In Search Of Excellence - Where is Lele Pons Now? | Podcast Interview With The Venezuelan Social Media Superstar | E109

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

My guest today is incredible, Lele Pons. Lele is an actress, writer, producer, director, singer, model, brand ambassador, and is one of the most important content creators of all time. She has 54 million followers on Instagram, 39.1 million followers on TikTok, and as 18 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. She stars in "The Secret Life of Lele Pons" – a YouTube Documentary series that provides a look at our personal life, – and is the host of the podcast "Best Kept Secrets with Lele Pons" on Spotify.00:00 Introduction and Early Influences  03:35 Getting Kidnapped as a Child05:17 Health Challenges, Diagnosis, and Anxiety 07:49 OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)12:50 Exploring Tourette Syndrome16:05 Dealing with ADHD and Executive Functioning19:45 Bullying, School Experiences, and Coping Mechanisms34:40 The Start of Vine44:45 Being Original and the Source of Creativity48:50 Body Image and Content Editing57:39 Lele's FatherSponsors:Sandee | Bliss: BeachesWant to Connect? Reach out to us online!Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

When that came out, I was in shock. Billion Loops is views. I was the most viewed person in the world on Vine. Most important lesson, why don't you just try to prove the people that believe in you right, and that's it. I started at 16, and then at 18, I got known. So I posted videos every single day, not for anything, because I liked it.

Welcome to In Search of Excellence, where we meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, entertainers, athletes, motivational speakers, and trailblazers of excellence with incredible stories from all walks of life. My name is Randall Kaplan. I'm a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and the host of In Search of Excellence, which I started to motivate and inspire us to achieve excellence in our lives. My guest today is the incredible Lele Pons. Lele is an actress, writer, producer, director, single model, brand ambassador, and is one of the most important content creators of all time. She has 54 million followers on Instagram, 39.1 million followers on TikTok, and has 18 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. She currently

stars in The Secret Life of Lele Pons, a YouTube docuseries that provides a look at her personal life and is a host of the podcast Best Kept Secrets with Lele Pons on Spotify. Lele, thanks for being here. Welcome to In Search of Excellence. How are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Good, good. I mean, you're amazing. So it's like, you know, a long way to be like you. Oh, that's, I'm grateful to say that. That's so nice of you to say. So let's start with your family. You were born in Venezuela. Your dad was an architect. Your mom was a pediatrician. Yeah. Let's talk about the influence they had on you as a child.

I think that as, you know, sometimes like it it's they were always like such amazing parents but not just them just also my grandparents my whole family is very very together and they have like they've always been super supportive in everything even the things they don't understand you know so since I was a little girl I was I was only child and what does that mean you're spoiled you know it's you know so I am I was I had a really good childhood thanks to them. So the way that I am, I am the way that I am today because of them. And did you see your parents working hard?

They were both professionals. Did you say one day I need to be a professional? I mean, those are. I don't know. Like an architect, a doctor, a viner. Like what is that? That's not a thing. It wasn't a thing. So I didn't know what I wanted to be. No, a doctor, a viner. Like, what is that? That wasn't a thing.

So I didn't know what I wanted to be. No, I had no idea yet. Did they tell you, I just wanted to be your best? I wanted to be happy in what you were doing? Yes, I wanted to be happy. That's the type of parents that they were like, I just want you to be happy. Like, literally, my dad was like, if you want to, it doesn't matter what you want to do as long as, like, you're happy with it. Let's talk about your grandparents in Venezuela.

They had a lot of money. They's talk about your grandparents in Venezuela. They had a lot of money. They didn't. They were very poor. So at some point, someone owned tractors. Yes. So they were like... My grandparents, my grandma and my grandfather were in Italy, and they were in a small town. They were like, they had nothing.

Like very, very, very poor. And my grandfather got the first, this is Toby, got the first boat to Venezuela, just to see how to get jobs to work. It took them a while, but he brought tractors to this town in Venezuela, Carturén. He started it all. He built a business over a year and years and years. And then yes, he definitely gained popularity there and money. But it came from a very, like, he was, I mean, it wasn't like my whole family before that.

Never, it was never. I think he started it. Thanks to him, our family changed. Sometimes bad things happen when people have money. You were kidnapped when you were five years old. Oh, yeah. Can you tell us about that? That's crazy when you think about it.

I know, it's really, I don't remember. I wish my mom was here because obviously I was a child. But yeah, no, you know, sometimes like they wanted, you know, if you kidnap, they were like, okay, well, let's set her free if you give us the money. So luckily everything turned out good. And we left to the States. And I was very young. I was six when that happened. When that happened, so it was like, it was in that moment that,

thank God it happened at that moment because it's like, I'm learning everything in that moment. You know, like learning how to speak, going to school. So it was hard because I was very confused with what was going on. You know when you're little and you're like, you don't understand what happened, why we're here, how long we're gonna stay.

They just tell you we're gonna be here for a little. They tell you things to calm you down, but then it takes a turn on you when you start seeing, you don't see your friends anymore, your grandma, because they live over there, you miss them, so. Did your mom ever tell you what exactly happened? Did they snatch you off the street, throw you in a car?

No, she didn't. Did she do anything like that? No, she doesn't go into details. My mom is very very, very like attached to her past. My mom is very sad. Like every single time she talks about Venezuela, she's very sad because she really loved Venezuela because she knew she was born there. She lived most of her life there. I wish I would have been able to live more there in Venezuela. I mean, I didn't make the decision to move but I'm sadly I moved

but I am super grateful because I have the life that I have today and because I moved here it's the truth I mean I think that um everything happens for a reason so you moved here you had to learn the language and at some point you started to develop some medical problems. Yeah, Jesus, okay, so I moved, I moved, and then I moved here. And then all of a sudden my parents got divorced at age seven. We'll talk about the reasons in a little while, but they- Yeah, so this is happening all over the place. So this is, I move, year after my parents get divorced. Two years after I get diagnosed with many things um you know you start seeing it at a young age so

my parents were like what's going on what's going on and the the lady who was my therapist but not for like my mental health for just like as a doctor for like my my parents like you know a therapist like to cope with a divorce yeah she said she was like she's there's something off here with her. She's doing a couple things that I know what it is, so I'm going to just refer you to another woman that can diagnose you. And then it was Katia Morris, and she did. I don't know how old I was,

like two years, three years after. And yeah, everything, I mean, it was getting bad. It was getting really bad. I feel like I have many things, many, many things. Things I don't even talk about, because I'm like, just don't talk about so much. But OCD, very severe OCD, very mild Tourette's. I have anxiety, depression.

I mean, I've never really talked about this, but I feel like many people probably know, but a little, actually not a little bipolar disorder like very intensely too um and I'm telling you like I'm very grateful for the 17 years or 18 years that I've been in therapy and drinking my medication because I'm so much better than I was before and when people were like yeah but you're so good you're good no no I was nine when I started my god is my I don't know anything but therapy but a medication you know so I I have to give it to my parents who found the therapist um my my doctors myself I have to because you have to be willing to want to get better uh but I was pretty bad many many things I've done in my life that that that I you know it wasn't easy because

of the conditions that I had but well I think it's important to talk about them because you're a role model yeah and like a lot of people mental health now has become at the forefront of our lives these days yeah and when famous people come out there's so many people who say gosh if that person come and talk about it then I should probably talk about and get help yeah ocd you put a pillow over your face held your breath for a minute because you thought i've done even worse things than that yeah ocd is insane so talk about first of all for those people who don't know what it is what is it what are the things that you did yes and how did it affect your daily life i mean every second of every day so there, okay, so there's like a, so OCD, OCD is basically, it's an urge, it's a feeling. It's a feeling that you have to do something. If you don't do it, it's not just like, oh, I want to clean because like, I don't like

that. It's a mess. No, no. If you don't do it in a ritual way, in a specific way, it could be religious. Like let's say you want to touch something three times because you, for the Holy Spirit, for example, for me, something bad's gonna happen if you don't do it. Something bad's gonna happen to your mom. Something bad's gonna happen to your dad. Something bad is gonna happen. It's like, and then there's like many layers to it.

You know, there's physical. Like before I was more physical, I would touch three times. I would do things three times. Then it was like mental. I would think things. It had to be perfect thinking. It had to be like, then it's an obsession of just like, I have to do this, I have to do this, I would think things it had to be perfect thinking it had to be like then it's an obsession of just like I have to do this I have to do this I have to do it like nobody notices but they're like I have to do I have to do this and it's just it's the I have to

when you say I have to that's when you know it's like no that's OCD you don't have to do that you don't have to touch when I would talk to my therapist I was like I have to touch I have to do this I have to and then also the fear of the unknown what if what if I don't do this it will my mom die or like it's it's a lot of things you know OCD is very complex very and I I learned everything like it's like OCD goes near it's like it goes very well with like, it goes very well with anxiety, and it goes very well with depression. Everything is aligned, everything is very together.

So, yeah, I've had it very severely. It's caused me many problems in my career as well. Yeah, but it also has made me strong in other ways. So we talked about putting a pillow over your face, holding your breath for 30 minutes, or for 60 seconds seconds or you fell, you're maybe going to die. For those people who don't know as well, what do you mean about touching doors? Because I read at some point as well that you had to touch the door three or four times, then you didn't want to touch doors. But for what else can it be for those people for those people it's like um it has to feel the the touch is like it has to feel

has to it doesn't even have to it has to feel perfect if i touch this one time i'm like that wasn't perfect enough i'm gonna do it one more time and that becomes okay another time that wasn't perfect enough we don't even know what perfect it's what we feel so you can't you don't know what i feel you know so it's like it's this urge of doing things religiously ritually multiple times until it feels right that's what ocd is and it's in it's very you can definitely manage it you can control it with therapy over time but there's no cure with it and you can yes they're definitely manageable you can you decrease it many. Yeah, for sure. I'm a living proof. I've done it.

So what age were you when you first saw these symptoms? I was nine. I was nine, eight, nine. And I couldn't get, like, it all started when, like, I was in school. I was very, very nervous. Sometimes, like, OCD for me comes when I'm really nervous many times. It gets stronger. It's always there. But I was taking a test, and, like, my pencil fell, and I picked it up. And the way I picked it up, I'm really nervous many times it gets stronger it's always there but I was taking a test and like my pencil fell and I picked it up and the way I picked it up I didn't like it

I was like I didn't pick it up right I had to pick it up it has to feel good to pick it up the weirdest you know how it is it's just like it's like the the it's the feeling it's like you know when like literally when you imagine leaving a baby in the car, you're seeing it, you have to open the door, get it out. That's how bad the feeling is. It's like as if leaving, like it's insane. It's like, you have to, like open the door. Like, in reality, you don't have to.

I know that, but the feeling is too strong. I do it again, even like, I'll do it. I'll do it again, I'll do it again, I'll do it, until I feel comfortable. OCD is about feeling comfortable. So exposure therapy is one of the ways to, you know, manage the OCD. So if I feel comfortable touching this three times, right, then my therapist will say, okay, exposure therapy, touch it two times instead of three, because mine is three. And I was like, okay, I'll touch it two times. And then I would go crazy. I had to touch it one more time.

One more, if I didn't, I shake, sweat, everything. And it's just, you have to do exactly the opposite of what your mind is telling you. And if you're saying like, oh, I'm this, tomorrow is good. Let's say tomorrow, my mom's gonna die, right? Or tomorrow, the world is ending or tomorrow i'm gonna get a bad grade if i don't do this if i don't turn off the shower right then you what you say to yourself is like okay tomorrow the world is gonna end tomorrow your mom is gonna

die tomorrow you're gonna get a horrible grade okay and that's what you have to say to yourself horrible feeling but it will be there for a couple minutes and then i'll leave i'll go to something else so let's talk about something else tourette syndrome so you have ocd and tourette so one is bad enough that's you have tourette's as well which is bad talk about tourette's first of all what is it yes in fact you and give some examples of okay so there's like like people think and this is Tourette's has to be just like you know say bad words or very very intense no no there's different types of Tourette's okay there's the very severe ones that we all know it the more physical you can see it and there's the

ones that are yes they're there but they're not too noticeable you know what I mean and with and it's the truth like you won't notice some of my Tourette's but my my friends will if they are together with me all day they will see it because there's things I do and they will see it and also I've been doing therapy for a long time there's no cure for Tourette's but there's a way to also calm it down a little bit there's a way there is a way and I've done it many times um for example, back in the day, I was not drinking my medicine when I did the docuseries and my Tourette's were going crazy because it's not because there's no medicine for Tourette's, but there's medicine for other things, anxiety, depression, everything. So if everything, you're going crazy already with other things,

Tourette's will come very, very intensely. They're always going to be there. But I have been very mild except that time because I wasn't taking care of myself. But I'm very mild. I can show you Tourette's that I have and little things I do to not make people see my Tourette's as well. So what are some examples of a mild case? A mild case. All right. Every single time I text, people don't see it because obviously you don't live with me.

So let's see. I text. Before I text, I'm like somehow like somehow this this I do this I do that for example, I'm like Like I do that a lot physical habit. Yeah, it's a physical habit I do it even without texting but like when I'm texting it goes and I'm just like you don't even see I mean if I'm Talking to you here. You guys won't see it I'm like I can be like this and I could be like this and you won't see it and then also a lot of things that

I have with my Tourette's is a voice um I had a huge huge thing take a couple years back that it was like like that right so how I started making it so people wouldn't notice I would actually be like oh my god oh my god let's go through oh my god let's go to that place over there like oh I love that you don't even know you think it's like I, oh my God, let's go to that place over there. Like, oh, I love that. You don't even know, you think it's like, I'm talking. It's a weird thing that, I mean, it's so weird how I've been able to like, kind of like, people don't like, not for people to see it so much. And it, but it's there and it's very there.

And when sometimes I'm just like, when I talk to people, I'm like, uh-huh. And then like, I hold my hand because I want to, I want to do this. So it's, it is so complicated. It is really fucking complicated. They're ticks, basically. They're ticks. Sometimes. They're ticks.

They're ticks. They're ticks. And I'm telling you, they're very mild. But if you're with me all day, you will see them. It's not that it's a show that I'm going to give to you. You know what I mean? It's not a show. Whatever is gonna give to you you know what i mean it's not a show whatever's happening whatever it's happening in the moment severe or not you will see them and maybe another day you won't see them it's the truth so i don't have them very very

strongly but if you live with me like my husband does he sees it a lot oc OCD, Tourette's. Yeah, depression. Attention deficit disorder. Yeah. Oh, executive functioning. Executive functioning skills. That's the worst one for me. It's caused many problems in my relationship.

So let's talk about that one last. Yeah. So talk about the two others, ADHD and then attention deficit. ADHD, I think a lot of people. Tell people what the difference is because I think a lot of people don't know the difference between those two. Okay. ADHD. It's like ADHD is like you're very hyperactive.

Like you get distracted very easily. It mostly happens with like, yeah, with kids that it's not just you don't just have ADHD sometimes. You just have that and some other things. Right. You're just hyper. And then you're distracted. And it's, yeah, I think it's just, I don't know. Right.

The medication people think is. Oh, yeah. But that can cause. Adderall is the main drug for that. So were you on Adderall at a young age? Yes. You were. Okay.

I wanted everything. And now let's talk about attention deficit disorder, executive functioning skills and how that started at a young age and give some examples at a young age. And it sounds like you still have it. I still have it. And it's still, you said it impacts your career. I think executive functioning has impacted my relationship so much because executive functioning is just basic things that everybody does but you it's difficult for you to do depression that's horrible so so now you got five things at a young age right but when did that start and what what were you saying to yourself i mean you know what's so crazy depression sometimes you're you're set for no reason

i feel like people that are depressed yes they're depressed for really good reasons but imagine being depressed for nothing it's a feeling you're just like you have panic attacks for what you know like it's just i have panic attacks i have i'm depressed when i have a great life but it's here you know that right like it's depression it's just it's a it's a horrible chemical feeling are you still depressed i mean i when i'm not when i'm perfect and happy i'll let you know okay well you have a great life and we're going to talk about your great life i have a great life and i'm very grateful for that but um many people that I know, they suffer from depression

and it just comes and goes and it's really hard. Yeah, depression, you can be in a very depressive mode. And it's okay to be sad for things that you should be sad about, but the extent that I am or the extent that people that have depression are, it's a little bit too much. It's an extreme. I feel like every single thing that I'm talking about

is normal, but you're diagnosed when it's a little bit extreme, when it becomes not normal, that's when you're diagnosed. So you had all these issues and you're in school and we're bullied because of these. You were lonely. Yeah. And I could be depressing about that. Well, and, and it's, it's hard, right? Because kids are making fun of you. They're very cruel. Kids were a lot more cruel back then. Today, you get in trouble for it. Yeah. So did you come home crying to your mom every day? This is terrible.

Yeah. Don't want to go to school anymore? Yeah, but I don't think she was like, oh, she's depressed. Because, I mean, that makes anybody sad. My God. You know, like being bullied and everything. Yeah. However, how long are you depressed for?

You know, I mean, imagine like I'm like, okay, this happened. I'm depressed for like five days for something little, for example. You know, that's intense. You know, I mean, and a lot of things trigger me to be depressed. I got very easily triggered for everything. Everything is intense. But when you're young and you're going to school, you're 11 years old. Everyone's making fun of you. You're 12, 13, high school.

I mean, you're sitting alone. I was bullied in high school as well. Stuttered my whole life. Kids making fun of me. I mean, it was traumatic. I came home from school crying every day. Kids are so mean. Didn't have a lot of friends.

Sat alone. I mean, I've been there. It's a horrific feeling. Yeah. Do you know what's so crazy? they asked me the other day i was like what do you have to say what do you have to say to people to kids that are bullied these days and i only see i can from my experience there's only one thing to tell them you will not remember them i don't remember anybody from my school that i mean they it was long one it's a long time ago

it's nothing in your life it's four years and you have 50 60 70. It's nothing in your life for years. And you have 50, 60, 70 years. They are nothing in your life. You will forget. You will get married. You will have boyfriends. You will have kids or not. You will live life. You will meet friends.

And those people are literally going to, like, maybe they touch, somehow they made, they touch your life. But your life moves on. I promise you, they they does and you will not think about them because I don't right you know when I come home crying from school my mom would say don't worry all these people who make fun of you the cool kids they're not gonna be that cool when you're older when you grow up but I remember all the kids who bullied me. I remember all the kids. Yeah, you do? Oh, yeah. R-R-Randy called me a target. But are they important in your life?

No. I mean, they're not. They're not. Because in the moment, you feel like it's now or never. In that moment, you feel like these people are the most important people in your life. I decided not to think that, so that's why I don't care. And, like, yes, I can tell you the name, but I don't think about them unless you tell me. Right.

But, I mean, it's still, you're very successful. You're a beautiful woman. I'm sure all those people today are thinking, gosh, I knew her back when I was mean to her. I shouldn't have been today. And I, you know, in my own success, you run into people who used to make fun of me. And it's somewhat rewarding and it

feels good that I've made it and I wasn't retarded I don't sit alone anymore I have confidence now and my life is very good right now yeah and I'm very uh grateful for but because you moved on I moved on I mean I worked to get that to get through you moved on you actually did not listen to them you listened to yourself you proved yourself right because it's not about proving them right it's about proving you yeah so i think that's the most important lesson why don't you just try to prove the people that believe in you right and that's it we're what was your mom and dad telling you when you came home and you were being bullied? My mom was saying, you know, like I said, life will get better. You're working on your speech every day.

I mean, I go to speech therapy three times a week. I read aloud at night for one hour, practice a new technique to speech. It took a long time. Yeah, yeah. So I worked to get better, but she was encouraging me as well. The thing is, like, knowing that they said, my dad told me, that's why it helps me. Knowing that they are not going to be in my life forever. You know what I mean?

Knowing that I'm going to leave. Knowing that my life is, I have a beautiful, even if I didn't see it, I have a great life ahead. And these people are nothing in my life. It makes it easier to move on. Because if somebody tells you, they're very important people. Like, oh, you pissed them off oh that's it that's it that's it that's it that's it you're done you're done no you're not done like learn from this get stronger you know don't listen

to them it's hard it's very hard not to listen to them because you're so young and that is your life you know but you have to understand that from something negative, something positive always comes, always. And you might not even see it until later, but you will see it. That's true. So is that the advice you give people? People know about your struggles. You've talked about them.

Even though you said, you know, you really don't like to talk about them, you have talked about them. I'm sure tons of people reach out to you and saying, I struggle with the same thing You're a role model for me Yeah, what's your message to all those people including those people who are suicidal and say gosh, my life is horrible I can't get through this. I have some of the problems that you have What what's the message to those people to keep going to for the people that want to commit suicide?

Yeah, or have all the mental health problems. And it keeps getting worse, right? Because it's not like you just say one day I want to kill myself, right? You had all these things going on. Yes, of course. You know, five things that things could have really gone south, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to say I've never tried to commit suicide, but I'm not going to say I've never thought about it.

I feel like I have many times thought about, like, what if? what if, what if, what if, what if, you know? I want to, I want to. I just never have, you know? But I feel like it is never the answer, you know? It's never the answer. It really is not because I feel like there's ways. First of all, go to therapy. Go to therapy.

Talk to your parents. Tell them what the hell is going on. If they don't support you, go to someone else. If those people don't support you, go to someone else. There are people in this world, horrible people, but there's people that want to help you that love you and want to help you and i think you should really when you're alone lean on someone that's so important and if you still feel alone let's see medication wise like what's going on here medication wise if that doesn't work what you have to do is physically yoga like what it was for yoga do something that

makes you happy you yourself you like the beach you like to watch old movies, you like to run, you like to do, you know, focus on yourself so much, if you love yourself first, if you love it, and that's hard, because I still don't love myself, but I don't, no, I don't, I don't, I can't say I love myself, I'm working on it, life is a process, like, I'm working on it, tomorrow, I, yesterday, yesterday I loved myself. Today I might love myself less, you know, for other reasons, for whatever is going on in my mind, that I'm like, I didn't do this right or everything. But I feel like when you master the thing of, like, you know what, you're confident in who you are, you're, you are, doesn't,

oh, Toby, I'm sorry, he has this thing, so I don't lose him. Because I lose him. I'm just kidding. I don't lose him. It's okay. I'm sorry. It's going to leave. Okay, good.

Anyways, yeah, I think surrounding yourself with people who you admire and have gone through the same thing that you have gone through or are going through at the same time, that helps you. That helps you a lot. For example, if I don't believe in myself, if I'm sad and depressed, if I have't believe in myself if I'm sad and depressed if I have those those bad thoughts I surround myself with people that I admire so much in the end and I look up to and I'm not alone I don't feel alone I feel like many people who are who feel like

that's because there is no they see black there's no way out and it's very easy for people to be like your mom and your dad to be like like listen like there's there's a way out there's a way out because oh mom and dad you know mom and dad stop like you love me that's why you're saying that but if but if you're surrounded by many people you admire people that are going through the same thing you start talking it really does help that is my main thing get out there and talk to people that that don't make you feel so alone would be the main thing that I would tell you. For a long time, you kept your issues to yourself. OCD, you've called it your darkest secret. And then you said, all right, I'm going to talk about it. Why was it your darkest secret? And does it feel great to be able to talk about it and share about it and your vulnerability

makes you more human? I mean it was hard because once you let people in many people will come amazing people but many bad people will come and try to tear you down try to use those problems those mental issues and turn them against you and use them to manipulate you and make you you know question yourself and use you take advantage of you and that's why it was hard for me because I knew the minute I opened that box I let everybody in and and you know and um I guess um I guess the reason I feel like the reason why I am the way I am today it's not because I love myself and everything, but because I really want to,

and because I see the role models near me that they love themselves so much that I wanna be like that. And I love myself enough, I guess, to change and be that. I'll tell you when I'm like, I love myself, I'm the best, I'm the number one, I'm the, you know, I'll tell you, but I'm not like that. So we all have coping mechanisms.

I stuttered. I would hide it. I wouldn't talk so much. I would kind of stay away. It took me weeks to be able to go to the window at McDonald's and say I want a cheeseburger. And that was how the therapy started. Talk to us about your coping mechanisms and drawing sketches

to be able to communicate your parents about pizza going to the bathroom oh okay oh so oh before that one can we go back to something else yes i'm going to try to say this in like a way that it may not make people feel so sad how can i say that i i don't like myself all the time but i love myself enough to get to want to you know and to want to love myself more is that better to say that? Sure. You know what I mean? I'll say it again.

When you say that I love myself, I don't love myself all the time, but I love myself enough to want to love myself in the future more. I think that's normal. I don't know many people who love themselves 100% of the time. We all do bad things. We all speak out of turn. We unintentionally insult people.

We maybe will lose our temper or raise your voice at your kids and you feel terrible. You cut somebody off in the car and you're like, oh my God, I can't believe that. What's that person going through? Or they cut you off and you're honking you get mad Yeah, I feel like especially because I was 16 when I started social media and I let a lot of people in When you start getting bullied You start believing many things that they're saying and I'm not someone that really defended myself in that moment I probably will now but in the moment I wasn't defending myself so I just let it in all the negativity I was like I guess I'm I'm not I guess I

am that my god all these people are saying this I guess I am I guess I am however because of the people that I surround myself with I did not quit well so I am very grateful for myself for not quitting ever thank you to myself for that when I was a junior in high school, we had to give a speech in English class. Gus Seger was my teacher, and he pulled me aside and said, you don't have to give your speech if you don't want to. I was like, oh, my God, it just hit me so hard. It was so sad.

I mean, I wanted to cry. And I said, I'm doing it, and I'm going to fight it. And I started. It was amazing. And I started. That's amazing. People were laughing. My face was contorting. And it just said, you know, I'm not going to shy away. I'm going to do it.

And I just think you got to deal with your problems. You got to. You can only hide it so much. Only you. But you have to make the decision. I'm telling you right now, no one can force you to do anything. People can encourage you. People can push you. No one can force you to do anything. People can encourage you. People can push you.

No one can force you to actually want to better yourself. I can give you so many. I can help you. If you want my help, I'll help you. But it has to come with, you have to first understand that you have a problem. That's so important. If you know that, that's the hard part, knowing that you have a problem. And then what are you going to do about it?

If you can't speak and you st hard part, knowing that you have a problem. And then what are you going to do about it? If you can't speak and you stutter and you can't communicate with people, you have a serious problem. So I won't. Yeah. I would draw my problems. Yeah. So talk to, well, one thing that I did that I want to share with people is that, and it's something I have not talked about before, but it's my speech therapist would have a group of people who stuttered clients.

Yes. And I sit around on a Wednesday night and you get there. And I remember the first time saying, oh, my God, you know, I really want to do this. I'm so self-conscious. Then you went. Hell, yeah, I went. I went a few times. But that's the first step. And I got better. I got better seeing other people. I got more confident. And actually, my stuttering was worse than, it was better, it was still terrible, but it was better than, I think there were 10 people, probably eight people in the room.

But when I saw it, it motivated me. We're all working together. It was a team. I wasn't alone. I mean, you hear about stuttering. It's genetic, it's behavioral. Some people can't get over it. And I worked my ass off,

reading every night for one hour a day practicing and what i was going to say at the driving window so i think surrounding yourself with people who have the same problem to motivate you is it to me i mean it was great it was really great i think that's what has helped me that's what i would tell everybody try to find that community that doesn't make you feel so lonely. Support groups. And that's true if you're suffering from any kind of mental distress, alcohol, drug abuse. Everybody needs it. Everybody needs it. It needs to be surrounded by people that make you not feel so alone. I do. That are going through the same thing because it gets to you. Loneliness is a very powerful thing it's huge

huge the statistics that have come out especially post-covid quarantine the numbers are staggering when you read this 30 of the population reports feelings of loneliness or are severely lonely that's that's crazy that's 100 plus million people in the United States alone. Imagine. A lot of people suffering. Yeah. All right, so now talk about the sketches. So you made these drawings.

What were the drawings and why did you do them? I didn't really talk when I was little. Not stutter, I just actually didn't communicate. I didn't know how to talk really. I don't know. I just didn't really talk, I guess. I wasn't really good at talking. So I would draw.

I would draw what I wanted. If I wanted milk, I would draw and I would show my dad I want milk. Whatever I was feeling, I would show what I'm feeling and everything. For a long time, for a very, very long time, I used that to communicate with people so sometimes our struggles bullying in this case lead to amazing things that's what i meant yeah even if we can't see the forest through the trees and we think gosh this is just i hope it ends it may not end so let's start at the beginning and tell us what vine was before it went away. Yeah. So I didn't really

have Instagram or Facebook. Everybody had that, you know, Twitter in that moment. I didn't really have one. I was so late to everything. Talk about what year we're in right now. 2012, 2013. And you're how old? I am 16. Okay. And there's a platform called Vine. Instagram had really just come out. It was brand new. Two years ago or something. Yeah. Instagram had come out like two years ago.

Facebook was there while MySpace. YouTube. YouTube was, yeah. Nobody was posting. Yeah. It wasn't a thing to be a social media creator. That wasn't a word. There was no word of social media creator or influencer was not a word yet yeah um so i you know i didn't really have that many friends in school i had amazing friends though but not in actually that school so much i had other ones

in other schools um but in that school particularly particularly um i did feel lonely but i loved creating i since i was little I was writing little skits to tell my mom and my dad what I wanted I loved creating and then I used this app, I saw this app and I loved the content in it I was like, I want to start this app I don't know what this app is

might be good, might not be nobody knew it kind of looked bad in my school doing this app so I started doing videos uh because i love videos i love um i love little stories that i find vine was an app yes right and so just yeah there's people who don't even know what vine is because it was so so old and it's not a thing anymore yeah let me tell you vine was the first social media app that actually made social media influencers youtube was one thing but this was actually made social media influencers.

YouTube was one thing, but this was like influencers, social media content creators. Six second shorts. Six second shorts, six seconds, and that was the beginning of many things. And I'm very lucky that I started when I started. So I didn't like to talk so much on my Vines because I don't really like to talk so much because I wasn't really good when I'm in that age.

I didn't I don't talk too good. However, I made vines in school of what I was feeling and I put music on top of it. So it was international. Anyone can see those vines and understand because it's physical. You don't need to know English, Spanish and Italian to understand what I'm doing. And it's physically I am putting music and if you understand it It's like Charlie Chaplin, you know So I would do that and I think that helped me a lot and I was the only one Doing skits or videos in school during that time Your first vine was in chemistry about a chemistry your first Vine was in chemistry, about chemistry. Your first Vine was about getting an F in chemistry class.

You were making fun of yourself to get friends. Yeah, no, I was getting, I was getting, I just like, I was always, I like to make fun of myself sometimes. To, it's a coping mechanism, you know? Comedy is a coping mechanism. Many many people many comedians are depressed many comedians don't you know are insecure so they use comedy as a way you know to bring positivity and I love that and I laughed at things you know that was happening to me like I sucked at chemistry let's make the best that I make fun of it it. But I was not happy.

So people saw this. Yeah. And they reacted to it. No, that was the first. Nobody saw that. Five people saw it, I think. Five people saw it. Yeah. Then what prompted you to make another one? You just said, gosh, I like creating the content. I'm going to do another one. And then we do another one. It took me two years. Two years to to what to actually become popular or be on the popular pages it was called the popular page I started at 16 and then at 18 I got known so I I posted videos every single day not for anything because I liked it and then when you people see that you're authentically liking what you're doing they're like that's cool I like this girl. She's freaking weird.

But I like it. She's in school. She's talking about school stuff. Nobody else in the app is talking about school stuff. I'll follow her. So I think that's what started it all. Reality TV was just sort of coming out right now. Yeah.

The Osbournes, I think, were out. And that was the first really social media TV show, ex-rock and roller, crazy life. Really? That's amazing. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What the hell?

Yeah. It's crazy. Lead singer, I think, of Black Sabbath, was it? Ozzy Osbourne. Used to eat a bat on stage and smash his guitar but that that series really took off and people said oh my gosh this life of a celebrity you were doing it for kids your own age i think that was very unique now people take it for granted but that's that's a real thing so you're posting every day i was posting every single day in school in school they didn't people liked you at this

point because they liked nobody liked you my school didn't like it so they my school was amazing by the way my school didn't understand because it wasn't a thing to be a social media creator an influencer there was they made me delete all of them catholic school no uh you're gonna go to catholic school public no at private school but it was miami country jay okay every day like included everybody um that was my elementary school was catholic school okay and i'm this is high school okay so uh they made me delete all my vines and then my dad my biggest supporter My mom was like this is freedom of speech. This is the way that this is my the way them This is a long time ago, though Yeah, this is the way that my daughter communicates look at her skilling

He showed all the pictures and she communicates through this app just this what she's feeling. She's friendzone She's gonna make a video about being friend-zoned. She's having a bad day in school, she's gonna make a video about having a bad day in school. She doesn't talk. So I think that they saw that and my dad was furious and I recreated all my Vines again. So it took me another year to do the whole thing.

So yeah, I mean, not a lot of people understood. It took you two years to become popular at some point no not even not even popular known known so what does that mean how many um followers on vine did you have to be known 500k 500k at this point were you making any money was there a way to make money on vines or you're just getting no popular there's no advertising model no nothing not yet no so you're the first person on Vine to get a billion loops. What's a loop? So that came out, I was in shock. Billion loops is views. I was the most viewed person in the world on Vine. Why? Because I posted every day, every day. I know, like I was in school, so I was like the youngest. So yes, I was very happy about that. You were

still in school when you got a billion vines. And did someone from Vine call you and say, hey, Lele, you just got a billion. Everything came. After that, everybody, everything came. Everything, like, everything showed up. Everybody wanted, you know, collaborations and everything. So after that, I moved to L.A. And then that's when Vine was about to die.

Right. Four years have passed by. So this is very important um you always in your life have to have a plan a plan b plan c pandy i'm telling you right now mine was dying but we like i started to notice that a year before so what do you do you migrate you go somewhere else okay i'm gonna do it i'm gonna start doing instagram a little bit more, just in case. So when that happened, I was able to migrate. I kind of migrated on Instagram. I didn't have as many followers, but I had a couple.

So I started doing on Instagram. I started all over again on Instagram. Okay, that's going on Instagram. I love Instagram, but I want to make it just in case. Let's go to YouTube. Just in case, go to TikTok. Just in case, go against the Instagram or whatever but you always have to have a plan if you love what you're doing you

don't want to you don't want to you don't want anybody to take that away from you so I think a lot of people don't know that vine was owned by Twitter it was bought by Twitter in late 2012 2013 the beginning 2013 for 30 million dollars it was a way that they were going to help expand their platform. And just like that, the usage fell, and they decided to shut it down in 2016. So you have all these influencers who at this point are making money, and they have to say, okay, I really need to shift. You had a plan B.

I don't think a lot of people out there do have a plan B or a plan C. Yeah, no, almost no way. I'm just, what I'm saying is I try to. It's important. But you're young, so who told you to have a plan A, plan B, plan C? Were you thinking it? Did your parents tell you about it? I had nothing. I mean, I didn't have, I wasn't going to college. I applied, I got rejected all my colleges. Why so how do you get in um I was just not smart in school okay first of all you're very smart let's start there chemistry you don't have to be good at chemistry to go to college it's a GPA thing like it's a it's a whole thing you can't just like fail in two classes and

be good on the other ones. It's not like that. That doesn't work like that. You have to, I mean, I don't know how it works now, but before, you have to have at least a C in every, like, you know what I mean? Well, community college, you really don't need a grade point average, right? No, I know, but I was, like, I was, because I was doing Vine, I left that. Like, I didn't want to go to a community college. I wanted to, I applied to other things, you know?

This is your full-time job. Yes, it became my full-time job. I should to go to a community college. I wanted to, I applied to other things, you know? This is your full-time job. Yes, it became my full-time job. I should have gone to a community college. I would have fucking loved to go to college. My God, that I regret. I would have loved to go into college. I just, like, applied to the wrong places. I got rejected by all of them. You could go now.

They'd love to have you. You could probably get into Harvard right now. Harvard? You could get into Harvard. Look at what you're doing. You're one of the most successful social media creators ever. I know, but like... They like diverse students.

Maybe. I try to just... Yeah, maybe. I don't know. We'll think about that next year. You ever thought about it, going back to school? Yeah, I would love to go to college. I like...

But I'm... I don't know. Wait, you're... Tell everybody, because I think that's a very important point. What were you going to say? I'm about to be 28. Can I still go? Yes, you can go.

So, okay, let's talk about content. And I think a lot of people, because to be a social media influencer, and you're really a creator, but a lot of people say you're an influencer. I think a lot of people kind of view them as the same. A lot of people do crazy stunts, talk about originality, and how do you keep it real? How do you keep making the content something that people have not done before? You see so many people out there trying to have a career like yours. They're copycats. How do you do it, and what's your advice to everyone else who says,

I'm just going to copy, and it works for her, and it's going to work for me? Because, I mean, no one's going to be Lele Pons, father, an architect, mom, a doctor, coming from Venezuela. No one's going to have the life that I have. No one's going to have this birthmark being called Lelefons, starting in Vine. Vine died. Vine is gone. You have to see what has made you different and stick to that.

So I think, I mean, you can copy everything you want, but it's my mind that's creating. How are you going to copy my mind? I haven't posted yet. You know what I mean? So I think just being you, my God. I know it's cliche I beat yourself but literally it's your superpowers the only thing that makes

you difference yourself you who you are so authenticity we gotta talk about that right because there's so many people who are fake Instagram my life is amazing. I wanna talk about your authenticity. Thank you. And I wanna talk about people who have fat shamed you. And I talked about your cellulite at Coachella, which is fucking outrageous by the way. It's okay, I mean, that I don't care so much about. But I know, yeah,'s it's insane it's insane

um I I I would have cared a long time ago remember as you actually get older start maturing right you really do start maturing I would have cared more I cared less I still care but I care less so um cellulite all that stuff stuff. Oh my God. Listen, I rather, I rather expose myself than people expose me. So I post my cellulite cause I know people will because I have it. I'll expose it and I'll embrace it. Okay, cool. People talk bad about, you know, like sometimes I have, I get bloated a lot. Um, when I eat a lot, I'm gonna post about it. Why not? Literally, why literally why not what is what is the threat to you if I have that you know and I post that I have bad nails and I'm

stop eating my nails for example I posted that I posted my god I've always said my nose job the day that I got my nose job and people forget because people are not gonna go down in 2013 people like oh she she she's never um she's never um oh she's never accepted that she had surgery and i was like go down 2015 i posted the day that i got my nose up on my feet saying thank you so much dr cassir for my new nose job it's right there but obviously people you know they're not going to go down. So they're like, oh, look at these pictures from before and after. We exposed her.

Who do you think posted those pictures? Me. You know what I mean? So it's like, but it's very rare. So people are like, oh, she posted that? Why would she? Didn't you take the picture down, though, in 2018? The post of the nose job?

Oh, which one? Mine? Yeah. Oh, I didn't post. I did not take that down. You didn't take it down? the nose job oh which one mine yeah oh i didn't i did not take that down you didn't take it down okay oh which one i mean the one of 2015 is still there which one of the i think you posted the one in 2013 and i think in 2018 you took that down and you've got some criticism online for you taking it down and really i don't i don't remember but i know i posted it. I mean,

is this going to be a video? Because you can post a... I post... Honestly, no, I don't think I... If I delete it, it's probably because that picture was wrong. But there are

many freaking pictures of before and after. Even this year, I posted a before and after picture. Every year, I post one. Every single year. I think before and after picture. Every year I post one. Every single year. I think, and I want to hit this point as well, because a lot of women I know will thin their bodies,

will take away the cellulite, and I'm not making a judgment, men and women. I don't know men who do this, but I know a lot of women who do this. In fact, if I had to guess the percentage of people, again, I'm 55, so I'm talking about women now. Some even in college, I had a bunch of interns and you can see them kind of thinning themselves out and taking away fat, slimming their bodies down. I think it's so important for you as a role model to show that and say, it's acceptable. My body isn't perfect. It's acceptable that I have it. I think the

message that I want to give is for those people who take away their cellulite, have surgery, you know, all that, all that lipo, it is your body body you can do whatever you want to your body you want to be skinny you want whatever you want it's your body you know what I mean and that's something I do however if I like my cellulite I'll post it and if I don't like it and if I want to do surgery on my nose or anything I will say it I didn't like it I'm doing it I like my cellulite I don't know it makes I like it I don't know I do I do I like it I like my it. I like my cellulite. I don't know, I like it. I don't know, I do, I do like it. I like my nose job. I like my cellulite.

I like that I have a little belly when I eat a little bit. So when it comes to that stuff, I like, you know. How many of your photos are untouched? Completely untouched. Completely untouched. All my videos are untouched, let me tell you that. All of them. All my videos are untouched. All of them that and all of them all my videos are untouched

oh um so you can see it and you can see everything from me picture wise um you know what picture wise and i'm telling you this you can ask anybody when someone takes a picture of me they're like is this okay to post post it i actually don't care however it depends for example um if you're with a friend and she wants to fix it i'll fix myself too but i don't care. However, it depends. For example, if you're with a friend and she wants to fix it, I'll fix myself too. But I don't fix myself too much. You can't even recognize me, you know? But it would be like, okay, I'm going to put like a filter like to make my skin more glowy, you know? Sometimes when I post a picture, I'll put, like my hair is like a mess.

I'll put my hair a little bit more up so it looks more full. Stuff like that. But I've never touched. No, never mind. Got to say it. I have actually never touched my ass or my boobs. Yeah, I've never really. When it comes to like pictures and stuff, I don't think I have.

Definitely not my boobs. You're proud of your body yeah yeah i'm proud of my body i like it you seem like you're not sure sometimes sometimes i am and sometimes i'm not i mean i'm proud when it's when it's healthy i'm not proud when i'm not healthy and when i say i'm not healthy i'm like i'm eating mcdonald's five times a day like that's when i'm proud. But I'm proud when I'm actually like working out and doing this. I don't need to be skinny. Not for sure. I don't want to. I don't need to be skinny.

But I do want to be so healthy and like toned and fit. And like you can tell that I'm actually working out. So I, and you can tell the difference between a normal body and a fake body for sure. And I feel like, yeah, people for sure can see it. If I'm losing gain and gaining weight and losing weight and gaining, I haven't done anything yet. So I might do it. I don't know. What's your message to everybody out there who does change all their photos? They're not real. They want to make themselves look perfect. They take out the wrinkles. They put a little tan on their skin why would i tell those people honestly

the thing is like that's complicated because that has to do with how they're feeling in that moment you know and you don't know what they're going through why are they doing that why are they fixing them i don't know so if that makes them happy i say it better to be natural but i can't say that because i did my nose job, you know, and I like this. So I think it's very complex. I mean, it's a good thing and it's a bad thing. I think that if you want to, social media is mean. And if you want to fix yourself a little bit because you know how evil it is, do it.

If it's going to keep you, you know, sane and calm before you post, do it. Now, I've gotten to the point that everybody knows everything about me. That now I can post whatever I want, untouched. You know who I am, you know how my body is, that's it. But for those people that don't feel, are not there quite yet, it's different. All right, we gotta talk about the haters. Yes. There are so many haters out there.

100%. Social media is so easy to take pot shots at people, right? Yeah. Where are these people showing up in front of you saying the same thing? I mean, it's just so easy to take pot shots at people, right? Yeah. Where are these people showing up in front of you saying the same thing? I mean, it's just so easy. Yeah. So talk to us about the haters.

What do you think about them, and have they influenced anything that you've ever done, including your mindset? Honestly, I have to say thank you to them. I really do. Thank you to the haters. No, let me explain why. When everything in your life is yes, yes, yes, yes, you're perfect, you're this, you're this,

you are living in a very unrealistic world. The haters kind of make you be like, maybe there's a difference. Criticize. Let's say they're criticizing you. Hey, I don't think that what you did is good. I think you look like... Maybe they're right in that sense, for example. You have to take it all in.

Whatever the... If there's a hater, it depends. If you're like, oh, this person has to die. That's different. But if there's a hater that you know might give you criticism or... You're not going to be perfect. Not everyone's going to love you. And it's the truth.

Done. So for those people that have hated me, they've made me stronger 100% one they maybe is they've given me a very realistic world because they're not everything is butterflies and not everything is gonna be and you're not perfect because if you are then you think though you know you're not living here and then the haters have made me so eager so yes, yeah, so eager to prove them, to prove myself right and them wrong that I've become the person that I have become. Like they've pushed me to actually be better. Just like the people that have loved me have pushed me.

You have to take the negativity and the hate and turn it into something positive. If someone is telling me, you're not funny, you're not this, you're never gonna go anywhere, you're a failure. Okay, I'm gonna try harder for myself. Maybe you're right.

I need to change some stuff. I need to freaking go harder than ever now. Thank you. And then there's other people that love me. Like, oh, I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy. Okay, prove them right as well. So I think it can go many ways.

It does go many ways. So I say thank you to the haters for making me stronger, making me live a realistic world, and pushing myself to want to prove them wrong. So, yeah. Would you be where you are without the haters? I probably wouldn't be working as much as, like, harder, you know? For me, you know when, like, in movies, everywhere,

when someone's like, you can't do something, you can't do this, or you're this, you're a failure, what do you want to do? If you're strong enough, you want to do exactly the opposite. One for yourself. Yeah. One for yourself, you should do it for yourself. But that might actually push you more.

Oh, it motivates the shit out of me. It motivates you. It does. It does. But in the beginning when I was younger, that did not motivate me. You learn as you mature to use that to your favor. When someone tells me I can't do something or it's impossible, anything is possible. If you set your mind to something, it just fuels my fire and it makes me just want to do it.

And even if you're the only one out there, people say to me sometimes, you know, no one's ever done that before. They need it as a criticism. And I say, gosh, I'm onto something here. I take it as a compliment. Yeah. Yeah. I know.

People have said everything to me and you know what? It's become to a point that when they say everything to you, they've just become like, at five, lies at three two you don't even know that like i don't i was gonna say i don't remember and i've never in my life maybe i will but i've never met a i've never met a hater in person never because they don't have the fucking guts to come up to and say something negative to your face. Because when you meet me in person, I am literally in sweatpants, supernatural, with my dog. What is the threat?

You know, like, I'm just so chill. Like, I'm like, I'm awkward, too. But what is, like, you don't have a thing to, how do you say, a screen to protect yourself with. Yeah. It's face-to-face now, you know? So I think, to me, they haven't. Too many people they have in person, obviously. There's a lot of haters that go in and confront, you know, like, with Logan Paul and everything, you know.

But to me, no. Let's go back to another traumatic moment in your life, which turned into a very good thing. At some point, your dad came out as gay. Yeah, yeah. And you were very surprised. I didn't even know what gay was. I was eight. So talk to us about that.

I was nine. Talk to us about when you find out, what you thought about it. At some point, you saw your dad in bed with another man. Yes, that's how I found out. I saw my dad with a man. You walked into the bedroom and he's in bed with a man? My cousin's communion, yeah. Your cousin's communion?

My cousin's communion. So you have people at your house and he's in bed with another man? No, my dad's separated with my mom's side. I went to my dad's house to pick up something. Okay, so... My cousin from the other side. Did knock on the door, just kind of thought he wasn't home? Yeah, because they live right next to each other. Okay live right next to each so i could just walk to my

dad's house um so that day i guess i was like he didn't listen i guess but i opened the door and then it was very traumatic like physically now mentally when i found out that my dad was gay the first thing i did was i was very like very confused I was like wait did you wait were you there when you met my mom like I had so many questions but then like give you like a week and I was like I want to know exactly what what that means you know what's going on I was eight I was nine I didn't know anything of course you know I'm a child I'm like but I I was I love my dad so much I wanted to I wanted to know because I in my school I was bullied so much and I was just like because I'm different I was different like, okay, how's your story?

Like, how did you cope? Like, how are you? Like, you're so happy now. We'll have everything. My dad told me, and we're best friends. Like, he, for me, he makes me feel not so alone. You know? Did you, what did your dad tell you when you asked him,

why did you marry my mom if you knew you were gay? Oh, I know why. That's a story for him to tell. But you know, remember something. Right now, the world, hopefully, is more open, you know? Way more open. Way more open. Legal, same-sex marriages,

coming out is not a big deal anymore, and the more people. Go back 27 years ago go back 27 years ago with the family that he had in Venezuela um different it's different it just it was different you know um it was yeah it was very different back then. And I understand him. I understand, you know, if it was basically like in that moment, be hated or be, you know,

bullied and, you know, pushed out from your family. I mean, he didn't know that they were gonna accept him, but still in that moment, in that world, 27 years ago, how was being gay perceived? Was it a good thing or a bad thing was it seemed as something as I as I like? Oh my god gross, you know, yeah, it probably was 27 years ago. It was In where we lived in a small town. Yes, it was so I think that He really wanted a family

You really want a family when He really wanted a family. When you want a family, you want kids. Nowadays, there's ways. Nowadays, there's ways. There weren't any ways before. And I'm so happy and grateful that he wanted me so badly, that he lied about himself. I'm sure the support and the love you gave him

and the acceptance made him just feel so good inside yeah and it and he's still your best friend i mean I'm sorry. Got some water? Yeah. Oh, I'll take my Perrier. Yeah, no, I love my dad. Like he, I feel like to have me, he'd made a huge sacrifice. He put like me first, you know like yeah yeah he wanted me that bad I'm happy oh makes me cry I know but like that's the role um thank you yeah um yeah i mean

you're uh you're a role model for so many things and just to be able to talk about that and show emotion i think it's just a great thing thank you thank you for listening to part one of my amazing podcast with lele pons one of the most important and influential social content creators in the world. We had a lot of incredible moments on the show. We cried together. We talked about some of the craziest things she's done, like jumping into the ocean with a bunch of sharks and a bunch of meat in the water. We talked about her struggles with OCD, Tourette's, attention deficit disorder, and how she overcame those and how she became an incredible inspiration and role model for others

around the world. Be sure to tune in to part two of my amazing podcast with Lele next week