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Tahiry Jose and D’Nay B just launched their podcast titled At This Big Age… and we can’t stop listening!

The beauty in this collaboration is the fact that both ladies come from completely different backgrounds, and are still able to come together with unmatched energy and synergy. Tahiry is single, best known for her role on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop. D’Nay is married with children, best known for being a renowned choreographer and dancer in the music industry. 

At This Big Age is inspired by real life experiences, hearing the POVs from two women in their mid-30’s. For both, they’re now able to speak openly about topics such as freezing eggs, fitness, infidelity, friendships, marriage, and much more. New episodes drop every Tuesday on all streaming platforms.

Sheen Magazine caught up with Tahiry Jose and D’Nay B to discuss how they came together to launch the At This Big Age podcast. 

 

How did you guys meet originally?

Tahiry: D’Nay and I have a very good mutual friend that we both know for a long time, but it’s funny because we didn’t know each other. For a while now, I’ve been toying around with the idea of having my own podcast. Everywhere I went, people asked “When are you gonna do it?” Finally, I put it up on my vision board last year. I kept running from the fact that that was where I belonged. That outlet of speaking my ish, allowing the world to hear me. 

I thought because I was on reality TV that people know all about Tahiry. I realized that the world really didn’t know me. I started realizing I was getting older, and that the world wasn’t older. But when you’re on social media, everybody’s like, “Oh, she’s older now. So at this big age, it’s scary to them. I decided to come up with something that gave the 30’s and the 40’s some type of voice, and even in your 20’s. If you want to know what you might be going through in your 30’s and 40’s, then listen to At This Big Age. 

I contacted a friend of mine, his name is Greg. I said “Greg, I need a co-host. I need somebody who’s fun. I need somebody who’s in their mid 30’s. I need somebody who’s active. I need somebody who’s the same, but different.” He introduced me to D’Nay and it was pretty much love at first sight. 

D’Nay: Literally. We went on a 6-hour date and we just talked. We’re like nah, this is too good. 

Tahiry: It was our first meeting to get the juices flowing and see if we can connect. It was 5 of us. At the end, we closed down the restaurant. It was just her and I at the bar having girl talk, like we knew each other forever. 

What would you say you guys bonded over the most?

D’Nay: We’re both so open, so honest. We were in a space of just sharing, it was such an honest conversation. I feel like I knew you in my past life, you really could be my friend in real life. It’s not just a podcast thing, the conversation was so vulnerable and so real. I can do this with you.

Tahiry: We were ready for a change too. Not so much leaving what we do behind, but opening up other layers of us in general. She’s a professional dancer, I’m a professional shit-starter on TV. [laughs] I’m an actor, so let’s add another title. Another layer to who we are now as grownups. We were ready to take the next step, and we were both scared about the same things. We both lived, seen, but different lives. It was perfect because we are in the same industry, but not really. We’re in my mid 40’s, she’s in her 30’s. She’s a mom, I’m not. She’s married, I’m not. We can relate, but then we have different POVs on everything.

Does each episode focus on the topic? 

Tahiry: Yes, each episode is focused on the topic. This week’s episode is on infidelity and cheating. Right now, there might be a law that might be passed where if you cheat, you get either jail time or you may have to pay some money. We talked about that. The episode last week was about the scales and how hard it is to lose weight or maintain your weight at this big age. Pretty much talking about real women things that are fun. 

D’Nay: We find things on the internet every single day. We film these episodes, but we just saw that thing about the law today. Nah, we gotta discuss this. Let’s circle back. Let’s go Live. Let’s talk about it. 

Tahiry: We just were talking about cheating. They might pass a law in New York saying that if you cheat, you can get fined up to so much money and you can do so many days in jail. We really have to read on this because we really have to go Live with this because I can’t believe it. Because we were cheaters in the past, we would’ve been doing jail time a long time. [laughs]

D’Nay: I would’ve been paying the cash in the past. All the money. 

I was about to ask y’all if it’s ever okay to cheat. Well damn!

Tahiry: Everybody at least once has done some kind of cheating, even if it’s not physical. Most people believe, especially men — especially my group of guy friends, let’s just say that. They believe that the only cheating happens is when you’re physical. I’ve had to tell men: if you’re emotionally attached to somebody, connect to somebody else besides your significant other, that’s cheating. That’s emotional cheating. Please pass the law so when I get married, my husband can’t cheat. [laughs]

Do you guys plan on having guests on? 

Tahiry: Yes, we’ve filmed a number of episodes. Now, we’re about to film the guest episodes. We don’t really want it to be about the guest all the time. We wanted to really have fun with it and have real life conversations. It’s two girlfriends getting together, discussing what we discussed with our friends. It’s like girl chat. It’s a group chat that you don’t want nobody to see. [laughs]

Any guests that we can look forward to?

Tahiry: D’Nay has a dream sheet. There will be some experts, because we’re talking about real conversations. D’Nay and I aren’t the experts. We’re fun, we’re educational. We’re experienced, so we’ll tell you what we did and we didn’t do. But we’re also going to bring on some birds to discuss and give you guys facts as well. But we’re working on a few people.

D’Nay: I’m excited about the sister episode because Tahiry’s the oldest sister, and I’m a middle sister/older sister on the other side. But we’re gonna bring our sisters on and have a sister conversation, which is so exciting.

What’s been your favorite episode so far?

D’Nay: So far, we only put out two episodes. For me, the infidelity episode is super crazy. I lived wild in my 20’s. Now I’m mid-30’s and married, it’s so different. I think back like D’Nay, you really lived the life of a 20-year-old. You did all the things you absolutely wanted to do, unapologetically. Right now out of the two, that’s my favorite.

Tahiry: I genuinely am a tough critic. I’m the girl that you take to the movie theaters and she wants her money back. I’m sitting here staring at the screen like this ain’t funny. Really, I’m very hard to please. The experience overall, At This Big Age from the scale was so honest, the infidelity — even me rewatching it today. Because we film, then we keep going. We keep having different topics. You put it in the backburner, and it comes back up. I’ll hear it again, I’ll look at it again. 

D’Nay was so honest about cheating. It’s a space we’re honest and knowing that we’re gonna get a lot of kickback. A lot of people’s opinions. It’s hard because we’re talking about who we used to be and who we are becoming. Every episode thus far that I’ve had a chance to see either rough edits or watching, I catch myself grinning when watching, really enjoying it. Overall, all these episodes that are about to come out, even one and two that are out now, they’re my favorites. It’s my safe space.

How are your guys’ fanbase reacting to it? 

Tahiry: Great feedback. 

D’Nay: Super incredible feedback. People are so used to seeing me on stage as a dancer, and I’m also a super big goofball in real life that people are “Yo D’Nay, you’re really talking me some real stuff. I woulda never expected…” People are so shocked. They’re also like, “This is the dynamic duo we didn’t know we needed!” Everybody’s like, “How did you guys connect? The chemistry is so crazy. It’s so great.” The comments have been great, the feedback has been incredible. 

Tahiry: Honestly, I keep looking back at us like wow. It’s super authentic. It’s so cool to watch yourself back and feel like you’re really having fun. That’s something I wanted to do when it came to At This Big Age. I didn’t really want to make it a job. A lot of my career’s been pressure and flip the table, a storyline and getting on a show. It’s so much of that that this project for me was more about having fun. Creating a safe space to be goofy, to be honest. Even if people are going to judge, be okay with you while you’re on there sharing your stories. That’s the most important part. Even when it comes to the metrics, the numbers. How’s the podcast doing? Girl, I’m having fun. I don’t care, me and D’Nay are having fun.

D’Nay: Literally. 

I totally agree. I have a show called Shirley’s Temple, it has a focus on mental health. At the end of the day, if you’re loving it, you’re having fun and your guest is having fun, fuck the numbers. 

Tahiry: You’re educating someone, or letting someone know on the other end that they’re not alone. The stuff they’re going through, you’ve been through it or you’re sharing something. You’re enlightening someone or you’re making someone laugh that’s having a rough day. It’s a fun, safe space for D’Nay and I, and I want our audiences to feel that same way.

 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of At This Big Age Podcast