February 18, 2025 • 53 mins
Ever felt out of place growing up, like you were constantly juggling between different worlds? Our guest, Alex Dumas, knows that feeling all too well. As the youngest of four in a Haitian immigrant family in Long Island, New York, Alex's childhood was filled with the challenge of balancing cultural expectations while carving out his own identity. This episode invites you to join Alex as he recounts his journey of discovering the power within himself, emphasizing the importance of staying true to one's values. Through his candid storytelling, Alex highlights how the support of family and community became his anchor, helping him navigate the complexities of identity and belonging.
Get ready to uncover the secrets of building unshakeable confidence even when life throws curveballs your way. With the tenacity of an athlete, Alex shares his insights into the thrill of setting ambitious goals and the crucial role of pacing to prevent burnout. This conversation is a treasure trove of wisdom, where you'll learn how asking the right questions can transform challenges into golden opportunities. As a seasoned keynote speaker, Alex reveals his approach to amplifying voices, celebrating achievements, and finding strength in collaboration, all while staying rooted in one's story and self-worth.
The power of storytelling and creativity takes center stage as Alex delves into his current endeavors, from hosting the podcasts "Love, Serve, Care" and "Elevate and Celebrate" to planning new projects like "Speak Up, Standout." You'll hear about the importance of embracing authenticity and the fun side of connecting through platforms like TikTok. As we discuss the unpredictable nature of emotions in parenting and professional life, you'll find inspiration in Alex's ability to balance personal passions with responsibilities. Join us as we explore the art of sharing genuine stories, celebrating milestones, and extending gratitude to the community that supports and uplifts us.
Brice Harney
Life On Record
Miles of Smiles Entertainment
Richmond Punch
TK Hair Salon
Ogden Ventures LLC
CEO of Ogden Ventures LLC
SnappBandZ
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Love & Light - Keep Hope Alive
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome to Keep Hope Alive podcast.
Today we have another specialguest with us.
I'd like to welcome Alex Dumason the show.
So welcome, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thank you, Nadine.
Welcome myself.
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh good, I'm so glad.
So you're a professionalspeaker and a best-selling
author and I can't wait to diveinto your story.
It's going to be so fun.
But, alex, I always have aquestion.
My first question of the day isokay, let's put it this way
we're best friends.
We got invited to go to ourfriend's wedding.
(00:41):
So we're walking into theceremony part and to the right
we see something we need to sign.
What is that one thing we needto sign to let our friends know
we were actually there.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Let them know that we were present the guest book.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, Very good, Yay.
So one of the biggest sponsorsI have here is Life on Record
and what they do instead ofhaving a guest book.
It is a vintage rotary phone,so your guests walk up to this
vintage phone, pick it up.
They can leave a messageCongratulations on your big day.
(01:17):
We're so happy for you.
Many years of happiness and joyand love.
And then you might get agroomsman.
It's about time you put a ringon her finger.
Whatever the message may be, itis there for your guests to
pick up and leave that message.
Also, they have a little signwith a QR code that they can
scan with their own phone sothey can leave a message before
(01:40):
or after.
Now this phone goes good at anyevent, but I always use the
subject as a wedding and stuff.
Now, what they do with themessages?
They will burn them either on a12-inch vinyl record or you can
get a keepsake box.
Now their plans only start at$99.
You get the phone number.
(02:01):
I got to make sure you hearnumber.
You got to return the phone,but the phone number for one
year.
So this is a great thing tohave at your event to listen to
everybody congratulating you orwishing you well, Please visit
them at wwwlifeonrecordcom.
(02:21):
All right, so here we go.
My second question of the daywho is Alex DeMoss?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Wow, Gosh, how much time do we have for that?
Right Cause we can.
That could be hours and hours.
You know, for what you saidearlier, I'm a professional
speaker, best-selling author,leadership expert, community
leader and all these differentthings, and I share all that
kind of upfront like wow, thislooks amazing.
So impressive, alex, you'reawesome.
(02:52):
Like yeah, all that's true.
And I also want to let theaudience know that it wasn't
always like this.
I didn't always believe thatthat was capable or possible for
me.
You know, I'm somebody who grewup in a pretty much regular
life, mundane, in Long Island,new York, youngest of four kids,
(03:12):
my parents immigrants fromHaiti, and that comes with its
own different cultural standardsand expectations to live by,
and a lot of those I fell shortof and I wrote about this in the
book.
So you see behind me a journeyof riches, a power of
self-discovery, where I,honestly, nadine, was somebody
(03:33):
who was always kind of inbetween things, right, Always
kind of on the inside, butoutside not quite fitting in,
wanted to be accepted, wanted tohave people like me, fun,
personal guy, but also quiet,shy, you know some people might
say like a introverted,extrovert.
I don't know if that's the theright term for it, but I just
(03:54):
know that for myself, feelingout of place, out of sorts,
trying to find who I am, tryingto find my identity, trying to
find my voice in the world, andthat maybe led me to test out
things this way of like.
Maybe I can be in this group,or maybe I can be a part of this
, this crowd, and fall in hereand at at the core, really
(04:16):
losing myself, losing who I am,and through years right, it's
taken years to get to this pointof recognizing, oh, I have a
lot more power within than Ithought was possible.
I have a lot more to offer theworld.
I actually have a story thatmatters, a voice that matters,
and I have a supportive, abeautiful family with me my wife
(04:39):
, my two kids, cousins, aunts.
You know the whole deal in thecommunity with me kids, cousins,
aunts.
You know all the whole deal inthe community with me.
And I think now that's what I domy best to share from the stage
is that we're we're neverreally alone.
But we also have to recognizeit's okay.
It's okay to be alone, but notlonely, right.
It's okay to be in solitude andbe sovereign, but not in the
(05:02):
space of compromising your ownvalues, your own beliefs, to fit
in or to bend to somebodyelse's expectations and in that
case I think that is whatprevented me from what I call
winning in life.
I'm a competitive guy.
I used to play sports footballand boxing and taekwondo so I'm
like the competitive drive, likethat thing, that inner thing in
(05:24):
me, boxing and taekwondo.
So I've like the competitivedrive, like that thing, that
inner thing in me, and I've alsobeen on the side of where I've
used that to to harm myself,harm others, and I've used that
to now benefit other people andempower people and inspire
people.
So that's a quick snapshot ofwho I am and what I'm here to do
.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Wow, you know, you said you were the quiet one and
it took me back to school.
There was a quiet, quiet boyand now he's a comedian and I
was just like you break out ofthat shell.
You know, it's kind of like youknow, and I say also, the quiet
ones are introverted.
If you are, you seem like afree spirit just by talking to
(06:02):
you.
So, but they are usually veryknowledgeable, very smart, they
set their goals, they go afterit.
It's win, win, win.
And, as you talked aboutcompetitive, yes, and just
staying driven and focused onthose.
That's always great.
So, but yeah, I mean yourjourney of you know, moving to
(06:26):
New York.
What was that like for you?
Because I know I'm a Jerseygirl, but I was only there till
age six.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, and you know, I grew up in New York, right, my
family was born.
I was born in Brooklyn.
We moved to Long Island when Iwas probably four or five, right
, really young.
So Long Island, brentwood to bespecific, has always been my
(06:54):
home, and for the past.
Now we're recording this 2025.
So it's going to be going oneight years since me, my wife
and my kids we moved to NorthCarolina, and the way I like to
tell this story is that it tookus eight years to figure out how
to move in eight weeks.
So Rewind Time back to 2016,.
We are just going through life,right, we're just kind of
(07:15):
making it right.
Our son just turned one, ourdaughter is going to be six and
there's a lot of crazinesshappening in our area,
specifically where, um, there'sthere's gang murders, there's
assaults, there's a whole lot ofchaos around us.
Uh, and my wife and I, we knewlike we wanted to get out.
(07:35):
We, we knew we we weren't gonnabe able to afford what we
wanted with the way taxes andthings like that were and just
all that.
It felt like everything, likethis pressure cooker, everything
just going on, just collapsingaround us.
So, fast forward, 2017, overjuly weekend, we're like you
(07:55):
know, let's go scope out northcanada, let's go scout the area,
because we've been talkingabout georgia, we've been
talking about florida, talkingabout all these different states
.
But for you watching, for youlistening, have you ever been
there where you just like kindof run your mouth a little bit
but like you don't take anyaction?
It is not a judgment, but thisis where I'm coming from.
Like I want to do this, I wantto make this happen and no, no
(08:19):
actions taken, nothing, nothinggoes on.
So fourth of july weekend wevisit the area and I just gotta
say this quick thing, becauseit's funny to me.
I'm thinking it's like new yorkweather, like new york summer.
So I'm in sweatpants, I'm justwhatever.
I get out of the car, we go toa cracker ball and like I die
immediately, like it's so hot.
(08:40):
I've never humidity heat likethis before in my life.
So I'm sweating buckets justfrom the car parking lot to the
front of the building.
I look crazy.
I must look like I was runningtrack or something like that.
I was just buckets.
Anyway, we visit for the weekendand we fall in love with the
(09:01):
area.
We were visiting homes andthings like that and just
getting a feel for the area andthen by Labor Day, weekend, kids
, dog, everything packed, nojobs, no family support out here
, no friends.
We knew nobody.
We didn't even visit theapartment that we wound up
staying in for a year Now.
We wound up building this housea year later and we're still
(09:22):
here.
But I share that to hopefullylet somebody know like you can
make a lot happen in a shortamount of time once you make a
really powerful decision, onceyou get very committed, and
that's part of what I call likemy win formula, like I call like
the eye, the intentions right,when you get really laser
focused and set on.
I'm gonna do this and you caneither come with me or get out
(09:45):
the way, and that's.
That's just how we operate.
And we've been here, we've beenable to thrive since, we've
been able to build a greatnetwork with people around here,
and there's still more to do inmy opinion, but right now we're
in a really comfortable spot,we're safe, we're in a, you know
, a stable community.
So it worked out.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Sometimes you got to just go all in and play your
hand and just do it you'regiving me a lot of hope right
now because I mean, I think theonly thing holding me back is
the football for my son here andhe really wants to follow the
school system.
But I have always I just wantto get in my car and set a day
(10:30):
and a half and see whateverdirection I go.
That's where I need to end upand try or something.
But I was like I just want toget up and move and just have a
fresh start and I feel like Iwant to do that every 10 years
or something so I can see theworld and try new things.
But you just never know.
And yeah, I got to do that, butI started one of my goals.
(10:51):
Instead of just up and moving,I started writing a book and I'm
so excited and I know.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Tell me about the book Huh.
Tell me about the book.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Oh, it's a spiritual journey and I got, I gotta see.
Hopefully the name is not taken, but I've called it darkness.
Your hour is over.
So, yeah, just different things.
I gotta keep it under wraps,it's a hard book actually, right
yeah.
So I was like man, this betterbe a bestseller into a movie,
(11:25):
because it sure could be.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But I don't think I would want to watch it because I
had to live it out there when Iwas approached with writing the
(11:49):
chapter for Journey of Richeslast year, in 2024.
And it just came at the righttime.
I'm named after the author, soAlexandre Dumas, it's in my
blood.
It's kind of destiny If whoeverbelieves in that.
It's predestined for me to bean author.
And I love writing in any wayand being creative.
And I wrestle with a lot of itbecause I'm thinking to myself
all right, well, what do I wantto talk about?
What am I going to write about?
How is self-discovery?
Well, how do I discover myself?
(12:15):
How do I find myself?
And I essentially put my lifestory into about 5,000 words.
And the scary quote, unquotescary part about that is just
recognizing that people that Iknow, people that I grew up with
, people that love me, family,right, all that they're going to
read, that they're going to seesome of the things yes, oh, my
God, I didn't know.
I didn't know you felt likethat.
I didn't know you were goingthrough these challenges.
And you know, to your earliercomment about me, like, yeah,
(12:40):
I'm extroverted, I'm a comedian,I'm extroverted, I'm a comedian
, I love to make people laugh, Ilove to make people smile, I
love just that's part of meright.
But what I shared in the bookwas that I use that as a mask.
I use that as a way to keeppeople at arm's length because I
was so insecure inside I was.
(13:00):
So I felt inadequate.
I felt like this is the onlyway that I could get acceptance
right.
I felt like this is the onlyway that I could get acceptance
right.
It's a difference betweenwanting to entertain and be fun
and be lively versus thispressure of having to Like.
This is all I am.
This is my identity, nadine.
Like this is me.
If I'm not funny, if I'm notthe clown, if I'm not the goofy
(13:21):
guy, then what am I?
Are people going to like like,see through the mask?
Are people gonna recognize oh,this guy's.
Like we didn't use depressed inthe 90s right, that wasn't a
word anxiety, these thingsdidn't exist, or at least we
didn't have awareness of or asmuch uh promotion about or
knowledge about.
So I'm just thinking, well,what's wrong with me?
(13:42):
Why am I like this?
I should be happy, I haveeverything on paper, I have
everything that you should wanttwo parents, uh, great siblings,
stable home, right.
No, nothing on the surface youshould be like, wow, like you
know, you have a great life,like I'm very fortunate, right
as a black man, to have thesethings.
(14:03):
But yet inside I'm like what'swrong with me?
Why am I not happy?
Why is nothing lighting me up?
I pour, I give, I share, butthen it's like I'm drained, I
have nothing left for me so yeah, and I just commend you so back
to the writing.
I just commend you for forputting words to paper like your
(14:26):
real thoughts, your realexperiences, and sharing your
story, because, once again,story matters, your voice
matters yeah, being heard invoice and you know I'm learning
more about what I went throughand the strength I have, which
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So it really touches the soul when you write is what
I'm learning.
But I will wake up.
I'm so excited I actually wakeup at 4.30 in the morning and
get my coffee brewing andbecause everybody's still asleep
and it's nice and quiet in thehouse and I was like, okay, I
got this and.
But you know, I will stoparound 630, wherever I'm at,
(15:07):
because I don't want to haveburnout or just quit or anything
like that.
So I set that as a 2025 goaland the other one is to take a
course and learn all these newA-Live stuff out there so I can
be on top of my game.
So, but it's interesting, youknow, I mean kudos to you.
(15:29):
I mean you had more than one,correct.
So you helped out with otherbooks too, correct?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Not at the moment.
I'm drafting up some eBooks formyself.
I'm creating a some ebooks formyself.
I'm I'm uh creating asupplement guide for my keynotes
, uh.
So I literally started gettingas we're writing, as we're
speaking this out.
Right now I'm in the process ofjust mapping it out and it's
really gonna be just about abook of questions, because I
(15:58):
have this I you might have heardthis expression before.
It's not something that Icreated, but it's something that
I it's a philosophy that I liveby is the quality of your life
is determined by the quality ofquestions you ask yourself.
So when we were just havingthis discussion before, the
questions that I asked myself,they weren't bad.
Right, this is not a judgmentthing.
(16:19):
Like Alex, how could youcondemn yourself like that thing
?
Like alex, how could you likecondemn yourself like that?
But I, just the way I see itnow, through through the work
that I've done the, the innerwork with myself over the last
11, 12 years now, the questionsI used to ask myself were why is
life like this nadine?
Why can't I have that?
Uh?
Why, why doesn't she like me?
(16:41):
Why is it like this?
Why I'm right?
All these things that I've justkept just ruminating and
thinking about, like what'swrong with me?
That's really where the core ofit came to.
It's like what's wrong with me.
The questions I start to askmyself and have been given to me
is like, well, this is thesituation I'm in, this is what's
happening, what do I want tocreate from it?
Who is available to help me?
(17:04):
What's available to me?
What resources are there?
And that gives me a way out.
It gives me a place of strength.
It gives me a place of creationof okay, I'm not stuck here.
I'm in a situation.
I don't like it or it's notfavorable for me, but I know I
have enough talent, I know Ihave enough gifts, resources,
abilities.
I know I have enough gifts,resources, abilities.
(17:26):
I know enough support out therethat I can find a way through
it.
Right, and it's not tospiritually bypass and not to
like dismiss it and like toxicpositivity, like everything's
all right, nothing's wrong.
Yeah, sometimes stuff, stuff iswrong, stuff sucks.
Now it's the question of what Iwant to do about it.
Do I want to stay like this ordo I want to have something
different?
And so this ebook is reallygoing to just be an opportunity
for people just to askthemselves some more powerful
(17:47):
questions, and it's related tothat framework I mentioned
earlier about when right, aboutlooking at your worth right,
your self-worth as the W, the I,your intentions, your
commitments and then your endfor your network, your community
, your support system.
And I think in my life, when Ihave succeeded the most, when
(18:07):
I've had the most progress, whenI've had the most breakthroughs
, these elements have shown upright when I've raised the
vibration of myself like okay, Ideserve to have this, I deserve
to have good things happen inmy life.
You know what, now that I knowwho I am, I know that I value
myself.
I'm a madman going after thisgoal.
I'm going to get it, I'm goingto make it happen, no matter
(18:28):
what.
And the major question is likeall right, who's going to help
me do that?
Because I could do it on my ownand take all the credit and be
super Alex superhero.
But why wouldn't I make?
Why wouldn't I not make thissimple?
Why would I not have otherpeople with me celebrate, right,
when we just had the Super Bowlhere a couple weeks ago?
(18:50):
Imagine if it was just JalenHurts on the field and all the
confetti.
It'd feel good, but you kind ofget bored after a minute.
But if you have a whole teamwith you staff coaches we're
jumping, we're celebrating,we're hugging, we're crying,
we're laughing.
But you don't forget that ifyou're the only person in the
(19:11):
room with the champagne and theconfetti, then it gets kind of
lame.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Exactly, and I am a huge Eagles fan.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I'm not I'm a Giants fan, so it was painful for me to
even acknowledge so goodbringing it up Was that hard to
say, it's painful, but you knowwhat?
At least it wasn't a cowboy, soI'll.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh my gosh, Amen to that.
You know I'm in Texas, butdefinitely going through that in
the keynotes.
I mean, do you go out andyou're doing guest speaking to
professional speakers?
So I guess is that coming fromthe books or is it different
(19:52):
topics that you've come up with?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, it's.
I think it's all relatedbecause I think part of my story
ties into, like the teachingpoints.
So the keynote that I'm workingon, I'm building out right now
it's called Speak Up, stand Out,build Unshakable Confidence to
Amplify your Voice and Impact,and I sprinkle in that wind
(20:15):
framework in there and also abit of my life story, and I
think the key for myself as aspeaker and for any speaker or
anybody aspiring to be a speakerout there is really focusing on
what's the audience going toget out of this?
How is this going to benefitthem?
Because when I would was firststarted out a couple years ago,
I put a lot of pressure onmyself, like all right, I gotta
(20:37):
perform right.
I kind of went back into likelittle alex mode of like all
right, gotta make sure they likeme, like it's not about that.
What's the transformation forthem?
How is how will what my wordssay?
How will they hear it?
And then how will theyinternalize it, how will they
use it and apply it?
And that's what, over theselast couple of years now, I've
(20:58):
been really focused on andthat's where I've been seeing a
lot of better results.
Because when we're focusing onthem, when we're.
When I'm taking someone on ajourney of supporting them and
serving them, right, it gets meoff of the soapbox like, all
right, just alex the impressive.
Like let me tell you, nadine,how awesome I am and I'm doing
so great.
And you know I do this.
(21:19):
I'm a best-selling author, youknow I do this.
I'm a pastoral author, you knowit.
You know what I mean.
It's like uh, yeah, you're,you're awesome, but how does
this help me in my life?
Right, because we all have thatradio station.
What's it in for me, like?
What is?
How is this serving me?
And I I I say with the book.
It helped me clarify and andvalidate for myself.
(21:45):
This story is actually usefulhere, right?
This story of going throughsubstance use as a kid, of
having suicidal thoughts, offeeling like I was invisible as
a kid, and then finding love,finding people around me to
support me, finding strengththrough some crazy adversity,
(22:06):
with my mom passing almost 10years ago, losing a job, having
a newborn, all of us in a 90-dayspan, crashing and burning in a
business and then, like aphoenix, rising back up where I
found the world of coaching.
I found professional speaking.
So all these things, as crappyas they were, as much as I
(22:28):
didn't want to experience them,they were all necessary, they
were all building blocks, and Ithink that's one of the things I
want to help people take awayis that nothing's wasted, right.
Nothing that's ever happened toyou or for you.
Nothing's wasted.
If you decide that this is justhow it is, this is how it's
always going to be, then it doesbecome a waste because it's a
(22:49):
default setting.
And I'm a man of faith.
I believe in God, I believe inJesus.
I believe that we're cut fromthe cloth of the master creator,
so I have an opportunity todesign my life how I want it,
not by how you say it or how shesays it or how they say it Like
it's my.
This is me Because, at the endof the day, I'm the only one who
(23:10):
can.
I'm the one breathing the air.
I'm the one thinking thethoughts, I'm the one moving my
body, I'm the one taking theactions.
No one's out there like man.
Alex is really great, like Iwish I could be, like, be
yourself, like I'm taken, likeI'm a one-on-one.
So are you, be you, servepowerfully and make a difference
(23:32):
.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Yeah, that is so true .
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Sorry for the rant.
I got in the pasta mode for asecond.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
No, that is great because I mean, this is so
encouraging and so helpfulbecause you know, I look at it
in life.
We get challenges and it feelslike the map goes up and down,
up and down, but things dohappen for a reason and we learn
from it and everything.
But you know, one of the stepsI did in December I always had
(24:03):
Keep Hope for Alive and to me Ifeel like I'm serving like this
is helping other people in theworld be heard.
And I remember at my churchthere's this sweet lady that
sits in front of me all the timeand she has a life group and I
always felt that she asked me tocome and join and I go, well,
(24:23):
my son's in Sunday school andthen right after that we go home
.
But I am serving in my own kindof way because I have this
podcast and I explained it toher.
Still, she still asks and oneday I started to think about it
because I love singing and doingkaraoke.
I loved watching the choir upthere.
I loved watching the choir upthere and I remember before when
(24:44):
I went to another church when Imoved out in Little Elm area.
I tried to go but my son wasnot having it at that Sunday
school so I canceled that.
But I did join the worship teamat my current church and I love
it and it's so powerful and itgives me that just more in that
(25:08):
week.
Week.
It's like the practice of musiccomes natural and like when I
say in life either I'm runningmy photography business or
working on the podcast, it comesnatural, just like the singing
does.
It's like, why does it happenthat way?
But if I go to karaoke at a barand they hear somebody oh, your
voice is good, can you singthis song like Barracuda?
(25:28):
I heard the song but I can't doBarracuda, I just can't.
Well, I try maybe, but I thinkeverybody has to kind of match
what it is they like in life,how can they make it grow and
what is their passion and goright after it.
(25:48):
So, all right, I want to knowabout a journey of riches.
Can you give us a littleinsight more on that?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
yeah, yeah for sure.
So this is a an anthology book,a multi-author book, so I'm one
of 10 11 other authors on inthis, in this book, and it's 11
different stories of people ontheir different journeys, of the
different walks of life, andthere's some some strong content
(26:17):
in there.
You know, you know for peopleand unfortunately, as humanity
goes, sometimes we can be ourown worst enemy and we have
people who who harm us, who doterror to us, and the beautiful
thing through these stories isthat you get to see people in
their thinking process of how toovercome it and how they've
(26:39):
seen themselves, how they'rewalking through and getting out
of that storm.
And I shared a little bit, justthrough my walk right, of being
a young kid struggling with myown identity, struggling with my
own confidence, not feeling asif I could be myself.
(27:00):
And part of that was in thesedifferent buckets of where I,
where I was collecting evidenceof not feeling like I belonged
right, whether it was in my home.
I mentioned my parents,immigrants from haiti, haitian
creole.
French is our native language.
I never really understood, Inever got it and it wasn't
necessarily uh, what's the word?
(27:21):
I can't think of it right now.
It wasn't really impressed onus to speak here.
They were really focused on uslearning English and being
American citizens.
I kind of lost that.
I didn't get that fullexperience then at home, I mean
at schools where my parents hadus go to predominantly white
(27:45):
schools, institutions, catholicschools I'm one of the few faces
of color in the room.
Like it's that's weird to growup in.
It's like it just.
I had some good friends, I hadgood times, but there was also a
lot of like these undertones oflike you don't really belong
here, like what are you doinghere?
Like it was just, it was thatright.
And then in my own communitywhere I came from a diverse
(28:12):
neighborhood, right, uh, longisland, this place of you know
black families, spanish families, asian families, white families
, but a lot of my friends wentto like the local public school.
So I'm like here, my likeblazer right preppy kid and my
friends have tims on and jordansand sneakers and like they're
kind of clowning me.
So I didn't really feel like Iwas like you know what I mean,
like I just wasn't quite in likethey.
(28:33):
They liked me, but like theydidn't really fully accept me
enough.
And you know, dude, when youhave like that as a foundation
of, well, I don't belonganywhere, I'm not important, I
don't exist, I'm not really here.
And even with my own familyright, I'm the youngest of four.
The closest sibling in age tome is six years apart, so I'm
(28:56):
always out of sync with them.
Right, I'm going to middleschool, they're in high school.
I'm going to high school,they're in college.
I'm going to high school,they're in college, I'm going to
college.
They're already out of thehouse.
So we're never quite in thesame place at the same time,
maybe for a few months of theyear, a couple of seasons here
or there, but nothing reallyconsistent.
So I kind of felt like, eventhough I'm the youngest, I was a
single kid, a single child.
(29:17):
Because who am I?
Hey, I'm like, hey, let's goplay action figures.
They're like we want to go talkto girls.
I'm like, yeah, I don't careabout girls at this point.
Yeah, girls have cooties.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I think that's a sports thing too, with Liam, my
son, playing football and stuff.
He's like I'd rather focus onschool, not girls.
I was giving him a hard timefor Valentine's Day.
I was just like, okay, I knowlast year he had a little
girlfriend and stuff and he'slike girls are too much trouble
and I was like it's funny to me.
(29:51):
But I want to back up reallyquick.
You touched on a topic that Inoticed is real and it's hard to
talk about and I haven't reallytalked about it.
But eat the evil talk about,and I haven't really talked
about it.
But eat the evil.
When we come up higher, why isit that people will try to hurt
(30:18):
us?
I mean, I know I had agentleman try to hurt me really
bad, really, really bad, justbecause I did a podcast and it's
something I thought at the timeof what he did that I could
just quickly get over, but itstill lingers to this day and
I'm just like why would somebodydo that?
And then, right after ithappened, two weeks later, I got
roofied and the topic was oh,I've always wanted to talk to a
(30:43):
podcaster.
Are you feeling it yet?
Feeling what?
I was perfectly fine.
Nope, he slept me a sleep aid.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Oh good, that's tough .
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So you talk about why , like people will try to hurt
you, and I guess it's a realthing, like that's what I'm
seeing.
Yeah, you know, I kind what I'mseeing.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah, you know, I kind of boil it down to this
like and this is this is meanfor mankind, not just for men as
a gender, right, but I alwayshad this thought of like a man's
natural enemy is another man.
I see that person as a threator them taken.
If I'm coming from a place of,of lack of scarcity, right, this
(31:25):
is where when I, when I speak,I really help people.
I really want to make peopleunderstand their worth, their
value.
Because if I'm coming from aplace of abundance and and
prosperity whether it's shown upfinancially or whatever, just
spiritually, right.
If I'm my energy right, thehigh vibration right, this is
going to be for any people whoare like, oh my god, now woo,
(31:47):
woo, stuff, like it's real stuff, just listen.
But yeah, just table yourthoughts for a minute, just hear
what I'm saying.
If my energy is at a highfrequency, I'm not gonna.
I'm not gonna allow, allowpetty things to bother me or to
upset me or disturb my peace.
But if I'm coming from a placeof man, life sucks.
(32:09):
Nobody's looking out for me.
People are out to always get me.
This always happens to me.
You know what I see, nadine,she's smiling, she's joy.
I don't want her to have joy.
I want to take that from you,right, cause I want you here,
right, you've heard the crabs inthe bucket mentality and that's
a real thing because, eventhinking about it right now,
(32:35):
super Bowl just happened.
Whatever side of the fence youare, whether you're like, hey,
I'm Team Kendrick, I love whathe did, and you're like, oh, he
sucks Worst halftime show everwe both could be right, but for
the person who's like he sucks,I don't like his music, I don't
like what he stood for.
Now your whole deal is on yourphone.
(32:56):
Well, he sucks.
And you're looking for allthese things.
You're looking for people whoare like I love what you do.
I'm going to go on your thread.
I don't like that, or thisperson who's in office, or this
administration.
I don't like them.
I hate them.
I do love them and they're thebest.
So when we are coming from thatplace right, it's not a place
(33:17):
that we're going to.
I think this is really a placethat we're coming from.
If I'm coming from a place of,I love my kids.
I want to see them smile, lovethem when they're happy.
I love them when they play.
And if I have a day where I'mnot as loving, maybe I'm a
little bit sleepy, I'm tired,I'm grumpy, I'm frustrated, I'm
annoyed.
Now, that thing that used to beso cute and make me smile and
(33:42):
I'm like can you just shut upfor a minute?
Can you just like stop, likeyou don't need to hurt him.
But you're like it's me.
I'm in my head thinking abouthow your joy is interrupting my
frustration and that soundscrazy.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
But that's what we are.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
We're crazy people.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Exactly.
You never know what we're goingto get.
So, hey, just really quickmid-break.
I do have to tell you about ourother sponsor, really quick
Snap Bands, which you guysprobably see on Facebook all the
time.
Mine right here says hope andit's one of the mantra words
they use.
Each of these bracelets willhave a different mantra word
(34:25):
peace, love, hope, fearless.
You name it.
On the backside of it it has a.
It's like almost like a rubberband and you pull it out and you
let it thump right against thewrist and what it does.
It helps with any anxiety,depression and I say PTSD.
(34:45):
I know I use mine and I'm agood example.
I was at for a CAT scanyesterday and I know I'm the
hardest stick when I have to getan IV.
It's just a no-brainer.
It's been like that since I wasage nine, so usually some
(35:06):
people will take eight sticks tofind it and it hurts.
My hands all swollen today butit's okay because you know what
the girl I had.
She was amazing, amazing.
So, but definitely going inthere and I will pray, I hope
and pray and I have faith inthis person that they'll be able
(35:28):
to get me on the first try, youknow.
So that's what I use for mine.
But with all proceeds of thesewonderful bracelets, snap bands,
it will go to differentcharities and organizations that
help out with behavioral anddepression, you know, to help
people out.
So they do come in alldifferent colors.
(35:50):
They're made out of I thinkit's called vegan leather, and
I've had mine for almost twoyears now and I love it.
Now they added a new mantraword I'm so excited and it's
faith.
And if you do want one thatsays faith, on their website the
code is K-H-A keep hope aliveand you can get the word faith.
(36:15):
So, but definitely check themout on their website and I'm
going to spell it out too.
But it's wwwsnapbandscom andthat's S-N-A-P-P-B-A-N-D-Zcom.
So well, okay, so I was just sointrigued with everything that
(36:37):
you were doing.
I mean, you've got the book.
Now you have a podcast too,correct?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yes, yeah, I host two separate podcasts.
So one is for my own daily loveand pleasure.
It's called Love, serve, care.
It's a daily three-minutepodcast that I've been doing now
since November 2020.
And, honestly, at this pointit's a part of me, it's my audio
diary, but it's also my way toto give back.
(37:04):
This is my, my ministry, to adegree where I just share these
different thoughts and I andinspirations that come to me and
and just look at how I canrelate that to building
businesses as a mindset of anentrepreneur and different
challenges that we go through.
So that's that podcast.
And then for a community that Ico-founded called the BIPOC
(37:27):
Coach Collective so that standsfor Black Indigenous People of
Color Our monthly show is calledElevate and Celebrate and
that's the opportunity for me tointerview amazing coaches,
business leaders, get theirstory right.
Coming back to the story matters, your voice matters and just
give them a chance to tell theirnarrative, tell their story and
(37:48):
find out their journey andprovide some more inspiration
for young, up-and-comingentrepreneurs, or even those who
are seasoned, who are maybegoing through a point of life
like why am I doing this?
Oh, there, there's a biggerpurpose, there's a bigger vision
, a bigger mission out there forme to do what I'm doing and
serve how I serve.
So these are my two, my twobabies.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Exactly, and that's so important.
And you know how I do TikTok asmy baby, little mini one, and
I'll just be, you know.
Hey, we're going to have fun.
It's a little bit differentthan what I do on the podcast,
but I want people to see thatside of me, the fun outgoing
side.
And then, um, also, you know,the one thing I love is that on
(38:33):
the website for Keep Hope Alive,there is a feature that you can
leave a message now.
So if anybody ever had an ideaof what they wanted to do in
life and maybe it's a topic Iknow I heard somebody over say I
wish that I knew how to quitsmoking.
(38:53):
Okay, well, my head's going amile a minute.
Let's bring on a coach to helpyou.
I'll interview them how tobreak that nicotine habit.
But you know there's so manydifferent things and topics out
there to be heard and everythinglike that.
So what you're doing is amazingwith the two podcasts.
Is there any other new thingscoming up for 2025, going into
(39:17):
26?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, a couple of different things.
Like I mentioned, I'm buildingout this talk, this speak up
standout.
So if anyone has, if anyonewould love a guest speaker for
association conference, hello,ring, ring, ring.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I'm a number.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
But yeah, I'm just excited about that With my group
, that I mentioned the BipodCoach Collective.
We're celebrating our Ring,ring, ring.
I'm a number up, but yeah, I'mjust excited about that With my
group, that I mentioned theBipod Coach Collective.
We're celebrating our two-yearanniversary as a membership
space.
We've been around since July2020, but in February 2023, we
converted this into asubscription model for coaches
to get some additional supporthelping them grow their
businesses and get some moreresources and access to things.
(40:00):
So at the end of this month,literally in 10 days, the 28th
we're celebrating a two-yearanniversary, virtually.
So if you know any coaches ofcolor out there in your
community, then they want a funplace to go to.
It's a free event, free,virtual one hour, 12 to one,
eastern.
Hang out with myself, my team,my people, my family, hang out
(40:22):
with us champions and we justhave some fun.
We're going to celebrate whatwe've accomplished in these two
years, also kind of set the tonefor where we're going moving
forward and what we're going tobe doing.
So I'm excited about that.
Yeah, me too.
And speaking that's the focus,right, speaking.
Going to events I'm going to beanybody who's in North Carolina
(40:45):
in May.
I'm going to be at theToastmasters annual conference.
I'm going to be leading aworkshop on the 17th that's a
Saturday so Saturday morning,come stop by.
We're going to help you speakup and stand out.
It's going to be a fun,interactive experience, because
I'm not here to lecture and talkat you.
Talk with you, communicate,collaborate and put that into
(41:07):
practice.
And anything else that comes upI'm excited for and I'll keep
you uh and I haven't told himyet.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
We started a VIP membership Facebook group and
it's for the subscribers andeverything.
But you get added on therebecause I interviewed you which
is really cool.
So any of these events that youhave or you know maybe the book
is on sale you can put thatinformation for everybody who
(41:40):
has joined so they can see thatand go to your events and
everything.
So it makes it a lot of fun andyou know, just interacting with
people.
So that is great.
But I am so glad to hear that,yay, and you know what was?
I had another question for you.
It slipped, I think it's part.
Another question for you.
It slipped, I think it's partof me getting older, my goodness
(42:01):
.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
So we're not getting old, we're getting better, we're
just.
You know some things.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Yeah, we're getting wiser.
Maybe I need more caffeine, whoknows.
But yeah, oh, I remember Guys,of course he has a book, so it's
already uploaded to thestorefront so you can go and get
his book right away today.
So watch the podcast, get thebook.
(42:26):
I think the book is already upon the VIP site.
I got to double check, but Iwill see that to be on there
soon too.
So but yeah, definitely, and Imean as far as as.
Okay, you got three cap herethe books, the speak in um, the
(42:46):
podcast.
Are we missing any other thingon you?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
um, well, actually for for your folks, for people.
I'm like, which side is it qrcode back there, right?
yes, so I I'm a I'm a creativeguy.
I like to do things outside ofthe box, unconventional to a
degree.
So if you type in that codethere, when, if you've got some
insights from this episode, ifyou found yourself like hey,
(43:15):
feeling inspired, you like whatI've had to say, you thought
maybe there's some things thatyou can apply in your life, I'd
love to hear about it, like I'dlove for you to share some
feedback, because I also have agift for you.
Right, it's a fair exchange.
What I decided to do was.
I read the, the, the chapterthat I contributed.
So the chapter that I wrote iscalled everybody wins, including
me expanding global influencethrough communication.
(43:37):
So I read that chapter.
And also there's someadditional commentary because,
like I said, it's hard to put mylife into 5,000 words.
So the commentary kind of is anadditional podcast.
It's just giving some contextto some of the stories and some
of the things that I shared inthere, and it's backed by an
instrumental track that I makebecause I I love to make music
(43:59):
too.
That's part of my deal.
That's another way for me toexpress myself.
So, for anybody who would loveaccess to that.
They can have that, justwhatever.
Go to that code scan on yourphone, get that code win and
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
I got to say impressive logo too.
I like that.
Yes too, I like that.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
Yes, that's really cool yeah, and with the logo,
let me give a quick shout out tomy guy, ricky newell.
He, he, he created that for melast year and it wasn't
something that I actually askedfor and let me share with this.
So I put out a post on facebook.
It had my old logo and mybackground and stuff like that.
I was like you know, nice, nicephoto, I was looking good, I
was in the suit and all thisstuff, and he was so inspired by
(44:45):
what I shared.
He's like I made this logo foryou, like you can have it, it's
yours.
And this is.
He kind of gave me a quickstory about it, like with the A,
like pointing up like this isyour north star, finding your,
your confidence and all thislike I love this so much.
Like you know what.
That's my look, like you.
You gave it to me, right, thankyou.
So I just want to give him aquick acknowledgement, and and
(45:07):
for anyone watching, that thisis the power of just sharing who
you are authentically and thatthat's why, with this talk right
, I want to build unshakableconfidence.
I want to amplify your voiceand impact what I shared.
I didn't do that to getanything, I just shared it to
share it in the world, just putit out there, and it moved
(45:28):
somebody so much that they werelike I want to design, I want to
create something specificallyfor you.
So this is where you have theopportunity of looking at what
is it that I'm sharing out therein the world?
Am I sharing something that'sgoing to help somebody or hurt
somebody?
And it's something I talk to mykids about all the time, about.
Hey, are your words helping orhurting?
Because they matter.
(45:48):
Our words literally create, likeright now.
You mean, adine, someone had tocreate a camera and a computer
for us to speak through.
At some point this didn't existright.
At some point we wouldn't beable to have this conversation
north carolina, texas butsomeone had an idea hey,
wouldn't it be great if we couldput together a software that
(46:08):
would broadcast one person fromthis side of the world to
another part of the world?
And that's all it took was likethat, what if?
Right?
It sounds corny, but like, hey,what if we could do that?
And then all of a sudden, well,this would actually have to
happen and we need to do this.
And then who are the engineersthat can do this?
Who are the designers?
Who are the developers?
And all of a sudden, zoom orwhatever tech you're using, it
(46:31):
exists.
So I say all that to say thatyour words matter.
Your words can build somebody,they can lift somebody up, or
they can crush them and condemnthem.
So choose wisely yeah, choosewisely.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
And then it's always important to be heard too, so
stories matter.
I love that about you, know,keep a hope.
So everybody has a story.
I've heard over a hundred andI'm almost on my.
I think you might be my 200thshow, what.
I think I'm that close Maybe.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Hold on, am I?
Speaker 1 (47:05):
go off and I'll have to put a Facebook announcement.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
But yeah, I was climbing up the oh look at the
hearts, and I'm in the balloonstoo, so celebrate.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
But I was just, like you know, for a year and a half
and being active and doing thatit is one thing.
So with Keep Hope Alive, youknow it was just that initiative
.
I knew I wanted to do it, butstill I needed to have a
full-time job.
And then, as I worked, thepodcast kind of went down and I
was only doing one or two a weekinstead of like almost six or
(47:41):
seven.
But now that I left that job,we've picked up again and I'm
excited because it's my passion.
So I got to, you know, choosinga job.
I got to make sure that I keephope afloat, which is important
to me.
So, um, but definitely I want tosay thank you for coming on and
(48:02):
sharing your story, and yourmotivational speaking is amazing
.
I would definitely want to goout there and hear you speak one
day and everything.
So that is really cool, um.
So I want to tell you guests,wherever you find your podcast,
you will be able to find us.
You can visit our website atwwwkeephopealivepodcastcom.
(48:26):
Like I said, you can leave amessage if you would like to
talk to Alex and have questions.
I will send those questions tohim right away and maybe we'll
just do a quick little follow-upand everything like that.
Yeah, it is so worth it.
You know I love this featureand then also, like I said, you
can subscribe to the membership,become a member on our platform
(48:50):
and see what you know Alex isup to what events he's putting
out there up to what events he'sputting out there, but we have
so many interviewers that Iinterviewed that are going to be
on this and sharing theirplatforms too, so it is well
worth it.
Other than that, once again Ihear my dog's going crazy too.
(49:12):
But yeah, I'm just so happy andany new information I would
love to have you back within ayear.
I'm going to tell you thatbecause I love this interview is
amazing.
So maybe I have to wait to the400, but I'll salute you for
that.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
Right it's, it's so.
I've been podcasting since 2018, so I'm gonna give you a quick
journey.
My wife and I, we had a podcasttogether.
So when you say six, sevenepisodes a week, I'm like, oh my
god, because I used to do two aweek.
That's how it started off wasone episode of me and her just
(49:53):
kind of going back and forth,you know, discussing things, and
then I would interview somebody.
So mondays our episode wouldcome out, thursdays the
interview would come out.
And this is how like insane Iwas.
It would take me probably two,three hours to edit a 20 minute
episode, because I was cuttingout all the ums, all the ahs.
I was like I don't want to hearany like background noise.
I was trying to make it likereally polished and perfect.
(50:16):
Then, of course, nothing everreally is, and then it will.
It started going down to likeonce a week.
Then I started letting go ofthe interviews and then we just
kind of fell out of it and wejust both, organically, were
like we're tired of this, butalways had like the itch to
continue podcasts.
And so that's when I createdlove serve care in november 2020
and I made it simple for myselfthree minutes.
(50:37):
I made a, an instrumental beatfor that.
So every episode is like gotsome like background vibes to it
and yeah, it's just simple.
I record that done, I move on.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
My life is complete, yeah you see, like for me it's
not much.
Like I tell all my guests, lifeis not edited.
If we say um, it makes me thinkof Judge Judy, Hint, hint.
Yes, I was on Judge Judy and Iwon my case.
But I always heard her say um isnot a word to my ex and I was
(51:11):
like you know what we slip up?
We slip up, you know, but I,you know it's, once I get this,
I've put it out there into theworld Because, let's say, we
were at a public speaking event.
We can't hit rewind if wemessed up.
I mean sure we go, oh, I messedup what I said, and da-da-da-da
(51:32):
, and then we go back and werephrase it.
But as far as a video, youdon't want to keep going back
and saying we need to redo thisand we need to redo that.
That makes it a little bitharder.
But I know, with the way I laidup my podcast and people are
going to think I'm nuts, but Ialso dish this out everywhere,
(51:56):
so it becomes a short reel.
It goes to all social platformsthat I know of and some are new
, like Blue Sky, matron I thinkit's how you say, matron there's
Threads, that is out.
So I'm learning a lot.
But I take my podcast like itwas my company and just wanted
(52:19):
to see it everywhere, to getthose numbers and put it out
there.
So people find it, they find it, they listen to this story and
they would be like Alex wasreally good.
He really really helped me.
I mean, that's what we want tohear from the show.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
Absolutely yeah, it's all about the transformation.
Speaker 1 (52:38):
Yes, it is Well.
Thank you so so much.
I loved every minute of talkingwith you and it sounds like you
have that great, solid base ofdoing the shows and everything,
and I wish you so much good luckin the future and everything,
with everything.
And I want to check back withyou.
Speaker 2 (53:00):
I'll be available.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
You know where to find me.
I know where to.
Yeah, I was like I know whereto find you, okay.
Well, thank you guys, until ournext show.
Love and light, bye-bye, stayblessed.
Hello and welcome to Keep Hope Alive podcast.
Today we have another specialguest with us.
I'd like to welcome Alex Dumason the show.
So welcome, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thank you, Nadine.
Welcome myself.
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh good, I'm so glad.
So you're a professionalspeaker and a best-selling
author and I can't wait to diveinto your story.
It's going to be so fun.
But, alex, I always have aquestion.
My first question of the day isokay, let's put it this way
we're best friends.
We got invited to go to ourfriend's wedding.
(00:41):
So we're walking into theceremony part and to the right
we see something we need to sign.
What is that one thing we needto sign to let our friends know
we were actually there.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Let them know that we were present the guest book.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, Very good, Yay.
So one of the biggest sponsorsI have here is Life on Record
and what they do instead ofhaving a guest book.
It is a vintage rotary phone,so your guests walk up to this
vintage phone, pick it up.
They can leave a messageCongratulations on your big day.
(01:17):
We're so happy for you.
Many years of happiness and joyand love.
And then you might get agroomsman.
It's about time you put a ringon her finger.
Whatever the message may be, itis there for your guests to
pick up and leave that message.
Also, they have a little signwith a QR code that they can
scan with their own phone sothey can leave a message before
(01:40):
or after.
Now this phone goes good at anyevent, but I always use the
subject as a wedding and stuff.
Now, what they do with themessages?
They will burn them either on a12-inch vinyl record or you can
get a keepsake box.
Now their plans only start at$99.
You get the phone number.
(02:01):
I got to make sure you hearnumber.
You got to return the phone,but the phone number for one
year.
So this is a great thing tohave at your event to listen to
everybody congratulating you orwishing you well, Please visit
them at wwwlifeonrecordcom.
(02:21):
All right, so here we go.
My second question of the daywho is Alex DeMoss?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Wow, Gosh, how much time do we have for that?
Right Cause we can.
That could be hours and hours.
You know, for what you saidearlier, I'm a professional
speaker, best-selling author,leadership expert, community
leader and all these differentthings, and I share all that
kind of upfront like wow, thislooks amazing.
So impressive, alex, you'reawesome.
(02:52):
Like yeah, all that's true.
And I also want to let theaudience know that it wasn't
always like this.
I didn't always believe thatthat was capable or possible for
me.
You know, I'm somebody who grewup in a pretty much regular
life, mundane, in Long Island,new York, youngest of four kids,
(03:12):
my parents immigrants fromHaiti, and that comes with its
own different cultural standardsand expectations to live by,
and a lot of those I fell shortof and I wrote about this in the
book.
So you see behind me a journeyof riches, a power of
self-discovery, where I,honestly, nadine, was somebody
(03:33):
who was always kind of inbetween things, right, Always
kind of on the inside, butoutside not quite fitting in,
wanted to be accepted, wanted tohave people like me, fun,
personal guy, but also quiet,shy, you know some people might
say like a introverted,extrovert.
I don't know if that's the theright term for it, but I just
(03:54):
know that for myself, feelingout of place, out of sorts,
trying to find who I am, tryingto find my identity, trying to
find my voice in the world, andthat maybe led me to test out
things this way of like.
Maybe I can be in this group,or maybe I can be a part of this
, this crowd, and fall in hereand at at the core, really
(04:16):
losing myself, losing who I am,and through years right, it's
taken years to get to this pointof recognizing, oh, I have a
lot more power within than Ithought was possible.
I have a lot more to offer theworld.
I actually have a story thatmatters, a voice that matters,
and I have a supportive, abeautiful family with me my wife
(04:39):
, my two kids, cousins, aunts.
You know the whole deal in thecommunity with me kids, cousins,
aunts.
You know all the whole deal inthe community with me.
And I think now that's what I domy best to share from the stage
is that we're we're neverreally alone.
But we also have to recognizeit's okay.
It's okay to be alone, but notlonely, right.
It's okay to be in solitude andbe sovereign, but not in the
(05:02):
space of compromising your ownvalues, your own beliefs, to fit
in or to bend to somebodyelse's expectations and in that
case I think that is whatprevented me from what I call
winning in life.
I'm a competitive guy.
I used to play sports footballand boxing and taekwondo so I'm
like the competitive drive, likethat thing, that inner thing in
(05:24):
me, boxing and taekwondo.
So I've like the competitivedrive, like that thing, that
inner thing in me, and I've alsobeen on the side of where I've
used that to to harm myself,harm others, and I've used that
to now benefit other people andempower people and inspire
people.
So that's a quick snapshot ofwho I am and what I'm here to do
.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Wow, you know, you said you were the quiet one and
it took me back to school.
There was a quiet, quiet boyand now he's a comedian and I
was just like you break out ofthat shell.
You know, it's kind of like youknow, and I say also, the quiet
ones are introverted.
If you are, you seem like afree spirit just by talking to
(06:02):
you.
So, but they are usually veryknowledgeable, very smart, they
set their goals, they go afterit.
It's win, win, win.
And, as you talked aboutcompetitive, yes, and just
staying driven and focused onthose.
That's always great.
So, but yeah, I mean yourjourney of you know, moving to
(06:26):
New York.
What was that like for you?
Because I know I'm a Jerseygirl, but I was only there till
age six.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, and you know, I grew up in New York, right, my
family was born.
I was born in Brooklyn.
We moved to Long Island when Iwas probably four or five, right
, really young.
So Long Island, brentwood to bespecific, has always been my
(06:54):
home, and for the past.
Now we're recording this 2025.
So it's going to be going oneight years since me, my wife
and my kids we moved to NorthCarolina, and the way I like to
tell this story is that it tookus eight years to figure out how
to move in eight weeks.
So Rewind Time back to 2016,.
We are just going through life,right, we're just kind of
(07:15):
making it right.
Our son just turned one, ourdaughter is going to be six and
there's a lot of crazinesshappening in our area,
specifically where, um, there'sthere's gang murders, there's
assaults, there's a whole lot ofchaos around us.
Uh, and my wife and I, we knewlike we wanted to get out.
(07:35):
We, we knew we we weren't gonnabe able to afford what we
wanted with the way taxes andthings like that were and just
all that.
It felt like everything, likethis pressure cooker, everything
just going on, just collapsingaround us.
So, fast forward, 2017, overjuly weekend, we're like you
(07:55):
know, let's go scope out northcanada, let's go scout the area,
because we've been talkingabout georgia, we've been
talking about florida, talkingabout all these different states
.
But for you watching, for youlistening, have you ever been
there where you just like kindof run your mouth a little bit
but like you don't take anyaction?
It is not a judgment, but thisis where I'm coming from.
Like I want to do this, I wantto make this happen and no, no
(08:19):
actions taken, nothing, nothinggoes on.
So fourth of july weekend wevisit the area and I just gotta
say this quick thing, becauseit's funny to me.
I'm thinking it's like new yorkweather, like new york summer.
So I'm in sweatpants, I'm justwhatever.
I get out of the car, we go toa cracker ball and like I die
immediately, like it's so hot.
(08:40):
I've never humidity heat likethis before in my life.
So I'm sweating buckets justfrom the car parking lot to the
front of the building.
I look crazy.
I must look like I was runningtrack or something like that.
I was just buckets.
Anyway, we visit for the weekendand we fall in love with the
(09:01):
area.
We were visiting homes andthings like that and just
getting a feel for the area andthen by Labor Day, weekend, kids
, dog, everything packed, nojobs, no family support out here
, no friends.
We knew nobody.
We didn't even visit theapartment that we wound up
staying in for a year Now.
We wound up building this housea year later and we're still
(09:22):
here.
But I share that to hopefullylet somebody know like you can
make a lot happen in a shortamount of time once you make a
really powerful decision, onceyou get very committed, and
that's part of what I call likemy win formula, like I call like
the eye, the intentions right,when you get really laser
focused and set on.
I'm gonna do this and you caneither come with me or get out
(09:45):
the way, and that's.
That's just how we operate.
And we've been here, we've beenable to thrive since, we've
been able to build a greatnetwork with people around here,
and there's still more to do inmy opinion, but right now we're
in a really comfortable spot,we're safe, we're in a, you know
, a stable community.
So it worked out.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Sometimes you got to just go all in and play your
hand and just do it you'regiving me a lot of hope right
now because I mean, I think theonly thing holding me back is
the football for my son here andhe really wants to follow the
school system.
But I have always I just wantto get in my car and set a day
(10:30):
and a half and see whateverdirection I go.
That's where I need to end upand try or something.
But I was like I just want toget up and move and just have a
fresh start and I feel like Iwant to do that every 10 years
or something so I can see theworld and try new things.
But you just never know.
And yeah, I got to do that, butI started one of my goals.
(10:51):
Instead of just up and moving,I started writing a book and I'm
so excited and I know.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Tell me about the book Huh.
Tell me about the book.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Oh, it's a spiritual journey and I got, I gotta see.
Hopefully the name is not taken, but I've called it darkness.
Your hour is over.
So, yeah, just different things.
I gotta keep it under wraps,it's a hard book actually, right
yeah.
So I was like man, this betterbe a bestseller into a movie,
(11:25):
because it sure could be.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But I don't think I would want to watch it because I
had to live it out there when Iwas approached with writing the
(11:49):
chapter for Journey of Richeslast year, in 2024.
And it just came at the righttime.
I'm named after the author, soAlexandre Dumas, it's in my
blood.
It's kind of destiny If whoeverbelieves in that.
It's predestined for me to bean author.
And I love writing in any wayand being creative.
And I wrestle with a lot of itbecause I'm thinking to myself
all right, well, what do I wantto talk about?
What am I going to write about?
How is self-discovery?
Well, how do I discover myself?
(12:15):
How do I find myself?
And I essentially put my lifestory into about 5,000 words.
And the scary quote, unquotescary part about that is just
recognizing that people that Iknow, people that I grew up with
, people that love me, family,right, all that they're going to
read, that they're going to seesome of the things yes, oh, my
God, I didn't know.
I didn't know you felt likethat.
I didn't know you were goingthrough these challenges.
And you know, to your earliercomment about me, like, yeah,
(12:40):
I'm extroverted, I'm a comedian,I'm extroverted, I'm a comedian
, I love to make people laugh, Ilove to make people smile, I
love just that's part of meright.
But what I shared in the bookwas that I use that as a mask.
I use that as a way to keeppeople at arm's length because I
was so insecure inside I was.
(13:00):
So I felt inadequate.
I felt like this is the onlyway that I could get acceptance
right.
I felt like this is the onlyway that I could get acceptance
right.
It's a difference betweenwanting to entertain and be fun
and be lively versus thispressure of having to Like.
This is all I am.
This is my identity, nadine.
Like this is me.
If I'm not funny, if I'm notthe clown, if I'm not the goofy
(13:21):
guy, then what am I?
Are people going to like like,see through the mask?
Are people gonna recognize oh,this guy's.
Like we didn't use depressed inthe 90s right, that wasn't a
word anxiety, these thingsdidn't exist, or at least we
didn't have awareness of or asmuch uh promotion about or
knowledge about.
So I'm just thinking, well,what's wrong with me?
(13:42):
Why am I like this?
I should be happy, I haveeverything on paper, I have
everything that you should wanttwo parents, uh, great siblings,
stable home, right.
No, nothing on the surface youshould be like, wow, like you
know, you have a great life,like I'm very fortunate, right
as a black man, to have thesethings.
(14:03):
But yet inside I'm like what'swrong with me?
Why am I not happy?
Why is nothing lighting me up?
I pour, I give, I share, butthen it's like I'm drained, I
have nothing left for me so yeah, and I just commend you so back
to the writing.
I just commend you for forputting words to paper like your
(14:26):
real thoughts, your realexperiences, and sharing your
story, because, once again,story matters, your voice
matters yeah, being heard invoice and you know I'm learning
more about what I went throughand the strength I have, which
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So it really touches the soul when you write is what
I'm learning.
But I will wake up.
I'm so excited I actually wakeup at 4.30 in the morning and
get my coffee brewing andbecause everybody's still asleep
and it's nice and quiet in thehouse and I was like, okay, I
got this and.
But you know, I will stoparound 630, wherever I'm at,
(15:07):
because I don't want to haveburnout or just quit or anything
like that.
So I set that as a 2025 goaland the other one is to take a
course and learn all these newA-Live stuff out there so I can
be on top of my game.
So, but it's interesting, youknow, I mean kudos to you.
(15:29):
I mean you had more than one,correct.
So you helped out with otherbooks too, correct?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Not at the moment.
I'm drafting up some eBooks formyself.
I'm creating a some ebooks formyself.
I'm I'm uh creating asupplement guide for my keynotes
, uh.
So I literally started gettingas we're writing, as we're
speaking this out.
Right now I'm in the process ofjust mapping it out and it's
really gonna be just about abook of questions, because I
(15:58):
have this I you might have heardthis expression before.
It's not something that Icreated, but it's something that
I it's a philosophy that I liveby is the quality of your life
is determined by the quality ofquestions you ask yourself.
So when we were just havingthis discussion before, the
questions that I asked myself,they weren't bad.
Right, this is not a judgmentthing.
(16:19):
Like Alex, how could youcondemn yourself like that thing
?
Like alex, how could you likecondemn yourself like that?
But I, just the way I see itnow, through through the work
that I've done the, the innerwork with myself over the last
11, 12 years now, the questionsI used to ask myself were why is
life like this nadine?
Why can't I have that?
Uh?
Why, why doesn't she like me?
(16:41):
Why is it like this?
Why I'm right?
All these things that I've justkept just ruminating and
thinking about, like what'swrong with me?
That's really where the core ofit came to.
It's like what's wrong with me.
The questions I start to askmyself and have been given to me
is like, well, this is thesituation I'm in, this is what's
happening, what do I want tocreate from it?
Who is available to help me?
(17:04):
What's available to me?
What resources are there?
And that gives me a way out.
It gives me a place of strength.
It gives me a place of creationof okay, I'm not stuck here.
I'm in a situation.
I don't like it or it's notfavorable for me, but I know I
have enough talent, I know Ihave enough gifts, resources,
abilities.
I know I have enough gifts,resources, abilities.
(17:26):
I know enough support out therethat I can find a way through
it.
Right, and it's not tospiritually bypass and not to
like dismiss it and like toxicpositivity, like everything's
all right, nothing's wrong.
Yeah, sometimes stuff, stuff iswrong, stuff sucks.
Now it's the question of what Iwant to do about it.
Do I want to stay like this ordo I want to have something
different?
And so this ebook is reallygoing to just be an opportunity
for people just to askthemselves some more powerful
(17:47):
questions, and it's related tothat framework I mentioned
earlier about when right, aboutlooking at your worth right,
your self-worth as the W, the I,your intentions, your
commitments and then your endfor your network, your community
, your support system.
And I think in my life, when Ihave succeeded the most, when
(18:07):
I've had the most progress, whenI've had the most breakthroughs
, these elements have shown upright when I've raised the
vibration of myself like okay, Ideserve to have this, I deserve
to have good things happen inmy life.
You know what, now that I knowwho I am, I know that I value
myself.
I'm a madman going after thisgoal.
I'm going to get it, I'm goingto make it happen, no matter
(18:28):
what.
And the major question is likeall right, who's going to help
me do that?
Because I could do it on my ownand take all the credit and be
super Alex superhero.
But why wouldn't I make?
Why wouldn't I not make thissimple?
Why would I not have otherpeople with me celebrate, right,
when we just had the Super Bowlhere a couple weeks ago?
(18:50):
Imagine if it was just JalenHurts on the field and all the
confetti.
It'd feel good, but you kind ofget bored after a minute.
But if you have a whole teamwith you staff coaches we're
jumping, we're celebrating,we're hugging, we're crying,
we're laughing.
But you don't forget that ifyou're the only person in the
(19:11):
room with the champagne and theconfetti, then it gets kind of
lame.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Exactly, and I am a huge Eagles fan.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I'm not I'm a Giants fan, so it was painful for me to
even acknowledge so goodbringing it up Was that hard to
say, it's painful, but you knowwhat?
At least it wasn't a cowboy, soI'll.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh my gosh, Amen to that.
You know I'm in Texas, butdefinitely going through that in
the keynotes.
I mean, do you go out andyou're doing guest speaking to
professional speakers?
So I guess is that coming fromthe books or is it different
(19:52):
topics that you've come up with?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, it's.
I think it's all relatedbecause I think part of my story
ties into, like the teachingpoints.
So the keynote that I'm workingon, I'm building out right now
it's called Speak Up, stand Out,build Unshakable Confidence to
Amplify your Voice and Impact,and I sprinkle in that wind
(20:15):
framework in there and also abit of my life story, and I
think the key for myself as aspeaker and for any speaker or
anybody aspiring to be a speakerout there is really focusing on
what's the audience going toget out of this?
How is this going to benefitthem?
Because when I would was firststarted out a couple years ago,
I put a lot of pressure onmyself, like all right, I gotta
(20:37):
perform right.
I kind of went back into likelittle alex mode of like all
right, gotta make sure they likeme, like it's not about that.
What's the transformation forthem?
How is how will what my wordssay?
How will they hear it?
And then how will theyinternalize it, how will they
use it and apply it?
And that's what, over theselast couple of years now, I've
(20:58):
been really focused on andthat's where I've been seeing a
lot of better results.
Because when we're focusing onthem, when we're.
When I'm taking someone on ajourney of supporting them and
serving them, right, it gets meoff of the soapbox like, all
right, just alex the impressive.
Like let me tell you, nadine,how awesome I am and I'm doing
so great.
And you know I do this.
(21:19):
I'm a best-selling author, youknow I do this.
I'm a pastoral author, you knowit.
You know what I mean.
It's like uh, yeah, you're,you're awesome, but how does
this help me in my life?
Right, because we all have thatradio station.
What's it in for me, like?
What is?
How is this serving me?
And I I I say with the book.
It helped me clarify and andvalidate for myself.
(21:45):
This story is actually usefulhere, right?
This story of going throughsubstance use as a kid, of
having suicidal thoughts, offeeling like I was invisible as
a kid, and then finding love,finding people around me to
support me, finding strengththrough some crazy adversity,
(22:06):
with my mom passing almost 10years ago, losing a job, having
a newborn, all of us in a 90-dayspan, crashing and burning in a
business and then, like aphoenix, rising back up where I
found the world of coaching.
I found professional speaking.
So all these things, as crappyas they were, as much as I
(22:28):
didn't want to experience them,they were all necessary, they
were all building blocks, and Ithink that's one of the things I
want to help people take awayis that nothing's wasted, right.
Nothing that's ever happened toyou or for you.
Nothing's wasted.
If you decide that this is justhow it is, this is how it's
always going to be, then it doesbecome a waste because it's a
(22:49):
default setting.
And I'm a man of faith.
I believe in God, I believe inJesus.
I believe that we're cut fromthe cloth of the master creator,
so I have an opportunity todesign my life how I want it,
not by how you say it or how shesays it or how they say it Like
it's my.
This is me Because, at the endof the day, I'm the only one who
(23:10):
can.
I'm the one breathing the air.
I'm the one thinking thethoughts, I'm the one moving my
body, I'm the one taking theactions.
No one's out there like man.
Alex is really great, like Iwish I could be, like, be
yourself, like I'm taken, likeI'm a one-on-one.
So are you, be you, servepowerfully and make a difference
(23:32):
.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Yeah, that is so true .
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Sorry for the rant.
I got in the pasta mode for asecond.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
No, that is great because I mean, this is so
encouraging and so helpfulbecause you know, I look at it
in life.
We get challenges and it feelslike the map goes up and down,
up and down, but things dohappen for a reason and we learn
from it and everything.
But you know, one of the stepsI did in December I always had
(24:03):
Keep Hope for Alive and to me Ifeel like I'm serving like this
is helping other people in theworld be heard.
And I remember at my churchthere's this sweet lady that
sits in front of me all the timeand she has a life group and I
always felt that she asked me tocome and join and I go, well,
(24:23):
my son's in Sunday school andthen right after that we go home
.
But I am serving in my own kindof way because I have this
podcast and I explained it toher.
Still, she still asks and oneday I started to think about it
because I love singing and doingkaraoke.
I loved watching the choir upthere.
I loved watching the choir upthere and I remember before when
(24:44):
I went to another church when Imoved out in Little Elm area.
I tried to go but my son wasnot having it at that Sunday
school so I canceled that.
But I did join the worship teamat my current church and I love
it and it's so powerful and itgives me that just more in that
(25:08):
week.
Week.
It's like the practice of musiccomes natural and like when I
say in life either I'm runningmy photography business or
working on the podcast, it comesnatural, just like the singing
does.
It's like, why does it happenthat way?
But if I go to karaoke at a barand they hear somebody oh, your
voice is good, can you singthis song like Barracuda?
(25:28):
I heard the song but I can't doBarracuda, I just can't.
Well, I try maybe, but I thinkeverybody has to kind of match
what it is they like in life,how can they make it grow and
what is their passion and goright after it.
(25:48):
So, all right, I want to knowabout a journey of riches.
Can you give us a littleinsight more on that?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
yeah, yeah for sure.
So this is a an anthology book,a multi-author book, so I'm one
of 10 11 other authors on inthis, in this book, and it's 11
different stories of people ontheir different journeys, of the
different walks of life, andthere's some some strong content
(26:17):
in there.
You know, you know for peopleand unfortunately, as humanity
goes, sometimes we can be ourown worst enemy and we have
people who who harm us, who doterror to us, and the beautiful
thing through these stories isthat you get to see people in
their thinking process of how toovercome it and how they've
(26:39):
seen themselves, how they'rewalking through and getting out
of that storm.
And I shared a little bit, justthrough my walk right, of being
a young kid struggling with myown identity, struggling with my
own confidence, not feeling asif I could be myself.
(27:00):
And part of that was in thesedifferent buckets of where I,
where I was collecting evidenceof not feeling like I belonged
right, whether it was in my home.
I mentioned my parents,immigrants from haiti, haitian
creole.
French is our native language.
I never really understood, Inever got it and it wasn't
necessarily uh, what's the word?
(27:21):
I can't think of it right now.
It wasn't really impressed onus to speak here.
They were really focused on uslearning English and being
American citizens.
I kind of lost that.
I didn't get that fullexperience then at home, I mean
at schools where my parents hadus go to predominantly white
(27:45):
schools, institutions, catholicschools I'm one of the few faces
of color in the room.
Like it's that's weird to growup in.
It's like it just.
I had some good friends, I hadgood times, but there was also a
lot of like these undertones oflike you don't really belong
here, like what are you doinghere?
Like it was just, it was thatright.
And then in my own communitywhere I came from a diverse
(28:12):
neighborhood, right, uh, longisland, this place of you know
black families, spanish families, asian families, white families
, but a lot of my friends wentto like the local public school.
So I'm like here, my likeblazer right preppy kid and my
friends have tims on and jordansand sneakers and like they're
kind of clowning me.
So I didn't really feel like Iwas like you know what I mean,
like I just wasn't quite in likethey.
(28:33):
They liked me, but like theydidn't really fully accept me
enough.
And you know, dude, when youhave like that as a foundation
of, well, I don't belonganywhere, I'm not important, I
don't exist, I'm not really here.
And even with my own familyright, I'm the youngest of four.
The closest sibling in age tome is six years apart, so I'm
(28:56):
always out of sync with them.
Right, I'm going to middleschool, they're in high school.
I'm going to high school,they're in college.
I'm going to high school,they're in college, I'm going to
college.
They're already out of thehouse.
So we're never quite in thesame place at the same time,
maybe for a few months of theyear, a couple of seasons here
or there, but nothing reallyconsistent.
So I kind of felt like, eventhough I'm the youngest, I was a
single kid, a single child.
(29:17):
Because who am I?
Hey, I'm like, hey, let's goplay action figures.
They're like we want to go talkto girls.
I'm like, yeah, I don't careabout girls at this point.
Yeah, girls have cooties.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I think that's a sports thing too, with Liam, my
son, playing football and stuff.
He's like I'd rather focus onschool, not girls.
I was giving him a hard timefor Valentine's Day.
I was just like, okay, I knowlast year he had a little
girlfriend and stuff and he'slike girls are too much trouble
and I was like it's funny to me.
(29:51):
But I want to back up reallyquick.
You touched on a topic that Inoticed is real and it's hard to
talk about and I haven't reallytalked about it.
But eat the evil talk about,and I haven't really talked
about it.
But eat the evil.
When we come up higher, why isit that people will try to hurt
(30:18):
us?
I mean, I know I had agentleman try to hurt me really
bad, really, really bad, justbecause I did a podcast and it's
something I thought at the timeof what he did that I could
just quickly get over, but itstill lingers to this day and
I'm just like why would somebodydo that?
And then, right after ithappened, two weeks later, I got
roofied and the topic was oh,I've always wanted to talk to a
(30:43):
podcaster.
Are you feeling it yet?
Feeling what?
I was perfectly fine.
Nope, he slept me a sleep aid.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Oh good, that's tough .
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So you talk about why , like people will try to hurt
you, and I guess it's a realthing, like that's what I'm
seeing.
Yeah, you know, I kind what I'mseeing.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah, you know, I kind of boil it down to this
like and this is this is meanfor mankind, not just for men as
a gender, right, but I alwayshad this thought of like a man's
natural enemy is another man.
I see that person as a threator them taken.
If I'm coming from a place of,of lack of scarcity, right, this
(31:25):
is where when I, when I speak,I really help people.
I really want to make peopleunderstand their worth, their
value.
Because if I'm coming from aplace of abundance and and
prosperity whether it's shown upfinancially or whatever, just
spiritually, right.
If I'm my energy right, thehigh vibration right, this is
going to be for any people whoare like, oh my god, now woo,
(31:47):
woo, stuff, like it's real stuff, just listen.
But yeah, just table yourthoughts for a minute, just hear
what I'm saying.
If my energy is at a highfrequency, I'm not gonna.
I'm not gonna allow, allowpetty things to bother me or to
upset me or disturb my peace.
But if I'm coming from a placeof man, life sucks.
(32:09):
Nobody's looking out for me.
People are out to always get me.
This always happens to me.
You know what I see, nadine,she's smiling, she's joy.
I don't want her to have joy.
I want to take that from you,right, cause I want you here,
right, you've heard the crabs inthe bucket mentality and that's
a real thing because, eventhinking about it right now,
(32:35):
super Bowl just happened.
Whatever side of the fence youare, whether you're like, hey,
I'm Team Kendrick, I love whathe did, and you're like, oh, he
sucks Worst halftime show everwe both could be right, but for
the person who's like he sucks,I don't like his music, I don't
like what he stood for.
Now your whole deal is on yourphone.
(32:56):
Well, he sucks.
And you're looking for allthese things.
You're looking for people whoare like I love what you do.
I'm going to go on your thread.
I don't like that, or thisperson who's in office, or this
administration.
I don't like them.
I hate them.
I do love them and they're thebest.
So when we are coming from thatplace right, it's not a place
(33:17):
that we're going to.
I think this is really a placethat we're coming from.
If I'm coming from a place of,I love my kids.
I want to see them smile, lovethem when they're happy.
I love them when they play.
And if I have a day where I'mnot as loving, maybe I'm a
little bit sleepy, I'm tired,I'm grumpy, I'm frustrated, I'm
annoyed.
Now, that thing that used to beso cute and make me smile and
(33:42):
I'm like can you just shut upfor a minute?
Can you just like stop, likeyou don't need to hurt him.
But you're like it's me.
I'm in my head thinking abouthow your joy is interrupting my
frustration and that soundscrazy.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
But that's what we are.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
We're crazy people.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Exactly.
You never know what we're goingto get.
So, hey, just really quickmid-break.
I do have to tell you about ourother sponsor, really quick
Snap Bands, which you guysprobably see on Facebook all the
time.
Mine right here says hope andit's one of the mantra words
they use.
Each of these bracelets willhave a different mantra word
(34:25):
peace, love, hope, fearless.
You name it.
On the backside of it it has a.
It's like almost like a rubberband and you pull it out and you
let it thump right against thewrist and what it does.
It helps with any anxiety,depression and I say PTSD.
(34:45):
I know I use mine and I'm agood example.
I was at for a CAT scanyesterday and I know I'm the
hardest stick when I have to getan IV.
It's just a no-brainer.
It's been like that since I wasage nine, so usually some
(35:06):
people will take eight sticks tofind it and it hurts.
My hands all swollen today butit's okay because you know what
the girl I had.
She was amazing, amazing.
So, but definitely going inthere and I will pray, I hope
and pray and I have faith inthis person that they'll be able
(35:28):
to get me on the first try, youknow.
So that's what I use for mine.
But with all proceeds of thesewonderful bracelets, snap bands,
it will go to differentcharities and organizations that
help out with behavioral anddepression, you know, to help
people out.
So they do come in alldifferent colors.
(35:50):
They're made out of I thinkit's called vegan leather, and
I've had mine for almost twoyears now and I love it.
Now they added a new mantraword I'm so excited and it's
faith.
And if you do want one thatsays faith, on their website the
code is K-H-A keep hope aliveand you can get the word faith.
(36:15):
So, but definitely check themout on their website and I'm
going to spell it out too.
But it's wwwsnapbandscom andthat's S-N-A-P-P-B-A-N-D-Zcom.
So well, okay, so I was just sointrigued with everything that
(36:37):
you were doing.
I mean, you've got the book.
Now you have a podcast too,correct?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yes, yeah, I host two separate podcasts.
So one is for my own daily loveand pleasure.
It's called Love, serve, care.
It's a daily three-minutepodcast that I've been doing now
since November 2020.
And, honestly, at this pointit's a part of me, it's my audio
diary, but it's also my way toto give back.
(37:04):
This is my, my ministry, to adegree where I just share these
different thoughts and I andinspirations that come to me and
and just look at how I canrelate that to building
businesses as a mindset of anentrepreneur and different
challenges that we go through.
So that's that podcast.
And then for a community that Ico-founded called the BIPOC
(37:27):
Coach Collective so that standsfor Black Indigenous People of
Color Our monthly show is calledElevate and Celebrate and
that's the opportunity for me tointerview amazing coaches,
business leaders, get theirstory right.
Coming back to the story matters, your voice matters and just
give them a chance to tell theirnarrative, tell their story and
(37:48):
find out their journey andprovide some more inspiration
for young, up-and-comingentrepreneurs, or even those who
are seasoned, who are maybegoing through a point of life
like why am I doing this?
Oh, there, there's a biggerpurpose, there's a bigger vision
, a bigger mission out there forme to do what I'm doing and
serve how I serve.
So these are my two, my twobabies.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Exactly, and that's so important.
And you know how I do TikTok asmy baby, little mini one, and
I'll just be, you know.
Hey, we're going to have fun.
It's a little bit differentthan what I do on the podcast,
but I want people to see thatside of me, the fun outgoing
side.
And then, um, also, you know,the one thing I love is that on
(38:33):
the website for Keep Hope Alive,there is a feature that you can
leave a message now.
So if anybody ever had an ideaof what they wanted to do in
life and maybe it's a topic Iknow I heard somebody over say I
wish that I knew how to quitsmoking.
(38:53):
Okay, well, my head's going amile a minute.
Let's bring on a coach to helpyou.
I'll interview them how tobreak that nicotine habit.
But you know there's so manydifferent things and topics out
there to be heard and everythinglike that.
So what you're doing is amazingwith the two podcasts.
Is there any other new thingscoming up for 2025, going into
(39:17):
26?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, a couple of different things.
Like I mentioned, I'm buildingout this talk, this speak up
standout.
So if anyone has, if anyonewould love a guest speaker for
association conference, hello,ring, ring, ring.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I'm a number.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
But yeah, I'm just excited about that With my group
, that I mentioned the BipodCoach Collective.
We're celebrating our Ring,ring, ring.
I'm a number up, but yeah, I'mjust excited about that With my
group, that I mentioned theBipod Coach Collective.
We're celebrating our two-yearanniversary as a membership
space.
We've been around since July2020, but in February 2023, we
converted this into asubscription model for coaches
to get some additional supporthelping them grow their
businesses and get some moreresources and access to things.
(40:00):
So at the end of this month,literally in 10 days, the 28th
we're celebrating a two-yearanniversary, virtually.
So if you know any coaches ofcolor out there in your
community, then they want a funplace to go to.
It's a free event, free,virtual one hour, 12 to one,
eastern.
Hang out with myself, my team,my people, my family, hang out
(40:22):
with us champions and we justhave some fun.
We're going to celebrate whatwe've accomplished in these two
years, also kind of set the tonefor where we're going moving
forward and what we're going tobe doing.
So I'm excited about that.
Yeah, me too.
And speaking that's the focus,right, speaking.
Going to events I'm going to beanybody who's in North Carolina
(40:45):
in May.
I'm going to be at theToastmasters annual conference.
I'm going to be leading aworkshop on the 17th that's a
Saturday so Saturday morning,come stop by.
We're going to help you speakup and stand out.
It's going to be a fun,interactive experience, because
I'm not here to lecture and talkat you.
Talk with you, communicate,collaborate and put that into
(41:07):
practice.
And anything else that comes upI'm excited for and I'll keep
you uh and I haven't told himyet.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
We started a VIP membership Facebook group and
it's for the subscribers andeverything.
But you get added on therebecause I interviewed you which
is really cool.
So any of these events that youhave or you know maybe the book
is on sale you can put thatinformation for everybody who
(41:40):
has joined so they can see thatand go to your events and
everything.
So it makes it a lot of fun andyou know, just interacting with
people.
So that is great.
But I am so glad to hear that,yay, and you know what was?
I had another question for you.
It slipped, I think it's part.
Another question for you.
It slipped, I think it's partof me getting older, my goodness
(42:01):
.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
So we're not getting old, we're getting better, we're
just.
You know some things.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Yeah, we're getting wiser.
Maybe I need more caffeine, whoknows.
But yeah, oh, I remember Guys,of course he has a book, so it's
already uploaded to thestorefront so you can go and get
his book right away today.
So watch the podcast, get thebook.
(42:26):
I think the book is already upon the VIP site.
I got to double check, but Iwill see that to be on there
soon too.
So but yeah, definitely, and Imean as far as as.
Okay, you got three cap herethe books, the speak in um, the
(42:46):
podcast.
Are we missing any other thingon you?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
um, well, actually for for your folks, for people.
I'm like, which side is it qrcode back there, right?
yes, so I I'm a I'm a creativeguy.
I like to do things outside ofthe box, unconventional to a
degree.
So if you type in that codethere, when, if you've got some
insights from this episode, ifyou found yourself like hey,
(43:15):
feeling inspired, you like whatI've had to say, you thought
maybe there's some things thatyou can apply in your life, I'd
love to hear about it, like I'dlove for you to share some
feedback, because I also have agift for you.
Right, it's a fair exchange.
What I decided to do was.
I read the, the, the chapterthat I contributed.
So the chapter that I wrote iscalled everybody wins, including
me expanding global influencethrough communication.
(43:37):
So I read that chapter.
And also there's someadditional commentary because,
like I said, it's hard to put mylife into 5,000 words.
So the commentary kind of is anadditional podcast.
It's just giving some contextto some of the stories and some
of the things that I shared inthere, and it's backed by an
instrumental track that I makebecause I I love to make music
(43:59):
too.
That's part of my deal.
That's another way for me toexpress myself.
So, for anybody who would loveaccess to that.
They can have that, justwhatever.
Go to that code scan on yourphone, get that code win and
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
I got to say impressive logo too.
I like that.
Yes too, I like that.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
Yes, that's really cool yeah, and with the logo,
let me give a quick shout out tomy guy, ricky newell.
He, he, he created that for melast year and it wasn't
something that I actually askedfor and let me share with this.
So I put out a post on facebook.
It had my old logo and mybackground and stuff like that.
I was like you know, nice, nicephoto, I was looking good, I
was in the suit and all thisstuff, and he was so inspired by
(44:45):
what I shared.
He's like I made this logo foryou, like you can have it, it's
yours.
And this is.
He kind of gave me a quickstory about it, like with the A,
like pointing up like this isyour north star, finding your,
your confidence and all thislike I love this so much.
Like you know what.
That's my look, like you.
You gave it to me, right, thankyou.
So I just want to give him aquick acknowledgement, and and
(45:07):
for anyone watching, that thisis the power of just sharing who
you are authentically and thatthat's why, with this talk right
, I want to build unshakableconfidence.
I want to amplify your voiceand impact what I shared.
I didn't do that to getanything, I just shared it to
share it in the world, just putit out there, and it moved
(45:28):
somebody so much that they werelike I want to design, I want to
create something specificallyfor you.
So this is where you have theopportunity of looking at what
is it that I'm sharing out therein the world?
Am I sharing something that'sgoing to help somebody or hurt
somebody?
And it's something I talk to mykids about all the time, about.
Hey, are your words helping orhurting?
Because they matter.
(45:48):
Our words literally create, likeright now.
You mean, adine, someone had tocreate a camera and a computer
for us to speak through.
At some point this didn't existright.
At some point we wouldn't beable to have this conversation
north carolina, texas butsomeone had an idea hey,
wouldn't it be great if we couldput together a software that
(46:08):
would broadcast one person fromthis side of the world to
another part of the world?
And that's all it took was likethat, what if?
Right?
It sounds corny, but like, hey,what if we could do that?
And then all of a sudden, well,this would actually have to
happen and we need to do this.
And then who are the engineersthat can do this?
Who are the designers?
Who are the developers?
And all of a sudden, zoom orwhatever tech you're using, it
(46:31):
exists.
So I say all that to say thatyour words matter.
Your words can build somebody,they can lift somebody up, or
they can crush them and condemnthem.
So choose wisely yeah, choosewisely.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
And then it's always important to be heard too, so
stories matter.
I love that about you, know,keep a hope.
So everybody has a story.
I've heard over a hundred andI'm almost on my.
I think you might be my 200thshow, what.
I think I'm that close Maybe.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Hold on, am I?
Speaker 1 (47:05):
go off and I'll have to put a Facebook announcement.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
But yeah, I was climbing up the oh look at the
hearts, and I'm in the balloonstoo, so celebrate.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
But I was just, like you know, for a year and a half
and being active and doing thatit is one thing.
So with Keep Hope Alive, youknow it was just that initiative
.
I knew I wanted to do it, butstill I needed to have a
full-time job.
And then, as I worked, thepodcast kind of went down and I
was only doing one or two a weekinstead of like almost six or
(47:41):
seven.
But now that I left that job,we've picked up again and I'm
excited because it's my passion.
So I got to, you know, choosinga job.
I got to make sure that I keephope afloat, which is important
to me.
So, um, but definitely I want tosay thank you for coming on and
(48:02):
sharing your story, and yourmotivational speaking is amazing
.
I would definitely want to goout there and hear you speak one
day and everything.
So that is really cool, um.
So I want to tell you guests,wherever you find your podcast,
you will be able to find us.
You can visit our website atwwwkeephopealivepodcastcom.
(48:26):
Like I said, you can leave amessage if you would like to
talk to Alex and have questions.
I will send those questions tohim right away and maybe we'll
just do a quick little follow-upand everything like that.
Yeah, it is so worth it.
You know I love this featureand then also, like I said, you
can subscribe to the membership,become a member on our platform
(48:50):
and see what you know Alex isup to what events he's putting
out there up to what events he'sputting out there, but we have
so many interviewers that Iinterviewed that are going to be
on this and sharing theirplatforms too, so it is well
worth it.
Other than that, once again Ihear my dog's going crazy too.
(49:12):
But yeah, I'm just so happy andany new information I would
love to have you back within ayear.
I'm going to tell you thatbecause I love this interview is
amazing.
So maybe I have to wait to the400, but I'll salute you for
that.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
Right it's, it's so.
I've been podcasting since 2018, so I'm gonna give you a quick
journey.
My wife and I, we had a podcasttogether.
So when you say six, sevenepisodes a week, I'm like, oh my
god, because I used to do two aweek.
That's how it started off wasone episode of me and her just
(49:53):
kind of going back and forth,you know, discussing things, and
then I would interview somebody.
So mondays our episode wouldcome out, thursdays the
interview would come out.
And this is how like insane Iwas.
It would take me probably two,three hours to edit a 20 minute
episode, because I was cuttingout all the ums, all the ahs.
I was like I don't want to hearany like background noise.
I was trying to make it likereally polished and perfect.
(50:16):
Then, of course, nothing everreally is, and then it will.
It started going down to likeonce a week.
Then I started letting go ofthe interviews and then we just
kind of fell out of it and wejust both, organically, were
like we're tired of this, butalways had like the itch to
continue podcasts.
And so that's when I createdlove serve care in november 2020
and I made it simple for myselfthree minutes.
(50:37):
I made a, an instrumental beatfor that.
So every episode is like gotsome like background vibes to it
and yeah, it's just simple.
I record that done, I move on.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
My life is complete, yeah you see, like for me it's
not much.
Like I tell all my guests, lifeis not edited.
If we say um, it makes me thinkof Judge Judy, Hint, hint.
Yes, I was on Judge Judy and Iwon my case.
But I always heard her say um isnot a word to my ex and I was
(51:11):
like you know what we slip up?
We slip up, you know, but I,you know it's, once I get this,
I've put it out there into theworld Because, let's say, we
were at a public speaking event.
We can't hit rewind if wemessed up.
I mean sure we go, oh, I messedup what I said, and da-da-da-da
(51:32):
, and then we go back and werephrase it.
But as far as a video, youdon't want to keep going back
and saying we need to redo thisand we need to redo that.
That makes it a little bitharder.
But I know, with the way I laidup my podcast and people are
going to think I'm nuts, but Ialso dish this out everywhere,
(51:56):
so it becomes a short reel.
It goes to all social platformsthat I know of and some are new
, like Blue Sky, matron I thinkit's how you say, matron there's
Threads, that is out.
So I'm learning a lot.
But I take my podcast like itwas my company and just wanted
(52:19):
to see it everywhere, to getthose numbers and put it out
there.
So people find it, they find it, they listen to this story and
they would be like Alex wasreally good.
He really really helped me.
I mean, that's what we want tohear from the show.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
Absolutely yeah, it's all about the transformation.
Speaker 1 (52:38):
Yes, it is Well.
Thank you so so much.
I loved every minute of talkingwith you and it sounds like you
have that great, solid base ofdoing the shows and everything,
and I wish you so much good luckin the future and everything,
with everything.
And I want to check back withyou.
Speaker 2 (53:00):
I'll be available.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
You know where to find me.
I know where to.
Yeah, I was like I know whereto find you, okay.
Well, thank you guys, until ournext show.
Love and light, bye-bye, stayblessed.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
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.