Salisha Thomas: Broadway's New Queen on Dreams, Determination, and Stage Success

Speaker 1 But while I was playing Diana Ross in Trevor in Chicago, I get a text from my agent saying, the role that you did on tour has opened up on Broadway. Do you want it?

Speaker 2 I'm like, are you kidding me? I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.

Speaker 3 Welcome to Mick Unplugged, the number one podcast for self-improvement, leadership, and relentless growth.

Speaker 3 No fluff, no filters, just hard-hitting truths, unstoppable strategies, and the mindset shifts that separate the best from the rest. Ready to break limits? Let's go!

Speaker 2 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And I am here in New York.
Times Square, couldn't do this show without having the talented,

Speaker 2 the best,

Speaker 2 the creme de la creme. When we are talking about Broadway, we are talking about my good friend, the one and only Ba Salisha, Celicia Thomas.
Celicia, how you doing, though?

Speaker 1 I'm like, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 I am happy too, but why are you over there giggling, though? What's so funny?

Speaker 1 Because I don't ever hear anybody hype me up like that. That's my favorite thing to do about.

Speaker 2 Well, I got to hype up the queen. Come on now.
I can't have the queen in the building and just say, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage. The one and only Celicia Thomas.
I couldn't do that.

Speaker 2 Okay, all right.

Speaker 1 You know what? Thank you.

Speaker 2 Thank you. Thank you for having me.
You know, and I forgot to say California's finest, you know. Fresno is in the building.

Speaker 2 So my wife is from California, Bay Area.

Speaker 1 Right on. I love

Speaker 1 the Bay Area.

Speaker 1 It's so beautiful. It's a different vibe.
I lived in Southern California for a little while, and that was nice.

Speaker 2 But I like the Bay Area.

Speaker 1 Yeah, when it comes to California, New York is really New York is it.

Speaker 2 So, what got you here? Let's just go there. What got Celicia from

Speaker 2 Cali to New York? I mean, we're like old school, like East Coast, West Coast rival. Like, you flipped.

Speaker 1 I did.

Speaker 1 I was in college at Cal State Fullerton, barely graduated, but I did it. Okay.

Speaker 2 And I did it early.

Speaker 1 Okay. I was working as a vocalist and a princess at Disneyland.

Speaker 1 And I loved it. I got dropped down to one day a week.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, how are you supposed to live on one day a week, y'all?

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 1 And there were some other things going on. I got out of a bad relationship and

Speaker 1 I came out to New York City to just visit for just 30 days. I didn't tell anybody except my one friend who lives here now.
I gave all my shifts to her. And

Speaker 1 it was a secret. And I, but when I got here, Mick, I just fell in love.
I fell in love with it. I'm like, this doesn't make sense.
I can't just just like upend my life.

Speaker 1 And I met this, this is going to sound so crazy. I met this homeless man while I was here in New York, two weeks in, and he sat down next to me, waiting for the A-train.

Speaker 1 And he said, I don't know who you are, but you need to move here and you need to do it now.

Speaker 1 And I had goosebumps all over my body. His eyes were twinkling.
Like, I'm not making this up. Wow.
And I get on the train. He didn't.
The door shut and he mouths the words, good luck.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 I put my notice in that day to Disney. Within two weeks, I had gotten rid of everything in California and was and finished my last days at Disneyland and was back in New York.

Speaker 1 And the week I got here, I landed the first national tour of Beautiful, the Carol K Musical.

Speaker 2 Look at you.

Speaker 2 So we're going to back up now.

Speaker 2 Say you met this beautiful homeless man.

Speaker 2 Is this the love story? You cleaned him up. No.
Shaved him. This is now hubby? No? No.
Okay. All right, hubby.
Sorry. I just, I had to make sure.

Speaker 2 At least I had to ask. I had to do my due diligence.

Speaker 1 Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 2 Can you imagine if I'd married a homeless man? That would have been the love story of all love stories right there.

Speaker 2 No, I never saw him again. Oh.

Speaker 1 Nope, I never saw him again.

Speaker 1 I got here and I, I, I mean, there was a little bit of time before we started rehearsals, but I toured for two years.

Speaker 1 While I was on tour, I took a week off, ran for a pageant, became Miss California, kept touring. And,

Speaker 1 you know, that was really, that's when I got to visit Greenville. Yeah.
I got to visit like the country, got to see. I was in my early 20s and just very like,

Speaker 1 what's the word? Like, I didn't own any furniture. I got rid of everything.
Yeah. I just was living in my suitcases and kind of flying by the seat of my pants and prepared to fail.

Speaker 1 okay if I failed,

Speaker 1 but giving myself the opportunity

Speaker 1 to fly just in case if it did want to work out. Yeah.
I never wanted to think, what if? Like, what if I listened to my heart? What if I took the chance? I just, it's okay if you fail, just try.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 So we're going to back up again. Miss California.
Whoa.

Speaker 2 You just casually, you know, and I was doing this and then I won Miss California.

Speaker 2 and then I was let's let's back up because I know how humble you are, but we're going to back up and let's talk about Miss California for those that don't know.

Speaker 1 It was the Miss World Organization, which in America, it's not that, well, at the time, it wasn't that big of a deal. It was new to us.

Speaker 1 In the world, it's recognized, but in the country, usually our countries just send a model. And that was one of the first two years that they held a pageant here in the States.

Speaker 1 And so the way they kind of did it was different than the systems usually run. And I just went as a delegate, a national delegate.

Speaker 1 And out of all the girls there, I had the highest score for the West Coast for California. So I ended up with the title of Miss California.

Speaker 1 And they were okay with me being on tour. And each state that I went to, I was able to like volunteer and wear my crown and meet with my sister crown title holders.
And it was really fun.

Speaker 1 I've run in a lot of pageants and I've lost a lot of pageants in Miss Congeniality seven, eight times. Wow.

Speaker 1 And they're fun for me. Like, I haven't done it in a very long time, but I made so many friends.
I got scholarship money. And

Speaker 1 like when I was backstage, there was a lot of, your earrings broke. Take mine.

Speaker 1 There was a lot of that. And

Speaker 1 Also,

Speaker 1 pageants, I know they get so much flack, but I didn't even know I could sing

Speaker 1 before I did my first pageant. Like, I needed a talent.

Speaker 1 And one of the directors for the first pageants that I ever ran in for Ms. Fresno, she

Speaker 1 became my mentor, and now she's my best friend.

Speaker 1 But at the time, she was like, What's your talent? And I was like, I was just going to memorize a monologue. She goes, That in pageant world, that's code for you don't have a talent.

Speaker 2 I'm like,

Speaker 1 she's like, can you sing? I'm like, I do at church.

Speaker 1 And so I took voice lessons for the first time. And

Speaker 1 I mean, literally now I'm on Broadway. So I'm so grateful for that,

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 kind of like that realization that I didn't even know that was there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 So now you're like Adda James, Lena Horn, Billie Holiday,

Speaker 2 dropping in all the jazz, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah, sure. I love to sing jazz.
I love a good show tune as well.

Speaker 1 And I've recently discovered that I like rock.

Speaker 2 That's a very new thing. Okay.
Give me your rock song.

Speaker 1 What's Tina's song?

Speaker 2 When I was a little girl, I had a rag doll.

Speaker 1 What's that song called? Like when she goes up higher.

Speaker 1 I wouldn't yell it into the mic right here, but it just hits in this place where I'm like, it feels good and it's not something I can do when I'm casually watching like I have to use my whole body to sing it Tina Tina talking nutbush

Speaker 2 what's love got to do with it we can keep on going she's the queen she is the queen she is the queen but you know as she's passed the title is now to you you're the queen so you know you again all the humbleness in my good friend Celicia

Speaker 2 you highlight it and then I was on Broadway. So let's talk about the Broadway story.
So how did Celicia from Fresno, California, all of a sudden is now the star on Broadway? Hi, Morgan Freeman here.

Speaker 6 I want to talk to you about a serious rare heart condition called ATTR cardiac amyloidosis or ATTR-CM.

Speaker 9 Now, I don't have the condition myself, but if you're living with ATTR-CM, it's important to know about treatment options like Atruvi, also known as Acoramidis, because you have the power of choice when it comes to treatment.

Speaker 6 Atruvi is an old medicine used to treat adults with ATT-R-C-M to reduce death and hospitalization due to heart issues.

Speaker 8 Tell your doctor if you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding and about the medications you take.

Speaker 17 The most common side effects were mild and included diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Speaker 11 If you have ATTRCM, talk to your cardiologist about Atruvy or visit Atruby.com.

Speaker 18 That's A-T-T-R-U-B-Y.com to learn more.

Speaker 19 It's time to get busy living.

Speaker 2 Oh, well,

Speaker 2 it was

Speaker 1 a dream of mine since I was little, but it was one of those like, what are the chances? Yeah. Like, what are the chances? But there was a home, my hometown hero, Audrey McDonald.
She's got the

Speaker 1 record for just six Tonys, and she's from Fresno, California. Okay.

Speaker 2 She's currently. There's a precedent that was.

Speaker 1 Yes, I'm like, well, it exists. Somebody from my hometown is doing the thing.
She's currently in Gypsy on Broadway, killing it. And watching her, I'm like, it's possible.

Speaker 1 I see it. And she's black like me.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so I felt like, okay, well, again, I always like to give myself permission. to fall flat on my face.

Speaker 1 Because if you don't give yourself permission, what you gonna do if you just are afraid live life of regrets, right?

Speaker 1 If you don't put yourself out there, like my life is full of so many failures, but when I get a yes and when I get a win, it's

Speaker 2 it's good, yeah.

Speaker 1 But no one people don't see all the no's that I get, but for when it came to Broadway,

Speaker 1 I toured for what, a year or nine months, and I loved it. I loved touring with the Carol King Musical.

Speaker 1 And I put my notice in, not because I didn't like it anymore, but I've always just wanted to live in New York. I came to New York and I got a show on the road.

Speaker 1 And I wanted to give it a chance. So I put my notice in, not having anything lined up once again.

Speaker 1 And right after, I ended up getting a show called Trevor with the director who directed Beautiful. And while I was doing, I was playing Diana Ross.
And oh gosh, there's a great story there.

Speaker 1 But while I was playing Diana Ross in Trevor in Chicago, I get a text from my agent saying, the role that you did on tour has opened up on Broadway. Do you want it?

Speaker 2 I'm like, are you kidding me? I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.

Speaker 1 I don't even have to audition for it.

Speaker 1 I just have to say yes. And I said yes.
And after I finished that run, they gave me two days. I moved to the city on a Monday.

Speaker 1 I rehearsed Tuesday, Wednesday, and I made my Broadway debut on a Thursday.

Speaker 2 Holy.

Speaker 2 Ladies and gentlemen, that is not easy.

Speaker 2 There's a lot of memorization that has to go on. There's a lot of marks that you have to hit.

Speaker 2 And oh, by the way, you're not just talking, you have to sing and you're with people that you probably haven't been around.

Speaker 1 No, no, I met the lead while we were doing the show. Like, I see her on all these billboards and trash cans all over Times Square.

Speaker 1 And in the first scene that I was in, she came up because in rehearsal, she wasn't there. It was her standing.
And so on stage, he comes up to me and I'm like, oh.

Speaker 2 It's the girl from the billboards.

Speaker 1 Celicia, you have to say your line.

Speaker 2 Right. Right.
No fangirl moment. I know.

Speaker 1 I wish I could have gotten to meet her before. Like, it was so cool to me.
Yeah, it was, it was completely surreal.

Speaker 1 But to be fair, it was the same show as on the road, but a completely different cast, a very different set.

Speaker 1 I thought our set on On Tour was incredible by Derek McLean, who's done so many things on Broadway and like Academy Awards and Golden Gloves. He's done so many things.

Speaker 1 It was a great set on the road, but the Broadway version, it was bigger, higher, more things moved. It was an operation.
Yeah. Yeah.
And so there were definitely a little bit of some learning curves.

Speaker 1 For the first national tour, I set that show. So I knew where I liked to stand and when I liked to stand.
Broadway had been open for four years at that point.

Speaker 1 They have their own choreography backstage. And so even though I'm used to being in the wings on this scene, they're like, no, no, no, you need to go change downstairs at this time.

Speaker 1 So that was different, but it was, it was all fine and good once I found that rhythm.

Speaker 2 But wow. Yeah.
Wow. So for those that don't know, walk us through a Broadway audition, right?

Speaker 2 Are you on one play like your entire life? Do you audition for other, like walk the casuals like me through being on Broadway and what that means from your perspective.

Speaker 1 There are so many different ways to

Speaker 1 approach the Broadway world.

Speaker 1 I have friends who have been in Lion King for over a decade. Wow.
They call that a government job.

Speaker 2 Okay. Okay.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Where you get to go to work and you have a good feeling it's going to be there tomorrow.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 1 You're going to get that check. You know exactly what to do.
You can make your grocery list while you're at work. It's like, you know, you don't learn anything new.

Speaker 1 No, you just go to work, you do your thing, and then you go home to your, if you've been in a show that long, you go home to your apartment and your family.

Speaker 1 That's one way of looking at it. Then I have friends who jump from show to show to show.
Some of them are broke, but they've got credits and

Speaker 1 a reputation.

Speaker 1 And they're shooting for that. Tony, they want to get the role of a lifetime.

Speaker 1 They want to build that list of like leading roles.

Speaker 1 But because they're jumping from show to show, sometimes there's gaps

Speaker 1 in between the shows.

Speaker 2 Yeah. But they're like that job hopper.
And you got to explain. So

Speaker 2 from April of 2021 to today, you don't have nothing on there. Why?

Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 But you might know their name and their face. So that's a different approach.
And then

Speaker 1 there is the chorus where you can jump from chorus to chorus and always be in a show and stack up your credits. But you might not be famous, but you're always working or you're always swinging.

Speaker 1 There's just different ways to approach it.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 my feelings change all the time about it. At first, I just wanted to be on Broadway.

Speaker 1 And that first show that I got, Mick, it was a dream come true.

Speaker 2 Really?

Speaker 1 It was

Speaker 1 better than I ever thought it could be. I was so happy.
My cast was so welcoming and fun and loving. And

Speaker 1 like people who I'd listened to on the CD for so long, I'm standing next to them on stage

Speaker 1 and just in awe of them.

Speaker 1 I never, ever, ever took that for granted. And the show that I did after that, boy, oh boy, was it a very different experience.
I got my butt kicked.

Speaker 2 I got my butt kicked.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I did.

Speaker 2 All right. Do tell, do tell, do tell.

Speaker 2 Where do I start?

Speaker 1 The Britney Spears musical.

Speaker 2 You see the face. I know.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 There was a lot happening. Okay.

Speaker 1 There was a lot happening on all angles in that show.

Speaker 1 Ultimately, I am so grateful for that show. I'd never taken a swinging position before, like an understudy.

Speaker 2 Okay, so explain what a swinging position is. Because some people are like, swinger? What the swing is talking about? Why are you swinging?

Speaker 1 A swing is like a super understudy where you're covering

Speaker 1 almost everybody. Well, in my case, almost everybody in the company.
Okay. So sometimes a swing can cover three roles or four roles.
And a lot of times it's people in the ensemble.

Speaker 1 They had me covering 12 roles, pretty much the entire ensemble, and six of the leads.

Speaker 2 that's not normal okay

Speaker 2 sounds tedious it was like your brain is on fire because it's like wait who am i today

Speaker 2 uh

Speaker 2 oh

Speaker 2 no that's oh damn i messed up yes okay there was a lot of that got it

Speaker 1 and i ended up going on

Speaker 1 before I was expected to go on.

Speaker 1 So almost every new role that I went on for, I had not been rehearsed for.

Speaker 1 That is crazy.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's Broadway. Gotcha.
You got me on stage

Speaker 1 feeling my way around.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 everyone's hoping that I say the right line at the right place and that I sing my heart.

Speaker 2 Come on, y'all.

Speaker 2 That's a little crazy.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I went on for, they swung me on for a lot. So it was a short run.
We were only open for three months. We had 123 performances.
I was on for 68 of them. Again, not normal.

Speaker 1 I went on for one of the lead roles over 25 times.

Speaker 1 But the actual lead, it was basically Disney meets Britney Spears, all these Disney princesses with Britney Spears music, and they're finding like their feminists, like, they realize they don't have to do the same stories that have been written for them.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so Snow White and Cinderella are the two like lead leads. Cinderella's on stage the entire time.
And I was not the first cover for it. I was like the second cover for it.

Speaker 1 So I was super duper not rehearsed. And that one going on for that one without any rehearsal at the last moment

Speaker 2 was crazy. It was very crazy.

Speaker 1 I get hot thinking about it, man. It was a crazy day.

Speaker 2 So then, what became your first lead?

Speaker 1 My first lead?

Speaker 1 Snow White. Snow White.
Playing Snow White in Once Upon a One More Time. That's the, oh, wait.
No, I went on first, one of the stepsisters in Once Upon a One More Time.

Speaker 1 That was my first principal debut, I would say. Okay.

Speaker 2 How did that feel?

Speaker 1 Full house

Speaker 1 extended applause.

Speaker 1 Not just for me, for the show.

Speaker 1 It was such an electric night. I think it was like industry night.
So our peers were in the audience and they were wild.

Speaker 1 They were wild. And

Speaker 1 I just remember feeling like,

Speaker 1 I've always wanted to feel this or feel, or see what it was like. And

Speaker 1 this feels great. A lot of times when I'm in the spotlight, I get nervous.
I get stage fright and I'm stressed out.

Speaker 1 And so I'm not always able to enjoy

Speaker 1 the pressure until the very end.

Speaker 1 And I'm learning

Speaker 1 how to enjoy something that I've wanted for so long that has so high stakes

Speaker 1 when it begins, not just right towards the end.

Speaker 2 When I'm like, I think I made it.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 the life that I'm building for myself,

Speaker 2 there

Speaker 1 seem to be more and more high pressure situations. And I just realized, like,

Speaker 1 life is too short to not have fun.

Speaker 1 Like, what's the point

Speaker 1 of manifesting all this stuff or praying for it if when it comes, I'm stressed out?

Speaker 2 Hi. Morgan Freeman here.

Speaker 6 I want to talk to you about a serious rare heart condition called ATTR cardiac amyloidosis or ATTR-CM.

Speaker 9 Now I don't have the condition myself, but if you're living with ATTR-CM, it's important to know about treatment options like Atruvi, also known as Acoramidis, because you have the power of choice when it comes to treatment.

Speaker 6 Atruvi is an old medicine used to treat adults with ATTR-CM to reduce death and hospitalization due to heart issues.

Speaker 8 Tell your doctor if you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding and about the medications you take.

Speaker 17 The most common side effects were mild and included diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Speaker 11 If you have ATTRCM, talk to your cardiologist about Atruby or visit Atruby.com.

Speaker 18 That's ATTRUBY.com to learn more.

Speaker 19 It's time to get busy living.

Speaker 1 I don't want to be stressed out.

Speaker 1 At the end of this year, I'm supposed to be the soloist at Radio City City Music Hall.

Speaker 2 Let's go.

Speaker 1 Thank you. Let's go.
I'm currently singing back up for Hugh Jackman in his residency there. It's one weekend a month.
It's like, ah, this is such a great gig. He's such a great guy, too.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 if my date to sing at Radio City is just this one moment in time, and it's a hard song, Never Enough from The Greatest Showman.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 It is.

Speaker 1 I got to like show up with my whole body for that song.

Speaker 1 and then, also, I have to relax because I can't sing it stressed out. It's such a hard song.
I have to be relaxed.

Speaker 1 How the thing that I've been working on, and with my husband too, is

Speaker 1 how can I perform at the highest level? How can I, if I have to wait for a very long time

Speaker 1 for one moment in time,

Speaker 1 how can I perform at the highest level after waiting for so long?

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 to stay relaxed

Speaker 1 when those few minutes come.

Speaker 1 And I'm going to tell you something that a lot of people don't know, and it's okay. You can air this whenever you want.
Let's go.

Speaker 1 I am pregnant.

Speaker 2 Congratulations.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 2 Thank you. I feel crazy.
It's okay. I feel

Speaker 1 I'm like, I can see myself in the monitor. I'm like, whoo,

Speaker 2 Literally, that's what I was looking at. Stop.
I was like, oh, those pants barely fit. Stop it.
Stop it.

Speaker 2 Congrats, though.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 2 First?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 2 Even more congrats.

Speaker 2 Thank you.

Speaker 2 That little homeless man has come.

Speaker 2 You did good, bro.

Speaker 2 I'm joking. I'm joking.
I'm joking.

Speaker 1 That's so funny. But I brought it up because I'm supposed to be due

Speaker 1 on October 8th. I'm singing the solo October 3rd.
Oh,

Speaker 1 on stage.

Speaker 2 Water break.

Speaker 2 During the note.

Speaker 2 During the note. Not during the note.

Speaker 2 Not during the note.

Speaker 2 That's close, right? That's, yeah.

Speaker 1 In my last checkup, it said October 6th. I said, hey, what's that? She said, oh, don't look at that date.
I was like, it's there on the screen.

Speaker 1 Every date kind of matters in that week.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Anyway, so again, the high-pressure situations, but trying to stay relaxed, and in that case, keeping a whole baby inside.

Speaker 2 You're going to do great. I promise.
You're going to do great.

Speaker 1 Do you think I can keep it inside?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Do you think I can keep my mouth shut if I'm in labor and not tell anybody?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You think so? Yeah.

Speaker 2 The baby knows. The baby's a part.
The The baby's gonna do its part.

Speaker 2 It's a star in there. It's a star.

Speaker 2 He knows or she knows the moment.

Speaker 2 But this is mom's moment right here.

Speaker 2 You hear that? Yes.

Speaker 2 They know.

Speaker 2 I promise.

Speaker 1 Why do I believe you right now?

Speaker 2 You should. You should.

Speaker 2 The moment. The baby knows the moment.

Speaker 1 It's going to do his or her part. I think it's a boy.

Speaker 2 He's going to do his part. Mom's a star.

Speaker 2 Star in the making.

Speaker 1 Can we stay connected?

Speaker 2 Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 Because I want to give you updates.

Speaker 2 For sure.

Speaker 2 For sure.

Speaker 2 For sure. I'll look at my calendar too.
I might October 8th.

Speaker 1 No, that's the due date.

Speaker 2 Right. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
October 3rd, I probably can't be there. The two dates that we've talked about, I can't make either of those.
I'm like, you travel a lot.

Speaker 2 You all over. So, wedding anniversary, September 29th.
So,

Speaker 2 you know, I don't know if what the plans are just yet.

Speaker 1 Yeah. How many years for you?

Speaker 2 It will be two.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You're a newlywed. Yeah.

Speaker 1 How is it going?

Speaker 2 Amazing.

Speaker 1 Amazing. Congratulations.
Thank you. Big, big congratulations.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 Thank you.

Speaker 1 Did you do a big wedding or small?

Speaker 2 It was small-ish. It was like a hundred of our best friends.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's the best.

Speaker 2 It was the best. It was a 10-minute ceremony and a four-and-a-half-hour party.

Speaker 2 All the singing and dancing you could imagine, Celicia.

Speaker 1 That sounds incredible.

Speaker 2 It was like 90s,

Speaker 2 80s RB, some late 90s, early 2000s hip-hop. Listen.
Big party.

Speaker 1 That's the vibe right there. Big party.
That's the vibe. That's the vibe.
Absolutely. That's the vibe.
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 So back to you, though.

Speaker 2 You can't get off that easy. Listen.
Come on now. You tried to make it about me.
I know you were a podcast host over there, too.

Speaker 2 I saw what you tried to do.

Speaker 1 I'm like, so tell me about your ideas.

Speaker 2 You've said,

Speaker 2 because I've counted five times,

Speaker 2 you're not afraid to fail.

Speaker 2 I think that is so important for everybody that's watching that's listening. Why is that a big component, not just for you, but something everybody should embrace?

Speaker 1 I talk about it in my book a lot. It's called Why Be a Nine When You Can Can Be a Ten? And it's a fun book.
It doesn't take itself too seriously.

Speaker 1 And on the outside, it can feel like, oh, reach for perfection, but that's not what it's about.

Speaker 1 It's about embracing all of your flaws

Speaker 1 and showing up in this world exactly as you are, because there is nothing better than somebody who is okay with exactly who they are.

Speaker 1 That puts everybody at ease,

Speaker 1 even if you're just a mess, if you own your mess.

Speaker 1 Like it just,

Speaker 1 it just, there's something magical about those unicorns who just are self-actualized and show up unapologetically themselves.

Speaker 1 And I think part of that is embracing the parts of you that might not be pretty, the parts of you that might not be polished or completely put together.

Speaker 1 You know, sometimes I'm pretty awkward and I used to really be embarrassed about that.

Speaker 2 And now I just kind of embrace it and I don't care.

Speaker 1 Like, right. That's just who I am.
And when it comes to how that translates in my career, I put myself out there a lot, a lot.

Speaker 1 And sometimes I even will save the rejections that I get because I'm like, I can't believe.

Speaker 2 I can't believe I

Speaker 2 tried that.

Speaker 1 Like, who has the audacity to do? Like, I will even shock myself because I realize

Speaker 1 all it takes is one yes.

Speaker 1 All it takes is one major opportunity to come your way.

Speaker 1 And it's like, bam, everything's different just like i dated a bajillion people on the road i had a boyfriend in every major city in america okay none of them were the ones how many were homeless though

Speaker 2 is that a trend

Speaker 2 no okay

Speaker 2 i didn't know

Speaker 1 no if anybody i was the homeless one because i was living out of suitcases

Speaker 1 uh but All it takes is to find that one person who is like, oh, you're weird. I'm weird too.

Speaker 1 Let's do this together forever.

Speaker 1 You just got to get it right once.

Speaker 1 But you have to be okay with hearing the no, seeing the no, getting the no's. And when the stakes are high, those no's hurt extra.
When you're like,

Speaker 1 that one would have changed my life. But when you keep putting yourself in those positions,

Speaker 1 and you're in the arena. You're in the arena of greatness.

Speaker 1 You're in the neighborhood.

Speaker 1 Getting big no's, it hurts.

Speaker 1 But you're in the right neighborhood.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And it's just a matter of time. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Keep showing up.

Speaker 2 I love it. I love it.

Speaker 2 And show all the way up, too. Like, that's my thing.
If you're going to show up, show all the way up. Like, anything you do half-hearted is never going to make it.

Speaker 2 Like, that's why people that have side hustles, and everybody knows I say this all the time, at some point, either make your side hustle the main thing or quit side hustling. Ooh.

Speaker 2 Because you can't live in two worlds.

Speaker 2 That's right.

Speaker 2 Why am I convicted? Oh, did I touch something? That hit a nerve.

Speaker 1 I needed to hear that.

Speaker 2 You can't side hustle forever. You cannot.
You can't.

Speaker 2 And you're limiting what should be your main thing by trying to side hustle.

Speaker 1 Because if it's your side hustle and it brings you joy,

Speaker 1 there's a reason why that passion is in you.

Speaker 2 Then put that whole,

Speaker 2 as as one of my uncles would say, put your whole ass in it then.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 1 What is your favorite thing that you love?

Speaker 2 This.

Speaker 2 Getting.

Speaker 2 You can't replace human bonding, right? Like, my thing is, I just love hearing people's stories. I love being able to let others listen to people's stories because everybody's going through something.

Speaker 2 And you never know the word that Celicia just said or is about to say is a moment that somebody needed.

Speaker 2 And there's always, like every episode I do, I get a response from different people that's like, I needed that. Thank you.
And that's, that's my thing. Like, so my thing with McUnplug is your because,

Speaker 2 that thing that's deeper than your why. To me, your why is superficial, right?

Speaker 2 Like I could,

Speaker 2 your why is about to be your child. Should be your why.

Speaker 2 But why? What's the because? And so if I said, Celicia,

Speaker 2 what's your because right now? Like, what's that thing that's like, this is my purpose. This is my motivation.
This is my accountability when I don't need it. What's your because?

Speaker 1 Wow. Are you asking me for real?

Speaker 2 For real, for real.

Speaker 1 You know, my priorities have changed quite a bit. And

Speaker 1 I recently went to a Tony Robbins conference and it was wild. Okay.
Am I in a cult? Maybe.

Speaker 1 Did it change my life? Yes. Okay.
And one of the exercises that we did in the arena, there were thousands of us, what, like, he turned off the lights, the kids had to leave. And

Speaker 2 this is water, but geez.

Speaker 1 Right. Okay.

Speaker 1 And there was an exercise of basically seeing your life

Speaker 1 as it would be if you let all your disempowering beliefs take the front seat, continue to take the front seat.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 we went deeper and deeper down that road. And seeing

Speaker 1 what that could look like

Speaker 1 was very painful.

Speaker 1 Letting your doubts, letting my doubts, and

Speaker 1 the most disempowering things I could think that I realized weren't even true.

Speaker 1 What does your life look like if that

Speaker 1 is in the driver's seat?

Speaker 1 And so with my new priorities now being my family,

Speaker 1 it's always been career. Career, Career, career, career.
Let's climb this ladder. And I think I will always be a career girl.

Speaker 1 But now I'm married and I love my husband. I love him.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I love him.

Speaker 1 Like, I didn't think I could love a person like I love my husband, Andrew.

Speaker 2 Let's go, Andrew.

Speaker 1 He's so special in so many different ways. And I've started to maneuver differently.
And now we're going to have a baby.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Everything just feels different. And I,

Speaker 1 there is a, there is a life that I've always wanted to live. And I've gotten to live it up to an extent in my own life.
But thinking about

Speaker 1 having my child grow up with that just being baseline.

Speaker 2 It's kind of freaking cool. Right.

Speaker 1 Can I do that? You sure can. Can I like create a life that I've always wanted and it's just like

Speaker 1 normal to like that would be my dream

Speaker 1 and a challenge for me. Like,

Speaker 1 can I do that?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I'm not sure if that answers the because. It does.

Speaker 2 It does. And here's what's crazy cool.
And I don't think most parents have thought of this. I'm glad you did.

Speaker 2 You can give your children

Speaker 2 the life that you wanted. And I think a lot of times we settle and we do it the opposite way.
Well, you know, I couldn't do this as a kid and neither can you. Or I didn't have TV.

Speaker 2 So you're not, you know, like we get in those because I didn't, I'm going to make it tough. I'm going to raise you tough so that you appreciate.

Speaker 2 Well, you can also appreciate and have, I'm not going to say luxury, but you can have comfort and appreciate it all at the same time. Let's go.
Right.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Right? It's okay.
And for me, it's very important that I don't raise assholes. I want them to be kind.

Speaker 2 What?

Speaker 1 I know. Like, I feel like there's like a stereotype.
Like, if you grow up with something, you're going to be like this. I don't know what my kids will grow up as.

Speaker 1 I'm like, I'm not rolling in the dough, but one day I want to be. And when that happens, I want my kids to be humble and kind and generous.
That's it.

Speaker 2 That's it.

Speaker 2 That is it. I hope I'm a good mom.
You're going to be a great mom. Stop.

Speaker 1 I've never done it before.

Speaker 2 Most people haven't.

Speaker 2 Most of us start that way, you know?

Speaker 2 Got to start with one.

Speaker 2 Got to start with what?

Speaker 1 Oh my gosh, we've got to throw up.

Speaker 2 No, please don't. Literally.
Please don't.

Speaker 2 Janitorial services.

Speaker 2 Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 Hi, Morgan Freeman here.

Speaker 6 I want to talk to you about a serious rare heart condition called ATTR cardiac amyloidosis or ATTRCM.

Speaker 9 Now, I don't have the condition myself, but if you're living with ATTR-CM, it's important to know about treatment options like Atruvi, also known as Acoramidis, because you have the power of choice when it comes to treatment.

Speaker 6 Atruvia is an old medicine used to treat adults with ATTR-CM to reduce death and hospitalization due to heart issues.

Speaker 8 Tell your doctor if you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding and about the medications you take.

Speaker 17 The most common side effects were mild and included diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Speaker 11 If you have ATTRCM, talk to your cardiologist about Atrubia or visit Atruby.com.

Speaker 18 That's A-T-T-R-U-B-Y.com to learn more.

Speaker 19 It's time to get busy living.

Speaker 2 So, Celicia, you talked about the book.

Speaker 2 What encouraged you to write the book?

Speaker 2 Ooh. And give us the title again.

Speaker 1 Why be a nine when you can be a 10?

Speaker 1 You know,

Speaker 1 I've always written. I have journals and journals and journals of writing.
And I wrote a book in the pandemic that will never see the light of day. It's completely, completely inappropriate.

Speaker 1 And I couldn't use it. I couldn't use it for public, for public use.

Speaker 1 But I wanted to write something that I could use. And that book that I'd written in the pandemic, It had a lot of good story.
There was a love story in it.

Speaker 1 Didn't, it was unrequited, didn't work out. And it was just everything about it was wrong.

Speaker 1 But it tied into all these awesome stories, some of which I've told you about. And I'm like, well, where can I use these? And also,

Speaker 1 how can I get my

Speaker 1 message of

Speaker 1 embrace failure,

Speaker 1 embrace your flaws,

Speaker 1 enjoy life by being you

Speaker 1 instead of what you think people want you to be?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 How can I put that all together? And it was, it just brought me a lot of joy. It actually kind of wrote itself.

Speaker 1 And so it gave me an outlet to put some of my favorite stories, like running a marathon without training on a two-show day. Like that to me was a little bit.
I did that. That was wild.

Speaker 1 I get to write it down. I get to tell.
I don't actually think that's in the book.

Speaker 1 Regardless, I get to

Speaker 1 tell these stories and wrap it up with like what I think. I don't know.
I just,

Speaker 1 I just wanted to encourage.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 That is

Speaker 1 my goal. Okay.
Is for when people come in contact with me, they feel encouraged and they feel inspired. And if they're like, that basic girl can do it, that means I can do it.

Speaker 1 Listen,

Speaker 1 I think anything is possible. And

Speaker 1 it's so easy to look at people who are where you want to be or somewhere where you think that's not a thing, and just to feel like, well, that's only possible for those kind of people.

Speaker 1 And that's how I've always looked at the people who I look up to.

Speaker 1 And I've been fortunate enough to start meeting the people who I've looked up to slowly but surely.

Speaker 1 And I realize

Speaker 2 they're all just people.

Speaker 2 All day.

Speaker 2 All day. What? Yep.

Speaker 1 Like, that is wild to me.

Speaker 1 And why is that? Why does that feel so mysterious? Right.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 1 Like, take that filter off

Speaker 1 and stop gatekeeping.

Speaker 2 Let's go.

Speaker 2 That's what I'm talking about. That's the truth.

Speaker 1 That's the truth. You figured something out.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 How does that benefit you to not

Speaker 1 share what you learn

Speaker 1 with your peers, with your sisters? Like,

Speaker 1 let's communicate.

Speaker 1 I shared something on my blog a few months ago about

Speaker 1 I think I had a miscarriage.

Speaker 1 And I feel like you're not supposed to tell people that.

Speaker 2 But I was like, What? If I don't tell anybody, that's like the most isolating thing in the world.

Speaker 1 That'll make no sense. Who made these rules, Mick?

Speaker 2 It wasn't me. Who made these rules? Right.

Speaker 1 You're supposed to just go through stuff by yourself and not tell anybody? That feels completely alienating and isolating and like you're all alone. And I wrote a blog about it.

Speaker 1 And do you know how many of my friends

Speaker 1 came out of the woodwork to tell me about their stories?

Speaker 2 It wasn't just you. No,

Speaker 1 my friends who I've known.

Speaker 1 And a lot of it, a few of them, it had happened that week for them.

Speaker 2 Wow. I'm like, hold up.

Speaker 1 All y'all was just going to hold on to all of this in pain, suffering by yourself?

Speaker 1 That is crazy to me.

Speaker 1 We are literally all in this together. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Good stuff, Celicia.

Speaker 2 Words of wisdom. I didn't know you were a philosopher as well.
Shut up. You do it all.
You do it all.

Speaker 2 The philosophy. From Celicia Thomas.
Oh, my God. So, Celicia, you've been amazing with your time.
I know how busy you are. I do want you and Andrew both to know very proud of both of you.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 Very proud of both of you. Uncle Mick is here for you guys.

Speaker 2 Uncle Mick. Yes, Uncle Mick is there.
Thank you. Absolutely.
So, Celicia, where can people find and follow you? Not that they don't know where to find you, but where do you want them to follow you?

Speaker 1 Thank you for asking.

Speaker 1 They can follow me on at The Salisha Show on Instagram. That's the name of my podcast.

Speaker 1 My YouTube. Well, I guess my YouTube's not called that, but my show is called The Celicia Show.
My Instagram is called The Salisha Show, and my website is the Saliciashow.com.

Speaker 1 It's like by Felicia, but with an S, but it's spelled S to the A to the L to the E. Just kidding.

Speaker 2 Oh, keep going. You know how I spell your name? No.
You don't know how to spell your name?

Speaker 1 It's S-A-L-I-S-H-A.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 Ladies and gentlemen, this has been my good friend, Miss Celicia Thomas. Celicia, so honored to have you.
Thank you. This has meant the world to me.

Speaker 2 Thank you. Can't wait to see you on stage again.
Can't wait to meet my little niece-nephew when he or she

Speaker 2 remembers that mommy's the star. I'm gonna give mommy her day.

Speaker 2 And then, yes, okay, absolutely.

Speaker 1 Thank you. You got it.

Speaker 2 Thank you for encouraging me. All the viewers and listeners, remember: your because is your superpower.
Go unleash it.

Speaker 2 You the best. You're incredible.
You're the best.

Speaker 1 How dare you make me feel so safe?

Speaker 2 That's what I'm here for. What the heck? That's what I'm here for.

Speaker 3 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this with someone who needs it.

Speaker 3 And most of all, make a plan and take action because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hello at mickunplugged.com.

Speaker 3 Until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.