've seen her blessing the comedy stage. You know that she is as real as real can be. But today, we're going to talk about the American dream with the Miss American Dream. We're talking to none other than the fabulous, the outrageous, the sincere, Miss Pat. Miss Pat, how are you doing today, dear? Just fine. Thank you. I'm just fine. I am honored. I'm trying to survive this crazy world. It gets crazier every day, too.

1:22Mick Hunt:Miss Pat, I've been a huge fan of you forever. and knowing pieces of your story, I feel like I've known you since birth. And we're going to talk about this new book in a moment, but I'm just one honor to have you on. But I wanted to personally thank you for being the human that you are. In a world where it's real easy to be fake and it's real easy to try to do what people want you to do, you've dug your heels and said you are authentically going to be you. And I just wanted you to know that I appreciate every doggone moment of you being you. Well, thank you. I don't know how to be nothing but me.

2:01And I tell people all the time, I didn't come to, I came to Hollywood to act, not become something that I'm not.

2:09Mick Hunt:That's it. That is the truth. Ms. Pat, I always ask my guests this first question around what is your because? Right? Like we all know the start with why and what's your why. And sometimes I think that's superficial. What really gets me is your because, your true motivation. Like if I were to say, what's your why? And then I say, but why? That sentence usually starts with, well, because. And I care about what you say there. So if I were to say, Ms. Pat, 2026, you've done a lot of amazing things in your life and in your career. What's your because? What's that purpose that keeps you doing and giving back and showing up the way that you show up?

2:52You know, I just want people to laugh. I want people to know that no matter what you've been through in life, you know, you can come through it. And you should be able to come through with a smile on your face. Now, you ain't always going to have a smile in the beginning. But in the end, I truly believe that we all can find a way to laugh at some of the ordeals that we've gone through in life. That's my because. I want everybody to laugh. I don't want anything that ever happened to anybody in life to just hold you down for the rest of your life. because I've seen it happen to so many people in my family and not in my family.

3:23So I think my because would be I want people to survive. Yeah, I love that.

3:29Mick Hunt:I love that. When did you know that that was, I'm going to call it, a gift? You have many gifts. When did you know that that was a gift that you had to make people laugh and to do it in your way, which has always been unique to you? Like, nobody can say that they're Miss Pat, right? How did you know that that was your gift? I think I didn't really see it as a gift. I thought I was just blunt, and I thought I was saying the things that other people were scared to say. So if you needed something to tell somebody off, I wouldn't mind telling the mouth with a smile on my face. So I think I just blended that with laughter.

4:08And people said, oh, you have a talent to make people laugh at even the darkest things in your life, in their life. And I think I just probably, you know, once that caseworker told me I was funny because I've been the same person forever. I just I never tapped into the Miss Pat part of the world. I was just Patricia.

4:29Mick Hunt:Yeah, I totally get that. I totally love that. And I have this segment on the show that I call the unplugged truth. So I'm going to give you a truth right now because I love giving people their flowers. I've heard you say when we talk about the American dream that was told to us, right? Like big house, white picket fence. Well, what happens when you get that? And then it's like, A, that's not enough. Or this was someone else's dream. My unplugged truth for you is that you continue to build dreams for others through the legacy that you have. And I'm so thankful that you've, A, shared your story with the world.

5:16Mick Hunt:You've shared it in your way with the world. And this book, and I'm holding it up, and I know you've got it behind you, Miss American Dream, making it no matter what. When did you realize that the time was now for that book to come out, this side of this story for you? Well, this is The Pickup from Rabbit, which was my first book. And, you know, people kept asking for another book. So I said, well, what am I going to write about? And then when I sat in and really thought about it, I said, why don't I tell them how hard I worked to get the American dream just to get there and realize there ain't no damn American dream?

5:58I'm a little black girl that grew up in the West End of Atlanta. You know, I watched a lot of white TV. Leave it to Beaver, you know. Lady Bunch. Lady Bunch. All of those things. And they had, it looked like white people were so, were just happy. And as a little black kid, we had good times. And we, I was sick of looking at black people eat oatmeal. So I wanted what they said was the white American dream. And it's not a such thing. The white American dream, I guess for me, would be dead because everything it told you to go get going to cost you some money. It was a white picket fence. It's a house.

6:36It's a car. It's a family. And I realized, you know, I realized I already had my American dream. I just hadn't tapped into it. And for me, my American dream is my family. You know, walking into that house, hearing my grandkids' voice and my husband's voice. And what I have, you can't buy. And it's called happiness. That's right. I know a lot of rich people that's miserable. I know a lot of poor people that's miserable. But when you get happiness in your life, there's no price tag on it. Yeah. Yeah.

7:09Mick Hunt:And so how would Ms. Pat define happiness for you? Like when you finally exhale, what is that? Taking my wigs off, letting my bra down, and walking in the house as Patricia, and nobody cares. I'm not judged in this house. It's just family. We're just happy, you know, and that's what it is for me. I'm 54 years old and I've had the pocketbooks. I've had the trips. I've had the calls. I've had everything that they say is supposed to make you happy. But the one thing I got for free is what makes me happy the most, which is my family. that's it and I I love when I see your family because you you have them with you and the things that you do and it is hysterical and it is also love like that's the one thing I would say about Miss Pat is that you genuinely love right yes and and most people again I these are the words of Mick and Mick only.

8:10Mick Hunt:Miss Pat is as real as they come. And the love that she shows is real. It's authentic. It's genuine. Like the bond that you have with your family and your circle is genuine. And I think most people miss that because they're always trying to please others. Right. And if I've learned anything from Miss Pat is this, at the end of the day, the only person you're guaranteed to spend the rest of your life with is you. So make that count. Make it count. So, you know, and I just, I chose happiness over the materialistic thing because they can come and go. Yeah. You know, but when you got somebody who really loves you and a family, they'll stick with you to the end.

8:52So, you know, I just, I said, fuck everything else. This is what I want to focus on. And it's my family, you know. Yeah.

9:02Mick Hunt:And so now you're in in Hollywood. You're doing that. Was that a vision that you ever had? No. I just want to make enough money to tell my husband to shed the hell off so he can stop trying to make me be a comedian. All this other stuff popped off and I'm like, oh, okay. Okay, well, this is where God wanted to take me. Never thought I would have a show, six season. I did tell people in the beginning, I said, I'm going to get me a sitcom. But I believe in speaking and putting it in the universe and God would give it back. And I always wanted to see comedy. I didn't know we was going to go six C's.

9:41I didn't know we was going to be nominated for four Emmys. I didn't know I was going to have a court show. And so many other things that's coming my way right now. I'm just, I'm grateful and I'm thankful. But, you know, no, I didn't envision Hollywood like this. I didn't envision Hollywood at all.

9:56Mick Hunt:I just wanted to be a comedian. Because I know Ms. Pat is going to tell me the truth on this Unplugged Truth. Talk to us about that first, I'm going to say interaction, but those first moments with you in Hollywood and, you know, doing the pilot for the show. Like most people don't understand, one, how hard it is to get to that point, the journey that it takes to get there. And then sometimes, I'm not saying this for you, but I know from a lot of my friends, it's not what is cracked up to be on that initial thing. because in your mind you think it's this really big thing. And I had a lot of friends say, Nick, it's nothing like I thought it was going to be like that whole moment.

10:36What was it like for you initially? It was rough because I was in a place that I wasn't familiar with. I didn't know anything about acting. I didn't know anything about scripts. I didn't know nothing about table read. So what I did was I got with my co-creator and I said, let's go to YouTube. At that time, YouTube was everybody's mom and daddy. You went to YouTube and YouTube taught you everything. And so one of the things I had a problem with was table read. And I had never had a table read. And I know you can get, I started to learn that you can get fired at the table read. So I was like, let's go up here and make us some fake table reads and give me about three, four reads so I can get into it.

11:15And by the time we got in front of the network, I killed it. So, you know, it was, I would say Hollywood was difficult to me because I'm a comedian first. And I didn't come in as an actress. I came in straight as a comedian. I didn't know no language. I didn't know nothing. But one thing about me, I have street knowledge. And throwing me into Hollywood was no different than throwing me on the block saying, sell this crack. You know, the Miss Pashaw was crack. I had to sell it. I had to make it. I had to act in it. And I had to convince you that it was the best thing out there. So I already had those skills.

11:50All I was only different was I was on a different platform. Yeah. So I use the same skills. To this day, I still use everything I learned from the street. Yeah.

12:01Mick Hunt:And here's what I will say, another unplugged truth, that makes Miss Pat different than others. And again, I like to say things from my viewpoint and my viewpoint only, so don't go yelling at Miss Pat. But there's a lot of people, I'm not even going to say comedians, there's a lot of people that they get their shot, but they don't nail it like Miss Pat does. And I think one of the reasons is what you said at the beginning. You are prepared. You are always prepared for moments. You're going to work harder than everybody else. You're going to do the work that other people aren't willing to do. The mentality that you have to keep going, to keep building it, to keep making it, I think it's what sets you apart.

12:44I think the first thing I would say is I never use the word famous. Most people are, oh, my God, you're famous. I say, no, no, baby, I have a job like you have a job. And I go to work like you go to work. So I never let that word fame get in my head. Because I think sometimes when fame gets in people's head, they feel like they're bigger than the whole program. And I think that's when things start to, you know, you start to talk to people wrong. You start to act a certain way. I go to work and I treat everybody on all of my sets the way I want to be treated. So I never use the word I'm famous.

13:18I use the word I go to work. And I never act like a star. And people are like, oh, my God, you're a star. No, I go to work. When I'm at TJ Maxx, I tell them, this ain't Miss Pat at TJ Maxx. This is Patricia.

13:36And I try to do as much as possible. I try not to lose control of my real life. I don't need nobody waiting on me hand and feet. Because in the end, this all might end one day and I don't lost the I don't lost the skills that I didn't use. So, you know, I still clean my house. I still go grocery shopping. I do have two assistants, but I try to also jump in and help. And I tell them, I said, this is just to keep me sharp. So I think is the thing is I never considered myself famous is why. And I'm very humble. I'm very humble. I'm never going to, I want to see everybody at the top.

14:15Mick Hunt:Yep. I love that. I love that. So I'm going to go to, I'm going to give you a hot tape, Ms. Pat. I'm going to keep bringing up this book. Everybody, I need you to go get it right now. Miss American Dream, a memoir of making it no matter what. In this book, you talk about everything, right? we talk about bad credit. We talk about the babies, the kids and all that. And here's what I learned about you that I didn't know, and I'm being honest and transparent. You talk about finances and like, I took some lessons. I wrote notes in that section of the book. So my hot take is this, like not that Ms. Pat should ever be a financial advisor, but my hot take To everybody that's listening, if you're watching, one, you need the book because you're going to understand family.

15:14Mick Hunt:You're going to understand some spiritual basis of Ms. Pat, too. But doggone it, she understands finances and financial literacy almost better than anybody I know. Listen, I love a great meal. What I don't love is getting to the end of a long day and realizing I still have to figure out what's for dinner. That's where ButcherBox has been a win for me. I like knowing I can open the freezer, grab a great steak or some chicken, and already have the hardest part of dinner handled. It keeps me from making that last-minute takeout decision when I really want something good at home. ButcherBox delivers 100 % grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more, all sourced to standards they can actually tell you about.

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17:15Mick Hunt:Join the millions already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to Chime.com slash Mick. That is chime.com slash mick. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. Well, I learned over the years. You know, I learned, you know, I made those mistakes. Those buy here pay a lot. I made those mistakes when you walk into a place and they say, well, I can make your car no$200 a month, but they don't tell you your interest rate is 20%.

17:55Actually, I'm dealing with my brother with the same thing today. And I just want people to be aware. And I know times are hard. And I know people are like, well, Ms. Pat, I ain't got your pocket. I got to do what I got to do. What I try to say to people is try to borrow the money before you go to one of those places. You know, those places will forever have you in debt, and you will find yourself never getting out of debt. So you got to pay attention to your credit score, which I wasn't taught that. You got to pay attention to, you know, inches rates and you got to you got to be smarter with your money.

18:28I would just I had a tenant move in my house and I asked. I said, well, why don't you go ask those people what your card note is? She said, oh, my card is only three hundred. I said, no, not the card note. Ask them what your interest rate. She said her interest rate was twenty eight percent. I said, do you know if you took your taxes and if you paid that bill off, you would no longer be giving them people all the money that they're going to make off you. And I said, I know you don't want to give up all your taxes. I said, but guess what? You just freed up a few hundred dollars of your money for the whole year, and you don't have to pay interest on it.

18:58And that's the mentality that I had to get to, and I had to learn on my own. And that's the stuff I'm always trying to tell. When my financial advisor tell me something, I go back and tell the people that ain't even got the money that I got. I be like, let me tell you what they're over here doing. And this is free. I said, let me tell you. I don't care if you don't do nothing but put$10 in an IRA a month. Put something away because when the market is up and down, then you at least be making some type of money or have some type of money when you get older. I know$10 is a lot. I said, but we all expect to get old and save for our future.

19:34And that's the thing that they do not tell us in the black community. They don't. I had to go out. I teach my kids now. You know, I was never taught. I said, hey, credit is something serious. When I come when I was coming up, it wasn't. So instead of going and putting my bills in my kids' name like it was done to us, I went out and I got my kids an American Express card. And I know everybody can't do that. I don't care if it's a visa. I don't care what it is. Teach your child about credit. Teach your child about saving their money. Teach them that every dime they get don't have to be spent. And that's the things I try to teach people around me.

20:10And anything that I learn, I tell it to my friends whether they can afford it or not. Yep.

20:17Mick Hunt:A thousand percent. And that's why I love you so much, because it's those lessons. And you talk about talking to people. I had the same conversation a couple of weeks ago because when your team blessed me to send the book over and I got to that portion of the book, I happened to be in Atlanta because one of my studios is down there. And I had a friend with me. I was like, we're going to ride around. I want you to see. And we were in West Atlanta. That's where I grew up at. I know. I know. And I said, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go, I'm going to show you this liquor store. And next to this liquor store is going to be a Western Union or a cash loan, money loan type place.

21:00Mick Hunt:And then you're going to see a buy here, pay here car line. Yes. True enough. You know this. West Atlanta, like in the suburbs, every corner has a McDonald's. In West Atlanta, every corner has a liquor store, a Western Union or a cash spot, and a buy-here-pay-here car lot. I said, here's the thing that most people are missing, and you just said this too. You go spend$10 ,000 for a car, but you're going to end up paying those people like$18 ,000. Yes, yes. And most people don't understand that. And I was like, we need more of Miss Pat or Patricia. I actually want Patricia to have these financial literacy moments for our people and start younger because, you know, people get older people like us get stuck in our ways.

21:47Mick Hunt:And we spend all our time trying to beat some new information in our heads. I gave up on that a long time ago. I talk to children now and it's like, hey, you're going to get those moments where you're going to think about right now money in your pocket right now. And you're never going to build the wealth that you could. Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, that's just that's the things I want to share with the community, the things that I learned the hard way, you know, and with my family and my friends. I tell them all the time, you know, I learned a lot from living in Plainfield, just how to how to have more by spending less.

22:20The way is all is all in the way you shop. When I used to be a big couponer, my husband thought I was damn crazy. And then I realized you can go get high end things at TJ Maxx and other places. You just, you know, anything I learn, I try to bring back to my friends and family.