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Join us on the Disruption Now podcast as we challenge the status quo and advocate for digital equity, ownership, and responsible technology.
and uh
he said let me talk to your manager
I'm like well
I don't I don't work here
it's not technology for technology sake
it was the moment of saying well
how does it really empower someone else to do something
they weren't able to do before
my early beginnings were a beautiful struggle
the word that they used to define me was defiant
I am a life hacker I'm a dreamer
uh and I aim to be a catalyst
I was not even 16 years old at the time
and they flew me to Boston for training
and people are paying to sit down and talk to me
sometimes we have to slow down to go smooth
to speed up uh
and he says you know what Eric
I think that uh
you would be a great person to talk to my son
you're either understanding and building the product
or the product is building you
because AI is too late AI
you cannot opt out if you're reading this
it's too late everything worthwhile is uphill
the last 5 years will be called unlearning
welcome to disruption now disruptors
I'm your host and moderator
Rob Richardson with me is another disruptor
Eric Brown a friend of mine
he is the founder of Elevate Coaching and consulting
uh helping
helping youth and helping businesses
understand how to use and connect technology
in a way that's human centric
and in a way that can change their lives
and I really admire his work
uh he also on the side works for Microsoft
you can do that on the side
but he does a lot of stuff
he's a smart brilliant brother
good to have him on Eric
welcome to the podcast no
happy to be here yeah
good to have you so like I
I like to really get to know our guest
like we're gonna get into elevate
coaching and consulting
and talk about your career path
and moments in your career path
I understand that some moment at Best Buy
really shaped your kind of uh
career path I actually I'm gonna start there
like there's a moment that you had that really kind of
was a transition moment for you
and it has something to do with Best Buy
like what was that moment
and how did it shape who you are today
yeah um
when I think back at that moment
I was uh
maybe early high school freshman
sophomore year and I was always a window shopper
I would go and look at all the electronics
and research about them pick them up
play around with them and then go back home
and one day I was there looking at Bluetooth headsets
and uh
a gentleman was like oh
you know something about this
I'm like yeah
so I basically told him why he can hook
he can hook it up to his phone uh
hook it up to his car uh
all the different use cases and value and he's like
alright I'm gonna get it and uh
he said let me talk to your manager
I'm like well
I don't I don't work here
he was like you just told me this device like he says
and I told him I'll help you set it up
so I helped him set it up
and it was in that moment he was like Eric
I think you should pursue a career in technology and uh
he says you're a natural and so I'm like
you know what
I just really enjoyed that moment of being able to see
how uh
there was a level of confusion around what the value is
and then being able to walk him through that process
and him be able to realize that in that moment uh
and how he had that shift uh
I think that was a moment where I was like
you know what I I think that uh
it's not technology for technology sake
it was the moment of saying well
how does it really empower someone else to do something
they weren't able to do before
oh oh
that's awesome so he told you though
the person you helped that you should be in technology
yeah you know
what I think is powerful about that moment
is the most powerful thing we can do for another human
is to see them right
and the worst thing we can do to a human is to not
see them and so like it
it's it's
he saw you not as some young kid
but as a but as someone with potential uh
to to uh
really connect the world before you even knew it right
so uh
it's those one those that
that's one of those powerful moments that like
can really change lives that's why it's important
the words we say to people
that we definitely see people
so that's really interesting
that's a that's a awesome story
so uh
but I wanna know your story right
so what's your story who are you
as I tell people often I
I'm the kid that was told he would never uh
you know graduate from college
let alone go to engineering because
you know I
I hadn't done well in school in the 7th grade right
so some teacher tried to define me
so I'm that I'm that uh
I'm still that boy
but I'm not like uh
trying to prove her wrong
I'm always proving myself right
and defining myself for myself
by myself
who are you and what is your story
no that's a powerful question
you know who am I
initially the thing comes to mind
I got this this uh
mantra during my times at Delaware State
it's like I am a leader
I'm a dreamer I'm an achiever
I'm a scholar
who has a passion for people and a love for technology
but uh
in regards to like what how did I
get to that point of
being able to have those aspirations
or those affirmations um
similar to you my
my early beginnings were uh
a beautiful struggle uh
I found out quickly that although I was always um
outgoing and outspoken
the word that they used to define me was defiant
and I was I love it
yeah that's awesome
we are we're pleasing the pod brother
yeah they're like the
I don't even know what the word meant
cause I remember going to the principal's office
and the principal had one of those really nice
fancy pins and I was looking at the
the pink slip of being sent to the principal's office
and they're like Eric is defiant
I'm like what does defiant mean
but ultimately I I realized that
you know uh
I noticed quickly that there were some patterns
the rules didn't always apply the same way to me
as it did everyone else and uh
when I would bring up the discrepancies
or things I didn't think were fair
uh they
they it people no trouble
yeah pretty much they focus more on like alright
Eric saying this more so than the thing itself
and so uh
in my journey I've Learned to
to be an overcomer uh
and to be able to leverage creativity and ingenuity uh
as uh a form of life hacking
um I was able to take pieces
and situations and circumstances
that were not originally designed for success
and put them together in a way
to get the result that I ultimately wanted
and so I am a life hacker
I'm a dreamer
and I aim to be a catalyst to help others do the same
hmm that's a awesome story
you're you're a hacker to help people empower and
and really break from their cycle
like we and I have that in
really have that in common
so you've talked also about the importance of mentor
you uh
I've listened to a lot of your past podcast
and other things can you think of a mentor or two
that shaped the values of who you are today
hmm as powerful as it relates to shapes the values
um I have one that comes to mind
uh his name is Brett
I've always admired him still do to this day
uh he was super athletic
super smart um
and uh
he also was really great at video games and technology
way before I was even interested
and uh
I was uh
taking out of the public school system for a season
because of my behavior and academic challenges
and he would intentionally take me out
to play basketball to go to a movie
and ultimately he invited me over to his house
for something called a land party
and so before
game consoles were able to connect to the internet
uh he had his buddies come over
and they would bring their big
heavy computers and uh
have the switches
and everyone connect together and go in and
and play Unreal Tournament and uh
I remember that that
that moment of you know
him being in that space
but also just how he was consistent and showing up
even when I wasn't asking for him to show up for me
and it was actually kind of a moment that
I became curious about like
how does this networking work
how do these computers actually work
and I began to tinker during that time
but it was this individual that really just showed that
you know what
it's okay to take the time
to be present for somebody else
and I think that's what I've taken away
and even in my journey um
it's not always about what you get in return
it's about like how can I show up for someone um
in their in their high moments
but also in their low moments
and he showed up for me both in highs and lows
yeah so you talked about your moment
about when you knew technology was gonna be your path
and um
at at the Best Buy moment
I'm curious to know what your moment was
in terms of when you knew you wanted to spend
spend the rest of your life in your mission helping and
and really connecting people to giving them to to
to empowering them through technology
right in a human centric way
like
what was the moment when you knew that this was gonna
be your purpose cause you
you obviously are in technology
which is your career
it feels like your purpose is empowerment
through technology what moment really kind of uh
illuminated that for you yeah
I think also similar to the time at Best Buy uh
I actually didn't get the job at Best Buy
uh wow
I didn't even get the job right
so I was like man
but he planted the seed right
and so uh
I ended up working for a company called compusa
as well as Circuit City and the Circuit City had a um
uh kind of a pilot program called the City Stores uh
and uh
in the City Stores essentially before there was um
a Genius Bar or a Geek Squad
they had something called the Fire Dog Personal Trainer
and I was a part of this pilot program
I was maybe one of like maybe 20 in the country uh
was not even 16 years old at the time
and they flew me to Boston for training
and I I went to Boston and I was
and I saw a guy I forgot
I think it was creative software
basically almost like Adobe software
and he flew in and gave a presentation
I saw him like this guy for a living
he can come and fly in and talk about software
I was like that's what I wanna do
and even just being the that age and being uh
a part of that program really was like
alright Eric this is
something that I can use to really empower people
but I I have a picture of it
and it was an exact moment where I walked into the
to the um
the the the city store and it was a whiteboard
I have this picture and basically said uh
sign up with Eric for a personal trainer session
and I was like whoa
I come in the store and I'm like yo
sign up to to to to pay to be to to sit with me
and I was like wow
be I'm like I'm
I'm not even graduate high school
and people are paying to sit down and talk to me
and I remember there was a couple uh
they bought like uh 10
15 sessions and they would come back and I would
I would print off like certificates
and I remember this one gentleman uh
he was from North Carolina
he came in he bought a camera
he was going on safari and he was like
the reason why I'm buying this camera
is because I'm going on the safari
and I wanna be able to have a slideshow
and I was like well
if you if you if you buy it and get some time with me
I can show you how to do it
and he came back from North Carolina
drove back to the store to have a session with me
and it was in that moment I was like Eric
like this is this there's
there's a connection
of being able to connect with people and say well
what is that people really after
it's not the the camera
it's not uh
the computer there's always something else
there's always a human narrative behind
the hardware and algorithms
and I experienced that in that moment and I was like
the connection I'm having with these people um
and helping them really do things
whether it's go from paper to excel for their farm
or being able to have their safaris or etcetera uh
I got deep joy and satisfaction of saying that
you know what
I was able to make their life experience better uh
cause the technology itself didn't do that
it was the understanding and uh
the comfort with the technology
hmm so elevate coaching and consulting
uh I want to talk about what you do day in and day out
um
what problem are you solving with elevate coaching
consulting
yeah so the problem that I'm solving with elevate is um
as leaders um
as dreamers and achievers um
we always want to get to uh
the instate we always wanna go fast
we wanna go and
add on all these things to be able to get there
and I found that uh
in the journey of being able to have goals
dreams and aspirations
sometimes we have to slow down to go smooth to speed up
and although I'm able to talk about all the
innovation and all the cool things as possible
I have the opportunity to help individuals
find their own clarity
and I'm not telling them what to do
I am just being a thought partner
and on a journey
of being able to have them discover their brilliance
and their dreams
and being accountable with them in that journey
so essentially at elevate
I serve as an innovation coach
uh helping leaders
organizations and teams be able to uh
realize the
the vision as it relates to emerging technologies
uh but in a human centric way
and so we're talking about the
the tool but I'm like well
what problem are you really trying to solve
you know what
where are your people in this journey
and how are we making sure that on this adoption curve
that you're taking everyone along with you on
on this vision uh
but also
you're really taking care of yourself in the process
and so it is a combination of uh
human centric work but also um
strategy design uh
and change management yeah
so um
why was it you that started elevate uh
coaching and consulting what made you the person
yeah what's interesting is um
I was on a plane uh
ride home from Seattle uh
working at Microsoft at the time and uh
I I
sparked up a conversation with a gentleman
who was sitting next to me
he happened to be an executive at IBM
and uh
we just talking about the journey and my passion
some of the things that we've talked about thus far
uh and he says
you know what Eric
I think that uh
you would be a great person to talk to my son
uh he's about to graduate college
he doesn't know what he wants to do
uh he seems to be outgoing like you
he's a student leader uh
and he's in a stuck place
and obviously he's not listening to me
and so if you're open to Eric
can you talk to my son uh
and so I was like well
I don't know how I can help him
but you know
I definitely happened to have a conversation with him
and so long story short
that was my first coaching client
I was able to have a candid conversation with him
help him be able to
really hear his own thoughts of what he wanted
not what his dad wanted
not what everyone was expecting of him
but what really was his dreams
and desires and aspirations
what was his bulls eye goal
we were able to define that
and he was able to make a decision
uh he is still someone that is in my journey
but that was really the catalyst for elevate
I was in the in the air
in the plane people was asking me
you know how can you help my son get to the next level
and I was asked by different individuals
as far as individuals who are in college etcetera
like how can you go alongside and be able to
give them the perspective
the resources
and the exposure to get to where they wanna go next
yeah so it's um
I mean it's
it's it feels like you do a lot of focus on youth
correct and so
is that most of your clientele that are youth
helping them through or is it a mix
it's a mix so
um a lot of youth and student oriented organizations
uh universities foundations
non profits but also
um within the enterprise space or medium
um business space in regards to leaders who are saying
you know what
I wanna be able to understand how to embrace uh
the new waves I wanna either have you as my coach
or have you coach my team or be a facilitator
helping my team
be able to understand how they can realize value
whether it's with extended reality or generative AI
um and then um
being able to create programs
uh and um
partnerships as it relates to um
workforce development um
in the BIPOC community yeah
we definitely gotta gotta
gotta have to talk some because the
um this year we
we have last year we had a future data hackathon
this year we're gonna still do the hackathon
but we're still we're gonna
we're gonna create the future data
we're gonna create a cohort around like uh
you know uh
students in emerging uh
and and and
and and those in emerging tech to help them kind of uh
ideate and have uh
mentors
that are helping them with their ideas and concepts
and then we'll bring them into the conference
like the cohort and they'll also compete in the
with their own kind of pitch
ideas within the actual future of data hackathon
but we that's a long way of saying
of course I want you as a speaker
but if you would be up for it
I'd love to have you as a mentor
to mentor some of these uh uh
I'm not gonna call them kids
students and emerging leaders
uh that have these great concepts and ideas so'cause uh
I mean people need to uh
you know
here from people like yourself
that are willing to make technology
not this foreign thing that I can't do
cause I think that's
that's one of the biggest problems we have in the world
is that people view technology
as something that is out of their reach
when it's something that is accessible
if we make it accessible in our brains
but getting past that point is something that you
spent a lot of your career doing
so what is it that you think
makes it so hard for organizations
and others to be able to bridges that divide
you know not only with youth
but general like
I think there's still a general divide
that people feel like they can't do tech
or they're not technical and they feel intimidated
what why
why do you think people struggle with that so much
yeah I think that we all have uh
experiences in our
in our lives and that usually serves as an Anchor Point
uh and there's always two assumptions
that in order for me to be good at tech
I also have to be really good at math science
engineering mathematics uh
and so if I early on in my journey didn't have uh
validation of those traits or those experiences is like
well that's not for me and uh
I'm not necessarily going to pursue that space uh
in addition to that I think that often times too
as it relates to technology uh
the value is in context
and if an individual doesn't have any context to why
it's important
or valuable then why spend the time to be uncomfortable
and learn something new uh
there's an analogy that someone shared with me recently
that has been sticking with me
and he said you know what
you know if someone has been using a um
a butter knife to try to cut through a cardboard
and then you come and you bring a knife uh Scissors uh
you have to explain to like
why the Scissors are gonna be efficient
like I've been doing it this way
but also be able to teach them like
how do you put your fingers in here
how do you do it but if you
don't have that proximity
and someone being able to be that bridge
or give that context to like
here's how it's actually gonna transform
the way you cut through here
it's gonna be safer etcetera um
without that context that bridge
then it may not necessarily be leverage
and people may struggle with the butter knife
and they will because yeah
the butter knife is something that it seems foreign
it might cut them and it might hurt them
because fear is a natural
uh anchor in our brain
especially like you said
if it's tied to something earlier on in our career
so I I am
or in our life you know
when I think about not only our community
lots of communities struggle with this
but I'm speaking to our community right now um
you know you will hear people often say proudly
I don't do math I don't do science
I'm not technical right
or just say or just cut it off
but what people when you think about it
what people ever say like
I can't read I can't write no
the answer be no right
and we accept that like
it's okay to think that way that you
and you don't not that you have to be a math wiz
but people talk about that
and shut that off in their brain
and they automatically like
exclude opportunities for doing that right
so we have to really kind of like
really begin to reframe the narratives uh
and it's so important uh
what we tell ourselves
what we tell our kids and what becomes common
a common narrative for us to accept because that that
that that narratives has been so accepted that you hear
I'm sure you hear people say all the time
but it's actually quite ridiculous
when you think about it not that
I'm not saying
I don't have empathy for people that don't understand
math what I'm saying as a frame
as a mindset to say just shutting
shutting yourself off from
I'm not technical I'm not math
we have to uh
unlock that out of our brain
and what I appreciate about
appreciate about what you do Eric
is that
you help people kind of find that space to do it
because we at the same time have to have empathy for uh
the what people are going through
cause people only know what they know
what they've been exposed to
what someone is able to illuminate to them
so thank you for being that um
be being that source for people to be able to unlock uh
really their identity
to show them who they actually are
not what they've been told
so I just wanted to
just tell you that I do appreciate you
so let's talk about AI a little bit
AI is obviously everywhere
changing the game it's
you know I think I'm a little more seasoned than you
though I look young
I'm a little older than you
so I've been through multiple iterations of
uh of the internet
and frankly I was in college
when the internet really started popping right
so I can't I
I feel like this is a similar time
to the beginning of the internet
and I also feel like it's actually bigger than that
that's my perspective but I'd love to get you your
your thoughts on the education system
what what should the education system in general be do
be doing when it comes to AI
how should they
how should they be framing how people are learning um
in terms of AI in terms of the the the
the jobs of the future
now that's a great question
um there's definitely a time of disruption
as it relates to the education space
um
and what does it mean to prepare our students to thrive
uh in today
but also in the workplace of the future
and some of the debates that I've
I've been a part of and I've seen is that
you know leveraging AI uh
can be something that can cause deficits in a student's
uh learning journey uh
as far as dependencies
or lack of being able to think critically
uh but I think that it's important to be able to hold
uh both negative and positive thoughts
about the impact of AI on education at the same time
and so I don't so when
when I when I
when I come to this conversation
uh I I come to it really acknowledging that you know
whenever there is innovation
uh there are uh disruptions in behavior in society
and so
we don't know the full effects of what's gonna come
as it relates to Genia in particular however
at the same time
I think that we are at an inflection point
in a moment in history
where we realize that even all the um
hard work that educators and systems have done
a lot of our students are still leaving uh
institutions in their journey
lacking what's necessary to thrive or even survive uh
in the current environment
um and uh
as it relates to individuals that go through the
the school system and apply for roles and jobs
there's still surveys coming out that
the employees don't think they're prepared
and so as I think about education
I think of it 1 being able to be a tool
uh to bring out the brilliance
and the gifts that students have
innately within them but also
being able to prepare them with the experience
exposure and the skills
to be competitive in the current marketplace
and so the fact that
majority of businesses already have some form of AI
strategy today
it is the service
if schools are not able to provide students with
hands on experience
leveraging these tools to be able to solve problems
and so
how organizations or schools go about implementing it
it's debatable
but I think that students need to be aware
uh and have the skills and know how
so that when they're applying for jobs
or even try to create their own job or business
that they're not
missing information that can help them in society
yeah um
so like a it's it's
it's very difficult for people to hold
two thoughts at the same time
multiple things can be true at the same time
I do agree
that just using AI without thinking about how we teach
kids and others to critically think is
is not helpful not using AI at all is also just as
just as just as unhelpful right
so these things are uh
these things are are
are actually related right
so like
I think what I wanna see happen is that we look at
this is something we we term artistic intelligence
right it's like uh
uh cause uh
artificial intelligence is neither artificial
nor fully intelligent right
it is not artificial in that it's coming from data
so it's pulling it's not fully intelligent in that
like it can't reproduce Eric's original thought per se
it it's a pattern predictor
it can bring things together
the opportunity is when we dance with the algorithms
but first we gotta have rhythm
so that means we gotta be able to critically think
bring together concepts and ideas
and then have this dance partner
that's working with us so
I really think that's how a school should be teaching
they should they
should should definitely still teach uh
you know critical thinking skills
they probably have to evolve how they teach it
it's not long it's no longer gonna be oh uh
Johnny write this paper for me that
that's cause Johnny could just put some stuff in and
and tell him the assignment and it's done instead
you know
Johnny's gonna have to tell you how these principles
connect and he gets up and talks about it
and you can go through it
and then maybe write it in class
but you like you go through it with Johnny
you go through it with Jill
whoever I mean I'm saying kind of playing
you know what I'm saying Erica
Shakiko
Shuweka whoever anybody whoever your name is right
you go through it with them
and
we have to rethink how we're teaching critical skills
you know I told this to my son
he was a
I was trying to teach him about financial literacy
and I was going through it and he basically said well
I can look it up I said
you can't look up how to think though
so we have to still develop that muscle
and then use this uh
this tool to help our muscles become better
but I do agree that without doing that
garbage in is garbage out
you can tell AI to do something
you won't even know if it's wrong
you won't even know how to tweak it
but you gotta know how to do
you gotta you gotta have rhythm
and you gotta know how to dance with the algorithm
otherwise you're gonna get left behind
that's my view when it comes to AI and education
for sure now I
I wanna talk to you about with AI's a little bit more
when it comes to like empowering people
what is the worst case scenario
uh when it comes to
to AI if we don't get education and upskilling right
that's my first question the second question is
what is the best case scenario
and how do we make it happen
yeah when it comes to education and upskilling
I think being able to understand
when and how to use the technology
is is key
and I think that um
with individuals that are able to leverage AI
it becomes a superpower however
um for those that do not have exposure
or understanding of how these tools can uh
empower you for the jobs to be done
or task or ideation
or creation or deployment or new business models
uh it's gonna widen the gap
and so uh
Mackenzie uh
did a study specifically on like
what is the potential impact on Gen AI
on the BIPOC community uh
several years ago
and they're tackling this very question of saying that
there's definitely a great opportunity
to be able to create uh
new um
streams of income uh
new career pathways however
if there's not opportunities for
for access to that context to
um being able to understand how to realize
value with these tools then it will be also a
a
a medium that widens the gap further and probably at a
a faster rate than it has been historically
and uh
when I have the opportunity to talk to uh
different groups I always start off with
you know
where do you see yourself on the adoption curve
uh are you someone that is uh
an innovator an early adopter
or you a lagger uh
or you a skeptic uh
and historically within our community in particular
a lot of individuals are like
oh I'm gonna get caught cheating or oh
like that's gonna be a scam um
and are
because of the fear and anxiety or the uncertainty
um the goal is well
I until it's
until it's broken or until it causes harm
I'm not gonna take action
I think that in this season in particular
as it relates to education
whether it's formal informal
whether it is at a non profit
uh
uh K through 12
uh even a church organization
I think that being able to provide spaces
where individuals can have open conversations
about their fears but also about the opportunities
but also hands on learning opportunities for them to
to to
to fail forward
and to be able to realize for their particular context
alright here's how it's actually valuable for me
here's how it's actually gonna save me time etcetera
cause I remember we had this debate
I know my dad was one of these like
oh I don't want a cell phone
and then like now everyone hahaha
so I was like you know
I don't we should wait until it's every it's
it's it's something that everyone uses
to start to see the value in it
that's a great point right
that that's a good one
but unlike the cell phone
it's even worse if you get left out
I tell people like this
you're either understanding and building the product
or the product is building you
because AI is too late AI
you cannot opt out you AI is
is is involved in something you're doing right now
if you're watching this on YouTube
if you're watching this on Instagram
the algorithm understands you
and to some extent
understands you better than you understand yourself
so we need to be a part of building
to make sure we understand
so we just don't we don't fall victim to the product
and this is an opportunity or
or or the algorithm uh
or put it in a very simple way yeah
you know
you're either at the table or you're on the menu
so you need to be at the table understanding AI
and there's no opting out of it
there is none
there's not a single industry in the world that AI
is not going to be a part of
you will be having the same conversation
that people had about the internet like and it's
it's going to happen
so the choice is how do you shape it
and so like when it comes to educators
like they have to that we have
we have to get them moving
and we don't have the same timeline
that we traditionally had
like traditionally you had time
so think about it
wait and I'm not saying you don't think about it
I'm saying you start acting you start uh
you think and you act
and you iterate and you experiment
what you don't do is wait until it becomes mainstream
because it's it's
it's to to quote Drake
I know it's not as popular now if you're reading this
it's too late right
and you know like by that time by the time it's there
it's there right and I would hope that
things are as accessible as they are now
if human history is any indication
it will not be right right now
there are free courses across the board
and free opportunities to build
from Microsoft to Google you literally just look it up
and there are free courses
you can take all of MIT's courses on AI for free
and then if that's too much for you
you can listen to people like Eric Brown
listen to people like myself there
we will guide you
but what you cannot do is be left out of this
so I just
I just have to say that as we get ready to wrap up
I got some lightning round questions for you
so you ready mm hmm
alright we're gonna drum roll here okay
what's an important truth you have
that very few people agree with you on
hmm I'm not sure if anyone kind of debated me
debated me on this but I
I'm one that believes that the obstacle is the way
and that everything worthwhile is uphill uh
I not to say I'm a pessimist
but I I realized that in life
I feel good cause it's
that's definitely been uphill for me yeah
so I'm like I realized that like there
there there is no easy button um
and there are no shortcuts
and so you know
I I was telling someone I love Legos as a kid
and even now I recently got like 1,000 piece Lego set
and like yeah
I look at the box and I see it
but guess what I gotta open up the individual pieces
and put it together
someone may wanna help me put the pieces together
but often times Eric
you're gonna have to put those pieces together uh
and sometimes it's uncomfortable
but that's the way forward
that's the way to the goals
that's the way to the impact and uh
that's the way to legacy and so um
I think that it's important that we
find levels to get uncomfortable uh
to be able to get what we ultimately
desire for ourselves and our families
alright um
when you were younger
if you go back to your younger self
what advice would you give yourself
and what advice would you ignore
the advice I would give myself is to have courage
and to walk by faith
um
the advice I wouldn't give myself is
to try to impress and please people
I think that I'm a recovering people pleaser
and I think that
that's the advice I would give my younger self
I'm a recovering uh
people pleaser as well
and I found that even the people you try to please
aren't pleased and you're even less pleased
so it's like hahaha
so there it is
it's up being no point in trying to do it
you'll just end up making yourself miserable
for something that you could never really achieve
cause you the one thing you can't
control is somebody else's opinion
or perspective anyway
so why try uh
easier said than done I'm still learning as you are
sounds like so uh alright
so uh
if the last five years of your life were a chapter
what would that chapter be about
the last five years would be called unlearning
I think that um
often times you wanna you think that you have to
to add on and accumulate information and experiences
but I found that um
as I've grown you know
learning is about reflecting on experiences
and in my reflection
I realized that there were some thought patterns
mental models behaviors that were not serving me uh
or that served me one season
but aren't necessarily gonna be um
a part of my blueprint going forward
and so I had to unlearn some things
um and so I think that this
this last five years has been a journey of unlearning
that's great I think that's a good way to leave it
uh you gotta sometimes unlearn what you've Learned
I would say
that's one of the hardest things that we can do
because what we've Learned
particularly those seeds that are planted
become part of our identity
and that's something that
is very difficult for us to let go of
because we feel like that's a part of us
like that's supposed to be who we are
but you know
unlearning some of those things is really
is really the key I think
to really unlocking amazing things in your life
I can say that for myself
I mean one of the hardest things one can do
is unlearn some of the
negative things that are put into the world
and it's the reason why we have to
you know both unlearn that and it's a constant
never ending journey to make sure that we are rejecting
the things that we should
which is most things
cause most things should be filtered out right
I think especially nowadays
if you look at what's going on in the news
in the world not to say we have to put our head down uh
but sometimes based if you it
you'll become overwhelmed about things
you can't control
and sometimes you end up absorbing these things
especially with algorithms and things like that
that know and understand you
it's working to tap back into our insecurities
tap back into our fears into emotions
so we have to unlearn to
allowing those things to actually trigger us
so that was a deep line for me
to Eric I really appreciate all that you do
look forward to disrupting more with you
love to see you at Midwest Con uh 2025 uh
obviously Thanksgiving DC
I'll see you at there I know we've connected there
until then brother keep disrupting
alright alright
appreciate it thank you so much