JANINA - Vegetables are Cheaper than Meat

and cabbage. And then the vegetable broth. Wow, so this far broke dish. This has a lot of moving parts, which means it's gonna taste great. Oh yeah yeah. So And and just so you guys know that are listening and watching, Janina already started. She she has a little secret helper that came in before and helped already prestart the broth. So you guys won't be here too long or we won't starve to death while we're talking and

catching up. But I'm must sit and watch you do do your thing, and I may just shoot off some questions just to find out more about you and your background on this about perfect. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go ahead and add somemart broth. It's already boiling vegetable broth we have here. Yes, So is this because like growing up you were like a vegetarian or something because

there's no meat in this. Um, well, it was a healthy meal and it didn't like I know meat back then, like it's more money and so the vegetables were just less for us to go ahead and like, honestly, it's fulfilling the cabbage and it was just very like easy to make for me and my sister. You know, when my mom was working so nice and I'm taking your mom talked to you guys this meal she did. My mom teaches us everything. I'm like, I literally get it from my mama. That's good. I'm gonna go ahead and

add that. I'm learning to start. So I know you don't cook a lot now, right, I do not. I am a person that loves to eat out. Now. Back then we were definitely in the house with peanut butter jelly sandwiches from the noodles and um. But now I'm just like all four restaurants. Yeah, now I'm going to add the bell peppers because I also want that to soak in with the other vegetables. We got green bell peppers, red bell peppers, yellow. It looks like it's gonna be

a very colorful dish. Oh yeah, oh yeah. So how long on average does this dish take? Because, um, I would say about all together, the whole process is about thirty minutes. It's not that long, all right, And it smells good so far. So you started like real young. I want to move this out of the way. Um, you started real, real young because I know you from working really really music thing, always doing tours, always performing. Yeah,

and you were a killer. I mean, I'm sure the boys would always have a heart attack when he showed up to the school. It was a split, and it was the split. The second she did a split, it was like a rap. People were the nuts. It was a show time the second she did a split. But um, a lot of people, I feel like they don't know that side of you. They don't know how long it took before you're of the official Janina that everybody knows.

Yeah they don't. Because I feel like something that I kind of like messed up on was like not really incorporating my music when I got into social media because it was just all about videos. Like as soon as everyone got together, it was like, oh, what's your idea? And I kind of like put aside of music instead of combined it. And now I look back and I'm like, oh,

I should have done that. But and anytime I would like go in the studio and record a song, they would be like, why are these viners trying to do music, And it's like, You're like, oh, stay other way around. These viners already did music. You just didn't know that world. So it was it was hard to like intertwine both worlds once I was already established as a social media gure. Yeah,

but I'm coming back. I am coming back. I'm going to get in the studio and start recording again because I feel like I do have such a strong passion with performing and just being on a stage. And so now I'm like, i gotta get a team because I've done social media. I've been it for six years now, and it's right once a day in the life of like an influencer, a day in the life of an influencer. So we like to stay healthy and like we also

create content when we do this. Um, we work out in the morning, and then after that we go straight home get ready for shooting, and then we literally shoot all day long, and then we go home and we edit what we shot, and it's like it was a repeated cycle back then when like Instagram's algorithm was popping because we're like what four million views, Leanne was getting like twenty two to thirty million views, and like it was so exciting back then that we wanted to like

continue to create content. So I always meet people that are are saying that. I always say, oh, I want to be an influencer young people. I think I'll just be an influencer. I'm like, I don't know. I tried working out with you guys. As you know, I worked out with these guys for I want to say it was like six months and was insistent. I was consistent, and it was to say the least, like first of all, you have to change your diet, and then their workouts

were horribly brutal. It was like training for the Olympics. I lost. I think I went in weighing like a hundred and sixty and by the time I was done, I was like seven within three months, Yeah, your come doown was insane and that's how hard you guys work. Oh yeah, No, it's an everyday thing. Like yeah, so when you see an influencer body, just so you know, when you see an influencer body online, like at first I used to think, Okay, maybe some of them are

enhanced or whatever. But the amount of work that it takes to sculpture body to that level of perfection. I'm still trying to get these games. I'm like, I'm so tiny, but i mean, one day super perfect body. I'm gonna go ahead and add the celery and carrots to the broth as well as the cabbage, so that could start to soak softened up. Yeah, make it tender, nice good. So on the business tip, though you've been technically in

business for yourself for a very long time. On the on when it comes to being an influencer, how does the whole money play into Is it like you just pursue your your passion and then the money comes later or do you grind for that too. So that's the interesting thing about it all. I've been doing social media for six years and I feel like within the last two three years is when I just started to make

my money. It would literally be like I have two million followers on Instagram and I'm still not making anything. So then they came out with like waste to like monetize your content. I know YouTube has been doing that for years, but with Instagram, like you're doing You're creating all this content and you're not getting paid unless a brand reaches out and they're like, hey, we want you to promote our product. Can you create a video or

a concept about it? And that's how Like recently I've been like I get a lot and yeah, within the last year, m two year or two, I've been working with a lot of brands and like I got a man that plays like a huge role in it because she actually like consistently pitches me to brands. But before it was just it was really hard. I'm like, how

long can I start making money? Like and then doing like long shifts and then to not like so here you are you're working say I'm guessing like a ten to ten hour day minimum, and then you're still not making money for the first three years and then you're finally making money. That's crazy. It's insane, and um, I've been blessed like to work with so many brands like I did Victoria's Secret recently Mabel Lane, um like big brands, and I'm like, I'm finally working with people I dreamed

of working with. So it's kind of like crazy like to see like the whole process. But people are like, you've got so much money, and I'm like, if only you knew, I just started making money. And it's kind of like figuring out ways to make money. Like a lot of people don't know about monetization on TikTok or Instagram and facebooks or you said algorithm and I was like algorithm, and yeah, oh my god, it's switched up on us drastically. We're like where are the views? Where

are the likes? Where are the people? So are you guys able to make money on like say when a TikTok comes out, Like, um, so TikTok has a creator program now where you can monetize your content. It's not like any crazy money, but you're still getting paid by like I think it's her how many views you get? I think, yeah, so, um, I think you could get paid their. Facebook also monetizes your content. The footage has

to be three minutes long, though. I think it's like that on Facebook and YouTube or YouTube maybe ten minutes worth of content. So it's like you have to create all this content for all these platforms and like try to figure out how you can like make a rew you know. So it's it's so it's so much to study, it's so much to do. Like people don't understand, like do you think it's easier for you to just do

a brand than did the monetization dollars or um? I think I love working with brands, Like it's honestly easier for me because they kind of give you a creator brief and let you know what they want you to do, and it's like okay, like I can knock that out as to me being like what do I shoot today? You know, like what's gonna go viral? So it's just like I just love working with brands in general, you know, Lemons.

So when you see when you produce like your dance videos per se, like a lot of them look to me, they look very pricey, Oh my goodness. Oh yeah yeah, And but you're the business mine and the person that cuts the check, right, I do it all. See. I think a lot of people that yeah, I know, I scout, I scout the talent. I go and buy the wardrobe. Like I play all roles. Um when it comes to like my content, Um, well, I don't shoot the video.

I have a video offer comes and captures that, but I still have to pay him for that, you know, Um locations, I have to pay for locations. So it's just so much that comes to shooting a video, especially in the dance videos, Like when I get a bunch of girls, I have to buy all their wardrobe and pay the choreographer and like it's so much, and I don't think people realize that. So I'm like, I want the video to do good so I could like at least get something back, or even if it's just support,

you know. I'm like, I think as a female, and I hate to do this bring up the female versus male thing, but I think when they see like people see a pretty girl, they just say, oh, it's a it's a it's an influencer. And I tell people all the time, those influencer girls are badass, Like no, we are definitely hustlers, you know. And then even back then when we would have to attend events, like it was always something like especially my main thing is like staying relevant,

you know, because there's in the influencer world. Anyone can do it now, you know. It's literally you start from being home like and having a phone, you know. So the market has become saturated so quickly that it's like, all right, years are going by, and I even get people like she's still around, Like are you serious? Yeah, where's Janina been? I'm like on all platforms, you know, like working. I'm twenty three. Yeah, Like that's what people

don't like take into consideration, like you're twenty three. Yeah, And it's partially because I was dating an older man, But I mean it is what it is. I'm gonna add more vegetable broths because this thing is getting alone. I love that you in Storm. I don't know your guys situation. I'm not going to get into it, so I don't want the commis shift to it. But I

love that you guys still remain very well. If you guys are back together book obviously right, but but cordial, very cordial, and you still keep the working supportive relationship going. Oh yeah. I mean Storm played a major role um with my career, and I feel like a lot of the things I know I wouldn't know if I had never met him. You know, I learned how to edit, I learned how to come up with ideas. Um and his work ethic is like insane. Oh yeah, and he's

so helpful. Like that's one thing about that man Um that like you just can't like not acknowledge. He has helped so many people, like from King batch Le and v Hannah Stalking and so it's always like we like thank him so much and appreciate him so much because he's played a big role in all of our careers. So yeah, now he he also brought up the whole Vines situation and that's where it was that the first

platform that you got on. Yeah, Vining was the first platform I got on because it was popping back then, and it was so easy to grow on Vine because everyone was coming together and they were collaborating and everyone was just shooting videos. And before it shut down, I got to half a million followers. And so when it shut down, we all transferred over to Instagram, and I believe back then it was fifteen second videos. Yeah, and then there's like no, it started to be like all up.

It's just fascinating to me and I want everybody to hear or see this, like to really understand because obviously being in l A, you people talk about influencers like I just want to be one, or or oh it's just a hot chick or or or maybe even fake boots or fake this, and it's just like I know you guys, and I'm like false, Like this girl is a badass hustler. Yeah, we're not giving enough credit. No, That's why I'm so excited to have you on the

show because people need to see, like, you're entrepreneur. These women are entrepreneurs. They're working ten twelve hour days. They're the creative and the business, which usually you don't get in business. Usually you're either a creative or business. You

have to manage both. Yeah. Yeah, and sometimes we even like we're the director, you know, like we will have a director to shoot our series, but we know what we want at the end of the day, and so we're the director, the producer, the creator, like every we play every role. But it's it's I think social media is beautiful and the reason why I say that is because it lets you be you. You know, you have

control of what you do. I noticed when I was in the acting world and the music world, I was always depending on someone and like, at the end of the day, if I want to be like I want to shoot TikTok's all day, I have my phone. I could do it by myself, you know. And so I like the fact that I have control of what, like my career now, you know, if I want to put up create a business, go get people and be like

this is what we're doing, you know. So I just love that social media like you have the ability to do that. Do you feel like social media helps boost your confidence in your all? Like I guess, um, what is it like self? Yea, yeah, no, definitely, because I remember in the acting world, when you go to these auditions, you take all this time to learn their scripts. You go in they actually to read give you some direction

and then I like have a good day. Then you sometimes you don't hear back from them, and it's like I just spent all this time doing this and I don't even know if I'm going to get the role. So I felt like my self esteem back then was starting to get low and like like almost hitting a little depression, like why am I not getting anything? And it was just a tough world. And then it's like some people have bad days and then they're taking it out on you, like casting directors, and I'm like, I'm

just here in my roles. So it's just a lot of energy in that world that I feel just was almost like, I don't know, a little toxic. So social media, you don't, you don't really have to deal with that. You know, you deal with people and like it's either

you want to work you don't. You know. But now if you were to cross over to mainstream, and I've seen some of you guys like Melvin Greg was able to if you came from your guys squad, And do you feel like there's a hindrance or there could be a hindrance going from influencer to mainstream, Yeah, I do, because the thing I hear the most is mainstream doesn't

really take social media influencers seriously. So I like, if you only knew these social media some social media creators actually did mainstream before, but they just weren't known, you know,

Like I was an actress before social media. I could still read a script, but because I'm an influencer, I'm not going to be as like taken SERI like, you know, so it's it's definitely harder to cross over, like I've tried to like get agencies and like be like, oh I want to work with you guys, and it's still tough. Like I'm like, I have this whole platform and it's

it's still hard, you know. So it's definitely what's the hardest thing that you think in your career you face where you thought about maybe given up or where you were like in the crossroads of like the dark side, you know, jump it off the cliff, you know, staying on on the mountain, like you're right. Um, with social media, I don't really think I've come across that. With acting. In music, I feel like I did again. I just feel like the energy in that world is just a

little darker. And um, I don't know, I'm gonna say this, but you guys can get off you want. I feel like there's a lot of pedophilia and music and acting, you know. So it's always like you do this for me, I do this for you, you know, and then that's for both guys and girls, because guys do get it. Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah absolutely, But I think that was just my thing. Yeah, that's interesting you say that. I like that you said that because nobody ever talks

about it. Yeah, no, it's it's a thing. And like I remember, like I went to this meeting, like this event, and I was so disgusted because I'm like, wow, social media is so different than this. And this guy comes over and he's like, what do you want to do? Whatever you want to do, I got you. I'm like, okay, Like I'll pitch you my ideas. And then it went down this path and I was like, you're nasty. I'm not doing that. I'm gonna stick on here and be

on TikTok and my good gram. So it's just it's hard, like as a woman and like any world honestly, but in social media you don't really encounter like weird people like that, you know, because you're you're basically taking the tools that everyone has accessible to them, but you're exploiting them, I would say, exploiting them to grow your business to grow. Do you think that the secret to being an influencer or to having success is really being yourself or creating

a character. So I think it has you have to be yourself with social media because I remember you remember when I used to wear contacts, I used Oh my god, the storm at that time was like you don't want to start social media like being this character because they're always gonna want that, you know, So it's just better to be you instead of kind of like my desireus. Hannah Montana like, I just think it's better just to be who you are because you can always be you.

At the end of the day. When you're playing a character, it could become a little exhausting and everyone knows you as that character and it's like, hey, guys, I'm actually myself and nobody takes you serious as yourself because they know that character. So I would say just to be you all the way, and then if you want to play characters, play characters, but don't have it be your

like main focus. You know. Do you think the secret is how much you like quantity over quality or quality over quantity when it comes to social media because it is competitive landscape that looks so good camera above, I hope I wish you could see this. It looks great. I'm like, should let me just throw a little more for it? Some pep worm. So do you think it's

quality over quantity or quantity over quality um? I think it's quantity over quality because if you have more quantity, quantity and people don't care for the quality stuff honestly, like when I shoot like high deaf videos and like the more serious stuff, they don't really relate to that because they can't really do it. But ut quantity, you are consistent and it's more and they know that they're gonna continue to get more from you. So I definitely think,

why is that like a tongue twister for me? Quantity over quality? Are you going to diversify? Diversify like as in like all different industries. Are you just gonna stay like music and entertainment and I'm doing everything. Yeah. Now that I've like under like understand social media and I feel like I hadn't fully mastered it, but I feel like, very what's going on here? Don't start a fire? Um um.

Now that I feel like more comfortable in social media because my main thing was just having money, you know, and being able to support myself and my family if maybe you know. So now that I finally have reached that state, which is recent, I'm able to branch out and be like, oh, I want to do movies and

like get back in the studio. So I definitely want to accomplish all the worlds because I feel like look at j Lowen Beyonce and so like they've tapped into every market and that's something I want to do for myself too. Oh nice, Well, I think I definitely think and no, you have the capability of doing it between your work ethic, your talent and your looks. You know, maize my hands and you and your your looks hot mama. Um, Yeah,

you can definitely do it, you know. Yeah. What is like some advice that you would give to someone that like has held you through the this whole journey, Because I've seen you through. I've seen you through your highs. You're I don't think i've ever seen you low low, but I've seen you through. I've seen you through different

amountains in different chapters. No one we first met you, though, Like even though we were performing, there was still like a struggle, Like my parents got divorced like around that time, and like there was just a lot of like back history, like outside of the scenes that we were still going through and like I was trying to figure it out, like how can I start to like make money for

my family? Like if times are hard and it's expensive, it's so expensive, and like back then we were like my family was like putting so much into my career that I'm like, I need to do something, like I need to pop off, like I need to become a star, because everyone I felt at that time was like depending on my career to take off. You know, do you felt like your parents because your parents were helping you get your help? Yes, but you felt like, as a

young person, like I need to pay back. Oh yeah, yeah. And I know maybe that's not like the right way to look at it, but at that moment, I was like I need to like come up for my family, you know, and me as well, like I wanted to be a star. So it definitely I felt like a lot of pressure, you know, and like when I wouldn't get the gig and things like that, it was like that's when I say, like you hit like a little depression and stuff like that. So I think that's all right,

it's not. It's because yeah, I think it looks pretty, it looks stunned, got worry, I don't mind chopping. Okay, alright, to eat guys, drum roll. There's a little role. Can I do a little like test out? Really did the pandemic? Did you? Did you survive the pandemic gracefully or did you did you hit some rough pop? Um? I feel like digital was doing great during that time. It was like our content everybody stuck at home. Yeah, and the Black Lives Matter was going on at that time. You

guys did a lot. Yeah. No, we were out there protesting, Like it was my first protest, and I was like, I gotta get it out there. Like I was so hot, like I was heated and so upset with what I was seeing. And I also noticed, I'm gonna say it, because I'm like an open book um brands felt the need to collaborate with more black creators. Heck yea. So it was definitely a more come up time and like that was a time where I really like started to generate revenue. So it's crazy, but I mean, and I'm

just curious, like how do you feel about that? Because I noticed that during Black History Month. Traditionally, Black History Month has been downplayed, I think for plenty of years. But this year was the first time I stepped into Target and I had seen like right when you walk in the door, I had, you know, a display of books, and I was shocked that I was taken back, like even took a picture of it, like, wait a minute, we're actually getting this lot recognition and it's not in

the back. I was, and I remember not two months ago there was. Yeah, you know, we were definitely pushed it to the front. Yeah, we were. And it's one of those ironic catch twenty two. It's like you're you're kind of like, dang, it took this much a lot to get this far. But at the same time, for the black community, it's like you would have to be foolish not to like take advantage of finally being acknowledged for this type of distribution. Right exactly, exactly, camera on top.

Look at this dish. This looks like I could pay for this at a restaurant. Look, just so you know, guys, we're gonna see her cooking ability. I don't know if she's sing one or not, but here it is. Here we go. I clean after I cook, so we're gonna see because I've been cleaning after every episode. Alright, definitely, chair, chair chair. It looks so delicious. Here we go. But good taste, great mm hmm. And this is a broke dish, yeah, being broken so bad. Oh my god, No, I think

we have the best food, to be honest. You ever go somewhere and like pay a lot of money for food and it come out like, yeah, mediocre. Yeah, that's the worst, especially people that get their food delivered. You haven't tried the restaurant. Oh my god, I'm really so mad. I ordered pasta from this place, and I said, this is horrible. Why did they do that to me? Because they literally put a bunch of pasta on the bottom and then chicken and vegetables on top, like nothing was

mixed together or season. I said, they're so wrong for that. They are. That's horrible. Yoh, this is really good. You're like, I'm impressed with you. I'm really impressed your little ratitude e what's her name? Sidekick gratitude? What does she say? I don't even know. You know she was on it. She was definitely on it for the readcast. She only cut your stuff. That's it. You get all the credit for this. Thank you. I appreciate it. But this is

so good. I don't have to take this home. Yeah, honestly, I manage thank you to thank you for coming and feeding me. On another episode of Eating Wall Broke Um check us out online or watch this video and Hopefully you guys took notes on how to make this suit because it's absolutely delicious healthy. Thank you, and thank you for being like so transparent with us. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I hope you guys learned a lot on this episode.

For more Eating Wall Broke from I Heart Radio and The Black Effect, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.