Aisha Jackson on Voice, Presence & the Joy of Sharing Her Gifts

What does it really mean to honor your body’s wisdom in a high-pressure career?

Broadway star Aisha Jackson (The Great Gatsby, Frozen, Waitress) takes us behind the curtain to reveal the delicate balance between artistic excellence and personal wellbeing. Fresh from celebrating the one-year anniversary of her vocal surgery, Aisha shares her practice of “constant check-ins” — a mindful way of gauging her physical, mental, and vocal capacity each day. She also introduces the concept of “vocal cash” — the limited energy reserves performers must budget through demanding eight-show weeks.

Our conversation explores how reframing limits as choices creates a powerful shift — one that preserves her voice, expands her artistry, and sustains her joy. Aisha speaks candidly about representation, mentorship, and her commitment to creating space for others to shine. From navigating grief to celebrating triumphs, she reveals how staying grounded in her deeper purpose allows her to transcend the pressures of performance.

Whether you’re a performer, creative professional, or navigating your own high-demand path, Aisha’s wisdom offers a blueprint for sustainable excellence — and a reminder that when we honor our capacity, reconnect to our why, and share our gifts with joy, we show up more authentically in every moment.

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Chapters

• 0:47 Meet Aisha Jackson: Broadway Powerhouse
• 2:55 Daily Rhythms and Body Check-ins
• 10:07 Limits vs. Choices: Reframing Capability
• 18:32 The Mental Game of Performance
• 26:30 Finding Purpose Beyond Audience Validation
• 34:55 Building a Mentorship Legacy
• 46:58 Joy, Gratitude, and Future Dreams
• 52:40 Rapid Fire: What Makes You?

Transcript

Lisa Hopkins: 0:24

This is the Stop Time Podcast. I'm your host, lisa Hopkins, and I'm here to engage you in thought-provoking, motivational conversations around practicing the art of living in the moment. I'm a certified life coach and I'm excited to dig deep and offer insights into embracing who we are and where we are at. My next guest is someone whose light is as undeniable as her talent, and I've only just begun speaking with her. So that is true. She is a powerhouse performer and a radiant storyteller, a Georgia native who's traveled the world sharing her voice and heart. She is currently lighting up Broadway as Daisy in the Great Gatsby.

Lisa Hopkins: 1:11

You may have seen her in the Notebook, or Waitress Beautiful, the Carole King Musical, paradise Square, or Frozen, where she made history as the first Black woman to play Anna on Broadway A very, very special moment. From the stage of New York City Center to the sound stages of Dear Evan Hansen and Tick Tick Boom. She brings a unique joy and presence to everything she touches. She's sung across the globe with Disney Princess, the Concert, voiced a character on a hit Wondery Kids podcast, and continues to explore new ways to share gifts, and by the time that this is published in the next few weeks, she's probably done a gazillion other things. This girl's on fire. I'm so glad that she's taken a moment to be here and to be in the moment with me. Welcome, aisha Jackson.

Aisha Jackson: 1:59

Yes, that's so beautiful. Thank you Wow.

Lisa Hopkins: 2:03

Oh, I mean it. I'm just so thrilled to welcome you to the show. Thank you, happy to be here. Yeah, no, really, thank you. I know you're very busy and I appreciate you.

Aisha Jackson: 2:13

Just a little, yeah, but I'm very happy to be here, always happy to talk and share and spend time in community with others.

Lisa Hopkins: 2:23

Talk to me about what the rhythm. I'd love to check in and see what the rhythm of your life is like right now, in this moment.

Aisha Jackson: 2:32

It is tuning into my body and my voice and my mind, checking in to make sure that they are in a place that they are capable to do what is set out before them for the day. Even today, I'm not feeling my best today and I was supposed to do a photo shoot for the show and I called my agent. I was like, hey, today's not the day. I don't think that it is that, and I've already talked to my stage manager today to be like, hey, I'm just checking in a little early. My body, my voice don't feel the best. We may not need to be in the theater today, and so it's just. I think your body has its own rhythm and doing anything eight times a week can be exhausting, and so I find myself constantly checking in with myself. I also, in the past, have dealt with vocal injuries from overusage. I'm actually next week I celebrate a year, the year anniversary of me having my vocal surgery, and yeah, and so I just especially with that and like healing from that. I'm so in tune with my voice and my body and when it's telling me no, I'm like, oh okay, cool, is this a no, we need to take a power nap and then we'll be ready to go. Is this a no? You need more food and we need to warm up, and the warmup needs to be more strenuous to make sure our body is ready. Or is this a no? I am out today. So you know there are different levels of no, and so I find myself, just, you know, checking in with myself constantly.

Aisha Jackson: 4:21

I think we are athletes and so we have to check in with our body, with our voice, with our mind, with you know, just everything to see. Are you ready to bring your full self to work today, to do what you need to do? And then in life, you know, finding balance, a work-life balance, with an eight show week and only having one day off, is difficult, and there are moments where I just have to sit with myself and go yeah, you're tapped out. So what do you need to do today to replenish? What do we need to do today to make sure that we'll be good for the rest of the week? And, in my opinion, I always lean towards listening to your body before it gets to the point of sheer exhaustion, because then you're tapping out for like a week. You know, as opposed to take the day or, on your off day, make sure you are not speaking at all to anyone and you sit down, you know. So there are different things that I have to plan throughout the week, with interviews, with press, with extracurricular activities, with just talking on the phone to my sister.

Aisha Jackson: 5:34

Everything takes a certain amount of energy, and my speech pathologist and I we call it vocal cash. It's like how much vocal cash are you spending today? How much is in the bank? How much do we have left? Do we have something on reserve? Do we need to? You know, and so I'm, yes, it's just a constant check-in because you're, my rhythm changes every day based on what I'm eating, how much I'm sleeping, what activities I have on the docket for the day. So, yeah, I would say it's just a constant check-in with self.

Lisa Hopkins: 6:03

Yeah, you're talking about the influencers, right. You know we talk about how you're a high performer not just a performer, but someone who is used to doing things really well and has worked to get to a certain point, and you know what it looks like when you're your best. And then you understand what the detractors are, or at least you learn. Certainly you have understood this and it's important, right? We've got the spiritual and the mental and the environmental and the emotional, the physical and the spiritual. These are all influencers, right, that affect us and our ability to pull out our best. And then, at the end of the day, there's our body that just says you know, this is black and white, literally.

Aisha Jackson: 6:46

Yeah, the body's like yeah, no, white. Literally, this is what's going on. Yeah, no, no, no, we don't have anything else in the tank, babe, so I don't know where you're pulling from.

Lisa Hopkins: 6:54

Exactly exactly. Yeah for sure. That's amazing. How were you able to develop that?

Aisha Jackson: 6:58

I think it's a continuing lesson because you know, as you say, being a performer, you build a certain level of stamina and strength that I think sometimes can be blinding when your body is like hey, hey, hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no, and you're like, oh, no, but you know we do this or we've done this. Or you know and it's like, yeah, but that doesn't mean we can do this today. Um and and for me, I have like, I'm very stringent and like. I have a version A of my show, I have a version B, I might give you a version C, but when we get in the D, e, f, g, I'm not there, I'm not like and I don't. And that's just me, and I think everyone's different. I think it's a personal choice. There are some people who are like oh, my voice is not in it today, but I'm going to come. Oh my, my ankle is sprained but I'm going to come. Oh my. And if it's an injury you've dealt with and you know how your body responds, it voice as much. There are some people that can come to work and maybe their ankle is a little swollen, but they're not walking on their, they're not, they don't have choreography, that's crazy, or they're not wearing three inch heels, like you know. So you have to. You know it's a personal choice that I think that you make based on what is required of you that day. Personal choice that I think that you make based on what is required of you that day. But for me, yeah, it's definitely a muscle that I have had to work out throughout the years, and then, in this industry, it is the show must go on.

Aisha Jackson: 8:43

I kind of hate that phrase because it's like at what cost? And oftentimes, sorry, it doesn't cost the powers that be much. It costs the bodies that are on the stage that are putting themselves through that. And so I am that body, and it is my responsibility, first and foremost, to take care of Aisha, not Daisy, not Middle Alley, not Snow White, not Anna. Yes, that is part of my responsibility, but my very first responsibility is to take care of my vessel, and I also want to continue doing this for like as long as I can, and so I have to make decisions that will allow me to do so. And so, pushing my voice beyond its limits not smart. Pushing my body beyond its limit not smart.

Aisha Jackson: 9:29

I had pseudocysts on my vocal cords for eight years and learning how to navigate that and figuring out okay, I had to go through speech pathology and that helped, and then it didn't, and then the pseudocysts became very temperamental and then I had all this vocal anxiety rising up above it and I was like, oh, okay, we've gotten to the point where we need to make a choice. And so, like, what's the choice you're going to make? And then you make that choice and you learn another level of discipline with the vocal rest and the exercises and the lessons that we're rebuilding. And then, going into the notebook, I had to, you know, I was like, okay, I have a certain amount of shows that I'm comfortable doing when I first start, because I'm coming fresh from the operating room. So, like, let's make sure that I'm saying yes to this contract. I got the yes, I got the ask for the notebook four weeks after my surgery. So I was doing my first voice lesson post-op and the full healing time is six to eight weeks. And so they called me and they offered it and I was excited and I said yes. But I was also like, and this is the date that I will be ready to go in, because I have to give myself my full healing time. This is what I'll be able to offer you once we start shows, because I have to rebuild stamina. This is what, and so it's just like.

Aisha Jackson: 11:01

I think going through that experience as well has informed me of limits. And then there's certain chapters in your life where your limits decrease or increase, and so it's just, yeah, I think it's just a constant exercise of listening and of paying attention, of having discernment, and you know. And then there are the days where I don't feel like doing the show, but I'm fully capable of it, you know. And so then you also have to clock what that feels like. Okay, you're tired, because you did seven shows already this week. This is the final show.

Aisha Jackson: 11:34

Do your warmup? Do you have the range that you need to do the show today? Okay, do your physical warmup? Is your body in a place where it can do the show today? Okay, so then, when I check those off, I'm like, oh yeah, you're good to go. You're just tired. So, like you can do this, you got enough gas in the tank, let's go ahead, let's do this live show and then let's have our day off, you know. So it's just, I think it's just a game of a constant check-in in my experience.

Lisa Hopkins: 12:02

You're talking about context, right, and we are diverse. I always talk about this context, right, and we are diverse. I always talk about this, but I think it's so important. I'm talking about diversity of self, diversity of energy, and there is this expectation for the people that hire us, and even more so from ourselves, that, because we can do that, we should and we must.

Aisha Jackson: 12:26

And just because we can and we have the ability to do so, it doesn't mean that we should. It doesn't mean that it will be better off for us in the end. And yes, this week, sure, I can do eight shows a week and then next week maybe I can't because I didn't get enough rest on this day or because I had press on this day and then I had to like, even with like scheduling press, I try to schedule it on the day after the off day if I'm going to be singing, so that I know that I've had a full off day of rest. But then I have to figure out my vocal cache for Thursday because we have two shows. So then on Wednesday I'm doing multiple takes of this highly emotional and vocal intense song and I film that. And then I come and do two and a half hours at night and then I'm coming in the next morning.

Aisha Jackson: 13:17

The recovery time in between that evening and matinee is slim. So then I'm figuring out okay, what vocal cash or energy do you have for the matinee? What do you need to do in between the shows to recover, to make sure you can do the evening show healthily, like it's all? Yes, it's such a like. It's a constant, oh my goodness. I keep saying it's a constant check-in, but that's what it is it's like. Just because you have the capability to do it doesn't mean you should, and I am of the mindset that we should not have eight shows a week.

Lisa Hopkins: 13:53

There you go. Well, here's the thing you know. It's interesting because you also mentioned limits and I would put forth these aren't your limits, what you have is choice. Like what if you thought of limits as choices? Because if you're at choice, then you're choosing. That you know it's not this linear. You know of a, of a place to, to begin Right. So, yes, with your check-ins 100%, but I would encourage you.

Aisha Jackson: 14:33

sorry, I'm coaching, I'm not no, I'm here for it, but, but it's like.

Lisa Hopkins: 14:38

I would encourage you not to use the word limits, because these are choices and and, and you know if you come from a place of choice. Only you know. Only you know when you can really be all in. Yeah, and you can sometimes make a conscious choice, and that's okay too that I realized that I've done all my check ins and I'm not 100%, but I'm okay with that, because tonight I'm honoring my value of sharing or of representing or of whatever it is, and maybe that helps, I think. I think I don't know. Tell me what you think about that. I'm going to just stop and let you respond to that.

Aisha Jackson: 15:17

No, I think that's a, I think that's a shift of perspective. I invite it, I welcome it and I understand what it is that you're saying, because even in that you're like you're either choosing to, to value what your capacity is at the current moment, or you're choosing, you know, you make a choice of do I feel well enough to go through with it or do I? Am I choosing to, to take rest, go through with it, or do I? Am I choosing to, to take rest? Yeah, yeah, I, yeah, that's I.

Aisha Jackson: 15:58

I invite myself into that room of choices. It's a different way to think about it. I've not ever thought of it in that way. I have always used that, the vocabulary of like, of even capacity, of like, what is your capacity today and what is your limit. And I've even been having a recent conversation of feeling as though, uh, with the different responsibilities I've been given, um, and in my talks with god, that I feel like my capacity is being um, enhanced, enhanced and expanding, and so that idea of choice, the perspective of choice, is also a beautiful thing to add into the mix there.

Lisa Hopkins: 16:36

I love that. It's funny because you know, and it's funny that you use the word although it's not funny at all, is it? Because there are no coincidences. But I have a model called the Energetic capacitor and you're talking about capacity, isn't that interesting? It is really about where you're at energetically when you're making a choice. So it's not about it's not about decision making. It's not about am I doing this show, am I not doing the show? It's about what's the? You know what's the energetic choice that I'm at, like there's six of them. Right that I can't, I can't do this, right, that's a choice, what I call an energetic choice, as opposed to a message in your head, right and when you're at I, you know when you're, when you're saying I can't obviously right what happens, or I have to right Characterized by force, or I should, is I get to one of them? It's the final one, which I called choice, with gratitude 100%.

Aisha Jackson: 17:33

Yeah, that's, that's wonderful. I love that because it's actually, um, in choice of gratitude. It's something that I use to shift my perspective when I find that my energy is leaning towards negativity or leaning towards a complaint of like I have to, I have to, I have to, and it's like, oh, actually, I get to get to do this, I get to do, I even, I get to make the choice to, to check in with my energy and see where I am.

Lisa Hopkins: 18:05

I get to yeah, and that has nothing to do with am I going to do it or am I going to not do it? Just by saying I get to choose, you're going to already have you know, access a lot more energy Doesn't mean again, doesn't mean you have to use it in that direction, in the same way, the, the inner, the energetic choice of I can't.

Aisha Jackson: 18:25

As soon as we say I can't, our entire being is like oh, okay, and that's something too vocally for me. Throughout the years I'm big on words of affirmation as well, and especially for my voice. I found it throughout my journey much more impactful for me to affirm my voice than than nitpick on what it is and what it feels like I am incapable of, or what people have told me I can or cannot do, or yeah, yeah, the I can't. It's something. It's, it's very powerful. And and this, the performing is so mental, well, 100%, game, it's a mental game. And this, the performing is so mental, well, 100%, it's a game. It's a mental game. We have to have a certain level of belief that we are capable, that we possess a certain level of talent and preparation or whatever discipline, all the things. It's such a mental game. And the second, that we start to become doubtful, worrisome, anxious, all that our body takes that on.

Lisa Hopkins: 19:30

Yep, yep, and you're going to love what's in between. I can't, I have to, and I get to. You know what's in between and what the tipping point is. I should. Now you know what I call I should. I call it I could, with shame, oh, so, so you lose the shame and guess where you're standing. You're standing in the energetic choice of I could do this.

Aisha Jackson: 20:01

Yeah, because I should. Whenever we're saying it, it's like, well, I should have, or it is, it does have a tinge of yeah, Of guilt on it, or shame.

Lisa Hopkins: 20:11

Yeah, 100%, I should do it, cause I said I was going to do it. I should do it Cause that's what you're supposed to do. I should have right. But as soon as you lose the shame, then you realize, okay, I could do that. So then you feel more ownership Doesn't mean you're going to, you know, and again, it's not a decision-making thing, it's where you're coming from energetically. I could do that. You're standing in your capability, and then I could do that. You're standing in your capability, and then you go. Not only can I do that, I want to do that, which is the next one. And when you want yeah, then you. Then you're in your values, yeah, I want to because I want to. You're in your why. And then, when you're doing it, guess what I get to yeah, that's beautiful, I love that.

Lisa Hopkins: 20:51

I love that too. I love sharing it with you, thanks for sharing what is your definition of living in the moment?

Aisha Jackson: 20:58

Ooh, yeah, that's a good question. I think my answer is just being present. Sometimes my mind can jump to the future. It can even in performing.

Aisha Jackson: 21:16

You know, when we're performing, I challenge myself. I'm like listen to what's coming out of their mouth right now, because you know anxiety. Or oh, I haven't done the show in a while. Or, oh, what's next? Did I practice this enough? And I have to go shut up, be quiet in their mind. You've done this, you're capable.

Aisha Jackson: 21:32

How about we check in with the person who is speaking right now? Let's just listen to what they're saying and then allow our bodies in the moment to respond how it will respond. And you know, in life and on stage, I try to encourage myself to be present, to look around, to take in the nature around me, to take in the people around me, to take in the words that are being spoken, to enjoy the music that I'm choosing, to take in the nature around me, to take in the people around me, to take in the words that are being spoken, to enjoy the music that I'm choosing to play in the moment. And yeah, to me, yeah, it just means being present and not trying to hurry the moment, yeah, not trying to think about what comes after this. No, what are we doing right now? How am I feeling right now, in this moment? Who is right in front of me that I can love on or communicate with, or connect with?

Lisa Hopkins: 22:27

Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. I love what you said about. You know it happens even sometimes when you're performing and you know bottom line is that's ego, that's fear, right, it's ego.

Aisha Jackson: 22:39

Yeah, we start to go and I'm like, oh, what's next? What's next?

Lisa Hopkins: 22:42

It's like stop, stop stop, stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about yeah, no, for sure, what's?

Aisha Jackson: 22:46

right now. Who are you talking to?

Lisa Hopkins: 22:49

No for sure, it's a. It's a great reminder because also it leads to even though it's scary, it leads to performances that are beyond what you could control or expect.

Aisha Jackson: 23:03

Yeah, and then you start to explore and you find new things.

Lisa Hopkins: 23:07

Exactly.

Aisha Jackson: 23:08

And you're like, oh, that was, I didn't know, that was there, Cool. And then and it's giving yourself permission to not be a robot and try to pump out the exact same show every night. We're different people day to day. We're going to make different choices in your life every day. Like you know, it gives me courage to be like oh, we can try something new, because how are we reacting in this moment? Not necessarily like how do we practice this? It needs to be like this every time. And the audience is different, the energy is different. You might be acting with a different actress because somebody is out or actor, so like, yeah, I just encourage myself to sit in that sit in the moment be present.

Lisa Hopkins: 23:54

Talk to me about the pressures of performing and of, because I get what you're saying and it's really you know, we get it intellectually right. It makes so much sense what we're talking about. But when push comes to shove, there's also always going to be an element of. There's an audience and there's an audience, right, I mean.

Aisha Jackson: 24:17

There are people watching.

Lisa Hopkins: 24:18

There's 1700 people watching me right now correct, and you know there's, I'm sure, all sorts of weight on your shoulders, right to to well, I know there is, and and on talk to me about that so many levels, right, oh yeah, there's so many levels.

Aisha Jackson: 24:37

It's an act of faith. I think the line in the show is anything worth having or anything worth. I'm messing it up, but it's an act of faith. And performing is anxiety inducing, like it's a. It's a judgmental space and we, we, we hope that you, you judge us positively. We hope that you enjoy it, we hope, but, but it's a judgmental space, like they. Just they released B-roll performances of mine and Ryan's last week and a lot of the response was positive. But you know there's always a few. And look, it's also like you have a right to your opinion. You might not like my voice, you might not like the choices that I'm making.

Aisha Jackson: 25:25

I, as a human and as a performer, have to know that not all every person in this theater is not going to walk out of this theater loving what I just did, and that's just fact. Like it's not. It's not being down on myself, it's not. I can give the best performance I've ever given in my life. Cross all the T's, dot all the I's, make new choices, be in the moment. And somebody could walk out and be like, yeah, I mean, it was good, I guess. Or they could be like I hated it, like it doesn't. But we as performers, you just have to ready yourself. Like that's a part of the deal, like you kind of have to free yourself from that, Like that's not why I'm doing it.

Aisha Jackson: 26:04

I'm doing it because I desire to make an impact. I'm doing it because I have had a prayer my entire life to use my gifts and my talents to minister to others, to inspire others, to break down barriers, to open doors for those coming behind me. That's why I'm doing it. I'm doing it for the little girl who came to see me in Frozen and said to her mom mommy, she looks like me when I came out on stage. I'm doing it because I have fun doing this. I'm doing it because it brings me joy to use my gifts. It brings me joy to use my gifts doing musical theater. It brings me joy to use my gifts doing whatever gig it is that I said yes to. So like I'm doing it because I enjoy telling these stories and bringing these characters to life, because I enjoy having community with these other performers on stage and the crew and the orchestra, and like I'm doing it because I enjoy the energy we receive from the audience and how it feeds into my performance and how, how, what I'm doing on stage could somewhat possibly impact the rest of your day.

Aisha Jackson: 27:10

Or how you see this story, or how you see Black women, or how you see like I, you see, like I'm doing it for that, like you know, and so I just have you have to remind yourself like it's, it's a bigger picture, you know? Um, but, yes, but, but at the, the foundation of performing, it can be quite anxiety inducing and I have to remind myself of the why. Um, I'm a woman of faith. I pray before my performances, before every performance, and that brings me comfort and solace. I am of the mindset that I have a purpose and a calling to do what I am doing, and so I stand in that, and that grounds me to flick away the fear, the doubt, the anxiety. And then sometimes I do the show with fear and with anxiety and with doubt, and then I prove myself wrong, and then I go hey, you actually are very capable of this, you're wonderful at it. Some days you might not have 100, but your 100 could be somebody else's 75, or your 200 could be somebody else's 300. Like you know, it's not it. You just have to come with what you have and offer it and then walk away from it and then come back and do it all again, like when I was in college.

Aisha Jackson: 28:48

One of our guest teachers came and she said don't take your last audition into your next one. And she was saying that you know whether it was a positive or negative experience. When you walk into the room the next time it's a blank slate. You're starting over. And the way that I at that age it helped me. Because if, say, I sing a song in one audition and it tanks and then I take that same song into the next audition, don't take that memory of it. You can. You can take the lessons you learned from it. Right, and try and try your best to to have this be a different experience. But if I walk in going, oh, the last time I sang this it sucked, that's not going to help me.

Aisha Jackson: 29:28

That mindset is not going to. It's not going to be a breeding ground for success or happiness going to be a breeding ground for success or happiness, and so, but in the same way, say I go in and now I fly and I have the best audition ever. When I go into my next audition, I also don't need to take oh, the last time I did it was fine, so I don't need to practice. Oh, the last time I did it was. There were variables that day that do not exist today. So, like it's a new day, it's a blank slate, and I think I take that concept into my performances as well. Today I'm coming in with what I have today, with the energy that I have today, with the audience that we have today, and we're going to see what happens. It's a new, it's a new, it's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new light. New day, it's a new dawn, it's a new light. I'm feeling good.

Aisha Jackson: 30:20

It would take miss nina on stage with us, absolutely, yeah, and I give myself permission and, and I do have a mindset I I am a bit of a perfectionist and so there are times that I make mistakes and and I I know that I made that mistake and then the next day I say, hey, let's try to fix that mistake, and hopefully we can, and we go out there, we try it was better.

Aisha Jackson: 30:42

It can continue to evolve, we can continue to enhance the moment. Or just, that was horrible today and I got to release that too. I have to release that in the moment, like if I'm on stage and I crack, or if I'm on stage and I deliver a line in a way that I in my brain are like, oh, that wasn't the greatest, then I have to immediately release that so that I can do the next line, so that I can sing the next song of release, whether whether it was whether it was a, whether you deem it a great performance or your worst one, because we have to come in in five minutes and do the next scene, or I have to come in tomorrow and do it all over again.

Aisha Jackson: 31:25

Yeah, it's a healthy balance for me of like critiquing um of another, you know, checking in. How was that? How did that feel? What can we do better last time? What did we do great this time? Um, do we need to? Is this something that occurs every day in the show? If so, then that's your body telling you we need to change something. Now I need to go to management, and now I need to talk to my MD, and now I need to speak to the choreographer, and now I need to figure out oh hey, my body's responding to this like this. I've tried these different things. Maybe we need to change that for me in this role. So all those things. That's a very long answer.

Lisa Hopkins: 32:08

No, it's a great answer, and there's so much in there, right? I mean, I always say that nobody plays to lose, yeah.

Aisha Jackson: 32:18

Ever. We all want to win. We all want to win. We all have a bad performance.

Lisa Hopkins: 32:22

You didn't want to have that bad performance. You didn't go try to have that bad performance. You did your very best and your 100% that day was your 100% that day Correct and it changes every day. You have to do the best with what you have in that moment and in that day, correct, and it changes every day.

Aisha Jackson: 32:36

You have to do the best with what you have in that moment and in that day 100%.

Lisa Hopkins: 32:41

You got to meet yourself where you're at like, literally, and not as a compromise, but again as a choice and an understanding and all your check-ins that you're talking about. That's exactly, you know. It's a success formula, really, because it's understanding that there's not just one way to do anything. You know Correct.

Aisha Jackson: 33:01

And understanding where you are. There's some days, there's certain lines that I like to yell off stage when I'm calling for the maid, and there's some days where I'm going for it, I'm like, oh girl, bridget need to be closer today, she need to be right there. Like you know, I can't call that far today. Or there are moments that I have built into the show because you know, I love an opt up where I opt up, and there's some days where I need to opt down, and it doesn't mean that the song loses its power or that that moment is not as impactful. You show up where you are and you give it what you get.

Lisa Hopkins: 33:43

There, it is Right, there it is. So I want to ask you I could talk to you all day.

Aisha Jackson: 33:52

I appreciate. I just want to take the time to say I appreciate the space that you've built today in this room and and just through these conversations.

Lisa Hopkins: 34:02

Oh, thank you so much. I received no. Thank you. It's the joy of my life talking to people. I can tell it is. It absolutely is. I'm so interested in humans and my creative people, of course, yeah, thank you, I appreciate that. Hey, what dream do you have that maybe you haven't put out in the future yet?

Aisha Jackson: 34:27

Well, I have a mentorship program that I have been slowly building up that I desire to put out into the world. I must say, I'm a little timid to do it and I'm still trying to figure out the like ins and outs. But my tiny baby steps have been having mentees, one-on-one of mine, and so I have a handful of my babies that I help on their journey, my babies that I help on their journey, and um, but I desire to expand it to have more resources. I think representation is so important, and I think sometimes we need to see someone who looks like us or is from where we are, from doing the thing that we desire to do to to make it seem tangible or a possible. And so my mentorship program is along those lines of just having Black people specifically, but also people of color. And then there are some I'll bring on my white mentors that I've talked to, because they're like well, yeah, this industry doesn't have a lot of color and we want to bring more people of color in, and so, like, I want to be involved so that I can bring more people of color in as well. And so it's like yeah, so, yeah, I have a, I have this dream of a mentorship program just to show kids in high school, college as they're making choices about careers.

Aisha Jackson: 35:58

I want them to see the vast opportunities that they have, and not just in performing arts. It'll start there, but I have a friend who was like a communications director at the White House. I have a friend who's a lawyer, but she also has her own company called Herbrella, and it's a satin lined um rain hat and then she now has a satin line rain coat and like all these different things. And so I just want um. I just want kids to know like they have so much opportunity and and my chocolate drops I want them to know that there's a place for them everywhere, but especially in the arts. So that's a dream of mine to bring that to life.

Lisa Hopkins: 36:44

That's beautiful and I love that you say everywhere and even places where they might not have imagined, because you're opening up Correct.

Aisha Jackson: 36:52

That, yeah, right. And so I want them to be able to come and see, oh, she does what, oh, they do this, oh, he does that. Huh, what does that entail? And then they can have a conversation and be like, oh, that's actually a hobby of mine, or or a characteristic that I find that I have, or like something I want to develop and, and you know, and catching it at a younger age, is also helpful because you know you just have a little bit longer time.

Aisha Jackson: 37:19

But at any age to see. Oh, you started doing this when you were 30. I have a friend she made her Broadway debut in her 50s.

Lisa Hopkins: 37:29

And so like.

Aisha Jackson: 37:29

I want her on there Totally and so. And then it opens the demographic of age as well, so I love it, I love it.

Lisa Hopkins: 37:38

I love it. It's leadership at its highest, really, isn't it? That's beautiful, I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And also just like normalizing. You know, when you meet all these different eclectic people that do things you know at different points in their life, it also can unleash, maybe, something they'd been thinking of that they thought was crazy. But the more they see that's different, the more they can go. Well, I have a crazy idea, and they can put it out in the world.

Aisha Jackson: 38:02

Yeah, yeah, creating an environment where they feel comfortable to say I have this idea. It's like okay, well, what is it? It's probably great and it's unique to you because you're supposed to do it. And then what resources do you need? And I think that's the thing too Like we have ideas, we have visions and then we lack the resources. On the phone together, you're like Lisa, I'm like Lisa. You wanna see my Tony, lisa, the mentorship program is going so well. We're in year. I don't know yet I go. Lisa, this album that I released did you have a chance to listen to it? Did you like it? What are your thoughts?

Aisha Jackson: 39:02

Also, I started a production company to produce concerts for myself and for my community, and we are built on the pillars of community accessibility and representation, and so I've had the joy and pleasure of producing quite a few concerts over the last couple of years, and so I want to be able to invite you to our annual gala.

Aisha Jackson: 39:27

I want to be able to invite you to the let's see the seventh or eighth year of Black Excellence on Broadway, which is the Black History Month concert that I do each year, and we give our flowers to our Black Broadway luminaries who have paved the way for us. We give them to them, figuratively and literally. We invite them to come into the space, love it, and I choose current Broadway performers to honor them, you know, and we invite them into the space because I'm like give people their flowers while they're alive, yeah, hello. And you know, and these, these beautiful performers have come through and paved the way and opened up the door for me to exist. So, yeah, hopefully I get to invite you to the, the, the full production of Black Excellence Nice.

Lisa Hopkins: 40:21

I'm going to be busy. I'm going to be busy five years from now, seeing all your stuff. Yes, you gotta come, you gotta come oh my God, what about zoom out like 20 years, 20 years? You're looking back. What can you imagine? You're looking back. Can you imagine?

Aisha Jackson: 40:36

Wow, hopefully. You know I have some kitties running around. Oh, nice and my husband, you know we nice and together and solid and in love and having fun and traveling. I've gotten the opportunity to travel a lot and perform, which is amazing. And growing up, it was always a prayer of mine to use my gifts across the world, and so seeing how that prayer has been answered by being able to do Disney Princess the concert in Asia and do symphonies in Canada and like all these different things, and so I just hope that there are more opportunities to travel, have fun, explore but also, you know, share my art worldwide, love it. You know Broadway's not the end, all be all. It's pretty great.

Aisha Jackson: 41:28

But you know, I'd love to have a couple of films under my belt. I enjoy doing voiceovers, so having some more voiceover opportunities and, yeah, tv film is not something I've I've like stuck my toe in just a little bit, but I'd like to walk through that door fully and hopefully direct at some point. So, yeah, we got a lot of producer, director, mentor, mother, mother, wife, auntie I'm already auntie. Oh, my goodness, my nephew will be 22. What, wow, in 20 years he's a little two-year-old, just a little. Can you imagine 22? That's wild. Oh, my goodness, I'll be seeing my nephew graduate from college, yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 42:19

What do you think? I mean, I think she'd be extraordinarily proud. But what do you think? Young you know, real young Aisha would be most proud of right now if she knew where you are.

Aisha Jackson: 42:34

Oh, my goodness, You're going to make me cry. Yeah, and yeah, I think she would be overjoyed with the way that I pushed through doubt and fear and grief. When I was in high school, I lost my brother, and so I like to think he's in heaven looking over me and has blessed my path. But, yeah, young Aisha would be proud of pushing through that. That loss happened right before I went to college, and so it could have altered a lot of different things. Um, you know, everything happens the way it happens, and I was able to continue through grief, to continue performing, you know, but there's a world in which that could have bopped me out, um, or at least for a certain amount of time. Um, but yeah, I think, I think young Aisha would be very proud.

Aisha Jackson: 43:34

I've had different um people kind of shit on my voice at different times in life, and so I think, overcoming that and being like no, I have a gift, and you might not understand my tone or my rasp or lack of clarity to you, but this is what God has given me and it's my responsibility to fine tune it and to take care of it and to continue to grow it and to continue to share it, and so I think she'd be proud that I've continued to do that, and to do so with humility and thoughtfulness and concern for others, and that I've continued to advocate for myself and others and continue to grow. Yeah, that's what it's all about continuing to evolve and fine-tune, and you know? Yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 44:30

Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Yes, thanks for asking, absolutely. How do you want to be remembered?

Aisha Jackson: 44:40

Ooh, oh my gosh. I want to be remembered as making space for others to shine bright, and especially for black women in this industry. Yeah, for making space for for them to be all that they are on and off stage and to be to be all that they are on and off stage and to be protected. I work with equity, I'm on the council and you know a part of my statement there was like I want us to have protections in our contracts about our textured hair, and there's certain things that, as a Black woman, even something as simple as like choosing a tight color, can be overwhelming. Having someone to prep your hair, having someone on the wig team specifically knowing how to deal with the type of hair that grows out of my head is not always there. And so, yeah, I want to be for for being the change that I wish to see. You gotta be crying over here today.

Lisa Hopkins: 45:53

I know, you know it's, it's um. Thank you for your honesty and openness, really, yeah thank you for making space no, it's, it's really beautiful. Okay, we're gonna do we'll change it up a little bit here we're gonna do the rapid fire. I'm gonna say okay, I'm gonna say what makes you and you can just say whatever comes into your head okay. Let's do it. What makes you hungry?

Aisha Jackson: 46:28

Oh, man, like for like in life, or like food wherever, wherever your head goes. What makes me hungry, doing a show for two and a half hours?

Lisa Hopkins: 46:40

Oh my gosh, yeah, fair. Hey, what do you eat after the show? Like, what do you? Is that when you?

Aisha Jackson: 46:45

what do you eat? Um, I have a deli on the corner and they have this um, uh, this Greek salad that I get with a side of fries and chicken. Uh, I like burgers. I like chicken wings. I'm from Atlanta. We have the best chicken wings. Um, so I'll come home and give me a nice little 10 piece lemon pepper. Sometimes I have a protein smoothie. Sometimes I just have, like a snack, apple and peanut butter, cucumbers and hummus, a pickle, jalapeno chips. But yeah, I'm definitely a fan of coming home and devouring something, but some days, if I've done well and eaten enough calories throughout the day, at the end of the night I just come home and I'm ready to go to sleep.

Lisa Hopkins: 47:27

Yeah, fair. But you know that adrenaline that you feel for hours after the performance is gone.

Aisha Jackson: 47:33

Money, yes, my ass, be up till 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. It's so hard. Sometimes I'm like Aisha, go to bed and then I have like my brain is so focused and, like you know, the streets are quiet and so when I get home, and it's like 12 o'clock, one o'clock in the morning, I'm up sending emails or checking stuff or doing like admin work for love and light like. But I also enjoy reading comments from the fans. Oh, that's nice, um, and so when they, when they post things on instagram, you know instagram is like it'll, it'll delete in 24 hours. So if I don't look at it, I miss. I miss it sometimes. But I love the the that fans take the time to like, write me and tell me how the show impacted them and tell me how they were inspired or moved or had fun or hated Daisy. But they're like you know I love you, but Daisy, I was like, yeah, she's a complex girl, she's not everybody's favorite, but I get it.

Lisa Hopkins: 48:35

Oh my gosh, I love that. That was not rapid at all. That was awesome. It never is, by the way, it never is.

Aisha Jackson: 48:41

We went on a tangent Okay.

Lisa Hopkins: 48:44

I love me a tangent, so that's no problem. Okay, what makes you sad?

Aisha Jackson: 48:52

Seeing unhoused people in the city.

Lisa Hopkins: 48:55

What makes you?

Aisha Jackson: 48:56

inspired Meeting young people at the stage door, meeting young Black women at the stage door who are excited that daisy is black and like geek out and scream there are these lovely chocolate drops. They were studying at alvin ailey the summer intensive. They came to see the show and then I'm we invited them to come back to meet the dance ensemble after the show the next day, and then they invited me to their showcase performance. So I got to go, uh, support them in their showcase performance. And then they invited me to their showcase performance. So I got to go support them in their showcase performance. And then I invited them to come back to the theater because I redecorated my dressing room so it was different from the first time they saw it. And so then they came back with their friends from Alvin Ailey and with their mom and like so yeah, that inspires me, and being able to see the impact in real time, totally it inspires me to keep going. That's the real answer.

Lisa Hopkins: 49:49

Yeah, I love that, though. We got a nice glimpse of that too. That was really awesome. Yeah, Okay, what makes you laugh?

Aisha Jackson: 49:58

My nephew. He's a goofball.

Lisa Hopkins: 50:03

Yes, I love that. And what makes you angry?

Aisha Jackson: 50:12

I won't get too deep Injustice.

Lisa Hopkins: 50:14

Yeah, fair, what makes you angry, kind of in your day-to-day life, that isn't a big thing.

Aisha Jackson: 50:22

People walking next to me in the streets of New York.

Lisa Hopkins: 50:27

I guess the question would be right what irritates you? That's what irritates you, yeah.

Aisha Jackson: 50:31

Like the lack of spatial awareness on the train, irritates me.

Lisa Hopkins: 50:39

Fair, oh my gosh. And finally, what makes you grateful?

Aisha Jackson: 50:47

Sunshine Beach, oh my gosh. And finally, what makes you grateful? Sunshine beach, bodies of water, my family being able to share my gift, singing, breathing.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:00

Yeah, you know you. I mean you do have a great gift, obviously, of singing, but if I never had heard you sing, I would still be telling you you have such a gift Just as a human your energy, your light, it's beautiful. Thank you it truly is Thank you.

Aisha Jackson: 51:19

It's one of the many gifts God has blessed me with. I'm grateful for it.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:23

Well, you're using it, so you're honoring. You know, whatever you did, you would bring that to it, and that's pretty cool. You know, sometimes I ask my guests what would you do if you didn't sing? But I'm not even worried about you, Okay.

Aisha Jackson: 51:36

So right, You're like yeah, teach mentor.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:40

I'm like, yeah, there's a copious list of things that yeah. Finally, I'm going to ask you what are the top three things that have happened so far today.

Aisha Jackson: 51:49

Today.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:51

Yeah.

Aisha Jackson: 51:51

Talking to you, honestly, Speaking with you and having this space to share. Yeah, today I did not wake up feeling my best. So you honoring where I am, you having grace and patience with my delay this morning, not making me feel guilty about it, and creating this space to speak openly and freely and honestly and be my genuine self. You know I'm going to be that, but you know, having someone on the other side that is receiving of it makes a difference. So, yes, talking to you, I did my hair this morning my curls. They came out pretty good. I need to get my hair colored, but they came out great.

Aisha Jackson: 52:45

They are gorgeous, thank you, and what else? It hasn't happened yet, but it's about to happen. I'm about to take the rest of this stuff to my storage unit and my apartment is going to be clear and open, and that will be a beautiful part of today open, and that will be a beautiful part of today.

Lisa Hopkins: 53:10

I love that. And then? So, what are you most looking forward to? Well, today, so that's one of them, and then also in the future.

Aisha Jackson: 53:16

In the future. I'm looking forward to, I'm looking forward to I have so many answers. I'm looking forward to continuing to build community through Love and Light Productions. I'm looking forward to continuing to evolve as a human, as an aunt, as a friend, as a sister, as a wife and a mother. Um, and I'm looking forward to the many ways that I don't even know yet of how I'm going to share my art oh, I love that.

Lisa Hopkins: 53:59

Yeah, that's cool. What's one thing, if anything, that surprised you about today, with our interaction today? Because you live a life, like all my guests, where you're always talking to people about what you're doing or about I'm just curious. You know you came in also you probably had a lot of things that that threatened to get in the way of you showing up here.

Aisha Jackson: 54:20

Yes so.

Lisa Hopkins: 54:20

I'm curious to know yeah, what, what, if anything, surprised you about this past hour together?

Aisha Jackson: 54:30

That I leaned into joy, despite the things that were trying to stop me from coming here today. I consider myself to be a joyful person and I didn't feel very joyful before I got on the phone with you, but I think that you experienced some joy for me today throughout, and it surprised me how emotional I got with you, asking me about younger Aisha and the impact that I desire to make, because it brought up a lot of things today, yeah, but I'm happy that I honored those feelings and allowed them to flow. I'm happy that I chose to show up instead of canceling. I'm happy that you made space for us to communicate today and accepted me where I was. I'm happy that I accepted myself where I was and continued to. I made the choice to be present and made the choice to speak with you and share with you today. To speak with you and share with you today, and made the choice to lean into the percentage of joy that I have at this moment.

Lisa Hopkins: 55:52

Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Well, I cannot thank you enough for joining me. Truly, it's been such a joy.

Aisha Jackson: 55:59

It's been a pleasure speaking with you. Thanks for having me.

Lisa Hopkins: 56:01

Yes, I'm Lisa Hopkins. Thanks for listening. Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and remember to live in the moment. In music, stop time is that beautiful moment where the band is suspended in rhythmic unison, supporting the soloist to express their individuality. In the moment. I encourage you to take that time and create your own rhythm Until next time. Create your own rhythm Until next time. I'm Lisa Hopkins. Thanks for listening.