Follow Your Dreams: Loni shares lessons about perseverance, mentorship, and overcoming adversity.

0:00This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human I survived nine months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with the Elizabeth Smart on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering the ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility.

1:03Listen to Solita on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America plays out in one small town. Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill. This is our town, a podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael and Perry Oli. I want to tell you about my new podcast Underground Zero. I'm working at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. It's about the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. What's in the tunnels? Goal bars, silver ingots, it'll be worth half a billion.

2:03Starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael and Perry Oli. How far you prepared to go? Depends how far you are. Listen to Underground Zero on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome aboard season 6 of The Girlfriends. Flight or fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch. But you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Until one day, a group of stewardesses spark a revolution that reshapes America. Listen to The Girlfriends. Flight or fight, on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my show. I'm Richa McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass. When we encourage people to stop reading other people's success stories and start planning your own.

3:06Now you don't want to miss an episode, so please take a moment right now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. It's free. You can follow me on I Heart Radio app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. New Money Making Conversations Masterclass episodes drop daily. I want to keep you on alert because my guests provide tips on how you can uplift your community, improve your financial planning, motivation or advice on how to be successful entrepreneur. Now let's get this podcast started. My next guest is an Emmy Award Winning and two-time NAACP Image Award Winning Multimedia Personality, Comedian, Entrepreneur and Actress. She's on the show to talk about how very, very funny Memoir. I tried to change, so you don't have to. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation. Loney Love. Hey, what's up? Thank you for the time. Loney, I'm telling you something. Let me just read this little, this, what I took from the book because I want to set the stage before we start right. Talking about this very funny book and a very funny book, Memoir.

4:08In reading this book, this came from you. In reading this book, you should remember that I am a comedian. I'm also a television host and an actress and electrical engineer. This is my Memoir and tells you about my life. What is the tale told from a comedian perspective, a comic perspective? And I believe that this entitles me to a good number of liberties. I re-ordered and combined events and people. I changed a whole lot of names and identified details. And I've exaggerated and made some things up altogether. I hope. Make you smile or even laugh. When I have not changed the reality of my life, where I came from, and I've got here today. Ladies and gentlemen, Loney Love. That's beautiful. No, that's called when the attorney talked to you. Oh, yes, thank you. You're right, though. I'm so sorry. Loney, you know, I'll... You know, you've been on this show before and I'm a big fan. You know, it always... I always call you a text. Just to let you know, I love you.

5:08You're just a gifted young lady and never be down on yourself. And I read this book as a journey from Detroit to Houston, Texas to El Segundo to Los Angeles. I guess you can say that. And I'm starting Detroit. Tell us about that start. And then I want to break down some of my favorite chapters, like chapter eight, when you were throwing in jail. That is has to be the funniest chapter. And I read a lot of books now. I'm just telling about talking to Loney Love. Now, this is a book. Now, this is a memoir. I tried to change so you don't have to. I'm telling you. I just think everybody should tell their journey. And especially if people of color, people don't understand how hard it is for us to make it. That's why I want everybody to share their stories. And so this is my story. I grew up in Detroit and the Brewster Project. And it just takes you through that whole life thing. Because some people only know me from real or from Chelsea Lady or the shows that Rashad will put me on.

6:13So it's a whole journey. And I just wanted the people to understand my journey and why I appreciate where I am. Why I'm vulnerable at times, why I'm sensitive at times, why I'm strong at times. Because the fact isn't that it hasn't been an easy road. And I also wanted to inspire and get people some hope. So that's what you're reading. And it's just a love letter to my fans. That's what it is. It's an honest letter. And the thing about it is that I read a lot of memoirs during the show Monday Make Conversations. But I love George because it was just funny. But it's also truthful. It was also painful. It was also I was like, you know, I had a reason to cry. I had a reason to feel sorry for you. I had a reason to call you a fool. You know, Gary, that's stupid. Why you do that? And one of the things that came out that stood out for me was like, you know, it was a point of your life where you were surrounded by blackness. That's why I call it in your book.

7:14You even mentioned it yourself. Surrounded by blackness protected you. The HBCU experience, a prayer of your name. The black sisters of your sorority, delta, sigma theta. You experienced that HBCU experience and being surrounded by the sisterhood who built you out of jail. Delta, Delta, Delta. Yeah. Thank you to my car, Roy. They had, you know, they had them credit cards. They were able to do that. And they, you know, and I had to lean way on the shield that night. I almost fell off the shield. You know, that hard. But it's just, it's a wonderful story of how, you know, at 19 years old, even though I grew up in a project, I think nothing about the police because my mom always protected me from that. You know, the police never came in the project. The list, you know, somebody got shot. So I didn't, I didn't have this experience to a lot of us in college. And I didn't realize, you know, I didn't have to talk. I didn't know nothing about, you know, racism.

8:14You know, racist cops and, you know, I've never, I've never experienced that. So when I experienced it and the story is so interesting, it goes through the whole process of being arrested, you know, going to the booking center. Because I was, it was a felony for trespasses walking in a kitchen. I was putting a, you know, in a sale with, you know, murderers and felons and stuff like that. Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more money making conversations. Masterclass, not need for you to do me a favor. Right now, you'll follow or subscribe to money making conversation. It's free. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do me that favor. Follow or subscribe, money making conversations. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.

9:16I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. You just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted by me, Rishan McDonald. Let's get back into it. 19 years old with no experience. A reason I like the book is that I kind of understand you a lot more.

10:19You know, because you're really outspoken and you're the first one you coming from, you know, when you talk about prison or jail or wrongfully incarcerated or talk about being called out by your name, racial, state, misstron, your way. And the thing about it in your book when I was, is the church plays a role, Ms. Eva, Jehovah Witness. You know, how she built those, just talk about some of the ladies besides your mom who played in the poor defining role in your personality, how you looked at life, how you looked at love, how you looked at relationships and all that stuff. Talk about the other women that were important in your life in this book. The love that I developed for black women came from my foundation. You know, I had a babysitter her name was Ms. Brooks. She was Jehovah's Witness who I spent a lot of my time with. That's where I got my religious backing from. I had Ms. Eva. I had Ms. Eva. I had Ms. Eva. Yeah. She was a, she was a Bible third lady. You know, I had my Girl Scout 2 leader. And these are women that impacted me so much that they care for me and they care for me.

11:24And this is the foundation that, and I think that it's important when they say a village, it takes a village to raise a child. It really, really good. But then also is my relationship, you know, with men in general was, was actually defined in that era as well. And, you know, the caring of black brothers and sisters, you know, was also defined in that. So it's like when I meet people like the fabulous Roshan McDonald, we're able to connect because we down home people. You know what I mean? And so that's, so all of this, you can, you know, read about it in the book and you can really see and feel the foundation. But I mean, the thing is, if anybody I want them to take away from is that if you feel hopeless, if you need some inspiration. Yes. Understand that you are from a strong, stock of people. Right. It's common, but I'm a taste of this book. I'm telling you bronze and noble, you can get online right now.

12:25The book is on sale right now. Please go out and buy it. And the thing is, because it's some relatable things to me and I'm a male, but it's very relatable because this book is by motivation. It's by the inspire. It's overcoming the odds. And one of the things was when she came out of high school, you know, bright, color, nerd, my degree was in mathematics. So in her skills mathematics, she got a degree in electrical engineering and she just went to work for, you know, was a gym gym or, was a, Journal Motors went on a line, just put in carpet, gluing carpet down. When I graduated from high school, I, I became a four-cliffe driver. I thought that was my level. I thought that that's it had a, it had a nice, hourly check tattoo that I thought that was my level. But somebody saw more, more in me, more in me. Yeah. Then I saw myself. And that's really where mentoring comes in. That's why it's important. I see the role that you play out there. I see registering people to vote. I've seen how you realized that look, look in your book, then it talks about accepting who you are.

13:28When you're trying to lose all that weight, trying to be something that you're not. And that's really, and I want to let people know that this book is so relatable because it talks about issues and trusting yourself. And not listening to other people who say you should be doing this. Trust on you. It's, it's, it's really an amazing story. Very funny, but very, but very telling us to what we need to read today to be motivated to be successful. Great job on this book, Lonnie. Great, great job. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I appreciate everybody that says, we're discovering it and reading about it. It's great reviews. The Amazon is the number one and memoirs. It's number one in comedy for new releases. And again, I can't wait to get your book, but we're just parallel. And you know, when it comes to being like that manual and how somebody came and helped us. Yes. It's a great story. And I'm thankful that I'm able to live to feel telling.

14:28And then we did something else. We were musically inclined and we love classic music. You see, I was a B flat clarinet. That was me. So you, you couldn't have let you went over to the French horn. And I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to tell you anybody that's about a French horn. That is the most difficult instrument to play. Because if you don't put your hands in that right and move it right. Right. Now the sounds because you can just keep blowing on that thing forever. So for you to go for, for you to walk past a blue, a B flat clarinet and go over to a French horn. Hands down. You are bad sister. Okay. And you could also use it as a weapon. It's just a beautiful. It's just beautiful with the journey as we go through this book. You know, it was, let me just tell everybody about the book. And since I have breaks down, it talks about the early years in the projects. And then it's part of our life. That's important. That's important. That's the first 18 years. Then it talks specifically about her college life.

15:30Her friends, how she got to college, how they're playing an important role. And each, which one of those layers is defining for her because, you know, she didn't want to leave home when she was asked to leave home. And then she wasn't really ready to go to college, but she saw it opportunity to go. She went, she learned how to pivot. That's this book is about pivoting too. Because in this book, Lonnie is a great pivoter. She's in opportunity, she going and is going to give 100%. A lot of people pivot and they kind of ease over that Lonnie. You don't do that, do you? Stay with us. More money making conversation, masterclass, comment up next. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived. And I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything.

16:31Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their story is about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Beniero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility.

17:35Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like, you smiled at us, not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and apple etch. But they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life.

18:38Stop right there, is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. Got to need a measure roll! Great! And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bulls**t. They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. Our hometown is not a test to. I feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The US Open is back. That's right. Two weeks of incredible, exciting tennis. Some outrageous overreactions from players and some hot takes from people who have, let's face it. No idea what they're talking about, but it's okay because I'm here for them and you. I'm Renee Stubbs and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast I'll be breaking down everything that happens after big matches, who's playing the best tennis, who looks like they could possibly win this tournament,

19:39the surprise runs, the heartbreaking exits and all the drama that only the US Open can deliver. Coco, looking real good, her surf looks so much smoother than it has in the past. I was really happy to see Eager back to what she looked like a couple of years ago when she was winning dominantly. And I'm going to let Venus decide when she wants to retire. I'm going to let the tournaments decide when they don't want to give her a walk-out because she still puts bums in seats, she still sells, and people love to see her play. You always say on this show that this is the best predictor of who will do well at the US Open. If this is a preview, then we are in for a treat. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Dear Hunnies, this is goodbye. February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patreon Mathours and her husband Michael, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know that they had died by suicide. By the time you get the shalliter both Petra and I will be dead.

20:40Next stop, Wonderland. Patreon and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and in love. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? I would have given a million reasons to not leave this world had I known. I keep coming back to a truly hope that Patreon was a thousand percent on board with the plan. Do you think of him as having killed her? Yes, I do. I hold Michael responsible for my mother's death. I'm Leon Nevock. And I'm Alice Gregory. Together we set out to interview everyone who got one of Patreon Michael's letters. This is one married couple trying to understand another. Listen to death of an artist on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Money Making Conversations and Masterclass hosted by me, Roshan McDonnell. Money Making Conversations and Masterclass continues online at moneymakingconversations.com And follow Money Making Conversations and Masterclass on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

21:44So, I know. I really like telling the story, telling the truth, but couldn't bring in levity. At the end of every chapter is a list of jokes. Yes. Because some stories in the books are dark, some stories are sad, some stories are really happy. But I want people to know that after every chapter there is levity. Yes. And I think it's important because it, it, it, it, shake your, your, your frame of mind differently. And I want people to know that you can get out of anything. Even though it seems impossible, you could get out of anything. And this is a story for men, women, young, old. Yes. You had a point in your life where you, you trying to reach and you trying to like, you need some motivation, you read this book. You know, I mean, if you're trying to find love, you know, I talk about that. Oh, yes, you do. And I think the way you need to, you know, you get a situation where, you know, things ain't working out or, you know, it's, that's the part where really Rishan, I have to say,

22:45we were the chapter in Breel Talks where I really need to on Rishan to give me advice. And it really helped me to get through the situation I was in my TV show. And, you know, understanding the studio system, all of that is displaying because, you know, it's real easy for people to see the, the front side of certain things of television shows and things they don't understand the behind the scenes. Even when it's that, my first movie, even though, you know, a lot of people don't know that I think my first movie was Soul Plane. Oh, yes. And definitely the author, it was going to make us all a star. Kevin Hart, Monique, all of them. It's new dogs. It's so huge. You know, it tells the whole story is explained, but it's all, and I have so many more stories. But, you know, because I keep a diary and I tell anybody, you know, right now we're living historic times. Yes, we are. Keep a diary or a journal. You know, so that you can look back and find the years and see where you come from and what you were dealing with.

23:46So, these are like just a few stories that I put together. And it kind of tells the stories, the beginning story. And it's just something that I'm just amazed at people. And I'm grateful that people see it and now they got a they have a better understanding. But more importantly, black people are different. We're not all the same. We're not. But, you know, and that's why it's important to push our stories and get our stories out so that they know that we're real living and breathing people so that they will stop killing us so that they they understand it wow these people, you know, because they think that they can't relate to us. But the whole point is we're living and breathing people and we have to share our stories to show them the experiences that we've come through. And that's what that's what we're doing. Wow. I'm talking to Amy and Ward winning. She talks about that in the book, two-time NAACP image award winning, co-host of the real. She's a comedian. Very funny. Aren't you a newer, great clothing line and actress. You've seen her on TV.

24:46More importantly, she has a very, very funny memoir. I tried to change so you don't have to Amazon number one, Barnes and Noble go get it. London Love, let me tell you what I'm doing. You know, I'm putting on my social media. You know, I know how I do with you. Okay. And when it's going out of my fan club, 90,000, when it's the morning, 9 o'clock is going out there. So I support you, my friend. I just wanted to talk about that book. I know you got a lot of things going on. I'm short on time. But I want to make sure I gave the love for this memoir that people need to need to hear. I read this book. It's funny. I've learned some things about myself. I learned a lot of things about London Love. But more important, it's a love story. And that's beautiful. It's a love story about her life. The people who entered her life, how they shaped her life, and how she's happy being herself. When she looks in the mirror with the person who likes what he sees in the mirror too. Thank you, Lundy, for calling my show. Thank you so much for the time. I appreciate you. Stay strong.

25:46Stay strong. Thank you for listening to this episode. Now I need you to do me a favor. Right now, you'll follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversation. It's free. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Please do me that favor. Follow or subscribe, Money Making Conversations. Keep winning. I survived nine months in captivity. And I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the survivor files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with the Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.

26:49I can wait four hours for the next bus, or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero, and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America plays out in one small town. Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill. This is our town, a podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

27:52Welcome aboard season six of the girlfriends flight or fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch, but you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Until one day, a group of stewardesses spark a revolution that reshapes America. Listen to the girlfriends flight or fight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael and Perioli. I want to tell you about my new podcast Underground Zero. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. It's about the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. What's in the tunnels? Go boss of Engage. It'll be worth half a billion. Starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael and Perioli.

28:53How far you prepared to go? Depends how far you are. Listen to Underground Zero on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.