Stillness as Strategy: Alise Moore on trauma, therapy, and a multi-hyphenate calling

The PK label can feel like a life sentence or a launchpad. Sitting down with therapist and recording artist Alise Moore, we peel back the layers of legacy—two bishops for grandfathers, parents who were PKs, and a lifetime of expectations—to ask a better question: how do you become whole when your identity has been split between roles? Alise charts the journey from indoctrination to integration, naming the difference between protection and constraint, and showing how the very environments that wound us can also cultivate resilience, leadership, and presence under pressure.

We explore why so many church leaders avoid therapy—stigma, binaries, and the shame that thrives in either/or thinking—and how honest soul work helps us hold dualities: faith and frustration, sacredness and sexuality, influence and exhaustion. Alise offers a simple, strong playbook for bringing a busy ministry family toward counseling: embody the fruit, plant seeds with wisdom, and be patient with the process. Evidence softens defenses. Love and boundaries do the rest.

Then we move into calling and craft. Alise shares the moment she surrendered music for grad school, turned down a dream opportunity to protect alignment, and watched God return her gift with better timing—tours, sessions, and mentors that didn’t derail her clinical path. The thread through it all is unglamorous and essential: patience, diligence, and discipline. If you’ve taken detours, there’s grace for realignment. If you’re a PK navigating identity, her closing advice lands like a hand on your shoulder: be kind to yourself, seek a licensed therapist even when things seem “fine,” and keep choosing the person you’re called to be—one honest, integrated decision at a time.

If this conversation sparked something in you, follow and subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we read every word.

Transcript

Setting The PK Narrative

SPEAKER_01 0:10

All right, hello everyone. Welcome back to the PK Pod, where we all have platforms, but they may not need the pull fit. I'm super excited to share with y'all this amazing guest today joining us on the pod is the incomparable, the beautiful, the intellectual, Miss Elise Moore. And listen, we are about to get into some tea. Welcome to the show, Elise.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love big um intros. That all I feel. It's all the things. You know, it fits. I love it. I love it. Hi, Jasmine. It is so good to be. I'm wonderful. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I am great. I am excited. I am excited for everyone listening to be able to tap in because we are about to talk about some things that are very important here with the PK Pod. We like to dive into the topics that we don't necessarily talk about. We like to debunk theories like PKs are the worst ones. No, we're not. We're actually very aware. We're actually very educated. We'll call you out on your stuff. That's why they don't like us. But we are changing the narrative with this podcast to educate listeners that we are incredible human beings. I like to highlight incredible human beings like yourself. And I like to highlight people from different backgrounds and industries so that people can understand that we literally are not our parents. We use that as fuel. We appreciate their calling, um, our calling, um, but we know how to go after purpose

Expectations, Indoctrination, And Identity

SPEAKER_01 2:01

for ourselves. And so we're gonna talk to you, we're gonna get into it. So we're just gonna start from the beginning. Because in the beginning, there were PKs. So tell us your PK journey. Like, were you born into this? You know, like the Kojic say, you can't just join and you gotta be born in. Were you born into this, or what did it did the call come later and you were like living your best life and was told this is what we're doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

No, Jasmine, I was born into it so much so that both of my grandfathers were bishops. My my maternal grandfather was a presiding bishop, my great-grandfathers were bishops. So I was born into it. I mean, indoctrinated. There was nothing else that I knew but being a PK.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Wow. Okay, okay, so we can relate to that. Yay! Love that for you. So, born into it. Did you understand though? Like, because I feel like for me, I didn't understand what all it meant to be a PK until I got to like that teenage era, and people start acting crazy, and then sister so-and-so and brother so-and-so start like the kids start not being my friend anymore, and I'm like, what's going on, guys? So, did you fully understand like what came along with the weight in the title of it?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Okay, so I don't think that anyone, even no matter how much preparation you get, I don't think anyone will ever be fully prepared for what comes with being a PK, right? Now, the blessed or the fortunate part of my story was that both of my parents were PKs, so they were able to give me a little um game. You get what I'm saying, when I was younger, to understand, okay, people are fickle. There are gonna be people who only talk to you because of who you are connected to. There are gonna be gonna be people who don't talk to you and don't like you because of who you're connected to. And then there was a whole other list of expectations and standards and rules. And because you are in this uh position, you are expected to do that, that, that, that, that, that, that. So, like I say, it was I was very fortunate to have parents who were able to give me perspectives of a preview. However, the generation that they came from, they still believed the indoctrination that they received of if you are going to be in ministry, this is how you need to look, act, talk, sit, stand, sing, all move, all of the things. And so I learned a lot of things from them. I was got a lot of knowledge from them that was helpful but also harmful, right? And not intentionally harmful, but it was protective for them and the generation that they lived in, but it was harmful to the authentic and the um honest generation that I was born into. And so there was a contra, there was a contradiction with some of the things that I was educated and informed of, you know, at a young age to prepare myself for what it means to be a PK.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

I hope that makes sense. No, that makes a lot of sense, and that's a blessing to have parents who are or were, right, PKs to be able to kind of prepare you as much as they can to give you some type of insight to say, hey, listen, you may encounter this. You may, you know, that's a blessing. Because let me tell you, my my father was a PK and he didn't tell me nothing, okay? He said, This is the call on my life, we're doing ministry. This is the call of your life too, huh? By calling means you're being voluntary to be over the youth. You will be on the praise team, huh? You don't have a choice. Every department in the church, I have run every department, okay? Like, it's a thing, like, you don't get a choice. No, there's no family meeting that says, do you want to do this? It's like, no. You're interested in no, but if you're gonna say, you're gonna be an usher, you're gonna work finance, and you're gonna be a deacon. That's that's which is it's crazy. But don't but don't you think though, like, even though what we were voluntary, don't you think that it's a blessing to have been able to have the exposure to do those things? Because how it plays a role into our our purpose now, into us deciding more quickly what we want to do in life, what we don't want to do in life. But it's like knowing those things and those skill sets, you're able to get to the result quicker, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Okay, I love that you went there because that is a conversation I like to have. While we have a lot of us, we have a lot of trauma in our in our upbringing, childhood, all that stuff. So I don't ever

Skills Forged In The Fire

SPEAKER_00 6:58

want to uh negate that, right? Yeah. But skills that we learned as a result of being put in the fire, of being thrown kind of to the sharks, and learning how to be quick on your feet, learning how to manage adults when you're a child, learning how to be confident and work through whatever fear and insecurity you're experiencing internally. Why? Because of this responsibility that is on you to not let the system fail. It's not all healthy, but it does work in your favor. And so I love that you went there because so many of the of the gifts that I'm able to operate in so fluently now is as a direct result of the of, like I said, being thrown out into the into the fire at 7, 8, 9, 10.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Wow. It's like while you were saying that, the scripture came to my mind literally, all things work together for the good to those who are caught in love. Like, I literally am like, even when it didn't feel good, it worked for my good. We was in the fiery furnace. Literally, and they didn't feel funny. We felt the eat. Literally, because it's also this thing of, like you said, identifying the trauma of it, but then literally identifying the skill that you got of it, right? Because you have this burden of not wanting to let your parents down. So I gotta do my best, or at least gotta try, because I don't want to be in trouble, or I want to go to the movies tonight, and I can't go to the movies with my friend unless I go in here and lead this worship song or teach this praise dance. So let me just conjure up the emotion to do that so that I can have a life, right? But not realizing by you doing that, you're literally exercising skills and muscles that you will later use in life to be able to manage people, rooms, no matter the room, corporate America, nonprofit space, education.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

It teaches you resilience because you cannot afford to quit if you're raised in a ministry family. Yeah, our sacrifice, our success, whatever that means or looks like, is dependent on our sacrifice. And I cannot get weary in this sacrifice. And so, like we say, let's always be mindful that there's a lot of trauma attached to it and there's a lot of dysfunction to it. But when we think about perspective and how do we reshape our narrative, right? There's so much beauty that comes out of it, there's so much diligence and resilience and discipline that I developed, having to push through and do things that I didn't always want to do, but it benefited me in the long run.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Yeah, that is good. I love that. I love that. I love that.

Trauma Named, Purpose Clarified

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Okay, so let's talk about the trauma. So you are literally a therapist, hello, and I need to figure out how do we get to all right, you know what? I need to help people because I am seeing a lot of dysfunction in church world, in the real world, and all of the world. And I have a heart or a passion to want to talk through this, and I want to help people because ultimately that's what therapists do. They want to help people be their best self, they want to help people get into a healthy mental state. How did you get to like how did when did you know that's what you wanted to do? Um, and how did the church influence that?

SPEAKER_00 10:41

That is a great question. I remember when I was in high school, I remember the the thought came to me, like, you should go into mental health, but I didn't have a personal connection to it yet for it to stick. So I was just kind of like, okay. It wasn't something that I was like, oh, this is my passion, this is what I want to do. I I wasn't driven in the direction yet, but I remember the first time that that seed was planted, I was in high school. When I got to college, I this is such a it's my my college story for me is such a special one because it's God's way of taking me through and showing me all the different sides to myself while allowing it to be disjointed and then bringing it all back together. So when I started college, I I think a month, let me see, a month into me being in a freshman, I was signed to my first record deal. And I didn't know how to balance at the time. I didn't realize that I was what we call now a multi-hyphenant. I didn't know that how to balance this artistic, creative side of myself while also um nurturing and balancing this other, what now I know clinical therapist, all of those, the more grounded version of myself. And so I really struggled um understanding how to find myself, really allowing myself to find myself in that season because I felt so disjointed. My classes, I started falling behind in school. I was a, and I was a great student. I was falling behind in school. I was trying to figure out how do I maintain, because all I knew up to that point was uh church and school and choir rehearsal, school and church. I didn't know how to do school, church, and um label meetings or branding sessions and then writing camps and sessions. I didn't know how to balance all that. And they were all, in my mind, three different people, right? You got the church girl, and then you have the student, and then you have the artist. And all of me was just broken up. Well, going through school, my grand, um, my grandparents on my mom's side, they started declining in health. They lived in Detroit, Michigan. My grandmother passed away, and my grandfather took a very fast downfall health-wise. I took a break from school, moved to Detroit with my grand, with my mother, excuse me, and brother, and became my grandfather's caregiver. In that time, I, of course, so now I put I put music on hold, I put school on hold, but I'm the youth president at my father's church. So I'm going back and forth from Detroit to Atlanta every month to hold and host these youth services and youth events, and then going back to Detroit and becoming a caregiver again. I spent my 21st birthday in the hospital with my grandfather because it was my day, it was my shift to do hospital duty. In that time, my grandfather, giving you context, my grandfather, like I said, he was a presiding bishop. He had all these churches under him, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. And he had all of this success. He was a very loved man, a family man. But when he started declining, I started seeing all of the dysfunction that was quiet and silent within the family all come right to the top.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

And the the beautiful part, didn't realize it was a beautiful part at this at that time. The beautiful part of that season was that God allowed, before I got to Detroit to and started seeing and recognizing what was going on around me, he allowed me to be so disjointed and separated that when I got into that environment, it made me get God quiet to me. He allowed that season to be, it was so so traumatizing, it was so difficult, it was so hard. He shut everything down and just allowed me to hear. Finally, my grandfather, we cared for him for a while, he passes away. Um, and I immediately go back to school. I realized in that time, God allowed all of that chaos to occur to show me it wasn't just a dysfunction in my extended family, how much of this stuff has trickled generationally into my family. Oh my God, there's bitterness and resentment because you blame him for what? Oh my God, I feel the same thing. And realizing the role that trauma, generational trauma, has played in the family and

Generational Patterns And Awakening

SPEAKER_00 15:21

in the church. And it was like an awakening that I came into of one, I started remembering my own pain and seeing how similar it was to these stories and things that I heard and I was experiencing in real time. And long story short, God allowed my focus to recenter in a way to show me that I was anointed, my voice was anointed to speak into that. Now, I didn't fully know what my voice meant. I didn't know, okay, God, is this? I'm supposed to make music and speak into it. What is it? And then over time, he just started revealing, no, you are you need to go back to school for this, you need to go back to school for this. And all the pieces came together where I was like, oh, you want me to speak to this from a clinical psychological place and bring together the spiritual implications as well. So my childhood growing up in the church, I saw so much that I thought was normal. I was exposed to so much that I thought was normal. And God allowed me to see, no, no, no, no, you were never supposed to see that. You were never supposed to hear that, you were never supposed to experience that, you were never supposed to be in this room when that happened. This was all dysfunction, and it has broken you in all of these little pieces, and you have a hard time bringing all of your callings together because you're fragmented. And so God just slowly began to show me how much stuff that was normalized that was dysfunctional and broken. And if I did not change my perspective, how I would continue to perpetuate and spew out this dysfunction. And it's a it's a ministerial cycle.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Oh my lady gaga, that is oh my god, that's so needed. But you know what? I took from you sharing that story was it wasn't until you got still. We overlook the power of stillness. Oh my god, we overlook it so much because we feel like life's not promised. I gotta be doing, I gotta do, I gotta go, I gotta do, I gotta be, I gotta be. And it's like stillness is a non-negotiable for anyone to be able to function, to replenish, to hear, to feel like you have to be still.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yes, and God has to make the seasons still, yes, all of my distractions, all and I didn't, I and the truth is, Jasmine, I didn't think they were distractions. How could school be a distraction? How could artistry be a distraction? This is who I am. How can ministry in some ways be a distraction? But God was like, okay, I

Integrating Faith And Clinical Work

SPEAKER_00 18:06

gotta style, I'm gonna pull you away from everything. The only thing I'm gonna let you continue to do is still you're gonna still pour into some of these young people, but you are a caregiver right now, and I just want you to watch.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

So, as you know, right? A lot of faith-based leaders, families, we don't prioritize our mental health at all. Like we struggle in that area, um, and we shouldn't, right? Why do you feel that a lot of us struggle with getting help and support when it comes to our mental health? Like we'll do it in all the other areas, sometimes fitness. We struggle with fitness and mental health. Those are the areas that we do not want to be disciplined or accountable. We want to eat whatever we want to eat, and we don't want to make sure that we are mentally sound. Why? Why do we do that? Why do we put it on why is it not a priority, do you think, in your opinion?

unknown 19:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Well, we have to always go back to the stigma that's been attached to mental health, right? Not just from the from the mainstream perspective, but from the spiritual perspective, and feeling that if we put too much emphasis on going to providers for our mental health, then we are taking away the power from God and that our faith is not equal is not strong enough, or that our you know, hope and trust in Him is not where it should be. So there is naturally the stigma that comes with it, especially as for black charismatic people. But then also when we go to therapy and we start working through the stigma and then working through whatever it is that we learn of ourselves, a lot of times it also um reignites the natural shame cycle that a lot of people in church also deal with, right? Yeah, we live in this is the culture in general, but especially church people. We live and operate in binaries. It is either good or bad. It is either holy or it is evil or wicked. It is either heaven or hell, right? We are trained, we are, we are socialized to think in binaries. We are not trained or raised or taught how to allow our experiences, just experiences to just be, and wherever they fall on the spectrum, they fall on the spectrum. Maybe it's not good, maybe it's not bad. Maybe it's not holy, maybe it's not evil, maybe it's just in between. And so when we going through this process, it confronts our binaries that we think in, but it also confronts the duality that humans also have to deal with. And for a lot of us, we struggle with that because of how we think in binaries. So, how do I hold the balance or the space for um sex and sacredness? How do I hold space for uh faith and frustration? How do I hold space for um influence or a pastoral assignment or whatever, and exhaustion? And because we we dis we force ourselves to live in these binaries, and if I allow space for anything in between, I am not aligned with the will of God. And so we're still we're extremists in our thinking, and that keeps us one um closed-minded. It also keeps us in our cycles of shame. And so we stay silent. Yeah, we stay silent and we get up over the pulpit. Some of us we get over the pulpit, and we go hard against these, against these two extremes. We go hard against the duality of our human nature, yeah. But we find that that's actually what grace is for, anyways, right? It's for that innovative. So those things, what when we when we decide to go into to do to do therapy, you're confronted with that. And I think a lot of us have just not gotten to a space of acceptance yet of saying, actually, I am not only holy, I am also broken.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yes, and that's really what it comes down to, right? I think a lot of our pastors, um, bishops, apostles, all of them, right? They feel because of the mantle that

The Power Of Stillness

SPEAKER_01 22:31

they can't be human. And it's like, no, you're a human being first. Like you deserve to have a pastor. You should have one, and you should have a therapist. You need to be talking to somebody. Um, but I think a lot of times, because of their role and position, like you said, it's like, oh no, like I don't need to talk to nobody. Like, I know psychology. I still, I studied this, and you know, I know enough about it um to where they don't feel that they need to literally get help in the broken areas, in the areas in which they're not thinking about, you know, like what's your home life like? You know, how are you maintaining your body? Like, when's the last time you've been in the doctor? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Yeah, it's it's a real thing. I mean, thank you, Jesus. Your faith is strong, all of that, but you could be really poor at doing relationships. You got all these men and women out here who who who hate God because of their experience with you. You get what I'm saying? And so when do we start, when do we allow our our arrogance, some ways, and our shame to level out just enough to say, I need a little help, I need some assistance.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then how do you because a lot of times they're not gonna be willing to go. I know in my this is my my personal testimony, first given on a guy who's the head of my life. Um, I had got to a point of my family, don't feel like family, if I'm honest. It feels transactional and not just like from a, hey, I need something, you know, what you got, but just like we're, I feel like we're not how a family's supposed to feel. I feel like we just we come together around the holidays and we're supposed to be sunshine and rainbows, but I don't really don't know how you're doing for real. Like, cause I really haven't really checked in on you. I know you're preaching every Sunday, I know you on the tour, and I know you at work. That's what I know. But how you I don't know how you're really doing, and y'all for sure don't know how I'm really doing. Because if you knew how I was really doing, you would know that I'm literally depressed chronically and suicidal. And I'm like, why am I here? But you don't know that. You're just like, oh, I'm so proud of you, you out there doing it, you know? And so while talking through friends, which is why community is important, they were like, You should go talk to a therapist. Because we're your friends, but we are not your therapist, and we have enough wisdom to know that you need to, you need some help, you need to go talk to somebody professionally. And through that journey, I was talking to a therapist at the time, and I said, I really feel like my family's never done therapy. Like, is that a thing? And he was like, It's a thing. You should literally have them come in. And I paid for family therapy sessions, and I feel like it was one of the best decisions I made because it allowed for everybody to realize we ain't got our stuff together. We ain't, you know, like we are all imperfect people, like we are not aware of what every what's going on in our immediate family, and that's a problem. And so talking to somebody who is not in this family unit because it can help us better get on the same page as to how we can be better family members to

Stigma, Binaries, And Shame

SPEAKER_01 26:05

one another. But what are some ways in which you think maybe just having a conversation about it to like to even get people open? But what are some ways to approaching the topic of therapy in busy church family lives? Yeah. Would you say?

SPEAKER_00 26:19

I think the the biggest thing is you have to you have to be the example by living the evidence and the and the fruit of what therapy is actually doing for you, right? Like you have to show them this is let me show, let me show you over time how I change and how I transform, and let that be a testament of the work I put in. Because a lot of for for a lot of us, a lot of families, it's not as easy to say, you get in the car with me, we going to therapy. Like that's even though it was a lot of work, that's a blessing that people were still willing to do it, right? A lot of people's families are like, absolutely not. You trying to say something's wrong with us, you're trying to say something's wrong with me. What are you blaming me for? There's a defensiveness that comes. And so we we also have to understand that too, when we plant the seed or the idea of, hey, y'all, I think we should go to therapy. Or I think it would be really maybe not the whole family yet. Maybe we're not there yet. Maybe it's just that one person you feel like you can that you can pull in. Hey, I think we should we should do therapy together. Maybe we can tag in some of the other family members. It might go somewhere, it might not. You planted the seed. The next thing is embody the skills and the values that you were learning in therapy and let that be your witness. The third thing is be patient with the process. Be patient. You you the seed was planted. It's not your job to worry about when the harvest will come. That's good. Keep living it. Sometimes we get a little impatient with our families in the process because we see how much is changing and transforming us. And we're just like, oh my God, we could be so much better if y'all, if you just came along, if you just did this, if you just heard the same thing I heard. If God, if God is going to allow it, He's gonna do it when they're ready for it. And we can't sometimes we have to be patient with God's process and getting them the deliverance that they need. And that's the hard part.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

That's the hard part. Super hard. That's so good. That's so, so, so good and so practical. Um, thank you for sharing that. I am literally advocating for everyone listening to if you thought about it, if you didn't think about it, if you are just now considering it, to at least apply those tools, those steps of having a conversation at least with one person that you know that will hear you out. Um and listen, I know that it's going to help to heal families, to um a lot of people to just take a deep breath because a lot of people are just so tense and stressed. And sometimes you just need somebody to tell you, breathe in and breathe out. Do you feel better? Like sometimes it can be as simple as that. It doesn't have to be literally the biggest family secret scandal that you're trying to work through. It can literally just be, I am not balancing my time properly, and I want to be more efficient, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

I want to add something to that as well, though. There's a scripture that says, um, and I'm I'm not gonna say it exactly how it's written, but those who who who win souls are wise, right? If we think about part of winning souls, soul work is helping people to see themselves, to see themselves, accept themselves, embrace themselves, and learn how to improve and really align themselves with God's plan for them. And for a lot of people, that is going a step towards therapy. Ask the Lord to give you the wisdom on how to win people, win your family members over into this enlightenment and awareness, right? Sometimes it takes patience. If we think about when we're trying to win our friends over to Christ, whatever they That looks like for you. It's it's you got to be strategic, you got to be careful. You have to be, you can't just be like, girl, you need to get saved. You can't go like to the Lord. Ugh, you need to go to church. You can't do that. And a lot of times with our family members, when we get frustrated with them, we will throw in their face, oh, that's why you need to do therapy. That's not gonna get them there somewhere. You're not using wisdom. You you gotta lead with love and wisdom and grace and compassion. Everybody's not where you are in your journey. So be slow, be kind, be slow to speak, be slow to anger. When these when your family members are pushing you towards that limit, okay? And I'm not saying take up take abuse. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying don't enforce boundaries. No, no, no. But when we're talking about winning people over, winning souls in a way, go along with the scripture, use wisdom and ask God for wisdom.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Okay, so we could do this all day. And you are multi-hyphenate. So I'd be remiss not to talk about the the angelic voice. The the literally, you have been touring the country with you name it, okay. Um, on tour, um,

Bringing Family To Therapy

SPEAKER_01 31:20

recording, BGBs, leading, worship, going viral, I mean, kicking it with Kirk. I mean, it's all of the things. You, you living life. We love to see it, honey. We love it so much. Um, okay, we know you were singing in church, but did you know you were gonna be singing on these stages? Like, how has life been? Like, how has the thought process been of like, oh my lady Gaga, like Jesus, the gift.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

It is so crazy, Jasmine. So I I I've been singing. I hate when people ask me, how long have you been singing? Because I don't know. I've been singing for like as long as I can remember, literally. Like, I think the first time I was on a stage was at like five years old, you know. So I've been doing music for so long. Um, I always knew that it was something I was passionate about and that I was called to, but I had no clue what that looked like, right? And I think sometimes in church, sometimes our perspective can be limiting, right? Sometimes we think, oh, okay, I'm gonna go from church to church. Yeah, we are styled, church to church, you know, in the in the jurisdiction and all that we think in those terms. So I knew something was gonna come of my gift. And then as I started getting older, um, when I like was in high school and and I started noticing different, you know, execs are now wanting to reach out and all of these, it was it was a lot happening and it was weird. So I knew that there was something that was gonna come with it. When I talk going back to the story earlier, when I was signed um right in college, now my my eyes and my perspective is opened up a little bit, like, okay, well, maybe this will be on a a big a big stage or um you know a larger uh platform. Maybe this will take me somewhere. But then when it didn't work, I was like, huh, okay. Because I thought in my mind that was my path or that was my claim to fame, or right, or that was gonna be my ticket to arriving, wherever arriving was, because God knows if I even knew. So the funny thing, and this is how crazy God works, is that when I got back in school and I said, okay, Lord, I'm gonna finish my, this is undergrad, I'm gonna finish my degree. I was I put out music, I you know, did a few little things, and it was kind of just like passion projects just to kind of get it out of my system. But I remember the Lord told me when I moved and started grad school, he said, you're gonna have to really decide your priorities in this season. He said, if you give me your music for a season, I will give it back to you. He said, I'll give it back to you. And I was like, Okay, I don't know what that means, but okay, cool. It is what it is. And at that point, I had already worked through the disappointment of the deal, not working through all of the other little things that I had did that were supposed, you know, supposed to get me somewhere that didn't happen. I had to grieve all of it. So at this point, it's like, what else do I have to lose? I've lost everything in that regard, there's nothing left. So it's yours. Cool. I started grad school. I remember my uh, let me see. Wow, thank you, G. That's crazy how God brings things back to your memory. I had an opportunity out in LA to do working with some one of my favorite artists, and I took that and it was like, okay, God was like, okay, cool. It wasn't in conflict, I didn't have to miss anything important. It worked out. Later on in that first semester, I got a call to uh do some work with one of my favorite artists like in the world. And it fell on one of my finals days. And I was like, Lord, what's up? What's up, Lord? You know, I'm like, come on. And the Lord was like, I told you, like, if you give it to me, just put, just hold on. And I had, I was, girl, I was so hurt. It was what it was one of those things of like, let me just stop this and figure it out later, type thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

I reached out and I said, Hey, I'm unable to do it. It's falling on my on it, like my finals, and I can't reschedule, I can't do nothing about it. And I remember the person was like, Okay, are you sure? And I was like, Yeah, I can't do it. I was like, I can't do it. And then um got through the semester, my second semester. So I'm ending my my first year of grad school. I get a call from uh one of my favorite artists, uh, PJ Morton. And he was like, Hey, I know this is last minute, but I'm doing a tour this summer, and I typically do three singers, but I want to do a third this year. Will you come? And I was just like, dang, I needed a summer

Wisdom, Patience, And Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 35:59

job. Wow. But this was the crazy part. The tour was supposed to start, and I can't remember the exact date, supposed to start like in June, and then I think end in like November or October. And so I was like, okay, Lord, that's gonna be during my semester. How am I gonna get through this? And the Holy Ghost gave me clearance and said, You got it, you can do it. And everything just aligned. Now it was the one of the hardest seasons of my life. That was being a full-time student, internship, you know, uh, clinicals, because I still had to maintain all of that if I'm trying to graduate on time. And I told the Lord that I would I would maintain, so I got to keep my promise. I cannot, I this is not the time I can I can I can fall back. And so I gave my gift to him temporarily, like, all right, you can hold this. And throughout my time in school, he just gave me tid by tid, opportunity by opportunity by opportunity, small things, very small things, and then bigger things, and then just and it and it just it, yeah. It all came back together. And so then after graduating, to have been able, I and it this was the crazy part. I um I remember my dean, one of my deans at the time, I called her and I was like, hey, I said, I need help. It was during the summer. I said, I am currently on tour and I'm not gonna be done until X amount of this this date. I need help finding an internship clinicals that's going to allow me to basically do time on my own time and then you know figure it out. Let me, I don't mind seeing patients while I'm on the road, like virtually if I can. So she told me, she said, good luck with that. She said, You're gonna have to choose. She said, It's gonna be music or it's gonna be school for you. I said, Okay, I'm gonna talk to you later. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

And the Lord said, keep looking. He said, keep looking. And I I connected with the organization that it was nothing but the grace of God. Connect with the organization. They had been wanting me to work with them for a while. And I told them, I said, look, this is my schedule. I will be two weeks on, two weeks off. I can come in these days, and I just gave them a schedule that I made up for like three months. I said, This is what I can do. Will you accept it? And they said, Absolutely. And so it was God's way of saying, I'm going to bring it all back to you. You're going to be all these things,

Music Calling Meets Grad School

SPEAKER_00 38:26

but you one have to be patient. You have to be diligent, and you have to be disciplined. You're gonna have to be patient, diligent, and disciplined. And you're gonna have to trust me in at every point of this process. And so it was it was hard. It it was, and it still is hard, balancing it is hard, but God brings all things back around.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

You just said the three things that this generation does not want to hear patience, diligence, and discipline. This generation of instant gratification is crazy. Like everybody wants it now, quick, wait, like, wait, what's waiting? Patience. What is wait? I can make something shape today.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

But you making something shape versus God, Jesus, it being God ordained is if I would have accepted that first big opportunity while during the finals time, I would have it would have been cool, it would have been amazing, it would have been a great experience, but it would have derailed my entire situation, and not to say that God can't get you back on track and all, of course he can, he does it all the time, but I would be in a such a different place right now, and I don't know how much I would like it.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

And so nothing has aligned, right? Like, yes, he could have, but would he have? It wouldn't be. And if he already set a way in a path before us, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:12

And the beautiful thing about God, and this is this is where we and this is the beautiful part of God, because he does in his plan also understand that we are there's so many alternative routes that we can decide and take. And he has a plan for all of them, right? All of them always gets back to his way and his plan. And so I want to say this to the people who did not obey God, that were not patient, that were not disciplined, and were not diligent. It's okay. You it's gonna be tough, baby. Because there is this that this is only a part of my testimony. There have been also things that I wasn't that I did fail the test in, and I did have to put the work in and have to really settle myself to realign myself with God and his plan for my life. It's difficult, but God will always still meet you there. So if you did get off track, don't think for a moment that you're too far gone and can't get back. Oh, yes, you can. Come on back, come on back.

SPEAKER_01 41:09

Yeah, it's a detour. It's a detour, it's not a denial, literally. Just literally detoured to get back to your destiny. That's literally all it is. Oh, I love this so much, Elise. Okay, so we're gonna play a game because I can talk to you all day, but we're gonna play a game because literally I love playing games with my guests. Um, okay, so this game is this or that. Okay, so I'm going to list off some churchy things, okay? And you tell me which of the churchy things is your thing. Um, yes, whatever comes to mind, okay? And then I'll infuse it from things to people. Hallelujah night or Halloween party. Hallelujah. Yes. Okay. Walk around for offering or pass the bucket. Oh, that triggered me. That triggered me.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Walk around for offering, because I might have been sitting too long, depending on the church I'm at. You know what I'm saying? You gotta get the blood flowing.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

You gotta get the blood flow. And if you have on a cute outfit, everybody needs to see what I'm wearing.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Because I got dressed for church today.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Okay, that's good. That's good. Okay, sleep over at friend's house or church shut in.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

Oh I'm gonna have to say sleep over.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Okay, okay. Um church picnic or Memorial Day festivities.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

Oh, that's a terrible one, Jasmine.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

That was a hard one.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Because some church picnics be lit. They do, they do, and you're gonna have the right people at the Memorial Day cookout. Dang.

SPEAKER_01 43:24

Okay, we'll pass, we'll pass, we'll pass, we'll pass that one. This is a hard one too. The Broadway plays or the church Christmas play. Broadway. Okay, first names or titles, sister so-and-so.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

First name.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

So I can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

I can't.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

Church pews or individual chairs.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Listen, churches that still got pews, they be church and baby. That's

Obedience, Delay, And Open Doors

SPEAKER_00 44:07

a fact. Maybe going in. Okay. But they go up every Sunday. I'm not comfortable in pews. I'm gonna say church chairs.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

Ummer camp, like school, summer camp, or vacation Bible school? Vacation Bible school. Period, period, period, period. I like that. Okay, let me throw you, let me throw you artists. Let me throw you a couple artists. Because that's that's good too. Okay. Um, since we talked about PJ, hey, PJ, PJ or Chandler Moore.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Oh, they're both my friends. I grew up with Chandler. Oh, you can't do it like that.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Based off of literally vocal ability only, vocal ability, like who you got in a in a battle.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

Oh my god, that is insane.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

Like a versus like oh Jesus, I'm so stressed out.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

Oh my god. Oh let me see. Chandler, probably. Chandler, okay. Y'all don't know. Y'all, y'all don't know. Chandler is very Chandler grew up church church, like he can do actually everything in church vocally. Y'all just hear, y'all just hear the yeah, I don't know. That's hard. But PJ, that's my guy. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

Listen, I stand with P's, you stand with that's fine. They both church voice, they both PKs. It's it's fine. It's fine. Okay, so tell us what you got coming up because you are working and you're multi-hyphenated, and we here at the PKP, we love to support all of our PKs. So, how can we support what we got coming up?

SPEAKER_00 45:58

So, I have a book that is about to come out. Um, I am doing another cohort, which is called the Aligned Identity Cohort. Um, and it's really intimate. It's it's women um who are just kind of coming back to themselves. So maybe you are a mother or maybe you are a business owner or a wife, whatever you are. It doesn't matter what role you are in. Sometimes we lose ourselves in the process of life. And so just kind of coming back to self. Um, so it's it's for for women like that. Um, and music, music, music, music.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

I'm so excited about all of these things. Um, music, book. Is this your first book? It is my first book. First freaking book. Oh my gosh. The cohorts. I I mean, these are amazing opportunities. I feel like we should do some type of giveaway so that people can be subscribed and tune in, like for the release dates of this. Um, so yeah, so make sure you guys are following Elise. Give them your socials um because I think we should pick a winner, a lucky winner, a lucky follower. Post it in stories, let us know, tag us, tag the PK pod, tag Elise, and let them know. Listen, hey, listen, I am tuned in, I'm tapped in so that they can make it the early release to the cohort um to sign up to be a part of all the things. So give us your socials.

SPEAKER_00 47:27

Find me everywhere at officially elise, which is A-L-I-S-E. Officially Elise.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

Officially Elise, there it is. I love it. My final question to you is what advice would you give a PK that's literally still growing up, still on their journey? We're all still on our journey, right? But they're navigating all of the giftings, trying to identify the multi-hyphenate, how to balance it all. Um, just what advice would you give them right now in their journey?

SPEAKER_00 48:03

Yeah, I would say I would say be patient with yourself and with God. Um, his timing, I promise, is way better than yours. Uh, there's a lot of things that you can make sense in your mind because we think fast and we're sometimes it feels a little chaotic internally for us, but I promise you his plan and his path is so much better than what you can imagine. Um, be compassionate with yourself. You're not gonna get it right every day. You're not gonna live up to your own expectations every day, let alone anyone else's. Um, be very compassionate with yourself. Give yourself grace, give yourself love, and get back up on your feet and align yourself as much as possible with who you feel you're called to be. Um and if you have not already, I would highly suggest that you potentially talk to someone. Even if you feel like that you're good and you have good relationships with your family or parents and the church, whatever. I always still suggest that we just sit down, even if it's for just a season, sit down with somebody that we can trust and that has been educated and is licensed in this work, just to help you flesh out, you know, some of the things that you have maybe compartmentalized or um that you've probably minimized in your life and just you know see what what's in there. So that would be my advice to to all of us out there.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

We love it. Thank you so much, Elise, for sharing with us, for chatting with us. We are rooting for you in all the things, in all areas. We are praying that God will literally exceed your expectations in this next season. Um, and we are excited to support you on your journey to literally taking over. Okay, like we love you. Um, y'all be sure to subscribe, follow us, and we'll see you next time.