We all know Tisha Campbell-Martin as the star of movie comedy classics like House Party, sitcoms like Martin and My Wife and Kids, and a long list of roles throughout her nearly 40-year entertainment career. Yet Campbell-Martin juggles her successful career along with the demands of being a wife, mother of two children, Xen, 9, and Ezekiel, 1, and being an advocate for her oldest son who was diagnosed with autism.
Now the busy mother/actress/singer is teaming up with Yoplait as the spokesperson for the new Yoplait Today campaign designed to promote healthy food and lifestyle choices to African American women. Campbell-Martin recently sat down with BMWK to talk about the campaign, juggling the demands of motherhood, her marriage to actor Duane Martin, and her secret to working in the entertainment industry for a lifetime.
How did you become a part of the campaign with Yoplait and why is this cause important to you?
I think Yoplait came to me because I am a work in progress. As I get older I’m concerned about certain health issues. I’m concerned about being there for my family. I’m concerned about being the best I can be at work. But you can’t do that if you don’t take time out for yourself and you don’t take time out to take care of your own health. I had a baby at 40 and I gained weight with this baby. With weight gain comes certain issues so I am working hard to lose the weight. Not for aesthetic reasons, because we are a gorgeous people. We are beautiful. Our curves are gorgeous but it’s more for health. So it was such a great marriage with this project because they knew that I was a work in progress.
So how are you able to juggle the demands of motherhood and marriage and working while making time for yourself? What are some of the things that you do?
That’s something that’s really hard for us women because we’re pulled in so many different directions. We do have our work. We do have our husbands. We do have our kids and I had to actually learn how to go slow and to do this in a slow way. I started out just learning how to enjoy sitting in traffic because that was my time. I was by myself, nobody pulling me, I’m alone. So I started coming from work and enjoying the traffic.
Then I realized I could extend that time and start exercising. I worked out twice a day and I was making that second workout some more time for me.
Then that turned into me eating right. I had to eat right because 60 to 80 percent is eating right so it’s funny because even before Yoplait and I came together I was keeping Yoplait in my purse at all times. I would just throw the Yoplait in my purse so I would have it for later. So when I got hungry I had Yoplait, I would have pistachios, I would have cashews, I would have granola bars so that I won’t go out and get a cheeseburger or a brownie and then regret it. I make sure that I have good food like Yoplait. That’s what this whole campaign is about and why it’s geared toward African-American women.
We do have to take the time for ourselves and we do have to understand that it starts with the little things like walking up the steps instead of the elevator or keeping those healthy foods on your person at all times. It’s the little things that make a big impact in the long run.
You have been in this business for a long time now. What do you attribute that type of longevity to?
I think that’s one of the reasons Yoplait came to me. It’s my tenacity. It’s my work ethic. It’s my viewpoint on the entire game. Whatever game you’re playing whether it’s whatever work you do or your family life there are obstacles that are going to come your way. Even in the game that I play as far as show business is concerned there is rejection there are auditions and you have to learn how to embrace those things that may look like obstacles. Embrace them, understand them and you can’t hate them because it’s going to come. You embrace them and you learn how to work with them.
When I go in there I’m trying to be the best and that’s what Yoplait saw in me. I try to be the best at what I do at all times. I’m a beast about it. It’s really about my attitude toward this business and it’s really about your attitude towards your work and who you are as a person. This whole campaign with Yoplait is about it’s a new era, it’s a new you and I think that’s what we have to do and I’m really excited about it. I don’t think I’ve been as excited about an oncoming year in my life really and I think it’s all about maintaining your life and maintaining your living in a great way and in the most optimal way possible .
So is that attitude what has been able to keep you married for this long in this business?
Yes, and with that comes lots of laughter and compromise of course and understanding that we’ve been together 20 years now and people look at it as one of the hardest jobs you’re ever going to have. Again that’s all in the way you look at it. You have to keep that person in mind at all times. I keep my husband in mind at all times. It’s also the way we live. We decide that we want to be the best people that we can be and to give our kids the best life that we can. I’m not talking [about material things], I’m talking about the love and the time.
Outside of Yoplait do you have any projects coming up in the near future?
Yes and I’m really excited about it because it’s not a sitcom. I know I’m known as the funny girl but I started out in musical theater and did a lot of dramas. I’m doing a drama for Lifetime called Exit 19 with Ally Walker and I’m very excited about it. With that I’m also doing an autism documentary geared toward African-American and Latino communities. It’s really about hope and getting people to understand that there are resources out there even though you may not think there are. With autism you have to figure out what ways you can help your child because you are your child’s only advocate. I’m also doing an autism book.
Aja Dorsey Jackson is a freelance writer and public relations consultant in Baltimore, Maryland. Find out more about her at www.ajadorseyjackson.com or follow her on twitter @ajajackson.