July 20, 2020 • 44 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the side Hustler's podcast. I am your host
from my heart Radio Carla Marie. Each week I talked
to someone who is following a passion outside of their
day job, or someone who has taken that passion, that
side hustle and turned it into their full time job. Now,
my full time job is hosting the Carla Marie and
Anthony Show on one or six point one Kiss FM
in Seattle. Links below on how you can listen to that.
(00:22):
But this podcast is really my own side hustle now
and it's been super cool getting to hear everyone's stories
because they're all so different. And this week's guest is
no different than that. Cassie Joe Craig, you may know
the name from American Injin Warrior. She was on a
bunch of seasons. She's a complete badass. She is also
(00:43):
a stunt woman in Hollywood. She's an actress, she's a singer,
and most recently she started making masks. She's got side
hustle on side hustle and business after business and talent
after talent, and we talked about all of those and
how she found her way into each of those things.
But we also talk about racial injustice, being by racial
in Hollywood for her, and growing up in Kansas. We
(01:05):
get into all of it in this episode. Again. You
can click all the links below to follow along. You
can check out Cassie's mass, her stunt reel, her Instagram,
her music, and more. This is Cassie Joe Craig's story
for a lot of people. You know, why are you way?
Do you know what you want to do? And this
is something you want to do, you do it. I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustlesde
(01:27):
s hust do it. I'm a hustle side side us love.
Come on, ask about me, yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call the Route. By far, the most
badass guests I've had on Side Hustlers is Cassie Joe
Craig and you can't even argue that, and anyone who's
been on this podcast will definitely agree. You've done some
(01:48):
crazy things and you continue to do crazy things, and
we're going to get into all of them. You grew
up in the Midwest. You're there right now visiting family.
How does a girl from the Midwest make her way
to Hollywood as a stunt woman, Like, what the hell,
how does that happen? I'm not completely sure myself, to
be totally honest with you, but I have been an
(02:08):
athlete my entire life. And the craziest thing that actually
happened after I finally moved out to Hollywood was that
I got that my first job because of somebody that
I went to high school with in Wichita, Kansas and
she had heard about me. So, I mean, that's even
even though it seems like those worlds are so far away,
the reason why I even got that job was because
of someone in Kansas that I knew. So that's kind
(02:30):
of the craziest part about it. Probably, So you told
me that you grew up doing all kinds of sports.
You did karate, your dad owned a dojo. Yes, I
grew up in the dojo pretty much. That was like
my after school babysitter. I would just like run around
and like jump on things until I was old enough
to take the classes. And then yeah, I started doing
karate and then gymnastics. I did that up until high school,
(02:52):
and then I started pull vaulting in high school. When
you see a poll, because so I did track and field.
When you see a poll vaulter, You're like, well, that's crazy,
but you don't realize like how high off they are
and how scary that is, Like you do have any
fear of heights at this point. I still do have
a healthy fear I think of heights because I have
also fallen from that high and I landed on the
(03:14):
cement on my tailbone twice. Yeah, and I had to
sit on a doughnut for like a weekend in class.
That was not fun. Yeah, So I do still have
a healthy fear of it, but I definitely still love
it and most mostly like to do things that involve
being high up in the air jumping off of things.
So yeah, I've seen a lot of the stuff you do.
(03:35):
I've I've watched your your reel, which I'm going to
put in the description of this podcast so people can
see what we're talking about when we're like jumping off
things and and one of the most recent things I
think you did was you're jumping off the wing of
an airplane in a dress. Yes, okay, how just someone
looks so elegant doing that And what was that for?
(03:56):
I doubled a professional dancer named Alison Stroming. I guess
I don't know exactly how to pronounce the last name.
She was doing a commercial and it was in the
Mojave Desert. There's a there's a an airplane graveyard in
the Majave Desert where it's just a bunch of really
old planes that have been discontinued and they just are
just sort of sitting around, and she dances through the
(04:17):
entire plane on her point she wasn't doing her thing,
and then at the very end she jumps off the
wing and it's it's for a camera, like a really
high definition to show that you can do really really
slow motion things. I think I was asked if I
could do a split leap, and I got a picture
of of what I needed to do, and then they're like,
and then you're going to fall into an air bag
and I was like, Okay, I think I could probably. Yeah,
(04:39):
I mean that, And that's how that the stunt really
kind of works. And I didn't know I was going
to be an address and I didn't know I was
going to be on point shoes until I got there
that the day of Yeah, did you have you ever
done anything in point shooes before? I used to do
Valt when I was twelve. I was on point for
just a little bit, and then I wanted to do
cheerleading because I wanted to get thrown in the air obviously,
(04:59):
so I get it the same. See here's the thing.
Though I also did cheer living, we took very different path.
I was also a flyer, and now here I am
on the radio and you're just flying around literally, So
you have the career that I'm always like, Man, I
wish I could do that for my pacords, so I can't,
and I'm too scared that I'm getting there. I'm starting
to get super achy. Good thing then that you have
(05:22):
now transitioned to sewing. Yes, So I do want to
talk about all the things that is Cassie. Like all
the things that you do, there's there's much more than
being a stunt woman, which obviously is the glitz and
the gland. When people like, oh my god, she jumps
off things like I did it too, it's so cool.
But there's way more to you than that. You went
to college for videography and graphic design. So when you're
(05:44):
you're going to college and you know you have this
ability to do all this physical stuff, why did you
jump into something like videography and graphic design. I never
thought that I could actually make a career being an athlete,
especially as a female. Even when you are an elite
level athlete, you typical they cannot make a you know,
a living off of doing that. So to me, I
never thought I was going to be an athlete after college.
(06:05):
I was like, this is just helping me pay for college,
and then once I'm done, I will get a desk
job and I'll hopefully being graphic design because that's what
I like to design and be creative and stuff. So
it worked out perfectly, and then I decided that that
wasn't exactly what I wanted to do after all, I guess,
But you still did that job while diving into all
of this, So yeah, I definitely did. Ninja Warrior Season
(06:28):
seven was, I guess, the first time that the world
really saw you. What made you apply for Ninja Warrior.
A bunch of friends were sending me videos of a
girl named Casey cat and Zorow who had done really well,
and she was a gymnast in college, and we we
had very similar builds and stuff and similar names too,
I guess, And so I just I think, I think
(06:49):
fifty people posted it on my Facebook ball in like
two days. There was so many people, and I was like,
I guess I should do this thing called Ninja Warrior.
I still listened to Elvis Duran, but I was listening
in words. Danton was on there and he was talking
about it, and I was thinking about doing it and
so and I think that kind of helped a little
bit too, because I didn't know anybody that was doing it.
And then me and me and Anthony started just like
(07:10):
have being pimples and going back and we're like, Okay,
what are you gonna do for your video? Are you
gonna you know, how are you training? Like? Are there
gyms where you're at? Da da da da? So that was, honestly,
it's kind of funny, like that's how I you know,
how I think this happened even because of that random
message I sent him five years ago. Now, well, so
two things here. I'm not gonna let Anthony take credit
for your career as a sun woman, So that's not
(07:31):
gonna happen, because that's almost what it sounded like, and
we're not getting kidding. But also, I always talk about
the importance of just sending the message, of just reaching
out to someone and that was more than five years
ago at this point, and it was just because you
guys did connect. You then found out, oh and he
does now does the show with this other girl, and
(07:51):
we were able to be connected and now here we are.
And no matter what the message is about, whether it's
networking or you just heard someone talk about something that
you want to do in the same way you did,
just reaching out to people and communicating is so important.
It's everything is everything, and I'm sure in all the
industries that you're a part of, but also just communicating,
like you said, the person from high school helped you
(08:13):
get your first job in l A And in the
stunt world, I'm sure it's a lot of I don't
want to say who you know, but just making the
right connections is always important. Yeah, and then the stunt world, actually,
especially more than ever, it is who you know. A
lot of times when you're looking for a stunt double,
you message a friend and they and you say, hey,
we need a girl that's this height that can do
(08:35):
a high fall, like just the specific ballet thing. We
need a girl that has done dance or gymnastics and
is not afraid of high falls and so then that
person says, oh, I know a girl, and then then
you know what I mean. So in the stunt world especially,
it's so important, and I'm glad that I have that
part in me already. You know that. It's that you
know that I can just sort of reach out and
network and make sure I'm making those connections. But it's
(08:58):
everything everything. Then when did you go from doing videography
and graphic design like that was your nine to five.
You're in front of the computer all the time, creative, Yeah,
of course doing this stuff. When do you go from
doing that to being paid to jump off things? I
got a job about a year out of college. I
got that job at the software company. And four years
(09:20):
into that, that was two years into Ninja Warrior time,
and I had started going out to Los Angeles and
meeting a lot of people and training and doing live
music with friends and stuff. And then one day I
just went into my boss's office and I was like,
I think I'm going to move to l A in
the next few months, probably in Kansas, which is like
(09:40):
when yeah, another world. I feel like yes, And so
I was like, this is this is what I really
want to do. You can bring in somebody at any
time so that I can start training them because at
the time I was the lead artistic designer, so I
was the lead like marketing designer for everything that we
used for meetings and any sort of presentation or could
mention or something. So after I had that conversation with him,
(10:03):
he just sort of looked at me and he was like,
we'll just take your office with you then to l A.
And I was like, what do you mean. He's like, yeah,
just just pack everything with you. We'll give you a
few days to get out there and then you can
just set back up and you know, work from home,
same hours. I think we could make it work. And
I was like, I cried, yeah, And I was just
like so relieved that I didn't have to go to
l A and you know start over. A year into
(10:24):
being in l A and working from home is when
I got a call for the stunt. The stunt job
and I also was auditioning for commercials. What was that
first stunt job? That one was for black lightning on
the c W Yes, crazy, Yeah, doubling China McClane, She's
the best. Was that your first set that you were
ever on? Almost the very first set I was on
was two days before I was on that set, which
(10:46):
was the Apple commercial. Okay, that was the first time
I was at auditioned for the Apple commercial. Yea, then
you got the job with black lightning on the c
W and then you've got the Apple gig all in
one week. Yep, yep, after having zero jobs for a
year and auditioning and you know what I mean, like
(11:06):
doing hustling, which is normal, it's just super normal. It's
way more normal to go more than one year. Actually,
So I was like just you know, in it, kind
of enjoying the process of it. And then all of
a sudden, Yeah, I just had to My whole life
changed and I had to quit my job. And so
that year, when you were doing your your graphic design job,
working remotely, you're going on these auditions. How do you
(11:27):
do find the time to do that? Was your job?
Like gets okay if you leave for like an hour
in the middle of the day to go audition, Like,
how does that work? Yeah? I mostly worked on a
deadline basis, so I had to have things done by
a certain day at a certain time. And as long
as I was getting things done, and I always got
them done early, at least a day or two early.
I always made sure that I was, you know what
(11:48):
I mean, because I knew there would be days where
they would try and call and I'd be like, crap,
I was just in an audition, and I you know,
I didn't. I never wanted to take advantage of it.
But they were very they were. They were really good
about it beccause I made sure I was really good
and making sure they knew that they could trust me,
and that even if I was, you know, m I
a for the day was that I was going to
get my stuff done that needed to be done. That's
(12:09):
really cool. It's awesome when you have that kind of
support system to be able to follow your dream, Like
your company could be like no, never mind, like we're
gonna hire someone else because you're going to leave us eventually.
But they were great, they were. I was waiting for
it every day for them to be like, you know,
this is just a little bit too tough and so,
but they never did. Obviously, you're a great worker all around. Okay,
so you get the job on the CW. What is
(12:32):
that like For those of us who have never been
an actor or a stunt woman, what is that situation
like is the actor there when you're about to do
the scene that you're gonna stunt for them? How does
that work? Typically the stunts are planned out in advance,
and we do a process called a pre visualization of
(12:53):
whatever the stunt is going to be. Typically, um, it's
just the stunt person that does the pre viz and
then they send it off to get it approved, and
then once that happens, we will typically bring in the
actor and teach them the fight or whatever thing it is,
if they need to be taught, if not, if it's
just a thing that I'm going to be doing, Like
I've ran through a couple of windows. Now, we we
(13:15):
don't bring her in and teach her how to run
through the window. There's no world where she's going to
go breaking through glass, Like no, she's you know what
I mean, Like she cannot, But how do you learn
how to run through glass? And you just do it?
And that was my very first stunt my first week
of working was running through window and there you only
(13:38):
have one wind, they only have one window. They don't
have just like a bunch of windows that you know,
I can break And and to be fair, the windows
are called candy glass. It's made out of glass that's
just not very dense. It's not candy or anything, but
it does break a lot, a lot easier, and it
doesn't cut very deep. Okay, oh my god, you're superficial,
(14:00):
just superficial. And then you're just like, no big deal
another day. So you're doing that with the CW but
then the ink you've got what apple which people can
see on your Instagram Cassie Joe Craig, which also there's
a link below in the description, that is very much
you are the stock like Cassie Joe Craig is the
star of that commercial, and that's I'm assuming obviously polar
(14:22):
opposite then just jumping in as someone else and on
a TV show, so you can obviously act as well,
you're not you jump off the buildings, but you can
also act to and that watching that commercial like, oh
my god, what's going to happen? This is crazy? What
was that like? Being on the set, being the center
of attention for something and then just being so badass
(14:42):
doing all the things that you were doing. I was
so lost. I didn't know what people were saying to me.
I didn't know that I needed to tell people that
I was going to go to the bathroom like things
like I just kept getting not getting in trouble. But
it was just a lot of me being like what
that mean, and like asking people under my breath like
(15:03):
you know, like I don't I don't know what you're saying.
Like the words you're saying to me, I've never heard
in my entire life. When you say back to one,
do you mean like back to the first thing we
did today? Or or do you mean like back to one?
Like are there numbers on the ground? You know what
I mean? Like I'm like, I don't know where, I
don't know what or what one is. It's funny because
(15:25):
anyone can go back to their very first day at
like their very first job or whatever I was and thinking, oh,
I didn't know anything. You're right, But then you add
the Hollywood aspect to it. Oh my god, the pressure
that would be nerve wracking. But you still nailed it.
Like it's amazing how it came out. I faked it
so hard. I mean, I'd like I've never had to compartmentalize,
like my brain more than just being like yep and
(15:47):
trying to just look like you know, because there's when
you and I was the main person in that in
that commercial, and so I could feel that I needed
to make it seem like I knew what I was
doing because there were so many people there that took
their job very seriously, and I felt like, first of all,
that I didn't really deserve to even be there at all.
(16:08):
And you know what I mean that it was just
a lot of like faking it. You felt like you
didn't belong there. Do you still have that feeling now
at certain things? Do you think that is just because
you're super grateful that you're there. Do you think it's
imposter syndrome? It used to be grateful at first, and
then the more I get to know more people in
the industry and what they've gone through and their stories
(16:30):
and how rare it is that any of these things
have happened to me, it's become slowly more and more
like an imposter syndrome where I just feel like pretty
guilty about it. I feel like that, I mean a
lot of us feel like that. But someone else picked
Like you didn't say I'm doing this job on this set,
(16:51):
I'm taking over, Like someone else picked you because they
think that you belong there, and I think all of us,
anyone who's been on this podcast who has said it,
myself included, I need to remember that someone else's yeah, right,
but but true though. It's people believe in you, and
that's why you're there, and clearly you crush it and
that's why you keep getting games and you're amazing at it.
(17:12):
But there's something else that was thrown into the mix.
You also can sing and you perform. Where did music
come in? So? I've always loved doing music. I've always
loved watching people play the piano and like matching their
hands and stuff, and that was just something I would
do for fun. And then it was a drunken night
out with a friend and I was like, hey, I
(17:32):
was like, I've been playing the piano lately with the
musician friends. Anyways, it was a drunken night and then
we made a song the next day, and that song
I just hit a million. You know, No one says that, right,
No one says, yeah, like I was just done. My friend,
I've been like playing piano, were drunk. We made a
song the next day and it just what was that
fact you were going to say? I think of four
(17:53):
or five months ago, I hit a million streams on Spotify.
What song and what song is that? It's called Pressure.
It's a Josh Silly song. Oh yeah, I think, I
think I am. I was on the I was on
We had you on the air, and yeah he did
years ago, years ago, probably four years ago. Maybe, Yeah,
that makes sense. But the song is amazing and we
(18:14):
also put that link below too if people to check
out the song. But it's crazy. Can you dance? Also?
It depends on what kind of dancing, because I know
we hear the triple threat in Hollywood people who can sing,
act and dance. But you can sing, act, dance and stunt,
so you just blew them all out of the water.
I think your voice is incredible too. I'm like, seriously,
can you just share some of your talent? Like, what
(18:36):
the heck is music? A side hustle to stunting? Is
stunting a side hustle to music? How does that? That's
a hard one. I would say music is probably the
side hustle just because it's it's just inherently so hard
to make money doing music and like make a living.
So I have been Yeah, I think that it's my
side hustle in my but in my brain. It's probably
(18:58):
the thing I'm most passionate about, but I do know
that I cannot necessarily sustain myself with it right now,
right right now, right now. So what do you perform?
You perform live, also play, because you said live music,
So where do you perform? I was performing at the
Ordinary out in Long Beach. That that was pretty regular.
But whenever I do Black Lightning, I move out to Atlanta,
(19:21):
and I live in Atlanta for half the year. So
when I go back and forth like that, it's tough
to keep, you know, like the momentum of music and
live music especially going. But once I got back, I
was getting called to do gigs pretty regularly, right right
before the COVID happened and shut everything down, right, So
let's talk about that then. Obviously, Hollywood shut down live
music or just being able to be places and see music,
(19:44):
whether you want to perform it or watch someone performing,
that shut down as well. So you do as you do,
and you launched. Apparently you know how to sew like
a bad act, and you created these amazing masks. So
we've got the a person who jumps off buildings, airplanes,
runs through glass, who can also sing graphic designed to
(20:06):
videos she could also sell, so and why and how
did that come in? So I have pretty severe asthma
when this hit and I realized and I was here
my mom. My mom's a nurse, and my stepdad is
a doctor, and so I was getting really good information
about what it exactly it is I needed to do
to make sure I was being safe. So I bought
(20:28):
a really cheap sewing machine on Amazon. It I don't
know how it happened, but I decided to make masks,
maybe two days before the rest of the world decided
to make masks. Because I got one week's worth of
like supplies for masks pretty much, and then the next
time I looked, it was going to take me months
to get anything else. It was the craziest thing, but
(20:49):
I I got them. I actually made my first mask
I made out of the sheets on my bed because
they were just for my face and like for some
of my friends. So I just put them through the
wash on the hot like through a hot side full
a couple of cycles, and I just cut my sheets
up because they that that microfiber that really you know,
high thread count material is what you need to put
(21:09):
on your face. So I just made some double air
mass with ties for me and my friends, and then
more and more people needed him more, more people were
messaging me about him, and and I was like, probably
a thousand dollars in of just buying, of just buying things. Yeah,
I mean, because you got to get the packaging, you
have to get the printing stuff in the ink for
(21:29):
the printer. You have to get you know what I mean. Like,
you gotta get more wise, you gotta get more thread.
You gotta get all the colors of the thread so
that it matches, you know what I mean. And I'm
just like, oh my gosh, I'm a thousand dollars in
and I need to break even at least break even
if I don't mind, Yes, yes, exactly that. Yeah. And
I'm like, I I want to be part of the
solution and part and try to help and make everyone
(21:51):
feel a little bit more comfortable right now, because I
know I feel very uncomfortable, very you know, vulnerable. But
you know I can only donate so much, so much
when you know that I'm going to beat the person
that needs, you know, donations. So I started putting it
on Etsy, and oh my gosh, I couldn't believe how
quickly everything just like at just blew up, and I
was in the weeds for weeks, really just sewing every
(22:14):
single day, fifteen sixty hour days. Good thing. You had
nothing else to do. Yeah, a good thing. Good thing,
But I did. I think I lost my mind just
a little bit because I just sat in my living
room at my desk, in a pile of scraps around me,
and watched, you know, binge watch TV and sewed on
my little sewing machine. You made an et shop which
people can check out again is below, but it's called
(22:36):
Custom Mask Shop, which I also think. When you first
told me that, I'm like, why didn't she put her
name in it? Because people know her? But now that
I think about it, people are probably like, especially since
you were one of the first ones up there finding
just typing in custom mask, you probably pop up for
people all over, So that was kind of a genius
name to do that. I don't know if you did
that on purpose, I don't know. There weren't very many
(22:57):
options that I could pick, honestly, and I did want
to put my name in it. I don't know. I
didn't want it to be so connected to me. I
guess I totally understand though, sewing. How did you learn
how to sell? Oh? So my grandmother taught me how
to sew. My dad so I'm by Rachel. My dad
is black and my mom's white, and my dad's mom
so's every day she sews quilts and she hands stitches
(23:19):
like embroidery and does all that. And she taught me
when I was really young how to sew. It took
me a few masks, a few maybe like twenty masks
to like get back into it. But yeah, so I
just knew the basics and I just went from there. Honestly,
is she still around? Yeah, she's really excited. She loves it.
She's so pumped. I was gonna say, she's probably super proud,
like who knew the things she taught you and you
(23:39):
were a little is now you're saving lives by doing this.
I don't really thought of it that way, but yeah, No,
it's protecting people and it gives them something like I
know when I have my mask, like, oh, which mask
am I going to wear today? And I'm excited to
wear my mask from you, But it's it's kind of
like an accessory now, and the fact that we people
like you who are not only making them safe for
us and right sizes and all of that that we
(24:01):
need to keep them comfortable, but they're pretty too, and
you can have some sort of your personality during this
time when it's mentally uncomfortable to have to do this,
and you don't have to wear the ugly medical blue
one every you know, you can wear a pretty one.
So it is great that we have people like you
who know how to sell, because I don't. During this
time of launching an etty shop, you've obviously you've never
(24:23):
owned a business before, You've never what are some things
that you were like, Oh my god, I had no
idea how to worry about that. Because a lot of
people were on this podcast kind of have a business
plan going into things and know what they're doing and
know they want to own a business. You like just
fell into this. Yeah. I think the craziest thing about
it was after you make the masks, the amount of
(24:44):
actual sewing I do is so minimal. Now I have
to you know what I mean, I have to get
all the orders to count them out, sort everything out,
cut everything, and then after the masks are done, then
I have to make sure that all of the packing
slips are correct, and then I have this little insert
it goes into this so that tells people how to
care for the masks and stuff. And then when that
runs out, I have to go and print more, and
(25:05):
I have to cut it out and you know what
I mean. And I have to cut all the strings
out and make sure they're the same length and tie
them together and put the little slip knot thing on it.
That like, I just can't believe how long it takes.
And it's made me understand, like you know, when you're
you're buying clothes at all, and you're just like, why
is it so expensive? I'm like, I have to sell
these twenty I have to sell them. Yeah, the materials minimal,
(25:27):
but it's the amount of time and like all of
the things that I have to have in stock just
to make this run this way. It's like I'm breaking
even charging you this much for the mask, you know
what I mean. It's great that part about it has
just been unreal. I'm sure you have a new appreciation
for custom things or things that Yeah, for sure, I
cannot imagine I listen, I also can't focus on something
(25:50):
that long. So kudos to you for being able to
do that. Where do you get the materials now or
do you still have issues ordering stuff now? No, it's
pretty good now. So now I order everything on Amazon
and then I get sheets. I get high thread count
linen's so that it feels good against the face. So
I got some cotton for a little while, but it
(26:11):
wasn't really made like for sensitive skin. It's cotton, but
it's kind of scratchy. I don't know how, I don't
know explain it. So I went back to getting linens
and some some of the designs on the outside of
the mask are cotton and not quite as soft, but
they're way cute and it doesn't matter because it's not
against your face and you don't think, yeah, your your
designs are super cute. And they are different. And we've
(26:32):
had Ugly Yellow House on the podcast. They make cloth
bow ties and they've pivoted during this to make face masks,
so they also had to have a lot of you know,
the same stuff you're saying, how do they know the
size or this? And then all the little things that
go into it. And then another previous gas, Lana Ray Handmade,
makes leather handbags and she's also pivoted to doing masks
(26:53):
for people too, because she can suck and you're the
people who have the skill that you also have be
able to say, Okay, how can I help right now?
And I'm always proud of having people like you and
them on this podcast who want to help and want
to use what they have to help and it's really cool.
So I commend you for doing that. It's amazing. Are
you going to keep doing it when Hollywood kicks back up? Yeah,
(27:14):
I think I'm gonna have to because I don't know
how soon it's gonna pick back up, and I think
that people will be needing them, especially on sets and stuff.
So I'll have a little like set hustle on set
maybe if I you know what I mean, Like, and
I can make them custom I can make like for
black Lightning, I can just get fabric with little lightnings
on them and then make them for the whole you
(27:36):
know what I mean. Like, There's just so many things
I can do, and I love having something. It's kind
of meditative to a certain extent. If I'm not in
the completely in the weeds, it's very meditative. So and yeah,
you may be the only person in Hollywood who has
the talent I feel so use it. Get it out
there and make everyone use it. It'll be really cool.
You mentioned that you are biracial, and I told you
(27:58):
I wanted to talk to you about that because it's
so important right now to have these conversations. That's kind
of why you and I started talking on Instagram recently.
And I'm curious about in Hollywood. Obviously, we know it
is an issue. We know that there aren't that many
roles for black actors, let alone black female actors. So
(28:19):
as a stunt double or a stunt woman going into that,
you must then know, well, there's not even that many
black females, let alone black females are going to be
in a position of power to have a role that's
going to be so badass for me to fill in.
It's am I crazy thinking that? And what is that world? Like?
I can't speak to the stunt world a ton because
I just have not been in it quite long enough.
(28:41):
I really no, no, But it does seem like the
biggest thing in stunts that we're finally that people are
finally getting really strict about is that if you have
a black actress or actor, you have to double that
person with a minority and they didn't used to do that.
That's crazy to me. And it used to be I
(29:02):
think because they maybe they didn't think there were enough,
but there always have been. This is something that's finally
been been you know, they're cutting down and then they're
just like, there's no way, it doesn't matter if that
person is off the street and we can't find anyone
else and we just have to pull somebody, you know
what I mean, Like not literally that, but I mean
it's like that, like there they would almost do that.
Now it's just one of those things. It's it's just
(29:23):
like black face in Hollywood. It used to be very normal.
It just was the thing that I think Judy Garland
did black face like so many huge but it was
just such a normal thing that no one really you
know what I mean. So and I think it's just
one of those things. It's it's finally getting yeah, yeah,
it's finally getting washed out of Hollywood, which is that well,
(29:44):
it doesn't matter as long as that person, you know,
we can just pay them down to make them look
like it, which you know you do that sometimes like
even if you feel like if you're not the right
shade of that person's skin, then they'll they're gonna change
it so that it's not that noticeable, right, But that's
that's the point. But that's right, right, exactly that. But
it's very very different when you're not giving black stunt
(30:06):
people work because you can just paint down a white
person instead. The other part of that those is even
like in the background when you get a bunch of
stunt people because maybe there's an explosion or maybe there's
like a street thing where people are running and bumping
into each other. A lot of times people in those
scenes are are stunt people, and they don't have to
look a certain way. They just get a bunch of
(30:28):
nondescript stunt people in to be the people that get
run over, like not get run over, but they bump
into each other, maybe fall fall to the ground. Right,
that's those are all stunt people in those in these scenes.
So and a lot of times in those especially, they
will they'll just mostly just get a bunch of white people.
But that's not the world look like exactly exactly that.
So it's a little bit of it's it's the doubling thing,
(30:50):
but it's also just like and why why is this
whole scene just all white people. You could have easily
like made that it's a it's a street in New
York City. That's not what the streets in New York
City look like. No, it's a whole thing that that.
It's like all the things that are happening right now.
It's just like people. But it's amazing think about it. Yeah,
(31:11):
it's amazing that there is going to be changed and
in the places that a lot of people didn't think about,
like you just told us, like I wouldn't have really
thought about extras or doubles. And it's great because that
stuff will change and people may not even notice it,
but it doesn't matter because you're going to see it
when you're watching movies. It's so much better to see
diversity on the screen than just, like you said, just
(31:31):
seeing white people all the time. And that's what we need,
and that's what we need this next generation of kids
to grow up with, because it will be a much
better place for them and they'll make it a much
better place for us, which will be amazing. But growing
up in Kansas half black or I'm sorry, do you
say you say by Rachel? I want to because I oh?
Either ways, fine, So growing up in Kansas. What was
(31:52):
it like for you. My parents did a really good job,
I think of unfortunately not letting me see that or
experience it in a way that they thought they were
sheltering me, I think from that world. So I mostly
went to an all white school. I was a cheerleader,
and I had a lot of friends, and so I
didn't really notice that it was happening because I was
(32:14):
always around the upper middle class white people all the time,
and they were all very nice, and sometimes they would
say the in order around me, but then they would
be like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't
mean it did me and then and it was always
it would always be fun, you know what I mean,
Like little things that I was just like, this is
just the world, Like this is just it's progress. Though
at least we're not slaves anymore. Like that, And that
was like the mentality that you either have as a
(32:36):
black person if you're sheltered, or you have that as
a white person if you're like, but you guys aren't
slaves anymore, Like how are you talking about? Like what
are you talking about? That? Racism isn't real? We had
a black president, you know what I mean? Like I
think it was that God statement. I mentioned that on
one of my previous episodes where I've heard people be like,
but look at Oprah and look at Obama, and I'm like, Okay,
(32:56):
you can't just pick two black people this entire universe
and tell me then there's no racism because there's two
black people who succeeded. Come on, like, come on. So
I'm glad you also said that, because when I said
that to Denay on the on the podcast when I
had them and they were like, wait, what people say that,
and I'm like, yeah, I hear that. That's also another
thing about black people as entertainers also, which is like
(33:19):
you can't just go and and and talk about all
of the basketball players and Oprah's and actors because you're
just saying people that are there for your entertainment, kind
of like get out. Get out is kind of a
little is kind of like that. It's pretty much like
black people are there for sports and to look good
and to like maybe have like a high LIVIDO or whatever.
(33:40):
But their brain is not intelligent. They're not made to
make decisions, and they're not made to like run countries
or to be that middle class of people who you
know own small businesses or that work at a software company.
Like leaving the place you grew up in helps you
grow in so many ways. And I can see I
compare myself to people that I grew up with, and
(34:01):
I'm like, how do you not understand this? And it's like,
because you're still in the bubble that you grew up in. Yeah,
it's real, and it's a really uncomfortable thing. I have
this empathy especially from my mom's my mom in general,
because she is part of the side of me that
that has They will never understand what this is, and
(34:23):
that's hard to It's hard to tell someone there's this
thing that's going on. You're never gonna understand it, you're
never going to experience, but you need you need to
believe that it's real and you need to like, we
need allies, and we need you to be on our
side on this and we need to fucking do whatever
we need to do to fix it. And to tell
somebody that and for them to be like you want
me to be on board or something that I'll never experience,
(34:44):
I don't know, you know, and not that my mom's
said this, like she was very good about being like, okay,
like I'll look into it. I'm I'm not, I'm not
exactly sure what you're talking about. And then she did
and then she came back. But most people are just
they're just offended by the fact that the or something
like they feel helped was. I think it's maybe feeling
a little helpless, feeling a little offended about something that
they didn't They didn't do anything, actually do anything. But
(35:06):
the fact that you're white is a privilege and that
and you will not and not even in a negative way.
It's just is a privilege that you won't ever have
to deal with it. But it's how do you how
do you use that privilege for good and to even
out the playing field? And like you said, me an ally,
and I think that is something that a lot of
people are learning this year. Yes, unfortunately now opposed to
(35:28):
a hundred years ago. But it's happening. I did not
think it would happen in my lifetime, to be totally
honest with you, I didn't. I thought that. I was like, well,
we're probably gonna have to wait a few generations for
the kids to look a little bit more like me,
and or for people to just start googling things more
and for you know what I mean, I didn't think
that I would be having these conversations in my lifetime,
(35:50):
to be completely honest with you, I was like, there's
no world where I'm going to sit people down and
it's going to make a difference to explain this to someone.
And so that's that's really very cool. Yeah, it's it
is exhausting, and it's very like trying, and you know,
you cry with joy and you like cry with frustration
when someone's not listening, and you know what I mean,
especially when that person is maybe close to you or
(36:11):
like maybe an X or something with that's never fun.
That's happened and that's not the best thing ever. That
really makes you feel insane. But were you with the
person when that happened? No, No, No, it was just
an ex but a good friend, you know, someone that
I've you know, we need a whole new podcast to
talk about X. Oh my goodness, girl, especially Dayton. Now,
(36:35):
jading is crazy for me, like dating a white guy.
I'm like, so okay, let's talk about Yeah, Like I
need to know where you're at on this really quick
because it's no way you know, but it's so good
that you can learn that right away. Yeah, that it's crazy,
but it's sounding completely insane. Yeah, no exactly, which is
so messed up to think that a year ago I
(36:57):
asked that, you would have been no, but that's it's
the truth. They so. A few episodes ago, I had
Tanisha and Denay on together. They are previous guests. They
do completely different things, but I had them on to
discuss being black female business owners. And one of the
things they talked about it wasn't even about well, it
was about the workplace and whatnot. It was about their
hair as a black female. And one of the first
(37:20):
things I think people notice about you, Cassie is your hair.
It's incredible. You have these beautiful braids, and it's brunette
and blonde and and it's wild and I love it because,
first of all, I can never do that and I
can never pull it off. So to me, it's it's beautiful. Now,
I'm assuming you have people commenting on your hair and
often touching your hair. Yes, what it talked to me
(37:43):
about that because both of those women were like they
hated it. I don't get a ton of people touching it. Luckily,
I've definitely been in situations where like putting me on
display kind of thing. It's like it's like, you know,
I'm very often one or the only black person in
the room, and so whenever I do have my braids
in like this that it becomes very very big, like
(38:04):
kind of there for everyone's like visual enjoyment and how
did you do that? How does it work? And da
da da, And it's like it's I don't mind if
that you're interested in my hair, of course, it's just
the way you're going about it makes me feel like
i'm the Denay described it as like I'm your pet,
is how she described It's like, I'm not your pet.
You know you can compliment my hair. Of course. She's like,
(38:26):
I'll take a compliment any time, but I'm not your pet.
Don't touch me and don't act like that. So one
of the first things I didn't notice about you was
your hair, and it's like it's beautiful. And then as
we were just talking, I'm like, oh, I wonder if
you you deal with that the same way that they do,
because your hair is very unique and I'm I'm not glad,
but I'm it's interesting to see how you do have
(38:47):
the same sentiment as both of them. And yeah, it
was for Tunisia. It was the same thing when she
had her braids in and she has a flight attendant
and she deals with people like we'll touch them on that.
Oh no, yeah, it happens. Why would they do that?
So right now you are back in Kansas visiting family.
You mentioned to me that people have been wanting to
(39:07):
do interviews with you about different stuff from your hometown,
but you told them you weren't going to do interviews
about your life as a stunt woman or anything else
that you're doing if you didn't get to talk about
racial injustice. Sure, yep. What has the feedback been when
you say that to these publications without you don't have
to throw anyone under the bus, No, I won't. And
and and it's because it's so that's been only positive.
(39:29):
And I wasn't prepared for it because the one that
and it's a splurge magazine is what it's called out
here in Wichita, and I was a little bit worried
because they do it is sort of like a lighter
magazine and they like to, you know, talk about things
going on in Wichita. Just it's sort of like a
pop culture magazine, just letting people know what kind of
what's going on. And I was a little bit nervous
(39:50):
that they weren't going to want to talk about something
like this, But I was also like, I am a
black female and probably one of the few that you
will have or have had on this magazine. So there's
no world where you get to have a black girl
on your magazine and look you know what I mean,
and look like a publication that's inclusive. In this time,
(40:12):
you don't get to have both. You don't get to
have me on your cover and also me not talk
about maybecause a little bit of a stirt, So you
don't get to get one or the other. You don't
get to look inclusive, but not the tough conversations. You
don't get to like, Okay, it's not you don't just
get to check off a box. It's way more than that.
And that's amazing that you were able to do that.
And I'm assuming you had a great interview with them
(40:34):
and they did talk about it. Yes, it was really great.
I was shocked that they asked as many questions they did,
and it was really one of those things that I
got off the phone. It was a two hour long
conversation I think ended up being pretty long. It was nice.
It was one of those exhausting but like really uplifting
conversations that I had. And you know, there's just there's
no way I'm going to be like, hey, I'm on
(40:55):
the cover of this magazine on my Instagram or something.
And then people are like, and you just talked about
your self and how great your career has been. First
of all, you're unemployed right now, and also there's a
whole other thing going on in the world that's way
more important than any of the things that you're talking about.
And I was like that, I just I wouldn't be
able to do it. I wouldn't be able to look
(41:15):
back on that and be like, four kids, you know,
this is doing the Black Lives Adder movement, Dad, da da.
And then they're like, well, why don't you talk about it,
and like, oh, that's a great question. Well, I just
wanted to be palpable, and I'm like, I'm tired of
being palpable. I'm tired of being the most palpable black
girl in the room, which is what I feel like
I've always that's been my my goal for so long,
(41:36):
and now I'm like, why the hell. Yeah, at what
point did you realize that that you were doing that?
Probably right around the time the like probably five years ago,
right around then. But it didn't mean I stopped. It
just meant that I was aware of it now, but
it didn't feel like there was another option to be
also because it had gotten me pretty far in life
(41:56):
at that point too. And so at that point you
start realize. You start being like, well, do I get
ahead in life by being and saying and doing what
is the most comfortable thing? Or do I burn some bridges?
And and now now I'm there. Now I'm like, good
to burn all the bridges. I'm tired of not saying
my piece. I'm tired of you know what I mean,
(42:18):
feeling like the girl's like, well, we don't want to
really talk about the movement and me being like okay,
I understand, like, no, there's no world like them. That's
long gone, long gone. Well, and it's awesome that you
have a platform and you are in in a world
like Hollywood where you can do that, or in the
music industry where you can make change that will affect
others in the sense of if you can say something
(42:40):
like you said in a meeting that could help someone,
and it could help what ends up being on screen.
You never know that the millions of people who are
gonna watch it. So it's incredible that you have that
mentality now and you are in a place that can
really make a change. You've got a platform, you've got
social media, you've got all of it. You've got your music,
and you've got your mass which not necessarily that, but
you've got them and they're amazing, and I'm proud of you,
(43:02):
and I'm I'm so glad that we finally got to
have this conversation and have you on the podcast, because
you're unlike anyone who's been on here the same way.
Every guest is completely different than the person before them,
but everyone's got their story, and it's just incredible how
you've been able to have all these passions and follow them.
And do you think you'll ever do graphic design again?
I actually I did do a little bit. I have
been doing that on and off for people too. So
(43:25):
one day when you're back hurts really bad, you can
just do at the computer and do graphic design when
you're o oh my gosh, yeah, and I can't walk anymore.
That'll be perfect. Well, Cassie, thank you for being here,
thank you for being awesome, Thank you for having me.
Thank you so much for listening to side hustlers and
supporting everyone who is on this podcast. Click the link
below to shop Cassie's mass. You can follow her on Instagram,
(43:46):
check out her stunt reel which is incredible, and listen
to her music which is also amazing. Thank you again
for being here. I'm Carla Murie. You can follow me
on Instagram at the Carla Maurie. This podcast has been
produced by Houston Tilly and until next week, keep hustling
and be a good human. M
This is the side Hustler's podcast. I am your host
from my heart Radio Carla Marie. Each week I talked
to someone who is following a passion outside of their
day job, or someone who has taken that passion, that
side hustle and turned it into their full time job. Now,
my full time job is hosting the Carla Marie and
Anthony Show on one or six point one Kiss FM
in Seattle. Links below on how you can listen to that.
(00:22):
But this podcast is really my own side hustle now
and it's been super cool getting to hear everyone's stories
because they're all so different. And this week's guest is
no different than that. Cassie Joe Craig, you may know
the name from American Injin Warrior. She was on a
bunch of seasons. She's a complete badass. She is also
(00:43):
a stunt woman in Hollywood. She's an actress, she's a singer,
and most recently she started making masks. She's got side
hustle on side hustle and business after business and talent
after talent, and we talked about all of those and
how she found her way into each of those things.
But we also talk about racial injustice, being by racial
in Hollywood for her, and growing up in Kansas. We
(01:05):
get into all of it in this episode. Again. You
can click all the links below to follow along. You
can check out Cassie's mass, her stunt reel, her Instagram,
her music, and more. This is Cassie Joe Craig's story
for a lot of people. You know, why are you way?
Do you know what you want to do? And this
is something you want to do, you do it. I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustlesde
(01:27):
s hust do it. I'm a hustle side side us love.
Come on, ask about me, yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call the Route. By far, the most
badass guests I've had on Side Hustlers is Cassie Joe
Craig and you can't even argue that, and anyone who's
been on this podcast will definitely agree. You've done some
(01:48):
crazy things and you continue to do crazy things, and
we're going to get into all of them. You grew
up in the Midwest. You're there right now visiting family.
How does a girl from the Midwest make her way
to Hollywood as a stunt woman, Like, what the hell,
how does that happen? I'm not completely sure myself, to
be totally honest with you, but I have been an
(02:08):
athlete my entire life. And the craziest thing that actually
happened after I finally moved out to Hollywood was that
I got that my first job because of somebody that
I went to high school with in Wichita, Kansas and
she had heard about me. So, I mean, that's even
even though it seems like those worlds are so far away,
the reason why I even got that job was because
of someone in Kansas that I knew. So that's kind
(02:30):
of the craziest part about it. Probably, So you told
me that you grew up doing all kinds of sports.
You did karate, your dad owned a dojo. Yes, I
grew up in the dojo pretty much. That was like
my after school babysitter. I would just like run around
and like jump on things until I was old enough
to take the classes. And then yeah, I started doing
karate and then gymnastics. I did that up until high school,
(02:52):
and then I started pull vaulting in high school. When
you see a poll, because so I did track and field.
When you see a poll vaulter, You're like, well, that's crazy,
but you don't realize like how high off they are
and how scary that is, Like you do have any
fear of heights at this point. I still do have
a healthy fear I think of heights because I have
also fallen from that high and I landed on the
(03:14):
cement on my tailbone twice. Yeah, and I had to
sit on a doughnut for like a weekend in class.
That was not fun. Yeah, So I do still have
a healthy fear of it, but I definitely still love
it and most mostly like to do things that involve
being high up in the air jumping off of things.
So yeah, I've seen a lot of the stuff you do.
(03:35):
I've I've watched your your reel, which I'm going to
put in the description of this podcast so people can
see what we're talking about when we're like jumping off
things and and one of the most recent things I
think you did was you're jumping off the wing of
an airplane in a dress. Yes, okay, how just someone
looks so elegant doing that And what was that for?
(03:56):
I doubled a professional dancer named Alison Stroming. I guess
I don't know exactly how to pronounce the last name.
She was doing a commercial and it was in the
Mojave Desert. There's a there's a an airplane graveyard in
the Majave Desert where it's just a bunch of really
old planes that have been discontinued and they just are
just sort of sitting around, and she dances through the
(04:17):
entire plane on her point she wasn't doing her thing,
and then at the very end she jumps off the
wing and it's it's for a camera, like a really
high definition to show that you can do really really
slow motion things. I think I was asked if I
could do a split leap, and I got a picture
of of what I needed to do, and then they're like,
and then you're going to fall into an air bag
and I was like, Okay, I think I could probably. Yeah,
(04:39):
I mean that, And that's how that the stunt really
kind of works. And I didn't know I was going
to be an address and I didn't know I was
going to be on point shoes until I got there
that the day of Yeah, did you have you ever
done anything in point shooes before? I used to do
Valt when I was twelve. I was on point for
just a little bit, and then I wanted to do
cheerleading because I wanted to get thrown in the air obviously,
(04:59):
so I get it the same. See here's the thing.
Though I also did cheer living, we took very different path.
I was also a flyer, and now here I am
on the radio and you're just flying around literally, So
you have the career that I'm always like, Man, I
wish I could do that for my pacords, so I can't,
and I'm too scared that I'm getting there. I'm starting
to get super achy. Good thing then that you have
(05:22):
now transitioned to sewing. Yes, So I do want to
talk about all the things that is Cassie. Like all
the things that you do, there's there's much more than
being a stunt woman, which obviously is the glitz and
the gland. When people like, oh my god, she jumps
off things like I did it too, it's so cool.
But there's way more to you than that. You went
to college for videography and graphic design. So when you're
(05:44):
you're going to college and you know you have this
ability to do all this physical stuff, why did you
jump into something like videography and graphic design. I never
thought that I could actually make a career being an athlete,
especially as a female. Even when you are an elite
level athlete, you typical they cannot make a you know,
a living off of doing that. So to me, I
never thought I was going to be an athlete after college.
(06:05):
I was like, this is just helping me pay for college,
and then once I'm done, I will get a desk
job and I'll hopefully being graphic design because that's what
I like to design and be creative and stuff. So
it worked out perfectly, and then I decided that that
wasn't exactly what I wanted to do after all, I guess,
But you still did that job while diving into all
of this, So yeah, I definitely did. Ninja Warrior Season
(06:28):
seven was, I guess, the first time that the world
really saw you. What made you apply for Ninja Warrior.
A bunch of friends were sending me videos of a
girl named Casey cat and Zorow who had done really well,
and she was a gymnast in college, and we we
had very similar builds and stuff and similar names too,
I guess, And so I just I think, I think
(06:49):
fifty people posted it on my Facebook ball in like
two days. There was so many people, and I was like,
I guess I should do this thing called Ninja Warrior.
I still listened to Elvis Duran, but I was listening
in words. Danton was on there and he was talking
about it, and I was thinking about doing it and
so and I think that kind of helped a little
bit too, because I didn't know anybody that was doing it.
And then me and me and Anthony started just like
(07:10):
have being pimples and going back and we're like, Okay,
what are you gonna do for your video? Are you
gonna you know, how are you training? Like? Are there
gyms where you're at? Da da da da? So that was, honestly,
it's kind of funny, like that's how I you know,
how I think this happened even because of that random
message I sent him five years ago. Now, well, so
two things here. I'm not gonna let Anthony take credit
for your career as a sun woman, So that's not
(07:31):
gonna happen, because that's almost what it sounded like, and
we're not getting kidding. But also, I always talk about
the importance of just sending the message, of just reaching
out to someone and that was more than five years
ago at this point, and it was just because you
guys did connect. You then found out, oh and he
does now does the show with this other girl, and
(07:51):
we were able to be connected and now here we are.
And no matter what the message is about, whether it's
networking or you just heard someone talk about something that
you want to do in the same way you did,
just reaching out to people and communicating is so important.
It's everything is everything, and I'm sure in all the
industries that you're a part of, but also just communicating,
like you said, the person from high school helped you
(08:13):
get your first job in l A And in the
stunt world, I'm sure it's a lot of I don't
want to say who you know, but just making the
right connections is always important. Yeah, and then the stunt world, actually,
especially more than ever, it is who you know. A
lot of times when you're looking for a stunt double,
you message a friend and they and you say, hey,
we need a girl that's this height that can do
(08:35):
a high fall, like just the specific ballet thing. We
need a girl that has done dance or gymnastics and
is not afraid of high falls and so then that
person says, oh, I know a girl, and then then
you know what I mean. So in the stunt world especially,
it's so important, and I'm glad that I have that
part in me already. You know that. It's that you
know that I can just sort of reach out and
network and make sure I'm making those connections. But it's
(08:58):
everything everything. Then when did you go from doing videography
and graphic design like that was your nine to five.
You're in front of the computer all the time, creative, Yeah,
of course doing this stuff. When do you go from
doing that to being paid to jump off things? I
got a job about a year out of college. I
got that job at the software company. And four years
(09:20):
into that, that was two years into Ninja Warrior time,
and I had started going out to Los Angeles and
meeting a lot of people and training and doing live
music with friends and stuff. And then one day I
just went into my boss's office and I was like,
I think I'm going to move to l A in
the next few months, probably in Kansas, which is like
(09:40):
when yeah, another world. I feel like yes, And so
I was like, this is this is what I really
want to do. You can bring in somebody at any
time so that I can start training them because at
the time I was the lead artistic designer, so I
was the lead like marketing designer for everything that we
used for meetings and any sort of presentation or could
mention or something. So after I had that conversation with him,
(10:03):
he just sort of looked at me and he was like,
we'll just take your office with you then to l A.
And I was like, what do you mean. He's like, yeah,
just just pack everything with you. We'll give you a
few days to get out there and then you can
just set back up and you know, work from home,
same hours. I think we could make it work. And
I was like, I cried, yeah, And I was just
like so relieved that I didn't have to go to
l A and you know start over. A year into
(10:24):
being in l A and working from home is when
I got a call for the stunt. The stunt job
and I also was auditioning for commercials. What was that
first stunt job? That one was for black lightning on
the c W Yes, crazy, Yeah, doubling China McClane, She's
the best. Was that your first set that you were
ever on? Almost the very first set I was on
was two days before I was on that set, which
(10:46):
was the Apple commercial. Okay, that was the first time
I was at auditioned for the Apple commercial. Yea, then
you got the job with black lightning on the c
W and then you've got the Apple gig all in
one week. Yep, yep, after having zero jobs for a
year and auditioning and you know what I mean, like
(11:06):
doing hustling, which is normal, it's just super normal. It's
way more normal to go more than one year. Actually,
So I was like just you know, in it, kind
of enjoying the process of it. And then all of
a sudden, Yeah, I just had to My whole life
changed and I had to quit my job. And so
that year, when you were doing your your graphic design job,
working remotely, you're going on these auditions. How do you
(11:27):
do find the time to do that? Was your job?
Like gets okay if you leave for like an hour
in the middle of the day to go audition, Like,
how does that work? Yeah? I mostly worked on a
deadline basis, so I had to have things done by
a certain day at a certain time. And as long
as I was getting things done, and I always got
them done early, at least a day or two early.
I always made sure that I was, you know what
(11:48):
I mean, because I knew there would be days where
they would try and call and I'd be like, crap,
I was just in an audition, and I you know,
I didn't. I never wanted to take advantage of it.
But they were very they were. They were really good
about it beccause I made sure I was really good
and making sure they knew that they could trust me,
and that even if I was, you know, m I
a for the day was that I was going to
get my stuff done that needed to be done. That's
(12:09):
really cool. It's awesome when you have that kind of
support system to be able to follow your dream, Like
your company could be like no, never mind, like we're
gonna hire someone else because you're going to leave us eventually.
But they were great, they were. I was waiting for
it every day for them to be like, you know,
this is just a little bit too tough and so,
but they never did. Obviously, you're a great worker all around. Okay,
so you get the job on the CW. What is
(12:32):
that like For those of us who have never been
an actor or a stunt woman, what is that situation
like is the actor there when you're about to do
the scene that you're gonna stunt for them? How does
that work? Typically the stunts are planned out in advance,
and we do a process called a pre visualization of
(12:53):
whatever the stunt is going to be. Typically, um, it's
just the stunt person that does the pre viz and
then they send it off to get it approved, and
then once that happens, we will typically bring in the
actor and teach them the fight or whatever thing it is,
if they need to be taught, if not, if it's
just a thing that I'm going to be doing, Like
I've ran through a couple of windows. Now, we we
(13:15):
don't bring her in and teach her how to run
through the window. There's no world where she's going to
go breaking through glass, Like no, she's you know what
I mean, Like she cannot, But how do you learn
how to run through glass? And you just do it?
And that was my very first stunt my first week
of working was running through window and there you only
(13:38):
have one wind, they only have one window. They don't
have just like a bunch of windows that you know,
I can break And and to be fair, the windows
are called candy glass. It's made out of glass that's
just not very dense. It's not candy or anything, but
it does break a lot, a lot easier, and it
doesn't cut very deep. Okay, oh my god, you're superficial,
(14:00):
just superficial. And then you're just like, no big deal
another day. So you're doing that with the CW but
then the ink you've got what apple which people can
see on your Instagram Cassie Joe Craig, which also there's
a link below in the description, that is very much
you are the stock like Cassie Joe Craig is the
star of that commercial, and that's I'm assuming obviously polar
(14:22):
opposite then just jumping in as someone else and on
a TV show, so you can obviously act as well,
you're not you jump off the buildings, but you can
also act to and that watching that commercial like, oh
my god, what's going to happen? This is crazy? What
was that like? Being on the set, being the center
of attention for something and then just being so badass
(14:42):
doing all the things that you were doing. I was
so lost. I didn't know what people were saying to me.
I didn't know that I needed to tell people that
I was going to go to the bathroom like things
like I just kept getting not getting in trouble. But
it was just a lot of me being like what
that mean, and like asking people under my breath like
(15:03):
you know, like I don't I don't know what you're saying.
Like the words you're saying to me, I've never heard
in my entire life. When you say back to one,
do you mean like back to the first thing we
did today? Or or do you mean like back to one?
Like are there numbers on the ground? You know what
I mean? Like I'm like, I don't know where, I
don't know what or what one is. It's funny because
(15:25):
anyone can go back to their very first day at
like their very first job or whatever I was and thinking, oh,
I didn't know anything. You're right, But then you add
the Hollywood aspect to it. Oh my god, the pressure
that would be nerve wracking. But you still nailed it.
Like it's amazing how it came out. I faked it
so hard. I mean, I'd like I've never had to compartmentalize,
like my brain more than just being like yep and
(15:47):
trying to just look like you know, because there's when
you and I was the main person in that in
that commercial, and so I could feel that I needed
to make it seem like I knew what I was
doing because there were so many people there that took
their job very seriously, and I felt like, first of all,
that I didn't really deserve to even be there at all.
(16:08):
And you know what I mean that it was just
a lot of like faking it. You felt like you
didn't belong there. Do you still have that feeling now
at certain things? Do you think that is just because
you're super grateful that you're there. Do you think it's
imposter syndrome? It used to be grateful at first, and
then the more I get to know more people in
the industry and what they've gone through and their stories
(16:30):
and how rare it is that any of these things
have happened to me, it's become slowly more and more
like an imposter syndrome where I just feel like pretty
guilty about it. I feel like that, I mean a
lot of us feel like that. But someone else picked
Like you didn't say I'm doing this job on this set,
(16:51):
I'm taking over, Like someone else picked you because they
think that you belong there, and I think all of us,
anyone who's been on this podcast who has said it,
myself included, I need to remember that someone else's yeah, right,
but but true though. It's people believe in you, and
that's why you're there, and clearly you crush it and
that's why you keep getting games and you're amazing at it.
(17:12):
But there's something else that was thrown into the mix.
You also can sing and you perform. Where did music
come in? So? I've always loved doing music. I've always
loved watching people play the piano and like matching their
hands and stuff, and that was just something I would
do for fun. And then it was a drunken night
out with a friend and I was like, hey, I
(17:32):
was like, I've been playing the piano lately with the
musician friends. Anyways, it was a drunken night and then
we made a song the next day, and that song
I just hit a million. You know, No one says that, right,
No one says, yeah, like I was just done. My friend,
I've been like playing piano, were drunk. We made a
song the next day and it just what was that
fact you were going to say? I think of four
(17:53):
or five months ago, I hit a million streams on Spotify.
What song and what song is that? It's called Pressure.
It's a Josh Silly song. Oh yeah, I think, I
think I am. I was on the I was on
We had you on the air, and yeah he did
years ago, years ago, probably four years ago. Maybe, Yeah,
that makes sense. But the song is amazing and we
(18:14):
also put that link below too if people to check
out the song. But it's crazy. Can you dance? Also?
It depends on what kind of dancing, because I know
we hear the triple threat in Hollywood people who can sing,
act and dance. But you can sing, act, dance and stunt,
so you just blew them all out of the water.
I think your voice is incredible too. I'm like, seriously,
can you just share some of your talent? Like, what
(18:36):
the heck is music? A side hustle to stunting? Is
stunting a side hustle to music? How does that? That's
a hard one. I would say music is probably the
side hustle just because it's it's just inherently so hard
to make money doing music and like make a living.
So I have been Yeah, I think that it's my
side hustle in my but in my brain. It's probably
(18:58):
the thing I'm most passionate about, but I do know
that I cannot necessarily sustain myself with it right now,
right right now, right now. So what do you perform?
You perform live, also play, because you said live music,
So where do you perform? I was performing at the
Ordinary out in Long Beach. That that was pretty regular.
But whenever I do Black Lightning, I move out to Atlanta,
(19:21):
and I live in Atlanta for half the year. So
when I go back and forth like that, it's tough
to keep, you know, like the momentum of music and
live music especially going. But once I got back, I
was getting called to do gigs pretty regularly, right right
before the COVID happened and shut everything down, right, So
let's talk about that then. Obviously, Hollywood shut down live
music or just being able to be places and see music,
(19:44):
whether you want to perform it or watch someone performing,
that shut down as well. So you do as you do,
and you launched. Apparently you know how to sew like
a bad act, and you created these amazing masks. So
we've got the a person who jumps off buildings, airplanes,
runs through glass, who can also sing graphic designed to
(20:06):
videos she could also sell, so and why and how
did that come in? So I have pretty severe asthma
when this hit and I realized and I was here
my mom. My mom's a nurse, and my stepdad is
a doctor, and so I was getting really good information
about what it exactly it is I needed to do
to make sure I was being safe. So I bought
(20:28):
a really cheap sewing machine on Amazon. It I don't
know how it happened, but I decided to make masks,
maybe two days before the rest of the world decided
to make masks. Because I got one week's worth of
like supplies for masks pretty much, and then the next
time I looked, it was going to take me months
to get anything else. It was the craziest thing, but
(20:49):
I I got them. I actually made my first mask
I made out of the sheets on my bed because
they were just for my face and like for some
of my friends. So I just put them through the
wash on the hot like through a hot side full
a couple of cycles, and I just cut my sheets
up because they that that microfiber that really you know,
high thread count material is what you need to put
(21:09):
on your face. So I just made some double air
mass with ties for me and my friends, and then
more and more people needed him more, more people were
messaging me about him, and and I was like, probably
a thousand dollars in of just buying, of just buying things. Yeah,
I mean, because you got to get the packaging, you
have to get the printing stuff in the ink for
(21:29):
the printer. You have to get you know what I mean. Like,
you gotta get more wise, you gotta get more thread.
You gotta get all the colors of the thread so
that it matches, you know what I mean. And I'm
just like, oh my gosh, I'm a thousand dollars in
and I need to break even at least break even
if I don't mind, Yes, yes, exactly that. Yeah. And
I'm like, I I want to be part of the
solution and part and try to help and make everyone
(21:51):
feel a little bit more comfortable right now, because I
know I feel very uncomfortable, very you know, vulnerable. But
you know I can only donate so much, so much
when you know that I'm going to beat the person
that needs, you know, donations. So I started putting it
on Etsy, and oh my gosh, I couldn't believe how
quickly everything just like at just blew up, and I
was in the weeds for weeks, really just sewing every
(22:14):
single day, fifteen sixty hour days. Good thing. You had
nothing else to do. Yeah, a good thing. Good thing,
But I did. I think I lost my mind just
a little bit because I just sat in my living
room at my desk, in a pile of scraps around me,
and watched, you know, binge watch TV and sewed on
my little sewing machine. You made an et shop which
people can check out again is below, but it's called
(22:36):
Custom Mask Shop, which I also think. When you first
told me that, I'm like, why didn't she put her
name in it? Because people know her? But now that
I think about it, people are probably like, especially since
you were one of the first ones up there finding
just typing in custom mask, you probably pop up for
people all over, So that was kind of a genius
name to do that. I don't know if you did
that on purpose, I don't know. There weren't very many
(22:57):
options that I could pick, honestly, and I did want
to put my name in it. I don't know. I
didn't want it to be so connected to me. I
guess I totally understand though, sewing. How did you learn
how to sell? Oh? So my grandmother taught me how
to sew. My dad so I'm by Rachel. My dad
is black and my mom's white, and my dad's mom
so's every day she sews quilts and she hands stitches
(23:19):
like embroidery and does all that. And she taught me
when I was really young how to sew. It took
me a few masks, a few maybe like twenty masks
to like get back into it. But yeah, so I
just knew the basics and I just went from there. Honestly,
is she still around? Yeah, she's really excited. She loves it.
She's so pumped. I was gonna say, she's probably super proud,
like who knew the things she taught you and you
(23:39):
were a little is now you're saving lives by doing this.
I don't really thought of it that way, but yeah, No,
it's protecting people and it gives them something like I
know when I have my mask, like, oh, which mask
am I going to wear today? And I'm excited to
wear my mask from you, But it's it's kind of
like an accessory now, and the fact that we people
like you who are not only making them safe for
us and right sizes and all of that that we
(24:01):
need to keep them comfortable, but they're pretty too, and
you can have some sort of your personality during this
time when it's mentally uncomfortable to have to do this,
and you don't have to wear the ugly medical blue
one every you know, you can wear a pretty one.
So it is great that we have people like you
who know how to sell, because I don't. During this
time of launching an etty shop, you've obviously you've never
(24:23):
owned a business before, You've never what are some things
that you were like, Oh my god, I had no
idea how to worry about that. Because a lot of
people were on this podcast kind of have a business
plan going into things and know what they're doing and
know they want to own a business. You like just
fell into this. Yeah. I think the craziest thing about
it was after you make the masks, the amount of
(24:44):
actual sewing I do is so minimal. Now I have
to you know what I mean, I have to get
all the orders to count them out, sort everything out,
cut everything, and then after the masks are done, then
I have to make sure that all of the packing
slips are correct, and then I have this little insert
it goes into this so that tells people how to
care for the masks and stuff. And then when that
runs out, I have to go and print more, and
(25:05):
I have to cut it out and you know what
I mean. And I have to cut all the strings
out and make sure they're the same length and tie
them together and put the little slip knot thing on it.
That like, I just can't believe how long it takes.
And it's made me understand, like you know, when you're
you're buying clothes at all, and you're just like, why
is it so expensive? I'm like, I have to sell
these twenty I have to sell them. Yeah, the materials minimal,
(25:27):
but it's the amount of time and like all of
the things that I have to have in stock just
to make this run this way. It's like I'm breaking
even charging you this much for the mask, you know
what I mean. It's great that part about it has
just been unreal. I'm sure you have a new appreciation
for custom things or things that Yeah, for sure, I
cannot imagine I listen, I also can't focus on something
(25:50):
that long. So kudos to you for being able to
do that. Where do you get the materials now or
do you still have issues ordering stuff now? No, it's
pretty good now. So now I order everything on Amazon
and then I get sheets. I get high thread count
linen's so that it feels good against the face. So
I got some cotton for a little while, but it
(26:11):
wasn't really made like for sensitive skin. It's cotton, but
it's kind of scratchy. I don't know how, I don't
know explain it. So I went back to getting linens
and some some of the designs on the outside of
the mask are cotton and not quite as soft, but
they're way cute and it doesn't matter because it's not
against your face and you don't think, yeah, your your
designs are super cute. And they are different. And we've
(26:32):
had Ugly Yellow House on the podcast. They make cloth
bow ties and they've pivoted during this to make face masks,
so they also had to have a lot of you know,
the same stuff you're saying, how do they know the
size or this? And then all the little things that
go into it. And then another previous gas, Lana Ray Handmade,
makes leather handbags and she's also pivoted to doing masks
(26:53):
for people too, because she can suck and you're the
people who have the skill that you also have be
able to say, Okay, how can I help right now?
And I'm always proud of having people like you and
them on this podcast who want to help and want
to use what they have to help and it's really cool.
So I commend you for doing that. It's amazing. Are
you going to keep doing it when Hollywood kicks back up? Yeah,
(27:14):
I think I'm gonna have to because I don't know
how soon it's gonna pick back up, and I think
that people will be needing them, especially on sets and stuff.
So I'll have a little like set hustle on set
maybe if I you know what I mean, Like, and
I can make them custom I can make like for
black Lightning, I can just get fabric with little lightnings
on them and then make them for the whole you
(27:36):
know what I mean. Like, There's just so many things
I can do, and I love having something. It's kind
of meditative to a certain extent. If I'm not in
the completely in the weeds, it's very meditative. So and yeah,
you may be the only person in Hollywood who has
the talent I feel so use it. Get it out
there and make everyone use it. It'll be really cool.
You mentioned that you are biracial, and I told you
(27:58):
I wanted to talk to you about that because it's
so important right now to have these conversations. That's kind
of why you and I started talking on Instagram recently.
And I'm curious about in Hollywood. Obviously, we know it
is an issue. We know that there aren't that many
roles for black actors, let alone black female actors. So
(28:19):
as a stunt double or a stunt woman going into that,
you must then know, well, there's not even that many
black females, let alone black females are going to be
in a position of power to have a role that's
going to be so badass for me to fill in.
It's am I crazy thinking that? And what is that world? Like?
I can't speak to the stunt world a ton because
I just have not been in it quite long enough.
(28:41):
I really no, no, But it does seem like the
biggest thing in stunts that we're finally that people are
finally getting really strict about is that if you have
a black actress or actor, you have to double that
person with a minority and they didn't used to do that.
That's crazy to me. And it used to be I
(29:02):
think because they maybe they didn't think there were enough,
but there always have been. This is something that's finally
been been you know, they're cutting down and then they're
just like, there's no way, it doesn't matter if that
person is off the street and we can't find anyone
else and we just have to pull somebody, you know
what I mean, Like not literally that, but I mean
it's like that, like there they would almost do that.
Now it's just one of those things. It's it's just
(29:23):
like black face in Hollywood. It used to be very normal.
It just was the thing that I think Judy Garland
did black face like so many huge but it was
just such a normal thing that no one really you
know what I mean. So and I think it's just
one of those things. It's it's finally getting yeah, yeah,
it's finally getting washed out of Hollywood, which is that well,
(29:44):
it doesn't matter as long as that person, you know,
we can just pay them down to make them look
like it, which you know you do that sometimes like
even if you feel like if you're not the right
shade of that person's skin, then they'll they're gonna change
it so that it's not that noticeable, right, But that's
that's the point. But that's right, right, exactly that. But
it's very very different when you're not giving black stunt
(30:06):
people work because you can just paint down a white
person instead. The other part of that those is even
like in the background when you get a bunch of
stunt people because maybe there's an explosion or maybe there's
like a street thing where people are running and bumping
into each other. A lot of times people in those
scenes are are stunt people, and they don't have to
look a certain way. They just get a bunch of
(30:28):
nondescript stunt people in to be the people that get
run over, like not get run over, but they bump
into each other, maybe fall fall to the ground. Right,
that's those are all stunt people in those in these scenes.
So and a lot of times in those especially, they
will they'll just mostly just get a bunch of white people.
But that's not the world look like exactly exactly that.
So it's a little bit of it's it's the doubling thing,
(30:50):
but it's also just like and why why is this
whole scene just all white people. You could have easily
like made that it's a it's a street in New
York City. That's not what the streets in New York
City look like. No, it's a whole thing that that.
It's like all the things that are happening right now.
It's just like people. But it's amazing think about it. Yeah,
(31:11):
it's amazing that there is going to be changed and
in the places that a lot of people didn't think about,
like you just told us, like I wouldn't have really
thought about extras or doubles. And it's great because that
stuff will change and people may not even notice it,
but it doesn't matter because you're going to see it
when you're watching movies. It's so much better to see
diversity on the screen than just, like you said, just
(31:31):
seeing white people all the time. And that's what we need,
and that's what we need this next generation of kids
to grow up with, because it will be a much
better place for them and they'll make it a much
better place for us, which will be amazing. But growing
up in Kansas half black or I'm sorry, do you
say you say by Rachel? I want to because I oh?
Either ways, fine, So growing up in Kansas. What was
(31:52):
it like for you. My parents did a really good job,
I think of unfortunately not letting me see that or
experience it in a way that they thought they were
sheltering me, I think from that world. So I mostly
went to an all white school. I was a cheerleader,
and I had a lot of friends, and so I
didn't really notice that it was happening because I was
(32:14):
always around the upper middle class white people all the time,
and they were all very nice, and sometimes they would
say the in order around me, but then they would
be like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't
mean it did me and then and it was always
it would always be fun, you know what I mean,
Like little things that I was just like, this is
just the world, Like this is just it's progress. Though
at least we're not slaves anymore. Like that, And that
was like the mentality that you either have as a
(32:36):
black person if you're sheltered, or you have that as
a white person if you're like, but you guys aren't
slaves anymore, Like how are you talking about? Like what
are you talking about? That? Racism isn't real? We had
a black president, you know what I mean? Like I
think it was that God statement. I mentioned that on
one of my previous episodes where I've heard people be like,
but look at Oprah and look at Obama, and I'm like, Okay,
(32:56):
you can't just pick two black people this entire universe
and tell me then there's no racism because there's two
black people who succeeded. Come on, like, come on. So
I'm glad you also said that, because when I said
that to Denay on the on the podcast when I
had them and they were like, wait, what people say that,
and I'm like, yeah, I hear that. That's also another
thing about black people as entertainers also, which is like
(33:19):
you can't just go and and and talk about all
of the basketball players and Oprah's and actors because you're
just saying people that are there for your entertainment, kind
of like get out. Get out is kind of a
little is kind of like that. It's pretty much like
black people are there for sports and to look good
and to like maybe have like a high LIVIDO or whatever.
(33:40):
But their brain is not intelligent. They're not made to
make decisions, and they're not made to like run countries
or to be that middle class of people who you
know own small businesses or that work at a software company.
Like leaving the place you grew up in helps you
grow in so many ways. And I can see I
compare myself to people that I grew up with, and
(34:01):
I'm like, how do you not understand this? And it's like,
because you're still in the bubble that you grew up in. Yeah,
it's real, and it's a really uncomfortable thing. I have
this empathy especially from my mom's my mom in general,
because she is part of the side of me that
that has They will never understand what this is, and
(34:23):
that's hard to It's hard to tell someone there's this
thing that's going on. You're never gonna understand it, you're
never going to experience, but you need you need to
believe that it's real and you need to like, we
need allies, and we need you to be on our
side on this and we need to fucking do whatever
we need to do to fix it. And to tell
somebody that and for them to be like you want
me to be on board or something that I'll never experience,
(34:44):
I don't know, you know, and not that my mom's
said this, like she was very good about being like, okay,
like I'll look into it. I'm I'm not, I'm not
exactly sure what you're talking about. And then she did
and then she came back. But most people are just
they're just offended by the fact that the or something
like they feel helped was. I think it's maybe feeling
a little helpless, feeling a little offended about something that
they didn't They didn't do anything, actually do anything. But
(35:06):
the fact that you're white is a privilege and that
and you will not and not even in a negative way.
It's just is a privilege that you won't ever have
to deal with it. But it's how do you how
do you use that privilege for good and to even
out the playing field? And like you said, me an ally,
and I think that is something that a lot of
people are learning this year. Yes, unfortunately now opposed to
(35:28):
a hundred years ago. But it's happening. I did not
think it would happen in my lifetime, to be totally
honest with you, I didn't. I thought that. I was like, well,
we're probably gonna have to wait a few generations for
the kids to look a little bit more like me,
and or for people to just start googling things more
and for you know what I mean, I didn't think
that I would be having these conversations in my lifetime,
(35:50):
to be completely honest with you, I was like, there's
no world where I'm going to sit people down and
it's going to make a difference to explain this to someone.
And so that's that's really very cool. Yeah, it's it
is exhausting, and it's very like trying, and you know,
you cry with joy and you like cry with frustration
when someone's not listening, and you know what I mean,
especially when that person is maybe close to you or
(36:11):
like maybe an X or something with that's never fun.
That's happened and that's not the best thing ever. That
really makes you feel insane. But were you with the
person when that happened? No, No, No, it was just
an ex but a good friend, you know, someone that
I've you know, we need a whole new podcast to
talk about X. Oh my goodness, girl, especially Dayton. Now,
(36:35):
jading is crazy for me, like dating a white guy.
I'm like, so okay, let's talk about Yeah, Like I
need to know where you're at on this really quick
because it's no way you know, but it's so good
that you can learn that right away. Yeah, that it's crazy,
but it's sounding completely insane. Yeah, no exactly, which is
so messed up to think that a year ago I
(36:57):
asked that, you would have been no, but that's it's
the truth. They so. A few episodes ago, I had
Tanisha and Denay on together. They are previous guests. They
do completely different things, but I had them on to
discuss being black female business owners. And one of the
things they talked about it wasn't even about well, it
was about the workplace and whatnot. It was about their
hair as a black female. And one of the first
(37:20):
things I think people notice about you, Cassie is your hair.
It's incredible. You have these beautiful braids, and it's brunette
and blonde and and it's wild and I love it because,
first of all, I can never do that and I
can never pull it off. So to me, it's it's beautiful. Now,
I'm assuming you have people commenting on your hair and
often touching your hair. Yes, what it talked to me
(37:43):
about that because both of those women were like they
hated it. I don't get a ton of people touching it. Luckily,
I've definitely been in situations where like putting me on
display kind of thing. It's like it's like, you know,
I'm very often one or the only black person in
the room, and so whenever I do have my braids
in like this that it becomes very very big, like
(38:04):
kind of there for everyone's like visual enjoyment and how
did you do that? How does it work? And da
da da, And it's like it's I don't mind if
that you're interested in my hair, of course, it's just
the way you're going about it makes me feel like
i'm the Denay described it as like I'm your pet,
is how she described It's like, I'm not your pet.
You know you can compliment my hair. Of course. She's like,
(38:26):
I'll take a compliment any time, but I'm not your pet.
Don't touch me and don't act like that. So one
of the first things I didn't notice about you was
your hair, and it's like it's beautiful. And then as
we were just talking, I'm like, oh, I wonder if
you you deal with that the same way that they do,
because your hair is very unique and I'm I'm not glad,
but I'm it's interesting to see how you do have
(38:47):
the same sentiment as both of them. And yeah, it
was for Tunisia. It was the same thing when she
had her braids in and she has a flight attendant
and she deals with people like we'll touch them on that.
Oh no, yeah, it happens. Why would they do that?
So right now you are back in Kansas visiting family.
You mentioned to me that people have been wanting to
(39:07):
do interviews with you about different stuff from your hometown,
but you told them you weren't going to do interviews
about your life as a stunt woman or anything else
that you're doing if you didn't get to talk about
racial injustice. Sure, yep. What has the feedback been when
you say that to these publications without you don't have
to throw anyone under the bus, No, I won't. And
and and it's because it's so that's been only positive.
(39:29):
And I wasn't prepared for it because the one that
and it's a splurge magazine is what it's called out
here in Wichita, and I was a little bit worried
because they do it is sort of like a lighter
magazine and they like to, you know, talk about things
going on in Wichita. Just it's sort of like a
pop culture magazine, just letting people know what kind of
what's going on. And I was a little bit nervous
(39:50):
that they weren't going to want to talk about something
like this, But I was also like, I am a
black female and probably one of the few that you
will have or have had on this magazine. So there's
no world where you get to have a black girl
on your magazine and look you know what I mean,
and look like a publication that's inclusive. In this time,
(40:12):
you don't get to have both. You don't get to
have me on your cover and also me not talk
about maybecause a little bit of a stirt, So you
don't get to get one or the other. You don't
get to look inclusive, but not the tough conversations. You
don't get to like, Okay, it's not you don't just
get to check off a box. It's way more than that.
And that's amazing that you were able to do that.
And I'm assuming you had a great interview with them
(40:34):
and they did talk about it. Yes, it was really great.
I was shocked that they asked as many questions they did,
and it was really one of those things that I
got off the phone. It was a two hour long
conversation I think ended up being pretty long. It was nice.
It was one of those exhausting but like really uplifting
conversations that I had. And you know, there's just there's
no way I'm going to be like, hey, I'm on
(40:55):
the cover of this magazine on my Instagram or something.
And then people are like, and you just talked about
your self and how great your career has been. First
of all, you're unemployed right now, and also there's a
whole other thing going on in the world that's way
more important than any of the things that you're talking about.
And I was like that, I just I wouldn't be
able to do it. I wouldn't be able to look
(41:15):
back on that and be like, four kids, you know,
this is doing the Black Lives Adder movement, Dad, da da.
And then they're like, well, why don't you talk about it,
and like, oh, that's a great question. Well, I just
wanted to be palpable, and I'm like, I'm tired of
being palpable. I'm tired of being the most palpable black
girl in the room, which is what I feel like
I've always that's been my my goal for so long,
(41:36):
and now I'm like, why the hell. Yeah, at what
point did you realize that that you were doing that?
Probably right around the time the like probably five years ago,
right around then. But it didn't mean I stopped. It
just meant that I was aware of it now, but
it didn't feel like there was another option to be
also because it had gotten me pretty far in life
(41:56):
at that point too. And so at that point you
start realize. You start being like, well, do I get
ahead in life by being and saying and doing what
is the most comfortable thing? Or do I burn some bridges?
And and now now I'm there. Now I'm like, good
to burn all the bridges. I'm tired of not saying
my piece. I'm tired of you know what I mean,
(42:18):
feeling like the girl's like, well, we don't want to
really talk about the movement and me being like okay,
I understand, like, no, there's no world like them. That's
long gone, long gone. Well, and it's awesome that you
have a platform and you are in in a world
like Hollywood where you can do that, or in the
music industry where you can make change that will affect
others in the sense of if you can say something
(42:40):
like you said in a meeting that could help someone,
and it could help what ends up being on screen.
You never know that the millions of people who are
gonna watch it. So it's incredible that you have that
mentality now and you are in a place that can
really make a change. You've got a platform, you've got
social media, you've got all of it. You've got your music,
and you've got your mass which not necessarily that, but
you've got them and they're amazing, and I'm proud of you,
(43:02):
and I'm I'm so glad that we finally got to
have this conversation and have you on the podcast, because
you're unlike anyone who's been on here the same way.
Every guest is completely different than the person before them,
but everyone's got their story, and it's just incredible how
you've been able to have all these passions and follow them.
And do you think you'll ever do graphic design again?
I actually I did do a little bit. I have
been doing that on and off for people too. So
(43:25):
one day when you're back hurts really bad, you can
just do at the computer and do graphic design when
you're o oh my gosh, yeah, and I can't walk anymore.
That'll be perfect. Well, Cassie, thank you for being here,
thank you for being awesome, Thank you for having me.
Thank you so much for listening to side hustlers and
supporting everyone who is on this podcast. Click the link
below to shop Cassie's mass. You can follow her on Instagram,
(43:46):
check out her stunt reel which is incredible, and listen
to her music which is also amazing. Thank you again
for being here. I'm Carla Murie. You can follow me
on Instagram at the Carla Maurie. This podcast has been
produced by Houston Tilly and until next week, keep hustling
and be a good human. M
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