WEBVTT

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People! Good day, good afternoon, and good night,

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wherever you're connecting from in this beautiful,

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wonderful world. Today is a special one. I mean,

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every day is a special one, right? Every day

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is a special day. But welcome to Sunside Kingdom,

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the place where we highlight successful individuals

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with roots and or associations to the sunny side

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of the kingdom. These successful people have...

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A very interesting story to tell and we want

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to share their journey and highlight what it

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is that has pushed them to achieve what they've

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achieved and to also show you guys that it's

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possible. So today we have with us Mr. Denzel

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Richardson, a remarkable athlete and leader hailing

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from St. Martin, born and raised as he just reiterated

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and let me know that. Born and raised and one

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of the few to achieve the remarkable things that

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he's done. Known for his outstanding career as

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a professional baseball player, Denzel has represented

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the Dutch national team from L &D Amsterdam with

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pride, earning accolades like two times best

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hitter. twice the MVP, home run king in the Dutch

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big leagues, but Denzel influences goes beyond

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just the baseball field. He's also a mental performance

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coach. I don't know what that is, but I'm sure

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we're going to dive into it. Very curious. Fitness

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trainer, motivational speaker, and using his

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platform to promote mental health, resilience,

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and personal growth. We're thrilled to have him

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here today with us to share his journey. Welcome

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once again. Thank you. That was quite an introduction.

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I like that. Thank you. Thank you. People. Welcome

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to the Sunside Kingdom Show. So, Denzel, today,

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what is your life like today? Today. Well, I

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would say my life is hardworking. New chapters

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every year. I always strive to do something new.

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For example, this year was a challenge because

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I just got a house. I bought a house. Oh, congratulations.

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Yeah. So it's been a lot, you know. And also

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finding your footing and balancing. that and

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expenses renovations and trying to perform at

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your best as well and pursuing much more in the

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mental health capacity so i'm trying to do more

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in those you know but it's been a bit busy but

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um interesting at the same time and um yeah i

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would just basically say the same as grinding

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understanding the the nature of the the seasons

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and they have lows and highs and you know continuing

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to develop myself and you know pushing for more

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accolades and what i want to do and what i want

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to give to the world yeah yeah that's what i

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would say so we just listed so you're you're

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playing for the dutch national team yes correct

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also a fitness trainer also mental performance

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coach yes Let me look at these notes once again,

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because I think there was another AKA, a motivational

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speaker. Yes, correct. So how do you balance

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it all and sort of what percentage goes where?

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So for me, when I just came to the Netherlands,

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it was strictly mainly personal training. Okay.

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And baseball, sorry. So I came to play baseball

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and my main job was personal training. me achieving

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the achievements I have, it opened the doors

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to become a mental coach. And, you know, then

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it was diving into making connections because

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just by saying I'm Denzel Richardson, you don't

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walk. It's like personal training. You just don't

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walk in the gym and then you expect to be successful.

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Yeah. Just because your name is personal trainer,

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you know. True. So you have to make connections.

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Try your best to make impact and influence. That

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was basically it. Through my achievements, I've

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got contacted a couple of times from organizations

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to work with them. From possibly being a coach,

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a mentor coach. And that's how it came into fruition.

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And that's how it came into life of the possibilities

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and what I can do. And I end up working with

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first, I end up working with a company now called...

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house of acceleration where the objective is

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to accelerate your mind to perform and besides

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that the company is focused mostly on performance

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individuals high performers but i also do my

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own thing with the people that are not high performers

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because i understand in order to perform you

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need to be in a certain level and i would like

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the people that's not on a level to have an opportunity

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to be on that level as well to compete so i focus

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on everybody as well and also work with the company

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and the company was quite new so it's not like

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it was flooded with clients so you basically

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have to focus on yourself development as well

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don't depend on them so basically that That aspect

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is mostly of my time consuming is the personal

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training majority of the time. And I have clients

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every now and again, every week as well, but

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not as much as personal training because you,

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you know, for personal training, you work like

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20 to 30 hours and then you would work with mental

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health, for example, like. seven eight hours

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okay as as as you become much more valuable the

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doors open and the time slots is going to change

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and then the balance might start to shift and

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with baseball too it's like 20 hours as well

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so you're kind of like trying to fit everything

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in and you kind of also have to understand what

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can i pursue right now in the season is very

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hard to pursue only mental health okay because

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you have baseball it takes 20 something hours

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27 hours so Now in the off -season, you can really

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dive into something new because you have that

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extra 20 hours that's baseball not consuming.

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Yeah. So how long is the baseball season? Well,

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actually, they start practice from quite early

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January. Okay. But maybe twice a week, once a

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week. And then the season starts in April until

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two weeks ago was the Holland Series, the end

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of the Holland Series. Two weeks ago? Yeah. Oh.

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So it's quite some time. but our team didn't

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reach the final so it finished quite early for

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us okay Yeah, so basically now is the time that

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you can understand. But as the Dutch national

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team, what is then the finals? Is this on a European

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level, on a worldwide level? No, just a league

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in the Netherlands. Okay. So you play a league

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in the Netherlands and they have the Dutch team.

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It's two separate things. Ah, okay. So you're

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in a team in the league in the Netherlands? And

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I'm competing against other guys in the Dutch

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team because they play in different teams. Oh,

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okay. But when it comes to tournaments, we come

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together. So how often are those tournaments?

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Well, it varies, actually. Some years they have

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like three tournaments, four tournaments, sometimes

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two. This year is two. Okay. Yeah, we had the

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Harlem Hung Ball Wake in July. And I was in Harlem.

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And now this tournament is that I'm going to

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go to. And the next few weeks is the Premier

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12. And what is the Premier 12? The Premier 12

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is the top 12 countries of the world. And I would

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say... From my knowledge, that is the second

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biggest tournament in the world. Oh, wow. The

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first is the World Baseball Classic. Yeah. And

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that's where you have the major league players

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that you saw like recently last year that they

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played in the World Baseball Classic. And yeah,

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this year we go into Mexico. And for example,

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the level of the tournament, if we go to the

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second round, we go to Japan. So you can see

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that it's a big thing. Just for a week in Mexico

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and then the next week just for a week in Japan.

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So you kind of see the scale of the importance

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of the tournament. So it's the 12 best teams.

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12 best countries. 12 best countries. Yes. So

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that means that the Netherlands is ranked pretty

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high then. Yes, I believe it's number 7 or 8

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in the world in standings. including in the Premier

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12. I'm going to just state the countries. I

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might miss one or two. Hopefully not. But it's

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USA, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Mexico, Dominican

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Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, also

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Australia, and Cuba. Okay. So the U .S. is not

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included in this bunch? Yes, I just said USA

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was the first one. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, it's

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okay. Must have missed that. And the Netherlands,

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of course. Yeah. And the Netherlands, of course.

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So that's the top 12 countries in the world,

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yeah. Awesome. So, well, we jump into the here

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and now, but let's maybe pedal back and rewind

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back to where a lot of this all started. So you

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grew up on St. Martin? Yes, correct. And I also

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know that you've played in the States as well?

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Yes, I played professionally with the Colorado

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Rockies. And transitioning from... Well, the

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St. Martin is out there. You guys know what more

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or less the state of the Little League feel is.

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Not the bestest, but transitioning from those

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humble beginnings to playing in minor league

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baseball in the U .S. I could imagine that that

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was quite the journey. So yeah, let's rewind

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the clock a bit to a young Denzel and when you

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first fell in love with the game of baseball.

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Okay. Well, my first... when i first fell in

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love with the game is seeing the little league

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nine and ten you know eleven twelve i'm sorry

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eleven twelve little league um curacao baseball

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team and i saw them in williamsport in the united

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states and i was like yo i want to be on tv too

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and i was such a enthusiastic kid about it and

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i was like wow i can i would like to be part

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of that as well and um Yeah, I was the type of

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kid to have a baseball bat in the living room

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while watching baseball. So seeing that and seeing

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a kid that looks like me from Curacao, Aruba

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or something, and they're on TV and experiencing

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this greatness and the commentators. Because

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was that like one of the first times that Curacao

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and Aruba made it then to television? No, they

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have been on television for quite a while. you

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know but um it was just seeing that yeah you

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know that chance to be on a big stage and the

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commentators, I was quite, let's just say I was

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quite blown away by, you know, these kids from

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Curacao just doing great things. And, you know,

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we got this kid from Andrew Jones, and, you know,

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he's doing great things, and he's just setting

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the floor for these kids to come in. And, you

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know, I was just like, wow. And I was thinking

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about how do they say that about Denzel? Yeah,

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yeah, yeah. You know, Denzel from St. Martin

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just doing great things, you know. Yeah, so I

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was like, you know, intrigued. How old were you

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at that time? I was nine. Nine, okay. So before

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that point, you played baseball already? No,

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actually not. Oh, wow. You know, I just started

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at nine, actually. But I saw it on TV and I was

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like, I want to try. Yeah. But it all started

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in school where guys would have a tennis ball

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and a stick. And they would play. Yeah. Beam

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ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then

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we would play in the yard. I was just, like,

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in awe of, like, you know, hitting the ball far.

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And, you know, I was going to Mac School, Methodist

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Agagic Center. And, yeah, I would just see those

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guys on the basketball court hitting the ball

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in the fence and all that kind of stuff. And

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I was just, like, I wanted to compete. Because

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at a young age, I was very competitive. You know,

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so I fell in love with that. And then I had one

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kid that was playing tennis ball, and he introduced

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me to... He brought me to practice. One of my

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first teams and one of my best coaches in marketing

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is Coach Tom Burnett. He was the manager of the

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Florida Marlins. The Marlins, yeah. Mary Fancy

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Marlins, sorry. Mary Fancy Marlins. And that's

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where I started my journey at nine. Nice. Yeah,

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with Coach Tom. He's still there, right? Yeah,

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he's actually still in St. Martin, yes. And he

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also did a bit of after -school programs and

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stuff as well. Yes, quite an influential man,

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and I give him the highest regard, and I think

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they should write a book about this man because

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he did a lot of great things. He was a coach

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for many years, and then he just saw a need for

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helping kids that don't get the help and try

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to get funding, make friends, and he made a lot

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of friends and started an after -school program.

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for kids that are in need. And, you know, a man

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with a big heart. Yeah, definitely. The name

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just clicked to me because we, a few years ago,

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some friends of mine, we, after Hurricane Irma,

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we started a foundation, Rebuild SXM. And we

00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.500
also donated some stuff to Tom. The container

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that we brought down, all of the different sporting

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goods and school equipment that we donated throughout

00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.379
the island, the container itself we donated to

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him to use for the after -school program. uh

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for the kids like uh a really good guy yeah he

00:15:06.889 --> 00:15:10.509
is he he is you know so maybe that taps into

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one of my other questions we just fast forward

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into it now no problem is um is is is yeah some

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of your most influential mentors what was he

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one of those persons for you yeah well in baseball

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and martin um i was just grateful opportunity

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and um he was a how do I say, he handled everybody

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with care, respect, love, made you feel like

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a family. He did things I didn't expect. I don't

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think I would do it at my time. He would pick

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up this guy at this house, pick up everybody

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to come and practice. He spent all of his gas.

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Such a selfless guy. let's just say a guy that

00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:52.820
doesn't care about riches but just care about

00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:55.399
riches with new relationships yeah yeah so he

00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.139
if he can live paycheck to paycheck and still

00:15:58.139 --> 00:15:59.960
pick up everybody that was him you know yeah

00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:07.299
uh so man um he i don't know i think just his

00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:10.360
tone as a as a man and everything you know it

00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.500
showed me to just appreciate more and and so

00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:18.610
so like that Was there a certain seriousness

00:16:18.610 --> 00:16:22.129
but still very respectful and loving? Yeah, definitely.

00:16:23.210 --> 00:16:26.529
You definitely had to compete. He wanted you

00:16:26.529 --> 00:16:28.909
to be the best of yourself. But it was not an

00:16:28.909 --> 00:16:31.970
environment, I would say, in the mentoring sense

00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:36.909
of I'm preparing your mind for the big leagues

00:16:36.909 --> 00:16:39.870
or something like that. It was more of having

00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:43.649
a group of guys on the street and I want to give

00:16:43.649 --> 00:16:46.389
them a place that they can... understand discipline

00:16:46.389 --> 00:16:50.070
and respect. So maybe coming back to what you

00:16:50.070 --> 00:16:53.629
were mentioning earlier, where you say that with

00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:55.769
the mental health thing, you also want to help

00:16:55.769 --> 00:16:59.690
people that the starting point might be more

00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.590
like zero or one, give them a solid foundation.

00:17:02.830 --> 00:17:05.789
So he was more providing that solid foundation

00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:08.609
that others could then help him build on to get

00:17:08.609 --> 00:17:09.990
you to that professional level. Yeah, because

00:17:09.990 --> 00:17:11.849
you got to understand, when you have a group

00:17:11.849 --> 00:17:13.450
of kids, let's say they're playing on the street.

00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:16.720
Yeah. the direct sense of direction is not yeah

00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.579
you know so you know to create that environment

00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:23.079
that you're accepted you're you're part of something

00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:25.859
you know he created that platform for that he

00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:29.660
you are part of something and and to be to be

00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:31.980
a part you need to be respectful yeah and to

00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:33.960
be a part you have to understand hard work and

00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:35.980
to be a part you have to be disciplined and be

00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:40.220
on time etc etc so it kind of created a structure

00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:43.980
for a lot of um directionless people, I would

00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:45.799
say, like people that don't have a sense of direction.

00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.759
Maybe their parents work all day, single mom,

00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:51.900
kids on the street, the street is raising them.

00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.819
You know, he kind of created that space for those

00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:58.140
kids and, you know, feel at home. And, you know,

00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:02.440
he was American, you know? So, you know, it always

00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.579
makes me laugh because, you know, you're on TV

00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:06.140
watching these people and you laugh. They're

00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:09.950
American, they're white boys, you know? You know,

00:18:09.970 --> 00:18:13.049
so he's quite nice, and, you know, he did activities

00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:17.049
and every weekend something, barbecue or something,

00:18:17.170 --> 00:18:20.130
and brought him by the house. So it created that

00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:23.230
space to just say you're welcome and feel connected

00:18:23.230 --> 00:18:25.690
to something if you weren't feeling that way.

00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:28.450
Yeah. Yeah, so that's all I would say about Coach

00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:31.940
Tom. Great guy. Awesome. Awesome. But you mentioned,

00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:35.740
so for the guys from the streets, et cetera,

00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:38.640
those that might not have had certain elements

00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:44.000
at home to give them certain aspects of the foundation.

00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.160
But I'm assuming that your situation wasn't.

00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.839
No, it wasn't like that. You know, I had a quite

00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:54.279
a. moral structure in my house and understanding

00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:56.819
of values i had quite a strict mom religious

00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:00.539
mom okay you know pentecostal church you know

00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:02.759
every day go every sunday going to church and

00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:04.579
she goes to church sometimes three times a week

00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:08.980
yeah yeah so yeah god was number one in the house

00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:12.039
you know respect and those kind of things or

00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:15.079
as well you know yeah you know so i think what

00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.279
coach john provided that was not so there that

00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.160
i experienced at a young age was being accepted

00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.980
you know so being part of something and you know

00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:26.759
being respected for also too you know being a

00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:29.480
part and not only part but when you're excelling

00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.420
in that part that you have that support as well

00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:33.839
great job denzel you know you know like you're

00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.099
doing good you know i didn't hear very much of

00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:38.619
that growing up so so that created that space

00:19:38.619 --> 00:19:43.430
on on on that to make me feel like i can conquer

00:19:43.430 --> 00:19:45.890
with confidence and i have support like you know

00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:48.150
denzel denzel yeah that's the best bath on the

00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:53.049
team yeah you know so that that created that

00:19:53.049 --> 00:19:56.710
space for me to feel so from nine years old the

00:19:56.710 --> 00:20:00.329
um that dynamic got added started to build that

00:20:00.329 --> 00:20:02.849
confidence the competitive fire and you started

00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:07.210
to burn and what what was the journey like from

00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:11.990
let's say nine to about uh 15 16. it was quite

00:20:11.990 --> 00:20:15.430
uh you know in life we look forward to a challenge

00:20:15.430 --> 00:20:19.369
so the challenge for us was going with little

00:20:19.369 --> 00:20:23.730
league to to uh the caribbean international tournament

00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:26.150
you know you know the latin american the championships

00:20:26.150 --> 00:20:30.009
and i look forward to that and i look forward

00:20:30.009 --> 00:20:34.069
to just flying away and performing and baseball

00:20:34.069 --> 00:20:37.490
against other people because uh i became a very

00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:42.450
How do I say this? Because I was gifted. Because

00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:45.990
I was gifted. I became very... Very confident?

00:20:46.470 --> 00:20:51.410
Very confident, yes. And very confident and...

00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:56.099
Very expressive in confidence. I was very expressive

00:20:56.099 --> 00:21:01.420
in that regard as well. The mature Denzel can

00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:04.440
pick his words very precisely and wisely. I remember.

00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:08.119
I don't deny anything. I try to hide anything.

00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:14.500
And some would say very cocky as well. As I look

00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:16.680
in back of it, I was very cocky, but I understand

00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:18.859
why I was very cocky. And that's very important.

00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:22.359
But at that time, I was very expressively confident.

00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:27.099
So could you maybe unpack a little bit? As you

00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:29.819
say, you reflect back and you also understand

00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:33.519
why you were cocky. So why is that? Yeah. So

00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:37.740
let's just say in the house I was raised, the

00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:41.599
family had a huge impact on me, on my development.

00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:45.299
Unfortunately, I was not treated the same. So

00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:48.880
I always had to prove. My brother didn't have

00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:51.880
to work as hard as me. My sister didn't. It was

00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:56.119
basically, oh, hi. And I was like, why me? It's

00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:02.240
different. So I never really get to express Denzel

00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:05.059
because Denzel was not accepted. So I tried to

00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:07.180
copy my brother at a young age, and he didn't

00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:09.839
like that. And your brother's older than you.

00:22:10.269 --> 00:22:13.730
he is he didn't like that so when you know when

00:22:13.730 --> 00:22:17.230
seeing that and trying to be something else because

00:22:17.230 --> 00:22:19.009
you know as a young child you're trying to develop

00:22:19.009 --> 00:22:21.490
and figure out you know have fun i go here climb

00:22:21.490 --> 00:22:24.029
here and every time it was like i was getting

00:22:24.029 --> 00:22:28.269
shut down so i was like okay they like my brother

00:22:28.269 --> 00:22:32.289
more so maybe let me do everything he's doing

00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:35.829
and maybe i'm on the right path yeah no no no

00:22:35.829 --> 00:22:41.680
so Only when I achieved something of great. My

00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.240
first game with the baseball. I hit a grand slam

00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:49.519
and I won the game for the team. The grand slam

00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.900
is when all the bases fall, right? And then home

00:22:51.900 --> 00:22:54.380
run. I hit a home run. My first ever game. First

00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:57.460
ever game. And Coach Tom, he was working with

00:22:57.460 --> 00:23:00.140
Daily Herald. And Coach Tom put me in there.

00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.380
the small box in the front page of the you know

00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:08.000
in a sports page if you know the daily hero yeah

00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.099
my face was there and i saw my hat and i was

00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:15.740
like wow i'm in the newspaper nine wow nine and

00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:19.759
then i i remember i i ran i ran to to my old

00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.440
man i said hey oh my look look look and that

00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.460
was the first time like i heard you did great

00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:30.059
son wow wow so i was like you know in my brain

00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:36.339
i was thinking that Oh, love is success. So I

00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:38.400
didn't understand that at that time. But I say,

00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:41.140
okay, I achieved something. Because in all your

00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:44.660
nine years, they never acknowledge you for you

00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:48.420
until you. Yeah, it's not that they didn't acknowledge,

00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.799
but you never get the same treatment. It's like,

00:23:52.819 --> 00:23:55.119
why is he getting this so easily? Why is he getting

00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:57.420
this so easily? And I'm like, what do I have

00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:00.859
to do? Because I'm the darkest in the family.

00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:03.240
I even at a point hated my own color of my skin.

00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:06.480
And I tried to stay out of the sun. That's how

00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.660
insecure I was. A very insecure young man. And

00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:11.579
I'm not afraid to say those things. And people

00:24:11.579 --> 00:24:14.400
say vulnerabilities. You sound like a pussy or

00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:17.640
whatever. But that's just basically what fueled

00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:21.480
this man in front of you. It's because I was

00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:24.720
never accepted just for Denzel. I was never enough.

00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:28.720
And that's my experience. And I always had to

00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:30.500
prove, and the only time I heard something of

00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:33.359
greatness is when I achieved something. So I

00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.400
became very expressive, you know, vocally on,

00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.279
oh, I'm the best. I'm better than you. Because

00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:43.059
apparently I was blessed with gifted ability.

00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:47.000
Athletic ability, I was very gifted in running.

00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:50.440
I was strong. I was fast. And in baseball, I

00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.900
was really good. You know, so I started to just

00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:56.700
talk a lot. And I became a very ugly person in

00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:58.759
the process. And through my teens, you know,

00:24:58.779 --> 00:25:02.559
I had to continuously, because I was being bullied,

00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:07.480
I became a bully. You know, and used to talk

00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:09.619
down to people just like I've been talked down

00:25:09.619 --> 00:25:11.839
to, not knowing that I was carrying on the cycle

00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:16.119
of pain. And, you know, at that same time, too,

00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:18.079
I never had a relationship with my brother. And

00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:23.200
my brother was, how do I say, he was a... natural

00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.880
charisma good looking man and all the girls in

00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:28.940
school was like yeah my mom was a school teacher

00:25:28.940 --> 00:25:31.720
okay and all the girls was uh from school but

00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:37.440
you throw your son sexy and then um he was just

00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.599
like you know how much older is he i believe

00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.619
three years three years two and a half three

00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:44.960
years just two and a half three years and and

00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.599
even more and i was like wow my brother that's

00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:50.839
my brother yeah even though not even having a

00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:53.000
relationship or a great relationship or anything

00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:55.779
like that i was like wow and i wasn't very good

00:25:55.779 --> 00:25:58.440
looking back then so yeah there were girls in

00:25:58.440 --> 00:25:59.619
my class would be like oh they're your brother

00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:01.559
because i was in academy and my brother was an

00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:05.460
npc okay and um maybe like that's your brother

00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:09.039
i was like yeah but how you look so You know?

00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:11.900
And I was like, wow. That Ross and Martin thing.

00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:15.299
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was like, wow. Because

00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:20.259
my ears were big, I was skinny. You know? And

00:26:20.259 --> 00:26:23.900
I wasn't confident, but it was natural to him.

00:26:24.099 --> 00:26:26.779
What I was doing was a show, but for him it was

00:26:26.779 --> 00:26:30.819
real. I always envy that. And I was happy at

00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:33.220
the same time. Because I had so much empathy

00:26:33.220 --> 00:26:36.380
in my heart. I just love you. You're my... And

00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:39.539
I'm so, wow, can you teach me? And I was looking,

00:26:39.660 --> 00:26:42.339
I was like that kind of kid. So I wasn't getting

00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:44.720
it. So I kind of like tried to find my own way

00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:47.500
and started to just talk about myself and have

00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:50.200
a lot of friends because of it. But I kept staying

00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:53.400
relevant because the principle in life remains

00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:55.420
the same. If you're a person of value, you're

00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:57.380
always going to be in the light, regardless if

00:26:57.380 --> 00:26:59.920
you're ugly, malted, or anything like that. That's

00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.630
just a principle, and it's a law. You know, if

00:27:03.630 --> 00:27:07.309
you're doing nothing with your life, you know,

00:27:07.329 --> 00:27:10.569
you will never be in the spotlight. But if you

00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:12.670
are doing something and you're excellent in it,

00:27:12.809 --> 00:27:14.809
your name will always be there, even if you're

00:27:14.809 --> 00:27:18.069
an ugly person. So I experienced that at a young

00:27:18.069 --> 00:27:21.630
age, and I thought love was success. So I grew

00:27:21.630 --> 00:27:23.970
up like that. I grew up in my teenage years suffering.

00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:26.759
you know very insecure still didn't know who

00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:29.339
denzel was because i continued to put something

00:27:29.339 --> 00:27:31.700
that i thought people would accept yeah i mean

00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:34.500
i don't think any teenager truly knows who they

00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:37.519
are it's uh it's it's really that discovery moment

00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:40.640
uh yeah and uh and and you go through so many

00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:45.539
emotions uh during that time so if if we tap

00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:49.559
back into well the element that you believed

00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:52.940
was sort of connected to love what what were

00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:55.920
some of the highlights and the achievements in

00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.099
uh in that period so from from that first newspaper

00:27:59.099 --> 00:28:08.140
moment to to about 16 -ish highlights yeah well

00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:13.559
i was continuously uh baseball i was known as

00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:16.400
the best one of the best I would say top two,

00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.279
top three, always in the whole of the Little

00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.759
League. I was always considered the best. I had

00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.799
the most home runs out of everybody. I was very

00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.460
competitive. I did track and field as well. I

00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:34.339
did a lot of sports. Highlights. Continuously

00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:37.720
to win in my sports, I would say. And also to

00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:41.299
one of my highlights. At a very young age, I

00:28:41.299 --> 00:28:47.079
was into music as well. I had a friend, Saverin

00:28:47.079 --> 00:28:50.039
Labega. You know, he made beats. He produced

00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:55.690
beats. Zavi? Yeah, Zav. Zav on the beats. Okay,

00:28:55.730 --> 00:29:01.250
okay, okay. I've seen some stuff. Yeah, so he

00:29:01.250 --> 00:29:04.049
was in beats, and I was intrigued about it. I

00:29:04.049 --> 00:29:06.569
was like, oh, he was on his computer making Fruity

00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:09.769
Loops. I think it was Fruity Loops number FL7.

00:29:09.930 --> 00:29:12.250
Yeah, I remember. FL7, damn. Yeah, Fruity Loops.

00:29:12.250 --> 00:29:15.309
I was back in the day. I had FL1 on my computer

00:29:15.309 --> 00:29:18.089
when I first started. I started on 7. I started

00:29:18.089 --> 00:29:22.839
on 7. so um experiencing that and saw him and

00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:25.380
i was i was like wow he making music on a piano

00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:27.759
on a computer and i said i want to do it too

00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:31.759
and then um apparently he was just doing it with

00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.799
the keyboard like the letters yeah making like

00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:37.500
playing the piano on the system that's the piano

00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:39.900
with the keyboard the keyboard so i was like

00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:42.049
oh and then all of a sudden i started making

00:29:42.049 --> 00:29:44.910
beats and i was like oh this sounds good some

00:29:44.910 --> 00:29:47.970
simple crap you know but i was intrigued and

00:29:47.970 --> 00:29:51.849
then all of a sudden i got a piano and i became

00:29:51.849 --> 00:29:55.349
you know fascinated by music and i started to

00:29:55.349 --> 00:29:58.250
learn simple chords i started to learn to play

00:29:58.250 --> 00:30:01.069
songs and with those songs i started to make

00:30:01.069 --> 00:30:05.329
beats okay and zav he can tell you too i became

00:30:05.329 --> 00:30:10.980
so very well talented in playing the piano, that

00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:14.900
my melodies were better. But his, you know, arrangement

00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:17.839
with drums were crazy. So I would make the melody,

00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.440
he would fix the beat. So we would like collab

00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:23.299
in that kind of sense. Awesome. And we still

00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.299
do it sometimes up to this day, you know, but

00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:27.220
I don't make beats no more like that. But if

00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:29.140
I have a melody in my head, I would always send

00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:32.480
it. But, you know, I was playing piano and one

00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:33.900
of the highlights is... But then piano was just

00:30:33.900 --> 00:30:36.380
self -taught or you went to piano lessons? Self

00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:39.619
-taught. I learned, all things on youtube youtube

00:30:39.619 --> 00:30:43.720
was my teacher so at 14 i have videos on my phone

00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:48.460
at 14 i was playing um thousand miles you know

00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:52.230
all these um these songs you know One Republic,

00:30:52.710 --> 00:30:56.750
Too Late. Apologize. Apologize. I learned all

00:30:56.750 --> 00:30:59.849
them songs on the piano. Yeah. Neo, all kind

00:30:59.849 --> 00:31:01.329
of stuff. And I was like, learning it, learning

00:31:01.329 --> 00:31:04.730
it, learning it. And then I got an opportunity

00:31:04.730 --> 00:31:07.589
that one of the musicians left our church. And

00:31:07.589 --> 00:31:09.089
it was like, Denzel, you're the new musician.

00:31:09.349 --> 00:31:11.940
Oh, wow. I said, but I don't know how to play.

00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:16.519
Hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways. So then

00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:19.180
I dive into the realm of a musician, and I played

00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:23.819
six years, I believe, in church. And I became

00:31:23.819 --> 00:31:27.160
a minister in that sense. And, yeah, so I was

00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:29.920
a kid that did everything. I competed in basketball,

00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:32.319
too. Basketball was really good as well. I played

00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.690
for Samaritan National Team as well. Went away

00:31:34.690 --> 00:31:37.849
for baseball. I competed with ping pong. Ping

00:31:37.849 --> 00:31:42.970
pong? Yeah, I was quite a movable child because

00:31:42.970 --> 00:31:45.730
the need to compete and win was so high in me

00:31:45.730 --> 00:31:49.109
that I just needed to prove something. I just

00:31:49.109 --> 00:31:51.789
like it too. It put me in different environments.

00:31:52.049 --> 00:31:55.329
As a child, I did almost everything. I wanted

00:31:55.329 --> 00:31:57.250
to do everything. So during this whole part,

00:31:57.450 --> 00:32:03.049
how did school fit into the mix? Well, school.

00:32:04.869 --> 00:32:09.450
Well, my mom was a school teacher. My father,

00:32:09.529 --> 00:32:12.150
he was a big man, taller than me, bigger than

00:32:12.150 --> 00:32:14.710
me. And his motto was... Still bigger than you?

00:32:14.950 --> 00:32:18.009
Yeah, yeah, he was. He passed away, unfortunately.

00:32:18.630 --> 00:32:21.329
Sorry to hear that. Yeah, he was bigger than

00:32:21.329 --> 00:32:24.450
me, 6 '4", big man. Less enforcement, everything

00:32:24.450 --> 00:32:27.890
else after. And that was a motto, less enforcement,

00:32:28.069 --> 00:32:30.670
everything else. And the other one was, learn

00:32:30.670 --> 00:32:32.410
to love your house. So you don't want us to go

00:32:32.410 --> 00:32:36.650
nowhere. Daddy, can I go movies? You went last

00:32:36.650 --> 00:32:38.089
week, that was last month. So you got to go out

00:32:38.089 --> 00:32:42.349
every month? That time. Not every day, but every

00:32:42.349 --> 00:32:45.410
month. Damn. Every month. Once in a month. Once.

00:32:45.809 --> 00:32:49.349
That's a lot, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:32:49.349 --> 00:32:54.230
yeah. So, yeah, man. You know, that was one of

00:32:54.230 --> 00:32:57.329
the matters for school. My mom was, like, very

00:32:57.329 --> 00:33:00.799
strict. Had to stay on my... School lesson, everything,

00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:04.380
doing this and that. But I was quite a mischievous

00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:07.599
child. As a child, I was very rude. And you can

00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:12.220
understand why. Because of that lack of acknowledgement.

00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:17.539
I make sure you know me. I make sure everybody

00:33:17.539 --> 00:33:21.019
know me. Denzel. And my mom was the type of woman,

00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:24.960
I got my butt whooped. My mom was the type of

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.380
woman to go to school and tell all the teachers.

00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:30.059
You see, my child, if you misbehave, you have

00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:32.759
my permission to beat him. You have my permission?

00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:36.940
You have, because no one from Curacao. She said,

00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:39.880
you have my permission to beat him. Yes, you

00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:42.819
behave rude, you beat him. And let me tell you,

00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:46.019
I got my butt whooped in school. Tell my mother,

00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:48.500
mommy, teacher beat me. She don't even ask why

00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:50.500
not. She said, that's good for you, because you

00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:53.019
did something you was not supposed to do. Yeah,

00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:58.059
yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so it was quite like

00:33:58.059 --> 00:34:00.039
that, you know, because I was quite rude. I was

00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:03.680
quite rebellious. I was quite making sure, you

00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:06.859
know, loud and everything, you know. Yeah, man,

00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:10.699
I had my share of licks. Oh, man, man, man. Wow.

00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:14.059
That makes me laugh all the time, but yeah. That's

00:34:14.059 --> 00:34:18.400
crazy. Yeah. So that's what school for me was

00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.599
like up and down, you know. I was not so serious

00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:24.869
about it, but I was smart. Yeah. Yeah, I am smart.

00:34:24.889 --> 00:34:26.909
So let me correct that. I am smart, but I didn't

00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:30.170
apply myself in school. And the reason why I

00:34:30.170 --> 00:34:35.710
touch on that is because some of it I also find

00:34:35.710 --> 00:34:43.469
relatable. Yeah. But I also want listeners, viewers

00:34:43.469 --> 00:34:47.119
to... to understand that if they're going through

00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:49.480
similar things that they have all of these interests

00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:52.880
whether it be sports music etc and they're exploring

00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:55.739
all of these things and and and the school aspect

00:34:55.739 --> 00:34:59.860
of things is maybe not going as smooth as yeah

00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:04.519
let's say those that are for um not necessarily

00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:08.849
more academically inclined but more more disciplined

00:35:08.849 --> 00:35:12.090
to sit down and stick in the books right versus

00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:14.789
someone that needs to be way more active and

00:35:14.789 --> 00:35:17.329
expressive because you you taught yourself to

00:35:17.329 --> 00:35:19.789
play piano yeah i did on youtube that's not something

00:35:19.789 --> 00:35:25.190
that that that someone that is not um that doesn't

00:35:25.190 --> 00:35:27.710
have brains and gifts can't just do that yeah

00:35:27.710 --> 00:35:31.449
yeah and but but but it expresses itself in a

00:35:31.449 --> 00:35:35.079
different way yeah um So it's also just more

00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:39.420
like a nod out there that if persons are going

00:35:39.420 --> 00:35:42.199
through similar things, like it's okay. Yeah,

00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:45.300
definitely. I would always still recommend you

00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:48.780
to at least finish it up and get those basics.

00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:54.159
But you make room for your passions to go and

00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:57.219
explore them and really dive into them. Yeah.

00:35:57.480 --> 00:36:03.340
So by about 16 -ish. As we were touching on earlier

00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:08.059
off camera, there was a bit of a turning point

00:36:08.059 --> 00:36:11.400
at a particular tournament, right? In baseball.

00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:15.039
So, yeah. So, Little League, it was the last.

00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:17.500
It was Senior League in baseball because you

00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:20.139
have Junior League, you know, and they have the

00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:22.340
Little League, Junior League, then Senior League.

00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:25.400
So, what are the sort of age categories? Little

00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:28.159
League is 11 -12, Junior League is 13 -14, and

00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:32.349
Senior League is 15 -16. Okay. So it was my last

00:36:32.349 --> 00:36:37.030
year in senior league. And I believe the 15,

00:36:37.289 --> 00:36:40.269
it was one year we didn't go. So 16 was the only

00:36:40.269 --> 00:36:42.750
year that we went. Yeah. Because of funding,

00:36:42.809 --> 00:36:44.610
they have little league. And then I don't believe

00:36:44.610 --> 00:36:46.590
St. Martin had all that money to push so much

00:36:46.590 --> 00:36:51.250
age groups to go away. So it was my last year,

00:36:51.429 --> 00:36:53.949
16. And that's the only thing I look forward

00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:58.789
to. And yeah, I was, like I was explaining, I

00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:02.550
had something to prove. Because of not feeling

00:37:02.550 --> 00:37:06.010
that I was enough, I had so much motivation to

00:37:06.010 --> 00:37:10.719
just work. So it instills something in me. to

00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:14.179
work and i would walk from madame estate to the

00:37:14.179 --> 00:37:17.000
pond um to the little league ballpark with a

00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:20.639
bucket of balls a tea and a bat walking there

00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:23.420
like wow walking back hitting by myself off the

00:37:23.420 --> 00:37:25.900
tee i have so much people that because you guys

00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:27.820
lived in madame's state yeah living in madame's

00:37:27.820 --> 00:37:31.559
state yeah yeah so i walked about 20 25 minutes

00:37:32.059 --> 00:37:35.820
you know walking in the hot sun yeah my mom was

00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:38.019
in the woman to really like you know yeah you

00:37:38.019 --> 00:37:39.940
can give me a ride and she's like yeah you mommy

00:37:39.940 --> 00:37:44.500
can i go i have to go to church okay i'm not

00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:47.539
doing the baseball you know so i said okay so

00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:53.219
i was like okay okay so i just developed i didn't

00:37:53.219 --> 00:37:57.519
it teach me to yo you want it yeah Go get it.

00:37:57.579 --> 00:37:59.139
Yeah, I even tried with a bike to, like, do,

00:37:59.179 --> 00:38:01.480
like, a skateboard push with the bucket. You

00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:03.519
know, to go on the field, and it worked a little

00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.039
bit. You know, but I didn't trust it that time

00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:07.599
because, you know, soccer guard ain't got some

00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:09.880
man there. You can't go there with a bike, yeah?

00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:13.639
Yeah, soccer guard ain't in no place you want

00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:17.900
to walk. As a young 15 -year -old boy with a

00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:21.199
bucket of balls, and see these man there, I'm

00:38:21.199 --> 00:38:23.980
like, yo, check it out. Yeah, check it out. I'll

00:38:23.980 --> 00:38:27.679
be like, I'm going to miss my field. Yeah, yeah,

00:38:27.719 --> 00:38:30.380
yeah. I used to live soccer garden at some point.

00:38:30.460 --> 00:38:32.579
You understand what I'm saying? You understand

00:38:32.579 --> 00:38:34.619
what I'm saying? It's at road where I learned

00:38:34.619 --> 00:38:39.599
to play baseball, actually. Before the road was

00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:44.179
built to connect to Pond Island. Like, I think

00:38:44.179 --> 00:38:46.000
there's like a construction company and stuff

00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.380
there now, but before that open field, but it

00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:52.280
was just like dirt with rocks. We was playing

00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:57.179
there with sticks and tennis balls or like actual

00:38:57.179 --> 00:39:00.400
baseballs and getting beam with them things at

00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:05.280
10, 11. Yeah, there's where I learned to... Yeah,

00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:07.559
so I would walk there every day, just have that

00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:09.699
discipline every day to just hit by myself. I

00:39:09.699 --> 00:39:13.550
don't know why. I had... a work ethic that was

00:39:13.550 --> 00:39:16.369
not seen there was no role model be like i'm

00:39:16.369 --> 00:39:20.110
following uh you know jose ramirez i'm following

00:39:20.110 --> 00:39:22.730
his footsteps he's did he did this it was just

00:39:22.730 --> 00:39:26.210
in me i wanted to practice i had love to feel

00:39:26.210 --> 00:39:29.789
like back then it wasn't so dominant with you

00:39:29.789 --> 00:39:32.610
know by playstation and stuff like that you know

00:39:32.610 --> 00:39:34.530
back then they had game boy advance you know

00:39:34.530 --> 00:39:37.389
you know you know those kind of things but i

00:39:37.389 --> 00:39:40.030
had a need to be outside and yeah you know so

00:39:40.030 --> 00:39:42.690
i just was training by myself consistently consistently

00:39:42.690 --> 00:39:45.550
and then you know i went to the tournament and

00:39:45.550 --> 00:39:50.670
confident curacao have such a pride the team

00:39:50.670 --> 00:39:52.969
tears so we had issues with them say martin because

00:39:52.969 --> 00:39:56.929
they looked down crazy thing um because i was

00:39:56.929 --> 00:40:00.230
looked down in my my family i was like this i

00:40:00.230 --> 00:40:03.210
had a My stomach turned any time when somebody

00:40:03.210 --> 00:40:04.989
do the same thing, my stomach turned. And the

00:40:04.989 --> 00:40:07.429
Curacao guys at that time, we had issues with

00:40:07.429 --> 00:40:09.090
it. They were like, yeah, they're saying Martin,

00:40:09.170 --> 00:40:12.489
the last place. No, no, no. Those guys are not

00:40:12.489 --> 00:40:14.170
good and blah, blah, blah, blah. I said, yeah.

00:40:14.329 --> 00:40:16.630
And then I remember I hit two home runs against

00:40:16.630 --> 00:40:20.449
Curacao. And Curacao normally, at these tournaments,

00:40:20.570 --> 00:40:23.070
have the whole family. They have such a support

00:40:23.070 --> 00:40:25.550
system. There are mothers in the stands with

00:40:25.550 --> 00:40:28.030
drums. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. I

00:40:28.030 --> 00:40:29.750
said, uh -huh. I said, I reached there. I said,

00:40:29.789 --> 00:40:32.469
yeah. Are you going to see Denden right now?

00:40:32.789 --> 00:40:35.969
But I remember the first at -bat, hit the home

00:40:35.969 --> 00:40:39.730
run, and I do this in the crowd. I said, are

00:40:39.730 --> 00:40:41.849
you making noise now? And then after my second

00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:45.690
at -bat, hit another home run. I said, yeah,

00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:49.210
yeah, boy. I was very competitive, boy. I was

00:40:49.210 --> 00:40:51.809
like, yeah, you feel it? Yeah, boy. You still

00:40:51.809 --> 00:40:57.389
end up losing, but it was a good game. Yeah,

00:40:57.389 --> 00:40:59.309
we still ended up losing, but it was a good game.

00:40:59.349 --> 00:41:01.489
I remember that. We had a fight with Curacao,

00:41:01.530 --> 00:41:04.150
too. One of the guys dived and kicked the spike

00:41:04.150 --> 00:41:07.170
in the other teammate's neck. And, yeah, it was

00:41:07.170 --> 00:41:10.050
a fight, you know. But we ended up still playing.

00:41:10.230 --> 00:41:13.949
And that tournament is when, because of the passion,

00:41:13.989 --> 00:41:15.750
I was like, you're looking down on me. All of

00:41:15.750 --> 00:41:17.269
a sudden, every game was hitting a home run.

00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:19.090
Puerto Rico hit a home run. Venezuela hit a home

00:41:19.090 --> 00:41:22.670
run. To that light of a other fire. Yeah, yeah,

00:41:22.690 --> 00:41:26.070
yeah. There's just that I hate the looking down

00:41:26.070 --> 00:41:29.889
upon. Don't ever look down upon me. I just had

00:41:29.889 --> 00:41:33.429
that in my brain. I hate it. I hate it because

00:41:33.429 --> 00:41:38.630
I hated my skin. So I just hated it. So I hate

00:41:38.630 --> 00:41:40.929
anybody that portrayed that kind of attitude

00:41:40.929 --> 00:41:45.449
and behavior. I just had a conviction to prove.

00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.179
Because I always prove, like, I always prove.

00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:50.320
And I always had a need to prove myself, you

00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:53.099
know. And so that was my highlight. And scouts

00:41:53.099 --> 00:41:55.739
was talking to me. And people was like, you know,

00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:57.699
I was the only one to. Because the scouts, they

00:41:57.699 --> 00:42:00.780
were in Curacao at the tournament. No, it was

00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:02.380
in Aruba, actually. That tournament was in Aruba.

00:42:02.380 --> 00:42:04.519
Oh, in Aruba, okay. And the scouts was there

00:42:04.519 --> 00:42:06.500
watching the game because it's 15 -16. And guys

00:42:06.500 --> 00:42:10.340
normally sign 16. 17 to go to the dominican republic

00:42:10.340 --> 00:42:13.639
oh okay so that was a that was a hot age yeah

00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:15.699
so look at guys who decks coming in yeah you

00:42:15.699 --> 00:42:18.539
know so a lot of guys in that tournament signed

00:42:18.539 --> 00:42:21.280
too like here so i had a couple of guys that

00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:23.239
i know personally that signed as well out of

00:42:23.239 --> 00:42:28.340
that uh thing as well yeah so yeah start scouts

00:42:28.340 --> 00:42:31.019
started talking to me and um you know because

00:42:31.019 --> 00:42:33.579
of my uh mouth as well at the time too like yeah

00:42:33.579 --> 00:42:38.139
i didn't get the proper support from teammates.

00:42:38.380 --> 00:42:40.940
They create envy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They had

00:42:40.940 --> 00:42:44.139
a lot of envy. Yeah. You know, and I had, like,

00:42:44.139 --> 00:42:46.420
one couple good friends, you know, that was supporting,

00:42:46.500 --> 00:42:48.059
like, then, then, then, good brother, you bye,

00:42:48.119 --> 00:42:50.880
bro. I'm like, yeah, right? You know, and I had

00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:52.880
one friend that I always, he was a friend that,

00:42:52.980 --> 00:42:55.079
you know, everybody wanted to be around him.

00:42:55.659 --> 00:42:58.099
But nobody, I didn't have that influence. He

00:42:58.099 --> 00:43:01.539
was funny. I was funny. But he had such a natural

00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:04.360
inclination to have a gathering around him and

00:43:04.360 --> 00:43:06.989
people wanted to be around him. And he was kind

00:43:06.989 --> 00:43:10.190
of like my brother to tell me, Denzel, stop talking

00:43:10.190 --> 00:43:13.030
about yourself. Leave people talk for you. He

00:43:13.030 --> 00:43:16.630
was kind of that navigating thing for me at that

00:43:16.630 --> 00:43:19.309
time. And I didn't understand why. I was just

00:43:19.309 --> 00:43:21.130
a child. My brain was just like, this is what

00:43:21.130 --> 00:43:23.769
I know. Success is this. This is what I know.

00:43:23.829 --> 00:43:26.909
Because I only hear a good thing when I did this.

00:43:27.409 --> 00:43:32.090
I showed that I am this. And that's a thing that

00:43:32.090 --> 00:43:36.490
I couldn't articulate at that time. Sorry. So,

00:43:36.490 --> 00:43:39.309
yeah, that would be my highlight. And then Scouts

00:43:39.309 --> 00:43:41.150
started talking to me and showing interest. I

00:43:41.150 --> 00:43:43.289
went to a clinic after in Curacao with the St.

00:43:43.349 --> 00:43:47.110
Martin squad. And that's when I got an opportunity

00:43:47.110 --> 00:43:49.869
to get invited to go to the Dominican Republic

00:43:49.869 --> 00:43:54.480
to compete against professionals at 16. with

00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:56.860
the Baltimore Earls and Minnesota Twins. And

00:43:56.860 --> 00:44:00.199
then you went, you traveled alone at that point.

00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:01.920
Yes, I traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

00:44:01.980 --> 00:44:03.920
It was in school year, so it was within the school

00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:07.940
year. But at the time I was 16, I was such a

00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:12.300
known face in the office in school. Soon as I

00:44:12.300 --> 00:44:14.420
reached in the office to ask for permission to

00:44:14.420 --> 00:44:17.280
leave, you know, I believe it was Mr. Sprott

00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:22.119
at the time. He was, you know, the... principal

00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:24.239
at the time and I asked him, I said, so do you

00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:25.519
have some time? He said, no, I ain't got no time.

00:44:25.659 --> 00:44:27.360
I said, but I have to leave. Oh, I have time

00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:30.820
for this. Come, come, come. So I was like that

00:44:30.820 --> 00:44:33.250
type of. Because I always know like Denzel, you

00:44:33.250 --> 00:44:36.190
know. Because he thought there was some trouble

00:44:36.190 --> 00:44:38.070
like you come in there when you get sent out

00:44:38.070 --> 00:44:40.530
of class. Now he got to deal with this nonsense

00:44:40.530 --> 00:44:43.750
again. So I said, yeah, I got you. I didn't even

00:44:43.750 --> 00:44:45.250
get to finish. I said, yeah, I got this trout

00:44:45.250 --> 00:44:46.710
with his base. But I'll come and sign it for

00:44:46.710 --> 00:44:50.349
you, man. You know, he was always telling me.

00:44:50.349 --> 00:44:52.619
Because in school, everybody know as well. Or

00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:54.559
you let everybody know? No, no, no, no, no, no.

00:44:54.739 --> 00:44:56.519
And high school was different. You couldn't really

00:44:56.519 --> 00:44:58.000
just talk like that because you get thrown in

00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:01.139
the garbage. Thrown in the garbage? Yeah, because

00:45:01.139 --> 00:45:04.579
I wasn't big at that time. They had guys bigger

00:45:04.579 --> 00:45:07.860
than me. And they had, you think he was, let's

00:45:07.860 --> 00:45:09.860
just say high school teach you how to walk a

00:45:09.860 --> 00:45:11.420
little bit better. True, true, true. And you

00:45:11.420 --> 00:45:13.260
can't talk a certain way. True, true, true. So

00:45:13.260 --> 00:45:15.539
in high school, I didn't talk a lot. Okay, okay.

00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:18.139
Because they had guys that has good action. But

00:45:18.139 --> 00:45:21.139
by 16, you're in what, third, fourth form? Yeah,

00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:22.989
third form. Third form. I was in third form.

00:45:23.070 --> 00:45:27.150
But because I stayed back multiple times. Okay.

00:45:27.510 --> 00:45:31.849
Yeah, so, but I still didn't talk. I had that

00:45:31.849 --> 00:45:34.210
from first form, you know. I did get thrown in

00:45:34.210 --> 00:45:37.849
the garbage once. So I kind of like, never used

00:45:37.849 --> 00:45:39.550
to be like, yo, I bigger than you, stronger than

00:45:39.550 --> 00:45:41.769
you. Yeah, throw me in the garbage. No, no, no.

00:45:41.909 --> 00:45:45.920
You know? You know? This sounds like some Fresh

00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:47.719
Prince of Bel -Air shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So

00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:50.619
you kind of adjust your ways a bit. Yeah, yeah,

00:45:50.619 --> 00:45:56.059
yeah. Well, one of my best friends banned it.

00:45:56.119 --> 00:46:01.559
He got... Oh, colors. Yeah, he got, he got, he

00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:05.599
got, well, one of his most known songs, at least

00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:07.860
from back, back then, is Boss Look Here. Yeah,

00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:10.420
Boss Look Here. And in Boss Look Here, you want

00:46:10.420 --> 00:46:12.679
your child learn to survive, send him school

00:46:12.679 --> 00:46:16.860
in Samaritan. Yeah. We the break all the rules

00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:18.599
in Samaritan. Yeah, I remember that song. I remember

00:46:18.599 --> 00:46:21.199
that song, yeah. That was recorded in my house.

00:46:21.420 --> 00:46:24.980
Oh, man. I was at showroom there. Yep. Yeah,

00:46:24.980 --> 00:46:27.420
I remember that. But that's why I wasn't talking

00:46:27.420 --> 00:46:29.079
so much at that time. You kind of learn because

00:46:29.079 --> 00:46:31.539
they had some bad man. Like, yeah, you couldn't

00:46:31.539 --> 00:46:34.619
operate in that certain sense. So, you know,

00:46:34.659 --> 00:46:37.639
that was basically when I left. It was like,

00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:39.519
yeah, man, you know, I signed this leave. And

00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:41.159
then I went there in the Dominican Republic.

00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:43.739
And that was my first time experiencing professionalism.

00:46:44.460 --> 00:46:47.639
Seeing guys trying 95 miles per hour. I've never

00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:50.239
seen, I've seen some mountain guys pitch. And

00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:53.139
I was dominating. I was the best. I went there.

00:46:53.719 --> 00:46:57.460
And I stand up at home plate. And the guy pitched

00:46:57.460 --> 00:46:59.460
the ball. And I jump out of the box. Everybody

00:46:59.460 --> 00:47:02.139
was laughing at me. Oh, shit. So I was kind of

00:47:02.139 --> 00:47:04.340
like embarrassing myself. Yeah. But it was so

00:47:04.340 --> 00:47:06.360
fast, I thought it was going to hit me. Yeah.

00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:09.360
And I was scared. I had anxiety. My anxiety was

00:47:09.360 --> 00:47:11.400
really high. And I didn't know how to react.

00:47:12.119 --> 00:47:16.179
Because you're also there at 16. Yeah. getting

00:47:16.179 --> 00:47:19.360
presented this huge opportunity but you're also

00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:22.820
technically there alone yeah the support system

00:47:22.820 --> 00:47:27.619
everything yeah it's uh yeah so experiencing

00:47:27.619 --> 00:47:32.659
that was a bit tough and um yeah i liked it because

00:47:32.659 --> 00:47:37.000
i saw that it humbled me yeah so that was quite

00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:39.360
a humbling experience that yeah you're not you're

00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:42.420
not the best yeah you know and then after experiencing

00:47:42.420 --> 00:47:46.400
that i had horrible um horrible tryouts i didn't

00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.500
perform very well the only thing i was good in

00:47:48.500 --> 00:47:51.300
was running so so that so that experience kind

00:47:51.300 --> 00:47:53.159
of shot your confidence for a little definitely

00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:55.679
actually make me wanted to quit because i was

00:47:55.679 --> 00:47:58.440
like yeah i'm not good and stuff like that and

00:47:58.440 --> 00:48:00.739
i was like my mom said you need to keep trying

00:48:00.739 --> 00:48:03.260
and i was like you know what i keep going hard

00:48:03.260 --> 00:48:06.579
i went in the field more hitting then um i had

00:48:06.579 --> 00:48:08.159
an opportunity to play in the states when i was

00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:10.900
17. it's called summer baseball in the united

00:48:10.900 --> 00:48:14.599
states and um so how did that opportunity come

00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:17.960
about One of my friends that was older, Omar

00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:20.340
Williams, he was going to college at the time

00:48:20.340 --> 00:48:22.920
in Florida, and he was going to play summer ball.

00:48:23.079 --> 00:48:25.360
And this summer ball league is for high school

00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:28.280
graduates to get opportunity to get signed to

00:48:28.280 --> 00:48:30.460
go to a college. Okay. So you could get, you

00:48:30.460 --> 00:48:34.099
know, signed and get a scholarship. So I went

00:48:34.099 --> 00:48:41.210
to this tournament, and it was quite nice. my

00:48:41.210 --> 00:48:43.429
first game i went with him he invited me and

00:48:43.429 --> 00:48:47.690
it was a florida porkers um i performed quite

00:48:47.690 --> 00:48:51.429
horribly and then after that omar talked to me

00:48:51.429 --> 00:48:53.269
and he was like bro we know you're good relax

00:48:53.269 --> 00:48:56.010
everything you know and we did some training

00:48:56.010 --> 00:49:00.289
etc etc and then um i exploded i went i went

00:49:00.289 --> 00:49:03.650
off that tournament i was a highest average the

00:49:03.650 --> 00:49:08.239
most home runs and um Omar was one of the best

00:49:08.239 --> 00:49:13.059
hitters in Florida, but he was heavier, so he

00:49:13.059 --> 00:49:15.239
had to lose some weight and stuff like that.

00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:18.659
So he had to be damn near perfect. If they wanted

00:49:18.659 --> 00:49:22.219
to sign him, man, he has to be so perfect. Because

00:49:22.219 --> 00:49:24.579
of the heaviness. Yeah, heaviness and the slowness.

00:49:24.599 --> 00:49:27.019
And sometimes he was working on it, but he was

00:49:27.019 --> 00:49:31.460
such a gifted hitter. Yeah. Power. And, yeah,

00:49:31.559 --> 00:49:34.599
so the scout came to see him from the University

00:49:34.599 --> 00:49:39.360
of Miami. And he didn't perform well, but I performed

00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:43.179
extremely well that tournament. I had two balls

00:49:43.179 --> 00:49:45.699
I hit off the fence. I had a ball that I hit

00:49:45.699 --> 00:49:47.739
straight to the third baseman, rocket. It hit

00:49:47.739 --> 00:49:49.860
his chest. He picked it up. I already was safe

00:49:49.860 --> 00:49:52.139
at first base. No shit. So my speed was like,

00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:56.260
I was like crazy fast. And then I didn't think

00:49:56.260 --> 00:49:58.039
nothing of it, actually. I just was playing.

00:49:58.039 --> 00:50:00.500
I love it. Just playing your game? Yeah, just

00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:02.860
playing my game, actually. And I was like four

00:50:02.860 --> 00:50:06.019
for five or something with like four RBIs. And

00:50:06.019 --> 00:50:08.860
then the scout said to the coach that they can't

00:50:08.860 --> 00:50:13.239
do anything for Omar. However, who's this kid's

00:50:13.239 --> 00:50:15.179
Denzel? I want to know everything about him.

00:50:15.579 --> 00:50:19.260
I'm very interested in everything. And the coach

00:50:19.260 --> 00:50:20.679
told me that in front of the team. And I was

00:50:20.679 --> 00:50:23.380
like, everybody was like, oh. And I was like,

00:50:23.460 --> 00:50:26.699
oh, really, me? And then they had a power showcase.

00:50:26.900 --> 00:50:30.079
And this showcase was, you know, you get to express

00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:32.360
your best tool. So they have home run derby.

00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:36.619
They have running. Yeah, and an all -star game.

00:50:37.559 --> 00:50:41.480
Yeah, so my coach, I had power. And I was like,

00:50:41.519 --> 00:50:42.760
yeah, I'm going to do home run derby. And my

00:50:42.760 --> 00:50:46.260
coach was like, nope, you're going to run. I

00:50:46.260 --> 00:50:48.559
was like, no, but my best tool is home runs.

00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:50.440
He's like, Denzel, the scouts doesn't look at

00:50:50.440 --> 00:50:51.840
that. They look at your speed. That's the best

00:50:51.840 --> 00:50:54.980
tool you have. And I was like, okay, great. So

00:50:54.980 --> 00:50:57.980
then I ran, and I ran the fastest. It was 100

00:50:57.980 --> 00:51:02.199
people running. Wow. And in my age group. I ran,

00:51:02.340 --> 00:51:04.539
I was 17 years old, and I ran in an 18 -year

00:51:04.539 --> 00:51:06.659
-old group. And I ran faster than everybody that

00:51:06.659 --> 00:51:09.559
was 18, all Americans that was there. I ran 6

00:51:09.559 --> 00:51:15.659
-7. No, yeah, 6 -7, yes. Those legs was developing,

00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:18.420
walking 20 -something minutes in the hot sun.

00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:24.179
Carrying all their baseballs. Yeah, so when the

00:51:24.179 --> 00:51:26.539
guy... Them Americans would get them dropped

00:51:26.539 --> 00:51:31.380
off in air -conditioned minivans. Yeah, so when

00:51:31.380 --> 00:51:38.119
that happened, like, the coach was saying, like,

00:51:38.179 --> 00:51:40.579
oh, I want it bad. I want to just send me with

00:51:40.579 --> 00:51:42.440
school information. I want to sign this guy.

00:51:42.519 --> 00:51:44.199
I'm going to give this guy a scholarship. Let

00:51:44.199 --> 00:51:45.559
me know what he's doing in school and check the

00:51:45.559 --> 00:51:47.000
transcripts and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:51:47.599 --> 00:51:49.820
You really switch these accents flawlessly. Oh,

00:51:49.820 --> 00:51:51.199
yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I remember it. I remember

00:51:51.199 --> 00:51:53.739
it like yesterday. I'm quite the person. I watch

00:51:53.739 --> 00:51:55.719
the TV and be like, you know, copy them like,

00:51:55.780 --> 00:51:59.079
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. You know, like I used

00:51:59.079 --> 00:52:03.519
to do that. Yeah, so he was like, we want to

00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:05.800
sign him. We're going to get him a scholarship.

00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:07.860
Let me know his school, see the transcripts,

00:52:07.860 --> 00:52:09.760
and see what we can do. Blah, blah, blah. I said,

00:52:09.820 --> 00:52:12.320
okay, cool. I said, am I getting hype? No. But

00:52:12.320 --> 00:52:15.199
then again, he said, send transcripts. Yeah,

00:52:15.320 --> 00:52:19.099
from where? No, no, no. I was like, transcripts?

00:52:19.099 --> 00:52:21.340
And I was like, what do I mean? And then the

00:52:21.340 --> 00:52:23.179
coach was like, yeah, check your grades and everything.

00:52:24.500 --> 00:52:30.619
Check my grades? I said, check my grades. Oh,

00:52:30.639 --> 00:52:33.079
yeah, because these people leave in high school.

00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:35.280
Yeah, going to college. But you need to have

00:52:35.280 --> 00:52:38.460
a certain degree of... And you was reattured,

00:52:38.500 --> 00:52:41.880
Ford Farm at the time? Yeah. However, if my grades

00:52:41.880 --> 00:52:43.820
was good, I would have been connected to a school

00:52:43.820 --> 00:52:46.360
to do summer school quickly to get to go to college.

00:52:46.579 --> 00:52:50.010
Oh, wow. But because my grades were so bad, if

00:52:50.010 --> 00:52:52.389
you look at my report card, and I was like, and

00:52:52.389 --> 00:52:53.929
I told my coach, I was like, coach, my scores

00:52:53.929 --> 00:52:56.369
are bad. My grades are bad. And he was like,

00:52:56.469 --> 00:52:58.570
come on, it's okay. Let me just see your grades.

00:52:58.849 --> 00:53:06.349
He's like, holy moly. I said, you got a two for

00:53:06.349 --> 00:53:12.610
maths? You got a couple twos on here. He was

00:53:12.610 --> 00:53:18.710
like. You're not going to get a chance to go

00:53:18.710 --> 00:53:21.369
to D1 college. Because my dream was to go to

00:53:21.369 --> 00:53:24.050
Division I college. I had a dream. I wanted to

00:53:24.050 --> 00:53:26.150
go to the United States. I was telling my mom,

00:53:26.170 --> 00:53:27.889
Mommy, I want to go to the States. I want to

00:53:27.889 --> 00:53:29.690
play baseball. And she's like, I'm going to help

00:53:29.690 --> 00:53:32.090
you. I'm going to do your best in school. I'm

00:53:32.090 --> 00:53:34.170
going to help you. We're going to go there. We're

00:53:34.170 --> 00:53:37.409
going to blah, blah, blah. And the crazy thing

00:53:37.409 --> 00:53:39.570
is I was reaching my dream. Everything was mine.

00:53:40.070 --> 00:53:43.469
But then because of my foolishness in high school,

00:53:44.489 --> 00:53:48.989
It came back to bite me big time to crush my

00:53:48.989 --> 00:53:52.010
dream to playing in university or college because

00:53:52.010 --> 00:53:55.469
I guarantee you I would finally get the facilities.

00:53:56.630 --> 00:53:59.610
I was there and holes in the floor, hitting balls

00:53:59.610 --> 00:54:01.670
and stuff like that. And I was like dreaming

00:54:01.670 --> 00:54:04.829
of going to the United States. And I felt so

00:54:04.829 --> 00:54:06.789
horrible about school, regret and everything.

00:54:06.889 --> 00:54:08.849
And I was like, okay, Denzel, the fastest way

00:54:08.849 --> 00:54:10.929
is to do your GED. And then you could go to a

00:54:10.929 --> 00:54:13.889
community college for two years, and then you

00:54:13.889 --> 00:54:15.849
could be eligible to go to a Division I college.

00:54:16.090 --> 00:54:17.650
So I say, okay, that's the route I'm going to

00:54:17.650 --> 00:54:19.050
take. I'm going to just be a little bit older,

00:54:19.210 --> 00:54:22.590
whatever. So while I was doing the GED, the Colorado

00:54:22.590 --> 00:54:25.030
Rockies came to St. Martin. Some guy invited

00:54:25.030 --> 00:54:28.750
the Colorado Rockies, and I went to the tryout.

00:54:28.829 --> 00:54:31.110
I wasn't even supposed to do the tryout because

00:54:31.110 --> 00:54:34.010
you had to sign a piece of paper that, you know,

00:54:34.030 --> 00:54:37.670
like... Yeah. When you read the paper, it was

00:54:37.670 --> 00:54:39.389
basically saying that this person would be your

00:54:39.389 --> 00:54:42.369
agent and it would take 25 % if you sign professionally,

00:54:42.610 --> 00:54:46.150
blah, blah, blah. And because I was in the realm

00:54:46.150 --> 00:54:48.909
of speaking of signing, people were aware of

00:54:48.909 --> 00:54:50.610
me of like, Denzel, watch out for this, watch

00:54:50.610 --> 00:54:52.849
out for that. So I didn't sign. But I still went

00:54:52.849 --> 00:54:54.530
to the field just to see because I love baseball

00:54:54.530 --> 00:54:56.429
and I was going to train after the league. And

00:54:56.429 --> 00:54:59.650
my plan was as soon as the trial just finished,

00:54:59.750 --> 00:55:01.409
I go on the field really quick and try to hit

00:55:01.409 --> 00:55:03.590
the ball. So maybe somebody look at me. that

00:55:03.590 --> 00:55:07.690
had quite a winning spirit. And while I was in

00:55:07.690 --> 00:55:11.349
the stands sitting and watching the trial, they

00:55:11.349 --> 00:55:14.210
were doing a 60 -yard dash. One of the scouts

00:55:14.210 --> 00:55:16.289
said, like, why is the kid with the best body

00:55:16.289 --> 00:55:19.869
is in the stands? And then the person that said

00:55:19.869 --> 00:55:21.650
that I needed to sign came to me and was like,

00:55:22.070 --> 00:55:25.449
you know. you don't need to sign a paper, you

00:55:25.449 --> 00:55:27.969
can do the tryout. And then the person walked

00:55:27.969 --> 00:55:30.090
by, the scout came right next to her and she

00:55:30.090 --> 00:55:31.730
was like, oh, yes, he's going to do the tryout.

00:55:32.329 --> 00:55:35.789
You know, and that's how the journey started.

00:55:35.929 --> 00:55:37.610
And I performed very well because I just had

00:55:37.610 --> 00:55:39.530
the experience of playing in the United States.

00:55:39.670 --> 00:55:42.289
You know, so I participated at a higher level.

00:55:42.429 --> 00:55:45.449
But let's pause a little bit at that moment of

00:55:45.449 --> 00:55:50.110
where you got that proper advice at the right

00:55:50.110 --> 00:55:54.630
moment. of having a few of those people around

00:55:54.630 --> 00:55:58.469
you before to to even make you aware that signing

00:55:58.469 --> 00:56:02.690
that piece of paper was not the best move and

00:56:02.690 --> 00:56:05.449
and and definitely not hastily signing anything

00:56:05.449 --> 00:56:09.289
before having it checked over by by others um

00:56:09.289 --> 00:56:14.429
because I actually have a similar story. When

00:56:14.429 --> 00:56:18.210
I was doing music and the performance on BET

00:56:18.210 --> 00:56:26.250
around that time in New York, I could have got

00:56:26.250 --> 00:56:31.710
introduced to one of the record execs. I believe

00:56:31.710 --> 00:56:34.449
it's an A &R, they call them, the ones that are

00:56:34.449 --> 00:56:38.449
scouting the talent. But before introducing me,

00:56:38.489 --> 00:56:40.530
they also wanted me to sign a management paper,

00:56:40.750 --> 00:56:47.730
this TIC contract. And I hesitated quite a few

00:56:47.730 --> 00:56:49.909
times, said, well, I need a digital version of

00:56:49.909 --> 00:56:52.010
it. Once I got the digital version, I sent it

00:56:52.010 --> 00:56:54.429
home. They had lawyers check it out, and then

00:56:54.429 --> 00:56:57.510
they called me immediately, like, do not sign,

00:56:57.730 --> 00:57:01.449
because essentially, those persons will still

00:57:01.449 --> 00:57:03.510
have claim on whatever it is I'm doing today.

00:57:03.969 --> 00:57:08.250
Because it's like they're 15, 20 % in perpetuity.

00:57:09.389 --> 00:57:12.690
Yeah. So kids, don't be signing papers without

00:57:12.690 --> 00:57:15.329
having lawyers check it. If your family can't

00:57:15.329 --> 00:57:19.429
afford lawyers, then where should we send them?

00:57:20.010 --> 00:57:22.369
Somebody that's somewhat educated that can read.

00:57:22.530 --> 00:57:25.929
Yeah. You know, so, yeah. And that's how my journey

00:57:25.929 --> 00:57:27.849
started. And I went to trial and I killed it.

00:57:28.159 --> 00:57:32.300
cold i ran cold and i ran fast you know and they

00:57:32.300 --> 00:57:34.079
kept asking me how old i am because you know

00:57:34.079 --> 00:57:36.260
in the dominican republic they have a system

00:57:36.260 --> 00:57:39.099
where some kids lie on the age just to get more

00:57:39.099 --> 00:57:42.820
money you know so they kept asking that and i

00:57:42.820 --> 00:57:45.000
understood that now at this age you know you

00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:46.960
understand why they keep asking but it was surprise

00:57:46.960 --> 00:57:50.739
based off my ability you know so uh the invite

00:57:50.739 --> 00:57:52.800
because at this time you're about 17. i'm 17

00:57:52.800 --> 00:57:56.000
now so now they said oh do you want to invite

00:57:56.000 --> 00:57:58.219
you to the dominican republic Have you ever been?

00:57:58.280 --> 00:57:59.619
I said, oh, I've been there already. He was like,

00:57:59.679 --> 00:58:01.760
oh, really? I was like, yeah, last year with

00:58:01.760 --> 00:58:03.840
the Orioles, but it didn't work out with the

00:58:03.840 --> 00:58:05.239
Twins or the Orioles. He was like, okay, well,

00:58:05.260 --> 00:58:07.239
you got another chance. I said, yeah, cool. So

00:58:07.239 --> 00:58:11.800
I went there and faced the same professional

00:58:11.800 --> 00:58:15.619
95 -mile -per -hour guys, and I remember my first

00:58:15.619 --> 00:58:18.400
at -bat was against Juan Nicasio. He was in the

00:58:18.400 --> 00:58:21.179
big leagues for the Colorado Rockies, and he

00:58:21.179 --> 00:58:23.900
was throwing 98. uh i was like oh and it was

00:58:23.900 --> 00:58:26.739
like 98 miles per hour yeah and it was like that's

00:58:26.739 --> 00:58:30.860
like 150 something kilometers per hour so that's

00:58:30.860 --> 00:58:33.860
that's faster than our speed limit in the netherlands

00:58:33.860 --> 00:58:39.519
so so um i started to do the same thing i run

00:58:39.519 --> 00:58:41.860
out the box the first about and i i talked to

00:58:41.860 --> 00:58:47.659
myself i i and everybody and i started to talk

00:58:47.659 --> 00:58:49.119
to myself i said yeah you're going to do it i

00:58:49.119 --> 00:58:51.139
did not come here again for nothing yeah you're

00:58:51.139 --> 00:58:53.739
going to do it And the guy threw the next pitch.

00:58:53.840 --> 00:58:56.360
I just swing the bat. And the ball was one bounce

00:58:56.360 --> 00:58:59.559
off the wall. Off right field. Off one knee cast.

00:58:59.639 --> 00:59:02.599
I hit a double off the wall. And I reach on second

00:59:02.599 --> 00:59:06.179
base. And I was like, whoo. I'm that guy. I'm

00:59:06.179 --> 00:59:09.469
here. Crazy thing is, next three at -bats. three

00:59:09.469 --> 00:59:13.130
strikeouts oh and that was every game so every

00:59:13.130 --> 00:59:14.869
game i would hit a ball on the wall yeah and

00:59:14.869 --> 00:59:17.090
i would strike out yeah every game hit a ball

00:59:17.090 --> 00:59:18.849
on the wall strike out every day was getting

00:59:18.849 --> 00:59:20.690
better yeah and better i've seen the ball much

00:59:20.690 --> 00:59:22.530
more better i've seen it i'm reacting much more

00:59:22.530 --> 00:59:25.590
because in in general outside of these two moments

00:59:25.590 --> 00:59:28.389
in the dominican republic you you weren't facing

00:59:28.389 --> 00:59:31.389
anybody that could teach 95 miles per hour no

00:59:31.389 --> 00:59:35.239
i in in the in the In the high school tournament

00:59:35.239 --> 00:59:38.079
that we played in the United States, I met two

00:59:38.079 --> 00:59:43.780
guys that were 95, 94, 93. And I only got a hit

00:59:43.780 --> 00:59:46.079
off of one of them. The guy 95, I did not get

00:59:46.079 --> 00:59:49.900
a hit off of him. But I finally was able to hit

00:59:49.900 --> 00:59:55.320
that 90 miles per hour fastball. So it just progressed

00:59:55.320 --> 00:59:57.380
off of that. After more seeing it and seeing

00:59:57.380 --> 00:59:58.960
it, you kind of adjust to the level. Because

00:59:58.960 --> 01:00:00.960
it's like anything, you need to practice. Yeah.

01:00:03.530 --> 01:00:05.989
yeah that that that's the interesting thing about

01:00:05.989 --> 01:00:08.829
about about this part of the journey and the

01:00:08.829 --> 01:00:13.809
story is like you you start off with this being

01:00:13.809 --> 01:00:17.949
sort of your comfort zone and as you stretch

01:00:17.949 --> 01:00:22.070
out of your comfort zone um it's it's scary it's

01:00:22.070 --> 01:00:25.550
difficult yeah but if you consistently push yourself

01:00:25.550 --> 01:00:28.769
out then it grows yeah you push yourself out

01:00:28.769 --> 01:00:31.329
then it grows and at some point you didn't have

01:00:32.190 --> 01:00:38.750
um any anyone to push you to that to to to grow

01:00:38.750 --> 01:00:42.449
beyond the the big comfort zone you already created

01:00:42.449 --> 01:00:45.389
which so so what was you hitting on average then

01:00:45.389 --> 01:00:51.949
80 miles yeah yeah 77. uh yeah 80. so jumping

01:00:51.949 --> 01:00:55.809
from 77 to like 95 that's that's that's that's

01:00:55.809 --> 01:00:58.409
a huge difference yeah definitely so And then

01:00:58.409 --> 01:01:01.289
after a week of playing games, they invited my

01:01:01.289 --> 01:01:03.510
parents to come over, and they actually signed

01:01:03.510 --> 01:01:06.070
me. And that's how I started my journey. I signed

01:01:06.070 --> 01:01:08.349
professionally, and at the time, I didn't even

01:01:08.349 --> 01:01:12.309
finish my GED. And I was like, yeah. And my mom

01:01:12.309 --> 01:01:14.489
told me. My mom was a schoolteacher. And she

01:01:14.489 --> 01:01:17.429
told me, she's like, Dan, if this is what you

01:01:17.429 --> 01:01:19.750
want to do, and you really want to do it, I want

01:01:19.750 --> 01:01:23.010
you to be happy, I support you. Wow. I said,

01:01:23.030 --> 01:01:26.150
wow. I said, my mother would tell me that? I

01:01:26.150 --> 01:01:28.000
thought she was going to tell me. It's lesson

01:01:28.000 --> 01:01:31.320
first. Finish school, she's like, I know you

01:01:31.320 --> 01:01:34.420
don't like school, but, you know, if this is

01:01:34.420 --> 01:01:37.199
what you want to do, I want you to be happy.

01:01:37.239 --> 01:01:39.420
I say, wow. So I say, yeah, I went for it and

01:01:39.420 --> 01:01:41.760
signed. And that's how I started my journey there.

01:01:42.079 --> 01:01:44.420
And I played two years in the Dominican Republic,

01:01:44.800 --> 01:01:47.400
fighting, developing myself to become a professional

01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:50.179
first year. And then I was much better the next

01:01:50.179 --> 01:01:52.329
year, and then I went to the United States. you

01:01:52.329 --> 01:01:55.289
know and um experience my dream you know being

01:01:55.289 --> 01:01:58.530
against americans you know because i was fond

01:01:58.530 --> 01:02:00.590
of them for something yeah yeah yeah i mean coming

01:02:00.590 --> 01:02:02.170
from the islands you don't think much of your

01:02:02.170 --> 01:02:05.030
of your island members but you you grew up thinking

01:02:05.030 --> 01:02:07.809
oh you know alex rodriguez derek jeter you know

01:02:07.809 --> 01:02:09.570
you're looking like oh states is everything you

01:02:09.570 --> 01:02:11.090
know yeah and being there in that environment

01:02:11.090 --> 01:02:13.869
knowing what your capabilities are and knowing

01:02:13.869 --> 01:02:15.949
that you dare to like you know i was just fun

01:02:15.949 --> 01:02:18.090
you know everybody was making fun of me my accent

01:02:18.090 --> 01:02:22.949
you know just quick quick um story like for example

01:02:22.949 --> 01:02:26.329
my accent i remember i wasn't happy with my my

01:02:26.329 --> 01:02:28.530
my bp wrong my batting practice wrong so the

01:02:28.530 --> 01:02:31.110
guy threw six balls to everybody and then rotate

01:02:31.110 --> 01:02:33.449
rotate rotate but we was finished and i said

01:02:33.449 --> 01:02:37.030
coach can i get another round of tree um our

01:02:37.030 --> 01:02:40.250
coach was like what i said i said can i get another

01:02:40.250 --> 01:02:43.929
round of tree he's like denzel what say it again

01:02:43.929 --> 01:02:46.469
i said can i get another on a tree you want to

01:02:46.469 --> 01:02:51.550
run around a tree i said And then after, you

01:02:51.550 --> 01:02:53.650
know, because I was quite a clone too. Yeah,

01:02:53.750 --> 01:02:55.510
yeah. And then I started speaking in white. My

01:02:55.510 --> 01:02:57.510
voice was like, no, can I get another round of

01:02:57.510 --> 01:02:59.510
three? Can I get another round of three balls?

01:02:59.869 --> 01:03:01.570
And then he was like, oh, but why didn't you

01:03:01.570 --> 01:03:03.769
say that from before, Denzel? Speak in your white

01:03:03.769 --> 01:03:07.849
guy voice all the time. You know, so it was a

01:03:07.849 --> 01:03:11.739
constant battle to, you know, to lose. what's

01:03:11.739 --> 01:03:13.519
natural to you, your accent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:03:13.519 --> 01:03:15.320
And you have to speak a little bit more proper.

01:03:15.519 --> 01:03:17.719
Yeah, yeah. You know, and you have to learn to...

01:03:17.719 --> 01:03:19.840
So you start yanking. Yeah, just a little bit.

01:03:19.960 --> 01:03:22.800
Just a little bit. You know, and every time you

01:03:22.800 --> 01:03:25.300
speak to somebody, dude, I'll be like, yeah,

01:03:25.340 --> 01:03:27.139
man, so I go in on the road and then they had

01:03:27.139 --> 01:03:28.440
this girl, she checked me and she was looking

01:03:28.440 --> 01:03:32.679
good, but... And he'll be like, what? Most Americans

01:03:32.679 --> 01:03:34.960
will be like, what? Dude, I don't understand

01:03:34.960 --> 01:03:38.010
what you're saying there. So you always had a

01:03:38.010 --> 01:03:39.750
constant repeat, but I didn't want to lose that

01:03:39.750 --> 01:03:43.429
for myself. So I had to speak a little bit more

01:03:43.429 --> 01:03:47.190
better, articulate a little bit more better.

01:03:48.190 --> 01:03:53.989
So that was my journey there. Scale back some

01:03:53.989 --> 01:03:56.170
of the rawness. Yeah, so I had to do that. And

01:03:56.170 --> 01:04:00.269
I was quite stubborn too. I was sick. Because

01:04:00.269 --> 01:04:03.469
you kind of see... the side of like okay i was

01:04:03.469 --> 01:04:05.730
so fond of americans and i was like then you

01:04:05.730 --> 01:04:07.929
see the side of some people i'm like why are

01:04:07.929 --> 01:04:11.289
you from samaritan exactly you know these people

01:04:11.289 --> 01:04:14.809
here you know but then you start to take more

01:04:14.809 --> 01:04:18.690
pride in uh in in home yeah and the lessons and

01:04:18.690 --> 01:04:22.590
uh because the foundation home taught yeah because

01:04:22.590 --> 01:04:26.460
they So it's like St. Martin, you know, we have

01:04:26.460 --> 01:04:28.739
this mentality like, you know, these man dumb.

01:04:29.340 --> 01:04:31.480
The behavior, we don't mean that they're dumb,

01:04:31.579 --> 01:04:33.420
like they can't comprehend anything, but these

01:04:33.420 --> 01:04:35.739
guys just dumb. And when they're in the States,

01:04:35.860 --> 01:04:37.980
I said the same thing. These man just dumb too.

01:04:38.980 --> 01:04:41.559
They're just different, you know. And then you

01:04:41.559 --> 01:04:44.559
start to like see the world as competition because

01:04:44.559 --> 01:04:47.400
it is a competition. Nobody is your friend. I

01:04:47.400 --> 01:04:50.380
thought I felt at home being in America because

01:04:50.380 --> 01:04:53.019
I wasn't Dominican. And I didn't speak Spanish.

01:04:53.219 --> 01:04:55.579
Yeah. But I learned to speak Spanish. Oh, yeah?

01:04:55.719 --> 01:04:57.719
In those two years? Oh, wow. In those two seasons

01:04:57.719 --> 01:05:04.159
I played there. But I learned Spanish there.

01:05:04.300 --> 01:05:06.460
But, you know, when I was there, I was like,

01:05:06.500 --> 01:05:08.840
it was a breath of fresh air. Like, I could speak

01:05:08.840 --> 01:05:13.360
English. You know? And, you know. Yeah. And that's

01:05:13.360 --> 01:05:14.980
how my journey there and see the politics there

01:05:14.980 --> 01:05:18.239
was horrible. It made me. Like, not even enjoy

01:05:18.239 --> 01:05:20.619
baseball no more because, you know, it's a money

01:05:20.619 --> 01:05:22.519
game. It's politics. And I didn't understand

01:05:22.519 --> 01:05:24.559
it at the time, and I didn't have any self -control.

01:05:24.780 --> 01:05:30.019
You know, so they invest 700 grand in this guy,

01:05:30.099 --> 01:05:34.099
and this guy suck. Like, he sucks. He sucks.

01:05:34.719 --> 01:05:37.460
And I would play and perform, and I'm like, I'm

01:05:37.460 --> 01:05:40.539
so much better than this guy. But he would always

01:05:40.539 --> 01:05:43.989
get an opportunity. So when you look back, why

01:05:43.989 --> 01:05:46.849
do you think that is? Yeah, why I think what

01:05:46.849 --> 01:05:49.570
is. That the person got the opportunity and you

01:05:49.570 --> 01:05:50.869
didn't get the opportunity. Yeah, because investment.

01:05:51.710 --> 01:05:54.510
Because they invest 700 grand into this guy.

01:05:54.769 --> 01:05:57.670
They already invested the 700. Yeah, he already

01:05:57.670 --> 01:06:00.309
invested the 700 in this guy. Yeah. And they

01:06:00.309 --> 01:06:03.110
invested 30 grand in me. Okay. So that was my

01:06:03.110 --> 01:06:06.389
bonus money. So they were more looking that they

01:06:06.389 --> 01:06:09.949
need to get the ROI on that 700? Exactly. On

01:06:09.949 --> 01:06:12.590
that 700K? So he's going to get opportunity more

01:06:12.590 --> 01:06:15.170
than me, even though he sucks more than me. So

01:06:15.170 --> 01:06:16.570
he's going to get that window of opportunity,

01:06:16.710 --> 01:06:18.829
even though I'm more talented, even though I'm

01:06:18.829 --> 01:06:22.449
more work. My ethic is much more, you know, so.

01:06:22.769 --> 01:06:26.110
Did he have certain agents, certain things behind

01:06:26.110 --> 01:06:28.630
him that maybe you didn't have? No, it doesn't

01:06:28.630 --> 01:06:30.929
matter about agents. Okay. It matters about if

01:06:30.929 --> 01:06:33.949
they invest in you. that money you have a better

01:06:33.949 --> 01:06:36.909
opportunity yeah your window of failure is much

01:06:36.909 --> 01:06:39.130
more greater when you sign a guy like me for

01:06:39.130 --> 01:06:42.050
the money i got you better perform while you

01:06:42.050 --> 01:06:45.849
go home so i didn't have time to like develop

01:06:45.849 --> 01:06:49.329
myself in the states i had time like denzel get

01:06:49.329 --> 01:06:52.550
your stuff together or you know it's a great

01:06:52.550 --> 01:06:54.210
senior you're a great guy everything i'll see

01:06:54.210 --> 01:06:56.230
you next time you know hopefully keep going or

01:06:56.230 --> 01:06:59.250
whatever you know that's the the whole uh thing

01:06:59.250 --> 01:07:02.840
there yeah i didn't have room to breathe yeah

01:07:02.840 --> 01:07:05.300
it was like perform and then i because i had

01:07:05.300 --> 01:07:08.139
anxiety and panic attacks the the pressure of

01:07:08.139 --> 01:07:11.860
of of of of that kind of like was too was too

01:07:11.860 --> 01:07:14.300
much for me to bear yeah and i couldn't handle

01:07:14.300 --> 01:07:17.219
it mentally so i can and and all this time you

01:07:17.219 --> 01:07:22.500
also uh you dare alone yeah at uh at what age

01:07:22.500 --> 01:07:28.400
is this now 19 i was 20 20 i was 20 21. 2021

01:07:28.400 --> 01:07:31.360
yeah so at that time i couldn't handle it because

01:07:31.360 --> 01:07:35.480
like for example i question authority all the

01:07:35.480 --> 01:07:38.039
time so example if i'm on the bench four days

01:07:38.039 --> 01:07:40.139
i'm like yo i'm gonna bench four days yeah i

01:07:40.139 --> 01:07:42.000
would walk up into the manager office like yo

01:07:42.000 --> 01:07:45.070
big man Just like this, though. Yo, big man,

01:07:45.150 --> 01:07:47.250
why are you not playing? I was like, Denzel,

01:07:47.309 --> 01:07:49.610
it's just not your turn as yet. I said, but I'm

01:07:49.610 --> 01:07:51.230
on the bench four days, coach. What do you mean?

01:07:51.690 --> 01:07:53.969
He was like, yeah, it's just how it is. You've

01:07:53.969 --> 01:07:56.389
got to wait for your turn. I was like, yo, I'm

01:07:56.389 --> 01:07:58.369
on the bench. This man sucks strikeout every

01:07:58.369 --> 01:08:03.250
day. I was that kind of heated in front of management,

01:08:03.449 --> 01:08:07.170
not understanding that respect and everything.

01:08:07.469 --> 01:08:10.190
It got me into some issues as well because I

01:08:10.190 --> 01:08:13.269
didn't know how to navigate my feelings. Because

01:08:13.269 --> 01:08:16.729
I want it to be done right by me versus those

01:08:16.729 --> 01:08:19.789
business decisions and et cetera, et cetera.

01:08:20.069 --> 01:08:26.229
So at this point, you're trying out for the minors?

01:08:26.289 --> 01:08:28.649
No, I'm in the minors. This is in the minors.

01:08:28.649 --> 01:08:30.810
So I'm in the minors already. I'm in the United

01:08:30.810 --> 01:08:32.850
States. I was in Colorado and I was in Washington

01:08:32.850 --> 01:08:35.930
State. And you spent four years in the minors?

01:08:36.210 --> 01:08:40.939
Yes. One year independent league. One year independently.

01:08:41.420 --> 01:08:46.399
And earlier you mentioned that during the season

01:08:46.399 --> 01:08:48.920
you would be there. So that was like about a

01:08:48.920 --> 01:08:51.119
six -month period? About, yeah, six months. And

01:08:51.119 --> 01:08:54.140
then you would have to head back home? Yes, head

01:08:54.140 --> 01:08:55.979
back home. So as soon as the season is finished,

01:08:56.020 --> 01:08:59.640
we head back home. And even when you're in the

01:08:59.640 --> 01:09:01.800
States, you always have to go to the Dominican

01:09:01.800 --> 01:09:04.420
Republic for instructional league. So you finish

01:09:04.420 --> 01:09:07.930
the season, let's say August. You go home for,

01:09:07.989 --> 01:09:11.270
like, three months. And then in the end of November,

01:09:11.369 --> 01:09:13.890
you go for another month. And then in February,

01:09:13.930 --> 01:09:16.449
you go for another month. And then you come back

01:09:16.449 --> 01:09:19.289
in April for full season. Okay. So you're basically

01:09:19.289 --> 01:09:21.750
gone eight months of the year. Yeah. Yeah. So

01:09:21.750 --> 01:09:23.909
that's how it was. And if you was a prospect,

01:09:24.029 --> 01:09:26.770
you spent even longer in the States. So you would

01:09:26.770 --> 01:09:29.050
be, like, gone ten months, nine months, you know.

01:09:29.109 --> 01:09:32.050
So, yeah, but I didn't experience that. So that

01:09:32.050 --> 01:09:34.810
was basically the game. Like, you really had

01:09:34.810 --> 01:09:39.189
to perform. understand controlling emotions perform

01:09:39.189 --> 01:09:42.149
when you're not a person that received a lot

01:09:42.149 --> 01:09:44.909
of funding you need to perform you know have

01:09:44.909 --> 01:09:49.050
respect have a good attitude be likable uh if

01:09:49.050 --> 01:09:53.350
not yeah man yeah just prepare so do you think

01:09:53.350 --> 01:09:56.210
think anything would have been any different

01:09:56.210 --> 01:10:04.370
if you had let's say some type of mentoring From

01:10:04.370 --> 01:10:07.310
someone that is more closer to where you from

01:10:07.310 --> 01:10:11.970
to kind of point and guide you along that journey?

01:10:12.250 --> 01:10:15.510
Most definitely. What I had at home too is like

01:10:15.510 --> 01:10:19.329
a lot of crabs in a bucket. So I would go back

01:10:19.329 --> 01:10:21.409
home and play softball and people would be like,

01:10:21.409 --> 01:10:23.760
yeah. You're going to get released, you know,

01:10:23.819 --> 01:10:26.979
like this guy. Let's just say this is a guy that

01:10:26.979 --> 01:10:29.060
signed professional, but he strike out in softball.

01:10:29.479 --> 01:10:32.060
Like you always had a constant thing to even

01:10:32.060 --> 01:10:33.600
prove to your people. Instead of you come home

01:10:33.600 --> 01:10:36.239
and people be like, Denzel, we're proud of you,

01:10:36.260 --> 01:10:38.520
you know. We're proud of you. You go on the baseball

01:10:38.520 --> 01:10:41.359
field and you see these people just talk negative

01:10:41.359 --> 01:10:43.819
about you and talk to you like a joke. You know,

01:10:43.880 --> 01:10:47.579
like it's unless you reach to a high degree.

01:10:48.779 --> 01:10:51.199
Unless you become World Series champion. Yeah,

01:10:51.300 --> 01:10:54.699
they still drink beer and just talk crap about

01:10:54.699 --> 01:10:56.779
you. Yeah. And that's the thing we have on the

01:10:56.779 --> 01:10:58.340
island. We don't have that support. Like, you

01:10:58.340 --> 01:11:00.399
know, when you see Curacao, you got flags, you

01:11:00.399 --> 01:11:02.939
got, you know, you have billboards of players,

01:11:03.159 --> 01:11:05.920
their face everywhere. And that's just something

01:11:05.920 --> 01:11:08.340
that we lacked. And at home, I didn't even get

01:11:08.340 --> 01:11:09.859
to feel good. Like, come on, Denzel, you can

01:11:09.859 --> 01:11:11.399
keep going. Of course, they have the select few.

01:11:11.600 --> 01:11:17.180
Yeah, yeah. But the majority? Yeah. I know exactly

01:11:17.180 --> 01:11:18.979
what you mean. It's the same thing. And that's

01:11:18.979 --> 01:11:21.800
the thing in life. In life, I learned in baseball,

01:11:22.079 --> 01:11:25.840
even though you sign professional, nobody cares

01:11:25.840 --> 01:11:28.420
unless you do something great. And only when

01:11:28.420 --> 01:11:30.560
I perform very great with a Dutch team and the

01:11:30.560 --> 01:11:32.720
Netherlands and stuff like that, here comes,

01:11:32.800 --> 01:11:34.840
for example, the government. Oh, we want to invite

01:11:34.840 --> 01:11:39.039
you. And I was upset about it, but I needed to

01:11:39.039 --> 01:11:43.039
understand it. Success follows these kind of

01:11:43.039 --> 01:11:45.640
things. Nobody cares about your journey until

01:11:45.640 --> 01:11:49.260
you make it somewhere far. I had to learn that

01:11:49.260 --> 01:11:52.979
and I had to take my feelings out of it and understand

01:11:52.979 --> 01:11:55.300
that. Understand the rationale of it. That's

01:11:55.300 --> 01:11:59.020
just part of the game. If nobody cares, unfortunately,

01:11:59.420 --> 01:12:01.800
so you just have to make yourself a person of

01:12:01.800 --> 01:12:05.340
value and make sure that your face is there and

01:12:05.340 --> 01:12:07.590
then when people care. And that's what I experienced

01:12:07.590 --> 01:12:09.649
here in the Netherlands with the baseball here.

01:12:10.289 --> 01:12:13.930
I finally collect my thoughts and I understood

01:12:13.930 --> 01:12:16.710
the principles of winning. I finally control

01:12:16.710 --> 01:12:19.270
my mind. I control my emotions. And I experienced

01:12:19.270 --> 01:12:21.430
winning, winning, winning, winning over and over

01:12:21.430 --> 01:12:25.329
year after year. Always win awards. And it opened

01:12:25.329 --> 01:12:30.430
doors for me to understand. So really your professional

01:12:30.430 --> 01:12:34.260
career. really took off here in the netherlands

01:12:34.260 --> 01:12:37.359
versus in the states yes like like like i said

01:12:37.359 --> 01:12:40.420
before like i said before in other podcasts as

01:12:40.420 --> 01:12:42.840
well i said everybody's born with wings but not

01:12:42.840 --> 01:12:46.000
everybody experienced flying you know and the

01:12:46.000 --> 01:12:47.960
netherlands is where i really learned to stretch

01:12:47.960 --> 01:12:51.079
my wings and finally understand how to fly so

01:12:51.079 --> 01:12:55.439
why you think the difference Let's just say it

01:12:55.439 --> 01:12:58.359
was forced. I put myself in a comfortable position

01:12:58.359 --> 01:13:01.000
because I wanted to respect myself. I came to

01:13:01.000 --> 01:13:03.659
the Netherlands after my mom passed away. Your

01:13:03.659 --> 01:13:06.859
mom passed away? Yeah, so my mom passed away

01:13:06.859 --> 01:13:09.779
right after Irma. She died after a month after

01:13:09.779 --> 01:13:14.880
Irma. So I said, I'm not going to stay in St.

01:13:14.920 --> 01:13:17.399
Martin because if I stay in St. Martin, I will

01:13:17.399 --> 01:13:20.560
never be something of greatness or something

01:13:20.560 --> 01:13:22.779
I want to pursue. So I came to the Netherlands.

01:13:23.340 --> 01:13:26.340
to to build something of myself that i would

01:13:26.340 --> 01:13:28.579
respect myself and be proud of myself because

01:13:28.579 --> 01:13:31.859
i continuously always had to add help and stuff

01:13:31.859 --> 01:13:34.359
like that and lean on women and stuff because

01:13:34.359 --> 01:13:36.939
i was weak mentally emotionally and blah blah

01:13:36.939 --> 01:13:39.180
blah blah blah and i wanted to stand on my feet

01:13:39.180 --> 01:13:41.399
so i came here an uncomfortable position and

01:13:41.399 --> 01:13:45.520
and put myself through the test and um yeah i

01:13:45.520 --> 01:13:47.659
performed very well at personal training i started

01:13:47.659 --> 01:13:50.619
personal training first month made 300 euros

01:13:51.470 --> 01:13:54.029
until I reached to a point that, you know, you

01:13:54.029 --> 01:13:56.350
don't want to speak about it figuratively, but

01:13:56.350 --> 01:13:59.270
my goal was just like, you know, I want to make

01:13:59.270 --> 01:14:01.010
a living, like two grand, two and a half grand,

01:14:01.130 --> 01:14:03.949
and I'm happy. Because it was conditioned that

01:14:03.949 --> 01:14:06.310
in order, and conditioned from young, and I want

01:14:06.310 --> 01:14:07.710
to be nothing because I don't have an education.

01:14:08.630 --> 01:14:10.609
It was conditioned to me, and I was like, oh,

01:14:10.609 --> 01:14:13.250
two and a half. And something happened, I started

01:14:13.250 --> 01:14:15.369
to be more, I understand how the mind works,

01:14:15.390 --> 01:14:17.029
and I started reading, I started to meditate,

01:14:17.210 --> 01:14:19.170
and I started to create a program in my mind.

01:14:20.039 --> 01:14:22.560
All of a sudden, 10 grand happened. And I was

01:14:22.560 --> 01:14:25.340
like, yo, that's crazy. And I bought my car,

01:14:25.420 --> 01:14:28.180
bought my Audi, did get this and save money.

01:14:28.300 --> 01:14:30.579
I could buy a house now. And I was like, and

01:14:30.579 --> 01:14:33.020
in the beginning when I started to make that

01:14:33.020 --> 01:14:36.100
money, I had a proving thing. I was still proving.

01:14:36.180 --> 01:14:38.859
I said that my aunt studied this amount of years

01:14:38.859 --> 01:14:41.520
in school. I'm going to make more money than

01:14:41.520 --> 01:14:45.579
her. And when I made the money, I was such in

01:14:45.579 --> 01:14:48.560
a mature state that I said. I still don't have

01:14:48.560 --> 01:14:51.500
to prove this. And I still saw that. I still

01:14:51.500 --> 01:14:54.300
didn't let go of the proving mechanism. And I

01:14:54.300 --> 01:14:57.199
grew up, I grew, I matured, and I understand

01:14:57.199 --> 01:14:59.859
it for what it is. I understand my family for

01:14:59.859 --> 01:15:02.939
what it is. Both sides. Both sides have issues.

01:15:03.199 --> 01:15:06.100
People that hold on to pain and become a pain

01:15:06.100 --> 01:15:10.239
giver. The generational. The generational curses.

01:15:10.380 --> 01:15:13.800
The generational things. And I said to myself,

01:15:13.920 --> 01:15:16.670
I'm going to create a new Richardson. And my

01:15:16.670 --> 01:15:19.109
bloodline is not going to have any envy. My bloodline

01:15:19.109 --> 01:15:22.050
is not going to have any unforgiveness. My bloodline

01:15:22.050 --> 01:15:23.829
is not going to have any of these things. Because

01:15:23.829 --> 01:15:26.010
I study so much about the mind, I understand

01:15:26.010 --> 01:15:28.989
that you could take your blood out. And in your

01:15:28.989 --> 01:15:31.949
blood, they can check what kind of person you

01:15:31.949 --> 01:15:33.869
was. What kind of character, the traits that

01:15:33.869 --> 01:15:36.689
you had, the habits. So I said, wow, that's astonishing.

01:15:37.369 --> 01:15:40.449
So the things I do now is in my blood. Because

01:15:40.449 --> 01:15:43.210
that's what you'll be passing on. So I thought

01:15:43.210 --> 01:15:47.100
to myself, I want to give my... future offsprings,

01:15:47.100 --> 01:15:50.260
everything that I didn't have. Feeling enough,

01:15:50.479 --> 01:15:54.859
feeling confident, belief, hard work, intelligent,

01:15:55.039 --> 01:15:58.319
kind, smart. And I kept working on those things.

01:15:58.520 --> 01:16:01.260
And I keep pushing myself, motivating that I

01:16:01.260 --> 01:16:04.340
would want to have my children to have this easy.

01:16:05.289 --> 01:16:08.350
And controlling your mind, relax, always approaching

01:16:08.350 --> 01:16:11.529
things in a relaxed condition. So that was one

01:16:11.529 --> 01:16:15.029
of my motivations to hard work and continue pushing.

01:16:15.729 --> 01:16:20.050
And crazy the thing is, because of the lack of

01:16:20.050 --> 01:16:23.050
acknowledgement when I was younger, it instilled

01:16:23.050 --> 01:16:26.090
that hard work ethic in me. So it never left.

01:16:26.289 --> 01:16:28.489
So that's partially why I worked so hard too,

01:16:28.529 --> 01:16:31.729
because I always had to prove something. So that

01:16:31.729 --> 01:16:35.659
shaped me into the man I am today. And through

01:16:35.659 --> 01:16:38.020
my consistent winning, opened the doors for being

01:16:38.020 --> 01:16:42.260
a mental coach. I was in the Volkskrant. I was

01:16:42.260 --> 01:16:45.260
in the Telegraph. I was in this TV show, all

01:16:45.260 --> 01:16:48.899
kind of stuff. I was on RTL, T -Sports, you know,

01:16:48.899 --> 01:16:51.770
and, you know. And the principle is the same.

01:16:51.789 --> 01:16:53.689
Like I said, you make yourself a person of value

01:16:53.689 --> 01:16:57.409
and things will be attracted to you. And I understood

01:16:57.409 --> 01:17:00.149
these principles very strongly. And that really

01:17:00.149 --> 01:17:02.430
just propelled me into the person I am today

01:17:02.430 --> 01:17:05.649
and now impacting others. And just like you,

01:17:05.670 --> 01:17:07.369
I see this beautiful podcast and everything.

01:17:07.489 --> 01:17:10.949
I had a dream of having a podcast because with

01:17:10.949 --> 01:17:13.829
everything success, you need to plan. And I thought,

01:17:13.909 --> 01:17:17.579
Denzel, I want to be. a person of influence on

01:17:17.579 --> 01:17:21.220
the mental aspect. So how do I do it? And I said,

01:17:21.319 --> 01:17:23.939
okay, mouth -to -mouth is going okay. Continue

01:17:23.939 --> 01:17:26.060
to win in baseball and then have an interview

01:17:26.060 --> 01:17:29.380
is okay. However, how can I do it? And have a

01:17:29.380 --> 01:17:32.100
larger impact. Yeah. And I thought I need to

01:17:32.100 --> 01:17:34.600
amplify what's already existing. And the way

01:17:34.600 --> 01:17:36.579
I can do that is actually being on a podcast

01:17:36.579 --> 01:17:40.420
and having my own podcast and making small snippets

01:17:40.420 --> 01:17:43.260
on. and put it on every day daily on Instagram

01:17:43.260 --> 01:17:47.939
so that I can always have people intrigued and

01:17:47.939 --> 01:17:50.479
actually connecting and relating to what I'm

01:17:50.479 --> 01:17:52.920
saying so that they can understand, man, how

01:17:52.920 --> 01:17:55.319
do he deal with a loss? Like his mom and dad

01:17:55.319 --> 01:17:58.600
died. How did he do it? Because I'm suffering

01:17:58.600 --> 01:18:00.960
right now. And most of the cases, basically,

01:18:01.079 --> 01:18:04.500
I see myself as a, I see everybody as a seed.

01:18:04.539 --> 01:18:08.109
I said this before. Sometimes the seed never

01:18:08.109 --> 01:18:10.789
gets an environment to grow into a tree. They

01:18:10.789 --> 01:18:14.529
always stay on the windowsill, never get to get

01:18:14.529 --> 01:18:16.689
nourishment, never get to, you know, so your

01:18:16.689 --> 01:18:19.029
fruit never gives, you die without giving your

01:18:19.029 --> 01:18:23.529
fruit to the world. So I see myself as a person,

01:18:23.750 --> 01:18:25.890
that environment to help your seed grow, the

01:18:25.890 --> 01:18:29.930
soil, the sun, everything. And the continuous

01:18:29.930 --> 01:18:32.770
program that's being imprinted in your mind that

01:18:32.770 --> 01:18:36.270
becomes you in your subconscious mind, It allows

01:18:36.270 --> 01:18:38.510
you to actually bear fruit, the fruit that you

01:18:38.510 --> 01:18:40.970
was meant to give. So I just see myself as that

01:18:40.970 --> 01:18:43.689
environment, and I keep telling myself every

01:18:43.689 --> 01:18:45.970
day in the mirror, Denzel, you're great, you're

01:18:45.970 --> 01:18:48.630
impactful. You're a good looking man. I always

01:18:48.630 --> 01:18:51.229
speak positive for myself. Always. I said nobody

01:18:51.229 --> 01:18:53.130
could touch my energy. No homo. I was going to

01:18:53.130 --> 01:18:55.069
tell you that earlier when you were saying I'm

01:18:55.069 --> 01:18:56.850
an ugly child. I'm like, dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:18:56.890 --> 01:18:58.970
What you talking about? I grew into that one.

01:18:58.970 --> 01:19:01.090
You grew into it. You'll have to show me some

01:19:01.090 --> 01:19:05.149
photos then. I grew into that, man. I grew into

01:19:05.149 --> 01:19:06.569
that because I started going to the gym when

01:19:06.569 --> 01:19:10.130
I was like 16 and my neck come out and my hair

01:19:10.130 --> 01:19:13.310
is shaped better. Oh, then it balanced out. My

01:19:13.310 --> 01:19:15.909
hair was big too when I was young. Yeah. And

01:19:15.909 --> 01:19:19.079
now it looks... And they always used to take

01:19:19.079 --> 01:19:21.840
me for my nose, saying that I had a nose too

01:19:21.840 --> 01:19:24.340
big. But yeah, everything starts to balance out.

01:19:24.340 --> 01:19:29.000
Yeah, man. So that's why I tell myself every

01:19:29.000 --> 01:19:31.439
day so nobody could touch my energy. Because

01:19:31.439 --> 01:19:34.020
my opinion is the most important opinion. And

01:19:34.020 --> 01:19:37.680
when you have that power to say that, like nothing

01:19:37.680 --> 01:19:40.939
outside. They have an African proverb, I heard

01:19:40.939 --> 01:19:43.220
it. If there's no enemy within, the enemy outside

01:19:43.220 --> 01:19:45.939
can never do you no harm. True. And that's why

01:19:45.939 --> 01:19:48.939
I understand I'm a person that walk paths that

01:19:48.939 --> 01:19:51.779
nobody ever walk. And I don't know how I'm going

01:19:51.779 --> 01:19:53.840
to do it, but I have so much faith because I

01:19:53.840 --> 01:19:56.500
believe in God. And I believe in the word. I

01:19:56.500 --> 01:19:59.359
was raised on the word. And crazy thing is I

01:19:59.359 --> 01:20:01.960
disconnected from the word. And I read successful

01:20:01.960 --> 01:20:04.399
books. And all those successful books I read

01:20:04.399 --> 01:20:07.819
is the same as the Bible, but just interpreted

01:20:07.819 --> 01:20:10.479
in a different way. That's why they have motivational

01:20:10.479 --> 01:20:12.819
speakers like Tony Robbins. He only can reach

01:20:12.819 --> 01:20:16.590
a few. Les Brown, he can reach a few because

01:20:16.590 --> 01:20:19.630
they connect to different people. It's just people

01:20:19.630 --> 01:20:23.229
interpreted in their way. He actually speak good,

01:20:23.289 --> 01:20:25.029
but didn't click for me. Oh, this guy clicked

01:20:25.029 --> 01:20:28.489
for me. So I just wanted to be that other person

01:20:28.489 --> 01:20:30.869
on a platform that I can maybe click something

01:20:30.869 --> 01:20:34.250
mentally for my group of people and try to impact

01:20:34.250 --> 01:20:36.989
as much people as I can. And that's the beauty

01:20:36.989 --> 01:20:39.949
of pain because I've been living in the dark

01:20:39.949 --> 01:20:44.170
so long in my life that... I can read people.

01:20:45.069 --> 01:20:46.869
That's my neighbor, man. He used to live on the

01:20:46.869 --> 01:20:49.390
back street of me there. He live on Insecurity

01:20:49.390 --> 01:20:52.449
Street No. 6. That's my neighbor right there.

01:20:52.609 --> 01:20:57.170
He live on No Confidence Is Me. generational

01:20:57.170 --> 01:20:59.649
curse wrote over there yeah man that right in

01:20:59.649 --> 01:21:01.489
my neighborhood you know so you kind of smell

01:21:01.489 --> 01:21:02.869
people you can see them you can see how they

01:21:02.869 --> 01:21:04.869
talk you can see how a person you can see you

01:21:04.869 --> 01:21:07.250
could tell a lot by how a person talks yeah and

01:21:07.250 --> 01:21:09.909
it became very easy to read people and understand

01:21:09.909 --> 01:21:12.449
where the problem lies that's why i don't take

01:21:12.449 --> 01:21:14.930
anything personal because if somebody just approached

01:21:14.930 --> 01:21:17.229
me like then so this podcast was not so great

01:21:17.229 --> 01:21:20.430
i didn't like it i understand why this person

01:21:20.430 --> 01:21:21.930
say it and then i look at their life i'm like

01:21:21.930 --> 01:21:27.170
yeah he actually did get the support and he still

01:21:27.170 --> 01:21:29.090
didn't end up being anything of greatness so

01:21:29.090 --> 01:21:31.409
he's saying i'm a liar because it didn't work

01:21:31.409 --> 01:21:34.789
for him yeah yeah you know so you have to understand

01:21:34.789 --> 01:21:38.010
these things and understand that people say things

01:21:38.010 --> 01:21:40.529
are not black and white but in actuality it's

01:21:40.529 --> 01:21:43.350
black and white it's simple as simple as it is

01:21:43.350 --> 01:21:45.670
yeah they got different ways but it's still black

01:21:45.670 --> 01:21:47.609
and white yeah and when you understand the root

01:21:47.609 --> 01:21:50.390
of issues is where you could actually changed

01:21:50.390 --> 01:21:52.350
those behaviors because i understand because

01:21:52.350 --> 01:21:54.710
i wasn't this i wasn't getting this young yeah

01:21:54.710 --> 01:21:58.170
i was behaving like this yeah i became unlikable

01:21:58.170 --> 01:22:02.770
and then crazy thing is is that i heard one of

01:22:02.770 --> 01:22:04.890
my great mentors because i i got involved in

01:22:04.890 --> 01:22:07.449
reading a lot of books and one of my great mentors

01:22:07.449 --> 01:22:10.170
i would say is my dr miles monroe and he says

01:22:10.170 --> 01:22:13.109
monroe yeah dr miles monroe i'm not familiar

01:22:13.109 --> 01:22:16.590
with him oh man he's a great oh man i'll leave

01:22:16.590 --> 01:22:19.119
you this i'll send you something okay And he

01:22:19.119 --> 01:22:22.239
said, it's crazy to say that when confidence

01:22:22.239 --> 01:22:24.720
meets insecurity, they always call it arrogance.

01:22:25.760 --> 01:22:30.180
And I remember before baseball season. Makes

01:22:30.180 --> 01:22:32.779
total sense. Yeah. I remember before baseball

01:22:32.779 --> 01:22:35.220
season, I had a little interview like this. And

01:22:35.220 --> 01:22:36.420
he asked me, what's your plans for this year?

01:22:36.579 --> 01:22:39.279
I said, my plans, it's already done. I'm an MVP.

01:22:39.640 --> 01:22:41.539
And he was like, how do you know? I said, because

01:22:41.539 --> 01:22:46.300
I already know it. And it's because. i know myself

01:22:46.300 --> 01:22:51.319
and i will be the mvp and i said i'm a different

01:22:51.319 --> 01:22:54.859
um sports um setting i had a football club and

01:22:54.859 --> 01:22:59.239
i was speaking and i said um i already told that

01:22:59.239 --> 01:23:01.039
person that i'm going to be the mvp and people

01:23:01.039 --> 01:23:03.619
told me that i'm oh this guy's cocky or whatever

01:23:03.619 --> 01:23:07.239
at the end of the season i was the mvp and i

01:23:07.239 --> 01:23:11.000
said is it ironic or is am i cocky or is something

01:23:11.000 --> 01:23:13.920
i'm doing that is Oh, what is he doing? He said

01:23:13.920 --> 01:23:15.039
he's going to do it, and it actually happened.

01:23:15.300 --> 01:23:18.159
Instead of the people learn of what I did, they

01:23:18.159 --> 01:23:20.500
focus on, oh, that's the insecurity in them.

01:23:20.920 --> 01:23:24.399
And not crazy enough, because I had that interview,

01:23:24.520 --> 01:23:26.939
it pushed people into another world, another

01:23:26.939 --> 01:23:29.039
realm of bettering themselves, because it was

01:23:29.039 --> 01:23:31.020
like, how this guy could say this? Really? And

01:23:31.020 --> 01:23:32.800
it pushed them, and that's actually what I wanted.

01:23:33.460 --> 01:23:36.760
By my words, it's influencing you to do more.

01:23:36.960 --> 01:23:40.060
And that was the beauty of actually it, and understand

01:23:40.060 --> 01:23:42.439
the principle of... As a man thinketh in his

01:23:42.439 --> 01:23:45.420
heart, so is he. It's in the Bible. And when

01:23:45.420 --> 01:23:47.460
I understood that in Hebrew it's not heart in

01:23:47.460 --> 01:23:49.840
your chest, it means your lower mind. So as a

01:23:49.840 --> 01:23:51.560
man thinketh in his heart. So if I keep telling

01:23:51.560 --> 01:23:54.500
myself I'm the MVP. In my house, I had a picture

01:23:54.500 --> 01:23:58.600
of me in a baseball uniform with trophies, photoshopped,

01:23:58.600 --> 01:24:03.479
saying Denzel 2022 MVP. Every morning I woke

01:24:03.479 --> 01:24:06.180
up and I saw that image. Crazy thing is, Denzel,

01:24:06.199 --> 01:24:08.220
we go to the party. And I had a game the next

01:24:08.220 --> 01:24:11.920
day. Easy decision. I said, yeah, wait, hold

01:24:11.920 --> 01:24:15.199
on. Why, bro, I can't come now? Because I got

01:24:15.199 --> 01:24:16.800
to sleep. Because if I sleep, if I don't sleep

01:24:16.800 --> 01:24:19.199
good, I'm not going to perform my best. And if

01:24:19.199 --> 01:24:20.819
I don't perform my best, I don't get my best

01:24:20.819 --> 01:24:24.180
opportunity to be MVP. So your principles are,

01:24:24.279 --> 01:24:28.699
you started to be really, you know, really. Guided,

01:24:28.699 --> 01:24:32.100
really strict. Yeah. Because you create an environment

01:24:32.100 --> 01:24:34.939
for success. Because in my house, I see success.

01:24:35.060 --> 01:24:38.100
I see things that remind me who I am. Yeah. and

01:24:38.100 --> 01:24:41.819
remind me who I want to be. Essentially, also

01:24:41.819 --> 01:24:45.140
a lot of the principles that were taught by your

01:24:45.140 --> 01:24:48.560
parents, just in a different form, are coming

01:24:48.560 --> 01:24:51.539
back. Yes, but I didn't believe my mom when she

01:24:51.539 --> 01:24:53.460
told me, Denzel, you're my black boy. Because

01:24:53.460 --> 01:24:55.000
I used to say, Mommy, I'm black, and all that

01:24:55.000 --> 01:24:56.279
type of thing. She's like, Denzel, you're my

01:24:56.279 --> 01:24:58.119
beautiful black boy. And I was like, oh, beautiful.

01:24:59.830 --> 01:25:01.609
And she told me, you're going to be great. My

01:25:01.609 --> 01:25:03.489
mom told me she saw me in lights. She had a dream

01:25:03.489 --> 01:25:05.909
and people was interviewing them in lights. And

01:25:05.909 --> 01:25:08.010
Denzel, because of Denzel, he was in lights or

01:25:08.010 --> 01:25:09.609
something. He was doing something of greatness.

01:25:10.069 --> 01:25:12.270
And the crazy thing is I know I have greatness

01:25:12.270 --> 01:25:14.729
in me, but because of my environment, it was

01:25:14.729 --> 01:25:17.510
hard to see. And that's why Miles Monroe said,

01:25:17.630 --> 01:25:19.710
he said, sight is ability to see things as they

01:25:19.710 --> 01:25:21.949
are, but vision is a capacity to see things how

01:25:21.949 --> 01:25:24.750
they can be. So when I heard that, I was like,

01:25:24.810 --> 01:25:28.270
wow. Because of my conditioning of my environment,

01:25:28.489 --> 01:25:31.069
even going on a field, people think low. People

01:25:31.069 --> 01:25:34.010
still think we go away, we lose. That's a mentality.

01:25:34.789 --> 01:25:37.989
So when I understood that principle, that vision

01:25:37.989 --> 01:25:40.449
is a capacity to see things how they can be and

01:25:40.449 --> 01:25:42.250
do not hang around people that are realistic.

01:25:42.489 --> 01:25:45.270
You got to be real. You got to be real. Realistically,

01:25:45.510 --> 01:25:48.390
I don't hang around people like that. Another

01:25:48.390 --> 01:25:51.250
word for pessimistic. Exactly. I'm an optimist.

01:25:51.350 --> 01:25:55.880
Every situation I have. i i think that i can

01:25:55.880 --> 01:25:59.180
do it even if it's 20 chance i still think of

01:25:59.180 --> 01:26:02.460
it i can do it yeah so that's how i i continuously

01:26:02.460 --> 01:26:06.260
push myself and understand more of the mind and

01:26:06.260 --> 01:26:10.090
understand that we are human beings, our body

01:26:10.090 --> 01:26:12.409
is made up of water and what we say matters.

01:26:12.590 --> 01:26:14.229
That's why we say there's power in the tongue.

01:26:14.430 --> 01:26:16.369
You can bless yourself or you can curse yourself.

01:26:16.470 --> 01:26:20.149
The water can hold memories. Exactly. So the

01:26:20.149 --> 01:26:23.369
more that you speak positive into it, it remembers

01:26:23.369 --> 01:26:25.390
the positive. The more you speak negative into

01:26:25.390 --> 01:26:27.430
it, it remembers the negative and that carries

01:26:27.430 --> 01:26:32.979
on with you every day. Yeah, so actually to dive

01:26:32.979 --> 01:26:35.899
deep, I don't mind if I dive deeper in that water.

01:26:36.279 --> 01:26:40.539
I saw an experiment, some Chinese guy, he did

01:26:40.539 --> 01:26:44.699
an experiment on frozen water. And he just put

01:26:44.699 --> 01:26:50.060
a sticker on one water, on one frozen water,

01:26:50.159 --> 01:26:53.699
on a cup he put love, happiness, et cetera, et

01:26:53.699 --> 01:26:57.529
cetera. things of positive. And the water froze

01:26:57.529 --> 01:27:01.829
into some beautiful symmetrical, beautiful shapes.

01:27:02.789 --> 01:27:05.569
And the other one he put ugly, hate, hatred,

01:27:05.850 --> 01:27:10.430
you know, disgust, you know, envy. And all of

01:27:10.430 --> 01:27:13.449
those things. And that water produced ugly vibration.

01:27:13.710 --> 01:27:17.329
When it froze, it showed an ugly vibration. Like

01:27:17.329 --> 01:27:19.250
it was just nastiness in the water. It looked

01:27:19.250 --> 01:27:21.460
like really ugly. Looked like a child just doing

01:27:21.460 --> 01:27:24.560
whatever. You know, it was not really sound.

01:27:24.659 --> 01:27:28.039
So it clearly showed us the experiment was expressing

01:27:28.039 --> 01:27:31.880
that there is power in words. Yeah. And when

01:27:31.880 --> 01:27:33.960
you think about it, human beings are made up

01:27:33.960 --> 01:27:38.220
of, I believe, 70 % of water. Yep. So your self

01:27:38.220 --> 01:27:41.220
-talk. Talk. You know, your self -talk is important.

01:27:41.340 --> 01:27:43.300
Yeah. And your self -thoughts. That little voice

01:27:43.300 --> 01:27:45.520
in your mind. And the self -thoughts are very

01:27:45.520 --> 01:27:48.180
important. Yeah. So however you think yourself

01:27:48.180 --> 01:27:50.840
is, your whole molecules in your body is going

01:27:50.840 --> 01:27:52.920
to attract that for you because you're not producing

01:27:52.920 --> 01:27:55.890
no harmony to actually attract that. yeah per

01:27:55.890 --> 01:27:59.050
se because you will never reach to another another

01:27:59.050 --> 01:28:02.449
plane mentally if you don't think mentally differently

01:28:02.449 --> 01:28:06.010
your attitude is not um mentally in that place

01:28:06.010 --> 01:28:09.750
you know so it's it's also to understanding your

01:28:09.750 --> 01:28:12.850
fullness of actually who you are yeah you know

01:28:12.850 --> 01:28:16.760
like um Miles Monroe said, Dr. Miles Monroe said,

01:28:16.859 --> 01:28:19.880
he used an analogy and it was very powerful to

01:28:19.880 --> 01:28:22.859
me. He said Ford Motor Company makes cars to

01:28:22.859 --> 01:28:25.220
go up to 180 miles per hour. So the capacity

01:28:25.220 --> 01:28:28.619
of the car is 180. And then you come to the Netherlands

01:28:28.619 --> 01:28:33.979
and we have 50. And you never really get to understand

01:28:33.979 --> 01:28:37.800
that society is making you believe that you can

01:28:37.800 --> 01:28:41.539
only drive 50. And what is... okay is to drive

01:28:41.539 --> 01:28:44.500
50 so society is not trying to make you a leader

01:28:44.500 --> 01:28:48.899
it's making you a slave or a consumer therefore

01:28:48.899 --> 01:28:52.819
you never get to experience those the full potential

01:28:52.819 --> 01:28:55.760
potential of what the car can actually push yeah

01:28:55.760 --> 01:28:59.020
and when i heard that i was like wow and then

01:28:59.020 --> 01:29:02.600
he also said When you decide to break the speed

01:29:02.600 --> 01:29:07.340
limit. Go beyond 50. Beyond 50. Beyond society's

01:29:07.340 --> 01:29:09.680
norms. That's when people are going to come out

01:29:09.680 --> 01:29:12.939
the woodworks and your enemies are going to come

01:29:12.939 --> 01:29:14.520
and try to pull you down. They're like, who do

01:29:14.520 --> 01:29:17.539
you think you are? And et cetera, et cetera.

01:29:17.939 --> 01:29:20.159
And society, that's what you're seeing nowadays

01:29:20.159 --> 01:29:23.579
as well. As soon as you break free, they want

01:29:23.579 --> 01:29:26.199
to cancel you because you're not representing

01:29:26.199 --> 01:29:31.239
50. Yeah. You're not representing what we want

01:29:31.239 --> 01:29:34.100
culture to think like because if we have so much

01:29:34.100 --> 01:29:37.039
free thinkers above their mental plane that we

01:29:37.039 --> 01:29:39.939
taught them, we can't control them. And if I

01:29:39.939 --> 01:29:42.239
have less control, there's no profit in that.

01:29:43.079 --> 01:29:45.800
So you always have to make sure that you're above

01:29:45.800 --> 01:29:48.109
the game and understand the game. Understand

01:29:48.109 --> 01:29:50.869
the market for what it is so that you can compete

01:29:50.869 --> 01:29:52.770
to the level that you're supposed to compete.

01:29:52.989 --> 01:29:55.569
And understand that there's no feelings in business.

01:29:55.890 --> 01:29:59.029
If you put your feelings and your morals in front,

01:29:59.170 --> 01:30:02.750
yeah, my heart says there's no heart in business.

01:30:02.970 --> 01:30:06.159
I had to learn that the hard way. You can do

01:30:06.159 --> 01:30:09.819
right by people, but people's insecurities, people's

01:30:09.819 --> 01:30:12.779
own preferences and their desires are over your

01:30:12.779 --> 01:30:14.579
feelings, even though you're a good man, good

01:30:14.579 --> 01:30:16.800
woman. That's why they said nice guys finish

01:30:16.800 --> 01:30:20.399
last. And those good things that you do, they

01:30:20.399 --> 01:30:23.699
aren't always reciprocated. Exactly. So it's

01:30:23.699 --> 01:30:27.000
very important that you develop yourself. But

01:30:27.000 --> 01:30:31.439
I still would say it doesn't... You can still

01:30:31.439 --> 01:30:34.119
do those good things, but you should know. There's

01:30:34.119 --> 01:30:36.260
balance. Yeah, exactly. There's balance. You

01:30:36.260 --> 01:30:39.260
cannot be your full self, but you can understand

01:30:39.260 --> 01:30:41.739
to get into the market, the market does not operate

01:30:41.739 --> 01:30:44.340
in morals and values. It operates in a different

01:30:44.340 --> 01:30:47.720
kind of thing. Profits and losses. So sometimes

01:30:47.720 --> 01:30:49.739
you have to go a certain way so that you can

01:30:49.739 --> 01:30:51.739
actually be in a position to actually finally

01:30:51.739 --> 01:30:53.920
make that impact. So you have to suck it up a

01:30:53.920 --> 01:30:56.340
little bit to actually make the impact when you're

01:30:56.340 --> 01:30:59.000
in a place of influence. So that's the most,

01:30:59.119 --> 01:31:01.680
you know. you know, profoundness, I would say,

01:31:01.760 --> 01:31:05.800
to make sure you develop yourself mentally so

01:31:05.800 --> 01:31:09.119
that you could approach these things quite easily.

01:31:09.300 --> 01:31:12.960
Like, I would say one thing. A person asks me,

01:31:13.000 --> 01:31:14.960
like, yeah, I had a rough time, and, you know,

01:31:15.079 --> 01:31:19.060
life is lifing, and, you know, using these dumb

01:31:19.060 --> 01:31:22.859
terms, I don't like it. But people tell me, like,

01:31:22.899 --> 01:31:24.659
oh, you come from St. Martin, and you come in

01:31:24.659 --> 01:31:26.159
this weather, the weather sucks and everything.

01:31:26.439 --> 01:31:28.779
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear that all the time.

01:31:29.579 --> 01:31:32.880
I use this analogy and it's crazy to think. I

01:31:32.880 --> 01:31:35.960
said, you came to Nellis to this weather? Yeah.

01:31:36.079 --> 01:31:39.239
I knew it was cold. You know what I did? I bought

01:31:39.239 --> 01:31:43.180
a jacket. I knew it rains, so I bought a raincoat.

01:31:43.380 --> 01:31:46.199
I knew it rains extra, so I bought an umbrella.

01:31:46.649 --> 01:31:49.430
What is your excuse you're looking for? And when

01:31:49.430 --> 01:31:52.369
you use that with your mind, same thing, the

01:31:52.369 --> 01:31:54.569
same thing. It rains, so you have to protect

01:31:54.569 --> 01:31:57.829
yourself mentally. And your mental preparation

01:31:57.829 --> 01:32:00.470
is, for example, like that equipment. I bought

01:32:00.470 --> 01:32:03.409
a raincoat so I can stand the rain. I bought

01:32:03.409 --> 01:32:05.789
an umbrella so I don't get as wet. And if you

01:32:05.789 --> 01:32:08.210
strengthen your mind around that principle of

01:32:08.210 --> 01:32:11.289
continuously getting equipment for the environment,

01:32:11.470 --> 01:32:17.100
you can actually overcome any. any circumstance,

01:32:17.399 --> 01:32:19.579
negative circumstance, you can handle COVID.

01:32:19.779 --> 01:32:21.979
I handled COVID righteously. I made more money

01:32:21.979 --> 01:32:27.060
in COVID than I made in normal, when everything

01:32:27.060 --> 01:32:30.359
was operating at its norm. I made more money

01:32:30.359 --> 01:32:33.159
because I was calm. With the fitness training.

01:32:33.439 --> 01:32:36.100
Yeah, for example, I was calm, collected, and

01:32:36.100 --> 01:32:38.760
ideas came to me. I was in control of my mind.

01:32:38.779 --> 01:32:41.359
I understand what I needed to do, take a deep

01:32:41.359 --> 01:32:45.470
breath. strengthened myself and ideas came to

01:32:45.470 --> 01:32:47.409
me and flowed. And people that was doing personal

01:32:47.409 --> 01:32:49.489
training longer than me was asking me for advice.

01:32:49.609 --> 01:32:51.449
And I'm younger than them, 10 years younger than

01:32:51.449 --> 01:32:53.970
them. This is why you do this. And it's clearly

01:32:53.970 --> 01:32:57.350
showing that if you do not know how to handle

01:32:57.350 --> 01:33:00.350
yourself, handle tough times, tough times will

01:33:00.350 --> 01:33:04.329
handle you. True. So I continuously upgrade my

01:33:04.329 --> 01:33:07.529
way of thinking. And I'm grateful for all the

01:33:07.529 --> 01:33:09.470
challenges in my life. My mom and dad passed

01:33:09.470 --> 01:33:11.949
away. And my dad passed away before baseball

01:33:11.949 --> 01:33:14.989
season. And I dedicated that season to him. And

01:33:14.989 --> 01:33:17.449
at the end of the year, I was the best hitter

01:33:17.449 --> 01:33:22.670
and MVP that year. I cried. But I used something

01:33:22.670 --> 01:33:26.109
that my father and my mom worked really hard.

01:33:26.270 --> 01:33:30.069
So I did not want to disappoint them. So I did

01:33:30.069 --> 01:33:32.770
not want to go to train much. But I injected

01:33:32.770 --> 01:33:36.960
something in my mind. of shame. I would feel

01:33:36.960 --> 01:33:39.720
ashamed if I waste my mother's money. I would

01:33:39.720 --> 01:33:42.880
feel ashamed that my dad, all my hours my dad

01:33:42.880 --> 01:33:45.819
worked hard for would go to waste. So that forced

01:33:45.819 --> 01:33:47.420
me, Denzel, if you don't go to practice today,

01:33:47.520 --> 01:33:51.239
even if you're feeling sad, nobody cares. Nobody

01:33:51.239 --> 01:33:54.119
cares. Your father wants the best for you, and

01:33:54.119 --> 01:33:56.260
he did not waste that time for you to sit at

01:33:56.260 --> 01:33:58.760
home and watch TV and feel sorry for yourself

01:33:58.760 --> 01:34:00.659
for months and everything. There's no time for

01:34:00.659 --> 01:34:03.539
that. And I basically said, Denzel, if you don't

01:34:03.539 --> 01:34:05.970
go to work, you're Embarrassing your parents.

01:34:06.149 --> 01:34:10.590
And that shame of me disappointing forced me

01:34:10.590 --> 01:34:14.189
to work. And I changed. Yes, I gave room to cry

01:34:14.189 --> 01:34:18.270
and let it go. But you didn't have no zin. I

01:34:18.270 --> 01:34:22.689
didn't have the energy to continue and find passion

01:34:22.689 --> 01:34:26.869
in it anymore. But I got a job done anyway. When

01:34:26.869 --> 01:34:30.970
was this? This was three years ago, I believe,

01:34:31.109 --> 01:34:33.170
three or four years ago that my father passed

01:34:33.170 --> 01:34:35.729
away. Okay, so your mom passed away before that.

01:34:35.810 --> 01:34:38.149
Yeah, she passed away before I came here. So

01:34:38.149 --> 01:34:42.270
they died almost two years apart. Oh, wow. So

01:34:42.270 --> 01:34:45.069
back to back. So my mom died, and I came to the

01:34:45.069 --> 01:34:47.229
Netherlands, and then a year after, a year and

01:34:47.229 --> 01:34:51.149
a half later, my dad died. So I experienced that.

01:34:51.500 --> 01:34:54.359
And I see how strong I am and I can keep moving

01:34:54.359 --> 01:34:57.979
no matter the condition. Loss of a parent, lose

01:34:57.979 --> 01:35:01.319
a job. How do I come back from that? How do I

01:35:01.319 --> 01:35:04.220
get my mental state in a place that I can compete?

01:35:04.479 --> 01:35:07.319
How do I keep going? Because there's no mommy

01:35:07.319 --> 01:35:09.300
and daddy anymore. I have to pay my bills here.

01:35:09.659 --> 01:35:12.760
How do I get that help and keep pushing? I don't

01:35:12.760 --> 01:35:15.979
speak Dutch. How do I compete in a market that

01:35:15.979 --> 01:35:20.390
is of this? And I'm black too. So how can I compete?

01:35:20.590 --> 01:35:22.869
People think that it doesn't have a factor. It

01:35:22.869 --> 01:35:26.909
has a factor. But you need to work harder. You

01:35:26.909 --> 01:35:30.130
need to work harder and be smarter. And that's

01:35:30.130 --> 01:35:31.829
why I said if you continue to make yourself a

01:35:31.829 --> 01:35:33.970
person of value, there's always opportunities

01:35:33.970 --> 01:35:36.710
for you. And that's why I'm grateful for this

01:35:36.710 --> 01:35:39.989
opportunity to be here. Crazy thing, I was telling

01:35:39.989 --> 01:35:42.989
your colleague, Claire, I was talking to her

01:35:42.989 --> 01:35:44.869
and I said, before here, and I was like, the

01:35:44.869 --> 01:35:46.470
crazy thing is I was talking to a friend and

01:35:46.470 --> 01:35:49.899
I said, I'm going to buy this podcast set and

01:35:49.899 --> 01:35:51.180
I'm going to set this room up and it's going

01:35:51.180 --> 01:35:54.340
to be a podcast set. I'm going to make sure snippets

01:35:54.340 --> 01:35:57.579
of small motivational things to help people in

01:35:57.579 --> 01:36:00.239
a different way. And next day you send me a message

01:36:00.239 --> 01:36:02.279
on, hey, would I invite you to the podcast? And

01:36:02.279 --> 01:36:05.000
I was talking about spreading the word and now

01:36:05.000 --> 01:36:06.739
I have an opportunity to spread some words on

01:36:06.739 --> 01:36:10.500
that too. I'm getting goosebumps, but I can't

01:36:10.500 --> 01:36:15.289
remember specifically what clicked. Because we

01:36:15.289 --> 01:36:17.369
already said that we weren't recording anymore

01:36:17.369 --> 01:36:21.829
for the year. And then something flashed by on

01:36:21.829 --> 01:36:25.789
Instagram and I saw you. And then I was like,

01:36:25.949 --> 01:36:29.329
because I seen some stuff of yours flash by already

01:36:29.329 --> 01:36:33.170
over the past year or two. And then I was like,

01:36:33.350 --> 01:36:36.449
shit, man, this dude doing some really interesting

01:36:36.449 --> 01:36:40.970
things. You know, I feel I need to do this one

01:36:40.970 --> 01:36:46.130
last show this year. let me just reach out yeah

01:36:46.130 --> 01:36:48.590
and she already told me like you sure you want

01:36:48.590 --> 01:36:51.170
to do another one and i was like i don't know

01:36:51.170 --> 01:36:53.149
i just feel so and then you responded immediately

01:36:53.149 --> 01:36:56.750
yeah it felt like like like yeah let's do it

01:36:56.750 --> 01:36:59.270
was on that plane of you know it's crazy that

01:36:59.270 --> 01:37:02.989
it might it was on that yeah because you know

01:37:02.989 --> 01:37:05.550
what you want it connected and yeah i guarantee

01:37:05.550 --> 01:37:07.689
you the same thing i want is what you want the

01:37:07.689 --> 01:37:10.920
impact and what you're doing is Having a platform

01:37:10.920 --> 01:37:13.659
to share the messages, the same thing that I'm

01:37:13.659 --> 01:37:18.640
obsessed about, is finding the root issues of

01:37:18.640 --> 01:37:21.800
what makes a person move. And I find that very

01:37:21.800 --> 01:37:23.680
interesting. So you have people here that express

01:37:23.680 --> 01:37:27.720
their inner ways of what made me push this hard.

01:37:27.979 --> 01:37:31.520
And the crazy thing is I was on that plane of

01:37:31.520 --> 01:37:33.699
trying to impact people, and Bea was on that

01:37:33.699 --> 01:37:36.159
plane of impacting people. And, you know, we

01:37:36.159 --> 01:37:38.739
came in contact, and I was like, wow, that's

01:37:38.739 --> 01:37:43.000
crazy how it works, huh? Yeah, man, it's crazy

01:37:43.000 --> 01:37:46.739
how it works, man. It's crazy. The Lord works

01:37:46.739 --> 01:37:50.789
in mysterious ways. Definitely, definitely. Crazy

01:37:50.789 --> 01:37:53.670
thing is this is an opportunity also for me to

01:37:53.670 --> 01:37:57.810
practice. We think like, oh, this is this and

01:37:57.810 --> 01:37:59.829
that and this and that. No, but every opportunity

01:37:59.829 --> 01:38:04.010
I get to talk, I'm crafting my gift because motivational

01:38:04.010 --> 01:38:06.189
speaking is one of my passions. Speaking on stage

01:38:06.189 --> 01:38:08.149
is one of my passions. I do workshops as well.

01:38:08.270 --> 01:38:12.000
How do I... how do I make this much more appealing

01:38:12.000 --> 01:38:14.560
and comprehensive to people? And I work in on

01:38:14.560 --> 01:38:16.579
my gift. Oh, this person speaks like a story,

01:38:16.659 --> 01:38:19.420
like his wording, his using, and how he combines

01:38:19.420 --> 01:38:21.859
that. I find that interesting. I want to be talking

01:38:21.859 --> 01:38:24.439
like Dave Chappelle, but in my own way, because

01:38:24.439 --> 01:38:26.460
Dave Chappelle is a very intellectual comedian,

01:38:26.680 --> 01:38:29.619
and he speaks so tremendous, profound stories.

01:38:29.760 --> 01:38:32.319
I listen to all his comedies over and over, and

01:38:32.319 --> 01:38:34.260
I said, if I can tell stories like that, but

01:38:34.260 --> 01:38:36.899
in a way of helping people, man, that would be

01:38:36.899 --> 01:38:39.859
so interesting. I am interesting. I keep telling

01:38:39.859 --> 01:38:41.319
myself I am interesting. You're on your way.

01:38:41.319 --> 01:38:44.859
And I'm finding my ways of getting to where I

01:38:44.859 --> 01:38:49.060
want to be. I was even more intrigued. Obviously,

01:38:49.460 --> 01:38:52.720
what you see of a person online is only the snippets

01:38:52.720 --> 01:38:55.779
that you see. And then in this long -form conversation,

01:38:56.100 --> 01:38:59.520
I was actually more blown away by the conversation

01:38:59.520 --> 01:39:03.340
than, let's say, the stuff that I saw online.

01:39:03.500 --> 01:39:06.439
So there's a lot up here, man. Yeah, definitely.

01:39:06.539 --> 01:39:11.859
You've been putting in serious work. What do

01:39:11.859 --> 01:39:13.920
they say? Got to give you your flowers on that?

01:39:14.439 --> 01:39:16.479
I appreciate it, man. I appreciate it. Just one

01:39:16.479 --> 01:39:19.000
more thing. I know we're on time, but I just

01:39:19.000 --> 01:39:22.680
want to basically say that do not leave your

01:39:22.680 --> 01:39:26.380
environment dictate your next steps. You have

01:39:26.380 --> 01:39:30.039
to see beyond. And people that don't ever see

01:39:30.039 --> 01:39:32.479
it, they lose faith. And people that don't have

01:39:32.479 --> 01:39:35.319
faith don't have God. Because faith to me is

01:39:35.319 --> 01:39:37.840
believing in the unseen, believing in the unknown.

01:39:38.539 --> 01:39:41.760
So if you don't believe in something greater

01:39:41.760 --> 01:39:44.920
than your eyesight, your vision, you never get

01:39:44.920 --> 01:39:47.060
to experience your potential. And potential is

01:39:47.060 --> 01:39:51.000
dormant ability. Until you put yourself in that

01:39:51.000 --> 01:39:52.979
mental plane, you will always have a dormant

01:39:52.979 --> 01:39:55.680
ability. It's there, but it's never being manifested.

01:39:56.079 --> 01:40:00.359
So my curiosity is I want to die empty. I want

01:40:00.359 --> 01:40:04.510
to die seeing all of my... All of the things

01:40:04.510 --> 01:40:07.810
that God has for me, experience. Denzel, he has

01:40:07.810 --> 01:40:11.289
five books for you to write for this world. Denzel,

01:40:11.350 --> 01:40:13.550
he has you to be on TV. He has you on this episode.

01:40:13.689 --> 01:40:16.470
Denzel, you actually had a book that went for

01:40:16.470 --> 01:40:20.750
cartoons for children. Denzel, you have all of

01:40:20.750 --> 01:40:23.949
these things. You're traveling worldwide. You're

01:40:23.949 --> 01:40:26.789
making $20 ,000 a night for speaking to motivational

01:40:26.789 --> 01:40:29.050
speaking. All of those things are possible for

01:40:29.050 --> 01:40:32.579
me. And I really want to dive finding out. how

01:40:32.579 --> 01:40:35.279
much things I can actually get. And that's up

01:40:35.279 --> 01:40:37.779
to us, but you must have vision. You have a connection

01:40:37.779 --> 01:40:40.300
to God. And if you don't believe in God and people

01:40:40.300 --> 01:40:43.079
see the universe, great for you. If you don't

01:40:43.079 --> 01:40:46.479
believe in nothing, great, okay, good luck. I'm

01:40:46.479 --> 01:40:49.260
fine. I'm doing very well, and I'm helping people

01:40:49.260 --> 01:40:51.899
to understand where the root of everything comes

01:40:51.899 --> 01:40:54.319
from because you cannot do it alone. And I've

01:40:54.319 --> 01:40:57.060
been alone most of my life. And I've been in

01:40:57.060 --> 01:40:58.760
the dark most of my life. And I'm telling you,

01:40:58.800 --> 01:41:02.920
if it wasn't for my mom prayers and me putting

01:41:02.920 --> 01:41:05.060
myself in a position to succeed, reading books,

01:41:05.180 --> 01:41:07.119
listening to podcasts, I would not be here today.

01:41:07.520 --> 01:41:11.399
So I just want to make sure, say that, do not

01:41:11.399 --> 01:41:13.960
let any environment tell you that you can't be

01:41:13.960 --> 01:41:16.659
something of great value. Because value is for

01:41:16.659 --> 01:41:21.119
the person itself. Value is for everybody, but

01:41:21.119 --> 01:41:23.500
not everybody wants to go for it. Because of

01:41:23.500 --> 01:41:26.380
the conditioning of your house. Even though your

01:41:26.380 --> 01:41:28.739
parents are negative, even though your family

01:41:28.739 --> 01:41:31.800
is negative, even though your bloodline is known

01:41:31.800 --> 01:41:34.760
for this, you have a chance to actually create

01:41:34.760 --> 01:41:38.279
a new. It's naturally new that genetically is

01:41:38.279 --> 01:41:40.739
given to you that you might most likely, but

01:41:40.739 --> 01:41:43.859
your journey and battle is harder. So you have

01:41:43.859 --> 01:41:46.289
to fight harder. is that that's with temptation

01:41:46.289 --> 01:41:48.689
but let's just say if you have a promiscuous

01:41:48.689 --> 01:41:51.350
you know family or your father is a womanizer

01:41:51.350 --> 01:41:53.829
and all kind of stuff it's in your blood to always

01:41:53.829 --> 01:41:56.069
want to urge to touch a woman or something like

01:41:56.069 --> 01:41:59.069
that your battle is harder yeah doesn't mean

01:41:59.069 --> 01:42:01.630
that it's not possible it's just harder for you

01:42:01.630 --> 01:42:03.329
and it's a matter of your willpower and that's

01:42:03.329 --> 01:42:06.329
what separates everybody your will yeah and that's

01:42:06.329 --> 01:42:10.020
all i wanted to say yeah Super dope, man. We

01:42:10.020 --> 01:42:13.859
still can't close it off without asking our classic

01:42:13.859 --> 01:42:21.260
question. So, 30 years old, turning 31 just now,

01:42:21.359 --> 01:42:27.060
looking back to your 18 -year -old self, what

01:42:27.060 --> 01:42:31.359
advice would you give 18 -year -old Denzel? Because

01:42:31.359 --> 01:42:34.340
he's in Santo Domingo at that point. Yeah, yeah,

01:42:34.380 --> 01:42:35.199
he's actually in the Dominican Republic. He's

01:42:35.199 --> 01:42:38.439
in the Dominican Republic. What would I say to

01:42:38.439 --> 01:42:41.539
my 18 -year -old self? Okay, that's quite a lot

01:42:41.539 --> 01:42:46.180
I would say to myself. But what I would say is,

01:42:46.300 --> 01:42:51.819
Denzel, develop yourself because you're not ready

01:42:51.819 --> 01:42:54.960
for the world. And never trust somebody else's

01:42:54.960 --> 01:42:58.260
opinion. The only opinion that matters is yourself.

01:43:00.039 --> 01:43:03.710
To trust your intuition. Not only trusting intuition,

01:43:04.069 --> 01:43:07.289
but your own opinion about yourself. If you're

01:43:07.289 --> 01:43:10.670
diving into new quarters and new chapters, trust

01:43:10.670 --> 01:43:13.390
yourself and believe in yourself. Be your own

01:43:13.390 --> 01:43:17.310
hype man because you have your inner talk. Your

01:43:17.310 --> 01:43:19.930
inner talk. Be hyping yourself up continuously

01:43:19.930 --> 01:43:22.609
regardless of your environment. And know it's

01:43:22.609 --> 01:43:25.310
hard that in your environment that you can see

01:43:25.310 --> 01:43:27.310
something different because even everybody around

01:43:27.310 --> 01:43:30.500
you. are speaking negatively and laughing and

01:43:30.500 --> 01:43:32.939
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But nothing

01:43:32.939 --> 01:43:36.140
great comes at the expense of mediocrity. So

01:43:36.140 --> 01:43:38.699
you have to work hard and believe in yourself

01:43:38.699 --> 01:43:41.060
and stop worrying about people and stop living

01:43:41.060 --> 01:43:43.060
for people. Live for yourself, find yourself,

01:43:43.319 --> 01:43:46.159
and connect yourself more to God. Acknowledge

01:43:46.159 --> 01:43:48.840
yourself. The same thing I tell you, the man

01:43:48.840 --> 01:43:51.560
that knows is a man that can play. The man that

01:43:51.560 --> 01:43:56.800
do not know, well, watch me play. Yeah. That's

01:43:56.800 --> 01:43:58.279
why they have spectators and they got people.

01:43:58.340 --> 01:44:02.100
Why you think people spend so much money on basketball

01:44:02.100 --> 01:44:05.420
games? It's because they are in awe of those

01:44:05.420 --> 01:44:09.500
people's consistency and discipline to put themselves

01:44:09.500 --> 01:44:11.880
in that stressful position to compete at that

01:44:11.880 --> 01:44:15.039
level. And some people are just inspired by their

01:44:15.039 --> 01:44:19.239
discipline. And they're like, wow, that's LeBron

01:44:19.239 --> 01:44:22.619
James. Wow, he trained every day. Wow. You know,

01:44:22.640 --> 01:44:25.609
they're inspired by that. So either you're going

01:44:25.609 --> 01:44:27.909
to be a person that inspired or be a person of

01:44:27.909 --> 01:44:30.569
inspiration. It's a choice. And that's up to

01:44:30.569 --> 01:44:35.270
you, Denzo. Man, these words are hitting hard.

01:44:35.810 --> 01:44:39.289
And they're very well articulated, sir. Oh, thank

01:44:39.289 --> 01:44:45.039
you. I do my best. Any last words or thoughts

01:44:45.039 --> 01:44:48.800
on the future plans? You mentioned podcast. Yeah.

01:44:49.439 --> 01:44:51.939
You just actually went through a whole dream

01:44:51.939 --> 01:44:54.500
scenario of writing books, et cetera, et cetera.

01:44:54.640 --> 01:44:58.560
So let's maybe then talk about the close future,

01:44:58.760 --> 01:45:01.939
not necessarily the distant future, but the close

01:45:01.939 --> 01:45:04.220
future. Anything that you want to share? Yeah.

01:45:04.260 --> 01:45:09.130
Well, for me, I believe. And my path is going

01:45:09.130 --> 01:45:12.810
to be partnering with a company and helping people

01:45:12.810 --> 01:45:16.369
on the mental health aspect. For example, I understand

01:45:16.369 --> 01:45:19.590
how the mind works. So I can help anyone. For

01:45:19.590 --> 01:45:22.670
example, fertility. I had a person that was getting

01:45:22.670 --> 01:45:25.449
pregnant and wanted to get a child and didn't

01:45:25.449 --> 01:45:28.510
have the mind for it. And the principles are

01:45:28.510 --> 01:45:32.930
the same. So injecting the program of self -belief,

01:45:32.930 --> 01:45:36.630
self -love, and changing the self -talk. is preparing

01:45:36.630 --> 01:45:40.590
the best outcome chance for conception. Same

01:45:40.590 --> 01:45:44.609
principles aligns with any business. I help people

01:45:44.609 --> 01:45:46.329
clean up their minds so that they can actually

01:45:46.329 --> 01:45:49.149
perform at their best. So if you have a messy

01:45:49.149 --> 01:45:51.510
room, it's harder to get to the result. If you

01:45:51.510 --> 01:45:53.810
have a clean room, you work more smartly, efficiently,

01:45:53.989 --> 01:45:58.310
etc., etc. So my plan is to partner with a company.

01:45:58.609 --> 01:46:00.729
I even dive into things that don't have nothing

01:46:00.729 --> 01:46:04.350
to do with me, like let's say fertility. Partner

01:46:04.350 --> 01:46:07.279
with a company. to help people have a positive

01:46:07.279 --> 01:46:11.979
mindset and belief system about themselves and

01:46:11.979 --> 01:46:15.420
find a new you. Because if you're operating in

01:46:15.420 --> 01:46:18.699
a place of, I don't think I can enough, maybe

01:46:18.699 --> 01:46:21.439
let's try you. Have a mindset that's never able

01:46:21.439 --> 01:46:24.020
to receive. So basically preparing anyone for

01:46:24.020 --> 01:46:27.300
what they really want in their heart. So partnering

01:46:27.300 --> 01:46:31.359
with a company along those lines and try to impact

01:46:31.359 --> 01:46:33.880
as much people as possible. Also too, podcasts.

01:46:34.730 --> 01:46:37.529
My purpose right now, I bought a house, basically

01:46:37.529 --> 01:46:40.649
renovations. I'm saving for a podcast set so

01:46:40.649 --> 01:46:43.470
that I can do snippets on Instagram and actually

01:46:43.470 --> 01:46:45.970
have a YouTube channel like you. But in a different

01:46:45.970 --> 01:46:48.770
format, just a little bit. And maybe I might

01:46:48.770 --> 01:46:50.170
do a little interview in there, but it's not

01:46:50.170 --> 01:46:54.329
going to be based on interviews. So save for

01:46:54.329 --> 01:46:57.149
a podcast and try to reach as much people as

01:46:57.149 --> 01:46:59.630
possible and connect with as much people as I

01:46:59.630 --> 01:47:02.729
can so that I can reach that goal of speaking

01:47:02.729 --> 01:47:05.560
to 10 ,000 people. Yeah. You know, being on stage

01:47:05.560 --> 01:47:08.340
and being ready for that moment, being ready

01:47:08.340 --> 01:47:11.340
to be relaxed. You know, in the beginning of

01:47:11.340 --> 01:47:13.119
this, I can admit, I don't know why my stomach

01:47:13.119 --> 01:47:16.079
was like, geez, I couldn't sit properly. But

01:47:16.079 --> 01:47:18.460
now you could see like, yeah, I'm really chill.

01:47:18.579 --> 01:47:20.939
And it's like, Denzel, I need to work on something

01:47:20.939 --> 01:47:23.899
because I was not perfectly relaxed in the first

01:47:23.899 --> 01:47:27.000
10 minutes, 10, 15 minutes. Yeah. I was drinking

01:47:27.000 --> 01:47:29.359
water continuously. I'm very well aware of these

01:47:29.359 --> 01:47:31.640
things. You didn't even think about it. But I'm

01:47:31.640 --> 01:47:33.119
very well aware of these things. So it's being

01:47:33.119 --> 01:47:35.060
aware of the things that you need to develop

01:47:35.060 --> 01:47:37.800
on. I didn't necessarily notice in the first

01:47:37.800 --> 01:47:40.260
minutes that there was a certain uncomfortability.

01:47:40.680 --> 01:47:44.260
What I did notice is when the intensity increased,

01:47:44.399 --> 01:47:46.819
when you started to get more comfortable and

01:47:46.819 --> 01:47:49.460
the world started to like... pour out yeah i

01:47:49.460 --> 01:47:52.199
did notice like whoa he just shifted to a new

01:47:52.199 --> 01:47:54.479
gear yeah that's that's when i actually everything

01:47:54.479 --> 01:47:57.479
is gone like yeah and i was like denzel i want

01:47:57.479 --> 01:47:59.760
to have that from the beginning not during after

01:47:59.760 --> 01:48:03.199
20 minutes and stuff like that so i'm very well

01:48:03.199 --> 01:48:05.340
aware of where i need to work on and understanding

01:48:05.340 --> 01:48:07.840
that you can actually be a better performer yeah

01:48:07.840 --> 01:48:10.840
and being ready for this uh for what life is

01:48:10.840 --> 01:48:13.739
having you know for you and i believe in life

01:48:13.739 --> 01:48:17.229
winning is intentional So you have to plan for

01:48:17.229 --> 01:48:19.510
it. Life is not happening to you. You have to

01:48:19.510 --> 01:48:22.729
make sure life happens for you. So that's the

01:48:22.729 --> 01:48:24.930
chapters. That's the direction I'm going in.

01:48:26.090 --> 01:48:29.149
Podcasts, books, motivational speaking, getting

01:48:29.149 --> 01:48:31.409
more speaking engagements, being in a position

01:48:31.409 --> 01:48:34.489
to work on my craft, speak to more people, and

01:48:34.489 --> 01:48:37.930
try to expand as much as I can. And as I reach

01:48:37.930 --> 01:48:40.810
there, other things are going to come too. Other

01:48:40.810 --> 01:48:44.819
things like the... let's just say a series for

01:48:44.819 --> 01:48:48.039
kids kids dealing with anxiety and insecurities

01:48:48.039 --> 01:48:50.619
i have a book that i'm basically writing and

01:48:50.619 --> 01:48:52.439
it's called perspective change and it's basically

01:48:52.439 --> 01:48:55.180
for teenagers i have it written down but i haven't

01:48:55.180 --> 01:48:58.079
finished it as yet and it's for basically giving

01:48:58.079 --> 01:49:00.479
a child a different perspective in any case scenario

01:49:00.479 --> 01:49:03.119
you like a girl you don't have confidence how

01:49:03.119 --> 01:49:04.920
do i approach it how can i see it you have a

01:49:04.920 --> 01:49:07.800
different perspective so it's basically a book

01:49:07.800 --> 01:49:11.159
on stories on how you can actually see a different

01:49:11.159 --> 01:49:14.149
way out And I find that's very impactful and

01:49:14.149 --> 01:49:17.890
very useful in this day and age when we're dominated

01:49:17.890 --> 01:49:20.329
by social media and TikTok is grabbing your attention

01:49:20.329 --> 01:49:25.069
and you're being lost. And the kids nowadays

01:49:25.069 --> 01:49:28.350
are dealing with way higher levels of anxiety

01:49:28.350 --> 01:49:31.229
because of all of this constant feed. Yeah, this

01:49:31.229 --> 01:49:34.369
constant feed of, you know, your value is based

01:49:34.369 --> 01:49:37.890
off your social media, famous. And that's very

01:49:37.890 --> 01:49:41.149
sad. You know, I was grateful to go outside.

01:49:41.800 --> 01:49:46.100
and break parts of my body. Me too. Yeah, so

01:49:46.100 --> 01:49:48.520
that's what would be in the near future for me

01:49:48.520 --> 01:49:52.100
and just continue to, you know, knowledge myself,

01:49:52.279 --> 01:49:55.500
read, you know, and put myself in a position

01:49:55.500 --> 01:49:58.979
to win because winning, again, is a choice. It's

01:49:58.979 --> 01:50:01.960
an intent. And if you choose to just relax, you

01:50:01.960 --> 01:50:04.500
will never compete with me. That's why I said

01:50:04.500 --> 01:50:06.220
I'm the MVP because nobody's going to work as

01:50:06.220 --> 01:50:09.439
hard as me. You know, so you've got to have that

01:50:09.439 --> 01:50:12.789
mentality. And understanding. And anything is

01:50:12.789 --> 01:50:15.109
possible for you. That's what I believe. Truly

01:50:15.109 --> 01:50:20.210
in my heart. That's right. Yeah, man. Mr. Denzel

01:50:20.210 --> 01:50:23.210
Richardson. Thank you very, very much for coming.

01:50:23.369 --> 01:50:27.369
All the way down in the south. Here in Eintje.

01:50:28.310 --> 01:50:35.670
Is it Eintje, guy? And I'm thoroughly impressed.

01:50:36.590 --> 01:50:41.090
And I say that with all the genuineness in my

01:50:41.090 --> 01:50:45.460
heart. I know it was going to be an interesting

01:50:45.460 --> 01:50:47.520
conversation because otherwise then I wouldn't

01:50:47.520 --> 01:50:50.760
reach out. But the conversation kind of blew

01:50:50.760 --> 01:50:52.500
me away. Yeah, I really appreciate that. There's

01:50:52.500 --> 01:50:55.239
quite some details in there that I obviously

01:50:55.239 --> 01:50:58.439
wasn't aware of. But then also the motivational

01:50:58.439 --> 01:51:01.000
speaking part and then the way that you articulate

01:51:01.000 --> 01:51:05.359
and tell your story and reference and make these

01:51:05.359 --> 01:51:09.340
connections back. It's impressive, man. Well,

01:51:09.340 --> 01:51:11.920
if you're saying that, then I'm happy because

01:51:11.920 --> 01:51:15.579
it's... It's a thing that I want. That's the

01:51:15.579 --> 01:51:18.560
impact I want, to be in that position that people

01:51:18.560 --> 01:51:21.500
can be like, yo, that was crazy, man. That did

01:51:21.500 --> 01:51:24.520
something to me. It made me think differently,

01:51:24.619 --> 01:51:28.000
and that's why I'm happy. I have gratification

01:51:28.000 --> 01:51:29.760
when people are just like, yo, Denzel, that helped

01:51:29.760 --> 01:51:31.960
me be a better man. That helped me be a better

01:51:31.960 --> 01:51:35.119
woman. All of those things is part of my journey.

01:51:35.380 --> 01:51:37.539
I've been in the dark, so I just want to help

01:51:37.539 --> 01:51:40.199
as much people to be in the light as me. Like

01:51:40.199 --> 01:51:44.479
I said, in a football club, I'm a beast and my

01:51:44.479 --> 01:51:46.340
job is to make you a beast so we can have beast

01:51:46.340 --> 01:51:48.880
conversation and beast conquer the world. Yeah.

01:51:49.399 --> 01:51:51.899
So that's, that's what I kind of like my messages

01:51:51.899 --> 01:51:53.739
to people. So you could develop yourself to be

01:51:53.739 --> 01:51:55.500
that person so we can actually be on a level

01:51:55.500 --> 01:51:59.170
to work together. Yeah. You know, so yeah. All

01:51:59.170 --> 01:52:01.189
right, then I think we're going to have a couple

01:52:01.189 --> 01:52:04.430
more beast conversations. Yeah, man, you know.

01:52:05.109 --> 01:52:09.229
So where can people find you? Oh, they can find

01:52:09.229 --> 01:52:12.789
me on my Instagram. I post a lot of content,

01:52:12.829 --> 01:52:15.529
fitness content, but soon I will be posting some.

01:52:17.290 --> 01:52:20.090
small snippets on basically how to handle stress.

01:52:20.250 --> 01:52:22.529
Small 45 seconds, you know, how I deal with stress,

01:52:22.630 --> 01:52:25.750
how they can do it. And hopefully that can channel

01:52:25.750 --> 01:52:28.069
people in the chat group to actually, you know,

01:52:28.069 --> 01:52:30.170
ask for some sessions, et cetera, et cetera.

01:52:30.409 --> 01:52:32.909
But they can find me on Facebook as well, Denzel

01:52:32.909 --> 01:52:35.470
Richardson. And on Instagram, Denzel underscore

01:52:35.470 --> 01:52:38.350
Rich. I don't use TikTok or anything like that.

01:52:39.479 --> 01:52:42.500
Don't know if I want to, but if the market determines

01:52:42.500 --> 01:52:44.819
that that would help my success, I would have

01:52:44.819 --> 01:52:48.199
to look into it. But as of now, Denzel underscore

01:52:48.199 --> 01:52:52.000
Rich is my Instagram, and Facebook is Denzel

01:52:52.000 --> 01:52:53.680
Richardson, and you can also reach out to me.

01:52:54.560 --> 01:52:58.880
If getting your mental health in a place that

01:52:58.880 --> 01:53:01.779
you... That is very serious to you. You can message

01:53:01.779 --> 01:53:04.640
me and I can help you actually get that mind

01:53:04.640 --> 01:53:06.319
where it needs to be and you can find your purpose

01:53:06.319 --> 01:53:07.800
and give the fruit you was meant to give this

01:53:07.800 --> 01:53:09.699
world. So you do like one -on -one coaching type

01:53:09.699 --> 01:53:11.939
of situations? Yes, I do. And I actually have

01:53:11.939 --> 01:53:15.140
a community of people in my group that, you know,

01:53:15.159 --> 01:53:18.300
people can share their journey and be like, you

01:53:18.300 --> 01:53:20.359
know what, I went through this phase of, you

01:53:20.359 --> 01:53:22.220
know, and they can share it and help each other

01:53:22.220 --> 01:53:26.119
as well. So the objective of leadership is following

01:53:26.119 --> 01:53:30.079
a leader is not to be. become a follower is to

01:53:30.079 --> 01:53:32.680
become a leader. When you're in a power position,

01:53:32.880 --> 01:53:34.380
it's not about power, it's about empowerment.

01:53:34.880 --> 01:53:38.960
Empowerment. So that's the whole thing that I'm

01:53:38.960 --> 01:53:41.420
focusing on, empowering people to become leaders,

01:53:41.600 --> 01:53:45.140
not to remain as followers. Awesome. Yeah, man.

01:53:47.880 --> 01:53:52.619
Well, I don't have much words. Denzel took them

01:53:52.619 --> 01:53:57.520
all today. But this was definitely amazing. And

01:53:57.520 --> 01:54:00.460
if you made it all the way to the end, then you

01:54:00.460 --> 01:54:04.220
are amazing. I think this might be our longest

01:54:04.220 --> 01:54:08.119
episode, but it's filled with so many gems. So

01:54:08.119 --> 01:54:11.079
even if you need to watch this in parts, you

01:54:11.079 --> 01:54:13.560
watch it in parts because it's a must watch.

01:54:14.260 --> 01:54:17.640
Thank you so much for tuning in. Like, subscribe,

01:54:18.060 --> 01:54:21.630
comment. Let us know your thoughts. What were

01:54:21.630 --> 01:54:23.550
some of the best moments? What were some of the

01:54:23.550 --> 01:54:27.369
highlights for you? And yeah, share this with

01:54:27.369 --> 01:54:31.470
your friends. Share this with the world. We signing

01:54:31.470 --> 01:54:35.970
out. Sunside Kingdom Season 2. I think we're

01:54:35.970 --> 01:54:40.470
making this the finale. Bless.