Welcome to the Thuravot Journey.
We're a new podcast dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs to uncover and embrace their
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Now in turn, we promise to keep bringing you content that enlivens, edifies, and elevates
your journey, not just as an entrepreneur, but as a human being.
And with that, I want to thank you for being a part of the Thuravot Journey.
And welcome to another episode of the Thuravot Journey.
I'm your host, L. Michael Burt.
And today we, oh my God, I don't even really have words right now because I'm excited to
bring to you three of my great friends, supposed to be four, but three of my great friends,
my ace boom, coon with my trues that we met years ago and we'll talk about.
And I have Reagan Sidney, Mark Davis, Chris Gibson.
What's up, y'all?
Hey, baby.
What's up?
I'm good to be here.
What is it?
It is.
Hi.
My name is Mark.
Okay, we have a.
What's going to be about podcasts?
You're going to get, you're going to put the whole life in life.
You're going to put the whole shit down.
You're going to get the real.
This honestly is probably one of the most surreal moments that I've had on a podcast
and I do a lot of this.
So this is honestly the most surreal moments that I've had in this kind of space.
So I'm glad you're here.
Yes.
And I'm super grateful.
Thank you for inviting me and I'm excited.
Well, when I was talking to Yvonne, who she's the she helps produce, she produces the podcast
with me.
And I was like, I had, I thought of this episode because I was talking to people that I don't
really know, right?
I get a moment to meet with them and I can create an instant connection with them.
And I was like, what would it be like for someone that I already know that I know they know me,
I know them and how would that energy actually flow as we're just looking at each other through
the camera?
Right?
Yeah.
My first question for you, all three.
Who is Reagan Sidney?
Who is Marc Davis?
Who is Chris Gibson?
Reagan, go ahead and start today.
Today.
Yeah.
Who are you today?
Today.
So today, Reagan Sidney is a event planner.
She is a chef.
She is a political influencer here in town of New Orleans.
She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she grew up in Ann Arbor, as most of you do
know, but she's been here for the last almost 20 years now, 17 years.
She's single.
She's a homo.
Hello.
Ready to mingle?
There you go.
I know.
I'm so crazy is I've been trying to date and I just like being single.
Okay.
I know what it is.
I'm being beautiful and this skin and I just realized I actually had to break up with someone
recently and I feel bad because I didn't do it.
I didn't do it.
And I own that.
I did not do it well and I had to apologize because I just realized that this is not what
I want for my life and I didn't do it well.
So yeah.
What are you smiling at?
I'm bucketing mom.
I have an amazing dog.
Yes, you're here in the background.
That's a dog that you hear in the background.
I bought this house what three months ago and has a pool and an outdoor space and all
the things that I've been wanting literally my whole life.
And so I'm, I cannot tell you how much I am so grateful to God that he finally found a
way to give me everything that I've been wanting.
There you go.
That's just the beginning and that's what he's telling me.
It's just the beginning.
Even when I had this house blessed, God told me that this is just, this is your first house.
This is not the house.
This is the start of home.
Okay.
Mark Davis, who is Mark Davis?
Yes, indeed.
Well, I'm just a brother of peace, love, and joy.
From the D, Goliath, I could finally say something like that.
What's this trying to live a life of purpose?
And yes, indeed, continue to live with love.
I'm a financial aid advisor.
I'm a new author, screenwriter, lover.
No.
Well, yeah, just on a mission to really, at this stage in my life, give back in ways
that's authentic to me.
In a nutshell, that's what who Mark Davis is and what I'm all about.
Well, hello, Mark Davis.
Yes, indeed.
AKA Pock.
Pock?
Yeah.
My Western folks still got the day going.
That's so funny.
Yeah.
It's so funny because, you know, we're still connected, even though if we don't talk for
months or years, it's like when we do talk, we pick up right where we left off, there's
like nothing missing, right?
Mark and I had a conversation, I don't know, it was months ago, and I was like, oh man,
it's been so long. Do I even call him Pock anymore?
Like, you know, but he was like, people still call me Pock, man.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
He called me the other day and he was like, happy birthday Pock.
So it's all love, man.
Right.
Well, most indeed.
Chris.
Well, man, I just, again, I'm honored to be on this podcast.
I see what you're doing, Sands.
You're doing an amazing job.
And so when you called, I was like, man, anything, anytime, any place, just let me know.
I'll be there.
So thank you for this opportunity.
But I think Reagan hit it on the head.
And when you ask that question, like, if you mean right now, today, I will speak from the
current tense.
And so I am a father of two amazing kids, Olivia Jonah.
My daughter is a junior at University of Texas in Austin.
My son is a junior in high school.
And so I'm also a husband to Monique Gibson of 22 years.
She's an amazing woman.
And guess what y'all?
Mike Burt is the one who hooked me up with my wife just in case y'all didn't know.
No.
I don't want to do this.
I'm a Cupid.
Yes.
So Mike is.
No idea.
Let's go.
Mike, without Mike, I'm not here.
I'm not married.
I don't have kids.
I'm not married.
So I think I'm a little different.
So my life would probably be a little different,
but I am a principal.
I've been in education now for going on 23 years.
I've been an administration for the last 10.
I am an author and I am in ordained minister as well.
And I believe my calling in life is just to basically be an example of Christ
and make Christ known and then just make his love known.
And so that's what I do.
I try to love people, love kids obviously,
and just do what I do.
There you go.
Well, again, welcome, y'all.
Hey, the funny thing is I was always thinking
through time after Western and all that.
I was like, man, we met in 1995.
95, 96, yeah.
Yeah, 95, 90.
Wow.
Oh yeah, 95, 96.
I think, well, Christ, I met in 97, I think.
Yeah.
Pocket Night News each other says 95.
Yeah, friggin' 96.
96.
Christ, 96, 97, I think it's 97.
That's right.
Mm-hmm.
How much time has flown by, man?
A long time.
You know what I mean?
I met a kid today, I met a woman today, a woman,
grown as a woman.
She was born in 94.
I could have been your mama.
God bless me that I'm not children.
Hey, listen.
I'm just saying.
Listen, it's some people our age that's grandparents, so.
That's true, yeah.
A lot of our friends are grandparents.
Yeah, that's real.
A lot of our friends are grandparents.
Yeah, well, I'm a great uncle.
And like, you know, 47, going on 48,
I'm like a great, great uncle actually.
It's a lot, man.
Yeah.
Wow.
But it's a blessing indeed for sure.
It is a blessing.
It's children.
I love them.
I can't see Mickey.
So, Mark, do you have children?
No, no kids.
Me either.
Yeah.
Single, no kids.
I'm the only one on this podcast who got kids.
You're the only one on this podcast
and married.
And Eric was here.
He was here with you.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we are missing a fourth person, Eric.
Eric is actually his anniversaries on Thursday.
And he did not tell his wife he was gonna be
on a podcast today.
So she booked him and her a flight
to Denver, Colorado for the anniversary.
Oh, wow.
He called me today or yesterday, he was like,
man, I can't make it, man.
My wife, man.
She booked me a flight, man, in Denver.
I was like, bro, like, did she not tell her you
were gonna be on a podcast?
Nah, man, I did.
I thought we was gonna do something.
No, bro.
I thought it was gonna be a regular Wednesday night.
Right.
So we are missing him, but he's here in spirit
and in the air.
Now, is he married?
Well, he's married.
Does he have kids too?
He, yeah, he has one kid from earlier.
Not from the marriage.
So this is his second marriage.
Okay.
Yeah, from, yeah, this,
yeah, second marriage.
Yeah.
So, you know, Mark hit on some of the things
that we're gonna talk about, but I wanna kind of share
the intention of the show and we'll get deep into it later on,
but really the intention of the show is to show
like transformative stories, your stories,
and talk about you finding your purpose
or are you finding your purpose
and talk about your power of resilience,
your vision and authenticity in creating a life
of greatness and significance.
It's a lot, right?
Yeah, that's deep.
It's very, very, a lot of mouthful.
My head.
Peace.
On a Wednesday night too.
I mean, gosh.
You're unhappy at it.
It'll only work.
I don't know.
Please, I don't know.
I don't know.
What's on your mind when I say,
Reagan, you go first.
Don't.
Why?
I wasn't gonna do that.
No, it's good.
Reagan, go for it.
No, I'm just kidding.
What's on your mind when I say that though?
Well, I mean, I will say this.
I think the, what's happened in my life
is that I have continuously evolved.
There's never been a moment even between,
like I remember my twenties when I moved to Maryland,
I found myself as a woman for the first time.
I think I was a little girl, younger,
when I was in my early 20s, 18, 19, 20s.
But when I turned 25, 26, 27,
there was a change that happened that I found myself.
And I actually dated an older man at that time.
So he helped me kind of navigate that space.
In my 30s, I learned how to be broke and be good.
What does that mean?
As a person was.
30s?
Oh, what a horrible day.
What's so damn broke?
God, why?
It's every time.
But I went to Israel, I went to Jamaica,
I've been to all these places.
And I just enjoyed my 30s, but it was hard.
Like I worked really, really hard to just live, right?
And I think what other 30 year olds need to understand is,
it's not gonna be easy because you're trying to find
your footing and trying to learn how to save
and still live and still, you're an adult now,
when you're in your 30s.
But then when you hit your 40s.
Things started to cost a little better.
Maybe.
You make a little more better decisions.
You know, sexually free, honestly.
And I think that's something to be said about women,
especially black women who don't own always
their sexuality very well.
I think also we are moving into learning how to spin
and save and make really good financial decisions,
which is super important at this age.
I bought this house because I make entirely
too much money not to.
Like it just didn't make sense not to.
You know what I'm saying?
Like I just, I don't have a husband.
I don't have anybody else.
So when I don't make them rent, guess what?
Ain't no rent.
I'm gonna take more games.
I'm gonna take it all out.
But I'm also, I mean, I'm also a bona fide hustler.
Reagan, always have been.
I don't have a problem working hard.
And I think that's one thing that I would,
if I could teach this generation that's coming up right now,
they have a hard time working hard.
And they don't know what that looks like.
They don't understand how important it is
to give your all to somebody and to something.
This is why their relationships don't work.
And this is also why they can't keep a job.
You know, that's a good question.
I mean, that's a good view.
What do you think is,
what does influence their actions
into being that kind of person?
You guys, any?
Anyone.
I was gonna think as I'll tell you what it is.
It's us.
It's our fault.
We made it look easy.
It's their parents said, we got you no matter what.
And that's the problem.
Any thoughts on that?
I mean, I can attest to that and agree to that,
that parents played a part.
I would think the change in technology plays
a huge role as well.
Yeah.
A bigger role than I think we even can imagine, right?
Like just think of kids now nowadays,
they're just seeing snapshots, highlight reels.
In real time, well, I don't know how real
you wanna call social media platforms,
you know, with respect to the podcast, of course.
Yeah, you know, it's part of the social media.
Where you going with this, man?
No, but I think that place,
a huge part of it with the younger generation
and how they feel and how they might approach life
and maybe being a little bit more reserved, if you will.
And their approach with things and work.
So I think social media definitely put a spin on that
for sure for them and the younger generation.
Yeah, Chris, you have two teenagers.
One in college, one high school, doing well.
What is your view?
Yeah, so no, I think Mara Kiddit on the head
and I'm gonna speak from more,
I can speak from a parental's perspective,
but I also can speak from a principal perspective
because I see it in my school.
So what's different now is, you know,
social media has changed everything.
It has changed the way people parent their kids.
It has changed traditional values that we grew up with.
Your image is everything at this point.
And even if you have kids who grow up in a two parent home
or they are raised well or they're involved
in all these activities,
they still have to battle comparison.
They still have to battle keeping up with the Joneses.
And, you know, they have the imagery of the Kardashians
or, you know, Nicki Minaj or, you know, whoever it is,
that's who they're trying to be like.
And so they bring that into the schoolhouse.
And so, you know, when we have dress code violations,
they don't understand that.
Or if they're talking back to the teachers or adults,
parents are like, well, what's wrong with that?
She's expressing herself, you know,
she's advocating for herself.
And we're just like, okay,
if my mama had to come up here and talk to me
about this stuff, she would be on the news.
It's like today, you don't have that.
I mean, it's like, you know, you're parenting parents.
I mean, we have to have parenting classes for parents.
And it's just a totally different dynamic.
And I think you can even go,
and that's not even including COVID.
You know, what COVID did to that, you know,
demographic of children is amazing.
And they're still coming out of that.
So I think when you compare, you know,
that with the social media, with the different era,
you know, our society is way different
than it was even just 15 years ago.
When you were talking about that,
my mind went back, back to elementary.
I remember my mom got some kind of note
for how I was acting or my classes or whatever.
So we went to the school,
we walked down the street to the school.
My mom talked to the teacher,
got done talking to the teacher,
you walk them back up the street.
And my mom asked me, are you going to do,
I don't know, homework or whatever the teacher had asked me
to do or told her about that I should be doing.
I said, no, just like that.
I didn't know what was coming next.
Wow.
You went to the house and she said,
what'd you say?
No.
I got my butt torn up.
Probably.
Yeah.
Now you know that probably wouldn't happen today though.
No, no, no, no.
No.
No, not, yeah.
Well, that's your right.
That's your right.
No, it's not your right.
And that's the problem.
These rights and reserves and all of that.
Now don't get me wrong.
I mean, we can go down,
there is a whole level of politics
that go behind this, right?
And we're not gonna go,
hopefully we'll stay away from that tonight
because I don't have it in me.
But I will say this,
I think there's something to be said
about parenting your kids.
And one thing,
my brother has four boys.
And all of them respect him to an amazing level
because he don't play that shit.
Ryan don't play.
But he is like, listen,
my father raised me, my mother raised me
and what I am gonna do is raise my sons.
And it's something about that that has to be said.
Like you have, you're not your kid's friend.
Correct.
You are their parent.
It is your responsibility to make sure
that they don't kill me.
Right.
Get your kids.
Yeah.
Get your kids.
Hold on, let me get my.
Get your kids.
Yeah.
Hi, real quick.
Why is that a thing?
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
It's the difference of generations for sure.
Yeah.
Being raised by social media is just a travesty.
I mean, the intention of what social media
was supposed to be was more to connect and,
you know, all that good stuff.
But it's been, it's been bastardized.
It's been.
It was back up.
It was not.
It was to share information.
Share information.
You're right.
Remember the World Wide Web was not for anything else,
but to share information.
We were only supposed to be doing this.
Remember this back when we were in like 10th and 9th grade,
back in the 1900s, and we,
10th and 11th of the week.
Oh, we're gonna give you this thing.
And all you have to do is click this button.
Yeah, but wait,
why'd you say 1900s like that though?
18th?
Yeah.
Reagan.
Why'd you say 1900s like that?
Like we like, but who's the next?
Oh, back in the 1900s.
Back in the 1900s.
Hold on a second, my friends are crazy.
One of my good friends told me that.
She was like, back in the 1900s.
This is how we were raised.
I was like, is she not wrong?
It makes me feel so old.
Yeah.
Cause 2000s is very different.
Yeah, it is.
It is.
Yeah.
That's true.
Anything else to be said about that?
I mean, you got these millennials who are parents.
And I think, you know, like I deal with a lot of parents
who, you know, they're probably in their mid 30s
and or maybe younger than that.
Yeah.
And their idea of parenting is totally different.
You know, they, it used to be where like,
if a teacher called you, your parents,
for and just said, Hey, you know,
Mike was talking in class today or, you know,
Reagan didn't do her homework or, you know,
Mark wasn't, you know, paying attention.
Man, that was it.
There was no debate.
There was no argument.
It was like, okay, I'll thank you for calling.
I'm gonna handle it today.
No, that whole conversation is like, well,
what do you mean, you know, she didn't have her homework.
I know she turned it in.
You just lost it or something.
I mean, like there's just, it's talking about it.
It is not a partnership like it used to be.
And I think that's one reason why you see a lot
of educators today leaving the field
because they don't want to put up with these parents.
It's not the kids because the kids are gonna be kids.
Their brains are not fully developed.
We expect kids to make mistakes.
That's why they're in school.
I could deal with kids all day.
It's the parents that take the air out of the room.
And so I think that's the issue and the problem
that a lot of us are having, at least in my field.
So.
Yeah, that makes sense.
How do you navigate that as a principal?
I mean, it's hard because I, you know,
I have to be professional at all times,
even when I don't want to be.
And I have to remember these things when I speak to people.
And I try to leave with love and encouragement,
but it's hard, man, because like I've been cussed out.
I've been, you know, blasting on social media.
You know, you name it, I've probably dealt with it.
But, you know, the one thing that my mentor always told me
was, look, man, as long as you stick to policy,
data and facts, you'll always come out on top.
And that's true.
And so, you know, you don't have to like me,
but I'm gonna tell you how it is.
And, you know, afterwards we can hug or cry it out,
but you gotta be honest with parents, man,
because if you don't, they're gonna have a very false sense
of who their children really are,
because there's two stages.
There's the stage at home,
and then there's a stage at school.
The stage at school has an audience
that they don't have at home.
So when you call home and say, hey, you know,
Johnny was doing this, they're like, what?
Not my Johnny.
And you're like, yes, ma'am, it was your Johnny.
We got it on here.
Yeah, differently.
So I mean, you know, so yeah, deal with that.
It's never their Johnny.
No, not my Johnny.
No, it was Johnny.
Yeah, I got it.
I got it.
And Chris, you know, since you are an educator
in that system, it seemed like even before social media
took off and the internet took off,
there still seemed like it was a fine line
between parents disciplining their kids
and the school system.
You know, at a certain point in time, it was like,
hey, we don't wanna hear about a certain level
of discipline for your child,
or it's gonna be an issue with CPS or whoever
with the school.
And that was even before social media.
So did that have an impact on, you know, parenting
and how, you know, what parents are allowed
or what they can and cannot do,
you know, as far as laws and looking at it
from a school's perspective, you know,
what was the effects of that?
Yeah, I think a lot of that depends on where you work,
because I can tell you, I started my career
out in Detroit public schools on the East side.
The person's lower East side by Mac and B-week.
It was a great hood over there.
I know it well.
But I learned so much at that campus.
Man, I used to have parents ask me for my belt
to whoop their kids.
And I was like, go, you know, like,
I'm a queen of the whole field, you know.
So in those kind of environments, you know,
we were like, do what you gotta do, but you're right.
I think in today's society, that would be frowned upon,
but I think it depends on the district.
Like if you're in a suburban district versus
an urban district, a rural district,
those things can make a difference.
But, you know, and there's people who have different
philosophies of discipline in their child.
Like there's some people who don't believe in spankings.
You know, they believe in the time out
and they believe in verbal conversations and all of that.
And that's great.
But I mean, I just know how I was raised.
And I'm not saying that I was raised perfectly,
but I got that bill.
And I knew once I kept getting that bill,
I was like, you know what, this ain't worth it.
Let me just forget it.
Let me just go ahead and line up.
And get it right.
That was how my parents raised me.
So, yeah.
So New Orleans has a all black male high school
called St. Augustine.
It's St. Augustine.
It's one of the best high schools almost in the country.
And it started out, my father went there,
my pastor went there.
Most black men, prominent black men
that live here in New Orleans have been to this high school.
They graduated from this high school.
They had corporal punishment up until, I think,
like four or five years ago.
What's corporate punishment at a high school?
They used to put them in a cut.
Yes.
No.
What?
Which used to be illegal years ago.
And was legal years.
Oh, yeah.
I get that.
Yeah.
Ears.
Now, don't get me wrong.
Now, they have taken it out.
But these kids are still graduating at almost 100% rate.
They are not failing.
And they are making millions.
I think they did $3 million last year in scholarships.
Like, this school is not to be played with.
But the end of the discussion is, how do we make sure our,
let's hone this bag down.
How do we make sure our kids are doing well?
I mean, as much as I appreciate white kids and I'm
a little bit whatever, I'm sorry, it ain't my thing.
I care about our kids.
And what are we going to do to make sure that they are good?
And this is the kind of situation that we're talking about.
Like, our kids at St. Aug are doing well and graduating
and going on to three and four levels of college
after that, finishing secondary educations
because they have discipline.
Now, they don't corporal discipline anymore.
They used to.
They can't do it anymore.
They outlawed it and all this other stuff, whatever.
But they said they can see the difference.
But they have always, I mean, we're
talking about senators and congressmen.
And I mean, they do well.
Nice.
Because there is a high level of discipline.
Children need discipline.
So you think discipline is missing?
My mom is still coming to my house to see this first.
That's funny.
Mine too.
I'm a real dad.
And I wish I would question that.
As much as, I mean, my mother and I are best friends.
But there is a moment when she turns into Cynthia's mama.
And I'd be like, OK, yes, mom.
OK, I'm sorry.
Well, let's turn the tables here a little bit.
Like, when we're talking about kids of this generation
and how they're growing up, let's go back to our generation
how we grew up.
You guys have grown up and you've
accomplished so much in your life.
Let's talk about it a little bit.
Mark, you wrote a children's book, which I never, like,
where did that come from?
Whatever had thought that.
Go.
Come on, y'all.
Let me say this.
Mark wrote a script.
I was living in Los Angeles at the time.
And he gave me the script.
Somewhere in my email that got lost,
I asked for another script.
He said no.
He told me no.
He said, man.
You know what?
That's a bold face lie on your part.
He told me I'm not giving it to you again, Bert.
That's what he said.
I don't have it.
Maybe the third time I said no.
Maybe.
But you went from writing a script to writing a children's
book.
How did that come about?
Well, you know, Bert.
Here we go.
I always had a net for storytelling.
So I mean, even as a kid, I would write poems.
I would draw just being a creative person.
So as I went off to college, I definitely
had a love for film.
So film was my thing, as you know,
study communications with the emphasis in film.
And that's how I fell into screenwriting.
So screenwriting, again, was just another opportunity
for me to express myself in storytelling.
So fast forward.
Graduated from college.
Still writing screenplays, as you know.
And there's a bigger screenplay.
Writing screenplays is more than just writing screenplays.
It's the stuff that you don't see
is trying to sell the screenplays,
trying to get noticed.
Producers.
Submitting my screenplays to festivals and writing workshops
and competitions, which is cool.
You get noticed.
You get critiqued.
Good critique, but you know, I went from screenwriting
to saying, OK, all right.
I want to, like I said, I got to the point
where I wanted to get back.
And I felt like the screenplays was cool,
but I wanted to give back in real time.
What could I do?
I like to tell stories.
So it's funny that we started off
with talking about kids and children.
So what better way to give back is
to start with the kiddos.
So I'm just like, let me give back in the way that I know how
is through my storytelling.
So that's when I wrote the children's book.
The theme of the children's book is self-empowerment.
So it's a cool children's book.
It has a nice, fun story.
Got the illustrations, all that stuff.
But it's a message in there of self-confidence.
Because like we said, with social media
and all the images and influences that our kids are going through
or seeing, they're going to need this self-confidence
to get them through the journey that they're going to go on.
So that's how the children's book all came about.
Did you sit down and one day it was like,
I'm going to write a children's book.
You know what?
Literally, that's how it came about.
I was like, you know what's funny?
For those who are creatives, especially in storytelling,
you always got stories in your mind.
You're always just thinking that way in a creative way.
It's just how it happens.
So one day I was just sitting down and the story just kept
popping in my head about a children's story.
With the whole nine, with the cartoons,
the little animal cartoons, the whole thing,
I'm just envisioning it.
And I was like, man, I need to do something with this.
So I called a friend of mine.
I was like, man, I think I'm going to write a children's book.
She was like, really?
Like, yeah.
So you sit down and start writing out
the premise of the story, characters,
and everything to the life of its own.
And I birthed my first children's book.
So there you go.
Yeah.
Mark Davis.
Yeah.
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Let's get back to the podcast.
Yeah.
Chris, you wrote a book too, right?
I did.
Yours is more devotional.
Yeah, it's a 31-day devotional.
It's called Fellowship with the Father.
And I self-published it.
It's on Amazon.
And I made it very cheap for everybody.
It's like 10 bucks.
But no, what happens?
You'll put the link in the description and everything
so people can go to your stuff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, you know, I had, you know,
the Lord had been dealing with me
about writing this devotional for a few years.
And I just kept putting it off.
And when COVID happened, I had nothing but time.
And so I had, I was already used to writing letters
to the partners of our ministry.
And so what I did was I basically went back
and looked at some of those letters
and just kind of compiled them into devotionals.
And I tried to make it as very simple
so that a kid could understand it.
I didn't want to make it super deep.
I didn't want to make it controversial or anything like that.
It's just basic foundational principles
that I think anybody could grab ahold to.
And so, you know, I had it for 31 days.
There's 31 devotionals.
Again, it's called fellowship with the Father.
And that's exactly what it is.
It's just, it's a time you get up in the morning.
Some people do their devotions when they first get up.
And so I didn't make them super long.
They're pretty short in fact.
And so I released that really during the pandemic
because before COVID, I spoke at a lot of churches,
a lot of men's conferences, seminars,
you know, all that kind of stuff.
And once COVID happened, they shut all that down.
And so I was like, all right,
if I can't go there physically, this book can go anywhere.
And so that's when I wrote the book, I was like, all right,
this is, you know, anybody can get this wherever they're at.
And so that's why I wrote it.
And, you know, I was finally obedient.
So I did it.
And I've got a really good feedback on it.
I didn't write the book to make money.
I mean, that was not even a thing for me.
I just wanted to put a resource into the hands of people
who needed something from God.
And so that's what I did.
That's you, Chris, a good heart guy.
Such a good guy.
And we get to miss Reagan.
Reagan, you know, oftentimes I think when you came to Los Angeles
and visited me and we went across that.
Now that was right before the show, too.
Was that before the show or during it?
Before.
Where before?
Yeah.
And we went out to, we were in Malibu.
We went to Malibu.
We went across to Panga County.
Did you drive or did I drive?
I drove.
You drove?
And you won't take me nowhere.
You remember that?
I did.
All right.
She got to control it.
But I had a good time.
I often think about that.
And it was so good to see you then.
Of course we talked.
That was before the show.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
And life does what it does.
Life did what it did.
It did.
And your life changed in many different ways.
Please.
And let's talk about you being a chef now
and placing forth on Masterchef.
Like, how did that come about?
I mean, talk about it like this.
I remember she called me.
I feel every time I say it or hear it,
it's like, really good.
Yeah.
And I remember we had a conversation
before the actual show aired,
but I was really excited for you.
And I got to see Reagan Sidney on Masterchef.
On TV.
On national TV.
On TV.
Showing out.
How did that come about?
Okay.
So pandemic.
Same as Chris.
Like God was really dealing with me.
And I would say this, my pastor said this.
This is the time that if you want to change
or elevate your life, do it now.
Perfect time.
Like there's nothing else happening.
Right.
Go get it.
And then he looks at me just like we're talking right now.
And he looks through the camera.
Cause we're on like that zoom thing.
And he's like, Reagan, you like to cook.
You should go live.
And I was like, go live.
Like, yeah.
He was like the same way you do with the radio show.
Do it with cooking.
And I was like, oh, okay.
Two years, every Tuesday, I went live.
When I came out of the pandemic,
I got a couple phone calls from a couple different shows.
Like, hey, we saw your videos.
We think you're money and amazing and all the things.
And I was like, huh, me?
It's like, yes.
And then I got a phone call from an A18 number and that's LA.
And you always answer LA phone call.
And he said, hey, I just want you to know,
I think that you are the perfect person for a master chef.
And we would like for you to be on the show.
So that's how that started.
I did not call him.
Wow.
Cause whatever God has for you, he will chase you down.
Say that.
That's all right.
We're gonna do it.
Well, literally chase you down.
Yeah.
You do not have to go after it.
It will come and get you.
Yeah.
In that moment, well, first of all,
what was it like being a contestant that placed fourth?
Almost in the finale.
What was it?
What was it like?
So we'll talk about that in a second.
Let me get there.
Okay.
So out of 40,000 people that applied,
now remember they called me.
40,000 people applied.
That's a lot.
That's a lot of cooking people.
They brought 80 people to the show.
Out of those 80.
And I remember the day that I made it.
And I don't talk about this story often at all.
Because it was a little personal.
That's a little different.
Well, at this point, we had been there for a week
and we had did all our auditions to just get on the show.
Like they do a whole nother set of auditions
just to get on the show.
Excuse me.
And so,
so I'm like, they're like,
everybody has to be packed by like 7 a.m.
and you have to go downstairs and you have to be ready.
And they're gonna call you,
but like nine, well, it's 10.
They ain't call me.
I'm like, oh, Lord Jesus.
Oh, my God.
Where were you supposed to go?
Oh, God.
I'm packed all up.
I'm taking a long time though,
because I'm taking my time.
Because I'm like, I know y'all not sending me home.
I'm trying to stay in this same room.
Right.
I still had the came and got me.
They brought a wagon to put all my stuff downstairs.
And when I walked in a room,
I'll never forget this.
I walked in a room and everybody was like,
no, no, no.
You're here.
We made it.
So they, based on your presence.
Based on my presence.
Cause I was literally the,
I think the third to last person
that made it into the room.
Based on my presence,
they knew that they had made it onto the show
and they were wrong.
Because that's who you are.
As you always been,
your presence is pretty strong.
Your energy.
They went raw.
I promise you.
I was like, oh my God.
What y'all talking about?
I was like, we made it.
They was like, we made it.
We made it.
We gon' be all right.
But that was the 80 that made it onto the show.
Those 80 had to make, bring down.
I'm sorry.
Those 20, so in this room,
those 80 had to become 20.
And that's what we see on TV.
That's what you all see on TV.
The 80 that comes 20.
Yeah.
Were you scared?
Talking to Gordon Ramsay.
I just, I mean, I just knew whatever was supposed to be
was gon' be.
I could not.
It was nothing I could do.
I'm 45 years old.
I'm older than half the people in this room,
more than half the people in this room.
I'm the top, me and Michelle,
and I think two other people was my age.
That was it.
Yeah, but you don't look like it.
Oh, you don't.
You don't look like it.
Okay, I appreciate that, sir.
I did it.
Yes, I did.
Yeah, I'm starting to look like I'm in my 40.
That's not at all.
But you know, I'm not, I'm brown-skinned.
I got, I'm not a little girl.
I'm not skinny.
I'm not, you know, all the things that society tells you
that you aren't.
And here I am, literally the face of this show this year.
Right?
Like, I'm watching the program
and I'm watching all the people.
It's me every other second.
If you go back and watch the commercials,
come on, the commercials.
They giving this black girl on in small men?
They're giving this woman on it.
Yeah.
That's good for you though.
Not just me, for us.
This was about all of the,
and I really do mean this.
Like, I'm so grateful that I was able to show
what black women can do.
So you put the representation of-
That's for an older age, right?
Yeah, okay.
So when I meet people on the street who stop me,
literally stop me all the time.
And I watched you and you were amazing.
And I'm like, I was an, I was us.
Cause it get greater later, baby.
Cause you know when you're actually on the show,
you are a representation of the collective.
All of us.
This is not just me and I'm grateful.
I'm grateful to be the representative.
But at the end of the day, this is not about me.
This is about all of us.
Well, in that moment.
You know what that's like too though, my friend.
I mean, you were on one of the top television shows.
Can we talk about that?
Yeah, I was gonna say.
I mean, so you had some success in that world yourself.
And I'm sure you-
Absolutely.
Yeah, I get it.
Okay, back to you.
A little bit.
Back to you.
Yeah.
I really love it.
Now actually, when you're in your moments,
when you're sitting down thinking about creating scripts
or writing another book,
or you're in your world of, you know,
being a chef and catering,
do you feel like you're in your purpose?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
What is it like to live-
Doesn't feel like work.
Cause it's not work.
Yeah.
It's not work.
Now I'm tired,
but I'm not-
For sure.
But I'm not, and I'd rather be spent than done.
Right.
Two different levels.
Yeah.
Now on this journey though,
there's been failure, right?
Like what has failure played?
Or how's that played in your journey?
Who wants to talk about that?
No.
It's a part of life, you know what I'm saying?
It's the part of being a human, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
It's a big part of it.
Mikey, what-
It's the human part of it.
It's-
Okay, how do you-
Go ahead, Mike.
The reason why we can enjoy this moment, right?
For sure.
Cause if you don't know what that looks like,
you have no idea what it's like.
Do you know what it feels like to be broke and cold?
That's what I'm getting through.
Like you had-
Broke and cold.
We've all had our spaces where being broke and cold.
I don't know about Mark.
Broke and cold.
Mark, Mark was just-
Broke and cold.
But-
What?
Mark, Mark, Mark just,
he's just that cool person that you look at,
he'd be like, man, I just got it together, man.
Nah, yeah.
But that's just perception, right?
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
I think through tragedy is probably one of the biggest
ways that I'm finding myself.
And I'm embracing change.
And we spoke to just evolving as a person.
The good has a place.
And it has a part of the process,
but I think the bad, the nodes,
hearing no, being cold will,
has a part in that process as well.
Even probably even bigger role than what we can do.
Than what we can imagine because it makes us more aware.
We feel it a little bit more,
makes us a little bit more aware of what is and what isn't.
So through tragedy was one of the biggest catalyst
that took me to just different heights of becoming who
I'm ultimately was brought here to be.
So yes.
Yes, for sure.
Yes, sir.
Real talk.
It's the nose.
It's the cold nights.
It's how I make this bill get paid.
It's the-
Yeah, that's what I said.
Yeah, what you know for it.
It's hard.
I feel it too.
As a single woman, we make significantly less than men do.
Which is, it's not cool.
Period.
Like I don't care what you-
I forgot.
We doing the same job.
Right, right.
I'm glad.
Taraji P. Henson.
Yes, girl.
Yeah, Taraji P. Henson, you know,
she had a whole thing about that.
And it is, it's a real deal.
It's a real thing.
It is.
Yeah.
Right, Grace?
No, I was just-
I think like Reagan hit it on the head earlier.
I think I'm a firm believer that what God has for you
is specifically for you.
And I think we have to stay away from that thing
called comparison.
Because it's very easy to fall into that trap.
And I had a mentor tell me years ago, he said,
Chris, you gotta understand something.
Some of the knows that you got that we've been talking about,
some of the things that you thought were for you
or that you really wanted,
you will never know what God saved you from.
God knows.
And I think sometimes, you know, we get frustrated
or we get mad because we didn't get that job.
Or, you know, we didn't get that house
or we didn't get whatever, the relationship didn't work.
And it's like, you know, sometimes it's like,
with God, it's like, he's like, look, you don't need that.
And, you know, you don't want that.
You may not see it right now,
but you will see it eventually.
Amen.
And in fact, in your life on specific things
that didn't work out,
you gonna be like, man, I'm so glad I didn't take that.
I'm so glad that, you know, that job went, you know,
that company went, you know, arms, you know.
So there's so many things how that this life,
this journey, we're on the way it works.
But the thing is you have to take each step
that's in front of you.
And I think that's how God works.
He doesn't always show you the big picture.
He's just like, okay, do this.
Well, you did that.
Okay, good, do this.
Okay, now do this.
And then as you keep going,
you start to see the bigger picture.
But very rarely is he just like, okay, bam,
Reika, you about to be on this awesome television.
Could you handle that?
If he told you that, could you handle that?
10 years before?
Absolutely not.
Exactly, right there.
And that's the snow's door that you're talking about.
Exactly.
Yes.
Exactly.
And I was like, I had no idea that I could cook like this
until I took two years to comb the craft.
Right.
But God had to literally prepare me
for that door to be opened.
More than anything, he gave me a radio show for three years
so that I could learn how to talk on TV.
And I was a TV show, it was a radio show
that I had to wake up at six o'clock in the morning.
And I woke up with you a lot of times.
I wake up like, I was rigging.
Yeah.
Oh my God, how?
And he said because, because I haven't expected it.
There you go.
And we never know what our future is.
I mean, we can create it in our minds and our souls
or whatever we can create what the future's going to be.
But on that journey, we never know
what it's going to look like.
We don't know the ups, the downs, the ins and outs
of what lies on our journey in our purpose-driven life.
You just don't know.
Yeah.
And I want to go back to one thing Chris said,
and I think it's super important.
We gotta thank God for the closed doors.
Like there are things that he,
and you can see it behind you,
like, oh man, I'm so glad I didn't do that.
You know what I mean?
Like I so grateful.
But then there was one more thing that you said,
God will show you, don't do this, do that.
But if you don't pray and connect with him,
you can't hear.
This part is being able to hear.
Yeah.
You don't miss that voice.
If y'all don't hear nothing else from us today,
yeah.
You gotta be in tune.
That piece right there.
And I'm not, I mean, I am,
I'm super saved, whatever you want to call it.
I'm not, I ain't Chris, I ain't married, I do things,
I have a life.
I can't.
However.
Hey, no judgment.
No judgment.
Not at all.
I hear from God regularly.
And when I don't, I stop, I move, I fall out,
I do whatever I need to do.
Cause I know I'm supposed to hear from him daily.
And if I don't, there's something going on.
But you know what though, that's part of the journey.
We all, all four of us,
you go back to when we were in Kalamazoo.
That part.
We all have a past, okay?
We all have done things.
I,
I'm, you know.
Look.
Do that.
I mean,
Oh, look at Chris, he's,
he was,
you know.
I'm gonna let him tell y'all that.
But we, we evolve.
That's what we know.
Yeah.
So, I mean, but, but that's,
that's what makes us who we are.
And that's what allows me to have, you know,
very trans people.
He's counter-relationship.
With my daughter.
Who my daughter is doing in college now.
She's going to parties, you know,
she's got her friends.
And I can have genuine conversations with her and say,
Hey baby, I did that.
Or, Hey babe, don't do this.
You know, her mother as well.
But that's why I don't, you know,
I don't, I don't look back on, on my college days
or when we were young adults and be like,
man, I shouldn't have done that because that's how we learn.
You learn by new.
But maybe we had us a time.
Yeah.
Oh, we had us a time.
Oh, yes we did.
We, yes we did.
1998 is all the time.
Back in the 1900s.
1998 was a year, man.
1998 was a year.
It was.
That was you.
Oh my goodness.
1998 was wonderful actually.
It was a great year.
But you know what, as, as I'm thinking as you're,
as you're sharing all this,
if your life was a movie,
what movie would it be?
Or what's the, what would be the title of your movie?
Oh, Lord.
Hey, that's a good one.
There's some good thoughts right there.
Right.
All right.
You know what?
The movie that comes to mind for me is Malcolm X.
And I say that because Malcolm went through so many different
evolutions of himself.
Okay.
There's no,
there's no Malcolm X without Detroit red.
Right.
So when I think about my life and all the changes at certain
chapters of my life that I have gone through that brought me to
today, I would say, man, Malcolm X, Malcolm went through all those
changes to become the great man that he is today.
And so have Mark Davis has went through, like y'all said,
those times at Western or even before that, the times in high
school, the times in college, younger adulthood, all the
mistakes, Reagan said, man, I wish I would have done something
differently or maybe I could have done it that way, all those
things, but all those things add enough to today and making you
that person that you are today.
You wouldn't go back.
You wouldn't change none of those things.
One thing.
Yeah.
You have, hey, I have no regrets.
Right.
Yeah.
Because we understand, I think we're aware of what the things
like we were saying, that's supposed to happen.
Right.
What was supposed to happen did happen.
Right.
I'm just glad to see where we are today in this moment.
So yeah, the movie I would say will be Malcolm X and that's the
reason why.
Yeah.
I like that, man.
I was just trying to set the tone.
You said movie Mike, so it got my, you know, me.
You could have been the first person to answer, right?
Chris, what about you, Reagan?
No, no, first go first.
I'm glad.
So I mean, I can't, I don't think there's, I don't know, there may
be a movie called this, but I would, as you asked the question
and we're, I'm thinking I'm reflecting on this conversation
for me, I would mine the name of the movie, I would say,
I'm not sure if it's the movie, but I'm not sure.
I'm thinking I'm reflecting on this conversation for me, I would
the name of my movie would be full circle because we've come
full circle to the point where, you know, I don't believe we've
arrived.
Like you never, you never arrive, you know what I'm saying?
And once you feel that way, that's a dangerous place to be.
But you guys were being on your way out.
Look, yeah.
When you look back from where you were, you know, as a freshman
at WMU in 95, 96 versus where we are today, November 20th,
2024, you know, those, we've had a lot of full circle moments
there, you know, as adults, as professionals, you know, me as
as a husband, as a father, you know, I was, I look at my life
and I, you know, I feel like I'm married.
I was married at 25 years old.
And I didn't know how to be married at 25.
Like my parents, I had a great example with them, but nobody,
there's no like book on how to be married.
You know what I'm saying?
Like you just, you got to figure that out.
Yeah.
And so I was a father at 27, you know, then I, you know, so then
I was a father again at 31 and, you know, dealing with balancing
career, you know, my wife, you know, her career, my career,
you know, changing states and cities, you know, going somewhere
where I didn't know anybody except for, I just listened to what
God told me to do, came to Texas, left everybody back in Detroit.
Absolutely.
Love it.
The South is amazing.
Love it.
I was mad.
Look, when I got here, I was like, man, I should have came here
10 years ago, but, you know, anyway, so I would just say it's
a full circle moment, but we're, but it's, it's, it's not done.
It's, it's continuing to evolve.
Hence circle.
Yeah.
Full circle.
Great.
Well, I'm not that creative.
So.
Wise.
Oh, lies you tell.
I am.
So I'm, I find myself as me along in both the best man and the
best man holiday.
Like I am super successful and was hung up on somebody for a very
long time.
And it, I couldn't, I couldn't break, I couldn't break it.
I didn't know how to.
Is this from the conversations that I know we've had in the
past?
No, I love that person so much that I didn't know how to not.
And it was one of those moments in my life.
And it's probably why I'm not married to this day because I
never knew how not to love them.
And I'm not married to this day because I never knew how to
love them.
And even 20 years later.
I don't even trust myself to love somebody.
And that, that.
I, as a matter of fact, like I just told, I told a friend of mine
today.
I just broke up with somebody a couple of days ago.
And I didn't do a very good job of it.
And I felt bad.
I had to apologize.
Like I'm like.
I'm not your girl.
I'm your girl.
And I'm not your girl.
I'm your girl.
So I am, I'm knee along in the fact that I'm super successful.
Love my life.
But I love my life.
And I'm not unhappy.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
Like I wish I, I understand when people, oh, she's so she just
broke it.
I'm not broken about me, baby.
I'm good.
Trust me.
I love being in this house by myself.
Me and my old boy right here.
We good.
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Now, back to it.
So, my question was,
I just wanted to know if Reagan
saw herself or was interested
in the idea of marriage.
And the reason why I wanted to ask that is
because I was just going to tell her
that God will give you the desires of your heart.
And just like he did with the show
that you were on that turned out amazing.
Right?
A mate for him is just as simple or just as easy.
So, I just didn't know what you're...
All right, Bishop.
I see you, Bishop.
Well, we have a preacher in the house.
That's me.
Good Christian, good word.
However, not that, not that.
No.
Yeah.
Honestly, no, I just want to be with somebody.
And I don't know if I've done myself down for this or not.
But I just want to be coupled.
Like, I like having a person around
than that every day.
I don't know how you sleep with somebody every day.
That's weird.
And I don't know how, you know...
But also,
I haven't ever been with somebody ever,
every day.
I mean, I guess it's since back in the 1900s.
Because we literally, them, had lived together.
So, I don't know what that was.
I don't know what it's like to not have,
to like not, to share space with somebody like that.
Yeah.
I think more than anything, it's a space thing.
Honestly.
I have to be honest about that.
Like, I don't think it's more than...
Of course, I mean, I've been in love a couple times.
I've been in love, love.
Yeah.
What about you, Mark?
What's his name?
What we asking here?
I was going to ask you the same question.
The same what?
What's the question?
I'll ask a single.
Don't just put this on me.
That's what I'm saying.
I'm sharing the love.
I'm taking over the host duties for Mike.
So, I was...
Right, I see.
Yeah.
No, so, Mark, I was thinking about you.
You got to ask questions.
That's good.
Go ahead, Chris.
Now, I was saying, do you see yourself, you know, married,
or is that something that you want to do,
or are you interested in?
I would say so.
I would say that I'm open to the idea, for sure.
Especially now more than ever,
I would say that I'm definitely open to the idea.
I mean, it was cool to, you know, do my thing,
you know, back in the day,
I had no strings attached, but now I'm on some strings attached.
But I think, again, like, I mean,
we had conversations about becoming, right?
And I think for me, in the past,
I don't think I would, even though I might have wanted it,
I don't think it would have been the right time.
So, I feel blessed that things happen the way they have happened
and that we're ready up to be successful when that time happens.
Yeah.
So, whenever that time happens, and, you know,
if it's in God's plan, I feel like that I'll be ready to walk
through that door, for sure.
Indeed.
Mike Branson.
Get in on the table.
I'm going to, to be honest, I'm like, I'm like Reagan.
No, I coupled, have been made for life.
Yes.
I don't, I think it's a space thing for me too.
Like I, like my space, don't like living with people.
I mean, you know.
Hey, can I tell them real quick about how you hooked me up?
Yeah, go ahead.
You like what?
So, you know, and Reagan, you'll appreciate this.
So, back on the back when we were at Western,
you know, our fraternity alpha files where we,
we like to try to support other organizations.
And so there was one weekend where YBBW had something called
the quiet storm.
I don't know if y'all remember that.
Nothing, nothing but slow jams.
That's all it was.
Slow jams, right?
Hey, I can't believe, of course you remember this.
Yeah.
So that weekend there were some other events going on and so.
Your wife was in Alaska?
Yeah, she did.
Yeah.
I remember her.
That was crazy.
There's a reason why you, why you wouldn't, but I'll tell you.
So, so we all did divvied up like there was a party at
Grand Valley's the brothers that went there.
Me and Mike were assigned to go to the YBBW event.
And I think there was another event.
So we all kind of split up.
So when we get to the slow jant, the quiet storm,
my wife walks in and she's with at the time.
I didn't know this was her brother.
So she's with the guy.
So she walks in and I'm like, man, who was that?
And Mike was like, I know her.
And I was like, man, you don't know her.
And he's like, man, we worked together.
I know her.
I was like, go, go talk to her again.
I want to see you go, go, go talk to her.
And he's like, yeah, he's like, he goes over there.
And sure enough, he's talking to her for about 10 minutes.
And he comes back and he's like, yo, that dude,
she's with, that's her brother.
So I was like, oh, ring man.
And I kind of figured because her brother was on the dance floor
danceable all kind of women.
So I was like, look, this dude must be either.
She went to Western.
So she went to Western, but she graduated.
She came out in 97.
But then she went to law school in Chicago.
And she came back to Western for her MBA.
So that's where I met her was in grad school.
Because I was like, go here, Chris.
Yeah, she's a little older than me, you know,
but I didn't realize that because she doesn't look it.
And so when we were dancing, I'm asking her like, you know,
trying to get to know her and like, she's telling me all this
stuff she had been doing.
You know, she was like, why should work at GM and oh, you know,
she was in the military and I'm like, wait a minute.
Oh, I'm like, what's going on?
Like, you know, 22, 23, you know, well, at that time she was 29.
Yeah.
So it made sense.
Right.
So I was like, okay, but yeah,
Mike Burt had his hand all in that.
So yeah.
And I had foreseen that they would be together forever.
And look at that.
Yeah.
I had no idea she was older than you, but that makes sense.
Yeah.
I did not know her.
Yeah.
I mean, she, like I said, she wasn't on the yard like that.
I mean, because like you figure she was gone with our sophomore
year.
Oh, no.
The conversation definitely came up.
And I was like, you know,
and then she came back and I was like,
why are you doing that?
Yeah.
Yeah, we could talk.
But you know what though, and Reagan, I'll tell you this.
I can, I remember this like yesterday.
I was in my apartment and it was,
this was probably October of 1999.
Okay.
And I was praying and I had asked God,
I said, Lord, I need you to send me a wife because I'm tired of,
you know, doing the do I'm tired, you know, this rat race.
And I just, I'm just being real.
Like, I'll, you know, you know, doing the thing, whatever.
So I just like, I'm just tired of it.
I got stories.
I just, I just felt like it was, I was tired of it.
And so I was like, Lord, I need you to send me a wife.
I met Monique in February of 2000.
Wow.
So you figured that's what November, December, January,
that's four months later.
What I'm going to tell you is this.
Yeah.
I'm not doing that.
And that's, you know, that's fine.
Yeah.
You got to do it when you're ready.
Yeah.
I will say this.
I have, I have, I've prayed that prayer, but I also, you know,
I go a couple of weeks and I'll be like, you know what, never mind.
And at the same time, I just, you know, the, the, it's not that I
don't want a relationship.
It's not, not at all.
I do.
I want to be in a very stable relationship.
I just don't have the trust factor.
Yeah.
To go past the relationship to marriage.
And once I, I have not met a man.
I have honestly met a lot of amazing people, but I've never met
my father, my child.
And women know that kind of stuff.
Yeah.
Listen, I real tough.
I have not had a child because I never met the father of my child.
And I have no bag for no, just regular Nick.
Yeah.
This ain't.
Come on.
It's not regular.
And you can't raise a regular baby out this regular vibe.
This ain't no regular body.
Okay.
There you go.
Preach.
That's interesting.
Cause some, some might say they might say that maybe you have met
your husband, but you just wasn't ready to receive him yet.
No.
You know, that's not.
There's just no.
There was one man.
I'll say it again.
What?
It was a long time ago.
But life is.
To them.
Life had the way, what does people say now life be life and life has.
Yes.
Yeah.
We're about to, you know, kind of bring this to a close, but I want to
know.
What would your person now, what advice would you give to your younger
yourself?
Man.
Um,
I would say to my,
my younger self.
It's okay to be you.
Lean into who you truly are.
Be authentic.
Because that is truly your superpower.
You don't have to be anything else but yourself.
And that's more than enough.
Mark X.
But yeah, that's what I would say.
I love it.
Yeah.
That's good.
Yeah.
Um, I think for me, I would.
Um,
I would just say, you know, take your time.
Uh, there's no rush to get where you need to be.
Um, it's all in due season.
And nothing that you can do is going to help you get there any faster
because even if you do, you're not going to be ready for it.
And so you have to live in the moment and enjoy the process because I
think, you know, we all want that glory, but you don't want to go
through the process.
Okay.
Process is what, what shapes you.
It's what forms you, you know, which is what you need.
Um, and so I would, I would probably just tell myself that if I
was, you know, back at Western in 1995 and in Kalamazoo.
So.
Yes.
Well said.
I think I would say both of those things to myself.
And I will also say that.
It doesn't happen.
Happen today.
Everything has a process.
Just like you said.
And.
Just relax.
Yeah.
Just relax.
Yeah.
You ain't got to make it work.
It will work.
Yeah.
And I said this earlier and I really truly do mean this.
The blessings that God has for you will chase you down.
You don't have to go chasing them down.
Like that.
That's not a blessing.
That may even be a curse.
So be very careful.
Mmm.
What's it close for a reason.
Door is closed for a reason.
I agree with that.
Yeah.
What's the future look like for y'all?
My minus this four years that we're about to go through.
I don't want to get us started.
I don't want to get started.
Oh,
make our own money.
I ain't worried about these.
I am sorry.
You got me misidentified.
This is a black woman's nap time.
Shut up and be quiet.
We don't know what it is.
White women.
Y'all go on and fix this.
Good.
Your future right now.
I don't know what it is.
Your future right now.
Nap time.
It's time for me to have my own TV show.
Okay.
We're talking about that.
I am,
I actually hosted a woman.
That just finished doing.
What's the name of that show?
What's the boy that is doing the number one show right now?
Alex Cross.
Oh,
my second.
I just randomly cook for her.
I just watched the whole thing.
Oh my God.
It was so good.
It was very good.
It was good.
It was so good.
It was super good.
Let me stay focused.
So you can talk and I can talk.
I can talk and I can talk.
So y'all can talk and I can go to sleep.
I can talk and I can go to sleep.
So I want my own TV show.
And I know that.
You know, there are times and spaces for everything.
And I'm just waiting for that to happen.
And like I said,
this woman came into my house and she was like,
I'm about to rework this whole show because you are perfect for it.
There you go.
Okay.
You walked me your purpose.
You see that.
Yeah.
That's the essence of this show.
Walk it in your purpose.
Yeah.
Here we go.
And being in the right space and opening the right time and saying the right thing.
And hearing from God.
Cause I literally was like, I'm going to talk to my friend all week.
Why am I going to talk to my friend?
Let me call him.
What are you doing?
He was like, oh, I was going to call you and say, I wanted to come over.
Come over.
I'm going to bring some friends.
Bring them.
Now somebody else would have said,
I'll be bringing nobody over to my house.
I believe in that.
Cause you never know.
Close doors are great, but open ones are too.
Yes.
Yes, they did.
So if I could tell anybody anything,
I know this is probably my last moment of talking and I'm going to say this.
Just know that everything that God has put inside of you,
he's going to make happen.
Cause he is a God who is a provider.
He is, he is awesome.
He is amazing.
And he can see before we can.
Your story is already written.
If you don't take the steps, that's all you.
So I'm a Christian friend.
We don't have to ask the awesome.
And I was going on mute.
So I was talking to them all.
No, we love it.
Don't go on mute.
All right, Merck, Chris.
Man, what is the future looks like?
I think it's bright.
I'm very hopeful for great things to come.
More, more love.
More living, more life.
More inspiration, more books, more giving.
More becoming.
We've been saying this whole podcast.
Trust the process.
So it's more in leaning into trusting that process,
but take it a step further.
I want to surrender to that process as well.
So yeah.
And that's for somebody who's listening that really needed that
at the moment.
Whatever moment that they're listening to.
So that was well said.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
So for me right now, I'm wrapping up my first semester of
doctoral school.
I'm getting a doctorate in educational leadership.
You know, I, it was something that.
No friends.
I always kind of wanted to do it,
but I just kept putting it off and off and off.
And I finally just, you know, the Lord was like,
look, I'm going to keep bringing it up until you do it.
And so at 47 years old, you know, I was like, all right,
you know what, let me just go ahead and put the work in and
knock it out in two and a half years and I'll be done.
So for me, that's, that's my immediate future.
But you know, I'm going to have a daughter that's going to be
graduating college in another year.
And then she's going to physical therapy school.
So I'm still going to be paying her tuition and my tuition.
You know, so.
Daddy do this.
I think, you know, my future is, is really,
I've been one of those people, you know how you ask people
like, what do you want to do five years from now or 10 years
from now?
I've never been good at that.
Like I can't even tell you what you're doing.
I'm going to do next week because I'm, I'm trying to live in the
moment.
In the moment, I'm trying to take one step at a time and I just
try to take advantage of what's in front of me.
And so I have some ideas of like what I would like to do,
but ultimately I would rather be led to what I'm supposed to do as
opposed to just doing anything.
And so, you know, for me, I would say that's,
that's my future as of today.
Got it.
Yeah.
You know what, I appreciate each and every one of you.
I appreciate your time.
I appreciate your minds.
I appreciate how you gave to this moment and this and it was just,
it was amazing.
I think it's probably the best.
I've had podcasts that's aired and podcasts that's going to air
after this.
And this is probably one of the best moments that I've had.
I've had a lot of great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
moments that I've had on the podcast.
You taught me some things and I'm so, so grateful to have you guys in my life,
even though it's across the screen like this, but it's all good because we do
talk and I appreciate you.
I love you all.
And thank you for being on the Thriveau Journey podcast.
I love you all.
Love you too, brother.
I appreciate you, man.