Transcript of Comedy & Courage: Breaking Stigmas with Kym Whitley

You're listening to Mic Unplug, hosted by the one and only Mic Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mic takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming Unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get Unplug.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Your exciting episode of Make Unplug. And today, I have a bucket list guest of bucket list guests. We're talking about someone who is a force of nature, a brilliant comedic mind who has graced our screens and stages, bringing joy and insight to millions. She is known for her undeniable presence and groundbreaking career. Join me in welcoming the vivacious, the hilarious, the absolutely unforgettable, my queen, Ms. Kim Whitley. Kim, How are you doing today, dear?

I'm doing good. That was a great introduction.

I will definitely send it to you because I meant every word of that. You are someone who not only has brought joy to millions of people, but you've also been a standard. And what I love about Kim Whitley, every time I talk about you, is just that standard that you have for yourself. It's something I'm proud of for you. And just knowing that you are always who you are is so important to me, and I know that's important to you as well.

Yes, absolutely. I appreciate that. When you say that and you think about this business, how quickly it goes. It feels like I just started yesterday. So I just appreciate you having me on today. And I love your background. And I mean, that's just that whole little jealous. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I love the lighting. That is so nice. I've been on a lot of podcasts, and I will say you might be number one with the look and the lighting.

Hey, Kim, don't make me come find you and give you a hug now. Don't make me do that, but I will.

I love it. I will get myself together.

So, Kim, I always ask my guests this one question first, and that question is, what is your because? I like to call it that thing that's deeper than your why, your true purpose. And I know that it changes over time. So if I were to say now in 2026, Kim Whitley, what is your because? What is your purpose? What is your mission?

Now, when you say because and you're saying in life, just why am I here? Am I because? Because it is what? How do we say? The gift that was in me, that is in me. The because is because I can't do anything else. The because is because I was made to bring joy and laughter to this world from day one. I don't know why, but that would be my because. My mother said I came out laughing. Every time she looked at me, I was laughing. And I would say that's my because. My because is because that is how I was made.

That is so beautiful. I think that's the only way to say that, to respond to that, is that is just beautiful. And again, it goes to your soul. And I think anyone who's ever seen anything you've been a part of, whether it's a show, whether it's on stage, whether it's some of the shows that you've had, I think that's the definition of you is just beautiful. I truly mean that. It's just you have this calming presence. I feel like, obviously, I don't know you personally, but I feel like when people are around you, they feel like they are important because you give them that focus, that joy. Has that always been something that you paid attention to about yourself?

No, no, no. I didn't know this about me. At high school, I was a class clown and just a tomboy. I didn't realize that until I got a little older. I knew that I was funny. But there's a difference, like you said. I love the way you asked that question, that because you don't understand that it's a gift to give, not a gift for you to hold on, but to share with the world. I didn't realize that until I saw that it brought change, that I would change someone's day, that I could change someone's life, that everyone is going through different things at different times. By me just sharing a joke or laughter, I think when I really first discovered, it's going to sound crazy, but I was in the unemployment line at the unemployment office, and there was a woman, and she told me this horrible deep, dark story in the line. And I loved on her, and I was pretty young, but I felt like the situation, I was like, I got to change this. I have to bring light to her. And I just remember being funny and cracking jokes with her, telling her, Girl, that ain't nothing, blah, blah, blah, blah, Another thing, when I talk to my family, my friends, and we talk about Ms..

Kim Whitley, we talk about just how courageous you are, not just being authentic, but in your line of work, you have to live your life publicly a lot of times. And maybe with a lot of stars, they don't talk about their parenthood. They don't talk about things that are going on personally in their lives, whether it's struggles or things that they're trying to accomplish or new goals that they set for themselves. You've been very courageous to live publicly, but also have a voice. And I want to start by just talking about motherhood and what that means to you, because you've inspired my sister to be a great mom because she's like, What would Kim do in this situation? And so we I always laugh about that. But talk to us just about motherhood and what that means to Kim with.

Oh, my gosh. That's a good question. Motherhood. Let me tell you something. Motherhood means you got to grow up. That was like, this is not a game. I think motherhood made me go from, I'm just having fun. I'm in Hollywood. But you have a human being that you are shaping for the next generation. Motherhood meant to me, women, we complain about the men that we date. But if you have a son, are you raising that son to be the man that you would want to date? So all these things, but motherhood changed me for the better. And I hope that I lead by example that it is not easy. It is not easy. The days are long, but the years are short. Yes, You look up and my son is, yeah, he's 15. I'm like, oh, my God, did I run out of time? Did I teach him everything he needs to do? Did I give him enough hugs? So if we just lead with every day, think about what you wanted as a child. I want more hugs. I want to be validated. Those are the things that make children thrive, the confidence we put in them.

They feel like they can do anything. So motherhood means like what my parents did to me. They were like, You be anything. You can do it no matter what, no matter what size I was, no matter what nationality. They were saying, You can do it. And I think that's what motherhood is, that even though it's hard, you got to love on these kids. Just love them, love them, and tell them they can do anything. Support them.

That's it. And so as busy as you are and as busy as you have been, not just today, but I'm talking the last several years of your career, how have you been able to balance motherhood with all the other commitments that you have, like with comedy shows and filming and everything? Because regular people like me, we feel like, Oh, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy. But Kim has got to go from this city to the next city and re-record this and do that, but you still have your child with you, too, right? How do you balance all of that?

It is a balance. And I'm not saying I'm great at it, but I think as parents, we have to stop. And What my people know is that my son comes first. Everything, a lot of mothers do this, but everything decision making, my son has to be a part of it. Does he have spring break? Well, then I can't do that. Is he doing this? Does he have a basketball game? Someone told me yesterday, which I was like, Is that true? Obama made it to dinner every night. Those are the things that I was like, What if the President of the United States can make it to dinner, then truly I can make some time for my son. And that they say that if you have a weekly dinner with your kids or you have dinner with them every night, these are the children that they were scoring high in the SAT scores. Something crazy. But once again, that's why I said I had to stop and was like, I have to, even though I'm like, I'm working, I'm working. I got to feed him. That's not what's important to a kid. So it's not easy.

I have a village. And that means not that, I can hire all these people. I go to my friends. Hey, I need you to be the Auntie. I need you to be the uncle. He's got godparents. I'm not going to make every game. But he's so happy to have the people that are surrounding him in his life. So I say, even if you're a busy parent, you not to put people in their lives that can support them and that are there for them. I fail sometimes, but I try to make him make sure if I'm on the phone, Oprah told me that, honey. She's like, If you're on the phone or whatever, she said, Your child comes in the room. She's like, Stop. I said, Okay, I'm listening. Yeah. Yeah.

I believe that. And I've heard you say that, not the Oprah part, but just how being present matters. And that was something for me that I had to realize as my children got older, being present matters. Because the worst thing you can do, especially now, you can't let social media or social media topics raise your children. It's going to try. But if you're not present, it's almost the worst in the neglect that you can give a child. So I applaud you for being present. I also heard you talked about Obama making sure he was there for dinner every night. I thought you were going to tell the world about your private jet and how you make it home to your son every night for dinner. I thought that's where you were going.

Baby, I wish I could, honey. I wish I said, I am on that private jet and I'm making it home. No. I make it home and I try to schedule things around it. But like I said, you're not perfect, but it will come back. One thing we have to remember It's time. You cannot get time back. You can't wait until they're 20 something years old and saying, I just wanted more time. You're like, Oh, well, let me turn the clock back and go back to when you were 15 and give you that time. So sometimes you just got to stop and say, Let me do this now.

They demand of that. They demand of that. You know what I'm saying? Kim, you've also been public. You've been a voice of positive for all of us, and I'm including myself in this, that that have struggled or gone through weight changes. I don't even want to say anything on the negative side because it's just weight changes that we go through. And you've been a voice. You've been a partner that we've all needed because you're talking about it where a lot of us aren't. Tell us a little bit about your partnership with Lily and Zetbound and all the things that you're doing to be this beautiful queen that you are over Thank you so much.

And you know what? I am absolutely excited about my paid partnership with Zetbound and Lily because it was the tool that I needed. And you're right, I am a person who's passionate about it. Do you know, Mick, I didn't realize that obesity is a disease. Did you know that? I did. I didn't realize it's a chronic disease, just like any other disease, until I went to my doctor. And for some reason, I know people will be like, No. Once I found out that obesity is a disease and that there was a medication, Zetbound, that was a tool that can help me with it, I really said, Okay, I am excited that they found me and I found them. My doctor directed me to this. When you become a partnership with people, you want to share it. I mean, any disease, but especially friends and people that I meet that struggling with obesity, and I've struggled with obesity my entire adult life. To find a tool to help me through this weight loss journey has definitely been incredible. I want to live out loud. Why would I sit back and hide that? I want to live out loud so people can go talk to their doctors and find out about it.

Could you imagine holding this? I got a tool that will help you with obesity, but I'm not going to share it with the world. Right.

And I love that you call it a tool because a lot of folks think that, whether it's Zetan or whatever, that they're like a magic bullet. There's still things you need to do. You've got to be active, and I don't mean physically active. Yes, you do. But you've got to be proactive with diet. You got to be proactive with exercise. You still have to make those mental changes because it's not easy and it's not, well, let me do this, and all of a sudden, I'm 30 pounds lighter or 50 pounds lighter. Life doesn't work that way. I'd love for you to educate us on some of the things that you're doing as it relates to diet and exercise as well.

Set Bound with a healthy diet and exercise is part of my weight loss journey. When you think about you've been going through this, I've used other products. I remember I had a group of friends. We got together. We do that, Hey, let It's all lose weight. We got to do this and that. But when I talk about the tool, the Zetbound, first of all, let me encourage everybody. I am not a medical professional, but I encourage everyone to talk to their doctor. Sometimes we're afraid to ask questions. When I say I have to educate people, I want people to go to zetboundlily. Com or go to your doctor. We know both. I think you got to go to both. But I would start at zetboundlily. Com just to read up on it and ask questions. We'll go into our doctor's office and we just might say, we won't even say. I don't think we say anything. We'll go on the scale or the doctor will say, You have obesity, and we feel some shame. There is no shame. That's what we got. We got to ruin. We got to take away this stigma that it is just like any other disease.

So the first thing is to ask questions and tell your doctor how you're feeling. That's why I want to be, like when you say a best friend to everyone, I want to really encourage people to sit down with their doctor and say, Look, this is how I'm This is how it's been going. And can you help me out? And you could even say, Hey, I heard about Zetba, point me in the right direction. So when we say a tool, you think about we use tools for all things. I've been stuck. If you felt stuck and you're like, I don't know what to do. And that has been for me and even my friends that you don't know what to do. And you've done this your whole adult life. I say, go over, talk to your doctor, and then, hey, here's this tool. For me, it got me unstuck, if that makes sense, nick. It is definitely- It totally makes sense.

And I think that's an encouraging word because there's somebody that's watching or listening to this right now that feels stuck, and they also feel some ashamed, right? It's like, I don't know. Should I try this? I hear what Kim's saying, but I could do it on my own, and they've been trying it on their own for 10, 15, 20 years, and they know on their own it's not there. I tell people this, this is the time that you should be selfish for yourself and not have shame and not care what anyone thinks or knows and be proud of it. I have this It's not a joke, but I tell this to my friends all the time. I'm so glad that ChatGPT and AI came out because I remember what their social media posts used to look like. They couldn't type two sentences together on their social posts. Now they're writing novels when they respond to people and they start educating. And to me, that's the same thing that like Zet Bound Lily is. It's like, let it help you. Let it put you in the right direction. Let it be a tool. And if you feel ashamed, then maybe you need to change the people that are around you then Because if they're not supporting you, then they were never on your side anyway.

But I love to hear your take on.

I love that you said that. And it's not about vanity or the number on the scale. You got to make a decision that I am going to, not about anybody Nobody else, I'm going to take on this journey. Think about any other disease. When it comes to obesity, why is it that, Oh, I'm ashamed or I can't say anything? Any other disease, you're telling everyone. You're like, Hey, Can you help me? Get me this. What about that? It's the same thing with obesity. It just is. And so that's why a Zetbound is such a great tool, because if people don't know about it, I know a lot of people don't know about it, and you feel like you're hiding a secret. And I really encourage other people because it's not about vanity. It's not about, oh, look how I look. So it's about going on that lifestyle that you're doing. Exercise, you have a healthy diet, and you got that tool, Zetbound, that you have talked to your doctor about, and they have guided you in the way. Or you go to zetboundlily. Com and find out the information. Read for yourself, because sometimes other friends, they'll lead you wrong.

That's why you're stuck because you keep listening to your friends.

Amen to that. Amen to that. So I'll make sure I have links to Zetbound Lily and everything in the show notes in the descriptions. Kim, I got to ask you this, because for the past six months, there's been this buzz, especially on Instagram, about Barnell Hills show, and it's going to make a debut. It's going to be a real thing. And I'm like, No, that's not real. That would be so amazing if it's real, but that can't be real. That would change the game in sitcoms and just things that are going on today. Kim, so I'm asking you, is it real?

Telling people on the Mick Hunt Show. Listen, I'm just going to say this. We filmed eight episodes, so it's pretty real. Martin Lawrence, Tommy Davidson, Wendy Raquel Robinson. There was a guy named Noah and my friend Christopher Williams, not the singer, but the actor, Vanessa Williams' brother, who's hysterical. They put this amazing... It's Barnail Hill, the spinoff from the Martin Lawrence show. And when I tell you, it is so funny. And we're supposed to have it come out maybe in June. I'm waiting for the word, so I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but I want people to keep listening for it and looking out for it.

Look, you don't know how excited you just got me because I miss just funny. I think you know what I mean. I just miss funny. There's things that's silly, but silly isn't funny to me. And I know the cast that you're talking about, and I know because you are a part of it, it's about funny, not silly. And I know that there's also going to be some good story lines in there. Talk to us about how you got the call or the audition, and you were just like, Yeah, I'm doing it.

You get calls a lot for different things. But when they said... First they said, Tommy Davidson. I love Tommy. I was like, Oh, that sounds great. But then they were like, Martin Lawrence. I was like, Martin's really going to be in it? Wendy Raquel Robinson is one of my dear friends. I was like, Wait a minute. Christopher Williams, The cast is fire. And think about old-school comedy, like you're saying, the sitcom. I read the script and I was like, This is laugh-out-loud funny. So I don't think I thought about it long. I said, Let's do it. And we're all very excited about it. So now you're making me. I feel like I got to have a moment of prayer. I feel like I need everybody to pray on this and make sure it comes out.

No, it's going to happen. I'm definitely going to do my part because all the things that I've heard, I was just like, There's no way. When I saw the cast list that you just mentioned, too, I was like, there's no way. This isn't real. Instagram will tell you lies. If you're listening or watching this, Instagram will lie to you every once in a while. I was like, there's no way that this is happening. And I was like, this is happening. I'm so excited. I'm so proud of you for being in that. And just I know it's going to be fire because you're a part of it. I I'm just excited. So we're going to make sure that everybody knows. I think every week, I'll just do a breakdown so people continue to watch it. We'll have a little episode party on Mickey Unplug.

And I will tell you, there are parts that I'm a little silly because sometimes, Bentley, he will just let us go. Can you imagine? Tommy Davidson? Oh, my God. He's so silly. So silly. So fun, fun, fun. And thank you, Mick. I want to thank you even for this interview because I said I like to live out loud, and I want to make sure that anybody who is struggling with weight loss, obesity, that they go to their doctor or go to zetbound. Lily. Com. It's so important because people say it, but they're afraid to make that first initial move. And that would be like, if you can't get your doctor's appointment immediately or you can't talk to your doctor immediately, I really encourage people to go to the website and read on it. It'll probably excite them and give them questions that they can ask their doctor. For me, yeah, and that's what people don't... I just want to make sure people know also that I use the self-pay option for my Zetval, and it ships directly to me because people always wonder how you can get it once you talk to your doctor. So there's all kinds of ways.

But it's the first step is to go check out the website and to call your doctor. Because I have friends, I'm still encouraging to do that. So I want to make sure I tell the people who are my new friends and new fans to go to the website.

I will have links there. I love the fact that you said that there are self-pay options as well, too. That's really important. We'll have links to that. We'll have a little spot on our website as well that I'll have this link because I believe it's extremely important. In any way that I can support Ms. Kim Whitley, you can promise, you can believe I'm going to do that. I'll have links to your website, too, because I know you are still touring and tearing up the stage. So we'll make sure that everybody can see where you are at.

I appreciate that. I got a show coming up. Arlington, Texas at the Arlington Improv in March, March fifth, sixth, seventh. And then I know I go to Cleveland and I go, and Louisville, Kentucky. I forgot about that one. That's close. I was thinking, I was like- Maybe I'll see you in Louisville. You can come on Louisville. That'd be great.

All right. Just act like you remember me. Act like you remember me. You ain't got to really remember me. Just like, Oh, yeah, I know, Mick. Yeah.

I'm not going to forget you. I actually wrote your name down as a person to come back and visit your podcast.

I love it. Well, Kim, I know how busy you are. I'm just grateful that you could take a moment out of your busy schedule to spend with us. Thank you for the education. Zetbound Lily, appreciate what you're doing there. We will, again, have links to everything. Barnell Hill, when it's ready, we'll have links to that, too. Just excited about all the positive things that you're doing, and thank you for being an inspiration. Mission to millions.

And thank you, Mick. Thank you so much.

You got it. To all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplug. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen. Share it with someone who needs that spark, and leave a review so more people can find there because. I'm Rudy Rush, and until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay Unplug. Ged.