ALICIA KEYS Reveals 5 Daily Rituals To Calm Your Nervous System

I felt like I had to protect myself from being hurt from people that I love we got a special guest at the building 90 million record Soul 16 times Grammy winning musician Alicia Keys you're

going to get to that poll you see that light after the poll you're going to get to that light you see that tree after the light you're going to get to that tree and I discovered that that is how

we get where we're going if there's something that you love go after it cuz it's meant for you the number one Health and Wellness

podcast J shett J shett the one the only Jett hey everyone welcome back to onp purpose the place you come to become happier healthier and more healed I'm so

grateful for the amazing conversations that I get to have which are all about human evolution growth purification and cleansing today's guest is someone who

has talked about this at length in her amazing Memoir in her documentary entries in so many forms and today I'm so excited that we finally have her on

the podcast In the Flesh in person although her voice and her energy speaks through the microphone at any time today's guest is the one the only Alicia

keis a 16-time Grammy award-winning singer let me say that again 16 time Grammy award-winning singer songwriter musician producer founder of key soul

care which you'll be hearing about today New York Times bestselling author film television and Broadway producer as well accomplished actress entrepreneur and a

powerful force in the world of activism Alicia is one of the original founders of she is the music an initiative to create change for women and build an

equal future for music Alicia sold over 65 million records over 5 billion streams and built an unparalleled

repertoire of hits and accomplishments Hell's Kitchen the 13 Tony Award nominated original stage musical Alicia diligently worked for 13 years to create

open on Broadway at the Schubert theater on April 20th 2024 today we're talking about Alicia's holistic Beauty and skin care line Keys Soul Care which I can't wait for you all

to try welcome to on purpose Alicia Keys that's so weird like when you do all of that there's something about it that's just so fascinating and wow wow and

thank you for having me and I can't believe we're in the flesh for the first time on this show on this show you know what I mean this is so good and I love your show and I love your your your

life's purpose is so beautiful so thank you for having me in your space I'm loving this you've been so wonderful to me over the years honestly we've had such a sweet relationship whenever we've

collaborated right and from day one you've always been so giving but seeing as you reacted to that in that way I wonder whether little Alicia if she saw that that was her life ahead what would

have been her reaction if she heard all of those things were going to happen in her life like you lying like you lying right I mean you

know as a kid I really do remember having these dreams and and and and visions and desires and wishes but you

just don't know what is going to come for you you don't know what's in your world or what's going to come into your world and I think a lot of

times we are built to doubt the possibilities for ourselves and so if for self-preservation and protection we say I mean it's probably not going to be

that way for me or you know you know how it goes for me you do these things and I remember doing these things and it wasn't until I stopped doing those things that things really started to

change so I still have a piece of ins inside of me that that is that little girl that's kind of like you know you protect you want to protect what might

go wrong and and so I find that I I do that sometime which maybe is what happened when you just rattled off all those things and I was a little bit like

that is so crazy and weird and strange and amazing at the same time yeah well that's very relatable I think for people to hear that right now to think that there was a time in your life where

doubts and anxiety and fear would creep in further it always exists for all of us but that it controlled a part of your life what were some of the doubts and

fears and anxieties you had growing up whether it was to your dreams or whether it was to life in general yeah what do you mean about when you were gr up how about yesterday you know what I mean how

about like three days ago like um as a kid growing up I think some of my fears really circulated around um I remember I

felt I felt fearful that I wouldn't or I felt like I had to protect myself from being hurt from people that I loved I remember that that that was a

that was a thing and I had to figure my my way through that there was a sense of of lack that I was worried about I was worried about this state of lack or not

having enough money or not having enough not being able to hold on to what you started to get or things like that I I had to do a a lot of work around that that was a lot that was a big one

because I mean you really can perpetuate that cycle just simply by the fact that you believe it can happen you know and so that was a big one um I think that you know there's a there's a lot of

there's a lot of fear or or anxiety or worry around rejection you know there's a lot of that especially as I started to become more some a public figure where

people you know could kind of choose to like or dislike there was a it was a difficult journey to understand that you you're never going to please everyone period and you're going to spend your

you're going to tear yourself apart trying to like make sure every single thing is the way someone else wants it to be but I had a lot of fear about that

and I really it was it was a struggle for me and I you know I wanted to be accepted I wanted to be liked I wanted to be you know I wanted to hear a positive reflection back to me you know

and so it took a long time to kind of be like yeah I don't I can't depend on that you know I have to find my own stability I have to find my own intuition I have

to find what I believe in and at least I can stand on that at least I can say I really belied that one you know if it didn't work out but I really believed it and I'm proud of it you know what I mean

and that's a big one you know talk about even yesterday I mean Hell's Kitchen where we talked about Hell's Kitchen which is my musical which has been the big dream in the making there were moments where I'm like is this going to

work like what if the whole I have this whole Vision I know what I want but what if for some reason the whole thing doesn't go the way I want what does that

mean I mean you have many many many dollars you have investors that you promis them to trust you can I carry

this can I hold this can I Manifest this terrifying I mean I would speak to my kids about it just because I wanted them to know that it's scary you know it's scary to dream and but does that mean

I'm not going to dream it or not going to try it no I have to so tons of things have been that I I feel like so many people who listening

right now would say Alicia I feel the same way I talk to myself in my head and I think I can't do it I'm not meant for it it's it's not going to happen for me

and at the same time they have this voice inside of them that says You're Made for More You're Made Of more I know I need to believe in myself and we kind

of feel this internal battle how did you what was the work you had to do in order to go from someone who was anxious doubtful to become someone who

manifested this beautiful incredible full life not that it's easy not that it came immediately but what was the work in the beginning stages that you had to

reorient your mind that's a great question I think one of the things that I had to come to terms with is that pretty much nothing is going to come in a time frame that you think is going to

come so that's and that's helpful cuz I think a lot of us are you know I mean we're in such a digital space and we see all these things and we're bombarded with all these images and we're

bombarded with all these kind of like carefully crafted posts of perfection and you get freaked out about it you're like but I'm you know and unfortunately

I didn't really have to grow up looking at that so I empathize deeply with this generation we have to we have to evolve

as young people on a whole other level than I even had to navigate but what I mean by and why why it relates is um I did I felt like I grew up in New York

City everybody's a hustler you got to go fast you got to make it happen you got to stay up all night and get up crack of dawn and it's not going to happen if you don't and I realized wait you know as as

hard as I try to push the thing forward when it's time it's time and if it's not time it don't matter what I do it doesn't no matter how much sleep I

don't get it's not going to be time until it's time and so I think that that steadiness of like kind of you just have to put one foot in front of the other is

just as simple as that and I remember when I did my first marathon I ran in Greece and I figured I'd never do another Marathon so I I was will do something Unforgettable but I could I

couldn't figure out how I was going to make it everything hurt my feet hurt my back hurt my lower back hurt my abs hurt my body ACH and I couldn't figure out

how am I going to get there and I remember I was running with my friend who was who trained with me and helped me and and he said you see that pole you're going to get to that pole you see

that light after the pole you're gonna get to that light you see that tree after the light you're gonna get to that tree and I it was literally that step by step and so I I discovered

that that is how we get where we're going like this increment of small determined moments and and so I think

that as well as coupled with taking that negative talk out of your space like being very conscious it happens it's in your head you hear it you're

like tell yourself the opposite thing I mean that's how I started to really get into informations which I I I realized that I had to

create what I wanted to hear and often times it's so many times it's the barrage of everyone else's doubts and fears and your parents you inherited theirs and you inherited all your peers

things and you you got all these things inside you that not even yours and so I had to create this connection with affirmations that allowed me to say what I wanted to hear and so I had to become

very mindful to notice the negative so that I could replace it and when I did that it really changed everything it changed a bunch and I had to stop saying things that I

heard my mother say I had to stop saying things that I heard whoever else I trusted say because it wasn't serving me cuz she had picked up some stuff that I

didn't need to pick up I didn't need to hold it stuff like that uh has been how yeah how many marathons have you done now I've done two and okay that's impressive I did Grease and I did New

York yeah wow and I realized the craziest thing I realized that what I was experiencing that ache that pain that lower back the thing was child birth oh I didn't know that cuz the

first time I hadn't given birth but when I gave birth I recognized the sensations and it was similar to a marathon wow it was kind of crazy but there was a

strength there that you know was really empowering so only two my brother's trying to get me to do another one I'm like na be I'm not doing it my wife's doing London

this year I think for the first time she's been training it's cool when you do it it's phenomenal and you really you really discover that it's that your mind is stronger than your your physical

being and you really can find this place that you didn't know you could absolutely what was your affirmation this morning my affirmation depends on the

day right so today my affirmation is just I'm going to on time because I struggle to get my kids

to school on time it's killing me my my youngest son has just changed schools and he's going to another school so now I'm taking both kids to two separate

places oh God I'm struggling and my second affirmation is I forgive myself it's okay like Grace have Grace with yourself you're trying your best it's not like you're messing around and doing

whatever you're really trying your best and you're going to figure out the of this thing have some Grace I love those they're so practical I think all of us can do all of them they're great yeah and the time one's funny cuz it reminds

me of my mom my mom had to do the same for me and my sister cuz I went to old boy school she went to an old girl school and so my mom would have to drop her and then drop me or the other way around sometime it is it's it's more

than an noce you think I could do this if I just leave by this time and for whatever reason that time comes and goes over and over yeah so it's all good but I love how simple that is like I I think

a lot of people also think affirmations always have to be this profound like incredible statement and you're like it's just to be on time and it's to forgive myself and that's so real

because we need to forgive ourselves every day yeah it's okay it's okay it's really okay so you know cuz you want the best you want the best for yourself you want the best for your family you you

want the best outcome you know and and it all comes from a good place but I think sometimes we can beat ourselves up so badly about about things that you know we can just give ourselves a little bit of a break and it's we can start

again and try again and it's okay what was the last thing you beat yourself up about really badly where you were like I really made myself feel uncomfortable you know I really try not to do that I

really do like I really I feel like I have a pretty good sense of self and I feel like I have a pretty good sense

also of like reality and so I I don't over obsessed and I don't over kind of like I'm not overly mean to myself but I did think about that the other day and I

did I did this I didn't put it up yet but I did this I do these things called piece of peace and and I call this speak to me nice

cuz you're not going to let someone else talk to you just any type of way you're like excuse me how did you just see you just speak to me nice but you yourself

will speak speak to yourself in these crazy ways and so I kind of was like just reflecting on you telling yourself me telling myself speak to me nice like

talk to me with kindness and love I learned that from my son a lot because my youngest he is he's he's like he's a little tough on himself and I'm like hey

speak to yourself nice and so I think that is something that I've that I've learned how to embody and I really try not to spin out too much but um you know there are times of course you just you

know you but I'm like this is really doing no good I'm really freaking out and I was just like why what are we doing in this space in this cycle yeah sometimes you got to freak out though

yeah cuz you got to learn something from it you have to like take away whatever that is or that energy or that person who's spinning you like that or or that trigger that's triggering you like that

and you do have to kind of spin out just to be like whoo that actually gets to me a lot why I've been learning and a lot of that too if I don't make sure I'm good how can I make sure anybody is good

ever and so spending time with myself was a I fought against it so much but when I started to do it I realized that I was more powerful than I'd ever been

you really have to take care of your soul no one's going to do it for me there is an addiction that I think comes with this idea of having to fill every minute and fill every second if we stay

as busy as poss we are like literally we don't even have time to think about those things I always like to remind people that guilt

blocks growth and shame doesn't help you shift and judgment doesn't help you transform guilt blocks growth completely

it makes you wallow more in your guilt and shame makes you feel stuck and Shackled by it yes and transformation is stunted when we're not able to be nice

kind give ourselves Grace and it's funny because we almost think we can guilt ourselves into moving like if I guilt myself enough then maybe I'll change I'll be motivated maybe I'll be

motivated maybe you will for like a couple of days but over time it runs out if you shame yourself into change maybe for a couple of days you'll eat better work out more whatever it is that you

have your personal challenges with but it's not sustainable like shame and guilt are not sustainable emotions and they run out of steam very quickly right and I was thinking about something that

you've spoken about before is your journey with your own skin and like how you've had skin anxiety and I know at one point you went completely like no makeup at one period of time in your

life and then now of course you have this you know you're in the beauty industry now as well and you really care about how people care about their

internal and the casing that we all have and I know that you you know live a conscious spirited life which I really want to dive into but I think often those of us who live spiritual lives we

can be quite negligent of our casing out of this body and you can you can kind of Disconnect disconnect from it yeah disconnect from it right right and so I wanted to ask you how is your

relationship changed with your skin that was something that brought you anxiety oh my gosh feel more confident in your skin I mean it I it was

forever it was literally forever um that I've really struggled with my with my skin and and you know you're a teenager and your hormones and

you get it and it's cool and then all of a sudden I was like 18 and then I was 23 and then I was 28 and then I was 30 and then I was like 35 and I'm like whoa

when does this thing stop like when I thought like 16 18 21 maybe why is it continuing and it was really hard to

especially to be in spaces where you would present yourself and you would feel just so self-conscious I just felt so self-conscious and I'm like but there's a big bump right here and then

most people are like I don't even see the damn bump but I see the bump right here and it's huge and it feels really uncomfortable you know you you just feel uncomfortable

you want to know why too you want to know what's the matter is something wrong why I thought I'm what what can I

do to help this and um and so that definitely caused me a lot of anxiety I I started in the music world when I was uh 18 and so that was right kind of at

the precipice and then the the stress of the whole universe of music was just so much and I was trying my best to play it cool and like I can handle it I can do it but it was stressful it was a whole

new world I had to carry a a new weight on my shoulders and and try to you know kind of like be calm while or cool while doing it and it and it was tricky and my

skin I I learned that my body reacts to stress our bodies react to stress my personal body physically reacts to

stress many of our personal bodies do this which is obviously why even many diseases come to us from stress because physically it's a physical manifestation

of this feeling um which is why it is so important for us to figure out like what gives you peace what calms you down what

makes you feel safe and like you're in your skin and you're yourself and these type of things and so of course I didn't know what that was for a long time but I realized that it was these relationships

I was attracting and it was the you know the level of commitment I was um agreeing to that left no space for me to

reflect or to sleep or to be with my friends and you know do those have those Outlets that do give you a sense of of

calm and and so my skin was so reactive that I said one day to myself if if I one day I'm going to make something that fixes this

this I'm going to do something about this because I know I'm not the only one and I realized as I began to you know live and experience so many different

parts of my life motherhood and you know raising young kids and finding time for yourself I and getting rid of those toxic energies that were attacking me in

real life I realized that you really have to take care of your soul like like you have to take care of your soul so

this philosophy of Soul Care really came from all of these understandings and all of these realizing that no one's going to do it for me like no as much as I really really wish someone would stand

up and be like you you're not good for her get out of here that thing you you need to stop no I have to be the judge of that and therefore I have to find my way to the understanding of how do I

hear myself to know what is good and what is not or what is real or what is true and so there were many things that brought me to that place some of them were meditations that brought me there and really brought me to a more

intuitive space some of them were just practicing the art of like no what do you think no I know six friends said this or I know that very strong energy

that always tells everybody what they think said this but what do you think and that became the practice of Soul Care and and also these ideas of ancient

rituals and what are some special ways that we can have peace and calm and I was attracted to crystals and their powers in their meanings I was attracted to journaling and I have a very

difficult time as a kid I had a difficult time EXP expressing my truth and I realized that when I would journal or do the stream of Consciousness I could I could actually just release it I could let it go and if I'm not good at

doing that to someone else because I didn't trust as fully um I can do it with myself you know and so these these practices of how do you kind of like depend on yourself to find your own

grounding became my idea of what Soul Care is which eventually became how I said I'm going to make that thing to fix that thing became this key ke Soul Care

and and the idea was to me it's a philosophy it's a way of life it's a lifestyle to me you know um you know the beauty industry or skin care industry

just like the music industry all of it is kind of creating how to live within the chaos and so how do we do it nobody teaches us normally it's a blessing if

someone does but normally it's not so finding these ways through affirmations through the idea of really connecting to yourself and using the affirmations are on every bottle because

the ideas you wash your face you do that every day with the golden cleanser you can also think about how I'm devoted to this moment because so many times we're over here over there back there over how

can you just be right here with yourself right now and so the idea is like creating this mixture of ancient rituals and where skin me soul and soul care because we have Air Care Hair Care Nail

Care body care home care but we know never had Soul Care why so we want to I want to start it yeah that's so beautiful I mean I I couldn't agree more

as someone who was very negligent of a lot of this stuff like growing up and not really thinking about it I've seen the value of

I'm a big fan of affirmations right I think even when it comes to Cleansing my face what that means what that feels like how different I feel internally

because of it how it can be a reminder to continue to cleanse and detox the soul as well as that which is around me there's there's so much of that

connection from Body Mind spirit and soul that that I think we we lose and we don't realize how interconnected they all are what you were saying about stress I found really powerful because

so for me my stress shows up as tightness in my body like I feel my stress is like it gets stored in my neck or my shoulders and then I'm just feeling tight even though I was like I

didn't know I was stressed I didn't know what I was going through and as you're saying for some people it shows up in their skin I was going to ask you there's a bit of an addiction we also have to stress and

drama and there's this feeling sometimes where we prefer it when we have stress and busyness and we're Workaholics and we like the drama and almost when there's peace we almost get confused and

lost because scared even exactly we get scared right so what would you say to someone who's they're listening to us right now and they're like wow I just realized that's that's who I am I I

actually like I choose stress because do you think people come to that realization I don't think people do it consciously but I think unconsciously when I sit with people they'll find that

their inherited choice is to naturally stay busy work a lot uh create drama in their relationship whatever it is because

we're more used to it not because we're bad people or because we're wrong but because we kind of feel familiar and I'll give you the opposite example I have lots of friends who be

like Oh I'm dating this guy and it's really peaceful on board and so there's that right where people actually have like peace and Stillness and connection

we're like yeah yeah there's nothing to talk about so so I don't think it's something that people do on purpose and I don't think it's something that people even do it consciously but I think we do

like to stay busy and stressed to some degree I I am familiar with that as well and I kind of was just telling you that I had the best summer and it was my first summer where you know the last two

summers I was on tour and obviously those are just such a monster universe to try to like harness and this summer was just like I was like I am creating peace this summer I am doing the things

that everything I can imagine I want to do I'm doing it this summer and it was really liberating really liberating but it also does reflect to much myself back

to your point the connection to the busyness equaling success or the busyness equaling um you know uh

something positive when surely there's positivity there for sure but there is an addiction that I think comes with this idea of having to fill every minute

and fill every second and also there's the avoidance that we're all likely experiencing where we don't really want to face all the things underneath things

so if we stay as busy as possible we are like literally we don't even have time to think about those things or to reflect on those things and so I do understand that lifestyle because I I

feel like for quite a while I didn't even I I would just say yes because I'm used to saying yes yes right

and I've and I realized wait okay you don't have to say yes so do you want to say yes do you actually want to say yes or do you just feel obligated to say yes

for any number of reasons so I think it's very powerful I think you're right there there's totally the drama that we are where we've been conditioned that's

the right word right to um to it's it's around us it's what we see every day we've seen our parents experience it and different ways we've

seen our friends go through it in different ways and therefore that becomes the normal for us and when we kind of crave it we become addicted to

it um even without knowing it so I think that practice of like that that perhaps is one of the opening when you said how did you get to a place where you could you know find yourself in a where you

are I think part of that practice really did have to come to spending time with myself and I made every excuse why I couldn't spend time my kids I can't do it my kids you know I can't leave them

by themselves I can't do it cuz I got to you know who else is going to do I got to feed the family the you know we got to do and they all seem valid see makes sense to me yeah that's true you're kids

you should probably make sure your kids are good and if I don't make sure I'm good how can I make sure anybody is good ever and

so spending time with myself was a I fought against it so much but when I started to do it I realized that I was more powerful than I'd ever been and I

was faster I was able to do things quicker and more efficiently because I I wasn't so cloudy you know and that was cool that was cool

when you start to feel that where you're like o I don't have to spend so much time doing whatever action because I actually know what I want to do B and I'm

decisive man that felt so good I never felt decisive before in my life I never felt clear without thousands of other

opinions I I never felt like my own self so that was big but spending time with myself was I believe one of the keys to that can we open every door yes we

actually can open every door but is it always going to be easy or the simplest no it's going to take time and you're going to have to figure it out and work

your way through it this idea of not dimming your light like don't dial it back if there's something that you love

go after it cuz it's meant for you it might not be the way that you thought it was going to be or the length of time you thought is going to take or whatever all the other things are but man is I

know it's meant for you if you love it when I'm hearing you talk about how much we have to filter from the outside world you mentioned a few times your parents people's parents like a lot of lot comes from our parents and I know you spoke

about it so beautifully in your book that I got interview about which I love that it was such a it was such a beautiful Memoir that you wrote a few years back and I was wondering what I

always think about our parents giving us gifts and gaps like they give us certain gifts and they leave certain gaps and we end up spending our whole life trying to get other people to fill those gaps and

give us the same gifts and and it creates a lot of good things and issues so I was going to ask you what would you say are the gifts you got from your mother and father and what were the gaps that they left and how did they affect

you oo okay let me sit up for a sec fix my shirt real quick um the gifts the gift one of the gifts that I got from my

mother I would say is her um is her strength I feel like I really I really bore witness to a woman who was like not

to be like she just really now I don't know if she wore that as an armor you know or what that was but I found her to be quite

like like straight and clear and strong and there was kind of no getting around it and you kind of just knew okay this

is what it is and I feel like I I really received a lot from that as a woman as a young woman as a woman who would have to be at the Forefront of her own life and

career and really have to be in my space of power be around a lot of people that want to take your power steal your light you know lead you in the wrong spaces I

had to kind of be in my strength and I did receive that from her what I received from my father was I

think I think I think I also receive the level of um selfdetermination a because I had a unique relationship my

mother and my father were not married or together and so one I had to learn that that's actually not unique or different you know there's not some kind of like family structure that's like the main

one I think we get the painted that picture so much and then we feel so true we feel uncomfortable that ours doesn't look like that um but so I had to kind

of know who I was also Even in our relationship and so I got a sense of self as well sense of self the Gap from the sense of self that I received from

my father was probably maybe um some feelings of not being

worthy so I received some of that I had to restructure my brain around and from my mother I think I got a sense of

fixing I had to fix everything because in a lot of ways if she was strong and angry I had to be like soft and

accommodating and kind of fix the situation and so I think I received some of that which I also had to rewire no no

no I can't fix everything I just can't and I can't be in my relationships like that because that's not going to work man took lots of time but those are my gifts and my gu I'm asking that to many

people this is a great question yeah I think I think it has such a we don't realize how much of an impact it has on every relationship that comes after

those relationships with our parents and how it becomes like The Guiding map of our whole life and then you look back and you go why am I expecting someone to give me this gift it's like CU my parents gave me it now I want everyone

that loves me to show me they love me in this way and I want them to fill this exact Gap and if they don't fill this Gap then they don't love me because that was where that selfworth you were saying

of like right because if you were made to feel unworthy in a certain way right then you think anyone who doesn't show you love in that way then they don't think you're worthy but they may not they they're not aware right of the gift

and the Gap and they've got their own as well so that's the complex part yeah it's a lot it's a lot and I mean obviously you've been married for what 14 years now it's like congratulations

thank it's amazing that's beautiful we're like whoa that's crazy it's brilant we love it we love it yeah you look I always whenever I see you but if you see so happy and joyous and you know

complimentary to each other I think what I find really fascinating in relationships is what people end up teaching each other what would you say swis has been able to teach you and what have you taught him he's definitely

taught me how to be like much more in the flow like it's all about kind of the magic of the moment and allowing the

flow like just slide into the slipstream let it happen like let it happen um that's been a big lesson he's given me

and what I've been able to give him is probably a little bit more of like let's design what we want to happen you know as we're letting it happen let's also

like design it and craft it and strategize it and create it and schedule it so that it can really really happen and I love how we balance each other like that there's been just so much

growth between us and so in such a positive way because we really do compliment and each other so it feels natural in those ways so I'm you and my wife Swiss so I'm like that I'm like

very intentional very like I'm like strategy designed intentional life and she's just like this Bor of energy yeah and and I but I wanted to ask you

because those things seem like they're at loggerheads with each other right like they seem like on the outside that would seem like well if he's like go with the flow and you're like yeah but

we need to know what we're doing that sounds like a a terrible matchup like that sounds like a fight ready to you know W to happen yeah an explosion because that's completely

contradictory in terms of him being in flow and same with radii like being completely this bundle and ball of energy and joy and then we're both trying to be more thoughtful and

strategic so how does that how have you allowed each other to operate as who you are and take without feeling like someone's trying to change you or that you've got to be someone else or they've

got to be someone else yeah no I think it's a I think it's a good point well first of all I don't think I think actually it tends to work better when there's two different perspectives right because if you think exactly what I

think and I think exactly what you think then we might get to that place of boredom that we discussed but what I what I took from what you said I'm bored I took almost like there's not a stimuli

right there's not like the stimulation that comes sometimes and I think that might happen if you're almost too similar there's a stimulation from meeting an opposition and meeting like a

different way of thinking and then having to think about it and put it into your your world so um so yeah I think that that the flow is just because I

love how he thinks and how he thinks is so uniquely him and it does inspire me and yet I can still be connected to my own and similarly I think how I think

does inspire him he says let me think about that more let me put a little more thought into how we're doing this and yet doesn't have to take him from his own so we've we ever since the day our

vows were about this idea of loving with an open hand there's a beautiful thought of loving with an open hand and you know that everyone should be free to fly as

they want to fly it should never be a closed hand over around someone I really like that you know it should be this open hand and so we we really I've always looked at it like

that he'll always say she's she's her own boss I don't have anything to do with whatever she's choosing don't call me and ask me to try to get her I can't

she's her own boss so talk to her about whatever that might be and and and so there's always been that respect there that we each have our own way of flowing

and it works it works yeah that's beautiful to hear and I love that did you write that was that a poem that you came across I want to remember where that came from from but I wrote a song

about it that never came out no way yeah and I and I always loved that metaphor so do I just as when you were moving your hands for anyone who's not watching right Alicia was moving her hands from

being open to like holding one of her hands closed like and we do that we like we like stifle each other and hold each other and demand these things and don't

want people to be free to express and feel fear and worry when people are bright and shining and we feel you know sometimes afraid of that that they would

somehow not need us anymore or not want us anymore and you know but there's this beautiful thing of just being this equinity that's what I've always experienced with him there's like this

equinity between us that I've never felt anywhere else and it's natural there's we just have a similar frequency that we vibrate on and it just works and I've

been in situations where it's like man I kind of had to keep can you come up here with me or I have to go you know find that but it's like we're not quite on the same level and so that means

something you know finding that frequency that vibrates with you is is a thing yeah no I I love that I wrote a chapter in my last book called your partner is your Guru and and it was and

and it's that I I feel that way like you know and and I think that the quality that's required so much in long-term relationships is humility and it's the hardest quality to

have with your partner often where we have our biggest Egos and we say this is the person we love the most but they're the person we have the least humility with like if they don't like what we're

wearing or if they give us feedback or that's that it hurts the most because it you're going to love me so so so pure yeah good but it stops US sometimes from

opening up as as you're talking about as you have been able to right like it stops you from sometimes learning from that person because you think your way is the right way or that what you learned and what you inherited was the

right way to solve a problem especially I'm imagining when you have kids that that that's what just hit me like a ton of ton of B because we do find ourselves in those circumstances where naturally

something that he might feel is quite different from what I might feel in regards to the kids and um you know I think that any time that's happened I

can reflect that there surely has is a better way of communicating what it is and I find that that is the most powerful part how do

you choose to communicate with the people that you love is really the key to kind of life like literally that that energy that you're giving and how you're

choosing to communicate will make the difference between you know something where you both can evolve and both can say I get it I see what you mean and you can see what I mean and we can kind of

find our way through it or a they argument which is just a pain cuz then you got you know you got to do all that which we actually don't argue we have a we don't

we don't argue surely we get upset or we disagree but um but there's not like a yelling and screaming and an arguing and a and a chaos and a slamming and a throwing there's not that like we

respect each other too much for that and I really appreciate that that that's the energy cuz I do also appreciate that many people have to or choose to or find

them M El in the place of experiencing that type of you know interaction and man I mean that is just so stressful and hard all around um so I'm proud that we

can like find that that place and it is possible yeah it is possible well it sounds like you've both been quite intentional about your relationship from your vows from the beginning of like what does this look like right and what

are the barriers around disagreements right like we're allowed to disagree you're allowed to and the same with me and my wife we have a rule as well no yelling no raising the voice no obviously nothing physical but like

there there has to be a very clear way of solving this and we're allowed to disagree we're allowed to end on completely two different sides of a conversation we don't have to end with

the perfect resolution may may not be the way right but we don't have to get there in a violent aggressive or tension filled way through our words or our actions or our how loud we are because

that pushes the person away so much read this poem that was talking about when people argue they have to shout and scream because that's how distant their

souls are and so even though you're standing right in front of them that's their soul is so far away from you that you have to shout in order to communicate but you don't realize that

that just pushes them further away and that actually if you whispered and you were quiet and you would draw them closer you would actually draw them closer o that's a bar yeah and so it you know I love that I love that metaphor

and I can't I need to hear this song that you've written about the hands that I'll find it at least I'll send it to you but I I'll find it I I really like it special it's a special song I wrote

it when I came back from Egypt and so it was a while ago but I took that a special trip to Egypt and I did a lot of songw writing right after that and that was kind of one of them and it was actually in honor of my godmother who

did experience quite an abusive relationship and so the the line was the tightest grip is an open

hand I love that that's that's beautiful that's beautiful yeah how how do you decide that a song doesn't come out like how does how does

because how many songs does an artist make that never so many like in your in your lifetime like how many songs never would would someone have never heard two

300 wow yeah so that's like 20 albums with so many so many that just you know half done or you know didn't quite just come together or just didn't have that

special thing enough to go to the next level or time passes and your relationship to yourself is changing so what you were what you were expressing at one point just doesn't represent

where you are now and so then that kind of has its own in fact one of my albums Keys has a song on it called is it

insane and keys came out in like 2023 and is it insane was written in like 2000 it's like is it was but it was not

ready until that moment and then it was ready so back to that whole thing where nothing's ever ready when you think it's time yeah and then finally you're like oh it's time I get it yeah and time's

usually you're so when you said that earlier I thought of it I was like time is actually what puts anxiety onto everything if we say I have to have achieved this by this age that's now the

anxiety because if it took 23 years it took 23 years and you got there in the end right but if you said this has to be ready this year that's what put anxiety on everything and I I was thinking about

that I was like you're so right that when I make something not on the universe's time and not on Divine timing and it's on my timing that's when you're stressed about

that's when I'm stressed about it freaking out yeah and of course there are things you have to like if you have contracts and commitments and you have to get it in a time you do your best

yeah but it's when we're asking or trying to manifest things that we put time on it changes what's you were saying you love crystals earlier I was wondering what's your favorite Crystal

and and where did you find it how did you learn about them I feel like you have such a deeply spiritual side and and I want to hear about it because I don't think we've dived into this before I love that's a good one man okay so

where did my love for crystals come first I think that I've learned that going to these crystal shops

there's something so beautiful about the process and I remember doing a beautiful book called The Artist way um Julia Cameron I believe her name is and like

tried and true book like classic and one of the things that was beautiful about it is she says take yourself on an artist date so once a week you were meant to take yourself on an artist date which meant you could go with no one

except yourself and you had to think of what would serve you on that date which is quite hard for many of us like what will make me happy where would I like to

go in crystal shops what I discovered was one of the things I loved I loved the peace and the serenity I loved exploring every name I found that if I

went to one it would be exactly the one I needed I would just look at the way it looked and I would pick it up and like that's what I need right now I need more

courage I need more I need more manifestation I need more clarity uh when I did take my trip to Egypt that we talked about I learned that the native what was native to where we were

was the lupus laoui that blue powerful Stone and I just became fascinated with it so the more that I discovered the more that crystals became a part of my

life even in my son's pocket I'll put a crystal if he's feeling worried or if he's feeling like or if he needs a little grounding I'll put a crystal in his pocket or I'll tell him hold it just

because I do know there is something about the power of crystals and that in fact is one of the most kind of secret parts of key soul care because the

crystals are infused into the offerings and we have these these beautiful offerings called The Illuminating serum which I just love because we need to illuminate as much as possible and they

are really based on these crystals so one's the Moonstone Aura and that is so good manifestation one is the bronzite aura and that is all about courage and

one is the the the um the quartz the the golden quartz Aura and that's and that is so each one has these powers that even you should put on your body in your

universe and I just love that because there is such a there is a strength there is a power there is a mysticism there is a there are these ancient rituals like our ancestors did these

things hundreds and hundreds of years ago and we've some sometimes lost the touch with those rituals in those ancient ways and so I love discovering

them and they really give me a sense of like I feel like I have something in my pocket that like is going to help me and I really really love it or on my on my

body yeah now you can put it on your body you know it feels like and it illuminates you so it also gives you that glow that's just really already within you yeah that's the point no I I

love that you've infused it in the offerings because I feel like I I I to love that like I sometimes you see a crystal and you're just drawn to it or you see a gem and you're just drawn to it and it's and you can't explain it

because it's not like you were into that color or you into that shape and all of a sudden you're just like why am I attracted to this thing you need it because you need it exactly and I think

we've lost the ability to trust ourselves on what we need because everything become dactic and tactical

and kind of too formulated I I I I'm very moved by this because as we were just talking about kids and you

know as a parent you think about we do take we can we have the

power to take the trust from people when they feel like they can't trust themselves because we

judge them on something that they've decided and we do this as adults to each other we do this as parents to kids we do this as friends you know and we do this thing

where we judge a person and now we've taken away a bit of their trust in themselves because they feel like this person made fun of me when I did this I

won't do that but your instinct was to do this and you loved it when you did it you were happy you were excited you were Giddy and and and and perhaps we allow

people to steal from us but many times we're not in a position of awareness so we just find that we then distrust ourselves and I think that's a big one because how can we start to trust

ourselves again how can we practice like no no this is good for me you might not like it it's cool you don't have to do it I'm not telling you to do it I'm telling you I'm doing it and I think

that's really important and I hope that we can first be a little bit more conscious of always injecting our opinion on everybody as parents as

friends as you know elders and secondly to as as the people who have to navigate our way through that remembering that if that was our first instinct and we felt

Joy with it you know then there's something in there to learn or explore or find the coloring or curiosity and and and I and I want us to do I want us to not forget that yeah that's a big one

you just said no you so well said I I couldn't agree with you more more and I I remember when I first trained to be a coach the number one training was how

you don't project your life and your limits onto anyone like that's the core skill because that's all we do all day like someone says their idea and we project our VI stay away right like

someone's like hey I want to be a singer like Alicia Keys and you're like nah it's not going Happ yeah but that's probably not so you might as well yeah and it's like but you have no idea what they're saying you don't you're not listening to them there's no there's no

learning and you're just projecting what you feel or someone says hey I think I'm quitting my job and pursuing my passion on this thing you're like no no no don't do that like that's risky and it's like well maybe it's May yeah maybe it's

needed maybe risk is okay for them and but we're so Qui and you're so right that our friends our family and we we do that to others and we do it to our partners as well like when they're just saying hey you know what I think I need

a weekend off this weekend and you're like no maybe there's a few things you need to get done and they're like actually you and you're so what you said so beautifully is we sto people from

trusting themselves like I think that really resonated with me and I I think that's why I feel the fact that you've infused all these crystals into your

offerings I I love that because it's it's a daily reminder of trusting yes that when you I I always say this to

people I'm like we don't use our senses enough like the P scent is so powerful right your products smell amazing

and the scent amazing and it's like we underestimate how much we know what we need by scent like I love it I remember when I first got a massage and they brought out all the different oils and they said smell which one do you want

and they were like you know by smelling and I was like what does that mean and then you do it and then you're like oh wait a minute I do know I do know like I do know that I need number three which has lavender and Eucalyptus or whatever

it is because I'm seeking rest and relaxation or I do need Citrus because I'm seeking energy and you know right but but we don't use that scent we

don't use our power of scent of sight of sound to know what we need and the part that I love about what you said and and the knowing the affirmation on The

Illuminating Serum is I give myself permission to Glow oh because I just so many times we just or we stunt the growth or we stunt the glow or we feel

embarrassed by the fact that we are you know bright and or we to your point about the addiction to the negative like if we are feeling good how many times have you felt good

but your friend wasn't feeling so good so you kind of they might say well how are you feeling you're like I'm all right but you're really actually great and you're actually glowing and I think sometimes we dim you

know I know we dim our light which is another affirmation on the on the candle is is um you know this idea of not

dimming your light like don't dial it back you know because we do it and and it's only because we don't we want to be kind to the people

that were around but I think we there's an inspiration that comes from giving yourself permission to Glow there's the empowerment that a person looks at you

and says they don't they look like and I want to feel like that like I'm going to do more of that you know giving yourself that permission I love that I really

it's a really special Remer what are your go-to rituals when you are having a day that is just hard stressful tough demanding what what's your go-to

non-negotiable set of rituals that Alicia Keys turns to when when it's really really really tough I definitely find that I I my one of my go-to is for

sure a meditation I just find that I try my best to meditate frequently so that I do find that that balances you you don't have to kind of fix what's happening you

you find a continuity with the the balance but I do find that when I need it I really I really relate to a meditation it kind of just brings me

back to the center it brings me back to again that quietness I get a second of quiet even if I have to wake up before the kids I'm GNA wake up at 5:30 so I can have 20 minutes of just like or I'm

going to make up at 5:45 whatever it is and I really find that settles my spirit cuz usually if I'm having a tough one I'm not sleeping well either because it's just like the internal noise and

all those things so I really I really love the ground there I will Journal I find that the journaling

is also really again I've always had to just kind of release things more freely than I find I can do with other people so that really helps a really good

workout key key get get me sweating get me kind of like you know just like feel your power of your body that helps me a lot

um then of course I'm going to wash my face I'm going to release as we talked about the golden cleanser is going to let me like Let It Go I have this beautiful Rich transformation cream and

on it it says I welcome all circumstances as a catalyst for change wow and so I can probably reflect on the

fact that this does this isn't bad or good this is just a catalyst to change something and then I get my Illuminating serum on because I'm going to be glowing

and I'm giving myself the permission and I do love a bath I do love a bath I do love you know back to the oils or the herbs I find that uh even the crystals

can come into play if I need to just kind of like release something and definitely the intentions and the affirmations come into play because I find that whatever's bothering me I'll kind of it's something that's

challenging Me Maybe I don't want want to fail at something or I don't want to I don't want something to go wrong or and I kind of use that to say whatever

it is that I might need and um you know hey sometimes it's just going to be a hard day maybe it be a hard week maybe be a hard month but doing that

consistently I know I'm fueling myself and I'm pouring in there and I feel better what works for kids like what rituals do you feel you've actually been

able to pass on because young and I always feel like a lot of parents want their kids to do things but I feel like you may be mindful in knowing what works and what doesn't and them having their

bar what what do they like and what what do they not like well I used to force Egypt to meditate I was like you want whatever you want come meditate with me that worked for a while he's really big

now and he's 13 so I feel like I could still kind of push him into it but it was cool because he I think when I do my meditation he can say every word so in

Genesis and even though they don't necessarily do it with me all the time they know it and they feel it and they hear it and so I do think that idea of kind of like just sitting with yourself

again is a great practice for kids because you know it doesn't have to be long five minutes cool really quick um a lot of the times I'm also I'm also

talking to my kids a lot about gratitude I think gratitude is the key key it's the most simple but potent key key to

changing the energy I know I felt times before where I'm like I'm just pissed off CU someone did something and I'm like and I'm sick of I'm trying to TI

and I am steaming and I'll just like start to list what I'm grateful for it changes everything everything and

I try to also share with my kids that you know give thanks give thanks and also pray make a prayer for what it is you're thankful for and what it is

you're looking for and I promise you you will open every door for yourself I promise every time I leave the room my older ones sometimes I'll pray with them sometimes I let them you know be in his

own Zone and I say don't forget to pray like don't forget to be grateful and pray because the Gratitude is like it's it's key I really do feel that it's a

it's a key ingredient to settling and definitely to Joy um which I think is the what we're looking for absolutely absolutely joy I love hearing what you're passing on to the

kids and I I think so much of it is them watching you do it or them doing it with you right and I think you're setting a good example and that makes it easier because there's only so much you can tell a kid to do something but if you're

there doing it showing up turning up they're going to join you they get used to it yeah they get used to it and and they see that at least mom values it and you know even their names though like Egypt and Genesis like I feel like those

names are so powerful man I love those names yeah they're powerful po I mean yeah Egypt it's been so cool because like even just as watching him grow and

he's always been super into architecture and math and I'm like man maybe that I feel like the name connection really brought that to him in so many ways and

and Genesis is like whoa I'm like we might have needed to rethink naming that boy Genesis but it's so good he's so like

kind of strong and clear and you know he's he's he's he's he doesn't you know he doesn't Bend and I really appreciate that for him because I spent so much of

my life bending and contorting and shifting and changing and trying to please that I love that he's like

no and he won't that's it I'm like okay I going need you to try to be a little bit fluid like a little fluid on occasion not every time just once in a while but I love that for him I love

that he's clear he's clear and that's it what's something you've been trying to learn recently or work on recently internally for yourself kids are working

what have you been I think I've just been working on just listening yeah I think that we all have such big personalities I think I feel

for the kids sometimes like the dad is this huge personality and we have this big personality and I I I I I answer every question and I react to everything

and I'm always saying yeah oh yeah and sometimes I'm like I think I can just be more assent you know I think I can just actually let

me allow them the space to and everybody the space to just kind of feel share say what they're saying without neither encouragement nor

discouragement just like receive what they're say saying and let them just speak so I think the listening is is really cool not always reacting not

always sharing not always saying something just like being more more more silent more taking the space to just yeah that's what I'm working on yeah I

love that I I can agree with you more I think it's like it's such a rare thing actually for someone to actually just listen and not have a reaction right and

and for them to know that they can keep I feel like when you listen that way people feel like they can actually speak from a deeper place they're not just thinking and speaking they're feeling and speaking because you're listening

from a from a feeling space as well yes and I wonder how do how do you explain Fame to them or explain or or do they how do they how do they interact with you said you're big personalities but

both of you have big lives like how did they make sense of you or are they still too young and they don't I mean they're pretty present you know they're pretty present I think about that often I mean

I'm I'm very much about I want us all in spaces that feel very very normal like I am very

very like about that I love to take them to their classes and I love to drop them off at school and I love to like we go and we go to the you know we go hang out at the park or we go somewhere we do

what we do and I really love that ease so I really want to put them in environments that feel like that so of course you know the side they're on the

tour bus for 3 months and that's also different so they I think but I do think they have a pretty good balance about it all and they're pretty like everyday

kids you know and I love that about them too I wonder how it feels or how they affect them they're they're both very empathetic like I know sometimes if we're out and someone you know they might have caught someone who wants to

take a picture but Ma just take a picture mom and you know when it's the right time I'm like okay cool but if it's the wrong time then it's also but say hello so happy to see you hope you're great thanks for saying hi and it

just might not be the right time and that's okay too so just showing them the boundaries too and um and but I think that you know sometimes sometimes

they'll say Genesis would be like Ma you know in school they they they they like that's Alicia ke it's like so annoying Mom I'm like that is annoying I feel you

that's annoying but you could just tell them that's your mom yeah like you could just tell them I know that's I see what you mean but that's actually just my mom so you could tell them that and then and

then egyp you know he's he's getting big and really strong in basketball and he's like doing so many amazing things he has a great Instinct and you know really like when we'll walk into a room it'll

be me and swiss and and it's if it's in the basketball Universe they'll be like there's Egypt like they actually are starting to know Egypt's talent and so it's really good and it's wonderful that

he has all of his own space and I think sometimes he might feel like I I that's what I want I want to make sure that it's not because of whatever else you know and so I I feel for them but I think that they they're pretty cool

about everything they have a good head on their shoulders you know they're they're kind they're loving they're thoughtful that's beautiful I'm really I'm really proud of them for all of them you know

we have a beautiful big blended family and I'm proud of all of them because it's like each has such a special unique cool personality and I'm just like y'all are like really cool I love it I feel

like you've been able to you know you've been in the music industry for so long I mean I I want to know how Hell's Kitchen felt like to be able to take parts of

your story inspire you know to see your music on Broadway I mean that feels like was it

was it a different challenge like what what was what was the what was that like for you to have to go from recording in in studios making music traveling to then doing Broadway like what did that

look like for you how were you creatively involved it was definitely as you said it's been a 13-year process and I think that's made it very cool like

really almost enjoyable because whereas maybe sometimes with because it was such a passion project I

knew it wasn't all going to happen quickly or at once and so I would be able to kind of take myself out of my like quote unquote normal life and go into this Workshop phase with Hell's

Kitchen and and I'd be able to figure out like what are you know what's the story lines me and the writer the book writer would get to it and we'd say here's the themes and here's the characters and here's the stories and

let's start to build this universe and then when the director came in Michael gri you know he was really instrumental he's kind of like that me and Chris Diaz who's the bookwriter are a little bit

more the newbies and then Michael grive is like the like the parental figure he's like this is what we do we do this we do this we do this we're good and sure enough we'd be like wow we we

needed that we didn't really know where we were going yeah so he was like a beautiful guide in light and then as time passed you know being able to connect with the public theater who's

the who's the theater who did you know Hamilton and Chorus Line and all of these incredible incredible shows even the SS they did and you know there's so

many beautiful things that they that created another level of like Clarity and just like refinement and really being able to bring it to life so all these things kind of happen in Pockets

like you know it'll be a 3- week process and then we'll hold tight for minut it'll be a two Monon process and then we'll hold tight a minute and then it'll be six months of just heavy and then we'll hold tight a minute and so it

really gave me the capacity to hold the container for the story and and for the meaning and I would always be able to come back to it and say this feels right or something's wrong about that we have

to figure that out and then when we brought in the choreographer she became another part of this beautiful tapestry and she was creating movement around the

songs in a way that I just never heard it before and my uh the the orchestrator who's also been a partner from to me in many ways musically Adam Blackstone you know we would create different versions

and instrumentals and I wrote new songs and so it was all these pieces and parts and you could start to feel little by little how it was all the right timing

but I feel like the biggest I wouldn't call it a challenge I'm looking for the right word the biggest growth or yeah maybe the biggest the biggest growth or

the biggest Awakening that I had with it was realizing that I could take this moment and I could almost take

everything that I ever didn't do right m M and I could fix it I could learn from it I could take it the knowledge and I

could put it into this process and I can fix it I could do it right because I actually had the the the experience and

so my intellectual experience that I had gave me the ability to really look at it in a way that I had truly never had before and then because of that

knowledge really cultivating the strongest team of really awesome people in this particular Universe to assist me

as a newbie you know as a person who hadn't quite traversed this path yet was so inspiring and enlightening and

empowering to really see that when everybody is the best at their field you really can create something that truly

is magical and so I learned so much from it and obviously that's been years and years and years and years and years and um and even just seeing it Off Broadway

and having to navigate our way through how can we perfect the story and there's still more to perfect there's still more to craft and doing that and being open and listening and really just being open

to was tremendously rewarding so so that day when we got that announcement that we had been nominated for 13 Tony yeah

it was freaky the 13 the 13 it was just all like something's really Divine here wow and it was unbelievable so it's been

such a Hands-On I mean I I am notoriously anal but in the best most loving way yeah because I just I know what it's supposed to be and I'm not going to let

it go until it's right what it's meant to be have you always been like that with all your music since day one and yeah yeah it takes that yeah that's what it takes and I've also learned how to like back off too like you know what let

it let it flow let it VI it's okay you got to back off of it sometimes but I am definitely smidge of a control freak how how have you yeah walked me through how you've refined that

perfectionism because in one sense the reason why you have 16 Grammys and you know all the rest of it is because all the successes come from that level of

work and ethic and effort and Perfection and you know all of that like tinkering and iterations and and everything and then where have you learned to let go or where have you what what is it that

you've done to flow at what point do you allow it to flow if someone's listening they're like Lea I'm a perfectionist too yeah I think that you know definitely

having the vision for what you want to create is wonderful and you likely are the only person that has that Vision if if you you know pass that off to

somebody the vision will shift right so which might be needed at a certain point but I think being comfortable saying I I really have this Vision I'm very clear

about it and following that is wonderful then I think starting to let other special not just anybody but special

folks who you realize they they're additive you know that what you create together or what they bring to the table can enhance the vision it is important

to let that in because if you don't let it in you're going to actually steal from the vision ultimately so I think that has been a beautiful process when

when you and when you know that feels right you know when it doesn't feel right and it's super hard and it's like a struggle and you arguing every okay it's not the right person you could let

that go but when you do see that things or people are becoming additive it's really good to allow that in allow that to to come in and then you get inspired

more and you're like oh I didn't know that we could do that now I could take that and make it even better because we've brought that part into it so I think that's a really special part of

the creative processes and I have learned that with even songwriting like so fun when you start to bring additional energies into the space not all the time so you lose sight of your

vision or of your Center that's happened to me too I'm like wait let me go back to the simplest because I've made this a bit complicated or you know overly done

but I think there's something really great about that and then you keep seeing that it's growing and it's adding and then you you can still hold space for division but

allow what helps it in and what makes it grow in and what makes it better in and and I don't think you have to be worried about that it's a beautiful thing yeah I've definitely developed so much more

respect and appreciation even more than I already had for artists the closer I've got to the industry just from watching because you forget that so many

projects are truly pure passion and that they took 10 15 20 years and when you hear about something like that that you're saying for someone like yourself

who's already successful already has tons of accolades in an in an area that's directly related but then to think you had to wait 13 years and work

for 13 years to pull that off right you you start recognizing that it takes so much patience and love even when you have already proved yourself because I

think there's this feeling that you people can get tired of proving themselves or having to prove themselves right and it can feel exhausting sometimes but the truth is that if you're growing and you're building and

you have something you care about right you're constantly having to prove yourself in a new space right and I think there's there's something

really exciting about that too cuz I think if you could open every door you would take it for granted you know you I could open that door too and

I'll open that door and all and yes can we open every door yes we actually can open every door but is it always going to be easy or this simple as no it's going to take time and you're going to

have to figure it out and work your way through it and come back to those places that you're like oh I got to dredge up this confidence again like I thought I was good in this department and here it goes again and all those learnings and

challenges that kind of takes you through just being a human being um is I think the beautiful part and and the excitement and the thrill and the

stimulus and and then you're like I I'm I am willing to work for this I'm willing to put in a Time for this I'm willing to even fail I'm even willing and what does that mean what does it

even mean actually I don't know what that means I am willing to work and to try and whatever comes from it is going to

be what I need it's going to be exactly what's needed yeah so it's it's it's beautiful I really I really enjoy it and I really find that I'm more grateful

than ever for sure for being able to spread my wings and be seiling lless or be edgeless because I really want to be

able to explore as much as I can and it feels really good to keep trying and and but most important I think the seed of what you said is the love it's all that

matter if you if there's something that you love go after it cuz it's meant for you and it might not be the way that you thought it was going to be or the length

of time you thought it was going to take or whatever all the other things are but man is I know it's meant for you if you love it yeah yeah you'll get to where you want in life just not in the way you

imagined it the timeline will be different the way it looks will be different the way it feels might be different even how you visioned it may be completely different but you'll get

there right and the journey will probably be better and a better story than you imagined it to be ever and hearing you say that is so so fulfilling

I want to ask you um one more question before we end with a final five and this question is more just just the way I've experienced you even today I'm like you've been in the industry for so long

since you 18 you said you know so much success moved around done so many different things and I feel like anytime I've been with you your energy is always like upbeat you've always been positive

you've always been giving like there's always been a a a really nice uh spirit and way about you that you have and I feel like you you've never become Jaded by the industry or Jaded by things

around you and you see that a lot for people and not in a judgmental Way You observe it but it seems like you've protected and carved out your space and and you're like happy place

and your safe space and I was wondering how have you done that when so many people can look at something and be like oh well I don't want to you know people be like I don't want to be too Hollywood I don't want to do too this I don't want

to to go to that but it feels like you've been able to protect yourself regardless you know being in a big thing and I I wonder how you've been able to do that and how you've been able to craft that

man this is I love this question I think that one of the back to the gifts of what I got from my mother

you know she was always really kind of somehow she made me think about how I made people feel and I remember that I remember you know it

would be simple things I changed my mind about going to a birthday party and she would be like but how would that make you feel and so somehow she helped me to

find my empathy and I can put myself into other people's shoes and I really appreciate

that was a gift and so I can look around me and I can feel empathy for other people like I want to connect with people I care about that I love bringing

good I want people to bring me good energy I don't want to bring someone else anything else but good energy like I I care about the energy that I cultivate in a space and I also have

learned that if I can't bring that energy then I can remove myself from that space like I don't have to be in this space if I'm not feeling good you know cuz I can also not feel good I

don't have to always feel good either that part was a lesson took me a while to get there too you know but um but I appreciate that I can I want to bring

that I'm conscious of what I'm bringing into a space and into a room and I want what I bring into a space to be something that feels good and and so I

think that that's kind of that's it I think that's really it and so just the distinction between the two giving myself permission to maybe not feel like

I can feel that space is great and then when I can and when I'm ready I do and that's what I want to do I want to bring that and I hold other people to that I'm like hey I don't bring you that energy I

don't I don't I don't want you to bring me that energy you know because my energy is precious and it's important and it's special and and it's just not free I don't just give it to those who

don't deserve it so I also had to learn the value back to one of my gaps of who I am and what what my energy is and what

a gift it is to be able all of our energy is a gift and we can kind of choose how how do we want to give it um

and so I love that and and learning when it's when to give it and when not to give it has also been a part of the journey too I think I'm doing better

with that I think I'm doing better man a lot of undeserving people got a lot of good Alicia energy oh really and it's like man no more of that no more of that like you got to know your limits you know like okay cool that doesn't mean I

have to be unkind to that person but they don't have to get my best beautiful energy they can kind of just yeah hold tight over there yeah and you only

realize that by giving it and knowing that you overg gave or underg gave right and you only know that by trying it out like I I know there are people in my life who I believe deserve way more that energy from me because they always have

that from me and right I may be overspent in this area and it's like looking at your bank balance at the end of the month and going where did I overspend and where did I underspend and energy is the same thing where did I

overspend my energy and who did I over spend my energy with and who did I underspend with facts and and let me reflect on that I love that I love that thank you Alicia I I I've metant the first time we ever did the interview was

only Audi during the pandemic right and I remember like obviously I mean it's a no-brainer that you have the most beautiful voice but I remember just listening to you because we were so present because I could just hear you

and it was a time yeah and it was and it was a time exactly it was a time uh but I'm so grateful to be able to see all your Expressions today and just you know see you come to life and we end every

onp purpose interview with what we call a final five every question has to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum one word or sentence yeah but I'll probably ask you for more because I

always break my own rules all right uh I'll try to be Swift I'm not good at that yeah it doesn't matter it's fine alici ke these are your final five so question number one what is the best

advice you've ever heard or received nothing before it's time my grandmother nothing before it's time I love that one uh question number two what is the worst advice you've ever

heard or received the worst the worst advice that I ever received was that I had to kind

of change myself to be accepted or that I was had to even if I felt uncomfortable I should do a thing because it's what you know was going to

be best received yeah that's it's good to hear I always like to make a list of all the worst advice everyone's had because people are going to hear it again right and hopefully they'll remember this

moment when they hear it it's good book Yeah question number three what was it like to perform at the Super Bowl oh man it was crazy it was totally insane this is a longer than a

sentence it was I found it so fascinating because it had to be built the whole thing had to be built and they had to time it in under 3 minutes it could be built and then we had to have

our performance in the amount and it had to be tick TI and so in it was live so it's crazy to see a live thing have to like operate in that level of like

finite detail I was like in awe and then obviously the place and the people and the vibe and the energy and it was just like really fun yeah it was like your dress in the piano and it was it wasan

crazy that was and the the the underneath the dress was the world's best puppeteers so they were actually puppeteers underneath the dress to make

it fly like that that was fantastic too W how did your control freak nature deal with that like three minutes and like the puppeteers you know I just we had

practiced so distinctly that I knew everything that was going to happen and it was perfect and I just kind of you know control freak until you can and and as an artist I just at a certain point

when you're when you're flowing and creating and writing and singing you do just have to like be in the moment so the control freak part comes when I'm designing or cre

the thing but once I'm in the thing you have to just go oh so that's beautiful I love that that makes so much sense that's a great clarification on the earlier Point too I love that and that completely makes sense in the

architecture the design that's where the perfectionist kicks in otherwise though it's like magic whatever happens whatever happens it's just perfect for that moment yeah that's beautiful uh question number four what's the first

offering you want me to use and the first offering you want Ry to use oh my God and I want you to give them to me now you can share them okay okay okay okay okay okay all right well I want you

both to wash your face with the golden cleanser but I want you to use the orist O spray this on my pillow on me it has

Rose it has Rose I think we might start spraying this in the studio every time now someone comes in and literally it just calms you inst that yeah the scent beautiful and it's I'm as free as the

air so you are is that the affirmation that's the affir as free as the air and you always are as free as the air but that's just a beautiful reminder and ra my best friend yeah that's beautiful is

these are the let me glow serums and this one I think is the bronzite I give my self permission to grow the bronze Aura so she's going to get all three of

these okay because she's glowing and she's so spectacularly authentic I just adore her so let me glow in all of the shades so that she can just like Ting

Ting Ching Ting Ching CU she already glows so we'll give that to her I can't wait see her I love it I can't wait for you to see her as well that's beautiful thank you so much we're so excited thank you for sending so much for my team as

well they excited I know we appreciate it appreciate it so much uh Fifth and final question if you could we ask this to every guest who's ever been on the show

if you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow what would it be I think my law would be that you you

you you cannot hurt another being you cannot hurt them physically you cannot hurt them emotionally you cannot hurt

them you cannot hurt another another being there's no reason there's no difference there's nothing that

allows the physical or emotional or spiritual you know negligence or hurting of another being I think that's a great

law it's a great law and then we'd actually have to look at why we'd want to hurt others and where that comes from and then actually heal our own hurt as

well that's that's incredible I love that that would be really amazing if we could look to that it's

beautiful Alicia Keys thank you so much I'm always happy when I'm with you I've always enjoyed collaborating and uh if only I could sing you know it's we'd be

doing a song but this is our song yeah this is our song I'm so grateful and uh I'm so excited for people to use Keys Soul Care and to have access to it and

to transform their heart their soul their mind and their body yes through this beautiful new offering and even the intentionality I was looking at how everything's called an offering there's

no products it's called Uh rituals not just routines like I I love all of that to it and I think I I do believe that physical and I'll call them products just for what I'm trying to say but I

think physical products are so important to remind us of what to do internally yes and we use them every day we do call them product offerings so you can kind of like gel the two together but you're

right it's like the physical embodiment the embodying of the philosophy or the practice and I love that and you live that you guys live that and thank you

for this such such for these questions that also made me pause and think about how I wanted to share them and I love

this show this show is so good but you know that already because it's like a smash so what no you're the best it means the world thank you for trusting Meely thank you so much thank you for

trusting me you too thank you big love amazing if this is the year that you're trying to get creative you're trying to build more I need you to listen to this episode with Rick Ruben on how to break

into your most creative self how to use unconventional methods that lead to success and the secret to genuinely loving what you do if you're trying to

find your passion and your lane Rick rubin's episode is the one for you just because I like it that doesn't give it any value like as an artist if you like it that's all of the value that's the

success comes when you say I like this enough for other people to see it