Keke Palmer Only Wants One Thing This Summer

Keke Palmer is tired. It’s been non-stop for the Emmy award-winning actress, singer/songwriter, and producer, who’s not only balancing memoir-writing (Master of Me hits shelves in November) with operating her media company KeyTV, raising her son, and starring in countless films, but she also just wrapped a tour for Pride. Her next stop: a performance at the 2024 Essence Festival in New Orleans. 

So, when Chelsea Sanders, VP and cofounder of Unbothered, asked the question, “What does it look like for us to own our summers?” on the latest episode of Go Off, Sis — the second half of a special two-part series done in partnership with Target — Palmer’s immediate (and rightful) response was: “rest and relaxation.” 

“We’re not in school anymore where we get to take the whole summer off, so I’m going to be doing some work, but I’m really pushing myself to dialing it back so that I can enjoy it a little more,” Palmer explains. “And what’s relaxation for me? Hanging out in my backyard, having a barbecue, going for a swim at my mom's house…just chilling and doing what we did as kids in the summertime, which is to take a little break, to not be overly active, and to just do whatever comes to you that day.”

And to do all that without any guilt — which can be especially tough when we tether our purpose to work, when we tether our work to self-worth. “I feel most like myself when I’m working, and that’s why I work so much — and I think the three of us have that in common,” says Kathleen Newman-Bremang, co-host and deputy director global at Unbothered. “We say yes to all these things, we take on so much because we love our jobs, and we love work…we have all attached our purpose to our work in a capitalist sense, and we need to unlearn that.”

For Sanders, that means prioritizing self-care and doing all the things she loves, like her hour-long walks. “I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and be like, ‘Okay, that’s her. She’s that girl, and that’s Chelsea,’” she says. 

Hit play to listen to the entire Go Off, Sis episode, featuring profound takes on the difference between good and great, what it means to have ambition, how much better it is to be in your 30s, and so much more.