VIP Café Show – Youngstown, Ohio – Local Guests with Amazing Impact to Our Community
Friendships begin based on numerous circumstances. Many are created because of similar interests and hobbies. For example, being part of the same sports team or maybe being a member of the same academic club. Other friendships are formed based on proximity or what neighborhood you grew up in. Whatever the reason, having a good solid friendship is a wonderful thing.We believe Podcasts are very similar to friendships. They are many times created by a few people who have common interests and share a similar vision. They are generally formed to help “inform” others about a variety of topics and subject matter. The question many Podcasters ask themselves is….why me/us? With so many options to choose from as a listener, what makes one Podcast better than another? We believe it all begins with….a good host or pair of hosts! That is exactly how The VIP Café Show came to fruition. Two friends, Greg Smith and Brian Blasko had a conversation while enjoying a cigar on a cool crisp January evening and the rest as they say…is history.The VIP Café Show was created to inform, educate and entertain listeners from the great city of Youngstown, OH. Although The VIP Café Show listeners reach far beyond the Youngstown area, the primary focus of the show is to highlight local “Youngstowners” and to hear their story. The Podcast also dives into a variety of fascinating topics besides Youngstown. Greg and Brian love discussing leadership, public speaking, customer care, team building, and life in general. They are always fascinated by what makes people tick and how people became (or are becoming) the person they are today! The VIP Café Show is a fun and informative program that engages the audience with every interview, conversation, and dialog that transpires.
VIP Café Show – Youngstown, Ohio – Local Guests with Amazing Impact to Our Community
E69 The VIP Café Show with Ron King - The Art of Living with Intention
Ron King shares his journey from Youngstown to becoming a successful model and now giving back through affordable fitness programs and community events. His passion for bringing people together through music and wellness shines through as he discusses his upcoming big band concert and his work at the Eugene Atkinson Recreational Center.
• Affordable fitness at Eugene Atkinson Recreational Center costs just $100/year with $20 personal training sessions
• Big Band concert event happening September 5th at Eugene Atkinson Pavilion featuring Dave Banks Big Band
• Ron's modeling career included being the Bacardi Rum spokesperson for 8 years with billboards nationwide
• Strong mother who raised him single-handedly and worked at Youngstown Hospital for 37 years without owning a car
• Philosophy that "our responsibility in life is not to change people, it's to learn people"
• Upcoming comedy venue "Let's Laugh" being developed in Akron
For more information about the September 5th big band event or to become a sponsor, call Ron King at 201-522-0041 or email ronaldking611@gmail.com. Tickets are $10 with free parking, gates open at 5pm.
hey, hey, hey. It's a vip cafe show coming to you from the havana house. Yes, or? What do they have here, debbie? What kind of stuff do they have here all?
Speaker 2:right, listen, they have the most fresh, delicious coffee several different varieties. I'm drinking a mocha. Our guest here is drinking a hot coffee, and not only that, but they have plenty of wine and beer drinks of people like that, but they're known for their cigars.
Speaker 1:Cigars from all over the world.
Speaker 2:Yes, I just saw somebody purchase a whole case in a fancy wrapping. They can do that. Oh, yes, yes so you could buy a whole case, you could just buy one.
Speaker 1:It's a that.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, yes, so you could buy a whole case or you could just buy one. It's a very comfortable place here. I see.
Speaker 1:So I hear we have a guest today.
Speaker 2:We do. Okay, let's get right into it. So our guest today is Ron King. He is a personal trainer and a producer. He has worked with the City of Youngstown. He's currently working with the City of Youngstown. He's currently working with the city of Youngstown. They actually introduced an affordable way of getting trained, getting to be able to have like workout. A lot of people that's the big barrier is they can't afford a gym. They can't get to the gym. It's across town and especially not personal training and boxing. But this program has been introduced and it's super affordable, super successful so far and they're just building up and getting the word out. But also, he's a producer and he's active with the arts. So before I do all the talking, let's welcome Ron, Welcome.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Let me start out by first saying the coffee that I'm having here at the Havana House is Ethiopian coffee. Now, this is the first time I've ever tasted Ethiopian coffee. I've got to search it out.
Speaker 2:I've got to find it because you like it.
Speaker 3:I love it. This is coffee you just walk out front and tell them you want some.
Speaker 1:That's all it takes.
Speaker 3:This is coffee without knowing you're drinking coffee. I mean, sometimes coffee is very aggressive but this is so smooth and really I'm looking forward to taking this home with me introducing it to my home.
Speaker 1:Dude, that's a huge They'll sell your bag out there and that's a huge compliment.
Speaker 2:So they actually started the Youngstown Coffee Company right here across the hallway from where we're sitting right now, and now they have a place in Warren. They kept growing and so it's roasted and everything.
Speaker 3:Owned and operated roasted.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 3:Tell us about your program. First of all, just let me just give a plug to Eugene Atkinson Recreational Center on the north side of Youngstown, the city of Youngstown, under the direction of Mayor Tito Brown, and the director of Eugene Atkinson, which is Mr Clement Franklin, is their director doing some really unique things for the city to be able to engage people in things that they normally either, like you said, would have to go outside of the city to do or they could not afford to do, and being able to be hired by the city and by the Department of Direct Recreation and to be able to run the workout gym there and to be one of the personal trainers. And it's truly affordable because the membership is $100 a year, doesn't?
Speaker 1:matter who you are.
Speaker 3:That's $8 a month of full access to the gymnasium for the basketball gym, the workout room, any of the classes that are run, like the aerobics classes and boxing classes and dance classes and line dancing and ballroom. Any of the classes that are run are included in the membership. But then if the person wants to engage in personal training, the cost for a personal trainer is only $20 per session.
Speaker 2:That's unheard of.
Speaker 3:So now you get a full blown professional personal training that basically works on whatever your goals are for your body, whether you want to lose weight, you want to get stronger, and everybody should be trying to build muscle, joint health, should be trying to build muscle, joint health, cardiovascular health, muscle toning, better posture and mental health, because all of this wraps into giving you a place to be able to relieve the stress of the day and put some things behind you, to be in focus on your body and becoming a better you, and that's Eugene Atkinson Recreational Center, and I'm very proud of being associated with them. Now, aside from that, as a former musician, vocalist for a lot of different groups, I'm really into music and I wanted to bring a different type of music to the Youngstown area. We have a lot of musical venues and we're rich in different musical events that go on around the city.
Speaker 3:So I said, how can I bring something different? And so I started thinking about it, and the Lord put it on my heart too. He gave me an opportunity to meet this gentleman, Dave Banks and hear their band and it was outstanding.
Speaker 3:I was so moved by just hearing the whole big band stuff like back in the day tony dorsey and duke ellington, and there's that music from back in that time period that people really enjoyed hearing real rich music that was played by musicians and not sampled wow, wow, yeah, okay, not simple, and it's so classy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's classy and so I spoke to him and he said r Ron, I would love to come. We haven't been to Youngstown in over 25 years. So I said I'm going to bring you. I'm going to do what I need to do to bring you to Youngstown and your band and what I would like this event to be a unifying event, which is a reason why I'm trying to pull sponsors from the Boardman area, poland area pool of sponsors from the Boardman area, poland area. So I'm all out here trying to find businesses who would want to partner in this event, because I really want the Youngstown and vicinity to be able to come together. And what better way for people to come together? It always has been, since the beginning of time is over music and food.
Speaker 3:Those are the two things that bring people together, and people can sit down from different backgrounds, different nationalities, different races, different sexes. They can get together over music and music and food and forget about their differences. The thing that we come together on is the fact that we both are enjoying the sounds.
Speaker 3:We both enjoy the music, and that's what I'm looking forward to seeing on that field on that day is seeing a cornucopia of people from every diverse background coming together and saying, man, I haven't heard this kind of music in a long time. And I'm really feeling good and I'm really thankful that I'm sharing this time with you, that I just met you and your family sitting right next to me on this field in a lawn chair, something that six months ago I would have never thought I was.
Speaker 1:we used to have those days at adora park where they said you know, bring in some big bands and all that you know so I have.
Speaker 3:So I have some people, a lot of people who are still buying into judges in youngstown and different businesses like alberini's and the Rescue Mission. They are a part of our sponsor also. So we have probably about maybe 10 or 15 different businesses who are looking at where they fit in the sponsorship.
Speaker 1:So if they want to sponsor, how do they get involved? What do you need them to do? How do they?
Speaker 3:reach out. They reach out to me. My contact phone number is 201-522-0041. My email address is RonaldKing, no space 611 at gmailcom. They can reach out to me and I can give them the breakdown of the different zero to 250, 250 to 500, where they want to sit at. We're making VIP wristbands for all of our sponsors so that there'll be seating right up by the stage area for my VIP people to be able to sit there. I'm also designating the area where just for a tent. So if you're bringing a tent, there'll be a line on the grass that, if you have a tent, you pitch your tent behind this line, because I want to make sure that no tents are obscuring the view of people who are?
Speaker 3:in lawn chairs, so you put your tent and that area will be also for smoking. So if you're, whatever you're smoking, you will be behind that line where you don't have to create any discomfort from people who have to deal with smoking and they don't have to.
Speaker 3:They don't smoke. So we create an area where you can enjoy your cigar, you can enjoy your cigarette, you can enjoy your pipe, if you decide. Ohio is a marijuana state and if you want to do that, you have to do it at this. But to be on this particular point, which there's not a bad seat in on the field, it's a beautiful location and we don't have food trucks there. We have the restrooms out on the field.
Speaker 3:We have cities bringing water yeah and so we're making sure that I have getting my food truck set up to where I have. I'm not having a lot but I want to have enough, to where it's not overdone, where I have one person is going to be providing lemonade she's probably going to go fast oh yeah, ice cream. But then if you want barbecue, we have that yeah, it's not going to be inundated with food, because that's not what it's necessarily about. It's about music. But if you want, to have some food.
Speaker 2:It will be available for you and we're really looking forward to everybody's really getting excited and the eugenia akison's pavilion is somewhat new, so there's probably a lot of people who don't know where it is. Do you know where it is, greg?
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's on where the like Wirt. It's on Wirt in 420?
Speaker 3:It used to be the old Westlake.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:It used to be the old Westlake Terrace in that area. Okay, but it's if you come. It's a perfect location because it's right at the crossroads.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that center sits right on 682.
Speaker 3:And 422, okay. So, if you get off at 680 at the 422 exit Down where the old rescue mission was by there. You're right there by the center. So if you go out of the back lot of the center you're on 422. Okay, If you go out on the front lot of the center you're going right on to 680.
Speaker 2:Okay, and the address is 902 Otis Street.
Speaker 3:Okay, in Youngstown, and for those who are, I'm going to date myself. But for those who can go back years ago, where the Eugenia Atkinson Center is and where the field is we're going to be at, used to be the old Chase Pool, oh wow.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I've ever even heard of that.
Speaker 3:It used to be one of the biggest swimming pools in Youngstown was Chase Swimming Pool.
Speaker 2:Is that considered Northside? That's Northside, that's Northside.
Speaker 1:And it used to be right on that property. Yeah, and this was on Friday, september 5th, and gates open at 5 pm and it's $10 per ticket. And free parking Free parking.
Speaker 3:Free parking. And the gates open at 5. And and we are also blessed by having a really good friend of mine there, DJ Stan the Man- oh, Stan, the man Dan he's going to start DJing at 5. Okay, and as people are coming, in and as they're coming in the parking lot. They're going to hear music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he's going to DJ from 5. So it'll feel like a party. It'll feel like it together.
Speaker 3:He's going to DJ from 5 to 7.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:The band will start at 7. They'll play from 7 to 8. They'll take a break. He will DJ then. We'll make a couple announcements. I think the mayor will come speak for maybe a couple of minutes. Welcome everyone, and then the band will come back on after that and they'll play until after 9. So it's going to be a great day.
Speaker 2:And then your plan is to continue doing bringing events and music and stuff.
Speaker 3:After that, I have another big event that I'm planning for latter part of the year, maybe beginning of the year, but this is going to be something that. Youngstown, and from Youngstown, from all the way to Columbus, yeah, all the way to Toledo, all the way to. Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2:I don't think there's been an event like this and people. It could be something that people drive in for, which is really cool. Any time you bring a creative art to a city, I think it makes it stronger and builds hope and resilience and all the things. But tell us a little bit about you. You're Eastside boy.
Speaker 3:I was born and raised on the Sharon line. Okay, that's out Jacob's road. If you're on the Sharon line, you didn't get there by. You intentionally came there.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's not something that you could just stumble upon. If you were in the Sharon Line, you didn't get there by accident.
Speaker 3:You intentionally came there. Okay, it's not something you can just stumble upon. If you made it to the Sharon Line, it's because you were going there. Okay, if you pass by the Sharon Line, you're in Hubbard. That's where I went. I'm a Bulldog North High Bulldog Bulldogs for life and that's my home. Now I live on the east side okay, of youngstown okay but I'm from the sharon line proud of it.
Speaker 2:So so you, from what I understand, you used to be a model. You have been in the kind of arts and entertainment. Then you moved out of the area. Tell us a little bit about what has brought you to this point in your life right now, where you're back in youngstown and wanting to add value back to the community okay.
Speaker 3:I thank god. He's allowed me to have a rich experience in this life, one of the things I always say in my prayers. And I say, lord, if you don't do anything more for me, you don't owe me nothing.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:You don't owe me nothing because you've allowed me to experience more things in my life than I ever thought I would do. Yeah, and when I was younger, living in Youngstown, there was a company that was traveling all over the country. They were called hey, look Me Over. And they went to all big, different cities, back corner cities, and they were basically looking for talent, whether it be musical talent, modeling talent, whatever it was, and I showcased for them when they came to Youngstown at that time and I modeled for them and I sang for them.
Speaker 3:Okay, and they told me that we think that you should Focus on your singing is good, but we think that the thing that you bring to the table that's marketable right now is your modeling ability, how your presence when you're on stage. And so they said we're going to contact some people in New York City and then they'll reach out to you. And so probably about a month later, I got a phone call from an agency in New York City called Gilleroo's.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And they said we'd like you to come to New York and just send you out to a couple agencies and see what they think. So I went to New York City and I went to met with them and they sent me to Jeremy Fosserfeld and particularly I got a chance. They sent me to Wilhelmina's.
Speaker 2:Really, yeah, that's a pretty big, that's a big, and I got a chance to meet the Dan Deely. Oh, okay, who was?
Speaker 3:who's who in modeling at that time.
Speaker 2:Wow and.
Speaker 3:I sat with him one-on-one, just like I'm sitting with you, and and he said to me he said, ron, you can't, I don't think you can do fashion modeling in New York because you're not tall enough See our girls in New York that model. They're 5'11", 6 feet, without shoes.
Speaker 2:Wow yeah.
Speaker 3:But what I think you would be good for, I think you can do print modeling and I said what is that, Dan? He said print is when they put your face, associated with a product, in a magazine.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, he said and you have a great smile, great face, I think you'd be great in print modeling. So, for that matter, I think you should be in new york. So I went back into, he contacted my agency and I moved to new york. Okay, in october of that year. Okay, and do you know that? In january of the very next year, which was less than six months later, yeah, I was on the billboards all across the country, from new y to California, from Chicago, all the way to Atlanta, and I was a spokesperson for Bacardi Rum for eight years For Bacardi Rum.
Speaker 2:For Bacardi Rum, what Come?
Speaker 1:on For.
Speaker 3:Ebony Jet Magazine, essence Magazine, business Week Newsweek buses all across Times Square.
Speaker 1:I was the party Bacardi guy for eight years.
Speaker 3:That's so funny Less than six months after I moved there. He was so right that he gave that to me and then I represented in the Business Week Newsweek magazine. After that I represented Digital Computer for them, and then I represented Fitness for Esquire magazine.
Speaker 2:It was an.
Speaker 1:Esquire magazine. And so.
Speaker 3:I did all those things. I got a chance to do all those things in a very short period of time. God blessed me with those things, that's cool. And then I went through other business things that I did. I was senior vice president of a financial services company in New York for 25 years, came back to Youngstown, came back home after doing that and met some people who told me that they thought I should be in acting so I entered a contest called the IMTA international acting and modeling competition and I won.
Speaker 3:This was held in New York City Times Square and I won third in the male international actor of the year international people came from all over the world and at the award ceremony, when they announced all the winners, an agency contacted my representative there okay, and said we want to sign him. It was called in los angeles, california, but they said we have. He has to live here in california, so I went back home took a year got myself together and I moved to Los Angeles, california.
Speaker 2:And they waited a year.
Speaker 3:I waited a year.
Speaker 2:But they were willing to wait for you, okay.
Speaker 3:And so I got myself and I stayed out there for five years pursuing that, and I do stand-up comedy, so I'm a writer, so I not only write for myself, but I can write for other people. And so so I'm a writer, so I not only write for myself, but I can write for other people, okay, and so then I just come back home after all the people that I met yeah, things, I come back home.
Speaker 3:I said now I'm ready to do some things, so I'm getting ready to do comedy in Akron. I met some guys there that are financiers and people who are buying buildings and renovating buildings and that and so they agreed that there needs to be a comedy venue in Akron. So they bought a building and so now it's actually being retrofitted now and being prepared for different things, and so I'm going to be doing comedy out of that venue under the title let's Laugh.
Speaker 2:Nice. So comedy clubs are an unusual thing because for me I'm not a comedian but I get annoyed if I waste my time on ill prepared comedy. I'm not going to say bad comedy because I'm okay hearing somebody from the start and saying, okay, they're getting their chops or whatever, but ill prepared comedy they're like oh so what else was happening last week? I can't stand that. Going to these like underground comedy shows where they're they didn't even prepare and they're wasting your time. That annoys the crap out of me so hopefully it brings some good comedy sitting back here listening.
Speaker 1:So I the one thing I noticed right away is you ain't, you are no victim, you are a person. No, nobody's coming, I'm one of me and the lord we're gonna. We're gonna get through. And usually people like that don't. They see obstacles in life and trials and tribulations as part of life and you don't get all hung up on it. We get our humanity. We check in with each other on our suffering. We just do, and you've been resilient in that and I know part of that is how you were raised and you were talking about your mother. So if you would share a little bit about that relationship and a little bit about how that affected what you're doing today and how it gave you a chance to be very successful from a standpoint of getting through life.
Speaker 3:I was raised, my sister and I was two of us. We were 11 months apart, so me and my sister enjoyed in the fact that we were the same age for one week.
Speaker 1:Aw.
Speaker 3:For one week so my birthday was June 11th. My sister was June the 18th. So when I turned 15 or 12 on June 11th, me and my sister were the same age until the 18th Aw.
Speaker 3:Okay, and we just got. I lost my sister several years ago to pancreatic cancer and but the blessing is and I'll share with what you just asked me but one of the blessings that I can say is that me and my sister, outside of sibling, rivalries as little kids, but once we grew up, me and my sister never had an argument, we never had a fight.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:I lived with my mom all of my life until she passed away at 68 years old. I never had an argument with my mom.
Speaker 1:Never.
Speaker 3:Because my mom raised us by herself Since I was two and a half, my sister was three and a half and my mom and dad were divorced at that point and my mom raised us. She made the sacrifices to where my mom never owned a car until I was 18 years old and graduated from high school, because every dollar, every dime she made went into raising and taking care of her kids.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:So she never owned a car. So I would peep out the window and watch my mom walking down the street back then in knee-deep snow at five o'clock in the morning to catch a bus from the Sharon line to downtown Youngstown, get a transfer and catch the next bus up to Southside Hospital where she worked for Youngstown Hospital for 37 years in surgery. But for the first 18 years of my life she caught the bus to work and home every single day without a car. Okay, so the sacrifice that she made, her commitment to work.
Speaker 3:I remember she would sit up when they told her they wanted her to try out to be a surgical tech too. She had to learn how to tie surgical knots. If the doctor says surgeon said okay, we're done, miss King, with this surgery, you can close now. She had to learn how to tie and I can remember seeing my mom sitting up on the couch in the living room with the light on in the dark with an apparatus she had, learning how to tie different type of sutures at middle of the night, learning how to do it when all surgical technicians had to be certified in the city of Youngstown because prior to that they weren't.
Speaker 3:It was OJT, but once colleges began to produce surgical technicians, all the ones that weren't certified had to pass the certification test or be demoted. So they put out this huge book of all the information that you needed to know in order to become certified, if you never went to college for it. My mom was the first person in the city of Youngstown to pass the certification test that you needed to know in order to become certified if you never went to college for it.
Speaker 2:Wow, my mom was the first person in the city of Youngstown to pass a certification test from that book.
Speaker 3:That's the diligence my mom. She raised me so inspirational. She taught me how to clean house we had chores. How to clean house, how to win Saturdays. Clean my room, dust off the furniture in the living room, wooden end tables and vacuum. Run the vacuum cleaner. Scrub the kitchen floor, wash dishes we had chores.
Speaker 3:And one of the things my mom told me. She says I want you to learn how to do everything you need to do so that you can take care of yourself, so you will never need a woman to do things for you wow if a woman does you for you, it's because you want them to yeah but not because you need someone to cook for you. You need someone to clean your house you need someone to iron your clothes and to this day.
Speaker 3:I'm so meticulous. Nobody has ever been able to iron a shirt for me because I'm so good at ironing.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:And I'm very anal about it. My ex-wife used to iron my dress shirt for me when I had a business meeting, and when she would hand me my dress shirt and I would get ready to put it on, I'd look, I'd go. You didn't iron the back of the shirt. She said, yeah, but you're going to be wearing a jacket.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3:I said no, but jacket. Oh my goodness. I said no, but I know I'm in a meeting with a shirt. That's not ironed in the back. You're gonna do it. That bothers me, yeah, so I ironed all of my clothes.
Speaker 1:Wow, to this day.
Speaker 3:So my mom had a rule, and it's if you're not going to do it right, don't do it wow just tell them you're not going to do it if you're not going to put your best foot forward.
Speaker 3:The bible says that which you, your hands, find to do, do it with your mind, with your might, do with every martin. Luther king said, as if all the hosts of heaven were singing praises about what you did and cutting the grass or mopping the floor, my mom used to say all the time how did you sweep the floor when you didn't move anything? That's the person that I was raised with.
Speaker 3:So my, my whole you just mentioned it when you talk about the comedians yeah I was asked by a movie director in california tell me something about you that I should know, that I don't know, said I'm the person that my greatest fear in life is being unprepared. And he said wow, that's my greatest fear.
Speaker 3:So that means everything that I do, I have to. I over-prepare, I'm going to put more in the basket than I need. That way I know I'll never come up short. But if I try to count what I need and try to put in exactly what I need, then something's going to surprise me and I'm going to come up short. So I'm going to give more than I need to give. I'm going to do more than I need, and then that means with the people that come around me, that works with me, I demand more of them, okay, but by the same token, in my exercise classes, they know that the exercise that I'm having you do is not more than you can do, because I'm doing it with you. Oh, that's awesome. So I'm not going to put more on you than I'm willing to do myself. I'm going to show you that it can be done by me doing it with you, and that that should encourage you to be able to say, yes, I can do it too.
Speaker 3:So, that's an answer to you. That's how I was raised. I was raised by a mom only and everything.
Speaker 3:My mom used to take clothes and she would take a huge piece of cloth and open it up and there might have been a coat. And then she would maybe and open it up and there would might have been a coat. And then she would get on the sewing machine and sew it and she would turn it into a girl's coat and a boy's coat for me and my sister out of one per big person's coat are you serious?
Speaker 2:what, wow, wow, that's resourcefulness. That, oh man, yeah that's so that's wow.
Speaker 3:So that's how I came through and that is the reason I'm thankful for the fact that. I respect everybody and my mom gave me that I respect everybody. My mom used to say all the time she said I don't understand people who are even racist, just judging right off the bat. She said because, me being she, she said there are white people I love and black people I can't stand she said so I can't stand to be around she said so.
Speaker 3:I don't judge people at all based on color. It's based on how you come around me. How you come around me, how you present yourself, is going to be determining factor of how much time I want to spend around you. Okay, some people you can love and some people you have to love from a distance.
Speaker 2:Right, regardless of what they look like on the outside or where they're from or whatever, that's just period. Yeah, if I was thinking about that the other day, if somebody is a jerk, they're a jerk, regardless. If they're a nice person, they're a nice person. And I think sometimes we try to comprehend it by saying this these type of people are like this, or these type of people are like this, but I say we as humans, right, but really it's, is this person somebody I could trust, somebody I'd like to be around, or are they not?
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of my, one of my quotes for myself, is that I had to help myself to understand, and that is that our responsibility in this life is not to change people, it's to learn people yeah. See, my job is not to change who you are. It's to learn who you are Once I know who you are, then I determine whether I can be around you and, if I'm going to be around you, how I need to operate around you, with you being you.
Speaker 1:I've got to let you be you. It's really level five. It's where you see people as a reflection of yourself, and that's rather than am I better than them or not, or look what they're doing. It's more like every human being is a reflection of you.
Speaker 2:Interesting, wow yeah.
Speaker 1:And one final question, if I may. Have you ever had the pride bite, or have you been able to avoid pride, avoid the whole ego thing and stay meek? Have you been able to do that in your life? Or have you ever had a point in time where you looked in the mirror and say, hey get real.
Speaker 1:I just wondered because you're very meek. You're very meek and if the audience doesn't know what meek means, it basically means he's got a huge sword that he just keeps sheathed and he doesn't pull it out and hit you with it does it, wield it everywhere he goes.
Speaker 3:Thank you for that question. I'm going to give you an answer that some of your audience may not believe, but thankful to my mom. Thankful to my mom. The Bible said to train up a child in the way he should go, but it also says to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and my mom did a really good job of that. I would call her from New Jersey. When I had a down time emotionally and something was bothering me and I was having a hard time getting over it, my go-to person was my mom and I would call her up and tell her what was going on. First thing she would say to me was get your bible come on turn to.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's how she solved those problems for me. So have I ever had that moment where pride moment? I have to get your audience, whoever's listening, to understand that they're interested, maybe not be confused with words in their head that there's a difference between pride and proud? Yes, very good. Okay, I've had many proud moments in my life, things that I could look back on and say you, you know, I'm really proud of how I did that. But at the same time in my head I write down sometimes I can be in the car with my fiance and I'm just driving along and I'll just out of nowhere. I'll just say thank you, lord, and she'll say what was that? What about? I was just thinking about something and I tell her what it was. Because I have to do that often because a lot of things I'm proud of. But pride, okay, like you just defined it. Have I ever had that moment? Have to tell you honestly, no, great, I've never. Thank God, thank you, lord right now.
Speaker 3:Thank you, even now that I've never had the proud, the pride moment where I thought more of myself, because I have always worked at looking at myself through him, never looking at myself on my own. That's who I am, because nothing that I've accomplished that I accomplished on my own. Everything is by his grace and his mercy. Go I that I have been able to accomplish, be here, meet this person, do this. I've been in California. I ended up at a party that a guy, famous guy named Rafi. He created this. He's got a big business out there and yoga and meditation, but he created a piece of jewelry called Bullets for Peace. You can look it up and he creates, he makes these bullets and he puts crosses on them and they have Schwartzy crystal on them or whatever. And people wear these bullets as a sign that this is a sign of peace for me, not violence and not hurting anybody. And he created that.
Speaker 3:He invited me to his birthday party. I met him by accident Not really, I met him because God created my path to where it would cross with him and we ended up talking at an event that I wasn't even supposed to be at. And he came up because when I was standing there looking at everybody and I got there, like I said, quote unquote by accident. He walked up to me because it was his place that the event was going on, introduced himself because I was the only african american guy there and I'm just standing there looking because I'm like, okay, I made a mistake, I shouldn't be here wow and he started talking to me and he liked the conversation.
Speaker 3:He invited me to his birthday party and I go to his birthday party and all of a sudden, who comes walking into the birthday party? But Stevie Wonder oh, no way, that's fun and I ended up having a conversation with him oh, wow and then I ended up hearing the pieces to Rafi said let me introduce you to someone else. He introduced me to another guy. He ends up being Gladys Knight's husband okay, so he and I exchanged phone numbers.
Speaker 3:He has given me the opportunity to be able to understand that. Don't ever forget how you were raised, who raised you and by what means you were brought here. You were brought here for my glorification, and so pride cometh before the fall.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'm thankful to your question and I'm thankful to the fact that no one's ever asked me that question. I've never had to even visit the answer until now.
Speaker 2:That's Greg's question for you.
Speaker 3:So this was a chance. You gave me an instantaneous opportunity of introspection to ask myself and search myself like a computer. What's the answer to that question? And there is no answer in relation in relationship to that word pride. Am I prideful?
Speaker 3:never am I confident yeah, okay but I learned in business that there is something called professional arrogance. That is the only arrogance that I may have, and I learned that professional arrogance says once you've done the work, once you've put in the study, once you've put in the time and did everything you need to do to prepare yourself for what you're doing, you have a right to tell people that you're good at what you do. Interesting, you have a right because you put the work in.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay, you have a right because you put the work in. Yeah, okay, a preacher doesn't have that. Has a right to say I'm good at rightly dividing the word of truth. I'm good at that. A radio announcer has a right to say I'm good at interviewing people. You had a right when I said to you I'm going to have an announcer at my big event and every single person. When governor dewine walks in the door dressed in a tuxedo and his wife in a gown, and he walks up to the step and repeat and they take his picture, there's going to be somebody standing there that says welcome, governor DeWine. How did you hear about the event? You know, what do you think about this type of thing being done in Ohio?
Speaker 3:I want that. And she said to me can I be that person? I'd be that person and I said you absolutely can, because I know, without a doubt, that you can handle it.
Speaker 3:You have prepared yourself and put yourself in a position. You have studied, you have laid yourself before God and he has blessed you with the talent that you have. And when you came and asked, the Bible says you have not why? Because you asked, not. Because you asked, not because you asked not, thank you, and not because you didn't ask, but you asked a miss.
Speaker 3:You asked for the reasons that it would be just for your glory and I know that there's nothing that I have seen you do that was for you. Every time I've seen you doing something, it's always for somebody else.
Speaker 2:Wow, man, that's why you look in the mirror and say thanks.
Speaker 3:I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1:You know, and it reminds me what you just said, Reminds me of a famous Bruce Lee quote when they said are you any good? And he said if I told you I was, I'd be boasting, If I told you I wasn't, I'd be lying. You know what? And guess what? You put that on the table and I'm going to match you and I'm going to raise you.
Speaker 2:I'm going to raise you a.
Speaker 3:Bruce Lee was asked if he's walking down the street and three hoodlums are on the street corner and they start making all type of racial comments because of his Asian ethnicity comments. What does he do? He said I keep walking. They said but they make comments about your mom being this and being that and make all type of racial slurs about your ace and rest. What do you do? He says I keep walking. He said but you're Bruce Lee, you could go over there. You could waste all three of them. Why do you keep walking? He said because I know the end of the story. They don't know they're doing that because they don't know I know the end of the story.
Speaker 3:So the end of the story is what makes me keep walking. I'm not bothered by what they're saying, because they're doing what they're doing because they're ignorant.
Speaker 1:They don't know the story.
Speaker 3:Wow, I know the story. I know what I'm capable of doing. That's what keeps me walking, even with a smile on my face.
Speaker 2:Awesome Wow.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 3:We really appreciate it. You're very welcome, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And again.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the 5th of September.
Speaker 2:September at the Eugenie Atkinson's Pavilion $10 per ticket. You could call 201-522-0041 for sponsorship or any questions about it. Make sure you invite your friends.