March 21, 2024 • 28 mins
Jealousy can lead to unexpected places; in my case, it paved the way to a partnership brimming with innovation and community impact. Tune in as we team up with Little Johns to cook up a storm of nourishment and event excitement, and I'll tell you all about how a Prince lookalike dating my now-wife set the stage for an electric Prince-themed bash we're cooking up. Beyond the music and the personal tales, we're tackling serious issues with Little Johns by transforming imperfect produce into 30,000 meals for children, intertwining environmental responsibility with the fight against hunger.
Our latest installment isn't just a feast for the ears, but a celebration of transformative journeys. Hear a powerful Boys and Girls Clubs success story, where support translates into six-figure achievements, and how we're charging against Wisconsin's racial achievement gap with soaring college admissions. We're rallying for sustainable wages in trades for women and people of color and championing borderless leadership for global problem-solving. Special thanks to our guests, including Michael Johnson, for their enriching contributions, and cheers to ONJYC for podcasting milestones we hope are just around the corner.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So tell us some more about this partnership with
Little Johns.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yesterday, you know we announced partnership with
Little Johns and you know we'vealways have fed our kids healthy
meals at all of our clubs forthe least last 15 years I've
been here.
So I said you know what, whydon't we look at outsourcing
that?
Little Johns is feeding kidsand families all over the city
right now.
They're doing all the meals onwheels.
(00:23):
They're feeding kids at theChildren's Museum.
So we met with them and saidhey, can you provide a chef in
all of our kitchens at Boys andGirls Clubs and then utilize
your equipment in our clubs andbring your nonprofit into our
kitchens and run it all out ofBoys and Girls Clubs.
And they agree, you know to dothat.
So they have full timeprofessional chefs in our
(00:47):
kitchen preparing meals for ourkids.
It's a blessing and you know,with the rise in food calls, one
of the things I love about hisprogram, he works with some of
the local grocery stores, likeMetcalfs Actually I was with
them last night and so some ofthe food that they use is not
that it's bad food, but it'srecycled food that, like,
(01:07):
farmers may not use.
They go back kind of likeimperfect, yeah, yeah, like like
.
It's almost like somebody maysell a pair of shims shoes was a
scrap little bit of scratch onit right, he recycles that food
and then, instead of selling it,he's like little Johns will go
out and prepare meals for,whether it be for hospitals or
for nonprofit organizations, andso we've asked them to come and
(01:31):
partner with us to provideabout 30,000 meals a year for
our kids.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Wow, let's go crazy.
Event.
Now I know the theme is asPrince, right.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Purple rain prince.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I actually was purple rain prince for Halloween this
year.
Where are you?
I killed it, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Wow, I'm a little jealous of Prince man.
I'll tell you my wife.
We've been married now 20 yearsand I almost lost her to this
Prince looking dude, and so wewere dating back and forward.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
How long ago was this ?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
This was about 20, about 27 years.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
And you're still bringing that up.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I'm still bringing it up, bro.
So me and my wife decided wewanted to go.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and we would go see other
people.
You know at first like I wasdating somebody else but it hurt
me when I saw her with thislittle Prince looking dude.
So I go to her house.
I pull up at the back time backin the day at a box Chevy truck
with some 20 inch rims and some12 12 inch kickers in my trunk.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I was gonna ask you what kind of system man it?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
was a.
Well, I always did.
I don't know if both back, Idon't remember the name, but I
always go on the West side and Iused to put six by nines in my
doors and not in the door.
Well, I think it was eight bysome in the doors, but on Chevy
and Pollas back in the day theyhad this little rack in the back
, so always would put four and Ihave four subwoofers in the
back, so you always heard mewhen I was coming, so she heard
(02:54):
me coming, and then I walk upand knock on the door and I'm
like why nobody answered thedoor?
So I look at the window.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Why nobody?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
answered the door.
I know, I know Prince wassitting on the couch so I was
like what's a little Prince do?
So I come through the back door.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
and her mom was like oh my God, what For a minute.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I came to the back door.
I came to the back, well, I waslike I was like I knew I loved
at the time.
And so I they theyuncomfortably, and I was a much
bigger dude than he was.
And so I go look at him and I'mlike, what are you doing here?
He's like he had this littlelittle like soft voice.
Well, you know, I was likeMichael Jackson voice and I was
(03:34):
like you're dating Prince.
And she's like, would you stop?
And I was like, okay, that'syour last date with Prince.
Over tomorrow we back together.
And so she cut Prince loose,but I was a little jealous for a
minute.
So so every time I would seePrince, it reminds me of my, my
wife's, little Prince date backin the day.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
So how did you come up with the idea to have this
whole event based around Prince?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, actually was not my idea, it was.
We got some amazing talentedpeople who work on our
development team so theyproposed the idea to me and so
let's, instead of like everyyear, we try to do something.
They know I don't like likechicken dinners, right,
everybody in this city have funraisins and it's the same old
boring chicken gravy, littlerice, like little rice, like.
(04:21):
I get so sick of going to thosekinds of events.
So we did a Gladys NightConcert a couple of years ago.
So they always know that I'mlooking for something different.
So they said we should bringPrince.
I'm like Prince is dead, right.
And they were like, no, no, no,no, it's a cover band.
They showed me his videos.
I was like, oh, that's dope, soso we're gonna bring so you put
(04:42):
your hatred for Prince aside.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I had to put it to the side.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Okay, so it's a young .
I think he's a.
I want to say he's a youngItalian dude, but I saw about 20
of his videos.
And he on point and he on pointman, I was like he was killing
that.
He got a whole band.
So we're gonna do a littleconcert.
We were thinking about bringingin Dion Sanders.
I had been talking to Dion'scamp and he had agreed to come.
(05:07):
But he wanted to come.
Like our event is on a Fridaynight, he wanted to come on
Saturday but we had alreadybooked the.
We booked the event and thenDion wanted to play because he
doesn't fly commercial.
So I had to find one of mydonors who had a plane and they
were willing to go pick him up,but he wouldn't fly a single
plane.
So I had to find a plane thathad like two passengers, like
(05:30):
two pilots in it.
So I could, I put that onFacebook and sure enough one of
our donors and in middle Tim,had a plane that would
accommodate that.
So then the days didn't workout and so hopefully is if he's
coaching next year, hopefullywhen he's coaching.
Well, the question becomes ifhe's coaching in Colorado?
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Here we go, man, or if he's gonna be in that field.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You just never.
You never know man.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The man said what he said.
He said he's not going nowhere.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Everybody say that.
Everybody say that, just likewhen somebody say, well, I'm not
running for mayor or governor,and then they run, they're not
gonna tell you their business.
Because it's the same thingwith coaches Everybody always
say they're not gonna let youknow what they're thinking about
.
So it is the right response forhim to say that, even if he's
thinking about it.
I believe coach, I believe himtoo.
(06:20):
But sometimes the rightopportunity come and you may not
have the attention's there, buta little bit of resources, a
little bit of money and a littlebit of some other things might
alter that decision sometimes.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, you're right, so tell us about this beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful centerthat you got here.
Man, it's amazing man, Iremember this is, we're in a
boardroom, right.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, now this is what we call our
entrepreneurship room.
This is the room where we teachkids about financial literacy,
how to put together businessplans, teach them about assets
and liabilities, teach themabout marketing and all that
happens in this space.
And so, years ago, johnMcKenzie had asked me to come
(07:04):
out to Florida to meet with himand his wife, and I really did
not want to go.
I don't know, I didn't knowthem that well, but it ended up
being the best decision I evermade recently in my career.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Really, I see it a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, it was.
You know I don't like reallyspending the night at people's
houses and that I don't reallyknow.
So they're like I'll come toFlorida, come hang out with us.
Blah, blah, blah.
So I get down there and I got ahotel and they're like well why
are you going to stay at ahotel?
Come stay at our crib.
So they live in this gorgeoushome in Sarasota, florida, and I
get there and I was like we'llsee how this goes, but you still
(07:42):
got the hotel as a backup.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
No, at that point I canceled it.
So you was going out on thelimb?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
No, I was just going out on the limb.
So I get there and they end upbeing the most down-to-earth
people I ever met.
So we stayed up all nightlaughing, just talking about
politics, talking about socialissues, talking about everything
.
And then that next day we wentwalking on the beach, then we
went bike ride and then I was soimpressed with their house I
(08:09):
was like, man, I want to bringmy family here.
So they'd agree, and so I gotfour people in my family and I
remember FaceTime and my sisterin Chicago.
We were in the swimming pool,so they stayed out this late off
the ocean and they have a poolright off the ocean.
It's the most gorgeous thingyou ever see.
So I had that FaceTime and mysister at like.
I think it was like eighto'clock by midnight.
(08:31):
I had 22 family members fromChicago in that house.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Wow, so they hopped right in the car.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
No, no, no, no.
They took a night flight fromChicago to Florida and so my
wife was like Mike, they're onlyallowed.
You do realize this is apredominantly white neighborhood
and they're going to see20-something black people in
this house.
You might want to just get themtheir heads up.
So I was like man, maybe Ishouldn't have invited my family
(08:58):
.
So I called and my wife waslike I said, well, I got a few
people here with us.
My wife, she wrote me a note.
She says not a few, we have acouple dozen, right.
So I said, yeah, I got a familyand they didn't mind.
And so I just realized, man, Iremember leaving their house
that weekend and they wrote us a$100,000 check to help one of
(09:20):
our kids go to college.
I think to this day it'sprobably one of the largest
singular scholarships ever givento one student.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And so I paid for her housing, her tuition and some
other things, and that's when Iknew that they were really the
real deal.
But when he asked me duringthat time, he said look, I love
what you're doing to help blackand brown kids graduate from
high school and go on to college, but what about kids who don't
go?
He said I've made millionsdoing real estate.
We need to teach young peopleabout business.
(09:51):
We need to teach young peopleabout how to become plumbers,
carpenters, electricians,because we really need that and
it's a way for them to earn aliving at a very early age.
So he was like we should gofind a building.
And so he bought this buildingfor $1 million.
So then we started talking tosome architects and they were
like we should gut the wholebuilding out and turn it into
(10:14):
what you see now, but it was a$10 million price tag.
I had only raised about $50,000.
I'm like how you going to comeup with $10 million?
So we sold the plan to the cityand within 16 months we raised
$35 million.
So this building is completelyoutpaid for.
And then we created the elementof the health sustaining and
perpetuity.
(10:34):
Wow, what does that mean?
So an endowment is pretty mucha Entries bearing account and we
have at the mass communityfoundation.
So, for example, let's say youhave $25 million in there and
and you get 78% interest back.
You know you could bring in two, three million dollars a year,
every single year and that's topay for the building up.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
You get a staff everything right.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So a lot of universities do it well.
Right, they will go raise moneyfor a build, because there's
times I've learned that peopleare built a facility like this
and they have to close two,three years later Because they
don't have enough money to paythe staff or to pay the
electrical bills.
And so this is a geo Gima, ageothermal building.
Our energy costs in thisbuilding is similar to a studio
(11:22):
apartment.
Wow it produces very littleenergy Because all the things
that we've done in this building.
So we were very mindful that wewanted to reduce our costs but
also have an interest bearingaccount, which is an endowment
that helps us to offset ourcosts in the years to come.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Well, that's awesome.
And speaking of renovations,have you heard back from
operation fresh start yet?
I know you threw that out there.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, it's a very delicate situation.
Let me just say I got nothingbut love operation for a start,
and I simply Sometimes I rubpeople the wrong way.
Actually, I'm having a meetingright after this about my posts
and some people.
They do good work, but I alsobelieve that if we were working
(12:08):
together, we could be strongertogether, whether that's a
partnership, whether that's aplan for grants, together or my
offer to their board was, ifthey couldn't find a CEO, I
would be willing to step in andto support them and help them
Until they find someone.
And there's things all overthis, all over the country,
where people do mergers, they doAcquisitions, and some of it
(12:30):
are just management agreementsright and some of them are just
partnership, some always tryingto find Creative ways to partner
with people, creative ways tofind ways that we could be more
Impactful to helping kids in ourcommunity.
So hopefully those, thoseconversations will Happen and
they and they're looking for anew leader and so trying to.
(12:52):
I'm always trying to plant theseeds of what the potential.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Opportunity could be.
So is there any particularsuccess stories over the years
there that really stands out toyou, kind of Personifies what
the Boys and Girls Club isreally all about?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
yeah, a lot of them.
And just yesterday a lady sentme a Message on the messenger
and she said I make a.
She said it was funny.
I laughed at her.
She said I now make three.
I now make three figures.
I said man, that's youshouldn't be proud of that.
That's like as under my age.
And she said no, I make ahundred thirty four thousand a
(13:27):
year now.
I said no that's six figuresthat you're making right, come
on.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
And then.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So she went on to tell me how her daughter and her
son Was a member of the Boysand Girls Club at the time.
She was making eight dollars anhour and because they were here
until Six and seven, eighto'clock she was at work.
It allowed her to work and toget through her career and that
she wasn't paying two, threethousand dollars a month and
child care.
(13:52):
And so when I got that notefrom her and she said now I'm
building wealth for me and myfamily and I think Boys and
Girls Clubs you know for that.
The other thing I'm proud of isthe number.
Wisconsin is the largest racialachievement gap in the country
and some people I don't carewhat you call some people Well,
it's the opportunity gap, it'sthe achievement gap, it's our
(14:13):
kids are not achieving at thesame level as as our white kids
and we run a program calledavatars and I'm proud when I see
Five, six hundred studentswalking across the stage and
announcing what college anduniversity that they're going
into, going going to.
I'm proud to get messages fromthem saying that they're medical
(14:35):
doctors now and scientists andprincipals and lawyers.
I'm proud to see when thosethings happen and you get those
kinds of phone calls.
The legacy that we want to sethere I want to see kids come out
of this work force center andsay that we're producing more
women and more people of colorin the trades, the any
(14:56):
municipality in the country, andso that's the legacy that I'm
starting to think about it boysand girls clubs.
How do I make sure that ourleadership is sustained in this
community, that it's a legacythat's going to help young
people build sustainable wagesfor their family?
We figure that out.
(15:18):
I would have been happy withhow my career has turned down.
I got about 15 more years maybe17 before I'm at retirement.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, and I know that's been a really important
thing for you, that initiativefor you, because you know, ever
since 2001, I know I see that100 percent of the kids in the
preparative program graduatedhigh school and went off to
college 100 percent in 2021.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, proud of that man.
And so I think now we're at 90,98 percent, and which is still
high, right?
So you look at black and brownkids across the country, you
know you're talking 60 percent.
And now we have a whole team ofpeople that people don't know.
We have staff that works atMadison College, w Madison,
(16:04):
edgewood College.
We have a success team, acollege success team that makes
sure that our kids persist.
I was somebody that couldn'tread and write when I went to
Malcolm X College at Chicago, soit took me four and a half
years to get my associate'sdegree because I had to take two
and a half years of preparatorycourses.
But once I learned how to read,once I learned how to write at
(16:27):
the collegiate level.
Now, 20 years later, I gotcredentials from Harvard
Business School, from CornellUniversity, from the University
of Michigan, from IndianaUniversity, from Chicago State
University I can go on and onand on right, and from the
University of Phoenix and theUniversity of Phoenix right, and
so all these schools that havethat foundation was not set at
(16:52):
Malcolm X College may not be inthis role today.
So I've learned from all thosedifferent institutions, but I
didn't want to come to this cityand run traditional after
school programs, because youcan't transform kids' lives by
being connected to them to onlythree hours a day and some
(17:12):
people say, well, you'reoperating outside of your
mission when you go get peoplecars and housing and go to Flint
, michigan, and all that getwater to people.
That's about humanity.
So we've taken Dane County outof our mission statement.
Our mission statement is toserve all youth and even though
we know we can't serve all youth, our leadership will not be
(17:34):
defined by geography.
Our leadership will be definedbased on need.
And if that need is in ourbackyard, if that need is in
Africa, that need is in Texas,and if people give us the
resources to go, we roll, andthat's how we roll here.
Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
So what advice would you have given to the community
leaders and organizers aiming tomake a meaningful difference in
the lives of young people?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Don't become a casualty for your advocacy.
One of the things I learned inmy process like there are so
many people I've fought in thiscommunity, very powerful people
who've tried to take me outright and what I've learned is
that sometimes, like you know,there's this connection to like
(18:21):
if you live in poverty andyou're advocating, and if you're
running a nonprofit or ifyou're making money, you ain't a
real community leader, which istotal BS, right, in my opinion.
And what I've learned is thatsometimes, when you are
advocating for social justiceissues, you may not always be
(18:43):
the person to be at theforefront.
So what I've learned is thatsometimes I got to be the
producer in the.
I'm like Dr Trey, right, my jobnow is to produce the beats to
coach artists which are othernonprofit leaders, people on my
staff and let their music shine,their talent shine, so the
(19:04):
public can see that I'm in thebackground producing the beats.
And then when I need to come atsomebody, now you're not going
to see me coming because I'm notgoing to argue with you face to
face, I'm not going to arguewith you through the press.
If I'm coming for you, you'renot going to see it coming, you
know.
And when you're out there inthe forefront all the time, you
(19:25):
know you're not afraid to be inthe forefront.
Like I always speak my mind onthings.
But I realize when you havealmost 200 people working for
you and you have a board and youhave donors, it's a lot of
personalities and that you haveto manage right and sometimes,
like I remember, I used to fightwith Mayor Saiglin all the time
.
I remember when Mayor Fitchburgman I sent 600 people down to
(19:48):
the city hall meeting andtotally disrupt their meeting
and was calling him namesthrough the press and he was
calling me.
I don't know I wouldn't dostuff like that now, but I had a
valid reason for doing it.
He decided to pull money forkids out the city budget so it
was no longer just about boysand girls clubs.
He put language that we're notgoing to fund anything for kids
(20:08):
in the city of Fitchburg.
Like how are you not investingkids?
Like what kind of mayor are you?
And it agitated me at the timeand I got caught up in this
vicious public war with him.
That was not worth my time andif I had to do it all over again
, there's some things I learnedfrom that process.
(20:29):
So I moved very, verydifferently than how I used to
move.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
That's important because they say you don't want
to overexpose your hand.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Sometimes, when you overexpose your hand, people see
you coming, and so now I'velearned to sometimes just wait
in the back of the alley and youwon't see me when I'm coming.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So is there anything like any upcoming projects,
events, developments within theorganization that you're
particularly excited about?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, I always decided about I want you to
party.
I bike ride.
I mean last year we had thegrand opening here to see Now
1200 people on this campus tosee all of the local acts, the
regional acts, the nationalcelebrities.
That's always a fun event.
Our hearts for helping event,our bike ride, who draws
hundreds of people and familiesthat come out for that.
(21:22):
And then our college sign day,when our kids announced what
colleges and universities thatthey go to.
I'm always excited about that.
But the most important time ofthe year for me personally at
Boys and Girls Club is thisseason of giving, when you're
working on Christmas Eve andChristmas Day and blessing
(21:43):
families who just simply need ahelping hand.
I enjoy that feeds my soul whenwe're in a position to ask
people for support and to go outthere and bless those families
that need our help Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And for the people that want to get involved and
help with this initiative forthe pay for program, people that
want to give to the Boys andGirls Club, how can they get
involved?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah.
So it's always three waysno-transcript and treasure.
You can give up your time bysimply, you know, volunteering
at one of our events.
Right, we have so many onalmost every month.
You can give up your talent byjoining our board or committee
or serving on an ad hot groupthat's dealing with an issue in
(22:32):
our community, and then it costsus the treasure.
Giving financial resources,whether it's making a corporate
contribution, individualcontribution, awarding us with a
grant from your familyfoundation.
I always tell our team ifthere's no margin, there's no
mission.
And people think that when yourun a nonprofit you're supposed
(22:52):
to be frugal and fragile.
Nah, we think in abundance.
Our kids deserve the best.
Our kids deserve to be in stateof our facilities.
Our kids like the kids in ourapprenticeship program.
They get paid to be here in theevenings.
We want them to get paid whilethey're learning.
If I ran a high school in thiscity, I would tell you I would
(23:13):
want every kid in my high schoolto get paid.
I would only want them inschool two, three days a week.
They should be on job sites theother two days earning living
and preparing them for theworkforce.
And so I'm proud of thosethings and looking forward to
what the next decade is going tolook like here in Dane County
and the work that we're going todo.
(23:35):
We have a very bold strategicplan that we're actually
currently revising here at Boysand Girls Club and every time we
do it it's scary, but I reflectback on it when it's done.
I never knew we would build a$10 million facility with a
$20-some million endowment.
You put those things on paperand you're like, oh my God, and
(23:57):
then now we're thinking about a$100 million project.
It's a lot of money.
Look at God and it's favor man.
And sometimes God will putthose things on your spirits and
sometimes you just got to justsprinkle it out there and see
what hit and what don't hit.
And sometimes you do things youfail, but always tell our team
(24:18):
you got to at least go to theplate and swing.
Sometimes you'll get on firstbase, sometimes you hit a double
.
A few times you hit a home runand many times you'll probably
strike out and I've struck out afew times, but I don't stop
swinging.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
For the kids that's listening, because I actually do
a program at the JYC and at thekids' shelter where I let them
listen to some of the interviewsthat I do.
What advice would you give tothe youth just in Wisconsin
period?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Surround yourself around people who might be
better than you.
It's okay, like sometimespeople even in my generation
people would be like, well, thatperson is acting this way or
that way.
What I've learned is beuncomfortable.
Be willing to go into and torooms that you may not be
comfortable with, because thatcould be your best opportunity.
(25:10):
Make sure that you areproficient in reading and math.
At least be proficient in going, get the help that you need,
because if you don't know how toread and you don't know how to
write, you're going to have avery, very challenging life.
So those two things areimportant.
Three, try your best to stayaway from nonsense.
(25:30):
If you are out there hanging outwith crowds that are doing
things that can alter yourfuture, it could impact you over
the next decade.
So the decisions that you makeas a 13, 14, 15, 16 year old
could determine what your 20sand your 30s, your 40s and your
50s look like, and I've seenthat time and time with friends
(25:52):
that did things when they werein their 20s or in their 18, 19,
and now getting out of prisonin their 40s and they've lost
half their life.
And so just try your best tomake wise decisions and if
you're, if I know, people alwayssay, well, you got to pull up
your straps, your boots,whatever right, and some kids
(26:13):
don't have straps on their boots, some kids who don't have boots
.
But don't let your environmentdetermine who you could become.
And I heard that early on at Iwent to the lowest performing
high school in the state ofIllinois, cree gear high school,
which is now the Chicago BullsHigh School.
I was so proud that I went tothe lowest performing.
I don't know why we were proudof that, but we wore it as a
(26:36):
badge of honor Because you madeit.
No, no, no.
We wore it as a badge of honorthat we had the Lord's ranking
high school in the state.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh, that's the mentality.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
So it's nothing to be proud, but we we the worst
school in the city, yeah, andit's like we were tough school
and it's like, oh man, thisworld has so much to offer and
you may not see it, but likedream about what your future
could look, like, dream aboutwhat you want to become.
But ultimately you got to wakeup from that dream and you guys
(27:10):
started taking steps, and Ialways share with young people
like map out, it's like aroadmap.
When you get in your car,there's a destination point and
it's going to route you towherever the destination point.
That's what life is about.
Whatever your destination pointis, you have to map it out,
draw it out and then, as as time, go on track whether or not you
(27:32):
are on pace to get to yourdestination.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Well, Michael Johnson , I really appreciate you
stopping by the parking place.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for this.
These amazing gifts, danny,absolutely phenomenal.
And then to my man at ONJYC Ireally appreciate you too, man.
I know you out here grinding,putting in work and thank you,
meeting you and hearing aboutyour podcast.
I wish you nothing but anabundance of sponsorship and
(28:00):
abundance of support and viewersso you could live your wildest
dreams, man, and to be able tocontinue to get back to the
community.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I really appreciate that I'm D-Star Until next time,
guys.
So tell us some more about this partnership with
Little Johns.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yesterday, you know we announced partnership with
Little Johns and you know we'vealways have fed our kids healthy
meals at all of our clubs forthe least last 15 years I've
been here.
So I said you know what, whydon't we look at outsourcing
that?
Little Johns is feeding kidsand families all over the city
right now.
They're doing all the meals onwheels.
(00:23):
They're feeding kids at theChildren's Museum.
So we met with them and saidhey, can you provide a chef in
all of our kitchens at Boys andGirls Clubs and then utilize
your equipment in our clubs andbring your nonprofit into our
kitchens and run it all out ofBoys and Girls Clubs.
And they agree, you know to dothat.
So they have full timeprofessional chefs in our
(00:47):
kitchen preparing meals for ourkids.
It's a blessing and you know,with the rise in food calls, one
of the things I love about hisprogram, he works with some of
the local grocery stores, likeMetcalfs Actually I was with
them last night and so some ofthe food that they use is not
that it's bad food, but it'srecycled food that, like,
(01:07):
farmers may not use.
They go back kind of likeimperfect, yeah, yeah, like like
.
It's almost like somebody maysell a pair of shims shoes was a
scrap little bit of scratch onit right, he recycles that food
and then, instead of selling it,he's like little Johns will go
out and prepare meals for,whether it be for hospitals or
for nonprofit organizations, andso we've asked them to come and
(01:31):
partner with us to provideabout 30,000 meals a year for
our kids.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Wow, let's go crazy.
Event.
Now I know the theme is asPrince, right.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Purple rain prince.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I actually was purple rain prince for Halloween this
year.
Where are you?
I killed it, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Wow, I'm a little jealous of Prince man.
I'll tell you my wife.
We've been married now 20 yearsand I almost lost her to this
Prince looking dude, and so wewere dating back and forward.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
How long ago was this ?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
This was about 20, about 27 years.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
And you're still bringing that up.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I'm still bringing it up, bro.
So me and my wife decided wewanted to go.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and we would go see other
people.
You know at first like I wasdating somebody else but it hurt
me when I saw her with thislittle Prince looking dude.
So I go to her house.
I pull up at the back time backin the day at a box Chevy truck
with some 20 inch rims and some12 12 inch kickers in my trunk.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I was gonna ask you what kind of system man it?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
was a.
Well, I always did.
I don't know if both back, Idon't remember the name, but I
always go on the West side and Iused to put six by nines in my
doors and not in the door.
Well, I think it was eight bysome in the doors, but on Chevy
and Pollas back in the day theyhad this little rack in the back
, so always would put four and Ihave four subwoofers in the
back, so you always heard mewhen I was coming, so she heard
(02:54):
me coming, and then I walk upand knock on the door and I'm
like why nobody answered thedoor?
So I look at the window.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Why nobody?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
answered the door.
I know, I know Prince wassitting on the couch so I was
like what's a little Prince do?
So I come through the back door.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
and her mom was like oh my God, what For a minute.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I came to the back door.
I came to the back, well, I waslike I was like I knew I loved
at the time.
And so I they theyuncomfortably, and I was a much
bigger dude than he was.
And so I go look at him and I'mlike, what are you doing here?
He's like he had this littlelittle like soft voice.
Well, you know, I was likeMichael Jackson voice and I was
(03:34):
like you're dating Prince.
And she's like, would you stop?
And I was like, okay, that'syour last date with Prince.
Over tomorrow we back together.
And so she cut Prince loose,but I was a little jealous for a
minute.
So so every time I would seePrince, it reminds me of my, my
wife's, little Prince date backin the day.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
So how did you come up with the idea to have this
whole event based around Prince?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, actually was not my idea, it was.
We got some amazing talentedpeople who work on our
development team so theyproposed the idea to me and so
let's, instead of like everyyear, we try to do something.
They know I don't like likechicken dinners, right,
everybody in this city have funraisins and it's the same old
boring chicken gravy, littlerice, like little rice, like.
(04:21):
I get so sick of going to thosekinds of events.
So we did a Gladys NightConcert a couple of years ago.
So they always know that I'mlooking for something different.
So they said we should bringPrince.
I'm like Prince is dead, right.
And they were like, no, no, no,no, it's a cover band.
They showed me his videos.
I was like, oh, that's dope, soso we're gonna bring so you put
(04:42):
your hatred for Prince aside.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I had to put it to the side.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Okay, so it's a young .
I think he's a.
I want to say he's a youngItalian dude, but I saw about 20
of his videos.
And he on point and he on pointman, I was like he was killing
that.
He got a whole band.
So we're gonna do a littleconcert.
We were thinking about bringingin Dion Sanders.
I had been talking to Dion'scamp and he had agreed to come.
(05:07):
But he wanted to come.
Like our event is on a Fridaynight, he wanted to come on
Saturday but we had alreadybooked the.
We booked the event and thenDion wanted to play because he
doesn't fly commercial.
So I had to find one of mydonors who had a plane and they
were willing to go pick him up,but he wouldn't fly a single
plane.
So I had to find a plane thathad like two passengers, like
(05:30):
two pilots in it.
So I could, I put that onFacebook and sure enough one of
our donors and in middle Tim,had a plane that would
accommodate that.
So then the days didn't workout and so hopefully is if he's
coaching next year, hopefullywhen he's coaching.
Well, the question becomes ifhe's coaching in Colorado?
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Here we go, man, or if he's gonna be in that field.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You just never.
You never know man.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The man said what he said.
He said he's not going nowhere.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Everybody say that.
Everybody say that, just likewhen somebody say, well, I'm not
running for mayor or governor,and then they run, they're not
gonna tell you their business.
Because it's the same thingwith coaches Everybody always
say they're not gonna let youknow what they're thinking about
.
So it is the right response forhim to say that, even if he's
thinking about it.
I believe coach, I believe himtoo.
(06:20):
But sometimes the rightopportunity come and you may not
have the attention's there, buta little bit of resources, a
little bit of money and a littlebit of some other things might
alter that decision sometimes.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, you're right, so tell us about this beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful centerthat you got here.
Man, it's amazing man, Iremember this is, we're in a
boardroom, right.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, now this is what we call our
entrepreneurship room.
This is the room where we teachkids about financial literacy,
how to put together businessplans, teach them about assets
and liabilities, teach themabout marketing and all that
happens in this space.
And so, years ago, johnMcKenzie had asked me to come
(07:04):
out to Florida to meet with himand his wife, and I really did
not want to go.
I don't know, I didn't knowthem that well, but it ended up
being the best decision I evermade recently in my career.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Really, I see it a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, it was.
You know I don't like reallyspending the night at people's
houses and that I don't reallyknow.
So they're like I'll come toFlorida, come hang out with us.
Blah, blah, blah.
So I get down there and I got ahotel and they're like well why
are you going to stay at ahotel?
Come stay at our crib.
So they live in this gorgeoushome in Sarasota, florida, and I
get there and I was like we'llsee how this goes, but you still
(07:42):
got the hotel as a backup.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
No, at that point I canceled it.
So you was going out on thelimb?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
No, I was just going out on the limb.
So I get there and they end upbeing the most down-to-earth
people I ever met.
So we stayed up all nightlaughing, just talking about
politics, talking about socialissues, talking about everything
.
And then that next day we wentwalking on the beach, then we
went bike ride and then I was soimpressed with their house I
(08:09):
was like, man, I want to bringmy family here.
So they'd agree, and so I gotfour people in my family and I
remember FaceTime and my sisterin Chicago.
We were in the swimming pool,so they stayed out this late off
the ocean and they have a poolright off the ocean.
It's the most gorgeous thingyou ever see.
So I had that FaceTime and mysister at like.
I think it was like eighto'clock by midnight.
(08:31):
I had 22 family members fromChicago in that house.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Wow, so they hopped right in the car.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
No, no, no, no.
They took a night flight fromChicago to Florida and so my
wife was like Mike, they're onlyallowed.
You do realize this is apredominantly white neighborhood
and they're going to see20-something black people in
this house.
You might want to just get themtheir heads up.
So I was like man, maybe Ishouldn't have invited my family
(08:58):
.
So I called and my wife waslike I said, well, I got a few
people here with us.
My wife, she wrote me a note.
She says not a few, we have acouple dozen, right.
So I said, yeah, I got a familyand they didn't mind.
And so I just realized, man, Iremember leaving their house
that weekend and they wrote us a$100,000 check to help one of
(09:20):
our kids go to college.
I think to this day it'sprobably one of the largest
singular scholarships ever givento one student.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And so I paid for her housing, her tuition and some
other things, and that's when Iknew that they were really the
real deal.
But when he asked me duringthat time, he said look, I love
what you're doing to help blackand brown kids graduate from
high school and go on to college, but what about kids who don't
go?
He said I've made millionsdoing real estate.
We need to teach young peopleabout business.
(09:51):
We need to teach young peopleabout how to become plumbers,
carpenters, electricians,because we really need that and
it's a way for them to earn aliving at a very early age.
So he was like we should gofind a building.
And so he bought this buildingfor $1 million.
So then we started talking tosome architects and they were
like we should gut the wholebuilding out and turn it into
(10:14):
what you see now, but it was a$10 million price tag.
I had only raised about $50,000.
I'm like how you going to comeup with $10 million?
So we sold the plan to the cityand within 16 months we raised
$35 million.
So this building is completelyoutpaid for.
And then we created the elementof the health sustaining and
perpetuity.
(10:34):
Wow, what does that mean?
So an endowment is pretty mucha Entries bearing account and we
have at the mass communityfoundation.
So, for example, let's say youhave $25 million in there and
and you get 78% interest back.
You know you could bring in two, three million dollars a year,
every single year and that's topay for the building up.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
You get a staff everything right.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So a lot of universities do it well.
Right, they will go raise moneyfor a build, because there's
times I've learned that peopleare built a facility like this
and they have to close two,three years later Because they
don't have enough money to paythe staff or to pay the
electrical bills.
And so this is a geo Gima, ageothermal building.
Our energy costs in thisbuilding is similar to a studio
(11:22):
apartment.
Wow it produces very littleenergy Because all the things
that we've done in this building.
So we were very mindful that wewanted to reduce our costs but
also have an interest bearingaccount, which is an endowment
that helps us to offset ourcosts in the years to come.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Well, that's awesome.
And speaking of renovations,have you heard back from
operation fresh start yet?
I know you threw that out there.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, it's a very delicate situation.
Let me just say I got nothingbut love operation for a start,
and I simply Sometimes I rubpeople the wrong way.
Actually, I'm having a meetingright after this about my posts
and some people.
They do good work, but I alsobelieve that if we were working
(12:08):
together, we could be strongertogether, whether that's a
partnership, whether that's aplan for grants, together or my
offer to their board was, ifthey couldn't find a CEO, I
would be willing to step in andto support them and help them
Until they find someone.
And there's things all overthis, all over the country,
where people do mergers, they doAcquisitions, and some of it
(12:30):
are just management agreementsright and some of them are just
partnership, some always tryingto find Creative ways to partner
with people, creative ways tofind ways that we could be more
Impactful to helping kids in ourcommunity.
So hopefully those, thoseconversations will Happen and
they and they're looking for anew leader and so trying to.
(12:52):
I'm always trying to plant theseeds of what the potential.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Opportunity could be.
So is there any particularsuccess stories over the years
there that really stands out toyou, kind of Personifies what
the Boys and Girls Club isreally all about?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
yeah, a lot of them.
And just yesterday a lady sentme a Message on the messenger
and she said I make a.
She said it was funny.
I laughed at her.
She said I now make three.
I now make three figures.
I said man, that's youshouldn't be proud of that.
That's like as under my age.
And she said no, I make ahundred thirty four thousand a
(13:27):
year now.
I said no that's six figuresthat you're making right, come
on.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
And then.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So she went on to tell me how her daughter and her
son Was a member of the Boysand Girls Club at the time.
She was making eight dollars anhour and because they were here
until Six and seven, eighto'clock she was at work.
It allowed her to work and toget through her career and that
she wasn't paying two, threethousand dollars a month and
child care.
(13:52):
And so when I got that notefrom her and she said now I'm
building wealth for me and myfamily and I think Boys and
Girls Clubs you know for that.
The other thing I'm proud of isthe number.
Wisconsin is the largest racialachievement gap in the country
and some people I don't carewhat you call some people Well,
it's the opportunity gap, it'sthe achievement gap, it's our
(14:13):
kids are not achieving at thesame level as as our white kids
and we run a program calledavatars and I'm proud when I see
Five, six hundred studentswalking across the stage and
announcing what college anduniversity that they're going
into, going going to.
I'm proud to get messages fromthem saying that they're medical
(14:35):
doctors now and scientists andprincipals and lawyers.
I'm proud to see when thosethings happen and you get those
kinds of phone calls.
The legacy that we want to sethere I want to see kids come out
of this work force center andsay that we're producing more
women and more people of colorin the trades, the any
(14:56):
municipality in the country, andso that's the legacy that I'm
starting to think about it boysand girls clubs.
How do I make sure that ourleadership is sustained in this
community, that it's a legacythat's going to help young
people build sustainable wagesfor their family?
We figure that out.
(15:18):
I would have been happy withhow my career has turned down.
I got about 15 more years maybe17 before I'm at retirement.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, and I know that's been a really important
thing for you, that initiativefor you, because you know, ever
since 2001, I know I see that100 percent of the kids in the
preparative program graduatedhigh school and went off to
college 100 percent in 2021.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, proud of that man.
And so I think now we're at 90,98 percent, and which is still
high, right?
So you look at black and brownkids across the country, you
know you're talking 60 percent.
And now we have a whole team ofpeople that people don't know.
We have staff that works atMadison College, w Madison,
(16:04):
edgewood College.
We have a success team, acollege success team that makes
sure that our kids persist.
I was somebody that couldn'tread and write when I went to
Malcolm X College at Chicago, soit took me four and a half
years to get my associate'sdegree because I had to take two
and a half years of preparatorycourses.
But once I learned how to read,once I learned how to write at
(16:27):
the collegiate level.
Now, 20 years later, I gotcredentials from Harvard
Business School, from CornellUniversity, from the University
of Michigan, from IndianaUniversity, from Chicago State
University I can go on and onand on right, and from the
University of Phoenix and theUniversity of Phoenix right, and
so all these schools that havethat foundation was not set at
(16:52):
Malcolm X College may not be inthis role today.
So I've learned from all thosedifferent institutions, but I
didn't want to come to this cityand run traditional after
school programs, because youcan't transform kids' lives by
being connected to them to onlythree hours a day and some
(17:12):
people say, well, you'reoperating outside of your
mission when you go get peoplecars and housing and go to Flint
, michigan, and all that getwater to people.
That's about humanity.
So we've taken Dane County outof our mission statement.
Our mission statement is toserve all youth and even though
we know we can't serve all youth, our leadership will not be
(17:34):
defined by geography.
Our leadership will be definedbased on need.
And if that need is in ourbackyard, if that need is in
Africa, that need is in Texas,and if people give us the
resources to go, we roll, andthat's how we roll here.
Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
So what advice would you have given to the community
leaders and organizers aiming tomake a meaningful difference in
the lives of young people?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Don't become a casualty for your advocacy.
One of the things I learned inmy process like there are so
many people I've fought in thiscommunity, very powerful people
who've tried to take me outright and what I've learned is
that sometimes, like you know,there's this connection to like
(18:21):
if you live in poverty andyou're advocating, and if you're
running a nonprofit or ifyou're making money, you ain't a
real community leader, which istotal BS, right, in my opinion.
And what I've learned is thatsometimes, when you are
advocating for social justiceissues, you may not always be
(18:43):
the person to be at theforefront.
So what I've learned is thatsometimes I got to be the
producer in the.
I'm like Dr Trey, right, my jobnow is to produce the beats to
coach artists which are othernonprofit leaders, people on my
staff and let their music shine,their talent shine, so the
(19:04):
public can see that I'm in thebackground producing the beats.
And then when I need to come atsomebody, now you're not going
to see me coming because I'm notgoing to argue with you face to
face, I'm not going to arguewith you through the press.
If I'm coming for you, you'renot going to see it coming, you
know.
And when you're out there inthe forefront all the time, you
(19:25):
know you're not afraid to be inthe forefront.
Like I always speak my mind onthings.
But I realize when you havealmost 200 people working for
you and you have a board and youhave donors, it's a lot of
personalities and that you haveto manage right and sometimes,
like I remember, I used to fightwith Mayor Saiglin all the time
.
I remember when Mayor Fitchburgman I sent 600 people down to
(19:48):
the city hall meeting andtotally disrupt their meeting
and was calling him namesthrough the press and he was
calling me.
I don't know I wouldn't dostuff like that now, but I had a
valid reason for doing it.
He decided to pull money forkids out the city budget so it
was no longer just about boysand girls clubs.
He put language that we're notgoing to fund anything for kids
(20:08):
in the city of Fitchburg.
Like how are you not investingkids?
Like what kind of mayor are you?
And it agitated me at the timeand I got caught up in this
vicious public war with him.
That was not worth my time andif I had to do it all over again
, there's some things I learnedfrom that process.
(20:29):
So I moved very, verydifferently than how I used to
move.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
That's important because they say you don't want
to overexpose your hand.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Sometimes, when you overexpose your hand, people see
you coming, and so now I'velearned to sometimes just wait
in the back of the alley and youwon't see me when I'm coming.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So is there anything like any upcoming projects,
events, developments within theorganization that you're
particularly excited about?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, I always decided about I want you to
party.
I bike ride.
I mean last year we had thegrand opening here to see Now
1200 people on this campus tosee all of the local acts, the
regional acts, the nationalcelebrities.
That's always a fun event.
Our hearts for helping event,our bike ride, who draws
hundreds of people and familiesthat come out for that.
(21:22):
And then our college sign day,when our kids announced what
colleges and universities thatthey go to.
I'm always excited about that.
But the most important time ofthe year for me personally at
Boys and Girls Club is thisseason of giving, when you're
working on Christmas Eve andChristmas Day and blessing
(21:43):
families who just simply need ahelping hand.
I enjoy that feeds my soul whenwe're in a position to ask
people for support and to go outthere and bless those families
that need our help Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And for the people that want to get involved and
help with this initiative forthe pay for program, people that
want to give to the Boys andGirls Club, how can they get
involved?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah.
So it's always three waysno-transcript and treasure.
You can give up your time bysimply, you know, volunteering
at one of our events.
Right, we have so many onalmost every month.
You can give up your talent byjoining our board or committee
or serving on an ad hot groupthat's dealing with an issue in
(22:32):
our community, and then it costsus the treasure.
Giving financial resources,whether it's making a corporate
contribution, individualcontribution, awarding us with a
grant from your familyfoundation.
I always tell our team ifthere's no margin, there's no
mission.
And people think that when yourun a nonprofit you're supposed
(22:52):
to be frugal and fragile.
Nah, we think in abundance.
Our kids deserve the best.
Our kids deserve to be in stateof our facilities.
Our kids like the kids in ourapprenticeship program.
They get paid to be here in theevenings.
We want them to get paid whilethey're learning.
If I ran a high school in thiscity, I would tell you I would
(23:13):
want every kid in my high schoolto get paid.
I would only want them inschool two, three days a week.
They should be on job sites theother two days earning living
and preparing them for theworkforce.
And so I'm proud of thosethings and looking forward to
what the next decade is going tolook like here in Dane County
and the work that we're going todo.
(23:35):
We have a very bold strategicplan that we're actually
currently revising here at Boysand Girls Club and every time we
do it it's scary, but I reflectback on it when it's done.
I never knew we would build a$10 million facility with a
$20-some million endowment.
You put those things on paperand you're like, oh my God, and
(23:57):
then now we're thinking about a$100 million project.
It's a lot of money.
Look at God and it's favor man.
And sometimes God will putthose things on your spirits and
sometimes you just got to justsprinkle it out there and see
what hit and what don't hit.
And sometimes you do things youfail, but always tell our team
(24:18):
you got to at least go to theplate and swing.
Sometimes you'll get on firstbase, sometimes you hit a double
.
A few times you hit a home runand many times you'll probably
strike out and I've struck out afew times, but I don't stop
swinging.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
For the kids that's listening, because I actually do
a program at the JYC and at thekids' shelter where I let them
listen to some of the interviewsthat I do.
What advice would you give tothe youth just in Wisconsin
period?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Surround yourself around people who might be
better than you.
It's okay, like sometimespeople even in my generation
people would be like, well, thatperson is acting this way or
that way.
What I've learned is beuncomfortable.
Be willing to go into and torooms that you may not be
comfortable with, because thatcould be your best opportunity.
(25:10):
Make sure that you areproficient in reading and math.
At least be proficient in going, get the help that you need,
because if you don't know how toread and you don't know how to
write, you're going to have avery, very challenging life.
So those two things areimportant.
Three, try your best to stayaway from nonsense.
(25:30):
If you are out there hanging outwith crowds that are doing
things that can alter yourfuture, it could impact you over
the next decade.
So the decisions that you makeas a 13, 14, 15, 16 year old
could determine what your 20sand your 30s, your 40s and your
50s look like, and I've seenthat time and time with friends
(25:52):
that did things when they werein their 20s or in their 18, 19,
and now getting out of prisonin their 40s and they've lost
half their life.
And so just try your best tomake wise decisions and if
you're, if I know, people alwayssay, well, you got to pull up
your straps, your boots,whatever right, and some kids
(26:13):
don't have straps on their boots, some kids who don't have boots
.
But don't let your environmentdetermine who you could become.
And I heard that early on at Iwent to the lowest performing
high school in the state ofIllinois, cree gear high school,
which is now the Chicago BullsHigh School.
I was so proud that I went tothe lowest performing.
I don't know why we were proudof that, but we wore it as a
(26:36):
badge of honor Because you madeit.
No, no, no.
We wore it as a badge of honorthat we had the Lord's ranking
high school in the state.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh, that's the mentality.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
So it's nothing to be proud, but we we the worst
school in the city, yeah, andit's like we were tough school
and it's like, oh man, thisworld has so much to offer and
you may not see it, but likedream about what your future
could look, like, dream aboutwhat you want to become.
But ultimately you got to wakeup from that dream and you guys
(27:10):
started taking steps, and Ialways share with young people
like map out, it's like aroadmap.
When you get in your car,there's a destination point and
it's going to route you towherever the destination point.
That's what life is about.
Whatever your destination pointis, you have to map it out,
draw it out and then, as as time, go on track whether or not you
(27:32):
are on pace to get to yourdestination.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Well, Michael Johnson , I really appreciate you
stopping by the parking place.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for this.
These amazing gifts, danny,absolutely phenomenal.
And then to my man at ONJYC Ireally appreciate you too, man.
I know you out here grinding,putting in work and thank you,
meeting you and hearing aboutyour podcast.
I wish you nothing but anabundance of sponsorship and
(28:00):
abundance of support and viewersso you could live your wildest
dreams, man, and to be able tocontinue to get back to the
community.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I really appreciate that I'm D-Star Until next time,
guys.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com