In 2009, I was blessed with the opportunity to do a phone interview with Mrs. Tamela Mann. Last week I was once again blessed to speak with her via about her latest album Best Days Deluxe, Upcoming Projects, Family, Marriage, Ministry and how she and David manages it all! You may read the interview below or watch the video recording of the phone convo YouTube by clicking the link below.
BMackWrites:
Thank you so much for
honoring my request for an interview today.
Tamela Mann: Oh
well your welcome.
BMackWrites: I’m not gonna hold you long
today. I wanted to talk to you because I have doing some blogs lately that
inspire younger women…well women of all ages who are trying to balance home
life and career.
Tamela Mann:
Uh huh
BMackWrites: And um I have to say when I
do a lot of my blogging, I am really tough on celebrities and Gospel
celebrities because because it seems like so many of them are getting away from
the standard but when it comes to you and your husband, my husband and I really
do have a huge admiration for the both of you all because of your humble
spirits and your love for Christ, your love for ministry and your family so we definitely
wanted to get your input.
Tamela Mann:
Okay
BMackWrites: And ask you some questions on
that. What of the things I wanted to talk to you about is career. God has
really blessed your career and ministry. How have you been able to find a
balance between career and family?
Tamela Mann: …and that’s not what it’s
about for us. It’s about the Lord and family first.
BMackWrites: Okay
Tamela Mann: And then everything else falls
in place but once you do get to those things like the music and everything else
is like you just take it one day at…for me it just one day at a time..
BMackWrites: Okay
Tamela: One day at a
time and I concentrate on whatever is at hand. That's how I kind of handle
it. Like if I know I gotta do a lot of studio time, I’m concentrating. “Okay
you know you’ve got to do a lot of studio time right now. Get your mind straight. Get
your mind right. You know it’s going to be long days.” So that’s kind of
how I myself deal with it. And when it comes to family, you know I’ve got to
make time. You know when I come home like with my grandbabies..you know it’s
like first and foremost. If I haven’t seen them in a couple of days, we’ve got
to go do dinner. We’ve got to go do some kind of activity together as a family
or something like that.
BMackWrites: Okay
Tamela Mann: But the music..God is really
blessing us and it’s just…I’m in awe on what God is doing. How he’s doing it
and…man you know..the scriptures tells us if our ways please him, he will give
us the desires of our hearts and um God is doing just that. He is doing just
that..
BMackWrites: Actually Kawambee D, one of
my fans on Facebook submitted that question for you about balancing them both.
And one of the key things you said is that when it’s time work, you go ahead
and focus on work so you can get in, do what you’ve got to do and when you
come home that’s the first thing (family).
And I think that’s an error that I’ve know I’ve made several times before
I’ll be working all day long and my kids will come home from school and I’m
still trying to get that little last minute in there. My husband talks to me
all the time about that “cut off time” and make sure I get in that family time.
Tamela Mann: That’s right. We all need it.
You need to shut your brain down.
BMackWrites: Exactly
Tamela Mann: It’s just…David is like that.
Sometimes I have to get on to him about the phone but me when I come home I
just want to sit down. If it’s something I need to work on in the house..you
know I don’t want to think about work and I don’t want to talk about it. (BMackWrites
laughs…Tamela laughs)..because I don’t..when people see me…we are regular
people. When you guys see us..I look at
it as I’m still human. I still have to go to the grocery store. I still have to
go do me a Marshall’s stop. I mayhave to go to Wal-Mart. Not just at the big
stores, I still go to whoever; you know even the Dollar Store if I need to go
run in there and get something. You know it’s just that we are still common
people. You know we may just know a few more people than you guys know but we are
still people…a few more people may know us is what we say but we are all still
them same.
BMackWrites: I think that is what
attracts people to you all so much is because success has not gotten to your
head..
Tamela Mann: Nooo, I don’t like for people
to shop for me. I just don’t. And then when it comes to preparing stuff for my
family, I feel like can’t nobody do it like me. You’re not going to fix it.. I
can tell you but you are not going to fix it like me. Your heart is not going
to be in it like..like mine. You know but I thank God for people coming and
helping us you know when that time comes but I want do for my family because
bottom line they are my family.
BMackWrites: One of the questions and my
husband actually submitted this question. He wanted me to ask you all about
upholding the standard in a world that’s filled with so much hypocrisy. Um,
everbody that we see that’s doing things, that’s you know that’s proclaiming
the faith and so forth, they are not really practicing what they preach and you
can tell it eventually in the little sideline interviews but…
Tamela Mann: Bottom line..bottom line is
Bridgett, the Lord is watching and he’s writing it down.
BMackWrites: Wow
Tamela Mann: That’s my accountability and
that’s my standard that I want my ways to please him. I’m not trying to be
deep. I’m not trying to be better that nobody. You know but I’m striving for
perfection and I can do that with the Lord. I can’t do it on my own and I’m not
trying to do it in my own light where it’s all about me. Again, if I am trying
to please him all I know how. I look at it as I don’t have an earthly father
so the Lord is my Father and I don’t want to let him down. So that’s my
standard of trying to do right as best as I can as I know how. When I know that
it’s going to hurt somebody, you don’t do it. I’m not saying that I don’t make
mistakes because I do. Sometimes I may snap at my husband the wrong way if he
asks me something or my kids or people that you but it’s not an everyday thing
that I am just walking around chewing people out. But we make mistakes but
bottom line is pleasing the Lord. Pleasing the Lord. What he has written down
is most important; I am trying to do what lines up with what his word says
and what his commandments say. I’m just trying to abide by those. That helps me
to hold the standard. A lot of people don’t have standards now. Anything go.
Everything go.
BMackWrites: Yes, you are right.
Tamela Mann: They feel like “I’m in the
dark. Don’t nobody see me. You know and I don’t have to…I’m grown.” That’s the
word “I’m grown”. That don’t mean anything. You know we want people to see. We
want the world to see there is a difference so that’s why we have to have a
standard of righteousness. Free from sin. Yes we are in this world of sin but we can be in the world but not of
it.
BMacWrites: Exactly! Oh my goodness!
Tamela Mann: It’s just according to where
your faith is and where your beliefs are.Bottom line like you said standard.
What you want to uphold? What you want to uphold? What do you want your kids to see? Your nieces
and your nephews? Because it’s not a lot of positive marriages out there. It’s
not a lot for them to see. They see everything else. Everything else is okay to
see on TV.
BMackWrites: Yeah
Tamela Mann: They
don’t give us like positive home life you know and things like that. It’s like
they fight against that but everything else is okay. You know, let’s make a
show about this and that but all we can do what the little time we have is just
live the life. Thank God for Social Cam. We just let people know that we are
not boasting or anything but if we live right God will give us some things here
on earth. You know we can be comfortable and not walk around talking about we
are blinging and banging. You know (we are just saying) this is the goodness of
the Lord. When you see me on Social Cam, you’d better believe you me I’m teary
eyed and giving thanks to God for blessing me and my husband, me and my family
because that’s what it’s all about…without him, I could do nothing. Oh…I’m just
talking...Okay..Okay...
BMackWrites: No..you’re good. For one
thing, I saw the thing with ducks yesterday. For one thing, I absolutely loved
it. I couldn’t help but laugh when you threw that first duck because….(Bridgett
and Tamela laughs)
(My camera didn’t record the rest of this clip so please
watch the Mann’s Duck video on Social Cam…HILARIOUS!)
BMackWrites: I love the fact that you all
are down to earth..down to home people. As a matter of fact, when are we going
to hear more information about Hanging with the Manns? Do we know when..?
Tamela Mann: Well, it’s still like kind of
in the air. We are still shopping in. But we are still working on a couple
other things as well like our reality show “With the Manns” another sitcom that
we shot is called "Mann and Wife" where me and David actually play husband and wife.
BMackWrites: Okay. Okay…And I am rooting
for this because see I am tired of blogging about the fake Basketball Wives and
all of them. We do need some positive people.
Tamela Mann: I need the Saints to be
praying that the Lord allows it to go through so we can have some other
positive stuff.
BMackWrites: Well we need it. I am
rooting for you all on that because we do need to see positive marriages. As a
matter of fact, a year ago…a couple of years ago, I ran a job training program and the girls
that were in the program…one of the things that they were saying ..they saw me
and Travis interact with each other and they thought that we were so fake. They
were like “Nobody is that happy Mrs. Bridgett.” And I was like you can be
happy. You can have love that is real but you’ve got to learn how to
put God first.
Tamela Mann: Yes
BMackWrites: For one thing, I said, yall
have been dealing with all these men…If he doesn’t know how to love God. He
ain’t gonna know how to love you. And so it’s just the world has put out so
many negative..
Tamela Mann: False…negative
BMackWrites: …examples of what motherhood
is, of what being a wife is about what a career is and it’s really tainting the
minds of our younger women and older women and so I am really really rooting
for you on that. I’ve got to touch base on your song “I Can Only Imagine”…oh my
goodness..
Tamela Mann: (Laughs) Yes that’s my new
single. I have "Best Days the Deluxe" that’s releasing on October 29th.
I want everybody to put it in their phones for Tuesday, October 29th.
Make sure yall go pick it up! I redid "Take Me to the King" live where I added I"
Surrender All" on there and it goes into Only Imagine. And "I Can Only Imagine" kind of
happened… I was singing “Take Me to the King” was in worship for the concert
and I started singing “I Can Only Imagine” in the end and it just stuck and it
was like we were just going from glory to glory in worship. It’s just like
man….and when I went and redid the whole song, I was crying in the studio when
I was doing this song. Yesterday I was listening to it. I mean I was just
thanking God and I was just weeping. And in my mind I was thinking, what will I
be doing? What will I do when I get in the presence of God? That’s what it’s
all about; us making ready to see the King. Because that day is coming; we don’t
when our day is coming but it is coming. We all need to be prepared. Just put
it in our minds of what we’re going to do when we see our Savior. And um I’m
telling I’m just so excited about it and I’m just praying that God will touch
the hearts of people with this like "Take to Me King" that we are going higher
and higher. That’s where we are going with this.
BMackWrites: Well let me tell you. Those
two songs really blessed me because Take Me to the King. I had to have this in
my private time. A couple of years ago, I lost my baby sister. Well I didn’t
lose her I know where she went. She went to Heaven. I know where she went.
Tamela Mann: Yeah
BMackWrites: She
died suddenly a couple of years ago. I’m the oldest of four children.
Tamela Mann: Uh
huh
BMackWrites: It was one of those things
where..because she died suddenly. She went to sleep and didn’t wake up. She was
a wife and a mom. And I was…the whole grieving process totally drained me. This
was one of those things that big sister couldn’t fix. I couldn’t make things
better for her children, my parents and my family. It was your song "Take Me to the King" that blessed me
because I didn’t have nothing else to bring because I was broken.
Tamela Mann: Yes
BMackWrites: I know "Take Me to the King"
is one of those songs that you can’t listen to in the car because you’ll be at
the light and folks will be blowing. (Tamela laughs) You’ll be done got on the
mountain and but it really did bless me. And when I heard "I Can Only Imagine", I
could imagine myself standing before God and I could imagine Toshia standing in
the arms of God. It’s one of those songs really ministers. It takes you in the
presence of God. It doesn’t…you don’t focus on just a good beat and you moving
around and you don’t know what you are listening to but the words really
minister to your spirit. That is an awesome awesome song so I am looking
forward to October29th. Everybody need to get it. (to the camera) Yall hear
that. Go get it..October 29th!
Tamela Mann:
Best Days Deluxe …Tamela Mann
BMackWrites: I am gonna ask you one last
question. Now you and your husband recently your vow renewal earlier this year.
Tamela Mann:
Yes, Twenty five years.
BMackWrites: Twenty
five years! My husband and I have been married for seventeen years.
Tamela Mann: Amen! Yay! I love to hear
that. I love to hear people still hanging in there and man we can make it.
We’ve got some ups and downs but it’s work. Marriage is work.
BMackWrites: That’s what I wanted to
touch on because my husband and I have befriended a lot of people . We’ve seen
a lot of marriages demise and go their separate ways. There are going to be down days. I’ve given people my advice on
what do in those down days but in your words. In Mrs. Tamela’s words, what is
your best advice for down days?
Tamela Mann: On down days look at
yourself. Go look in the mirror to see. It’s
not about you changing somebody. You can’t change anybody. You have to
change you. A lot times you have to examine yourself to make sure you are lining
up; that you are doing everything that you know how to do what’s right. So
start checking yourself to see “What is that I have to do to change Lord to start making my
relationship better?” That’s our mistake [we say] “Well you need to do..” We
are pointing the finger but in reality, it’s you that need to make the change.
It’s not always somebody else, a lot of
times it’s our selves. You need to examine yourself and ask the Lord to help
you see you. Learn from whatever those mistakes are because you are going to keep going through it until you pass the test.
BMackWrites: Exactly
Tamela Mann: Whatever that issue is, it’s
gonna keep coming around. It may change up a little bit but it’s gonna keep
coming until you pass the test. That’s my advice on that. Ask the Lord to help
you and give you peace during the storm. Every argument doesn’t need a
response. Sometimes you just have to hold your tongue to keep the peace. You may
not be wrong. You may be wrong but then you may not be but sometime you just
[need to] sit back and let everything cool down.
BMackWrites: Thank you so much for your
words of wisdom. We look forward to buying your album Best Days
Tamela Mann: Thank you. I’ve have people
to tell me that they’ve feel in love with the songs all over again. I also went
back and redid "Now Behold the Lamb".
BMackWrites: No
you didn’t.
Tamela Mann: (Laughs and says to someone
in background. "She talking about No you didn’t”) Yes I did. So that’s on there as well.
You are in for a great treat. So everybody make sure you go out and pick it up
and I love you. Thank you for having me again today and we will talk you again
soon.
BMackWrites:
Okay.
We love you all and you all have a blessed day.
Tamela Mann: Alright Thank
you.
BMackWrites:
Bye Bye
Tamela Mann: Bye Bye
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