Growing Up in a Famous Music Household

Welcome to this week's episode of Chicks and Chill. Today, I'm excited to welcome too, amazing Cubans. We're going to talk about a few things, including what it's like growing up in a famous household. This is Chicks and Chill because most of you guys know my family is in the music industry. My grandpa had to music or has actually a record label. My mom was a singer and she still is. You know, she's not here with us physically,

but seeing it and well, it was beautiful. But there was a lot of pressure, you guys, A lot of pressure because especially when I wanted to start singing. When I started singing, it was just NonStop comparison and very high expectations because all of my family sings. So anyways, there are beautiful things, but there was a lot of competition in my family growing up, and just all I

could really think is a lot of pressure. And we're going to get more into that because one of my guests today she also grew up in a famous music household. Emily is Stefan, is an artist and co host of Michael podcast. In Our Own World. Welcome, Welcome, How are you Emily? Oh my goodness, I am great. I am sitting here with my incredible co captain Geminy Hernandez we do in Our Own World on Michael to the Podcast Network.

I just want to say it is so incredible because it's difficult because even just talking about this subject feels like we should be at least for me, I don't want to speak for you. When I start to say, oh my god, the comparison, oh my god, and everybody this and that, I almost feel guilty to talk about it because you feel like, how could you complain about that?

You come from this legacy, you come from this amazing family, but people are making you super insecure, treating you like a stepping stone to something larger making you feel lesser than And then you know what, I haven't found barely any people in my life to connect to that can understand that. Because just like you, when you sing, when you create art that comes from you, it comes from the legacy of your family, right, you should be proud

that's within you, the same way that I am. But the moment that somebody says, oh, you don't sing as well as your mom, and you're not as pretty, and you're gay and this and whatever, then it's like going, your man, you know what I mean. So it's just very beautiful to validate this energy. And also it's not to take away from the fact that we're very blessed to come from this beautiful legacy, but we have our own obstacles to deal with. And I feel like it's

a good thing for people to hear about. No thank you, Emily, and And that's something I wanted to talk about. It's a subject that I've been wanting to talk about for a while, but like you said, it's difficult to find people that are in our same position and willing to talk about it because it could come off we're not grateful, We should have no complaints, but it's just like, it's not that I'm complaining. This is just my experience, this

is my truth, you know what I mean. And of course I don't want to ignore the amazing fact that we have a geminy here. How are you, my love? Tell us a little bit about you. Thank you know, I'm really happy to be here. You know. I get to know Emily in a very special way, obviously intimate way, the way that you know a partner that you've been with for a few years, like we've been, and I know what this subject means to her, even though I

can't personally relate because it's not my experience. But it was a lesson to me being somebody on the outside who used to see celebrity in one way and of course critique it in one way. You don't know what you're talking about. You've never actually struggled. It was a humbling experience to realize that all of us, even the ones that you think are struggling the least, are struggling, and we have feelings and experiences that are just as

valid as the next person. There's no need to feel that somebody can't have the space or the support to to speak about it. So I'm happy to be here with you, ladies as part of this journey. You listen. She gets a lot of heat too, because dating somebody that is affiliated with, you know, some kind of legacy and musical families not easy either. People hit her up all the time, going, you know, oh, you know, I haven't talked to you in eight years, but I bet

keeping a real girl. Did you know, Emily that your mom was famous when you were growing up? Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm sure you get this a lot to Like. The one of the questions I've heard the most in my life, it's like, what is it like for your mom to be glorious? Stefan, I'm like, she's my mom. I'm like, that's it, Like my mom is glorious, Stefan. I don't know how else to explain that to you. It's not that my mom is glorious, Stephen, is that that is my mother? What is your mother? To you?

You know, and to a lot of people in this life, granted if they don't have a relationship with their mom. Luckily, I'm so proud of the fact that we have an incredible relationship. We love each other a lot. It has its fault which we've even tried to talk about and not air out but show the world that every mother and daughter has their own dynamic. But the point is that at the end of the day, you love each

other like hell, and we really do. I mean, I have her tattooed on my arm right now, you know, like she's one of the loves of my life, you know, as I know that I am of hers. And funnily enough, I think this is what makes it so special. She's not an artist first, she's not a musician first. She's a mom first. And that's why I'm such a fan of hers. That's why I've been able to, you know, try to be the musician that I am because at the forefront of it all, she was a mother. She

was a mom, and that's a huge responsibility. That's the thing about fame, like, don't let it destroy who you are as a person. Integrated with who you are. Yeah, let it let you shine, don't let it destroy you, because I've seen that a lot. So you know my parents, I know, I blow a lot of smoke up there, but they deserve it, for real, because they really are incredible parents, even the moments when they're too overbearing and they're annoying me. It's never anywhere but from a place

of love, and yeah, exactly, So that's beautiful. Yeah, I mean for me because I think my mom started getting famous when I was I want to say, ten years old. So at first I was like, what's happening? You know what I mean? I knew she had saying, but she didn't start taking it seriously until like I was ten,

and I was like her number one fan. I don't know if you guys remember those folders that had, you know, the little space in the front, like with the clear front, and I would put my mom's picture there, and I'd walk around with my folder at school and they're like, who's that, and you know the kids at school, and I'd be like, oh, that's my mom. She's going to be famous one day, and they would laugh at me. They would laugh, and I was just like her number one fan. So I saw it all before my eyes

as she just grew. The thing is the person that my mom was on stage, she was the same person off stage. And for her it was I'm a woman, I'm a mother before I am an artist. So I totally get that, and for me it was it doesn't matter who I am now that we can move to a better place and stuff like that. She was always very adamant about keeping all of us on track, and she was a very strict mother, and I'm so grateful

and it's weird now, I guess. The other day, I was at a show and they were showing pictures of her, and I think that was one of the moments like I hadn't felt in a long time where I was like, dude, that's my mom. It tricked me out and I was just like, I started getting all, you know, emotional. I'm a cancer something very much so, so I was just like, oh my gosh, that's my mom. And it blew my mind for like a second. It's like it's not that I had forgotten, but I'm like, it's amazing. It's a

beautiful thing. And I can't complain because I learned so much and she's left me in so many other women in the music industry a platform, you know, shout out to her, to my mother up and having and I just sometimes and I think this is something that I just realized very recently because of the outside world for so long, I'm like, Okay, she was my mother my father, my my confident like everything, and I kind of yes, want to follow in her footsteps, but I also want

to be seen as me, you know what I mean, Like I want to be given the opportunity to like, hey, I'm not my mom, I'm me. You know, to your point, I have to give you credit where it's two. This is something that with me and my brother is a big deal because my mom broke her back, she had an accident, and my brothers in his forties and I'm and so in between us, he lived an entirely different experience with my mom. When he was born. My mom still, you know, hadn't exploded in her career and nobody knew

who she was, etcetera. When I was born, she had broken her back, everybody knew who she was, and I was this miracle baby that just appeared out of nowhere, you know. Fifteen years after that, right, And not only that, I look exactly like her, well not exactly like her. I have my dad's biggest nose. Shout out Dad, and thank you so much, Yella, Yella Yellow Lebanon love you. But listen, I'm proud of my Arabic roots, but I'm not a hundred percent Couana, and there's some in there

somewhere going on. But I was born already with this kind of like everybody treats me nice respect. Nobody would dare make a joke that, oh, your mom's gonna make it, Are you kidding me? They'd probably treat me nicer than they should just because they see my last name on a piece of paper, and that has been hard for me too. But I give my brother credit where his due, because that transitory period for a child has to be

really complicated. And I know for a fact that I'm sure that your mom up in heaven right now is thanking you for being her confident and her supporter. Because where we are coming from, where we all come from so many different parts of the world, people don't uplift and support us. They try to bury us. So oftentimes

your child being your supporter is so big. My mom, who has Grammys and she's in her sixties to this day, if I tell her, oh, this sounds kind of weird, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night merely because of that bond between mother and daughter. So you probably just injected her with what she needed to get to where she needed to go, So it's a beautiful thing. You. I didn't do it. I just arrived, and it was

all taking care of money. No, yeah, And she would say it a lot because we were so close in age, and I was the one taking care of the kids and the household and everything, and it was difficult, but I am so grateful the way I was raised. A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a podcast with a medium and he told me that subconsciously I was holding resentment. And I started thinking about that, and I thought, damn, I guess in a way I have. I mean, obviously

I love my mother. I have so much more compassion for her now because I can see and I can feel, and I can experience what she had gone through in her career. As we know, it's not easy for women in the music industry, especially in our genre. So I have so much compassion for her. But in a way, I guess I was kind of like holding some type of resentment of like, dude, I respect do you as an artist for who you are and what you did,

and I'm so like as a daughter and everything. But it's been so much harder I feel when it's not me complaining. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, guys, because the truth is it's also had its perks, but it has been Why don't you want to complain? We feel you feel what it's like, you feel guilty. That's not fair to you, though, because when I want to bitch about my mom, I just bitch about my mom. I don't ask for permission like this is your because

my mom's fans, girl are hardcore. I don't mean like that. I don't mean you have a right to talk about your experience. And thank you. We all, I think grow up to be more compassionate towards our mothers. I know that's my experience, you know, because my mom was also a single mom. Not five kids, that's wow, like kudos to your mom, but she was two kids and also starting her career. So and we were also very close to age. My mom had to me when she was eighteen.

So I really feel that. I feel like, you know, I had like some and I'm probably so working through it unidentified resentment towards my mom because of my own things, and it's okay, right, yeah, that's so. I was like, I'm gonna be honest about it. This is how I feel, and and sometimes it's not necessarily been with her. It's other people's opinions and their criticism and judgment, and it's just like, dude, let me live my life, let me be me, let me figure it out. But I've also

learned that it's a part of this. Did you ever feel that type of pressure, Emily, like, especially when you started singing, like I didn't sing. I tried to run the hell away from it. It It was the last thing I wanted to do because in my case, like my parents wanted to sing. Sing, that's all you want to do. I know your musical, I know you're this, You're that. She had me playing guitar on stage with her, and I couldn't even look up at the crowd because I

wanted to vomit. And I would feel like, you know, I want to do this, but also they're pushing me. But also sometimes you need to push but also back off. It's so complicated, and also I don't know. Sometimes when you have parents in the public eye, it can seem to think, oh, you know, we know how to do this, we know exactly how we did it and what works, which absolutely what they did for them works. I would never take it away, but what I want to do

for me is not going to be that. And so sometimes there's that line of like, well, what do you guys think is best? And what do I think is best? Because that's where the true gold is. When our parents were doing what they were doing, if they fell on their face, they had to answer for themselves, and there's value in that. You learn from that. If I fall on my face and my mom my dad there picked me up with tongs, no, I'm not gonna learn anything. So it's also about saying, look, this is my decision.

I hear you. However, let me follow my face. Like everybody needs a broken nose once in a while. Like I mentioned, it's big enough already, but I'm serious. Sometimes if you love someone, you have to kind of like let them fall and like let them do their thing. And I mean that in the public sense and in the family sense. How we're in the public eye now we have this screen and this division where you hide

behind who you really are. So it's very easy to slander and judge, and honestly, a lot of that is insecurity, but it does hurt. You can't pretend like it doesn't the same way that Jem said, Oh why do you feel bad about it? And everybody's like, oh, so what somebody tells you one bad thing online? I guarantee you you know, if somebody says something really atrocious to you, that energy enters you and you have to try our

practice at least to divert it. But your parents also, you know, their moment of celebrity was in a very different time. You could choose and pick what you listen to, what interview, from what small publication or small amount of publications you read. Now, you guys are exposed to thousands of opinions at a moment's notice, whether you want it or not. And people are cruel when they can hide behind a screen and a photo or an alternate name.

So I I have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for you all, really I do. I have a learned a lot of respect for you for dating me. So so your parents definitely did support you then in like your music. In my music, yeah, I didn't want to be a musician. I played basketball, but you know my five two stature I was too tall for everybody else, so they didn't let me play. And then I wanted to be a doctor. What the

hell was I thinking? Girl, I would not have lasted and I have really shaky hands for but anyway, which is funny because I play instruments. I guess it works because that gives me my edge. But yeah, like in our last podcast, like I told my mom, she asked me, She's like, do you ever feel like I pressured you? And I was like, yes, However, sometimes pressure makes a diamond.

So as long as you can talk about it and like acknowledge each other's feelings and learn each other's boundaries, you know, then yeah, hell, yeah, I don't regret anything. You know, I'm singing, I'm creating. It's awesome. There's nothing else I can ask for. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. I think my mom was just when I told her I wanted to sing, she was more like, Okay, I want to manage you because there are so many sharks out there, you know what I mean, And it's hard,

it's hard for women. And she did, what did you think of your talent? She heard me sing once or twice, I think, so she didn't really like, I know if I knew how to sing or not, But for her it was you just go to classes and you'll figure it out, you know what I mean. For me, a part of this process is that even though I felt pushed by my mother, I felt like the core of what she was doing was led by emotions, you know.

And I'm sorry if you never felt that excitement of the joy of music, of talent from your mom, because that gift that you have. You know, I've heard your stuff, I know what you do and it's awesome, and so that not that she invalidated it in any way, That's not what I'm saying. But if you didn't have enough time to share with her your gift, that would probably be painful to me because the first people I send

my stuff too is my girlfriend and my mom. So you know, I'm sorry to hear that thank you for me that That's one thing I'm like, how am I going to do this with without her being here? Because she knew about it, and the idea was we were going to have a band of all women. I was going to be the singer. I wanted something like Selena like you know that that I just had this whole idea and she says, okay, we'll get there. You know, I'll manage you this is not the career that I

want for you. It is very difficult, but I'll support you. I'll support you if that's what you want. Obviously, you know what happened. Happened, and I said, I don't want to live with the what if. But it was very hard because I'm like, I wonder if my mom would like it. I wonder how she would react, you know. But till this day, I go on stage and I'm like, Mom helped me, and I swear to you, I feel like she does, you know. I feel like she sometimes, yeah,

walks me through it, you know. But I didn't want to live with what if because of fear. I didn't do it because of fear. And that's awesome. That's awesome that that you have a great relationship with your mother, with your parents, and that you have their support. That's beautiful. And I feel like I do. I feel like I honestly feel in my heart I have her support. But I do wish she would have heard my stuff. You know, she's listening from whoever she is definitely absolutely thank you

so much. How do you feel now? Do you feel like you're compared a lot to your mom in any way? Like for sure, I used to bother the hell out of me, but now I'm like, yeah, like people be like, oh my god, your voices sounds so like like my mom and my nephew who's ten and I are doing a Christmas album right now. It's coming out this Christmas and he's ten years old and he started singing recently. And there are parts of the record where I'm like, who the hell is who I cannot tell? And at

first that would bother me. I would be like, oh god, stop comparing me. I have my own sound. But you know what people will say, like wow, what a family resemblance. But also you have your own thing, and like, as long as you have a talent and you love what you do, who cares who hears it in what way? Like is that really going to stop you from doing what you want to do? You sound like your mom? Awesome, She's an incredible singer who has Grammy's in a great career.

You think I sound like her? Wow? Okay? Cool? Like you know, like and if you think that I don't, then cool. But it bothered me at first, But that's insecurity and you know, youth, which I still battle with a lot, which I feel like as a result of my experiences have kind of delayed me a bit, but you know, it's me being candid, and I worked through it every day. It really used to irk me. It

would bother me. Now I really put it in this place, and even even if someone's like, oh my god, you sound just like your mom, you know, I'll be like, okay, thank you. At first maybe it would have been sarcastically, but now at me and thank you. I love it, yeah, honestly saying I feel like for a long time it did bother me and now I'm like, okay. Or they would tell me and I'm like, Michio, or I do like that's my mom. Like I'm like, who do you

want me to look like or act like like? Until it just something clicks and I said, thank you, thank you. If I sound like her, if I look like her on stage, if I do certain things, I'm like, who do you want me to look like you? What I mean? Like, now I respond that way watching her dance and exactly, thank god it looked like mom, and she was yeah, exactly, that's exactly what I said. I'm like, well, thank you, and that's exactly what you said. It was like it

was insecurity and it was lack of maturity. And now it's like I celebrate that ship and I'm like, thanks, I appreciate it. How old were you when you came out to your family? Emily each other? Know, it's tough because I wish that coming out wasn't a thing. I don't really believe in coming out, not in a shady way, like I think that if you it's a valid thing

that we needed to make, you know, a parent. But people don't come out and straight you love who you love, You say hey I love this person, you want to meet them, blah blah blah. So for me, truly from my heart, which a lot of people don't believe, I was just excited to share, Oh I really fell in love with this girl because I had relationships before that, you know, for many years, but not relationships you know, like a learning, experimenting and just having flings here and there.

And when I fell in love with Jem it wasn't about coming out for me, it was about this is my person, you know what I mean? Because for me it was my family's my family and I can date around and I can have my life, but the moment that I want to integrate that person into my entire life. You know, that's a big step. And and I want them to know that I'm in love and that I'm happy and that this is the person that I love. So I was like experimenting with women since I was

way younger, but I came out. I was in my twenties. I was, you know, like came out quote unquote a k A, Hey mom, I'm in love with this girl. It just happens to have boobs. You know, they're great, by the way, But she's beautiful, Okay, expect beautiful. There's enough to go around. But you can do whatever she wants. But I call her boobs of people's boobs because yeah, anyway, she's gonna put me on blasts. But actually Jackie Crew said that. Shout out Jackie Crew. But anyway, you see,

now I'm distracting because I'm thinking about boobs. You see what cheeks? What do you do here? Okay? So yeah, so it wasn't about coming out. I'm back girl, wow, thank you. Um. It wasn't about coming out for me. It was about sharing. It didn't go exactly how I planned, however, it never does. That's family. That's why we can't be fake. And that's why I love what you said about your mom and why Jem validated that for you, because that's life. Like,

stop pretending just because you're a celebrity. Yes, have your privacy. I don't need to see you pick your boogers and every single meal you eat on Instagram. I mean, do you want to do? Privacy is privacy? However, share and say you know what, celebrities are not this perfect cookie cutter.

Everything's great, everything is perfect, All our families are amazing. No, we have miscommunications, we have pains, we have generational differences, especially in Latin communities, you know what I mean, Like it's it's such a difference of opinion sometimes and such a passionate love. You know. I always thought it was so funny that I would I go off to college. I'm talking about I'm face timing my grandma every day and people are like, oh, I haven't seen my grandma

in ten years, and I'm like, okay. But at the same time, they have no relationship with their family. They're like, Oh, it's so weird that you're talking to your grandma all the time. I'm like, I think it's weird that you don't have your tribe that you don't write exactly, you know, and so anyway for me, yes, difficult. That's the human experience.

That's the point. Coming out is never easy. It's always harder to be gay, unfortunately, because of the world that we live in, just like it's hard to be right, but it's harder to be a woman. It's harder to be an African American? Are you kidding me? Forget it? You have to acknowledge these things because if not, you're just making the problem worse. There are certain avenues that are just harder what we need to work towards for them, not to me, And it's better now I'm assuming right,

your family loves her and vice versa. Oh my god, my family adores Emily. So I came out earlier than Emily did. I was actually outed. I did not come to that moment of like, I want to share this with my family. My dad read my text messages and they were very racy, and there was no hiding behind or trying to reinterpret what the messages said. And one day I came home from high school. At that time, we had bunk beds that were like taking apart. So it's you know, one bunk bed at either side of

my dad's like, I want to talk to you. My dad's so scary. I'm like, yeah, dad, fourteen. He sits on one I said, on the other cross from me, and he literally just goes, I know you like girls. Because I had not even had that entire internal dialogue with myself, I was still coming from the world where being gay was bad, so I hadn't even accepted my own feelings for this person that we're super real, and it was not good. It was not good. My parents

pulled me out of school. They tried to take me to another school that obviously didn't work because I grew up with cell phone. So I found a way and you can't change me for who I am. But yeah, it was different. But my grandfather and my grandmother are the greatest people in my life. They're so incredible and like I hope to take after them when I'm older, because they're so accepting and respectful of whatever that goes

on around me as long as it's good. And they're so in love with them not more than I am everybody, and she's really lovable. I mean, I'm sure as you've learned in the last together. How can you not like her? I know it's not possible. Good luck, she'll find a way around telling you. Just wait, got tricks? Musty hate me? Oh, you guys are so damn cute together, I swear. I was curious because I don't know if if I've even talked about this on the podcast, but I definitely have

in my books. I had a relationship with a girl for like a year, I want to say I was twenty three, and my mom also went snooping into my stuff and she found a letter that she had written me and in my house. My mom was more of a religious woman and she was very traditional because of her parents, which I totally respect and I don't judge, but she was tough. She read it and she was like, if you don't end this relationship with this girl, you lose all benefits as my daughter and you'll have to

move out. And it was a very because I really felt like because I was sexually abused right by my dad, so for a long time I had this weird relationship with guys. I was like, I don't want to be pressured to have sex. All guys want is sex, you know. And I met this girl and it was like this crazy as connection of which got each other. Yeah, and it was like a mental She mentally stimulated my mind and my life and you know, another thing, another thing.

But I was just like, this is different. Final. Someone loves me for me and they don't just want to put it in me, you know. So it was a beautiful thing. And I had to let go of that relationship because all I knew was my mom, you know. And now we're good friends, you know, her and I. But it was something my mom was just not okay with. And I don't know gods, you know. And this is with my brother Johnny when he came out, I was completely supportive because of the experience that that I had,

you know, and he was fifteen. I think when he said hey, because he says that he likes women and men, you know what I mean. And for a long time, I'll be honest, I didn't understand it. I said, well, what do you mean, like you have to be either or? And no. Yeah, Like I was like, you have to pick, because I picked, you know. After my mom said, I was like, okay, well I just have to be with boys. But when I told him that, he opened up my horizon so much where he's like, no, it's a sole connection.

And if it's a girl, then it's a girl. If it's a boy, it's a boy. And I'm like, oh ship, he totally just changed my perspective. By the way, it's not even that black and white cheekies like you don't understand how valuable you being so open and honest about your experience is, even for just like the queer community, in any community, because what I really believe is like

Gem and I have conversations all the time. I hope you don't mind I'm sharing this, but what we've talked about it before, like Jim is a gold star, you know, she's never been with a man, right, and me who looks like somebody who would be the opposite, like, you know, like the gayest person or whatever. I've had experiences with men, experiences with women. And I tell Jem all the time, Oh, I fall in love with the soul. If I love your soul, if I fall in love with you intellectually,

I will want to bone you. I will enjoy it, I will love it. If you made me feel love support. That's really how I feel. Some people are not like that. I get that However, I feel like a lot of that is stigma. I feel like a lot of people would be more open to sexual experiences. You may not like it, you may be like, you know what, I actually prefer this kind of sex, sir, this kind of sex sor that's sure, whatever, But until you explore it, as long as you don't feel like it's wrong, Jim said, oh,

I still felt like it was wrong. As a queer person, you go through this moment of I feel so good, but it feels so wrong. Why there's no reason when you're having this connection with a woman and it's this connection that you're saying, Because, by the way, there's a reason for that. I mean, there's a reason for everything,

and it's all spirituality. But also we are biological beings and that's why we're reproducing, and we're on this biological planet, and we are just as much spiritual as we are tangible, whether it's a video game or not. Please let me know whoever's out there anyway, Like this physical experience, it's something that we have to keep in in two different planes, you know what I mean. So it's up to you, it's up to what you want to explore it. But

don't let anybody else make you feel bad. I dream of a world where my child comes up to me and says, huh, a guy asked me on a date. Maybe he's a guy. You know, I really don't think I'm gay, but maybe all you know, see what happens. Maybe I'm going to do do it, and he might come home to me and be like, you know what, Mom, I am not gay. I really did not like that.

You know, maybe you're securing yourself and you know, but we are stifling our exploration as a result of this, you know, generational which they got from somebody else as well. I'm sure when your mom was giving you that insight, it wasn't even her own opinion. It comes from something

that she thinks is right or wrong. Which is why, like Jump says, all the time, you've got to give people compassion and write them a past because a lot of times when people are exemplifying those opinions, it has zero to do with who they actually are, but who they are trying to find within themselves who they actually are the journey, so then finding themselves make them be like that. But anyway, I went, now, I went on

a whole tangent. I love it. I love it, and and now that we're on this topic, I mean, I'm sure there are people listening that I don't know how to tell their family and friends. Hey, this is how I feel because of judgment or religion. Do you guys have advice for them. Sometimes it's really hard because you don't know how people are going to rack react. I know that Emily can sit here and tell you that she expected her family to react very differently than they

actually did. So you can say, try to find the person that you feel closest to, but it's always a gamble. You know, my mom and my dad are very supportive of my life, and my mom growing up, had gay best friends that she traveled all of Europe with. But when I came out being her daughter, you know, it's different when it's in your home. And I think that it came from fear. You know, she was afraid that I'd have a more difficult life. She was afraid of

what people would say, when people would think. But I would have never expected her to react in some of the ways that she did. I'm sure she wouldn't even have expected it. So it's hard. It's hard to say, find somebody that you feel comfortable with, because you never know who it is. I would say try even closer in your community. If you're a young person, maybe it's somebody at your school who you feel like is going

through a similar experience. Or maybe it's finding a resource online people who are actually trained professionals in this area to help you get to it. Maybe it's as simple as you know. I want to tell my mom, Hey, mom, I want to talk to you about something. Maybe we can you know, go see my school counselor and talking about it with somebody there. Or maybe it's find an advocate that you know you feel comfortable with to help mediate the conversation. It's not easy. I can't tell anyone

really truly, what's the best way to do it. The only thing I can say is, don't feel pressured to say it before you actually are. Take your time with yourself, exploring yourself, discovering yourself. We're the only people who wake up and go to sleep in our bodies every single day. We owe it to ourselves to seek that piece and to live our truths daily and take our time doing so. Oh baby, Oh my god, Emily, I was going to

tell you always like dude, I get it. She stimulates you intellectually, I can tell, just reulates me all over, all over and has nice boops apparently, guys, so I don't know you can say now, jem I'm so sorry my books. That's gem On only fans right after this episode. Oh my god, you guys are freaking amazing. Thank you. I have really enjoyed this conversation. It feels nice to just let it all out, you know what I mean, like, just be honest, and hopefully this isn't the last episode

that we do together. And maybe I can come on your podcast or something to talk about something I don't know you. No, No, your invitation is your invitation, and we will get you here or we will wait for when you're here either or we will happily get here. You'll sit on this. Only one thing though, che Okay, got you? Got you? Heck yeah? I love that. And for my listeners, can you tell them about your podcast in our own world? Please? So in our own world is sort of you might have got a glimpse of

here while we were talking with you, cheekies. It's Emily and I world. The things that we encounter, the things that are important to us. Retelling some of our life stories, sharing experiences that we've had, doing it together and inviting other people to join us along the way, all the while making a space theme because you know, we feel like we're aliens, so why not freaking like and we are waiting for you with open arms. Thank you so I love it. Thank you guys. Did you guys already

share your socials? Oh no, so sorry, we're so bad at that. We're just not connection all right, So we're bad. But if you want to see our weirdness, my instagram is Emily Underscore a Stefan. Our podcast is in our Own World pod p O D and gem is at a Geminy and everybody go listen to Cheeks. She's killing it out there. Please big up for Cheekies. We love you, we're big fans and we love to be part of this family with you. So thank you for inviting us on.

Thank you so much, boy, Thank you Emily, thank you Jam. I feel some connection here, so thank you. Guys. There you have it to all my listeners. Go follow them, check out their podcast and also are you guys? We have Dear Cheekies on Wednesday, so make sure you check those out and before we close. You know that I always end my episodes with a motivational quote, and I'm just gonna use a very simple one. The quote is the world is tough, but thank God I am tougher.

There you have you, guys. Thank you so much again, beautiful ladies, Thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you to everyone that's listening. I will catch you next Monday or Wednesday's. Do you need advice on love, relationships, health emas. I'm so excited to share with you that my Cheekies and Chill podcast will have an extra episode drop each week. I'll be answering all your questions. Just leave me a voice message. That's a jo. All you have to do is go to speak pipe dot com,

slash Cheeks and Chill podcast and record your questions. I can't wait to hear from you. This is a production of I Heart Radio and the Michael Dura podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael Dura Podcasts and follow me chicks That's c h I q U I s. For more podcasts from My heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.