Recorded live at Super Bowl 59’s Radio Row, this episode features an inspiring conversation with Laura Okmin and the incredible women of Galvanize, an organization empowering women in sports media. Host Tommi Vincent explores the impact of mentorship, the power of presence, and how these women are shaping the industry. Laura shares her personal journey, the lessons she’s learned from decades in sports broadcasting, and why uplifting the next generation is more important than ever.
Guests: Laura Okmin, GALvanize Founder
Brittnee Brooks, GALvanize Social Media
Tamara Brown, GALvanize Reporter
Paityn Tabor, GALvanize Empowership
Amanda & Brittany van Frankfoort, GALvanize Producers
Subscribe & Follow:
Don’t miss an episode of "Stay A While"! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected and get the latest updates by following us on Instagram @StayAWhileShow and follow our host Tommi Vincent @cheftommiv. Watch full episodes on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@ChefTommiV
Join the Conversation:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your insights and stories with us using #StayAWhilePodcast on social media.
Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Guests: Laura Okmin, GALvanize Founder
Brittnee Brooks, GALvanize Social Media
Tamara Brown, GALvanize Reporter
Paityn Tabor, GALvanize Empowership
Amanda & Brittany van Frankfoort, GALvanize Producers
Subscribe & Follow:
Don’t miss an episode of "Stay A While"! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected and get the latest updates by following us on Instagram @StayAWhileShow and follow our host Tommi Vincent @cheftommiv. Watch full episodes on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@ChefTommiV
Join the Conversation:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your insights and stories with us using #StayAWhilePodcast on social media.
Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row. So
take a seat, get comfortable in stale while. This episode
is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone, it's
(00:24):
Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast, and today
I have joining me Hailey Hunt and she is the
founder of The Verb Kind.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Now what is the Verb Kind?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Well, the Verb Kind is an organization that exists. Our
mission is to impact the lives of incarcerated youth. So
we go into juvenile detention centers and spend time. We
take people like you and the stay at home mom
and the cashier and the football agent and whoever, and
we invite them to come to jail with us, and
we go in every.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Single week and we spend time with these kids who've
lost hope.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And the reason why we're called the Verb Kind is
because love, like I told the kids in the JDC
here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Today, is an action word.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
They know a lot of actions, but they would never
affiliate love with action and love is actually an action.
So we are showing these kids that they are loved,
that they are cared about every single week, and detention
centers all over Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and we're opening up
everywhere because God is just flinging the doors wide open. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So let me give you, Let me give you another
perspective on the verb love and how some of these
young people are perceiving it.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And I'm sharing it because this was me.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So I grew up in an environment where love accompanied
hurt and pain, and so my definition of love is
not what you and I know it to be today.
You know, when you come into relationship with Jesus Christ,
we understand love to be something so much more more
(02:00):
powerful and unconditional. So for me, love showed up as
they hit you, they harm you. Therefore my perspective rescued
and it put me in an abusive relationship. And the
first time he hit me, I said, boy, he really
loves me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So when you think about those young people that are incarcerated,
they may have a different definition of love absolutely, and
so what you're giving them is no, wait a minute,
wait a minute, Real love doesn't hurt intentionally, And let
me help you to understand the verb love that I'm
talking yes, And so I think that's so powerful.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Why do you do that? I can't help myself. I
can't help myself, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Quickly, you know, I was in sports helping all these guys,
these beautiful humans that were, you know, celebrating here at
the super Bowl here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We love them so much.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
And I was building brands for these guys, and they
would come up with these ideas and I was the
brand girl. I was helping all these you know, I
was interviewing guys and.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Doing all these things.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And one day I went to a juvenile detention center
in Orlando, Florida, where I'm from, and I remember the
first time I ever met these girls. I was painting
this little girl's nails, and I will never forget her
telling me that she would rather be in a juvenile
detention center than at home. And when she said that,
I was thinking, what in the actual world is going
(03:31):
on at her home? That she would rather that she
feels more peace and more and safer here in this disgusting,
you know, brick building that creeps me out? What makes
her want to be here more than her home? And
so I just felt this immediate calling that there is
a space in this world that people don't know about.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And so I thought, you know what, how cool.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Would it be to reach these kids and then eventually
bridge the gap between those who are seen and those
who are unseen, which is our children. So we would
bring uh football players in and other people that would
be of importance, you know, to these juvenile detention centers.
And what that speaks to these children is you are
actually important enough for me to spend my time, because
(04:17):
they don't feel important, you know, but for you to
take time out of your week and them know that
you're just a volunteer, but you come every week, it
does something to their souls. It softens their heart, it
changes their perspective, and it gives them some hope for
their future.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You know, they're gonna when they get out, they get out.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
If they believe that they're a criminal, if they believe
that they're a loser, they're going to act on the lie.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But if they believe the truth, which is that they're valuable.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That there's hope for their future, they're going to act
on their on their future, I mean on the truth, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Which is that there's hope for you. There's a second
chance waiting.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You don't have to be who your dad is or
who the judges told you are, who the police have
told you are, and you are an amazing young man
young woman, and we want to help you see that.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's amazing. I know there's times that you probably go
into an institution and you encounter a kid and they
grabs get such a tight hold on your heart that
when you leave out of there, you're still caring them.
How do you do this meaningful work and care for
(05:24):
your own self and release it so that you can
still experience the joys of life.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I think it's really important for people to have a
I'm caring what we experienced today here in New Orleans.
We went to the JDC, and you know, they're right
down the street. There's hurt and you walk by homeless
people and all these things, and yep, you got to
surrender it to the Lord. You know, like God cares
about these kids. He cares about them more than I
(05:55):
care about them, you know. So just knowing that I
have to move on with life, I have to come
here and do an interview and and and be a
good wife and and love people passionately without being so
sad and depressed about the things that we see, you know.
But I think it's very valuable to want it, especially
if you're a believer, to just lay it at the
(06:16):
feet of Jesus, where, hey, you love these kids more
than we do, and you can do more for these
kids than we.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So while we're gone.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Be with them, while the verb kind is not there,
and bless the staff, give them peace. And I guess
my answer would be my faith that God would just
take care of them.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I'm there because I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We're not the saviors, you know, we're not the one,
but we also have lives, you know, and we we
It's a very great question because I think a lot
of people that do hard work like this, and all
of our mentors, they feel, counselors, psychologists, they just carry
so much, you know. And I feel bad for the
ones that don't believe that there is a higher power,
(06:59):
a guy that's mean, a God that is in charge.
You know, that it's supernatural and can be everywhere when
we're not. But for those who believe that, then there's
a piece that when you go home, you can lay
that down and be like, hey, little Johnny is hurting tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
God, we just give him to you. But also you
can breathe knowing that God's taking care of him. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Now I'm listening to you talk and I can just feel,
I could just feel how deep this is in your spirit.
And you know, when you're doing this type of work,
it's not only a calling, but you know you really
it's something you've been chosen for. And so I just
want to encourage you, thank you, and I'm going to
be praying for you that as you stand stand your
(07:47):
ground and root your feet firmly into what it is
that you've been called to do. I pray that everything
you invest that it will not only so in the moment,
but it will produce harvests for generations to come, so
that one young person that you're impacting today will also
(08:09):
cut off the root any other possibilities of bringing their
kids into that situation, or their children's children, so on
and so forth, so that the fruit of your labor
is in abundance. So I just want to encourage you
and just thank you for your willingness to commit to
the hard things.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Thank you, And I want to say, if you're watching
and twenty twenty five is a year that I believe
is for inconvenience and getting.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
And so if you feel like there is something that
you're supposed to be doing, I just want to encourage
you to get out of your comfort zone. Like not
everything that you are going to do is going to
feel comfortable or convenient.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Is it convenient to go to commit to something? No,
it's not. But let me tell you something that is.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
When you're set free, that's when you get all that
anxiety and depression, all the things that we deal with
just they cease because you're like, wow, life is not
about me. Life is not about us and our agenda.
It's about doing what we've been called to deal and.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That's when we're the happiest and most full of joy ladies.
And so yes, thank you, thank you so much Hayley
for joining me.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You know, I know we didn't have a long conversation today,
but I'm here and so we'll have opportunity to speak
again because I really do want to hear more about
what you're doing, and even more important than that, I
want to hear more about you and your journey and
how you got to where you are today, because I
think that's important, woman to woman, our ability to have
(09:40):
these types of conversations and present it as an opportunity
for other young women to hear experience so that they
have lights along the pathway so they can see where
they're going. And so I look forward to us having
a conversation again soon. Yes, but just know that you're
welcome to come and stay a while anytime, and you
will always have seat at my table.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Thank you, absolut awesome, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
M I V dot com for more inspiration for your mind,
body and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're
(10:28):
always welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe,
make yourself at home and stale wild Gone, Stale,
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row. So
take a seat, get comfortable in stale while. This episode
is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone, it's
(00:24):
Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast, and today
I have joining me Hailey Hunt and she is the
founder of The Verb Kind.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Now what is the Verb Kind?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Well, the Verb Kind is an organization that exists. Our
mission is to impact the lives of incarcerated youth. So
we go into juvenile detention centers and spend time. We
take people like you and the stay at home mom
and the cashier and the football agent and whoever, and
we invite them to come to jail with us, and
we go in every.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Single week and we spend time with these kids who've
lost hope.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And the reason why we're called the Verb Kind is
because love, like I told the kids in the JDC
here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Today, is an action word.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
They know a lot of actions, but they would never
affiliate love with action and love is actually an action.
So we are showing these kids that they are loved,
that they are cared about every single week, and detention
centers all over Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and we're opening up
everywhere because God is just flinging the doors wide open. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So let me give you, Let me give you another
perspective on the verb love and how some of these
young people are perceiving it.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And I'm sharing it because this was me.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So I grew up in an environment where love accompanied
hurt and pain, and so my definition of love is
not what you and I know it to be today.
You know, when you come into relationship with Jesus Christ,
we understand love to be something so much more more
(02:00):
powerful and unconditional. So for me, love showed up as
they hit you, they harm you. Therefore my perspective rescued
and it put me in an abusive relationship. And the
first time he hit me, I said, boy, he really
loves me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So when you think about those young people that are incarcerated,
they may have a different definition of love absolutely, and
so what you're giving them is no, wait a minute,
wait a minute, Real love doesn't hurt intentionally, And let
me help you to understand the verb love that I'm
talking yes, And so I think that's so powerful.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Why do you do that? I can't help myself. I
can't help myself, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Quickly, you know, I was in sports helping all these guys,
these beautiful humans that were, you know, celebrating here at
the super Bowl here in New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We love them so much.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
And I was building brands for these guys, and they
would come up with these ideas and I was the
brand girl. I was helping all these you know, I
was interviewing guys and.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Doing all these things.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And one day I went to a juvenile detention center
in Orlando, Florida, where I'm from, and I remember the
first time I ever met these girls. I was painting
this little girl's nails, and I will never forget her
telling me that she would rather be in a juvenile
detention center than at home. And when she said that,
I was thinking, what in the actual world is going
(03:31):
on at her home? That she would rather that she
feels more peace and more and safer here in this disgusting,
you know, brick building that creeps me out? What makes
her want to be here more than her home? And
so I just felt this immediate calling that there is
a space in this world that people don't know about.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And so I thought, you know what, how cool.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Would it be to reach these kids and then eventually
bridge the gap between those who are seen and those
who are unseen, which is our children. So we would
bring uh football players in and other people that would
be of importance, you know, to these juvenile detention centers.
And what that speaks to these children is you are
actually important enough for me to spend my time, because
(04:17):
they don't feel important, you know, but for you to
take time out of your week and them know that
you're just a volunteer, but you come every week, it
does something to their souls. It softens their heart, it
changes their perspective, and it gives them some hope for
their future.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You know, they're gonna when they get out, they get out.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
If they believe that they're a criminal, if they believe
that they're a loser, they're going to act on the lie.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But if they believe the truth, which is that they're valuable.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That there's hope for their future, they're going to act
on their on their future, I mean on the truth, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Which is that there's hope for you. There's a second
chance waiting.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You don't have to be who your dad is or
who the judges told you are, who the police have
told you are, and you are an amazing young man
young woman, and we want to help you see that.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's amazing. I know there's times that you probably go
into an institution and you encounter a kid and they
grabs get such a tight hold on your heart that
when you leave out of there, you're still caring them.
How do you do this meaningful work and care for
(05:24):
your own self and release it so that you can
still experience the joys of life.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I think it's really important for people to have a
I'm caring what we experienced today here in New Orleans.
We went to the JDC, and you know, they're right
down the street. There's hurt and you walk by homeless
people and all these things, and yep, you got to
surrender it to the Lord. You know, like God cares
about these kids. He cares about them more than I
(05:55):
care about them, you know. So just knowing that I
have to move on with life, I have to come
here and do an interview and and and be a
good wife and and love people passionately without being so
sad and depressed about the things that we see, you know.
But I think it's very valuable to want it, especially
if you're a believer, to just lay it at the
(06:16):
feet of Jesus, where, hey, you love these kids more
than we do, and you can do more for these
kids than we.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So while we're gone.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Be with them, while the verb kind is not there,
and bless the staff, give them peace. And I guess
my answer would be my faith that God would just
take care of them.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I'm there because I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We're not the saviors, you know, we're not the one,
but we also have lives, you know, and we we
It's a very great question because I think a lot
of people that do hard work like this, and all
of our mentors, they feel, counselors, psychologists, they just carry
so much, you know. And I feel bad for the
ones that don't believe that there is a higher power,
(06:59):
a guy that's mean, a God that is in charge.
You know, that it's supernatural and can be everywhere when
we're not. But for those who believe that, then there's
a piece that when you go home, you can lay
that down and be like, hey, little Johnny is hurting tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
God, we just give him to you. But also you
can breathe knowing that God's taking care of him. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Now I'm listening to you talk and I can just feel,
I could just feel how deep this is in your spirit.
And you know, when you're doing this type of work,
it's not only a calling, but you know you really
it's something you've been chosen for. And so I just
want to encourage you, thank you, and I'm going to
be praying for you that as you stand stand your
(07:47):
ground and root your feet firmly into what it is
that you've been called to do. I pray that everything
you invest that it will not only so in the moment,
but it will produce harvests for generations to come, so
that one young person that you're impacting today will also
(08:09):
cut off the root any other possibilities of bringing their
kids into that situation, or their children's children, so on
and so forth, so that the fruit of your labor
is in abundance. So I just want to encourage you
and just thank you for your willingness to commit to
the hard things.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Thank you, And I want to say, if you're watching
and twenty twenty five is a year that I believe
is for inconvenience and getting.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
And so if you feel like there is something that
you're supposed to be doing, I just want to encourage
you to get out of your comfort zone. Like not
everything that you are going to do is going to
feel comfortable or convenient.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Is it convenient to go to commit to something? No,
it's not. But let me tell you something that is.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
When you're set free, that's when you get all that
anxiety and depression, all the things that we deal with
just they cease because you're like, wow, life is not
about me. Life is not about us and our agenda.
It's about doing what we've been called to deal and.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That's when we're the happiest and most full of joy ladies.
And so yes, thank you, thank you so much Hayley
for joining me.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You know, I know we didn't have a long conversation today,
but I'm here and so we'll have opportunity to speak
again because I really do want to hear more about
what you're doing, and even more important than that, I
want to hear more about you and your journey and
how you got to where you are today, because I
think that's important, woman to woman, our ability to have
(09:40):
these types of conversations and present it as an opportunity
for other young women to hear experience so that they
have lights along the pathway so they can see where
they're going. And so I look forward to us having
a conversation again soon. Yes, but just know that you're
welcome to come and stay a while anytime, and you
will always have seat at my table.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Thank you, absolut awesome, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
M I V dot com for more inspiration for your mind,
body and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're
(10:28):
always welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe,
make yourself at home and stale wild Gone, Stale,
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