EP 332: The God Version of You: How Carlton Young Helps Others Find Purpose

What makes Carlton Young with 8020 Nation a good neighbor?

Have you ever wondered how a life-threatening experience could completely transform someone's purpose? Carlton Young's powerful journey from surviving a point-blank shooting at age 25 to becoming a sought-after leadership coach exemplifies how tragedy can spark profound metamorphosis.

On this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, Carlton opens up about his path from Birmingham's inner city to founding 8020 Nation, where he now dedicates his life to helping others discover their "inner genius." What makes Carlton's approach unique is his focus on helping people become not just better versions of themselves, but what he calls "the God version" of themselves – tapping into purpose that transcends personal ambition.

Carlton tackles the most common myth he encounters: "I'm not ready, qualified, or good enough." Drawing from his military leadership experience that began at just 21 years old, he shares a refreshingly authentic perspective on what makes great leaders – they model the way rather than simply dictating it. "No one buys into a leader that just says do," Carlton explains, emphasizing that true leadership means showing others the vision and helping them see their crucial role within it.

Beyond his work with 8020 Nation, Carlton hosts The Genesis Podcast: The Renaissance of Manhood, focused specifically on helping men develop self-leadership skills. He balances his mission with personal passions for fitness, which he describes as "almost like therapy," and travel, particularly a transformative trip to Greece that left stamps in both his passport and his perspective.

To learn more about 8020 Nation go to:
 🌐 www.carlton-young.com

8020 Nation
📞 [phone]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a growth andleadership development coach?
Well, one may be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor
Carlton Young, with 8020 Nation.
Carlton, how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
today, I'm doing great.
How are you doing today, sophia?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm also doing great.
Now we are so excited to learnall about you and your business.
Can you start off by tellingour listeners a little bit about
your journey, your mission andhow you got started in this
business?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Oh yeah, most definitely.
First of all, thank you forhaving me on your platform and
your podcast.
I truly appreciate theopportunity to be a part of the
Good Neighbor Podcast Show.
A little bit about my journeyTypical young man grew up in
inner city, grew up inBirmingham, alabama.
Through a series of life eventsand then mishaps and tragedies,

(01:06):
I was shot when I was 25 yearsold, point blank range.
And that began my metamorphosisand the change in my lifestyle
to understand that I was lefthere for a greater purpose,
figuring out what that purposewas.
When I finally figured out whatthat purpose was, what that
purpose was, when I finallyfigured out what that purpose

(01:27):
was, it was to help transform,empower and equip people to
become not the best version ofthemselves but the God version
of themselves.
And so, once I figured that out, I started this company, this
organization.
I've always been one to want tohelp people kind of be better,
either through physical fitnessI'm actually a certified
personal trainer as well so I'vealways been in the business of
trying to help people becomebetter.

(01:48):
And just through, you know,following that path, I've come
to this segue where I'm, youknow, growth development
strategist, motivational speaker, leadership coach.
So I'm always just helpingpeople to discover that inner
genius that's already placedinside of them.
How to unlock that and just towalk out the purpose and the
assignment that God has giventhem for their life.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Amen.
Amen to that and thank you forsharing your journey with us.
Now, what is the most commonmyth or misconception once you
got to the side of gettingdeeper into the business that
you're in now?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
That I'm not ready, I'm not qualified or I'm not
good enough to step into theperson that I am destined to be
and what people have tounderstand that it's a journey
and as you walk out the journeyand as you begin to discover
truly who you are and the powerthat's within you, it's like the
process, and if the process isactually who you become, that's
the really the prize and thegoal, not the platform or the

(02:57):
business or the thing thatyou're looking for.
That's just a byproduct of youbecoming that version of
yourself that is able to helpthe person that you once were.
So that's typically what I runinto people is I'm not ready and
I'm not ready, I'm not, I'm notgood enough, it is not perfect
yet.
All of those are just excusesthat'll keep you from actually

(03:17):
taking the step forward in the.
In the.
In the, the beautiful thing isjust the process of discovering
who you are and the obstaclesthat you overcome in that
process.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Amen.
We always want to look for theprogression, not the perfection.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
That is correct.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Now we know marketing is the heart of every business,
and it sounds like you do thatthrough quite a few ways.
Who are your target clients, orwho is your target audience,
and how are you currentlyattracting them?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
My target audience is the person that I once was.
That's the people that I'mcalled to help.
The person that made a bunch ofmistakes, that grew up not
knowing his biological dad, thatjust always was just trying to
figure life out, always makingmistakes.
That is the person that I'mlooking to help.
On the individual side, likethe individual contributor side,

(04:08):
I want to show that person thatthey can become a version of
themselves that they don't evenrecognize.
And then, from a businessorganization aside, I've always
been into management andleadership.
I actually in the military.
I actually got promoted toleadership at the age of like 21
.
So I started leading troops atthe age of 21.

(04:30):
I had like 10 people workingfor me.
So organizations that arelooking to develop leadership
because leadership is aboutbeing able to cast a vision get
people to buy into that visionand get them to feel like they
are part of that vision.
So I'm always looking fororganizations you know that have
leadership problems or arelooking to figure out the best

(04:54):
way to develop their leaders.
So those are two of my keyclients or key customers that I
look for.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Now, when it comes to leadership or someone becoming
a leader, what is the number onekey piece of advice you would
give someone along that journey?

Speaker 3 (05:14):
one key piece of advice you would give someone
along that journey To become aleader is, honestly, that you
have to model the way.
You have to be able to show theway, and people actually have
to see you doing the very thingthat you're trying to get them
to buy into.
No one buys into a leader thatjust says do you know?
You remember, as you weregrowing up, your parents would
say, do as I say, not as I do.
Well, that's not a good, that'snot a good model for leadership

(05:34):
.
You have to actually show thatperson how to walk whatever
vision that you have out andshow them the benefit of walking
that vision out, not just foryou but for them.
So it's just being able tomodel the person that you want

(05:59):
to be, or you know, the rolethat you are trying to fill is
getting the person to believe inthat particular goal.
Like they say, a leader knowsthe way.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
They go the way and they show the way Right, right.
Like Moses, you have to betransformed along the journey.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Exactly, exactly.
Again, it's just getting peopleto believe in the vision,
showing them why you believe inthe vision and then giving them
a reason to enhance whatevergoal or whatever you know vision
platform, wherever they'regoing.
I want to be able to say I wasa part of that vision, so good

(06:39):
leaders are always able to dothat thing and just to be able
to put themselves in the personunder them, put them, put
yourself in their shoes and beable to empathize and sympathize
with them and understand that.
You know life happens, but I'mgoing to keep showing up every
day and I'm going to show thepeople that I am trying to cast

(06:59):
a vision for that.
I care about them more than Icare about the thing 100 percent
.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's all about becoming that 1% better each and
every day.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
That's my motto.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Now, carlton, I would be surprised if you said no, do
you have your own podcast, orhave you ever thought of having
your own podcast?

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Yes, I actually have my own podcast.
It is called the GenesisPodcast, the Renaissance of
Manhood.
The renaissance of manhood um,it's more focused and based on
uh, like men becoming leadersagain and and just becoming
healed, transformed, empoweredand equipped to one just lead
their lead themselves, likethat's the first goal of

(07:39):
leadership is you got to be ableto lead yourself.
So oftentimes we, as men, we'renot able to even lead ourselves
.
So how can anybody else buyinto the vision?
So I share my journey.
I share I have guests on thatshare their journey of how they
were transformed.
You know every obstacle thatthey've overcome, because
there's not a person in thislife that hasn't been faced with

(08:01):
obstacles.
The difference between thepeople that are doing the thing
that we want to do and us isoftentimes they just attack that
thing head on and they justkept moving.
So, yeah, it's called theGenesis the Renaissance of
Manhood.
It streams on YouTube and otherplatforms as well.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Now, outside of work, what do you and your family
like to do for fun?

Speaker 3 (08:24):
Outside of work.
I like to take care of myself,so working out is kind of a
hobby for me.
It's therapeutic, it's almostlike therapy for me.
So working out, taking care ofmyself, being healthy, being the
best version of myself thatthose stamps in the passport
filled up.
We went to Greece recently, acouple of years ago, for our
anniversary.
That was an amazing, beautifultrip.

(08:54):
So that's one of my, you know,favorite things to do is to
travel.
They say traveling is likereading a book you don't really
don't understand the world andhow it works until you visit
other places, you know.
So that's one of our number onethings to do.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Oh my goodness, greece is somewhere I actually
want to go.
That's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
You need to take the trip.
I would.
Actually, that's one trip Iwould take again.
It is beautiful.
We went to, we flew into Athens, then we visited Mykonos and
then we went to Santorini andthen we flew back to Athens to
come back, but each one of thoseislands are beautiful, the food
is good, um, the weather isgreat, the people are friendly.
It's just an experience thatyou know, you, that I always

(09:39):
remember, so I actually want toadd that to my like revisit that
list.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
That's one of the few places I want to revisit.
Well, carlton, I'm sure all ofour listeners.
What they really want to knowtoday is where can they go to
learn more about 820 nation oh,so to get more information on me
, you can go towwwcarlton-youngcom that is
again carlton-youngcom, um.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
You can go to youtube at I am 80 20 nation, instagram
at I am 80 20 nation, and thenfacebook is just my name,
carlton Young.
Those are the main platformsthat you can find me on.
You know, I'm available forkeynote spots, motivational
speeches, workshop facilitationand then individual one-on-one

(10:22):
coaching as well, and then groupcoaching too.
So those are some of the thingsthat I focus in on, but the
best place to find me iswwwcarleton-youngcom.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Well, Carlton, I really appreciate being on the
show.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Thank you, sophie.
I really truly appreciate youhaving me on.
Like I said, what you're doingis an amazing thing highlighting
local businesses.
And I said what you're doing isan amazing thing highlighting
local businesses, and I willcontinue to pray for your
success and growth of the GoodNeighbor podcast and continued
success.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPFriscocom.
That's GNPFriscocom.
That's gnpfriscocom, or call469-221-9345.