The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Tabitha Brown On Purpose, Messages From God, Retiring Her Husband, New Book + More

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

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Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast

Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues especially those that affect black

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listen to historical records on the iHeartRadio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts wake that ass up in the morning the breakfast club morning everybody it's DJ Envy Charlemagne the guy we are the breakfast club we got a special guest in the building. Tab time. Who's celebrating her birthday next week. I am this weekend. This weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, Tabitha Brown. Welcome. How are you? I'm amazing. If I was in a bed, I'd be two people. I love that hoodie. Thank you. Freedom over code switching. What's that mean? Well, you know, I spent a very long time code switching and conforming and that's not freedom and so i no longer live that way and so i always tell people honey we

gotta choose freedom over code switch we're enough just as we are even if we're from the country even if we're from the south it's just a thing so i promote that all the time there you go i feel like i know you because i told you like when i saw you over the summer i'm like my kids watched tabitha Brown all the time on YouTube and then you know my wife has the cookbooks the vegan cookbooks around the house like she was giving them out as gifts to people I love it thank you girl

we gotta congratulate her on her Emmy as well she just won an Emmy back in December congratulations it still feels surreal you know but I feel grateful to have won for just like being myself. Right. But something so powerful that is for children. But it still feels like it didn't happen.

It feels like a dream almost. But the crazy thing is there's another side of that that it feels completely normal. It's like a it's a weird feeling. It's yours. Yeah. It feels like, oh, this is what God intended for my life. Absolutely. But the other side of it's like did that really happen so but yeah how did the internet change your life shoot honey in every way um you know I was a I still am an actress but for a long time you know I was pursuing acting and nobody really knew me from you know acting and I started

doing content doing you know videos not because I wanted to, but I had a dream and God spoke to me and told me to start doing videos. And I was like, no, I don't want to do that, you know. But I was also trying to live a life of obedience. And I started and nobody was watching. And I was like, well, God, you told me to do this. And ain't nobody showing up on these videos to watch why do you have me doing this um and I started in August of 2017 doing videos and by December 30th one of my videos went viral which one it was a it was a TTLA I was eating a sandwich in my car because I was driving uber and uh because I was on disability for over a year because I was so sick and when I started feeling better after going vegan I started um

driving uber and I was like you know what I had had a job before I didn't want to get stuck back in a nine-to-five so I told my husband I was like you know what I'm gonna go drive uber we live in LA I'm probably get discovered in my car in my mind I'm thinking I'm gonna you know pick up a producer or director or something and I stopped by Whole Foods because I dropped somebody off I'm gonna go ahead and get me a little breakfast And because I'm still a new vegan at that time. And I got a sandwich and did a review on it because I was my videos. When I first started, I was just telling people I'm going vegan. When I find new vegan options, I'm just going to share it.

And by the time I got home, the video had like 50 some thousand views. And I was like, wait a minute, who watching this video? So you was Keith Lee before Keith Lee? Listen, I love that's my nephew um but the next morning had like over 100,000 views and I was like I told my husband I said I think I'm going viral and he was like what that mean I was like I don't know uh and four days later Whole Foods reached out I was like we saw your video because I got the you know sandwich from there and they wanted to partner with me I became their brand ambassador ambassador and been on and do so many campaigns.

And it's been on ever since then. Now, why did you switch to vegan for people that don't know? So I got sick. So January of 2016, I woke up one morning and I had this headache in the back of my head. And I had a car accident in high school. So I'm used to like waking up sometime and the back of my neck is tight and sometimes it goes into my head. So I thought it was one of those episodes.

But this headache rested in the back of my head for a year and seven months wow and it started to you know affect my body and so I started to uh fall when I would walk um my all my as a woman all everything was all out of whack uh I just did not feel well so every time I went to the doctor they would do so many tests they was doing MRIs trying to figure out what is wrong so they told me they was like we know it's something autoimmune that's attacking your body we just can't figure it out I lost my vision for a day it was a it was a really bad time for me and I took every drug the doctor offered me I was like a guinea pig because you are desperate to feel better and if anything it probably made me worse nothing was working and so my daughter came home from school one day and she was like uh mommy we saw

this documentary at school today I think you should watch it and I don't know if you know teenagers honey but it ain't every day they come home and tell you to watch a documentary and so it was what the health on Netflix and so I was like you know what let's watch it together as a family so I watched it and when they started talking about not all diseases are hereditary sometimes you can eat the same thing in your family that will cause the same disease in your bloodline and so that was kind of like a light bulb moment for me my mama died at 51 of a rare disease ALS my daddy is now 72 but he's the oldest man to ever live in my family people get sick at young ages in my family and they die at young ages in my family and the only

thing i could think of that we had in common was how we ate now i wasn't a bad eater because i was in la but i wasn't eating to feel well i was eating to look a certain way which is it's also a sickness and so which means eating to look a certain way so i'm not the hollywood image exactly i wasn't eating to like oh let me put this in my body so I can be well. I was like, oh, let me put this in my body so I don't gain weight. Gotcha. You understand? So, but I still wasn't, you know, a terrible eater.

I haven't eaten red meat or pork since I was 15. And I was like, okay. And I'm allergic to dairy like most people. But I also was like, it's the only thing I haven't tried. So I told my husband, let's do like a 30-day vegan challenge. Your husband did it too? For 30 days and so on like day 10 the headache I had every day for a year and seven months disappeared wow and I was like wait a minute I'm on to something and uh after that every day I started getting energy again because I had chronic fatigue and I had chronic uh panic attacks because

when you sick and you know something is wrong but but the doctor said, well, we can't figure it out. It makes you have anxiety and depression. And so I started getting energy again because I would sleep all day, all night. Like I would just be exhausted all the time. And so energy started coming back. My head, you know, was feeling better. I was starting to feel like myself again. And so that day, when day 30 came, I told my husband, I was like, this is going to be my life. You know, I'm going to go vegan. He was like, well, tomorrow I'm going to need a piece of chicken tab.

Like this is going to be. But I always tell people that part, because sometimes the journey that may change your life or save your life, you've got to be willing to go on it alone. And so I was like, all right. And so I never look back. That's why I got so many questions. Number one, you said something earlier about God spoke to you. What does God sound like for me? Yeah. So I always tell people I get asked that a lot. Now, I am gifted in a different way than most people. So for me, I can hear like your voice. I can hear sometimes it sounds like a flutter, like a hummingbird would be close to my ear. So it's like a wind and it's a flutter, but you can hear sound in it. I can see it.

I can dream it. I'm a seer, but in my dreams, like my dreams can speak to me and things come to pass. So that's what it sounds like for me. For most people who are always trying to figure out, is this God speaking to me or is this just my thoughts? I would tell you that when you think of something, you'll think of it and you may lose the thought later, right? It may not even come back to you.

But when God is speaking to you, when he's putting something inside of you, it won't let you rest. It'll keep coming back. That's right. And so that's how you can kind of decipher and then sometimes he will use a voice that's familiar to you like for me when my mama was sick she lost her voice because she had ALS so at the end she could either whisper or we'd have to read her lips and so I would be at her house on the other side of the house in her office but

she would be in her bedroom in the hospital bed and And just as clear as I can hear, you know, us having this conversation, I would hear her call me like, Tab. And I'll go in there and be like, Mom, you called me. She'll look at me like, nah, I called you. You know, like I can't, she can't. But that's how God will get your attention sometimes, not to scare you. Now, I've only heard this one time, and this is when I was living in Greensboro, North Carolina,

when I had kind of given up on my dreams and thought I couldn't have them anymore uh I woke up one morning it felt like an earthquake had happened in Greensboro like my bed shook me awake and I heard a voice that sounded like thunder and the voice said this is not the life I planned for you and I got on my knees I started praying I was like now God if this is you speaking to me I need you to show me a sign you just shook the house tablet listen, I woke up like this. I had never heard that before. And it was scary. And I was like, either you got to show me today that this is you.

Or I'm going to tell my husband, take me to the hospital because I thought I was losing it. And when you gift it, sometimes I do feel like you're crazy. And other people think that as well. But now, of of course I know like oh no this is just my gift and I don't hide it anymore I don't stray away from it I wrote about in my first book because I wanted people to know like this is me if you want to rock with tab honey this is who I really am I don't hide that part of me anymore so what was the other sign that God showed you that day oh so later that day because I had kind of given up on my

acting dreams because I had a baby and you know know, me and my husband was working jobs. We was living in North Carolina. So you have a baby early in a small town. You pretty much are like, oh, you're going to get this regular job and you're going to get a house and cars and that's going to be it. And so in Greensboro, North Carolina, where no acting or TV shows or nothing was happening. And later that day, we was on our way to the mall, and on the radio, Buster Brown was the DJ, and he came on and was like, hey, I just got a new TV show on the WB Network,

and I'm looking for a female co-host. I'm holding auditions. And I was like, that's my sign. I got to go to this audition. And I was at the audition, and I booked the job. It was the first audition I ever had for a television. Wow, look at that guy. Yeah, and I've been pursuing it ever since wow when you when you say you have gifts are you

are you clairvoyant are you like a medium do you no i i call it i'm a seer right um it's just you know that's the gift that god gave me i was born with it um in that way yeah my whole life i feel like we all have discernment we just don't all lean into it right but for me I as a little girl would dream about people I've never met before and wake up and tell my mom and dad they're like oh I such and such and they'd be like that person been dead 20 years like you would never know that person right I can remember being at my grandfather's funeral but they're like you were 10 months old there's no way for you to remember that um it's just I don't know and I can't control it that's the thing it just happens like I can be talking to you and something can just appear that I can see and it may be for you or it may

be to protect me it's just a pen but I have no control over that absolutely my um now i'll tell you later no i'll tell you i was gonna ask you so you know north carolina uh-huh so now you pick up your family you moved to la yeah how was that conversation with your husband and your child and let's let's just go to la a place we don't know we gotta find a new job leaving this good carolina yeah yeah it's crazy because at first my husband's like, so in 98, I moved to California in pursuit of acting. But I wasn't in L.A. and I was like in Orange County and I didn't tell my husband. He was my boyfriend at the time. Like how bad it was. I didn't tell nobody. I was renting a room from somebody who was like taking all my money. But, you know, I'm like young, like 19. I really want to get this dream out of me and I want to do something. And so our plan was for him to move out a couple of months later, you know, and then we would get our own place.

But when he moved out and saw how I was living, he was like, no, this is crazy. He's like, you're working two jobs to survive. You ain't nowhere near L.A. You're not pursuing acting. He was like, we need to move back to North Carolina so that you can we can save up money because it's cheaper. He was like, we could stay for one year, then move back to L.A. so you can we can save up money because it's cheaper he was like we can stay for one year then move back to LA so you can really pursue your dreams that one year turned into five years and a forgotten dream right until I had that experience that morning

so when I told my husband after I worked that job for like a year I was like now it's time for us to move back to LA he was like nah he was like I'm working now he was like we got this baby you know he had I also had a stepdaughter who was older and he was like, we got we got, you know, responsibilities now. Like we can't just up and go to

LA and he had just built like a music studio in the house. So he was like, no, we good. We got good jobs for Greensboro. He used to rap? No, but he just loved like making music. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. And so I was like, well, listen, I can I can go out there, but like i can feel it calling me

and i can come back and forth he was like oh no we're not gonna do that i can imagine those arguments you gonna go where you're right and leave me with i don't know what money i thought i had that i could be bicoastal okay and go back and forth i don't know what i was thinking uh but we saved up like eight thousand dollars uh took us some months and we moved to la to L.A. And we first got there, we was living in Baldwin Hills. And my husband, I mean, we're both from the same hometown. You know, we're from Eden. It's a very small town in North Carolina. And our apartment, I had flew out there to find our apartment.

Because back then my husband used to be afraid to fly. You know, people from the country, they'd be like, I ain't getting on no plane. You know, so I had went back and forth to find us a place. And I had found a cute, this spot was cute to me right and but it did have the bars on the window because most of them do in la right so but we weren't used to that but i didn't tell him because in my mind i thought it was nice and it was it did turn out to be nice was he able to bring his gun with him yeah uh he did actually okay you know what he did he did he's from actually. Okay. You know what? He did. He did. He's from the Carolinas.

I already know. He did. But when we got there, he was hot. He was like, what? Because we were like right off Crenshaw. Jesus. Yeah, he was like, what? Hey, we got a door there.

I was like, babe, I didn't scope it out. This is a good area. I promise you. And because there was, you know, that was when the reality show Baldwin Hills was out remember that I said we live in Baldwin Hills it's just that we don't live in View Park but where we park we can see the view like I was trying to sell it over there but he got used to it over time but you know in the beginning we was a little we was at odds for a while but you know we stayed there for five years and we loved it wow so that's I see now I hear this story I get a glimpse of why retiring your husband was important to you.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we came out there and after what the first like year or so, that's when he was like, I think I'm a, I'm a join LAPD. And I was like, cause where we from, you, you're not a police officer. Like we don't even trust police officers. Right. Even in LA too.

But he was like, uh, I met some like cool black officers that look like me they won't judge me it was like cool like they was like real people and uh he was felt like he could do it and make a difference but then also he thought okay this is a good career i'll have a good salary and benefits and you can pursue your dream and that that's that's what what he did. Wow. Yeah. One of the moments that we all saw that went viral was when you retired your husband. And, you know, Wendy Williams had made some statements about you and the way you responded. You responded with such grace and such love.

It was almost like a I hope you heal. Absolutely. You heal moment. Do you respond like that always? In this season of my life? Yes. Yeah. I mean, the old tab probably would have had that get back spirit. Right. But she didn't even know me. And I don't know her other than knowing her from, you know, her career. But you can also tell when somebody is hurt. And we've all been through things that cause us to project and feel a certain way.

But I'm not going to exhaust energy and give anybody control over me to anger me. Right. So but also I just love people, despite what anybody have to say about me. There's so many people now that hate me, that don't know me, but I love them. It also makes me want to love harder in the world um because people are hurting right you know a lot of people think that I'm fake because I'm nice and I'm like I I'm a kind I'm compassionate I've held my mama's hand while she died like I've seen death so many times like I have also almost lost my life why would I not be happy and joyful i'm still here that's right right

so um it hurts my heart for other people when i know that they're just hurting and they don't mean any harm in a way that they they it's really they're trying to make themselves feel better they're projecting right they're projecting and so the harm is really they're doing it to themselves because they're not instead of projecting. You should be trying to heal yourself and get what you need to feel better. But I don't know. Did you get a lot of flack for it? Because, you know, what it told me during that time is people don't understand love. Yeah. Right. You love your husband. I do. You are financially fine and you can make sure that he's OK.

You know, and it doesn make sure that he's OK. You know, and it doesn't matter if he's a man, he's a woman or what he is. You love me and you had the opportunity to retire him and men do it for women all the time. So I didn't see it. So did you get a lot of flack for it? Oh, yeah. I mean, a lot of people had something to say about it, but that's their opinion. I don't I don't care. That ain't my business. But I also realize that a lot of people don't I don't care that ain't my business um but I also uh realized that a lot of people don't understand uh partnership right I've been with my husband 26 years amazing uh more than half my life right most people don't even understand that how did he feel he felt he felt amazing but

after what people don't know is I had been trying to retire my husband for like two years we had enough money and he was like that money came to quit bae I don't want to do that to you no just in case yeah he was like nah I know one plus one equal two we don't know because he also has watched me in Hollywood over 20 years not get jobs for six months or two years or whatever he was like we can't we can't count on this new money right and so I was like bae I promise you I I got the amount of money that we have always said if we have this amount of money in the bank taxes been paid we don't owe nobody that you would retire and he was like all right and let me think about it he took a leave first

he just was like I don't I don't want that on your back. You know, even though he has a nonprofit, but it wasn't going to make the, you know, coming straight out. He won't make the kind of money he was making before. And I was like, but now you can build it. Now you can do all the things you wanted to do. Right. So it took him a while. But afterwards now, listen, right now, what time is that?

They might be on the golf course. OK, listen, he worked with his kids three, four days a week, that baby might be on the golf course okay listen he worked with his kids three four days a week but he'd be on that golf course he is he is feeling it now he's good about it absolutely but the trust he has for you you know because as a man you know they always tell us our job is to protect yes and to provide yeah i think that we forget that we're a unit y'all been together 26 years me and my wife been together 26 years oh i love it most corner south carolina from yes kids you know so it's like i understand that and it don't matter who make it if one of us make it we in it together we in it together that's exactly right yeah i mean he

carried me i used to have odd and in jobs you know i would go work at macy's i'll go work at you know causton i would go and i did cna work i would do all kind of jobs to make sure because we are partners. So I would pay like utilities and stuff. I'm like, oh, let me take the key of school shop and let me do this because you're going to handle the big bills. That's partnership. That's right. And so he did that for 15 years. Man, when I was getting fired from radio and was too proud to go collect unemployment checks. My wife was the one working. Yeah. Paying the bills. We was getting evicted. She was the one going in front of the judge to tell to tell them why we shouldn't get evicted so i'd

overstand absolutely i mean that's what partners do but that's right so people who had you know problems with it they never had real partnership that's right so let's talk about this book i did a new thing your new book yes um 30 days the living free what is living free to tabitha brown well you know freedom over coast which you're right we talked about that but living free to Tabitha Brown? Well, you know, freedom over code switching, right? We talked about that. But living free is like taking the opportunity to do something, even if it scares you, right? Just doing something new, right? I started doing this challenge in 2014. I was really just in search of like getting to know myself better because I still was not free.

And I would do something new, whether it be with my kids or by myself, and just to see how it would open my mind and how it would make me feel. And so I did that over the years. And I would always, you know, learn something new about myself. Like I discovered my love for hiking. And I was like, oh, shoot, I never would have thought that I would love hiking. And then now it's something that I have continued to do over the years. And so I was like if I do

this again I think I want to write a book so last year I did it for 30 days and I journaled it and made it into a book and my hope was that other people want to you know live free and try new things and the other thing about freedom in order to like really go out and do something new that's the only way you're gonna know if you love something or you don't like it right you have to be willing to be like i don't care i just want to find out let me just see right so and it also could be something as simple as i'm gonna wear my hair different like right now i'm doing a you know my hair name is donna so i'm doing while i'm on tour i'm making a new hairstyle every day you said his name is donna yeah her name donna like don Summers or?

oh it's just Donna well I named after Don King because it looks more put together than Don King today today but she got her name because when I was

I did the big chopping when she was growing back one night I was cooking live and it was like straight up in the top I was like why is that piece of hair you know sticking straight up looking like Don King I was like I'm gonna that piece of hair, you know, sticking straight up looking like Don King?

I was like, I'm going to call her Donna. And it stuck. It stuck. Yeah. I love that you dedicated your new book to you. Yeah. Why was that important to do? Because, honey, I'm the one who made the decision to choose myself.

That's right. Right. And I made the decision to stop being afraid and to live my life my way and to try new things and the biggest thing i ever did for 30 days was go vegan and it saved my life and i was like girl this for you tab i prayed that i forever and always do new things every day i want to do that for the rest of my life i want to i'm gonna go back to i did a new thing but you keep bringing up the vegan thing cooking with spirit uh Uh-huh. What does that mean?

I've heard cooking with love. What does cooking with spirit mean? Cooking from the spirit means you cook from the spirit. I don't do measurements. So I cook, I just don't. Is your country falling apart? Feeling tired? Depressed?

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No country willingly gives up their territory. I was making a rocket with a black powder, you know, with explosive warhead. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Bullets. We need help!

We still have the off-road portion to go. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. And we're losing daylight fast. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the

thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know, follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun.

Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia Keys opens up about conquering doubt, learning to trust herself, and leaning into her dreams. I think a lot of times we are built to doubt the possibilities for ourselves. For self-preservation and protection, it was literally that step by step. And so I discovered that that is how we get where we're going. This increment of small, determined moments.

Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Like grace. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. video so you're trying your best and you're gonna figure out the rhythm of this thing alicia keys

like you've never heard her before listen to on purpose with jay shetty on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone this is courtney thorn smith laura layton and daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. It took drama and mayhem to an entirely new level. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, every backstab, blackmail, and explosion, and every single wig removal together. Secrets are revealed as we rewatch every moment with you. Special guests from back in the day will be dropping by.

You know who they are. Sydney, Allison, and Joe are back together on Still the Place with a trip down memory lane and back to Melrose Place. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha.

And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from

prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for CivicCypher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's how most people cook.

Yeah, that's why so many of us are unhealthy now. A little more salt. A little more salt. A little more salt. But that's the thing. I'm also salt free most of the time you know because i know my family dynamic right so all my seasonings are salt free um but yeah but we cook from the spirit you know a little bit of that and when your spirit say oh that's enough but also you know what you like and you know what you don't like well don't put the thing you don't like in there cook from your spirit

i was going i was going to ask you know so many people listening right and how did you know not to give up right because i'm sure there's somebody listening right now that's been trying music for 10 years and it didn't work and somebody that's trying acting it didn't work somebody's trying to be in a chef somebody's trying to be an author somebody's trying to do something online and creating videos and nobody's watching uh and they probably said i i felt i got a sign. Yeah. When do you tell them to say, maybe that's not the sign and maybe to change or, you know, how do you tell somebody to continue to keep doing what they're doing?

Because you could have gave up so many times. Yeah. I would never really tell anybody to give up. Right. If you think God has given you a sign, then trust the signs. For me, it was always signs. And that's confirmation. If it won't let you rest, if you try to give up and it won't let you,

I tried to give up. In Greensboro, I was like, I'm gonna just have to live this, you know, like I'm working UPS, go to this call center, you know, and we got a nice little house, you know, we got cars. Like that's, we're going to church on Sundays.

Like it's going to be our regular life. God wouldn't let me stop. He woke me up and it shifted me. I would see people. I worked at a staffing agency for a while in Greensboro. And I never forget we talk in 2003 and I had went to I was in a drive through on my lunch break. And when I got to the window, the little guy was like, he's the white guy. He was like, oh, my God. I was like, oh, my God. Like, what are we doing? He was like, aren't you the lady on the on the kids show? I was like. Now I work as collective staffing. He was like, OK.

I said, oh, OK. He was like, no, you're not. Yes, you're the lady that has a kid. I ain't have no kid show. I have a kid show now. Absolutely. But it was like God was just telling me he sees your destiny. Wow. He sees what's coming.

But I had no, like it would happen to me all the time. Me and my husband, we first moved to L.A., but this would happen even when we lived in North Carolina. We would go to the mall with our little girls people would stop us all the time be like y'all look like y'all are y'all famous and we'd be like we live in Greensboro we work at UPS like what are y'all talking about but people would just stop and stare and we never understood why but God would always say they see your destiny so it would be signs like that then also I would dream and I would see these things and I would tell my husband I'm like this is gonna happen we're gonna have this house the house I live in now I described to a t to my husband to the point we were in escrow on another house and this house just popped up and we was

like let's just go see it I had a phone call so I couldn't walk in the house when he did he walked in the house he came back out he was like this is our house this this is the house you described we're gonna we're gonna get this house you might as well call the people and tell them to like close the escrow on the other like we we're gonna fall out escrow on that this is our house I walked in I was like dang this is the house and of course that's the house we live in now but those are the signs that we have to not ignore but also we have to kind of uh ignore the the noise of of people who tell you you can't um but also we have to be honest

with ourselves if you are not really doing the work for the dream that you have, is it really your dream? Right. Because sometimes it might be a goal. And the difference between a goal and a dream is a goal is something that you create. A dream is deposited inside of you. God does that. You don't make up a dream. It lives inside of you. So be honest with yourself. Do you want it because you see somebody else with it? Do it look cool to you? Do you just want to make money? Or is it something that won't let you rest?

I have a chapter in my first book called Fuck Your Dreams If It's Not Your Dream. Because a lot of times we see things working for other people. That's right. And we think that's our dream. Like, no, that's not your dream. That's something that God had for somebody else. where did you find your dream absolutely never never compare your life um and and absolutely don't try to get it because somebody else got it you could be

inspired by anybody but you got to set your own path but your dream that has to live inside of you because then it won't ever feel like you'll have moments because I definitely have moments of like, Lord, when it's going to happen or you feel stuck. But it still won't make you give up on it. You'll still be like, I got to figure it out. Like, well, what are you calling me to do, Lord? But also for me, I only wanted to be an actor for so long. That was my goal. And God had to really like sit me down and say listen you can be an actor you can you can

be a series regular you could be in films you can do that tab but let me show you what I can do and that's when the overflow came I still am an actress but I'm also a CEO of my own business multiple businesses right I have multiple partnerships I have two New York Times bestsellers, right? It's so many different things that I do now that I was keeping myself in a box because I only had one thing. Then when I was like this thing that lives inside of me, the dreams I've had, I didn't just get that from being an actor. I got it from doing whatever God called me to do. So when I gave him my life, that meant I'm going to live my life. However you tell me God. And that opened the door for me to allow him to bless me in the way he has.

How important is being of service? It's so important. You know, I live a life of obedience, but I feel like I'm, I'm supposed to be for people, right? I feel like that's what I was called to do,

to love people, to be compassionate, um, to bring joy, help people laugh, also help people cry who need that. I understand that's a superpower to have that everybody doesn't have to control somebody's emotions and to help them. And that's my assignment. I believe that. And God has set me on a path, and I will forever do that. You got to tell me your morning routine, Tabitha. I need to know mentally, spiritually, emotionally,

what do you do in the morning to get grounded? Drink water. Is it glass of water? Is it holy water? What is it? Out the line? You know, it's a regular old filter water um but that is a part of it i drink water in the morning i pray in the morning of course um i when i work out most times i work

out in silence because that's when i hear a lot and so um i allow god, you know, just pour into me whatever I need in that moment for that day, maybe even for that hour. Sometimes you'll see me do videos and I'm in the gym. It's because he just gave it to me. But yeah, but I spend my my quiet time in the mornings. I do self check ins throughout my day and I always in my night with myself and and make sure I'm not taking nothing in into my sleep like carrying it you know from the day like something I might be holding on to because I don't want to be heavy in my mind in my sleep how do you do that uh and and navigate social media because social media can be one of the most toxic places on the planet so how

do you spend time on social media but still be able to disconnect to reconnect with yourself um i think because the things that i look at a lot of positive stuff show up on mine um but i also if it's if it's toxic or if it's negative it ain't my business i don't want i don't want no part of it. You know, I look for joy. I'm intentional with that. I'm intentional with spreading that. You know, when people come to my page, whichever one it is, it's going to be joy, it's going to be laughter,

it's going to be inspiration. It's enough negative in the world. I don't want to be part of it. So I'm just intentional with it. And so it don't bother me. Can we talk about some of these chapters yeah uh do something new but check your triggers do something new and check your triggers absolutely so um I had my first mammogram uh when I was doing my 30 days and my first one was

supposed to be during the pandemic but you know how everybody canceled their appointments. So I never did it. I was like, oh, I put it off for so long. I was like, let me go ahead and do my mammograms because I'm doing a new thing. Now, when I go to the doctor, I'm always triggered just because I was sick for so long. So just a regular checkup to me is triggering. But I always be like, all right, girl, you are right. You know, that's a you got to check yourself. So when I went in for my mammogram it was a normal thing uh they called me

a couple days later and said hey we want to take a closer look we saw something in the image and I was like hmm okay but they did say you know don't be alarmed this is this is a normal kind of routine thing so I go back in so they did a closer look and before they did it the nurse told me she was like if they see something and they're concerned, they'll ask for ultrasound after. And I was like, OK. So they did the image and they came back in. It was like multiple doctors. It was like we saw something we would like to take an ultrasound.

So now I'm like what she said. If they was concerned, they want to do it, you know, ultrasound. So I was like, OK. My husband was in the lobby. I was like, I have my husband come back here so he know why it's taking so long and so I told him and I could see he kind of got like a little you know triggered as well so they did the ultrasound and then they you know took us in the office and they was like there's there's definitely a mass that we see and we're gonna

need to do a biopsy and uh they couldn't do the biopsy. It was like a couple weeks, like maybe two weeks. And this was during the first time I was nominated for an Emmy last year. So I had to go through, you know, press and go to the Emmys knowing that I had to go get this biopsy the day after the Emmys. And so the old tab would have got online and researched everything about, you know, mass and breast cancer. And I would have told myself it's cancer. I would have went into straight on panic attack, everything. But the moment that I started thinking about it, I was like, no, we got to check this trigger. You can't just diagnose yourself. You can't start thinking the worst. You can't go back to your old habits. Right.

They said it could be something or it could be nothing. Let's wait to find out what it is before you have any kind of reaction. And in that moment, I realized I've really been doing the work on myself. You know, it made me proud. I was like, I'm really on a healing journey. I've come a long way because it's it's rough when you've been sick and it's a real trigger right so you check your triggers but you can still do something new so that's that's where that came from and when I went ahead to biopsy it was nothing is it better to just stay in that gray area when things like that happen when somebody says it could be something or it can be nothing.

Of course, you'd be like, well, I'm hoping it's nothing. Yeah. Right. Or you might be like, well, it's probably something. Isn't it better just to stay in that middle? Yeah. I mean, in my mind, I was like, I ain't going to claim nothing. That's right.

So, of course, I'm going to say, oh, in the name of Jesus, it ain't going to be nothing. Right. But in being in reality, for me, I was like, I'm going to stay in this. I'm going to listen to what they say. It could be something could be nothing. I'm going to claim nothing. But for most people, if they're not there yet in their faith, they stay in that middle ground until you have evidence of what it is. That's right. Now, another chapter, do something that breaks the rules but not the law oh so uh i tell people that all the time like you know some rules are set by us you know by people uh as well as laws

right but i know your kids come back with you all the time mommy said break the rules that's not the law exactly exactly uh but i talk about this in the book that, you know, I got invited to a party, you know, and it was a strict dress code where they wanted you to wear black. I don't like wearing black. This is about as black as it get for me. I love color. It makes me happy when I wear like all black. It makes me feel weird. Think about funerals and all kinds of stuff.

Yeah, I don't know. Like even at funerals, like in my family, we wear a lot of colors or we wear white um but it just makes me feel a little i don't know maybe saying i realize if i do wear i gotta have like a pop of color in my lips or something i don't know but i was like i don't want to wear black to this thing i'm gonna i gotta figure something out so i found like uh i had this it was like a blazer but it was the background was black but it had a bunch of colors and patterns on it and I wore like some black bell-bottom pants got there and

a lot of other people hadn't wore black and so I was like this is why we can break the rules sometimes you know I could have said okay I'm gonna wear all black and been uncomfortable all night and then got there and been mad like look at all the people they ain't wearing what they said we supposed to wear right so that's what i mean by that sometime we can break the

rules just don't break the law so you ain't never gonna follow no dress code if it's an all-white party or nothing she says she's gonna wear white but she's all black yeah i mean i will wear it but it's gonna have to have a little something that make me feel like tab you know because i also want to go in and be myself you know so do do something that requires you to face your losses oh that's a powerful one so um when i you know i had a restaurant right and when i had my restaurant it was a partnership and um we had a lot of problems with the building. And so, because Kel, my name is the restaurant in Chicago that I fell in love with. So when he came to L.A., I was like, oh, I'll partner with you and open a restaurant with you. I didn't know the restaurant business, but this building gave us a lot of issues,

and so we ultimately had to close. And so I was like, oh, man, it felt like a loss to me because I had had you know so much happening people would come in I would people come from all over to just meet me at the restaurant and I wasn't there every day but on the weekends or whenever I could I would go and just be there all day to make sure I got to see people when they came and so we ended up having to shut it down and I was like really kind of hurt about you know know, for a while. And I really couldn't talk about it because we were having legal problems with the building on it because it was a whole thing. And so when it was time to do my taxes, I've been carrying this like, man, I feel so bad about it.

I realized that the loss had really blessed me. It was a win. It was a win, right? And so I was like, sometimes we got to look at the loss for what it is. Maybe it ain't a loss, you know, but also it opened up doors for me. Now I have, you know, my food and stuff at Target. So I was like, it won't necessarily a loss. You know, we can't always look at them, you know, things like this. So it actually blessed me because I didn't have to pay as much. Let's flex a little bit.

Let's run some of this stuff down. So you got deals with Target. Who else? Come on. Don't need to be humble in this moment. Act like a rapper right now. You know, you got the tab time booming on YouTube. You got deals with Target.

You got book deals. What else? I have my own seasoning. Okay. McCormick spice. I have six of those. Fridays with tab and Chance. I do have Fridays with Tab and Chance.

I do Very Good Mondays where I bless small businesses every Monday. Of course, I have my own merch. That feel weird to just name everything. Want to do V-Box? No. You want to rap? I don't even, you know i i still do my actor thing you know i've um launched a production company in a partnership with uh stephen love with maywood love media

um yeah i don't i don't know when i thought about you uh and i mean i knew you was coming in but i heard isa ray talk about how she's just basically tired of dealing with the hollywood ring of maro and she just wants to do things independently. You're one of the first people that I think about. It took a while for me to even realize you weren't on Nickelodeon or something. I just would always see you on my TV. And then I was like,

turn tap time on. I'm like, what channel is tap on? She's like, it's YouTube. I'm like, YouTube? I didn't even realize. Because YouTube had YouTube originals for a while and they don't have it anymore but the show is still there while we're searching for a new home for it but we still own it

right nobody owns it YouTube didn't own it I can't believe that Nickelodeon Netflix all the people not beating your door down well you know some of them are oh okay but it has to be right absolutely I won't say yes to just anything it's got to be right. Absolutely. I won't say yes to just anything. It's got to be right. There's no, people have to understand you can't own me, right?

There's a price that we can partner, but you can't own TAB. And you have all the leverage. Yeah. I mean, we got all the, you know, the data is there. The numbers don't lie. And so, like Country Wayne said and i mean you you got to tell me why i need you that's right so yeah with love no that's a great thing to say you can't own me but there is a price to partner you can always there's always a price to partner because

i'm priceless yeah like there's no amount of money that you can can say oh this is no i'll take that but that ain't what i'm worth. There's a value amount. Exactly. There's an amount. Absolutely. What does it mean to have a free soul? I think, I mean, my life is a kind of example of that. And, you know, you kind of don't let the world in.

Don't worry about what other folks think about you. Live your life for you and do it in a way that is graceful um and just let god guide you but don't worry about what somebody think about you and you know what the world tells you you should be because i i know what it's like not to be free and being free is the best gift you can give to yourself that's how we were born to be do you feel like you're walking in the purpose that god has for you absolutely do something that reveals your purpose chapter 30 day 30 do something i don't even know which one that is it says day 30 do something that reveals your purpose in the chapter titles i mean because i talk about it throughout the book i'm trying to remember which one that is that reveals your purpose but i chapter titles. I mean, because I talk about it throughout the book. I'm trying to remember which one that is that reveals your purpose.

But, I mean, I'm sure we've talked about it, like, with dreams and being vocal about it. For me, it's always that, you know. Don't shy away from your gifts. Be honest. Be open about it, even if you think people are going to think you're crazy. People love to call me like a witch or or crazy like there's a certain amount of people I guess like on tiktok and stuff they'd be like oh that she a witch you know and I'm like I'm not a witch right uh I know what my

purpose is and I know that I have a gift and I give God all the credit for, for everything that I am. And so, um, my purpose is to, I love people to uplift people, but also help people heal. Uh, but also if God gives me a word,

I'm going to share it. That's right. You know, when, um, when I was on, uh, club Shay Shay with Shannon,

I gave him a word in, you know, confidence, like off camera. It was his choice to share that. And after that, people even more was like, I told you all that, girl, I told you. And I'm like, that's not being a witch. That is being, you know, God's servant and being a vessel. And that's part of my purpose. so it is amazing to me that we give everybody credit except for God we will put labels on all types of stuff always say it's got to be something evil it's no God gives you

clear vision yeah he gives it to all of us and he also gives all of us the good right you know that gut feeling that's right I always tell people that's called the gift under the tummy the gift that's the good Tabitha brown i guess we didn't talk to you forever new book i did a new thing we appreciate you for joining us thank you so much don't be a stranger absolutely should i end it how i end my video absolutely okay well listen first of all thank y'all for having me i

appreciate y'all this is my camera yes honey uh oh this one oh very good you've been there the whole time well lord well listen thank y'all y'all going about your business all right have the most This is my camera, yes? Honey, oh, this one? Oh, very good. You've been there the whole time? Well, Lord. Well, listen, thank y'all. Y'all go and buy y'all business, all right? Have the most amazing day. But even if you can't have a good one, don't you dare go messing up nobody else's hand. God bless y'all. Love y'all.

It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine.

I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets.

Listen to Escape from Zakakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions,

but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace for yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before.

Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in

a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all.

Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand-new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records.

Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.