S1 E47 Shit2TalkAbout We Are All Human with JP Robberts
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Jenn Junod
Hello JP, babes. Thank you for joining shit. You don't want to talk about. Please introduce yourself in the shit you want to talk about today.
JP Robberts
How's it my babes. You. Well, it's a fresh queen on your screen, Jane, my babes. Thank you so much for having me. This is like my first ever podcast and I'm like proper fan garlic.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
Yeah, like fresh air and all everything, everything and I love your fresh air.
JP Robberts
Ah Thank you. I did it just for you. My scalp is still burning but it's, it's here.
Jenn Junod
Well, thank you. Thank you. And we are like you're saying you're fan, I'm firing because I'm like you replied. And so for those
JP Robberts
guys always, why do people say that? Like, oh my God, you replied like, am I not supposed to?
Jenn Junod
Well, I is it, I wonder if it's the fact that when people have so many followers that they're like, oh they're so busy, they can't reply.
JP Robberts
So I guess I sometimes actually like get into it and I've had this situation before where somebody who follows me on tiktok follows me on Instagram as well. And she actually sent me a message and she's like listen, I just wanna say I'm so sorry if I offended you or said something that I shouldn't have on tiktok. And I'm like, huh? And she's and she just continued and said, no, you're not responding to my comments. And I'm like, girl, my babes, I'm so sorry, but I respond to like 1000
comments a day. So if I don't get you, it's not because I don't want to or because you said anything wrong, chances are if you know my tiktok and you said something wrong, you would know about it because I would have called you out. So, no, it's very cute for me to see when people go. Oh my God, you responded and I'm like, ok, I have to remember like to us average humans out there, it's like I'm not Katy Perry, so I try to respond to everybody and that is a great call out.
Jenn Junod
And so I know that I found you on Tik Tok and I was that person that I was like, I'm going to follow on Instagram because I feel like nobody checks their tiktoks. GM So and it was when you were in Denver and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, why are you in Denver? But for those who don't know you, which I mean, I don't know how they wouldn't, but I feel like there are many that have yet to actually go in the world of tiktok. Like I know so many people that just refuse to look at Tik Tok. Who are you?
JP Robberts
I am the Sass Hole of tiktok. I am the queen of clap backs. I am the Oprah Winfrey of ripping people a new hole. You get a new hole, you get a new hole, you get a new hole. Everybody gets a new hole when they say something stupid. That's who I am.
Jenn Junod
Yes. And I feel like that is probably one of the many, many reasons I got so addicted to your, to your posts because you've mentioned so many times about what really mean people have said and then how you clapped back or, and it gives, at least from what I saw, I always was like, oh, I never would have thought of that or how to say that. And so I love that. You mentioned that yet.
I, I wouldn't say that our shit to talk about today is necessarily clap backs. I mean it could be, but would you say that it's more geared on? It's pride month, it's your birthday month. It is. You know, we have douche bags all over the world. So maybe we are gonna talk about clap backs. I don't know, we're just gonna talk about all the shit.
JP Robberts
Let's talk about everything. But before we go further, hang on a second, I need to actually, I love your little puppy on her chair there in the back. That is so cute. Everybody watching just kind of like shift. If you're watching her to her right shoulder, just look at that little thing. What's her name? Kona Kiona. That is so cute.
Jenn Junod
Thank you.
JP Robberts
I'm done. Fan grilling over your dog now.
Jenn Junod
All right. So we were able to do a little bit of an intro before we started talking today and I know that you always interject this in your tiktoks and on Instagram and your new starting youtube. Yay. How did you get into being more of a content creator instead of a model? Like, I feel like those go together but don't go together.
JP Robberts
They, they kind of do, like, people see them as the same thing, but when you're like, on this side, it's a completely different thing. So for example, if you have like a, a specific product and there's an advert on TV for it and you're in it, then you're considered a model, whether you're like extremely good looking or whether you're like a person, just extra in the background, you're considered a model, you're considered talent.
Whereas I kind of shifted away from that industry because, and to everybody out there listening right now, modeling is like a fantastic opportunity. If you have it, go for it. Word of warning, it's a extremely, extremely difficult industry. You're going to face a lot of rejection, you're gonna get a lot of nose. People are gonna tell you you're unattractive, they're gonna tell you you're fat.
They're gonna ask you if you can fit into a size seven shoe when you're a size nine, stupid shit like that. But it is a lot of fun. So if you do get the opportunity to go for it, just word of warning, but then I kind of transition a little bit more to where I am now. So I'm still technically considered a model, but I'm, I work more on brand basis for social media level type of things because I feel like we've, we've shifted away so much from like magazines and T TV.
And those type of things like you would go on to Netflix or Showmax or one of those things these days and you don't as much. Well, in South Africa, at least you don't see adverts as much. So, brands here kind of latch on to people like me with like a loyal following and try and get their, their products out there. So that's kind of like how I transition from let's call it commercial fashion runway model to acting like a bitch on the internet.
Jenn Junod
So, so recapping that, I feel like that's going from like what some might say like model to influencer because you're posting about products. And now how do you just as you know, somebody that has such a loyal following, agree to work with a brand? Do you ever just go, hey, your brand is gonna pay me a lot of money or do you make sure that they fit who you are?
JP Robberts
So obviously like anybody or any influencer out there who tells you money does not play a factor is lying through their bloody teeth. Of course, money plays a factor and of course we want like the high paying jobs, I mean, like exposure and attention and shit like that doesn't pay our rent. But also I'm not going to typically promote a product if for example, that product is not inclusive.
So for example, if it's not for white people and black people and gay people and men and women or that type of thing, I'm not necessarily going to like, attach my name to that. I'd also typically look at a company's trading history if they've had like any incidents in the, in the past where they've gotten into trouble with the media or that type of thing from a point of view of, I want to protect myself. But I'm also not going to put something in front of my followers that I had to work my
ass off to gain. That is potentially going to buy something and then it turns out to be shit. So I would typically say to a brand, send me the products, I'll try it. If I like it, then we can move forward with negotiations. So there, it's like both sides of the line money versus let's call it integrity for the lack of a better word.
Jenn Junod
Thank you for answering that because I feel like so much of it is just pure curiosity of being on that side because as you know, the podcast is still growing and I think that's like such a cool thing of having you on today to talk about more of your background, not just the clap backs, which again, I feel like we just need to interject some of these like I'm gonna pull clips of your tiktoks to put them in here.
Just, oh my word. They are, they are beautiful. So those who are not on Tik Tok go like just go just to follow you. How did you, I know we talked about a little bit of your upbringing before you went to school. Could you share a bit about that? Because I think that really leads into how you got to where you're at?
JP Robberts
Yeah. So you predominantly have, I'm sure international like American subscribers and followers and I've got quite a big American following as well. If any of you know where Namibia is, it's this tiny little country, like a little bit up from South Africa and I grew up what my friends would call the middle of the fuck all. Like literally, there's nothing. If you look to your left, there's nothing. If you look to your right, there's nothing, nothing is the highlight of the day and
it carries on the entire day. That's pretty much where I grew up. And I grew up on a farm, my parents' farm about 100 and 50 kilometers. I don't know what that is in miles but like bloody far from the, from the closest town and I was homeschooled for the first five years of my life. So I feel like I was a little bit sheltered from the real world in that sense.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
It kind of, I'm awkwardly doing this using Google Maps to point it out because I feel like we definitely need to, the US lives in a bubble and they don't know about the rest of the world the majority of the time.
JP Robberts
So, so Zoom into Namibia. Ok. More.
Jenn Junod
Oh, jeez. Ok.
JP Robberts
Ok. If you go, I need to look closely. Ok. You see where Windhoek is? They're right in the center. Yes. Ok. If you pan a little bit towards the right, there's a town called Hub Barbi. Little bit to the right. A little bit more.
Jenn Junod
Oh, is it the one with the G?
JP Robberts
Yes. So that was my hometown and I lived about 150 kilometers north of that.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
So the middle of where, where Zing in now it's literally, there's no city there, y'all, it is.
JP Robberts
No, it's like a town like I think the smallest, smallest town in the US is probably bigger than our capital where, where I'm from. But growing up on this farm, it had a good side and it had a bad side. The good side is I wasn't exposed to attributes of people that were happening in the real world. I literally was influenced by the people that surrounded me and I'm very grateful for that because as a child, my first words were in Khoisan or Bushman because I had black friends around me.
Like I said, it's a farm like you don't see other white people for miles. So as a result, I learned to speak another language. I never knew what racism was until I got into like the Real World. I learned a lot of respect from my parents in terms of how you treat other people, other cultures, women specifically. And then I kind of went to school in Hubba. It's like the little town with its population of 13,000. And I was exposed to so much, I was exposed to like sexism and bullying and all of
those things. And I just sat there and I'm like, take me back to the farm now. This is bullshit. Like I, I don't wanna do this anymore. And my, my parents kind of stuck to their guns and were like, no, you're gonna see this through because you need to experience the real world. So I'm kind of grateful for that. And that's partially a big part of how we ended up where we are today.
Jenn Junod
And thank you for sharing that. I think that's something that so many of us see people that have a large following or we see that they're famous that we put them up on a pedestal and we're like, oh well, they've just had it so easy. They've done everything like they never experienced anything to get there. It was just handed to them. It happened overnight and that's definitely not what happens for majority of them. It might happen for some. And thank you for talking about growing up
on the farm and going through school, how was it? How old were you when you came out and, you know, started navigating that part of the world. Was it something that was co I don't wanna say common because I, I feel like it's become much more accepted now yet there's still so many struggles with it and that's only in the US that I know about that. I could, I have no idea what it would be like in South Africa.
JP Robberts
So having recently visit, visited Chicago visit, visited it, I lost my English there. And we went to like one of the the gay neighborhoods and everybody's just like walking around like normal human beings, like shit's fine. There's like pride flags over there. There's a bunch of gays over here. There's a drag queen waltzing down here doing the walk of shame at nine o'clock in the morning.
And I'm like, yes girl, yes. And it was amazing to see and comparing that to even South Africa, which is a much bigger country than Namibia. It's still in parts of South Africa being gay is not accepted. Coming from Habs where I'm from, it was like completely unheard of like there was growing up, one gay guy that I knew of that was like publicly out and so on and he faced shit on a daily basis from, from what I gathered.
I was bullied relentlessly in school to the point where in the afternoons when school came out and we were walking back to the hostel, which was like a little bit away from the school. Like guys would throw rocks at me to the point where I actually have a mark here where one of the guys hit me in the head with a rock and I was bleeding. And that's because he, because I was gay.
And, so it was, it was a very difficult thing and I always defended it and kind of thought to myself, ok? I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna take this beating. I'm just gonna suffer in silence until one day when my parents are passed away. Then I care what they think and nobody else and then I can live my life. And then I got into when I turned 18, I was like, fuck these bitches are gonna live forever.
I need to come out the closet. I'm going to, I'm going to die if I, if I carry on like this and I wasn't actually ready to come out to my parents. I was outed to my parents. So we've got a saying in South Africa, you come out the closet in Afrikaans, me or you say yeah, go Meria. I didn't come out the closet. Somebody flung that door open and tipped that bitch over and JP and all my gay litter came rolling out of that and it caused a huge rift in, in my family So, bearing in mind my father was a
lieutenant in the military when he was younger. my mom was very cool when we were growing up, she would allow us to drink and like, smoke secretly and all of those things. So I was kind of expecting my mom to be like, honey, come here. She flipped a frying pan and her wig and anything else she could flip and didn't speak to me for months on end. My eldest brother was like in shambles and my dad was like ma and throughout all of that, I'm just sitting there going, I'm so confused in this
entire thing. I'm even more confused than when I realized I was gay. But kind of like as life progressed, everybody came around and they haven't met my fiance in person, obviously because of COVID and my parents are a little bit older, but they're very cool about everything now and super supportive of everything that I do. I don't think they understand most of it.
So we'll, we'll just leave them. Ignorance is bliss. So that's kind of like how, how I came out unwillingly. But I mean, looking back at it today, I think it being pride month and knowing there are a lot of youngsters out there that still need to come out the closet kids. If you're listening kids, I'm only 30. Calm down. If you guys are listening, the chances are your parents already know they however, want to hear it from you. They don't want to hear it from somebody else. However,
before you do that, make sure you have got backup like a safe space that you can go to. If I didn't have that when my closet was tilted, I would not be sitting here today because I was like this close to committing suicide and it's all thanks to one friend that took me in and she said to me, look, if I have to take care of you until you're a grown ass man and you can fend for yourself, so be it. But I'm not going to lose you because one gossiping bitch couldn't keep her mouth shut about you.
Jenn Junod
I'm letting that one sink in because I feel like so many of us don't realize how important our friendships are and just being there for someone of cool, you're gonna be on my couch by like whatever you need, you'll just hang out here for a while and that's go ahead.
JP Robberts
No, I mean, that's just, that's just how it works. And I mean, a lot of people kind of take friendships for granted and we'll, we'll get to this point a little bit later on as to why II I can honestly say there are people out there that save kids and people in the LGBT Q I community without even knowing it. And that is such a thing. It's the amount of gratitude I have for, for people like that is beyond belief.
So bearing in mind, I come from a family where we were four boys, my eldest brother and then I had two more brothers that passed away. And then I would have been if life carried on the get, I would have been the third one to go, which would have left my parents in an absolute shit show. But thanks to one specific woman that kind of like took me in and she said to me, it's fine.
I've got you. And it was never a case of I asked her, she needed to fight my battles or support me financially or anything like that. Literally, all I needed was that one person to go. I've got you. It's OK. It's OK to cry, it's OK to hurt, cry, cry for a little bit.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
And then we're gonna go have a glass of wine and then we're gonna talk about this and figure shit out that that is very powerful.
Jenn Junod
And as a heads up beautiful humans listening, I know that we're having a little bit of internet glitches here and there. That is the life of podcasting and being able to talk to people internationally. So please continue to listen because it's not something that gets fixed post and there's still such a story behind it. So let us know if you have questions because if you didn't get something, we will follow up there.
But to what you were saying, how, how do you ask allies to show up? When in Tiffany's episode that came out two weeks ago, she talked about how people can, I can, I don't know who came up with the term, but we said over ally. but it was more along the lines of, she talked about how women go into gay clubs and just try to hit on all of the gay men and like, rub up against them and are like, oh my gosh, it's safe so I can do this yet.
That is so violating how, how would you want allies to treat each individual or suggestions or telling us what to back the fuck off off of certain things. How can we ally better? There you go. That's the full question.
JP Robberts
I have to admit, I think that is that that knife has got two signs to it because gay guys are also especially gay guys are also guilty of doing this like, yes, she's a woman. I'm gay like I can touch her and do whatever the fuck I want. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just because you're gay or just because I'm gay doesn't give any of us a free for all to do whatever the hell we want.
I've been in experiences before where like I've been like my ass got grabbed in a club by a girl or something like that and I would just turn around and be like. Let's, let's not do that. And I've, I actually never have had like, a horrible experience in, in that, in that way. I think I've seen more of the case where gay guys kind of like, overstepped that line a little bit.
Yeah, she's a girl. I'm gay. It's fine. I can do what I want. And that's kind of like irked me a little bit and I'm like a very loving person. So, whenever I would see my friends, I would always like hug them or hold their hand or you and I were talking about this earlier, like going out and getting ready, like if she asks me, does I look, do does I look nice? What the fuck is going on with me today? Do I look nice? I will like spank her on the bum and be like, yes, sweetie, yes, let's go find you a
man or something like that or let's go keep other men off of you or something to that extent. I think from like being a better ally point of view, they are what I have seen a lot of people that do it for the sake of saying they're an ally. But if push comes to shove, I don't think those people would, would show up. So from one very grateful Homer, you guys are doing good.
Jenn Junod
I, I think that's AAA great call out of saying that a lot of people and I feel like this, there's a huge marketing thing behind this right now of that, companies really focus and started marketing specifically to the LGBT Q plus community. But there not always fully inclusive the rest of the year and the other 11 months. Yes. And what you're talking about just like, really hit me because just showing up and being there and I know that Tiffany and I have spoken about this but like
volunteering or just being there for individuals and we're all human. So just being a good human to them. Yeah, letting them. We in Connor's episode, we talked about something. She said that was so beautiful when she was talking about when people are being mean or saying mean things about her being gay was my story is my story and your story is your story.
And I was like, that's so beautiful of being able to tell people to fuck off in such a nice way. Yeah. Although I, I do wanna hear, I don't know, I'm gonna put you on the spot for this one. If somebody is making fun of you for being gay now or you were talking to the boys throwing rocks, which that is really fucked up. What clap back would you have for them?
JP Robberts
So I actually ran into that boy many, many years later and I was working in a restaurant bar type of thing and he was sitting at the bar and he made, I walked in and walked to, behind the bar to one of the barmen to check something and he called me and I looked up and he just dropped some of the other gay slur to me.
And I just looked at him and I'm like, you know what? Yes, I am gay. But the upside of this is, is I'm more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever get. And I turned around and walked away and I have never seen him again in my life.
Jenn Junod
I love that. I love that because I, something that you and I were talking about a bit earlier is you have this kindness to you that is exuded throughout your all the content you create. Yet you also know how to do, defend yourself and others. And I love that you've done that in past videos. I don't want to bring up any specific instances, but that is, I love how you advocate for others as well.
Now, something I am so incredibly curious about is your partner is from Denver in the US. And for all of those beautiful humans listening, this is how I was so thrown up, thrown up, thrown. Wow, I'm not alone the words and I today like I was just so excited and thrown for a loop. There we go. When I saw you had posted in Denver and I'm like, what are you doing in Denver?
So I actually reached out to JP. And I was like, are you doing any meet ups while you're here? Because if you are, I totally wanna come and say hi and fir but how did you and your partner end up meeting? Especially being across the world from each other.
JP Robberts
Do you want the long version or the short version?
Jenn Junod
I will say my curiosity wants the long version and y'all, if you don't want the long version, you can fast forward.
JP Robberts
Ok. So in Cape Town, we have got this walkway right next to the beach called the promenade. In Cape Town, it's in Sea point, beautiful area. So you have like lush green lawns and big high rises on the one side and the ocean on the other. I was walking from the one side, he came from the other side, walking his dog Britney and that he had before we met and Britney came running up to me and I started playing with her and the next minute he stood there and I just looked up and he's like Britney
don't bother them. And, and I'm talking absolute bullshit we met on Grindr, although that did happen, but after we met on Grindr, it's like the promenade was where we actually physically met for the first time, but we started talking on Grindr and I think we're one of those few grinder success stories.
Jenn Junod
Now. Was he already living in Cape Town?
JP Robberts
Yes. So he is like one incredibly intelligent human being like, he helps companies globally, like, with their businesses. And, like, to be honest, I don't completely understand what she does but it's, so he was working in South Africa and ironically enough the day that him and I physically met for the first time, that morning he had a call with one of his former employers back in the US about moving back. And that was four years ago. We're still in South Africa.
Jenn Junod
Oh, my gosh. Yay, yay. And I love that, that, my good friend Lee, him and his husband have been together. Oh, gosh, I think 13 years now.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
And I, I mentioned this right.
Jenn Junod
And that's, there's such the stigma that, and I would say, two big stigmas that I hear is, within the lesbian community. If you start dating, she'll come with a U haul and move in within a week and that men don't, ever settle down. So, you know, it's the, the stereotypes of just the genders in general.
Yet many gay men that I've met are in monogamous relationships or in serious relationships. I don't want to necessarily assume they're all monogamous. But how do people question that when you talk about being together for four years?
JP Robberts
So, in, in South Africa, it's, I found it and I saw this when we were in the US because especially when we were in Chicago and we stayed with one of our friends there and we got to meet like a lot of his, his couple friends and some of them were together for like 23 years. Some of them have been dating for a year and I just sat there, I'm like, this is freaking amazing.
Like this is gonna be me and let's call it 40 years. So that was really cool for me to see. However, when you come back to South Africa, you very rarely see gay men in long term relationships. In South Africa, the gay men are the ones that will like rock up with the U haul move in in a week. And then two weeks later, we have a dog and then a week after that, we're married and then two weeks after that, we're divorced because somebody cheated.
That's typically how it goes over over here. Lesbians are pretty much on the same track there as as well. So over here we have the, the stigma of relationships don't last. So me and my best friend have got a, a joke where we will always say there are a lot of fish in the sea except for that one that is my fish, do not touch my fish. Because that is like, I think the leading cause of breakups here because people suffer from what we call Peter Pan syndrome.
They're always chasing the newer, younger prettier version. Whereas with Patrick's, I'm like, I can put up with your shit. I don't have the strength or the energy to learn somebody else's habits. You, I like you, you make amazing food, you like dogs and you're good in at cuddling. So I almost said good in bed.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
I meant cuddling or both.
JP Robberts
We could say both or both. I don't, I don't know what, like the limits are here. So I also don't wanna like overstep. I want you to have me back in future again.
Jenn Junod
Don't worry, It's that's a shit to talk about. I, I will say just to that point to bring it up, I would love to eventually get to a point where I can have people on the podcast to talk about sex yet. I'm struggling with my own journey of dealing with PTSD of some shit. I went through that. I'm like, you can say it in passing like that. That's fine. It's funny.
But if anybody's like, yeah, let's talk about sex. I'm like, no, like no, but there is, I, I think that's the cool thing about it and you talk about that in your relationship and that's something that I find so beautiful in all relationships, especially when you find your fish. You're like, ok, cool. You're my fish. I'm happy with my fish. You're my favorite fish. I'm gonna keep you forever.
Something that I'm curious about as well and as I'm finding my own journey with this is you're in the spotlight quite a bit and you, you know, you are constantly on demand from everybody outside, you know, your cocoon relationship. How have you learned to navigate that? And does your partner mind, is it something that took a while to navigate?
JP Robberts
So when we, when we initially met, I had a crap ton of stuff going on in my life, I would be at least at three events a week. I would at least be on two photo shoots. So I would sometimes come home and like face plant on the couch and just sit there and like vegetate. And, so he kind of met me at like the worst time in my life for him and somehow he just fit into it.
Like I know, I, as cliche as it sounds, I don't want to do the whole, oh, if they're meant to be, they'll just like, no, like he just, he just slotted in and I mean, even right now, we had dinner earlier and I said to him, oh, I have to go do my podcast. He's like, oh, ok, cool. I'm gonna sit on the couch with the girls and watch TV, or play video games and I'll take them for a walk or whatever.
So for example, if I do tiktoks in the morning, that's excuse me, typically when he's taking the dogs for a walk because that's also his kind of quiet time when he like, prepares for his day. So miraculously, it just worked like we don't do a conscious effort of, ok, I need to talk to you about having to go and do this or, or vice versa. And, like, listen, I gotta shoot on Saturday, I'm going to be out from eight o'clock until two o'clock.
I'll be back at three and then I'm gonna shower and then we're gonna go to dinner at five with these people and he's like, ok, cool and, and vice versa. And it's just something that works, which I'm so grateful for because I've been in relationships where, I get accused of, oh, no, I'll be looking at other men when I'm on set or when I'm at a show or something and like kind of had to take him along and it wasn't, it wasn't fun.
Whereas now when I do things, I'm like, please come along, please come and watch me, please come do this with me. And he's like, no, go have fun. So that speaks volumes for his security in himself and his trust in me, which is a huge compliment.
Jenn Junod
I love that. And, and that is something that I, not only, I think shows up in any type of relationship, but specifically with your background of being a model. And that is another thing that I am just so curious about. How did you get from being bullied and rocks thrown at you to modeling? I mean, look at that face and that hair clearly yet. How did you find your way into it.
JP Robberts
To be honest with you. I got, actually, I was rejected by seven agencies before I even got into my first agency. I was told, I'm one told me I'm too commercial looking. One flat out told me I'm uninteresting looking. I'm like, ok. one told me I'm too fat and one told me I'm not tall enough and everybody had like, their, their reasons, their little things.
I'm like, ok, cool. And I was talking to a friend that I had met when I moved to Cape Town and every time I would go to a modeling agency casting or a recruitment or something like that, I kind of chat to him afterwards. And eventually he said to me, ok, look, when I did the last one, I said to him, that's it. I'm, I'm fucking done. I'm not billed for this like, clearly I am this disaster of an oil painting.
So I should not be in this industry. And he said to me, ok, I'm going to ask a or call in a favor from an ex-boyfriend. I'm like, asking favors from an ex-boyfriend. Never a good thing. And he's like, no, we're on very, very good terms and he runs a modeling agency. I'm gonna ask him if I can give him your number, which he did. I messaged the, the agency director I met up with them, they signed me on the spot they paid for my first like, Zard photoshoot, sorted out like wardrobes and they were
absolutely amazing. And whenever I was in town or like that specific part of town, I'll just go pop in for coffee and go have a chat to them, ask them what's happening in the industry if we needed updates on anything. And those were the guys that really, like started me off in my career. They advised me on like what castings they think I should go for.
And the thing that I really appreciated about them is they would send me to a casting only if they think I had a really good chance of booking it. Something else for the aspiring models out there, p comfortable shoes because you're going to walk and sit for a very fucking long time. I, I think the longest time I've spent at a costing was nine hours and that's time that you take out of your day like that you're not earning money or you're not doing other things.
So be prepared for that. And eventually they started pushing me in my music career a little bit more in a different direction. There's this very, very rich international, let's call him individual that comes to South Africa and you're not allowed to have phones around him. It's like the general public is not around him. So he basically rents a crowd and we were all models, singers, influencers and we got paid 1000 $500 a night.
And all we had to do was rock up on his yacht, have champagne, eat amazing food and waltz around and mingle and have a good time. Nobody was expected to do anything unsavory. Then they started pushing me a little bit more towards my music with my music. Eventually I ended up performing for him and like everybody on the boat and I'm like, fuck me sideways. This is happening. and then I just kind of like transitioned into everything from there from like the kid who got bullied
relentlessly as a kid to now I'm performing for let's call it essentially royalty and everything from there on was it was a lot of hard work. Like nothing was handed to me on a plate. I still had to put it in the hours, but everything just kind of like fell into place when it needed to. After that,
Jenn Junod
I few things come to mind. I really want you to sing something for us now.
JP Robberts
Oh My grief. There's something on youtube. Can, can we do no?
Jenn Junod
Like can you do like a little bit a little bit? You mentioned that your music career? And how can we not grab like, grab on to that? It can be anything, a children's song for all I care.
JP Robberts
Oh My grief.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
I literally don't even OK, we'll put a pause on it.
Jenn Junod
We'll come back to it when you think of a song because there are other questions of when you were talking about like so many of us even with, with the podcasting world and going into the speaking world, like I've experienced this, There's so many rejections.
Luckily for those, I don't have to, nobody tells me about my body weight or you know, my height or anything like that yet. That's gotta fuck with your, like with your head and your self esteem. And how, how did you learn to navigate that?
JP Robberts
To be honest with you when I experienced that pretty much at the beginning of my career where people would flat out to my face. Tell me no, you're uninteresting looking or you're too fat or whatever that like that level of blatant to me was just like, oh my gosh, OK. After that, there was a lot of rejection and you can pretty much take this across any industry, whether it be podcasting, whether it be MC, public speaking, modeling, acting or just like regular jobs, they don't decline
you because you're shit at what you do. They simply went for something that matched their ideals. That doesn't mean you're bad. It just means you're not the right fit for that specific position, which essentially is a good thing for you because you don't want to force a puzzle piece where it doesn't belong because that's just going to mesh it up completely for you in your life, moving forward.
And then I think my turning point was the one day where we did a, a fashion week in South Africa and I was paired with another guy and before us was a guy and a girl. But the hole or the, yeah, the hole that we were auditioning in had very, very thick rugs and the girls were expected to walk in heels, like, and I'm talking like heels and she kind of like struggled a little bit on, on the rug When she was walking and we're all sitting outside in this walkway while they're in auditioning inside.
And I just heard this one guy screaming if you can't fucking walk, do not come to my audition. And this girl came walking out crying, heels in hand crying. But I'm talking about mascara smeared, gone crying. I just looked at that and I was like, that's it. I'm done. I'm out, I'm not doing this and I got up and I walked out literally as it was my turn, I'm like, fuck it.
I'm not doing this because it's again. Yes, you can build a great career out of it. I mean, not all of us are going to become Gigi Hadid, but there is a lot of reward to it yet. I don't like seeing stuff like that. And I've been to auditions where I've seen how they kind of like manhandle people to get them into into clothes and stuff. And I've been at a show where I was standing with a glass of water in my hand and somebody tried to or knocked it out of my hand hoping that it was something that's
going to stain the suit that I was in so that the designer wouldn't use me again. And I'm like, really? Are you guys a bunch of fucking kids after that? I was just like, no, that's it. Now, now I've reached my quota.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
Now I do jobs that I pick and it was the best thing ever for me that is so cool and learning about that and almost in my mind, the way I'm connecting it is going from that like mindset of desperation of just like begging for any job to going, you know, I have my own boundaries and limits that.
Jenn Junod
I'm just gonna go for jobs that I truly believe in. Correct. And that is so cool. Now, I know we have talked about a lot of topics and there's so much that I do want to ask you if we don't have time. So you'll have to come back again. And what is there anything that we didn't cover that you wanted to cover today?
JP Robberts
I think a lot of people watching this and I'm obviously going to put this on my social channels as well. I probably don't get to say this enough in my daily life. The thing that I am probably the most grateful for are people like you Jane that give me opportunities like this. People that follow me, people who buy my merchandise, people who comment on all of my stuff and engage with my videos.
You guys are literally helping me build a dream. Yes, I was dreaming about marrying Britney Spears at one point. But thank God, we dodged a bullet there. But you guys are like helping me build my dream. And I think that is coming back to the point that we were talking about earlier of you going, oh my God, he responded. I don't have a team that helps me manage my personal social media. So if you get a comment or a response from me, it's me.
And I try to do that as much as possible because yes, I've got 100 and 22,000 followers on, on tiktok. But I would obviously love to have a lot more for my brands purposes, but I would much rather have like a loyal connected community than just having like millions of followers and being seen as this like untouchable thing, so to speak.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
If that makes sense, it does, it does.
Jenn Junod
And I will, I would also want to add to your audience of He does respond because I, I literally was just like, hey, you're in Denver. It was a very awkward message. This is if for the listeners of the podcast, they know I'm very awkward. This is how I meet most people. I'm, you're awkward. Oh, I am so awkward. I am very well because I, I will walk up to people and be like, hey, we should be friends. I like your outfit. It, it works, it does work, it does work but it, it can be awkward and that I
think is a really cool thing that can give others hope when also building their brands and their communities. Because it's something that at least from what I've seen of content creators, so many content creators do want to build up other creators and to do that, you have to be reachable. And so everyone keep reaching out to him because it is keep commenting because the beautiful comments get replies a lot of the times and the bad comments get hilarious yet so good snapback
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
which we get into trouble for, but it's fine and I, I feel like you did go into this a bit.
Jenn Junod
Just now yet, do you have any words of wisdom for the listeners?
JP Robberts
I think the most important thing that I've learned in my life and this is part of why I defend a lot of people on on tiktok or why I would do clap back videos because I realize there are so many people out there saying they wish they had my confidence or they wish they could think of a response as quickly as, as I do. I think the most important thing I would like for people to take away is you don't necessarily have to know somebody personally to have your back. I mean, there are people like me
and drew a follower out there that will rip somebody a new one and 0.2 seconds flat if need be. But the fact of the matter is, is I can die tomorrow. Sad as that is to say, and I would want people to remember or to realize their own self-worth because the second you realize that you are going to become an unstoppable force and nothing is going to be able to stand in your way. So I think that would be, I don't know if that's words of wisdom. I think that would be more a plea from my side.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
Please please learn to believe in yourselves and it is definitely a process yet.
Jenn Junod
So, so worth it because I, I do even to this day, I see your clap backs and I'm like, I never would have thought of that and that does happen to use them. Yeah, it's something that in, in the journey of worthiness, it's changing that internal talk. It's thinking like not putting other people on a pedestal.
It's and many of the episodes that we've had, we do go into this yet. I'm guessing that all the beautiful humans listening, they're gonna want to hear it from you about diving deeper into finding that self worth and how you found it and going into all of that.
JP Robberts
So I was actually, at one point considering, because somebody actually reached out to me and told me about a lot of personal stuff that she was going through bearing in mind. I've, I've never met this lady before. She's from Miami. I've never been to Miami. When you reached out to me, that was my first time in the US actually. really some, some dark shit that she was going through and asking me for my advice and opinion of how I would have navigated it.
And at that point in time, I realized that that person was being so overwhelmed because it just looked like a mountain of crap around her. And she was just sitting there like staring into this. And eventually we, after like a little bit of a discussion, she got to a point where she actually wasn't sitting and she stood up and she was higher than everything that was going on around her.
And I said to her, see, this is the thing you panic about everything going on yet you realize or you forget that when you realize your own strength, you kind of become bigger than your problem and you get to look at them, look down at them and go cool. I'm going to take this and sort this out. I'm going to take this and do that with that said, there's still a lot of shit in life that we have got absolutely no control over.
So why stress about it. So the point that I'm getting at, I was actually thinking about doing like a kind of like seminar or a class or a thing about being able to have this conversation with, with people because I think there would, there would genuinely be a need for it. How I'm physically going to make that happen. I'm still unsure. I might come and hijack your podcast.
Jenn Junod
I was like, hm, I actually have done that in my real job before. So let's talk, let's talk. So, but to wrap everything up as the beautiful humans here know to reach out to us at shit. The number two talk about that is how you connect to us on all social medias because this is shit. You don't want to talk about podcasts to turn it into shit to talk about and please like share, donate, you know, the drill yet. JP Bates. How does everybody reach out to you?
JP Robberts
It is the simplest thing ever. You literally look for JP Roberts and Roberts is spelled with two B's so like Julia Roberts, but with two B's, she buggered off with one. I stayed with both and that is across all platforms.
Jenn Junod
Wonderful and last but not least, what is something that you're grateful for
JP Robberts
amazing people? Like honestly, yes, most of my tiktok is like, clap back videos, but for that one, clap back video, I get thousands upon thousands of such amazing comments and messages from people that just also makes me stronger. So I think the thing that I am probably the most grateful for in my life is everybody empowering me and enabling me to do what I do. So, and that includes you and this and it's my first one.
Jenn Junod
Yay, I would say something that I'm grateful for is meeting more and more people that want to help create that human connection, being able to have these type of conversations. So we break down these individuals that we put on pedestals and go no rather human too. Like you went through trials.
JP Robberts
My dad has got a fun saying and I won't use the the figure he used. But whenever you see like a really famous person and people are like fangirling about them, my dad would always say just remember their shit stinks too. They don't poop lavender. They're also just human.
Jenn Junod
Yeah, I will say a lot of times though I forget like what to say to them. Like I'm like, I can talk to anybody in the world but I'm looking at you. I'm like, I don't do I ask you about your dog? Like I don't even know if you have a dog. Like I don't know what to say. I told you. Awkward is my specialty. Now before, before I let you go, do we get a song or at least a little bit of a song?
JP Robberts
If, how about you? Give me some suggestions.
Jenn Junod
Oh, of course. Do you know any Beatles songs?
JP Robberts
If I was to Google it?
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
I probably would like, I want to hold your hand.
Jenn Junod
I don't know that or hey, June, I would sing but I'm a horrible singer.
JP Robberts
Hang on. I'm just gonna, is my volume still? Ok.
Jenn Junod, JP Robberts
Over here a little closer, a little closer.
JP Robberts
Like then, yeah. Hey, Jude, don't make it bad. That's all you get guys.
Jenn Junod
We still got something, we still got something from your musical career.
JP Robberts
There's some stuff on, on youtube, but I am looking at getting back into my music a little bit more seriously, but there's a fun little couple of tidbits for you to go have a look at.
Jenn Junod
Wonderful, wonderful. Well, thank you again for joining today and we will talk soon.
JP Robberts
Thank you so much for having me. Thank you to everyone listening. Ah Love you my babes.
Jenn Junod
Bye.
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