From Cancer Survivor to Jewelry Designer: Simone I. Smith's Inspirational Journey
In this episode, host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez sits down with jewelry designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Simone I. Smith. Known for her successful jewelry line and being married to hip-hop icon LL Cool J for over 29 years, Simone shares her journey from being an "around the way girl" to building her empire with her bestie, Mary J. Blige.
Get ready for gems on:
Building successful business partnerships
Navigating the spotlight while staying authentic
Breaking through industry stereotypes
The pros and cons of social media
Finding confidence and purpose through faith
Full Transcript:
What's up everybody welcome to another episode of Banking on Cultura where we talk about the vibrancy and complexity of our Cultura entrepreneurship and of course all the bonchinche in between I am your esteemed host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and I'm so excited to have you here because today's guest honey just wait until you see the video go to her you're going to already see the energy she's bringing okay I'm super super pumped because this is someone that I had the pleasure of meeting at a close dinner at an intimate dinner I will say out in Long Island and it was just all love since the beginning so today's guest is a philanthropist entrepreneur designer she's the leading lady in the icon The Hip Hop entertainment industry icon LL Cool J's Life we'll get into that and she's a mama of four she is a cancer survivor and she is God L darling and she is just full of so much light and energy and she's going to share so many gems with us today on her business Journey on managing work and life balance on being in the spotlight all the things so without further Ado welcome none other than Simone I Smith hi love hi you are just I didn't get the memo that I needed to wear the mink today but listen honey you are killing it you killing it daring and it cold as hell in New York City it's very cold very extremely cold yes you are definitely matched up with the weather for sure so I'm just really honored to have you here and honored to be here thank you and I want to say that you know the way that we met was so organic so we're at this table there's a whole bunch of lovely ladies there by the way shout out to datal because we were there to celebrate her birthday and also Crystal for being an amazing hostess with the hostess we're at this table Simone is sitting to the right of me I have no idea who she is and we're just all kiking you know getting to know the ladies and then out of nowhere you start talking about your hubby and you were very vulnerable and started talking about how early on in his career you had to think about how you were going to manage the love and attention that he was getting again I had no idea who her husband was at this point and I was like I feel you girl I know exactly what you mean and then we started talking about queens and we started talking about being an around the way girl and I was like oh [ __ ] is this L Cool J's wife oh my God I had no idea but that wasn't the dopest part the dopest part was that you were so down to earth you were so authentic you were so real and vulnerable right and literally this was the time where we had first met we were meeting a lot of these women for the first time in the room and it was just so refreshing to meet who operates in her truth in that way and authenticity and it was just love from the beginning so I just want to thank you for being a real one basically thank you thank you you're welcome let a Dying Breed out here okay a Dying Breed uh so we like to start this show with a segment called Wason which is something that someone can't necessarily Google about you it's not very known about you it's it's Bon it's tea well well the one thing that you didn't mention when you were introducing me I'm a Moma of three okay okay so I have a m a Moma is a grandma oh yes yes yes so I'm a momma my grandkids they call me Momma and uh my daughter's actually having a fourth baby okay and so I'm going to be a Moma of four come March and um that's some tea probably what people can't Google about me is that um I love Pilates I love to out um I work out um five days a week I do Pilates twice a week I do weight training three times a week I love a good steam shower like I steam all the time I think steaming is so good for our skin it's just good for our lungs cuz you know it's good for your skin you know yeah no totally I don't know how people don't take hot showers it's like you got to take a hot shower but that steam that steam is incredible and then you have a what is it called um eucalyp you have the eucalyptus no I don't do the eual I do the eucalyptus cuz it burns my face I feel like it burns my face too much I just do the natural steam okay as far as business wise you know I have some really exciting um collaborations coming up in the new year and um just to expect like more beautiful bold let's talk about that let's talk about how this jewelry business started because there's a really great story behind it and you know what we like to make sure we lend to our listeners of the show and just our community is pull from things that are meaningful to you because if you're passionate about it and if it's something that has true meaning to you versus you trying to catch a trend or you trying to do something because you think you're just going to get make money that's going to end very quickly but if there's meaning behind it and something that is true to you in the hard times you still show up so talk to us about how you even got into the jewelry space so I got into the jewelry business because actually um someone had approached my husband to do to create a jewelry line and he came and he told me about it and I was like oh my God I said Todd you know I can totally help you with this and I said because we can't find good hoop earrings and I said so I can help you design hoop earrings and all of you know all of that good all of the things right and U maybe about two weeks later he came home and he was like I'm not doing no he said I I don't have time for it and he was like but you were so excited about it that if you want to do it you know do the leg work A girlfriend of mine she uh babysat for a couple mhm she had uh told me you and your husband have have to meet Ronnie and tally and his wife's name is tally which happens to be my daughter ital is nickname we call her T okay right so just one one day I went over there met them and when I walked through the door the first thing the wife said to me was like oh my God my husband can make those earrings you have on and if you want them in rose gold he could do them in rose gold he could do them in silver and you know so forth and so on so we kind of met and we talked they showed us the house and everything so when when Todd had told me if you want to do this you know do the leg work I called Jackie my girlfriend Jackie and I said Jackie what is it that Ronnie does again and she says well I know he's in the jewelry industry and I was like well can you put me in contact with him I need to find a manufacturer so she put me in contact with Ronnie and I called him and he was like well what is it that you want to do I said I want to be that design that that blesses women with the best earrings and so he was like okay he said I feel I said it's a void in the marketplace you can't find good hoop earrings I said the earrings I buy I love a big hoop earrings I buy they're you know they're cheap so if you find a pair you like you got to get three or four pair because then they going to turn in about a day or two you know especially from wearing you know your perfume and your oils and all of that stuff so long story short met with him saw everything that he did he was like I'm a manufacturer and he was like so either I can manufacture the jewelry or we can partner up and we partnered up so my partner is actually my manufacturer and um he believed in my vision and oh wait hold on a second cuz that might be a gem right there cuz I'm sure there's like savings and costs and stuff like that if your partner is also your manufacturer oh yes yes yes so yes so my partner is my manufacturer it's been an amazing partnership he gets every I'll give him designs and Ronnie will be like Simone I'm not sure if I can make this happen but you know what 95% of the time he makes it happen I love that and um so that's how it all started with me being a 20-year cancer survivor one of my designs was a lollipop and I should be wearing it today but I put on a new piece you know cuz we out here roaring we got the lion or is that an elephant this is an elepant oh and that's actually like really good luck right that's kind of like good luck even though I don't believe in good in good luck I believe in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so I believe in blessings not luck okay right luck is when you throw the dice and and and you playing a game and and you know you roll seven but you know I believe in blessings you know the lollipop necklace was one of the first designs that I made and I call it a sweet Touch of Hope and so what happened was 20 years ago that was inspired by my cancer Journey so 20 years ago they found the condro saroma in my right tibbia bone okay so uh they had to remove my tibbia bone replace it with my left fibular bone and why do you still what are those bones are those bones like in your knee or they AR those bones are so it's your shin so so your tibia bone is your shin bone got it right they had to remove my tibia bone and replace it with my left fibular bone in a Ste Rod wow I had a lollipop tattoo on my left leg so I remember when the surgeon has said to me he said you know Simone you may wake up after the surgery and your lollipop tattoo may not be there and I was like well whatever if you could try to save it please save it what's the meaning behind the lollipop you know the roundway girl what is it uh yeah sucking on the lollipop standing at the bus stop sucking on a lollipop right so and I had got that tattoo done years ago when Tod and I had first got married and so wake up from the surgery and they had to do a skin graph so a part of the L lollipop is still on the front of this leg right here so when I started to design Simone I Smith Jewelry my pendant I designed a lollipop I call it a sweet Touch of Hope and because the Candy represents how sweet life is and the bite because let me back up the lollipop that was left on my leg it looked like somebody took a bite out of it so the bite in the lollipop represents what cancer does to the person to their family to loved ones and then um in the bite is my logo and my logo represents me just being healthy staying well you know my whole cancer Journey so my logo represents Simone in her journey her cancer journey and I'm 20 years cancer free by the grace of God well you know what that means yes I mean obviously you're meant to be here I'm meant to be here me to have impact and I'm walking I went through it was 2 and A2 years of me learning how to walk again wow and um and by the grace of God I'm here yes I love that what a beautiful story and to have thank you the mission and vision behind your business attached to something like that I think is is really meaningful and then a portion of the proceeds so $1 from each piece of Simone Smith jewelry that is purchased $1 goes towards the American Cancer Society I love that beautiful thank you so back to being an around the way girl I wait a second we need to cuz some earrings you got on I I can't do oh boy the these are one of the cheap ones one che che I brought you a nice little yes yes yes okay I got right so I would like for you to look in that bag you have two pair of earrings in there heavy well there's some goodies in there oh my goodness and we could talk about all the goodies in there okay oh my goodness I got goodies you got you have nail polish I did sis I created I created sis Lux laca during Co okay when I had nothing to do but create cuz we couldn't go anywhere cuz we were quarantined and I couldn't get my nails done I'mma to take off my Hoopes right now we have these bad boys on did you know that one of my favorite colors is purple no I didn't know that isn't it the best color is purple okay I love of purple I love so those earrings there those are called Double Dutch oh I love these they're so pretty thank you yes take those off take those off yep yep thow throw those out throw those out yeah all right I've been upgraded live officially yes thank you so much you're welcome I'm excited okay so I want to go back to being in around the way girl you know that's one of my favorite joints that's one my favorite Jammy Jam so was that inspired by you that song like absolutely I love absolutely I met T when I was 17 years old 17 I was 17 years old and he blessed me with my first pair of door knocker earrings they were the triangles yeah they were the triangles and that's where my love for JE and now I have a jewelry line who would have known you know who knew God knew God sure did know cuz listen so how long you been married been married for 29 years 29 years 29 years together 36 37 years wow or is it 36 37 years yeah it's decades we know that it's decades it's definitely it's almost 30 yeah wow is is over three decades that we've been together but married 29 years four beautiful children wow we're going to get into that because you got tons of wisdom I know that cuz to have first of all to have a hubby that's in the SP like then to have a marriage that lasts that long family kids all the things cancer survivor like that's a lot a whole so I can't wait to get into the tea on that but I want to go back into the Partnerships piece um by the way these colors are gorgeous so this is this pink Lisa Sim this is Simone okay cool and then we have who's this I think I gave you Angela Angela yeah oh that's cute and and this is Mo'Nique guys don't don't judge me on my nail okay y'all I got an infection in my finger and I'm just like that's all right put a Band-Aid on it on this hand it's okay focus on this hand um but ooh okay I have nail polishes using that and you have piece of purple oh and this is perfume oil that's an oil it's a scented oil it's called piece of purple someone I didn't know I was getting these gifts today yes I wanted to bless you not only am I gift it with your presents and this mink but now I have all of this doesn't that smell good though this does smell good mhm it smells like so like like a island like yes it's like an Island Breeze yes yes oo okay okay okay okay let me let me refocus cuz when I get gift I get really excites um but thank you okay let's get back into Partnerships the earrings look fabulous honey I mean obviously I mean and I got the bun very borua today very Latin very the Bor boriqua yeah very all of that today so the hoops work out perfectly I said you know what I'm com to interview Simone I'm going to put a bun up put on the hoop put on some hoop but you didn't have on those sis hoop I didn't have your so now you have some official sis Hoops I know now I have official tissue Hoops now it's like when I walk into a room it's like respect my hoops right right I love it okay so Partnerships so you have this amazing partnership with your manufacturer but you also have an amazing partnership with your bestie Mary J blos yes yes so talk to us about the decision making process of going into business with one of your friends because much of the advice that is out there is don't go into business with your family don't go into business with your friends um and also women like partnering together the cattin all the things talk about the decision making
process me I've got the perfect freebie for you so I just dropped a 17-page workbook to help you get your mind right especially in this climate of so much uncertainty so if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck you're not feeling too good about what the future holds and all the turmoil the politics all of it is just throwing you off your game this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you it covers goal setting efficiency tips how to manage your time financial management tips strategies on how to wrap your head around the next thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent Revenue in your business it covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being and it is just my favorite jam-packed Journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity but most importantly to help you secure the big bag so make sure to tap on the link in the show notes I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play to set yourself up for success I hope you love it going so the decision making process with that is that when I started CIS you know Mary was one of my you know Mary's born and raised in New York she's from yonas you know raised in the 80s so you know when Hip Hop was you know became the thing how did you me we met at a dinner and uh we sat across from each other and you know we were conversing back and forth and we exchanged numbers at the end of the night and I remember saying to myself I wonder if Mary's going to call me you know because I've always been a fan of hers I mean who isn't a fan okay especially growing up in New York and and I remember and she called me and she called me up but she said Simone and it came up as a you know a no caller ID and I said Mary she was like what's up girl and I was like oh my God what's up and she was like I just had the vision of your face you know cuz the the music industry is very interesting it's a interesting industry right and she said I just kept thinking she said cuz you know you had your head tilted to the side all night and she said and you just had this look on your face like all of these people in here full of [ __ ] you know cuz you're a real one a real one recognize and and we've been friends ever since and so when I started Simone Smith Jewelry because Mary loves Hoops I would always send her all my hoops and so she was one of my number one supporters along with my husband husband and my children and my friends right but um so when the time was right you know was one day I came over and I brought us some earrings and stuff and we were just hanging out and she was like shorty I think we need to do something together and I said say less let's do it and and it was important for us to do that because women are caddy and you know we are supposed to fix each other's crowns right but some women don't do that mhm right and the timing was right and God's timing is always the best timing so we wanted to show women that you can come together and you can work together and you can create because when we come together we're so much more powerful you understand what I'm saying and we've been able to do that and we launched sister love we call it sister love and we launched it in 2018 and here we are in in 2024 and the business is growing it's just been an amazing journey so as you're speaking I'm thinking about the business behind the partnership right because in theory it sounds yes girl let's do it let's get it popping I love you you love me but there is the business aspect behind this so what it what what does that look like like what does the behind the scenes look like when you said okay let's go into business did you have your lawyer call her lawyer and they that out what is that process just have your lawyers come in you and you you know you you agree on the terms right and um and then things just and then you just start creating you know was there ever any difficult conversations or challenges that came up in the business that you needed to address no not at all not at all not at all you know Mary is busy and uh we have our design meetings like we meet a couple of times out of the year and we go over designs and then you know she's super busy so when I come up with ideas or she comes up with ideas and then uh we sit down and I tell Ronnie this is what this needs to look like and that you know and uh the whole design process is interesting because a lot of times when your samples come your samples don't always look the way you envision them so like those earrings there like those were easy right it was like the first sample that came it was perfect but like this particular earring here this is um a earring from the Misa Hilton so me and Misa we have a collaboration okay not a partnership but a collaboration so uh Misa and I we said we wanted to designed some earrings that reminded us of the solar system so you know we get to sketch and you know I'm not the best Sketcher you know but I can kind of tell you what I want it to look like and then when the manufacturing process starts um you may get like this earring came back maybe about two or three times before we actually said okay it's perfect so I want to get clarity around the partnership piece and then I'm going to circle back to what you just said so when you went into the partnership it was clearly defined this is your role this is my role this is the time commitment I'm able to put into this so no surpris no surprises so what is your advice to folks who are thinking about entering to Partnerships because yes you have this amazing partnership with your sister Mary but you also have this partnership with your manufacturer you're doing collaborations so what is your advice when someone is thinking about entering into any type of business Arrangement any type of business Arrangement you need to enter into an arrangement with people that believe in your vision if they don't believe in your vision it is not going to work that's the key they have to believe in your vision okay that is key okay are there any other like character attributes that you look for and think about like okay is this smart cuz someone could believe in your vision doesn't make them smart for your business right but you have to find the right people like you have to make sure that you have the right attorneys you know to you have to a strategy right m in my business manufacturer the right mindset like right-minded people you know not like-minded but more like right-minded people and people that have good morals you know cuz you can go into business with somebody and if their morals and their values don't align with yours it's not going to work you understand what I'm saying if that makes sense does does does that make sense it does it does but it's interesting because I I agree with you but then I also have colleagues who have gone into business with other people that they don't necessarily like even like personally but they go on to make tons of money together right well I haven't had that experience I haven't had that experience because it's a blessing right and I think also one of the benefits of Entrepreneurship is you get to choose who you do business with and who you don't do business with you know how you want to scale your business and who you want to scale your business Etc so I wanted to Circle back on the politics of your industry okay because you had shared with me that when you were you know just getting into the game people were trying to put you in a box like Urban they still try to put me in a box they still try to put you in a box but I'm not an urban jewelry designer I'm a jewelry designer I'm Simona Smith the jewelry designer right I just happen to be a black woman you know but just because I'm a black woman doesn't make doesn't mean that I only make jewelry for black women you understand what I'm saying are my sisters my number one supporters absolutely and as women we should support each other you understand what I'm saying but I'm a jewelry designer I'm not just an urban jewelry designer so how did you break through that like what were those conversations like because a lot of women of color experience this right where they're categorized they're try to like put into a box marketing will do it advertisers would do it salespeople would do it corporate will try and do it they'll try to put you in that box so how did you manage through that like how do you influence other people to understand like hey yes I'm a black woman yes I am from New York yes I love Hoops yes I design jewelry that a lot of women of color appreciate but I'm a designer this is for any type of woman from any type of background how do you get them to grasp that by just reminding them I mean it's really hard because I am a black woman right and how people see you is how they see you so the best thing that I can do is to continue to just create beautiful jewelry you know improve to the masses and and to prove to the world that this young black well I'm not young but I'm youthful I'm 54 years old but you know I'm youthful but it's just to continue to create and and you know and the one thing about my partner Ronnie is that Ronnie is you know he believes the same thing like Simone you're a jewelry designer yes you are a black woman but you're a jewelry designer so he knocks down doors and he's in those meetings you know cuz that's the part that you know I'm not in those meetings he has the relationships with the retailers and all of that stuff so he has those conversations and he tells me as long as you keep creating I'm going to my Knuckles will be on the doors my footprint will be in those doors just to prove to the retailers that she is a creative jewelry designer and so all I can do is just keep creating and being myself and as time goes on people will see she's a jewelry designer but it just it really depends on who it is cuz there's going to be those people that they always going to look at me and just say she's an urban designer and then there's going to be those that said that say she's she's a jewelry designer you know it's really kind of hard to answer that you know what I mean because look at the world we're living in now yeah you understand what I'm saying so I just keep creating mhm that's interesting because you know when I was launching banking on Cultura I had mentors tell me you know oh you shouldn't just focus on Latinos and people of color you shouldn't have Cultura in your name like Cultura some people don't even know what it means which means culture right and they're like they might have a hard time pronouncing it like I don't know if you should just Target like Latinos and folks of color but you have to also know who your customer is right you understand what I'm saying and my customer and my customers are Latin women black women you understand what I'm saying women of color and I love that but don't just look at me and just say she's an urban designer right no I'm a I'm a designer right you see what I'm saying yeah I get what you're saying so when I was launching the show I would get this like random advice from mentors like you shouldn't just focus on that you should like make sure you're Brad in like speak to more people and it got me thinking like so our purchase in power like black and Latino purchasing power is so Monumental like I know for Latino 3.4 trillion just us and you guys are in the trillions as well so it's like it's interesting how we are like almost preconditioned to believe that we shouldn't be just focused on us when we have the most purchasing power we have the most influence like we drive the culture like why wouldn't we focus on us you know what I mean but I get where you're coming from in the sense of like don't categorize me by the color of my skin categorize me by my talent by my creativity myal yeah my creativity and and at the end of the day it's my sisters and it's my Latinas that buy my jewelry you know but then there are white women that buy my jewelry too like I can do a trunk show at nean Marcus and you know and they come and they oh and you know oh I can't wear those big earrings and well who told you that mhm mhm why do you think that hoop that big hoop earrings are only for black women you understand what I'm saying and Latino women and just women of color period why do you think that try these on try them on you know they oh oh these look good you know yeah but the reality of it is is that you know if I was a white woman and creating what I create i' be the best thing since sliced bread they would probably try and make it seem like you're so down with the culture you're so ined with the culture in tune with the culture no I am the culture exactly you know what I'm saying I am the culture I love that that's how we need to just walk into meeting yeah like hi my name is Simone I Smith and I am the culture and I am the culture right uh okay so let's get into this marriage mhm of 30 plus years 30 plus years 29 years married four four four children later uh three grandchildren with one on the way with another went on the way yes yeah and you also have a husband who incredibly influential within the hip-hop industry absolutely expanded his career in different parts of entertainment period exactly period period so talk to us about what that's like like what's that like being you know on the side of someone who is like in the spotlight all the time and you having to manage through that well you I mean it's it's it has its challenges of course CU you can't go nowhere without anybody wanting a picture or an autog they don't they don't even ask for autographs anymore you know everybody wants a picture now it has its challenges but Todd and I have been able to really balance life you know of course me because I'm I'm the Homemaker you know I'm home raising the kids while he was out doing his thing and working and support supporting each other's dreams and a level of respect and um you know of course marriage itself has its challenges right but you got to have God first you know you I stay on my knees you got to stay on your knees praying and always always you know I was married I'm married to a sex symbol you know growing up when we first got together I mean you know I've had my times where I would be going off and you know mad at this one cuz they looked at him this way and you know but that was years ago Todd and I got married in '95 and his cousin Maran Maran gave me this book called The Power of a Praying Wife and when I first started reading the book I remember I put the book down because you know we have a tendency of praying and being like Lord change him Lord make them this way Lord make them that way but the first thing that I read in that book was that you have to change yourself it's about changing yourself you can't change nobody you can't change your children you can raise your children and you can instill values and good morals and you can have standards and you can have boundaries and all of that but you can't change anybody you can change yourself and that's what I did I changed myself what did you need to change about yourself being flip with the mouth all the time going off about this going you know just like just being in around the way girl yeah being in a round away girl right exactly you know and as you get older you mature mhm okay with life and time it you know comes with maturity I've always been confident in who I am so I know what I bring to the table as a wife so you know I got to a point where you know women will come up to me and they'll be like oh my God your husband is so fine and I'll be like girl I know you think I could get a picture with him sure go go and ask him for a picture just don't be disrespectful M you know the disrespect I can't deal with right the disrespect I'm at at at 54 I'm ready to take off the hoop ready for my man you know what I'm saying don't me yeah but um it's about knowing who you are and I know who Simone is you know I know who Simone is how long did it take you to get to that place where you know who Simone is let me see we got married I was 25 probably by the time I was 30 years old I realized who Simone was okay and I realized what Simone brings to the table I'm a devoted wife and mother I've raised my children I had an amazing Nanny but you know she helped me with my children you know like you have some people think that when you're in the Limelight and you have a nanny that your Nanny raises your kids and you're out I didn't I didn't feel the need to have to be every place with Todd I didn't feel like I needed to travel with him everywhere to keep my eye on him and all of that stuff because I was very confident in our relationship and in our marriage and at the end of the day if somebody going to fool around they G to fool around right there's nothing that you could do about it you know and um but what you but what I did as a woman was that you know I made my house a home you know you come in my house I have a sign I have a um a plaque that says home sweet home because home is where the heart is at you you understand what I'm saying I know exactly what you're saying because there's a lot of men and women who are lost right now who are empty and who struggle with finding themselves and knowing who they are you got to read the word you got to read your Bible the closer you get to God the more you understand who God is in your life is the more you're going to understand who you are and what your purpose is did you become closer to God after your cancer experience no I was close to God before that okay you know I was raised my grandparents raised me I I I was on the I was on the Children's Choir I was on the church bowling league I was at the church brownies the church Girl Scouts My Grandmother Had prayer meetings growing up she had a prayer meeting at least two or three times a week at my home growing up my grandparents raised me my mother was in the home but my mother was an incovenience drug user and um so she was there but my grandparents raised me and the Foundation that they laid for me was amazing and so you never for forget that so as you get older and you may stray and you may backslide a little bit but you always come back you know so that's why laying that foundation for your children and just having that Foundation even if they get lost they're going to come back because that's embedded in them it's in my DNA my grand my grandmother look I got pregnant with n when I was 19 years old oh wow and I remember my grandma and TOD and I weren't married I remember my grandmother's like you you and and and my sister she was pregnant the same time oh was like y y'all not coming to church you guys ain't coming up up in church with them bellies and this and that that lasted about a month after that my grandmother was like uh 11:30 service tomorrow you know so I would say you have to I say to everybody you have to have a relationship with God but CU God is the reason why I woke up this morning God is the reason why I'm 20 years cancer free I don't take any of that for granted you can't take life for granted M if you're lost get your Bible start praying read the word the more word you the more word you read the more and the closer your relationship is with God is the more that you can find yourself you can believe in yourself you can believe in his promises mhm MH you know and it doesn't make life easy it doesn't say that you're not going to have any bumps in the road it doesn't say that trials and tribulations you're still going to have trials and tribulations but it's how you walk them out you know it's how you deal with it yeah you know cuz we're human absolutely reading the word I don't know girl Bible's one of the most complicated things I've ever Amplified Bible now there's different versions okay that's what I'm saying it's all the Holy Bible you get the Amplified Bible like the like the King James Bible is with all the thou and the shouts and all of that stuff and it's hard to understand but if you get yourself like the NIV the I think that's the I forgot what the NIV stands for again don't ask me but you can get the you get yourself an amplified Bible okay the Amplified Bible is a good study Bible and it just kind it breaks it down okay okay cuz I'll be like what did I just read right now like what does this mean and I guess maybe if you really want to think critically about it maybe that's the whole point it's meant to drive conversation it's meant for you to like have church home find yourself a good church home where you can fellowship and you can listen to the music because I love to get I can't stand when I get to church late I get to church early because the choir is doing praise and worship and the praise and worship it ushers you into the word that you're going to receive from the pastor yes I love that all right so if you're lost need to find yourself advice from Simone is that closer to God I agree with that so much what about these ladies nowadays cuz now with social media you have people being influenced to believe like the hype you want to be flashy you want to be outside you want to look the part you want the rapper you want the entertainment person you want someone who's in the spotlight all the time you want to be in the spotlight right or you think you can get rich ET insta rich quick so can you talk about the ugly side of actually being in the spotlight and being in the entertainment space I think the ugly side of social media is that it gives everybody a platform to give their opinion not social media the entertainment oh entertainment industry yes because you were married into the entertainment industry like with hubby raised a family with a hubby who was in the spotlight Etc in rooms with people who are full of [ __ ] A lot of the time the reason why I'm asking is because I find that women they look to date men a lot of women look to date men who looked who seem to have money cuz we just never know um but who are in the entertainment space it's kind of like this like carrot that everybody like wants to be a part of but it's not always peaches and cream right there's a lot that comes with dating someone marrying someone who is in the spotlight so talk about that side so from my experience the ugly side is just the disrespect is the disrespect of the women that I haven't so I can only speak for myself right so I haven't really had to deal with like a lot of ugliness that's probably why You' been married for so long right I haven't really had to deal with the ugliness of it but I know people who have had to deal with the infidelities and all of that stuff you understand what I'm saying I can only speak for my experience and my experience is it's been it's been pretty good it's been pretty good like I I didn't have to deal with being married and and a bunch you know TD out there with this person or that person that's nothing but the grace of God right so that goes into like maybe like if you are thinking about dating someone who isn't that spot like like cuz Todd has a lot to do with this too right he obviously handled himself correctly he obviously you know had his own self-respect and had respect for you so like if you are thinking about dating someone in this space I mean you're thinking about dating someone in this space you just have to realize that there's a lot of things that come with the territory you know they travel a lot you got to deal with the groupies you got to deal with Paparazzi it's hard for me to speak on it your era went yeah it wasn't as crazy as it is now right it's really hard for me to speak on it because Paparazzi doesn't follow us you see what I'm saying the paparazzi that we get is if we're in LA and we go to a restaurant or something there may be Paparazzi out there there taking pictures and you know and all of that so I really really can't speak to that because that wasn't our life and thank God we are not one of those couples that Paparazzi is following around and and depicting every single thing that my husband does or that I do and that's been a blessing so I'm going to be honest with you I really can't that hasn't been my experience MH mhm you understand what I'm saying yeah yeah but you mentioned some key things right you mentioned that when you are thinking about dating someone in the Limelight like you got to seriously consider everything that comes with that territory is it just a busy man it doesn't even need to be in the spotlight because any dude who's out there anyone who's accomplished anyone who's doing something like they're busy they outside right and it doesn't matter let me tell you something and if they F they getting attention right right and that's just and you just got to deal with it you understand what I'm saying it's like you just have to deal with it but then again you just have to also be confident with who you are yeah totally you know if you're confident with who you are and you know who you are then it doesn't bother you as much but it's like I said I always go back it's just the disrespect that gets on my nerves right like don't be disrespectful but you're going to deal with that that's the one thing that I have dealt with for years is the disrespect yeah you know people acting like you're not there people acting like you and your children aren't standing there people pushing you out the way to get to your husband you know to get to my husband pushing my kids out the way and you know my daughter tally when she was little and I never told her to do this if we were out in public and if things started getting crazy T tally would be like Daddy pick me up and once my husband would pick her up he wasn't taking no pictures and he wasn't signing autographs because he had to protect her and I never told her to do that but that was just an instinct that she had mhm and she started that from the age of like six or seven years old I love that I love that okay so you have mentioned social media and I want to touch on this point and enter into the Talk That Talk segment right where we talk about something Taboo in the culture something that we want to see changed and social media social media talk to me about that social media is great and social media is great for connecting social media is great for showcasing like my jewelry and uh if you want to find recipes and you know and people just you know being able to talk about happy things that are happening in their lives and in their businesses and all of that stuff and fashion and social media is good for business like if you know people give business ideas social media is good you know you have you know people giving a good word and and uh all of that but then the downside to social media is that everybody has a PL platform to say something get off my page if you don't like what I'm posting get off my page you understand what I'm saying but social media also has this younger generation thinking that you know you could get insta quick you know instar quick it's good it has its pros and it has its cons right it's good for a lot of things but then it's evil at the same time yeah you know because people say nasty things how do you manage that cuz you know you guys do get a different type of attention than someone who you know in the beginning of social media oh my girls would go off really you know my girls would be all there going off and I would let them go crazy for a minute right if somebody said something so I guess that's also like kind of I just erased you just erased that's that comes with the territory I block then erase block and then erase if somebody says something crazy on it you block them then you erase it and that's it yeah and let me tell you something you could put up a post and you can have a thousand comments and it'll be that one comment that'll take you out like it'll be that one comment that one comment will get on your nerves but then you just got to reenter yourself and say you know what who is that person yeah you understand what I'm saying but you know but that's also a part of our human side you know we still have feelings one of the things I think about Simone uh is as I'm growing my brand and as I'm continuing to expand and get recognition I am like damn do I really want to get that big because like once you're there like you're open for so much ridicule I was even thinking about like everything that's going on right now with our new Administration and all that jazz and I was thinking to myself like wow maybe I should run for office cuz now I'm inspired now I feel like I just want to talk my [ __ ] and I want to mobilize my community and then the other day I was thinking I was like but damn do do I want to be like ridicule for picking my wedgie in public cuz that's how serious it is that's how serious it is you can't do nothing everybody has everybody has a camera now too right so everybody takes a picture everybody you can't do nothing exactly you really can't do nothing but you know what but if that's what you're passionate about and if that's what you want to do then go ahead and do it and you can't worry about what what people are going to say because people there's always going to be somebody that has something to say that is that is facts absolutely but for with social media it's like they could have something to say before they were saved behind your back now they right here yeah right which I appreciate but then also like if you a stranger you you don't know me to be right here I don't appreciate it oh you don't I don't appreciate it but I mean keep your negative keep your negative comments and your thoughts to yourself I don't appreciate it yeah I not apprciate itar I hear you I hear you you so Simone thank you so much for being here thank you for having me this has been so much fun so tell the people what you have coming up next what they need to look out for how they can stay in contact with you where they can purchase well you can purchase Simona Smith Jewelry on simonas smith.com um I also have a men's line which is called majesty and uh I was blessed with my husband and my son and they were my models for the campaign for the launch of it it is I call it affordable Lux cuz you know not everybody can go and get them a uh a Cuban link that has a bunch of diamonds on it that may cost $10,000 but if you want that look for your husband or if the brother's watching if they want that look go on simonas smith.com um listen I wouldn't be surprised a lot of people wearing Simon smith.com okay cuz a lot of they wearing affordable Lux out here no affable affable Lux is great though affordable Lux is great I have you know this past Christmas well the Christmas holidays there's uh I've been gathering with with my girlfriends it's called cismas m M and I've been gathering with my girlfriends for like 14 years but the past 10 years we've been doing a theme 2 years ago 2022 the New York Times actually covered my my sis party because I was being interviewed about my favorite five things for the Christmas holidays and as I was elaborating on the gifts that I would give the young lady Chloe who was actually interviewing me I was telling her oh I would probably give this gift at my cisus party and so she asked me about cisus I told told her about it my PR team at that time reached back out and said Chloe would like to cover assists and I was like oh okay great so anyway fast forward my new PR team um was one of the one of the young ladies Ashley Barton who I absolutely adore sweetheart asy Ashley was at cisus 2023 cuz Crystal where we met yes at Crystal's house Crystal hosted it okay and it was chicks and tuxedos so everybody was decked out in their tuxedos for Christmas holidays after that I met with Ashley me and my partner Ronnie we met with Ashley and Ashley's firm is now my PR team okay and at the first meeting Ashley was telling her team about cisus and one of the young ladies was like oh my God you guys should make it a national holiday I love this and because cisus is all about me gathering with my girlfriends I had moved to LA I know I'm rambling but I had moved to LA in 2009 cuz Todd was doing NCIS Los Angeles out there and I miss my New York girl so when I would come home for the holidays we would gather I would cook we would have drinks we would play music we would play Left Right cysm um Left Right Center left right center but now I have left left right cisus honey I have left right cisus now and but we were playing Left Right okay so that was your way to bring Community to you right it was it was it's all about Community it's all about Sisterhood it's all about coming together and enjoying each other and just supporting each other and you know when I would have cisus Sometimes some of my girlfriends don't see each other until cisus and it's just about you know just coming together made it a national holiday and I made it so the young lady how do you make something a national holiday like you you fill out the application for the national um archives and if they accept it and they accepted it so now cismas is now the second Saturday in December it's national syis day that is so and so 2024 was the first national syis day very so I'm working on you know what what cisus 2025 is going to be like what what is the theme I'm not sure what CU this past theme was like cow cowl it was cowgirl uhhuh and this was the first cisus that um we created uh we actually did cisus kits and we gave and we donated a thousand of them to different female empowered organizations all throughout the the country and um so that women can gather and played left right cisus and Spades and um you know card games and uh it had 50 plates and 50 cups and 50 napkins and then we had Daniel's Jewelers who I'm also in Daniel's Jewelers okay and um so Daniels julus had donated a little gift and ashro donated a sample of their um perfume and myel so a cisus like invite only kind of thing cisus is invite only okay all right Co to send the cisus kits out was for women all over the world to celebrate each other so national cisus day is for you to gather with your girls whether it's five of y'all 50 of y'all you know 20 of y'all to gather and celebrate each other I love that we need a national holiday we need a national holiday a month is not is we need more than a month women's history month we need like a whole day later in the year we need like multiple days right but it's it's wonderful to gather with your girlfriend and just laugh and dancing see and at my we started doing a fashion show and we started um a talent show so my girls get together you know and after a couple of drinks you got a couple of them over there in that corner some of them in that corner and and they bring their talents and um we have first second and third runner up love it okay so second Saturday in December sisms get out there with your girls Simone smith.com for all yes I'm also in Macy's and Macy's I'm also in Walmart she's also in Walmart girl we need like a whole another episode to talk about those Partnerships my goodness well thank you so much but you know the one thing that I want to say is that when I first started with says I all you know I have a price point right and everybody can't afford a $200 pair earrings that some people can't afford $300 so when I partnered up with Walmart I was able to make a um smaller earrings that women can wear a piece of Simona Smith and it still has the signature bracket on it and um but that was my goal my goal when I first set out was for women everywhere to be able to wear sis I love it I love it well thank you so much thank you for having me for being a blessing to us and giving us the jewelle and I hope I answered all of your questions you did girl I'm telling you we need like a whole another episode cuz I got so many more trust me okay well let's do it again let's do it again soon but thank you so much I appreciate you Mama I appreciate you too and I appreciate you guys for tuning in of course let me know what you think about today's episode make sure you follow our amazing guest let her know how much you appreciate the gems that she dropped today and we'll see you on the next episode y'all bye bye hey guys if you enjoyed this video I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one so make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.
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