One of the major sticking points was the number of dancers that would be on tour with me. I envisioned eight but was told that we could only afford four. Over and over again I was told I needed to confirm four dancers or else the tour would not be financially viable. Here’s the thing, though: with four dancers, it wouldn’t be my tour, the one I had in my head. It would be my team’s tour, my financial advisor’s tour, but not my tour—and that wasn’t okay with me. I signed off on taking full financial responsibility for eight dancers.
I finally had my eight dancers confirmed, but this was just the first of many battles I would fight. I went back and forth with the costume designer, not budging on what I wanted because I had a very specific vision in my mind. She kept coming to me with reasons why my vision wouldn’t be possible to execute, but I was adamant. My dancers were to be the gatekeepers of Unicorn Island, and they had to look perfect. My baby would not wear an ugly onesie! My baby had to wear a cute, fluffy outfit so I could take pictures of it and plaster those pictures on the Internet. That’s what motherhood is about!
After months of protecting my baby with invisible boxing gloves, the time finally came to start the tour. Little did I know that the actual journey across the planet would be filled with unforeseen threats to my vision. In India, some of my jokes had to be altered due to legalities and cultural appropriateness. In Perth, Australia, the size of the stage was a third of our minimum requirement. In Dubai, the staff continuously interrupted my show and the security allowed fans to run onstage during my set. But I’m a mother, and mothers do not give up when it comes to protecting their young, so time and time again I tried my best to find a solution. I just wanted my baby to shine and make a difference in the world.
Now, this all sounds ideal and magical in some sense, but a Bawse understands that there is a cost to protecting your vision. With dancers and costumes, I took on financial risk. With stage dimensions and venue restrictions, the dancers would have to rearrange formations to accommodate the changes. With logistics and scheduling, I sacrificed the amount of time I had to sleep. When it comes to protecting your vision, there will always be some cost, and you need to be prepared to deal with it. More often than not, the cost will be a huge amount of work. If you want things a certain way, then you better be on the front lines of the battle with a suit of armor, ready to protect your brain baby.
The next time you have an idea, recognize that your idea is your baby and if you parent it well, it will grow up to be a wonderful event, product, or campaign. Your baby can change the world, but first you must make a promise to protect it. You should always welcome feedback and take into account suggestions that may help your baby in a positive way, BUT if you ever hear that little voice in your head screaming in protest, you should stick to your guns.
Welcome to parenthood. You should go to a hardware store right now and buy some childproof locks (and earplugs), because that’s what parenting is all about. That and getting peed on while changing diapers. Dang, I guess gravity really does exist.
SNOOP DOGG has taught me a lot of valuable lessons in life. For starters, he taught me that you can spell animal names however you want, so if you feel like repeating a letter, don’t let anyone stop you. Second, if something is hot, drop it. And last, I’m beautiful and he just wanted me to know. I learned all these things through Snoop Dogg’s iconic music, but it was during a YouTube creator summit he was speaking at that I ended up learning the most. He was participating in a panel about staying relevant in the industry and I was sitting on the edge of my seat trying to soak in all the wisdom. He said a lot of really great things that day, but one thing in particular stood out to me. When asked how he’s been able to have such a long, successful career, Snoop Dogg replied: “I’m the dumbest person on my team and that’s how I do it.”
From a young age we’re always taught to be the best, the fastest, and the smartest. You don’t aim for second place in a race, nor do you compete in a spelling bee hoping someone else is a better speller than you. That said, a Bawse knows that in certain situations, it’s beneficial to be the dumbest person in the room. Surrounding yourself with people who are more experienced and knowledgeable than you are is a great way to step outside your comfort zone and continue to learn and grow.
When it comes to my team, I’m the talent. This means that it’s my job to be in front of the camera, onstage, or in a studio. Although I may be good at entertaining the masses, I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for a number of other people who are really good at their jobs. I’m good at telling jokes, but my manager is better than me at strategizing my overall career. Performing in front of 18,000 people is no problem for me, but when it comes to the legalities of that performance, my lawyer is much more knowledgeable than me. The stories and lessons in this book are my brain babies, but without my editor you wouldn’t be able to read my incorrectly spelled sentences (sometimes not even autocorrect can save you). When it comes to my team, I’m the best at doing what I’m supposed to do, but I’m the absolute dumbest when it comes to everything else. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s like we’re all holding our own paddle, one that no one else knows how to handle, and we’re rowing in unison.
“BEING THE DUMBEST PERSON ON YOUR TEAM DOESN’T MAKE YOU A STUPID PERSON; IT MEANS YOUR SMART ENOUGH TO SELECT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM.
Being the dumbest person on your team doesn’t make you a stupid person; it means you’re smart enough to select people to work with that you can learn from. It also means checking your ego and being okay with the fact that you aren’t the best at something. When I’m in a meeting with my team, every member has something to contribute to the conversation based on their area of expertise. We’ll be discussing an upcoming shoot and all I’m thinking about is how I can prepare to be the best on set. Suddenly my makeup artist will bring up a few concerns around makeup transitions and I’ll just sit there quietly, dumbfounded, because I have no idea what a highlight is. I didn’t know people were using highlighters on their face now! Isn’t that like ink poisoning or something? Then my agent will start discussing exclusivity around the photos and use a whole bunch of acronyms that I’ve never heard before. I feel like a mother who is reading her child’s Twitter feed and needs to Google the meaning of “LMAO.” The point I’m making is that all of these questions and ideas are things I would never think of or, to be honest, don’t have the capacity to think of. I’m not a trained makeup artist and I don’t know how to be an agent. So what do I do? I own being the dumbest and I ask questions.