From Homeless To Hollywood: How Terrence J Turned His Dream Into A Reality
“They may just not be in the room," the front desk clerk says, doing little to disguise her annoyance.
“No, he should be there. Can you try again?"
She patches me through for the second time as I begin plotting an alternative plan of action in case the phone goes unanswered. It's not the first time I've played phone tag with Terrence J because, hey, he's a busy man. But before I can decide between calling his manager or shooting a “well I tried" email, the ringing ceases and I'm greeted with a warm tone.
He's in Anguilla, he tells me. “I'm shooting for Mark Burnett. We're doing a show for FOX."
Mind you, this was two days before he was set to release his latest film The Perfect Match, where he played the role of the leading man alongside model Cassie Ventura and a cast of beautiful women—think Paula Patton, Brandy, Lauren London, and Dascha Polanco—in addition to snagging a production credit. Somewhere between doing radio and television promo and red carpet appearances, he's managed to slip back to the islands to add another hosting gig to his resumé. Less than three months prior, the former co-anchor announced his departure from E! News in order to pursue acting and producing full-time—just a few days shy of receiving a call from Lionsgate that they were interested in distributing The Perfect Match. He left a steady paycheck in pursuit of his dream, nothing less than a boss move. Risk-taking is something that Terrence J has perfected over the years.
“It was really stepping out on faith and believing myself to know that I want to leave the club before the lights turn on," he says. “I actually sat down with Will Smith, and I asked him when did he know it was time to leave The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. They offered him a million dollars an episode for 22 episodes, and he said he just felt it in his gut—he felt it in his heart—and he knew when it was time to leave. This was when he only had Six Degrees of Separation. It wasn't like he had done Bad Boys or Men in Black yet, he just stepped out on faith. And so I felt like it was just my time."
Terrence J has always had this innate ability of knowing when to trust his gut, and it's always paid off. When the Rocky Mount, NC native showed up on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University during his freshman year, he headed straight to the student radio station and offered to volunteer. Within one semester he snagged a part-time job at the city's local radio station 102 Jamz. "Closed mouths don't get fed," he says without hesitation. "I tell people that if you do something that you love, eventually it'll come full circle and it'll work for you. And you'll never feel like you're working a day in your life."
He took that same logic with him to New York in 2005 when he auditioned for BET's “New Faces" contest. Like thousands of others he didn't advance to the second round, but the person in front of him did. Instead of admitting defeat, he took it as a lesson in perseverance. “It wasn't that I didn't get the job, it was more so that I couldn't believe that somebody that close was able to advance, and I didn't feel like the person was any better than me or that person was greater, it was just that for whatever reason I wasn't on my A game that day."
He showed up to Atlanta the next day where they were holding another round of auditions. This time he was prepared, and when he stepped into the room for the second time, they didn't dare turn him away. “A lot of times in life when people tell us no we take that so personally. When someone tells us that we can't sing, then we'll never sing again. If someone tells us that you can't play basketball good, a lot of us will put the ball down and never pick it back up. And a lot of times in life people will tell you no for a lot of different reasons and those reasons having nothing to do with you. People will tell you no because of how they feel about themselves, and so you've got to understand that the only person that can't stop you from doing that is yourself."
"People will tell you no because of how they feel about themselves."
His career aspirations landed him in the Big Apple during the heart of winter with nothing more than a dollar and a dream. At one point he was homeless, sleeping in his car and on his frat brother's couch while waiting to be assigned to a show. He beat out three other finalists before he and co-host Rocsi Diaz finally graced the stage of 106 & Park six months later. "We didn't know how it was going to work out, so we had to be patient and stay hungry."
At BET he would encounter a setback that later prepared him for a comeback. Interviewing celebs with their flashy chains and expensive rides enticed Terrence into the world of overindulgence. Instead of paying off student loans, he bought a Cadillac in effort to keep up with his celebrity friends, but after nearly going bankrupt he learned a lesson on the importance of money management. (He has since built a net worth of a reported $4 million.)
After seven years of entertaining teens, his gut told him that it was time to make moves. Before getting the call from E! News, he had already started dabbling in film as a co-star in Think Like A Man and later Think Like A Man Too. Though his brand was getting bigger, that didn't mean his ego had to. “Walking into a movie theater and having people watch you on screen is a scary thing. I do work where it's based off of opinions, so any given day public opinion can shift and say we don't like you and I have to figure out something else to do. You just got to believe in yourself and stay hungry."
Never knowing when his time may be up keeps Terrence J grounded and grinding. Ask any production crew and they'll tell you that he's the first on set and the last to leave. “There are a lot of people out there who may be more talented than me, may be better looking than me, they may be stronger, taller, and faster than me, but they're not going to work harder than me. I will outwork whoever until the wheels fall off, and so I think with that it's [about] how bad you want it."
"There are a lot of people out there who may be more talented than me, may be better looking than me, they may be stronger, taller and faster than me, but they're not going to work harder than me."
In the midst of building his empire he's also attempted to have a love life with model Selita Ebanks and blogger Nicole Isaacs, but becoming a Renaissance doesn't come without sacrifice. The time and effort required to build a healthy relationship would come at the price of his career, and similar to his bestie Michael B. Jordan, he's not willing to put his aspirations on hold just yet. “The Michael Ealy character [on Think Like A Man] is a character that every guy can relate to because it's hard for you to be the person that you have the potential of being in a relationship until you're at a place in your career that you can be comfortable with," he says “ I'm very aware of where I want to be with my career, and a lot of times that takes an extreme amount of tunnel vision in order to get that."
The 33-year-old still has hope for marriage and kids—one day. “Relationships are reflections of where you are and you get what you project. You receive what you put out into the universe. I have no doubt that one day I'll be married and with kids if I'm fortunate enough, and I look forward to all of those things. But for me right now I've worked very hard for a long time and right now I'm focused."
Touché.
It's easy to understand why Terrence J goes so hard when his work is his passion. He's chosen a path where waking up is another day to live out his dream, and he's determined to add a few slashes to his Twitter bio.
"The universe will move out of your way and conspire to assist you in whatever your dream may be."
“All I want to do is what I'm doing. I love what I do so much that this is my joy. And I don't care about winning an Oscar or any type of award or recognition or even a bunch of money. None of those things are at the top of my priority list. I love waking up in the morning and doing what I'm passionate about. If you keep going after your dream, the universe will move out of your way and conspire to assist you in whatever your dream may be."
For the television host, actor, and now producer, his dream took him from his small-town home all the way to Hollywood. Terrence recently acquired a new first-look production and talent deal with MTV and VH1 proving that your dreams can be achieved!
Featured image by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images
Kiah McBride writes technical content by day and uses storytelling to pen real and raw personal development pieces on her blog Write On Kiah. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @writeonkiah.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
These 11 Married Couples Share Their Keys To Long-Term Marital Success
The late actor Audrey Hepburn once said something that I think a lot of married couples who have at least 10 years under their belt will agree with: “If I get married, I want to be very married.” In my mind, this means very committed, very complementary, and very willing to go the distance — otherwise, what’s the point?
Really, what’s the point?
Thing is, with the divorce rate still being higher than it ever should be (for the record, a husband is not a boyfriend, and a wife is not a girlfriend; a marriage is serious business, y’all) and acting married being praised (or at least acknowledged) more than actually being married seems to be — folks who 1) are married and are looking for some hacks that will help with relational longevity or 2) want to be married someday and want insight on how to make their future marriage last are constantly seeking truly beneficial material.
Can you Google articles with random bullet points? Sure. And I’m not discouraging it. Every little bit of wisdom that you can pull, I fully support. However, the reason why I like to do articles like this one from time to time is there is something to be said from hearing real talk from multiple sources on the same topic who have some solid wisdom and knowledge on a particular topic.
Today? 11 married couples who were willing to talk about how they’ve been able to make it to several wedding anniversaries with a smile on their face and no regrets for choosing who they chose. Let’s all sit at their feet for just a moment.
*Middle names are always used in my content that’s like this so that people can speak freely*
Getty Images
1. Kyle and Adrienne. Married 12 Years.
Kyle: “Some of your readers aren’t going to want to hear this but it’s worked for my marriage: people need to lower their expectations sometimes; I mean, men and women. We go into marriage with stuff that movies told us, social media told us, friends who are always single told us about what we should expect from someone, and then want to fault the person when they’re not what we made up in our head. Everyone should have standards but if you’re expecting your spouse to be some living version of a fairy tale character, you’re going to be disappointed almost every day of your life. Drop those expectations some and watch your relationship be a lot less stressful.”
Adrienne: “Talk to people who respect your man about your marriage. I’ve never believed that you shouldn’t ever go to anyone when you need some support. Even the Bible says that there is safety in wise counsel [Proverbs 11:4]. Too many women talk to women who don’t respect men, in general, let alone their husbands, and so that’s where things go left. Sometimes, you need an ‘outside in’ perspective. But if that woman is always taking shots at men, doesn’t respect marriage, or isn’t someone who holds your man in high regard, don’t ask her for advice. Really, you should ask yourself why you’re friends with her at all.”
Shellie here: I’m big on engaged and married couples having a “village” of sorts for their relationship, too. Check out “Why Every Engaged Couple Needs A 'Marriage Registry'” to get a good idea of what I mean.
2. Levi and Paulette. Married for 15 Years.
Levi: “Some of you have probably heard of the 7-7-7 rule. It’s where couples go on a date every seven days, have a weekend getaway every seven weeks, and go on a romantic trip of some sort every seven months. My wife and I do the 2-2-2 rule instead because sometimes our schedule and budget make ‘7’ difficult. It has gotten easier since Shellie told us about the sex jar. Bottom line, if you’re waiting for time to just open up to be with your spouse, that ain’t gonna happen. Schedule intimacy, including sex. Prioritizing it is better than saying you’re gonna be spontaneous and…never are.”
Paulette: “Initiate sex, dammit. When Shellie told us that men initiate sex most of the time, and then I thought about how often I used to push my husband away whenever he did it — I never really thought about how that made him feel until I put myself in his shoes. We’ve got to stop having all of this understanding for why women cheat when it comes to them not feeling desired or not getting attention when we’re the same way to our husbands. Your marriage isn’t ‘Young and the Restless’, where you’re just supposed to wait for your man to make the move. If you want to feel wanted, do the same thing for him.”
Shellie here: What’s a sex jar, you ask? You can read more about it via “5 Reasons Why Every Married Couple Needs A Sex Jar.”
3. Matthew and Gaia. Married for 17 Years.
Matthew: “Reenact some of your favorite times together. My wife and I do that semi-often. We’ll go back to where we had our first date, or we’ll go back to the hotel where we had some of the best sex before. Bringing back memories of when you felt the best together can give you the motivation to stay together to create some new memories to ‘play out’ later on.”
Gaia: “If you want to ‘mom your husband,’ you need to have kids — or at least get a dog! I didn’t realize how bossy I was until I got married. It’s because I saw my mom be that way with my dad. In my eyes, I thought that’s what love looked like until I watched how my in-laws were. They don’t try to change each other, and they definitely don’t make any demands. They’re very polite. I think a lot of married people are rude to their partner. Don’t be that.”
Getty Images
4. Joseph and Carletta. Married for 10 Years.
Joseph: “Go to therapy for your childhood. I’m dead serious. No one is going to show you yourself like your wife will, and I realized that a lot of my hang-ups came from unhealed childhood stuff. It’s hard to be an adult in your marriage when you’re still emotionally a kid in a lot of ways. If you’re at the point where you think therapy is needed, go alone and deal with your childhood first. It did miracles for me and mine.”
"No one is going to show you yourself like your wife will, and I realized that a lot of my hang-ups came from unhealed childhood stuff. It’s hard to be an adult in your marriage when you’re still emotionally a kid in a lot of ways."
Carletta: “Meditate together once a day. Even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes, you need to carve out a moment to be mindful, focus on each other, and slow the world down. [Joseph and I] have been doing it for a couple of years now; it’s totally changed the way we communicate. Meditation reminds us to put each other first; that if we’re focused on each other, we can take on…whatever.”
5. Zeke and Rachelle. Married for 12 Years.
Zeke: “An argument is not a fight and a debate is not an argument. Learn that and you’re home-free. That’s all I got.”
Rachelle: “That advice that you just got? That sums up what it’s like to live with my husband. He’s very cut-and-dry, direct, and not wordy. That used to bug the hell out of me until I realized how wordy I was and then accepted that I wouldn’t want ‘two of me’ in the house [LOL]. He’s right. You can have a difference of opinion, and it be a debate. You can not find a middle ground on something and it turns into an argument. Neither of those is a red flag. It just comes with being with someone who is as much of an individual as you are.”
6. Taurus and Madison. Married for 22 Years.
Taurus: “Be prepared for your partner to change — not a couple of times, quite a bit. And when they change, that alters the relationship because now it’s not the person you stood with on your wedding day; it’s someone else. People get divorced so much because they are inflexible; they expect their spouse to never switch up and that’s just not how life is. If you’re rigid, controlling, or don’t know how to adjust, you don’t need to marry anybody. You’re gonna be miserable, and so will they.”
Madison: “Pray before sex. Before my husband and I got married, we had quite a bit of sexual history that caused us to do some comparing, and that led to resentment. In marriage, we had to adjust to how it’s more than just what we’re getting from another person. Married sex comes with so much more spirituality and responsibility. Prayer before sex reminds us to see it from a spiritual lens — and that makes the experience more intense and sacred. It might sound weird at first. Just try it. I don’t think you’ll regret it at all.”
"Married sex comes with so much more spirituality and responsibility. Prayer before sex reminds us to see it from a spiritual lens — and that makes the experience more intense and sacred."
Getty Images
7. Karl and LaTasha. Married for 9 Years.
Karl: “Check in with your partner twice a day. In the morning before leaving the house and at night before going to sleep. If you work outside of the home, a lot can happen during the course of one day, so you shouldn’t assume that the person you left in the morning is who you are coming home to. I don’t mean sharing each other’s schedules or to-do lists. I mean, asking your spouse, ‘How are you doing? How are you really doing?’. It’s a smart way to take note of their mood and needs so that you are never blindsided.”
LaTasha: “Give each other some privacy. I have never been the kind of woman to go through a man’s phone, and I won’t start. If you think that you have to be a detective in your relationship, why are you in it in the first place? I know that Karl would give me codes and passwords if I wanted them because we’ve talked about it all before. Knowing that he would is enough for me. Marriage is an institution, but damn, it shouldn’t feel like jail.”
8. Thomas and Wynter. Married for 15 Years.
Thomas: “Ask your partner what their sexual needs are. Never assume that they haven’t changed because if we all agree that we are constantly growing and evolving as people, why would sex be exempt? Don’t personalize what they say about it either. All of us have sexual fantasies and interests that we keep to ourselves because we don’t know what our partner will think or ‘cause we think that they will create stories in their head about what made us think that way. I’ve learned that intimacy is feeling okay with sharing the deep stuff. The more comfortable a man, especially, is with doing that, the better the sex will be for everyone because talking about stuff like that is like taking down some walls.”
Wynter: “It’s okay to take one vacation a year with your girls and one by yourself. Just don’t go with people who don’t have the same standards as you, and as far as your solo venture, it doesn’t need to be longer than a long weekend. One thing that they don’t tell you about marriage is how there are times when you will feel like it is monotonous because of the routine of everything. A girls’ trip reminds you to get back to you outside of being someone’s wife or mom, and the trip alone is when you can sit around and do whatever you have to negotiate most of them. And yes, your man should be given the same courtesy.”
Getty Images
9. Allen and Yvette. Married for 11 Years.
Allen: “STOP. BRINGING. UP. OLD. SH-T. SH-T. Nothing creates walls in a marriage more than you telling someone that you forgave them, and then the minute something else happens, here you go with the rap sheet of wrongs. Forgiving someone means that you are pardoning them, and that’s not what you’re doing if you’re constantly holding stuff over their head. One thing that marriage will show you is how bad of a forgiver you are. Most people suck at it, if we’re gonna be real about it.”
Yvette: “I already know that some women are going to assume that my man must’ve done something to say all of that (LOL). He’s a much better forgiver than I am, believe it or not. The real plot twist is, what gets on his nerves more than anything, is when I bring up stuff that he’s forgiven me for. Allen is the kind of man [who] hates to live in the past. I’ve grown a lot because of that. I think my advice would be to stay focused on solutions and tomorrow instead of problems and yesterday.”
Allen: “Sh- t, that’s bars, babe!”
Shellie here: INDEED.
10. Brennton and Danyelle. Married for 16 Years.
Brennton: “Why anyone who is trash at forgiving would get married is beyond me. It’s delusional to the nth degree to think that you are worthy of forgiveness and others aren’t — or that what you do isn’t ‘as bad,’ and that’s why you deserve forgiveness and others don’t. My wife and I have a lot of time under our belts. I’m here to tell you that there will be something, daily, that you will need to forgive your partner for on some level. If you can’t see yourself being open to that, marriage simply isn’t for you.”
Danyelle: “I don’t know who taught so many of us that being passive-aggressive will get us what we want, but it’s a damn lie. If something is wrong, stop saying ‘nothing’ when your man asks you what’s up because, if you’ve got a man like mine, he’s gonna say ‘Okay’ and go on about his day. Brennton often says that my refusing to speak isn’t his responsibility, it’s mine. That used to piss me off because, deep down, I knew that he was right. Oh, and chill on the grudge-holding too. With guys, that’s not going to get you anywhere either.”
11. Christopher and Yvonne. Married for 26 Years.
Christopher: “Have more loyalty for your spouse than you do your closest friend. Too many people don’t think like that. If you’ve got a friend since college, you’ve been through some things and you’ve learned to forgive and move past it. If you can’t see your wife or husband in this way, why did you get married? You should never have more grace for someone who you didn’t take vows with; that’s ludicrous. Before anyone else, I’m going to prioritize reconciling with my wife. It’s because I value her more than anyone. That’s what marriage is.”
"Before anyone else, I'm going to prioritize reconciling with my wife. It's because I value her more than anyone. That's what marriage is."
Yvonne: “Even if you’re not about ‘traditional gender roles,’ discuss what the expectations are for the home. People don’t divorce over cheating as much as getting sick of beard clippings in the bathroom sink or cars that look like pocketbooks. When you sign up for marriage, you are doing daily life with another person. Articulate your expectations. Listen to theirs. Be flexible until you both can make it work. Do that, and you’ll look up, and it’s been 20 years already.”
____
Gems. Pure gems, y’all.
You know, popular consultant Barbara De Angelis once said, “Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.” And love? Love is a choice.
And so, whether you’re married, engaged, or simply desire marriage in the future, hopefully, these tips will help you to choose how you love your spouse (or future spouse)…better.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Jasper Cole/Getty Images