Its a sweltering July morning in Nashville andHaliey Welchhas just ordered her first ever cafe Cubano.
she hollers to her friend, Chelsea Bradford, one booth over.
You have to try some of this!
Brittany Bell*
You gotta give em that hawk tuah and spit on that thang!
Welch said on camera, summoning a gutturalspittingnoise.
While waiting for an Uber, a passerby also clocked her.
He kept saying, Youreher.
I said, No, Im not, and got in the car.
Maybe this was, like, Gods gift to me or something, she says.
Everything thats gonna come from this, its gonna be something good.
Welch is tiny like, really tiny.
Im paranoid about that, she says.
If Im in a big crowd, Im looking around to see who alls around me.
(When I point this out to Welch, she stops eating to ask, Who is that?
but lights up with recognition when she learns her publicist also reps country singer Justin Moore.)
Its hard for Welch to explain exactly how she wants to parlay her fame into a career.
I can see it going that route, she says.
I want to do something that actually matters and make a difference, Welch says.
Thats what the world needs.
Today, that means helping animals.
After breakfast, she and Bradford are going to PetSmart to buy supplies to donate to the local pound.
They always run away or get run over, she sighs.
I think the world needed to laugh, Bradford says when asked to explain her friends appeal.
Haliey was able to make everyone stop and laugh together.
Welch was raised by her paternal grandmother from nine months old, and still lives with her today.
Ive never had anything to do with her, Welch says.
She points to a tattoo she got last winter on her right ribcage that reads Still I Rise.
After all the shit Ive been through?
Still I rise, she says.
Im like, are you shittin me?
These people are making money off of me and theyre not even me!
Welch has made her share of loot too, though.
Some framed it as Welch speaking out against the presidential candidate.
I dont want to be in the middle of it.
Whoever you want to be president, thats your business.
Whats my opinion to you?
And I was talking about looks-wise.
Donald Trump, Im sure youre a nice man, but you aint getting thehawkfrom me.
Hes old enough to be my granddaddy.
In fact, not many people are chosen to hear Welchs catchphrase.
I dont like attention on me and now its all over me, she says.
I cant even walk in Walmart without somebody coming up to me going, Are you her?
Welch shoots a devious smile.
They will before its over with.
