Speaker 1: Whether you're a seasoned masquerader or just learning what spice
Speaker 1: Mass is, you are going to finish this episode feeling inspired, empowered,
Speaker 1: and possibly planning your next trip to Grenada. Carnival is
Speaker 1: not just about feathers, beautiful costumes and soca. It's about legacy, leadership,
Speaker 1: and the divine pulse of creativity that drives Caribbean culture forward.
Speaker 1: This week, we are talking the things with Ebony tell
Speaker 1: Us Ford, the brilliant CEO behind Lavish the Band, one
Speaker 1: of the most talked about bands in Grenada's Spice Mass.
Speaker 1: Ebony is not just leading a mass band, She's reshaping
Speaker 1: what Carnival looks like, feels like, and means for a
Speaker 1: new generation. This year, Lavish the Band returns with a
Speaker 1: beautiful theme Muses the divine inspiration. In a world where
Speaker 1: creativity fades, a divine awakening begins, Art no longer breathes,
Speaker 1: and the color of creation begins to blur. But within
Speaker 1: the heavens lie the Muses, protectors of creativity and champions
Speaker 1: of the soul. If you're listening to the podcast on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcast, please remember to rate and leave a comment below. Also,
Speaker 1: don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Let's Talk
Speaker 1: the Things. Now, grab your tea, coffee, or a glass
Speaker 1: of wine and let's talk the things. Hello everyone, Welcome
Speaker 1: back to another episode of Let's Talk the Things. I'm
Speaker 1: your Home, Ash, and this week we are talking the
Speaker 1: things with the founder and CEO of one of the
Speaker 1: most talked about bands for Grenada, Spice Mass Lavish, the
Speaker 1: band Ebony tell Us for It. Hi, Ebany, how are you, hi, Ash?
Speaker 2: I'm fine. How are you doing.
Speaker 1: I'm well. Thank you so, I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 1: And for our first time listeners and for you being
Speaker 1: the first time you're a guest on this show. We
Speaker 1: begin each episode with our listener's favorite segment, and it's
Speaker 1: called that Nason Safe. So basically, I'm going to read
Speaker 1: messages or social media posts that listeners sent in and
Speaker 1: if you think it sounds crazy or a little bit concerning,
Speaker 1: you would say that no, sounds safe and explain why.
Speaker 1: And if you agree, you just say you agree and
Speaker 1: explain why. Just a little icebreaker to get it started.
Speaker 1: Sounds good, Okay, sounds good. So the first person said,
Speaker 1: some men send you to pilates in a Mercy Ladies
Speaker 1: on Tuesday morning while others send you to therapy. Choose wisely.
Speaker 2: Oh girl, that's struck.
Speaker 1: Started out strong, right.
Speaker 2: The first part sounds safe. I like the first part,
Speaker 2: the last right, we like at the Mercedes. I love
Speaker 2: a Mercedes. But the stress and therapy, I'm there right
Speaker 2: now with that. So that's nice.
Speaker 1: And it's true, right, Like it's funny, but it's true.
Speaker 1: Like you, you have to make choices wisely when it
Speaker 1: comes to partnerships because who you choose as a partner,
Speaker 1: even who you choose as friends, can really change the
Speaker 1: trajectory of your life, right, because it's stress.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I was actually just speaking to a friend last
Speaker 2: night about this, and I was like, you know, the
Speaker 2: type of partner that you have really kind of also
Speaker 2: touch like rub off on your mental health as a
Speaker 2: person and who you are. Like you can have a
Speaker 2: very supportive partner and it could be like the highest
Speaker 2: point in your life where you're achieving everything that you
Speaker 2: want to achieve, and then you get another partner and
Speaker 2: then it's like you feel like your ten step backwards.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, it's so true. It's so true. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll laugh and joked aside that not so unsafe. You
Speaker 1: will take the pilates and the Mercedes, but not the Stress.
Speaker 2: No stress.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. All right, So the next one, the
Speaker 1: person said, imagine giving a priceless piece of art to
Speaker 1: someone who doesn't know its value. They won't protect it,
Speaker 1: they won't cherish it, and not because the art isn't valuable,
Speaker 1: but because they don't recognize it's worth. That's you. You
Speaker 1: were never too much. You were just in the wrong hands.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't undersize it, Like, did they
Speaker 2: send you, like to like speak life into me about
Speaker 2: this like today crazy?
Speaker 1: That's really you're going to make me emotional? Oh god,
Speaker 1: this is random.
Speaker 2: Whoa. I don't want to get to personal, but it's
Speaker 2: like I don't like I literal believe. And again it
Speaker 2: lends into the prior question that you asked earlier. Just
Speaker 2: having a conversation with a friend before I came on
Speaker 2: the podcast, and she was trying to speak life into
Speaker 2: me about this very same thing.
Speaker 1: Hey you are, oh my god, but you can't say
Speaker 1: that God sent me then Yeah, that's so crazy. So
Speaker 1: it's safe to say that that's sound safe.
Speaker 2: That song are your safe? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yes, all right. The next person said, as soon as
Speaker 1: the lips don't match the words on Netflix. I turn
Speaker 1: it off expeditiously.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so safe.
Speaker 2: That's yeah, that's all sweep. I'm not gonna be I'm
Speaker 2: not doing that because that puts me off.
Speaker 1: And then it's like it's too much work because it's
Speaker 1: like the movie will look really good, but then you
Speaker 1: have to figure out, like, wait, so is that person
Speaker 1: talking or the other person is talking.
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 1: It's too much work. It's too much work. I can't.
Speaker 1: I really can't. Bother.
Speaker 2: I agree, yeah, because then I have to I focus,
Speaker 2: like I look at you, so now I'm more focus
Speaker 2: on your your mouth. Yeah, I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, one hundred percent agree. Okay, a couple more.
Speaker 1: The next person said, not liking soca is a character flaw.
Speaker 1: I am so sorry.
Speaker 2: Oh hell yeah that's what I said.
Speaker 1: And I will tell you I just started noticing or
Speaker 1: listening to jab jab and I love that as well.
Speaker 1: So we have to talk about that too, because that's
Speaker 1: kind of new to me as a Jamaican. You know,
Speaker 1: I know, right, I'm so late to the party, but
Speaker 1: at least I'm at the party. I'm late, but I reach.
Speaker 1: At least I'm at the party exactly, someone else said
Speaker 1: West Indian parents will say, pass me the thing and
Speaker 1: expect you to know exactly what it is.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, triggering, triggering right like literally my dad
Speaker 2: said that to me the other day and I'm like,
Speaker 2: what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: I don't know, and he said a thing, yes. And
Speaker 1: then when you say that, it's like they get frustrated
Speaker 1: and it's like, but you're not even telling me what
Speaker 1: you're talking about. All I suppose to know. You're supposed
Speaker 1: to read their minds absolutely, like from a tender age
Speaker 1: until you're big, Like you're supposed to know exactly what
Speaker 1: they're saying. Yeah, okay, And the last one for this segment,
Speaker 1: everyone wants a Lamborghini until they realize the effort it
Speaker 1: takes to maintain one. A forward now that is easy
Speaker 1: to manage. I mean, I guess what do you think
Speaker 1: about that? I feel like.
Speaker 2: I feel like it depends on your mindset, because I
Speaker 2: always say, I say, there's a different and I'm going
Speaker 2: to use cars just like the same way that they
Speaker 2: use cars. They use cars or our friends. Okay, I
Speaker 2: have a dream car for every tax bracket that I'm in,
Speaker 2: the same way I feel like everything is attainable based
Speaker 2: on where you are in your life. So right now
Speaker 2: I want my dream car is a Honda Accord. That
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that I don't want a Lamborghini or I
Speaker 2: don't want a Mercedes Bend GT sixty three. That's my
Speaker 2: but when I get to that point, that's going to
Speaker 2: be my dream car. Right now, I have my dream
Speaker 2: car for where I'm at in life, but when I
Speaker 2: get to the next stage, I have a dream car
Speaker 2: for that next stage.
Speaker 1: I love that when I did not know I was
Speaker 1: going to be talking to the Grenadia on OPRAH today,
Speaker 1: but I love that. No, seriously, I like the way
Speaker 1: that you kind of flip that and explained it because
Speaker 1: obviously the person is saying, you know, a Lamborghini to
Speaker 1: use as an analogy, like, you know, you're worth much
Speaker 1: more than Afford, but to your point, Afford might be
Speaker 1: your dream car in that moment, you know, correct, correct?
Speaker 1: All right, So I hope you enjoyed that. It's always
Speaker 1: a good time just to like break the ice, and
Speaker 1: as you can tell, I love to laugh, so I
Speaker 1: always try to start with a little bit of laughter.
Speaker 1: So right, so now let's talk the real things. So
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to have this conversation with you. You
Speaker 1: are a Carnival queen both literally and figuratively, and a
Speaker 1: CEO and a creative but before any of those titles,
Speaker 1: I imagine that you were just a little girl on
Speaker 1: the sidelines of Juve or watching the road March and
Speaker 1: taking it all in. So I was wondering if you
Speaker 1: could tell us about your first memory of Carnival and
Speaker 1: what it felt like back then versus what it means
Speaker 1: to you know.
Speaker 2: My first memory of Carnival. So I actually didn't. I
Speaker 2: never stayed on the sidelines for Juve. Looked with my
Speaker 2: first like, I played job job as a kid, like
Speaker 2: I have pictures of myself playing job at five six
Speaker 2: years old. My first memory is being on the stage
Speaker 2: in Juve with my dad. Nobody at the time knew
Speaker 2: my dad knew I was his daughter, because again he
Speaker 2: was young, and I went on the stage as a kid.
Speaker 2: I think I probably was like six or seven. I
Speaker 2: had my job job stuff on and he had this
Speaker 2: song that he sang with this with this female and
Speaker 2: they were trying to find somebody who could sing the
Speaker 2: song with the female voice to him, and nobody would
Speaker 2: go up. So I went up and I grabbed the
Speaker 2: mic and they were like, you want to say something,
Speaker 2: And I put the mic in my face and I said,
Speaker 2: Teabrey is my father and anybody everybody started like charing
Speaker 2: because they didn't know. And he was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: I sang. I sang the part to the female and
Speaker 2: the song and stuff. But so that was my that's
Speaker 2: my first memory of juve. I also remember growing up
Speaker 2: like I grew up with my grandmother mostly and my
Speaker 2: dad my dad's mom, and when you have an extended family,
Speaker 2: like you have the uncles and the aunts and stuff.
Speaker 2: So I was always around my my my granduncle, uncle Rastapro.
Speaker 2: He always played like job, like authentic job. I think
Speaker 2: that's where my dad also got it from. So that
Speaker 2: and Veko, that's another another cultural representation in Grenada. So
Speaker 2: growing up I was always immersed into it. I was
Speaker 2: immersed into it very early. So the experience that I had,
Speaker 2: like from small as a kid, I was in jes
Speaker 2: a baystander for things like Julie. I was always in it,
Speaker 2: even as.
Speaker 1: I love that. So Carnival is like literally in your blood, gosh,
Speaker 1: like for generations, because like you said, you know your
Speaker 1: dad learned it. You learned it, and to have that
Speaker 1: memory at such a young age, that's amazing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: love that. I love that. So for Lavish, the band
Speaker 1: that you are the founder of, it seems like very
Speaker 1: much your vision, right, Like it's very fabulous. So when
Speaker 1: you dreamed up the idea for the band, what did
Speaker 1: you want people to feel when they experienced it for
Speaker 1: the first time.
Speaker 2: So I felt like looking on it, so Juve I
Speaker 2: was always a part of it. But I was never like,
Speaker 2: want to play pretty Mass. I was always on looker
Speaker 2: of pretty mass, So I was looking in at pretty
Speaker 2: mass and not necessarily experiencing it versus the Jewve the
Speaker 2: traditional part. I was always a part of that. Okay
Speaker 2: for me, I looking on like I felt like Carnival
Speaker 2: wasn't as authentic as I remembered when I decided to
Speaker 2: form the band, I felt like it was also lacking.
Speaker 2: So we can keep true to our traditions, but we
Speaker 2: can also improve on them. And then at the same time,
Speaker 2: I noticed that some of the bands that were there,
Speaker 2: they were also adapted to the culture of let's say Trinidad,
Speaker 2: like Trinidad Carnival, and I felt like although I wanted
Speaker 2: to improve the product, I could still stay true to it.
Speaker 2: So I came up with the tagline of experience the
Speaker 2: true essence of Spice Mass with lavish, where I'm giving
Speaker 2: the person who's coming to experience spice Mass an experience
Speaker 2: of Mass the way I know how to do it,
Speaker 2: or the way I've done it. So are you playing
Speaker 2: pretty Mass? But I also want you when you pay
Speaker 2: for your costume, I'm going to give you a job
Speaker 2: job experience included, free of cost. I'm going to give
Speaker 2: you a Monday Night Mass, exp your uns free of cost.
Speaker 2: You have your Monday afternoon, your Monday We're free of cost,
Speaker 2: and Tuesday. Because what I know is that we run.
Speaker 2: It's like a marathon. When you play Kindival, you're running
Speaker 2: a marathon. You do Julie, you go home, you change,
Speaker 2: you come back on an old Monday afternoon. You go home,
Speaker 2: you change, you cut back for Monday Night Mass, and
Speaker 2: then you have Carnival Tuesday, which is the last part.
Speaker 2: So for me, that's what I envisioned, like giving them
Speaker 2: an authentic Grenadian carnival experience the way that locals enjoy Mass,
Speaker 2: while still improving the costume products.
Speaker 1: I love that, and given your background, it's very authentic, right,
Speaker 1: because you're not somebody that's coming into or coming on
Speaker 1: the island and saying, oh, I just want to be
Speaker 1: a part of this, so I'm just going to make
Speaker 1: up a band. And I think that's probably why a
Speaker 1: lot of persons gravitate towards your band, because it feels authentic, right, great,
Speaker 1: And the name itself, yeah, well we're just gonna assume that, right,
Speaker 1: And the name itself, you know, lavish. It feels luxurious
Speaker 1: and I'm the type of woman I love a luxury
Speaker 1: so that is really on brand for me and I'm
Speaker 1: sure for a lot of our listeners. And it feels intentional, right.
Speaker 1: And so this year the theme is muses the Divine Inspiration,
Speaker 1: and I think that's a beautiful theme. I think that
Speaker 1: it's poetic, it's powerful, and honestly, it feels timely. So
Speaker 1: where did the idea for this theme come from? And
Speaker 1: why do you feel like no was the right moment
Speaker 1: to center just creativity itself.
Speaker 2: We felt like everybody was just like you know, as
Speaker 2: a theme, say like in the script, everybody's just walking
Speaker 2: around or there's lacking motivation. I mean, I've been there myself,
Speaker 2: lacking inspiration, doing the same thing over and over, everything
Speaker 2: begins to feel black and white. It begins to feel routine,
Speaker 2: like the same all.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So you know, like, okay, it seems like create like
Speaker 2: mankind has lost its spark, Like we're no longer creative.
Speaker 2: We're depending on technology. I'm kind of being a hypocrite
Speaker 2: because my my my presentation is kind of as Ai
Speaker 2: generated the prelude. But still, but everybody depends. Everybody depending
Speaker 2: on technology on our phones. We're not outside, we're not
Speaker 2: entertaining each other with musical instruments like different things that
Speaker 2: we used to do, dancing, et cetera. We're just technology based.
Speaker 2: We're on the phone. Like instead of playing with toys,
Speaker 2: kids are watching other kids on screen play with toys.
Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 2: They're so crazy making millions doing that. It's like, you know,
Speaker 2: we lost our sparks. So we felt like, you know,
Speaker 2: we have the muses who would inspire, So we have
Speaker 2: the use of music, the meus of dance, the use
Speaker 2: of laughter, the means of love. Like just these different
Speaker 2: people bringing back that spark to us so that we're
Speaker 2: no longer just existing.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it because you know this
Speaker 1: is a one life that we have, and so you
Speaker 1: want to live to thrive. You don't just want to
Speaker 1: be mundane and just survive. True what you said, a
Speaker 1: lot of what we do is rooted in technology. And
Speaker 1: even the example you gave the fact that there are
Speaker 1: children that are making millions of dollars just playing with
Speaker 1: toys because other children just want to watch them on
Speaker 1: TV rather than playing with their own toys says all
Speaker 1: we need to know. Right, That's just so crazy, but
Speaker 1: it's the reality. So I applaud you for you know,
Speaker 1: taking that and kind of, like you said, as far
Speaker 1: as your vision for the band in and of itself,
Speaker 1: bringing back that authenticity and bringing back persons just desire
Speaker 1: to be free and to live and to not just
Speaker 1: live a mundane life, you know when they can't, because
Speaker 1: sometimes life is mundane. Don't get me wrong, it can
Speaker 1: be lavish all the time. But I think it's good
Speaker 1: that you know, you're definitely making the effort to bring
Speaker 1: that back. And I find the visual direction this year
Speaker 1: to be absolutely stunning, So congratulations on that. How much
Speaker 1: of the design process are you hands on with and
Speaker 1: what were you and your team trying to evoke through
Speaker 1: like the look and feel of each section.
Speaker 2: Would you say, so, I'm usually like very involved. If
Speaker 2: I'm not involved, then I don't. I start don't. I
Speaker 2: usually don't feel connected to the costume, and then I
Speaker 2: start disliking it, and then I start complaining and criticizing.
Speaker 2: So I usually try to be involved from inception, whether
Speaker 2: it's well, I shop for all materials myself, I go
Speaker 2: hands on, touch, feel, this is what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2: This is what we want to do. So I usually
Speaker 2: do that with my main designer, Alejandro for his sections.
Speaker 2: The other sections, the designers have complete control of that,
Speaker 2: but because Alijandro does majority of my costume, we collaborate
Speaker 2: a lot in the design process. Okay, So from the sketches,
Speaker 2: he would do the sketches and share with me, and
Speaker 2: I'd be like, you know, what can you change this
Speaker 2: bra Like being a woman, I may not feel comfortable
Speaker 2: wearing this, or make this a little bit more feminine,
Speaker 2: make this a little bit more sexy, you know.
Speaker 1: And that's important for sure.
Speaker 2: Yes, And then going into the design phase where he's
Speaker 2: actually building out, he would send to me for me
Speaker 2: to see to give feedback, ET cetera. So I'm very
Speaker 2: hands on in that aspect. I'm hands on with everything
Speaker 2: in the back too much.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I love that though, because one, it's your brand,
Speaker 1: so if something goes wrong, persons are going to hold
Speaker 1: you responsible, and if something goes great, persons are going
Speaker 1: to hold you responsible. So I definitely understand the need
Speaker 1: and want to be involved. But I think you mentioned
Speaker 1: something very key, even though just Carnival in and of
Speaker 1: itself throughout the Caribbean is still more male dominated. That
Speaker 1: just the importance of why women need and should be involved,
Speaker 1: because things like the way that you know, the wire
Speaker 1: bra sits or oh it you know, looks on a
Speaker 1: woman's body, A man is not going to know that,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So that's something that you
Speaker 1: probably unintentionally pointed out, but I think that's really a
Speaker 1: great thing.
Speaker 2: And not even like that, it also has to be
Speaker 2: practical because although something can look pretty, am I going
Speaker 2: to feel comfortable wearing this? Am I going to have
Speaker 2: to be pulling up my boots throughout the day? I
Speaker 2: don't beautiful exactly?
Speaker 1: That sound safe? Yes, because then you can't really enjoy yourself.
Speaker 1: You're so right, like you want to be jumping up
Speaker 1: and down, and you want to leave your behavior and customs,
Speaker 1: and you can't do that if you're pulling and pushing.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I one hundred percent degree. And that's why
Speaker 1: I think that it's just incredibly powerful seeing a woman
Speaker 1: like you lead this space, because, like I said, carnival
Speaker 1: bands are often run by men, but you are at
Speaker 1: the helm of one of the most in my opinion,
Speaker 1: visually compelling experiences in the region. So what does it
Speaker 1: mean to you to be a woman CEO in this space,
Speaker 1: in the carnival space.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I feel like I am setting an example. But
Speaker 2: don't get me wrong, I do, and I'm still getting
Speaker 2: a lot of pushback, Like it feels most times like
Speaker 2: I don't belong in the space, or at least they
Speaker 2: attempt to make me feel like I don't belong in
Speaker 2: the space, right, like just little things such as, for example,
Speaker 2: I don't live in Grenada, but I was born and
Speaker 2: raised in Grenada. As a matter of fact, I only
Speaker 2: moved to the US when I was twenty three. I
Speaker 2: am now thirty one, so I spent most of my
Speaker 2: life in Grenada. Yet they refer to Blavish as a
Speaker 2: foreign band and I'm like, why, what do you mean?
Speaker 2: And it's not. And it's when I say foreign band,
Speaker 2: they meet it as a derogatory term.
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm in Grenada every single month of the year. I
Speaker 2: fly back home every single month, sometimes twice a month.
Speaker 2: I've lived there most of my life. My entire family
Speaker 2: is there. I'm the only one here. Why are you
Speaker 2: considering my business a fine business?
Speaker 1: That's insane. Wow, Wow, I'm actually speechless. That's crazy because again,
Speaker 1: it's not like you've never lived there. It's not like
Speaker 1: you weren't born there. It's not like you even left
Speaker 1: when you were four, like you left in your twenties. Yeap,
Speaker 1: So faring about that.
Speaker 2: So just a lot of microaggression. You know, if I
Speaker 2: speak up for myself amongst the bands, if I speak
Speaker 2: up about.
Speaker 1: It, it's a problem.
Speaker 2: An attitude. If somebody else speaks up about it. And
Speaker 2: I'm also the youngest, so I'm not only female, but
Speaker 2: I'm also the youngest band owner, I speak of a
Speaker 2: problem exactly. So it's either that I guess I go
Speaker 2: I shouldn't, or if I talk about it, it's an attitude,
Speaker 2: which is kind of ridiculous because a lot of the
Speaker 2: things that they implement don't accept the other bands as
Speaker 2: much as they affect my band because of the size
Speaker 2: and because of some of the amenities that I have.
Speaker 2: So for me, what it means a lot. And I
Speaker 2: feel like I push a lot of boundaries and I
Speaker 2: try to break down a lot of barriers. So set
Speaker 2: an example, it's a lot of pushback and a lot
Speaker 2: of hurdles that I also have to jump to overcome
Speaker 2: what I'm experiencing.
Speaker 1: Wow, well, you know, I want to offer you a
Speaker 1: different perspective. I think a lot of times when you're
Speaker 1: in a space like that where you're doing something so
Speaker 1: different and you're pushing back to have persons have a
Speaker 1: different experience, that's possibly a better experience. People sometimes recognize
Speaker 1: that and they realize that you have a gift for
Speaker 1: that's literally, as you explained, innate right. It's not something
Speaker 1: you learned, you didn't go to class for it, it's
Speaker 1: literally in your blood. And a lots of times when
Speaker 1: people see that in persons and know they can't do
Speaker 1: anything about that, they'll try to bring you down or
Speaker 1: make you feel uncomfortable, or use those microaggressions so that
Speaker 1: maybe you'll say, you know, what, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: speak up next time. I can't be bothered or you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm just not going to do this anymore
Speaker 1: because they think I'm foreign, and you know, it's too
Speaker 1: many problems and they're giving me too many hurdles. So
Speaker 1: I would say, just keep going, you know, because at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it sounds like they know
Speaker 1: where you're headed, and they know your talent, and they
Speaker 1: know how people gravitate towards you, and that's probably a
Speaker 1: lot of the reason why there's an attempt to make
Speaker 1: it difficult for you. You know, That's what I see
Speaker 1: as an outsider.
Speaker 2: Honestly, Like for me, and I'll be completely honest about
Speaker 2: this last year, with some of the road blocks that
Speaker 2: I experienced from the main kind of body and Grenada,
Speaker 2: I did say that I was not coming back, like
Speaker 2: that was my last Like I was not going to
Speaker 2: do it again because when I do Carnival, like I
Speaker 2: don't do Carnival for the money, because I don't really
Speaker 2: make any money from it. I mean, I have my
Speaker 2: career hair. I do it because I love it. I
Speaker 2: do it because I love seeing my mascarader is happy
Speaker 2: on the road, enjoying themselves. So when you kind of
Speaker 2: do things and it takes away from the joy of
Speaker 2: them experiencing themselves, then I don't I now, I'm not
Speaker 2: getting what I do this for. I'm not getting gratification
Speaker 2: from it. So it's like what else am I What
Speaker 2: am I doing this? Because I'm not getting this. I
Speaker 2: do it for this, I'm not getting it and it's
Speaker 2: just most trust. So but like my family and my
Speaker 2: friends and my team are like, you know what, like
Speaker 2: we understand, we saw the issues that we had and
Speaker 2: don't let that get to you. That just feel well
Speaker 2: for you to push even harder, even more, and we're
Speaker 2: gonna be here fighting with.
Speaker 1: You one hundred percent. I agree. I'm so glad that
Speaker 1: they poured that back into you, because, like I said,
Speaker 1: that's actually what I think they want you to do.
Speaker 1: They want you to give up, and we can't have that,
Speaker 1: We cannot allow that. I'm putting myself in the mix
Speaker 1: because I just you know, like I said, I admire
Speaker 1: your strength and your tenacity because a lot of people
Speaker 1: would just give up, like you said, because you're doing
Speaker 1: it genuinely for the joy. If you're not getting that back,
Speaker 1: it's not something that you need to do. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not like a monetary gain where some people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm unhappy, but I need this money, so let me
Speaker 1: just keep doing it anyway. Exactly. You know you're doing
Speaker 1: it because of the joy you experience and because of
Speaker 1: how much a part of you is a part of
Speaker 1: you know, spice mass, Like that's that's how you grew up.
Speaker 1: And it's just it's so much more than just creating
Speaker 1: this lavish experience for everybody. You want them to experience,
Speaker 1: like you said, what you experienced growing.
Speaker 2: Up, right, the true essence of spice mass.
Speaker 1: Exactly, absolutely, absolutely so for someone like myself who's never
Speaker 1: experienced spice mass, why should they go? Why Grenado? Why?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: What makes carnival in Grenada so special, especially compared to
Speaker 1: other major carnival experiences?
Speaker 2: Would you say, I feel like anybody, anybody who asks,
Speaker 2: would tell you juve juve and Monday Night Mass makes
Speaker 2: us stand out from the rest. I feel like I'm
Speaker 2: not coming down on any other carnival, So please don't like,
Speaker 2: I hope that your listeners don't try to bite my
Speaker 2: head off.
Speaker 1: Of this safe space. It's a safe space.
Speaker 2: Looking on, I feel like a lot of them have
Speaker 2: become so commercialized. Some stay true to self, So for example,
Speaker 2: Vince mass that Dominica, a lot of them stay true
Speaker 2: to self. But a lot of the others they've adopted
Speaker 2: the Trinidad model. Right However, like if you go to Juvie,
Speaker 2: I promise you you play job, you feel connectedy ancestors,
Speaker 2: like you would understand that type of feeling that we
Speaker 2: get when we play Julie. And it's not even about music.
Speaker 2: It just feels like you're free. It's community. You're chipping
Speaker 2: to the drums. It could be music as well, but
Speaker 2: you feel connected. And I feel like that's what makes
Speaker 2: us stand out from the rest.
Speaker 1: I love that because that's what I was gonna ask.
Speaker 1: What's the difference between Juve and jab But.
Speaker 2: It's the same thing, Like you play a job job
Speaker 2: in Juvie, it's just that Juve it's four day morning,
Speaker 2: we go out at three o'clock. You see, like Miami says, oh,
Speaker 2: we have Juve, but you have to pay for a
Speaker 2: Juve package such and such amount of dollars. Trinidad, no
Speaker 2: juven and Grenada is free. If you're listening, don't let anybody.
Speaker 2: Don't let anybody convince you to buy a juve package
Speaker 2: unless you're probably buying drinks, but you can also buy
Speaker 2: drinks on the side of the streets Juve and Grenada.
Speaker 2: You put on your clothes piece of old clothes that
Speaker 2: you know you no longer want, and you go in
Speaker 2: the street. The guys are gonna dirty you. The other
Speaker 2: job jobs are gonna dirty you, whether it's with paint
Speaker 2: or oil. I prefer to be black. They're gonna dirty you.
Speaker 2: And the only thing you have to pay for is
Speaker 2: your drinks. If you are with a band, for example,
Speaker 2: my band, I offer drinks, So you have your wristband,
Speaker 2: we're gonna give you drinks. But other than that, you
Speaker 2: don't have to pay for jube.
Speaker 1: Oh that's sound safe to me.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's very safe. So it's like for Granada on
Speaker 2: a whole. You come to carnival, you don't have to
Speaker 2: worry about somebody shooting somebody or doing something violence. Everybody
Speaker 2: is here to enjoy them and that is the main priority.
Speaker 2: So it's just very safe.
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that, And for someone like
Speaker 1: myself that's not as familiar, what is and very briefly,
Speaker 1: because I'm sure there's just so much to it. But
Speaker 1: what's the history behind job job Because I've seen the
Speaker 1: black paint and the horns and things like that, but
Speaker 1: I don't really know the history or meaning behind it.
Speaker 2: So basically, job job originated from the slaves mocking their
Speaker 2: slave masters. So before they used to cover themselves in
Speaker 2: the molasses, they used to refer to them as the devil,
Speaker 2: like the slave masters as devils. So they would use
Speaker 2: the horns from the old the dead cattles or goats
Speaker 2: and stuff throughout the year they would see them, and
Speaker 2: then they would create these helmets, put the hats on them.
Speaker 2: They would use the molasses to cover themselves so that
Speaker 2: they look dark, and then they would also have the chains.
Speaker 2: I mean during slavery, they had a lot.
Speaker 1: Of change, right, right, So we.
Speaker 2: Use that as a representation so that this basically still
Speaker 2: from that. It's basically like a mockery of that, a
Speaker 2: mockery of them because they're like, oh that they're devils, right,
Speaker 2: And so that came down from generations to generations, and
Speaker 2: Grenada stayed true to self with that, so we still
Speaker 2: have them up to today. I mean some we kind
Speaker 2: of tweaked it, so not using the old car engine
Speaker 2: oil anymore. I've adopted to using activated grounded charcoal and
Speaker 2: I mix it with coconut oil. So not only it
Speaker 2: doesn't look the same, but you're also getting like a
Speaker 2: skin treatment while you're playing. But I do that, but
Speaker 2: it's the same look. Wants the same look. You have
Speaker 2: your helmets, you're black, you're drinking, you know, different things,
Speaker 2: you're celebrating in the streets and lunching.
Speaker 1: That, and you're also getting a rejuvenating skincare experience. Basically,
Speaker 1: geez everything else this is Lavish. I love it. I
Speaker 1: love it. I love that. So we've talked about the
Speaker 1: feathers and the fun and the history, but let's talk
Speaker 1: about the foundation, right, So what would you say the
Speaker 1: journey of being an owner and being the CEO of
Speaker 1: Lavish has really taught you about yourself, not just as
Speaker 1: a creative but as a woman and a leader.
Speaker 2: Patient for sure. Being patient also you have to you
Speaker 2: have to have like a very broad back. You're supposed
Speaker 2: to be able to take. You're supposed to be able
Speaker 2: to take a beating. And I'm being a hypocrite for
Speaker 2: saying this because I can't. I try and I can't.
Speaker 2: I have my days when I break down when I
Speaker 2: listen to I listened to criticism and sometimes it doesn't
Speaker 2: go as I wanted to. I've also learned that I can't.
Speaker 1: Please everyone right yeah, and I am.
Speaker 2: A people pleaser, So I'm learning how to to detach
Speaker 2: a bit from that. And also for me like knowing
Speaker 2: when I can't do everything myself as much as I
Speaker 2: want to sometimes and I want to. I want to
Speaker 2: have my hand in everything. I'm learning to delegate.
Speaker 1: Which is not easy all the time.
Speaker 2: Which is not easy all the time, especially if you've
Speaker 2: had experiences where you've delegated to people and they did
Speaker 2: not deliver as they should have. Now you're like, snatch
Speaker 2: it back. I didn't do what I want to do.
Speaker 2: Now I'm gonna hold on to this true. So I
Speaker 2: had to learn that. But patience is the biggest thing
Speaker 2: for me, like just being patient and also having a
Speaker 2: plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, the
Speaker 2: whole alphabet, the whole alphabet, and learning to like critical thinking.
Speaker 2: Another thing critical thinking. I'm a I'm a registered nurse,
Speaker 2: so nice I also have to I learned that from
Speaker 2: work and I had to put it into my business. Also,
Speaker 2: you have to be able to think critically and on
Speaker 2: your feet to come up with solutions for problems.
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. I love how you incorporate,
Speaker 1: you know, what you learn in your everyday life to
Speaker 1: your passion essentially, because yeah, that's definitely important. So I
Speaker 1: have to ask, do you ever just take a step
Speaker 1: back and realized realize just how significant your impact is,
Speaker 1: Like the fact that young girls in Grenada and even
Speaker 1: in other Caribbean islands are seeing you as a model
Speaker 1: of what's really possible.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I do, but I feel like I'm also very
Speaker 2: critical of myself where I don't see what others see
Speaker 2: oh wow, so I'm just for me. It's like, so
Speaker 2: someone would look at the band and say, oh my god,
Speaker 2: everything was executed, for example, the launch yesterday. Everything was
Speaker 2: executed the way it should have, but they're not seeing
Speaker 2: on the back end, like the little oh this didn't
Speaker 2: actually happen. This wasn't perfect, And I feel like I
Speaker 2: am critical of that. So I don't see what people see.
Speaker 2: They see me as oh, you accomplish this or you
Speaker 2: accomplish that, and I see it as I actually didn't
Speaker 2: accomplish what I wanted to because it wasn't flawless as
Speaker 2: I planned it to be. So I don't know, I
Speaker 2: don't see I don't see it as I've done it.
Speaker 2: I see it as I'm doing it or I'm trying
Speaker 2: to do it that haven't accomplished it as yet.
Speaker 1: And you know what, that's not shocking to me. I
Speaker 1: want to be like, no, don't think like that, But
Speaker 1: it's not shocking because I just think as Caribbean women,
Speaker 1: like that's how we're raised, like there's always something more
Speaker 1: to do, right, Like there's always more to accomplish, and
Speaker 1: you know, even growing up, like if you got a
Speaker 1: ninety eight percent, it's like, why didn't you get a hundred?
Speaker 1: And you're sitting there like, you know how hard I
Speaker 1: worked for this ninety eight percent?
Speaker 2: Like it's still okay, you know what, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: It's true, It's true. It's innate in us. So it's
Speaker 1: like nothing is ever good enough. And that's why when
Speaker 1: we go out in the real world, especially when we
Speaker 1: come to the US, nothing can really get to us.
Speaker 1: Because when you grow up our own parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles,
Speaker 1: that nothing you ever do essentially is good enough. Like
Speaker 1: you you're always aiming for the stars, so you don't
Speaker 1: technically really have the time to sit down and say, wow,
Speaker 1: I've accomplished this, you know, because I think of like
Speaker 1: my parents that came to the US, or my aunts
Speaker 1: or uncles. They moved from an island to a totally
Speaker 1: different country, and at no time did they have time
Speaker 1: to sit down and be like, whoa, you know, we
Speaker 1: did it, let's just sit back and relax. It was,
Speaker 1: you know, make sure we're working to make sure our
Speaker 1: kids have a better life, and it's just the constant goal.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad that we're in a generation now and
Speaker 1: the generations that follow us that are more open to
Speaker 1: taking the time to say, you know what, good job,
Speaker 1: like I can put myself.
Speaker 2: On the back.
Speaker 1: Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop. But you know, that's why
Speaker 1: I love having these conversations because I feel like we
Speaker 1: don't give it to ourselves enough. And I would be
Speaker 1: being a hypocrite because I'm sure my friends are listening
Speaker 1: and saying, hmm, it's hard to tell you you're doing
Speaker 1: a good job, and I'm here telling others like, no,
Speaker 1: don't say that to yourself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, yeah, so that's why you're accomplished so much
Speaker 2: and you're like, I feel like I have.
Speaker 1: Yes, I feel you're just sitting here like is Mia
Speaker 1: talking about It's not me, But no, I'm here to
Speaker 1: tell you the little that I know and what I've learned.
Speaker 1: You know, you're doing a lot, and you're inspiring women
Speaker 1: and young girls around the world. I'm sure of it,
Speaker 1: just because you know one of what you're doing. And
Speaker 1: like you said, people see the glits and the glamour,
Speaker 1: but even what you spoke of today, a lots of
Speaker 1: people may not know that that you're dealing with that
Speaker 1: stuff on the back end. They just see the output,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think.
Speaker 1: These conversations are really important so that younger girls and
Speaker 1: other women that are interested can see it's not always
Speaker 1: glitz and glamour. To be ahead of your time, to
Speaker 1: be a leader, I think it's really how you handle it,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I think that says the
Speaker 1: most about you as a person.
Speaker 2: Perseverance through adversity.
Speaker 1: Yep, yes, okay, So two more questions before our final segment.
Speaker 1: What would you say is your big dream for Lavish
Speaker 1: the band and just for yourself in general.
Speaker 2: Biggest dream for Lavish honestly, like for me, every year,
Speaker 2: I just try to do better than the previous year.
Speaker 2: So I'd say my big dream is to just have
Speaker 2: a flawless year where there are hiccups, where everybody can say,
Speaker 2: you know what, I had absolutely no issues, not one,
Speaker 2: not one issue from start to finish. Yeah, that's my
Speaker 2: big dream.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: So that would be for that for me personally, if
Speaker 2: I if that happens and I see fifteen hundred people
Speaker 2: happy and smiling and laughing, that's a lot of smiles
Speaker 2: and a lot of happiness to last me until the
Speaker 2: next day for when Carme will come again.
Speaker 1: I love that. Well, we're gonna say that's exactly what's
Speaker 1: going to happen. I'm putting it out there.
Speaker 2: Existence yes, yes, for.
Speaker 1: Sure, for sure. Before we transition to our final segment,
Speaker 1: I've been allowing my guests this season to ask me
Speaker 1: one question, since I guess don't usually get to ask
Speaker 1: a question. So is there anything you'd like to ask me?
Speaker 2: Oh? Oh, I'm gonna throw your question back at you.
Speaker 2: Oh sure, where do you see or what is one
Speaker 2: of your big goals for whether it's personal or your
Speaker 2: business wise, that you have for this year?
Speaker 1: Oh? Good question. I would say my biggest goal is
Speaker 1: for this podcast to reach as many people as possible,
Speaker 1: particularly in the Caribbean diaspora, just because I find that
Speaker 1: every conversation I've had always leaves me with something like
Speaker 1: some sort of introspection, some type of connection. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was getting chills earlier when you said you just
Speaker 1: spoke to someone about something I mentioned. That literally happens
Speaker 1: every time I have a guest, which I think is
Speaker 1: so like, I think it's like a God said thing
Speaker 1: because I you know, we don't know each other. So
Speaker 1: the fact that like, I feel like God has sent
Speaker 1: me to certain people and even and things that you've
Speaker 1: said today have resonated with me personally that I needed
Speaker 1: to hear, although you know, I may not have said
Speaker 1: it in the moment. So I just love having these conversations,
Speaker 1: and I would love to take it on like a
Speaker 1: bigger scale and really just talk to more Caribbean women,
Speaker 1: more Caribbean people, and have conversations that we didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: necessarily get to have growing up, and we necessarily don't
Speaker 1: have every day because a lot of us are dealing
Speaker 1: with the same things. You know, whether I'm talking to
Speaker 1: Deborah Cox or whether I'm talking to other celebrities or
Speaker 1: just normal people or my friends. You know, like we're
Speaker 1: all dealing with very similar things. And I just love
Speaker 1: that people can come here and trust me to ask
Speaker 1: them whatever they want, whatever I want to ask them,
Speaker 1: and know that it's a safe space. There's no gossip here,
Speaker 1: nothing salacious. I just feel like I'm here to make
Speaker 1: people hold up a mirror and recognize their worth and
Speaker 1: their value, and they give the same back to me.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Love that, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: I love that. That's what you get your joy. So
Speaker 2: my joy comes from the mass Garad is happy, and
Speaker 2: you like when your guests, You get that gratification from
Speaker 2: your guests, Yeah, be able to feel comfortable and to
Speaker 2: open up to you.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, yes. And I love when they leave and like
Speaker 1: we end the conversation and talk afterwards and they're like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, that was so fun, or you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that's about myself. And usually like we
Speaker 1: end up just being friends because we realize, like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, we have so much in common. And I
Speaker 1: just feel like nowadays you don't meet very genuine people
Speaker 1: all the time, especially when you're in spaces or you know,
Speaker 1: I come from a background where my dad's a famous musician,
Speaker 1: So a lots of times you don't know if people
Speaker 1: are talking to you because of that, you know, you
Speaker 1: would know that experience, and it's just it's really like
Speaker 1: it's it warms my heart when I meet people that
Speaker 1: just like like me for me, or like we're laughing
Speaker 1: and joking just for me, Like you don't know anything
Speaker 1: about me, you don't need anything from me, and so
Speaker 1: like I cherish those types of relationships, even if they're
Speaker 1: built sporadically like in these conversations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree, Like I am also learning to
Speaker 2: practice discernments like because again, yes I may be I
Speaker 2: may be genuine like open to genuine friendships, and trust me,
Speaker 2: they do come and they basically use you for what
Speaker 2: you can do for them and you when you don't
Speaker 2: see it after the fact, like I'm heartbroken when I
Speaker 2: lose friends or things like that. But I keep like
Speaker 2: I guard myself because of that because I have experienced
Speaker 2: it plenty times where people come around just because of that,
Speaker 2: and it's so bad, Like I don't like when people
Speaker 2: refer to me as I'm sorry that I don't like
Speaker 2: when people do you refer to me as tall priest daughter. Yes,
Speaker 2: I have my own identity. I'm Ebony. Get to know
Speaker 2: me for me, and that's just a bonus. Yeah, he's there,
Speaker 2: but that's not me. That's not who I am exactly.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't mean you're not pro to be his daughter.
Speaker 2: But you are your own person. And I think that
Speaker 2: you know what you said again, something I also needed
Speaker 2: to hear a discernment.
Speaker 1: That's like one of my words for this year. My
Speaker 1: other word is freedom. That's like a favorite word of
Speaker 1: mine because I just think it's so important and it's
Speaker 1: hard when you're a genuinely kind person to recognize when
Speaker 1: people are being kind in a manipulative way, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So like, oh, I know that if
Speaker 1: I'm kind to Ebony, then I can play mass with her.
Speaker 1: Or I know if I'm kind to Ebny, I can
Speaker 1: go to her dad's concert.
Speaker 2: And help built my business. That's really yeah.
Speaker 1: There you go, there you go. No, it's a real thing,
Speaker 1: and so like, you don't want to turn into this person.
Speaker 1: I was just saying it. I had my friend Rochelle
Speaker 1: on my podcast the last episode, and I was just
Speaker 1: saying it to her. I don't want to make that
Speaker 1: change me, right, because then I'm not being my authentic self.
Speaker 1: So what I've decided is I'm just gonna be that
Speaker 1: way once I recognize that person to deserve that or
Speaker 1: they've shown me that they're genuine, rather than just saying,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not gonna be kind to anybody
Speaker 1: anymore because people end up using me, and then that
Speaker 1: creates stress for me and I'm not getting any rinkles
Speaker 1: for anybody.
Speaker 2: Okay, how's it. I don't know how to. I wish
Speaker 2: I could, like I hope I'm able to do that
Speaker 2: and be like you in the future. It's but it's
Speaker 2: kind of hard to like hold hold back. It's kind
Speaker 2: of like like holding back a bit. Usually I just
Speaker 2: jump head first into what do you need help with?
Speaker 2: Like I can help you do that or different things
Speaker 2: or give advice. But I want to be able to
Speaker 2: hold back.
Speaker 1: You know what, You'll reach a point where something happens
Speaker 1: where you just wake up one day and say, you
Speaker 1: know what, I don't want to feel like this anymore.
Speaker 1: I don't want people to speak to me like this
Speaker 1: or use me or treat me this certain way, and
Speaker 1: it just turns off. There's no big announcement. You don't
Speaker 1: post any memes. You just decide like you're done dealing
Speaker 1: with it. And again, you don't have to change who
Speaker 1: you are as a person. You don't have to treat
Speaker 1: people differently, but you have boundaries. And the first thing
Speaker 1: I can tell you that's going to happen is then
Speaker 1: people are really going to be upset with you, because Ebony,
Speaker 1: how dare you put yourself first? How dare you You're
Speaker 1: supposed to put me first? Because I used to be
Speaker 1: just like, how can I help? What can I do?
Speaker 1: What do you need? But you see, when I needed that,
Speaker 1: it was silent because since I'm always doing everything, people
Speaker 1: then look at you and say, oh, Ebite doesn't need anything.
Speaker 1: She's strong, she always handles everything. She doesn't need my help,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And so it's a two
Speaker 1: way street because you have to look inward and say, well,
Speaker 1: what have I done to let them believe that that
Speaker 1: was okay to treat me that way? Right? Like, we
Speaker 1: have to take some accountability for that. But once you
Speaker 1: realize that the person is doing something over and over
Speaker 1: again or treating you a certain way, then it's in
Speaker 1: comment upon you to say, all right, you know what.
Speaker 1: I don't like how this feels. I don't have to
Speaker 1: tell off the person, but I need to make sure
Speaker 1: that they're not in my surroundings, maybe as much because
Speaker 1: they don't genuinely appreciate me. Because god forbid, you don't
Speaker 1: have the things that they're after anymore, You'll never hear
Speaker 1: from them again. It's that simple. You know. It's so sad,
Speaker 1: but it's true. So we were meant to have this conversation.
Speaker 1: I told you every time, all right, So for our
Speaker 1: last segment, I'm going to ask you seven rapid fire questions.
Speaker 1: It really quick, and I want you to answer with
Speaker 1: the first thing that comes to mind. So it's one
Speaker 1: word or one sentence. Ready, Yeah, all right? What's your
Speaker 1: favorite Grenadian dish?
Speaker 2: A long? Oh?
Speaker 1: I can't wait to try that. I've been hearing about
Speaker 1: that and it has call lou. I love cala loo,
Speaker 1: so I'm like, I have to try that. So as
Speaker 1: soon as I try it, I'm gonna let you know
Speaker 1: what I think because I'm so excited to try it.
Speaker 2: Isn't Jamaican klarloo different to our calalu? Oh? Is it?
Speaker 2: I don't want?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's different to Jamaican kla loo.
Speaker 1: Okay, now I really have to let you know what
Speaker 1: I try it because I was just assuming it's just
Speaker 1: like our cala lou. Interesting, Okay, I'm excited to try
Speaker 1: it now. All right, next question, I think I know
Speaker 1: what you're gonna say, but I'm gonna ask anyway socab.
Speaker 2: I thought you was gonna say soka or dance.
Speaker 1: All well, you beat me to it, my girl. I
Speaker 1: was gonna say so jab jab or dance all but
Speaker 1: what I get jab that.
Speaker 2: Is not a genre music though it's soca.
Speaker 1: So okay, let me ask you a question because maybe
Speaker 1: I'm confused. So job jab is not a genre of
Speaker 1: music that's the actual like juve or the event. Yeah right,
Speaker 1: so even if a Grenadian like what's his name, is it,
Speaker 1: mister Killer? He's Grenadian soca's okay, so that's still considered soca. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: all right, Well let's back it up then, because I
Speaker 1: didn't realize that.
Speaker 2: If you want to say, like job music, I feel
Speaker 2: like it's a subgenre of soca, but it's not a
Speaker 2: genre's mostly when they use like the drums as the
Speaker 2: main part of it. So, yeah, exact feeling because you
Speaker 2: know they use drums for juve, but it's not a
Speaker 2: jon k.
Speaker 1: Emily. You're teaching me something I've been speaking of to
Speaker 1: turn this whole time. Okay, So Soca or dancehall, it's clear,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. I couldn't even fish scented. Soca is the.
Speaker 2: Winner, absolutely, if Cardible is awesome. Yeah, I'm feeling like
Speaker 2: a bad yell that. Hey, I play some Yes, I
Speaker 2: play Stevens, I play some Spies, I play yes Seda.
Speaker 1: You know I love that. Yeah, yeah, sometimes you know
Speaker 1: you have to touch your toe a little, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but yes, yes, I one hundred percent agree. I would
Speaker 1: choose Socca as well. Even as a Jamaican, I like
Speaker 1: dance hall, but Soca and reggae, like old school reggae.
Speaker 1: I grew up with a lot of like my uncles
Speaker 1: and grandparents like you said, and just around my parents,
Speaker 1: so I love like that older type of rock steady
Speaker 1: kind of reggae too.
Speaker 2: So yeah, your question, you ever listened to Soca and
Speaker 2: feel there's only one feeling you feel when you listen
Speaker 2: to Soca. You never listen to Soca and feel like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's true, happy music.
Speaker 1: It's true and That's why I love it. I feel
Speaker 1: like it because freedom is like my word of my life,
Speaker 1: not even of this year. That's how it makes me
Speaker 1: feel like. It makes me feel free, makes me feel happy,
Speaker 1: makes me feel like I can do anything. But I
Speaker 1: can also bend down and touch my toe if I
Speaker 1: wanted to. But the overall feeling, like you said, is
Speaker 1: like a happy vibe. I agree on good music, yes
Speaker 1: for sure. And we want to feel good. Yes, we
Speaker 1: want that all right. Next question? What one must have
Speaker 1: item in your carnival spice mass survival kit.
Speaker 2: As a female? Yes, I would say a sewing kid.
Speaker 1: Ooh, I was not expecting that. So why is it
Speaker 1: just in kids?
Speaker 2: You have a little accident, something bus on you like,
Speaker 2: imagine on the street, an your pants.
Speaker 1: God no, but it's true. Yeah, what about people like
Speaker 1: me that can't?
Speaker 2: So what are we supposed to do with a needle?
Speaker 2: You just you jerk the needle in with the tread,
Speaker 2: You pull it out, you jerk it in again, you
Speaker 2: pull it out. Trust me.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you can pull? You can pull it?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: I feel like that should be the title for this.
Speaker 1: You can pull, got it can pull?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: Okay? Next question, if lavish the band were a fragrance,
Speaker 1: what would it smell like?
Speaker 2: Oh, I was saying, have you ever smelled ca Alie
Speaker 2: vanilla twenty eight?
Speaker 1: That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2: I would say a mix of that and tom food
Speaker 2: lost cherry, So you smell like cherry.
Speaker 1: But I like that very nice, very lavish and fabulous.
Speaker 2: I like that. Why because people and sweets.
Speaker 1: We would like to smell sweet and subtle on the road.
Speaker 1: We would like to make sure that you have your antipersperate.
Speaker 1: This is not the time to use a no anti
Speaker 1: prosperate deodorant. Want to make sure you have your antiperspirant.
Speaker 1: And you're smelling very lavish on the road. So yes,
Speaker 1: I like that combination. Very nice, very nice. All right,
Speaker 1: Next question a couple more. What's one thing tourists must
Speaker 1: do when they come to Grenada besides spice mass So
Speaker 1: if they don't come in August, for.
Speaker 2: Example, I would say to go to the If you
Speaker 2: like the water, I would say to go to the
Speaker 2: Underwater Sculpture Park. You're just snuggling, Yeah, isn't it like
Speaker 2: one of the eighth Wonders of the World or something
Speaker 2: like that. Yeah, they have like a whole underwater community
Speaker 2: down there with different sculptures. It's a part of the
Speaker 2: coral reef enhancement. So I would say, if you like
Speaker 2: the water and you like snarkling, I would say, do that,
Speaker 2: don't don't be like me when I go. I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't go in the water. I just say everybody else.
Speaker 1: That sounds like me, like I can't swim, but I
Speaker 1: can't really swim swim if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: You know, like I can tread water. But yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not like Jacques Coustoe like diving. Yeah, no that's not
Speaker 1: That's not my thing.
Speaker 2: Let's just say they put a life jacket on me.
Speaker 2: I would probably drown from fair.
Speaker 1: Okay, So no underwater sculpture for you, however, you do
Speaker 1: recommend it for those that are of the deep diving persuasion.
Speaker 1: Very nice, okay. Two more questions. Which Caribbean woman past
Speaker 1: or present has most inspired you and your journey.
Speaker 2: Does it have to be with business wise?
Speaker 1: No, No, it could be personal business. Just any Caribbean woman.
Speaker 2: So I would say, especially like for my career. I
Speaker 2: have a friend. She probably doesn't even know this. She
Speaker 2: was a past carnival queen as well, okay, and she
Speaker 2: went on to doing her medical degree. I am gonna,
Speaker 2: I am going back to medical school soon. She went
Speaker 2: on to do her medical degree, she became a doctor,
Speaker 2: she moved over here, and she's now the medical director
Speaker 2: of a hospital in Rhode Island. So I would say
Speaker 2: she even inspired me from being you know, from back home,
Speaker 2: poor family, and again she persevered through adversity and just
Speaker 2: the same. I'm over here, I'm on my own. So
Speaker 2: that is one of the inspirations I have in my
Speaker 2: career and career building. And she's always supported me as well.
Speaker 2: Doctor Nakita Noel, that's her name. I love that, so
Speaker 2: I would say for it would be for her. Correct.
Speaker 1: I love that, And I love That's something I love
Speaker 1: about being a Caribbean woman, a woman like we like
Speaker 1: to have fun and you know, carnival and dancing and
Speaker 1: all these things, but we're very educated and we know
Speaker 1: how to do both. I think that's really a skill
Speaker 1: that we have as Caribbean women, for sure. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: love that. Okay. And final question, what has building Lavish
Speaker 1: the Band taught you about yourself that you didn't know before?
Speaker 2: That I'm a people pleaser, but I'm a people pleaser
Speaker 2: to a fault of mine, where when I don't please
Speaker 2: the way I want to, or people are not happy,
Speaker 2: they don't have the reaction but I want them to that.
Speaker 2: I'm very hard on myself for it. So it's taught
Speaker 2: me to understand that I can't please everybody. And it's
Speaker 2: not just only within lavige. But I've noticed that much
Speaker 2: more because I'm dealing with much more people on a
Speaker 2: larger scale in my career. I'm dealing with patients one
Speaker 2: on one, but and as one to two patients at
Speaker 2: a time max. But with fifteen hundred people, and I
Speaker 2: like to deal with them face to face talking. I
Speaker 2: can't please everybody. Not everybody's gonna like this. Everybody's gonna
Speaker 2: like this design, yep, And that's okay. And that's and
Speaker 2: I'm learning that that is okay. Not everybody's gonna like me.
Speaker 2: I'm learning that that's okay. You don't have the okay yep, yep, yep,
Speaker 2: and that's that's good, right because everybody is not supposed
Speaker 2: to like you. That means that you're doing something right.
Speaker 2: That means that you stand up for things. That means
Speaker 2: that you have your own opinion, You have a difference
Speaker 2: of opinion. That's like the positive spin I would put
Speaker 2: on it, you know.
Speaker 1: And yeah, like nobody likes everyone. You don't even like everyone,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And so in your case,
Speaker 1: you're not a plate of oil dong, So everybody's not
Speaker 1: gonna love you, because clearly that's the only thing that
Speaker 1: I think every Grenadian loves is oil dong. So unless
Speaker 1: you can morph into that dish, then yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: good mindset to have. Thank you so much for coming
Speaker 1: to talk things with me. Thank you for the vision,
Speaker 1: the vibe, and for showing us what it means to
Speaker 1: lead with culture and creativity. And Lavish to me, isn't
Speaker 1: just a carnival band, as you've explained, it's really your
Speaker 1: love letter to Grenada and a reminder that we can
Speaker 1: celebrate who we are and still continue to grow bigger
Speaker 1: and more lavishly.
Speaker 2: I like that, You're right.
Speaker 1: I like that perfect, perfect. And do you have anything
Speaker 1: that you'd like to announce or where people can follow
Speaker 1: Lavish the Band and kind of keep up with what's
Speaker 1: going on for Spice Mass.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely so you can follow our Instagram. It's at
Speaker 2: Lavish the Band. So lav I s H T. E band,
Speaker 2: our website www dot lavishtheband dot com. We just launched
Speaker 2: our designs for Spice Mass twenty twenty five, so they
Speaker 2: can visit our website, they can take a look at
Speaker 2: prices costumes, and they can start registering for their carnival
Speaker 2: costumes if they're coming to Spice Mass. And if you're not,
Speaker 2: you're missing.
Speaker 1: Out, yes for sure. And if you've ever felt a
Speaker 1: call to create something rooted in who you are, I
Speaker 1: would recommend our listeners look at what Ebony is building
Speaker 1: and has built with Lavish, follow her, support the movement,
Speaker 1: and if you're ready for an experience like she said,
Speaker 1: you can meet her on the road.
Speaker 2: At Spice Mass. Thanks so much for coming to talk
Speaker 2: and talk things with me, Evane, I really appreciate it, right,
Speaker 2: Thank you and thank you for having me of course,