‘Duck Dynasty’ alum Sadie Robertson talks new book ‘Live’
Sadie Robertson dishes on her book ‘Live,’ marriage, and lifelong mission to spread the word of God.
LOS ANGELES – Sadie Robertson has made it her mission to inspire people, and through her gospel and the books she’s penned, has managed to touch hundreds of thousands of folks looking for guidance in their everyday lives.
The 22-year-old “Duck Dynasty” alum, and new wife to Christian Huff, said she knew at the tender age of five that she would move the world with her voice and proved the revelation true at the start of the year when she gave a sermon to over 65,000 young Christians at Passion 2020 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Robertson said she prepared to give her address for a year before she actually took the stage for the big event.
With her whirlwind journey -- bringing with it an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” and speaking engagements in addition to her success as an author -- Robertson said she marveled in the opportunity to take a step back from it all and enjoy her life, a stout devotion to her husband, her faith and family.
AT PASSION 2020, COLLEGE STUDENTS RAISE OVER $1.2M FOR THIS CAUSE
Sadie Robertson seen with husband Christian Huff. (HarperCollins)
The newlywed sat down with Fox News about her latest book, “Live: Remain Alive, Be Alive at a Specified Time, Have an Exciting or Fulfilling Life,” and dished on how she would combat the negativity that’s come with carrying an elevated platform.
Fox News: Does it ever get old hearing your name as a “New York Times” bestselling author?
Sadie Robertson: I would’ve never thought that. I wouldn’t have even thought I would have written a book. I struggled reading books in school. So, no. No way, I didn’t think that. It will never get old, and it’s really wild.
Fox News: Where do you draw your inspiration from for the titles you write?
Robertson: It’s normally, honestly, what I’m going through right in the moment. You know, whenever I wrote ‘Live Original,’ I was a sophomore in high school dealing with, like, how am I supposed to be confident, you know, everybody is saying to you to be confident who you are and you’re like looking around anybody else and you’re like, ‘How do I do that?’
Sadie Robertson seen in a press photo for her latest book, 'Live.' (HarperCollins)
And so, that was kind of my journey on finding that, being confident who I originally am that God created me to be. And then the next book, I was going through a whole, like, anxiety time. I didn’t know how to be ‘Fearless’ or write about that. And, honestly, these books are really healing for me because it’s me learning how to deal with whatever problem I’m going through at the time, through faith, through my scriptures, through God, and then writing about them, because I know that other people can probably relate.
And, it’s no different with ‘Live.’ And so, it’s normally right where I’m at, right when I’m going through. I always say, if anything, I want my books to just be like a sister and a friend to a person who needs a sister and a friend. And so, that’s why I try to do in all my writing. I don’t try to put the deepest thought ever. It’s not like, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard that before.’ It’s just a reminder of, ‘Hey, somebody loves you, somebody says that you can be confident in who God is and your creative purpose,’ and that’s kind of at the heart of all the books and inspiration.
Fox News: Looking back at the sermon you gave at Passion 2020, what was that feeling like of having the ear of 60,000-plus people?
Robertson: Yeah. That makes me breathe deep even just thinking about that feeling, knowing that at Passion there’s 65,000 people in the room. But then, you don’t even account for how many people are watching online and how many people will eventually watch online. And so, you know that you do have the world’s ear and you’re about to say something and you have 30 minutes to say whatever you want to say that’s going to be heard by so many people.
Over 65,000 students attended Passion 2020. (Austin Rapp/Passion 2020)
And I think, what probably not a lot of people would think about, that goes into that, is just the weight that you carry whenever you know there’s a lot of people listening. And, I do not want to go up there and say anything for 30 minutes that doesn’t matter. I don’t want to go up there and just say fluff. I don’t wanna go up there and say something that would pump me up, hype me up. I want to say something that is going to pour into these people and it’s actually going to create an impact because I’ve been on the receiving end when I’m sitting in a passion situation and somebody speaks a word that changes the trajectory of my life. And, sort of like knowing that I have an opportunity, do that – and the Bible talks about how the tongue holds the power of life and death – I take that so seriously. I have the opportunity to speak something that’s going to activate life in somebody else.
And so, yeah, I take it really seriously. I literally thought about what I was gonna say for a year, prayed about it every day. My husband, I prayed about it. I mean, like – talked about it all the time. Because, what's said in one second was probably thought about for hours and prayed about for hours, just because when you have 30 minutes with such an impact, you got to make sure those words really matter.
"Everybody has somebody who's just annoying and saying annoying things while you're trying to do something awesome."
Fox News: Public speaking seems to come so easy for you. When did you know you wanted to spread the word of God?
Robertson: So good! Honestly, I used to preach when I was, like, 5 years old. I didn’t really know it at the time but my mom has videos and me like, getting on our kitchen table and, like, preaching at my parents and being, like, ‘It doesn’t matter what you've done, God loves you,’ and I’m like, five. And, I also did, like, a little cheer, and I would say, ‘Let’s give it up for God.’ So, my speaking has changed a little bit through the method over the years, but honestly, come high school, I would have never thought I was going to speak. I was scared of everything. I was scared to talk in class. Like, if somebody called me, popcorn-style, I’d be shaking because I also kind of had a reading problem.
'Live: Remain Alive, be Alive at a Specified Time, Have an Exciting or Fulfilling Life,' by Sadie Robertson.
And so, it was just difficult for me, and I was afraid to speak out loud. I was really scared I was going to comprehend it wrong or whatever, so I didn't think I was gonna do that until ‘Duck Dynasty’ started and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ happened, and I kind of hit this crossroads where I’m like, ‘What am I going to do in my life? Am I going to go to college and am I going to go into the entertainment industry?’ Because, that’s where all the doors were opening, but neither one of them kind of seemed like the right answer.
And so, in that meantime of kind of praying about what I was going to do, I went to this camp, and at the camp, this woman came out and spoke. She gave a message, and the whole time she was talking, I was so impacted by it. And, I was like, you know what? I’m going to do that because I’m watching her talk and every word that she’s saying means something to me, and it’s making a difference in my life. And, I was like, I have a lot of people listening to me. I have a lot of people watching me right now, and I want to make that kind of impact that when I say something, it actually matters and, like, actually does something in somebody else’s life.
And so, through that, the books came, the speaking came, the tours came. So, I think I’ve always kind of had since I was little, an ability to communicate with people about Jesus because I just love the Lord and that comes out. But then, I think getting older and realizing I can go this way or this way. I want to go this way because I know that I know that God is really on this, and I know that if I speak things through his word, that actually has power on people’s life.
Fox News: What will readers take away from this book in how to deal with social media hate?
Sadie Robertson seen in a press photo for her latest book, 'Live.' (HarperCollins)
Robertson: Yeah, I think the ‘Hater Strategy’ is a great one. You know, a lot of people always ask me, ‘How do you deal with the hate?’ And, you know, I think that they’re asking me that because they see that I have an elevated platform. And so, that comes with hate, but I think people are also asking that because everybody who goes through hate, everybody, has a hater.
Everybody has somebody who’s just annoying and saying annoying things while you’re trying to do something awesome. And so, you know, I felt like that was an important thing to put in the book. Here’s a hater strategy and it actually comes from a story in the Bible that you would probably never think a hater is at. But hey, haters have been around for thousands and thousands of years. It’s nothing new, so let’s learn from people who have gone through it.
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You know, for me, I always just talk about, you want to know who your people are. On Instagram, those aren’t your people. Those are people and you want to value them for the people that they are. But, those aren’t your people, so don’t let them speak into your life and don’t let that hold value in your life. You have to have your people to speak that life into you. And so, that’s kind of how I go through the hater thing. But also, I wrote about that in the book. I think other things from the book I hope people really grasp is just the idea that, ‘Hey, there’s a path of life and death. You go this route. This is what you're going to deal with. If you go to this route, this is what's going to flow from that.’
Fox News: Was it more difficult to write your first book or perform on ‘Dancing with the Stars?’
Author and actress Sadie Robertson, right, and husband Christian Huff visiting Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" at Universal Studios Hollywood on Feb. 26. (Paul Archuleta/Getty Images, File)
Robertson: That’s a great question. OK. I will say it’s different because writing a book, you have time and it’s, like, in private. OK. It’s very hard, though. It’s one of the most challenging things ever because it pushes you in like a super-vulnerable way and you walk through everything you’re writing, so that’s hard. But then, ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ it’s in public, live and on camera, millions of people watching you. Two different types of pressures.
Fox News: What have you learned about yourself since becoming a wife?
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Robertson: Gosh, I learned a lot already in marriage. It’s funny, I did get lucky. I married Christian from Niceville, Fla. So, Christian from Niceville. I did marry a really great man. [It’s] not just his name and where he’s from – he’s amazing, and he’s taught me a lot about life. I think one thing that marriage has taught me and I told somebody this the other day, I think it teaches you a lot about God’s love because I think before Christian and I ever met, I was so hard on myself and I had so much self-doubt.
"I think [marriage] teaches you a lot about God's love because I think before Christian and I ever met, I was so hard on myself and I had so much self-doubt."
And, a lot of that came from wondering if God would be pleased with me. I wondered if I did this right. I wondered if I went too far. All the things – it’s like, you are hard on yourself and you’re putting condemnation on yourself, but God’s love is so extravagant, and that’s not how God views you, but that’s how you view yourself. And, in return, you can kind of put that on relationships around you and on even your faith.
When I met Christian, his love is so sweet and so kind and so grace-filled that the times that I would be hard on myself, I would see the grace and the love he would extend to me and be like, wow, that’s real love, and that’s really a powerful thing. And, I’ve watched myself really walk away from that self-doubt and walk into a true confidence, because just the way that he affirms me and I look at that relationship and think about that love and that’s me and Christian, that’s human. And then, I think about what is God’s perfect love? Wow, that’s overwhelming.
Fox News: What is a typical day like for you and your husband Christian?
Robertson: Gosh, every day is different, honestly. People are like, ‘Where do you live?’ And, I’m like, I don't even know because home is wherever my husband is right now, because home is everywhere. Yeah, it’s crazy. I guess whenever we are home – if we were going to have a chill day – say it’s like a scenario, perfect chill day. We’d wake up, we’d turn on worship on our TV. We would hang out with our little dog, Cabo. We’d go play tennis for sure – for a long time. We’d make a smoothie – like, we love to chill when we chill. But, tennis is our go-to activity. That’s probably good for your mental health too. But... if it’s not a chill day, we are somewhere on the road traveling somewhere.
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Fox News: What do you wish to accomplish in marriage and life that, for you, would be everything wrapped in a bow?
Robertson: That’s so good. Honestly, I think I’m going from my parents on this because my whole message was, ‘Live Original,’ right. But, that whole message came from my dad nicknaming me ‘The Original,’ and my mom really loving us in such a way that she wanted each and every one of her kids to be very independent and to go out and do what they were called to do.
She never held us back... she loves us, but she was never like, ‘Oh, you can’t go. I don’t want you to go.’ She was like, ‘Is that what God’s calling you to? Go.’ Or, even before I even realized it, she’d be like, ‘That is what God’s calling you to, and you’re gonna go.’
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And, I just really appreciate that, and I think for Christian and I and for our kids, I want to make sure that we value who they are individually as original people, but love them all the same. Because, I think if you know that who you are individually is loved, then you can accomplish so many great things in confidence knowing, ‘Man, this is who I’m supposed to be,’ and this is something that is very lovable.
Fox News: Why do you think people connected so well with your family on ‘Duck Dynasty?’
Robertson: I think it’s just family. It’s just family and it’s loving each other, and I think the thing is, we didn’t try to create drama that wasn’t there. Our drama, if there was any, was just from real-life stuff that you have with family. But, at the end of the day, every single time, we were holding hands and praying, and I think people want to see [that].
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You know, the TV world will tell you that people want to see drama, they want to see gossip, they want to see this, this and that. But, people actually want to see family coming together and they want to see love and they want to see joy and they want to see people who are happy because we want to be happy and we want our families to be together and we want peace and we want joy.
And so, I think that’s what it was. It’s what everybody was craving and there was a spot on television for us to be able to be in that, which is such a blessing. But, I think people just needed that refreshment.
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