Innermix

Back on July 18th, I posted a link to my friend, Maria Cisneros Toth's YouTube channel that featured a band called Innermix. Maria wrote their bio's and I wanted to share them. Their lives are quiet extraordinary. Here are their stories:

Simply D & Jules

 Simply D and Jules were speeding along life’s highway when their music careers merged. The good friends met after Simply D discovered Jules on a social media site as he scouted new talent for his management company, DefCon One Entertainment. The artists quickly connected, recognizing they had more in common than their lifelong passion for music.

 “Even though we had different [life situations] and experiences, the feelings were the same when we were going through things,” says Jules, who was one of two lead singers in an all girls’ group before signing on with DefCon.  “The dark times, good times, times of pain, times of loss—all of the emotions are very similar.”

As children, while Jules dealt with feelings of abandonment after her parents moved back to Korea, leaving her alone in California with a host family, a younger D forged his way through the shadows after losing most of his sight at five years old.

But even as youngsters, with all of life’s emotional scrapes and bruises, the pair never gave up.  D says, “I had to go through so much in my life that wrong was something I had to go through to get something right.”

Their inner strength, deep Christian faith, and belief in themselves helped Jules and Simply D get past the rough times. Now, when the duo writes a new song, they reach into their hearts for inspiration. And when the words come out of their mouths, the audience connects with their honesty and genuine emotion. “We use all of our gifts and creative outlets that God has given us to motivate others,” Jules says.

After singing and writing songs with Simply D for four years, Jules signed another contract with DefCon One Entertainment—this time as a business partner.  Soon after, Simply D and Jules decided to take their message of hope to a whole new level. The multi-media artists merged all of their talents and formed a new company called Innermix.  That same year, in 2011, The Innermix Show launched and aired on Shine Factory Radio. The weekly online talk show gained an international following, and the entertainers’ success led to producing a new program for television—The Innermix Show Live.

“The Innermix Show Live is all about hope, pursuing dreams, and improving one’s quality of life,” says Simply D, who also works as a life and relationship coach.

The half-hour talk show coined, The Morning Show of Love and Relationships, features straightforward discussions, balancing the weight of heavy topics with a scoop of humor Innermix style. “Our goal is to help people get their lives back on a positive track so they can fulfil their dreams and get to where they want to travel in life,” says D. He also adds that technology is changing how people perceive themselves. “The Internet age is too easy to compare oneself with others. We want you to see yourself and navigate your life effectively.”

                 The TV co-hosts’ banter is like Yin and Yang. “We listen to each other and anticipate what the other is going to say,” says Jules, who is also an actress. She laughs. “We were probably twins in another lifetime.”

And just as others have encouraged Jules and D along life’s bumpy highway, they’d like to pay it forward by sharing their knowledge with others.

Says Simply D, who has always felt his mission in life is to help people feel better about their own, “Lives changes with a little encouragement.”

Meet Simply D

The Innermix Show Live co-host Simply D observes the world differently from most people. The energetic performer with the contagious smile, positive attitude, and a mountain of hope lost most of his sight by the time he was five years old. But his blindness didn’t stop him then and it’s not slowing him down now. The talk show host is on a mission. He wants to teach others how to tap into their own inner strength as he did after his world went dark.

At age four, Simply D’s older brother, Lamar, was diagnosed with a genetic eye disorder. Within weeks, the same condition was also detected in Simply D, eleven months younger than Lamar. “One day my brother took a nap and when he woke up he was blind.”

After D’s first surgery, like any other boy, D was anxious to get to the playground. He remembers racing another boy up a circular, geometrical dome structure. Little D scrambled upward and won the race. But the other child became angry and shoved D, making him lose his balance.  “I can still hear my head hitting each [steel] rung as I fell.”

                He underwent surgery, but young D lost his sight in his right eye and retained a little in his left. Two months later, he returned to the playground and played with the same boy who pushed him. “I was mad at him for about a week and then we were playing and jumping off swings again.”

                Even as a young person, D could not hold a grudge for very long.

                By the second grade, D was reading braille and learned how to use a braille writer. But with a brother who was completely blind and a sighted sister who had privileges he didn’t have, little D became frustrated. “I wanted to be fully blind or fully sighted. To be in the middle made me feel not complete in my mind.”

Not knowing how to process his emotions, D rebelled. “I was like a volcano with a lot of anger. I couldn’t give myself more sight. But I knew if I hit my head hard enough, I’d lose my sight.” The school sent him to a psychologist. He had to wear a helmet to prevent him from injuring himself.

                A surprising breakthrough came in the form of music. It helped calm his anxiety. D began doing something constructive. He wrote song lyrics and his brother put together musical arrangements for him. D’s creativity shined. He credits his mother with his love of music. When he had nightmares, she’d hug him close and sing to him. “Music is the way I breathe. It helps me to identify what’s going on internally and to work it out.” Without realizing it, young D had begun to tap into his inner strength. And his positive attitude was like a magnet, attracting more positive experiences to his life.

                D was excited when Hollywood paid a visit to his school for the blind. Actor/director Michael Landon hired some of the children to appear as extras on Highway to Heaven. Landon took a particular interest in D and his brother and invited them to act in more episodes. One day on the set, D swung on a rope swing like Tarzan. Tightly holding on, he built his momentum. “Every time the rope slowed, I was afraid to jump, afraid to let go.”

Landon walked up to him. “So, what are you going to do now that you’re swinging?” The actor, who played an angel on the popular TV show, told D, “You jump and I’ll catch you.” Little D let go of the rope and was surprised and happy when he landed on his feet. “Michael [Landon] was the first to teach me how not to be afraid to take risks in life. He never treated us like we were disabled.”

But in a sighted world, D would still need to learn how to overcome more barriers.

High-school remedial math became a problem for D when it came time to learn algebra. With his partial sight, he couldn’t see the lines on the blackboard. So, during lunch period, his math teacher taught him how to do algebra by using a deck of playing cards. “The following semester,” D said, “I became a math tutor.”

In high school, D was also a peer counselor. And later in college, he was the comforter, the go-to guy when people needed someone to talk with about their problems. “I felt I was here for people to feel better about their own lives. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t that person. I really care about people.”

On his twenty-second birthday, Simply D proved how much he cared when tragedy hit home. His stepfather, who’d been on dialysis, died in D’s arms. “I talked to him the whole time,” he explained. “I had to let him know he wasn’t by himself.”

Ironically, his stepfather’s passing would prepare him for the unfathomable. Four years later, D’s infant son died. The baby’s umbilical cord had become twisted in the womb. “My dad’s death prepared me to go through this with my son. It helped me to be there for my wife.”

                Now a father of two children, Simply D and his beautiful wife, Juanita, have learned how to work through the tough times with humor. D is a believer in cartoon therapy, because when life gets sad and complicated, cartoons get people laughing again. And the singer/songwriter loves to laugh—a lot. Simply D also draws his inner strength from his deep faith in God, in his family, in singing his heart out, and in staying positive no matter what life sends his way.  D says, “I always stay positive, because anything else takes too much energy.”

Meet Jules

The Innermix Show Live TV co-host, Jules is self-motivated, determined, level-headed, intelligent, funny, and radiates confidence. But the singer-songwriter hasn’t always believed in herself. As a child, she confronted hardships no kid should have to face alone. While little girls often dream of their future weddings, Jules remembers planning her funeral, wondering what kind of flowers she’d have on her casket, and who would show.

Her childhood daydream haunted her into adulthood. “I had very real issues: family issues, relationship issues, bouts with depression, and an eating disorder. I had so many things happen that God led me to where I am today. That makes me confident, because I know I overcame those things.”

Jules’s story began in Korea. As a youngster, she liked to draw and wanted to learn how to paint. Her mother enrolled her in an afterschool program where Jules discovered her passion for the arts. “I wanted to become a painter,” she said, “but my parents told me I was going to starve to death.”

Years later, when she expressed her desire to pursue a singing career, she received the same disapproval. “In Korea, the arts are considered a hobby, extracurricular, not a career. My parents wanted me to become a doctor or someone who works in research, but I said no.”

In spite of her parents’ disapproval, Jules chased after her dreams, but it hasn’t always been a smooth highway for the singer. When she was eight years old, her family relocated to the United States only to return to Korea five years later, leaving Jules behind to live with a host family. Her father, a minister, and her mother wanted their eldest daughter to have the opportunity of an American education. They’d hoped once she graduated from college, she’d return to their homeland and find a respectable, good-paying job.

Thirteen and in the eighth grade, Jules felt lonely and abandoned. She studied hard and made good grades, which pleased her mother and father. In high school, the shy teenager, who was now working full-time, ventured out of her comfort zone and joined the orchestra, tried out for musicals, and became a part of a jazz singing group. “In the school’s courtyard, I’d sing Mariah Carey harmonies with my girlfriends.”

During her senior year, Jules auditioned for a chance to sing the National Anthem at the homecoming football game. She was excited when she was chosen to sing the patriotic song before a large audience. Her performance turned out to be magical.

“The entire stadium was filled. I was so nervous and sang the song with my eyes closed. When I opened them, everyone was on their feet and clapping. I got a standing ovation. I remember the feeling, the energy. It makes me want to experience it all over again.”

Standing on that football field, Jules decided she really wanted to pursue a singing career more than anything. While still waiting tables full-time and attending college, she began performing with different singing groups. She was on her way to obtaining her dream.

 But sometimes people make plans and God smiles. Jules’s younger brother and sister were sent to America to live with her.  Jules’s parents wanted the children to have the same opportunities as their older sister. Between working toward her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and the added responsibility and stress of raising her siblings, there wasn’t much time left in the day for herself. Overwhelmed, she almost considered quitting.

Jules pressed onward. While juggling her career with her busy life, she began singing background for other artists. A rap group hired her without first listening to her voice. “They secretly hoped I could sing.” This opportunity propelled her to a contract with a producer. Jules wrote songs with him for an album, and soon she was performing as one of two lead singers of a promising pop girls’ group modeled after the Pussycat Dolls. “I remember one time hearing one of my songs playing on the radio and I almost got into a car accident on the freeway.”

Jules’s dream was finally coming true. She had to work hard to get there, but at last it was happening. During this time, she got a phone call from Simply D, a singer/songwriter and manager at DefCon One Entertainment. He had discovered Jules on a popular social media site, MySpace. He liked her sound and wanted to record a duet with her. Since she currently had representation, she declined his offer. Several months later, due to creative differences and management difficulties, Jules left the girls’ group.

Then, out of the blue, Jules received another phone call from a persistent Simply D. “Our first phone conversation lasted for five hours. I don’t do that. Never.”

After an audition with D, she signed on with DefCon One Entertainment. And for the past seven years, the talented and ambitious duo have co-written and recorded fifty songs together.

And Simply D had other plans for Jules. “I just wanted to sing, but D opened me up to more opportunities like acting. When he approached me about doing a radio show, I told him I had no experience in radio, and he said, “Just do it!”

Five years after signing on as an artist with DefCon One Entertainment, Jules became a business partner with the company. Soon after, she and her partner, Simply D, formed Innermix.

Innermix is the blended talents of multi-media personalities Jules and Simply D. By the end of the same year, the pair was offered their own talk show. In the summer of 2011, The Innermix Show Live launched and aired on Shine Factory Radio. The high-energy call-in show focused on love and relationships. The program gained an international audience, but now with more than one hundred and fifty episodes, Jules is ready to embark on another new and exciting Innermix adventure. She and Simply D are taking their talk show to television—The Innermix Show Live. Jules hopes viewers will look at them and say, “They made it through it [the hard times] and I can make it, too.”

                Jules, who also works in the fashion business, reflects on her journey. “I was very insecure in certain times of my life. It’s only because I’ve gone through so much that I now know I can deal with those things and survive and stand here today and talk about it without feeling I’m going to crumble inside.”

                As her Innermix family continues to grow, Jules hopes to keep growing, too. “I want to become better at everything I do.”

                Now, that once lonely little girl, who daydreamed of her funeral, is now looking forward to the day she gets to plan her own wedding.