In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
From the front seat of her car, Alethea has motivated millions—reaching hearts around the world and even catching the attention of icons like Rihanna, Kesha, Madonna, and Viola Davis. Now, she’s bringing that same energy, wisdom, and unshakable confidence to the podcast realm—inviting special guests to ride along and share their own journeys of resilience, purpose, and self-discovery.
No scripts, no filters—just raw, powerful conversations filled with gems, laughter, and the kind of motivation that makes you sit up a little straighter. You never know who will be in the passenger seat next, but one thing’s for sure: every ride is a step toward something greater.
So buckle up, tune in, and let’s take this journey together. 🎙️🚗✨
In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
Riding Shotgun with Drag Legend Mrs Kasha Davis
In a world fixated on conformity, Mrs Kasha Davis stands as a beacon of authenticity and self-love. This powerful conversation traverses the rocky terrain of addiction, self-discovery, and the transformative power of embracing one's true identity.
The legendary drag performer opens up about her journey to sobriety—approaching a decade clean after battling alcoholism that stemmed from years of trying to please everyone but herself. "I spent so many years in my youth running away from who I was," she reveals, detailing how the decision to live authentically became her truest act of self-love. This raw vulnerability creates an instant connection, especially when we discover our parallel struggles with addiction—hers with alcohol, mine with food—both stemming from a desperate attempt to numb pain rather than process it.
But this isn't just a story of personal triumph. With disarming honesty, Kasha shares how she's channeling her experiences into creating spaces of acceptance through drag story hours, children's books, and university teaching—building the supportive environments she never had access to as a child. When parents approach her after performances saying, "Thank you for showing me my child has a community," she finds her purpose crystallized in those moments of connection across difference.
Perhaps most moving is the story of reconciliation with her father—a man who once spat in her face when she came out, but who eventually attended one of her performances and proclaimed, "That's my son, Eddie, and I am so very proud." This unexpected turn reveals how leading with love can sometimes penetrate even the most hardened prejudice, offering hope in seemingly hopeless situations.
Whether you're struggling with self-acceptance, battling addiction, or simply trying to find your authentic voice in a noisy world, this conversation reminds us that our purpose is bigger than any force trying to silence us. As Mrs Kasha Davis puts it so beautifully: "There's always time for kindness." Subscribe now and join our community of truth-seekers riding shotgun through life's most meaningful journeys.
Have a Good Day On Purpose...
YA' Welcome
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back all you beautiful people to end the passenger seat with your positivity. Queen Alethea Crimmins I am Alethea Crimmins. Listen, we are going to ride shotgun with purpose, power and a whole lot of truth. Are you ready? Buckle up, are you ready? Because this is going to be a ride that you will not forget, because the guest that I have today, baby, she is not just going to inspire you, she is going to shift you, she is going to motivate you, she is going to empower you, and that's exactly what we need right now.
Speaker 1:The world just needs a lot more love. The world just needs a lot more kindness. The world just needs a lot more kindness. The world just needs a lot more positivity, and it would make it such a better place if we just learn how to love each other for who we are. Nothing more, nothing less. Take out the race, take out religion, take out anything that makes us different and just think of what makes us the same. This is why I really wanted this guest on here, because she inspires me in so many ways and I know, after this episode, she is going to inspire you too. So today, in the passenger seat, we've got a queen, not just a queen, a legendary workhorse queen, from the small town of Scranton to the big stage of RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's All-Star baby, to reading stories to children in libraries all over the world and shaking up the world with love, purpose and a whole lot of sequence. So yes, I am talking about the one, the only, the legendary, the gorgeous, the phenomenal, miss Kasha Day.
Speaker 2:Woo, you are absolutely gorgeous, absolutely amazing and such a bright light. When you messaged me, I was like is this real life? Really, I couldn't believe it, because you just radiate so much positivity and love. And your introduction I'm sitting here. I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't cry. I've got my paint from Home Depot on and I was like stop, you know what?
Speaker 1:No, but you are absolutely gorgeous and I like to showcase people that are doing positivity in this world and putting out the love that this world needs. And this is what you do, this is what you embody.
Speaker 2:It's what you do. It's what you do, and we are so lucky both of us and many others who spread positivity. We are so lucky to recognize that we have these opportunities, this platform, social media, this podcast, where we can try to recognize others and bring people together. It's really what it's all about, and especially now, especially now all about, and especially now.
Speaker 1:especially now, in this climate yes, in this climate, where they are trying to tear down everything that makes us beautiful, everything that makes us stand out, everything that makes us unique. It's almost like the world is saying we don't want you to be unique, we don't want you to be special, and as Cubans.
Speaker 2:That's how we thrive, that's how we thrive, that's how we bloom, how we inspire one another. You know, I spent so many years at this point now I'm 54 years old and I spent so many years in my youth running away from who I was. Now I live as Ed he, him pronouns. I perform as Mrs Kasha Davis, she, her. And when I do comedy, my pronouns are he, he.
Speaker 2:But I was not loving myself. I was trying to please my parents, I was trying to please my fellow students, I was trying to please the world society and I wasn't able to love myself. And because of that I went down some terrible roads. I went down the road of alcoholism and I drank to anesthetize and to just calm myself down from all this anxiety of trying to please everybody else. And this summer I'll be 10 years sober, knock on wood and thank you. And it was that true act of self-love. It was time for me to be fully and authentically myself.
Speaker 2:Now I choose the path of sobriety because for me it is the best path towards connecting to spirituality, towards finding my purpose through drag to lift others up. It doesn't mean that everybody has to get sober. What I hope is that if people see somebody like myself living authentically, being able to follow their dreams as a sober person, it'll say you know what? Then I can do it too.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think then, in this sobriety journey, I then began to find ways to bring to the world of drag the things that weren't there for me when I was a little boy, girl gal, girl, boy, fella. It wasn't there. I had a struggling relationship with my father. I had a difficult, difficult relationship. My parents disowned me when I came out after I divorced my ex-wife and spit in my face and told me I want nothing to do with you. I didn't gravitate to drag. I gravitated first and foremost to alcohol, and it took a long time for me to find myself. And so I hope that by being authentically myself, as you are doing on your social media platforms and all of this, that we can inspire others to shine their light. That's what this is all about Shine your light.
Speaker 1:And that's why you are here. That's why you are here For all of us, for everything that you do. That's why you are here. You are here for all of that, for everything that you've been. While you were here, I love you so much Like, oh Well, like just when I thought I couldn't love you more, like you're fucking amazing. Okay, I just need you to know and understand. And your vice was alcohol. Mine was food, right, mine was food, and I realized I had addiction. Until I started to get my weight loss journey. It was like, oh my God, everything in my life revolves around food. That's how I make myself feel better. That's how I not feel my feelings or anything I didn't want to feel. I just ate it away. It just made me feel better. It is definitely a journey. It's definitely a process. It's not an easy one, but it's one that's so worth it. Like I had to learn how to choose my heart.
Speaker 1:I had to learn how to choose my heart. Yes, giving up food, losing weight is hard, eating is hard. Which heart do I want? Which hard am I willing to live with?
Speaker 2:I love that and people think of. When they first think of addiction, they think immediately drugs or alcohol, and certainly, of course. But there's food addiction, there's phone addiction, there's gambling addiction, there's sex addiction, there's, et cetera. You can be getting so many different things. And when we are in that process, what begins to become the realization is that it's a mental obsession, a spiritual obsession and a physical obsession, and so all of these obsessions begin to work together obsession. And so all of these obsessions begin to work together.
Speaker 2:And then, if you're not drinking, for me I was thinking of drinking, planning my next drunk or being drunk, and so my entire life, whether I realized it or not, was revolving around it. And then it got in the way of what I could be possibly doing. And that journey, for me, is so important to talk about because I believe I have the joy of performing. Yes, I like to go on stage, yes, I like to entertain, but my favorite thing is to tell the truth, because, you know, when we were younger and we looked at a celebrity before social media, it was about the glamorous red carpet, and while that's all great and still happens, now people are gravitating to celebrities and people like yourself who are living authentically, telling their truth and showing the difficult parts, and we can relate to one another and we can form community and this is what saves lives.
Speaker 1:Yes, because not every day is a good day. I don't. I think that I really believe at one point in time that I just wake up and be like I'm going to be positive today. No, I suffer with depression. I also have bipolar disorder, I also have ADHD, all those things, so it is a struggle for me to even get out of bed at times.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I learned several things, but some of my favorite things that I learned in my sobriety journey. I have it tattooed on my arm. It says grateful, finding the joy, finding the good in every single thing on a daily basis, finding what you can be grateful for, has saved my life, has helped me connect with my higher power, has helped me to say that there's more to this world than just me and my ego. And yes, because that's where I was stuck in my ego, in self, and finding the gratitude has been that absolute beautiful journey. And then realizing that I had programmed myself to think negatively and so in the morning, when I begin to wake up, I would say, oh, you don't like your job. Or I'd poke at myself and say, you know, you ate too much yesterday, you need to lose weight. And these are the first thoughts before I even get out of bed.
Speaker 2:And what I learned in a book called Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout is that we begin. You know what we visualize, what we verbalize, will materialize. So it's up to me to start to speak the positive. It's up to me to start to speak the positive. It's up to me Now. This doesn't mean, I ignore the reality, but it's to speak what's good about, whatever's happening. And then I began to find, you know, when my father was passing away. I began to find the joy in the jokes that we had at the hospital together, you know, you were able to find good moments in terrible, terrible times, and this thought process is something that I have to very consciously do on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:Same. This is exactly why I do what I do, because what people don't understand is that our minds are such powerful things and we have the power to reprogram everything that we've been taught. We've had the power to unlearn and to choose to go a different route, and I also learned that every negative thing that we think about ourselves or that we thought about ourselves do not come from us. They do not come from us, right? A lot of things that I felt about myself came from my mama, right, and I heard it so much. I heard it so much. I heard it so much that I took it on and I thought that that's who I was, and oftentimes, that's what we do.
Speaker 2:Right, it's generational trauma that continues to get passed and it really is up to me if I want to change that, and you know, there are so many books and so many videos about manifestation and verbalizing this, so that you, you know, you can bring these things to your life. I will say I have experienced it and I also like to go to psychics. I went to a psychic one time and they said you need to think bigger, you need to think, you need to believe more in yourself. You're visualizing a certain thing that is nice but safe. Go for the gold, why not? This is that one life that we know of.
Speaker 1:We are conditioned to think that we can only go as far as this. We're not conditioned to think I can choose for the store. What if we just took ourselves out of the box that people put us in? What if we shifted our mindset and took the limits off and was actually like, yeah, I can do this, like I believe in myself enough that I can become, I can do anything I want to be.
Speaker 2:Enough that I can become I can do anything I want to be and if we do that, it will happen. It may not happen exactly how we plan it, but it will happen and you'll be able to step back because you'll be in the present moment. You'll be able to step back and go. I asked for this and, on the flip side, if I ask for the negative, the negative will continue to present itself, because the universe doesn't know the difference. And I'll never forget when I used to sit there and watch my mother put on her makeup.
Speaker 2:You know I grew up with the Italian divas, you know. I mean they got dressed up for everything. You know, and you know it's a matter of whether it's going to church or it's whether going to. You know, and you know it's a matter of whether it's going to church or it's whether going to. You know, the school, for your parent teacher meeting they were dressed. My mother, my grandmother and I remember sitting watching. Yes, I bet you, I bet you your mom and your aunties, that was the same idea.
Speaker 2:Well, I remember sitting there watching her and she said to me Eddie, promise me every day after you brush your teeth and I say this at my story hours and I say this to I say children of all ages, because we should always continue to dream. She'd say to me Eddie, every day, after you brush your teeth, look into your own beautiful eyes and say I love you, because when you love yourself, everything is possible. And it's that simple. And there are so many times when I remember looking in the mirror and remembering that and being like I can't even look at myself. I hate myself, I hate my job and I focused on the hate. I focused on the negative and that's what manifested. And when I got sober and started to remember these things and I started to put these into practice suddenly more things.
Speaker 2:I never would have thought I would do drag story hour. But I do drag story hour because it wasn't there for me and it's not just for the kids. The kids love it. The kids love a wig, they love the fabulous, they know that that's Ed up there or a man dressed up as Mrs Kasha Davis. It's the parents and the grandparents and the guardians and aunts and uncles that come up and say thank you for showing me my child has a community, for showing me my child has a community, thank you for showing me my child is going to be okay, and I'm like that's all I need to know, that's all I need to hear, and we have a simple message If you happen to see someone different in the world, treat them with kindness.
Speaker 1:That's it. How difficult is that, though, Like how difficult is that the world makes us think so hard?
Speaker 2:Right when I was in the drag bars. Originally, I grew up in Scranton, pennsylvania, and I moved to Rochester, new York. Well, I came here. I didn't see gay people. They were all in the closet. You know, this was back in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up. So when I came here in the late 90s into Rochester, new York, and I saw gay pride and I saw same-sex people holding hands and I met my first trans woman.
Speaker 2:I didn't know what was happening, but I didn't need to hate her and we became the best dancing buddies. Every time I went to go to the club we'd be out there dancing. She was fabulous, she was living her life, she was living authentically and she taught me so much and I was at first afraid I didn't understand. But I didn't need to be hateful, because what is that going to accomplish? And that is what I think people do. They gravitate what they don't understand. They gravitate to hate first. And I think of of culture and I think of art and it's meant to be experienced, not to be like I don't understand. Push, push it away, because you think about, for instance, food. Everybody around the world eats chicken. We just season it differently. Do you know what I'm saying? It's prepared different ways. Experience it. You're missing out on life if you just stay in your one lane.
Speaker 1:So when did you realize that drag was just more than wigs and heels, like this was your calling, your message, your mission. When did that like?
Speaker 2:come Well. So I went to school for theater. Drag was a little bit a part of that, but not much. And then when I divorced my ex-wife and I came to Rochester I saw other queens Pandora Box, darian Lake they were both on RuPaul's Drag Race and then Aggie Dune, ambrosia Seltz all these amazing performers here in Rochester. They were entertaining. I enjoyed them. But then I saw a queen named Miss Richfield 1981. And she sang live and she didn't look so great in drag but she was fun and funny and that was her point. She didn't want to look great and she had a real positive message and I was like, ooh, I love that. And my husband and I said, what if you did drag? He said and I said I think I want to do drag.
Speaker 2:And we began to create Mr and Mrs Kasha Davis. At a time when there were marriage, equality wasn't legal. It was not even something we ever thought would happen in our lifetime. And then of course, the time moved on and it became, became legal and you know my original character. Mrs Kasha Davis was a drunk auntie. You know there's always time for a cocktail and she was kooky and she's fun and we all have her. We all have her in our family. We know that woman. Oh yeah, I might be the woman.
Speaker 1:You might be the woman. I might be the. I was deaf.
Speaker 2:I might be the drunk auntie. Yeah, I was a drunk uncle, so and but you love them because they're crazy and they're funny and they're fun. And then sobriety hit and I it was after my third DUI and on that third one, at noon noon, I was swerving in my own neighborhood and from from hitting children and I dropped to my knees and asked whatever there is in the world, I said, help me. And I began the process and I thought I'm going to give up my husband of of many years and my stepchildren. I'm going to give up my drag career because I had been on rupaul's drag race already. I didn't give all of that up. Please, dear whatever God, universe, higher power, whatever you choose to use, help me.
Speaker 2:And I began on this journey of just sort of simplifying and getting into the moment. And in my rehab and in the process I said I want to continue to perform, but I want it to be more meaningful. I don't have a problem with nightclub performers, but I want to speak to other people, I want to inspire other people, and I don't know where to begin. And lo and behold what you ask for, you receive People in the theater community started to say I think you'd be great at drag story hour. It wasn't originally my idea. It were friends of mine who I've collaborated with, and I started to see where I can give the world what wasn't there for me, so that maybe they would not cross some of the bridges and go into the dark alleys that I did Because I couldn't find my light.
Speaker 1:Your story is like mine, because that's exactly why I say it all the time. The reason I started doing what I do? Because I wanted to be for somebody else when nobody was for me, right.
Speaker 2:And that, I think, is what my higher power I call God, but spiritual power, that is the energy my parents have passed and we had a bad, we had a tough struggle, but I feel them. I feel them in this moment saying oh, I'm so glad you two are talking, because I know somebody. There could be thousands of people who watch this or listen to this, but there may be two that say, oh, I get it Right, that's the work, that's what we're doing, and one recording at a time, one post at a time, that positivity down, and we're just not going to let them it off now Stop listening.
Speaker 1:Now. We're not going to let you mess this up for us, for all the fabulous people. We're not going to let you mess it up for the rest of us, that's right. So exit stage left Right now.
Speaker 2:It's the truth, though.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of Drag Race, you had seven auditions, seven times, seven times, before getting a call back. Most people would have been like you know what? Yeah, I'm, I'm done, but you kept showing up. What kept you showing up? And what did that moment of finally getting on mean?
Speaker 2:for you as a little boy, girl gal, girl, boy, fella, to work hard, to put in the work, to try. And I was also taught by my mom. She said, oh Eddie, she goes, we're winners, we always win. And I was like mom, I don't always win, I didn't win this prize or I didn't win this. You know, at sports, I didn't win this game, I didn't get the part. And she's like no, we always win. When we lose, we find what it is that we need to learn from that and that makes, and that makes you a winner. And I always remember that. So when I you know, just like theater, if you don't get the part, maybe next year you'll be cast.
Speaker 2:And so I kept auditioning, kept learning from the auditions, and my husband and I would make the tapes. And we had so much fun making the tapes because they ask you to do a lot. And I would say on the tapes that I dreamt. And you remember I Love Lucy. Yes, and I used to be like I want to be on I Love Lucy. Well, I wasn't realizing that Lucille Ball had died when I was a kid. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Or I think it was in the 80s. She passed away, but she'd been far away from I Love Lucy. She didn't do it anymore and I was like that's what I want to do, I want to do a funny show like that. Well, obviously that wasn't going to happen, but I used to talk about that on my audition tape. When we went to film, the producers pulled me out and they said we want to take you out into the parking lot. And I'm like, okay, what's happening? They took me out and there's this big sign at the studios and it was the original location where the first season of I Love Lucy was filmed in the same studio.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean I have chills right now, remembering the moment, because I was like that. That's what I mean. You ask the universe, you put something out and you're going to get it, but not exactly the way you think. But you've got to be clear, you've got to be awake, you've got to be ready to recognize it, because it's going to present itself and it's going to go quick and you might miss it. And if I wasn't present in that moment to realize, oh my gosh, I'm with Lucy.
Speaker 1:Here I am, and you would not have been grateful for that moment.
Speaker 2:That's that moment, and so it's been such a such a joy and it's crazy. It's a reality show. You know it's it's meant to be dramatic and there's you're supposed to be, all of that stuff. But what came from that was the opportunity to have this international recognition. And, like recently, I just came back from New Zealand where I did story hour and I did a brunch and I did a show. New Zealand, this wasn't in the financial cards for Mr and Mrs. We were nothing. So to get to go to do that, and I'm going to Germany to do a story hour in September, and it's not just for it's for it's a fundraiser for children that are in need. It's a fundraiser for children that are in need, whether it's physical abilities, that they need additional money for accessibility, et cetera. So we're creating this fundraiser so to be recognized as somebody that would be even willing to do that. That's the gift. That's the gift of being on that show.
Speaker 1:God. Like you have, you also have children's books out. Drag Story Hour. You teach at Drag.
Speaker 2:University. Well, so I have three children's books out. My fourth one, the fourth one I'm going to begin to collaborate with an amazing author named Susan Verde. And if anybody listens and they have kiddos and they want to read books, look up Susan's books, susan Verde, and then illustrations by Peter Reynolds. They're amazing because at the end of the book there's talking points for the parents or aunts and uncles and grandparents, whoever's reading, and you know different exercises you can do, and it's about inclusion and kindness and loving yourself and it's all of that. And I'm so excited to be working with her. But I just. It'll be my fourth semester at SUNY Brockport. It's one of the SUNY New York schools and I am going.
Speaker 2:I teach a drag class and this class focuses on drag theory, drag culture and performance. And so the students well, I, I can't do sit-ups, I don't do those anymore, I can't. I can't find my, I can't find my abs, no, and in the morning I can't stand up straight because I got a bad back and it's tough. No, but honestly, this has been a joy because you've got theater students, you've got gender studies students and the fact is, as we were talking before we started to record, is that drag is an art form. Drag has always existed, Trans people have always existed. Never have they not existed, and so this is nothing, we just fall out of the sky.
Speaker 1:ladies and gentlemen, like, contrary to your belief, we've always been here. Right, we were always here. It just took y'all a while to catch up.
Speaker 2:Yes, we've always been here, and drag is an art form. People love Mrs Doubtfire and Right Now this is drag. I went to see the live show of Mrs Doubtfire and there was a standing ovation and honestly, I got mad Because when I looked around the room I saw primarily white folks. I saw people giving this standing ovation, clapping. Now the character of Mrs Doubtfire gets a divorce and they end up dressing in drag to be closer to the kids and at the end end they do a story hour on PBS, on a public television show. What if, when he got a divorce, he said the reason why I'm getting a divorce is I'm gay and I'm going to do dress up as a housekeeper to see my kids and then do story hour?
Speaker 2:No one would be in the audience because of homophobia, so you're one would be in the audience because it's homophobia. So you're enjoying drag, but it's only if it's.
Speaker 1:If it fits your narrative, right. If it fits your narrative, it's okay. But if it goes against anything that I believe in or what I've been taught, then oh my gosh no, it's horrible, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And listen, I have privilege. I am an older white male who does drag. I have had some protesters and when those protesters came, I went to the news. The news came in and interviewed me and they said. They said you have an agenda? And the director said yes, tell them, we do. If you happen to see someone different in the world, treat them with kindness.
Speaker 2:Well, some of my drag family other performers in the Rochester area went to do a story hour in a in a affluent suburb and the performers were trans and people of color. And suddenly there were protests and there were people lined up outside and there was hate and they raised the rate of the security to thousands of dollars so that these performers could not afford to do this. Well, they, they moved it to another location and I challenge anyone and I've said it on the news I was like that had nothing to do with drag. That had nothing to do with that was transphobia and it was racism, point blank. It had nothing to do with the drag. And you want to mask it by saying the drag is a problem? No, and so we need to keep speaking up. We need to keep showing up. We need to say those things on the news, because these people will not win. We will not let them win.
Speaker 1:So how do you keep leading with love, leading with joy, Like, how do you keep showing up in love when hate always tries to take the lead, when hate always tries to take that mic? How do you keep leading in love?
Speaker 2:First and foremost, we have to take care of ourselves. We have to practice self-care, that looking in the mirror, that my mother said loving yourself, taking care of yourself, having those boundaries, doing good things for yourself. But secondly is to open our eyes and recognize when people show up at these protests, at these events, when dads paint their nails to be inclusive to their children you know these girl dads they'll wear a princess dress for their kids or whatever. That's. That is true fatherhood. That is. I love my kids unconditionally.
Speaker 2:This is what I focus on when I see we did one of the protests that happened here in Rochester. I looked across this crowd and I saw people of all ages, I saw genders, I saw races and I also saw Republicans showing up and saying I don't want this either. You know, there's nothing wrong with having a little bit of a conservative view, but that doesn't mean you have any right to erase anyone else. And how I stay positive is that I recognize that hate that they have is fear, and so maybe— and it's also ignorance, ignor ignorance ignorance, it's ignorance, and there they have.
Speaker 2:No, they've learned nothing else. They had maybe a very bad upbringing and maybe, just maybe, by showing up and not being afraid and being positive and sometimes being bold and being in their face, maybe there's a chance.
Speaker 1:Maybe there's a chance that they may change, and I know when a parent walks up to you and says when a parent walks up to you and says thank you for showing up for my child, thank you for showing my child that they belong, what goes through your mind in that moment, like how do you feel that moment? What does this do to your heart?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's the best feeling there is. It's talk about addiction. I'm addicted to that. I'm addicted to that fact, that joy that it gives me. You know, I've had opportunities to perform at places and get a good paycheck and that's great. Of course I like that, but there's nothing like that moment when they're true. Just the other day we did a show on the Catskills and it was for pride, and afterwards we take pictures with the audience. And somebody came up and was crying and they said they were about to get top surgery this week and they were in a very difficult place. They were transitioning the last couple of months. They were in a difficult place and that drag queens saved their life and they hugged us in tears and their parents were very supportive and are standing off to the side and they were just full of joy. And I'm saying to myself this person was at the end of their rope and just seeing performances, seeing the positivity that drag performers can exude, saved a life. That's the best payment there is.
Speaker 1:I love it, oh, I love it, and I have to tell you this quick story talking about change.
Speaker 2:And I have to tell you this quick story talking about change. My father and I had a horrible, horrible relationship Physical, verbal spit in my face when I came out Fast forward, literally, literally, fast forward. Years later we kind of tolerate each other. I just thought to myself we never made it, we never got along. If he passes, he passes, well, my mother passes, and it kind of wakes him up and he starts to get closer to his kids. He's a US marshal, tough guy, you know, try to beat the girl out of me kind of guy.
Speaker 2:And he started to age and I got booked in Scranton, pennsylvania, at a Toyota dealership that's how big of a star I am. And I had to go to do a show there because they were doing Kinky Boots and they wanted a drag queen from the area to come in and talk about. You know the love between a father and a son. And so I was singing, I go, I go to. I was supposed to sing some songs and tell some stories while I go to visit my father and he said I see, you have a show tonight at the Toyota dealership. He's like, yeah, I'm coming. I said dad, no, things are getting good with this. I got sober, I'm realizing I could forgive him and he says, no, I'm coming to your show. I kind of like freaked out. I was like I don't want to ruin what we've got.
Speaker 2:He shows up, he comes backstage otherwise known as the sales department and says he says, eddie, you look beautiful and this is something I never thought I'd hear. Well, I go out and I do my show and we take a picture and a few months my father passes away and I was there for every moment of that time and you know how we all have those little special jewelry boxes with things he had and my social media post. His friend sent it to him through email and he said did you see kasha at the toyota dealers? And he said no, no, that's my son, eddie, and I am so very proud. And I thought this man would never change and never get it. And it's possible. So when we think about that hate and that anger and these things can happen when you love yourself and you're true to yourself and you show up my makeup looks good today.
Speaker 1:We're not gonna ruin it. We're not gonna do that yeah yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Okay, that story was beautiful, like I love how, if we just take the time to just accept people as who they are, people can change. Yes, people can change. We just have to find that light. Which brings me to why we're talking about helping people. My favorite segment of the show, ask Alicia, where you send me your questions via DM or email and we answer them live on the show. So I usually ask my guests to go first. But this is the question from Jasmine in Atlanta. She asked Alicia, how do you keep showing up when the world tries to shut you down? Baby, I go through that on a regular basis. So, ms Kasha Davis, I'll let you answer this question first, honey.
Speaker 2:I show up for little Eddie because little Eddie is still alive within me and didn't get a chance, and so I don't want to let him down.
Speaker 1:You see, my makeup is pretty. My makeup is pretty. You're stunning. Piggybacking off of all of that, jasmine, let me just say this you don't show up just because it's easy. You don't show up just because of other people. You show up because your purpose is bigger than their noise. You show up because your purpose is bigger than their noise. You show up because your purpose is bigger. It's bigger than their noise. It's bigger than what they think. It's bigger than what the world wants you to be. It's bigger, it's.
Speaker 1:You Show up because there's someone watching you, and that someone is you. That someone is you. You've been waiting on you to show up. Show up, show up bigger, show up better. Show up. Stop trying to figure out how to shine and just shine. Just shine Unapologetically. Stop trying to figure it out. Just do it, because not only are you enough, you are more than enough. The world will just have to catch up on you. The world will just have to catch up. The moment you stop, the moment you stop showing up, the moment that you silence their permission, that's when you're going to blow like the diamond that you are. I say this all the time If the sun does not ask permission to shine, then why the hell should you Just shine? So I hope that that answers your question, ms Jasmine, in Atlanta, and if you have a question that you want to want me to answer me and my guests to answer on my show, email, dm, send a carrier pigeon to in the passenger seat and ask Alethea.
Speaker 2:Come on, carrier pigeon Okay.
Speaker 1:I don't care how you get here. Yes, so we have a game. I like to play the rapid fire games and hit the gas with Miss Kasha Davis. Hit the gas. Quick questions, quick answers. Okay, not even going to think about the first word that comes, one word that describes your current season of life.
Speaker 2:Glowing, glowing, glowing bitch. Glowing, she's glowing Period, period yeah.
Speaker 1:Your go-to mantra when the wig goes on and the lights hit.
Speaker 2:There's always time for kindness.
Speaker 1:Always, always. What surprised you the most about life after Drag Race?
Speaker 2:Oh, the possibilities. I had in my mind that you know, you get on the drag tour or you get on the nightclubs, you get nightclub gigs. The possibilities of other things like this drag story hour, teaching at a college, speaking engagements and lifting people up. So the possibilities, they're truly endless again when you're living your authentic self.
Speaker 1:The dream project that is on your vision board right now. Project that is on your vision board right now.
Speaker 2:My children's program Getting to a Network Imagination Station. So it's currently on YouTube, but it was picked up by PBS and then, when all the political drag is horrible, they pulled so to get someone to pick up this children's. Imagine Mrs Doubtfire hosting Pee Wee's Playhouse in Mr Rogers' neighborhood and that's the show.
Speaker 1:See, okay, well, I need everybody to go and look for on YouTube. Imagination Station yes, Keep Imagination Station alive. Open your mind, let your kids know it is okay to express themselves, it is okay to be exactly who they are, it is okay, and do not let the world keep you from being your authentic self. Imagination station Look us up on YouTube, because I am going to subscribe today, so you should too. Okay, miss Kasha, before we end this, can you please tell us where to find everything? Miss Kasha Davis.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm available. You can find Mrs Kasha Davis on InstaSnatch, twatter, face Place and MyChart. No, you can find me everywhere at Mrs Kasha Davis. But I just want to say again we're talking about manifestation, we're talking about positivity, we're talking about dreams, and you know this because you're so popular and you get these messages. And when I got that message for you, I was like is this real life? This is such a gift. You are so beautiful. You bring so much joy to people and I am like this is the best day. I've just been out on the road doing pride stuff and shows and I'm grateful, grateful, grateful. But I was like the last thing I get to do. I have a couple of days off and I got to spend it with you. I am honestly like just overwhelmed. So I just want to say truly remember to people out there listening follow your dreams, because I didn't expect this connection and I'm super grateful for it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I have been getting confirmations all day long and you have no idea. You guys know I'm very transparent about everything I go through and everything I deal with. Oh, let me try to keep it together. You know how. You have those moments where you have that doubt, and I have been having a lot of those moments lately where I was questioning is this still what I've been called to do, or should I just go back to teaching and just give this all up? Is it still worth me doing? Do I still have a place in this? And I asked God. I said you know what, if this is what you really want to continue to do because I know that you did not bring me this far just to have me go backwards give me some type of sign. And I waited, I waited, I waited, I waited. This morning I went to the doctor's office and she pretty much told me the same thing that you just did. And then you come on here and then you tell me this yeah, yes, thank you for thank you.
Speaker 2:I know I believe in my intuition, I believe in my maybe it's my psychic ability. This is the beginning. This is the beginning for you. It's bigger than we can visualize sometimes and you are saving lives. You are touching people's lives with these moments of positivity and joy and you're authentically just and you have a team. You know everyone I've met with and worked with and preparing this. We're behind you, and so sometimes we need each other to lift each other up like this, and these connections are meant to happen. But yes, it is just the beginning.
Speaker 1:You have made me cry, so now you're my best friend.
Speaker 2:Well, good, I mean, I can't wait. I can't wait for what's next and I'm going to be there to support you every step of the way. I know so many people who just gravitate to your authentic kindness and just sharing that love. So, thank you and I know I speak for everyone watching. We are here for you, to lift you up, thank you.
Speaker 1:This last segment is also one of my favorites. It's called Pass it On. It's a message that you want to share with either my next best or anybody watching. What would that message that pass it on message be? Usually, that's the question I ask. But what I want to ask you, what message would you pass on to little Eddie?
Speaker 2:I knew you were going to do that to little eddie. I knew you were gonna do that.
Speaker 1:So just close your eyes. Yeah, vision that little eddie, that little boy that grew up in that small town where people were just like you know what. You are never gonna amount to anything and you shouldn't do this and you shouldn't do that.
Speaker 2:Close your eyes and imagine you standing in front of you right now I first will say little eddie, I love you and I want you to love yourself. Give it a try, it's going to be okay. And I am going to be here for you in ways that those that you trusted most could not be. And I challenge little Eddie to think that maybe it's going to be okay, because as a little boy, I just felt like everyone hated me and I had to put on these shows and try to please everyone on these shows and try to to please everyone. But I'm so proud of how strong I was as a little boy to to fight through the best way I could. But now it's time for us to shine together because I take, I take him everywhere I go and I'm I want him to see that this is what we were meant to do together.
Speaker 1:I need you to know that I love you not just for being Miss Kasha Davis, I love you for being Eddie. Oh, thank you. And the world loves you not just for being the amazing Miss Kasha Davis, the world loves you for being Eddie.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you. And Eddie is here, and I always say Mrs Kasha Davis is Eddie, with an exclamation point I wasn't able to like the color pink, and now I've got pink dresses, or whatever the case may be, but little Eddie always wanted everybody else to be okay too. So I want little Eddie to know that he's okay and it's okay for him to be, to be free and to just be himself.
Speaker 1:Oh, this is the best show ever. This is the best show ever. This is everything. Oh, thank you for being here. Thank you for taking time out of your day, thank you for taking time out of your schedule, for just being in the passenger seat with me today, to everyone watching and listening. If this spoke to your soul like it spoke to mine, send this to somebody that needs a reminder that it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. Hard days come, it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. Yes, hard days come, it's going to be okay. You can do hard things. Just continue to show up, continue being great in your own face so you can go out there and be extraordinary in theirs, because that's what you're supposed to do. Because that's what you're supposed to do, kasha, know that you are welcome back anytime that you want to come and sit in the passenger seat with me. Know that you are welcome.
Speaker 2:Oh, I can't wait.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Y'all, please, please, please, like, follow, share, subscribe, go and show Ms Kasha Davis some love and imagination. Station today Lead with love, lead with kindness, be great in your days and, as always, you have a good day. I'm perfect now, see ya, you.