The Cost of Success

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In the debut of The Quiet Truth, Martin Ekechukwu and Enitan Bereola dig into the hidden price tags behind achievement. From broken marriages to missed childhood moments, from cultural sacrifices to questions of integrity, they explore what we give up in pursuit of greatness. The conversation moves between deeply personal stories, hard lessons, and provocative truths: What are you really willing to pay for success—and is it worth it?

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🎙️ Hosted by Martin Ekechukwu & Enitan Bereola | Big thanks to WTF Media Studios, Lounge Studios, and WBLS/Hot97 for giving The Quiet Truth a home to be heard.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 00 (00:00):
There are things we all know but rarely say out
loud.
Because the hardest things tosay are the easiest patterns to
repeat.

Speaker 01 (00:09):
I'm Enitan Beriola, best-selling author, cultural
architect, and co-founder of St.
Miles.

Speaker 00 (00:15):
And I'm Martin Ekechukwu, entrepreneur,
investor, and founder ofWHTWRKS.
And this is The Quiet Truth.
This is like episode one, bro.

Speaker 01 (00:26):
Episode one, man.
The Quiet Truth.
Every week we sit down withcultural architects, creatives,
the cool kids, and we reallyjust kind of dive in about what
most people aren't willing toshare.
And that's a lot.
But we are.
I mean, somehow here we are inNew York City pouring out our
guts.

(00:46):
You know what I'm

Speaker 00 (00:48):
saying?
This is real vulnerable forboth of us, I think, in a real
way, because we're always likethe folks behind the scenes at
the times, right?
But there is a real cost ofsuccess.
That's what we're going to talkabout today is the real cost of
success.

Speaker 01 (01:00):
Yeah,

Speaker 00 (01:01):
yeah.
And the truth behind it.
You know, everything can lookamazing, but there are failures
that are, you know, endemic to awin.
There are human moments.
moments that shape all thepieces around us that make us
successful, you know.

Speaker 01 (01:16):
So let's just get into it, man.
Let's just dive in.
So first of all, how did we gethere?
How did we

Speaker 02 (01:23):
get

Speaker 00 (01:24):
here?
How did we even like sittinghere right now?
How did we get here, man?
So I got to tell the story.
It's my favorite story of alltime.
Okay.
I'm actually able to reallylike share my man over here.
You can tell the eclectic shit,right?
He got the bracelets, got theglasses, got the what?
Fresh from the U.S.
Open, man.
Fresh from the U.S.
Open, looking like he juststepped out of a magazine.

(01:45):
Supposed to be Ralph Lauren.
all day long.
I actually need a shower.
Quiet truth is I need a warmshower.
Quiet truth is that we need ashower.
Quiet

Speaker 01 (01:52):
truth is I might stink.

Speaker 00 (01:54):
Yeah, hilarious.
But my man E, got to take youback to, I swear it had to be
like 2022, 2023.
And I was in South by Southwestfor the first time in a long
time.
I was brought down there bybrand innovators to speak in a
few panels.

(02:14):
And I know really what's goingon.
and walking around a bit andthen find myself at some evening
joint some sort of like eveningexperience I just walked in
blindly didn't know what wasgoing on so I'm like coming in
everything's real everything'sreal chill or whatever music's
playing there's a big big openspace there's you know cocktails

(02:34):
being had there's peopleenjoying just meddling in
everywhere it's just beautifulmeddling in everywhere and I'm
just over there like hanging outjust by myself with a cocktail
in hand next thing I know I seethis dude just like walking I'm
calling it saunter my mansauntered through the crowd with
what felt like nine peoplearound him he had this this

(02:58):
peach colored is it peach yougot a good memory yeah it was
colored pie moth moth my badmoth peach colored pyre moss
joint that like that connectedat the top for like this high
crew neck joint came through Ijust like sauntered by, got the
glasses, all of it.

(03:18):
And I was like, what justhappened?
Who is this dude?
How did he just show up out ofnowhere?
Just like flat.
And next thing I know, I waslike, all right, man, I didn't
even think anything of it.
Like, all right, this isobviously some guy that's
clearly...
Clearly I need to figure outwho the hell this dude is.
And next thing I know, like afew days later, someone posted

(03:41):
about South by Southwest and hewas right there in the photo.
And I texted my man Lincoln.
I feel like I've been talkingabout Lincoln all day today.
Yeah, I just got off the textwith Lincoln.
Hilarious.
And I was like, yo, who is thisdude?
He's

Speaker 01 (03:51):
like, oh, that's my man E.
You should get to know him.
And that's how it started, bro.
That's how it started, man.
It's funny, I think you reachedout on social media and I was
like, man, this cat looks cool.
Scrolled through the set andwas like, yo, I think that we
have some things in common.
And then I saw that you weregoing to be a speaker at the
inaugural Good Soil in Orlando,Florida.

(04:12):
And I was like, connecting thedots.
I was like, all right, Lincolndid it.
I need to know this guy.
So we both had this mutual kindof like, I need to know this
brother kind of thing.
And then we met, man.
I think, I don't know if wetalked before then or, no, I was
like, y'all see you at GoodSoil, right?
And we met at Good Soil.
I was being picked up from theairport.

(04:33):
The transportation folks werepicking us up.
And I hopped in the whip and Iwas just, I was just started
just talking.
Right.
And I looked at, that was theday Tavia was in there and this
person, that person.
I was like, oh man, I'm withthe team.
And then that's when we finallymet like in person for the
first time.
I hopped in the van.
And it was, it's been, it'sbeen like a brotherhood since
then.
I mean, the interesting thingis that we share the same

(04:55):
birthday, which is crazy.
Right.
Which let me not call it crazy.
Let me call it what it is.
I think it's, it's divine.
I think in this lifetime onthese assignments that we're on,
on this journey that we're on,there are moments where, You
are.
in connection with your purposeand your path.
And I think you get these likekind of God winks where it's

(05:20):
like kind of telling you that,you know, this is where you're
supposed to be.
This is the path that you'resupposed to go on.
And I'm not necessarily one forlike, well, I wasn't one for
like new friends and all thattype of, you know, I have
friends of 30 something years,20 something years, but I've
learned that, you know, In thislife, on this journey, there are

(05:42):
seasons and there are timesthat you have to kind of just
surrender to and accept.
And I realized that You know,some of the friends that I had
for years, man, like, I don'twant to say they no longer
served me, because that soundsselfish, but I think the season
had passed.
It was no longer the winter.

(06:02):
You know what I mean?
Like, summer has come.
So it was just like aninvitation to be kind of
accepting and say, you knowwhat?
I'm open, man.
Let me explore these newrelationships and see where they
go.
And it's been off, you knowwhat I'm saying?
I feel like we went to collegeor something together.
We went to church together.
We went to high school togethergrowing up.

(06:22):
Or we're family.
We're both Nigerian, by theway.
But...
It's been a fruitfulrelationship, man.
Like you've come through for mein ways that are just beyond
the breadth of this podcast.
You know what I mean?
Like there are stories thatwe'll share, but I think it's
only been about three years.
But the impact, not onlyculturally, not only the

(06:44):
business that we do together,but just in my personal life,
like growing through manhood andgrowing through marriage and
growing through fatherhood andespecially going through
business, I've learned so muchthrough you and I've been I'm
privileged to sit at the seat ofMartin.

Speaker 00 (07:02):
Bro, we have like 75 truths that we just basically
just need to drop from thatwhole conversation.
It's amazing.
Let's get into it.
Yeah, let's get into it.
Because, you know, the onething I've always noticed...
when you look at, let's say amusical artist, right?

(07:22):
Where I would say, okay, thisartist has made it, finally made
it.
But no one recognizes thatthere's a cost to that success,
right?
I mean, there's real cost.
I mean, no matter if you're anentrepreneur and whatever,
there's a cost to everythingthat you do, which depends on
how you sort of balance thatloss, whether at a cost of time,

(07:42):
cost of spirit, energy,emotion, whether it's a cost of
money, Cost of your credit, costof your house, cost of, you
know, love and friends.
That cost is real when you'retrying to really focus on
building something, right?
Now, I'll tell you one costthat I had.
Honestly, this cost was new tome.

(08:05):
And, you know, I was, my firstcompany I started was a tea
company, and I built that fromthe ground up.
And I was really committed thatpost-business school that I was
going to figure out how to doit.
And I wanted to do it on myown.
I wanted to be able to ensurethat I was able to create a
legacy of things for my family,for my one kid at the time.

(08:28):
And it was a difficult onebecause the cost for me to be
able to kind of really build abusiness was a cost.
I had to give up my marriage.
My first marriage, I had togive it up.
And it wasn't because Iactively said I was going to
give it up.
It was because the decisionsthat I was making were going to
alter ultimately end at thatpoint because I was, and listen,

(08:52):
I'm divorced for a reason, butthe point was that no one really
talks about the fact that youhave to be willing to give
something.
It might be the ultimatesacrifice of something, right?
I ended up having to give up myfamily at the time and my wife
at the time in order to be ableto really pursue something I was
truly passionate about becauseI knew that I was on a bigger

(09:12):
journey that was beyond what Iwas in at that moment.
Now, obviously there are issuesthat come up as a result of
being in that scenario withsomeone that you're not
necessarily supposed to be with.
But at the end of the day, thatcost is real, right?
The emotional toll of saying,I'm going to every day wake up.
My story was incredible.

(09:33):
I would wake up.
I actually had a nine to five.
I was doing double duty.
Nine to five, I would show upand be a senior brand manager,
Dr.
Pepper Snapple.
I would show up every singleday.
And I'd get home, feed my kid.
And from nine o'clock, aboutthree o'clock in the morning,
I'll disappear.
I'm working.
I'm out of there.
So I only was able to givereally the evening time and the

(09:55):
weekend to my daughter and maybejust a couple hours at a time
to my wife.
So it's like, but that's adecision that you make when you
get into it.
And you either say you're goingto try to balance it out or you
don't.
I

Speaker 01 (10:11):
mean, what is even balance, man?
People always talk aboutbalance.
And balance is, it's like, it'sright here.
Right.
And then when you're offbalance, you're either here or
you're here.
And this is typically what lifelooks like.
So balance happens here andthen it moves.
It happens here.
And so it's this constantbalance is this very temporary

(10:31):
space that we're all chasing.
But for the most part, we'relike high, low, low, and then
we're balanced.
Right.
And it's like this this almost.
unconquerable destination orgoal.
I think harmony is somethingthat I've been kind of more so
focused on, knowing that you'regoing to have joy and pain.
Like you're going to have, likecurrently, you ask anybody, I

(10:55):
ask you, you ask me in my life,what are you experiencing right
now is joy and pain.
Like there's celebration on myright side and my left side is
absolute tragedy, absolutedevastation.
Like how am I going to getthrough this thing?
But then on my right side, it'slike, man, I've been going
after this for so long and it'sfinally here.
I'm on the precipice ofsomething.
And it's hard to sit in eitherof those things.

(11:16):
You have to make a decisionlike, am I going to embrace this
joy or am I going to focus onthis pain?

Speaker 00 (11:22):
But why are we even in that space, right?
How do we even get there?
Like, why is the harmony sodifficult to kind of like find?
Because, I mean, I can tellyou, like, there is no such
thing.
I've kind of given it up.
There's no such thing as thebalance to me.
Like, I can't balance.
There's no way.
Because I'm a passionateindividual.
I'm like, I agree.
When I'm into something, it'sme.
It's like, you're not gettinglike a little bit of me, like a

(11:43):
tiny bit or like 50%, you'regetting all of it.
The whole nine yards.
So it's like, how do you managethrough that to where you have
to give it your whole self, butthe people that are around you
either got to know that and begood with it or there's going to
be a friction that exists.

Speaker 01 (12:04):
Yeah, I think you said it the first time, man,
like everything costs.
Every Everything costs.
Everything costs, man.
This life is going to cost you.
The pursuit of your goals aregoing to cost you.
Your marriage is going to costyou.
Everything that you do is goingto cost you something.
You're going to have to give upsomething in order to get
something.
There is a compromise that isgoing to happen.

(12:25):
It's inevitable.
There's no avoiding it.
And the question is, what areyou willing to pay?
What are you willing to pay foryour purpose?
What are you willing to pay foryour goals?
What are you willing to pay forsuccess?
Are you willing to leave yourfamily on an island?
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Let me not use that wordloosely.

(13:03):
I have an ex-friend, associate,who told me that, man, bro,
like, I resent my dad.
Mind you, this dude grew up,like, I thought his dad was, he
had, like, the Ned Flanders dad.
Remember the Simpsons?
Like, Ned Flanders, like, justreally super loving of his kids
and just, like, you know, like,I remember, man, I don't want to

(13:26):
tell too many details becauseit'll give away who it is, but
he just had a really dope dadfrom my perspective.
Yeah.
He sacrificed everything.
They worked hard.
He took care of his family.
But as an adult, I remember himtelling me like that he
resented his father.
I'm like, how do you resent NedFlanders?
How do you resent the guy thatgave it all up for you?
They work because he said thathe just, he was always working.

(13:48):
I'm like, yo, he's working fory'all.
But a kid doesn't understandthat.
So I take heed to time and thecost of time, right?
Like you got to pay for time.
Even though time is free andavailable to every living
person, you got to like, Has

Speaker 00 (14:03):
that changed?
So for example, like has thewillingness for our time, I'm
sorry, has a willingness for usto pay for our pathway to
success, has that changed overgenerations?
Because my dad, so I grew up, Iwas born in Nigeria, grew up

(14:24):
between Czech Republic andNigeria.
My mother is Czech, my father'sNigerian.
And so back in 86, 87, roughly,my dad was like, all right, I'm
going to go to the UnitedStates.
I'm going to live there for acouple of years on my own
without y'all.
Your mother's going to takecare of you in Nigeria.
And you guys can go back andforth because we didn't have a

(14:47):
visa to come to the US.
There was no reason for us tobe there yet.
It was different times.
So my dad was like, I'm goingto take off.
I'm going to work over here fora couple of years and I'm going
to send for you and you guysare going to come.
Right.
And then that's, that's my dadpaid with, his time to be able
to ensure that we had a place toland for our next thing.

(15:08):
Now, it was a temporary fix,obviously.
It was a temporary situation.
But my father was gone for atleast a year, up to two years.
I'm trying to remember the timevery well.
What was it like for you?
So I had a great communityaround me, right?
My mother, my sister, my auntwas there.
We lived in an incredibleplace.
I went to school, and thenobviously I would go overseas to

(15:32):
my...
my mom's family to hang outwith them quite a bit.
So I feel like I was, I don'tremember my dad not being there,
but I know he wasn't, which isweird.
Like I know that he wasn't, butI don't remember him not being
there.
But it's like that sacrificewas real.

Speaker 01 (15:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 00 (15:50):
Right.
That sacrifice was absolutelyreal because it's something he
had to do to make sure that wewere there.

Speaker 01 (15:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 00 (15:54):
It's like, and so when I look at my life today, I
look at everybody, look atpeople in my life that I'm close
to, like, what are y'allcomplaining for?
I'm doing this to make sureyou're good.
I'm not doing this for me.
I'm doing this for you.
It's like, granted, I get some

Speaker 01 (16:10):
benefit out of it, but I'm doing it for you.
So did you come to find, didyou come to an understanding as
an adult?
Well, first, did you hold anyresentment or anything from
missing your father around?
Or, you know, did that sit withyou?
How did you feel as a child?

Speaker 00 (16:23):
You know, it was weird.
It's like, I don't remembermissing my dad.
That's the crazy part.
I don't remember missing him.
I know he was not there.
My mom always told me, yourdad's traveling.
He'll be back.
Right.
It was never like your dadleft.
Right.
Your dad's traveling.
He'll be back.
So, and I was like seven,eight, probably at the time,
maybe nine.
But I never remember my dad notbeing there.

(16:43):
Yeah.
It's a weird thing.
It's like, I never, I missed mydad, but I'm like, oh, he'll be
back.
He's coming soon.
So the expectation was I wasgoing to get to see him again.

Speaker 02 (16:51):
Right.

Speaker 00 (16:52):
Right.
But, but, but still as, as akid, you know, even now looking
back, I'm like, my dad left usfor a couple of years so he can
ensure that we had a future togo to.

Speaker 01 (17:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 00 (17:01):
Yeah.
No one should complain aboutThe fact that the parents are
just making the sacrifices thatthey're making to ensure that
their kids are good.
No, because life of privilegeright now, these kids are
privileged.
Yeah.
They're living real good.

Speaker 01 (17:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's the, it'sthe cost of the privilege, you
know what I mean?
And I'm always, I'm alwayspegged with the question, like,
what do you, what are youwilling to pay every single day?
I'm whatever the thing is.
I always hear that in my head.
Like, what are you willing topay?
You know, like, and it's, it's,That's where the tension lies.
And on the other side of thatquestion is everything you

(17:38):
desire, all of it, if you'rewilling to pay.
And if you're not, then it'slike, I have this piece on my
wall by Skylar Gray, I collectblack art.
And it's like these two images,it's two images of me.
And one sits a little bithigher than the other.
And every day I look at it andI'm like, you have the option to
be that version of yourself orthis version of yourself, right?

(17:59):
The version of yourself that'sgoing to just like, you know, be
who you are, surrender to themoment and just like, it is what
it is.
And then there's a version ofyourself that's going to push
through and fight and pay forwhatever the cost is.
And every day I'm left withthat dilemma to decide, like,
who am I about to be today?

(18:19):
Some days I'm this dude versionof me, some days I'm that
version of me.
But I do believe ultimately andincrementally that I will
become who I am designed to be,who I actually already am.
It's just a matter of movingthe stuff out of the way to
fully have that version ofmyself realized.

Speaker 00 (18:41):
I'm going to ask something really controversial.
I may get canceled, I may getkicked out of all the circles,
all those things.
The cost of success, you know,people are willing to make an
ultimate sacrifice to kind ofget that cost of success.
Now you see it out there crazyright now.

(19:04):
But so the question I have,okay,

Speaker 01 (19:05):
let's...
Paying everything, paying theirsoul for

Speaker 00 (19:07):
it.
Let's take the most extremeexample.
Yeah.
Donald Trump.
Oh, man.
Is...
Is he paying, are we paying theultimate, the ultimate price
for him to feel successful?
Like the crazy part is I thinkthat all of us are feeling some

(19:30):
level of suffering because hisunderstanding of what success
is, is for, and it's obviouslyrudimentary and backwards.
I don't agree with it, but hehas an idea of what success
looks like.
Success looks like zerounemployment.
It looks like zero crime.
It looks like zero of thesethings.
It looks like people submissiveto his will.

(19:53):
It's like, but we are payingthe ultimate sacrifice for his
level of success.
Yeah.
It's like, how do we, how doyou feel about that?
Like we, because I mean, in away I almost feel like we're I'm
in that, I've never been inthat seat where I'm sacrificing

(20:14):
for someone else's success.
And I feel like that right now.

Speaker 02 (20:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 00 (20:17):
Like I'm going through the fire so that he
could be successful.
I mean, it's kind of like beingan employee.

Speaker 01 (20:26):
Like your job is going to pay you, you know what
I'm saying?
Like much less than you'reworth for the cost of business.
Right.
Like it's, it makes businesssense to pay you less than what
you're worth.
Right.
Like otherwise, how does thebusiness flourish?
Yeah.
But man, I look at it like, Imake this delineation between
flesh and spirit often.
Like, you know, this is myflesh and then there's my

(20:51):
spirit.
And I believe that in thespiritual realm, those things
that I do are eternal.
Those are the things thatactually truly matter.
And then in the physical realm,those are the things that I do
that are fleeting, that won'tlast, that, you know, they're
temporal and they may have atemporary, you know,
satisfactory effect.

(21:11):
effect here on this plane onthis side, but they actually
don't matter.
So I often find myself floatingin the spiritual realm more
than the physical fleshly realm,right?
So I'm able to tolerate anddeal with things I disagree
with, BS, things that people arecrashing out about.
I'm like, in my spirit, in mysoul, I'm like, man, yo, like,

(21:34):
this is all temporary, you know?
But at the same time, This haslike real lasting impact.
And...
those moments where I want tokind of sit back and just be in
my spiritual bubble and I'm overhere doing my thing.
I also feel conviction in myspirit.
I was talking about thisearlier today.
Like, yo, a time such as thisis why everything that led me up

(21:59):
to this moment allowed me to behere.
I need to be doing something inthis moment.
I can't just be sitting backand making sure my family's
good.
I need to be on assignmentmaking sure we're all good
because that's just part of mypurpose.
You're better

Speaker 00 (22:11):
than me, bro.
I'm such an Actually, the firsttime I was called an empath was
my daughter, Leighton.
She was like, Dad, you're anempath.
I am too.
I'm like, because I takeeverything so personally.
Amen.
I don't know if it's theAquarius in us.
Do you take businesspersonally?
You know what's weird?
I don't take businesspersonally, but I take how

(22:31):
people perceive me personally.
I do.
What do you mean?
If people think that I'm not anice guy to others, people think
that I'm being an asshole insome way.
People think that I'm doingthis.
It's like, my wife will alwaystell me who's my business
partner in the agency.
She'll always tell me, they'rescared to talk to you.
I'm like, why?

Speaker 01 (22:53):
Remember that conversation we had?
She was like, he's an a-hole.
I was like, what do you mean?
Like, what is that?
Remember dinner in Dallas?
I was like, what do

Speaker 00 (23:00):
you mean?
They're like, I don'tunderstand it either.
I don't see it either.
I'm still trying to figure itout because I'm like, and so
she's like, that's what peopleare scared of you.
Like, why are they scared ofme?
I'm like, I mean, you're, youtell the, I mean,

Speaker 01 (23:11):
quiet truth.
You tell the truth.
tell the truth.
I try to.
You tell the quiet truth.
But I feel like people want tohear that.
Yeah, that's why you repeatbusiness.
That's why I like people, theright people want to hear that.
The people who are willing totolerate the truth.
I mean, and I think part of thereason why we even call this
the quiet truth is because likeI mean, in these days you dang

(23:33):
near got to be quiet about thetruth.
It's like the truth is not trueanymore for some folks.
It's not true.
It's hurtful.
It's distasteful.
It's You're harmful, you'retriggering, what are the words?
Triggering, what are the otherwords?
And not to even createcommotion.
What's the other, what is thatword?
Cancel?
There's all these words, man.
All these new adjectives andsuch.

(23:54):
I don't even know half of them.
I can't even remember

Speaker 00 (23:56):
the word.

Speaker 01 (23:57):
Gaslighting.
Gaslighting.
Gasoline, something.
I mean, I don't know what thatmeans.
But I mean, look, I'm not hereto even banter back and forth
and play with these words, but Ido, I'm an empath.
I do understand.
But I just, I don't know, man.
I think that I, I don't know,bro.
I'm at a loss for words on it.
I think that we are...
proactively engaged andinterested in a lot of

(24:22):
distractions.
I think we are so unfocused.
I think our eyes are off of theprize.
I think there is so muchhappening right now that is
like, you think about a hundredyears from now, what are they
going to look back on thisgeneration of people and say,
did y'all sit back?
Like, I feel like we're justmissing the moment, the mark.
However, I do feel like, youknow, we're having, we're having

(24:44):
these conversations.
We're trying to do a thing.
I think we feel powerful.
And these are all, everythingthat I'm saying that I think we
are, these are all lies, by theway.
We actually are the mostpowerful.
Again, it's like a time such asthis, this is when we need to
come together and bring oursuperpowers together and make
the change, do all the things,right?

(25:05):
This is the season that we'resupposed to take all of the
tools that experience has giftedus and utilize them for the
greater good of humanity.
This is the

Speaker 00 (25:16):
time.
See, I hope that's the case.
The way I'm looking at the waythe world is right now, we're
50-50.
And the way this administrationis moving is 50-50.
I think that we either end onthe other side of this and
making more money, we're alldoing better, everything is
looking great, and this istemporary pain to get us on the
other side.

(25:36):
This is a cost of success,right?
We're in the middle of a costof success, which is our
sacrifice, our pain.
Again, there's a cost toeverything we said earlier.
It's like our pain, ourbusiness businesses not
necessarily doing as well as wedid last year or not necessarily
getting all the accounts wewant or the money's not
necessarily the same as it waslast year.
We're having to pay for that,paying for more for less.

(25:59):
We're paying for that becauseright now we're being sold a
story that if we go through thiseye, this hurricane,
temporarily we'll be on theother side of it for better.
Man, we heard that storybefore, man.
We've heard that story before,right?
And so that's kind of where weare right now.
So I'm always like curious.
I mean, listen, quiet truth.
And I was talking to my my guyhe's in texas right now and and

(26:23):
we both like and quietly i waslike both of us you know, 15
years ago, 10 years ago wouldhave been considered Republicans
because we're conservative,we're about small government,
low taxes, give me as much moneyas I can to make my business
grow, stay out of my house, stayin my bedroom, stay on my

(26:44):
things.
And there's some level ofsocial understanding that comes
out of it that we land.
I think black folks in essenceare in some ways kind of
Republican a little bit, right?
Because, you know, we want tohave as much money as possible,
but we also don't want to leavethe little person behind.
We want to make sure that thereare safety nets and all those

(27:07):
things, because we know whatit's like to not have one.
But we want the safety nets.
We want our parents to get ourSocial Security.
We want everyone to get whatthey need to get.
But just make it easy for me tomake money.
But, like, today...
It's like, yo, that's notpossible.
I can't even say those words.
I'm a staunch Democrat

Speaker 01 (27:24):
right

Speaker 00 (27:25):
now.

Speaker 01 (27:25):
Man, I'm a staunch Bariola.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, it's that stuff.
They be crippling and bloodingin the Democratic.
Like, I've seen these folks outhere just like, you know,
throwing up sets and fighting.
And it's wild, man.
It's a wild.
And you know what, man?
I do think that now is a time.
The quiet truth is that in themiddle, in the midst of this

(27:47):
chaos, There is a stillness tofind.
There is a stillness to find.
It's safe there.
It's a sanctuary.
And there's a lot of answersthere if you're willing to go.
You can't fall into the vortex,man.
It's noisy outside.
Social media is insane.

(28:07):
Everything is real fast.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
I've been living an offlinelife.
I have so many things to recapand repost.
I'm like, do I even want to dothis?
Offline life?
What is that?
Man, I'm not engaged.
I'll scroll and see a fewthings, but I'm not all up in

(28:28):
the algorithm.
I'm not in the matrix in thatway.
I've kind of weaseled myselfout of it, and I'm just looking
around at everything going on,and they're like, man.
Do

Speaker 00 (28:37):
you feel like there's a cost to your peace by
being inside of it.
Maybe I need to stop doing that

Speaker 01 (28:44):
shit.
You know what?
It's a perceived cost.
It's a real cost, but I don'tknow how true it is.
I make the delineation betweentruth and reality.
I say it all the time.
Reality is like, okay, rightnow it's 79 degrees.
Now it's 80 degrees.
Facts move around.
Reality is dynamic.
It always changes.
The reality of today is nolonger the reality of tomorrow.

(29:05):
The reality of 100 years ago,it was real then.
Pluto was a planet, then it's astar, then it's...
Reality shifts, right?
But

Speaker 00 (29:12):
truth is fixed.
And...
Well, they'll tell you rightnow, truth ain't fixed.
Truth is basically based onyour point of view.
That's what they say, butthat's...
Isn't that crazy, though?
It is.
It is crazy.

Speaker 01 (29:21):
Isn't that crazy?
Truth is truth, man.
You can't move it.
You can't do nothing about it.
It was, it is, and it alwayswill be.
That's just

Speaker 00 (29:29):
what it is.
I was watching an interviewbetween Anne...
Oh, my goodness.
Anne something.
No, no, no.
She used to be married to BillMaher.
Her name is Anne something.
I don't know them folks.
Hilarious.
Bill Maher and her were havinga conversation and she was
talking about a topic, Ukraineand how it was tied to Russia.
And the guy across from her waslike, I'm Russian.

(29:51):
I know what I'm talking about.
What you're saying is false.
She said, I don't believe you.
And he's like, why don't youbelieve me?
I just don't.
I just don't.
So I'm telling you as someonethat's Russian from this part of
the region, that what you'retelling me is factually
inaccurate.
And she said, I don't believeyou.
So I'm trying to reallyunderstand how truth all of a

(30:15):
sudden

Speaker 01 (30:16):
got spliced.
Yeah, it got watered down.
It got in question.
It was investigated.
It was put on trial.

Speaker 00 (30:25):
It was that woman.
I forget.
George Conway's wife, somethingConway, when she was like, oh,
we have alternate truths.
And I'm like, what's analternate truth?
Isn't

Speaker 01 (30:37):
it just the truth?
Truth is truth whether acceptedor denied, there's nothing you
can do about truth.
You know what I'm saying?
And the thing is, the beauty ofit is when you accept truth or
surrender to truth, youexperience it.
If you deny it and reject it,then you don't.

Speaker 00 (30:56):
Unless you just simply stay in the denial the
entire time, then that becomesyour reality.
That

Speaker 01 (31:00):
becomes your reality.
That's what I'm saying.
And then that's what youexperience as a result.
So if you're like, man, ain'tno love is whack or ain't no
this out there or ain't nothingbeen in and this and women are
this.
If that's your reality, ifthat's what you're spewing and
that's what you're going toexperience, if that's what you
believe, then that's what youbelieve.
That becomes your reality.
The truth is over here doingits thing, but you believe based

(31:25):
off of your circumstances,based off of your life's path,
based off of what you've seenand heard, and that's now what
you believe to be true.
So I make that delineation andI sit back, man, and I see so
many truths every day.
I watch the sun come up, Iwatch it go down.
I'm sitting there lookingoutside the window like, man,
that's a miracle.
I was outside on the balconylooking like, is anybody else

(31:48):
seeing this miracle come up anddown every day?
Meanwhile, if you were to spendthat time scrolling online,
you're going to see a wholebunch of realities and start to
buy into these realities as ifthey're truth.
When I'm looking out the windowof a bird flying, I'm like, how
is that bird flying?
Is anybody witnessing themiracle, the simple miracle of a

(32:08):
bird flying or wind blowingthat you You can't see.
How do you know it's there?
You can't see it.
You can't taste it, touch it,smell it.
Sometimes you can hear it, butit's there.
What color is wind?
You know, these are things thatare true.
They're universal truths thatthere's nothing you can do about
wind.
I

Speaker 00 (32:23):
mean, but it kind of goes back to, you know, how you
look at the cost of success.
Like you refuse to give upthose things in order to be able
to stay within a truth, right?
So you're not giving, I'm notgiving my energy.
Yes.
I'm like, I'm not even givingmy time.
I'm not even giving my space tothat because I refuse to pay

(32:44):
that cost to be able to eitherelevate into some other space.
I like this moment.
I like where I am.
I'm not unwilling to give it.
And I think that a lot ofpeople, unfortunately, are
willy-nilly giving andsacrificing so much to be able
to do whatever X is.
If it's grow their social mediaaccounts, if it's become an

(33:07):
influencer, they're like, youknow what?
I'm going to lean in.
in to this thing that I know isnot true.
This thing that I know isabsolutely abhorrent.
I'm going to lean into thisclick bait, rage bait, whatever.
I'm willing to pay thissacrifice to be able to hop over
and move quicker to pay for mysuccess.

(33:28):
And the one thing that we don'ttalk about much is that, you
know, what would you rather?
Would you rather be successfulat home in your big mansion with
some little Some people mightsay, yes, hell yeah.
Some little hot 25-year-old andyou're 50 in this incredible

(33:48):
mansion where your joints don'twork.
Huh?
Your joints ain't workinganymore.
Your joints ain't working.
That man's working for you.
But, you know, the person thatloved you for who you were when
you had a nickel, you know, thekids that revered you because of
your commitment and dedicationto being there and being
present.
But you're like, I'm going togive all of it up to be in this
space to now I have more M's inthe bank.

(34:10):
And it's almost like artificiallove, artificial things versus
being like, I'm going to bechoiceful about what I'm going
to pay to reach that goal.
And I think it's a reallyslippery slope.
And I think a lot of peopleunfortunately pay the ultimate
sacrifice, which is of theirintegrity.
They pay of their integrity,they pay of their soul, they pay

(34:33):
of all these things to reachthat sacrificial moment.
Yeah.
And then what happens

Speaker 01 (34:38):
when you get there and you realize what you paid
and then you hate everything youwent after because it doesn't
feel as good as you did it'sthere's no way that it's going
to feel as good as you thoughtbecause you pay way too much

Speaker 00 (34:49):
yeah

Speaker 01 (34:50):
you you gave up your soul you gave up your integrity
you gave up all of the thingsfor this this this goal that is
fleeting and you reach the goaland then it feels like bro like
i remember being in high schooland i just wanted to get a 3.5 i
was graduating my mom was on meabout my grades and i was like
man i know i'm gonna getaccepted to a university but i

(35:11):
just want to just like give itmy all and see what happens I
got a three I worked hard andgot a 3.5 and I was pissed when
I got a 3.5 because it felt likeI should have got a 4.0 yeah I
did all that work and I got a3.5 I was unsatisfied I was
dissatisfied and I was like atthat point I learned early on
like you know what man likechasing these goals and thinking

(35:33):
there's going to be some sortof like You know, treasure at
the end of the rainbow orsomething.
The ultimate desire is in thisgoal.
It's just it's false.
When people say, man, if I justhad X amount of money, then I'd
be like, no, you're not seekingmoney.
You're seeking something else.
Maybe you're seeking like, youknow, love or there's something

(35:54):
else that you're saying is moneyor saying is the thing.
But that's not what you'reseeking.
And typically what we seek isalready available.
But there's all this stuff inthe way that makes us think that
we have to reach and grab thesethings that.
aren't actually going tosatisfy that insatiable desire.
Because once you reach thatgoal, man, you want the next
goal.
It doesn't stop.

Speaker 00 (36:13):
Dude, it's like, I go back to this meme.
I don't know.
Maybe I stay on social mediaway too much, but my wife would
tell you I absolutely stay onsocial media way too much.
But I feel like I have to.
Yeah.
To keep up, one, with my kids,but also just keep up in general
what's going on around me.
Yeah.
And so there's this meme thatshowed up.
Actually, it's a video that waslike, if I paid you...

(36:34):
$100 million, but you got tosend your mom to jail for a
year.
I bet everybody would.
The comments were real.
The comments were like, mom, Ilove you, but it's okay.
It'll be okay.
It's minimum security.
We'll put you in where MarthaStewart was.
It's fine, right?
We'll put your mom in jail.
It's okay.

(36:55):
It's all good.
There were others like, yo,would you punch your wife or
punch your girlfriend in thenose for a million dollars?
Yo, people are like, baby, I'llfix it.
It's fine.
I'm sure some of them was like,yo, let's do, let's set it up.
Don't hit me too hard.
And I can guarantee you that inthe comments, I'm not, I cannot
verify this, but I cannotimagine one that someone was not

(37:19):
able to say, I'll let myhusband hit me for a million
dollars.
It's just a broke nose.
It'll be okay.
Imagine, imagine this, imaginethat, imagine in the rainbow.
And that's why I think thatwe're messed up as a country
because we're willing to give upso much for some person.
Perceived goal.
Perceived.
That when we get it, we're notgoing to be satisfied with it

(37:41):
because we gave up so much toget there.
You're going to resent it.
We used to work.
Wait, shit.
No, you and I.
We did work on Kyrie's.
Yes.
We launched Kyrie's logo.
Incredible platform.
Thank you for that, man.
Got

Speaker 01 (37:54):
me some telly awards.
That was a nice.

Speaker 00 (37:57):
That was good.
That was a great project.
Thank you for that.
Shout out, Shatalia, forhooking us up with the account.
It was incredible.
Incredible.
Did work on ANSA with Kyrie.
Shout out to Kyrie.
Shout out to Kyrie Irving.
Yo, but there's one thing thatstuck to me that I was like, yo,
man, this guy got, he's got tofigure it out.
It's like, yo, the journey isthe rule.
The journey is the reward.
It's like, it's not the endresult.
It's the journey.
It's like going through it.

(38:17):
That's the reward of it all.
So if you were able to stay inthe moment of the journey and
appreciating the journey,appreciating what you're going
through, then the result will bethat much sweeter.

Speaker 01 (38:30):
I'm telling you, man, you know it.
Like everybody that you admire,you listen to LeBron, you
listen to any of them and theyall talk about how much they
love going to the gym man theygot the rings do they wear them
if they just be sitting in somesort of it's it's it's obviously
a stat on their on their youknow their legacy but the

(38:50):
journey is it man like thejewels are in the journey right
like that's where you learn whoyou are that's where you
determine like oh man I actuallyhave a greater capacity than I
ever imagined that's where youlearn like you know like what
you're capable of and that'swhere you leave behind that old
version of yourself right and Ithink part of the quiet truth is

(39:13):
that we are all chasing thefuture versions of ourselves and
Truly, we are already thatperson that we're seeking.
but we just have to move andadjust like all of the mess, all
of the trauma, all theexperiences, all of the fear,
you just have to move all thatout of the way and you'll

(39:36):
clearly see a picture like Iactually am who I desire to be.
And once you get to that point,you're willing to disconnect,
you're willing to jump off therat race, out the rat race,
you're willing to exit thematrix, you're willing to just
be and kind of like sit withself and spend time with self
outside of all of the things andfall deeper in love with that

(40:00):
truth that you actually alreadyare that.
And then you can show up in anyroom, you can show up at any
meeting, you can just show up asis and things will begin to
kind of like come to you, right?
As you stop seeking them andstop chasing them because it's
like, yo, I have the reality.
That's what confidence is.
I have the reality that Iactually am who I think I am.
I am who I desire to be, right?

(40:23):
And I think that spending,disconnecting and spending time
away from me has allowed me toreconnect with that truth
because I have seasons where Ibelieve that.
I have seasons where I doubtthat.
And the seasons where I doubtit, it's when I'm on the
digital.
It's like when I'm all up inthe mix and then I get this
false sense of reality that isinflated because of the applause

(40:47):
or because of the response orbecause, right?
But when I tap, I've beentapping out of that, like
intentionally just backing upand tapping out.
so that I could just kind ofspend time with self.
And you mentioned like, youknow, sometimes I feel like when
I'm not a part of the matrix,I'm missing out.
I don't know what the cultureis talking about.
I don't know what the swag is.
But I actually find that whenI'm tending to myself, that's

(41:09):
when I discover what the swagis.

Speaker 00 (41:11):
But I feel like swag is timeless though, right?
I feel like, you know, eitheryou have taste or you don't have
taste.
And so to be able to grab tastefrom the ether of social media,
does not necessarily mean thatyou have taste now.
It just means that yourecognize someone else's taste
and you're just using that foryour own.

(41:32):
It's like designers, I mean,obviously there's inspiration
even with design.
And sometimes, I hate to sayit, a lot of designers will take
others and try to mimic it,redo it, rework it.
Yeah, reinterpret.
I mean, nothing's new under thesun, right?
We're all

Speaker 01 (41:47):
pulling from something that we've seen or
been inspired by or like.
We're all pulling fromsomething, interpolating.

Speaker 00 (41:53):
No, no, I thought I think you're right.
But at the same time, it's likethe ability to have original
thought is interesting.
And that keeps you in thatbucket of fresh, tasteful, all
those things because it'soriginal thought.
It's happening in that originalthought.
All of that, right?
And I feel like we pay so muchin ourselves to...

(42:20):
get to an end goal that we missout on the original thought,
right?
It's like, listen, I think allof us are guilty of it.
AI, for example, right?
It's like, I use it, but I'mscared of it.
And it's a shame because I feellike Kind of like a drug.

(42:40):
I use it, but I'm scared of it.
No, no doubt.
But hear me out, though,because it's interesting.
It's like I've always been theguy, and my team hates this.
I write my own decks.
I write my own storylines.
I direct my own stuff.
I do all my things because thathelps to keep me sharp.
Exactly.
Right?
The minute that I step awayfrom it, I feel like it's not

(43:01):
because I want the control overit.
Well, I do like control.
It's really because I feel likeit helps to keep me sharper in
what I do.
For sure.
And AI.
is giving me a shortcut and Idon't know if I'm now developing
original thoughts anymore.
I'm putting things in andspitting it out.
I'm like, oh, that's cool.
That works.
It's like, and no matter howmuch I'm prompting it and I'm

(43:25):
putting in my own prompts andputting in my own things to
allow it to give me as close tooriginal thought as possible,
it's not.
And that's scary to me becausenow I'm thinking, am I losing my
sharpness?
and my patience to be able togo through the journey to get

(43:45):
there.
And I feel like that's wherewe're all heading now.
We're all heading into like,because AI is going to make it
faster and this and that.
Yes, faster is there.
But sometimes if the journey isa reward, the process to get
through that deal gets you tosomething that's richer that you
can't find anywhere else,right?
You're just replicating someother shit that's not

(44:06):
necessarily going to make youbetter.
That original power pathway iswhat you

Speaker 01 (44:11):
really need.
And that scares me.
Yeah.
And the novelty is in thatoriginality.
I think there, I think we'regoing to, we're just going to
get tired of, because I can lookat AI visually and kind of
tell, I can read it because italways gives it, it's not this,
it's that it's like, there'slittle phrases and rhythms where
I'm like, that's AI, that's AI,that's AI.
It feels, it feels synthetic.
You know what I'm saying?

(44:32):
Like it feels synthetic, youknow, like when I, no, I'm not
even going to say that.
Let's say when I was single, Iused to rub my hands in a
woman's hair.
And sometimes you feel that,that synthetic, you're like, oh
man.
But that, no, I don't want anysmoke.
Hey, I'm not the one that'sgoing to give it to you.
Quiet truth.
Quiet truth.
No, but seriously, thesynthetic nature, which I think

(44:53):
is what this world is kind ofgetting sick of, it's going to
be amplified with AI.
And of course, it's going to dosome amazing things.
There's going to be some reallygreat, some amazing
breakthroughs in medicine.
You know, it's going to helpwith policy.
It's going to help with a lotof, a lot of, almost like a
partner, right?
Like, in thought.
But, you know, I come from abackground of writing, so I

(45:15):
started to get uncomfortablewhen I was sending out emails,
responses, like boom, send it,you know, AI.
And I'm now taking the time,like...
I'm in a season of disciplineand focus.
And I'm in that season becauseI know those are the tools that
I need to resharpen for thisnext juncture of the journey.
This era that is approachingrequires discipline and focus.

(45:39):
Everything that this, theculture, I don't want to say
everything the culture, but thedistractions of social and
society and culture aren'taligned with discipline and
focus.
So I'm gonna start looking likean alien soon.
You know what I mean?
I'm gonna start looking like analien, but at the same time, I
know that I need to bedisciplined and focused.
So I've been journaling, doingstuff like that.

(45:59):
I'm not like a journaler.
I was on the beast journaling,just getting my thoughts out,
going through the exercise offreeing my mind in that way, pen
to paper, so that I can staysharp, so that I can keep
relying on my brain

Speaker 00 (46:14):
and not relying on this machine.
Well, I mean, what's funny isthat the machine is real.
I follow a bunch of folks and Ispeak to a lot of people on an
ongoing basis and And whenever Iget an email from them, I look
at it, I'm like, you didn'twrite that.
Man, you know it, man.
I'm like, man, I know you.
I know you.
Talking about cantankerous.

Speaker 01 (46:33):
You

Speaker 00 (46:34):
don't know what cantankerous means?
You definitely AI'd that.
Yo, you didn't write that like,I know how you talk, dog.
I know how you talk.
And that's not how you talk.
Why are you over here, like,fronting like that, man?
What are you doing?
And

Speaker 01 (46:47):
it feels almost like I'm offended.
You can't just imagine, imaginethat, imagine we're not even
having this conversation, right?
We're just letting the machinetalk back and forth and we're
just sitting here.
And it's like, just talking forus.
Like, that's what it's going tobe.
And it's going to continue tomake, because you look at Gen Z
and how they're, well, forgetlet me say, let's look at the,

(47:08):
the COVID generation, right?
2020 babies and all that.
And how that, that socialdistance, like what, what is
that going to create in thosekids as they grow?
And you already have ageneration, Gen Zers who kind of
suffer from social anxiety moreso than other generations.
And it's just going to furthermake things all awkward and in

(47:29):
person is going to be weird.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, and I think again, thenovelty is going to, the
pendulum swings, even as things,

Unknown (47:36):
Thank you.

Speaker 01 (47:37):
you know, is technology, technological
advances, pendulum swings, theircycles will goes around, comes
around.
We will reach a point.
I think we're all, we're dangnear at this tipping point, but
we will reach a point where,man, we desire novelty.
You're going to see people, youknow what I'm saying?
Like bro, buying their databack.
I want to go off the grid.

(47:58):
They're going to like, youain't going to see him online.
You're going to see him withthe little speakeasies and the
little rooms and the meetups andlike, you know

Speaker 00 (48:05):
what I mean?
Like I was on a, so, so, so,It's like the one thing that...
I don't know about you.
I call myself a bit of aclairvoyant.
My job- I'm with you, bro.
You know that.
My job is to look aroundcorners.
Yeah.
Right?
And I plan.
It's not always great in mypersonal life, but I plan for
the absolute worst thing tohappen, which means that my

(48:27):
brain is already on the worstthing.
Like, if this is the worstthing, how can I offset the
worst thing?
Let me start doing it now forthat worst thing that's going to
happen, right?
And so I feel a little bitclairvoyant on a lot of things,
and a lot of things that I'vethought about have come to pass.
So I've been good about that.
What are you looking at now?
So we're talking about AI andspecifically around content.
And so we're working on someunscripted reality shows, things

(48:49):
like that.
And the reason why we went intounscripted reality is because
of the advent of AI.
I was on the phone today withpresident of a really large
agency, the multi-billion dollarcompany, had a beautiful 45
minute conversation.
And I told him, I said, what'shappening right now is that AI
and content creation in AI is anovelty.

(49:12):
It is going to be a noveltybecause we're looking at it and
we're like, whoa, look at what'shappened.
We could not imagine this.
This is incredible.
We're impressed by thetechnology.
Not that we love it, but we'reimpressed by it because it's
funny.
We can make funny memes.
We can make funny this.
We can make funny that.
We can use it to be able to geta message across or whatever.

(49:35):
But what's going to happen is,like everything else, and you're
going to remember this a littlebit, like everything else, the
pension is going to swing thereal.
People are going to want tohave real people in the real
thing doing the real thing,right?
Because remember early 2000s,maybe mid 2000s, whatever it
was, the biggest blowback fromAT&T, and the reason why people

(49:59):
left AT&T, because I could nottalk to a real person.
It was hit one for this, hitthree for that, put in your
phone number for this, all that.
And so the And so theircustomer service responses and
their surveys were like, we hateAT&T because we can never talk
to anybody that's real.

(50:19):
And so they scrapped it, putreal people in, real callers,
real thing.
It could have been someone fromBangladesh, doesn't matter, but
they had real people calling,picking up the phone.
Now it's a language thing,whatever, but you still had a
real person.
And so that's data point one isthat people will swing back on
the pendulum.
Data point two is that Peopleare now on social building real

(50:45):
things.
You have craftsmanship comingback.
Like even from your Sunglassfolks or whatever, to all these
people that are in your circle,they're building things that are
incredible, that arehandcrafted from woodworking to
homes.
I'm following so many peoplethat are like, come with me as I
build my house from scratch.
And I'm like, yo, that's dope.

(51:07):
I don't even know how to dothat.
And I'm watching it.
I'm not watching the AI personbuild it.
from scratch.
I'm watching this dude thatknows how to build something
from scratch.
I'm like, that's where this isgoing, is that you're going to
have this delineation betweenreal and fake.
And even in Instagram now, whenyou posted something, it says,
is this AI content?

Speaker 01 (51:26):
And

Speaker 00 (51:26):
so you're going to have separation between AI
content and real content.
And you're going to findnovelty being over here, and
you're going to find real,authentic engagement and people
on this other side soon.

Speaker 01 (51:37):
Because if it ain't true, it ain't tasty, man.
It's like it doesn't It doesn'ttaste good.
And I have such a lens for whatisn't true.
Every time I scroll and I seethings, I keep to myself, I
don't say much, but I'm like...
performative performance.
Everybody out here acting.

(51:57):
Speak to it.
Everybody out here like, justlike, man, there was such value
in being yourself, right?
Like just your own, I havegloves on.
I don't know if people can bethemselves.
It's like still

Speaker 00 (52:09):
summertime, you know, I'm just being myself.
People can be themselves, man.
I wish that was the case.
People, because we are so, youare not, but people are so
concerned about how they'reperceived by others that they
change who they are to getthere.
I did a Burger King spot withLil Yachty.
The VMAs.

(52:30):
Yachty is himself.
Yachty stays himself.
Let me tell you how real thisdude is.
How real this dude is.
We were shooting the spot 2020.
We had to shoot threecommercials in one day.
One was going to be VR and twoothers were going to be real
practical shoots.
We had Yachty showing up at theLamborghini with the King.
We had Yachty doing somethingin the backstage with the King.

(52:53):
Then we had a virtual shoot aswell.
It was supposed to be like thisamazing thing.
It came off like no issues.
We were doing wardrobe check.
A man, Yachty, with his dad.
Yachty came out in middle ofJuly in Los Angeles.
He was puffy, red, big oldjacket with a hoodie.
And a long-sleeved shirtunderneath it and the jeans and

(53:16):
all of it.
And I sent a note to hismanager.
I said, yo, you know, it'slike, you know what we're
shooting?
We're shooting July.
He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, weknow.
He doesn't want to, like,change it up.
It's like, no, this is

Speaker 01 (53:27):
what he's going to wear.
I used to wear, they used toSweaters and leather and 90
degree weather.
Sweaters and leather and 90degree weather.
FAMU, that's what they used tocall me.
I don't ask anybody because

Speaker 00 (53:36):
I'm going to do my thing.
It's about being you.
But not everyone's okay withbeing you anymore.
I feel like in New York youcan't be for the most part.
But around the country, it'slike, listen, when I was living
in Texas, the challenge wasalways like everybody felt like
you had to be a certain way inTexas.
If you're in Dallas or Houston,you got to get your nails done.

(53:59):
hair done, nails done, hairdone, everything did, all that,
right?
Just to show up to the gasstation to pump gas or go to the
local grocery store.
And I'm like, what are youtalking about?
I'm coming out here with like,what I'm going to put on is what
I'm putting on.

Speaker 01 (54:12):
I remember the moment when it all changed.
I was in Las Vegas at FashionShow Mall and the year was
probably 2000.
10.
I was with my mom.
I saw this woman.
It was probably 11 a.m., maybe10, 15.
It was 10, 17 a.m.
Oh, wow.
That's specific.
I'm just joking.
It's all about the story.

(54:32):
And this woman, man, she had onlike a short dress, full
makeup, full wig, full.
She was like decked out like itwas like a beauty pageant.
All of that.
And this was kind of the eraof, you know, Real Housewives
and like really kind of glammingup.
And Beyonce was influencing theculture and women were just

(54:53):
kind of becoming more and morelike playing around with makeup
and different.
It was dope.
But I was like, yo, it's 11a.m.
It's 10, 17 a.m.
I got a piece of crust on theside of my eye.
She was ready.
It's 10, 17 a.m.
And I was just it dawned on melike, oh, culture is shifting.

(55:16):
People really want to perform.
It's a Performance, but there'sno microphone or talent.
It's just a whole show.
And I'm not mad at, you know,but it's just the idea that,
man, the beauty of the worldexists in everybody being
themselves.
What if water didn't want to bewater?
It wanted to be air.
You know what I'm saying?

(55:37):
What if water and wind didn'tsurrender to God's will and do
what it's supposed to do andassign a design to do?
What if it just wanted to be acloud?
Truly, man, there is suchbeauty when people themselves
when they are who they arecalled to be, the quiet truth
is, man, like, the most beautylies in effortlessness.
Like, you just are.

(55:58):
You just exist.
It just is.
It's true.
Like, we talked about before,when it's true, it just is.
It just is.
Ain't nothing you can do.
That's what it is, right?
And I think that's where, youknow, that's where the beauty
lies, man.
And we're getting away fromthat.
The pendulum will swing back tothat.
But I have a feeling there'sgoing to be some, like, ounce of
fakeness on people trying to bereal.

(56:18):
It ain't going to quite...
You know what I mean?
It ain't going to quite curl.
It ain't going to quite, it'sgoing to be something that's
just awful.
People like trying to be realand trying to be themselves.
And look, the journey isdifficult.
I discovered who I was inmiddle school.
Like the same way I show uptoday, I showed up at people who

(56:40):
went to middle school with meback in San Jose, Quimby, man.
Like they'll tell you, man, youain't changed.
They see me online.
Like you ain't changed.
I'm like, that was 30 somethingyears ago or something like
that.
I haven't changed.
But according to them that Ihaven't, because I did, I did I
used to have to learn to bracemyself to show up in spaces
because I knew that people wouldlook around like, what is this
guy doing?

(57:00):
Now that things like beingcreative and being yourself is
all cool and all that.
But at that time, it was a verystandard and traditional way of
being.
And I was willing to pay thecost of being myself and taking
on all the people looking andall that until it became like,
oh man, where'd you get thoseshoes?
Oh man, where'd you get that?
People became inquisitive andwanted to find out more and

(57:22):
discover more.
more.
And that's just kind of beenthe journey since.
But I was willing to take thatrisk.
Like people typically find anddiscover themselves in college.
They discover themselves whenthey leave home.
They figure out like what themove is, like after they pledge
or after something.
I was 13 years old and I, forthe most part, was like, this is
who I am.
I'm showing up as is everywhereI go.
And it's been, you know, ithasn't been like a straight path

(57:45):
to that.
But, you know, you progress andyou regress.
But for the most part, man,this is what it is.
And the more I tuck away andthe more I focus on what the
current assignment is for thisnext juncture of the journey,
the more and more I becomecomfortable with being myself,

(58:06):
the less I become comfortablewith this plastic, fake,
generative, artificiallyintelligent culture.

Speaker 00 (58:18):
But I think that I got to applaud that.
But the challenge alwaysbecomes that there are people
that are willing not to givethat up.
Oh, yeah.
Right.
That that not.
And those are the people.
So I think it's good.
Skittles taste good.
You

Speaker 01 (58:36):
know,

Speaker 00 (58:37):
rot your teeth and sin.
You know what I'm saying?
No doubt.
But but I don't think peopleunderstand the true cost of
giving it up.
Right.
Because.
It costs, man.
It does cost.
We say that, people likeinherently understand, yeah.
Listen, if someone's willing topunch their girlfriend in the
nose for a million dollars, youknow, being able to, their

(58:57):
integrity is not far behind,right?
And the things that theybelieve in, not far behind.
Even, you know, People talkabout them being, oh man,
listen, this is a woman thatreally came after me on one of
my Instagram comments whensomeone was getting arrested by,
you know that couple that got,that wasn't even nice.

(59:20):
Remember that couple that gotcaught cheating with each other?
At the stadium?
Yeah, at the stadium, right?
Yeah, Coldplay.
At Coldplay.
And I hopped into the commentssection for someone, some big
media company.
I was like...
We understand.
We got it.
Let's move on.
These are real people.
And everyone was like, nah.
It's like, we need to dragthem.
We need to drag them all theway.

(59:41):
We need to go after them.
And so she's like, what's wrongwith you?
We should be dragging them foreverything they got.
And this woman, when I clickedon her profile, it said, God
first, Jesus lover.
And I came back to her.
I said, I don't remember.
I mean, I went to very fewBible schools, but I grew up in

(01:00:02):
the Catholic church.
I was like, I don't rememberJesus talking about coming and
dragging folks for mistakes thatthey made at the end of the
day.
And I think that that's whatI'm saying.
People want to front as theyare a particular thing when
they're not real.
God first, Christian first,Jesus first on stuff, but their
behavior

Speaker 01 (01:00:23):
does not line up.
When I see that, I see thatoften and pain can't help
itself, man.
It's going to excite Is itexcrete?
Is that the word?
Excrete?
It's going to come.
It's going to be a word now.
Pain is going to come out.
Whether you try to smile,whether you try to frown,

(01:00:45):
whether it usually comes out inlike those type of things,
right?
Your pain is going to, yourdissatisfaction with self, with
the state that you're in, withthe journey that you've been on,
with where you are in life, isgoing to come out.
I don't care how well youdress.
I don't care what the makeupis.
I don't care what it is.
I see it clearly, right?
You talked about beingclairvoyant.
I have a gift of seeing like Icould see like I just have

(01:01:07):
clarity right and discernmentand Pain is loud.
And you think about all of thecommentary that we've been
seeing online about like EssenceFestival, all the commentary
about people going to Martha'sVineyard, all the commentary
about negative commentary,Invest Fest, all the commentary

(01:01:27):
about like all the things thatwe attempt to do as a culture to
like celebrate us and cometogether.
And you just see people likecollectively, it's like this
trend just ishing on it.
And it's just people who aretruly dissatisfied in life.
And I don't look at them andget upset with them.
I I understand.
You know what I mean?
I understand.
And again, it's indicative ofsociety.

(01:01:49):
Society's sick.
Society is sick.
There are plenty symptoms,right?
And again, my question is, am Igoing to...
sit back and enjoy my familyand let Generation Z handle it
and let y'all handle it?
Or am I gonna show up onpurpose?

(01:02:11):
That doesn't sound right to me.
Am I gonna align with God'stiming?
Am I going to be who I'm calledto be in this season?
And that's where the tensionlies.
Well, the

Speaker 00 (01:02:24):
tension lies in our ability to make clear decisions,
to stay true to who we are, asopposed to having to give up of
ourselves for some otherreasons, which is a really tough
thing.
What do you mean when you saygive up ourselves for some other
reasons?
I mean like for cloud chasing,give up the things that are true
to us.

(01:02:44):
Like if all of a sudden I seeyou without your earrings,
without the gloves, without theglasses, without this, because
you happen to be like, I'm goingto go meet with somebody.
But like, are you okay?

Speaker 01 (01:02:58):
You know what I mean?
I'm okay if I don't have it.
Matter of fact, next podcast, Iain't going to have any of
those things but it's it's Imean I'm asking that question
because I think again sometimeswhat people think is true is
actually just real and it's realbecause of their experience
with it and it's actually nottrue so when people surrender
their or when people sometimesit's good to surrender who you

(01:03:22):
are right like I find myselfdying of myself and Preferably
daily in order to meet thefuture version of me but Man,
like that's another quiet truthpeople don't really discuss.
The funeral you got to havewith yourself and your old life
as you enter this new season ofthings that can't come with you.
Oh,

Speaker 00 (01:03:41):
you're just dropping some gems that should be good
for the next podcast.
That's what you, you can't giveaway the whole thing, man.
We got to keep some fromourselves.

Speaker 01 (01:03:50):
Well, let's talk about it on Quiet Truth episode
two.

Speaker 00 (01:03:55):
No doubt.
So we're going to wrap this oneup.
E, this was the inauguralepisode.
I feel like we touched onincredible topics within the
space of, you know, the cost ofsuccess and the truths around
it.
What are you willing to pay?
What are you willing to pay?
And are you willing to pay?
And should you pay at the endof the day is the question we

(01:04:16):
have to ask.
So you can find us on QuietTruth Podcast on Instagram and
all other places.
I am Martin Ekechukwu.
Enitan Bereola of the Second.
And this was A Quiet Truth.
A Quiet Truth.