Hallease: Documenting Life and Building Community

Episode Description:

Hallease is a digital storyteller, video producer and filmmaker based in Texas. She’s produced online content for Google, YouTube,Target and PBS through her creative production company, StumbleWell. When she’s not producing, co-writing and co-starring in the online web series, “This Coulda Been an Email” she’s documenting her own life through her Youtube channel, Hallease. In this episode, Fanshen and Hallease talk about the challenges of building an online community, monetizing content and sharing her life online.

TRANSCRIPT:

00:00:12:27 - 00:00:45:09

FANSHEN: Welcome back to Sista Brunch, the podcast that brings you the stories and voices of black women thriving in entertainment and media. And welcome to our fourth season. You can listen to seasons one through three on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. We're also adding a listener voice segment. This season, we want to hear from you. We want to hear your voices. So if you've got questions about the entertainment industry or media industry, we would love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 424-587-4870. 

00:00:45:11 - 00:01:22:20

FANSHEN: And we might just play your question in a future episode. I'm your host, Fanshen Cox, and I, for real, could not wait to share today's guest with you on Sista Brunch because I am a huge fan girl. I've been trying to get her on the show for like all three seasons before I found her. Hallease's YouTube channel years ago when I was actually about to cut off all my hair and I was looking for natural hair care videos and she came up. She wears semi freeform locks and has shared the whole journey of growing her locks and how she takes care of her hair. 

00:01:23:05 - 00:01:59:00

FANSHEN: And then suddenly I found myself pulled into her entire life. She's been making content on YouTube for 11 years. She's produced haircare videos and blogs, product reviews, a podcast about her marriage. Very brave. We will get into that and another podcast with content creators and artists. And most recently, she has created a web series with another very famous YouTuber, Ellen from the Internets called This Coulda Been an Email. Hallease was born, raised and is still based in Texas, and she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. 

00:01:59:02 - 00:02:27:15

FANSHEN: in radio, television and film. She's all about documenting and reflecting on her life, and that's why she created her YouTube channel, Hallease. And she's a freelance producer, so we will talk about how she can juggle all of these things all at the same time, how she got her start on YouTube. And of course, everyone's favorite YouTube question How does monetizing work? Hallease we are so, so thrilled to have you on. Welcome to Sista Brunch. 

00:02:27:17 - 00:02:30:13

HALLEASE: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. 

00:02:30:15 - 00:02:45:13

FANSHEN: So like I said, we want to encourage our listeners and ourselves, everybody who works on the podcast by talking about how you got your start. And I know some of it was that you loved doing photography as a young person. Tell us how that turned into this career. 

00:02:46:04 - 00:03:18:18

HALLEASE: Yeah, so I first discovered photography when I was probably like in middle school, I went to a little place called Circuit City. I believe it does not exist anymore. I went there and got my first. It was the last SLR camera. It was the Nikon, I think it was the N75 that was the last SLR before everyone started going digital. And I bought that with my chore money and I would just go around taking photographs of whatever was interesting with my chore money to buy the film and all of that as well. 

00:03:19:05 - 00:03:42:17

HALLEASE: That eventually evolved into buying my first camcorder and just like documenting anything and everything I could, not realizing at the time that I was vlogging essentially in so few words, and I would sit in front of the VHS and linear edit it together obviously. Is this before the days of non-linear editing as well? Yeah, I was out here. I was really. While you were. 

00:03:42:19 - 00:03:44:27

FANSHEN: Cut, were you like physically cutting the film? 

00:03:45:09 - 00:04:17:00

HALLEASE: Yeah, like, like so basically like you would have the little mini tape in your recorder and you would be in there like starting and stopping, you know, in order as you film and then using your, like your VCR to, like, go back and do it the right way as well. So linear, linear analog editing. And that eventually translated into I went to a actually went to a magnet high school here in San Antonio that specializes in communications, and that was how I learned that I could turn my love of video and film into a full time career. 

00:04:17:05 - 00:04:42:16

HALLEASE: And what led me to UT and ultimately what led me to UT really was their UTLA program I really wanted. My original goal in life was to be a feature film editor, actually wasn't really trying to be on YouTube very different journeys so far. But yeah, that was really what brought me into like filmmaking overall. Actually spent some time in L.A. during my undergrad, realized it wasn't for me. It was like, Oh my. 

00:04:43:09 - 00:04:44:12

FANSHEN: Oh, go back to Texas. 

00:04:44:14 - 00:05:17:02

HALLEASE: Where I just know how to navigate things better and just worked for traditional video agencies for a long time. But all the while, having my YouTube channel to be a place to explore my creativity, document my own life, just experiment with things more with. Really more of the hopes of like finding community and also bringing those skills that I was learning as like a sort of independent, super, incredibly no budget filmmaker into my full time agency work. Like I really was doing it just to keep the skills up for the most part and expand them whenever I could. 

00:05:17:08 - 00:05:18:06

HALLEASE: And now here I am. 

00:05:18:10 - 00:05:49:19

FANSHEN: So it's it's amazing. And really, if you go to her YouTube channel, you see this growth and something I love about YouTube and now, you know, other options for us is that we're encouraged to grow publicly. You know, that it's not just, you know, and there are plenty of folks on there that just come in and that's, you know, completely polished and they have a whole team with them. But what I find what I love about your channel and other folks that I follow is just that ability to watch you learn. 

00:05:49:21 - 00:06:18:01

FANSHEN: And then we learn from you. You just see that growth on your channel. You talked about being in San Antonio and of course, you know all of us on Sista brunch, you know, we're all based in L.A. and it's kind of like we just feel like we have to be here. Have you ever felt pressure? I mean, you talked about that a little bit, but you were like, it's not for me. We won't be offended. We know why folks don't like it here. But do you still ever feel that draw to come? And what keeps you grounded in San Antonio? 

00:06:18:27 - 00:06:51:00

HALLEASE: I definitely do feel that draw to come for sure. I actually was just in L.A. this week for Adobe. Max was presenting over there for that, and then I'm actually going back to L.A. next month, so I go there quite a bit. But honestly, for me it was just really hard when I went for my undergrad because I interned out there, worked on a lot of different stuff, but I could never really like get a foot in. I always reference when I talk to people about my love hate relationship with Los Angeles. I always reference Chris Rock's Oscar speech. 

00:06:51:02 - 00:07:21:26

HALLEASE: Not this last one, that guy, but not that one, but the last one he did where he was like, Yeah, LA's like sorority racist. We like you, Rhonda, but you're not a Kappa, you know what I mean? And I was like, That is so exactly what it was for me. You know, it's just so hard to, like, figure out what the thing was that I just couldn't break through. Whereas ironically, in Texas, by the time I had gotten to that point in my undergrad, I had built so many connections in Texas already. 

00:07:21:28 - 00:07:43:03

HALLEASE: At the time, I lived in Austin for school, obviously. So yeah, coming back to Texas after my undergrad in L.A. was done, I was able to kind of get right into it in Austin and I stayed in Austin for almost, I think like ten years before finally coming back to San Antonio. But it's also fascinating because I'm actually thinking about transitioning the production company to Atlanta in June. 

00:07:43:10 - 00:08:14:14

FANSHEN: SMART It's interesting that you're saying this because I think one of the reasons that I, I moved out here in '01 from the East Coast and everybody was like, you're not going to like it. You know, it's fake. It's, you know, racist. It's all of those things. And and superficial, of course, is the big one. But what helped me was that I had a lot of people from the East Coast, so I had that group of people. As you're talking, I'm thinking, you know what? I know a lot of people from Austin here, but they are all white. 

00:08:14:20 - 00:08:47:00

HALLEASE: Yeah. So, I mean, it's it's a it's a really tough move to make. Like, I think cost of living wise, it's just a really tough move to make because Texas's cost of living is significantly lower than California. You seeing your came from the East Coast. You know, if anything is more of an apples to apples, probably a financial move for you. But yeah, my friends that I had that did stay out in L.A. it really like they're just now ten years post undergrad getting actually really getting into their careers. Whereas for me, I came back to Texas and then like about two ish years, I was good. 

00:08:47:02 - 00:08:53:22

HALLEASE: I was like making a solid, decent income. I wasn't I wasn't rolling in dough, but I was doing aight you know, so 

00:08:57:11 - 00:09:00:10

HALLEASE: I'm Hallease and you're listening to the Sista Brunch podcast. 

00:09:24:04 - 00:09:27:26

FANSHEN: We are back and so excited to share more of our conversation with Hallease.

00:09:33:26 - 00:09:58:24

FANSHEN: Hallease. So you built this incredible life that I think a lot of people would be envious of because you are kind of making your own story, right? Like you. And of course, we all got to get paid. So we do some things sometimes we may not love, but you you're kind of liberated in that way. And so I want to know what is a day in the life of Hallease look like with that kind of liberation? 

00:09:59:14 - 00:10:31:27

HALLEASE: Yeah, it probably looks very similar to most other people. Oh, yeah. I mean, I try like, I feel like if you work for yourself, you have to have a pretty epic amount of organization, control, consistency. So I wake up at like 6:30 most mornings, go for a run, then get to my desk. And I mean, a lot of it is just like sitting at your desk, you know, answering emails and doing things like that. Break for lunch, come back, keep going, editing, so on and so forth. 

00:10:32:10 - 00:10:56:24

HALLEASE: I try. Over the pandemic, I realized I really had to like, be very conscious about time management and learning to log off. And so I try to have a hard stop at five, but recognizing that there's going to be ebbs and flows to that. Like sometimes you're just going to go over it because you just need to like there's times to grind and then there's times to chill for a second. So I try to let those waves come naturally. 

00:10:57:01 - 00:11:07:07

FANSHEN: How about on shoot days or even what's kind of your workflow or process if you're about to film the web series or film one of your videos, What does that look like? 

00:11:07:09 - 00:11:39:07

HALLEASE: So, I mean, when prepping to film the web series, yeah, all of that consistency and time management goes completely out the window. It's all hands on deck until it's done. And I feel like I really just don't take a nap until it's done, you know? So, yeah, with that, I'm running around all over the place because it is a web series and it's an independent production. I think like with the last three episodes, I was the costumes person. You know, I was running around the stores doing that, like doing a lot of the sort of traditional independent producer things. 

00:11:39:15 - 00:11:50:13

HALLEASE: Basically, anyone you don't officially hire on for a role, you do. All right. So it's a lot of that. And then also, the show is shot in Austin, not in San Antonio. 

00:11:50:15 - 00:11:51:01

FANSHEN: Oh, wow. 

00:11:51:03 - 00:11:59:19

HALLEASE: Okay. Yeah. So I'm like scrambling to get things situated here to then go up to Austin for the next couple of days and work on it. 

00:11:59:26 - 00:12:00:11

FANSHEN: Okay. 

00:12:00:13 - 00:12:01:14

HALLEASE: So okay. 

00:12:01:29 - 00:12:28:16

FANSHEN: So how about fundraising then? So I'm in the midst of I started my own production company and, you know, I have all these these amazing projects on my slate and I'm excited by and got no money like so. So now it's like, okay, how do I make sure that I can pay for options or I can cover the cost of pitch materials? And how does that happen with someone who's kind of an independent freelance producer? 

00:12:28:18 - 00:12:31:00

HALLEASE: The short answer is thoughts and prayers. 

00:12:31:02 - 00:12:31:17

FANSHEN: It doesn't. 

00:12:31:20 - 00:12:32:24

HALLEASE: Really happen. 

00:12:33:15 - 00:12:35:22

FANSHEN: Thoughts, prayers and endeavoring to persevere. 

00:12:36:07 - 00:13:29:00

HALLEASE: Yeah, yeah. And and I would say, actually, in fact, that's actually what I'm struggling with right now at the phase of the career I'm at. Because with the Web series, for example, I was able to produce the pilot episode. It was self-funded and it cost about 20 K to produce it. But I was able to allocate those funds because I was an Adobe Creative resident, and so I had the full time salary for that, right? And I was able to move money to the show for that. But episodes two and three were crowdfunded successfully as a successful crowdfund, so that was cool. But I'm actually at an interesting impasse right now because episodes four and five, season one is five episodes, episodes four and five, I'm like kind of going back to the drawing book on funding. I feel, and this is I think this might be because I don't have a traditional filmmaking background in regards to independent filmmaking, but I feel like it's over tapping the audience to do another crowdfunding campaign. 

00:13:29:19 - 00:14:05:12

HALLEASE: That's how I feel, you know, I'm saying, I know because it is a big ask, and I think I'm very conscious of just where everyone is in the country right now. Like these gas prices is rowdy, Inflation's up there. And I don't know, for me as an artist, I think it's just because I come from like working class parents, I struggle with the feeling of, well, art doesn't have to happen, you know, like this, doesn't it? None of this has to happen. I just really want it to. So what's the difference between wanting and, like, needing something to exist? You know what I mean? 

00:14:05:22 - 00:14:43:10

FANSHEN: I'm just going to say it has to happen with you because I'm sorry. Like, one thing I think a lot about is quality over quantity in terms of followers, in terms of views and. Right, all of that. And I do want to get into kind of the what it's like to be a black woman on YouTube or on something that relies on algorithms that we know are racist, etc., sexist, etc.. But I find when I watch your videos and see who's interacting with you and how they're interacting, that you have folks that kind of rely and rely on you. 

00:14:44:14 - 00:15:01:13

FANSHEN: And so when you say like, I don't need to, I'm like, I think you do. Not only because we need you, you know, the ways you inspire us, but also it's clear, as you said, from being a little girl, the this is the thing that you do. Do you see yourself doing anything else anyway? 

00:15:03:03 - 00:15:24:04

HALLEASE: Yeah. No. I mean, Evelyn and I both talk about, like. One thing when you're a content creator, you always like. You always have a pie in the sky. Dream of what you would do if you weren't a content creator. And it's always something that's incredibly offline. So, like, my thing is I would have a goat farm and I would make goat cheese. It's called "Totes My Goats Cheeses."

00:15:24:15 - 00:15:25:06

FANSHEN: There you go. 

00:15:25:21 - 00:15:30:24

HALLEASE: And I'd just be chillin at the farmers markets, you know, Saturday, Sunday loves cheese, bro, you know? 

00:15:34:12 - 00:15:39:15

HALLEASE: But I'd probably still be documenting something, you know, all of that stuff. It's very. Yeah. 

00:15:40:22 - 00:16:18:24

FANSHEN: So both of you are having the experience of being influencers, being on a platform that is known for kind of creating stars, create, you know, turning folks into having higher platforms. And I get frustrated, honestly, when I see the views on your channel because I'm like, This is one of the best filmmakers on YouTube. So what is it like being a black woman in this space? How do you maintain your commitment to continuing to do this when I can imagine it's not always easy. 

00:16:19:06 - 00:16:56:26

HALLEASE: I think what keeps me on the platform is the community for sure. That was why I came, and I think that's still why I stay. The other thing, don't get me wrong, YouTube does have things that it knows about and is actively working on. But I think the other thing that's been really beneficial for me has been that it's not necessarily been about the quantity of eyes that I have on my channel. It's always been about the quality of eyes I have on my channel and just who those people are, because a lot of my independent career has just come from the fact that I existed on YouTube and people were aware of that. 

00:16:56:29 - 00:17:31:28

HALLEASE: Like I got YouTube creators for Change grant in 2018 when I only had like 10,000 subscribers, I was not very big, and yet I got this opportunity to make a series of videos on my channel combating hate speech, xenophobia. So and then by the end of getting that, I also again was not very big and yet got the opportunity to be a producer of a channel for PBS for a whole season, you know. So it's for me, the gains have not ever really been about views or subscriber count. 

00:17:32:00 - 00:17:38:29

HALLEASE: Don't get me wrong. I mean, I know that I've been sitting at like 90 K for the past year and a half. I'm like, Yo, I want to frickin play button, man. 

00:17:39:09 - 00:17:45:03

FANSHEN: But this is I'm like, I'm waiting for the day I see a play button in the background. I'm like, Well, I know. 

00:17:45:09 - 00:17:56:06

HALLEASE: Yeah, I know. But yeah, it's the community is really what has kept me there. And the high value eyes for sure. Yeah. Because this is so many great people I've met through the channel that's been exciting. 

00:17:56:08 - 00:18:19:21

FANSHEN: I do see Google's slash YouTube making effort. That's nice to see, right? I mean, I know in the industry anyway, things have slowed down a bit since George Floyd was murdered and there were protests in the streets and they've gotten slower. But I do I think we have to recognize that things are different than they were even prior to that. We're making some strides. It can always be better. 

00:18:20:05 - 00:18:49:02

HALLEASE: I have a question for you, actually about something, something I struggled with with the aftermath of George Floyd's murder was I did get an influx of new subscribers of, I think, frankly, white people realizing they needed to diversify their viewing. Mm hmm. And so then the struggle I found myself in was, are these pity views or are these genuine growth, you know, community building views? You know what I mean? 

00:18:49:18 - 00:18:51:24

FANSHEN: I know exactly what you mean. 

00:18:52:20 - 00:19:02:06

HALLEASE: Yeah. Did you struggle with any of that? With. Yeah, I was it was like, oh, so for me to get I don't want someone to die to get more, you know what I mean? 

00:19:02:08 - 00:19:35:10

FANSHEN: Absolutely. And it is it's back to that point of quality over quantity. And we struggle with that with Sista brunch. We're very clear that this is about black women and gender expansive people. But that meaning that's who makes it and that's who it's about. But we're like every woman we have on, we're like the entire industry should be paying attention to these women. We purposely bring women on who, you know, if you say their name at an agency, they just aren't, you know, may not know who they are. 

00:19:35:12 - 00:20:06:20

FANSHEN: And we're like, you don't know what you're missing. At the same time, if they do catch on, you have to question all the reasons why they caught on. You know, there's certainly it's money that they only if they see dollar signs. But to your point, I will take some guilt and shame follows if it means that I get closer to monetizing like y'all go ahead. You know, that's fine. Go ahead and follow the follow. And. But it is. It is. It's back to that quality over quantity. 

00:20:06:22 - 00:20:36:20

FANSHEN: And ultimately, you see that in who you're interacting with, who's coming back, who's leaving reviews. While we're still in a place where the count does matter. I mean, I recently learned this because I was an actor for a long time and in Hollywood and I was talking to a younger actor. And when they're slating now to audition, you know, when they do the my name is they have to say how many Instagram followers they have. When they're slating for an audition. 

00:20:36:22 - 00:20:38:24

FANSHEN: And I'm like, This is ridiculous. 

00:20:39:00 - 00:20:42:17

HALLEASE: Oh, no. But no matter. Right. 

00:20:43:09 - 00:21:08:06

FANSHEN: And yet, if it matters in terms of you getting that job, you know, booking a national commercial so that you can do your creative work for a year or whatever, then those numbers matter. So what I love about you and your experience is that you continue to make things that are important to you and important to your fan base. You ain't changing your content for anybody. That's a good thing. 

00:21:09:01 - 00:21:10:15

HALLEASE: Well, that's also why I haven't grown. 

00:21:12:06 - 00:21:13:24

FANSHEN: Yeah. Well, it's. 

00:21:13:26 - 00:21:27:23

HALLEASE: It is a give and take for sure. I used to have a YouTube partner manager. Okay, awesome. But since you moved to a different part of YouTube. But she would always say to me, like, you're never going to hit 100 K because you need to establish a niche. And I was like, Nah, man, the niche is me. 

00:21:28:20 - 00:21:32:00

HALLEASE: That's right. And she would just chuckles. You just laughed. 

00:21:32:02 - 00:21:40:15

HALLEASE: I was like, You're not wrong. But we're both right. You are the niche, but also you're not the niche and you're not gonna grow. But she wasn't wrong. 

00:21:46:08 - 00:22:05:02

FANSHEN: Welcome back to Sista Brunch, highlighting amazing black women and gender expansive people thriving in entertainment and media. You can listen to all our previous episodes on our website. Sista Brunch dot com. I'm Fanshen Cox and let's get back into this chat with YouTuber influencer and independent producer Hallease. 

00:22:09:14 - 00:22:26:03

FANSHEN: Let's talk about some of that content because you are extremely brave and that you and your husband share openly about your marriage and struggles and what's that like and why did you decide to do that and how is that going? 

00:22:27:03 - 00:23:11:29

HALLEASE: Yeah, I actually decided to do that because I had done I had sort of trickled him into the YouTube channel a little bit like pretty early on like 2015, 2016, because like, how do you not have your partner if you're documenting your life? It's kind of hard to not have your partner include it in some way. Yeah. But at the same time, I was seeing a lot of frankly, what I felt was like fetishization of interracial couples that I wasn't okay with. And so I was like, okay, how do I incorporate this person into the channel while still maintaining my my own individual authenticity with it, but also, like not having him be reduced to some sort of trope or just like, almost like trophy husband. 

00:23:12:01 - 00:23:27:23

HALLEASE: Look what I like, you know what I'm saying? Like this odd colourism thing, you know? Mm hmm. And so that was why I was like, If you all want to see more of my husband, then it's going to be long form. You are going to be forced to see him as a whole person, 

00:23:29:27 - 00:24:07:00

HALLEASE: the good, the bad, and the ugly of Mr. Hallease, you know? I mean, that's how the Marriage podcast came about. And we've taken a lot of breaks and hiatuses because for the longest time he was still like a professional nurse working in the field. And people at the hospital did start to recognize him and he was like a weird I'm a pause, hard pause on this. So yeah, but yeah, it's been good and it hasn't been hard to share because for me, I always I'm trying to seek out like the human experience, like what does it mean to live and exist in this time, in this place, in this body? Like what does this mean? And so that's why I document so much. 

00:24:07:12 - 00:24:33:27

HALLEASE: And I also seek out that content on YouTube as well. You know, like, I don't know if, you know, like Shan Boodram on YouTube as well. I love watching her content and I live in incredibly different lives. You know, she's like sex educator, very open, very just, you know, all things. But I love watching her content because it's like, yes, I'm getting another version of a human experience and I just want to see that, you know what I mean? So, I mean, for me, it's not hard to share. 

00:24:34:13 - 00:25:04:14

FANSHEN: It's just to me, definition of a true storyteller. And we you know, when we read scripts or receive pitches, it's so clear whether the person, the writer has had the experience, they're writing about it, you know, even if it's sci fi or, you know, it's so clear if they've experienced kind of the life, you know, the universal types of life things that they're talking about. And it's a constant note, right? Like write what you know, and that is what you reflect. 

00:25:04:16 - 00:25:33:09

FANSHEN: Like your whole channel. Everything you do is you as a storyteller, you being authentic in those ways. And it's truly a gift. Okay, so I'm a set up a scene for you. So you Hallease are in your favorite place for a Sista Brunch, and you're having this fabulous Sista Brunch with the Hallease that started her channel 11 years ago. What are you eating? What are you drinking? And what do you tell her? 

00:25:33:16 - 00:25:36:02

HALLEASE: What am I? Current me eating and drinking and you. 

00:25:36:04 - 00:25:45:05

HALLEASE: And you went you the two of you are meeting now. Yeah, you can. What are you both eating together? What are you both drinking together at the brunch? And what are you telling her? 

00:25:45:13 - 00:25:56:04

HALLEASE: Oh, so if it's a brunch, I'm actually eating something. And this is going to is really going to be all about our age differences because her metabolism is still great and mine is not. 

00:25:56:21 - 00:26:03:18

FANSHEN: So. So that's going to be. So you'll be some gluten free. You'll definitely be having some gluten free for sure. 

00:26:03:20 - 00:26:34:11

HALLEASE: Yeah. Yes, I'll be having something gluten free that's high in fiber, low in sugar because yo this prediabetes is no joke. Like, I'll be doing all of this and I'll be having some white wine with No, I'm not doing mimosas. Too much sugar, I'm not doing it. And she'll, I can tell what she's going to be eating. She's going to be eating like chicken and waffles. Yeah. With a veggie, you know, like some some grilled vegetables there as well because I was pretty balanced even back then. 

00:26:34:22 - 00:26:45:14

HALLEASE: And but she's like not really going to have a taste for like decent alcohol yet. So she'll probably like she'll probably still drinking 

00:26:45:16 - 00:26:46:07

FANSHEN: What's she havin' moonshine? 

00:26:46:09 - 00:26:50:23

HALLEASE: With. No no. Should just be doing like the cherry vodka sour or something you know. 

00:26:50:25 - 00:26:52:06

FANSHEN: Okay. Yep. Yep. 

00:26:52:15 - 00:26:54:04

HALLEASE: Hey, nothing like that. Yeah, 

00:26:55:25 - 00:27:01:05

HALLEASE: that's what she's going to be having. Or she'll be having, like, a super duper sweet wine. 

00:27:01:13 - 00:27:04:26

FANSHEN: Yeah. Huh? Yes. Yeah. Yes. 

00:27:05:25 - 00:27:09:01

HALLEASE: And. And then your question was, what are we talking about? 

00:27:09:08 - 00:27:10:05

FANSHEN: What do you tell her? 

00:27:10:17 - 00:27:16:19

HALLEASE: What do I tell her? I think what I'm telling her is. Hey, girl, 

00:27:18:18 - 00:27:51:27

HALLEASE: it's okay that LA didn't work out. It's not you, it's them. I think I'm telling it. Definitely telling her, like, start the channel faster. Like, do it faster. It's also okay that the agency you're at is, like, incredibly problematic and your boss is scary and she's going to fire you in a couple of months anyway. You'll be fine. You'll be so happy when she does trust me. And then just like I know, actually this is a good one because I was still pretty young in my marriage

00:27:51:29 - 00:28:01:29

HALLEASE: when I started the channel, it's like, I know the marriage. You you went into it and you're happy. You know, you made the right decision, but you're also like, Oh, this is a lot. Just stick it out. He's actually really good. 

00:28:02:13 - 00:28:03:14

HALLEASE: Yeah, you'll be fine. 

00:28:04:24 - 00:28:19:15

HALLEASE: Marriage. The transition into marriage is hard, but you'll be good. You'll be fine. It's just a transition. And you'll get you'll realize that those are normal. But yeah, I think that's like, ironically, it's not. Yeah. It's more about like life overall. 

00:28:20:20 - 00:28:21:05

FANSHEN: Mhm. 

00:28:21:08 - 00:28:27:21

HALLEASE: So yeah. And then I probably be like calm down on the sugar now because both your parents have diabetes so like it's coming for you. Yes. 

00:28:30:06 - 00:28:31:11

HALLEASE: It's all like health related. 

00:28:32:00 - 00:28:34:26

HALLEASE: They're getting, you start getting facials now. You're right. 

00:28:37:07 - 00:29:07:05

FANSHEN: That's not I wish I had someone to tell me that to guide me in those ways. Yeah. I didn't get those. Hallease this has been amazing and too short and for real. I gotchu in LA. And I like. Like I. And I. And I understand everything that you have faced. You are a true one. You are a real one. The industry just has not caught up with you. LA has not caught up with you, so you keep going. How can our listeners support you and is there anything that you want to make sure we know. 

00:29:07:29 - 00:29:27:13

HALLEASE: Ah man. Nah because like we're Evelyn and I right now are figuring out again what we want to do for episodes four and five connects of the project "This Coulda Been An Email," and of course I got a ton of other ideas, but it's like, should probably finish that one first. So just I think just following is like the big thing. Like if you all want to help me get to 100 K. 

00:29:28:07 - 00:29:39:06

FANSHEN: Let's do that. Listen, let's do that. We're going to add that as a Sista brunch goal for for early 2023 get Hallease to...hopefully won't even take that long. 

00:29:39:19 - 00:29:40:19

HALLEASE: Hopefully. Yeah, that'd be cool. 

00:29:40:26 - 00:29:42:25

FANSHEN: Yeah. So good to me too. 

00:29:42:27 - 00:29:44:04

HALLEASE: Thank you so much for having me. 

00:29:51:17 - 00:30:29:21

FANSHEN: Thank you for listening to Sista Brunch, the podcast that brings you the stories of black women breaking barriers and bringing a whole lot of joy to the entertainment and media industries. Our mission at Sista Brunch is to highlight, celebrate and uplift artists and changemakers, while also in our in our own small way, helping to change the systems that marginalize us. As part of this mission, we are taking action to make sure that our guest list is more inclusive of black folks, of marginalized genders. So if you'd like to share your thoughts or suggestions or help support us in this area, please shoot us an email at Sista Brunch podcast at gmail.com. 

00:30:30:07 - 00:31:10:07

FANSHEN: This is our fourth season of Sista Brunch. You can read the transcript of this show and listen to all of our previous episodes at Sista Brunch dot com. We so appreciate your support by subscribing to the podcast. Leaving us a great review and sharing it with all the people that you love, especially with people who are interested in being in the industry or already in the industry and want to learn about new people, people they haven't heard from. You can also follow and interact with us on Instagram at Sista Brunch Podcast and you can support the Sister Brunch podcast by subscribing rating and reviewing our show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or both, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

00:31:11:14 - 00:31:39:26

FANSHEN: Sista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions. Our senior producer is Sonata Lee Narcisse. Our co-producer is Brittney Turner. Our associate producers are for Farida Abdul Wahab and Mimi Slater. Our executive producers are Christabel Nsiah Buadi and Anya Adams. We acknowledge the land we record our podcast on is the original land of the Tongva and the Chumash people. We cannot wait to share our next guest with you and take good care of everyone.