1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,940 In this episode, we welcome our guest Quentin Q. Booth, who shares his personal journey 2 00:00:08,940 --> 00:00:10,720 of faith and purpose. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:16,520 Q, our former Special Victims Unit Detective and Crisis Negotiator, discusses how his faith 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,840 led him to his current role at the Neighborhood Resilience Project, where he works to address 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,560 gun violence at its root cause. 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:30,960 Q's story is a powerful testament to the transformative power of faith and purpose, 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:35,720 and the importance of trusting in God's plan. 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,120 With that, let's dive in. 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,800 Hey guys, how's it going? 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:47,000 Welcome to this episode of Technically Short. 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,000 I'm Thomas. 12 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:49,000 I'm Sean. 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:55,600 And as you can already see, we have another guest on here, Quentin Booth. 14 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,480 I said that right. 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,280 You said it right, you guys can call me Q. 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,920 Yeah, we'll call you Q. 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:20,600 I know guys, this is the episode three of Why Are You Here? 18 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,960 And there's a whole series all about purpose. 19 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:31,960 And if you've watched the last episode or even the episode in the last series that we 20 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:43,560 did on excellence, you know that we bring people on that we respect, that we see in 21 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:44,560 a very good light. 22 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,720 I didn't really think about how to say that before. 23 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:56,840 And we just kind of get their perception of what the topic is, and in this case, its purpose. 24 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:04,080 Before you heard Kendall and then you heard Peter and then you heard us. 25 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,520 And so, yeah, let's get into it. 26 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,280 Well, glad to be here, guys. 27 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:10,280 Thank you. 28 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:11,280 Thank you for having me. 29 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:12,280 For sure, man. 30 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:13,280 Thank you. 31 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:14,280 Thank you. 32 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:15,280 We start with our exaltations. 33 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:16,280 Yes. 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:17,280 Yeah, you reminded me. 35 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:18,280 I almost forgot. 36 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,280 All right. 37 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:20,280 You want me to start? 38 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Or you want me to start? 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:22,280 Sure. 40 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,680 Well, let me get a quick explanation about it first. 41 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:31,040 So I don't know, Q, if you have listened to the last episodes, previous episodes, but 42 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,360 every time we have a guest on, we always like to start with some exaltations of, and it 43 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,040 kind of sets up the conversation. 44 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,760 And if any of the listeners are new, this is your first time, we do this every time 45 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:50,160 just to kind of set the foundation for who we see the guest speaker to be. 46 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,800 And so, yeah, you can start it off, Sean. 47 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:54,800 All right. 48 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,360 Quentin Boose, aka Q. How would I describe Q? 49 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:08,880 I describe Q as a man of God, wise, strong, hero, kind brother. 50 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:16,800 And I personally have a story where Q just recently helped me in my job career slash 51 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,960 job and he brought a pair of pants when I needed it. 52 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,560 Shout out to Q. That's great. 53 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,320 I tell you what, it was very random. 54 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,520 He says, hey, are you in Pittsburgh? 55 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:33,520 I need a pair of pants. 56 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:39,680 I'm just like, what is happening right now? 57 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,160 But I hope that went well for you, sir, because I was slightly concerned. 58 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,080 I was like, okay, whatever you need. 59 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,960 In review time, someone calls you and the only need is they just need a pair of pants. 60 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,960 I'm like, all right. 61 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,960 That's fantastic. 62 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:04,760 But yeah, so I'll go ahead with mine, with my exaltations. 63 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,880 And I just, the way I do it, typically, I just think of a few words and first thing 64 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,240 is pop into my head. 65 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:19,200 And what I have down is encouraging, happy, kindhearted, and a future father. 66 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:29,000 Because I've seen how you are with kids and I just get that feeling from you. 67 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:37,960 And it's pretty, yeah, whenever I was writing that down as we were talking before, I was 68 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:43,160 like, oh yeah, that's like, I just get that feeling from you. 69 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:44,320 I appreciate that. 70 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,000 I think it takes a lot for someone to be a father. 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,360 And so that is one of the highest honors that we could have. 72 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,200 So trust me and I appreciate that. 73 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:56,200 Guys, that's wonderful. 74 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,920 I hope I can give that back to you guys as well. 75 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,040 But let me tell you, if Minnie was just like, he said what? 76 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,600 Let's do a few years, all right? 77 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,400 We're still focused on being married. 78 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,720 We're going to focus on being married for a while. 79 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,360 But I truly appreciate that, guys, especially coming from YouTube, because I'm going to 80 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,240 give it back whether I was supposed to or not. 81 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:22,000 My experiences with Amplify and my faith in church and sanctuary, whatever we want to 82 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,600 call it, definitely you guys play a huge part in that because the first thing that comes 83 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:33,200 that pours out of your fruits is just the kind hearts that you guys have. 84 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,800 Hearing both of your stories and I don't know if you've talked about it before, but you 85 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:42,080 both have shared with me some of the struggles that you've been through. 86 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,760 But one of the things that don't get shook is your faith. 87 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:54,160 Tom talked about some of the things and we even have sometimes similar issues physically. 88 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,840 But one thing that you said is like, I'm praying and I have this faith and expectation that 89 00:05:57,840 --> 00:05:59,160 I'm going to get through it. 90 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:08,840 And then Sean, to me, you only exude just the pure faith, joy and happiness of God. 91 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:13,880 So one day whenever I saw that your smile wasn't as bright, I was like, well, wait a 92 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,240 minute. 93 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:25,080 Even some of the most in-depth and on fire people can be going through a trial and tribulation 94 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,420 but still have that joy and be showing it to other people. 95 00:06:28,420 --> 00:06:32,800 Only by my history, because I was a detective, I was able to say, wait a minute, let me ask 96 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:33,800 him twice. 97 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,000 Sean, how are you actually? 98 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:40,680 Because we all love to say, oh, we're good. 99 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,000 But we all go through things. 100 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:47,680 So trust me, being able to be on the show and hearing that you guys have a podcast and 101 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:52,340 you're talking about faith, I'm just like, as you say, Sean, these two legends here are 102 00:06:52,340 --> 00:06:55,400 able to spread their faith. 103 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:56,840 Let me see what this is about. 104 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:57,840 So thank you again. 105 00:06:57,840 --> 00:06:58,840 Man, I love you. 106 00:06:58,840 --> 00:06:59,840 That was a lot. 107 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:00,840 Thank you. 108 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:06,560 Really appreciate it for sure. 109 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:14,880 But yeah, Q, for those who don't know you, can you give a quick one to two minute rundown 110 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,880 of who Q is? 111 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:18,880 Quick one or two minute. 112 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:25,480 I can tell you, I'm going to start, I don't know yet because the person who I am is very 113 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:31,560 different from two to two and a half years ago when I got saved. 114 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,400 I would love to be able to say that I am a man of God. 115 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,920 I am a man of God first. 116 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,960 I used to be a special victims unit detective and a crisis negotiator for the city. 117 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:44,120 There was a season for that. 118 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,840 I did the best I could. 119 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:54,040 Then I moved on and now I'm the director of a nonprofit where we provide services holistically 120 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,280 to address gun violence at the root cause. 121 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:03,180 I address social determinants of health, social determinants of violence, but who I am really, 122 00:08:03,180 --> 00:08:08,560 I tried to just be someone who actively listens. 123 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,560 Whether I remember or not, you could ask many about that, but I tried to listen. 124 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:17,040 I tried to be present and just be a vessel for God. 125 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,320 Who does that look like in one to two minutes? 126 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:20,840 He's still working it out on me. 127 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,840 I'm very different than I was a month ago. 128 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:29,440 I'm very different honestly than who I was when I proposed to my fiance. 129 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,520 He's even grown me through that season. 130 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,520 So if that answers, I don't know, but that's what I got for you. 131 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:36,520 That's really good. 132 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:37,520 That's good. 133 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,120 I actually am curious, what's the name of that nonprofit? 134 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,160 I work for Neighborhood Resilience Project. 135 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:49,200 We operate in the Hill District, but we also operate on a county level. 136 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:53,680 What I do is I'm the director of nonviolence, but we are the conveners for a county wide 137 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,720 effort to stop gun violence. 138 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:00,840 So I meet with stakeholders and community members and try to bring them to the table 139 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:06,520 and address gun violence really, but what can they do to optimize it and what can they 140 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:07,800 do to work together? 141 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:08,800 Okay. 142 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:09,800 That's really good. 143 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,600 I had no idea. 144 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:13,600 That's really great. 145 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,480 You have said that throughout the whole Westmoreland County? 146 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:19,480 Allegheny County. 147 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:20,480 Allegheny. 148 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:21,480 Sorry. 149 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:22,480 Allegheny, not Westmoreland. 150 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:23,920 There's a few different things I do there. 151 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,920 I am actually right now the interim chief operating officer as well. 152 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,920 So part of the C-suite. 153 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,440 Like I said, God has me in a new season and every day looks different. 154 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:42,280 So I'm learning how to be in charge, but still being the same person, still recognizing that 155 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,360 these employees are looking to me for leadership. 156 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,280 They're looking to me for faith. 157 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:48,640 I'm still talking about faith. 158 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,160 It's a church that I work for really. 159 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,680 We are Christian based. 160 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:59,460 But then also doing the things that I do for the community, we also provide it. 161 00:09:59,460 --> 00:10:03,600 We work with five different nonprofits to provide resources for students in the Stowe 162 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,680 Rocks community. 163 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:11,320 And so I work with those CEOs and those program managers to really figure out how can we bring 164 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:16,520 students or IE community members across the county resources. 165 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,800 That really just address root causes. 166 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:25,560 I don't even know if that was a question, but I wanted to say. 167 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:31,800 Is there a link or something that we can put in the show notes for that? 168 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:36,040 Yeah, I can send it to you, but honestly, if you just Google neighborhood resilience 169 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,200 project, it's right there. 170 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:45,840 Their mission really is to just inspire movement and to provide trauma informed community development 171 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:53,720 that would take communities who've suffered in trauma, who suffered in generations of 172 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:59,280 underserved and they try to help them transform to healing and healthy communities. 173 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:04,720 So it's just, as I said two years ago, I was a detective. 174 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:10,500 And when I left that job, I mean, you guys know, but it was a leap of faith and I had 175 00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:11,920 no idea what I was going to do. 176 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,920 I had no idea what job I was going to do. 177 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,240 I just knew that God delivered me from that. 178 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,680 And we're talking about purpose. 179 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:25,440 Imagine telling your parents, hey, I left my almost six figure job with benefits. 180 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,240 Don't know what I'm going to do, but waiting on God. 181 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:35,920 My dad was like, I might put you in a whip because like, what are you talking about? 182 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:40,880 But when I told him that I knew for a fact that God had something different for me, all 183 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,680 he could do was say, okay, all right, let's pray on it. 184 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:50,080 And where I landed, it is literally only a work of God. 185 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,880 That's how I can talk about it. 186 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:58,160 It took him nine months to deliver me from where I was at, which like I said, I love 187 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,160 that job, you know, special victims unit. 188 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:05,200 I was working with women and children and people who were victims of crimes and empowering 189 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,640 them and giving them back their identity, right? 190 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:08,640 Helping them get there. 191 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,600 But, you know, there was a season for that. 192 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,720 But in nine months, he helped me get some mental health back. 193 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:21,880 I found out later, you know, I do have PTSD, but he gave me a job I didn't know existed, 194 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:27,080 but doing something that he knew that I would love before I even knew it was a thing. 195 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:28,640 I didn't apply for the job I'm in. 196 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,360 I applied actually for something called a trauma response coordinator because all I 197 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,840 know really, you know, I was a crisis negotiator and a detective. 198 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,120 All I know is trauma response. 199 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:46,800 But just through the grace of God, my director, or I'm sorry, my COO, she said, hey, so I 200 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,480 see that you applied for that, but you might be a little overqualified. 201 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:51,480 How would you like this? 202 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,120 And she gave me the details of the job, but she never said the title and she never said 203 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:56,600 the pay. 204 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:02,360 And through just trusting God, I had a generalized idea that I wanted to work for Neighborhood 205 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:03,780 Resilience Project. 206 00:13:03,780 --> 00:13:05,440 So I accepted it. 207 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:14,360 And talking about purpose and how it was designed, somebody, you know, Robin Leah Galskowski, 208 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,320 who are, I believe, pastors over at Amplify, close friends of mine, they're going to be 209 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,040 in my wedding, you know, really close friends. 210 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,000 They told me, they were like, hey, this guy we know from Sacred Heart, it's around the 211 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,380 corner from Sanctuary. 212 00:13:27,380 --> 00:13:30,760 He heard you had applied for Neighborhood Resilience Project and he wanted us to let 213 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:35,160 you know that he's praying that you get that job and that it is everything that you needed 214 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:36,160 to be. 215 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,680 And to be honest with you, in my thought process, should I go, you know, federal law enforcement 216 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:45,120 or should I take this chance on this nonprofit? 217 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,960 After I heard that, I said, I have not got any other sign from God other than this random 218 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:54,840 person I've never met before who's praying for me. 219 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,220 Neighborhood Resilience Project might be the right option, right? 220 00:13:57,220 --> 00:13:58,800 So I take this leap of faith. 221 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,440 I don't even follow up on the federal government job, but like, don't tell my parents that 222 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:03,440 if you're watching, I'm sorry. 223 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,440 I let it go. 224 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,840 I didn't follow up. 225 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:11,520 I go to Neighborhood Resilience Project and it was the best decision I ever made. 226 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,240 And then now that guy actually works for Neighborhood Resilience Project. 227 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,720 So now we even get to operate in the same place. 228 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:23,760 But since then, like gentlemen, when I tell you that it has been a whirlwind of like, 229 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,760 I used to talk about being the change. 230 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:33,960 I used to operate as a detective and trying to change culture or change the system one 231 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:35,560 person at a time. 232 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:40,680 But now I work in politics and nonprofit politics and I get to hear people's ideas and then 233 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,040 help them implement this and help and talk to community members. 234 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:50,120 And I had no idea that I was going to be here, but God did, right? 235 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:57,200 And that part with, it took me trusting that God knew what my purpose was and that he knew 236 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:03,480 that this leap of faith, all I had to do was sit and remain and trust in him and I got 237 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:04,480 here. 238 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,640 So it's been truly a blessing. 239 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,680 And today, the reason I'm even high on that is today literally marks the start of my second 240 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:12,680 year. 241 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:14,680 So one full year has been completed. 242 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:15,680 Wow. 243 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:16,680 That's a blessing. 244 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,320 Dude, that is an amazing story. 245 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:21,320 Yeah. 246 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:22,320 That's really great. 247 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:29,040 You said like God knew where you were going to be and the faith that you had to have in 248 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:37,920 order to stick with that, in order to like hold out and just be like, I know God had 249 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:46,020 something for me and I know God has this for me and I know that then the confirmation came 250 00:15:46,020 --> 00:15:48,440 and you had the faith that that was confirmation. 251 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,800 I think that's really cool. 252 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:52,360 That's inspiring. 253 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:58,080 Yeah, I definitely can't talk about that story without talking about the doubt though, and 254 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:02,040 I'll talk about trying to do in my own effort. 255 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,560 So in that nine months, I tried, I want to say three different jobs, right? 256 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:08,520 And it never felt right. 257 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,680 I worked for this place called Assemble. 258 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:11,680 What they do is amazing. 259 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,960 This is not like, I just wasn't a good fit for that, but they go into schools and areas 260 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,280 and they teach kids like STEM, right? 261 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,640 But I barely know anything about science. 262 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:23,640 Minnie was doing it. 263 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:25,240 She's like a science genius. 264 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,560 I'm trying to figure out how to craft and like put things together to teach it. 265 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,840 And I was like, okay, this was fun. 266 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:32,840 I love children. 267 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,540 That's why I went, but not a right fit. 268 00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:41,320 And then I went to another, I won't say the names of these places anymore. 269 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:48,240 I went to a alternative school as a kind of like a guidance counselor. 270 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:49,900 Wasn't a good fit. 271 00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:53,160 And people close to me kept saying like, you have to trust God. 272 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,080 You have to pray and trust God. 273 00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:00,520 If you keep trying to do it in your own effort, you're going to wind up not happy. 274 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,640 And so it took three times for me to be like, okay, all right, I'm not going to just keep 275 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:10,920 applying to everywhere because it's hard to, if I was being honest and I love to be transparent, 276 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:16,800 it's hard to continue having faith and trust when bills are due, when you're wondering 277 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:21,400 how you're going to pay for your meal and all of that. 278 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:22,520 But I did. 279 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:29,880 And I ultimately ended up having to just submit and say, okay, I'm going to trust God here. 280 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:31,440 And then that sign came. 281 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,440 So I said, okay, this is how I'm going to do it. 282 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:35,440 This is the route I'm taking. 283 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:36,440 That's so powerful. 284 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:37,440 Thank you for touching on that. 285 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:38,440 Thank you for going in. 286 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,280 Thank you for touching on that. 287 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:48,120 Thank you for going into that because if you didn't go into that part of it, then it wouldn't 288 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:53,480 have been as relatable to other people who are like, well, I doubted. 289 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,680 So I doubted God. 290 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:02,200 So I guess I don't have a strong faith or there's people that can maybe even doubt themselves 291 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:07,160 if they hear sort of like that of somebody saying that, not saying that they didn't doubt, 292 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,760 but not saying that they did. 293 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:17,920 Even now as this supposed to be interim COO, I kept finding myself asking God, I'm not 294 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,200 qualified for what you have. 295 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:21,200 How did I get here? 296 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,880 And the answer really is only by God did I get here. 297 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:31,440 And so I would tell people who may be doubting themselves or may believe that they're not 298 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:33,680 qualified in their own right. 299 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:42,240 But if God had, and you hear it all the time, but by my story, even I was the youngest negotiator. 300 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,960 I was the youngest detective. 301 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:50,200 And then in a system that a lot of people said wasn't meant for me. 302 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,240 But I'll tell you this, as far as that, then going to the director of a nonprofit with 303 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:59,800 zero nonprofit experience, don't get me wrong, I do have a master's degree in public policy 304 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:00,800 and management. 305 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,920 And all of that, God will qualify you. 306 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,080 You just have to be a vessel. 307 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:10,600 And so that's what I will tell anybody is if you by having faith in being obedient to 308 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,880 his word got you to where you're at, then you're qualified because he has it for you. 309 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,720 And only by God will we have the power to continue to do this. 310 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,000 Because I mess up, I mess up at work. 311 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,400 I'm having to learn payroll and I've never done payroll before. 312 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,160 And people are serious about their money. 313 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:37,320 And so it gets a lot, but I work for an amazing CEO who his name is Father Paul Abernathy. 314 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:43,800 And it's his thing they call it a Paris sanctuary, Orthodox Christian. 315 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:50,440 But for me, he just shows the epitome that you still have to just trust God. 316 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:55,520 And working for a C-suite, this man will come in, he will ask for the world, and then be 317 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:57,240 like, you guys can figure it out. 318 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,920 And so trust me, it's like, we just have to just trust God. 319 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:08,320 He said, hey, how do you guys feel about making a change to juvenile justice? 320 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,320 And I'm like, okay. 321 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,280 He's like, all right, well, let's hear about this in like two weeks. 322 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,000 And a lot of CEOs operate like that. 323 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:25,680 And when I talk about purpose, I got into that work trying to just reduce gun violence, 324 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,020 bring people to the table, being the right stakeholders. 325 00:20:29,020 --> 00:20:33,120 And now I possibly might have a chance to influence juvenile justice on a county, possibly 326 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:36,480 national level. 327 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,440 Not qualified for that. 328 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:47,200 But I have faith in God and I've been able to be obedient to his word and by that, through 329 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:52,560 the fellowship and also through Christian fellowship, I've been able to make contacts 330 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,040 with other Christians who are qualified for that. 331 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,800 And I went to this conference, I think it was called the Man Up Conference. 332 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:08,120 And I want to just so I can really highlight what I mean by doubting in all of this. 333 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:12,320 I think there was like a Steeler there, Mike Talman maybe, it was a big event. 334 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,320 But I got up and I asked, how do you operate as a Christian in politics? 335 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:22,480 Because I had already gotten in trouble for saying Jesus too much in this type of setting. 336 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,440 They said it was exclusionary to people. 337 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:30,200 Jesus loves everybody, but we'll get to that part. 338 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:37,760 But I had made connections with other men of God in that scenario who I ended up working 339 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,560 with back here in Pittsburgh. 340 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,880 And they have connections with other Christians and other people of faith who work in the 341 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:47,600 juvenile justice area. 342 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:53,880 So what I'm telling about purpose for me, I was doubting how am I going to do it and 343 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:59,040 then lost my faith of how am I going to be a vessel to let God do it, to get out of my 344 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,560 own way, let him do it, because he was already doing it. 345 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:09,080 And so now I've been able to find this cohort of Christians who love children and who can 346 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:10,960 bring their own expertise into it. 347 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,160 And we're all sitting here saying, okay, let's just be, Sean, you may have heard the word 348 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:19,000 a lot when I say it, but let's just be this ecclesia of Christians who are getting out 349 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,360 of the way and letting God in and we can affect the community. 350 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:27,920 So when we're talking about purpose, because I had to study this, guys. 351 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,960 I didn't want to come and not have any idea, but I also didn't want to be very fake and 352 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,400 just give you all these bookwork things because that's not how I operate. 353 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:43,400 So for me, purpose is, especially as a Christian, is finding a way to do what it is he's called 354 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,440 us to do, but getting out of the way for God. 355 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:53,560 And because if we're talking about crisis negotiation or detective work or COO work 356 00:22:53,560 --> 00:23:02,480 or directive work, the only person who qualified me through my own experiences was God. 357 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:09,200 I hopefully all the time have a good heart and am kind to people, but I am just a man 358 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,960 and there's some people who don't like me. 359 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,320 There's some people who don't like the policies I hold or the direction I take the company 360 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,440 or anything like that. 361 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:24,160 But when I take myself out of it and just be obedient to his purpose, to his calling, 362 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:31,280 it's been one a wild ride, but honestly, it's so much easier. 363 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:32,280 It's just so much easier. 364 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,280 All right. 365 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:34,760 I'll get off that sub box for a second. 366 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:43,760 No, man. 367 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:44,760 I think that was really good. 368 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,600 Guys, thank you for listening to part one of this episode with Quentin Booth. 369 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,280 It was a great conversation that Sean and I had. 370 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:58,320 And while Sean is still out on basic training, keep him in your prayers and we'll see you 371 00:23:58,320 --> 00:23:59,320 in part two. 372 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:00,320 All right. 373 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:01,320 See you next time. 374 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:07,640 All right.