How I Get It Done<\/a>,\u201d Salda\u00f1a talked about lifting weights, raising her sons while working across continents, and the ambition shift that made her realize she no longer wants to move through life too quickly. \u201cI want to walk,\u201d she says. Below, she explains what that looks like now.<\/p>\nWhat does starting the day actually look like for you?<\/strong>
I can\u2019t really function if I haven\u2019t brushed my teeth and washed my face. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you\u2019ve perspired at night, so I like to remove all of that. I\u2019m also very big on fitness, because I feel like it\u2019s great for my mental health. It helps me organize my day. So I do that, lemon water, and then being with the family. Connection is really important before I start to connect with work and other people. I like to connect with my loved ones first.<\/p>\nWhat does movement look like for you right now?<\/strong>
I\u2019m lifting. I did Pilates my whole life after ballet, and I think that it really helped me. I still do it, but I supplement it with weights. At my age, and where I\u2019m at in my life, I like to feel strong. Lifting weights makes me feel stronger.<\/p>\nAt first, it was training for a part. I do a show called Lioness, and there are certain requirements for my character, Joe. I have this amazing trainer, Duffy, and they designed this whole look and workout for me and my character. What started out as a work thing became a personal goal. I like the way Joe feels, and I like to take those parts of Joe home with me. It\u2019s been four years now that I\u2019ve been lifting weights, and I feel really great.<\/p>\n
At this stage in your life and career, when do you know saying \u201cyes\u201d to a project is worth your time?<\/strong>
The script, the story, the character. Then it\u2019s the team behind it, the visionary behind it. I really need to have chemistry with the director, the crew, and the cast.<\/p>\nBut it\u2019s mainly the story and the character that get me excited. Then I\u2019m able to bypass all of those little perks I would want in order to feel comfortable. For some of us working moms, we do not have the ability to leave our children behind. We bring our children with us and everything and everyone that comes with that in order for the family dynamic to be consistent.<\/p>\n
I wish I could just say it\u2019s the script and the director and the chemistry, but now that I\u2019m a mom, and it\u2019s been this way for the past ten years, how and where I go and how my children and my family fit into all of that is also one of the main factors I have to consider.<\/p>\n
Has motherhood changed the way you protect your energy on set?<\/strong>
In life, yes. I\u2019ve become very selective in terms of where I put my energy. What\u2019s important for me is to have really good energy for my life and everyone in it.<\/p>\nWhen I started my family and everything was very new, there was still this old pattern of putting it all elsewhere and then coming home a shell of myself. That really wasn\u2019t beneficial to me growing a nice, beautiful, healthy family \u2014 not just for the children and my partner, but also for the people I\u2019ve had to recruit to keep this village alive and functional and healthy.
I find myself being very efficient with how I manage my energy, and also very disciplined. When it\u2019s time to go, it\u2019s time to go. Sometimes calls can be forced, and you put the crew and the film and the project before you and your best interests. But when you can\u2019t only speak for yourself, when you speak on behalf of others who depend on you, those decisions become easier to make. I can say, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, I hear you, but it\u2019s going to have to wait until tomorrow. I have to get home.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does delegating look like for you? How do you know what to take on yourself and what to hand over?<\/strong>
Relinquishing control is important. In order to do that, you really have to curate the people you surround yourself with. You have to ask yourself: Is this person a wonderful addition to my operation? Will I gain more by being in good company, or will this hurt me or cost me more time, energy, effort, and sometimes money?<\/p>\nThat\u2019s not something you learn to do very early on. It comes with experience, and sometimes those experiences aren\u2019t always wonderful. Managing people and working with people is very difficult. But with wisdom and experience, you learn there\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t communicate with love and respect. You can even set boundaries with love and respect. That way, everybody feels safe. You are safe for people, and you are safe with people.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m constantly designing a community for my children. I\u2019m pulling them away from a foundation that is consistent and set in one place. The least I can do is be consistent with the human beings I recruit and gather around my family. Let them be good people. Let there be moral alignment, organizational alignment, work alignment, spiritual alignment. When I step out, and this community steps in to take care of my sons, they\u2019re only gaining. It\u2019s not like the moment I leave, there\u2019s a void that cannot be filled.
I had to surrender this idea that I was always in control. My sons are in control as well. When we have a staff we travel with, how they feel and how they weigh in matters a great deal, because it only helps us flow better.<\/p>\n
As a producer and as a mother, what kinds of stories do you want to make room for now?<\/strong>
As a woman of color, I am yearning to see more content that places people of color throughout history in different roles than the conventional roles we\u2019re used to seeing people of color in. That excites me. I\u2019ve never really seen Bridgerton because, lady, I have three kids and I work nonstop, but I love what Shonda Rhimes did. I think you have to be a diverse person, a person of color, to understand what that means and how important it is.<\/p>\nMy sisters and I have taken it upon ourselves to help people like Shonda Rhimes by taking inspiration and finding IP that puts us in places where we\u2019re dealing with many more matters in life besides civil war, slavery, housekeeping, injustice, activism. What about a marriage in the 1940s where you\u2019re just trying to get by? Maybe we don\u2019t give so much importance to what goes on outside the door of our home because what really matters is what\u2019s going on inside.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what I\u2019m interested in. In a selfish way, it\u2019s what I like to watch. I like to watch humanity unfold in all different spaces with all different faces. That\u2019s how I curate the content I consume as an artist, so it only makes sense that I produce content like that as well.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve received about longevity?<\/strong>
I think all of us women today are having this awareness of ourselves and each other. It is less and less about how the patriarchy may perceive us, or turning off the patriarchy, or scaring off the patriarchy, or being afraid of the patriarchy. It has given us this strength. The strength is coming from solidarity.
We are connecting as strangers, as women of different ages and in different stages. I\u2019m no longer as anxious as I was in my 20s about getting old. I\u2019m here, and I don\u2019t give a f who calls me that word and who doesn\u2019t. I know that I am the master of my own time and how I would like to live it. I\u2019m practicing that every day and encouraging other women to do the same.
I had this wonderful conversation with an actress yesterday evening. I went to a screening of her film, and she\u2019s a little older than I am. This is a role where she killed it. The film isn\u2019t finished yet, and we\u2019re peers, colleagues, friends, sisters in a way. She had this vulnerability where she admitted, \u201cThis is the first time that I\u2019m playing a character that is of an age I never wanted to touch.\u201d The character was much older than she is, and she was being compelled to face herself and where she is today versus living in this ideology of \u201cI\u2019m still the same as I was 25 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\nI felt honored that she felt safe enough to have that moment. My role was not to gaslight her or lie to her. It was to be there with her. I\u2019ve never seen her look so beautiful. I\u2019ve never seen her be so bold and brave. That comes from the fact that I am no longer feeding the taboos and stigmas of \u201cwe don\u2019t talk about this.\u201d Let\u2019s fucking talk about it. You know what\u2019s not cool about being 47? My body aches. That\u2019s the only thing that\u2019s not cool about it. Everything else is incredible.<\/p>\n
What did you used to think ambition required from you that you no longer believe?<\/strong>
I was just feeding the anxiety. That fear of missing out, that fear of stopping and, God forbid, something unimaginable occurs because I slowed down. There was a time when I didn\u2019t even know what I wanted. I just didn\u2019t know how to stop. I didn\u2019t know how to say \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\nMy goals have shifted. I keep saying it\u2019s this Forrest Gump moment, that montage where he starts running and then all of a sudden he\u2019s done running. He turns around and says, \u201cI think I\u2019ll go home now.\u201d The thought of that feels amazing. Just to sit on a bench and wait for my boys to get out of school. I welcome that. I want to honor that as well. Back then, I never wanted to slow down. Right now, I just want to stop running. I want to walk.<\/p>\n
When you do have a moment to celebrate \u2014 big or small \u2014 and what does that actually look like for you?\u00a0<\/strong>
I like hiding with my favorite people. That\u2019s how I celebrate. I yearn for that connection with people I truly trust and feel super-safe with. The past year has been a whirlwind, so I make sure to prioritize plans that allow me to be present and savor the moment. For me, that means seeking moments of joy, whether that\u2019s a family vacation or at-home summer entertaining with my new favorite cocktail, the Grey Goose Berry Rouge Royale. The cocktail is made with its Berry Rouge vodka, lemonade, ros\u00e9, soda water, and fresh berries \u2026 it\u2019s refreshing and flavorful, and I\u2019m so excited for everyone to try it this summer.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s keeping you up at night lately?<\/strong>
Ignorance is keeping me up at night. The level of ignorance I feel we\u2019re surrounded by is overwhelming. It makes me feel trapped and sad.
On a more personal note, it\u2019s overall health. If you\u2019re a mom, you think: Did they drink enough water? What was the sugar content of the day? I have to cut their ends. Have I cut their nails? You think about your partner, whether they\u2019re okay, whether they\u2019re too tired, whether they ate well.
I\u2019m very much a nurturer. It\u2019s the way I take care of my loved ones and think about them. Those are the things that keep me up at night, and extended family as well \u2014 their health and things like that.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n
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