TORREI HART
Acceptance Got Her Groove Back
By Belinda Trotter-James
Torrei Hart is the super talented ex-wife of comedian Kevin
Hart. How could this be? They would have made a great team together
producing some funny material. Oh well, Torrei
is not sitting home crying over spilled milk.
She is knocking down doors with her explosive comedic writing and acting
skills. She produces her own You Tube
channel and is one of the cast members for VH1’s Atlanta Exes. In this exclusive interview we find out that
Torrei is this brilliant diamond who time has come to shine.
If you look on the Internet there was a lot of things said
about Torrei before the show aired. To try and set the record straight on everything
would be like trying to count how many licks it takes to get to the center of a
Tootsie pop. “There has been a lot of
things said about me,” explains Torrei, “However, on the show you will get to
see who I really am. I can't address every single thing so all I can say is
that people will have to believe what they want to believe. It is what it is."
Before you can begin your new life as an ex-wife you have to
shed the old skin of the wife. There is
definitely a mental healing that must take place. Torrei got through mentally
with a lot of fasting and a lot of praying. "I was in denial for a while.
I didn't sign-up to be a single mom. I didn't sign-up to be divorced,” explains
Torrei. “I was in denial, but as time went on, I
started fasting and really got into the Word. I started speaking to God and
asking him questions and waited to hear the answers. That's how I mentally went
from wife to ex-wife. When I finally accepted it, I thought, ‘Wow it's not a
bad thing after all.’ When the kids go
to hang out with Kevin, I got a lot more work done. I started to look at the
positive side of the situation. I had to
tell myself, ‘I don’t have the children for three days, so now I can really,
really work and not be interrupted.’ I
knew that they would be in good hands because they are with their father. So
that's how I started transitioning. I would dive into my work and get my
projects done. That's how I transitioned
from being a wife to a single mother."
Acceptance, sitting still and listening for the word of God
always gets you through life's challenges. It sounds crazy to sit still and
think that your problems will just disappear however, when God is in charge,
that’s exactly what happens. "You're
supposed to sit still and praise Him," explains Torrei“ When you're praising
him you take the focus off yourself and that's supposed to be the plan. When I
wake up in the morning I just start praising God. I was amazed that I would sit for an hour and
a half. I had never done that before. I also noticed that going through what I
went through brought me closer to God. I
think that's one of the things He wanted to do. I just said I'm giving it to You and I'm
taking the focus off of me. Once I did that, I started seeing movement and
creativity flourishing even more. I saw my attitude changing and I started
letting go of hurt feelings or saying things to myself like ‘Why me? Why is
this happening to me? I took the focus off of me and put the focus on who it
was supposed to be on.
Talk about being at the right place at the right time Torrei
goes to the same church as one of the producers of the “Atlanta Exes” show. Torrei was asked to be in the “Hollywood Exes”
however, at the time she was shopping her own reality show and declined to do
it. She didn't close the door totally
and told them to keep her in mind if something else should come up. As fate would have it, here she is being cast
for the Atlanta Exes show. Torrei said
it came at a perfect time because she needed a change. "I like the idea of
moving to Atlanta and starting fresh," says Torrei. “It was something that I needed at that
moment. I needed a change of pace. I was stuck in a routine in L.A. and I
wasn't moving forward like I wanted to. I felt a little stagnant so, it
actually worked out good." The
Atlanta opportunity was something that she just could not pass up. It worked out so good that she's thinking
about staying in Atlanta or at least keeping a place to stay so she can go back
and forth from L.A. to Atlanta.
Moving to a new city, state or country can be both exciting
and scary at the same time. Finding
people who have your same interests is very important when it comes to being
comfortable in your new space. Torrei
had met two of the cast members, Christina Johnson and Tameka Raymond. She had
knew of them but did not know any of them personally.
Her Pretty Funny Fish channel all
started because she, along with her partner Simone, didn't see many comedy
roles for women of color. "We did all the hiring ourselves. We hired our
friends and brought them on board so that they could get their creativity out
and eventually it turned into something bigger,” says Torrei. “It is very rare for African American women
to secure certain types of roles. It's getting better out here, but it's not
the same like it is for other races.”
Companies are starting to realize women shop for everything and
they like the color pink. Items that normally had a choice of one color…. silver
is now coming in an array of colors. Computers, phones and screwdriver tools
are coming in yummy colors. This does
not exclude the beverage industry Torrei has positioned herself in this
year. A complete line of mixers are
waiting for your in 1700 Walmart locations by Ms. Torrei Hart called SKIMPY. The bottles are made in a design that will
have you thinking twice about throwing it away. She was talking with her manager one day and
told him of her desire to create some type of juice, mixer or an energy drink. “It didn’t matter the type of drink”, says
Torrei. “I just knew I wanted to be in the beverage market. I just felt that there
weren't any beverages that catered toward women of color. We actually came across as a company in Texas
which was women owned who already had different products in the beverage
industry. We approach them and it just so happened that they were trying to
expand their market. We ended up
partnering and we have a few flavors that are now in 1700 Walmart stores across
the country. I really like the company because its women owned and I'm all
about women empowerment. I felt it was a
great way for two women who were from totally two different backgrounds to
merge.
Just when you thought Torrei couldn't put anything more on
her plate, we find that she and her sister have a foundation called SOAR.
"My sister actually started SOAR. We had always wanted to do a foundation
and this came about because my sister had been through a bad breakup and
divorce. Then with everything I went through in the public eye, we felt like it
would be something good to do for women. My family also has a creative center
called White Dove. It's for kids and mainly women to come and be creative and
get into the arts. If they're going through
any issues in life, this is a place where they can come and be safe. My sister and I thought we needed a place just
like White Dove for women as well because there are a lot of women who are hurting,
going through abusive relationships plus breakups and have no place to go. We
were blessed enough go through our situations with family and a great support
system. We felt if we could help more
people, this would be the way to do it. There are always women who are going
through things and don't know where to turn. That's why we decided to start
SOAR.”
After all the hurt, the pain, the tests and the challenges
Torrei sores to new heights that she probably never thought was possible. If
you don't experience life, what the heck would you write about in your book?
Everyone has a story and everyone should write a book about life's experience.
Torrei is actually in the final stages of finishing her book. "It's actually done," says Torrei.
"I'm in the final stages. I have to do my cover shoot and once I'm done
with all of that, I will be looking to put it out in the next couple of months.
It's actually my memoir. Actually, it’s
not just a regular memoir; it's a self-help memoir. I teach lessons in the book
on everything I went through. I talk
about how I overcame everything that I went through and the tools I used to get
back to being in a happy place.
Fans can connect with Torrei in her VIP club where she does
different events as well as meet and greets. When you join, you get special VIP
privileges when she's in your town. When you come to any of her book signings
and you are a VIP club member, you'll get special VIP treatment. Keep in touch with Torrei on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/torrei_hart
and of course Who’s That Lady Entertainment will post updates on Torrei’s busy
life.
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