TERRI J VAUGHN - A Star Is Grilled

Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have a very special treat for you all. Pun intended. Terry J. Vaughn, actress, director, producer. Terry J. Vaughn's in the building. Thank you so much for coming. I was extremely and I told you off camera, extremely excited to have you on today. I've watched you. I feel like we family, Like I've watched you so much.

I love that.

I know people probably come up to you and say, hey.

Yeah, yeah, it's like we're family, and I don't mind that.

You don't mind it, Okay for all our listeners, you don't mind. Yeah, let me eat my mail and come over. But what will you be having us eat today?

I Am going to make us some fish tacos.

Fish tacos.

Yes, so very excited, very exciting, favorite thing to do. I love Mexican food, so I love I'm a taco fanatic.

Really are you based out of Are you from California?

I am.

I'm from the Bay Area, from San Francisco. Okay, okay, yeah. Whenever someone says they love Mexican food, I'm like that. California. It is a California thing.

It is, it is.

I have some great news for all the listeners. We've never had fish tacos on the show. Okay, we've taped like one hundred and twenty episodes, so that's amazing and it's affordable. But what will be going into your dish? By the way, I've never had homemade fish tacos?

Oh really?

Oh, you're in for a tree not Judge Hard. I'm like that, who's that white guy that he's the chef, that he's really mean? I forgot his name.

I don't know.

You don't watch cook you don't want to cook it though you want a cook It show except for yours. Okay, that's great, all right. Tell me what the ingredients are for your fish tacos.

Okay, for my fish tacos, we're gonna use tilapia fish. I like corntertias because I do a little crunch on my tacos. And we have avocados, onions, jalapeno, garlic, tomatoes, and lime in cilantro.

Nope, but you got it all.

Yeah, And I like it all fresh, okay.

And we did it fresh because I like to sneak in the two garlic and I was like man when they put a real garlic what's official? And then you have a sauce.

Yes, So I love taco sauce and I like the green.

Verdet sauce day sauce.

Yes.

I was talking to my Meda glasses. What is Verdet sauce? Show me picture? Yes, okay, so get in the kitchen woman.

Okay, so I cook?

Now you cook, you cook. It's so weird because you're taking a busy time out of your schedule. We have this beautiful resume and then you're cooking for me a broke dish, that's right, yes, yes, And I didn't know if you needed that extra. I don't really know how to make tortillas for real, So.

Well, did you know? This is a shame? Come on, you need to learn.

I'm a New York native. New York. You don't eat Mexican over there, not really. Some people do, but I don't think it's a big We're like a Chinese pizza type of state.

And I do love Chinese food. Chinese food is big, not in LA in the Bay Area, really, I'm saying. In San Francisco, yes, we have a huge Chinese population. One of the best chinatowns in the.

World what And I love Chinese. I need to go hit a month.

So yeah, so we Chinese food and Mexican food are huge in San Francisco.

And then, just so you all listeners know, she did use avocado oil, and I gotta know why.

I just try to eat as healthy as possible, and I'll be honest.

That's why you look good.

I try, so I'll be honest. So I know we're making the broke dish like something I ate, but I did not use avocado oil. Yeah.

I was growing up and I was assuming you didn't always have avocados either.

And I didn't always, So this is an upgraded broke.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate the treat because sometimes people really make me relive for real. Okay, so you're putting the tilapia in the pan and avocado oil. I saw you did both sides. By the way, we did play with some of your seasonings. You should tell the guests what seasonings you have.

So I like to put a little garlic, even though I'm using fresh garlic. You know what, I don't need to do both.

You don't want to do the both garlic powder.

You know, I'm going to use the fresh garl like pepper salt, of course, and then Cooman mm hmm.

I always wonder what people use cooming for.

It's Mexican food.

Oh that's what I make for me.

That's the only thing I use it for. When I'm making my tacos or if I'm making guacamole.

I use Cuman. And really, is it Cooman or Cuman? It's Cooman Cooman? Okay, you know what? It wasn't in the studio. I went home and I was like, I know, I haven't in my yeah, but I even understand why I have it in my cabinet. I was like, I must have taken it from point eating while broke or something. And then you used to whole Himmalayan salt.

I love it again that this is your upgrade. This is a part of the upgrade. It was just regular ass white sauce salt, Morton.

And why do you feel like this salt is better? Is it healthier?

It's healthier. It's not well processed. Okay, so you see it's still and you guys got the good kind too, because it's still in the big crystal flakes and we gotta spin it to grind it.

Okay. So that when you go, if we were to go in your house, would your pepper be the pepper grind? We have it back there by the way, And they played a tad of this because you we didn't get the sodium.

Yeah, you guys got the one with a lot of sodium. And the whole point is we're trying to be a little bit more healthy, isn't it right? Aren't we?

I really need to lose a lot of weight. So yes, yes, I'm gonna get there.

Okay, so this is gonna let this fry a little bit. It's a heat. I'm just gonna say I do not like cooking on the electric stoves.

But everyone on this show, i'd say, like nine hate election.

Yeah it's terrible. So hopefully the dish comes out.

Okay, Okay, so you're cooking those up, and then what do you do with these tortillas?

Are you gonna know the tartilla? I am also going to just do a little I don't know if you call it fried because it's not like really fried, but I am gonna I guess it's fried. I'm going to put more avocado oil on this pain. Then I'm gonna put the tortilla on and I'm gonna fry it up a little bit because I like my shells crunching.

Now, is there a way to get the whole shell really crunchy.

Listen, if you fry it hard, it'll be very crunchy.

So I watch you do it. I love crunching. I love crunching. Matter of fact, back in the day, when Chipotle first came out, I would always get the bowls, and then I discovered they had the taco shells, the hard shells. You will never catch me in Chippole without a hard taco shell.

But you know what, and I get so in the broke day when I was doing like sometimes, we would have the taco shells that are already in the box.

I still use some. Okay, are you mad at me?

Yeah?

So that guys see how she looks in real life. She looks exactly how she looks on TV.

I do.

And the crazy part is we've been watching her all for a very long time, so just imagine seeing her in person. It's crazy how beautiful you are.

Thank you.

Okay, So now that my fans know that they should be googling you and looking at you, and you have Instagram too, we can keep it you I do.

Everything is under Terry Jbond.

Terry Jbon. You know, like when I say the JA, I do like.

I don't like when people forget my jay.

Oh really, I don't good because I like saying it's Terry J.

Yeah. Isn't it cooler? Yeah? And I've always gone by it. It's it's my middle name starts with a J.

I love it. It's very in a.

Million years, you cannot guess when my middle name. Man, it starts with the J. Obviously, but everything you say is going to be off.

I bet I'm gonna go with jam jam Jam s jam. What is the J stand for? Are you gonna tell us?

I will? I just wanted to at least take jam jelly. No, why are you saying weird?

Because I'm trying to think of what name is giving a J Jackson girl? Wait, I got excited.

People say like Jeanett or jan answer they say regular regular.

No, I'm sure it's gonna be a bomb name.

It's not necessarily it isn't. I love my middle name, but will give us a hand? Just want okay? The J is silent.

One?

Keep going?

Yeah, I was gonna get that right from the jump. I was thinking that from the jump. Does anyone ever guess it that way?

Ever?

But does anyone ever guess one in the beginning? No, So I'm like the first.

I gave you about a thousand hens.

Yeah. Yeah, but if you give someone the silent jh.

Yeah, yeah, the silent J gives it away.

Okay, J that's nice. Cherry Juanita, Ye, Terry, okay, Terry, take me back to what was going on now with the elevated fish tacos? What was going on with the broke of fish tacos?

Okay? So, yes, this is elevated because when I was growing up, like I said, we love Mexican food in my house, and so we would make tacos really out of all kinds of stuff. So on a normal day it was just the ground beast, regular kind of tacos. But I don't eat meat anymore. I only eat fish fish. Yeah you chicken, Nope.

No, we're slowly learning her beauty tips right here.

Guys, I gave it up. I just felt, to be honest, I feel like our country doesn't take good care of how they get our meat. So that's what it. This is gonna sound so weird, I literally because I used to eat bacon back then. We would make bacon tacos. Really, that's some ghetto ship. Yeah, that's ghetto.

You really love tacos? Really, really you would make it? Did you have like breakfast tacos reastc eggs? Okay? You just like the shell?

I too, I love and the shell just gives the taste of Mexican. But I love Mexican. But I love the rice, I love the beans.

I love you really love it?

I do? I really?

Do you still eat Mexican every day? You just earlier about eating Mexican?

Yes, yes, yes. When we finished with you guys, we're gonna go out tonight and Mexican.

Okay, you really like Mexican. Take me back to what was going on in this household of Mexican food.

So I grew up in a single parent household, raised by my mom. It was me and my sister. I have a sister that's two years younger than me and my mom. She worked two jobs when we were young, so me and my sister were we're home a lot by ourselves, and.

So well she when did you become a When did she become a single mom?

Like?

How old were you then?

I was really young, probably about.

Four, Okay, so that's pretty much all you've known is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't have a lot of memory. I definitely don't have anything. So yeah, So it was always just me, my mom, and my sister, and we have a family full of amazing, powerful, badass women, so like my grandmother would of course we would go to her house sometimes or my aunt. So we were always very well cared for and we always ate really well. It's funny as a kid, you never know that you were poor, Like I never thought I'd never even thought about it.

What about when you got older though, in high school and middle school, did you start to were you poor then?

Or no, yeah, you're still living in the same household.

Did you start to realize you guys were didn't have as much as others or yeah.

One time I overheard my mom talking to somebody. And this is when I was really young, maybe I was in high school and I or with her. My mom having a conversation telling somebody that they had to she needed to borrow five dollars or something so she could get something from McDonald's for us to eat, And that always stuck with me. I was like, and I never knew that she was doing that, but she was talking to somebody, telling somebody that's what she had done. And

Did you ever approach about it or you just kept it to yourself?

I just came to myself. I just kept it to myself.

Did you tell your sister about it?

I'm sure we've talked about it now, but back then we didn't talk about it. But yeah, it just made me have a greater appreciation for her. And we always tried to be very hopeful around the house, making sure that we didn't bring too much drama into her life because we knew that she was a single mom and working her ass off and so good grades. We always did really well in school. It was just I was just a fast girl.

I was what does that mean?

I was liked boys and that was probably the most drama that I brought.

I love you, Yes, I was not expecting that.

Just telling on myself. I don't know why you make me. I'm just opening up and tell my business.

I'm sure the boys liked you a lot, did you? Was your dad semi around even though? Did you see him in passing.

No, not really. My dad suffered from alcoholism and for my mom left my dad because of that, Like he just wasn't it just wasn't good. And when she decided that she was divorcing him, I think a part of and it's weird, I think a part of his get back at her was to not be accessible for him, not to help out with us. Okay, then you got it on your own. That's what it feels like to me. Yeah,

Oh, you real cook, you real cook. You see how she did that? Very rare we get guests to do that.

I like that.

By the way, I didn't know how these fish tackles going to look. First time watching anyone make fish tackles, this would be this time I do mine. But I love that you broke up the meat.

I like to do that, okay, because it were mine. It's like eating like the ground beef, but it's ground turkey.

Okay, But I do know people that do it, Yeah, use.

Quiet. So anyway, so I was about to say, I remember one time we were going to spend our summer with him, and he had moved to Oklahoma at this time, and we were still in San Francisco, and so we go to visit him, and unfortunately he was still an alcoholic, and I remember just not being feeling comfortable being in his house. I think like for the first couple of days, it was fine, and so at some point we were we were just calling my mom and we were like, look,

So does he catch wind of it? Does she tell him?

Yeah? My grandmother at the time, she was on her way to Texas for her family's family reunion, because my grandmother's from Texas, my mom's mom, and so she my mom had my dad because Oklahoma and Texas are pretty close. Drive them to Texas and they'll be with my mom and their grandmother and they'll come back.

With her on his side of the family. No, on your mom's side, yes, okay, okay, my mother's mom. Okay.

So he agrees. So I remember driving, riding in the car. My sister sleep in the back seat. I'm sleeping in the front seat. And this is a horrible story, but.

I want to hear it. I'm all in it.

So we're driving. So I fall asleep and I wake up and the car swerving.

Oh heck no, this is a terrible shit.

And so I look at him and I see that he had a drink, a bottle in the center council, and so I wake up. I was like, you're drinking. I was like, you're crazy, you are drinking and you're driving us. And he got mad. He raised his hand like he was gonna hit me, but he didn't, and that's all I can remember from it. But we got there safely. But ever since then, I was like, yeah, I'm never going back.

Wow again. I was gonna ask you if at some point did he plead with you guys that he could make the trip better or did he just was it?

So? Yeah, you only remember the traumatic shit.

Yeah, yeah that's pretty traumatic though.

Yeah, that was pretty traumatic.

Did you tell your mom on him?

Yeah?

And what she say?

She was pissed, She was pissed, pissed. I was just so happy to get in my grandmother's arms with this dude.

So after that, did you ever request to see him again?

As we got older and just started learning more about his family and his childhood trauma and all that stuff as well, do you become a little bit more forgiving?

So you guys were close with his side.

No, not really because we didn't grow up with her.

So how did you hear his stories and all that?

So the funny thing is, so my father is from LA. And when I got into the business and I moved to LA, that's when I got to know some of his more of his family, my aunt whom I love her, his sister, his mom was still alive then, so I used to go visit her, my grandmother, and that's how I got all the stories. Okay, okay, that's how I got all the stories.

Your food looks really good. It looks official, It looks and the tackles look good too. You're gonna make a lot. I eat a lot.

It doesn't look like a lot, but I do.

I'm a real eater. Okay, all right, girl, go for it. Go for it. So fast forward to you're starting to get older and figure out what it is you want to do.

Yeah, so I so I went to college in the Bay Area as well. This was before I ever knew anything about having a career as an actor. I was in college and I just knew I wanted to be a boss. I was like, I'm going to college because I want to be a boss. I want to be a business owner. But I didn't know what kind of business I was going to be in. The boss of the business of me in a boss.

And you told your mom and all this, everybody like yeah, I.

Was like so in my mind, I was like, okay, so I will be in a business as my major because I don't know what kind of business I want to be in, but I want to learn how to be a boss in business. And oh yeah, these are cooking good. Now. I use my hands a lot.

Don't I love it? Oh, I see how you've been in them. Okay, Okay, don't bring yourself. Geez, do you need a utensil? You need an INTENSI I'm terrible. She over here doing it with her fingers. Is these are good?

Oh good?

Oh my gosh, I'm excited.

Yeah. I hope they taste good. That's gonna be so embarrassing if they don't.

How much I'm gonna judge you really, and I want you to.

Be honest, Be honest girl. So yeah, so I was God talkt Okay, hold on a second.

I just want I hope you make more. I hope you don't too much time on these little curved tackles. Please, you love the utensil. She's over here struggling.

You gotta bend it. You gotta flip it over and bend it before it gets too hard. Hold on, hold on, everybody, just be quiet and calm down. I'm fixing it. There we go. Okay, So there's one.

I don't know this, This moment with you feels really special. I don't know if it's because I watched you on TV for so long, but it feels really I love it special to me.

Thank you? Okay. So yeah, I was so a business school. You're gonna be a bus So I started taking all these business classes.

Oh they're flipping right back, It's okay.

And I didn't like it. I didn't like the classes I have to take for a business major. So I was like, what else could I do? And so I changed it to Liberal Arts because I heard that I can go into advertising. That was a good major if you want to go into advertising, and it's far as advertising. I was introduced to it and it was a business but it was super creative and I was like, that feels good to me. I want to do that, man.

And this is your first job in advertising, you're realizing this.

Yeah, so yeah, So it was an internship and everybody was talking about how they took theater and fast forwards.

I would have never thought that either, me either.

I was very surprised. Fast forward to my fifth year in college now and a friend was recruiting girls for a Miss Black California pageant. So weird, so random, and so me and some of my girlfriends we were like, Okay, yeah, we'll do the pageant. So what do you do? What's the thing? What do you do for a beauty pageant? Because I was just not that girl, and so we were like, okay, we'll do it. And we did the pageant. I'm concentrating here.

I know it's hard to talk, it is, but your stories are very captivating. So eight, come on, go back to the story.

Okay, I still feel like it needs more.

Wait, what did they say you needed to do for the talent part?

So we had to wear a bathing suit, we had to wear a gown, and we had to do a talent part. So I was like, what the fuck am I going to do for her? Talent. I don't know what to do. And so me and my mom and my aunt we came up with this idea for me to recite a poem from a play, and so I recited a poem from a play called for Colored Girls who considered to a side when the rainbow is enough?

And one of the poems I know, does it dark? Wait, consider suicide? Wait say it again? For Colored girls who can commit.

Consider suicide when the rainbow is enough? Geez, but it was. It's a very powerful play. They actually did a movie off of it too. It's very powerful play. So anyway, so I took one of the monologues from the play and I performed it. And one of the judges in the pageant was a producer of a play that was getting the casting and getting ready to tour the country, and he asked me if I would be interested in auditioning for his play. And I was like, what do

By the way, for all your listeners, she added lime to the pot, and she added the red as sausa. Yeah, so she still got to make a lot more taco though.

She's crazy. Okay, I want I want you to taste it. I want you to taste I know if it is anything.

In it, it's anything like this store where it's gonna be good.

Salt or pepper or something.

Don't change anything. Perfect okay, yeah, really good?

Okay, really good.

And it's not dry, guys, Oh good?

Because yeah, and I should turn it off so it doesn't get dry.

That's why you're adding the water and the sauces and all that.

Yeah, because I like it to feel most.

I like it. Yeah, I was scared it was going to be dry, but not at all. That's why you water.

Okay, So this is yours you want, I'll make yours first.

You better make way more tackles. We ain't on diet eating while.

Broka, you want me to keep making the showy. So this was yours. I was making it.

We'll just switch plates. This looks really good. Miss a little messy, and then why do I feel so comfortable with you?

Alvocado?

Yes, I want to do it. How you would do it the elevated version?

Yeah, because we definitely did not have bitch tacos.

This is so good looking. We shouldn't when they have the cameras, the picture when you take a picture of your food, I feel like we should.

I should have done that.

Well we should. We can see technically do it with these tacos.

Okay, you want something, any extra stuff because this I.

Want to do tomato here, I'll do the about your.

Okay, okay, oh yeah. So I go to the Black Repertory Theater. I show up with a picture and a resume. So again, I don't know anything about about acting as a career or anything like that at this point. So I show up with a regular working resume. I haven't marry out hotel and this rent a car.

I would have done the same time.

Yeah, I don't know. He said bring a picture in a resume, So I brought my picture in my resume and the picture and a picture, So it was this is I'm totally aging myself. Look guys, I'm totally aging myself. I brought a polaroid picture that I had my college roommate take of me the night before.

Oh my goodness, you are real green.

So I showed up with my working resume and my little polaroy picture, and I walk into the into the theater and it's full of real actors. And if you know anything about San Francisco, in the whole Bay area Berkeley, it's very artsy, it's a very artsy town. So these were like real thesbian and I walk in and they are like doing all these weird theater exercises, like with their voice there stretching, They're moaning me all the just weird shit. I was like, this is weird. They are weird.

At this point, did you see what other people's pictures in what they saw all.

The big eight by tens, they were black and white eight by tens. Back then, I was like whatever. I didn't have a way to feel because I didn't know shit, and I've been doing a lot of dropping curse words.

You literally only curse twice because me sit down, Terrace sit down. Okay, let's try this while we hot. Okay, I'm excited to eat this, guys, because it looks really delicious.

Hey, I hope it tastes good.

I want to Cilantro. I just want to be like you right now. I want to experience it. Okay, Okay, I'm gonna let you buy first.

I'm scared.

You know you ain't got to be scared. You know you make this.

It's good.

That's way better than any restaurant. You're sure you want to go to the restaurant. The dish, Yo, it's juicy, it's really good. That crunch. We're on a tight tom crunch. But you're gonna make more of these before you leave.

I got you.

This is a plus one of my favorite top three dishes on this show.

Yay, yay. Oh all right, let me finish my story.

Wait, even without all the jobbings, I know, it's just you murdered that fish. You annihilated the fish tacco.

It's so good.

No one makes a fish taco this juicy and flavorform. You can't get it to no Mexican restaurant. No, no, you better make moreities at home, girl. Okay, So get back to this story. Yes, you are auditioning for this play and yes.

So I walk into the Black Repertory Theater. I see all these real actors in there, and they're doing all these theatrical exercises warming up for their big audition. Their nat it was crazy, all kinds of stuff, and I was like, Okay, these people are weird. I'm just gonna sit over in the corner and wait for them to call my name. I'm sitting on a corner with my little working resume and my little polaroid picture and and they finally call my name and I go in. I

I'm so excited, you like leaving these little cliffhangers going. They give you the material, you read it.

Oh, they give me the material. So I read it with the director and then he gives me a note. He's okay, that was good, but this character, she's really sassy. She has a lot of spice, and can you read it again and give me some of that? And I was like absolutely, so basically, you just want me to be myself if I used to get in trouble all the time for being too sassy, get popped in the mouth.

Yeah, okay, that was good. I wanted to know. So you do do those now, so now make it all makes sense to you.

It all makes sense. It all makes sense. And that just changed my life forever. So I always tell people that, oh my career to Paul Roach.

Wow, so what did your mom say when you booked this tour?

Yeah? So when they called me that night, the first thing I did was I was like, okay, I'll call you back. I was like, Mom, these people are offering me this role to travel with a play and we're going to travel around the country and they take care of all of it, and they're going to pay me four hundred dollars a week.

Oh snap, I was like.

And I was like, can I go? Should I go? And she was like absolutely. She was like, when is this ever going to happen in your lifetime?

Yeah?

Yeah, to get an offer like this, to travel the country to perform on stage.

And how old are you at this time?

Land At this time, I'm twenty oh.

Girl, Yes go mom for that shut out of support. Yeah yeah, and you were excited about it too.

I was, Are you changed my mouth? Yes? Again, I had never done anything like that ever, And so we started. We went into rehearsals, and that's how I learned the craft.

Was there any part of it that was like a little rigorous where you wanted to quit at all? Or was it all?

It is very rigorous, But I was so in my element and felt so excited and connected to this new thing that I have found acting.

Did you have to drop out of college to do?

Yeah?

Yeah, you was like peace.

That's why I had to ask my mom. Okay, but yeah, but it changed the whole trajectory of my life.

So after are you getting interior at up in the house? Snap?

Okay?

I wanted to ask you after the tour ends? Huh? What's it like?

So the tour. When the tour ended, it was a group of us. We decided we were going to move to la and pursue acting.

Are you made friends too?

Yeah?

Were any of the people from the audition room? Do you remember any of them? And then they made it? Kalita Smith a so a known actress. She was it was her first start too.

So we were all from the Bay Area, and we all moved to LA after the show went down and just started pursuing it as a.

Career with a real picture.

Yes, I got a real black and white by tea and glossy. This is like so old, so you know you We would mail our phus to different agencies and stuff, trying to get agents. Again. Was always very adamant about the craft. So the first thing we did find acting classes to get into. Okay, when we moved to LA.

Even after all that work and training you went on the road, you still wanted to do more to perfect it.

Oh yeah, okay, it's never ending.

You still do take Do you still take acts?

I teach acting classes now, which is also for me a form of study for myself as well. But I do also watch Masterclass a lot or and for directing, I definitely like ye taking all that information and I can get still.

So between the touring and you booking major roles, how long is that gap and what was that struggle looking like?

I would say it was a five year build, which is really a blessing because I have several friends that I've been in it, doing it for well beyond five years and still hadn't gotten their break. But so, yeah, so I just I started booking like small parts. And I want to say, yeah, five years in of me living here, I got the audition for the Steve Harvey Show.

Wow. And then how are you surviving in between this five year?

Like a waitress?

You did the waitressing thing?

Okay, I waitressed, and I worked at a clothing store that was in the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Yes, okay, I used to work at the Sherman Oaks Galleria at a store called Benetton. Yeah, I don't think company. I think it's folded, but yeah, that's where I was, Okay, and then so so so I have been waitressing a lot longer. And then I got tired of waitressing and I got the job at ben Aton. And I have been at Benaton like two weeks and I booked the Steve Harvey Show.

Oh my gosh.

So I gave ben Aton my two weeks notice. I didn't just leave. I gave them a two week notice. And I still worked at ben Aton after I first booked the Steve Harvey Show.

Okay, that's cool. And then but it wasn't out yet, no, so nobody.

Was on because I came in the second season, but I hadn't started.

People hadn't seen you yet because you that two week notice. Now I'm curious, so you become like a household name household, everybody knows who you are. You from that point on, is your career completely consistent or is it like a little roller coastery in there?

There's nothing consistent in this business. Nothing, no. So I did the Steve Harvey Show for five seasons, and when it went down, I, like you, just said, thought, Oh, I'll just get my next gig. This is great. The Steve Harvey Show was great for me. It's gotten my name out there, fun character, everybody loves it, so I'm sure I'll get another gig. It didn't happen that quick.

How long would that get?

To be honest, it wasn't long in the aspect of what we do, because even if I was out of work for four months, that's not really a long time in his business. So it was probably something like that before I got a call from Felicia Henderson, who was the showrunner and producer of Soul Food that was on Showtime at the time, and she offered me a part for a reoccurring character on Soul Food, which they shot

Pass and not communicat yeah.

And not just putting me in the box, which a lot of people tried to do. So she immediately came and gave me that opportunity. So that was huge.

And then where does along this journey, where does directing and producing start to peak its little head in were you?

So? After the so thing, I want to say, the next series that I was a regular on was All of Us Will Smiths and Jada Pikett Smith Show. And when that show went down, it was dry. The industry was really dry. It was when a lot of the black shows got taken off air. They weren't really producing a lot of black television shows anymore. And that's when I got frustrated and I met a girl who was

And how did you guys intersect it? To begin with?

On a film project that I've done in Atlanta, And she was actually the costumer, and she slipped her book and she slipping her book, and so once she said yes to taking this journey with me of trying to sell and this is my first time ever doing something like this. But I had been in the business. I had great relationships from the shows that I had been on,

It sounds amazing, It was incredible.

It was Shirley out making good, Melinda Williams, Vanessa Williams, Kim Whitley, Regina King, and we had some really great people in the documentary and it was like our calling card. This is what we are about. We're about the voices of the black women in this industry.

Yeah, so how old did that do?

So that did good. We ended up doing a lot of college screenings and talkbacks. It was available on Amazon or something. But this is the thing, and I really want to tell everybody to handle your business like we were just artists.

So that was gonna be my next question. How are you funding? How are you maintaining during this whole project?

So we made it. It only cost us like five thousand dollars, so we just paid for it ourselves because we were just It was just a camera person, lights and stuff that we and we would go to people to interview them.

I love that, by the way.

Yeah, it got out and still to this day it's out and you can order it, but I don't know where it's being ordered and delivered from. It's really weird.

What do you mean, if I were to go on Amazon type it in, I could order it, but you don't know where the money goes.

I don't know where the money's going, and I don't know who's sending it to you. Somebody to this day, Yeah, yeah, like you could work because I did it because I saw it. Somebody had hit me up and was like, Oh, isn't this your documentary? It's so good? I love it, blah blah blah blah. And I was like, where did you get it? And they were like, oh, I ordered it off of I think it's Amazon, And I was like, really, So I went in not ordered it, and I got it, and I don't know. It's really weird.

So you did you try to call Amazon and find out.

I had an attorney to try to reach out to the name that was on it. It looks like it's coming from somewhere from China, so it was really weird. It's really weird.

But so does that mean did you just find this out?

Yeah? Not too long ago, like maybe year ago.

So are they is there a way to find out or stop it?

I don't know.

Oh no, I just wanted to do But wait, what's the name of the documentary One more Time.

Can really take care of your business when you're doing stuff.

You still want to see it.

Yeah, it just it's called Angels can't help but laugh.

Angels can't help but laugh. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, damn. So it's like I want to say, go out there and go out and still watch it.

Really good. It's super informative, some great interviews and advice and yeah, it's really good. I want to Smith as in it. It was like a lot of my peers Essens, Adkins, Jasmine Guy.

And we could probably order on Amazon. I hate to. Let's still check it out.

It's still also I know, but that's the thing. Of course, we want to make money off of stuff. But you know sometimes and so this is why I want artists to do better to handle your business. But I really just I want to give my gifts to the world, and that documentary is really a gift to young people and it's a gift, and so I still want people to see it even I want to see it. Yes, I still want business.

I was very inspirational.

Yeah, so that was our that was my entry into producing.

That was that and then from there the whole time this is going on, what your mom saying she still support everyone's support. You're fully sustained on acting, you're handling your money right.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I've always been very frugal. Okay, good, I'm very frugal and I learned a long time ago in this business. You're working this great great getting them checks, give them check, and then you could go years without working. Yeah. Yeah, So I've always been very smart with my money. Yeah.

I always tell people it's all about managing cash flow. Yeah, like people, will you get check a big check and you're like, whoa, we can go here and buy this, but no, let's make sure that we cover your monthly for at least six months. Take exactly exactly minimum, hopefully exactly. Actually that is it.

But at that time, so yeah, so I was sustaining myself but still still okay, I need to check. I still got a mortgage. I still got that.

You had a mortgage too, Yeah, oh girl, yeah. Do you get married having kids in between all them?

Okay, that's where I was about. So at that time, yes, I was married and I had a son, but I was breaking up. In the middle of breaking up, it was a very stressful time in my life. Personally but creatively. I think that's why I really poured so much into especially that particular project, because it featured women and I wanted to just get their voice and.

With the empowerment. Yeah you needed it at that time.

I really did. I really did. And yeah, so yes I was married, and yes I had my first son at that time.

So after that, you go into after producing, you go into directing.

So the directing came in years later. So I did finally go through a divorce and I ended up moving meeting my current husband who was based in Atlanta, and when we got married, I ended up moving to Atlanta. That's how I ended up.

In Atlanta almost just so you know, I wanted you so bad. I was like, man, we may have to make this trip to Atlanta.

Ah. I wish I would have known that. I would have said, oh, that would have been some fun.

Yeah, you guys could trust me. It was a lot better on my budgets.

So I'm sure I got you both.

I got you here, but I was willing to. We got to see if we can make it happen.

But so yeah, so I'm so now. I moved to Atlanta in two thousand and nine when I got there, so I had been working there already. I had done three projects in a row that was based in Atlanta. So I was there and then I would come back to LA there and so when I decided I was moving there, I was like, Okay, I want to help contribute to the film industry there because if I'm going to live there and be considered now a Atlanta actor,

Wow. And in between all this, you're still acting.

Yeah, still acting. So when I first moved to Atlanta, I called Tyler Perry Studio.

I was about to get to that. Yeah, oh yeah.

I was like, I just want to let y'all know that I live in Atlanta, so if there's any parts on your show, I'm here and I'm available. And so they did end up calling me and giving me a role on Meet the Browns.

Wow.

And that's how I got on Meet the Browns. So yeah, so it was still acting and what else was going on at the time. I also opened up wanting to pour into the community there, the art community. I opened up a coffee shop, slash theatrical bookstore right because when I was teaching the acting classes, there was nowhere for me to send them to get these books that I was telling them about. We're here, we have Samuel French, and as a young actor, I spent so much time

Run that business too, very.

Very I loved all the just the community of it. I loved pouring into the people. People loved it. But running the business was really stressful. For It's very stressful and it was like I had to be there every day and I was like, I gotta go make money. So it stayed open for three years and then I eventually had to close it just because it was just training, mentally, financially, all the things. But people still ask me about it all the time and was like it was just before

Yes, how can everybody keep up with everything?

Ary Jay on all the platforms? I am Terry Jay Vaughn on all the platforms. And I do have to plug my new series right here, okay, straight ahead? Yeah, and it's a beautiful Do we have time just for me to tell this quick little story?

I love it?

Okay. I've had this TV show idea for at least seven years. It was inspired by a girlfriend of mine, London Breed, who became the mayor of San Francisco. Black Girl. She's the only black female mayor that has ever been in the city of San Francisco, and it was just her journey and all the stuff she had to go through was very interesting to me as a story. She's a girl from the hood, all the things, and here she is the mayor of one of the richest cities

Of course I was wanting it.

Okay, Yeah, he was the perfect person. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. For several reasons, he was the one, and working with him has been amazing, like incredibly collaborative. So yeah, so he got it. He got us right away. He was like the wind beneath our wings. And he had a deal at Netflix already in place.

What's the name of it again?

So the show is she the People, She the People, She the People. It will It's starring me, created by me, Linda's it are in May, So May launching May on Netflix. Please look out for it.

She the People, She the People, and I will be watching it. I'm really excited and very happy. That was the most beautiful story. Thank you, beautiful ending, So She the People. Watch it on Netflix now, and you keep up with Terry J. Vaughn on all social media platforms. Yep, don't forget the Jay, don't forget the JA, don't forget the Jay. Peace out.

Thank you, Thanks honey.

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