This is Tammy, she is a dear friend with an incredible story.
She is a fighter, she’s had a hard life to start out which eventually made her homeless for a few years. She was telling me that she would try anything she could do to get work, though she couldn’t get a legal job due to her past, she “started seeing a lot of her friends getting into cars with men for some money”, she ended up giving that a try to pay her bills and did for a while. She never gave up trying to make a living doing other things like mow lawns and such. One day, since nobody would hire her (for the things she wanted to do), she woke up early and cleaned the yard of someone she was trying to get a job from. When he woke up, he thought his employees did it, so when he found out that she did it, he hired her. Since then she’s been mowing lawns and doing nails for girls in the neighborhood to pay her bills. That’s how I met Tammy four years ago, I just moved into her neighborhood and I needed my lawn mowed, it wasn’t too long before she found that out and I’ve hired her ever since. And she’s a hard worker, I’ve seen her mowing lawns in the rain, because “you’ve gotta pay your bills on time”.
Because of her work ethic and network, I hired her to be an associate producer on this music video and she was a huge help. When I told her my list of people that I wanted to film she connected me with drug dealers, prostitutes and whoever else. Also, her and I would ride around the city and I’d pull up to a bodega, gas station, butcher shop or a group of people and she’d get out of the car and talk everyone into signing release forms. I’ve never worked with a producer that was that brave when it came to cold calling for release forms.
Since the video release, she’s been calling and texting me every few thousands views, screaming and laughing about how many people are seeing it.
Another shot that seems to hit people, in different ways, is that Tammy is smoking a cigarette while reading the Bible. I love what that shot tells me, especially that I know her so well. That God can redeem us, wherever we’re at and you don’t have to be perfect to come to him. She’s recently found a church and is genuinely learning what it means to follow Jesus. God has done so many things in her life and her journey isn’t over and it’s been so great to get to see it first hand.
A few months ago, Lecrae and I went to her neighborhood to film some shots and we stopped in and she got to meet him.
