For Better Or Best Podcast
Hosts Charles Beloved and Shireen Kuykendoll talk marriage, family life, Black love, and entrepreneurship. Join them every Wednesday where they share their experiences and give the audience a taste of how they balance chaos with blessings.
Episodes
June 18, 2025 • 35 mins
Season 3 finale! We did it, Joe! Every season there's a moment of questioning whether or not to continue the pod, but the outpouring of love, support and encouragement has grown more and more, so we will keep the party going. Shireen and Charles circle back to the Oxtail Off and how they forgot to mention their silent partner; ChatGPT. Shireen says she and Charles were early on the AI bandwagon, and he credits Morgan Debaun, CEO of...
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June 11, 2025 • 49 mins
It's giving double date! We've got our first married guests, close friends and chosen family Jessica and Marcus Cromartie on today's episode. Charles kicks it off by sharing how he met Jess in NYC many years ago, while she was building her influencer profile. Now 10+ years later, they've been apart of each other's journeys into marriage/parenthood. Marcus joined the friend group 5 years ago, citing that he and Jess became friends f...
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May 27, 2025 • 50 mins
Take it easy! We're all coming down from the high of the Oxtail Off this weekend, and this time EP BK is in the guest seat! Charles and Shireen both share their gratitude, relief and exhaustion that comes with pulling off such an awesome event. Shireen explains how the joining of cultures is so important to her, since Charles is African American and Shireen is second generation Antiguan. Charles shares that his first time making ox...
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May 21, 2025 • 53 mins
Back in full effect, Charles and Shireen are joined by their long time friend, music manager and visionary Gordan Dillard. They kick off talking about being a transplant in NYC and hustling. Coming from the Bay, Gordan was motivated by the music industry culture on the east coast. NYC provided lessons and pressure for him, when he was living in his aunt's basement, interning at a label and working at Aldo. Gordan says he always wan...
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May 14, 2025 • 42 mins
This week has been nonstop! Charles and Shireen kick off the episode with fatigue, citing their son CJ's recital, a Netflix screening and of course the Cowboy Carter concert. Shireen breaks down the process of paying top dollar for floor seats for Beyonce and the discovering how much more they spent compared to the website. After a bunch of calls, hemming and hawing and submitting evidence to AmEx, they managed to get part of their...
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May 7, 2025 • 43 mins
This week is all about that cash money! Shireen comes in hot, saying that Charles is having an existential crisis. Charles pretends not to know what that big word means so Shireen explains how introspective Charles has been in 2025, trying to establish the work/life balance. Charles still can't believe how much money he made in 2024, both of them have reached new heights in their careers. He also shares that he has spent more days ...
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April 30, 2025 • 71 mins
Ok so we know we said no guests this season but an exception had to be made for Chi Town Tina, the queen mother of Charles Beloved himself! They go back to the 80's when Shontina and Charles' father were 19 and 20yrs old, married and working. Shontina explains feeling older than she was, even before kids, because life was moving fast. Enter Charles' brother and the birth of Beloved. Their parents didn't stay together for long, and ...
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April 23, 2025 • 42 mins
Charles and Shireen are fresh off the plane from Dubai, and it's spring break! Every year they take a family trip, last year was Paris and this year their son CJ had been mentioning the Burj Kalifa nonstop, so Dubai was the choice. Charles says Mexico City was his initial pick, but after pricing it out, surprisingly Dubai made more sense. Shireen was anti Dubai because she was supposed to be pregnant and she didn't want to be in ma...
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April 9, 2025 • 37 mins
Goes to Trinidad Carnival once: and now we're being introduced to Bacchanal Beloved. Clearly the brand is strong and expanding! Shireen being of Antiguan and Jamaican descent, she's always had ties to the experience "on di road" as Charles says. His good friend Kareem is Trinidadian and wanted to experience his first carnival at home so Charles went with him. Shireen breaks down the costs of carnival; both financially and physicall...
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April 2, 2025 • 36 mins
Charles and Shireen are back in their fashion bag, Charles kicks off the episode giving Shireen her flowers for not only looking good but also getting in her own corporate bag; hosting panels in tech spaces. She acknowledges enjoying moderating/interviewing, as Charles takes credit for encouraging her(2:01-5:26). Shireen revisits the sensitive subject of IVF, and shares the challenges of the process, updating us that she is not cur...
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March 26, 2025 • 39 mins
Your favorite couple is back for season 3! Initially Charles was so busy with work last year that he wasn't sure he'd make the return for another season. Luckily someone approached him at AfroTech to remind him how valuable the show is so he decided to give it another go(1:12-2:45). We pick up right where we left off, sharing a recap of EssenceFest last summer, where Shireen put in extra effort to capture content for Charles. They ...
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July 3, 2024 • 48 mins
This episode is said to be our season finale (allegedly) and Shireen is flying solo without Charles. She is happily joined by one of her best friends, content creator, free diving mermaid and travel aficionado Rene Daniella, known on social media as @ownbyfemme. Shireen gives her guest her flowers, complimenting how intentional Rene is about posting on social media. Rene takes us through her journey to becoming an influencer. She s...
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June 25, 2024 • 53 mins
After giving Shireen more flowers this week, the Kuykendolls are joined by one of their favorites, Scottie Beam. Charles recalls meeting Scottie at his first Revolt event in Chicago and knowing immediately that she was a star. Shireen remembered watching Scottie at ComplexCon, realizing how much she makes Black women and men feel seen. Scottie acknowledges everyone, always says hello, always stops to take pictures. Charles asks how...
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June 12, 2024 • 41 mins
This week the Kuykendolls dive into making a decision about having baby girl Beloved. Charles recalls the first episode ever being about the vasectomy and now 15 months later they're preparing to go through the process of IVF. Shireen says that he revealed he really wanted a little girl during her 37 week ultrasound while pregnant with Carter and she thought he was joking. Now that Carter is almost 2 and Shireen's snapback is crazy...
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June 5, 2024 • 40 mins
Barely-making-it Beloved is fresh off of a flight to join Shireen and their guest, occupational therapist, Shardia Washington. Her intro defines what her exact medical title means as they discuss the very touchy topic of children. Identifying developmental hurdles as a parent can be tough. Shireen shares that their second son Carter was a little delayed in his ability to stand and walk as a 1 year old, and being familiar with CJ's ...
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May 29, 2024 • 68 mins
Friends, how many of us have them?! This week the Kuykendolls are joined by good friends Jae Murphy (DJ, host, artist) and Alex Hill (chef, food blogger, content creator). The guests start off disucissing their HBCU experiences, Jae was at Howard for broadcast journalism and Alex went to Hampton for PR/marketing. Charles gushes about wanting his kids going to HBCUs, for all the perks of culture and networking. Jae pledged Kappa and...
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May 22, 2024 • 50 mins
Blow-A-Bag Beloved is back with his wonderful queen Shireen, outfits matching, per usual. After exchanging pleasantries, compliments and big words, the two dive right in. People are pocket watching! Aesthetics and luxury are important, but working really hard to get a deal is too. Shireen spills the tea on the Palm Springs outlets and mentions that they Google the best prices for all the items she's looking for. Charles mentions hi...
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May 14, 2024 • 42 mins
The Kuykendolls are back for a solo episode this week, after several deep chats with friends! It felt like a good time to share some personal health changes that both Charles and Shireen had been experiencing. Charles makes it a point to declare he is politically correct Beloved and doesn't speak on womens' bodies, but says that seeing Shireen pregnant, he thought she was the most beautiful. Shireen has lost a considerable amount o...
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May 8, 2024 • 49 mins
This week, Charles and Shireen are joined by content creator/researcher/entrepreneur Taiwo Ade and award-winning producer and journalist Krystal Franklin. Charles starts off professing his love for Instagram, citing that its his favorite social media platform. He talks about connecting with both guests via mutual friends that introfuced them to connect at AfroTech. Charles emphasizes how much of a good networking tool IG has become...
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May 1, 2024 • 42 mins
Shireen and "Bespoke Beloved" kick off the episode recalling what it felt like receiving the news that Charles was being laid off and the friendship assessments that took place. He explains that 90% of his close friends were there to support him in new endeavors but that 10% that he felt he had invested so much into, didn't show up as he'd expected. Reciprocity was different. Joined by their good friend and psychotherapist Brittany...
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