Learn Self-Love with Quinta Brunson
Today, we’re bringing you 7 super tips from the first Black woman to be nominated for three Emmys in the comedy category, Quinta Brunson. Brunson is an American writer, producer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for creating, executive producing, co-writing, and starring in the ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary. She gained popularity for her self-produced Instagram series Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date. At the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, she received nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (which she won), Outstanding Comedy Series (as an executive producer), and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. At the 75th ceremony, she became the first Black woman to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy in over 40 years. Brunson was also placed on the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2022 list.
Need a sneak peek? Below are the main takeaways from the episode.
Learn Self-Love with Quinta Brunson
Episode Preview:
“So my parents were great. They really filled me up with a lot of love. They gave me a ton of love and a lot of self-love. They really made me feel like a great person until I didn’t anymore. Liking myself was the hardest fight I didn’t know I was fighting. So who here has ever turned 18? Anyone? Cool guys congratulations. From the age of 18, I realized I didn’t really like myself anymore. Why not? Because of my parents, because of consumerism, commercialism, and advertising. They get to you after a while. You see things that tell you you’re not cute enough or not Kirsten Dunst-y enough. Bring It On came out when I was about that age, so I wanted to be like her. You’re not Disney Channel enough. You know, you see these kids and they’re living in boats and whatnot. What the hell? Like how are you living on a boat and a hotel? I live in a row home in Philadelphia. That’s not what I look like. That’s not what my life is like… The moment I really knew was when I looked in the mirror and saw a few things that really disturbed me. My hair wasn’t mine. I had already started using weaves, right? I started putting makeup on I don’t even look like myself anymore. And I have fake eyelashes. 18 years old. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that at all. So I went through a hard process of relearning myself liking myself the way I came out, which was difficult here.
In this country, it’s hard if you’re not white to do that, okay? It’s hard if you’re not tall to do that, it’s hard if you don’t have big boobs, it’s hard if you have not been engineered by a man of America. The perfect body type is actually no one in America according to men. They drafted it up last year in a magazine and it’s no one. It’s none of the women here. So that’s hard. How am I supposed to live up to that? There’s no way for me to. So I had to really examine myself and say, if I want to be a creator, who shares content with people all over the world, I have to hone in and make sure I like myself. I have to like the person I am. I wanted to create from an honest perspective, I wanted to create in a way that can make others feel good, so I had to feel good myself. And here comes the biggest fight of your life advertising and you. So I’m going to rip apart this Nair ad. Doesn’t it look innocent? Doesn’t it look like it’s “not that bad”? It’s terrible. Okay, focus for a second if you will. So who in this room raise your hand if you look like this girl right here. I’ve named her Monica who looks who looks like Monica. Anyone? No hands. No one looks like Monica. Okay, already the advertisement has punched you in the face. This isn’t you. Okay, Monica is wiping the hair, the hair that grew out of her God-given body off of her face with this little roller contraption. All right. So look at Monica taking her hair off. And it says down there “Close Up Confidence”. Okay, I’m just gonna break those words down for you “Close Up Confidence. Use Nair”. If you don’t, you’re ugly, peasant. Okay. You don’t deserve to be confident if you have hair on your face. Sure. And then at the bottom here… “For totally touchable skin. Nair.” Touch your skin for me right now. Is it touchable? Did you just touch your own skin? Okay. All right, Nair. Take a chill pill.
But these things, they affect you. I know, it doesn’t seem like they do, but they do you, know what I mean? I didn’t really pay much attention to stuff like this, you know, I would flip through magazines when I was getting my hair done in a salon or whatever. And I would just flip through and get to my favorite stories. But these images were in my head. It was sending a silent message, but really clear that you’re not what America wants. You know what I mean? And if you’re creating things and you want to create things that are true to your perspective, I think it’s really important that you decide you like yourself, helps you create from a very good place.”
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The Super U Podcast is hosted by #1 bestselling author and Motivational Speaker Erik Qualman.
