AUP. Ep. 25 Shalita Grant: Making Good in Hollywood
AUP EP#25 TRANSCRIPT
Transcribed: Cameron Blackwell
Completed: 11/1/21
Cortney Wills: [00:00:04] Hello and welcome to Acting Up the podcast that dives deep into the world of TV and film that highlights our people, our culture, and our stories. I’m your host, Cortney Wills, Entertainment Director at theGrio, and this week we’re speaking to Shalita Grant. So it’s almost Halloween, and to be honest, I haven’t been terribly impressed with many of the new horror offerings this year, but one show that fits into the Halloween theme that I have been devouring is Netflix’s hit series YOU. The third season of the show that stars Penn Badgley is so good it is my favorite one by far, and it features an incredible actress named Shalita Gran in a role that we have never really seen a Black woman play in the show. She plays Sherry, who is this mom-fluence, her super successful kind of queen bee of the town. She’s a mean girl, for sure. At least at first, that’s what we think. And she really stirs things up on this show that is about a stalker turned murderer and his murdery wife and their new baby. It’s a lot. If you haven’t seen YOU, you should definitely check it out. And if you haven’t seen any of YOU, I think season three is worth the investment. Shalita has taken this role and really run with it like it’s not a main character, but she’s definitely elevated the role to be the one that everyone is talking about. I mean, critics far and wide are praising her performance and for good reason. Shalita Grant is killing the game in Hollywood, and she’s doing it on her own terms. Hey Shalita! Aside from this third season of you, Shalita also spent four years on NCIS, and she is a Tony nominated actress. She’s also developed her own line of hair care products inspired by the havoc wreaked on her own hair on sets. We’ll talk to Shalita about this fantastic role in you and how she’s cultivated a career despite some pretty difficult circumstances, certainly a challenging childhood and a ton of perseverance and independence. Wow. So I’m so excited to be speaking with you today. You’re making such a splash this season, my goodness. [00:02:33][148.8]
Shalita Grant: [00:02:34] I love that. I love it. I am like loving all of the feelings people like to spill on Twitter. I am loving all these write ups like Sherry Conrad is a movement. OK, like, I love it. I felt it when I was doing it. I love that people are picking up on these little gifts that I left in the scenes. So, yes. [00:02:59][25.5]
Cortney Wills: [00:03:01] They really are. People are really reacting to and it’d be such a showstopper. [00:03:07][5.9]
Shalita Grant: [00:03:08] Yes, so, no. I honestly like when I got the sides for the audition, I thought I was going to die. So I was like, OK, I can take this character. Like, not like, too seriously because she got back. And then I have the conversation with the showrunner and she was like, No, actually, you’re going to be the first cage couple, but you’re going to live. So I very quickly like changed my focus from the fun, campy, you know, that I was thinking to like, why does this woman survive? And so I had to like, put on my like acting cap but still stay naughty because I love to play. I love playing so much. So when I think about scenes and things, I’m thinking about how I can elevate things right? Like, what is the point of this scene and how can I help them reach it? [00:04:08][60.2]
Cortney Wills: [00:04:09] I feel and I mean, you know, what do I know? But I do kind of feel like the impact that this character is having on the show has a lot more to do with you than how she’s written. Like, I think that people are just like, Oh my God, who is this? I’m obsessed with her. I hate her. I love her. I mean, sure, it’s kind of a B-word, right? [00:04:31][21.8]
Shalita Grant: [00:04:31] I kinda know she’s a total bitch. But the thing that I love is that you’re really mad at her for being the best bitch there is. Like she is so successful. And you know, I I love that you said that. Thank you so much. But you know, for me, I’m just like, I love the audience so much, you know, and I’m just thinking about like as an audience member because I was a fan of the show before. Like as an audience member, what do I love about this show and how can I bring whatever I got going on to, like, give people those feelings, you know, so that for me is the gift. And that’s why I loved, you know, like I said earlier, like all these little Easter eggs I left in those scenes, like the little shit that I was up to like I know these women so well because they’ve shat on me so much so to be able to like play it and like, really like put a mirror like it’s my favorite thing, but with love, you know, like because at the end of the day, Sherry’s first impression isn’t who she is, and I love that I get to make people like they love to hate her. But then they begin to like, love her at the end, and that’s my favorite thing. Yes. [00:05:54][82.6]
Cortney Wills: [00:05:54] And it’s also, I think, really reflective of social media personalities. I mean, Sherry is a mom- fluence her. She’s like, very popular on Instagram. And so often people believe that what they see in those little squares are really representative of who someone is and what their life is like. And of course, that’s not the case. So to see you portray this character who’s in a position like that and kind of subtly peel back those layers and I think make a bigger point of appearances aren’t always accurate, I thought was just really poignant. [00:06:29][35.3]
Shalita Grant: [00:06:30] Yeah, it’s so true. Like, I think for me, it’s it’s kind of the greatest disappointment for me as a person is that I don’t look like what I’ve been through. So like, people assume so many things and they have my entire life, right? So I had like teen parents like my mom, went to jail when I was five. That’s how come I moved to Virginia from Baltimore. Like, I’m the oldest of nine kids. Like, I didn’t grow up with money. I grew up there was my mom’s side of the family that was like Nation of Islam. And then, you know, my grandma converted to Christianity. Like, there’s so much life that I’ve lived because of where I come from. But like, I would go to these different schools and people would just project a history on me because I never stayed anywhere long enough to, like, really establish relationships and stuff. I went to six different elementary schools, so very young I was used to being put in different situations and having to like, figure out even the education like differences from school to school, elementary school to elementary school, like within 20 miles like, it could be really dramatically different. And the kids too can be like wildly different. So I’ve always been used to people like assuming like like that. I’m like mixed that I grew up, you know, whatever I came out of the womb without an accent, right? Like without a Baltimore accent, without like a country accent like my family members have. And they’re like a couple of kids that just like within my family that like, came out like that. Like, that’s just how we talk. So for my whole life, it’s always been like, you know, people projecting something on me and then treating me a certain way based on their own history with whatever they’re projecting. So for me with Sherry. Yeah. Like, I love how multilayered she is because I know what it’s like to have, like so many layers. But for Sherry, she doesn’t live as authentically as I live. Like I’m Buck Wild in my life because I agreed a long time ago that what people project on to me is about them and I will not fit into whatever. And that’s not my fault, you know? So I just live like Buck Wild, like today we’re doing this tomorrow. We’re doing like within hours, like I’m renovating a twenty six hundred square foot house here in Houston with my girlfriend, Jessica Aguilar. So like yesterday, I’m in like a T-shirt. I’m launching my e-commerce business. So like yesterday, I had to do freight delivery. So I’m working the the pallet jack and like bringing the stuff out like baby girl has layers and within a day I show up for whatever it is I got going on and it can be different by the hour. So for Sherry, though, she doesn’t live that authentically. She’s obsessed with success and for success for women is a narrow field. And so that’s what she shows when she first meets you. But then when she’s put in a glass cage, there are so many layers, so you can only imagine what she’s like at home with, you know, Mr. Conrad and the kids, you know, to the point that you were making about that, the snippets of life that these influencers, they know what’s sellable. So they give you that. But there’s a lot going on. [00:10:14][223.3]
Cortney Wills: [00:10:14] Yeah, absolutely. What what are some of the assumptions that you feel like people have made? It about you at first glance, like you said that they think that you’re mixed like because your skin color? [00:10:28][13.9]
Shalita Grant: [00:10:29] Yeah, because I’m light-skinned, but like my brothers and I like your, I’m assuming that you identify as a Black person. So, you know, like within our families, like, it’s shameful. Like it’s just like full of different shades and. And so it is what it is. But yeah, people assume that I come from money like my second high school in Baltimore. There was like a rumor. Like after I was there, like, oh, she she bought her way into the school, you know? But they had no idea that like me and my dad, you know, he just like, shows up. My dad was shot in his face when he was like 20 something. So he is like, you know, one eye is a little lazy. You know, he’d stop school when he was 12. Like, I I don’t look like like the girl that comes from that background based on what the media like tells us about poverty that only looks one way, no, like people make a lot of decisions and they’re poor because of the decisions that they make. And it can be a wide ranging of like how you look, whatever generational poverty like. There are so many things that that contribute to that class, and not everyone is stupid. Not everyone is on drugs. But for my family, that was a lot of the issues within my family. But you know, the things that we project on to poor people, we say that’s the cause of why you’re poor. When rich people have the same thing, there are a lot of dumb ass rich people. There are a lot of crackhead millionaires like, you know, like it’s it’s not really the cause. So again, like, those are a lot of the things that people project on to me. [00:12:16][107.5]
Cortney Wills: [00:12:17] Do you think that moving around so much as a kid kind of fostered this knack for acting? Because I’d imagine every time you’re in a new place, you could be a new version of you? [00:12:28][10.5]
Shalita Grant: [00:12:29] I think that for me, what was like the the the how you draw the line to the acting is that as an actress, the kind of actress I am, I’m interested in the story. I’m interested in the why, right? And I grew up most of my family members were children when I was young, so they spilled a lot of details of their lives that kids shouldn’t know. But I was like, put in two and three together, make it up five, and I’m like, Oh, that’s a lot of going like that. Like my doll games, like I was obsessed with playing with dolls. And it was like to act out these crazy stories, you know, just wild life that people were living around me, you know, like, well, I’m not going to tell that story. It’s crazy. [00:13:20][51.2]
Cortney Wills: [00:13:23] Tell it, spill it. [00:13:23][0.0]
Shalita Grant: [00:13:25] No. So OK. I grew up in the hair salon. My grandma has owned a hair salon since before I was born. So you can imagine, you know, when women are being touched, that boundary goes down and you talk about a lot of like intimate stuff in your life and at like four five six seven eight. I was a sponge. Like I was just so like curious, like, you know, my family members are so different, and I’m always curious about why that is and how we’re different from other people that we even attract, like the people that would come into the hair salon. We were next to an army base. It’s hair dreams too in petersburg, I’ll give her a shout out– on Washington Boulevard and it’s right next to Fort Lee. And we would get a lot of soldiers and I would hear all these stories. But, you know, women talked about reproductive health. So I learned that an abortion was like the death of a child. But I didn’t know like the process. Like, you don’t get those details, right? So my brother and my sister, I, my sister and I, my mom had this this drawer full of condoms. And so it was like, full of condoms. And so when she was at home, a lot. So, you know, we’re a kid, so we would fill them up with water and they were like slippery, like baloons. So you would play water balloon fights with lubricated condoms with, like all of you have this grease on you and shit. So. And so what I learned about abortions, I would play the abortion game with my sister and we would fill a condom full of water and we would tie it off and I would cover it with a face towel and we would like walk around the apartment or wherever we were and like, introduce our babies. And then right before we knew my mom was coming home, I’d be like, OK, time to get an abortion and we would go to the kitchen. I would stab the condom baloon. But it was like kids, like kids. But that’s that’s not how my brain works like that. That’s my history. Like, I just knew a lot of stuff, but I couldn’t put it together. And so my childlike brain would like create the story of like how it happened and what it meant. Yeah. So, yeah, like, you wouldn’t know that that was like a common toy for me and my siblings. [00:15:45][139.5]
Cortney Wills: [00:15:47] Y our eight siblings. Lord have mercy. [00:15:49][2.0]
Shalita Grant: [00:15:50] Yeah. So between my two parents, I’m the only child. OK, so they all procreate with other people or, like, you know, took on other people’s kids. And so I was they were raised like, so all half step and adopted. [00:16:04][14.4]
Cortney Wills: [00:16:05] But we don’t say that. We don’t say that, right? [00:16:06][1.8]
Shalita Grant: [00:16:07] Exactly, exactly. Everybody’s like family. [00:16:09][2.3]
Cortney Wills: [00:16:09] Yeah. So and you’re from Baltimore originally, is that right? [00:16:12][2.6]
Shalita Grant: [00:16:12] I was born in Baltimore, and then I was raised in Virginia from like five to 15. And then I moved back to Baltimore and in like switch high schools, and I was there for two years and then I moved to New York. [00:16:27][14.2]
Cortney Wills: [00:16:27] Wow. And you went to Juilliard? [00:16:28][1.4]
Shalita Grant: [00:16:30] Yeah, that’s why I moved to New York. [00:16:31][1.5]
Cortney Wills: [00:16:33] I love talking to Black people that went to Juilliard because I just think it’s so interesting, Juilliard and Tisch. I just feel like every time I’m speaking to an artist who went to one of those schools, it’s just not going to see better. I’m going to say just a different kind of way that you all seem to navigate your careers. It’s yeah, I know. Yeah. So talk to me about like, how you even got to Juilliard. Like, how did you know that was a thing? How did you want? Know you wanted to go there? And what was your experience like there? [00:17:05][32.3]
Shalita Grant: [00:17:06] So in Baltimore, when I was at Baltimore School for the Arts, my senior year, my acting teacher was like, I pulled me aside after class and he was like, Do you want to go to college? And I was like, I mean, yeah, like, I thought, maybe I’ll go into nursing or something like that. And he was like, No, I think that you should audition to Juilliard. And I was like, What’s that? And I knew the name from Save the Last Dance, [00:17:31][25.3]
Cortney Wills: [00:17:33] Don’t we all? [00:17:33][0.1]
Shalita Grant: [00:17:35] But I didn’t like I didn’t do any research on the Juilliard School, like I was just like part of a movie. And so he was like, It’s a good school, you should audition. So I auditioned there and I auditioned to University of the Arts in Pennsylvania, and I auditioned to like University of Minnesota, and I got into all three of those schools. But for me, it was about the money like, you know, I can’t go to school because I can’t afford it. Like, I know I can’t ask anybody in my family to give me some money to go to school. So I got into Juilliard and they gave me a full scholarship based on my FAFSA and that talent, whatever. And so I was like, Well, OK, I guess I’ll go to this Juilliard School because it gave me the most money. And then I got there. And during orientation week, there is like a history of Juilliard class that they would have a stake. And so we sat in this class, and that’s when I realized that I got into like the best school for what I wanted to do. So ignorance is often bliss for me. That was how I was able to, like fearlessly like be myself, get the assignment of the audition and doing my best and like demonstrating what I can do. And then like forgetting the rest because at the end of the day, I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to go to these schools because I didn’t know if I’d be able to afford it. [00:18:58][83.6]
Cortney Wills: [00:18:59] When you were there, did it hit you? Did you feel as equipped as maybe some of the other people who had Juilliard on their vision board since they were four? [00:19:07][8.7]
Shalita Grant: [00:19:09] Yeah, because, you know, I have to say Baltimore School for the Arts really prepared me for that level of study. You know, my first high school that I went to was a governor’s school in Virginia, and I thought it was terrible, like I was so disappointed with, you know, the what I was learning and like the frequency of being able to perform. Like I was like, if you’re going to a performing arts school, why aren’t we performing? Like, why is it that only the upperclassmen get to perform? And I was I had so much going on in my life for 15 14. I was just like, Fuck it, I’m tired of this shit. Like, I’ve been working so hard, you know, for so long, like trying to be a good girl. And at that age, that’s when I rebelled and I started signing myself out of school and hanging out with drug dealers. And just like that was the the cycle that I was choosing because I was just tired of being good for no reason. Like there was no like reward, no change in my life and no change in my energy for what I was doing. So I was like, Fuck this shit. And then my mom was like, You need to move to Baltimore to live with your your dad’s family. And so I moved to Baltimore and I told you my dad stopped school in like in the sixth grade, he was 12. So when I got there, he just assumed that I didn’t want to go to school. So I was like walking the other kids to elementary school, cooking like I had, like my schedule of daytime TV shows. And I look up after a month. I’m like, Actually, why am I taking them to school? Like, I need to go to school. So we went to Baltimore School for the Arts and asked for an audition. And it was something that I chose, you know, like, that’s when I chose it, because I knew that like the acting stuff I got into one school, there’s no reason I couldn’t get into another. And then while I was there, I was. The training was so good and I was such a sponge for like learning and and these techniques, they were so interesting to me and doing monologues and learning different character stories in the way that people’s lives are and brains work. I was hungry for that. Those kinds of just a different life than I had than my family members had, like, that’s what I wanted. So when I got to Juilliard, my first year of Juilliard was actually easier than I feel like a lot of, a lot of my classmates had it, and I think it was a focus thing too. Like I, by the time I got to Juilliard, I had done so much on my own and and so much like relationship building with myself and just getting like super clear and very mature about like where I was going because I knew what my life could look like if I dipped off. So I I just had this idea of like the audience of one like all I have to do is please, like the inner God and me and like, I’m good, you know, like. And a lot of my classmates wanted to be good to the teachers. And that’s kind of like the back fire, right? Like when you’re looking for validation and putting someone else on a pedestal like you end up not getting what you want, but for the people that are doing it because they got the heart for it and they don’t really they’re not, they’re less concerned with, you know, an individual like, if someone likes me, it was like, did I nail the technique? Like, I don’t give a fuck about what you think about me as a person, because you know what? I’ve seen so many dickhead adults at this point that I know you probably got shit wit you too. So you’re a human, just like I’m a human, but you have something that I want, which is the knowledge and the techniques and the skills. And so that’s all I care about, because at the end of the day, you’re not going to pay my bills when I leave here, OK? And I had that attitude at 17 and 18, and it was as a result of the hard life that I had early on. My confidence was hard earned. It wasn’t because I was given everything that I’m like, I can do it. It’s the opposite. [00:23:23][254.6]
Cortney Wills: [00:23:24] I’m wondering, like, what does your family think about this success that you’re having? I mean, and by the way, everyone listening like YOU might be the way that you learned about Shalita, but she is not new to this. She’s Tony Award nominated. What did what were you nominated for a tony for? [00:23:40][16.0]
Shalita Grant: [00:23:41] For a comedy for Bonnie and Sonia and Masha and Spike. [00:23:45][3.4]
Cortney Wills: [00:23:46] Oh my gosh. Right. So you have conquered the theater world. You were kick ass in Search Party last year on HBO. Everyone loved that performance. It was so funny. And then we see you in this, like you said, like very layered dynamic, I think probably bigger than the writers intended role on YOU. So I wonder, what does your family, how are they reacting to all of this? [00:24:10][23.8]
Shalita Grant: [00:24:11] I mean, I I’m one of those people that don’t have a close relationship with my family, and I think that that’s OK. I I hope that we can start normalizing that choice because not everyone doesn’t come from the same relationships, right? And a lot of us have made the choice that what’s best for us is best for us. And that was a choice that I made. That being said, there are like my younger brother on my dad’s side. I still keep in touch with him and we have like a really good, respectful relationship. And you know, of course, everyone’s super proud of me. You know, like even the ones that you know, I have problems with, you know, at the end of the day, like, I made good, you know what I mean, like? And I never had like had to screw anybody over or I didn’t rely on anyone to do it. So like at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do but to respect it. But I respect if you don’t. But. Yeah, I think that doing these kinds of roles like Search Party, for, Search Party and for YOU like the response that the audiences have, you know, that’s that’s super powerful, that they always want to see more of me. So I like prize that. And yeah, the next roles after this are not about like being everywhere because those aren’t my values. And I think the response that I got from Search Party and I’m getting from YOU. I’m super happy with because they were within my values. These are shows that I either watched before I got the audition or after the audition, like binged and was like, I want to be a part of this. And it’s a it’s a good result of like when I love something, I love it, you know, and and people love to see me do it. [00:26:17][126.0]
Cortney Wills: [00:26:18] We do. We really do. Do you have a desire to be? I think there’s a difference between character actors. Really, really great ones, really popular ones, really successful ones and celebrities. And I wonder if celebrity is part of your vision board or not? [00:26:38][20.7]
Shalita Grant: [00:26:39] No, it’s not. I mean, that speaks to what I just said. Like, you know, I just had a conversation with my manager and agent where I was like, Listen, I know that these people are calling, but that’s not my vibe, and I don’t want to be one of those like, I’m an audience member yo, like I watch stuff. So I got judgments and feelings, too. And I want to stay within my values. And there are so many, like super talented actors that like popped on something, and they created a character that I absolutely love. And then they do a run of shows where they’re these two d like walk on like, and I’m like, Wow, this person is so full of talent. I wish that there was character development here because I want to see what more they could do with this, that I don’t like to see it. And I know what it’s like to be on those sets. Where your creative team is is tamping you down. That’s not my vibe. So if that means that I do two projects in a year over seven, I’m totally fine with that. I’m so busy like trying to change Black women’s lives with the Four Naturals treatment and flipping houses with my girlfriend. My life is full, so I want to spend time doing jobs that I would just I love and are going to bring me love and I’ll be happy to promote. And, you know, that’s it for me. [00:28:05][85.6]
Cortney Wills: [00:28:06] What you said earlier about your family and, you know, being one of those people who has chosen, I think, probably to preserve your own mental health and, you know, boundaries and put yourself first. Sometimes that does come with, you know, putting off toxic relationships or things that do not serve you. And that takes a lot of guts, and I am starting to see that be normalized more. And I hope that it will be. But it sounds like you kind of went in to your career knowing what your boundaries were. And from my research, it sounds like that was kind of the impetus behind this Four Naturals hair care like they were jacking up your shit on sets and you were not having it. [00:28:43][37.7]
Shalita Grant: [00:28:44] Yeah. So so yeah, I’ll pick up from jacking up my shit and give the president my I’m going to show you so the fact that I can, like, wear this hairstyle and it’s like legit, all my hair, right? And that was another thing for for YOU on Netflix. Like people assume that I had like some kind of like so when or there’s no way? Yes, baby, that’s my shit. OK. There were whole scenes where it was just my hair. We did like some clippings here and there. We added a ponytail piece like, you know, fun. But I wasn’t relying on extra hair to create the look of Sherry. Yeah, right? But that’s gross. In more ways than one. But in twenty seventeen, I started documenting my hair loss on the show. The first, the first full season in season two. I got a bald spot in the center of my head, traction alopecia from the show ins and getting in water, chlorinated water and the production team. Having this, like set it and forget it attitude because it was like a sew and so they were like, You don’t need maintenance. Like, I would ask you to get like fresh braids, like a fresh set because you need to switch it out and they weren’t having it. And I think theGrio wrote up the hair situation on NCIS, like those photos are out there. I mean, I did whole whole episodes like that. And. Cause, you know, we started season four in August, like I showed you my June photos. So when I got back to work, I was like, Not only am I getting off this job, I’m not letting them touch my hair and I don’t really care what I look like at the end of the day. Like, I need to get off the show so that I can repair my hair. So in 2019, nineteen, I decided like, Hey, I come from a hair salon. I know what licensed cosmetologist know, and I know why they make the choices that they make, and it’s because of a lack of knowledge. The cosmetology board teaches hair is hair. So and then they pass out mannequins with type one hair. They they test on mannequins with type one hair, even the one service that is arguably for type for or textured hair types. They demonstrate that on a mannequin with type one hair, that is the definition of erasure. So your license cosmetologist can go through their entire schooling without ever touching textured hair and, you know, detangling all of that that’s learned on the fly that’s not taught. But there is a science that does teach about actual hair, and that’s cosmetic chemistry, and you go through that when you create products. So I got to researching because I’m super curious and I just decided to lean into that because I believed that I could solve my own problems, right? Like I, I’d solve so many of my problems from my past. Surely I can solve this problem with a little love attention, and I did. I did a bunch of like researching cosmetic chemistry and then all of these successful non white hair cultures like India and Ethiopia and Eritrea, and learned what natural ingredients they were using and creating. What we now know is the Four Naturals treatment, which is patent pending. It includes the detangling method as well as the henna mud mask treatment and dermatological tested. So initially it was going to go into hair salons because I wanted to fill that gap like change the culture because I saw what one treatment could do for type four hair. But like three treatments like totally changed my life, like we are getting permanent curl definition. Like, I was tired of having to manipulate my hair to see a curl pattern. I was like, I want to just see my curl pattern. But that means that the porosity of my hair has to be balanced. That means that my cortex has to be like properly sealed so that my strands can do the pattern that they normally do, that that they naturally want to do. And I need something that coats my hair strands and protects it, but can also stick to the hair strand. We all sit with conditioner on our hair, hoping, wishing that it stays on, and it’ll create some film around it, but it doesn’t have the cationic charge to do that. So scientifically, it’s never going to do what we want it to do, no matter how much we hope, no matter how long we leave it on. But my Cassia conditioner does have the cationic charge because of Cassiopeia Vada, which is another plant. So what I discovered was that our hair needs plants. Shampoo and conditioner is great for people with type one hair, but for the rest of us, two to four, we actually need something else. And we’re hoping that these other products are going to give us what we need, but they can’t. But nature can. So the henna mud mask and the Cassia deep conditioner. It contains plant based ingredients, the ones we’ve been looking for, and I have the time and the resources to package it and make sure that you have it. And that’s within my values because I started using those and it changed my hair and it’s changed other women’s hair Black Mexican white. They all all these women in my life use my deep conditioner and have experience like thicker, stronger hair. It’s incredible and this is my gift. This is what I feel I was made to do because of the experiences I’ve had. [00:34:41][357.1]
Cortney Wills: [00:34:42] Absolutely. You are the best. I am so excited that I got to speak to you today. I feel like there’s so much more to know about you, and I cannot wait to see what is coming next. [00:34:52][10.0]
Shalita Grant: [00:34:53] Yay. Thank you so much, Cortney. [00:34:54][1.4]
Cortney Wills: [00:34:58] Thank you for listening to Acting Up. If you like what you heard, please give us a five star review and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to your podcast and share it with everyone you know. Please email all questions, comments and suggestions to podcasts@theGrio.com. Acting Up is brought to you by theGrio and executive produced by Cortney Wills and produced by Cameron Blackwell. For more with me and Acting Up, check us out on Instagram @ActingUp.pod. [00:34:58][0.0]
[2052.3]
