With 2021 slowly coming to an end, I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most authentic actresses in the world. I am not only blessed but confident that after reading if you have doubts about your journey, you will be inspired and encouraged to walk into all that you are.
When Manifestation & Positive thinking align: A Novi Brown exclusive Interview with T.S.W. T Magazine
By: Ciarra Williams
Novi Brown knows the true power of manifestation and positive thinking. Suppose you haven’t seen her on Tyler Perry’s Sista’s playing Sabrina on Wednesdays.
In that case, you may also find her spreading positivity and sharing how she transformed her life just by changing her thinking on Patreon or Instagram.
Novi represents the continued faith and effort in ourselves is all you need to help push and navigate you towards conquering your goals and the fact that she has been working towards dreams of becoming a worldwide actress for 13 years now.
It shows us what true dedication and non-stop belief in yourself looks like.
I was given the privilege to talk to Novi about her journey, and with hard work, dedication, and devotion to her higher self, she has transformed her own life.
I asked her several questions I felt most of us would be highly intrigued to know if the opportunity presented itself.
How did you get into acting?
I was an extremely curious person. I could do karate, piano, and acting, but I had to decide who I wanted to be.
I have become more conscious about being in the present moments of life. We are building reactions out of things we see.
How did you get into Manifesting?
Nothing was working out. I went to school with good grades. I was doing all I could, and I didn’t understand what was going on in my life. I felt like something was missing.
I was lost on who I was. I was a waitress for a long time, and I heard about its power. After, I began to look into manifestations, mantras, & things. Having faith in myself was the secret ingredient to my success, Not just hard work, and effort but undying faith.
Do you still get nervous when preparing for interviews?
I always feel something. Sometimes you are good, and sometimes you get in the moment where you’re not good, but I always compare it like when you are in a car, and you ramp up your engine like Vroom! Vroom! And you are about to go to get out here and get this!
I just had an audition recently, and I hope I get it. But I am in a high-risk, high-reward environment, and sometimes it’s a high-risk no reward environment.
It’s one of those things that I am grateful I am a part of, and I have a lot of emotion around what I do.
How do you decipher a good opportunity and if it’s for you?
Honestly, sometimes you take a chance you don’t know, but you hope you are guessing well, but you learn something even if you don’t guess correctly.
So I try not to go too much now into this horrible moment. I ended here for a reason.
This must be a lesson for me. So let me go ahead and take that lesson. The lesson may feel painful, but at least I am still here, and I get to explore it.
Sometimes you don’t know what’s good for you. I promise you when we’re in our 60’s & 70’s we are going to sit back and think, I can’t even believe I did that.
We will never be all the way right, and we will never be all the way wrong as long as we try it and enjoy what we do in the moments we have. I feel like we’ve won.
How have you conquered some of the challenges of being a black woman in your field?
Aww, man, there are so many. We all know what it is. A Lot of people have preconceived notions about what a woman’s experience is number 1.
A lot of the stories that have been told have been through the eyes of a man. So that is where we’re going wrong to start with. It very much limits even how women see themselves.
I am so excited that we are in the space of creativity in the world. In Hollywood, we are starting to expand our views on what a woman’s life is, what the life of a Black woman is in all spectrums. It’s just so many more stories to tell. I am excited about it. There’s a lot of barriers, but we will do it.
What lesson do you apply to your everyday life?
I am a numbers person. There are 8 billion people in the world going through that process of pleasing people.
There’s no way I can please 8 billion changing minds. That’s crazy, that’s insane; all I can do is be in the moment that I am in, and hopefully, the person experiences it, and they get something from the moment.
But that’s it; once I started doing the numbers, I was like, okay, you want to make people happy. First, it’s your parents, family, neighborhood, friends, and you start adding all of these people, and your like, hold on a second, hold on, I am adding too many people to this list of imaginary people I have to please.
In reality, there is nobody I have to please but myself and the universe, God, spirit, whatever your denomination is, that’s all I have to do. I have to follow it at the moment because there are a lot of times that I have been too early or too late, but it still resonated when it needed to.
Can you name a person or moment that has inspired you most?
I can give you one good example. My best friend called me and asked me what I was doing. I wondered what she was doing, and she said, ” Oh, I am in Miami, and I was like, what are you doing in Miami, ” She told me she had moved here.
I was like, what do you mean moved there. She said, yeah, I moved down here. At that point, I just saw her like a week and a half ago.
I said, but you didn’t tell me, and she said I didn’t have to tell you, and it’s no disrespect, but that’s how much you have to be about yourself.
Weirdly, we need reinforcements from outside elements to establish that. We don’t have to do that; there are no rules, which scares people most.
Still to this day, I love the way she moved. I did something similar myself; when I moved to California, I told my mom, and like one or two friends, everyone else found out on FaceBook.
When I booked Sistas, I didn’t tell anyone, but my boyfriend, mother, and everyone else knew when the commercial dropped. So you don’t have to tell everyone your moves constantly. And
Go for the shock factor.
What is your favorite part of this journey?
Traveling, I get to go to many places and meet different people. I love seeing what God has done with the earth in the physical sense. But, in a spiritual sense, it has been trusting God for me.
It’s very hard. Sometimes God and I have a lot of arguments where I am like, come on, let’s go! And God is like, Sit down chill. I got this! It’s a fascinating relationship.
I try to tell people that being an actress is an on-call career. My manager called me the other day and had an audition for me and asked me if I could get it to them in two hours, and I was like, yes, I can.
I happen to be home. Let me get prepared. Honestly, managing my self-care has been essential. I am also happy that my self-care has gotten better. My favorite is massages.
What would be your advice to someone wanting to take a leap of faith?
You have to do something you’ve never done before. You have to. If you have been thinking about moving, then you need to move.
If you have been thinking about quitting a job, you should save some money first. Pace yourself; give yourself some time and space to get yourself together, whether it’s six months or eight months.
And if you quit your job, go hard, don’t quit your job, and go lazy because, at that point, things are dependent upon you.
You have to do something completely different. You have to shock yourself and the people around you. You have to get to the point where they are like, omg, I never thought you could do something like that. And you have to laugh along and shock yourself, saying neither did I, but here we are.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
I want to do Indie pieces and biopics, so I am manifesting right now. I have been auditioning for your favorite tv shows and movies.
I hope something comes through just like with Sistas; It’s such a magical special moment. I did a holiday movie coming out this Christmas that features some of our icons.
I am really happy that I got a chance to collaborate with some of these people. I have a couple of shorts coming out. I am doing some voice overwork. When it comes to the other stuff, I hope to be in something like Black Panther. I want to do Marvel, action films, and of course, indie films. I also want to do hood classics. I miss that era, and I want to be a part of one.
—-
In closing, Novi, we honor you and your gracious heart. Thank you for believing in my vision and giving me the distinct honor to tell a part of your story.
For our readers: chase your dreams, be fearless and passionate about the future, and all the great things you will accomplish just by being you. Stay authentic. May the new year bring all your hopes and desires alive.
With Love,
Ciarra
