Etienne Maurice And Ivy Coco Are Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Secret Ingredients
VIBE Lineage is an interview series with the heirs of Black excellence. Now that their legendary predecessors have gained high regards in their own right, these younger kin are blazing their own trails.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s modern renaissance is kind of a funny story according to her two children, Etienne Maurice and Ivy Coco. The millennials are the driving force behind the Emmy winner’s rise on social media since she joined the award-winning Abbott Elementary cast in 2021. Ralph has been a household name since the ‘90s due to her starring roles in Moesha and Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit. Decades later, she was tapped as one of the Super Bowl LVII openers to sing the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice And Sing.” During our animated Zoom call, Maurice, 31, expressed, “I never thought that my mother would be opening up for Rihanna. I never thought that could ever happen.”
Not only has the 66-year-old accomplished a few of her wildest dreams in recent years, but the Dreamgirls pioneer is now somewhat of a budding muse in the fashion world. Maurice serves as Ralph’s content director and Coco is her mother’s stylist. Though their professional and personal lives intertwine even more than their younger years, the trio is embracing Ralph’s newly-cultivated image as a family. The best part for them is that their foundation is rock steady, so this new wave of popularity feels complimentary to their dynamic.
“We’ve been like this. We have not changed,” said Maurice, filmmaker and WalkGoodLA founder. “I think now, with our mom being on the number one TV show in the world, has given all of us a platform and a bigger stage for us to show the world the love that we have for each other. So, I think people are really resonating with the energy and the vibe that we carry in our everyday lives.”
Asserting herself in the chat, Coco chimed in, “I love that our love is so palpable. I’m glad that everybody can feel that and that people can relate to that as well. Like Etienne said, this is just a part of who we are and it’s different when it’s being showcased on a different level because our environments have changed, but who we are, solely, hasn’t. Our love for each other has always remained the same. And so, I think that’s so powerful because nothing can change us because our love is stronger than anything else.”
From faking sick to get a chance to hang out on the Moesha set and being enamored by the Blackness of the set, the brother-sister duo have merged their career paths to help not only their mother, but themselves. During our exchange, the two explain how things fell into place for their family, react to Ralph’s Emmy win, and their end goals.
This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.
VIBE: When your mother got cast in Abbott Elementary, did you think it would all wind up like this?
Etienne Maurice: I bump into Quinta [Brunson] at this party, and she’s like, ’Etienne, I’m going to get your mom the Emmy.’ And I was like, ’Okay.’
I just thought she was just talking out the side of her neck. But she really believed that she could get mommy the opportunity to be nominated for an Emmy. But not even just nominated, win an Emmy. And when you hear someone say that, you know, you don’t take them seriously because you know that they mean well and they have the passion, they have the drive to make sure that your mother is seen in the light. That they want to make sure that your mother is shown in the light that you’ve always seen them. And it was a very surreal experience when mommy got nominated, and then actually won. And I just keep going back to that moment when she told me that… When she was deadass and said that she was going to get mommy that Emmy. And I thought to myself, I was like, ’Wow, manifestation and dreams really do come true. If you have the conviction, if you have the power and the will, anything can happen.’ And she made it happen.
She sure did. And I still get goosebumps from watching your reaction video at the Emmys that night. After this four decade long career, what was the first thought that went through your head when you all reconnected as a family after she won?
Ivy Coco: When we reunited, we [sat] in my mom’s hotel room, chatting about the future and just like how Etienne and I see our futures and just these moments of being with our parents, wanting this legacy to continue, to have kids one day to experience these great moments, and how do we expand as a family and as a brand. We just wanted to be with each other. And I was like, “Wow…” That was a moment that was very shifting for me, personally, because I knew in that moment, that in life, I want to do all of the goods in my life with my family.
This is a testament to how you all love each other and celebrate each other. What is your end goal when it comes to what you’re all working on, individually?
Etienne Maurice: I think, for me, my passion is really building community. I started my nonprofit, WalkGoodLA, which is a branch of my production company, WalkGood Productions. And we are striving towards bringing people together from all walks of life and telling stories from all walks of life, through the arts, health, and wellness. That is my goal—to continue to be able to shift and build culture digitally, in a space where people can, not only create, but heal and to be able to not harbor their traumas and to be able to use that energy to create beautiful work. I think my vulnerability in sharing my traumas and my triumphs has allowed me to build that community. The fact that our mom is now at the height of her career, it only helps amplify the work that me and my family have been doing in the last couple of years. And so, Ivy, she’s my vice president, and then our cousin, Marley, she’s our director of health and wellness, so we really are a family run organization.
And before Ivy answers, I want you to just explain what does WalkGood mean, for those who don’t know?
Etienne Maurice: So, ”walk good” is a Jamaican euphemism. It means take care, be careful when you go out into the world. It’s something that our grandmother, Ivy Ralph would tell us, may she rest in peace. It was an homage to my Jamaican grandmother and heritage, and it has become a way in which I’ve been able to encourage people to walk good and to be good to themselves when they’re out in the world.
Ivy Coco: I genuinely just want to inspire people through art. And be a game changer for other black creatives. Being a stylist, it’s not just about making somebody look good and just feel good, but who they’re wearing can change people’s lives. I have a passion for styling that mature Black woman like my mom. I think that that’s a genre that people don’t tap into enough.
And I think there’s so much power through art and fashion that I learned through our grandmother, Ivy Ralph. Everything that we do is rooted in our culture, in our family, and I love that we can be our grandparents’ legacy, our parents’ legacy, by doing exactly what we love.
Aside from you wanting to put younger designers on mature legacy acts, what would you say is the process behind planning her looks? Do you always have a vision in mind, or is it just an extension of her personal style?
Ivy Coco: Oh well, first of all, my mom is my greatest muse. She knows who she is, she knows how to walk on a red carpet, so it’s not difficult styling her. I do challenge her to get out of her comfort zone, which is very interesting when you’re styling more mature women. One of my other clients is Lisa Leslie, so working with both of them has really taught me that sometimes you got to get people a little uncomfortable to be comfortable. I truly believe that [my mom’s] an icon. She’s redefining what black luxury looks like.
Etienne Maurice: She’s legit a superstar. I was saying that to Coco and my mom the other day—Mommy literally is the modern day superstar. There is nobody I know that has reached this level of success, and we’ve seen it happen in real time, exponentially. But it’s like a resurgence of fame because mommy has been famous for decades, for generations. But every generation, there’s always a new somebody. But now, Mom’s that girl.
In a sense, will you say that because you guys are younger and have a different outlook on life, you’re kind of breathing new life into your mom as a legend and how she presents herself to the world?
Etienne Maurice: Yeah, actually, it’s interesting. I think I’ve been thinking about this a lot, actually. With Ivy being a stylist, Ivy has always had a very keen eye and a very specific sense of style. And Ivy knows how to really put the pieces to the puzzle, make it fit. And you might not see it, but she has the vision. For me, my vision is content creation. So anything that happens or if there’s a video, if there’s an idea that I come up with, I instantly know it’s going to go viral or it’s going to be a moment. And so, with our skills, we have identified how we fit in the presentation of Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Ivy Coco: It’s been amazing to see Etienne and I seamlessly be in this transition of her career with her. The crazy thing is that you don’t realize your gifts and what you’re actually capable of, or where God is going to take you and your gifts. It was really just aligned timing and divine timing, but also knowing the power and where your gifts are going to guide you. Because I don’t think Etienne and I were like, ’Oh, we’re going to be on mom’s team and we’re going to build her new career.’
EM: This was not planned.
IC: This was not planned. Etienne didn’t even know we were going to run a whole company together. It’s just us being able to know what our gifts are and share it with the world.
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