Balancing Motherhood, Career and Relationships With LisaRaye McCoy

Balancing Motherhood said it plainly: "I want to work smart and not hard. I want to be able to do investments so when I'm over in Paris or Europe someplace I c…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On the heels of a successful season of LisaRaye: The Real McCoy on TV One, the launch of her new clothing line, and a new romantic comedy, Single Ladies, LisaRaye is putting the final touches on her career and proving that a woman can have it all — if she is willing to work through the nosebleeds. LisaRaye shared with Premier Guide Miami her parenting skills with daughter Kai and how her life experiences have molded her into the independent woman she is today.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Good morning LisaRaye, how are you?

LISARAYE: Girl, I'm good — I'm in Atlanta working. I'm filming the last day of my new romantic comedy for VH1 called Single Ladies.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: I heard it's going to be a hit.

LISARAYE: I heard it's going to be a hit too (laughs) — and it will be. We are going to live up to that name.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Tell me more about your character Keisha.

LISARAYE: She was a video vixen. Keisha is sassy and fashion-forward as we all are. She is trying to find someone who is going to take care of her. She wants to find love but she has this wall up that's stopping her from finding that ultimate one. She doesn't want to give 100% until they give 100%, so then you're in a Mexican standoff.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What can we expect when we watch the show?

LISARAYE: We are definitely bringing the fashion game to Atlanta — the shoe game and the bag game. Also showing a different diversity in how to dress, which is a very good thing. I think that's where the comparison to Sex and the City comes into play with our show. It shows the unity of friendship, and that's what's so polished and positive about the project. With me, it's the way LisaRaye promotes unity by bridging that gap between women. I like that these girls have a real strong friendship — they don't always agree, but the support is there, and I think that's the story and the message that needs to be shared. In every episode, three different females are dating differently, yet talking about it amongst each other. How long do you wait? Do you have sex on the first date? Or do you make him take it slow? It's so many things you would be able to identify with that are so current right now. I think we are doing it in a fresh, forward, and sexy way.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: That's great — it's something different from reality TV, which is what you are doing now. This shows more sides of LisaRaye.

LISARAYE: Yeah, it very much is. It allowed me to get back to what I do. With the second season of The Real McCoy, that's the reality side — the personal side of LisaRaye. Single Ladies has allowed me to get back into my career of acting. So to have two shows on right now is actually a blessing for me.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: I was reading somewhere that Stacy Dash actually had some "beef" with you on set. What's up with that?

LISARAYE: There's no beef between us. We have a difference in opinions, and we are filming late nights every day — 15 hours a day — and yeah, there are going to be some differences and some words exchanged. But at the end of the day we are both making a positive show that we believe in. All of that news saying there was a physical altercation — no, no. We are grown, we don't do any of that, and we don't have time for any of that. I'm certainly not losing any sleep about how the media perceives that because we know it's not true.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Your daughter Kai is beautiful and definitely doing an amazing job modeling for Apple Bottoms. Did she always want to be in the industry or was it something that grew on her?

LISARAYE: It was something that kind of grew on her — growing up in the shadow of a mom that's a sex symbol and being small and curvaceous. One of the most encouraging things about her being a plus-sized model for Apple Bottoms is that she embraces her own curves. I think for that age it's very appealing for that generation that are full-sized. We live in a society where they make the models a size 2, which is all we see, and it's like — this is what society likes? No. Embrace who you are, embrace your curves. I've never tried to tell her anything different, and I love that she does that.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: That's a great thing — when girls who are plus-sized see other girls doing it and modeling, it makes them feel a lot better.

LISARAYE: Yeah! Even the partnership that I have with TZI Jeans for my own jean line — the LisaRaye Collection — I go all the way up to size 18, because we come in different shapes and sizes. My jean is for the woman that has a smaller waist, has a fuller hip area, has a little bit more junk in the trunk, and wants a jean that really fits. I'm excited about the business side of LisaRaye — the entrepreneurship, the businesswoman side of me. I want to work smart and not hard. I want to be able to do investments so when I'm over in Paris or Europe someplace I can sit back and say, my money is working for me. It's just another entity of what I'm trying to do — how I'm trying to spread that business sense to all of us. You can do one thing but stay out there and do something else that you believe in. I found that in the TZI Jeans collection — it allowed me to put on the designer hat.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: I know you're very family-oriented. Family is very much the core of LisaRaye. How does it feel to have your sister Da Brat back home after two and a half years of being gone?

LISARAYE: Yeah, I think I needed her more than I even thought, and she knew that before I knew it. Her showing up back at the house in the midst of that divorce — it actually gave me motivation. It made me remember that even being a single parent I have to keep my eye on the prize. She let me know I had to move forward, not only for her but for me. I'm grateful that we still have that bond and that closeness, and that now she is physically there for me. It was right on time.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: With all of that being said, we know you have B2B — Back 2 Business — in Puerto Rico this weekend. Why did you pick Puerto Rico?

LISARAYE: I picked Puerto Rico because it lets you travel outside of the country without a passport. It makes people feel like they are far enough from the states to say, okay, I'm somewhere different. I love Puerto Rico, I know a little bit of Spanish so I'm able to speak the language, and it's one of my favorite cuisines. So Puerto Rico it was.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: So who are you going for — Heat or Bulls?

LISARAYE: Well now, you know I'm from Chicago!! Yeah, so you know I'm rooting for my Bulls. We'll see what happens (laughs).

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