Soul SiStories
Soul SiStories was born out of a mutual desire to bring forward hope and healing through sharing our lived experiences. Hope is embracing life despite adversity. Hope is our reason.
Soul SiStories
Embracing the Unpredictable: Brianna's Journey of Hope and Creativity
Welcome to the premier episode of Soul SiStories!
What if embracing the unpredictable could transform your life? Meet Brianna McDonnell, a beacon of hope and creativity, as she shares her inspiring journey on our podcast. As a cherished relative and a courageous soul, Brianna reveals her philosophy of jumping in with both feet and crafting her own path. Her story is a testament to the power of living fully, embracing the unknown, and building a legacy of hope and creativity. Through intimate reflections, we explore how she navigates life's challenges with grace and inspires others to dream bigger.
We also reflect on past projects like "Just Breathe," inspired by classics like Drew Barrymore's "Ever After," and emphasize the legacy of storytelling as a vehicle for inspiration and change.
Brianna’s personal story of self-discovery shines through as she recounts how a simple piece of advice from her mother led her to forge genuine friendships and eventually a professional career as a plus-size blogger and actor. The discussion embarks on her challenges in an industry with limited roles and the empowering choice to create her own opportunities through theater and online content. Her experiences underscore the broader themes of hope, legacy, and inclusivity in creative spaces. We wrap up our conversation with reflections on courage, empowerment, and the lasting influence of mentors and family, celebrating creativity as a transformative force in our lives.
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Welcome to Soul Sisteries, amazing individual named Brianna that is full disclosure a relative of our two hosts, but I don't think it's going to diminish what you're all going to hear. So we're just going to spend a little bit since this is our inaugural episode, as it were, after our little intro trailer and uh so so we're figuring this out as we go along and I think that's what's great about what you, as the world listeners, are going to get, as long as we can stay motivated to produce these episodes and send them out to you with our own little mental wellness breaks and planning our busy lives and whatnot. But first off, I just want to thank you both for this great, amazing idea, and when I first heard about it it really inspired me. So I would like to hear about we just recorded our first episode and where are you?
Speaker 3:Very hopeful, hopeful, very hopeful, hopeful. That's really excited, because I think our first guest is incredible, dynamic, inspires us, I think, as her aunts, but also she brings so much hope and inspiration into my life and, yeah, I can't imagine this world without her light in it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, sis. For sure you know this is something about our Brianna, who has just been a light from the beginning, and we knew that we wanted to bring her forward here. We knew that it would be a really easy and natural conversation one, the history, but two for who she is and all that she has to offer of her lifetime. There were things that I was hearing for the first time that gave me chills and real ahas about who she is and what makes her so magnificent and also, can I just say, vibing with you, sis, like here we are and we did the thing that we've been visioning and knew could be a thing, and here we are making it happen.
Speaker 3:Kind of cool and I think along those lines with learning new information from Brianna as we asked the questions. Kind of cool and I think along those lines with learning new information from Brianna as we asked the questions. I kind of had in my head maybe where it would go, and so it was kind of fun when it had nothing to do with what I was thinking. You know, yeah, and I look forward to people hearing that and really kind of getting, I guess, from the mouths of babes. But of course she's not my little baby anymore, she's a full-grown woman.
Speaker 1:Right, right and just the grace that she has and she talked about her bravery and you'll hear all about that, but her bravery in just moving forward, taking the steps, but I think there's so much grace in that bravery. She does it with so much openness and welcome to everyone, to all. She leads with love and she shares herself so freely. She is an absolute inspiration to me for those reasons and so many more. But that just was just beautiful to hear. We want to hear from you, Kirk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I think I said it afterwards when we spoke.
Speaker 2:I'm a girl, dad, you're always like I wantness, confidence, empathy. She knew from a very early age and, you know, having the inspiration, she said it right off the bat the women in front of me and she has embraced that and she is proud of that and she is, I think, allowed that to mold her vision and also her vision of life, right, not only the vision for herself, but, I think, what she wants out of life and what she wants out of other people. And the one thing that I kept hearing as well is it was never I, I, I, I, I. It was we, we, we and a crew of, and, and and it was you and my aunts and my other you know people that have influenced in her life. And but also, just like I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to do what I can while I'm here and I think she has an awareness of you know, your time is your time and you don't know where it's going to go, and she chose and has chosen to embrace it and use it for good.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You know she talked about also that jumping in both feet first and this being a philosophy, and I'm like, yes, yes, girl, absolutely, that's how she's always lived. I loved her vocalizing that particular perspective and I think it'll resonate with a lot of people also that this and this is a choice. This is not just a natural instinct and away we go. It is a conscious choice to live in this way and act in this way, and that's what makes it so powerful and so hopeful.
Speaker 3:Right, right, and she chose that word creativity right. The hope is through the creativity and that is, I think, so valuable for others to hear that it's not like hope is just handed to you, it's not that you're just waiting for somebody to make your dreams come true, or you're waiting for I don't know somebody to give you the money, somebody to give you the big break. That's not what she does. She could have, she could have just waited for things to happen. But there was something in her at a young age I mean certainly 10 years ago, but I think even before that where she just said I'm going to make it happen, I'm going to take my life in my own hands and I'm going to create what I envision. Right, and that is very hopeful for me and hopefully for others to know that it doesn't just present itself, that you can create hope which gives you that whole meaning of life. The reason for living is whatever you are hoping for.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and how she discussed, which I just love so much, this idea of going forward with this passion and letting it also going with however it shapes that. You have that vision in mind, you move towards it, but it may not manifest in that way that you are particularly envisioning, but this other journey, this other ride that is related to it, is going to be expansive and beautiful and take you in new and exciting directions. That is a theme you know, in my other life as a children's book author I do author talks and that is a theme that I always bring to the discussions is that passion, that thing that you love. Stay with it, do it, keep saying yes to it. You will find your way. You're the basketball player Okay, you might not be LeBron.
Speaker 2:Even if you run into obstacles, keep going.
Speaker 1:Keep going.
Speaker 2:Learn from those.
Speaker 1:You can learn from those and you can find a path that you didn't even know was there. You're maybe not going to be that one, the top player in all the NBA, but you can maybe have a life of a professional basketball player. You can be a coach. You can be in the world doing the thing you love.
Speaker 2:Not to give away too much, but one of the things that really stuck with me is you asked her the vision of what you wanted to do, where you wanted to be, and she clearly stated it. And then she's in it and it's not quite that same that she had envisioned as a child, but it didn't deter one bit. It was just hey, this is the reality of it. Right, I only saw what was captured. I didn't see all the stuff that goes into before the camera turns on. You know it was, and I think she appreciates where she's at more because she's had to go through that. So there's going to be this and so much more on this episode. So enjoy it, and we're already working with the powers that be to do round two, because it was just an amazing conversation and it needs to continue, so enjoy.
Speaker 1:We are welcome everyone, to today's podcast. I'm Donna Rice and I'm Diana Herwick and we're the sisters of Soul Sisteries and we're so glad to be here with you today. And we are extremely glad to welcome our guest today, whom we know and love but would celebrate regardless of that fact, because she, if anybody slays, this girl does, and we're so abundantly proud of her and in awe of her. Today we have the wonderful Brianna McDonald.
Speaker 3:Yes, Brianna is a Los Angeles-based performer, creative producer and social media specialist. She began with the B-word blog and a simple goal bring fat bodies into the fashion world. Today, Brianna is trailblazing what it means to be a storyteller in the digital media space. Her passion for media drives everything she does, from starring in and producing content to elevating the creatives around her. Brianna is on a mission to create media that disrupts the narrative, and on that, note.
Speaker 1:I know right, amazing, Amazing. That in and of itself is so inspiring, that that's your vision and that's what you've carried forward. I mean, girl, from the time you were a little one, so full disclosure. Brianna is our wondrous, beautiful niece also, and we're so blessed to be able to say that that's so, and so grateful that she agreed to come and join us in this talk. So, yeah, we just we absolutely celebrate you, brianna, and are so, so proud of all that you do and are doing.
Speaker 4:Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be on this new adventure with you guys here today and excited to see what we get into.
Speaker 3:Yes, so we do have some questions for you today, but really, kind of before we get to that, we thought maybe you would just share with us just a little about, like, what's going on. I shared your bio and you're doing some great stuff with social media and influencing so many people in so many different areas, and if you want to just tell us a little bit about, maybe, what you're doing personally, professionally, anything kind of that you'd like to share, Sure, and like we said, I mean we're family, so how?
Speaker 1:deep do I? How much do I update you?
Speaker 4:So, what am I up to? So I gosh okay. So January of this upcoming year, 2025, will be 10 years of the B word, which is crazy that I started my blog literally in my mom's garage just for fun and that became my whole career and all my experience. And, as you guys know, I work professionally in entertainment marketing and so that takes up quite a bit of my time. So I'm less online now as Brianna, as the B word, but I'm very, very excited.
Speaker 4:Next week next week's the second week of September. So whenever this comes out, second week of September, we're launching our Kickstarter for my next short film project. So it's my first time going to my audience asking to help crowdfund, crowdsource, and we're very, very excited for our next short film. We've been working on it for quite some time. It's called Fat Ass the film and I'm very, very excited about it.
Speaker 4:It's about it's a camp horror film three plus size leads we took, so we took like a year to write it. Then we took a year to find the team all plus size team, which is incredible as, like a film production company, that's pretty. I don't know anybody who's doing that actually and, yeah, we're so, so, so excited about it and we need quite a bit of money to make it. But we feel very confident that we'll raise the money through the community and through other people who are passionate about body, diverse media. So I'm really, really excited about that. So fun things are coming up, so we're crowdsourcing the film. 10 years of the B word in January. I plan to celebrate that and I'm just living, laughing, loving, you know.
Speaker 1:Love it, Love it. It's incredibly beautiful and just amazing that not only have you had the vision, had the ideas, but have put the feet to your passion and have consistently across this decade and certainly before that as well, because we've been knowing you forever, and certainly before that as well, because we've been knowing you forever that you have really this way, Just Breathe right. Can you tell us, just talk to us a little bit about that, Because for sure, people should be finding that. That brings tears to my eyes. It's so beautiful.
Speaker 4:Please share a little Sure Again. Over the last 10 years, and as you guys have known, I've always been from performing making my cousins perform with me to then making my friends perform with me, to then like really building a production company. We've done digital, like digital shorts. We've done series, digital series. We've done endless, countless photo shoots. So my most recent production it was also a digital short film. We released it on social media. It was called just breathe and it was inspired by um, so many different things, but um drew barry moore's um god, why am I blanking on the title of that film?
Speaker 1:uh, ever, ever after, ever after, ever after. What am?
Speaker 4:I here movies of all time and um, really what was exciting about that film, um, was that she was, it was like the cinderella story, but she really rescued herself and so that was really um. We wanted to like recreate that idea with also um, following themes from the movies and from ever after, in pulling sort of significant iconography, um from cinderella, from the storybook, uh, from fairy tales, and weaving it into sort of a new or more personal story. Um, about sort of I mean, sexual assault was definitely one of the themes and like rescuing yourself and finding yourself through trauma and um, yeah, it was a lot deeper than just a two minute digital short film, but that's kind of how I like to do things, yeah things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was. Not only was the outcome beautiful and just lovely to see, it was so um. I took great joy and pleasure in watching your journey to that, that time of not only filming in them but releasing and everything that brought you to that moment of release your diligence and your commitment to your team and putting forward something that was such a community based in particular communities, voices being heard. There was everything from top to bottom that just absolutely inspired and you know, that's legacy stuff. That's stuff that you were putting out there that lives and breathes. Yeah, yeah, that I mean that's legacy stuff. That's stuff that you were putting out there that lives and breathes yeah, yeah, um that I mean, that's always been a component.
Speaker 4:The team has always been a component of what I do. Um, I, as somebody who would like to play every role in every show by myself, um been there, but it's also, um, I just got to a place where I was, like you know, playing in the sandbox by yourself is not as fun as collaborating with people who get the vision, who understand what you're doing, who are excited about what you're doing, and I'm really really grateful that. I mean, it's taken many, many years to find people who are in such alignment with me, but we feel like in a really great place, and that took a lot of growth to get there. But the team has always been important to each piece.
Speaker 3:And so, of course, being your you know older aunts, not too old but your older aunt of course we are totally inspired by you.
Speaker 3:You know, from just like early days you've just been an inspiration and not yes, I know you're modeling poses, and not just really, not just for us, but we get to share the joy that we have, you know, for you and your growth in your journey with all the people that we know and love also, right, so I think you do. Your blog started with this one audience in mind, but it certainly has grown from there. Your, your film doesn't stick with one community, it crosses kind of community lines, right, and I think that's one of the things about you that I know is just that you kind of break down barriers, like you are a kick-ass girl, like nothing's going to stop you, which for me to see that in somebody I love, you know a young woman who's growing up kind of behind me, that's just really really exciting to see, which is one of the reasons why Dawn and I really wanted to have you kind of be the inaugural guest.
Speaker 3:Yeah because you're just so important in our life and have so much value in this world that like we've got to get it out even more, right? So?
Speaker 1:yeah, truth. So you know, part of what, a big part of what brought Diana and me together in the soul sisteries journey is this idea of hope that we've been on some pretty dramatic, wild, powerful, beautiful, deep, heartbreaking, glorious all the things journeys for the past many years. Um, as which right that is just human existence also, um, but we have been very intentional about hope through this journey and holding that space and, and, like I said, being intentional about that. So we've got a tagline for this podcast we are soul sisteries, hope through dot, dot, dot, and so our idea is that each of our guests, you know, sort of has that hope through experience, and we talked with you a little bit about that and what is your hope through word and that you gave to us and we would very much like for you to speak on it if you could. This is hope through creativity.
Speaker 4:Yes, hope through creativity. I through my own soul searching and growth. And I mean first, I feel like I have to acknowledge that I am nothing without the legacy of women before me. Like you know also, we maybe should can't do this podcast, because whenever we're together, we always just cry.
Speaker 4:I'm I'm stunned that these are the first moments of tears honestly among us, so holler, I was holding it really together, but, um no, I mean I like, yeah, I am nothing without the legacy of women before me and that's so pivotal to just who I am as a person but also so pivotal to the work that I do. I talk a lot about like. I learned so much about the world through like the lens of the women, like of my aunts, mom, my grandmother, like and growing up sort of around a kitchen table and like just so many stories of womanhood that are so like just who I am because of you guys so happy to be here. And hope through creativity is really Really, yeah, it's a tenet of my being, it is an absolute. I live and die by hope and by creativity Through my own soul, art and really questioning like, does this still matter to me?
Speaker 4:Does this still matter to anyone? Do I still want to do this 10 years in? Do I still care? Do I not care? And so, really searching all parts of myself, I really really found that without hope I am nothing Like if I do not have hope for a better tomorrow or a better future, or a hope for the world or for, like global community, or for my neighbor, or for my best friend, or for myself, like, if I don't have hope, then I'm. I, Brianna, as an entity, as a soul, it's done. I, brianna, as an entity, as a soul, it's done. So hope means so much to me and I'm so aligned with you both that that is the theme of this project.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you, sugar Pie.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm. Yeah, so you've talked a little bit about the last 10-year journey, but clearly the journey did not start 10 years ago when you started your blogging in Mom's Garage, so if you can maybe share with us a little bit about what got you here, yeah, okay.
Speaker 4:Well, I mean again, as someone who has known me my literal entire life, I have always been sensitive, I have always been creative, I've always been called to sort of express in my own unique way, which has always made me feel sort of isolated and like, okay, are there other people out here who are into what I'm into? Or do I need to sort of like mold myself to become like popular or well-liked? And so one of the best lessons my mom, one of the many, many lessons my mom gave me, but I was really, I was young, I was in elementary school and I was feeling like that I wasn't fitting in and I was always taller and bigger than everybody and so that kind of really, I mean that really peppered my. That was my experience of always being the biggest girl and like I really internalized so much of what that meant to like move through the world as like a bigger person. But my mom, I was like you know, I'm not fitting in, I don't feel like I, like I don't, I'm not like clicking with these people and having friends and like told me she said, well, why don't you, instead of trying to like, sit at the table with everyone, why don't you sit alone and see who joins you? And I was maybe eight years old and don't again, I don't know.
Speaker 4:That was really prolific and I thought, okay, let me like sit alone and see who like joins me. And I I have. I just went to my. I just went now I mean, this was almost 25 years ago that me and this friend met, but I just went to her wedding and she was one of the friends who sat with me when I went, you know. So I found my people for sure, and I feel like when I started my blog, I was also. It was kind of like, okay, I feel like when I started my blog, I was also. It was kind of like, ok, I feel like there's other people out here who are into what I'm into fashion, beauty, I'm plus size and like that doesn't really exist I mean 10 years ago, like the plus size space was so different, and like let me just take this leap of faith and see if there's other people out here, let me sit alone at the lunch table and see who who finds me. And it's been an incredible journey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Okay. So I've known you all your life and I've never heard that story before. My God, that moves me so deeply.
Speaker 4:And you know, Debbie, she's a saint.
Speaker 1:I know Debbie, but I also know Brianna and the fortitude, debbie, but I also know Brianna and the fortitude, the bravery, the this is me presence in the world and sitting in that space, even though I know as part of what you're not sharing right now, I know the deep emotional challenges through that journey as well, and particularly as you are so present and public and you know not everybody comes to that space with light and love right and tries to throw some of that down, and that you not only have continued to sit in that space but to shine and shine and bring others with you. Face, but to shine and shine and bring others with you. Just speak so much to your character, who you are, your heart and your commitment, your passion, all these wonderful wonderful things that make up the presence.
Speaker 1:that is you. Yeah, a little love fest here we're having for sure yeah. I love hearing that journey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know our podcast is about hope, right, and how you find hope and how you create hope, but it also sounds like one of the reasons you do what you do is to share hope right To like who's coming to your table, who? Who are you bringing hope to? Also Right, so it's not just about you know, fulfilling your own needs, but it's it's also filling clearly a huge hole that's been out there that you've been filling for at least 10 years in our life obviously a lot longer than that.
Speaker 4:But yeah, I mean as an actor, I a little bit in a part of that, like soul searching, of like does this to me? Do I still like this? Do I want to keep performing? Do I want to do I keep doing the b word? Do I not keep doing the b word? Um, and like. Again, part of being an actor is like okay, is this just to like, fulfill something for me? Like, do I need just like attention or do I just need like something? But it has always been bigger than me for sure.
Speaker 4:I really stepped away from theater for a long time because I didn't feel like I had like the autonomy that I wanted as a plus size, like actress, which is why I then started producing and creating my own theater. I felt like casting was really limited. I know I'm not the only plus size actor who feels that and that was really what started me to create my own work, because not only did I want to work with people I respected and loved and want to be in other people's productions and that, but I just felt like it was so limited and I didn't want to leave my career up to just like if somebody else saw me as the part and like I wanted to be so much more than I've ever seen available on screen for plus size people and I'm also six feet tall, so that's also very limiting, like as a film actor Something I didn't really know.
Speaker 4:Going in, I was like, oh wait, wait. So I'm just I am definitely just not a cookie cutter in this industry, and so I really was like I need to pave my own way and, through that, have really widened the door for others. And I just did an event. I've been sort of like I said like I haven't been online as Brianna as much recently and I just went to an event, an in-person event, with like the plus size community and it was like it was called Thick Thrift. It's in Los Angeles. It's the only plus size thrift market. It's incredible.
Speaker 4:And Maybe three or four groups of women came up to me throughout the whole day and told me, oh my God, you were the inspiration behind me starting my business or, like you have no idea, like you helped me, like realize I wanted to get back into acting and it was just these like little fleeting moments, but I was like, wow, that is really wild, is really wild that like so much, like we've said, beyond plus size fashion, beyond being an actor, beyond making digital shorts and short films and digital series, beyond whatever that people could take that inspiration from me, or that's, that's really the why, yeah yeah, and that you know speaks to the sisteries and the legacy, and you know, know all the things that you know are bigger than you.
Speaker 3:Right, that just continue yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 1:what is it out in the world there that sparks that hope for you, in you? What gives you hope?
Speaker 4:Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 1:Thanks, we thought of it ourselves.
Speaker 4:There's. It's like so many things, but to me it's like small human moments, like little moments of kindness. It's like I feel like we can get really or I can for sure get um washed up or overwhelmed with bad news or this side versus this side, or these people are good, these people are bad. This is happening, this is this atrocity is happening in the world. And then I go out and I see, like that, one of my favorite parks by my house. I go and I read and but there's men who play dominoes every day and they go and they are always there and they always play dominoes and like that's wow, that friendship, or a friendship I've had for you know a million years. I just went to, like I said, my friend, my childhood best friend's wedding and I was like crying and everyone's like can you like hold this together?
Speaker 4:And I was like this is just such an amazing moment. And, yeah, it's those moments and for me too, something that makes me feel alive and gives me those extra like tingles of hope and of just aliveness, um, is going to the movies. I love, love, love going to the movies. I've always loved going to the movies, but it's right when the lights go down and the movie's about to start. It makes me think of the carol uh, carol burnett version of annie. There's a song where they're like let's go to the movies, and it's like this whole big ordeal. And so whenever I go to just the movies, I always think of that.
Speaker 4:Um, and I've always loved movies and the magic of movies and the transformative nature of storytelling. It's the same feeling for me, too, when you're about to see a musical and the band is tuning like right as the lights go down, like that's like a little magic moment for me. So it's really those moments, or those like full circle moments, when something happens that you can't. I could have never planned this in my little human mind. You know, like there, like there's just a majesticness to life and I love to, I love to be delighted by the universe, I love being alive, and those are the moments that make me feel it.
Speaker 1:Sweetheart, you know what I'm hearing through all that you're saying is that moment of possibility, and that possibility absolutely does equate to hope. There's more, there's life, there's breath, there's activity. I'm with you. You put it so beautifully. I had not thought of it in particularly that way. So thank you for that Love. That, yeah.
Speaker 3:Cool, and you shared with us the story of you know kind of that incident in elementary school when your mom said to sit at your own table. I'm curious, or we're curious, I guess. What would your 13-year-old self so think back to when you were 13,? What would your 13-year-old self say to you now about what you're doing and where you're at now? What would 13-year-old Brianna say?
Speaker 4:Oh my gosh, I think about that often. Um, I would hope that she thought I was so cool and like bold and brave and following like her heart and, yeah, all of those things I would. I. It really comes back to like I would hope, and I know that she would think I was very cool, so that that makes me feel like I'm aligned and on the right path and again, with the soul searching and the therapy and the personal work like my whole life I dreamed of, you know, living in Los angeles making movies and being a movie star really, and so it's so interesting the path that my life has taken. Now that I I live in los angeles, I work in entertainment marketing, I'm going to the emmys next week for work and, like, here I am, I'm making a like, not the way I pictured it, but I'm doing exactly what I wanted to be doing.
Speaker 3:And no doubt brave and amazing and awesome and doing these great things, and I mean what a different world had 13-year-old Brianna had you already present in the world as this adult role model? You know, yeah, so wow, yeah, and I love.
Speaker 1:That's just great case in point, because it's a thing that we often forget. We get so closed in, I think, in terms of the dreams and how it needs to manifest, that we shut out the possibilities. And you are just a glorious example of, you know, staying in that alignment, staying in that truth, you are certainly making things happen, but things also happen in that space, right, and it doesn't look exactly like little one dreamed, but it sure is amazing and wonderful and is living in the truth of what it is that your heart desires, right? So I love that and I love that and I love young people to know that. That's so, you know, whatever the dream is, there are ways to really experience that deeply. Anyway, this is not about me and my thoughts is back to back to you and your thoughts, so I love the reflection back.
Speaker 4:Um, I know I think about that too. Um, I think I mean 13 year old rihanna, even 18 year old, 21. I was very, very. I was like, well, why am I 18 and not on broadway yet? And it was very like, why am I not the next it thing? So it took a lot of trust in my mindset. Now at 32 is just so different and I don't think I would have traded any of the journey at all. So I feel exactly in the right place here.
Speaker 1:Amen to that, amen to that, all right. So here's a, here's a quick question. Let's see if you have a quick answer. Okay, do you have a life philosophy?
Speaker 4:Oh my God, my life philosophy. I had a friend once tell me that I was somebody who like jumped in the pool both feet first, like not like a little tiptoe, like really like jumped in, dived in and that is like good and bad. But I would say that I like just jump in both feet, like you're alive here right now, like do it, go for it, don't overthink it, don't know if that's a quick answer no, that's a great quick answer, I'm.
Speaker 1:What I'm curious is where do you think that comes from, like the just you just had that in you, or what inspired just that knowing and doing in you?
Speaker 4:okay, that's an interesting thing because I I again a lot of people, I think look at me and are, like brianna's, very brave and I there's so many times when I do not feel brave, um, bravery is a choice.
Speaker 4:It's you choose bravery and step forward yeah and so I was actually having a conversation with my mom a couple days ago and she brought up something really lovely about my dad being like um, that he was very we're.
Speaker 4:We're similar in a lot of ways. I'm like my mom and I'm like my dad, but I really think it comes from both of them raising me and my brother to really you can do they. I mean, they told us that every day, like there's some really hardcore life lessons that my parents, like were really strong on, and one of them is like you can be and do and have whatever you want and you have to be willing to work for it. So I think I've always been down to like work for it and, uh, that was one thing, and they also, I mean they were really strong on like you have, if you have to be a person of your word, and so I've given myself my word that I will do what I can do to follow my dreams, and so I I can't let myself down, and so I will show up. For my part, I've given myself my word that I, yeah, will show up and do the work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that bravery word I mean by definition. In order to be brave, you also have to be scared.
Speaker 3:There has to be fear If there's no fear in the situation, then there's no need for bravery, right? I mean, if there's, you know, if the net and the mat is underneath you when you take the jump, well, the fear is gone because you know you're protected. So bravery is doing it despite the fear, despite the net not being under you. So you are the definition of brave. You really are. So you don't have to take it from me, but think of what the word means and you are brave.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Absolutely true. So how do you hope to be remembered?
Speaker 4:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:This feels very in line with a lot of the work I've been doing recently, so I have these questions at the top of my mind.
Speaker 4:Someone just asked me to write my eulogy, um, which was a really interesting thing, um, and I'm trying to remember what I wrote in there, but I really wanted to be remembered as somebody who was a light, really like I really believe in living, breathing, being um a person of good and a person bringing.
Speaker 4:Also go back to my girl scout roots of like leave uh any place better than you found it. So I mean, in girl scouts that really meant like pick up five pieces of trash, but I really believe in like trying to make the world a better place through whatever impact I could have and I think at at one point I really it was I want to have a global impact and I want to change the world for good and that means on a really grand scale. I'm doing that and I'm impacting people all over and I've really realized that it's like, you know, between me and my neighbor, and it's between me and whoever's listening to this podcast, or me and the guy at my local gas station who I always take one minute to say like, hey, we chat. So I would really like to be remembered as somebody who, yeah, brought light into the world and empowered other people to live boldly.
Speaker 1:And you are absolutely that and have always been. That light, but it is the magnitude of the light is brilliant, and not just because I love you personally and deeply, but that is a truth about you and your presence in the world. I want to say one more thing about that that I'm aware of. When you talk about that close space or on the really big stage, there's also the ripple effect, right. So we hit globally also by impacting the one. Yeah, and out and out and out from that, and certainly that is true of you, yeah, yeah. So where are we? Where are we on on our questions?
Speaker 3:I think we're at a section that we are going to kind of call rapid fire. We're just going to throw some questions at you and you get to throw the answer back to us.
Speaker 1:So there you go, let's do that. And if you want to expand on them or expound, do so. Or if not, just say the thing and we'll go to the next.
Speaker 4:Cool, okay, all right here we go.
Speaker 1:What color is hope?
Speaker 4:Oh what color is hope. I first went like baby blue, like ocean seashell-y blue.
Speaker 3:Love it, love it, love it.
Speaker 4:What does hope sound like? Oh, okay, I'm going to go back to my answer. It sounds like the musicians tuning right before right as the lights go down of the start of a musical.
Speaker 1:Great.
Speaker 4:Love it. What is your theme song? Something disco-y. I've been really listening to the song Sunny, a lot Sunny, oh yeah, yesterday my life and I've been feeling good with that jamming with that song, so that would be my song right now. That is so fun.
Speaker 3:Yes, I love it. So, we asked what your 13-year-old self would say to you. What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
Speaker 4:Oh, okay, I like to think about this too, because sometimes I at some points I think I wouldn't tell them anything, because there's like a lot of things that you have to go through. Um, yeah, and in the last, I mean from 13 to now, I definitely have gone through a lot of personal growth, a lot of grief, a lot of change, and I think I mean that's like life probably from 13 to 32, um, and part of me wants to be like okay, it's gonna be a lot, but like you'll be okay. Um, but I don't think I would say anything, honestly, just I love you and I'm proud of you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that. I like that so much, absolutely um who inspires you well, you too girl um, I was.
Speaker 4:I didn't get harkening back the legacy of women that I come from. We are a strong, strong, badass bunch and like each a different life journey, but it's been really an honor to watch everyone as I've grown up. But who else inspires me? As far as like celebrities, or people, I mean I have to also, of course, shout out my mom, I have to shout out or people, I mean I have to also, of course, shout out my mom, I have to shout out. Um, I really have modeled my business, consciously or unconsciously, around women who are stars and actors, but also producers. So, like a Reese Witherspoon, issa Rae, um, I would say Shonda Rhimes as well, but she's not an actress, but that's really. I'm very, very inspired by those women as well.
Speaker 1:Who are also, like you, just super good women in the world doing the thing you gotta be. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Shining the light. Shining the light, Fill in the blank. Creativity is what.
Speaker 4:Life. I think without that's my life force it really is. And, um, when we spoke about like hoping creativity, my first thought was really how important creativity is to my mom as well and I was like, wow, it's so interesting because, yes, we were creative together but I've always like lived in my creativity. I've it's sort of been my own process and, yeah, creativity is really life and I like to live my life with creativity in every aspect of what I'm wearing to what I'm listening to, to the projects I'm doing, to what I'm eating for dinner, like that. It's really in all areas of my life.
Speaker 1:All right, so another fill in the blank.
Speaker 4:the meaning of life is oh, the meaning of life is love. I mean, there's nothing really more to that. It's really I do, I really live behind, like you're just here to live, laugh, love, and like that is what I'm doing absolutely live, laugh, love.
Speaker 3:Okay, last fill in the blank. Hope is what?
Speaker 4:hope is. Oh, hope is. My first thought was like life-giving and like to go back to again our what we've said before. But if I don't have hope, it's, it's like in my soul. Hope is in my soul like it has to be. Um, without hope, yeah, I'm nothing. So it's really hope is everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, beautiful, brave, wonderful. Brianna, we can't tell you how grateful we are that you spent this time with us. Well, first, so grateful that, like you, came into being and that you exist in this world, because the world is better lighter lighter for you and your presence and your intentionality about life and creativity, hope and love in this world. Thank you for sharing this time with us, love you so dearly and I'm so very proud of you.
Speaker 3:And actually what we want to do is to allow you to maybe share how people can find you kind of. You shared a little bit of what you're doing now, but where can people find you? How can people follow you? You?
Speaker 4:well. Thank you so much for having me so happy here to be here to support you both. I'm very excited for where the like the lives this podcast touches. So, um, yay, you can find me, um, at the b word blogcom. I'm on instagram, instagram tick tock. That's mostly where I'm at. Again, we're launching our Kickstarter for a new film fat ass. I cannot wait so I hope everyone that's listening is a part of that. $1, $5, $10, $1,000 helps. So we're so, so, so excited about that and you can follow that journey along as well. It will all be on the B word. Do you want to share your fundraising goal for that film?
Speaker 4:yes, yeah, we're raising 150 000 yes, girl to pay a crew of about 100 people all their asking rate. Um, again, nothing I do is, uh like low-key. So this is like it's fully a camp horror film. So there's deaths, so we need a stunt coordinator. There's power cars, there's fashion, there's blood, there's I mean again, a crew of about 100 people, including extras, and so it's a everyone needs to be paid their rate, and that's what we're raising the money to do.
Speaker 1:I know with every fiber of my being that that is being manifested and we will see that. So that is absolutely coming to be, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you, very exciting.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for this time with us and for sharing hope, life, love, all the good stuff. I think this is where we sign out and we say everybody stay tuned in to the wonderful Breonna McDonald. You want to keep hearing from her, Thank you love, love you guys.
Speaker 3:Thank you, love you, love you, sweetheart, love you, love you. Thanks for joining us today on Soul Sisteries.
Speaker 1:And thanks for sharing stories with us. We'd love to hear your stories as well and keep the conversation going, absolutely keeping the hope going. So we're really hopeful that you'll connect with our guests as well, who have great stories to share. Go ahead and follow them in various social media platforms or live venues, wherever it is that they're performing and sharing what they do.
Speaker 3:We would love to have you follow us on all of our social media platforms, subscribe and rate, as that will help us get our message of hope out to others. Thanks for listening to Soul Sisteries.
