Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque
Appearances
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Cause the mirror won't lie to me no more. And I can't hide from me no more.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think that's where we ended it. And it was just – I just felt so uncomfortable with myself that I would do whatever I needed to do to feel good, whether it's drink to excess or flirt with somebody else when I'm in a relationship or cheat or make somebody feel fucked up about themselves. I would just – And then I would find a way to make it OK. Justify it. Justify it.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And as of like seven years ago, I was like.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I would say having a great therapist.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I was going to die. I was drinking and driving. And my mom's family was in a car crash when my mom was three years old. They were delivering Christmas presents to family friends in Massachusetts. And half my mom's family died by a drunk driver. So my mom was in the car. She survived. My granddad survived. And my uncle Brian survived. But her mom, her baby sister, and her other brother died.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Half the car died. Half the car lived. And it was all because of a drunk driver. And I think that when I realized that I was going down that path and going down the path of my parents too, of, um, I was like, I, I'm not bad enough to go to rehab.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Um, even though I'm engaging in this reckless behavior, but like I asked my manager at the time, I'm like, should I go to, you know, and they were like, no, I don't think it's that bad. I'm like,
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. I was hoping somebody would see how sad I was or see how bad I was and tell me what to do. Right. But thankfully I did find an amazing therapist who I also talk about in the book, Janice. And she's like a grandmother to me now. And she was the maternal figure that I needed to actually really guide me and to –
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Help me see things in a way and to pick me up where I needed it and to hold me to account where I needed it. I've always been almost so harsh on myself and so I'll take responsibility even when it's not mine.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I'll take – and I'm big on accountability. But – I think I was just in such a place of hurt, particularly because I was in a record deal with a label that was no longer functioning, so I couldn't put out music for a very long time. I felt like my career was dead on the vine, and I was angry, and people were telling me,
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Well, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of when I put out my first single, my first album, in the time that changed my life forever. I was 13. And I was putting out that song, Leave Get Out, and it went number one. I was the youngest artist to have that song. chart positioning. And so I wanted to do something to make sense of and commemorate my 20 years as Jojo.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
You should be the biggest star in the world and, you know, how did this happen and blah, blah, blah. So I'm feeling embarrassed and I'm feeling ashamed and I'm feeling like I don't want my family back in Boston to worry about me. And they're like, Joanna, you're smart. You should just go to school. And I'm like, I don't want to go to school.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Like, you know, I should go to college and study sociology like I was going to. I'm like, no, I already deferred. I just had a lot on my mind and I think I acted out in my relationships as a consequence of how afraid I was.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think that – I mean there's a lot of talk about addiction might be in our cells. It might be something that we inherit. I don't know how you feel about that or –
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. I'm just really sensitive to, to that. I think that When you grow up feeling that type of instability, it makes you a certain type of person.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. Flight, to a certain extent. I think I freeze up more than fight or flee at this point. I'll kind of freeze and then I'll need to like. sit with myself and, but my, my defenses definitely still come online.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
When I get overwhelmed, um, or scared and, but I have more tools in my belt than I ever have to, to deal with those things. Sure. Like I need my physical practices. I need intense workouts. I need chill yoga. I need meditation. I need nutrition. Um, I need journaling. I need all the things. And if I don't do those things, then it's I can't be surprised why I'm not OK.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But I realize that that's what I need at this point in my life.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Depends because if I'm. in a musical for example if I'm in a show on Broadway or if I'm on tour or if I'm
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
chilling like it's different but typically there's some type of movement i do like to work up a sweat so i like to really get my heart rate up and that could be with like interval training or strength training and uh or it could be a hot yoga class or it could be i really don't discriminate i just like to take it to the push to the limit have you ever done crossfit no have you yeah
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Like I like animal stuff like where like bear crawls.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I need to like light candles and journal and listen to instrumental music. And that's what I need right now. And I need to take a bath and I need to wash my dog. And I like, I just kind of listen. And I think I spent a lot of time, particularly in my twenties, which is why I think a thirties are a gift. That's how I feel for making it through our twenties. Now I can finally be like, Joanna,
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Where are you at? What do you need? What would be supportive? It's a reparenting vibe. And really feeling into what would be nourishing and nurturing. And the older I get, I mean, I'm not a mother, but I'm figuring out how to mother myself.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And while also kind of separating myself from Jojo and kind of when I started doing movies, I went by Joanna Jojo Levesque because I'm an only child and I'm my father's Only child. I'm a daughter. So if – the Levesque name isn't going to keep going in my family if it's not for me. So I wanted to do something to honor my dad too. He passed nine years ago and –
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah, I've definitely talked with people who started as young or younger than me. I started working professionally when I was six years old. I think that was my first time getting a paycheck. And I was like doing commercials and doing musical theater. And I did like an independent movie and TV shows. So to talk with other people... Their experiences run across the spectrum. Some people face, like,
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I have no idea what it would be like to have a child, period, and then to have them be like, I'm so clear on what I want and this is who I am. And it's like, baby, you know, we change. We evolve. And you're going to discover new things. But that might be true. Like, that's so hard. Yeah. I don't know, you know, if I would.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Well, what I know right now is 33 year old me is that I would not it would not be my desire for my children to get involved in the music industry or in entertainment. I don't think it's the best foundation for, I don't think it's the best place for a developing mind, a nervous system.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think maybe it's better now, but I think that especially if fame is introduced, then they're getting their validation from outside sources. And they're learning how to be good workers and how to be good, maybe not to think, for themselves. They're just learning how to make people happy. But what about what's true for them? I just think it's really, really young.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And my mom started to see that when we were already in the industry and when she felt like it was too late. And she was always threatening to pull me out. And she'd be like, you have to wait until you're 18 now. And I'm like, you're not going to do it. And she didn't. And I feel bad. She had no support. She was a single mom. And she had no experience. And everybody was just in her ear.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And people were trying to take me away from her. And she was so scared. And she had her own struggles. And I think she deserves a gold star for what a great job she did and for keeping us both alive and OK. But I just don't think that.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
It is so influential. It's going to shape a child's sense of self in their nervous system and what they think is important and to be exposed and to be working that young. I know every child is different, but... But every child is the same in the sense that their brain is mushy.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And so that would just be my concern.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think it can kind of lead to like it's the dopamine and the cortisol and the I'm like, what are the other natural drugs? All those things. And I think that that can lead to an addictive personality.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think so too. And I think that I got a perfect storm of those things. And then it created a bit of somebody who I looked in the mirror and I was like, you need to change your ways, bitch. This is not cool. Yeah. Yeah.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So it just felt like with the culmination of 20 years and also with Jeanette McCurdy being around our age and writing a book, it gave me the audacity to be like, oh, I'm not too young to write about my story. And actually, I have a lot of things to share. I think I counted myself out for a long time. I'm like, oh, I need to be at this place or I need to be at this age to share my stories.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Well, I'd been acting and singing from a really young age. Like I started out doing theater and it was always something that just made me feel so alive. And I loved being around other theater kids and Being in that environment, it felt so nice to me. And then I did a few movies when I was a teenager. And throughout my career, I've done some guest spots and stuff.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I think that when I parted ways with my most recent label and went independent, I was just like, I'm not ready. I don't even know what I want to write about. I'm feeling really disillusioned and discouraged and confused. I'm going to go through periods of that, I think, throughout my life. And I was like, I would just be going into the studio and for what? So I wasn't ready. I wasn't sure.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I wanted to get back to my roots, I guess, and just have a different experience. I wanted to get out of L.A. I'd been there for almost 14 years. And I was like, I think L.A. has made me weird. I think it's made me a weird person.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
No, I mean, I had that experience, but I don't want to shit on L.A. because sometimes I feel like I shit on it. And I'm like, L.A. was my home, and it's the place where I know the streets the best. I could pick you up from the airport, and I wouldn't need to use the navigation. I could be like, this is my city for a long time.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But I just think that I had been so far away from my family on the East Coast. I had all these emotional landmines scattered throughout Los Angeles County of different relationships that I had been in, different – labels and different musical moments that hurt me or that, um, just had some type of effect on me of like disappointment or confusion or whatever.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I just wanted to, if I could, I wanted to step away from it. Yeah. So I had an opportunity to, um, to be in Moulin Rouge on Broadway. And when I auditioned for it, I prepared for the audition for a really long time because I wanted to feel good about myself whether I got it or not. I wanted to feel like it was so fun to just go in there. I wanted to go in and be like,
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Just like I just had a good time. Yeah. And I knew I listened to the soundtrack. I learned every single song off of it. I hired my choreographer to just teach me different styles of dance. We did like dances from the musical Chicago. And we did like I was like, can I learn some Fosse stuff? And that was cool. I just wanted to. And then we did some burlesque stuff.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I just went in there and I was like, whether they think I'm right for it or not, I feel good about the preparation. And I enjoyed the process. So then the fact that I got to do it was just, again, icing on the cake because the process was something that I fell in love with. And I knew that it was going to be – for some reason I innately knew, to use your word. I love that word, innate.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I innately knew that that experience was going to be connected to something in my next chapter. And so, yeah, I – now the bug has bit me. I love being a part of this community and I love living in New York. I'm a new person. To call myself a New Yorker is way too soon. But I live here. I'm based here now. I'm a Boston girly. And it's just really, it feels very comforting to be closer to my family.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I get to see them more than I ever have. They're like, are you coming home for the holidays? You know, I normally come home for the holidays. But now it's like. It's different. It's different. Yeah. It's different. It feels good to be around the seasons. And L.A., I do think that there's an air of people will do anything. And they'll lie, backstab, cheat, steal, blah, blah, blah.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But people like you and Jeanette and... And tons of other examples kind of gave me the balls to be like, why not me? I have a lot to share. I have a unique perspective. And I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I've never written a book before. But damn it, I'm going to give it a shot. It was cathartic, I'm sure. Very cathartic. And I have my uncle Scott Blagdon who is a published author.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I think that it rubbed off on me in a sense where I felt like a little bit of that desperation. And I'm not a desperate person. Guilty by association? I think it was just proximity to it. Yeah. So it's not L.A. I think it's an industry where it's like there's a new crop of talented people who –
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
will come in at any time and yeah it's um nobody's fault la is its own beast i think and it you know it serves i think its purpose for the people who need it in for that time but and i might live there again maybe yeah words i i there's a lot of great neighborhoods there and places that are far enough outside of hollywood yeah yeah
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
How did they go? So great. It was great. I always feel a sense of home when I touch down in L.A. because it's my city for such a long time. So I did it at the Grove, at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yep. I know exactly. Do you know the one? Yep.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
That was awesome. And my friend Allison Stoner moderated that, and they have a book coming out too, which I'm so excited. I believe it's called My Semi-Well-Adjusted Life Despite – Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Absolutely Everything. Something like that is the title. So it was really cool because we were supporting each other through the writing of our book.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
We were both writing at the same time, and we'd be like – I was a little bit farther than they were in the process. And it was just really unique to have that experience of we both started on the industry so young. And we were both this age writing our memoirs. Really weird.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Or is your experience still?
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
It sucks. Sometimes you got to get off of Instagram.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Got to mute people. You have to. It's like you're thriving and I'm so happy for you. And it hurts a little bit. And I shouldn't know all of these things. Like, I'm so happy for you. But it's kind of getting in the way of me.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
honing in for sure because it exists here and it's like sometimes you really need to quiet the noise even if it's wonderful noise yeah and you and i'm genuinely excited for people absolutely i'm actually celebrating others is something that brings me it it fills me up it fills my cup immensely yeah but it can be a bit much instagram is weird
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So I was like, hold on. Yeah, no, that totally makes sense. And I mean, I definitely take periods of like, just needing to throw my phone in the next room. But yeah, over the influence is more like I was under the influence of everybody else's opinion, but my own.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
It's not about fame. Fame is fleeting. Fame is what You cannot base your self-worth on fame because you will be on a never-ending roller coaster of trying to maintain. And then what will you do for it? And then are you going to start doing these things? And then what does it really mean? I would say if you want to live – this would be my – who the fuck am I to give advice?
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Like everybody's path is so unique and I really, really believe that.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Like if it were someone who felt like me and who's sensitive like me, then I would be like, if you want to live a life of being an entertainer or an artist, do it because that's your worldview and you need to express and you need to connect and that's how you feel alive. But don't do it for fame or validation in that regard.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
He wrote a book called Dear Life You Suck and many other books too. But he's such a good fiction writer. And when I was shopping my concept around to different publishers, he kind of gave me a crash course in – how to structure a book, about the hero's journey, about everything that he's learned as a professional writer over the years.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And my advice would be to make sure that you have other things in your life that make you feel good and connected and don't make everything about what you do. Make things about who you are too because we are more than what we produce and we're more than what people see on the highlight reels on Instagram and TikTok and whatever other social media platforms matter. So that's what I would say.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I don't know if that's what you were looking for.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yes. Actually, you just crystallized it for me, and maybe it's going to change how I answer that in the future. So thank you for that. You're welcome. Because fall in love with the process. I mean, sports – People talk about this, sports people, I know nothing about sports, but I'm into sports psychology because it's related to the performer.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I mean, if you're in a performance industry, the psychology is similar. So athletes talk about falling in love with the process. You can't get attached to the result. So you really need to be like, I'm proud of myself. I did these things and I'm like, and that's, that needs to be enough because whether you're number one or you're not on the chart at all, That's been my experience.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I've had the highest of highs before I had my period. And then I spent a lot of my life chasing that, like an addict, basically, and being like, this is how I need to derive my sense of self-worth. And then being like, so what if I never reach that? Am I just going to be unhappy for the rest of my life? That's no way to live. So I do think that
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
learning how to step back, get back to basics and fall in love with the process also develops a muscle of like work ethic and self-trust and being proud of yourself and And having something to do and being actively a part of the process as opposed to just being like, I'm not really in control, blah, blah, blah. Control the things you can. It's hard. It's so hard.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I hope I'm not making it sound like it's hard.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So between him and then the publishing house and the editor that I ended up going with, I had some hand-holding and some good teachers along the way.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And other successful songs throughout my career. But with those ones, I think people were telling me like, you should be the biggest pop star. And then there were things that were outside of my control. And I started to feel bad for myself. And then I started to feel like a victim. And people were like, you are a victim. And then I was like, maybe I am and blah, blah, blah.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So I think it was like a lot of that. But then me being like, then me finding my personal relationship with God and feeling more spiritual and then being like, what is life really about? And like, is it about chasing these things and blah, blah, blah. And then a lot of fear and then questioning and dark nights of the soul and all of that.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But yeah, to answer your question, I think it's, I'm sure it's similar to that, but I just want to celebrate you for the things that you've built and the way they pivoted you.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
No, I get it. Both of us in our own regards have really defied the odds. You know, like the fact that we're sitting here and are at this point in our lives and careers and continuing to build and grow. And I just think that's really amazing. A lot of people would have buried their head in the sand.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yes, some of the things, but most of the things are really being Unveiled for the first time in this book. And it's not like I was like, ta-da, I've been waiting all this time. It just felt like it was going to be liberating for me to hopefully connect with people who felt similar to me, which is I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment and guilt for different things in my life.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I wanted to find a way to look at my life in a way where it was a celebration of overcoming and of doing the best with the cards you're dealt.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Well, I don't know. You know, people tell me that all the time. People tell me they're like, wow, you're so resilient. And so I think I just like, I'm like, oh, maybe I am. So I think that because that's been a part of the narrative that was put on me. I'm like, oh, maybe I should start thinking about myself like that.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah, it was cool. I think that regardless of whether it did well or didn't, the fact that it became a New York Times bestseller is icing on the cake. I wasn't expecting it. You know what I mean? I know you know what I mean. Because like I was just proud of myself for – doing it. That was going to be accomplishment enough. For sure. And then anything else was icing on the cake.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Because I feel like, you know, I've had periods where I feel like shit and I feel like nothing. And I feel like, what's the point? But it's my fans and it's people who say the nicest things to me on the street or who will write me letters or who will come – you know, to the stage door after a performance and tell me about how my music has affected them or how my journey has affected them.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So it's not that I'm just necessarily here like giving myself props all the time. Well, you should. Well, I don't know. I'm inspired by the stories of other people. Like, again, I don't have any kids. I think you're a triumph for being a mother of seven. I think that is the hardest job in the world for one. For one kid, let alone seven.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So I'm really like turnt up by thinking about how human beings are just like, they blow my mind all the time. All the time.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
How do you feel? I feel great. You should. You absolutely should. I feel relieved. I mean, you know how it is to write something and put it out. It's one thing to go through the process of writing it, which is like weird and exciting and terrifying and all this stuff. And then it unlocks another...
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
The craziest thing is my friend was at a cafe yesterday and he sent me a picture and he's like, look who's here. And it was my book. Someone was reading my book at the cafe he was at. And he's like, I know this is really weird, but I just came into town to work with JoJo, actually. And she's one of my good friends. And she would she'd be so excited. Like, can I tell?
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
She's like, oh, my God, I'm on page 85. And this was the book that I didn't even know I needed. And please tell her like, you know, this, that and the other. And I was like, that is the coolest thing. I cannot believe that I'm in someone's backpack and that they took out my book and are reading it while they're having their matcha latte. I'm like, this is so crazy.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
My biggest dream. I've got to live out my biggest dreams. You have? I just wanted to see the world. Where's your favorite place? This is going to be such a corny answer, but I can find something I like about almost anywhere I am. Okay. And that's one of my – I appreciate that about myself. Absolutely. That I can be in Louisville, Kentucky and be like, isn't this quaint? Isn't this precious?
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Let's go to the whiskey distillery. And I can be – I want to find something charming about each place that I'm in. I could be in –
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Jakarta Indonesia and be like oh my god the food here is so amazing and look at how everybody's covered and that's fascinating and it's different yeah you know oh and the the call to prayer like wow what a cool sound that is and how amazing how reverent people are for and I can be in Tokyo and I can be like oh my god the public transportation here like we're all packed in so crazy and I'm bumping elbows with strangers and I really love the the differences and similarities in when you get to travel and
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
The fact that my mom was okay with me sharing some of our story and all that stuff, all of that was everything I needed. And then anything else was just an added blessing.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So that was a big dream of mine, and it still is. I'm still going to get to go to places I haven't – there's so many places I haven't been to. I haven't been to Africa at all. That's a whole continent for me to explore. I'm really looking forward to that. There's so much of the world. At the end of last year, I did a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and that was wonderful.
Barely Famous
Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
It was my first time in New Zealand, which the Maori name for that is Awatearoa. And that was just such an amazing, amazing – Blessing to be there. And we were met at the airport by Maori people. And they gave us a traditional dance and a welcome. And I was in shambles. It's on my TikTok if you want to see.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Weeping. I've always been so moved by the haka, which they perform like before sporting events or sometimes at weddings. I'm so moved by... Oh, so, so beautiful. And then we, they taught us about touching noses. It's such an intimate thing. It's completely, you know, people of all ages will just come together and touch noses and breathe in together. Like, I was like, so intimate and human. Yeah.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So I just love that. I mean, I'm such a nerd for that stuff. I'm such a...
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Slut for humanity. I just think it's so beautiful, all the different expressions of it.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And what's also cool is that I don't know if you knew, but they also teach Maori language in the schools there.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So whether you're of Maori descent or not. they really seem to make sure that that's at the forefront. And I just think that's so fire, and I wish we took a page out of that book in our country.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I'm a faithful woman at this point in my life. I'm a woman of faith. Have you always been? No. I've been through – that's something I talk about here too is like I grew up Catholic, grew up in the choir loft watching my mom be a soloist, a soprano at our church in St. Mary's in Foxborough. And I love the – I don't know if it's quite ancient, but like how old Catholicism is.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Okay. Yeah. I mean, I asked her. I was like, there are some I asked if she wanted to see the first draft, the second draft, the third draft, fourth draft, fifth draft. She didn't want to see it. And I'm like, Ma, like, don't you want to? I interviewed her. I asked her for her memory of some things that went down because my mom was deeply depressed during like the heyday of my career.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think about, I can hear like my childhood priest being like, with him and him and him in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty father, forever and ever.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I can hear – I can smell the incense and I can hear the bagpipes at the – for a funeral procession and all that is meaningful to me. Yeah. And then I kind of fell out of Catholicism for a while and then I found non-denominational Christianity. First it was Pentecostal evangelism. Okay. I was dating someone in my band who was – playing in a Pentecostal church. Then I found that.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
It was a completely different style of music, more gospel, more Christian contemporary. And then I was saved in that church. Then I And that pastor was disappointing and then I had church hurt from that. And I saw – he was like – there was a scandal where he cheated on his wife and then he's like stealing money from church. And I'm like, no. And then I'm like, I don't know about this stuff.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So then I stepped away and then I found non-denominational Christianity in another relationship that I was in. Then when that relationship – He cheated on me with a girl from the church. Then I was like, oh, hell no. All you Christians are full of shit. You know, and then I needed to. And then I was like, oh, it's but it's not about the people. And we should be mad at the sin, not the sinner.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Or what is what is the thing? Eat the sin, not the sinner or something like that. Because we're all going to sin. I have found more of a spiritual... I love the framework of Christianity. I've explored other frameworks as well. Yoga has been a part of my life for a long time. And people think that that might be a religion in itself. But I just think of it as a practice and a devotion. And...
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
In L.A., I started going to this place called the Center for Self-Realization, which sounds like a cult. I don't think it is. But founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote Autobiography of a Yogi. And he brought yoga to the West in, like, the 1920s. And so I was really interested in, like, what he espoused was there's all these connections between the major world religions.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And he was interested in talking about the things that unite as opposed to the things that separate us. So particularly, like, is it monotheistic? the religions that have one God. But even Hinduism, you know, where there's multiple gods, it's still there. There's a lot of like similarities somewhat. So that's the thing that I was probably I'm a curious person. Sure.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I think that what I know for sure is that God is real in my life and that God has saved me many times. And I enjoy being someone that thinks that there's some divine presence in my life that's orchestrating my steps and that I need to work in conjunction with. I can't just be like, oh, well, I don't need to do anything because God's going to. God's got me. And God does got me. Yeah, of course.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But I'm here, too. Right. So I don't know. That's a long winded way of kind of talking about my. And then there's been my experiences with meditation and psychedelics and that will break you open too. And that will make you question things. And I realized through dabbling in that a little bit that there's no end to that. So sometimes you got to just choose.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And that was really hard for me as a only child and somebody who felt the weight of her. sadness and her struggles. And I felt really alone in that. But I wanted to find a respectful way to talk about how it affected me while also understanding that it was just as much her story as mine. So trying to find that way to do it.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
What framework do you want to believe in? Because if you get going on this journey – The questions never stop. Then you start – then you're like blasted off to the universe and then you're like, well, what's – it's just too much.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I know people party on it, which that bums me out.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I don't think people should do shrooms as a party thing. I don't think people should mix alcohol and – you know, any of these substances. I would agree. I think they're meant to be respected and revered. I think mushrooms have a lot to teach us. And I think microdosing can be really life-saving for people.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And, you know, especially if you do it in a guided way, be responsible with it, have somebody who really knows what they're doing and talking about, and probably not just a homie, but like, you know, if you could have somebody put you on a protocol, it can be really affirming and help to So the concept of neuroplasticity is I think the ability for our brains to form new pathways.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And like if you're in a depressive path. Right. That something like psilocybin, for example, mushrooms. can act as like fresh snow on the ski slopes of your brain and allow you to go down a different path to see things from a different angle. Um, and it's not for everybody. It would, you know, it's not a one size fits all approach, but it has, I think helped me in seeing things as half full.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And it's, it's, it's not something that you need to do all the time. And Yeah, I sound like a massive mushroom head.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. Like marijuana doesn't agree with me. Right. So I'm not somebody that can like do that. For some people, it really relaxes them and that's great. To each their own. Yeah. But I think microdosing can be positive for some people for sure. How did we get on that topic?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I was like spirituality, religion, psychedelics.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
The first woman that comes to mind is my Aunt Connie. She is like, I'm so fortunate to have a tribe of people that have raised me. My mom is an amazing woman and she makes me so proud with. teaching me, showing me through her actions that people can change and you can pivot and you can be your best self at any age. And it's so inspiring.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And my Aunt Connie is definitely like another mother figure in my life. And I would say her and my Uncle Dale were parental figures to me and the most stable foundation that I had throughout my life. I would run to them, literally run to them from, you know, where I was living in Foxborough down to their house where I'd ride my bike and I'd be like, you know, can I just be here?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And, you know, can you adopt me? And she has just, I don't know how she does everything that she does from raising two boys and being an amazing real estate agent and cooking like Martha Stewart and, you know, putting up all the decorations and always just making me feel the most at home. So just being so kind to everybody and, So I think that she's definitely an inspiration to me.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And once she finally did read it, once I sent her like a more final draft of she was proud of me for finding a way to talk about it and be honest. And I think she felt that I painted her as a whole human being and not just somebody who made mistakes because I'm certainly painting myself as somebody who made mistakes in this book because I am.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I think of different female executives that I've encountered in my life and how they do things. They're probably more effective sometimes than not. Some of the male executives that I would agree. And they also do it in their own unique way. The way they wield their femininity and use that in such a dope way. And then also, I mean, we all possess the masculine and feminine.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I'm just it's been so cool to see that dance.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. We're really close. And she came to see Moulin Rouge 11 times over the... She's your number one fan.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
They are my number one fans. Yeah. Between last year and this year, when I did my limited engagements at Moulin Rouge, I was like, you're coming again?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
You sure you want to see this? It's the same show. She's like, it's different. I notice something different every time. I'm like, oh my God.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I would love to originate a role and to also – more than anything, more than just like being the star because I actually – sometimes it feels really nice to be behind the scenes. And I think the older I get, the more I would really like to actually just help support people to use my resources and my experience to see something come to fruition where I don't need to be the face of it.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I don't need to be the one who's slanging myself around every night. But – But, yeah, so that's what I'm interested in as far as theater. The community is the thing that is so exciting to me, bringing people together and being around and supporting and being inspired and sharing resources and all that stuff. And I have my own label, Clover Records, as well.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And I want to eventually, I think, because I care so much and because I've had such a multifaceted experience as an artist. I've been so... That's why I haven't signed anyone because I'm like, I want to make sure that I have the time and the energy and that I could really support an artist. But I think by the time I'm 40, I'll sign an artist. So I got like a good chunk of time.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
But I really want to... Yeah, use my experiences for good and to help someone else.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
My preference would be like the caramel and the cheddar together. You know, like at the Chicago airport, Garrett's. Y'all know what I'm saying?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
What's my favorite book of all time? The book that I return to the most is a spiritual book. It's called The Untethered Soul. Okay. And I've listened to it and read it at different points in my life. And it's just something that I always return to. Another book that I really loved. Rick James wrote it in conjunction with Dave Riggs. Is that his last name? Who is a...
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
autobiographer and it's called glow and it's just, it's a really, really good book.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
How do you have time? You have seven kids. Do we have the same 24 hours?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I mean not really. To like a really tiny degree but I think about – There are people who look up to me, but I think about like the way that women in the particularly the early 2000s were scrutinized. I think of Britney. I think of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton and how they were just dragged. And how how could you not? And like the media pushed – they wanted to see that.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
No, I don't know. What is my guilty pleasure? I would say like, oh, what's that called? Love Island. Is that a show? Yeah. You watch it? Yeah. I watched – there's like 40 episodes per season. It's like there's so many. But I watched – I tapped into this season and I was like why do I care so much about these kids? But I'm like it's cute.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I will go back. And now I'm like, you know, in my 30s living in New York. And I'm like wearing high heels strutting down the street. You're like, I am Sex and the City. I'm like, I am Sex and the City.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Okay. Anywhere you find books. You can, you know, listen to the audio book on Spotify, on Apple, on Audible. Yeah. And it is, uh, yeah, check it out. I, I think the audio book is, uh, if you're on the subway or you're driving or whatever, it's, it's a good option, but it's also really nice. Um,
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
They wanted to see how far they could push a human being. And like I'm so grateful that I didn't have that experience. Like I've got to really – my level of fame is so delicious to me because I get to just walk around with relative anonymity. But then – You know, have really a few beautiful interactions with people throughout the day. Well, they'll say really nice things to me.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And then we'll have a moment about music or impact or connection. And then I just get to like vibe and just like, and it's really, it really works for me.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
terrifying thing about sharing it so but it's been great the feedback from my fans and even from people that maybe didn't know who I was or didn't you know have any investment in my story it's been really nice to hear the things that stuck out to people and maybe I think the thing that excites me most is how it makes people think about their own life and maybe think about the way that they view things in the frame that they put on their experience and
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Well, they're older than us though.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. I thought about age so much. And I talk about that in the book because I was so much younger than everybody else when I came out. And that made me feel really isolated too. It made me feel so stupid and embarrassed. And I wanted everybody to think I was older than I was because it wasn't cool. Like the people that were –
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
The next range were like Lindsay Lohan and she was maybe 18 or 20 when I was 13 and Sierra, who was just coming out at the same time, she was like 18 or 19. And I was just like, you know, a middle schooler. So I thought about age a lot because people were always like, oh, my God, how amazing is it how young you are? And I'm like, stop talking about how young I am.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And now it's so interesting to not – to by far not be the youngest person in the room. And all I want is for young people to just not rush growing up and to enjoy the lack of responsibilities and the lack of pressure, like to just have more fun because I never wanted to be a kid.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I mean, the dynamic of my family was, you know, my mom and dad weren't together, and they both had their separate challenges, as everyone does. And how did that change? I mean, I became... the financial provider for my mom and I. She was managing me. She had been cleaning houses for a living before that. We come from a working class background. And, you know, my uncle was a painter.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And then we do have some family in real estate and stuff like that. My dad was fully disabled at a certain point. He was like a headhunter. And then he His boss asked him to like jump in a trash can to like get the trash down like a big size. And then he like injured himself. And so neither – I mean my mom worked her butt off to make sure that we never wanted for anything.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And the way it changed the dynamic was that we were making money.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think I was used to being in high –
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
cortisol environments where like my nervous system was conditioned to do well under pressure to assume responsibility to I think I felt innately that my mom I knew my mom was stressed about money all the time I knew that people were telling me that I had this gift from a very young age and people were like you're gonna be rich and famous one day and I think I was like maybe I will um
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And then I was like, maybe I can get us out of this, of sharing a bed, you know, and of us being poor and of the paint chips falling into my cereal. Like, maybe this is the ticket. I think there was something that was like, you know, and I didn't have stage parents, but my mom was very supportive. Both my parents were very supportive of me being the eccentric little individual that I was.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. So firstly, it is a nod to... the foundation of addiction that I come from. So my parents met in AA and they were both seeking sobriety and maintain sobriety for various periods of time in their life. And I did get my mom's blessing to talk about this, obviously, because one of the main things about Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous is the anonymity.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So I was like, is this okay to talk about? But It's a part of my journey, too. I have the serenity prayer tattooed around my wrist, and it's the most meaningful prayer to me. It's God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And that's really how I have tried to live my life. I always go back to that.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Resilience and redemption and all that.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So it's about how I felt self-righteously like I would never be like my parents when they fell off the wagon and disappointed me and were human and all these things. And I was like, I'll never be like that. And then I had my own experiences with addiction in various ways, whether it was substances or relationships, love, sex.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
validation and I found myself under the influence for most of my 20s and just being so confused and lost and really held by this feeling of being out of control and also what it means is just unsubscribing from old ways of what I thought I needed to be of society or
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
executives or managers or handlers or an industry influencing the way that I live my life, influencing who I date, where I live, what I eat, anything. I was so... I was so confused about what my values were because so many people had told me what I should – what should be important to me from a young age. And I think that this book is kind of a statement of that's in the past.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Anything from this point forward, can't blame anybody else for. At a certain point, we're the grownups.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I was definitely stunted, particularly in relationships. And that's a big theme of this book is relationships. There's a lot of talk about romantic relationships in this book. It's one of my favorite things to talk about. If we were... girlfriends and we were at lunch, I would just be like, tell me everything about your relationship life. I want to know. I just am so into all of it.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
I think it's so fascinating. It's so revealing. And I realized in writing the book that I had patterns that kept showing up and that I didn't, couldn't see as clearly until I had some, until I had a bird's eye view of it and I had it in black and white. And I'm like, whoa, my bad behavior in relationships was allowed for a long time. By who?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
By different people that I chose to be with, I think that they enabled my bad behavior because I was either financially providing or it made them look good to be with me so they just wanted to keep me around or something like that. And I think that when you become famous from a young age, you're coddled and people don't really tell you the truth.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
My fans are amazing. Yeah. They are amazing. They've kept me alive. They've kept me going there. I mean, Team Jojo to the end. Absolutely. Yeah. So in different seasons, they've really been like the thing that has propelled me forward and given me the courage and the confidence to even just try to keep trying, you know. So, yeah, they're everything to me.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
And then I think I chose – I was attracted to partners that would continue to coddle me and not challenge me. And so I'm also over that shit, too. Yeah. Yeah. It's just not it doesn't feel good to not know what people really think or feel or and to not be a safe place for yourself or for someone else.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
So that's a part of it, too.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Oh, well, I talk about it a lot in more recent albums. Oh, OK. Yeah. Not just the book.
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Yeah. For example, in like my Good to Know album or my Try Not to Think About It EP, there's a lot of talk of toxicity and about on again, off again relationships, about sex as a drug. I think about like an intro to my an intro on one of my projects. It's like, feed me love, sex, and drugs. Bring me more. It ain't enough. Tell me I'm pretty. I need that. I think I'm too sober. Where the weed at?
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Falling in Love with the Process with Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
Pay me attention. Give me any and everything to forget all that I'm missing. And I'd rather be anywhere than here with me. But here I am stuck in reality, praying for, praying for, sanity.