June 4, 2025 • 20 mins
Finding redemption after incarceration might seem impossible, but Taylor Wadkins proves transformation is within reach for anyone willing to embrace change. Growing up in a broken home with an abusive father created a foundation of struggle that followed Taylor into adulthood, eventually landing him in jail. What happened next reveals the extraordinary power of second chances.
Taylor's journey illuminates the critical components of lasting change: family support that returned when he needed it most, structured programs like Hope for Prisoners that provided initial guidance, and finding someone who believed in his potential – both personally and professionally. His wife became a catalyst for setting and achieving goals, while his employer offered not just a job, but mentorship that extended beyond working hours.
The most profound shift occurred when Taylor surrendered his life to God during a company Serve Day. This spiritual foundation helped him navigate subsequent challenges without reverting to destructive patterns. What makes Taylor's story particularly compelling is his revelation about happiness: despite previously making "hundreds of thousands of dollars" selling drugs, he's found genuine contentment in his current life built on faith, family, and purpose.
Taylor's transformation extends beyond personal change – it's creating ripple effects through generations. His improved relationships with parents, siblings, nephews, and nieces demonstrate how one person's growth can heal family systems. His approach to fatherhood, with a baby on the way, shows his commitment to breaking generational cycles of trauma and absence.
For anyone struggling to find their way after incarceration or battling addiction, Taylor offers practical wisdom: find motivation in something positive, seek supportive mentors who elevate your thinking, and remember that your past doesn't define your future. His story stands as powerful proof that with faith, discipline, and the right support system, complete transformation is possible.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, guys?
This is Matt with Avoda Talk,or the Real Matt Walton.
This is your hub for all thingsKingdom business business as
ministry business strategy.
My goal is to provide as muchvalue, minute by minute, each
podcast that you listen to, solet's get to it.
So, what's up, guys?
This is Matt Walton with AvodaTalk, or at the Real Matt Walton
(00:21):
, depending on how you found me.
And today I am super, superexcited because we're
interviewing Taylor Watkinstoday and he is one of my guys
that been able to watch growsubstantially in a short period
of time.
And so when I first met Taylor,Taylor was just getting out.
He was on probation and justreally going through the
(00:42):
transition and looking forsomewhere that he could grow and
and so so we ended up in andhired him through a program out
here.
Actually, you weren't a part ofthe of Hope for Prisoners at
that time.
You know I was, you were OK, soit was that that was how we had
found about you was was throughHope for Prisoners and did an
(01:04):
interview with him and man, justjust, I think you guys are
going to see why I ended uphiring him today.
But it's just his heart, hisdesire, he's got leadership
capabilities.
He is a leader and he's madetremendous growth.
He's come through really,really the trenches and the
gutter and he's elevated to apoint now to where he's a leader
and we're really working withhim to become one of our main
(01:27):
leaders back there in the shop.
And so, without further ado,welcome Taylor.
So I know I introduced you, butif you want to just introduce
yourself and give people just abrief summary of kind of who you
used to be and who you werewhenever I first met you, All
right, so my name is TaylorWatkins.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I come from a little bit of a rough background.
You know my family was broken alittle bit.
Dad was abusive just back andforth between mom and dad, you
know.
So I struggled as a kid andthat kind of carried over into
my adult life, just made somereally bad decisions.
So yeah, cool and.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I think that what's awesome is what y'all are about
to hear is is, again, that waswho Taylor was, and I really
want to get into like, why, whatchanged?
You know, and specifically fromthe aspect of like this job,
how this job has helped kind ofcatalyst you into, you know,
that new Taylor that we get tosee and live with every day.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So before, I went to jail in August.
I got out in October.
I fought my case for six and ahalf months and mentally nothing
changed at all within that time.
You know, I was, and I it didto a certain extent, but it
wasn't like I was at my fullcapability, you know I I still
felt like I was lost, you know.
(02:41):
But my, my family came backaround.
My mom and dad weren't talkingto me before I went to jail.
I went to jail, I fought mycase.
They were supportive the wholetime.
It motivated me, it pushed meto continue to try to do better.
You know, obviously I was onhouse arrest.
I couldn't do much, so I wasstill under the law.
But when I got out, thatsupport continued, it didn't
(03:01):
stop and I was still kind ofinvolved with.
You know, I was involved with agirl I shouldn't have been with
.
So instantly I dropped that andI started making decisions to
better my life for the long haul.
You know, the support continued.
I kind of took it upon myselfto go to Hope for Prisoners and
when I did that I saw life alittle different, you know.
I saw that there was actuallyhope and that I had, you know, a
(03:23):
future ahead of myself andthank goodness to the program
that they helped put that firststepping stone down for me.
You know, after that it was allup to me.
So I just I rocked and rolledwith the program, you know, and
I continued to get that supportfrom my mom and dad and it just
boosted me into a whole notheraltitude, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And it just boosted me into a whole nother altitude,
you know.
That's awesome.
And I want to highlight, too,the you mentioned not talking to
your family, you know, or themnot talking with you, and also
that goes to like your otherfamily as well, outside of your
parents, yeah, and because Iknow there's a lot of people out
there that are in that rightnow, you know.
And so now, how has thatchanged?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Man, I have nephews and nieces are back in my life,
my brothers and sisters.
It's truly a blessing, you know, because it went full, it went
a whole 180.
Everything changed.
You know, it took some time,don't get me wrong.
It took a lot of time.
It took time for me to realizethat I have to let God work his
(04:24):
magic, you know, because he'sgoing to make sure that it
happens.
But I had to be patient.
I had to reassure my mom.
Just be patient, let's just,you know, and I let it be God's
will.
And sure enough, you know,actually, just a month ago about
, I'm back in my nephews andnieces lives, my sister's
talking to me again, I'm back atthe family functions.
You know it, man, it'sbeautiful, that's awesome, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And so now we'll kind of go back just a little bit,
cause some of the things thatI've noticed within you is like
just your consistency on somethings, because there's so many
people that were born, that wereborn leaders or born with
leadership capabilities, but,like we, we have the tendency to
use it for for the wrong thingsand the wrong things, and I was
certainly one of those.
But I feel like from the veryfirst time that you were hired
(05:10):
here, the first couple of months, you know, there was, it wasn't
like it was bad, but there weresome things that were, you know
, a little amiss.
We had some just a fewchallenges, but for me, I
welcome those things because,especially whenever I can see it
in somebody that they've gotsomething special inside of them
.
You know, it's just a matter oftapping into that.
So, and that, without a doubt,is you, and I don't even think
(05:32):
we even begin to scratch thesurface with you.
I think we're just kind of justgetting there and it's so
awesome.
So what were some of thosethings that you were battling at
the beginning and what was thatthing?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
that kind of happened inside of you that changed,
that ultimately led you to lastDecember, whenever you made one
of the biggest decisions of yourlife.
You know and I hope thisdoesn't sound silly but I met
somebody that motivated me to bethe best version of myself.
And, you know, at first we hadups and downs, you know, but my
wife has motivated me to be thebest version of me that I could
possibly be.
I was already there, I wasalready striving for that, you
know.
But she came into my life and Itold her what my goals were.
(06:14):
I hadn't even interviewed hereyet, I was still working at the
call center, like I was, I think, two weeks out of jail, you
know, like I was still.
I was still trying to acclimateto what was going on around me.
And I told her what my goalswere.
And I kid you, not every singlegoal that I told her I completed
within a year, so that thatwoman has pushed me to to a
(06:35):
whole nother level.
You know, I saw a life with herand we got married and I just,
I don't know.
I mean, I do it for me, youknow, but I do it for her and
for my family too, you know,because I want to have a firm
ground.
You know because you know Iwill be having a baby next
January or this January comingup.
So I just want to be the bestversion of me for my family.
(06:56):
You know, for me, for my family, for my wife, for my nephews
and nieces.
You know I want, I want to belooked up to.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You know I want, I want to be looked up to.
That's awesome.
So so now and you're livingthat on a daily basis, I get to
see that and am alwaysencouraged by that.
So I just want you to know that, like I'm constantly motivated
by you and the fact that youshow up and you continue to get
better, it's awesome to see.
I appreciate it.
So now I would say, for me,when I started to really notice
a lot of the growth was wheneveryou got put through the fire
post-December, whenever we wereon a serve day and you're
(07:30):
already trajectoring up right,you're already climbing that
ladder and doing some big things, but then that really was the
catalyst to like launch youforward.
So what happened?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, for 26 years, 27 years, I lived life without
really knowing God right, Reallyjust without the Lord in my
life at all.
Yeah, we went and did Serve Dayand I surrendered my life and,
you know, we had those guysprayed over me, you, donovan,
aaron and yeah, don't get mewrong, a week after that man,
(08:01):
you know, some turmoil hit mylife for sure and I feel like
without God in my life duringthat time, I probably would have
reverted back to my old ways,you know.
But because I was, I hadsurrendered and I had really
redirected my life again, itdefinitely impacted me the way I
was going, you know, because Ifelt like I mean, that was a
(08:23):
pretty tough, tough situation todeal with, right?
So we, we, we live and we learn, and I put all my faith into
God and I let him take care ofit and the support that I had to
help me stay grounded, itpushed me.
And then I continued to diveinto the Bible and I continued
to go to church.
And what's crazy is I was, I wasgoing to church before that For
(08:43):
about a year.
I've been, you know, two yearsnow, but a year before I gave my
life to the Lord, I was goingto church, but I don't think I
understood.
I never understood, I neverreally fully wanted to put my
heart into that and as soon as Idid, my life changed again, you
know, and burdens and thingsthat I would stress about began
to be relieved and, you know,taken away from me, and that
(09:06):
definitely helped, you know,move me forward.
Just that, that extra step.
It's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And it's really cool to see too.
Yeah, because whenever, whenyou, when we started talking and
I don't know if you remember,but at the very end of that I
was like, hey, whenever you'reready, you know, and you're like
man, I'm ready, like right now.
Yeah, and you know, and you'relike man.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I'm, I'm, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Like right now, and you know what, what happened?
What I always tell people whenthey're giving their life to the
Lord is is, you know, nowherein scriptures to talk about
things getting easy.
You know, and in fact we see alot, a lot of things get more
difficult, but just like Christ,with the joy that was set
before him to to conquer deathand sin and to be seated at the
right hand of the Father inheaven.
You know, it's kind of like ourperspective of things.
(09:44):
You know, we try to look atthings as Jesus does.
We go through some verydifficult times, him being our
cornerstone in those times,whenever we get to the position
of where you were in, and thenwe come out of the other side
victorious and stronger becausewe allowed for God to take us
through that and to bring usthrough that and to refine us
(10:06):
and sanctify us through thatwhole entire process and it's so
beautiful.
And so, before we get into kindof getting to the latter part
of your story, I want to ask howhas you know coming here with
all the structure and kind ofthe disciplines and some of the
demands here to consistentlyelevate your game?
How has that impacted your life?
(10:26):
Serve days, prayers, leadershipmeetings, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Well, you know, shout out to the prayer calls on
Mondays, because I think thatkind of helped me having more of
a personal talk about God rightwith a group of guys, instead
of a church or something thatyou're still kind of unclear
about.
It doesn't.
It doesn't impact you like itdoes when you're with a group of
guys that you're comfortablewith.
You know what I mean and that'swhat helped push me to that
(10:51):
surrendering my life.
You know, coming to work everyday and the motivation behind.
We got a blueprint right herethat has kind of funky writing
on it.
We can't really read it, but wegot to figure it out, you know,
like the job demanded that Ifigure it out, you know.
So, with coming to work andhaving challenges like that, it
helps my family life, you know.
(11:12):
It helps me be a better husbandat home, because now I'm
thinking about the next step.
You know I go home and I cleanthe dishes or I'm cooking.
I'm probably going to wash thispan right now so I don't got to
do it later.
You know it just kind of it's a, it's a foundation, you know,
and it's, it's continued to getstronger because of this place,
you know.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
So very grateful no-transcript, just some
(11:52):
friction with a few differentthings.
And I remember I pulled youinto the office and you were
like I am not used I don'tremember your exact words, you
may remember it better than I do, but I am not used to a boss
like having these kind ofconversations with, like, the
owner of a company.
And and I don't remember myexact response, but it was
something along the lines oflike yeah, it's just the way
that we operate, man, because Icare so much about you, the
(12:14):
individual, and I want to seeyou thrive, even if that means
like we may have a little bit offriction right now, but for the
better for the better good.
So just speak on that for aminute.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, we, we got, we got.
We bumped heads.
I think it was like my secondmonth here and I felt like I was
doing good and I had otherother expectations and I wasn't.
I wasn't meeting thoseexpectations and in my head I
thought I was doing great, youknow, but we, we bumped heads on
that and I'm I'm actually, I amgrateful for that, you know
(12:47):
clash that we had for a second,because I think it definitely
built our relationship a littlebit.
It made me not afraid to speakmy mind.
So if I have something I feellike is necessary to say, I'm
gonna say it, you know.
So, you know, I man, so it's,it was, it was period, right,
and it passed and we got past itand I'm I'm grateful that you
(13:08):
know we were able to get past itand you know I'm grateful that
you put time into to my life.
You know I clock out and you'restill invested in in me and
that that means the world to me.
You know, because I am takingthe things that we talk about
with that hour after work and Itake them home and I, you know,
talk to my wife about them.
I talk to my mom and dad aboutthem, you know, and it's it's
(13:31):
changing a lot of things.
You know, the way I treat mywife impacts my, my mom and dad,
you know.
So everything that I'm carryingfrom here to the home is
impacting my whole family.
It really is because I I,because my mom told me this, she
says, taylor because of the wayyou treat Jessica, it's helped
your dad fix some of the thingsthat he knows that he's doing
(13:52):
wrong, right, or that he canimprove on, and it's making
their relationship better.
So that right, there is ablessing, because I love my mom
and dad With all my heart.
Those are my best friends.
So I'm super, I'm supergrateful that the things that we
, we talk about and we we hassuch an impact that is now
really impacting my family.
It's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
It's uh, it's really cool to see because he's not
just using words, he's not justtalking Um, I get to see this
lived out on a day-to-day basis,and so it's really really cool
out on a day-to-day basis, andso it's really really cool.
Taylor's one that has taken thepossibility of this life and
really ran with it, and I thinkthe ceiling has started to be
peeled back a little bit now.
(14:34):
I think that you're starting toreally understand and see
things the way that I see youand really it's the way that the
Lord I believe that Jesus seesyou and your capabilities and
what you have the ability to do.
You know, and we so many times,we have a natural ability, but
we refuse to do all the steps inbetween that natural ability
(14:56):
and the final result in order toget better along the way.
So, so many people, it's easyfor us to stay disciplined
during the eight hours whilewe're at the shop, but as soon
as we leave, we lose all of thatand it comes unraveled to where
we find ourselves climbing thisuphill battle on a day-to-day
basis.
Because we climbed up it, wereached it during the day, we
stayed disciplined and then wefell back down in the evening
(15:17):
time, and it's not to say thatthat doesn't happen every now
and again, right.
I mean, we're human beings,we're always trying to get
better and we sometimes we slipup a little bit, but I don't
even have to know everythingthat you do Like.
You're doing all of those thingsand so it's awesome.
You know we, when we meet,there's always a little bit of
homework involved and you alwayscome back with with hey of
prison or maybe they've been outfor a while and they're
struggling to find their footingor maybe they're, you know,
(15:48):
running, going through you know,some challenging times.
Your story is inspirationalbecause it's like man, I can go
through all of this being lockedup, being struggling with
addiction, fighting cases.
You know stuff with family andstill come out on top and still
and still lead people.
But the one of the best thingsthat you best decisions that you
(16:09):
made was what happened inDecember and surrendering your
life to the Lord, because thenthat's the foundation for
literally everything that thatyou have going on and will have
going on.
What is?
Just a couple more things Iwant to talk about, like looking
ahead, what are youspecifically working on now that
you hadn't been working on inthe past.
That's going to put you whereyou believe that you can be in
life.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well, I'm working on being a dad, right, so that
definitely is going to push meto a whole nother level.
I already know, you know, andyou know, just staying grounded,
knowing what I want, you know,which is I have a great life
right now and I do want to touchon this for a second.
Before I made.
(16:47):
I made hundreds of thousands ofdollars, hundreds of thousands
of dollars, right from the ageof 18 till I went to jail, and I
have never been more happy inmy life than right now.
And I don't have hundreds ofthousands of dollars, you know,
but I'm more happy right now andmore content and at peace than
I've ever been in my entire life, you know, and I'm super, super
(17:07):
, super thankful that God gaveme a second chance you know,
because I was definitely headedin the wrong direction.
You know, my mom told me thatshe thought I was going to end
up dead or in jail, and I'mgrateful I ended up in jail, you
know, but that was my secondchance right there.
It's just motivated me toreally push forward and
(17:28):
understand that there's more tolife than selling drugs.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
So, on that note, how would you?
Because there's kids right now,men, right now, women that are
just getting out, and maybethey've been out for a little
while and they're reallystruggling, you know what do you
say to them man, press into theBible Press, into the Bible
press, into the Bible press,into prayer.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
And if that, if that's not your forte, always
remember that things can beworse, right Cause they can be
worse than than what you'refeeling at that time.
Find something that you love todo and press into that and and
explore that and try to findsome motivation in your life to
keep you going, not to fall back, not to fall short, just to
(18:07):
keep going ahead and you'll findthe light at the end of the
tunnel.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Awesome man.
My encouragement on thebackside of that is man, if you
find somebody it doesn't alwayswork out like this, but if
somebody believes in you, wantsto mentor, disciple you and come
alongside you, your responseshould be let me do everything
that I can or that is asked ofme so that I can continue going
(18:32):
to those next levels.
And obviously that individualthat does that needs to have
what you want, you know, or someversion of what you want,
because it's hard to followbehind somebody that doesn't.
So maybe you have to findsomebody or maybe that person
will find you, but do it.
Do what they ask, you know.
Do what they ask, do the advicethat they give you, because if
you can find that right personor maybe they found you they
(18:52):
really that really cares aboutyou as a human being.
You get cheat codes in therethat will like launch you into a
whole nother dimension of life,and Taylor's done that.
So I'm not like telling Taylorwhat to do here.
Taylor does that.
I mean we talk prettyconsistently, you know, but for
sure you know every three weeksand there's always advice that's
given to you, always, always,even the next day.
(19:12):
You know it's like that one daywe were talking about budgeting
and you came back the next daylike, yeah, I went home and told
my family all this kind ofstuff like put that in motion,
so that right, there is awesome.
And that's what sets you apart,because so many people, you
know they fall into anopportunity.
Maybe they're living in ananswered prayer, but because
they refuse to continue to go tothe next level, they stay stuck
(19:33):
at some things and that's notyou.
Encouragement, man this is kindof a doubling up on the last
question I asked you, but justsome encouragement.
What final thoughts I guess Iwould sum it up with.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You know I would just say just find motivation in
something.
Just find motivation insomething and continue to look
for support from somebody,whether that is a mentor or, you
know, a pastor or just somebodythat can help elevate your
thinking, so that you don't fallback into the old lifestyle
(20:07):
that you're trying to get awayfrom Love that man.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That's awesome.
Well, cool.
We're going to do a part two ofthis, absolutely.
We're going to get in a littlebit deeper on some things.
Really, I think people need tohear your story.
I want to know more about youand more about your story as
well, so we'll definitely do apart two.
But if y'all got any value outof this, please like, share,
subscribe, download it If you'reon podcast and comment FYP.
(20:31):
If you're on Instagram orTikTok, this will help curate
your feed.
And please again comment, like,download whatever it is if this
has made an impact in your life, because we're going to keep
doing this.
But thank you, taylor.
Thank you, sir man.
I'm encouraged by you.
Tune.
What's up, guys?
This is Matt with Avoda Talk,or the Real Matt Walton.
This is your hub for all thingsKingdom business business as
ministry business strategy.
My goal is to provide as muchvalue, minute by minute, each
podcast that you listen to, solet's get to it.
So, what's up, guys?
This is Matt Walton with AvodaTalk, or at the Real Matt Walton
(00:21):
, depending on how you found me.
And today I am super, superexcited because we're
interviewing Taylor Watkinstoday and he is one of my guys
that been able to watch growsubstantially in a short period
of time.
And so when I first met Taylor,Taylor was just getting out.
He was on probation and justreally going through the
(00:42):
transition and looking forsomewhere that he could grow and
and so so we ended up in andhired him through a program out
here.
Actually, you weren't a part ofthe of Hope for Prisoners at
that time.
You know I was, you were OK, soit was that that was how we had
found about you was was throughHope for Prisoners and did an
(01:04):
interview with him and man, justjust, I think you guys are
going to see why I ended uphiring him today.
But it's just his heart, hisdesire, he's got leadership
capabilities.
He is a leader and he's madetremendous growth.
He's come through really,really the trenches and the
gutter and he's elevated to apoint now to where he's a leader
and we're really working withhim to become one of our main
(01:27):
leaders back there in the shop.
And so, without further ado,welcome Taylor.
So I know I introduced you, butif you want to just introduce
yourself and give people just abrief summary of kind of who you
used to be and who you werewhenever I first met you, All
right, so my name is TaylorWatkins.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I come from a little bit of a rough background.
You know my family was broken alittle bit.
Dad was abusive just back andforth between mom and dad, you
know.
So I struggled as a kid andthat kind of carried over into
my adult life, just made somereally bad decisions.
So yeah, cool and.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I think that what's awesome is what y'all are about
to hear is is, again, that waswho Taylor was, and I really
want to get into like, why, whatchanged?
You know, and specifically fromthe aspect of like this job,
how this job has helped kind ofcatalyst you into, you know,
that new Taylor that we get tosee and live with every day.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So before, I went to jail in August.
I got out in October.
I fought my case for six and ahalf months and mentally nothing
changed at all within that time.
You know, I was, and I it didto a certain extent, but it
wasn't like I was at my fullcapability, you know I I still
felt like I was lost, you know.
(02:41):
But my, my family came backaround.
My mom and dad weren't talkingto me before I went to jail.
I went to jail, I fought mycase.
They were supportive the wholetime.
It motivated me, it pushed meto continue to try to do better.
You know, obviously I was onhouse arrest.
I couldn't do much, so I wasstill under the law.
But when I got out, thatsupport continued, it didn't
(03:01):
stop and I was still kind ofinvolved with.
You know, I was involved with agirl I shouldn't have been with
.
So instantly I dropped that andI started making decisions to
better my life for the long haul.
You know, the support continued.
I kind of took it upon myselfto go to Hope for Prisoners and
when I did that I saw life alittle different, you know.
I saw that there was actuallyhope and that I had, you know, a
(03:23):
future ahead of myself andthank goodness to the program
that they helped put that firststepping stone down for me.
You know, after that it was allup to me.
So I just I rocked and rolledwith the program, you know, and
I continued to get that supportfrom my mom and dad and it just
boosted me into a whole notheraltitude, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And it just boosted me into a whole nother altitude,
you know.
That's awesome.
And I want to highlight, too,the you mentioned not talking to
your family, you know, or themnot talking with you, and also
that goes to like your otherfamily as well, outside of your
parents, yeah, and because Iknow there's a lot of people out
there that are in that rightnow, you know.
And so now, how has thatchanged?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Man, I have nephews and nieces are back in my life,
my brothers and sisters.
It's truly a blessing, you know, because it went full, it went
a whole 180.
Everything changed.
You know, it took some time,don't get me wrong.
It took a lot of time.
It took time for me to realizethat I have to let God work his
(04:24):
magic, you know, because he'sgoing to make sure that it
happens.
But I had to be patient.
I had to reassure my mom.
Just be patient, let's just,you know, and I let it be God's
will.
And sure enough, you know,actually, just a month ago about
, I'm back in my nephews andnieces lives, my sister's
talking to me again, I'm back atthe family functions.
You know it, man, it'sbeautiful, that's awesome, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And so now we'll kind of go back just a little bit,
cause some of the things thatI've noticed within you is like
just your consistency on somethings, because there's so many
people that were born, that wereborn leaders or born with
leadership capabilities, but,like we, we have the tendency to
use it for for the wrong thingsand the wrong things, and I was
certainly one of those.
But I feel like from the veryfirst time that you were hired
(05:10):
here, the first couple of months, you know, there was, it wasn't
like it was bad, but there weresome things that were, you know
, a little amiss.
We had some just a fewchallenges, but for me, I
welcome those things because,especially whenever I can see it
in somebody that they've gotsomething special inside of them
.
You know, it's just a matter oftapping into that.
So, and that, without a doubt,is you, and I don't even think
(05:32):
we even begin to scratch thesurface with you.
I think we're just kind of justgetting there and it's so
awesome.
So what were some of thosethings that you were battling at
the beginning and what was thatthing?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
that kind of happened inside of you that changed,
that ultimately led you to lastDecember, whenever you made one
of the biggest decisions of yourlife.
You know and I hope thisdoesn't sound silly but I met
somebody that motivated me to bethe best version of myself.
And, you know, at first we hadups and downs, you know, but my
wife has motivated me to be thebest version of me that I could
possibly be.
I was already there, I wasalready striving for that, you
know.
But she came into my life and Itold her what my goals were.
(06:14):
I hadn't even interviewed hereyet, I was still working at the
call center, like I was, I think, two weeks out of jail, you
know, like I was still.
I was still trying to acclimateto what was going on around me.
And I told her what my goalswere.
And I kid you, not every singlegoal that I told her I completed
within a year, so that thatwoman has pushed me to to a
(06:35):
whole nother level.
You know, I saw a life with herand we got married and I just,
I don't know.
I mean, I do it for me, youknow, but I do it for her and
for my family too, you know,because I want to have a firm
ground.
You know because you know Iwill be having a baby next
January or this January comingup.
So I just want to be the bestversion of me for my family.
(06:56):
You know, for me, for my family, for my wife, for my nephews
and nieces.
You know I want, I want to belooked up to.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You know I want, I want to be looked up to.
That's awesome.
So so now and you're livingthat on a daily basis, I get to
see that and am alwaysencouraged by that.
So I just want you to know that, like I'm constantly motivated
by you and the fact that youshow up and you continue to get
better, it's awesome to see.
I appreciate it.
So now I would say, for me,when I started to really notice
a lot of the growth was wheneveryou got put through the fire
post-December, whenever we wereon a serve day and you're
(07:30):
already trajectoring up right,you're already climbing that
ladder and doing some big things, but then that really was the
catalyst to like launch youforward.
So what happened?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, for 26 years, 27 years, I lived life without
really knowing God right, Reallyjust without the Lord in my
life at all.
Yeah, we went and did Serve Dayand I surrendered my life and,
you know, we had those guysprayed over me, you, donovan,
aaron and yeah, don't get mewrong, a week after that man,
(08:01):
you know, some turmoil hit mylife for sure and I feel like
without God in my life duringthat time, I probably would have
reverted back to my old ways,you know.
But because I was, I hadsurrendered and I had really
redirected my life again, itdefinitely impacted me the way I
was going, you know, because Ifelt like I mean, that was a
(08:23):
pretty tough, tough situation todeal with, right?
So we, we, we live and we learn, and I put all my faith into
God and I let him take care ofit and the support that I had to
help me stay grounded, itpushed me.
And then I continued to diveinto the Bible and I continued
to go to church.
And what's crazy is I was, I wasgoing to church before that For
(08:43):
about a year.
I've been, you know, two yearsnow, but a year before I gave my
life to the Lord, I was goingto church, but I don't think I
understood.
I never understood, I neverreally fully wanted to put my
heart into that and as soon as Idid, my life changed again, you
know, and burdens and thingsthat I would stress about began
to be relieved and, you know,taken away from me, and that
(09:06):
definitely helped, you know,move me forward.
Just that, that extra step.
It's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And it's really cool to see too.
Yeah, because whenever, whenyou, when we started talking and
I don't know if you remember,but at the very end of that I
was like, hey, whenever you'reready, you know, and you're like
man, I'm ready, like right now.
Yeah, and you know, and you'relike man.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I'm, I'm, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Like right now, and you know what, what happened?
What I always tell people whenthey're giving their life to the
Lord is is, you know, nowherein scriptures to talk about
things getting easy.
You know, and in fact we see alot, a lot of things get more
difficult, but just like Christ,with the joy that was set
before him to to conquer deathand sin and to be seated at the
right hand of the Father inheaven.
You know, it's kind of like ourperspective of things.
(09:44):
You know, we try to look atthings as Jesus does.
We go through some verydifficult times, him being our
cornerstone in those times,whenever we get to the position
of where you were in, and thenwe come out of the other side
victorious and stronger becausewe allowed for God to take us
through that and to bring usthrough that and to refine us
(10:06):
and sanctify us through thatwhole entire process and it's so
beautiful.
And so, before we get into kindof getting to the latter part
of your story, I want to ask howhas you know coming here with
all the structure and kind ofthe disciplines and some of the
demands here to consistentlyelevate your game?
How has that impacted your life?
(10:26):
Serve days, prayers, leadershipmeetings, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Well, you know, shout out to the prayer calls on
Mondays, because I think thatkind of helped me having more of
a personal talk about God rightwith a group of guys, instead
of a church or something thatyou're still kind of unclear
about.
It doesn't.
It doesn't impact you like itdoes when you're with a group of
guys that you're comfortablewith.
You know what I mean and that'swhat helped push me to that
(10:51):
surrendering my life.
You know, coming to work everyday and the motivation behind.
We got a blueprint right herethat has kind of funky writing
on it.
We can't really read it, but wegot to figure it out, you know,
like the job demanded that Ifigure it out, you know.
So, with coming to work andhaving challenges like that, it
helps my family life, you know.
(11:12):
It helps me be a better husbandat home, because now I'm
thinking about the next step.
You know I go home and I cleanthe dishes or I'm cooking.
I'm probably going to wash thispan right now so I don't got to
do it later.
You know it just kind of it's a, it's a foundation, you know,
and it's, it's continued to getstronger because of this place,
you know.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
So very grateful no-transcript, just some
(11:52):
friction with a few differentthings.
And I remember I pulled youinto the office and you were
like I am not used I don'tremember your exact words, you
may remember it better than I do, but I am not used to a boss
like having these kind ofconversations with, like, the
owner of a company.
And and I don't remember myexact response, but it was
something along the lines oflike yeah, it's just the way
that we operate, man, because Icare so much about you, the
(12:14):
individual, and I want to seeyou thrive, even if that means
like we may have a little bit offriction right now, but for the
better for the better good.
So just speak on that for aminute.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, we, we got, we got.
We bumped heads.
I think it was like my secondmonth here and I felt like I was
doing good and I had otherother expectations and I wasn't.
I wasn't meeting thoseexpectations and in my head I
thought I was doing great, youknow, but we, we bumped heads on
that and I'm I'm actually, I amgrateful for that, you know
(12:47):
clash that we had for a second,because I think it definitely
built our relationship a littlebit.
It made me not afraid to speakmy mind.
So if I have something I feellike is necessary to say, I'm
gonna say it, you know.
So, you know, I man, so it's,it was, it was period, right,
and it passed and we got past itand I'm I'm grateful that you
(13:08):
know we were able to get past itand you know I'm grateful that
you put time into to my life.
You know I clock out and you'restill invested in in me and
that that means the world to me.
You know, because I am takingthe things that we talk about
with that hour after work and Itake them home and I, you know,
talk to my wife about them.
I talk to my mom and dad aboutthem, you know, and it's it's
(13:31):
changing a lot of things.
You know, the way I treat mywife impacts my, my mom and dad,
you know.
So everything that I'm carryingfrom here to the home is
impacting my whole family.
It really is because I I,because my mom told me this, she
says, taylor because of the wayyou treat Jessica, it's helped
your dad fix some of the thingsthat he knows that he's doing
(13:52):
wrong, right, or that he canimprove on, and it's making
their relationship better.
So that right, there is ablessing, because I love my mom
and dad With all my heart.
Those are my best friends.
So I'm super, I'm supergrateful that the things that we
, we talk about and we we hassuch an impact that is now
really impacting my family.
It's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
It's uh, it's really cool to see because he's not
just using words, he's not justtalking Um, I get to see this
lived out on a day-to-day basis,and so it's really really cool
out on a day-to-day basis, andso it's really really cool.
Taylor's one that has taken thepossibility of this life and
really ran with it, and I thinkthe ceiling has started to be
peeled back a little bit now.
(14:34):
I think that you're starting toreally understand and see
things the way that I see youand really it's the way that the
Lord I believe that Jesus seesyou and your capabilities and
what you have the ability to do.
You know, and we so many times,we have a natural ability, but
we refuse to do all the steps inbetween that natural ability
(14:56):
and the final result in order toget better along the way.
So, so many people, it's easyfor us to stay disciplined
during the eight hours whilewe're at the shop, but as soon
as we leave, we lose all of thatand it comes unraveled to where
we find ourselves climbing thisuphill battle on a day-to-day
basis.
Because we climbed up it, wereached it during the day, we
stayed disciplined and then wefell back down in the evening
(15:17):
time, and it's not to say thatthat doesn't happen every now
and again, right.
I mean, we're human beings,we're always trying to get
better and we sometimes we slipup a little bit, but I don't
even have to know everythingthat you do Like.
You're doing all of those thingsand so it's awesome.
You know we, when we meet,there's always a little bit of
homework involved and you alwayscome back with with hey of
prison or maybe they've been outfor a while and they're
struggling to find their footingor maybe they're, you know,
(15:48):
running, going through you know,some challenging times.
Your story is inspirationalbecause it's like man, I can go
through all of this being lockedup, being struggling with
addiction, fighting cases.
You know stuff with family andstill come out on top and still
and still lead people.
But the one of the best thingsthat you best decisions that you
(16:09):
made was what happened inDecember and surrendering your
life to the Lord, because thenthat's the foundation for
literally everything that thatyou have going on and will have
going on.
What is?
Just a couple more things Iwant to talk about, like looking
ahead, what are youspecifically working on now that
you hadn't been working on inthe past.
That's going to put you whereyou believe that you can be in
life.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well, I'm working on being a dad, right, so that
definitely is going to push meto a whole nother level.
I already know, you know, andyou know, just staying grounded,
knowing what I want, you know,which is I have a great life
right now and I do want to touchon this for a second.
Before I made.
(16:47):
I made hundreds of thousands ofdollars, hundreds of thousands
of dollars, right from the ageof 18 till I went to jail, and I
have never been more happy inmy life than right now.
And I don't have hundreds ofthousands of dollars, you know,
but I'm more happy right now andmore content and at peace than
I've ever been in my entire life, you know, and I'm super, super
(17:07):
, super thankful that God gaveme a second chance you know,
because I was definitely headedin the wrong direction.
You know, my mom told me thatshe thought I was going to end
up dead or in jail, and I'mgrateful I ended up in jail, you
know, but that was my secondchance right there.
It's just motivated me toreally push forward and
(17:28):
understand that there's more tolife than selling drugs.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
So, on that note, how would you?
Because there's kids right now,men, right now, women that are
just getting out, and maybethey've been out for a little
while and they're reallystruggling, you know what do you
say to them man, press into theBible Press, into the Bible
press, into the Bible press,into prayer.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
And if that, if that's not your forte, always
remember that things can beworse, right Cause they can be
worse than than what you'refeeling at that time.
Find something that you love todo and press into that and and
explore that and try to findsome motivation in your life to
keep you going, not to fall back, not to fall short, just to
(18:07):
keep going ahead and you'll findthe light at the end of the
tunnel.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Awesome man.
My encouragement on thebackside of that is man, if you
find somebody it doesn't alwayswork out like this, but if
somebody believes in you, wantsto mentor, disciple you and come
alongside you, your responseshould be let me do everything
that I can or that is asked ofme so that I can continue going
(18:32):
to those next levels.
And obviously that individualthat does that needs to have
what you want, you know, or someversion of what you want,
because it's hard to followbehind somebody that doesn't.
So maybe you have to findsomebody or maybe that person
will find you, but do it.
Do what they ask, you know.
Do what they ask, do the advicethat they give you, because if
you can find that right personor maybe they found you they
(18:52):
really that really cares aboutyou as a human being.
You get cheat codes in therethat will like launch you into a
whole nother dimension of life,and Taylor's done that.
So I'm not like telling Taylorwhat to do here.
Taylor does that.
I mean we talk prettyconsistently, you know, but for
sure you know every three weeksand there's always advice that's
given to you, always, always,even the next day.
(19:12):
You know it's like that one daywe were talking about budgeting
and you came back the next daylike, yeah, I went home and told
my family all this kind ofstuff like put that in motion,
so that right, there is awesome.
And that's what sets you apart,because so many people, you
know they fall into anopportunity.
Maybe they're living in ananswered prayer, but because
they refuse to continue to go tothe next level, they stay stuck
(19:33):
at some things and that's notyou.
Encouragement, man this is kindof a doubling up on the last
question I asked you, but justsome encouragement.
What final thoughts I guess Iwould sum it up with.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You know I would just say just find motivation in
something.
Just find motivation insomething and continue to look
for support from somebody,whether that is a mentor or, you
know, a pastor or just somebodythat can help elevate your
thinking, so that you don't fallback into the old lifestyle
(20:07):
that you're trying to get awayfrom Love that man.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That's awesome.
Well, cool.
We're going to do a part two ofthis, absolutely.
We're going to get in a littlebit deeper on some things.
Really, I think people need tohear your story.
I want to know more about youand more about your story as
well, so we'll definitely do apart two.
But if y'all got any value outof this, please like, share,
subscribe, download it If you'reon podcast and comment FYP.
(20:31):
If you're on Instagram orTikTok, this will help curate
your feed.
And please again comment, like,download whatever it is if this
has made an impact in your life, because we're going to keep
doing this.
But thank you, taylor.
Thank you, sir man.
I'm encouraged by you.
Tune.
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