- 23 hours ago
Rechelle Dennis from Girls United talks with Lovie Simone and Lexie Underwood about being actresses and using their social media platforms.
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00:00hello everyone what's good and welcome to girls united checking in on our girls
00:09i'm rochelle dennis and i'm the co-founder and program lead for girls united by essence
00:15a program that supports young women with creating success in their lives careers education and
00:21community so today i have very special guests with me we have two young ladies who are paving
00:29their own paths in success in front of the camera and they are also using their platform to help
00:35further the fight against injustice and systematic racism so let's get into who our guests are
00:42our first panelists had us all looking forward to the next episode as a breakout star of hulu's
00:49critically acclaimed series little fires everywhere please welcome actress lexi underwood
00:56hi nice to see you and our next guest who stars in an amazon original movie selah and the spades
01:08and on the fifth and final season of own's hit series green leaf welcome actress lovey simone
01:16hello so how are you guys feeling today what's what's up feeling pretty good yeah feeling good
01:26relaxed yes regular monday so how are you guys adjusting to life amidst this pandemic and global
01:37unrest because this is definitely something that is not what anybody is used to so how are you guys
01:42doing and holding up well i i have always been a natural introvert myself so it hasn't been too much of
01:52like the switch for me um i'm usually used to getting all of my energy like when i'm at home
01:57so it's more so me like diving into the things i said i was gonna do and like really like sticking to
02:03things that i've been wanting to do like when i've been on the road and stuff like that so it's been
02:07pretty cool getting closer to self that's very important how about you i'm kind of an introvert um
02:15um well i kind of like it um i'm still adjusting to it it's a bit different you know not being able
02:22to see my friends all the time or not being able to like go to auditions in person but i feel like
02:27i've kind of gotten like used to it at this point so i'm trying to stay positive yeah well that's funny
02:33that you guys are introverts so how do you guys like how you guys have a career that's in front of the
02:38camera in front of millions of eyes how do you guys do that day in and day out and you know being an introvert
02:44well for me for me i um i don't know what happens but it's like when i'm very shy also i'm not the
03:01type to like start stuff so like when the camera does say action well not when the camera says action
03:06when they say uh camera action i don't know what happens it's just like it's just me and my craft at
03:12that point and it's kind of like i don't really allow anyone to kind of like mess with that so
03:16it's just like i'm gonna put on the show because i have to tell the story because i have to make sense
03:21of it in my head kind of situation so that's how it is for me and i i usually sage at the end of every
03:27night after being on set with like so many energies and like being the empath that i am so just respecting
03:34like my boundaries in the process of everything um well for me acting is like my calling and my passion
03:43so when i do step on set i feel i don't know i feel comfortable and like at peace and at home
03:48when i am um and it's the middle of seeing regardless of you know what's happening in the scene
03:54i just feel like i'm truly myself when i'm acting um and so i don't want to say it's like a almost like a
04:01persona that's put on it's like something just kind of takes over my body um and it's like my job
04:06to tell stories and to you know make sure that the story that i'm telling is coming off as authentic
04:12as possible and sometimes you know when i allow flexi and my shyness or you know being an introvert
04:17when i allow that take over my body then it obviously sets my performance so i just try and
04:23keep it to myself and allow the work to take over my body and you know that's the full energy that i'm
04:29paying yes so you guys were blessed with incredibly big platforms where you guys can reach a lot of
04:39people um so as we're seeing everything kind of unravel we're seeing a lot of young people on the
04:45forefront you know at protests um using their social platforms so what are your thoughts on how young
04:52people in our country in around the world actually are responding to the recent police brutality
04:58incidents um for me it's really inspiring and encouraging um because our generation is the
05:07future we're the change makers we're going to be the ones that you know hopefully you know and so
05:14seeing all of you know just seeing just gen z come out and shows the support of this movement
05:19regardless of what race you are what language you speak where you come from is incredibly inspiring
05:24um when it comes to this platform you know i've been blessed to have this platform and i'm committed
05:30to using my voice um to have an impact um and you know gen c is the most diverse community um and so i
05:38think that with all of us coming together and putting all these differences aside we're way stronger
05:44together and so i just want to continue to make sure that i'm using my platform to continue to push that
05:49movement forward um and i always promise myself like little fires everywhere is my first big thing
05:54but you know before that i've been acting for about six years and so when i was younger i would always
05:58promise myself that regardless of what age it was that i was able to you know be given this platform i
06:03want to be as authentic as possible and making sure that i'm not timid and that i'm using my voice
06:08to speak up about things that i'm incredibly passionate about uh same with me i think when i first started
06:16instagram and first started getting my following i was a lot angrier because well is there not to be
06:22angry about you know but as i like started learning myself and how much of like the feelings i was
06:29feeling over this was like constant heartbreak so like through my social media i do like to post stuff
06:35that is a little more encouraging in these hard times and like by black and all this stuff because when
06:40you see these videos like constantly it's a little traumatizing so like i kind of like to tread lightly
06:46because we are traumatized people and so that's kind of how i use mine my social media
06:56so lovey so staying connected um to your loved ones has must have been one of the biggest challenges you
07:04know while we were social distancing um now it's almost like it's a part of our daily routines so
07:11you have a sister who also has a busy schedule how do you guys maintain your sisterly bond with
07:17cool work um you know whatever it may be uh i feel like it's it's not hard it's not as hard as i think
07:25people like to make it seem i have a lot of free time um when i'm not acting you know and she just took a
07:31semester off of school and she's writing her book and a lot of the times we have a lot of time
07:35together so it hasn't nothing's changed uh over this quarantine if anything we still live in the
07:41same house so we've been getting closer and i don't know how that's possible but it's happening
07:48but yeah i mean there's a lot of time as long as you make the time i like to also um limit well i guess
07:58i like to not bite off more than i can chew you know i like to stick to things that i really really
08:03want to do because those are the things that are going to kind of like last everything else is kind
08:07of i can wait i need time with like my family and my little brother and my little sister
08:14so it sounds like time management is something that you have down pat
08:18or really close to down pat because i don't know how you manage it
08:21it's really it's it's wild it's wild i've been practicing this art for a minute
08:31so you have to say you want to like just completely like just have a day to just
08:36completely disconnect what does that look like for you for me i would definitely go to the park
08:45you'll find me at any park uh just without my phone like just relaxing in the sun or just me like
08:53reading a book outside anything outside with my like bare feet is nice to ground myself and like
09:01really recharge it's very important and i feel a lot of people get that you know humans need that
09:09down time um so like you have also spoken about the importance of mental health so what health care
09:17practices um are you using or you're using to maintain and keep yourself balanced during this time
09:24and this transition um well i find a lot of beauty and creating um so that's painting or music or reading
09:34i just that's like where my comfort zone is in my safe spaces um but when it comes to whether i'm
09:40struggling with anxiety or just you know everything like love you was saying everything happening right
09:45now is so incredibly traumatic um and it's so easy to get lost and you know all the madness in the world
09:52right now um when i am having those moments i just go back and i try and meditate and pray um and just
10:00meditating it just centers my spirit and it puts me back in um this place where i just i don't know
10:07i'm centering myself and my energy just you know feels good and feels like this weight is being
10:12lifted off of me um and then i also talk to a counselor as well once every week and i just feel
10:19as though i personally i think that um talking to a counselor is incredibly important and i think um
10:25it's something that needs to be normalized um because no matter you know what age you are you
10:32know how many friends you have or even if you have a good relationship with your parents i think that
10:36there still needs to be that one person um because sometimes you don't necessarily there are things you
10:42can't tell to your friends but there are things you can't tell to your parents and so having a counselor
10:48is incredibly important where you just have this moment whether it's a 30 minute session an hour session
10:53where you can just i don't know not have this facade and just say i'm not okay you know this is not
11:00normal and this is how i'm feeling and you know knowing that you're in a space space and you know
11:05getting you know tools and guides to help um put you back in a centered um energy and then also just
11:13reclaiming my peace and making sure that i'm taking time for myself um because right now especially with
11:20social media we want to be aware of everything happening we want to constantly be tapped in
11:26but you also have to know that you know just taking a couple of hours or even just a day off of social
11:31media is totally fine um because the movement is still going to be you know just if you take a couple
11:37of hours for yourself you know we're still going to be you know fighting for change um and so i just
11:43think you know make sure that you're finding time um for yourself and don't feel bad for taking time to be
11:49happy and taking time to you know just really just check up on yourself yeah how do you think that
11:55social media really contributes to this generation um you know our parents didn't have instagram they
12:02didn't have twitter when um you know in the past so it seems like we get to see a lot more trauma so
12:11how are you guys dealing with that and is there such thing as also being almost too aware um you know being
12:17too on social media to see a lot of this this traumatic stuff i don't think there's such thing
12:25as being too aware but i think there is such thing as like being on social media too much um because
12:31like you know seeing those images and and videos all the time like like you said it could be very
12:36traumatizing and i've noticed with me personally when i kind of stepped away from my phone and social
12:43media and i was just able to kind of live my life by my means and how i'm dealing with the situation
12:49it became a lot easier to handle and i feel like people get so like deep into that abyss it's like
12:55i have to carry the weight of the world and naturally that's what ages black people as well it's like
13:00we're carrying so much and we know so much that's happening and and we forget to kind of take care of
13:06ourselves so like stuff like you said with the counselor like i am i support that like so heavy
13:13i support taking social media breaks taking breaks from your phone period it's like just everything
13:19so i would highly recommend that yeah um to me um social media sometimes can be almost like a background
13:29noise um i think that it's i don't know i there's no such thing as being too aware like let me
13:36say but then you also need to take time for yourself i think that social media has um a positive
13:43and a negative because without social media we wouldn't stay you know up to date on everything
13:48and like you said our parents our grandparents didn't have social media back then and now we're
13:53able to document all these injustices happening especially you know with our own community um and so
13:59it helps us and it helps push this movement forward and also we've done it with you know just gen z
14:05being able to like use social media as a platform um to kind of get ourselves out there whatever brand
14:12we have out there we saw with march for our lives you know just started off with you know some kids
14:16from florida and they created this incredible movement on social media and so you know we get
14:22our news from social media we get our information from social media but then there also needs to be a
14:28time where we can just kind of decompress and know that we don't have to be on social media 24 7 because
14:34social media can also be incredibly toxic um while yes you know we stay informed on everything there's
14:40also kind of a bad side of you know comparing yourself to people on social media and there are
14:45a lot of facades that are planted in social media as well um and i think especially when you have a
14:50platform there's a lot of pressure of wanting to be perfect you know making sure that you don't say
14:56the wrong thing making sure that you know oh if i post this picture what are the people going to you know
15:01think and then also cancel culture as well you know making sure that you're precise about every
15:06single thing that you post and every single thing that you say um so i think there's just you just
15:11have to know how to balance both um where you know you take some time to stay on social media this damn
15:17form but then also taking time to know when to tap out and to just take some time for yourself
15:21that was a beautiful answer thank you a beautiful answer so you're all super successful and rising
15:34actresses in your own right how do you balance your personal feeling your professional commitments
15:41when there's so much that's going on and you know sometimes it's it may almost feel like you can't
15:47afford to disconnect or you can't afford to take time for yourselves so how are you balancing all of
15:53it i definitely work well in chaos um growing up with like anxiety i had to kind of push through it
16:04uh in order to look functioning or seem functioning so like with with now i've kind of picked up some
16:11things like that'll help me identify my trigger before it even gets to like that point or like
16:17i'll identify with like how my body's feeling i'll be like this is familiar so a lot of things
16:22that could have gotten me to like that uncomfortable place has been like help with like
16:26just like cooking like any form of like self-care and like healing you know so like cooking and
16:32gardening and just being present and just allowing myself to just be as is too because i feel like
16:38a lot of the times we're always working towards something when we're not really paying attention to
16:43the now so doing that has been helping me with my personal and private life and also staying true
16:49to my personal selves uh interest it kind of leads into my my professional life
16:58um well for me i think the biggest thing is i can schedule um and so i scheduled like my breaks and
17:06down time um and making sure that i actually am staying on top of like protecting that time that i'm
17:12carving out for myself and i also make sure that you know whether my team or support system parents
17:18they understand my boundaries um where sometimes it can just be a lot happening at once and i just have
17:24to say hey guys like can i just take some time just for myself whether that's like or just a day off
17:30um and it's lovely because you know they understand that um to the world right now giving you know i've just
17:38been giving this platform like people just see me as like an actor but realistically i'm just a 16
17:44year old girl that is like trying to figure out high school and trying to figure out just life in
17:50general and so i think you know especially when it comes to making sure that i'm keeping balance
17:56versus you know my public life and my private life it really honestly just goes back to like meditating
18:02and praying and making sure that i'm protecting my peace and also making sure that i um don't
18:08necessarily i think also protecting my energy and i'm very careful about what i give my energy to versus
18:15what i don't give my energy to and then also you know there was a time where i feel like i would react
18:21to everything and i would just take everything to heart especially like what i saw on social media
18:25um like i'm a super emotional person so now i've just kind of had to step back and be very careful
18:30about what i react towards and um how and what i give my energy towards um so i think honestly just the
18:37biggest thing i feel like you know saying it over and over again is just meditating and just meditate
18:46like choosing where to spend your energy i think is super important because i feel like sometimes we
19:00get wrapped in like and now we have trolls on social media and it's like imagine like giving that energy
19:06to somebody who doesn't deserve it yeah like to me is it's really about picking your battles so last
19:13question before we you know wrap it up what advice do you guys have for young people who want to
19:19raise their voice but um you know may want to um or might be scared to do that
19:28um for me i would think maybe don't wait for somebody to give you the go or opportunity
19:36um to use your voice just do it yourself and also don't feel like you have to do it
19:43all don't feel like you know this movement like i feel like a lot of times especially when it comes
19:48to like black girls there's so much weight that we carry um you know just regarding everything
19:54happening in the world just make sure that you realize and that you understand that you don't have
19:59to carry it all and that you're not alone with this movement um but also just don't be timid
20:05don't be shy like shoot your shot in all honesty or shoot your business like don't just stay in your
20:12bubble because social media is such like i said it it has good sides and it's bad sides but use the
20:20good side um just just to kind of amplify your voice and get your message out there you know each of us
20:25have has a role to play um regardless of how many followers you have regardless of you know what you do
20:32don't compare yourself to anybody else because at the end of the day we're all in this fight together
20:37we're all trying to come together to create um so no matter what where you come from what race you are
20:43what religion you are sexual orientation we're all in this together and just know you know don't don't
20:49compare yourself to everybody else yeah i yeah i i would say to kind of piggyback off the whole
20:56you're not alone part in this uh fight i definitely think that you should do the small things that you
21:05can do like yourself the ripple like knowing your rights voting taking time to yourself talking with
21:13your friends who aren't black about like your feelings and your family and like just to get a
21:19deeper understanding because i feel like the reason why we have so much white anger now is because
21:23there's so much awareness and understanding that it's so hard to like be this uncomfortable anymore
21:29it's it's hard to look at people be that uncomfortable you know so definitely like knowing
21:34like all your politics of like being on it but also like keeping that balance between like your peace
21:40of mind and like knowing what to do and how to move forward with that thank you so much guys you guys
21:49are really proof that the future really is in the hands of people generation so continue to please be
21:57using your platform because you guys are doing an incredible job of it and i enjoy this conversation so
22:03much because i think it's something that a lot of young people need to hear um because we are the future
22:09and we are you know on on the front lines and you know we're gonna get what we want um and it's really
22:16about all of us coming together and also checking in on each other so i love the opportunity to check
22:22in on you guys make sure you guys were good um you know and it sounds like everything's good and you
22:27guys are winning it so thank you so much um yes and stay safe and i hope you guys are practicing self-care
22:40and doing that you need to do to continue to contribute thank you same to you thank you so much all right
22:48bye guys thank you thank you
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