Crystal Reneé Hayslett is in motion. The actress audiences came to know from Tyler Perry’s Sistas and Zatima has been carving out her own corner of the culture with Keep It Positive, Sweetie—a talk series that sits somewhere between a living room confessional and a Sunday service sidebar. Now, the show has a new home: Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network, distributed by iHeartMedia.
Hayslett dropped the news during her recent stop on The Breakfast Club, folding her growing empire into a platform designed to amplify Black voices. It’s a natural fit. Since launching in 2023, KIPS has racked up more than 11 million YouTube views, drawing fans who show up for Hayslett’s mix of humor, honesty, and the kind of spiritual grounding that feels rare in today’s algorithm economy.
“Joining The Black Effect Podcast Network is a meaningful moment for me,” Hayslett said. “KIPS is all about bringing comfort and empowerment to our culture.”
The debut episode under the new banner features Kandi Burruss, the ever-expanding entrepreneur, Grammy-winning songwriter, and reality TV mainstay. And that’s the playbook: Hayslett puts big names on her couch, but the draw isn’t just celebrity—it’s the texture of the conversations. She’s less interested in hot takes and more in how people navigate growth, faith, and healing.
Hayslett has been steadily building KIPS into a full-scale brand. She’s self-produced two sold-out live shows, staged activations at the BET Experience and Sarah Jakes Roberts’ Woman Evolve Conference, and taken her audience from YouTube clips to IRL communion. A live winter show is already on deck for November 22 in Washington, D.C.
For Hayslett, the shift into media is an expansion, not a pivot. Her acting roots remain visible, but KIPS is the work of a producer and architect—someone intent on shaping a platform rather than waiting for a script. That makes her alignment with Black Effect significant. As Dollie S. Bishop, the network’s president, put it: “’Keep It Positive, Sweetie’ has built a powerful community that shows up for honest conversations, healing and growth – this aligns perfectly with our mission.”
With season nine underway and a powerful network at her back, Hayslett is less in a reinvention era than a scaling era. What started as a show has become a movement, and now, a machine.