I have had the fortune of living in three major cities of The World and I am so grateful. By proxy, I have met many famous and well-known people, some who I have had personal relationships with and others that I have done business with or served when I was a waitress/manager.

You might be reading this and be amazed by this but I’m not, it’s not all that it is capped up to be. I have been avoiding writing this because a part of me is still healing from dealing with men who are well-known that I have dated or known and I don’t want to come off as being spiteful.

However, I believe in truth and authenticity. My intention is not to be bitter, it is to be honest and share what I have learnt about meeting people that I used to put on a pedastal.

Here are 3 things that I wish I’d known before meeting most celebrities that I have met.

1. They are human.

I was a manager of a well-known restaurant in New York when I met one of my favorite actresses who was rude, condescending and patronizing towards me. I was so shocked by her behavior that I couldn’t watch her movies for a few years because when I did, it took me back to being treated like that.

She was recently on a podcast where she explains why she left Hollywood and continued to say it is a place where you feel insecure most of the time. Although, I am skeptical about her genuine growth as a person, it gave me another perspective. I was so stuck in my upset about her that I forgot that she is human and it was time for me to separate her from her characters so that I could watch her movies again. And, to free myself of resentment. I felt a sense of relief and watched one of them that week, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Hearing her say that reminded me to stop taking what people do so personally, no matter how personal it feels at the time.

2. Famous people are not immune from the human struggle.

I have never fully told this story before, so brace yourself! I used to work at a rooftop bar in New York City and, one night a famous actor kept trying to ask me out and for my number. I have a few solid rules about dating, some of them are: I will never date someone I have met in a bar, I will never date someone I have met on the street and I will never date a student of mine. For different reasons obviously.

When I turned him down, I had not expected him to seem so upset about it because I had a misconception about him that he could’ve moved on to another one of my colleague’s. But, he didn’t. At the time, he had a famous series that had just come out and was set to win a bunch of awards so I ignorantly thought that he could handle rejection.

That night, I saw someone who had won an Oscar and been on glamorous magazines feel the same rejection that I had seen from a man on the streets. And, I felt badly for him. Even though this happened three years ago, it has stuck with me and I remember it often. In fact, sometimes I want to reach and apologize but then I remember my ‘no dating’ actors rule and I don’t.

That night, I saw with my own eyes that these famous people are not immune to struggle like the rest of us.

3. In life, no one is above anyone else.

I have been very vocal about my ex-boyfriend who is a well-known Music Producer and how we ended things. He was one of my biggest teachers and I do not regret him being in my life, at all.

We met at a yoga studio that I taught at but before I did, I admired his music and had no intentions of being with him. It feels surreal to say that someone I admired was so close to me at a certain point in my life. So when I hear a song that he made about me, my Ego wants to jump up and think I am better than others when that is not the case. God and life humbling me quickly reminds me of that.

It sounds so clichéd because it’s true: we all cry, feel joy, love and feel pain the same. And just when we think someone is above us, we are reminded of why they aren’t. Regardless of our money status, house status, marital status or what we have done, we are all human and deserve to be treated as such.