On Everything with Jay Floyd

I hear Marlo in my head. You want it to be one way. It is the other way.
My emotions want rescue. Reality brings the bill. Most days that bill is exactly what I need to grow. In this episode I map a simple system I run when feelings and facts clash so I can lead on hard days without panic. I call it the Reality Stack. Five steps, fifteen minutes, real peace.

What you’ll hear:
• The rescue reflex vs the resolve choice
• How ...

Common once said, “My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones.”
That line has always hit home for me.

This episode is about what it means to grow up between struggle and success — to carry both stories inside you and figure out how to honor them both.

My parents worked at the United States Postal Service. They were solid, steady people who built their lives around reliability. But when they divorced, everything shifted. Ou...

[THEME]:
What it really means to move forward—and how fear loses its power once you do.

[SUMMARY]:
Andre 3000 once said, “Spaceships don’t come equipped with rearview mirrors.”  
It sounds clever until life puts you in a moment where looking back feels safer than moving forward.

A few weeks ago, I went in for a simple physical. While they drew blood, the room tilted and went white. Next thing I knew, I was on...

We talk about mentors, coaches, and leaders shaping us—but what if life itself is your coach? In this episode, I break down why you need to stop seeing everything as “happening to you” and start seeing it as feedback for you. From culture to bias to personal opinions, none of it controls the movement of life. Life is rolling on, teaching, shaping, and guiding—if you’re willing to pay attention. Think of it like a people-mover at th...

You’ve been praised your whole life for being adaptable. For surviving chaos. For doing more with less. But here’s the truth: survival skills don’t scale. As leaders, the very instincts that kept us alive can destroy our ability to lead. In this episode, I break down the trap of over-adapting — through the lens of faith, trauma, and the workplace. I share how my upbringing gave me a PhD in survival, how it built my career, and how ...

Some people just have it—that spark, that energy that makes others follow. We call them “born leaders.” But here’s the truth: raw talent without sharpening gets wasted, and plenty of so-called “non-naturals” have outworked the naturals to become exceptional leaders.

In this episode, Jay Floyd breaks down the myth of the born leader, shares personal stories (including a powerful lesson from his 11-year-old daughter), and unpacks why ...

Too many leaders confuse procrastination with laziness. The truth? Most delays are artificial—born from clutter, confusion, and systems that drain energy instead of creating clarity. In this episode, I break down the T-N-T principle—Today, Not Tomorrow—and show you how to spot hidden delays, simplify your systems, and move with explosive clarity. If you’re ready to stop paying the tax of confusion, this is the episode you can’t aff...

After losing her husband, LaKisha Williams faced a crossroads: let grief close her heart, or let God expand it. In this moving Uncut Gems conversation, Jay Floyd sits down with the founder of Reignite Love to talk about faith, loss, resilience, and the surprising truths she now teaches about love.
Discover:

• The moment she chose hope over heartbreak
• Why grief and joy can—and must—coexist
• How faith reshapes the way we date and l...

In this episode of Uncut Gems, Jay Floyd challenges the traditional idea of compensation and breaks down the hidden currencies we often overlook—growth, friction, opportunity, and culture. Whether you’re in a thriving environment or stuck in a dead zone, this message is a call to recognize where the real value is showing up in your life. Because sometimes the sharpest paychecks don’t come in dollars. They come in development. That’...

What do you do when you’ve got too many stories to tell and too many gifts to box up?

In this episode of Uncut Gems, Jay Floyd gets all the way real about the release of his newest book, Rare On Purpose—and the internal tug-of-war it took to bring it into the world. He opens up about the creative overload, the pressure to “pick a lane,” and the personal decision to stop fragmenting his voice just to be more palatable.

This isn’t a pr...

We explore the transformative power of building systems tailored to your unique design rather than forcing yourself to fit into structures that weren't made for you. James Clear's quote about failing to the level of your systems serves as a powerful reminder that our struggles often stem from system incompatibility, not personal shortcomings.

• Forcing yourself to fit into incompatible systems is like installing Mac OS apps ...

AI is getting better at being a robot.
You better get real good at being human.

This episode ain't about fearing the future—it’s about refusing to flatten yourself to fit it.

If you’ve been following systems that dull your edge, shrinking your story to fit job descriptions, or feeling lost in the noise of automation and burnout—this is your wake-up call.

You’re not replaceable.
You’re just overdue to move out of the robot’s seat...

Ever notice how some people hold everything together without making noise about it? They're the human equivalent of a bassline in music—not always noticed until they're gone, when suddenly everything falls apart.

This episode dives deep into the power of quiet leadership and the essential role of steady, consistent contributors who don't seek the spotlight. Drawing from my experience as a tech leader, I share the story of an...

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When professionals are misaligned with their roles, it's not about lacking talent but being placed in the wrong story. The path to authentic success comes from recognizing your unique shape and leaning into it rather than contorting yourself to fit predetermined expectations.

• The Rock initially failed as a smiling, high-energy baby face despite his wrestling pedigree
• His career transformed when he aligne...

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Motion sickness provides a powerful metaphor for finding spiritual steadiness in a chaotic world, revealing how cognitive dissonance between stillness and movement creates disorientation in both physical and spiritual realms.

• Personal experience with car sickness when reading comics as a passenger but never when driving
• Scientific explanation: motion sickness occurs when eyes focus on stillness while bod...

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Have you ever wondered what a long-gone voice would say about our increasingly polarized world? That's the question I explore in this deeply personal episode about my brother Julius - a true paradox of a human being whose absence I feel more acutely as our society grows more binary.

Julius was no ordinary kid growing up in the Cleveland projects. Born four years before me in 1972, he embodied contradictions tha...