May 21, 2025 • 36 mins
🎙️ Brand Lincoln Podcast | Visionary Youth – Mentorship, Mental Health, and the Power of Community Action
Sponsored by Perch Merch – Screen printing, embroidery, and promotional products for businesses that actually care. Visit Perch-Merch.com.
đź’ˇ Episode Overview:
In this episode of Brand Lincoln, we’re joined by Dr. Lawrence Chatters and KB Mensah, the co-founders of Visionary Youth—a nonprofit reshaping what community support really looks like.
What started with a simple idea—offering free back-to-school haircuts for kids—has grown into a powerful movement combining mentorship, mental health awareness, and dignity-driven giving. From Thanksgiving turkey giveaways to a mobile barbershop that doubles as a safe space for teens to talk about life, Visionary Youth is building programs that meet real needs in real time.
We dive into the MIND program, an innovative blend of grooming and guidance, the stories that inspired this mission, and the honest challenges that come with funding community work in today’s world. This episode is equal parts heart, hustle, and hope for what local action can achieve.
🎯 What You’ll Learn:
✔️ How one haircut sparked a city-wide youth empowerment movement
 ✔️ Why dignity matters in community outreach—especially for kids
✔️ How Visionary Youth is merging barbering with mental health support
✔️ The strategy behind events like the Thanksgiving Drive and Toy Giveaway
✔️ What it takes to build trust with underserved families
✔️ The role of volunteers, fundraising, and creative partnerships in sustaining nonprofit impact
✔️ The vision for expanding mentorship and mental health programs across Lincoln and beyond
đź’Ą Why This Episode Matters:
If you’ve ever questioned whether a small idea can make a big difference—this episode is your proof. Visionary Youth isn’t just another nonprofit. It’s a blueprint for what happens when people lead with empathy, show up consistently, and find new ways to serve the next generation.
📢 Stay Connected:
📲 Follow Brand Lincoln — @BrandLincolnPodcast on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook & YouTube
🛍️ Need merch with a mission? Visit Perch-Merch.com
đź‘Ť Like, subscribe, and share this episode to support grassroots change in our community
Keywords: Visionary Youth, community service, youth mentoring, mental health, nonprofit Lincoln Nebraska, MIND program, barbershop mentorship, local nonprofits, youth empowerment, toy drive, back to school, community engagement, Perch Merch, Brand Lincoln Podcast, Lincoln NE support programs
🎧 Brought to you by Perch Merch — where your merch game doesn’t flake, fade, or fall apart like a bad business partner. Check out the fun stuff: Perch-Merch.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Welcome to the Brand Lincoln Podcast, the show where
we dig into the stories behindLincoln's most inspiring
business owners and influentialpeople.
It's where big ideas and evenbigger personalities collide.
Proudly sponsored by PerchMerch, your one-stop shop for
screen printing, embroidery, andpromotional products that make
your brand unforgettable.
Call us at 402-217-5212 or visitus at perch-merch.com to give
(00:25):
your business the glow up itdeserves.
And don't just listen, be a trueHey everybody, welcome to
another episode of BrandLincoln.
(00:49):
I am your host, Chris Beecham,joined by my co-host, Henry
Schmidt.
Hi, Chris.
And Joe Cruz.
Hello, everyone.
Okay, so today in the PerchMerch studio, we have Dr.
Lawrence Chatters and KB Mensah.
He goes by KB because, what isit though?
Because I don't even know how tosay it.
SPEAKER_05 (01:07):
KB.
Yeah.
No, it's Cordina.
SPEAKER_03 (01:11):
Okay.
I thought it was a lot morecomplicated.
You've told me this like 10times.
SPEAKER_05 (01:16):
And when I was in school...
And, you know, when the teacherhad to say your name, I was
like, I was the first one.
KB, please.
KB.
SPEAKER_03 (01:24):
Yeah, that's probably good.
Yeah.
Well, when my mom filled out myhigh school thing at the very
beginning, she apparentlydecided my first name was just C
instead of Chris.
And my middle name was A.
So all through high school, C,A, Beecham.
And I'm like, no, just Chris.
My mom didn't know how to spellit all out or I don't even know.
(01:45):
So these guys are with VisionaryYouth.
Hi, guys.
How are you doing?
Okay, tell us, what
SPEAKER_05 (01:52):
is Visionary Youth?
Visionary Youth is a nonprofit.
Our mission is to serve thefamilies and help the youth.
So through programming,resources, and other, other
avenues that we do.
Events, Dr.
(02:14):
Chatters, when he came up withthis, he came to me and said,
KB, I see you doing a lot ofthings in the community, but you
need to turn it into anonprofit.
And I looked at him like, it'stoo much work.
I don't want to do it.
I just want to keep on beingable to provide haircuts and,
(02:34):
you know, the community's comingthrough with the backpacks, food
and everything like that.
I'm like, he's like, no, youneed a nonprofit because it's
help you even more.
You can impact more of thecommunity.
And I was like, okay.
So I put the work in.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
What year are we talking?
When did this start?
It started about 2019.
And that was when it becameofficial.
So I think We have a lot ofbusiness people around this
table, including myself, and weknow the difference between
amateur and professional, right?
So you're amateur, you're justdoing it for fun in your
basement.
You got, you know, somethinggoing on here and there.
(03:11):
You turn professional, you haveto follow the rules, the laws,
and you have to do itofficially.
And I think when I saw what hehad going on, it started out
with a back to school haircutevent.
And that thing just absolutelyblew up.
There was a significant need.
Which still is, and is a greatprogram.
Absolutely.
That, I mean, it's an amazingthing.
So what happened is, basically,there was more demand than we
(03:35):
could really support.
And...
What I told him was, if youbecome a nonprofit, then what
you provide is a tax opportunityfor businesses to give you
funding, but then get a taxdeduction for it.
And that wasn't necessarily thecase when it wasn't official.
And so that's why I reallyencouraged him to go in the
direction of creating anonprofit.
And I had some experience increating a nonprofit myself.
(03:56):
And so I said, I'll help you outwith it.
And then, of course, anytime youtell KB you're going to help him
with something, he continues tobother you for like the next
like, you know, or if you tellhim you're going to do anything.
It's very management.
Is it?
Is it bothering or just guiding?
So it's bothering you to get—Politely aggressive is what we
learned from Rachel Bart.
Right.
(04:17):
Politely aggressive.
I like that.
I like that.
So he was politely aggressive inmaking sure that I followed
through on what I told him I wasgoing to do for him.
Man.
And that's important, right?
SPEAKER_03 (04:28):
It is.
It is.
So for those that don't know,tell us what that back-to-school
haircut program is and how itworks.
SPEAKER_05 (04:36):
Man, like you say, it started in 2019.
It was getting so big.
We was on 27th and O Street.
I had six barbers, six stylists,and we're on this busy street,
27th and O, if you know where itis, the crossroad, busy street.
I mean, we had bouncy houses,food.
(04:57):
It was just like a little partyof everything.
And I'm realizing that There's alot of kids here.
We can't have it on this busystreet no more because it's the
safety.
SPEAKER_01 (05:06):
Yeah, it was an accident waiting to happen.
But it was a free event.
It was free.
SPEAKER_05 (05:10):
And kids could come and get their hair cut.
All the resources.
No, they didn't blow up there.
They just got a haircut.
Wrong wording.
School supplies.
Parents used to drop their kidsoff.
I'm like, you need to come back.
I get it.
There's a little line thatyou're waiting on.
(05:30):
But you need to come back foryour kid, like, they were like,
I lost my mom.
Where's she at?
She said she'd be back.
Oh, man.
So, I mean, so I would say,like, we relocated to 11th and M
and the College of Hair Designwhere they have the upstairs and
downstairs.
It's like they can supply about,I think about 80 to 85 barbers
(05:54):
and stylists.
So my mission was to go outthere and find the best of the
best barbers and stylists tocome and cut and And we started
out with 75.
And last year, we was able togive out 1,200 haircuts.
We got some hair vouchers.
So I say we did like 600haircuts, gave out 600 hair
(06:15):
vouchers so they can come backand get the haircut again.
Because when we do this, wealways want to see how can we up
the game even more and be moreprecise on what we're trying to
do and be more efficient andcreative.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
trying
SPEAKER_05 (06:30):
to...
SPEAKER_01 (06:30):
So tell them how long the events last for,
because I mean, 600 haircuts,like...
How many hours?
That's literally like fivehours.
SPEAKER_05 (06:39):
Always.
Yeah.
From 10 to 4, and the people arethere at 8 o'clock ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (06:45):
I can't make this up.
8 o'clock, they're ready to go.
Lining up.
Barbers and stylists together.
We have a plethora of foodthat's just lined up.
I mean, donuts.
We have Hertz.
We have Lamar's.
We have oranges and apples.
We have, I think— We close downthe streets from the 12th all
the way to 11th.
So we have that whole block thatwe pit all types of activities
(07:08):
and resources in.
And I'm talking about like fromLincoln and Link to Literacy to
the city libraries be there togive out books.
We have
SPEAKER_01 (07:18):
people with like dental information, vision
information.
I mean, it is a it is anabsolute mixture of services for
folks who don't get thoseservices, but they're there.
Mainly the draw is freebackpack, free haircut, right?
Backpack has supplies in it forthe school year.
So you remember we all used togo to the store to get stuff to
go back to school.
(07:38):
Some people got more thanothers, right?
We pack those bags with all thestuff they need for school.
And then we also do shoevouchers so they can go and get
some new sneakers before theyhit the classroom.
SPEAKER_05 (07:49):
We wanted to provide all these resources to give
them, but they didn't have tomake that choice on, should I
get some pants or should I getyour haircut?
No.
As a kid, when you get your haircut, you look good, you feel
good, you want to performbetter.
And I wanted all these...
I do that now.
Yes.
Right.
I wanted all these kids to feelgood when they go to school and
(08:10):
be on the same level as theother kids.
And I didn't want them to belike, you know...
to be looked at in a differentway.
And now they got a backpack andthey got socks and underwears.
I think people don't think aboutthe undergarments.
Some kids go to school with nounderwear, no socks, and they
just hope for the best.
So we try to provide that forthem.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Oh, I mean, as you can imagine, it's just a
Herculean task to pull all thisstuff together.
and get all the sponsors.
And we're talking about probablybetween$75,000 to$100,000 worth
of stuff that we have to get forthis event.
And essentially, KB was doingall this stuff on his own and
(08:53):
did not necessarily havevolunteers to help with setting
stuff up.
And so he was just doing allthis work on his own.
And so as we became moreofficial in 2019, we were able
to start getting volunteers.
We were able to start gettingadditional funding and
sponsorships.
And it really has just blossomedinto something amazing.
So this year upcoming will bethe what year?
(09:16):
13th.
13th.
13th annual.
So started in 2012 and it's justcontinued to grow.
And again, the demand seems togrow too.
And I think more people hearabout it and they're like, hey,
you have to go to this eventbecause there's performances
now.
He didn't mention theperformances.
There's a DJ out there.
There's a DJ?
Joe's a DJ.
He could do it.
Are you a DJ?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:37):
That way, you know, you can just...
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
Volunteer.
Volunteer.
Right,
SPEAKER_03 (09:41):
right.
I don't know if that's anecessary...
Oh,
SPEAKER_05 (09:45):
you play music.
Are you a dist?
Hmm, okay.
All right.
No, I mean, like I said, he...
No, we're both DJs, so, youknow, anytime
SPEAKER_02 (09:55):
we hear
SPEAKER_01 (09:55):
somebody say they're a DJ, we're like, what kind of
DJ are you?
Do you just press play?
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Yeah.
He's a wedding DJ.
I do a nice crossfade.
Okay, okay, okay.
You light on the crossfader Youknow, I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
Are we talking haircuts?
So, yeah.
But it's just turned into anamazing event.
And that's just one of theevents that we do on a yearly
basis.
That's just one.
SPEAKER_03 (10:15):
Well, I knew about that one, but I did not know it
was that big.
Oh,
SPEAKER_05 (10:18):
it's
SPEAKER_03 (10:18):
big.
That's why you're going to comeout
SPEAKER_05 (10:19):
there.
Come out, yeah.
You're going to sponsorsomething.
SPEAKER_03 (10:22):
Yeah.
No, we're in.
Okay.
Perfect.
We got some time.
Yeah.
So, what are the other events?
We have
SPEAKER_05 (10:28):
a Thanksgiving event.
Last year, we was able to giveout 1,200 turkeys with the
fixings.
I'm talking about...
Mashed potatoes, green beans,anything that you get things
with stuffing.
A pie.
We had cake mix.
I'm telling you, cake icing.
Anything you can think of with aThanksgiving meal.
We gave out socks, underwear,gloves, hats, coats just to get
(10:49):
them ready for the winter.
We know how important that
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
is.
I mean, just imagine.
The weight of 1,200 turkeys.
That's a crazy number.
So we have a semi that'srefrigerated, pull up outside.
Right.
And there's a fraternity thathelps us that they just make
sure that those turkeys areready to go.
They're just unloading turkeysliterally all day.
Lines wrapped around thebuilding.
The people come in.
We walk around with them.
(11:12):
Each person gets a host thatwalks through the space with
them to help carry the bag.
It's that VIP treatment.
We provide high-level customerservice to folks.
Yeah, no, I love that.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (11:21):
And they get to walk with the people and get to hear
their story.
Their story.
That's more important.
I mean, we have at leastanywhere from 75 to 100
volunteers.
Volunteers.
SPEAKER_01 (11:31):
Yep.
SPEAKER_05 (11:31):
Yeah.
And the greatest thing about ournonprofit is that our volunteers
come back.
again and again each year.
So, I mean, I love to see thatwhen they can come back and they
love the events.
And then we do a toy drive aswell.
Last year, we partnered withCenter for People, gave out
3,300 toys to 660 families.
(11:53):
And why is that important to us?
We know that people want tocelebrate.
Some of them can't.
And just for them to be able toget a toy and just a gift on
that special day and to see thatkid just light up.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
And just to talk a little more about the toy
giveaway.
You know, what we really providein that space is, again, a host
for each person.
And I'm kind of going back tosome of the previous ones that
we've done a host for eachperson as they walk through the
space.
And we have toys that are avariety of toys and they get to
actually shop a bit in the spaceso they can point at things that
they believe their kids wouldlike.
(12:33):
That's important because most ofthe time when you're receiving
something now, you know,
SPEAKER_05 (12:37):
this
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
will
SPEAKER_05 (12:38):
be happy with it.
But
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
at the same time, I mean, we know our kids,
sometimes they just don't wantwhat you're giving.
And so to have some choice inthat matter, we think provides
more dignity.
And we also feel like to be ableto walk out of there with a
range of things, not only thetoys, but we also make sure they
get those essentials again,socks, underwear, coats, you
know, different things likethat.
Yeah.
(12:59):
We feel that that really makesthat a special holiday and it
provides them with something togive to their families.
So it takes, again, some of thatburden off.
And I think both of us have beenin situations where, you know,
you're young and you've got ayoung family.
You just can't make it happenaround that Christmas time, you
know, trying to figure out howare you going to make it all
work.
And so to be able to providethat to families is an absolute
(13:20):
blessing for us.
SPEAKER_05 (13:21):
See, he's talking about me.
You know, I got seven kids.
SPEAKER_01 (13:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I only have two.
So, you know, this man has likea basketball team and a couple
of subs, you know what I'msaying?
SPEAKER_05 (13:29):
That's what I was doing it for.
I was like, yo, y'all gonna helpme.
They was like, okay.
Right.
We do one more thing that's nearand dear to our hearts, and it's
called the MIND program, whereit's mentoring in new
dimensions.
And that came about Dr.
Chatters.
He's a psychologist.
(13:49):
I'm a barber.
And we wanted to put two thingstogether.
You know, when you get a cuddle,you look good, you feel good.
But It's barbers that mentorthese youth for 10 weeks, 45
minutes.
They get to have thoseintentional conversations over
the 10-week time.
We have a curriculum that we goby.
And then the next 45 minutes,they get to spend with a mental
(14:12):
health therapist.
And then they really get to diveinto who they are and express
themselves and what they want todo in the future.
This
SPEAKER_01 (14:20):
program is like First of all, it's one of the
most innovative counseling slashmentoring programs in the
country right now because it alltakes place.
He forgot to tell you this parton a 35 foot bus.
that was retrofitted to be abarbershop.
SPEAKER_05 (14:36):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:37):
So this thing pulls up.
You go into it.
It's a bonafide barbershop onwheels.
SPEAKER_05 (14:42):
We're talking about four chairs.
SPEAKER_01 (14:43):
Four chairs in there.
All the mirrors, everything.
I mean, the lighting.
Shampoo bowl.
It's amazing.
That's right.
There's a TV in there.
There's a nice sound system.
I mean, it is a barber shop onwheels.
And it's also...
a therapy office on wheels.
And so what's really cool isthat, you know, him being a
barber and me being apsychologist, we talk all the
(15:04):
time and, you know, we're reallygood friends too.
And so I go into the shop and Ijust sit in there sometimes and
listen to the conversations thatare happening with the barbers.
And I'm like, man, you know, asa psychologist, sometimes I
don't even really get to some ofthis content with my people.
Right.
Because first of all, it's sucha professional space.
You know, people have thisstigma about counseling and so
(15:24):
on.
But I said, you know, as abarber, And so, yeah.
I don't have any of that stuff,but I'm sitting in an office
(15:46):
waiting for these young peopleto come to my office.
There's so many barriers, right?
So we thought if we could createthis bus and they'd get onto the
bus and get a haircut and getsome mentoring, and then we
could bring a mental healthpractitioner on there to provide
support, maybe they wouldn'teven necessarily know they were
getting counseling, right?
So it was all this veryinnovative and strategic
(16:06):
approach to working with theseyoung people.
And what I'll tell you all isthat you would be hard pressed
to find many people who in thiscountry who have been to 10
counseling sessions in a row for45 minutes each.
It's just not something that alot of people stick with.
It's not something that they do.
You could ask any professional.
They don't necessarily seepeople that long because it's a
(16:26):
long time.
So to get these young kids whoare anywhere between the ages of
like 13 all the way up to 18, toget them to go to 10 sessions of
counseling in the midst of theireighth grade year or their ninth
grade year or they're a senioror something like that.
I mean,
SPEAKER_05 (16:42):
they're going through a lot of things too
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
as well.
There's a lot of developmenthappening for these adolescents.
You all remember when you'rethrough those ages, right?
We were all pretty wild andcrazy, I would imagine.
You just
SPEAKER_05 (16:53):
figure out who you
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
are.
Exactly.
So it's an amazing thing.
So that's the mentoring and newdimensions mobile.
The mind mobile is what we callit.
Because it's something differentabout talking to like
SPEAKER_03 (17:03):
a barber or something.
It is.
My wife is a hairstylist.
she calls herself a hairapistbecause people just...
They start talking.
Yeah.
Man.
Whether she wants to hear it ornot.
It's
SPEAKER_05 (17:14):
a subway.
It's like through that haircut,when you're talking to them
about their haircut, how do youwant them to look?
It opens up so much more.
SPEAKER_01 (17:22):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05 (17:23):
So, I mean, just to have those kids, I mean, we just
had a class that graduatedyesterday and some of these kids
at Color, they wouldn't eventalk in front of a class and
they set up and...
talked in front of their peersabout how much it meant to just
come to the MIME program.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
So you have a graduation.
SPEAKER_05 (17:45):
We have a graduation.
We have a graduation.
And we also, at the end of thesessions, we give them a gift
card because we're alwaysthinking, how can we help these
kids?
We gave them a SHIELD gift card,$100 gift card.
They can go to SHIELDS and buywhat they want.
And what we've learned is theylove coming in because they got
someone that listens to them.
(18:06):
Parents got a lot of stuff goingon, even they might have kids,
they got jobs.
They're just doing stuff andthey love that we can listen to
them, give them advice, goals,talk to them about school, talk
to them with their peers andteachers and things of that
nature and really just get intouch with themselves.
So
SPEAKER_01 (18:26):
I wanted to add something.
So I just watched the video fromthe graduation yesterday and
this young boy, middle schooler,you know, color middle schooler,
He stands up there and theyasked him, they said, so what
did you get from thisexperience?
This 13-year-old kid says, I gota new sense of self.
That's deep.
(18:47):
You guys, come on.
At the age of 13, I wasn't eventhinking in those terms of 13,
right?
He said, I have a new sense ofself and I realized that I
should help people instead ofusing them.
And I was like...
Wow.
You know, I mean, and he'sstanding up there, this young
boy who has had a mentor forlike, you know, the last 10
(19:07):
weeks in this journey.
And when I heard him say, I havea new sense of self, I was like,
that's enough.
Just one, one kid to beimpacted, just one.
But there were three other kidswho were impacted during that 10
weeks here.
You know, it was just amazing.
And so...
I mean, this is it's just areally innovative approach to
something that I think we needmore in our society, which is
(19:28):
finding more ways to support theyoung people to reach their full
potential, which is really themission of our organization is
to help young people reach theirfull potential.
And so it was amazing to hearthat.
SPEAKER_03 (19:38):
It was.
So what is your guys'sbackstory?
What is your why?
Like, how does that all gotogether?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (19:47):
I was one of those kids.
I was the one, you know, I'moriginally from St.
Louis, Missouri, came down herewhen I was 10 to live with my
stepdad and 10 other siblings.
So, I mean, he was a one.
It's a single parent taking careof 10 kids, working 60 hours.
So I know about the powderedmilk, the powdered eggs.
I sit down and thinking like,man, you know, I remember
(20:10):
vividly coming off the bus.
I mean, coming from school,going home, and we're on this
bus and kids looking out thewindow.
And I'm like, what are theylooking out the window for?
And it's my house gettingevicted, just stuff outside.
And I'm just like, I'm notgetting off on this stop.
I'm getting off on the nextstop.
So just to walk up to my houseand happen to grab what I needed
(20:32):
to grab.
And I mean, we lived in amission.
Other siblings live withrelatives.
But I used to ask my dad, why?
Are you taking care of so manykids?
And some of these ain't evenyours.
And he was like, if someoneneeds a hand, I'm willing to
give them a hand.
If someone's off worse than Iam, then I'm going to try to
pick them up.
And they just stuck with me andjust made me understand like,
(20:54):
you know, once I can take careof my family, I wanted to do the
same thing and take care of thecommunity.
So that's why I'm here today.
Yeah.
It's so deep of I've been inthose programs.
We needed that assistance.
You know, that's my why.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (21:08):
that's awesome.
I'm not I'm not even going totry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I should have went first so wecould say.
And now the rest of the story.
So my why, honestly, you all isthat, you know, I grew up in a
military family.
My dad was in the Air Force andwe moved around a lot.
And so, you know, just for megrowing up with a larger family,
my dad was the only one working.
(21:29):
So my mom was at home takingcare of us and my dad was
enlisted.
So we never really had muchmoney at all.
And so some of those same thingslike government cheese, peanut
butter, some of those things,like my parents were getting
that stuff.
And we didn't even reallyunderstand just how poor we
were, which is an amazing thing,right?
Like if your parents can make ithappen and you're just like,
hey, we're doing this thing.
You know, we realized we didn'tget much.
(21:49):
We didn't go many places.
But my dad got up and put auniform on every single day.
And so, you know, shout out tothe military.
But it was...
Going through that experiencewith a lot of family members, we
adopted my youngest brother whenwe moved to Nebraska.
So he went through the fostersystem and he experienced a
significant amount of abuse andsome other things in his life.
(22:10):
And seeing the impact that hadon him and the impact that had
on our family as well when weadopted him, and we also
fostered some kids andeverything else, I recognize
that you don't get to choose whoyour parents are.
And for some young people in thecommunity who don't get to
choose who their parents are,they're born into situations
that are not very good at all.
And so if someone's not thinkingabout those young people,
(22:32):
whether it be in the space ofsocial work or psychology or
whatever, health and humanservices, those kids are growing
up some pretty challengingexperiences.
And so I've committed my lifeand my career as a mental health
professional to helping peopleget through the challenging
times they're experiencing.
And when I got a chance to meetKB and we started to connect
(22:52):
Honestly, we used to throwparties together.
We used to be like two bigpromoters here in Lincoln, and I
owned a couple of bars and stufflike that.
So we used to throw...
parties for people.
And then what we realized isthat these same people we were
throwing parties for neededother support.
And so we shifted all that timeand energy and focus into
service as opposed to takingfrom the people.
(23:13):
We were giving back, right?
And so fortunately, I've beenable to be successful in my life
as well.
And just through being a mentalhealth professional and
understanding all the challengespeople face, that's really what
I bring to the space and what mywhy is.
I just have always wanted tohelp people.
Grew up in a position where Iwas just like, man, I didn't
choose the life that I'm livingas a child.
(23:34):
You know, my parents had to giveus everything that we had.
And so that's what really, Ithink, pushes me through every
day is just wanting to helppeople.
And I love to help people andmotivate people.
It brings joy to my heart.
SPEAKER_05 (23:45):
And we get to spend some time together, you know,
since it's my best friend, weget to.
SPEAKER_01 (23:49):
I try not, I try to limit that.
Yeah, we've truly enjoyed thisthough.
I mean, this is, you know, justimagine, you know, doing
something extremely special withyour best friend where you get
to actually see the impact of,you know, that time and energy
that we put into like creatingVisionary Youth.
It's actually, I mean, we justwon the Lincoln's Choice Award,
(24:09):
number one nonprofit.
SPEAKER_05 (24:10):
We did.
That was, yeah.
That was a blessing.
Thank you.
I mean, just for our communityto recognize us and vote for us
and what we do and everything inthe community.
I was like, man.
And then we actually won numberone barbershop, best barbershop,
Oasis too.
So it was two things that theyrecognize and we was truly happy
(24:33):
about it.
So, yeah.
We're doing something right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:37):
Yeah.
So now what then?
So like, what's the plans forthe next five, 10 years?
Man, just to go
SPEAKER_05 (24:44):
harder.
SPEAKER_03 (24:44):
I
SPEAKER_05 (24:45):
mean, just to go harder.
I mean, we're working on somethings right now.
You know, we would love to talkabout them, but they haven't
came to fruition yet.
So we don't want to put them outthere, but it's more working
with the youth.
It's more being involved withthem and helping that grow.
SPEAKER_01 (25:00):
Yeah, expanding the innovation of what we're doing
to more young people.
Because right now through ourprogram, we serve four people at
a time because the barbershop inthe bus is small, but it's
quality over quantity in thatregard.
And so what we're trying to dois expand the program to reach
more young people through theinnovations that we put together
(25:22):
with the counseling, thementoring, and the barbering.
And we're trying to figure outhow to expand that.
We're trying to expand ourevents too.
And so all the events that wedo, We want to get bigger.
We want to do those thingsbetter.
We have great advertisement andmarketing, just really going
after funding.
If you all are familiar with thenonprofit space, right now is a
challenging time for nonprofitsbecause a lot of funding has
(25:44):
actually dried up because ofsome things that are happening
at the federal level.
Private funding is starting toreally be...
overutilized because some peoplewho are getting federal funding
are not getting federal fundinganymore.
So these are challenging timesfor nonprofits, but we're going
to continue to grow through itand try to continue thriving and
find some of these differentavenues to keep our process
(26:04):
moving forward.
SPEAKER_03 (26:06):
What are some of the ways that you find funds, raise
money?
SPEAKER_05 (26:10):
By grants, like you said, private investors.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
So if somebody wanted to give...
SPEAKER_05 (26:17):
If they want to give, they can give to
visionaryyouth.org.
We have a website that you cango in there and donate.
You can come to the barbershops.
Well, there's one on 33rd andPioneer.
That's mine.
It's where I'll be at.
You can go give to Lincoln.
It's Give to Lincoln month rightnow.
So, I mean, you can really helpus by...
(26:40):
helping us with our events thatare coming up by giving to
Lincoln.
You can just go tolincolncommunity.org and just
put it for Visionary Youth andthey will match what we receive.
Oh, that's
SPEAKER_01 (26:54):
awesome.
(27:22):
Right, yes, yes.
(27:49):
And so just say it in spaceswhere people that are
influential are there and theyhear about it.
They can go to our website.
We have, I mean, KB is an artistand as a barber, that's a really
good thing, right?
If you're an artist and he hasjust created a website that we
have that is absolutely amazing.
We have video on there.
It's just a nice website.
I encourage people to go checkout our website,
(28:10):
visionaryyouth.org.
You can see some videos from ourprevious events.
You can see some pictures.
You can see who our sponsorsare.
It's just an amazing place tovisit and see and just get some
inspiration.
SPEAKER_05 (28:21):
Did that website over COVID.
You know.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:24):
Had some extra time.
Had some
SPEAKER_04 (28:25):
extra time.
SPEAKER_05 (28:27):
A little extra time.
Don't talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (28:29):
Make it happen.
SPEAKER_05 (28:30):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (28:32):
Same if you want to be a volunteer because you don't
have to be a barber.
You don't have to be a barber.
You'll
SPEAKER_05 (28:37):
take those too.
We take barber stylists, but welove volunteers.
And that's one thing thatLawrence can attest to this,
that our volunteers love comingback each and every year to each
event.
I mean, it gets bigger andbetter.
It
SPEAKER_03 (28:52):
sounds like such a rewarding event to be a part of.
SPEAKER_05 (28:56):
It is.
It's definitely a rewardingevent because, I mean, you get
to hear stories that you wouldnever hear in your life if you
didn't come.
SPEAKER_01 (29:04):
So we always say that as volunteers at our
events, the volunteers walk awaywith a blessing because the
people who we serve are The waythat they come into the space
and they get to be served, Ithink they open up and they
share, gosh, you know, thisyear's just been really tough.
I mean, what's been interestingto us sometimes is that we've
(29:24):
actually seen some volunteersturn to customers of ours and
vice versa.
We've had some people who werethere the year before and then
they come back the next year andvolunteer because they're like,
we are so grateful for this,right?
And that's a unique cycle thatwe don't necessarily think too
much about is that, of course,you know, you're down on your
luck one year, but next yearmaybe you're ahead.
And so it's amazing to see somepeople who we've served in the
(29:46):
past come back and volunteer.
And then some people who arevolunteering at the end come to
us and say, hey, is it okay if Itake a couple bags just because,
you know, I need to get, youknow, so we're like, absolutely.
Right.
And it's amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (29:57):
Or they take them to other families that couldn't
make it.
Yeah.
And that's.
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
Yes.
SPEAKER_05 (30:01):
Passing it on.
Yeah.
Just pass it on.
The blessing.
SPEAKER_03 (30:03):
Yeah.
Is there anything else you guys
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
want to talk about or that we want to bring up?
Any questions?
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you so much.
(30:47):
our name on different things andeverything else, they attribute
it to a service to Lincoln andhelping the community in a
really positive way.
And it's just been amazing to,as really great friends, And so
I encourage people out there whoare listening, if you have an
idea and you have people thatcan support you in it, you know,
(31:08):
really go after that because anidea can turn into something
amazing and there's nothing thatcan stop you when you're doing
really good, positive work.
SPEAKER_05 (31:16):
I can't say nothing more.
I mean, man, you said it all,summed it up.
Wow.
I'm speechless
SPEAKER_01 (31:22):
for once.
That's
SPEAKER_03 (31:23):
getting
SPEAKER_05 (31:24):
him back for his
SPEAKER_03 (31:25):
past story.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
Exactly.
I was like, I'm going to dropthe mic over here now, you know?
So, yeah.
But thank you, guys.
We really appreciate you.
SPEAKER_05 (31:34):
Yes, we definitely appreciate you.
And I mean, you've been tryingto get me on the show for a
while, and I know you're busy.
SPEAKER_03 (31:39):
You're one of the first people I hit up when I
started this, 52 episodes ago.
SPEAKER_05 (31:43):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_04 (31:44):
That sounds like a year.
It wasn't
SPEAKER_05 (31:45):
52 episodes ago,
SPEAKER_03 (31:47):
but it was a while.
It was a while ago.
Every time, let's see, yeah.
Every time we see each othertalk, we say we're going to do
this.
We say we're going to do that.
And then six months later, werun into each other and say
SPEAKER_04 (31:56):
we're going to do
SPEAKER_03 (31:59):
that.
That's right.
But he's a very busy man.
So I understand.
SPEAKER_05 (32:02):
You are too.
And we definitely appreciatewhat you're doing in the
community and being able to justget the word out in this
podcast.
We love it.
So just keep doing your thing,man, and making it happen.
SPEAKER_03 (32:14):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, here on the Brand LincolnPodcast, we do like to find out
what you like to dorecreationally,
entertainment-wise, food, venuesyou like to eat at.
So when you're not helping theyouth, what are you doing on
your free time?
SPEAKER_05 (32:30):
Man, I love music.
So I love DJing.
I love to be able to make peoplemove.
I love the crowd.
I mean, I love to take themhigh, low.
And, you know, I can go take mybathroom breaks.
And I know I'm about to come inand just kill it after I get
done.
You know what I mean?
So it's to see that happen whenwe're at weddings or I'm at a
(32:51):
pool party or I'm at somecorporate thing.
I love that.
That's just show you howpowerful you are.
You know, you can clear the damnfloor.
You can pack it.
You know, and I like to make it.
I like to.
pack it out.
And you know, when it's time fora drink break, Hey, I know what
music to play.
So favorite food I like is, uh,you know, I like happy crab in
(33:11):
Omaha.
That's, I love
SPEAKER_03 (33:13):
seafood.
This is called brand Lincoln.
SPEAKER_05 (33:16):
Okay.
But listen, well, there is aseafood place now that's in
Lincoln that I'm gonna go tryout.
That's at the mall.
It's
SPEAKER_03 (33:24):
called like laughing crab or something,
SPEAKER_05 (33:26):
isn't it?
That's what I heard.
That's what I heard.
So I heard about that.
I, you know, I, I, Eat at a,what is it called?
Perfect Diner.
They have a nice seafood boil aswell.
So that's one of my restaurants.
Perfect.
Oh, yeah.
So I love that spot right there.
SPEAKER_01 (33:42):
Yeah.
And for me, I love music, too.
So I actually am a DJ as well.
I don't DJ as much as I used to,but I taught I taught KB how to
DJ, which is, you know, amazing.
He's taken that to the nextlevel, which is great.
But I do public speaking.
And so I'm consistently out inthe space talking about how
people can develop throughteamwork, leadership and
(34:05):
communication.
Really, a specialty of mine ispublic speaking, and I work with
other nonprofits as well.
So I do a lot of nonprofit work.
I work for a foundation actuallyout of Washington, D.C., the
Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
That's what my daytime job isnow.
I work remote, but justinspiring young people through
and older people through like mytalks and do a lot of reading.
(34:29):
As far as like restaurants herein Lincoln are concerned, my go
to always was Hacienda Real overon the south side.
The guy that owns that place isa great person.
And that was just the go-to formy family.
The bean dip there is absolutelyamazing.
I don't know if you all arefamiliar with the bean dip
there, but you should check itout.
Yeah, the bean dip is awesome.
(34:49):
But Hacienda Real.
I lived in Lincoln for probablyabout 16 years when I was in
graduate school, getting mymaster's and PhD here.
And so, but now I actually livein Omaha, but I live on the west
side of Omaha.
So coming down to Lincoln tohelp out with all kinds of stuff
and just be busy is a greatthing for me to have two kids.
My oldest daughter is asophomore at UNL and then my
(35:11):
youngest daughter is a junior atElkhorn South.
And so, you know, stay busy withthem as well and married for
over 20 years, which is, youknow, awesome.
SPEAKER_05 (35:20):
I got a son that's about to graduate this year.
He's going to UNL for architect.
He just won an award.
We was at his banquet at LincolnCountry Club.
We was there and he got thisaward.
I mean, man, he's about to dobig things.
So I'm looking forward to that.
We'll have a graduation partyfor him.
And yeah.
(35:41):
He'd get out the house.
SPEAKER_03 (35:43):
Good stuff.
From seven to zero eventually.
Yeah, now he's down to two,right?
Two left in the house.
SPEAKER_05 (35:50):
I'm only going to have one.
I'm only going to have one.
Yeah, so it's getting closer.
Think of the free time you'regoing to have.
I'm thinking of the free time.
You just don't know how much.
SPEAKER_03 (36:01):
Well, thank you guys so much for coming on.
That was great.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
We'll definitely be involved.
Awesome.
Oh, I'm going to be on you.
I know.
I'm very aware.
Let's make it happen.
All right.
SPEAKER_05 (36:10):
Thanks, everybody.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the Brand Lincoln Podcast, the show where
we dig into the stories behindLincoln's most inspiring
business owners and influentialpeople.
It's where big ideas and evenbigger personalities collide.
Proudly sponsored by PerchMerch, your one-stop shop for
screen printing, embroidery, andpromotional products that make
your brand unforgettable.
Call us at 402-217-5212 or visitus at perch-merch.com to give
(00:25):
your business the glow up itdeserves.
And don't just listen, be a trueHey everybody, welcome to
another episode of BrandLincoln.
(00:49):
I am your host, Chris Beecham,joined by my co-host, Henry
Schmidt.
Hi, Chris.
And Joe Cruz.
Hello, everyone.
Okay, so today in the PerchMerch studio, we have Dr.
Lawrence Chatters and KB Mensah.
He goes by KB because, what isit though?
Because I don't even know how tosay it.
SPEAKER_05 (01:07):
KB.
Yeah.
No, it's Cordina.
SPEAKER_03 (01:11):
Okay.
I thought it was a lot morecomplicated.
You've told me this like 10times.
SPEAKER_05 (01:16):
And when I was in school...
And, you know, when the teacherhad to say your name, I was
like, I was the first one.
KB, please.
KB.
SPEAKER_03 (01:24):
Yeah, that's probably good.
Yeah.
Well, when my mom filled out myhigh school thing at the very
beginning, she apparentlydecided my first name was just C
instead of Chris.
And my middle name was A.
So all through high school, C,A, Beecham.
And I'm like, no, just Chris.
My mom didn't know how to spellit all out or I don't even know.
(01:45):
So these guys are with VisionaryYouth.
Hi, guys.
How are you doing?
Okay, tell us, what
SPEAKER_05 (01:52):
is Visionary Youth?
Visionary Youth is a nonprofit.
Our mission is to serve thefamilies and help the youth.
So through programming,resources, and other, other
avenues that we do.
Events, Dr.
(02:14):
Chatters, when he came up withthis, he came to me and said,
KB, I see you doing a lot ofthings in the community, but you
need to turn it into anonprofit.
And I looked at him like, it'stoo much work.
I don't want to do it.
I just want to keep on beingable to provide haircuts and,
(02:34):
you know, the community's comingthrough with the backpacks, food
and everything like that.
I'm like, he's like, no, youneed a nonprofit because it's
help you even more.
You can impact more of thecommunity.
And I was like, okay.
So I put the work in.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
What year are we talking?
When did this start?
It started about 2019.
And that was when it becameofficial.
So I think We have a lot ofbusiness people around this
table, including myself, and weknow the difference between
amateur and professional, right?
So you're amateur, you're justdoing it for fun in your
basement.
You got, you know, somethinggoing on here and there.
(03:11):
You turn professional, you haveto follow the rules, the laws,
and you have to do itofficially.
And I think when I saw what hehad going on, it started out
with a back to school haircutevent.
And that thing just absolutelyblew up.
There was a significant need.
Which still is, and is a greatprogram.
Absolutely.
That, I mean, it's an amazingthing.
So what happened is, basically,there was more demand than we
(03:35):
could really support.
And...
What I told him was, if youbecome a nonprofit, then what
you provide is a tax opportunityfor businesses to give you
funding, but then get a taxdeduction for it.
And that wasn't necessarily thecase when it wasn't official.
And so that's why I reallyencouraged him to go in the
direction of creating anonprofit.
And I had some experience increating a nonprofit myself.
(03:56):
And so I said, I'll help you outwith it.
And then, of course, anytime youtell KB you're going to help him
with something, he continues tobother you for like the next
like, you know, or if you tellhim you're going to do anything.
It's very management.
Is it?
Is it bothering or just guiding?
So it's bothering you to get—Politely aggressive is what we
learned from Rachel Bart.
Right.
(04:17):
Politely aggressive.
I like that.
I like that.
So he was politely aggressive inmaking sure that I followed
through on what I told him I wasgoing to do for him.
Man.
And that's important, right?
SPEAKER_03 (04:28):
It is.
It is.
So for those that don't know,tell us what that back-to-school
haircut program is and how itworks.
SPEAKER_05 (04:36):
Man, like you say, it started in 2019.
It was getting so big.
We was on 27th and O Street.
I had six barbers, six stylists,and we're on this busy street,
27th and O, if you know where itis, the crossroad, busy street.
I mean, we had bouncy houses,food.
(04:57):
It was just like a little partyof everything.
And I'm realizing that There's alot of kids here.
We can't have it on this busystreet no more because it's the
safety.
SPEAKER_01 (05:06):
Yeah, it was an accident waiting to happen.
But it was a free event.
It was free.
SPEAKER_05 (05:10):
And kids could come and get their hair cut.
All the resources.
No, they didn't blow up there.
They just got a haircut.
Wrong wording.
School supplies.
Parents used to drop their kidsoff.
I'm like, you need to come back.
I get it.
There's a little line thatyou're waiting on.
(05:30):
But you need to come back foryour kid, like, they were like,
I lost my mom.
Where's she at?
She said she'd be back.
Oh, man.
So, I mean, so I would say,like, we relocated to 11th and M
and the College of Hair Designwhere they have the upstairs and
downstairs.
It's like they can supply about,I think about 80 to 85 barbers
(05:54):
and stylists.
So my mission was to go outthere and find the best of the
best barbers and stylists tocome and cut and And we started
out with 75.
And last year, we was able togive out 1,200 haircuts.
We got some hair vouchers.
So I say we did like 600haircuts, gave out 600 hair
(06:15):
vouchers so they can come backand get the haircut again.
Because when we do this, wealways want to see how can we up
the game even more and be moreprecise on what we're trying to
do and be more efficient andcreative.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
trying
SPEAKER_05 (06:30):
to...
SPEAKER_01 (06:30):
So tell them how long the events last for,
because I mean, 600 haircuts,like...
How many hours?
That's literally like fivehours.
SPEAKER_05 (06:39):
Always.
Yeah.
From 10 to 4, and the people arethere at 8 o'clock ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (06:45):
I can't make this up.
8 o'clock, they're ready to go.
Lining up.
Barbers and stylists together.
We have a plethora of foodthat's just lined up.
I mean, donuts.
We have Hertz.
We have Lamar's.
We have oranges and apples.
We have, I think— We close downthe streets from the 12th all
the way to 11th.
So we have that whole block thatwe pit all types of activities
(07:08):
and resources in.
And I'm talking about like fromLincoln and Link to Literacy to
the city libraries be there togive out books.
We have
SPEAKER_01 (07:18):
people with like dental information, vision
information.
I mean, it is a it is anabsolute mixture of services for
folks who don't get thoseservices, but they're there.
Mainly the draw is freebackpack, free haircut, right?
Backpack has supplies in it forthe school year.
So you remember we all used togo to the store to get stuff to
go back to school.
(07:38):
Some people got more thanothers, right?
We pack those bags with all thestuff they need for school.
And then we also do shoevouchers so they can go and get
some new sneakers before theyhit the classroom.
SPEAKER_05 (07:49):
We wanted to provide all these resources to give
them, but they didn't have tomake that choice on, should I
get some pants or should I getyour haircut?
No.
As a kid, when you get your haircut, you look good, you feel
good, you want to performbetter.
And I wanted all these...
I do that now.
Yes.
Right.
I wanted all these kids to feelgood when they go to school and
(08:10):
be on the same level as theother kids.
And I didn't want them to belike, you know...
to be looked at in a differentway.
And now they got a backpack andthey got socks and underwears.
I think people don't think aboutthe undergarments.
Some kids go to school with nounderwear, no socks, and they
just hope for the best.
So we try to provide that forthem.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Oh, I mean, as you can imagine, it's just a
Herculean task to pull all thisstuff together.
and get all the sponsors.
And we're talking about probablybetween$75,000 to$100,000 worth
of stuff that we have to get forthis event.
And essentially, KB was doingall this stuff on his own and
(08:53):
did not necessarily havevolunteers to help with setting
stuff up.
And so he was just doing allthis work on his own.
And so as we became moreofficial in 2019, we were able
to start getting volunteers.
We were able to start gettingadditional funding and
sponsorships.
And it really has just blossomedinto something amazing.
So this year upcoming will bethe what year?
(09:16):
13th.
13th.
13th annual.
So started in 2012 and it's justcontinued to grow.
And again, the demand seems togrow too.
And I think more people hearabout it and they're like, hey,
you have to go to this eventbecause there's performances
now.
He didn't mention theperformances.
There's a DJ out there.
There's a DJ?
Joe's a DJ.
He could do it.
Are you a DJ?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:37):
That way, you know, you can just...
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
Volunteer.
Volunteer.
Right,
SPEAKER_03 (09:41):
right.
I don't know if that's anecessary...
Oh,
SPEAKER_05 (09:45):
you play music.
Are you a dist?
Hmm, okay.
All right.
No, I mean, like I said, he...
No, we're both DJs, so, youknow, anytime
SPEAKER_02 (09:55):
we hear
SPEAKER_01 (09:55):
somebody say they're a DJ, we're like, what kind of
DJ are you?
Do you just press play?
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Yeah.
He's a wedding DJ.
I do a nice crossfade.
Okay, okay, okay.
You light on the crossfader Youknow, I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
Are we talking haircuts?
So, yeah.
But it's just turned into anamazing event.
And that's just one of theevents that we do on a yearly
basis.
That's just one.
SPEAKER_03 (10:15):
Well, I knew about that one, but I did not know it
was that big.
Oh,
SPEAKER_05 (10:18):
it's
SPEAKER_03 (10:18):
big.
That's why you're going to comeout
SPEAKER_05 (10:19):
there.
Come out, yeah.
You're going to sponsorsomething.
SPEAKER_03 (10:22):
Yeah.
No, we're in.
Okay.
Perfect.
We got some time.
Yeah.
So, what are the other events?
We have
SPEAKER_05 (10:28):
a Thanksgiving event.
Last year, we was able to giveout 1,200 turkeys with the
fixings.
I'm talking about...
Mashed potatoes, green beans,anything that you get things
with stuffing.
A pie.
We had cake mix.
I'm telling you, cake icing.
Anything you can think of with aThanksgiving meal.
We gave out socks, underwear,gloves, hats, coats just to get
(10:49):
them ready for the winter.
We know how important that
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
is.
I mean, just imagine.
The weight of 1,200 turkeys.
That's a crazy number.
So we have a semi that'srefrigerated, pull up outside.
Right.
And there's a fraternity thathelps us that they just make
sure that those turkeys areready to go.
They're just unloading turkeysliterally all day.
Lines wrapped around thebuilding.
The people come in.
We walk around with them.
(11:12):
Each person gets a host thatwalks through the space with
them to help carry the bag.
It's that VIP treatment.
We provide high-level customerservice to folks.
Yeah, no, I love that.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (11:21):
And they get to walk with the people and get to hear
their story.
Their story.
That's more important.
I mean, we have at leastanywhere from 75 to 100
volunteers.
Volunteers.
SPEAKER_01 (11:31):
Yep.
SPEAKER_05 (11:31):
Yeah.
And the greatest thing about ournonprofit is that our volunteers
come back.
again and again each year.
So, I mean, I love to see thatwhen they can come back and they
love the events.
And then we do a toy drive aswell.
Last year, we partnered withCenter for People, gave out
3,300 toys to 660 families.
(11:53):
And why is that important to us?
We know that people want tocelebrate.
Some of them can't.
And just for them to be able toget a toy and just a gift on
that special day and to see thatkid just light up.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
And just to talk a little more about the toy
giveaway.
You know, what we really providein that space is, again, a host
for each person.
And I'm kind of going back tosome of the previous ones that
we've done a host for eachperson as they walk through the
space.
And we have toys that are avariety of toys and they get to
actually shop a bit in the spaceso they can point at things that
they believe their kids wouldlike.
(12:33):
That's important because most ofthe time when you're receiving
something now, you know,
SPEAKER_05 (12:37):
this
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
will
SPEAKER_05 (12:38):
be happy with it.
But
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
at the same time, I mean, we know our kids,
sometimes they just don't wantwhat you're giving.
And so to have some choice inthat matter, we think provides
more dignity.
And we also feel like to be ableto walk out of there with a
range of things, not only thetoys, but we also make sure they
get those essentials again,socks, underwear, coats, you
know, different things likethat.
Yeah.
(12:59):
We feel that that really makesthat a special holiday and it
provides them with something togive to their families.
So it takes, again, some of thatburden off.
And I think both of us have beenin situations where, you know,
you're young and you've got ayoung family.
You just can't make it happenaround that Christmas time, you
know, trying to figure out howare you going to make it all
work.
And so to be able to providethat to families is an absolute
(13:20):
blessing for us.
SPEAKER_05 (13:21):
See, he's talking about me.
You know, I got seven kids.
SPEAKER_01 (13:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I only have two.
So, you know, this man has likea basketball team and a couple
of subs, you know what I'msaying?
SPEAKER_05 (13:29):
That's what I was doing it for.
I was like, yo, y'all gonna helpme.
They was like, okay.
Right.
We do one more thing that's nearand dear to our hearts, and it's
called the MIND program, whereit's mentoring in new
dimensions.
And that came about Dr.
Chatters.
He's a psychologist.
(13:49):
I'm a barber.
And we wanted to put two thingstogether.
You know, when you get a cuddle,you look good, you feel good.
But It's barbers that mentorthese youth for 10 weeks, 45
minutes.
They get to have thoseintentional conversations over
the 10-week time.
We have a curriculum that we goby.
And then the next 45 minutes,they get to spend with a mental
(14:12):
health therapist.
And then they really get to diveinto who they are and express
themselves and what they want todo in the future.
This
SPEAKER_01 (14:20):
program is like First of all, it's one of the
most innovative counseling slashmentoring programs in the
country right now because it alltakes place.
He forgot to tell you this parton a 35 foot bus.
that was retrofitted to be abarbershop.
SPEAKER_05 (14:36):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:37):
So this thing pulls up.
You go into it.
It's a bonafide barbershop onwheels.
SPEAKER_05 (14:42):
We're talking about four chairs.
SPEAKER_01 (14:43):
Four chairs in there.
All the mirrors, everything.
I mean, the lighting.
Shampoo bowl.
It's amazing.
That's right.
There's a TV in there.
There's a nice sound system.
I mean, it is a barber shop onwheels.
And it's also...
a therapy office on wheels.
And so what's really cool isthat, you know, him being a
barber and me being apsychologist, we talk all the
(15:04):
time and, you know, we're reallygood friends too.
And so I go into the shop and Ijust sit in there sometimes and
listen to the conversations thatare happening with the barbers.
And I'm like, man, you know, asa psychologist, sometimes I
don't even really get to some ofthis content with my people.
Right.
Because first of all, it's sucha professional space.
You know, people have thisstigma about counseling and so
(15:24):
on.
But I said, you know, as abarber, And so, yeah.
I don't have any of that stuff,but I'm sitting in an office
(15:46):
waiting for these young peopleto come to my office.
There's so many barriers, right?
So we thought if we could createthis bus and they'd get onto the
bus and get a haircut and getsome mentoring, and then we
could bring a mental healthpractitioner on there to provide
support, maybe they wouldn'teven necessarily know they were
getting counseling, right?
So it was all this veryinnovative and strategic
(16:06):
approach to working with theseyoung people.
And what I'll tell you all isthat you would be hard pressed
to find many people who in thiscountry who have been to 10
counseling sessions in a row for45 minutes each.
It's just not something that alot of people stick with.
It's not something that they do.
You could ask any professional.
They don't necessarily seepeople that long because it's a
(16:26):
long time.
So to get these young kids whoare anywhere between the ages of
like 13 all the way up to 18, toget them to go to 10 sessions of
counseling in the midst of theireighth grade year or their ninth
grade year or they're a senioror something like that.
I mean,
SPEAKER_05 (16:42):
they're going through a lot of things too
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
as well.
There's a lot of developmenthappening for these adolescents.
You all remember when you'rethrough those ages, right?
We were all pretty wild andcrazy, I would imagine.
You just
SPEAKER_05 (16:53):
figure out who you
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
are.
Exactly.
So it's an amazing thing.
So that's the mentoring and newdimensions mobile.
The mind mobile is what we callit.
Because it's something differentabout talking to like
SPEAKER_03 (17:03):
a barber or something.
It is.
My wife is a hairstylist.
she calls herself a hairapistbecause people just...
They start talking.
Yeah.
Man.
Whether she wants to hear it ornot.
It's
SPEAKER_05 (17:14):
a subway.
It's like through that haircut,when you're talking to them
about their haircut, how do youwant them to look?
It opens up so much more.
SPEAKER_01 (17:22):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05 (17:23):
So, I mean, just to have those kids, I mean, we just
had a class that graduatedyesterday and some of these kids
at Color, they wouldn't eventalk in front of a class and
they set up and...
talked in front of their peersabout how much it meant to just
come to the MIME program.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
So you have a graduation.
SPEAKER_05 (17:45):
We have a graduation.
We have a graduation.
And we also, at the end of thesessions, we give them a gift
card because we're alwaysthinking, how can we help these
kids?
We gave them a SHIELD gift card,$100 gift card.
They can go to SHIELDS and buywhat they want.
And what we've learned is theylove coming in because they got
someone that listens to them.
(18:06):
Parents got a lot of stuff goingon, even they might have kids,
they got jobs.
They're just doing stuff andthey love that we can listen to
them, give them advice, goals,talk to them about school, talk
to them with their peers andteachers and things of that
nature and really just get intouch with themselves.
So
SPEAKER_01 (18:26):
I wanted to add something.
So I just watched the video fromthe graduation yesterday and
this young boy, middle schooler,you know, color middle schooler,
He stands up there and theyasked him, they said, so what
did you get from thisexperience?
This 13-year-old kid says, I gota new sense of self.
That's deep.
(18:47):
You guys, come on.
At the age of 13, I wasn't eventhinking in those terms of 13,
right?
He said, I have a new sense ofself and I realized that I
should help people instead ofusing them.
And I was like...
Wow.
You know, I mean, and he'sstanding up there, this young
boy who has had a mentor forlike, you know, the last 10
(19:07):
weeks in this journey.
And when I heard him say, I havea new sense of self, I was like,
that's enough.
Just one, one kid to beimpacted, just one.
But there were three other kidswho were impacted during that 10
weeks here.
You know, it was just amazing.
And so...
I mean, this is it's just areally innovative approach to
something that I think we needmore in our society, which is
(19:28):
finding more ways to support theyoung people to reach their full
potential, which is really themission of our organization is
to help young people reach theirfull potential.
And so it was amazing to hearthat.
SPEAKER_03 (19:38):
It was.
So what is your guys'sbackstory?
What is your why?
Like, how does that all gotogether?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (19:47):
I was one of those kids.
I was the one, you know, I'moriginally from St.
Louis, Missouri, came down herewhen I was 10 to live with my
stepdad and 10 other siblings.
So, I mean, he was a one.
It's a single parent taking careof 10 kids, working 60 hours.
So I know about the powderedmilk, the powdered eggs.
I sit down and thinking like,man, you know, I remember
(20:10):
vividly coming off the bus.
I mean, coming from school,going home, and we're on this
bus and kids looking out thewindow.
And I'm like, what are theylooking out the window for?
And it's my house gettingevicted, just stuff outside.
And I'm just like, I'm notgetting off on this stop.
I'm getting off on the nextstop.
So just to walk up to my houseand happen to grab what I needed
(20:32):
to grab.
And I mean, we lived in amission.
Other siblings live withrelatives.
But I used to ask my dad, why?
Are you taking care of so manykids?
And some of these ain't evenyours.
And he was like, if someoneneeds a hand, I'm willing to
give them a hand.
If someone's off worse than Iam, then I'm going to try to
pick them up.
And they just stuck with me andjust made me understand like,
(20:54):
you know, once I can take careof my family, I wanted to do the
same thing and take care of thecommunity.
So that's why I'm here today.
Yeah.
It's so deep of I've been inthose programs.
We needed that assistance.
You know, that's my why.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (21:08):
that's awesome.
I'm not I'm not even going totry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I should have went first so wecould say.
And now the rest of the story.
So my why, honestly, you all isthat, you know, I grew up in a
military family.
My dad was in the Air Force andwe moved around a lot.
And so, you know, just for megrowing up with a larger family,
my dad was the only one working.
(21:29):
So my mom was at home takingcare of us and my dad was
enlisted.
So we never really had muchmoney at all.
And so some of those same thingslike government cheese, peanut
butter, some of those things,like my parents were getting
that stuff.
And we didn't even reallyunderstand just how poor we
were, which is an amazing thing,right?
Like if your parents can make ithappen and you're just like,
hey, we're doing this thing.
You know, we realized we didn'tget much.
(21:49):
We didn't go many places.
But my dad got up and put auniform on every single day.
And so, you know, shout out tothe military.
But it was...
Going through that experiencewith a lot of family members, we
adopted my youngest brother whenwe moved to Nebraska.
So he went through the fostersystem and he experienced a
significant amount of abuse andsome other things in his life.
(22:10):
And seeing the impact that hadon him and the impact that had
on our family as well when weadopted him, and we also
fostered some kids andeverything else, I recognize
that you don't get to choose whoyour parents are.
And for some young people in thecommunity who don't get to
choose who their parents are,they're born into situations
that are not very good at all.
And so if someone's not thinkingabout those young people,
(22:32):
whether it be in the space ofsocial work or psychology or
whatever, health and humanservices, those kids are growing
up some pretty challengingexperiences.
And so I've committed my lifeand my career as a mental health
professional to helping peopleget through the challenging
times they're experiencing.
And when I got a chance to meetKB and we started to connect
(22:52):
Honestly, we used to throwparties together.
We used to be like two bigpromoters here in Lincoln, and I
owned a couple of bars and stufflike that.
So we used to throw...
parties for people.
And then what we realized isthat these same people we were
throwing parties for neededother support.
And so we shifted all that timeand energy and focus into
service as opposed to takingfrom the people.
(23:13):
We were giving back, right?
And so fortunately, I've beenable to be successful in my life
as well.
And just through being a mentalhealth professional and
understanding all the challengespeople face, that's really what
I bring to the space and what mywhy is.
I just have always wanted tohelp people.
Grew up in a position where Iwas just like, man, I didn't
choose the life that I'm livingas a child.
(23:34):
You know, my parents had to giveus everything that we had.
And so that's what really, Ithink, pushes me through every
day is just wanting to helppeople.
And I love to help people andmotivate people.
It brings joy to my heart.
SPEAKER_05 (23:45):
And we get to spend some time together, you know,
since it's my best friend, weget to.
SPEAKER_01 (23:49):
I try not, I try to limit that.
Yeah, we've truly enjoyed thisthough.
I mean, this is, you know, justimagine, you know, doing
something extremely special withyour best friend where you get
to actually see the impact of,you know, that time and energy
that we put into like creatingVisionary Youth.
It's actually, I mean, we justwon the Lincoln's Choice Award,
(24:09):
number one nonprofit.
SPEAKER_05 (24:10):
We did.
That was, yeah.
That was a blessing.
Thank you.
I mean, just for our communityto recognize us and vote for us
and what we do and everything inthe community.
I was like, man.
And then we actually won numberone barbershop, best barbershop,
Oasis too.
So it was two things that theyrecognize and we was truly happy
(24:33):
about it.
So, yeah.
We're doing something right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:37):
Yeah.
So now what then?
So like, what's the plans forthe next five, 10 years?
Man, just to go
SPEAKER_05 (24:44):
harder.
SPEAKER_03 (24:44):
I
SPEAKER_05 (24:45):
mean, just to go harder.
I mean, we're working on somethings right now.
You know, we would love to talkabout them, but they haven't
came to fruition yet.
So we don't want to put them outthere, but it's more working
with the youth.
It's more being involved withthem and helping that grow.
SPEAKER_01 (25:00):
Yeah, expanding the innovation of what we're doing
to more young people.
Because right now through ourprogram, we serve four people at
a time because the barbershop inthe bus is small, but it's
quality over quantity in thatregard.
And so what we're trying to dois expand the program to reach
more young people through theinnovations that we put together
(25:22):
with the counseling, thementoring, and the barbering.
And we're trying to figure outhow to expand that.
We're trying to expand ourevents too.
And so all the events that wedo, We want to get bigger.
We want to do those thingsbetter.
We have great advertisement andmarketing, just really going
after funding.
If you all are familiar with thenonprofit space, right now is a
challenging time for nonprofitsbecause a lot of funding has
(25:44):
actually dried up because ofsome things that are happening
at the federal level.
Private funding is starting toreally be...
overutilized because some peoplewho are getting federal funding
are not getting federal fundinganymore.
So these are challenging timesfor nonprofits, but we're going
to continue to grow through itand try to continue thriving and
find some of these differentavenues to keep our process
(26:04):
moving forward.
SPEAKER_03 (26:06):
What are some of the ways that you find funds, raise
money?
SPEAKER_05 (26:10):
By grants, like you said, private investors.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
So if somebody wanted to give...
SPEAKER_05 (26:17):
If they want to give, they can give to
visionaryyouth.org.
We have a website that you cango in there and donate.
You can come to the barbershops.
Well, there's one on 33rd andPioneer.
That's mine.
It's where I'll be at.
You can go give to Lincoln.
It's Give to Lincoln month rightnow.
So, I mean, you can really helpus by...
(26:40):
helping us with our events thatare coming up by giving to
Lincoln.
You can just go tolincolncommunity.org and just
put it for Visionary Youth andthey will match what we receive.
Oh, that's
SPEAKER_01 (26:54):
awesome.
(27:22):
Right, yes, yes.
(27:49):
And so just say it in spaceswhere people that are
influential are there and theyhear about it.
They can go to our website.
We have, I mean, KB is an artistand as a barber, that's a really
good thing, right?
If you're an artist and he hasjust created a website that we
have that is absolutely amazing.
We have video on there.
It's just a nice website.
I encourage people to go checkout our website,
(28:10):
visionaryyouth.org.
You can see some videos from ourprevious events.
You can see some pictures.
You can see who our sponsorsare.
It's just an amazing place tovisit and see and just get some
inspiration.
SPEAKER_05 (28:21):
Did that website over COVID.
You know.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:24):
Had some extra time.
Had some
SPEAKER_04 (28:25):
extra time.
SPEAKER_05 (28:27):
A little extra time.
Don't talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (28:29):
Make it happen.
SPEAKER_05 (28:30):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (28:32):
Same if you want to be a volunteer because you don't
have to be a barber.
You don't have to be a barber.
You'll
SPEAKER_05 (28:37):
take those too.
We take barber stylists, but welove volunteers.
And that's one thing thatLawrence can attest to this,
that our volunteers love comingback each and every year to each
event.
I mean, it gets bigger andbetter.
It
SPEAKER_03 (28:52):
sounds like such a rewarding event to be a part of.
SPEAKER_05 (28:56):
It is.
It's definitely a rewardingevent because, I mean, you get
to hear stories that you wouldnever hear in your life if you
didn't come.
SPEAKER_01 (29:04):
So we always say that as volunteers at our
events, the volunteers walk awaywith a blessing because the
people who we serve are The waythat they come into the space
and they get to be served, Ithink they open up and they
share, gosh, you know, thisyear's just been really tough.
I mean, what's been interestingto us sometimes is that we've
(29:24):
actually seen some volunteersturn to customers of ours and
vice versa.
We've had some people who werethere the year before and then
they come back the next year andvolunteer because they're like,
we are so grateful for this,right?
And that's a unique cycle thatwe don't necessarily think too
much about is that, of course,you know, you're down on your
luck one year, but next yearmaybe you're ahead.
And so it's amazing to see somepeople who we've served in the
(29:46):
past come back and volunteer.
And then some people who arevolunteering at the end come to
us and say, hey, is it okay if Itake a couple bags just because,
you know, I need to get, youknow, so we're like, absolutely.
Right.
And it's amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (29:57):
Or they take them to other families that couldn't
make it.
Yeah.
And that's.
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
Yes.
SPEAKER_05 (30:01):
Passing it on.
Yeah.
Just pass it on.
The blessing.
SPEAKER_03 (30:03):
Yeah.
Is there anything else you guys
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
want to talk about or that we want to bring up?
Any questions?
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you so much.
(30:47):
our name on different things andeverything else, they attribute
it to a service to Lincoln andhelping the community in a
really positive way.
And it's just been amazing to,as really great friends, And so
I encourage people out there whoare listening, if you have an
idea and you have people thatcan support you in it, you know,
(31:08):
really go after that because anidea can turn into something
amazing and there's nothing thatcan stop you when you're doing
really good, positive work.
SPEAKER_05 (31:16):
I can't say nothing more.
I mean, man, you said it all,summed it up.
Wow.
I'm speechless
SPEAKER_01 (31:22):
for once.
That's
SPEAKER_03 (31:23):
getting
SPEAKER_05 (31:24):
him back for his
SPEAKER_03 (31:25):
past story.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
Exactly.
I was like, I'm going to dropthe mic over here now, you know?
So, yeah.
But thank you, guys.
We really appreciate you.
SPEAKER_05 (31:34):
Yes, we definitely appreciate you.
And I mean, you've been tryingto get me on the show for a
while, and I know you're busy.
SPEAKER_03 (31:39):
You're one of the first people I hit up when I
started this, 52 episodes ago.
SPEAKER_05 (31:43):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_04 (31:44):
That sounds like a year.
It wasn't
SPEAKER_05 (31:45):
52 episodes ago,
SPEAKER_03 (31:47):
but it was a while.
It was a while ago.
Every time, let's see, yeah.
Every time we see each othertalk, we say we're going to do
this.
We say we're going to do that.
And then six months later, werun into each other and say
SPEAKER_04 (31:56):
we're going to do
SPEAKER_03 (31:59):
that.
That's right.
But he's a very busy man.
So I understand.
SPEAKER_05 (32:02):
You are too.
And we definitely appreciatewhat you're doing in the
community and being able to justget the word out in this
podcast.
We love it.
So just keep doing your thing,man, and making it happen.
SPEAKER_03 (32:14):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, here on the Brand LincolnPodcast, we do like to find out
what you like to dorecreationally,
entertainment-wise, food, venuesyou like to eat at.
So when you're not helping theyouth, what are you doing on
your free time?
SPEAKER_05 (32:30):
Man, I love music.
So I love DJing.
I love to be able to make peoplemove.
I love the crowd.
I mean, I love to take themhigh, low.
And, you know, I can go take mybathroom breaks.
And I know I'm about to come inand just kill it after I get
done.
You know what I mean?
So it's to see that happen whenwe're at weddings or I'm at a
(32:51):
pool party or I'm at somecorporate thing.
I love that.
That's just show you howpowerful you are.
You know, you can clear the damnfloor.
You can pack it.
You know, and I like to make it.
I like to.
pack it out.
And you know, when it's time fora drink break, Hey, I know what
music to play.
So favorite food I like is, uh,you know, I like happy crab in
(33:11):
Omaha.
That's, I love
SPEAKER_03 (33:13):
seafood.
This is called brand Lincoln.
SPEAKER_05 (33:16):
Okay.
But listen, well, there is aseafood place now that's in
Lincoln that I'm gonna go tryout.
That's at the mall.
It's
SPEAKER_03 (33:24):
called like laughing crab or something,
SPEAKER_05 (33:26):
isn't it?
That's what I heard.
That's what I heard.
So I heard about that.
I, you know, I, I, Eat at a,what is it called?
Perfect Diner.
They have a nice seafood boil aswell.
So that's one of my restaurants.
Perfect.
Oh, yeah.
So I love that spot right there.
SPEAKER_01 (33:42):
Yeah.
And for me, I love music, too.
So I actually am a DJ as well.
I don't DJ as much as I used to,but I taught I taught KB how to
DJ, which is, you know, amazing.
He's taken that to the nextlevel, which is great.
But I do public speaking.
And so I'm consistently out inthe space talking about how
people can develop throughteamwork, leadership and
(34:05):
communication.
Really, a specialty of mine ispublic speaking, and I work with
other nonprofits as well.
So I do a lot of nonprofit work.
I work for a foundation actuallyout of Washington, D.C., the
Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
That's what my daytime job isnow.
I work remote, but justinspiring young people through
and older people through like mytalks and do a lot of reading.
(34:29):
As far as like restaurants herein Lincoln are concerned, my go
to always was Hacienda Real overon the south side.
The guy that owns that place isa great person.
And that was just the go-to formy family.
The bean dip there is absolutelyamazing.
I don't know if you all arefamiliar with the bean dip
there, but you should check itout.
Yeah, the bean dip is awesome.
(34:49):
But Hacienda Real.
I lived in Lincoln for probablyabout 16 years when I was in
graduate school, getting mymaster's and PhD here.
And so, but now I actually livein Omaha, but I live on the west
side of Omaha.
So coming down to Lincoln tohelp out with all kinds of stuff
and just be busy is a greatthing for me to have two kids.
My oldest daughter is asophomore at UNL and then my
(35:11):
youngest daughter is a junior atElkhorn South.
And so, you know, stay busy withthem as well and married for
over 20 years, which is, youknow, awesome.
SPEAKER_05 (35:20):
I got a son that's about to graduate this year.
He's going to UNL for architect.
He just won an award.
We was at his banquet at LincolnCountry Club.
We was there and he got thisaward.
I mean, man, he's about to dobig things.
So I'm looking forward to that.
We'll have a graduation partyfor him.
And yeah.
(35:41):
He'd get out the house.
SPEAKER_03 (35:43):
Good stuff.
From seven to zero eventually.
Yeah, now he's down to two,right?
Two left in the house.
SPEAKER_05 (35:50):
I'm only going to have one.
I'm only going to have one.
Yeah, so it's getting closer.
Think of the free time you'regoing to have.
I'm thinking of the free time.
You just don't know how much.
SPEAKER_03 (36:01):
Well, thank you guys so much for coming on.
That was great.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
We'll definitely be involved.
Awesome.
Oh, I'm going to be on you.
I know.
I'm very aware.
Let's make it happen.
All right.
SPEAKER_05 (36:10):
Thanks, everybody.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.