June 20, 2025 • 58 mins
Send us a message at info@maneupmemphis.org
What happens when someone falls through the cracks of our systems? When traditional pathways fail, where do people turn? Racheal Chantel faced these questions head-on and decided to build a solution from the ground up.
In this powerful conversation, Racheal shares her remarkable journey from commercial construction management to founding Mane Up Memphis, a revolutionary approach to mental health support. After returning to Memphis and experiencing the pandemic's forced pause, Rachel began noticing how intentionally designed gaps in our systems keep vulnerable people trapped. "People falling through a gap is a system that's built intentional," she explains. "That's how you keep the rich rich and the poor poor, and it's very expensive to be poor."
Through graduate studies in urban planning and public administration, Racheal discovered what she calls "the cheat code to the matrix" – understanding how these systems function but fail to serve everyone. This knowledge became both a burden and a catalyst. When traditional therapy helped her process these realizations, she understood that mental health access was the missing link for many trapped in cycles of struggle.
What makes Mane Up Memphis different is its approach to mental health as infrastructure rather than just another service. Instead of waiting years for policy changes, Racheal built something to help those who need support right now. Whether it's domestic violence victims who fall between law enforcement and family court jurisdictions or individuals without resources for therapy, Mane Up Memphis creates immediate pathways to safety and healing.
The name itself carries deep cultural significance, drawing from Memphis's unique local language and community spirit. "I wanted to make sure that the culture wasn't lost," Racheal shares. This grassroots authenticity has helped the organization's rapid growth and acceptance across Memphis.
Ready to be part of something transformative? Visit maneupmemphis.org to learn more about volunteering, attending workshops, or supporting this vital work. As we say at Mane Up Memphis: leave the baggage, keep the change.
#ManeUpMemphis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joey Laswell (00:01):
Welcome to the Mane Up Memphis podcast, where
we celebrate the grit, heart andhope that make the 901 shine.
Each week, we sit down withchangemakers, youth and families
to talk real mental health wins, money moves and life skills
breakthroughs All the tools weuse at Mane Up Memphis to uplift
(00:22):
, equip and empower people tobuild stronger, more resilient
lives.
Whether you're 14 or 40, aparent, mentor or ally, this is
your spot for stories that healand strategies that work.
So grab a sweet tea, get comfyand let's step into growth
together, because here at ManeMemphis you leave the baggage,
(00:46):
keep the change.
Hey everybody, welcome to ManeMemphis podcast.
My name is Joey Laswell.
I'm a licensed therapist andcertified financial social
worker, proud to be a member ofthis team and part of this
(01:09):
podcast, and I'm very proud toalso introduce the Wizard of Oz
behind the scenes the one well,in front of the scenes too, but
this is Miss Rachel Chantel.
Everybody, hi, everybody, hi,everybody, hey, hey, all right,
so this is not your firstpodcast experience, so I already
(01:33):
know a lot of your backstory.
But you know, since this is anew show, new podcast, why don't
you give us, like your elevatorpitch?
Tell us a little bit about yourhistory, how you got to this
point, and then we can get intowhat your vision is for the
future.
Racheal Chantel (01:51):
So, mcc, everybody, I'm Rachel Chantel.
I really don't know where tostart in my story.
I guess we could start, let'ssay, when I moved back to
Memphis, right?
So I went to schooling atMiddle Tennessee State
University, mtsu, graduated fromthere with a commercial
(02:12):
construction management degree,moved down to Dallas for a few
years it was further away frommy family.
I really didn't like it.
I think I was just too young.
I moved down there around like24, 25.
But I needed to do that becausethat's where I really started
to learn that I love the familystructure, I love my family.
Everybody was here in Memphisand I was in Nashville, right,
(02:32):
and you could just up and runthat highway a few hours.
Don't think anything about it.
But Dallas from Memphis is likewhat, 12 hours in a car and now
people aren't able to come afew days.
They got to actually take offwork and be there like a week to
actually, you know, make itworth that that trip.
And so, um, I just learned Ididn't like.
(02:53):
I was really just homesick andhad an opportunity with my job
at the time to move me, uh, backto memphis, because we had
picked up a contract with FedExat the time.
So came on back and this waslike mid-2019.
The contract fell throughbecause we couldn't find enough
(03:15):
workers to work there.
But by that time I was alreadyliving home six months and 15-20
minutes drive to see yourfamily.
I was not ready to move becausethey wanted to move me back to
Texas, into the Houston area,15-20 minute drive to see your
family.
I was not ready to move,because they wanted to move me
back to Texas into, like, uh,the Houston area, right, oh, wow
and um, I didn't go.
I can't remember, hold on, letme think.
Yeah.
(03:36):
So I told them I was like, hey,I'm gonna go ahead and like
quit, basically I had enoughhours to hold me over for like
two, two I think and then I hadmy short-term leave, so they
held me over for a few moremonths.
Looking for jobs, at the time Iwas in a very big niche, right,
and so I did mechanicalestimating for piping for water
(03:57):
facilitation plants For a lackof people who don't know that
those are like where you flushyour toilet and water has to get
cleaned again to get reused.
They had these big, specific.
Yeah, it was the piping that Iwould estimate.
Joey, you could walk through itLike, even if your arms is span
(04:18):
all the way out.
We used to have these poleswhere we have to go through to
make sure it was actually trulyround and yeah, so everything
has a real big niche down there.
Um, no one like being on theplant after taco tuesday.
I could say that, no, comingback from a city like this in
memphis, there wasn't really ajob for that.
(04:40):
People would tell me on my owninterviews are like hey, you're
really smart and we don't reallyhave a job and I'm like
estimating is estimating me likehey, I don't understand.
But the city didn't have liketrue estimators for construction
to like people here will holdlike two or three hats on one
pay.
So that was very new for mebecause I left Memphis at 18 and
(05:04):
then I lived in Nashville andChattanooga, so cities that was
much bigger and, like I said,this is not a short story how we
got here today.
Joey Laswell (05:13):
No, we got plenty of time.
Racheal Chantel (05:15):
This is your dance, so let's hear the whole
story, but yeah, so I ended upgetting a job here with one of
the universities in the area intheir planning department, and
that's where you can say theseed was set, the mustard seed
was set, and I didn't reallyknow it at the time, but now
(05:46):
we're into like, let's say, likeAugust of 2019 or somewhere in
there.
In the summer I interviewed.
It took like three or fourmonths for the university to to.
It's not fast coming from acity like dallas to here.
That was a major shift changeand getting things done and yada
yada.
Memphis is not fast on thosethings, right, but anyways,
started there with them.
It my job didn't really startuntil about November, which we
(06:08):
were going right into theholidays.
So the universities anywhereyou know they're about to shut
down because they're going intotheir breaks Came back in like
January of 2020.
That was the year.
That was the year, man, fromJanuary to March 26th, exactly.
(06:30):
I remember the day that theysent us to be working from home.
Right, it was my first timeactually on the campus and
everything.
And so then the pandemicstarted, all right, well, now
you just get to sit at home withyour family members, right, and
this would be the first time inlife that we all just probably
sit in and talk to each otherand really learned about each
(06:52):
other.
And I was really on this health.
Um, I was like a gym rep stillam a gym rep, but I was on it
really tough back then and Iwould get my parents out, I'll
get my parents out, I would getmy uncle out, my nieces, I would
really get them out and moving.
And, boy, we had a time 2020was a time and taking cat naps
throughout the day together.
You just really for me.
(07:14):
I just started reallycherishing the family structure
even more and more.
Again, another plant.
Joey Laswell (07:20):
Another seed planted.
Racheal Chantel (07:22):
So now schooling starts up.
Another seed planet.
So now schooling starts up.
And I was now I have mymaster's in city urban, city,
regional city, urban andplanning, so sorry, with a local
government managementcertificate.
Um, they're not under the same,so that programming was a
little different, because youcan have so many different
(07:44):
sectors you can go into for cityplanning.
Some people can have a niche orfocus on traffic, another
person can have it on greenspaces, another person can have
it on infrastructures.
My niche in that whole thing wascommunity involvement.
So my niche in that whole thingwas community involvement,
because normally communityinvolvement is the last piece
(08:09):
that comes to the table whenthey're doing city planning.
They have the private sectorthere, they have the city
administration there.
They'll have, like, maybe auniversity or something of that
nature, like nonprofits.
But no one was truly speakingup for the community.
Um, and that really sucked,because the community are the
(08:30):
normal ones, it's the first orthe last, uh, people to use
these spaces that's beingcreated, but they're not even
having a voice or being able tobe represented at the table.
I was just like that reallysucks a lot.
So throughout that I found myroute into public administration
, public health.
(08:50):
So that's where the localgovernment management
certificate came in.
But at the same time, I wasstill wanting to learn about
city planning, because mybackground is construction.
So I knew everything passed.
When the city approves herplans to get done and you break
grounding If anybody knows whatthat means it's just starting an
actual project and moving itforward to building new
(09:12):
construction.
But everything before that Ididn't know and I wanted to
learn about this.
So that's how my degree was setup, so I learned everything
before that my degree was set up, so I learned everything before
that.
Okay, well, everything beforebecomes more of local government
(09:33):
and having to learn howpolicies and laws and
regulations and zonings andthere's just so many pieces that
are just not common knowledge.
And it wasn't coming to meeither.
I think I'm a pretty smart gal,but at that time it was just
like, just like well, what theheck is this?
And so now they don't teach youthis in school, because if you
(09:56):
knew when people say that peoplehave power, only if they knew
what that truly means, becauseit is true, like it's so true,
which is why I think it'sintentionally done that the
community does not have a voiceat these tables, because if it
did, we would run a lot morebetter things.
Okay.
So, going through schooling, I'mlearning about how these
(10:21):
different infrastructures well,these different businesses run
together.
I'm talking about the healthcare, education, finances,
family structures and so manyother things too right, how
they're built, how they worktogether and then how people
fall through the gaps.
People falling through a gap isa system that's built
(10:44):
intentional.
That's how you keep the richrich and the poor poor, and it's
very expensive to be poor.
I don't think people understandthat enough.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, like, and for someonelike me, who can who, who grew
up right, I was a kid in schoolthat could sit with the the gots
(11:07):
, sit with the gays, sit withthe jocks, sit with the arts,
sit with the band geeks and getalong with anybody and be vocal
if you wanted at those tables,and so the best way I can say it
was like I'm a kid of themisfit, right.
I grew up in a majority whiteneighborhood and I was always
(11:28):
the minority in the class, whereI was always the only black
person in the classroom.
So I grew up with either beingtoo ghetto for the whites or I
was too bougie for the blacks.
So I spent a lot of time withme Fami.
So for the people who actuallywanted to see Rachel, for Rachel
will walk me into their worldand I will learn so much.
(11:49):
I will learn so many differentthings and I appreciate it now
being an adult, because I canreally enjoy when I go to
different cities or, first off,they even want to go to
different cities, right, andjust really be able to enjoy
those things.
It's because I know how myroots were created, because of
that right.
(12:09):
So, sitting in these classroomsreally learning all of that and
just knowing how my history was,it put a burden on my heart.
It just really did, because noone understands.
You know, joy, looking at youand looking at me, people are
already going to assume theyknow our stories.
They freaking don't know.
Don't, nobody know anybody'sstory about.
Looking at you and looking atme, people are already going to
assume they know our stories.
They freaking don't know.
Don't, nobody know anybody'sstory about looking at somebody.
But society will tell you thatthat, yeah, I'm going to put you
(12:31):
in this box and that's whereyou're going to have to stay.
And going through these, goingthrough schooling and learning
that in his classes is like, oh,this is intentional, like I
feel like I learned the cheatcode to the matrix, like I truly
felt like I was learning it,and so the more that I got into
it, the more I wanted to justlearn how to break apart these
(12:52):
boxes that they put us in,because, like I say, I know so
many people who are in that boxand they want to get out, but
they don't have the supportsystem to help them get out and
it's like, wow, you don't like.
You just don't know what youdon't know.
You just don't you know.
And so this weighed reallyheavily on my, on my mind, on my
(13:16):
mental, and I was, I was goingcrazy, because I'm a person who
is very outspoken and, with thatbeing said, if I something,
I'll say something.
If I see someone bullyingsomebody, we're just being, and
bully is like a very vague word,right, I don't want you to
think I was like a kid oranything, but you can still
bully as an adult.
I don't like people targetingand messing with someone because
(13:39):
they feel like they're strongerin any sense of form, because
that's not right and and I'vealways been like that.
And so, going through this andlearning how these systems are
set up, I became almost hopelessand I hate feeling like I can't
help, like I just I cannot, andI don't ever want someone else
to feel what I feel.
(14:00):
And it was just very heavy onme and my best friend and you'll
meet her one day too Leah,she's in the field, she's in
social work, and I am rippingone on the phone with her
constantly, like going throughit, like going through it, and
she was like you need to go totherapy, you have got to talk to
somebody and I'm like notherapy ain't going to help me
(14:20):
with this man.
This is america is escapistic.
Like I am waking up from thematrix right now.
Like so much information.
I'm like I gotta tell people,people gotta know this.
Like they gotta know they knowhow to play the game.
Like I am going in and she'slike you have got to go to there
.
I was like, okay, see, butshe'll tell you.
(14:44):
As smart as I am, I can barelyhang up a freaking picture on
the wall and it'd be even man.
Simple task, not my friend, butbuild you an airplane.
I got you, I got you, you know.
So I sent her my, my uminsurance card.
She found me a therapist,everything set it up.
I had to give her 120% creditfor that and I'm still with the
(15:08):
same therapist right now andstarted with her and just going
through and that was a wholeexperience within itself.
I guess that'll be anotherpodcast for another day how that
happened for me, right?
But one thing that she said tome it was several sessions in.
She said, well, me, it wasseveral sessions in.
She said, well, if you feellike this, just do something
(15:28):
about it.
Like, if you're a person whotakes action, take action.
I'm like you're right, I shouldtake action.
Like what do you think aboutthis, you know?
So I started in my head and shewas like you know a lot of
people, you have connections.
Put it again I'm like you'reeating right now, ma'am, like I
really need to.
So I end up putting togetherand right, you know, you, you
(15:52):
got these great connections andso I'm also.
This is probably anotherpodcast episode one day.
I believe in collecting favors,not using them, just collect
them.
Just always help people.
They be like oh, I owe you one.
Yeah, I may cash it in one day,maybe, maybe not.
I just collect them.
(16:13):
Always have people in debt toyou and never be in the debt to
others you know, um.
So I was like, okay, I startedplaying this idea in my head.
I'm like, okay, what can people, how can I touch a mass amount
of people and make a great uhimpact to at least get them
(16:35):
thinking, get them thinking forthemselves, cause these systems
do not encourage you to thinkfor yourself, they encourage you
to know what to think and howto think.
You know, schooling is trulyset up to have you have an
employee mind, not an employermind.
Um, so again, research andreading.
(16:57):
And I remember just reading oneportion of a of a book and it
talked about mental health and Iwas like, oh my gosh, that's
the common denominator with somuch of this stuff is mental
health.
And so I'm reading some more.
And then it clicked and I'mlike, had I not had insurance
and a little bit of money in theEAP program, I would never be
(17:19):
able to afford this type ofluxury, like I would never.
So then that's how we broughtin the financial education
portion of it in my head.
But I wasn't planning on doinganything with it at the time,
but it did click in my brain andso I have this little kitty and
she just she wants to be seenso bad, say hello, say hi so
(17:41):
much.
Joey Laswell (17:42):
Oh, my goodness.
Racheal Chantel (17:43):
Will you let Mama leave please?
Okay, now I'm doing really good.
It's only been 17 minutes.
Hopefully people want to listento this interesting story,
right?
Yes, it's a great story and soI'm like all right, I started
calling my rich friends, Istarted calling my contractors
(18:07):
and things, because if anybodytalks to me longer than 10
minutes, they're like all right,ray, she doesn't ask for a lot,
number one, she'll give you alot, number two.
So I'm calling them and I'm like, hey, I want to put this event
together.
I want to put mental healthprofessionals this is how green
I was.
I was like I want to put mentalhealth professionals in front
(18:27):
of the community for people toto benefit the way that I am
benefiting from it right now.
And so again, I'm telling leeand she was like hunter, called
therapist, psychiatrist like shestarts giving me the.
I'm like, yeah, all of thatstuff.
So it's like I want to do allthose things.
Like you know, again, mybackground is construction man,
so it's very hands-on.
(18:48):
And I'm like, all right.
So I'm calling these people andthey're like, yeah, sure, I'll
help you, I'll help you.
I'm like, okay, what's nextafter that?
But, um, you know, end up beingthis great guy who throws
events in the city.
And I can't stress enough topeople that it takes
(19:09):
partnerships to get anythingdone.
Like you have got to have realcommunity.
Like you can't just want to beanybody who believes in being
that they're self-made.
You are lying to yourself.
It takes partnerships, it takessupport, it takes friendships,
it takes time, it takes patience.
It takes a lot of these things,right?
(19:29):
Must I remind you, between thetime, that I'm coming up with
this idea and actually executingit.
It was three years.
It took three years.
So it wasn't like I came upwith this idea in January and
then I just did it in May.
No, it took three years, youknow.
Yeah, that's dedication, youknow.
(19:50):
But it wasn't like in my head Iplanned everything out and then
I just left it and I just letit sit, because at the time I
wasn't anybody in the city, wewere just coming out of the
pandemic, I just moved home.
I didn't really haveconnections like that.
I had people that I knew whowere powerful.
But for people to want to puttheir name on you I'm still
(20:17):
struggling with that right now,you know.
But I'm starting to understandthat the more influence that we
build in this mission, in thispurpose, in this business right,
but at the time I was just likeman, why can't we just do it
this way?
Because, again, you be quick,it's like a microwave.
You ask for something fromsomebody, they'll do it, but at
(20:38):
the time, shucks, no.
So there's a guy on Instagramgoes by gary v.
Some people may know, I know,you say you know.
He said back then the best wayto get people to buy into you is
to is attention.
That's the new currency, it'sattention.
You've got to get attention onyou and your likability for it.
(21:01):
I'm like, okay, but how theheck do you do that?
You know.
So that's how I started mypodcast and at the time in that
year it was called Her Advicefor Rachel Chantel and Friends
and we would talk about how tobuild your own support system
without actually having othersand how to believe within
(21:22):
yourself.
And we'll talk about timelessinformation.
I just literally took it downabout a year ago because it was
conflicting with what Mane ofmemphis was growing into, and
people can only accept so muchbecause they're used to having
you inside of a box but for,like me, to list outside of and
I'm like I can do this and I cando that.
That confuses people, so it'sjust like spoon feed them, man,
(21:44):
and I'm like, all right, Ireally don't know how I'm going
to build this attention, but thebest way to do it is just to
try to get out there.
And the podcast was doing great.
It was doing really good andpeople were really enjoying.
It, had a great female audienceon it and so that was building
some stuff up.
And then I had two of myclosest friends my cousin, one
of my girls on it.
She ended, so that was buildingsome stuff up.
(22:05):
And then I had two of myclosest friends my cousin, one
of my girls on it.
She ended up going to schoolfor being a lawyer and then my
cousin was an entrepreneur inlife.
We just could not match itanymore.
And I told him.
I said, okay, we had onecomment that came up because I
was going to try to keep itgoing on my own and people were
like, yeah, this is greatinformation, but I really
listened to people who areactually doing it versus talking
about it.
I'm like, oh, yeah, you'reright, I should do the things
(22:29):
I'm talking about.
You know I should.
So we shut that down podcastand started going up.
And by that time, you know, um,there was a large audience
influencer page for made up.
I mean, I made them if it'slower for Memphis coming up in
(22:50):
general in the city and theywere wanting to do this podcast
and they needed a female uh,female co host.
And so I'm like, yeah, sureI'll do it, cause they found me
from bus route.
That's where they found me from.
I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
And I was like this is myopportunity, because at that
(23:10):
time I probably had like maybelike 5,000 followers on my
Instagram and I knew that I waslistening to Gary V.
So I was like I always been astrategist.
I encourage people to be astrategist and have a plan and
just work your plan.
I'm like okay, how do I usethis opportunity?
Because it's only going to bethis is someone else's platform,
it's not mine.
(23:31):
But if I want to step onto yourplatform, how can I grow my own
platform?
Because that's something I cancontrol.
So I was already thinking aboutit and so when we started doing
the podcast, the audience thatwill tune into us because we'll
do a live off of Instagram, theywill love me.
(23:53):
They will love me.
People were enjoying it.
And that's when I was like okay, this is good, this is good.
Things were starting to go goodand I ended up picking up like
maybe like 5,000 followers fromit.
I mean it was doing great.
And so now I'm like oh snap,social media, it's where the
attention is coming from.
(24:13):
This is what Gary Vee wassaying.
So now it's clicking in my head.
So then I started doing thiswhole Instagram, social media,
influencer stuff and it wasdoing great and I could not
figure out how to pick up trends.
I could not figure out theformula of getting organic
content to go, until theindividual for that platform had
(24:39):
said hey, there's businesses inMemphis that want to invite us
out and you know we should startdoing it.
So I was like, okay, so nowwe're starting to go to these
places and I'm starting torecord and I said, oh, this is a
niche, because small businessesdon't get this type of free
advertisement.
So I started making thatadvertisement for that platform
(25:01):
and I'll always say, you know,make sure the credit comes back
to me, because that platformwasn't doing organic content
they will always do repostingcontent but it was such a good
niche and it was like above itstime for Memphis that there
wasn't any other social mediaplatform or page that was
highlighting Memphis in apositive manner.
(25:23):
So, honestly, it was the firstone to do it.
I don't know what's going onnow, but it was the first in
2020, like 2021, 2022, all right.
So from there, um, again, thisis not I'm trying to get it out,
but it's gonna be great.
(25:44):
It's gonna be great.
So, um, from there, we startedgoing out and places were
inviting us out more and morebecause they wanted their
content to be, to be on the page.
So we would go, but there wasonly one person who could
actually make the content me,because that was my idea.
So now these businesses werereaching out to me directly
(26:07):
wanting theirs, you know, from aexperience kind of view.
I think they call it usergenerated content, ugc, I can't
remember now.
That was like a whole thing atthe time and I'm like, oh snap,
this is great.
So now TikTok was TikTok-ingreally well and there will be
trends that will pop up onTikTok that haven't made it over
(26:28):
to Instagram yet.
And now I'm watching thealgorithm because I'm on this
platform.
I'm like if I can make organiccontent for this platform which
was like at 100,000 people, soit was a bigger platform than
myself then I could do it formyself.
I just have to figure out howto make that happen.
So now I'm like people weretalking about how Twitter and X
(26:52):
or whatever, no, twitter andInstagram, how things will pop
up on Twitter before it comes toInstagram.
So people like oh, blah, blah,blah, blah.
But I was never a person onTwitter and I'm like I'd never
do that.
So TikTok was starting to do itsthing and I'm like shucks, and
there was a trend that said um,one girl said you know, I'm from
what was it?
(27:14):
She was like you know, I'm from, um, atlanta, or something.
It was like you know, I'm fromwherever it is trend that went
crazy on TikTok.
And now I'm like no one's doneit on Instagram and no one's
done it for memphis yet.
So I made my and I just did it.
Right, I just did it on the way.
(27:35):
I was actually on the way to aflea market in jackson,
tennessee, and I did it in thecar and I was like you know from
memphis, um, because we're acountry, not a city, don't ask
me twice.
You know I'm from memphis whenwe're playing space.
You know I'm from Memphis whenwe're playing space.
You know I'm from Memphis whenand I'm just hitting everything
and, joey, that video went viral.
That's what did it for me.
(27:57):
I was shocked when I went on myInstagram.
Oh, I made two.
I made two viral videos.
That was the one when I wentback on my Instagram and I had
like 100,000 likes on this onevideo.
I'm like, oh, I ended upgetting like 8,000 followers in
like 45 minutes.
(28:17):
It was great.
So that was that one, great.
And then the next one that cameout was, you know, those videos
where it'll be a person whocomes or had an outfit and they
like slap their hands orsomething, and it blends into
the next one.
So I did that one with you.
(28:37):
Ever heard of the showBasketball Wives?
Joey Laswell (28:40):
Yeah, I've heard of it.
Racheal Chantel (28:41):
Okay.
So Evelyn did this crazy thing,and I'm talking about from like
2013.
We were like kids back then.
Anyways, I made a video likethat and that was my second
viral.
So now I have some attention.
I'm like okay again, that'sgoing great and I have a niece
(29:08):
and that's a whole nother story.
And so there was thisopportunity for this, this
pageant, and so it was the MissBlack pageant or whatever.
So I did it and I won.
Wasn't expecting to win, but Iwon.
So I was Miss Black, tennesseefor 2024.
All right, cool.
Now the city of Memphis knowswho I am.
(29:31):
I am, I have this clap.
I got this 15 minutes of fame.
What do I do with it?
What did I?
do with it like what do you,what do you do with this?
And it's like, okay, this isthe opportunity, this is the
shot.
I'm on the phone, my uncle, andI'm telling him like this is
this is it.
And he was like he was like nowthat you got this platform, he
said you should go back to youridea, your therapy idea.
(29:53):
I forgot all about it.
I said what are you talkingabout?
The idea that you wanted to putthe therapy, the mental health
people, in the community?
I said, oh, snap, this is thetime.
So this was literally this wasthe conversation was in december
, like I think december 31stsomewhere around there, up 2023,
(30:16):
because I was the the queen for2024.
So, starting in january yeah,that's exactly what I got
crowned december 16th of 2023for 2024 and from that crowning
I was invited to all thearistocrats of Memphis Christmas
parties, new Year's parties,and between that, that's when my
(30:36):
uncle said something, so Istarted going to.
I started going to town.
I was, hey, I want to do this,this event in May, for mental
health, and I'm selling it.
And people are like okay,because I was the the pageant
queen of Tennessee, and pageantqueens are known for non-profit
work that it made sense, but Ididn't know that I was doing
pageant queen of Tennessee, andpageant queens are known for
nonprofit work.
That it made sense, but Ididn't know that I was doing
something to make my niece happy, which is another story for
(30:57):
another day.
But that's how God works.
You know what I'm saying.
Joey Laswell (31:01):
So here we are.
Racheal Chantel (31:03):
I go back.
I asked these rich people.
They put it on.
They take on a monetary burdenand we put psychiatrists,
counselors and mental healthprofessionals in front of the
community.
And at the time I had thepolice sergeant who was over the
crisis-intense team, the CITteam for the city of Memphis,
and I had a college friend whosurvived the massive shooting of
(31:26):
the Waffle House shooting in2018 in Nashville, tennessee.
Come speak just because of thegun violence.
Once they got done, talkingabout that and because this is
recorded, you never know who'swatching.
Right.
When you are calling 911, youcan request certain type of
training police officers orprofessionals to show up to a
(31:49):
scene, and Joey has militarybackground.
So if I'm lying or denying, fixit.
You know you can say that whenyou call 911 and you say, hey,
there's a person out here actingcrazy, don't say that, because
now you're sending them into asituation where they have to be
on guard because they don't knowwhat they're going into and
it's easy for them to beprepared for everything than not
(32:10):
to be prepared.
And now they got to get gotbecause they got first and
you're setting it up fordisaster First.
When you call 911 and you'relooking at someone, you can say,
well, I think they're having amental health issue.
Maybe you can send someone outthat has mental health training.
That is what this officer wastalking about.
For the state of Tennessee andyou know we're called the
volunteer state because we havethe most volunteers that go into
(32:32):
our first responding system ofmilitary branches or just in
general from here.
That's how we got the name ofvolunteers.
So he really talked about andhe did such a phenomenal job of
setting the tone.
And then she came in and shejust talked about how gun
violence is after a shooting.
Right, we only talk about it inthat moment, but what happens
(32:53):
after it?
She was shot several times andthe type of bullets that
imploded into her bodyricocheted.
So they were hunting bullets,so once they hit their impact
they literally ricocheted insideher body to tear it up.
Now, looking, looking at her,you cannot tell.
But it again goes back tolooking at somebody.
(33:14):
Does not tell you their storyand that's what we have got to
get away from.
And honestly, just so everybodycan understand the weight of
what she was talking about,she's a bigger girl and her best
friend's life was taken out ofthis situation that she put
herself in front of her friendbecause she thought since she
was bigger, she can take morehits.
So you can't just look atsomeone and think you know their
(33:42):
story Absolutely Now.
After that, everybody went intothese workshops.
The first workshop was thefoundations of mental health
what it is, how to address it,how to take care of it, because
it's different from physicalhealth, stigmas, misconceptions.
Behind it it's just a lot ofoutdated, fake information or
just things to tear people awayfrom it.
(34:04):
Again, it's intentional.
And then the last one wascoping mechanisms.
Right, because we're human,you're going to get triggered.
You're going to get triggered,you're going to get upset, but
you don't have to act on it.
So how do you get tode-escalate and walk yourself
back to who you want to be?
So we talked about that and itrotated and it did so well that
(34:24):
it kind of just rippled throughthe community.
And so people were calling meand must I say, of course the
name was made up Memphis, bekind to your heart, be kind to
your mind.
That's how the whole name came.
Anyways, afterwards people werecalling me and asking me to
(34:44):
show up and do these differenttypes of speaking engagements on
mental health, and I was, and Iwent from being a mental health
advocate to being aprofessional and we just had to
stop there, restructure.
And now here we are today tedtalk is done wow, that's a
journey, that's a.
Joey Laswell (35:01):
That's an amazing journey, um, and and that's why
I wanted you to really get intothe details, because the more
people will understand whatyou've, your, your process and
everything that you'vesacrificed all the time, like
you said, three years and thenyou still had to work, and
you're still working today tokeep this mission going.
(35:22):
Expand it like, really get yourname out there and get the, the
mission of Mane at memphis, outout to the world.
So, yeah, I mean that's awesome.
Once again, I'm still amazed.
And then we haven't even talkedabout you are now pursuing your
doctorate.
(35:42):
In what are you pursuing yourdoctorate in?
Racheal Chantel (35:46):
In philosophy, in specialization, in governance
and policy, right.
Okay, wow, in philosophy andspecialization, and governance
and policy, right.
And so the best way to put itis there's so many gaps now, and
I'm going to say this one isintentional because it's not but
everyone cannot covereverything.
Excuse me, every service cannotcover every need is what I'm
trying to say.
Joey Laswell (36:07):
Right.
Racheal Chantel (36:08):
And so say, joey, that, um, no, we're not
gonna put that on you becauseyou are married.
All right, so let's just saySpongeBob and Sandy are in a
relationship and they're marriedand, uh, gary, gary is their
child, right?
All right, squidward isSpongeBob's brother and, excuse
(36:33):
me, squidward is Sandy's brother.
Let's put it like that, becausenow Sandy and Squidward are
family.
Gary is a child of Sandy andSpongeBob.
Are you with me?
Yes, okay, yes, okay.
(36:55):
There is a domestic violencethat happens where spongebob has
became mentally ill and wantsto do damage, um, to sandy and
I'm trying to make sure I staycensored, so wherever you upload
this to it doesn't come down so, um, do physical harm to sandy.
Sandy is telling squirt workabout this.
(37:17):
Squirt work is going to thepolice department and telling
them what's going on in thathouse.
The police are going to tellthem there's nothing they can do
about it because they'remarried and that is a family.
That's a family court issue.
So unless spongebob doessomething, that is a criminal
(37:42):
issue, then the policedepartment cannot step in, okay?
Well, one day sp SpongeBob getshis hand on a water gun and
decides to have a water fightwith Sandy and Gary's in the
room and Sandy gets hit with thewater several different times
and now she has to go to thehospital because she's been
(38:02):
drowned.
Now Sandy and Squidward aregoing to the police and telling
them what's going on.
The police department stillcannot step in.
They can now issue arestraining order, but this is
still a family, domestic issue,because they are married.
(38:24):
This is not a criminal issue.
Okay, issue.
Okay.
Well, spongebob decided thatthat water fight did not end the
way that he wanted it to end.
So now he waits the amount oftime that he needs to for that
restraining order to evolve Tonot evolve To end I can't think
(38:51):
of the word right now.
Not evolve To end I can't thinkof the word right now but for
it to end.
Restraining orders only have acertain duration of time.
So let's just say thatrestraining order is only good
for two years.
But SpongeBob has a lot ofpatience and a lot of time
because this is his family.
So in his head, I'm going toget you, sandy, I'm going to get
you one way or another.
I'm going to get you one way oranother.
(39:14):
I'm going to wait because I'mgoing to have a great time
thinking about it.
All right, cool.
Well, now Sandy is trying tofigure out how to move out, but
too terrified, because SpongeBobkeeps telling her that he's
going to have a water fight.
Again and again and again.
You do anything that I don'tlike.
We're about to have a waterfight, so you might as well stay
in this house, and if you don't, then I'm going after Squidward
and I'm going to have a waterfight with him too.
(39:36):
Again, police department cannotdo anything because these are
just, they're not criminal actsThreatening somebody and acting
on it.
They can't do anything about itunless they act on it.
So I can tell you I want tohave a water fight, I'm going to
have a water fight with you,but if I don't act on it, then
(39:58):
there's nothing you can sayabout it Because I can just say
freedom of speech, all right.
Well, the day has came.
Those two years are up, that 24months.
We are in the 25th month.
Alright, spongebob decides tocome home, shoot up Sandy.
Sandy loses her life.
(40:21):
Now Squibber goes and talks tothe court and tells the court
I've been telling you for thelast four years, I've been
telling you these things.
Two things can happen.
You can sue the policedepartment now for criminal and
just, uh, endangerment, for our,our adjustment.
That's what it is Criminaladjustment.
(40:42):
Or you can, or they could havetook it to family court, but
family court would have neverdid anything because they're
married and so in the state ofTennessee, sandy is seen as
sponge boss property, so thecourt would not get involved.
A lot of states have laws likethat, where women are are
(41:04):
property of their husbands, sothey have no rights, all right.
So now that we got the storyout of the way, there's a lot of
gaps there, because if therewas some type of system like gap
insurance right to cover her,where they could have stepped in
for those two years and theseare real stories what could have
(41:26):
changed?
What could have evolved rightthere?
What could have changed?
What could have evolved rightthere?
Now I'm not saying that Mane ofMemphis is going to lobby,
because to me that's a waste oftime for what our mission is and
purpose Lobbying with the stateto change their laws and
policies.
It takes years.
People need help right now.
They need help right now.
(41:47):
There's enough people in theirhomes that are not safe.
They have nowhere to go.
They have no one, are not safe,they have nowhere to go, they
have no one to talk to, theyhave no support system.
The people that are supposed tobe their support system are the
Mane ones that's causing themharm.
Where do those people go?
(42:19):
So that is the mission of ManeMemphis is to help those
individuals, and so what I amdoing is dedicated my education
structure to is understandinghow these systems are created
and how to just enough bend themand create our own system with
what already exists.
Are you still there?
You look like you froze.
Joey Laswell (42:28):
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
Racheal Chantel (42:30):
Okay, I can hear you, so we're not looking
to break the change, the cycle.
There's enough people doing allthose great things.
Joey Laswell (42:42):
Can you still hear me?
Racheal Chantel (42:42):
Yeah, okay, there's enough people wanting to
break the chains, break thecycle.
Do all that Great Fantastic.
Somebody else can take that on.
Change break the cycle.
Do all that Great Fantastic.
Somebody else can take that on.
But for those who need helpright now, those who are looking
for ways to get out, that iswhere we're coming in, and so,
(43:03):
through my schooling, what Iwant to learn how to do is build
that within the government andbe a where the government
funding can invest in thisinfrastructure and not be
something that is seen as aservice, but an infrastructure,
because everyone is going to theright, because there's no
option to go to the left, sowhat happens when there's the
option to go to the left?
Joey Laswell (43:22):
Yeah, absolutely Well.
So if somebody's listening in,they live in Memphis and they
want to get involved with ManeUp Memphis because it's a
nonprofit, you do acceptvolunteers or maybe a mental
health professional.
What would you recommend theydo to kind of get involved?
Racheal Chantel (43:45):
to kind of get involved.
Absolutely, you guys can visitour website at madeupmemphisorg.
You can give us a call at290-7226.
The great thing about how I'mintentionally setting and
building this company is for itto have flexibility.
Right Again, we live outside ofthe box.
So if you're thinking that youcan do several different things,
(44:05):
well, let's see if you can.
If you can do several differentthings, well, let's see if you
can.
If you can't, then just do onething.
But the thing is that you'redoing something.
Joey Laswell (44:12):
Absolutely, and you're doing a lot.
Just to clarify, you're wearingmany hats, um and uh.
You're the.
The company is growing.
Um, got some big things on thehorizon.
What are, what are, some of thebiggest things that you've got
in the next weeks and monthsahead?
Racheal Chantel (44:32):
So of course, we're always doing these funding
opportunities, but we arelooking to partner with other
traditional systems to come inand again be a support system.
Right, like you had a headache,advil, right?
So you go to another major,established company, then we'll
(44:52):
have our services within thereso you can have that opportunity
with us.
So we're just doing a lot ofdifferent partnerships and
making new friends and buildingour infrastructure and keep
going.
It's the beginning of a veryinteresting way where we're
ahead of our time To makebehavioral health a
infrastructure, not a service.
It's something new.
(45:15):
I mean, jeff Bezos started inhis garage and it started in my
mama's living room.
So hey, here we go.
Joey Laswell (45:21):
There you go, there you go, I love it.
I love it.
Well, we barely scratched thesurface, but this is the man Up
Memphis podcast and we're goingto talk at length on all the
different things that we've gotgoing on.
I actually have at least onetherapist who's interested, one
(45:45):
of our teammates, uh, james he's, he's interested in maybe being
a guest and we can talk abouteither men's mental health,
which is relevant because we'rewe're hosting a work, a couple
of workshops, on uh saturday.
So, uh, yeah, if you'reinterested, the heart and soul,
uh, men's collective I believeit's called Men's Mental Health
(46:06):
Collective at the AgriCenter,21st of June, from 8.30 to 2
o'clock.
Racheal Chantel (46:13):
yes, and yeah, so facilitators or the host of
that is Baptist MemorialHospital, as well as Shelby
County.
Joey Laswell (46:21):
Commissioner's Office yeah, and then there's
some celebrities yes, there ismr and mrs.
Racheal Chantel (46:31):
Uh, michael white, elise neal she's from
memphis, um.
And then there is da vinci,who's known for his role on all
of american and 50 cents uh, upand no, not up and coming um one
of his most anticipated shows,bmf.
He's a mental health advocatetoo.
(46:51):
So they've done a very well jobof trying to touch every
demographic.
Joey Laswell (47:00):
Yeah, and just to clarify, Mane Up Memphis.
You know the mission is notjust for men, even though it's
Mane Up.
You know the mission is notjust for men, even though it's
Mane Up.
You know, like we want toclarify that this is it's.
It's it's gender neutral.
You know we want to helpeverybody and you know, give us
a little idea of what what ManeUp means to you and and what.
(47:22):
You know why you chose thatname.
Racheal Chantel (47:25):
So you know, Memphis is its own country, not
a city.
We don't stand on that.
We have and I say that becauseMemphis name is dropped in the
most songs, no matter what thegenre is Right.
Everybody knows what Memphis,tennessee, is.
There may be, other Memphis's inthe county, I mean in the
country.
But when you hear Memphis youautomatically think Memphis,
(47:47):
tennessee.
With that being said, we haveour own lingo here, just like we
have our own dancing, our ownculture.
There's jooking, there's jiving, there's checking.
There's so many differentthings that, no matter what you
look like, where you're from, ifyou live in Shelby County,
everything I just said you areknown about, you know about it.
(48:08):
I don't care where you're from,you know what I'm talking about
.
So there's certain words thatcan be a filler.
How people say um or like inthis County, may, junt and
probably a whole bunch of othersnot coming to my mind right now
are filler words, and by that Imean it can be a place, person
(48:32):
or thing, it can be anything.
It can be a noun, adjectiveverb.
Those two words are veryintentional in this county.
So when you say, how did youchoose that word at first?
I wanted it to be somethingwhere people knew it was for our
county, for the city, by thecity, that it was very
(48:53):
grass-rooted here in the county,because we in this country,
this city, we do not likeoutsiders trying to come in and
tell us how to be better people,we, we don't like it.
Joey Laswell (49:07):
You can't tell me that you know yeah yeah.
Racheal Chantel (49:12):
So I wanted to make sure that the culture
wasn't lost.
And I know when people hear theword culture, they think black.
No, I meant the culture of thiscounty, the history of this
county, because if you go to aMemphis Tiger game, a Memphis
Grizzly game, if you're on BealeStreet, if you're at Overton
Square Park, if you are anywhere, if you're even in at the
(49:36):
Shelby Farms Park Riverside,everybody from every side of the
freaking county is there.
Everybody from every side ofthe freaking county is there,
from Collierville to Bartlett,to Arlington, to Lakeland, to
downtown, to East Memphis, toGermantown, cordova, all of them
People are there and they arerocking.
And what are they saying?
(49:57):
Whoop, that trick Having a goodtime.
I don't care, they are having agreat time.
They don't care that you livein the projects and you're going
home to a gated community.
If y'all are sitting next toeach other in those seats in
that FedEx farm, you are ruiningon your city at the end of the
day.
And guess what?
It can be an old white personand it can be a young Asian
(50:18):
person in that room.
And I guarantee you, whenthey're having a good time and
they were born and raised inthis county John and Mayna
coming and they were born andraised in this county.
Jump a man to coming out theirmouth Simple.
Joey Laswell (50:28):
It's the culture.
Racheal Chantel (50:30):
So, with that being said, how can you bring
people together to feel likewe're building one and carrying
this thing together?
Well, I told you I'm a gym rat.
So one of the things that wesay in the gym is don't be a
itch.
You know what I'm saying?
(50:50):
Man not see, man up, man up,don't be an ish.
So one day I was sitting, I wastrying to figure out how to be
creative in the name and, ofcourse, social media content,
everything on the back side itjust popped up.
I was like man, I'm Memphis.
And I was on the phone with myuncle and I said man, I'm
(51:10):
Memphis because I drew it out,and he said, oh, that's catchy
right.
I said, oh, they're not going torock with that, that's not.
I said that's not proper enough, it's not.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not professional.
He was like and that's whatmakes it you, because you're the
only person that can reallybreak through and have that be
acceptable.
And here we are what?
(51:31):
Two, almost, yeah, almost threeyears later.
I know everybody says Mane I'mnot saying it, but for Mane to
hit the Mane street, Mane, forit to be on the news the way it
is, for people to start droppingit.
I know Mane of Memphis was theperson to make that word
professionally acceptable.
(51:52):
I know it was.
I see it, I've been told thatand I'm happy about it because
that's our influence and that'sjust the beginning.
Joey Laswell (52:01):
Man well, is this the same uncle giving you?
He's giving you some gems, somegreat.
Yeah, we need to have him onthe show and pick his brain,
because he sounds like he's avisionary.
He knows, he knows.
Racheal Chantel (52:15):
He is my familiar before I got this cat.
He definitely keeps me going.
It's the same one.
If you have not met him, oh,you'll meet him Saturday.
Oh, nice, awesome he's the veryfirst employee of Mane of
Memphis.
Joey Laswell (52:26):
Well, I'm glad, I'm glad I'm honored to be like
because, yeah, I just hear I'veheard him twice now and he's
been spot on both times, sothat's amazing.
Racheal Chantel (52:38):
He's very spiritual.
Joey Laswell (52:39):
Yeah, Okay.
Well, let's see We've got.
Like I said, we still barelyscratched the surface, but I
think we've covered a goodamount.
And is there anything on thehorizon that you want to
highlight to the audience andjust kind of like they can be
expecting or anticipating?
Racheal Chantel (53:02):
Absolutely.
You can expect great thingsfrom us.
You can expect a community toget belonging from us family.
You can expect to just be you,to be encouraged to be you, to
be empowered to be you with MadeUp Memphis.
So if you want to get involvedyou don't know how to get
involved or what to do then justcome over here, because it's a
place of opportunity where amustard seed is going to
(53:25):
actually be able to be prospered.
You know it's not a ofopportunity where a mustard seed
is going to actually be able tobe prospered.
It's not a place to where youfeel you have to pretend to put
on a mask.
There's enough places out there.
You got to go do that too.
I have to still do that.
I don't like doing that Okay.
So over here you just get to beyou.
If you like to last smile, jointhe Avengers man.
We're excited to have you overhere.
(53:46):
If this would be the last timethat you keep up with us, don't
remember anything else from Joe,and I just remember this be
kind of respectful, it's nothard that's it.
Joey Laswell (53:58):
That's the bare minimum right there.
We need more and more of thatin today's world.
So I think that's a great placeto kind of pause and reflect
and, you know, just say thankyou to all the people who have
helped build Mane Up Memphis upto this point, and we appreciate
(54:20):
you guys and hopefully we'llget more and more people as we
get bigger and get more traction.
You know, hopefully it's goingto keep going, it's going to
keep building and I'm excited tobe just a small cog in the
wheel, but I'm just ready, youknow.
So if anyone wants to be on theshow, on the podcast, you know
(54:44):
you can reach out to me, send mea DM or reach out to Rachel and
we'll make it happen.
I would like to really feature,you know, all kinds of Memphis,
memphis natives, people who are,you know, power players in the,
in the community and, you know,just kind of ask, pick their
brain and talk to them.
So we're open casting forpodcast guests and maybe even
(55:11):
some musicians.
It would be cool.
I've already reached out to aMemphis-based band that I really
like called the Narrows.
So if you're listening, Ialready DM'd you guys, so I
would love to have you guys onthe show just to kind of
highlight some local Memphisartists.
But all right, well, any lastparting words for this episode,
(55:35):
rachel.
Racheal Chantel (55:38):
No, I just want to say that Joey came to me
with an idea for a podcast andhere we are, so that's how Made
in Memphis works.
Joey Laswell (55:47):
There you go.
Yes, absolutely, and we'rebuilding the Avengers every day,
as we've said.
So this team is going to getbigger and stronger and awesome.
So, yeah, just really excitedfor the future.
And thank you, rachel, foreverything that you've done so
far and continue to do and willdo in the future, because I know
(56:07):
this is really just gettingstarted for you.
I mean, you're at the beginningof an amazing journey, so I'm
just really happy to be a partof it, and you know you guys can
join us too.
So go to madeupmemphisorg,follow us on our socials, check
out the podcast, share it withpeople.
(56:29):
As we say at Made Up Memphisleave the change.
Oh wait, I messed it up.
I messed it up, all right.
Leave the baggage.
Keep the change keep the changeoh okay, yeah, we're working on
(56:52):
that, but that's gonna be oursign off is leave the baggage,
keep the change alright well,thank you guys, everybody, we'll
see you guys on the nextepisode and you know, be kind to
each other all right.
Well, that's a wrap for today'sepisode of the Mane up memphis
(57:13):
podcast.
Remember, real change startswhen you show up, break cycles
and walk into something greater.
If you felt inspired, do methree quick favors subscribe and
leave a note or a five-starreview.
Do me three quick favorsSubscribe and leave a note or a
five-star review so that morepeople can find us.
Share this episode with someonewho might need a lift and get
involved.
(57:33):
Volunteer, refer a youth ordonate at madeupmemphisorg.
Follow us on our socials atMade Up Memphis for
behind-the-scenes goodness andsend your questions or success
stories to us and they mightmake it on air until next time.
Here at made up memphis.
Leave the baggage, keep thechange.
Welcome to the Mane Up Memphis podcast, where
we celebrate the grit, heart andhope that make the 901 shine.
Each week, we sit down withchangemakers, youth and families
to talk real mental health wins, money moves and life skills
breakthroughs All the tools weuse at Mane Up Memphis to uplift
(00:22):
, equip and empower people tobuild stronger, more resilient
lives.
Whether you're 14 or 40, aparent, mentor or ally, this is
your spot for stories that healand strategies that work.
So grab a sweet tea, get comfyand let's step into growth
together, because here at ManeMemphis you leave the baggage,
(00:46):
keep the change.
Hey everybody, welcome to ManeMemphis podcast.
My name is Joey Laswell.
I'm a licensed therapist andcertified financial social
worker, proud to be a member ofthis team and part of this
(01:09):
podcast, and I'm very proud toalso introduce the Wizard of Oz
behind the scenes the one well,in front of the scenes too, but
this is Miss Rachel Chantel.
Everybody, hi, everybody, hi,everybody, hey, hey, all right,
so this is not your firstpodcast experience, so I already
(01:33):
know a lot of your backstory.
But you know, since this is anew show, new podcast, why don't
you give us, like your elevatorpitch?
Tell us a little bit about yourhistory, how you got to this
point, and then we can get intowhat your vision is for the
future.
Racheal Chantel (01:51):
So, mcc, everybody, I'm Rachel Chantel.
I really don't know where tostart in my story.
I guess we could start, let'ssay, when I moved back to
Memphis, right?
So I went to schooling atMiddle Tennessee State
University, mtsu, graduated fromthere with a commercial
(02:12):
construction management degree,moved down to Dallas for a few
years it was further away frommy family.
I really didn't like it.
I think I was just too young.
I moved down there around like24, 25.
But I needed to do that becausethat's where I really started
to learn that I love the familystructure, I love my family.
Everybody was here in Memphisand I was in Nashville, right,
(02:32):
and you could just up and runthat highway a few hours.
Don't think anything about it.
But Dallas from Memphis is likewhat, 12 hours in a car and now
people aren't able to come afew days.
They got to actually take offwork and be there like a week to
actually, you know, make itworth that that trip.
And so, um, I just learned Ididn't like.
(02:53):
I was really just homesick andhad an opportunity with my job
at the time to move me, uh, backto memphis, because we had
picked up a contract with FedExat the time.
So came on back and this waslike mid-2019.
The contract fell throughbecause we couldn't find enough
(03:15):
workers to work there.
But by that time I was alreadyliving home six months and 15-20
minutes drive to see yourfamily.
I was not ready to move becausethey wanted to move me back to
Texas, into the Houston area,15-20 minute drive to see your
family.
I was not ready to move,because they wanted to move me
back to Texas into, like, uh,the Houston area, right, oh, wow
and um, I didn't go.
I can't remember, hold on, letme think.
Yeah.
(03:36):
So I told them I was like, hey,I'm gonna go ahead and like
quit, basically I had enoughhours to hold me over for like
two, two I think and then I hadmy short-term leave, so they
held me over for a few moremonths.
Looking for jobs, at the time Iwas in a very big niche, right,
and so I did mechanicalestimating for piping for water
(03:57):
facilitation plants For a lackof people who don't know that
those are like where you flushyour toilet and water has to get
cleaned again to get reused.
They had these big, specific.
Yeah, it was the piping that Iwould estimate.
Joey, you could walk through itLike, even if your arms is span
(04:18):
all the way out.
We used to have these poleswhere we have to go through to
make sure it was actually trulyround and yeah, so everything
has a real big niche down there.
Um, no one like being on theplant after taco tuesday.
I could say that, no, comingback from a city like this in
memphis, there wasn't really ajob for that.
(04:40):
People would tell me on my owninterviews are like hey, you're
really smart and we don't reallyhave a job and I'm like
estimating is estimating me likehey, I don't understand.
But the city didn't have liketrue estimators for construction
to like people here will holdlike two or three hats on one
pay.
So that was very new for mebecause I left Memphis at 18 and
(05:04):
then I lived in Nashville andChattanooga, so cities that was
much bigger and, like I said,this is not a short story how we
got here today.
Joey Laswell (05:13):
No, we got plenty of time.
Racheal Chantel (05:15):
This is your dance, so let's hear the whole
story, but yeah, so I ended upgetting a job here with one of
the universities in the area intheir planning department, and
that's where you can say theseed was set, the mustard seed
was set, and I didn't reallyknow it at the time, but now
(05:46):
we're into like, let's say, likeAugust of 2019 or somewhere in
there.
In the summer I interviewed.
It took like three or fourmonths for the university to to.
It's not fast coming from acity like dallas to here.
That was a major shift changeand getting things done and yada
yada.
Memphis is not fast on thosethings, right, but anyways,
started there with them.
It my job didn't really startuntil about November, which we
(06:08):
were going right into theholidays.
So the universities anywhereyou know they're about to shut
down because they're going intotheir breaks Came back in like
January of 2020.
That was the year.
That was the year, man, fromJanuary to March 26th, exactly.
(06:30):
I remember the day that theysent us to be working from home.
Right, it was my first timeactually on the campus and
everything.
And so then the pandemicstarted, all right, well, now
you just get to sit at home withyour family members, right, and
this would be the first time inlife that we all just probably
sit in and talk to each otherand really learned about each
(06:52):
other.
And I was really on this health.
Um, I was like a gym rep stillam a gym rep, but I was on it
really tough back then and Iwould get my parents out, I'll
get my parents out, I would getmy uncle out, my nieces, I would
really get them out and moving.
And, boy, we had a time 2020was a time and taking cat naps
throughout the day together.
You just really for me.
(07:14):
I just started reallycherishing the family structure
even more and more.
Again, another plant.
Joey Laswell (07:20):
Another seed planted.
Racheal Chantel (07:22):
So now schooling starts up.
Another seed planet.
So now schooling starts up.
And I was now I have mymaster's in city urban, city,
regional city, urban andplanning, so sorry, with a local
government managementcertificate.
Um, they're not under the same,so that programming was a
little different, because youcan have so many different
(07:44):
sectors you can go into for cityplanning.
Some people can have a niche orfocus on traffic, another
person can have it on greenspaces, another person can have
it on infrastructures.
My niche in that whole thing wascommunity involvement.
So my niche in that whole thingwas community involvement,
because normally communityinvolvement is the last piece
(08:09):
that comes to the table whenthey're doing city planning.
They have the private sectorthere, they have the city
administration there.
They'll have, like, maybe auniversity or something of that
nature, like nonprofits.
But no one was truly speakingup for the community.
Um, and that really sucked,because the community are the
(08:30):
normal ones, it's the first orthe last, uh, people to use
these spaces that's beingcreated, but they're not even
having a voice or being able tobe represented at the table.
I was just like that reallysucks a lot.
So throughout that I found myroute into public administration
, public health.
(08:50):
So that's where the localgovernment management
certificate came in.
But at the same time, I wasstill wanting to learn about
city planning, because mybackground is construction.
So I knew everything passed.
When the city approves herplans to get done and you break
grounding If anybody knows whatthat means it's just starting an
actual project and moving itforward to building new
(09:12):
construction.
But everything before that Ididn't know and I wanted to
learn about this.
So that's how my degree was setup, so I learned everything
before that my degree was set up, so I learned everything before
that.
Okay, well, everything beforebecomes more of local government
(09:33):
and having to learn howpolicies and laws and
regulations and zonings andthere's just so many pieces that
are just not common knowledge.
And it wasn't coming to meeither.
I think I'm a pretty smart gal,but at that time it was just
like, just like well, what theheck is this?
And so now they don't teach youthis in school, because if you
(09:56):
knew when people say that peoplehave power, only if they knew
what that truly means, becauseit is true, like it's so true,
which is why I think it'sintentionally done that the
community does not have a voiceat these tables, because if it
did, we would run a lot morebetter things.
Okay.
So, going through schooling, I'mlearning about how these
(10:21):
different infrastructures well,these different businesses run
together.
I'm talking about the healthcare, education, finances,
family structures and so manyother things too right, how
they're built, how they worktogether and then how people
fall through the gaps.
People falling through a gap isa system that's built
(10:44):
intentional.
That's how you keep the richrich and the poor poor, and it's
very expensive to be poor.
I don't think people understandthat enough.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, like, and for someonelike me, who can who, who grew
up right, I was a kid in schoolthat could sit with the the gots
(11:07):
, sit with the gays, sit withthe jocks, sit with the arts,
sit with the band geeks and getalong with anybody and be vocal
if you wanted at those tables,and so the best way I can say it
was like I'm a kid of themisfit, right.
I grew up in a majority whiteneighborhood and I was always
(11:28):
the minority in the class, whereI was always the only black
person in the classroom.
So I grew up with either beingtoo ghetto for the whites or I
was too bougie for the blacks.
So I spent a lot of time withme Fami.
So for the people who actuallywanted to see Rachel, for Rachel
will walk me into their worldand I will learn so much.
(11:49):
I will learn so many differentthings and I appreciate it now
being an adult, because I canreally enjoy when I go to
different cities or, first off,they even want to go to
different cities, right, andjust really be able to enjoy
those things.
It's because I know how myroots were created, because of
that right.
(12:09):
So, sitting in these classroomsreally learning all of that and
just knowing how my history was,it put a burden on my heart.
It just really did, because noone understands.
You know, joy, looking at youand looking at me, people are
already going to assume theyknow our stories.
They freaking don't know.
Don't, nobody know anybody'sstory about.
Looking at you and looking atme, people are already going to
assume they know our stories.
They freaking don't know.
Don't, nobody know anybody'sstory about looking at somebody.
But society will tell you thatthat, yeah, I'm going to put you
(12:31):
in this box and that's whereyou're going to have to stay.
And going through these, goingthrough schooling and learning
that in his classes is like, oh,this is intentional, like I
feel like I learned the cheatcode to the matrix, like I truly
felt like I was learning it,and so the more that I got into
it, the more I wanted to justlearn how to break apart these
(12:52):
boxes that they put us in,because, like I say, I know so
many people who are in that boxand they want to get out, but
they don't have the supportsystem to help them get out and
it's like, wow, you don't like.
You just don't know what youdon't know.
You just don't you know.
And so this weighed reallyheavily on my, on my mind, on my
(13:16):
mental, and I was, I was goingcrazy, because I'm a person who
is very outspoken and, with thatbeing said, if I something,
I'll say something.
If I see someone bullyingsomebody, we're just being, and
bully is like a very vague word,right, I don't want you to
think I was like a kid oranything, but you can still
bully as an adult.
I don't like people targetingand messing with someone because
(13:39):
they feel like they're strongerin any sense of form, because
that's not right and and I'vealways been like that.
And so, going through this andlearning how these systems are
set up, I became almost hopelessand I hate feeling like I can't
help, like I just I cannot, andI don't ever want someone else
to feel what I feel.
(14:00):
And it was just very heavy onme and my best friend and you'll
meet her one day too Leah,she's in the field, she's in
social work, and I am rippingone on the phone with her
constantly, like going throughit, like going through it, and
she was like you need to go totherapy, you have got to talk to
somebody and I'm like notherapy ain't going to help me
(14:20):
with this man.
This is america is escapistic.
Like I am waking up from thematrix right now.
Like so much information.
I'm like I gotta tell people,people gotta know this.
Like they gotta know they knowhow to play the game.
Like I am going in and she'slike you have got to go to there
.
I was like, okay, see, butshe'll tell you.
(14:44):
As smart as I am, I can barelyhang up a freaking picture on
the wall and it'd be even man.
Simple task, not my friend, butbuild you an airplane.
I got you, I got you, you know.
So I sent her my, my uminsurance card.
She found me a therapist,everything set it up.
I had to give her 120% creditfor that and I'm still with the
(15:08):
same therapist right now andstarted with her and just going
through and that was a wholeexperience within itself.
I guess that'll be anotherpodcast for another day how that
happened for me, right?
But one thing that she said tome it was several sessions in.
She said, well, me, it wasseveral sessions in.
She said, well, if you feellike this, just do something
(15:28):
about it.
Like, if you're a person whotakes action, take action.
I'm like you're right, I shouldtake action.
Like what do you think aboutthis, you know?
So I started in my head and shewas like you know a lot of
people, you have connections.
Put it again I'm like you'reeating right now, ma'am, like I
really need to.
So I end up putting togetherand right, you know, you, you
(15:52):
got these great connections andso I'm also.
This is probably anotherpodcast episode one day.
I believe in collecting favors,not using them, just collect
them.
Just always help people.
They be like oh, I owe you one.
Yeah, I may cash it in one day,maybe, maybe not.
I just collect them.
(16:13):
Always have people in debt toyou and never be in the debt to
others you know, um.
So I was like, okay, I startedplaying this idea in my head.
I'm like, okay, what can people, how can I touch a mass amount
of people and make a great uhimpact to at least get them
(16:35):
thinking, get them thinking forthemselves, cause these systems
do not encourage you to thinkfor yourself, they encourage you
to know what to think and howto think.
You know, schooling is trulyset up to have you have an
employee mind, not an employermind.
Um, so again, research andreading.
(16:57):
And I remember just reading oneportion of a of a book and it
talked about mental health and Iwas like, oh my gosh, that's
the common denominator with somuch of this stuff is mental
health.
And so I'm reading some more.
And then it clicked and I'mlike, had I not had insurance
and a little bit of money in theEAP program, I would never be
(17:19):
able to afford this type ofluxury, like I would never.
So then that's how we broughtin the financial education
portion of it in my head.
But I wasn't planning on doinganything with it at the time,
but it did click in my brain andso I have this little kitty and
she just she wants to be seenso bad, say hello, say hi so
(17:41):
much.
Joey Laswell (17:42):
Oh, my goodness.
Racheal Chantel (17:43):
Will you let Mama leave please?
Okay, now I'm doing really good.
It's only been 17 minutes.
Hopefully people want to listento this interesting story,
right?
Yes, it's a great story and soI'm like all right, I started
calling my rich friends, Istarted calling my contractors
(18:07):
and things, because if anybodytalks to me longer than 10
minutes, they're like all right,ray, she doesn't ask for a lot,
number one, she'll give you alot, number two.
So I'm calling them and I'm like, hey, I want to put this event
together.
I want to put mental healthprofessionals this is how green
I was.
I was like I want to put mentalhealth professionals in front
(18:27):
of the community for people toto benefit the way that I am
benefiting from it right now.
And so again, I'm telling leeand she was like hunter, called
therapist, psychiatrist like shestarts giving me the.
I'm like, yeah, all of thatstuff.
So it's like I want to do allthose things.
Like you know, again, mybackground is construction man,
so it's very hands-on.
(18:48):
And I'm like, all right.
So I'm calling these people andthey're like, yeah, sure, I'll
help you, I'll help you.
I'm like, okay, what's nextafter that?
But, um, you know, end up beingthis great guy who throws
events in the city.
And I can't stress enough topeople that it takes
(19:09):
partnerships to get anythingdone.
Like you have got to have realcommunity.
Like you can't just want to beanybody who believes in being
that they're self-made.
You are lying to yourself.
It takes partnerships, it takessupport, it takes friendships,
it takes time, it takes patience.
It takes a lot of these things,right?
(19:29):
Must I remind you, between thetime, that I'm coming up with
this idea and actually executingit.
It was three years.
It took three years.
So it wasn't like I came upwith this idea in January and
then I just did it in May.
No, it took three years, youknow.
Yeah, that's dedication, youknow.
(19:50):
But it wasn't like in my head Iplanned everything out and then
I just left it and I just letit sit, because at the time I
wasn't anybody in the city, wewere just coming out of the
pandemic, I just moved home.
I didn't really haveconnections like that.
I had people that I knew whowere powerful.
But for people to want to puttheir name on you I'm still
(20:17):
struggling with that right now,you know.
But I'm starting to understandthat the more influence that we
build in this mission, in thispurpose, in this business right,
but at the time I was just likeman, why can't we just do it
this way?
Because, again, you be quick,it's like a microwave.
You ask for something fromsomebody, they'll do it, but at
(20:38):
the time, shucks, no.
So there's a guy on Instagramgoes by gary v.
Some people may know, I know,you say you know.
He said back then the best wayto get people to buy into you is
to is attention.
That's the new currency, it'sattention.
You've got to get attention onyou and your likability for it.
(21:01):
I'm like, okay, but how theheck do you do that?
You know.
So that's how I started mypodcast and at the time in that
year it was called Her Advicefor Rachel Chantel and Friends
and we would talk about how tobuild your own support system
without actually having othersand how to believe within
(21:22):
yourself.
And we'll talk about timelessinformation.
I just literally took it downabout a year ago because it was
conflicting with what Mane ofmemphis was growing into, and
people can only accept so muchbecause they're used to having
you inside of a box but for,like me, to list outside of and
I'm like I can do this and I cando that.
That confuses people, so it'sjust like spoon feed them, man,
(21:44):
and I'm like, all right, Ireally don't know how I'm going
to build this attention, but thebest way to do it is just to
try to get out there.
And the podcast was doing great.
It was doing really good andpeople were really enjoying.
It, had a great female audienceon it and so that was building
some stuff up.
And then I had two of myclosest friends my cousin, one
of my girls on it.
She ended, so that was buildingsome stuff up.
(22:05):
And then I had two of myclosest friends my cousin, one
of my girls on it.
She ended up going to schoolfor being a lawyer and then my
cousin was an entrepreneur inlife.
We just could not match itanymore.
And I told him.
I said, okay, we had onecomment that came up because I
was going to try to keep itgoing on my own and people were
like, yeah, this is greatinformation, but I really
listened to people who areactually doing it versus talking
about it.
I'm like, oh, yeah, you'reright, I should do the things
(22:29):
I'm talking about.
You know I should.
So we shut that down podcastand started going up.
And by that time, you know, um,there was a large audience
influencer page for made up.
I mean, I made them if it'slower for Memphis coming up in
(22:50):
general in the city and theywere wanting to do this podcast
and they needed a female uh,female co host.
And so I'm like, yeah, sureI'll do it, cause they found me
from bus route.
That's where they found me from.
I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
And I was like this is myopportunity, because at that
(23:10):
time I probably had like maybelike 5,000 followers on my
Instagram and I knew that I waslistening to Gary V.
So I was like I always been astrategist.
I encourage people to be astrategist and have a plan and
just work your plan.
I'm like okay, how do I usethis opportunity?
Because it's only going to bethis is someone else's platform,
it's not mine.
(23:31):
But if I want to step onto yourplatform, how can I grow my own
platform?
Because that's something I cancontrol.
So I was already thinking aboutit and so when we started doing
the podcast, the audience thatwill tune into us because we'll
do a live off of Instagram, theywill love me.
(23:53):
They will love me.
People were enjoying it.
And that's when I was like okay, this is good, this is good.
Things were starting to go goodand I ended up picking up like
maybe like 5,000 followers fromit.
I mean it was doing great.
And so now I'm like oh snap,social media, it's where the
attention is coming from.
(24:13):
This is what Gary Vee wassaying.
So now it's clicking in my head.
So then I started doing thiswhole Instagram, social media,
influencer stuff and it wasdoing great and I could not
figure out how to pick up trends.
I could not figure out theformula of getting organic
content to go, until theindividual for that platform had
(24:39):
said hey, there's businesses inMemphis that want to invite us
out and you know we should startdoing it.
So I was like, okay, so nowwe're starting to go to these
places and I'm starting torecord and I said, oh, this is a
niche, because small businessesdon't get this type of free
advertisement.
So I started making thatadvertisement for that platform
(25:01):
and I'll always say, you know,make sure the credit comes back
to me, because that platformwasn't doing organic content
they will always do repostingcontent but it was such a good
niche and it was like above itstime for Memphis that there
wasn't any other social mediaplatform or page that was
highlighting Memphis in apositive manner.
(25:23):
So, honestly, it was the firstone to do it.
I don't know what's going onnow, but it was the first in
2020, like 2021, 2022, all right.
So from there, um, again, thisis not I'm trying to get it out,
but it's gonna be great.
(25:44):
It's gonna be great.
So, um, from there, we startedgoing out and places were
inviting us out more and morebecause they wanted their
content to be, to be on the page.
So we would go, but there wasonly one person who could
actually make the content me,because that was my idea.
So now these businesses werereaching out to me directly
(26:07):
wanting theirs, you know, from aexperience kind of view.
I think they call it usergenerated content, ugc, I can't
remember now.
That was like a whole thing atthe time and I'm like, oh snap,
this is great.
So now TikTok was TikTok-ingreally well and there will be
trends that will pop up onTikTok that haven't made it over
(26:28):
to Instagram yet.
And now I'm watching thealgorithm because I'm on this
platform.
I'm like if I can make organiccontent for this platform which
was like at 100,000 people, soit was a bigger platform than
myself then I could do it formyself.
I just have to figure out howto make that happen.
So now I'm like people weretalking about how Twitter and X
(26:52):
or whatever, no, twitter andInstagram, how things will pop
up on Twitter before it comes toInstagram.
So people like oh, blah, blah,blah, blah.
But I was never a person onTwitter and I'm like I'd never
do that.
So TikTok was starting to do itsthing and I'm like shucks, and
there was a trend that said um,one girl said you know, I'm from
what was it?
(27:14):
She was like you know, I'm from, um, atlanta, or something.
It was like you know, I'm fromwherever it is trend that went
crazy on TikTok.
And now I'm like no one's doneit on Instagram and no one's
done it for memphis yet.
So I made my and I just did it.
Right, I just did it on the way.
(27:35):
I was actually on the way to aflea market in jackson,
tennessee, and I did it in thecar and I was like you know from
memphis, um, because we're acountry, not a city, don't ask
me twice.
You know I'm from memphis whenwe're playing space.
You know I'm from Memphis whenwe're playing space.
You know I'm from Memphis whenand I'm just hitting everything
and, joey, that video went viral.
That's what did it for me.
(27:57):
I was shocked when I went on myInstagram.
Oh, I made two.
I made two viral videos.
That was the one when I wentback on my Instagram and I had
like 100,000 likes on this onevideo.
I'm like, oh, I ended upgetting like 8,000 followers in
like 45 minutes.
(28:17):
It was great.
So that was that one, great.
And then the next one that cameout was, you know, those videos
where it'll be a person whocomes or had an outfit and they
like slap their hands orsomething, and it blends into
the next one.
So I did that one with you.
(28:37):
Ever heard of the showBasketball Wives?
Joey Laswell (28:40):
Yeah, I've heard of it.
Racheal Chantel (28:41):
Okay.
So Evelyn did this crazy thing,and I'm talking about from like
2013.
We were like kids back then.
Anyways, I made a video likethat and that was my second
viral.
So now I have some attention.
I'm like okay again, that'sgoing great and I have a niece
(29:08):
and that's a whole nother story.
And so there was thisopportunity for this, this
pageant, and so it was the MissBlack pageant or whatever.
So I did it and I won.
Wasn't expecting to win, but Iwon.
So I was Miss Black, tennesseefor 2024.
All right, cool.
Now the city of Memphis knowswho I am.
(29:31):
I am, I have this clap.
I got this 15 minutes of fame.
What do I do with it?
What did I?
do with it like what do you,what do you do with this?
And it's like, okay, this isthe opportunity, this is the
shot.
I'm on the phone, my uncle, andI'm telling him like this is
this is it.
And he was like he was like nowthat you got this platform, he
said you should go back to youridea, your therapy idea.
(29:53):
I forgot all about it.
I said what are you talkingabout?
The idea that you wanted to putthe therapy, the mental health
people, in the community?
I said, oh, snap, this is thetime.
So this was literally this wasthe conversation was in december
, like I think december 31stsomewhere around there, up 2023,
(30:16):
because I was the the queen for2024.
So, starting in january yeah,that's exactly what I got
crowned december 16th of 2023for 2024 and from that crowning
I was invited to all thearistocrats of Memphis Christmas
parties, new Year's parties,and between that, that's when my
(30:36):
uncle said something, so Istarted going to.
I started going to town.
I was, hey, I want to do this,this event in May, for mental
health, and I'm selling it.
And people are like okay,because I was the the pageant
queen of Tennessee, and pageantqueens are known for non-profit
work that it made sense, but Ididn't know that I was doing
pageant queen of Tennessee, andpageant queens are known for
nonprofit work.
That it made sense, but Ididn't know that I was doing
something to make my niece happy, which is another story for
(30:57):
another day.
But that's how God works.
You know what I'm saying.
Joey Laswell (31:01):
So here we are.
Racheal Chantel (31:03):
I go back.
I asked these rich people.
They put it on.
They take on a monetary burdenand we put psychiatrists,
counselors and mental healthprofessionals in front of the
community.
And at the time I had thepolice sergeant who was over the
crisis-intense team, the CITteam for the city of Memphis,
and I had a college friend whosurvived the massive shooting of
(31:26):
the Waffle House shooting in2018 in Nashville, tennessee.
Come speak just because of thegun violence.
Once they got done, talkingabout that and because this is
recorded, you never know who'swatching.
Right.
When you are calling 911, youcan request certain type of
training police officers orprofessionals to show up to a
(31:49):
scene, and Joey has militarybackground.
So if I'm lying or denying, fixit.
You know you can say that whenyou call 911 and you say, hey,
there's a person out here actingcrazy, don't say that, because
now you're sending them into asituation where they have to be
on guard because they don't knowwhat they're going into and
it's easy for them to beprepared for everything than not
(32:10):
to be prepared.
And now they got to get gotbecause they got first and
you're setting it up fordisaster First.
When you call 911 and you'relooking at someone, you can say,
well, I think they're having amental health issue.
Maybe you can send someone outthat has mental health training.
That is what this officer wastalking about.
For the state of Tennessee andyou know we're called the
volunteer state because we havethe most volunteers that go into
(32:32):
our first responding system ofmilitary branches or just in
general from here.
That's how we got the name ofvolunteers.
So he really talked about andhe did such a phenomenal job of
setting the tone.
And then she came in and shejust talked about how gun
violence is after a shooting.
Right, we only talk about it inthat moment, but what happens
(32:53):
after it?
She was shot several times andthe type of bullets that
imploded into her bodyricocheted.
So they were hunting bullets,so once they hit their impact
they literally ricocheted insideher body to tear it up.
Now, looking, looking at her,you cannot tell.
But it again goes back tolooking at somebody.
(33:14):
Does not tell you their storyand that's what we have got to
get away from.
And honestly, just so everybodycan understand the weight of
what she was talking about,she's a bigger girl and her best
friend's life was taken out ofthis situation that she put
herself in front of her friendbecause she thought since she
was bigger, she can take morehits.
So you can't just look atsomeone and think you know their
(33:42):
story Absolutely Now.
After that, everybody went intothese workshops.
The first workshop was thefoundations of mental health
what it is, how to address it,how to take care of it, because
it's different from physicalhealth, stigmas, misconceptions.
Behind it it's just a lot ofoutdated, fake information or
just things to tear people awayfrom it.
(34:04):
Again, it's intentional.
And then the last one wascoping mechanisms.
Right, because we're human,you're going to get triggered.
You're going to get triggered,you're going to get upset, but
you don't have to act on it.
So how do you get tode-escalate and walk yourself
back to who you want to be?
So we talked about that and itrotated and it did so well that
(34:24):
it kind of just rippled throughthe community.
And so people were calling meand must I say, of course the
name was made up Memphis, bekind to your heart, be kind to
your mind.
That's how the whole name came.
Anyways, afterwards people werecalling me and asking me to
(34:44):
show up and do these differenttypes of speaking engagements on
mental health, and I was, and Iwent from being a mental health
advocate to being aprofessional and we just had to
stop there, restructure.
And now here we are today tedtalk is done wow, that's a
journey, that's a.
Joey Laswell (35:01):
That's an amazing journey, um, and and that's why
I wanted you to really get intothe details, because the more
people will understand whatyou've, your, your process and
everything that you'vesacrificed all the time, like
you said, three years and thenyou still had to work, and
you're still working today tokeep this mission going.
(35:22):
Expand it like, really get yourname out there and get the, the
mission of Mane at memphis, outout to the world.
So, yeah, I mean that's awesome.
Once again, I'm still amazed.
And then we haven't even talkedabout you are now pursuing your
doctorate.
(35:42):
In what are you pursuing yourdoctorate in?
Racheal Chantel (35:46):
In philosophy, in specialization, in governance
and policy, right.
Okay, wow, in philosophy andspecialization, and governance
and policy, right.
And so the best way to put itis there's so many gaps now, and
I'm going to say this one isintentional because it's not but
everyone cannot covereverything.
Excuse me, every service cannotcover every need is what I'm
trying to say.
Joey Laswell (36:07):
Right.
Racheal Chantel (36:08):
And so say, joey, that, um, no, we're not
gonna put that on you becauseyou are married.
All right, so let's just saySpongeBob and Sandy are in a
relationship and they're marriedand, uh, gary, gary is their
child, right?
All right, squidward isSpongeBob's brother and, excuse
(36:33):
me, squidward is Sandy's brother.
Let's put it like that, becausenow Sandy and Squidward are
family.
Gary is a child of Sandy andSpongeBob.
Are you with me?
Yes, okay, yes, okay.
(36:55):
There is a domestic violencethat happens where spongebob has
became mentally ill and wantsto do damage, um, to sandy and
I'm trying to make sure I staycensored, so wherever you upload
this to it doesn't come down so, um, do physical harm to sandy.
Sandy is telling squirt workabout this.
(37:17):
Squirt work is going to thepolice department and telling
them what's going on in thathouse.
The police are going to tellthem there's nothing they can do
about it because they'remarried and that is a family.
That's a family court issue.
So unless spongebob doessomething, that is a criminal
(37:42):
issue, then the policedepartment cannot step in, okay?
Well, one day sp SpongeBob getshis hand on a water gun and
decides to have a water fightwith Sandy and Gary's in the
room and Sandy gets hit with thewater several different times
and now she has to go to thehospital because she's been
(38:02):
drowned.
Now Sandy and Squidward aregoing to the police and telling
them what's going on.
The police department stillcannot step in.
They can now issue arestraining order, but this is
still a family, domestic issue,because they are married.
(38:24):
This is not a criminal issue.
Okay, issue.
Okay.
Well, spongebob decided thatthat water fight did not end the
way that he wanted it to end.
So now he waits the amount oftime that he needs to for that
restraining order to evolve Tonot evolve To end I can't think
(38:51):
of the word right now.
Not evolve To end I can't thinkof the word right now but for
it to end.
Restraining orders only have acertain duration of time.
So let's just say thatrestraining order is only good
for two years.
But SpongeBob has a lot ofpatience and a lot of time
because this is his family.
So in his head, I'm going toget you, sandy, I'm going to get
you one way or another.
I'm going to get you one way oranother.
(39:14):
I'm going to wait because I'mgoing to have a great time
thinking about it.
All right, cool.
Well, now Sandy is trying tofigure out how to move out, but
too terrified, because SpongeBobkeeps telling her that he's
going to have a water fight.
Again and again and again.
You do anything that I don'tlike.
We're about to have a waterfight, so you might as well stay
in this house, and if you don't, then I'm going after Squidward
and I'm going to have a waterfight with him too.
(39:36):
Again, police department cannotdo anything because these are
just, they're not criminal actsThreatening somebody and acting
on it.
They can't do anything about itunless they act on it.
So I can tell you I want tohave a water fight, I'm going to
have a water fight with you,but if I don't act on it, then
(39:58):
there's nothing you can sayabout it Because I can just say
freedom of speech, all right.
Well, the day has came.
Those two years are up, that 24months.
We are in the 25th month.
Alright, spongebob decides tocome home, shoot up Sandy.
Sandy loses her life.
(40:21):
Now Squibber goes and talks tothe court and tells the court
I've been telling you for thelast four years, I've been
telling you these things.
Two things can happen.
You can sue the policedepartment now for criminal and
just, uh, endangerment, for our,our adjustment.
That's what it is Criminaladjustment.
(40:42):
Or you can, or they could havetook it to family court, but
family court would have neverdid anything because they're
married and so in the state ofTennessee, sandy is seen as
sponge boss property, so thecourt would not get involved.
A lot of states have laws likethat, where women are are
(41:04):
property of their husbands, sothey have no rights, all right.
So now that we got the storyout of the way, there's a lot of
gaps there, because if therewas some type of system like gap
insurance right to cover her,where they could have stepped in
for those two years and theseare real stories what could have
(41:26):
changed?
What could have evolved rightthere?
What could have changed?
What could have evolved rightthere?
Now I'm not saying that Mane ofMemphis is going to lobby,
because to me that's a waste oftime for what our mission is and
purpose Lobbying with the stateto change their laws and
policies.
It takes years.
People need help right now.
They need help right now.
(41:47):
There's enough people in theirhomes that are not safe.
They have nowhere to go.
They have no one, are not safe,they have nowhere to go, they
have no one to talk to, theyhave no support system.
The people that are supposed tobe their support system are the
Mane ones that's causing themharm.
Where do those people go?
(42:19):
So that is the mission of ManeMemphis is to help those
individuals, and so what I amdoing is dedicated my education
structure to is understandinghow these systems are created
and how to just enough bend themand create our own system with
what already exists.
Are you still there?
You look like you froze.
Joey Laswell (42:28):
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
Racheal Chantel (42:30):
Okay, I can hear you, so we're not looking
to break the change, the cycle.
There's enough people doing allthose great things.
Joey Laswell (42:42):
Can you still hear me?
Racheal Chantel (42:42):
Yeah, okay, there's enough people wanting to
break the chains, break thecycle.
Do all that Great Fantastic.
Somebody else can take that on.
Change break the cycle.
Do all that Great Fantastic.
Somebody else can take that on.
But for those who need helpright now, those who are looking
for ways to get out, that iswhere we're coming in, and so,
(43:03):
through my schooling, what Iwant to learn how to do is build
that within the government andbe a where the government
funding can invest in thisinfrastructure and not be
something that is seen as aservice, but an infrastructure,
because everyone is going to theright, because there's no
option to go to the left, sowhat happens when there's the
option to go to the left?
Joey Laswell (43:22):
Yeah, absolutely Well.
So if somebody's listening in,they live in Memphis and they
want to get involved with ManeUp Memphis because it's a
nonprofit, you do acceptvolunteers or maybe a mental
health professional.
What would you recommend theydo to kind of get involved?
Racheal Chantel (43:45):
to kind of get involved.
Absolutely, you guys can visitour website at madeupmemphisorg.
You can give us a call at290-7226.
The great thing about how I'mintentionally setting and
building this company is for itto have flexibility.
Right Again, we live outside ofthe box.
So if you're thinking that youcan do several different things,
(44:05):
well, let's see if you can.
If you can do several differentthings, well, let's see if you
can.
If you can't, then just do onething.
But the thing is that you'redoing something.
Joey Laswell (44:12):
Absolutely, and you're doing a lot.
Just to clarify, you're wearingmany hats, um and uh.
You're the.
The company is growing.
Um, got some big things on thehorizon.
What are, what are, some of thebiggest things that you've got
in the next weeks and monthsahead?
Racheal Chantel (44:32):
So of course, we're always doing these funding
opportunities, but we arelooking to partner with other
traditional systems to come inand again be a support system.
Right, like you had a headache,advil, right?
So you go to another major,established company, then we'll
(44:52):
have our services within thereso you can have that opportunity
with us.
So we're just doing a lot ofdifferent partnerships and
making new friends and buildingour infrastructure and keep
going.
It's the beginning of a veryinteresting way where we're
ahead of our time To makebehavioral health a
infrastructure, not a service.
It's something new.
(45:15):
I mean, jeff Bezos started inhis garage and it started in my
mama's living room.
So hey, here we go.
Joey Laswell (45:21):
There you go, there you go, I love it.
I love it.
Well, we barely scratched thesurface, but this is the man Up
Memphis podcast and we're goingto talk at length on all the
different things that we've gotgoing on.
I actually have at least onetherapist who's interested, one
(45:45):
of our teammates, uh, james he's, he's interested in maybe being
a guest and we can talk abouteither men's mental health,
which is relevant because we'rewe're hosting a work, a couple
of workshops, on uh saturday.
So, uh, yeah, if you'reinterested, the heart and soul,
uh, men's collective I believeit's called Men's Mental Health
(46:06):
Collective at the AgriCenter,21st of June, from 8.30 to 2
o'clock.
Racheal Chantel (46:13):
yes, and yeah, so facilitators or the host of
that is Baptist MemorialHospital, as well as Shelby
County.
Joey Laswell (46:21):
Commissioner's Office yeah, and then there's
some celebrities yes, there ismr and mrs.
Racheal Chantel (46:31):
Uh, michael white, elise neal she's from
memphis, um.
And then there is da vinci,who's known for his role on all
of american and 50 cents uh, upand no, not up and coming um one
of his most anticipated shows,bmf.
He's a mental health advocatetoo.
(46:51):
So they've done a very well jobof trying to touch every
demographic.
Joey Laswell (47:00):
Yeah, and just to clarify, Mane Up Memphis.
You know the mission is notjust for men, even though it's
Mane Up.
You know the mission is notjust for men, even though it's
Mane Up.
You know, like we want toclarify that this is it's.
It's it's gender neutral.
You know we want to helpeverybody and you know, give us
a little idea of what what ManeUp means to you and and what.
(47:22):
You know why you chose thatname.
Racheal Chantel (47:25):
So you know, Memphis is its own country, not
a city.
We don't stand on that.
We have and I say that becauseMemphis name is dropped in the
most songs, no matter what thegenre is Right.
Everybody knows what Memphis,tennessee, is.
There may be, other Memphis's inthe county, I mean in the
country.
But when you hear Memphis youautomatically think Memphis,
(47:47):
tennessee.
With that being said, we haveour own lingo here, just like we
have our own dancing, our ownculture.
There's jooking, there's jiving, there's checking.
There's so many differentthings that, no matter what you
look like, where you're from, ifyou live in Shelby County,
everything I just said you areknown about, you know about it.
(48:08):
I don't care where you're from,you know what I'm talking about
.
So there's certain words thatcan be a filler.
How people say um or like inthis County, may, junt and
probably a whole bunch of othersnot coming to my mind right now
are filler words, and by that Imean it can be a place, person
(48:32):
or thing, it can be anything.
It can be a noun, adjectiveverb.
Those two words are veryintentional in this county.
So when you say, how did youchoose that word at first?
I wanted it to be somethingwhere people knew it was for our
county, for the city, by thecity, that it was very
(48:53):
grass-rooted here in the county,because we in this country,
this city, we do not likeoutsiders trying to come in and
tell us how to be better people,we, we don't like it.
Joey Laswell (49:07):
You can't tell me that you know yeah yeah.
Racheal Chantel (49:12):
So I wanted to make sure that the culture
wasn't lost.
And I know when people hear theword culture, they think black.
No, I meant the culture of thiscounty, the history of this
county, because if you go to aMemphis Tiger game, a Memphis
Grizzly game, if you're on BealeStreet, if you're at Overton
Square Park, if you are anywhere, if you're even in at the
(49:36):
Shelby Farms Park Riverside,everybody from every side of the
freaking county is there.
Everybody from every side ofthe freaking county is there,
from Collierville to Bartlett,to Arlington, to Lakeland, to
downtown, to East Memphis, toGermantown, cordova, all of them
People are there and they arerocking.
And what are they saying?
(49:57):
Whoop, that trick Having a goodtime.
I don't care, they are having agreat time.
They don't care that you livein the projects and you're going
home to a gated community.
If y'all are sitting next toeach other in those seats in
that FedEx farm, you are ruiningon your city at the end of the
day.
And guess what?
It can be an old white personand it can be a young Asian
(50:18):
person in that room.
And I guarantee you, whenthey're having a good time and
they were born and raised inthis county John and Mayna
coming and they were born andraised in this county.
Jump a man to coming out theirmouth Simple.
Joey Laswell (50:28):
It's the culture.
Racheal Chantel (50:30):
So, with that being said, how can you bring
people together to feel likewe're building one and carrying
this thing together?
Well, I told you I'm a gym rat.
So one of the things that wesay in the gym is don't be a
itch.
You know what I'm saying?
(50:50):
Man not see, man up, man up,don't be an ish.
So one day I was sitting, I wastrying to figure out how to be
creative in the name and, ofcourse, social media content,
everything on the back side itjust popped up.
I was like man, I'm Memphis.
And I was on the phone with myuncle and I said man, I'm
(51:10):
Memphis because I drew it out,and he said, oh, that's catchy
right.
I said, oh, they're not going torock with that, that's not.
I said that's not proper enough, it's not.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not professional.
He was like and that's whatmakes it you, because you're the
only person that can reallybreak through and have that be
acceptable.
And here we are what?
(51:31):
Two, almost, yeah, almost threeyears later.
I know everybody says Mane I'mnot saying it, but for Mane to
hit the Mane street, Mane, forit to be on the news the way it
is, for people to start droppingit.
I know Mane of Memphis was theperson to make that word
professionally acceptable.
(51:52):
I know it was.
I see it, I've been told thatand I'm happy about it because
that's our influence and that'sjust the beginning.
Joey Laswell (52:01):
Man well, is this the same uncle giving you?
He's giving you some gems, somegreat.
Yeah, we need to have him onthe show and pick his brain,
because he sounds like he's avisionary.
He knows, he knows.
Racheal Chantel (52:15):
He is my familiar before I got this cat.
He definitely keeps me going.
It's the same one.
If you have not met him, oh,you'll meet him Saturday.
Oh, nice, awesome he's the veryfirst employee of Mane of
Memphis.
Joey Laswell (52:26):
Well, I'm glad, I'm glad I'm honored to be like
because, yeah, I just hear I'veheard him twice now and he's
been spot on both times, sothat's amazing.
Racheal Chantel (52:38):
He's very spiritual.
Joey Laswell (52:39):
Yeah, Okay.
Well, let's see We've got.
Like I said, we still barelyscratched the surface, but I
think we've covered a goodamount.
And is there anything on thehorizon that you want to
highlight to the audience andjust kind of like they can be
expecting or anticipating?
Racheal Chantel (53:02):
Absolutely.
You can expect great thingsfrom us.
You can expect a community toget belonging from us family.
You can expect to just be you,to be encouraged to be you, to
be empowered to be you with MadeUp Memphis.
So if you want to get involvedyou don't know how to get
involved or what to do then justcome over here, because it's a
place of opportunity where amustard seed is going to
(53:25):
actually be able to be prospered.
You know it's not a ofopportunity where a mustard seed
is going to actually be able tobe prospered.
It's not a place to where youfeel you have to pretend to put
on a mask.
There's enough places out there.
You got to go do that too.
I have to still do that.
I don't like doing that Okay.
So over here you just get to beyou.
If you like to last smile, jointhe Avengers man.
We're excited to have you overhere.
(53:46):
If this would be the last timethat you keep up with us, don't
remember anything else from Joe,and I just remember this be
kind of respectful, it's nothard that's it.
Joey Laswell (53:58):
That's the bare minimum right there.
We need more and more of thatin today's world.
So I think that's a great placeto kind of pause and reflect
and, you know, just say thankyou to all the people who have
helped build Mane Up Memphis upto this point, and we appreciate
(54:20):
you guys and hopefully we'llget more and more people as we
get bigger and get more traction.
You know, hopefully it's goingto keep going, it's going to
keep building and I'm excited tobe just a small cog in the
wheel, but I'm just ready, youknow.
So if anyone wants to be on theshow, on the podcast, you know
(54:44):
you can reach out to me, send mea DM or reach out to Rachel and
we'll make it happen.
I would like to really feature,you know, all kinds of Memphis,
memphis natives, people who are,you know, power players in the,
in the community and, you know,just kind of ask, pick their
brain and talk to them.
So we're open casting forpodcast guests and maybe even
(55:11):
some musicians.
It would be cool.
I've already reached out to aMemphis-based band that I really
like called the Narrows.
So if you're listening, Ialready DM'd you guys, so I
would love to have you guys onthe show just to kind of
highlight some local Memphisartists.
But all right, well, any lastparting words for this episode,
(55:35):
rachel.
Racheal Chantel (55:38):
No, I just want to say that Joey came to me
with an idea for a podcast andhere we are, so that's how Made
in Memphis works.
Joey Laswell (55:47):
There you go.
Yes, absolutely, and we'rebuilding the Avengers every day,
as we've said.
So this team is going to getbigger and stronger and awesome.
So, yeah, just really excitedfor the future.
And thank you, rachel, foreverything that you've done so
far and continue to do and willdo in the future, because I know
(56:07):
this is really just gettingstarted for you.
I mean, you're at the beginningof an amazing journey, so I'm
just really happy to be a partof it, and you know you guys can
join us too.
So go to madeupmemphisorg,follow us on our socials, check
out the podcast, share it withpeople.
(56:29):
As we say at Made Up Memphisleave the change.
Oh wait, I messed it up.
I messed it up, all right.
Leave the baggage.
Keep the change keep the changeoh okay, yeah, we're working on
(56:52):
that, but that's gonna be oursign off is leave the baggage,
keep the change alright well,thank you guys, everybody, we'll
see you guys on the nextepisode and you know, be kind to
each other all right.
Well, that's a wrap for today'sepisode of the Mane up memphis
(57:13):
podcast.
Remember, real change startswhen you show up, break cycles
and walk into something greater.
If you felt inspired, do methree quick favors subscribe and
leave a note or a five-starreview.
Do me three quick favorsSubscribe and leave a note or a
five-star review so that morepeople can find us.
Share this episode with someonewho might need a lift and get
involved.
(57:33):
Volunteer, refer a youth ordonate at madeupmemphisorg.
Follow us on our socials atMade Up Memphis for
behind-the-scenes goodness andsend your questions or success
stories to us and they mightmake it on air until next time.
Here at made up memphis.
Leave the baggage, keep thechange.
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