The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Patientce Foster Talks Iconic Artist Rollouts, Building Brand Legacy, Representing Cardi B + More

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

Today on The Breakfast Club, Patientce Foster Talks Iconic Artist Rollouts, Building Brand Legacy, Representing Cardi B. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it's Daniel Fischel. Writer Strong. And Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. We are back in Las Vegas and giving the people what they want, a full week of Y2K content.

Tell me why. Well, for the Backstreet Boys residency at Sphere, of course. We joke and say this is our second marriage, but it takes a lot of communication. Plus, it's carrot top, baby. And finally, Ashley Simpson-Ross joins us to talk about her upcoming sold-out Vegas residency. Listen to PodMeets World on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Short on time, but big on true crime. On a recent episode of the podcast, hunting for answers, I highlighted the story of 19-year-old Lechay Dungey.

But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside. And that text message would be the last. Last time anyone would ever hear from her. Listen to Hunting for Answers from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom.

If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh, my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now.

Hold on. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. We're all finished or y'all is done. Morning, everybody. It's DJ NV. Just hilarious.

Charlemagne de Guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lawn LaRosa is here as well. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. She's the only other person from Delaware that I know of. Oh, no, you know Joe Biden, President Biden. Joe Biden, yes.

Yes, I know him as well. And you know as patience, what the fuck. Patience for us in here, ladies and gentlemen. Patience. You guys tell her what you're talking about, I'm about to. You know, on imaginary players, she says, and patience, what the fuck? When she's about to, I guess, do something she's not supposed to.

No, she said, patience be like Cardi. That's what I said, yeah. When Cardi's about to do something she's not supposed to, I guess, you pop up in her mind like Cardi, what the fuck. Patience is the founder and CEO of Chris. She's behind, you know, she's behind, you know, some of the biggest artist's rollouts in hip hop, right? And you've been with Cardi since day one. Yeah.

Amazing. Wow. Yes, 10 years as of September of this year. Wow. Well, let's start there. How did you meet Cardi and how did you get on part of her team? Oh, I love this story. So when I had my son, I decided not to go back and work for Hertz.

I was running cars. Hertz, okay. After I graduated college, I ended up having to rent cars. There were no job. So I decided to open up a saline in Wilmington called Vixated the saline with my tax refund money. Lauren needed you. Lauren needed you. First of all, I've been supporting since day one, we was in there doing all the photos.

I was in the photo show. We can tell one that in the salon clothes too because if I got to continue on. You know what? So basically I was, you know, just operating in the salon, but I opened the salon because I always wanted to be a publicist. So I'm like, I'm going to use my stylist as like my case studies, my client. while I self-teach myself, right? So I would look for opportunities for them outside of the booth was like my selling point.

So fast forward, maybe four years. My partner, actually, who's here, he was bringing a lot of talent and celebrities to Wilmington and we're a very, very small market. So there's not a ton of talent that comes in and out of Wilmington, especially because we're so close to Philly. 22 parties or something? So he would throw live events.

There were a ton of different events and talent and celebrities that he would bring out So my stylist were telling me, hey, this girl named Cardi is coming to Delaware. She's coming to dance. We want to do her hair and makeup. I didn't follow her at the time, but I, you know, I followed their lead. And I reached out to Bun and asked him, you know, would you mind putting in a word with Cardi and her management? You know, we'll do her hair and her makeup at no cost.

So he followed through and he made the connection, the very first connection between myself and Cardi. And she pulled up with her manager at the time. P.T. Cruiser. She had this orange wig on. She came in. Yes. Her shop. Shav had a P.T. cruiser? This was so early on. This was like literally like before loving hip-hop area. Any Asian?

Yeah, P. T.A. P.T. Crosis. What up. Shaps. I have P.S. P.T. Cruz. So, um, yeah, she pulled up. She got her hair and makeup done. And she was just like, you want to come to the club with me? And I'm like, you know, I got a sitter. Why not? So we go to the club and she gets dressed. She asked me

to help me pick her money up while she's dancing. We order some wings. We go our separate ways at the end of the night. And about maybe a month or two later, I had started filling out internship applications because I was just like I'm 26. I think I was, how old was I? Oh my gosh.

I was 26. And I'm like, you know, my son is two, three at the time. I really still want to be a publicist. I need to make a move. So I just started filling out all of these internship applications for Fashion Week, which is kind of what segues us into that space. and I took an internship I slept on my friend's couch

in Newark, New Jersey and maybe my third day on the job I ran into Cardi backstage she was walking in the gypsy sports show because they wanted all like internet or you know social media personalities and she was like oh like what are you doing here are you doing hair and I was like

no I'm a publicist and she was like oh I need one of those and I was like okay and her and Shaft invited me to dinner that night and I walked in and They introduced me as her new publicist, and that's how... Wow. That is what's up.

This is before a rap. This is before loving hip-hop. Yeah. Wow. We were selling makeup, wash, pop, and cosmetics. Yeah. Before a lot of everything. The cosmetics?

I'm sorry, your hair salon. Oh, no, no. So as we continued to, like, grow when the business grew, I, you know, leveraged my, what I was building with her into an agency, which is how Cream Labs came about. And, you know, I decided. that, you know, maybe like six years after having the salon open, I just didn't have

the capacity or the bandwidth to do it. And the industry and the salon, like the salon industry has shifted so much. People wanted their own suites, their own brands. So I just focused on building out and expanding the agency. But that's what, you know, all of it led up into building. I love that story.

Did you do her hair for her recent court case? The wig? You got compliments on that. She don't do hand no more. I was here for the wigs. Like, definitely. But talk about that. I mean, Charlotte mentioned that. It's funny. But I think even when we saw her switching wigs recently, people instantly started remembering the first time we saw her in court and everything was a moment when she was showing up the court, right? And you guys have been really good about making moments from the beginning. Was Cardi always the artist that wanted to do that? Did you have to talk her into it? What was her first moment where she's like, I need to, this is how I need to live the rest of my career? Oh, her first moment. I would say it was the week that we met. is the week that we decided to work with each other, which was Fashion Week.

And I say that because the way that she showed up, so once we decided like, all right, we're going to work together, there was a few shows left. And the last show that normally happens during Fashion Week was the Blind. So, you know, as an intern, my job was to get people from their black trucks to the front, you know, to their front row seat. So I'm like, you know, nobody really knows you outside of the personality that you built on social media. let's just start increasing your visibility right away.

And again, I'm like self-teaching myself at this point. I'm just doing what feels right. So I told her to come to the show and I was just going to seat her. And I'm like, just come and just look like you belong. Like she shows up in a turban, these like wooden nipple pasties and like a flared bell bottom pant. And everybody was just like, if they didn't know who she was, they wanted to know who she was.

And I just set her. I just found a spot on the front row and just set her. and that told me that she was number one she was willing to be collaborative and trusting it wasn't like why I got to do this or I'm not really invited I don't want to show up I'm not going to always get an invite in the very beginning sometimes you got to show people

why you should be invited right and that does come with a risk obviously but she was willing to like thug it she like okay where I got to be I'm going to show up what I got to wear okay I'm there and she just went with it so at that moment I knew like she loved and wanted to

leave an impression wherever she went and really make a moment. And I think we just always carry that same energy throughout everything we did. I love that because that really defines Cardi B as a person. A lot of times people don't hear that side of it. Charlemagne and myself, we've seen her early on. So we've seen the grind. We've seen her

eating the McDonald's in the morning. We've seen her going to the teen parties and we've seen that grind and the clubs and the strip clubs and the regular clubs and this. So I love that story because it shows that sometimes people are like, oh no, she's this, she deserves to be here. She works to Absolutely. Absolutely. Against all odds. And it was, it's great that I was so fortunate to number one be, you know, just given the space to like, we're going to figure this out together. You've never been necessarily a publicist of X amount of years. I've never been a superstar. Like, we're just going to figure this out and trust in one another's intuition and one another's vision. And she literally like being there to see all the nose. I love that I'm still in a seat to be able to see all of those people. people just eat their words like so many people were just like it'll never happen for her I love

more particularly about your story how you went through how you used the hair industry to step into PR yeah that is so dope yeah it was I mean living in a place like Wilmington and Lauren knows like we're we're Delaware down wherever we go it was like yes we're from Delaware but the the community and the network is so small it's so limited and to be in a space like public relations, you have to put yourself in spaces where you can rub elbows and kiss babies and build a network. So I still felt like before I put myself out there,

I wanted to have enough confidence and experience just from an entry-level point of view. So looking at my stylist, more like clients, was really what helped me to feel like, okay, I got enough confidence to, like, walk into a space and feel like I know how to represent people, even if it's on a small level, I feel like I had the fundamentals to represent someone

and help leverage whatever talent they have into a brand. I didn't know that that's what I was doing so early on, but now that I'm much more aware of my capabilities and what I'm able to do, I know that I'm able to take talent and leverage that into a brand, a brand that is sustainable outside of just one category. Let me ask you question.

What's the difference between managing talent and managing the perception of the talent? I mean, I think that that's a piece of it. it managing the perception of the talent because the perception is essential to the value of the brand at the end of the day. But managing the talent, I mean, I think there's a lot of different aspects to managing the talent. You have day-to-day. You need someone who's consistently paying attention to the logistics, the calendar, all of the things that keep everything moving. And then you have people that have their expertise. You have your music managers.

You have your brand managers. And I think managing the talent overall is just making sure that there's consistently a strategy there's consistently a plan like I don't know if people think that it's just we're just winging it like there's always a plan and there's always a goal there's always like we know exactly what it is that we want to do

and what we want to accomplish but I think really managing the talent is understanding the product itself which is what the talent is whether it's music whether it's making clothes whatever it is and then understanding how you create a relationship

that's engaging with that audience in a way that grows the brand, that builds value in the brand, because at the end of the day, you want to be able to leverage that brand into something that is legacy forging. Let me ask you a question. How do you decide when somebody's a friend

or when somebody's a client, right? Because you're going to have clients that pay you for certain things, but I'm assuming Cardi B is not just a client, she's your friend, meaning... You can see that with them. But like, so if you're working with somebody and now Cardi B is beefing with that person,

you can't work with that person anymore. But with a client is just like, it's just a check. So how do you decide that? And if Cardi's like, you know, let's say it's not rocking with somebody, you say, all right, well, I can't work with that person anymore. How does that work? I mean, that's a very real thing.

Like, and I think also it's just what is your philosophy as an entrepreneur, what is your philosophy as an entrepreneur or boss or whatever it is that you do, right? And I feel like whatever your philosophy is and your principles are is how you show up when it comes to making those type of decisions. And my philosophy is a lot different from other people. Like, there is no real defining line. between personal and business. Like my business is very personal.

Like my business feeds my kid. My business builds my livelihood and keeps my livelihood and maintains a lifestyle that I like to live like. So my business is very personal because, you know, if you compromise my business, now you're compromising the way I eat. So when it comes to Cardi and any other client

and anyone can tell you, like, wherever there are boundaries or there's an opposition or someone that, you know, has done something in a way that not only makes them fill away, but it has messed with their business and their livelihood. I could never do business with you. And that's just what it is. Like, I think some people try to convince themselves that it's okay

because it's just business, but there is no way that you don't have an emotional attachment or a personal relationship with somebody that you go into a conference room or on a conference call every day and fight for them to eat. We got to have a personal relationship. That doesn't turn off when I decide I want to take another check from somebody that doesn't align with you. Like, we've got to be on the same side for this to work.

Yeah. Do you guys generally only manage artists, or is it actresses? Is it actress? We're not specific to artists for the company that we've recently announced and built Fifth in Freedom. It's not just specific to artists. It's just specific to talent, but talent that is talent that I can see true value in.

Like because one of the main things about Fifth and Freedom is that it's a new way of management and it's a new way of looking at talent where some people are just more reactive, they're waiting on an email, they're waiting for a deal, they're waiting to respond. Like it's about being proactive, but also making sure that we're not limiting the talent to this one category that we're building a brand that can sustain over years without necessarily having to be active in one category. So it's about like building legacy, equitable opportunities, like joint venture. things that, you know, at the end of the day, they'll have something to pass down or they'll have something to fall back on because everybody doesn't, whether you're an artist,

whether you're an influencer, you may not want to make content every single day once you reach a certain point. It gets tiring. You may not be inspired. You may not be ready to drop a project every other month to meet a certain goal or drop a single, right? But how are you sustaining in between time?

I think that comes from like building real brand value so that way you can, you know, build a true legacy. How do you deal with somebody like Lauren? First of all. Right? I'm serious, right? Because you know Lauren from Delaware. Uh-huh. But she should see she thinks she gives up to me.

Y'all didn't ask a question yet. Is she from Delaware? No, no, no. I want to, I want your patients. I know the best friends. Yeah, I want you to know how do you deal with her? So meaning you know she's a, she's going to poke the bear. She's going to find out the story.

She is. But that's your client, right? And I'm going to call. So she's going to call you and say, I just heard this. But you don't want the story out or maybe the story's wrong. In most cases, you can just say, the middle finger keep it moving but now we're far

and I've heard her call you mad times mad time so how do you deal with somebody that's a friend but you have a client and then your head can't hold water for nothing

excuse me you right neither can you so how do you I don't even know nothing you're asking anything that's wrong but like I said

so how do you deal with like you know because you have relationships with TMZ you have relationships with Lauren and these blogs so how do you deal with that I mean I think like I'm just real big on like whoever I'm dealing with on a level like that.

If you're calling me directly and we're having conversations about things that are pertaining to clients, like we already have a level of trust there and a level of respect because most people will send out. And I was a publicist years ago. I am no longer the publicist for everyone that is still mentioning me. I just feel like I appreciate it. I know you're the founding CEO of Cream Labs, but what's your title? I'm also the co-founder in Fifth and Freedom with my partner Bunn. But I'm also, I'm the brand for Cardi, I'm her brand manager and her creative director.

Gotcha. Yes. So at the end of the day, I'm going to call me. I work across all, I work across her entire business at the end of the day because, again, like, the longest standing member of her, you know, of her group, of her team. So I'm involved in every single conversation at the end of the day because we built that currency of trust there. but no, I was a publicist and that was what got me into

the spaces that I needed to be in but as I understood what I'm truly capable of just outside of helping to control narratives and stories So you got old pictures of Lauren to make sure she don't put in that now and you were released off of pictures me and Lauren used to share Airbnbs in LA

and go out to like BT awards we weren't we didn't have a name at the time so we weren't on the list so we were just finessing so you know where the bodies are for Lauren she know what a body we've been we've been friends for well over well over a decade we grew up together so but how I deal to your to answer your question

I think it's just already a level of respect there so she's not gonna she's gonna tell me what it is this is the information I have what do you want to do with that information right and it's two things for me are you on the record or are we off the record number one you always on the record with Lauren

no you shouldn't be No. I don't really do this. That's against, like, journalist guidelines. I really do this. It's a lot of times when I call her, too, and be like, before she even starts, completely off the record. I know, I know, I was messing with you.

Yeah, so it's like, I'm going to approach. I think I do a very good job. Like, I don't blur the lines between what I do as a professional and who I am as a person because they're pretty much aligned. Like, who I am as a professional is how I show up as a person. Yeah. So how I deal with her is just in any friendship. let's be transparent let's be honest with each other

this is what I have to say this is what I'm not going to say hypothetically I'm going to say this and you know we just work through it together and I don't ever think for a moment I'm never going to have a conversation with somebody that I got a second guess is this information going to leave this phone call so it's like I think because of our friendship and the trust and the history that we have there

we can do good business so how do you decide what's best for your client and what's best for your girl and what I mean by that is like, you know, you see like somebody like Lauren in the position she's in, she's growing, like, you know, she's building her name. You might have some information that you could be, I could get the people magazine,

but if I give it to Lauren, it's really going to help Brown Girl grinding. So what are you doing in those situations? I think it depends on a situation. Wherever there's controversy, drama, no pun intended, right? That's not ever, that's never been a part of my process or my systems. Like, I'm never feeding.

I know there's people that think like, oh, this is a PR stunt. like never feeding or setting up a stunt right but in terms of like exclusives like oh we have this like great information or something we want to share about the album like of course like I would want you know my friend to have the exclusive um but when it comes to the client it's just like if you if you love me and you say you're my friend then you respect the fact that I have to do what's best for my client and that's just you know and if that level of understanding is just not there then we're truly we're not friends and we can't do business

And I will say there's been plenty of time. And also, too, I think it's like a trade thing. Because, like, for me, it's like, okay, maybe if I know this or you've just given me this, but then your client or whoever is like, we want to go another place with it. I'm like, I talk to her all the time. She'll call me about something else. There's been many times where I couldn't do something. But on the back end, it's like, ooh, I might get another story that's bigger or you might

come to me and say, hey, this is announcing. Like, so it's a transactional thing as well for me. But I want to talk about when, like, so Cardi says patients be like, what the fuck? there's a lot of moments because y'all don't stage these things but people always think things are staged so like the Harper's Bazaar party moment

the um what was that Nicki Minaj Cardi B, the fight at the Harper's Bazaar party First of all she didn't even hear she wasn't there when when Cardi made the record because you heard it when Cardi played it for you you were surprised when she said yeah I wasn't I wasn't there for when she recorded the record so then you heard it you was like

what the fuck in real life I was just like taken back because I was like Why do it have to be me? But I mean, I guess it only makes sense because a lot of people probably think that there's this, this yes man complex

in our relationship. And it's the complete opposite. Like, I'm going to always have her back, right, wrong, or indifferent. Like, there's never going to be a time that I was staying down from that. But at the same time, where we don't agree, we don't agree respectfully, right?

And we handle that, like, adults. And I think we do a really good job of, like, we know that our loyalty is, like, friends and basically sisters is, you know, the core of our relationship, but it really doesn't blur the lines when it comes to, like, being direct about, you know, business decisions or just, you know, life decisions. We don't always see eye to eye. So there are plenty of times that she does, and I don't know why the internet thinks that I, like, have these strings and control what she says or what she can do. Like, I think her fans kind of have this idea.

Like, take her phone, make her get off the internet. Like, it's a grown-ass woman. Like, she's going to do and say as she pleases. And yes, from time to time she asked for suggestions or advisement, but there are some times where she jumps out the window and she do and say whatever she want to do. And I am looking like, what the fuck? Like the talent that's coming into Fifth and Freedom, I think what I was going to ask was there's a lot of those moments

and they're big because of who she is and because of her personality. How do you in real time strategize and figure it out where it doesn't hit her brain or her business too hard? and it works out in her favor or at least her narrative is in her favor i would almost say it's in the it's kind of like in the reverse like i'm not thinking when something happens like damage control which oh my god like the association of publicists please don't kill me i'm not thinking like oh my god i need to get in crisis control because i think what you build from the beginning and the tone you set with your client in terms of authenticity is what carries you through those moments

because when those moments happen, I don't have to jump into damage control mode because we've been who we are from the beginning. She's been authentic and who she is from the beginning. She's been unapologetic and unfiltered from the beginning. So it really sometimes in a lot of these moments just doubles down on who she's always shown up is. So I think it's really in the opposite for me.

Like I'm not in that moment. Of course, if it's absolutely crazy, let's talk through it, let's figure it out. but it's not a lot of like spinning of the narrative and coming up with things that may not necessarily be true to help save face like and I love that she's just a woman that she just stands on her shit like damn I did say that and I fucked up but you know yeah

fuck it so do you feel with your PR background right do you feel that all publicity is good publicity I don't know I understand it I understand what it means but I still I do still feel like things can be harmful. Like, unless all you care about is the attention, that's the advantage of, you know, everything is publicity.

But if you truly care about a brand that's going to build value and be valuable X amount of years from now, then you should care about, you do have to care about what could possibly be harmful. And I think a lot of times for her, she gets

this backlash up. You don't have to explain everything. You don't need to say everything. And And I think there are some times that I'm kind of like, I feel like we could have not said something. But I also feel like I love that she feels the need to set the record straight. So that way when a conversation does come up with a potential brand partner or, you know, a potential partner just in business or, you know, what have you. It's like I made sure to clear my name and set the record straight.

And if what I'm saying is not true, you prove to me that it's not true. And I feel like she calls a lot of people's bluff. and she makes sure to stand on exactly what she thinks and how she feels, and sometimes that comes out in Instagram comments or tweets or what have you. But, you know, I don't think that all publicity is good publicity.

I think that all publicity is attention, but all attention is not good attention. And sometimes the algorithm don't know the difference. Whether somebody's saying good or bad things about you. He just like, damn, she got mentioned a million times in Iowa. Right. But it's like, what is she getting mentioning for? you know, at the end of the day,

especially if it's something that defames your character. It's one thing if it's like, if it's about something frivolous, like wardrobe or a rumor, like a surface, you know, gossip topic. But something that defames your character and just your moral compass, like those still have real repercussions.

A lot of people think that no one has any sort of principle anymore when it comes to these businesses. Everybody just wants a name. They just want a celebrity. You know, they'll pay for it. No, like, there are still moral clauses and contracts. There are still people that have principles and they want to know how you show up as a person.

So if you are defaming who I am and my character, which could possibly stand in the way or intervene or interfere with what I'm building, then I'm set the record straight. Can you go a little deep on that? Like, how do these salacious headlines hurt or help deals with corporate brands? I mean, they do hurt, right? especially if it's a lot of brands the brand partnerships go deeper than just the money

like what's the upfront guarantee like how are we structuring this partnership like they're still compliance at the end of the day they want a lot of brands still want to know this is a decent person they show up as a decent person and when they go out into the space or in the marketplace to represent my brand or my company they can be trusted right because they've obviously spent millions of dollars

and resources and manpower to build whatever is that they're building and they don't want to compromise that so a salacious headline if you think about press right there's never a time where a headline will go up about a particular person or topic and they don't in that article recount every other thing that is attached to that person so and also right before this happened such and such was supposed to sign a deal or assigning a deal with this company so now you're you know if if i'm a publicist for this brand and i'm getting these google alerts this person who i'm supposed to be doing business with is now showing up in my alerts and correlation to the name of my brand or my company in a terrible way. So to your point even earlier is all press,

good press, that's not good press for them. Especially depending on whatever that brand is built upon, if they're geared towards mothers or they're geared towards a certain type of audience and that headline is either prejudice or hurtful against that audience, that's not good press. You know what I'm saying so I mean salacious headlines do you know come with a certain level of damage when you're building outside of just yourself brand and most talent if they're smart they're building a brand of their own so that they can collaborate and partner with other companies and other brands how do you decide when an artist should lean into controversy versus when they should fall back leaning into controversy I think it depends if the con if what we're considering is

if what we're considering controversy is something that is authentic or true to the person then you lean in because it's who you are right if the controversy is

centered around something negative or counterproductive something that if it continues in the press cycle will continue to hurt the brand or hurt the name then you lean out of it but I'm just I've been so big

and you know I've Obviously, Cardi played a really big role in this. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her.

Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor. and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them.

I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, it's Danielle Fisher. Writer Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And we're bringing you Viva Las Content. That's right. We are back in Las Vegas, the city of sin, and giving the people what they want. A full week of Y2K content. Wait, we're back in Vegas? Tell me why.

Well, for the Backstreet Boys residency at Sphere, of course. We sat down with Kevin Richardson and A.J. McLean just minutes before they took the stage, and our very own Wilfredel basically became the newest member of the band. Boy band, please. Plus, the man who has the longest running comedy show on the show on the show. Strip joins us and gets his props. It's Carrot Top, baby. And finally, we all L-O-V-E-Hur, Ashley Simpson-Ross, joins us to talk about her upcoming

sold-out Vegas residency. It's a full week of nostalgic interviews you don't want to miss. Listen to PodMeets World on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport. The holiday rush, parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed. There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently the explosion actually impelled metal, glass.

The injured were being loaded into ambulances, just a chaotic, chaotic scene. In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged, and it was here to see. day. Terrorism. Law and order criminal justice system is back. In season two, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight. That's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of Law and Order Criminal Justice System on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The podcast, Grasas Come Again, is back. This season, we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment,

with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition? No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned in, like, over 25 years. Oh, wow. That's a real G-talk right there. Oh, yeah. We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters,

sharing their real stories of failure and success. I feel like this is my destiny. You were destined to be a start. We talked all about what's viral and trending with a little bit of chisement, a lot of laughs, and those amazing Vibras you've come to expect. And, of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity, struggles,

and all the issues affecting our Latin community. You feel like you get a little whitewash because you have to do the code switching? I won't say whitewash because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me. But the whole pretending and coat, you know, it takes a toll on you. Listen to the new season of Grasasasas Come Again as part of My Culture podcast, network on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast that coming into this

industry 10 years ago there were so many people that said if you team up with her and put your name next to her you're going to box yourself in you'll only be able to represent people that's urban you guys won't make it past love and hip hop like that was that was literally give y'all clothes for her remember y'all were trying to figure she was loving hip-hop was about to happen you you're trying to style her they wouldn't even give y'all clothes for her yeah we didn't have a budget for a stylist at the time and we were just kind of figuring out per project with hair and makeup. So I was

literally Googling like how to ask for wardrobe from brands. So I would go out, I would get to New York early, come up to Turnpike and go to all these different boutiques and try to pool. And this one boutique said like she's not our girl. Like this doesn't represent who our woman is. And years later obviously

it's like, hey, we have these clothes. We want her to wear them. Like and you know. And then how do you proceed with that? well that's a calling conversation I've learned my scope and my boundaries but you know like that's a wardrobe conversation but at the same time you know

I'd be a little petty sometimes you know right it is a interesting case study for me because I'm like if you couldn't see Cardi come and you had no vision like I thought Cardi was a superstar from day one I didn't know in what but you just knew this girl is going to be a star absolutely I mean

some people are programmed to think that the only way to success is the easiest path to success, which is something that is easy to digest and easy to package. And that for them is the selling point. Oh, I can easily package them. I know what kind of clothes to put on them, do their hair, put them here, put them there, get them a deal here. Like that for me, some people think that that's just the easiest path to success, but I still don't know necessarily what it is in that moment where it was just like, this is to me more relatable and just more people are behind the A ball than

they are in front of it. So you can't build every single brand on a on this idea that this is a fantasy life or this is a lifestyle you can't have or this is a person you can't sit with or you can't hang out with like we're in a day and age now and we saw it early like people want to see themselves

and the people that they support or the people that they listen to. And even with Fifth and Freedom we recently signed our first overall Management Act season four which is... Thank you. Yeah, what is it?

Yeah, what is it? So there's a Netflix show that's out right now called Building the Band. It's a singing, it was a singing show, not a competition necessarily, but kind of,

where they basically, it was set up like Love Island. So all of the contestants started off inside of a pod. You couldn't see anyone else. So you had to pick your band member based on the sound of their voice. How well they sung or, you know,

only could, only what you could hear, not what you could see. So you formed your band in that way. And then you, at the, you know, I forget maybe the second or third episode, you were revealed to your other band members. So I was in Turks and we decided not to go to dinner that night. We binge watch this show on Netflix. And I immediately fell in love with this group because they were so different.

Each and every group member represents someone else, represents a different audience, a different type of person. and everyone thought that they were going to win. I felt they were going to win, right? And the winners that did win are extremely talented, beautiful girls. And I think that the industry, and depending on who's navigating what conversation, people are determining what is more marketable versus what is not. And what is more marketable sometimes gets the upper hand or the opportunity first.

And I DM them and I was just like, I like y'all. I love that. And I want to work with y'all. And my friend was just like, you just DM people. I DM people all the time. Like, there's no shame and no ego when it's something that I want or something that we want to do. And they DM me back, maybe like two or three weeks later. And we immediately clicked.

And I knew that from the synergy of my relationship with Cardi and what we built, I know that I have a vision. I can see the same thing that I saw like in her, I see in them. And when I brought it to my partner Bunn, he immediately saw it too. It wasn't even a conversation of like, I don't know. It was like they're fire as hell. Like, we want to work with them. And I want to use every network and resource I have to help to help build them out. I think that is so dope.

Has that ever been a thing, though? Have you ever said, look, Bunn, this is why I want, bought them to your partner. And he's like, eh, has he ever disagreed about any talent that you ever wanted to? Um, I don't know. I don't know. have you ever disagreed about talent? I think it's more or less like, I think he's super compromising when it comes to me

and I'm like, oh, I have this vision. But then like I'm not as, and that's why it's a partnership and there's a balance, right? Because I'm way more like brand center, brand focus, building out, you know, the creative vision, the brand DNA identity. He's like more on the music side

in terms of like the ear and like seeing the talent. So it's like I'm very, um, Like there's, you know, you have your rap, you have your, and sometimes I'm just like, and I'm like super millennial. Like, so like the new rap and the new like the TikTok phase and everything, I'm like, sometimes I'm just not with it. But he's like, no, I'm telling you, like, give it a year. And I will say every time he's ever said that, like a year has passed. And he's like, see, I told you like, this is, you know, so he has his finger definitely more on the pulse. But, you know, when it came to season four, we were like completely aligned.

And, like, we want to represent them. And, you know. That's good you have a partner you can trust, though. Yeah. No, for sure. How did you get your name of patience? I mean, I know you guys. It's your birth name.

Her mom. I know that. I know that's your birth name. Her mom. But did your mom tell you why she named you that? Um, I think when I asked her, she said something to the effect of like, with everything that was happening in the room at the time, she was yelling out for like, or she was saying she needed patience or something because I was supposed to be Alexis.

I think it was supposed to be my name. But that was her car? She had a car? Hmm. She had Alexis? What? No. No.

She did it. Do you know Lauren's dad in Delaware? Oh my no. No, she don't know my dad. I met Lauren. Neither did she. Listen, I'll ask you another question. You know what?

Tell us more about you. No, no, no. I don't know why they take digs at this girl like that. They know that don't know my father. Listen. So this is another PR question right now. You hear about this a lot, but do people really put, like, do publicists really put celebrities together as PR stunts?

Like, couples? Couples. is it like a I'm like some couples they're going to dog me out in her Facebook group chat you can't tell me I feel you

but I always hear about it there are people that still believe that they need stunts to help drive an album or release or build engagement on social media and I personally feel like

if you need a stunt like that there's something else missing or lacking Like you To put someone I've never done it I never thought it was real Some people do

I mean there are some people that are like We need a good stunt We need something that's going to drive a conversation Especially if people feel like they're losing momentum Or they're not being talked about enough Like there are people that Not everybody But there are people that still

Practice that Jesus Christ I remember they were standing about Money Bagel and Meg Nostale And they were both They were both hot at that time, so I didn't feel like that was one that they could have said that about. But that was like in conversations. I'm like, they both like at their peaks.

Why would that have to happen? And I just never thought it was real. But you hear about those things. And now I got a real live person with a publicist's background. And I just wanted to know. I have a question for you. I guess some people would ask like everybody can't, everybody's story doesn't end up like Cardi B's. So when a person comes to you, their new.

how do you take them from zero to 100? And what happens if it doesn't work? Nine times out of 10, I don't take on many new clients. I think early on it was like there was this level of like high energy and momentum and people were reaching out like I want to work with you. And I'm like, yeah, like let's do it. Like I want to build my roster. And I thought that quantity is what I needed in terms of like building a really successful

agency. But once I reached a place of like more maturity and understanding, understanding and experience, you really want to build with the person that, and everyone doesn't get the opportunity to do that because some people, you know, they switch up, they change. But you really want to build with the person that's turning a light on for you. A lot of, a lot of celebrities and people of, you know, people of public profiles, what have you, they don't, they don't value their team in a way where they feel like credit is always do or they feel like they want to share

with the world these are the people that are helping me build from the very beginning there was never any there was never any like there was no energy that was like I don't want to um I don't want people to know who works with me right like and I think too that's why a lot of people will say like I pioneered like this shift

in the PR industry because they was mad at you in the beginning oh they're still Facebook group chats they used to be so mad at patients because they used to feel like people just knew her too much or she was trying to be known too much but Cardi always platform patients a lot, talked about her.

And also I think there was a lot of times where you were all she had we would see you with her so people wanted to know who you were. By the way, the old school publicists were mad about that. I don't know why, because that's the old school way of doing thing.

Remember Lizzie Grubman? She had a whole TV show on MTV. And she was a publicist? Yes, Marvin Brittle. Kelly Cotron is why I wanted to be a publicist. It was her show on Bravo, Kel on Earth. And I was like, ooh.

Like, these are the people that help the famous people either be famous, get famous, stay famous. Like, these are the brains. These are the, you know, the people that are making it happen. But I think early on, and my personal opinion is that where people can't do is what drives that, like, rhetoric around just, like, hate. Like, you hate what someone else is doing because you can't show up in the same way

that they're showing up. People that can do, people that can't criticize. Exactly. Exactly. And I do feel like that's where a lot of it came from. I'm like, well, you know, I wouldn't necessarily always wear black to a carpet, but I also wouldn't be competing with my client, but it's just like, I don't want to wear black. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, why do I have to fall into this idea of being a shadow that moves this person around? Because even when I was younger and I look at the people, I was watching Belly the other day. And I'm looking at the credits now. And I'm like, I, you don't know that there were, it was this mirage of people that was making, they were making all of these things happen and making your favorite artists. be your favorite artist and that's also why you know when we were younger you didn't put being a publicist or a manager or a stylist or a video director on your list of things you wanted to be when you grew up because there was no representation of that it was just here's the star and the star is the star is the star

because they're a star and now as you've gotten older and people are giving you purviews into all of the different pieces that make these things happen I think that why would you be mad at that. Because now we've only created a conversation for someone who thought they were limited to only wanting to do a certain, you know, certain careers or take certain career paths. Now their eyes are open to what is really possible in a world full of creativity and music and entertainment. So, I mean, a lot of people are definitely mad at that, but I think that also came from being with a person who was building in a celebrity space that was also not your average celebrity. She platformed everyone on her team. She, you know, she helped and everyone

obviously was already naturally talented. And I do feel like what is for you is for you. And I feel like we all would have ended up somewhere on a path of success and what we were doing. But she helped fuel that from not shielding us from the world, but saying like, this who's getting me dressed, this is my girl, this is whomever. And allowing us to sit at so many different tables and be a part of so many different conversations, conversations is what put me in a position to be able to build outside of where I thought I wanted to go. I only thought I wanted to be a publicist. Whole time, I'm an innovator, manager, creative director, right?

So, yeah, I don't know how we got that. So artists want to connect with FIF and Freedom. How do they do that? And I love what you're talking about you said. You want to empower authentic talent, provide tools for financial literacy, mental wellness, and ownership by opportunity. Yes. A lot of management companies aren't looking to do that for their time.

No. They want their talent to show up and produce. a really quality timeless product music or whatever the product is yet their mental wellness is left to the wayside you can't show up if you're not here and you can't show up if you're not here like a lot of people are lost from just a mind body and soul POV but they're still being sent call sheets to show up at 4 a.m. and get your glam done but they're lost or they're empty or they need someone to talk to. So I feel like if anything, when I just think of things in a logistic, you know, logistical way and we were thinking about what services to provide, I want my talent,

we want our talent to always show up as their best selves first and then they'll create their best product. Right. So mental wellness and then also, you know, the equitable opportunities. Early on in our career was all these one-off partnerships. Oh, we got a bag for you. We got a million for you right and back then it's like we young we brown and black million dollars is a lot of money but as you get older and you start to really you know break down and try to understand how does all this work like where did you even come up with that number and it's based on what they see your value and nine times out of ten they're going to pay you less than what your value for so i teamed up with a banker during the pandemic and he started to flip the deals inside out to show me that

this is how much media value and brand value your talent gave this company this amount should have been this amount. So then understanding that, it's like not only should we be getting upfront guarantee, we should be looking for equity and ownership. Because we're driving a lot of the, a lot of these brands, we're driving their valuation through the roof

and we're not getting anything on the exit. So that's when we started really talking about what to build, you know, what we want that legacy to be, what we want that company to be, and that's what led into the joint venture with Revolve and Forward. What did that? For Cardi.

So our partners that revolving forward, we're building out a space in the fashion category and in the beauty category. And maybe November of almost two years ago, me and Cardi were on the phone. We pretty much talk every single day, all day. And we were just talking about the opportunities that were on the table at the moment,

but what she really, really wanted. And she's like, I want my mogul moment. I know that the value that I've given these brands that I've worked with, I need to be putting that into my company. I want that for me. And I asked her like, okay, like, so how do you want to do this? And, you know, she was like, go find me the partners.

And I immediately like literally hung up the phone and I'm thinking through all of my contacts. Like, who can we partner with? Who can we partner with? Because I also understand my talent enough to know and understand her bandwidth enough to know that we're not in a space to design, fulfill, deliver. Like we need partners that can carry a lot of the weight and their experience and they're resourceful. And then she can show up and do what she does. And one thing that she's always done for me is put me in a position of power within her organizations

and empower me to mitigate those conversations and build in that way. So I was thinking and I started looking up recent IPOs and Revolve had just gone public, taking their company public. And I think their valuation at the time was between $2 or $3 billion. and I remember there was someone that I knew from my publicist's days that was connected. Shout out to Adam and Jen and Walker and Droz. They represent Revolve and they connected me

and maybe within two weeks I had lunch with the CMO at the Beverly Hills Hotel and I pitched this idea that I had of them partnering, not an influencer, not an ambassadorship. Like, we want to come together and build a completely separate entity from Revolved and from whatever else we're doing. And it took us about a year and a half

and now Cardi is co-founder and partners with the owners of Revolve Michael Mente, Risa, Mike Kaye. And we built a joint venture where she has a large ownership in what will be two companies in two different categories

so that again, if she don't ever want to and I'm not saying she's not, Barty game, please don't drag me. She never puts out another album after September 19. Make sure you guys pre-saved. Am I the drama? she would have built we would have built this equitable foundation

that you know she can do what she want when she wants I do want to ask you one day I never asked Cardi this either why didn't she do the movie with Paramount was it the the assistant living movie yeah it was whatever it was the movie

and she was supposed to do it in like the week of film and she pulled out like because I always felt like acting was a natural progression yeah she's I mean literally like yes she is the drama in all of the ways like in the best ways so

look at you plugging out of Tyler she you know I think one thing about it she knows how to make hard decisions and have hard conversations she wasn't in a space where she was ready to deliver in that way I don't think she was there mentally I think she maybe didn't feel like and I'm just

you know from from what I know and one thing about Cardi is she always wants to be the absolute best in whatever she's doing like she is such a a competitor in that way and she's so driven in that way that I think she evaluated what was in front of her and said

am I going to be able to show up and do my absolute best? No. And most people would have just done it anyway because they would have been afraid of letting people down but she's never she's never afraid of having the hard conversation or letting people down and I think that's really kind of what it came down to. But she is segwaying into TV and film this year

and next year. We're working on a few different projects but she's definitely pulling her her talents over to the TV and film side and even the you know an executive producer side so i love all things cardie i mean duh right but i love even more hearing you talk about how you challenged yourself doing these things like that like you were just talking about the partnership with forward and revolve like if that wouldn't have happened if you didn't challenge yourself

that wouldn't have happened none of this would you wouldn't be here if you didn't just say if you if you gave up one day like just that girl from delaware not can't have happened You know, like you, I love that. This is such a self-made story. Yeah, I mean, I can definitely say, oh, thank you, Lolo. Yes, I mean, it's really dope to, like, Lauren, we grew up together. Like, we were going to parties in high school. And, like, Charlemagne has been someone that's seen our journey from the absolute very, very beginning.

So it's just like they could, I love that there are witnesses to this journey that, no, it wasn't overnight. And that also know, like, I don't, I don't. don't really care what people think about me, but I do want them to know, like, this has always been me. Like, there's never been a time in my life where I said, I can't have, or I don't want to dream of this because it'll be hard to get. And I do have to, like, give a lot of that credit

to my mother because the way that you are brought up and what is instilled in you from the beginning in your household is what you will carry. Now, I believe that I was who I was at my core from the day that I was born. But I do believe that my mother had, she's never made me feel like you can't have what you want. I wanted to ice skate when I was five. She bought me ice skates. I did a few

lessons. I wanted to tap dance. I went to perform an art school for acting and singing. I wanted to leave and go to a regular high school because I saw True Life. I'm a black cheerleader and said, I want to go to regular high school and I want to be a cheerleader for the football team. Like, I want to go to Europe. There was never a moment where she ever made me feel like what it is you want, you can't have. And I think just carrying that through is like if it's here for us, to see it is here for us to have it and God won't show you nothing you can't have and I just live by that so

man thank you for coming patience we ain't gonna never beat the we on Cardi B payroll Alex. They're like damn they interviewing Cardi's brand manager we ain't never beat no doubt congrats on Fifth and Freedom those artists are gonna be lucky talent gonna be lucky to have y'all. Thank you congratulations to you and Bunn

yes thank you how did they reach all do you even want them to Yeah, they can definitely reach us. We have Fifth in Freedom on Instagram. You can reach out. We're very active on our Instagram, and obviously, you know, you can see the services and things that we provide. Are you looking for something in particular right now?

I don't think we're ever looking for something in particular. It really is just a field thing. Like, we have a really, really dope emerging artist has coming out of Delaware, Billy Bird, who we've been working with for a few years, but now we're even, we're in a better position and have a lot more, there's a lot more opportunity

in like building her out because breaking artists out of very small markets is very difficult, but she's so talented, she's so raw, like, so I don't think we're really looking for anything but we're also not looking. Got you. So not looking.

Do with that information, what you will. Yes, man. All right, it's patience, foster. It's the breakfast club. Thank you so much. We're finished or y'all's done? My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam.

Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate.

Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it's Danielle Fischel. Writer Strong. And Wilfredel from PodMeets World. We are back in Las Vegas and giving the people what they want, a full week of Y2K content. Tell me why. Well, for the Backstreet Boys residency at Sphere, of course. We joke and say this is our second marriage, but it takes a lot of communication.

Plus, it's carrot top, baby. And finally, Ashley Simpson-Ross joins us to talk about her upcoming sold-out Vegas residency. Listen to PodMeets World on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Short on time, but big on true crime. On a recent episode of the podcast, hunting for answers, I highlighted the story of 19-year-old Lechay Dungey. But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside. and that text message would be the last time anyone would ever hear from her.

Listen to hunting for answers from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. This is an IHeart podcast.