Excellence Above Talent Podcast
The State of Man Is in Crisis—It’s Time for a Conversation.
The Excellence Above Talent podcast was born from pain, loss, and a deep need for change.
- Men are 3.6 times more likely to die by suicide than women.
- Men commit the majority of violence in the U.S., including domestic abuse and sexual assault.
- 90% of the prison population consists of men.
These are not just statistics—they represent broken families, lost lives, and a cycle of harm and abuse that must end.
As a BIPP (Batterer’s Intervention and Prevention Program) Director for four years, I’ve had countless conversations with men—men who believed abuse was necessary, men who didn’t even realize they were abusers. What I learned is that men want to talk, but they have no safe space to do so.
Society teaches men to suppress their struggles, to avoid vulnerability, and to uphold a toxic version of manhood. But silence is destroying us.
The Excellence Above Talent podcast is here to challenge the status quo. We’re redefining what it means to be a man—one conversation at a time.
Join me. Let’s fight for the future of manhood. Our sons are watching.
#ExcellenceAboveTalent #MensMentalHealth #RedefiningManhood #BreakTheCycle
Excellence Above Talent Podcast
From Chumps to Champs: Embracing Vulnerability in Men's Lives
Coach Q shares his journey of redefining masculinity through vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and authentic connection, challenging traditional notions of what it means to be a man in today's world.
• Masculinity is evolving to include vulnerability, emotional awareness, and nurturing qualities alongside traditional strength
• Finding purpose requires living in alignment with personal values rather than chasing external validation
• Embracing vulnerability allows men to process past trauma and create more authentic connections
• Emotional intelligence is a form of strength that gives men the power to restrain and respond thoughtfully
• Mental health challenges for men include isolation, depression, and anxiety, often masked by anger or workaholism
• Healthy male friendships require trust, mutual support, openness, and accountability
• Mentorship provides younger generations with a blueprint for success and personal growth
• Balancing traditional masculine roles with modern equality means redefining strength as something that lifts others up
Remember, at 55, I'm going to be a multimillionaire and I'm going to develop multimillionaires. Find your passion and be creative in different ways to make an impact.
#excellenceabovetalent #EAT #dontgiveup #youdeservethebest #youareenough ...
You're listening to Excellence Above Talent, a podcast where we have the hard conversations about the lives of men and what leads us to achieve greatness and suffer defeat. Hear from other men's journeys as well, as we all learn and grow together to become inspirations to ourselves and those around us. And now your host, Aaron Thomas.
Speaker 2:What's up, my beautiful people, aaron Thomas, with Excellence Above Talent, super excited about this next podcast guest. His name is Coach Q. He's the author of From Chumps to Champs Get Off the Bench and Get Into the Game. Footprints of Success Coaching from the Heart and the founder of Get Off the Bench Consulting. Coach Q is a sought-after thought leader who specializes in developing high-performance people and building championship culture in organizations.
Speaker 2:A former athlete, collegiate championship basketball coach and the current women's basketball coach at Odessa College, coach Q has personally coached professional athletes, collegiate coaches, young leading entrepreneurs, student athletes, at-risk students and the special needs population. Coach Q has earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Ozark, two master's of education degrees in Counseling for Human Development and Sports Recreation Management and ABD Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Liberty University and a Doctorate in Business Administration from California Intercontinental University. Coach Q is also a certified John Maxwell trainer and certified mental performance mastery coach, working with the world-renowned mental performance coach, brian Kane. Coach Q has served in various positions, such as students affair, where he worked as a resident hall director and student activity director at the University of Ozark. He was able to parlay all this experience into a 20-year-plus coaching career, where he was able to engineer an NJCAA National Championship.
Speaker 2:Only a handful of coaches on the men or women's side to take three teams to the NJCAA National Tournament, including four Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s. Coach Q has helped guide three different D1 schools to an NCAA Tournament appearance and in 2010, ncaa Sweet 16 appearance. Coach Q has coached and developed WNBA first and second round draft picks and 30 plus professional athletes. In 2006, he started his basketball trading company, hoops U, and quickly became one of the best trainers in the area. In 2013, he started his leadership company, off the Bench Consulting and became a sought-after leader, helping various student athletes and building and developing some of the top NJCAA players in the country. Super excited to have him, coach Q. So I'm here with Coach Q. How do you pronounce your first name? So I pronounce my name, francois.
Speaker 3:Okay, Francois Francois Bedell. Okay, gotcha. All my friends call me Q. Okay, Francois Francois Bedell. Okay, gotcha. All my friends call me Q. Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 2:I was like man. If I say his name I don't know if I'm going to say it right. So here with Coach Q doing a series on the state of manhood, super excited because I have yet to speak to him or with him, but I've seen him in Odessa doing his thing, so I'm glad to have him on. So first question is how have the definition of masculinity evolved over the past few decades and what does it mean to be a man today?
Speaker 3:First of all I want to say your questions were very good and interesting. I had to take some time to really think and they made me kind of pull out some things. But when I think about masculinity, it's used because it's defined as dominance. Masculinity, it's used because, you know, it's defined as dominance, it's defined as emotional restraint or providing others something at little cost, you know, because it's about being a man, you know. But as I've gotten older and as I've watched kind of our society grow, I think masculinity is defined. Being a man means being a mostly present, yeah, self-aware of, you know, not just our environment, but kind of where we are. Yeah, you know, it's definitely. It made me more as I got in the Sun. Now he, who's six, is maybe more nurturing. Yeah, I think masculinity is vulnerable yeah.
Speaker 3:I think it's um, it's a collaboration of all those things put together and it's just not. You know, toughen up, be a man, no. Cry, no, no. You're not supposed to show emotions. I do not think real masculinity or men who are really secure in themselves hide those things. And so I really believe that when we show all those things, we're really showing integrity, we're showing accountability and we're showing emotional resilience, because we can handle those things and we can express those things to other men. So that's kind of where I'm at right now in my life, got you.
Speaker 2:So you talked about, you know, a man that's secure. How do you, how do you feel like men get there, to where they're more secure in who they are and how they live their lives?
Speaker 3:Well, I think it's about really improving who you are on a daily basis, and so we're not just talking about uh, it's it's health, it's getting in the weight room, uh, because if you feel good, you look good, you feel good, you play good, you do all those things good. Yeah, for sure, I also think it's about uh. On a daily basis, I'm educating myself whether it was not just my master's, my bachelor's, my doctorate degree, not just those things, but finding things to feed myself every day in different areas, whether it's wealth, health, spiritual. I think those things as they compound, you know, I think you begin to be more confident and more self-aware about who you are, and it's a daily grind of making yourself better, taking care of yourself before you can take care of others.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you are a John Maxwell? Yes, Is it leadership speaker certificate.
Speaker 3:Certified John Maxwell certified coach and I'm also a certified mental performance master coach through Brian Kane Got you.
Speaker 2:So we work on uh, john maxwell has a list of things but a lot of his leadership on that standpoint and then the mental performance standpoint yeah, so I'm a big uh john maxwell, uh guy, uh, and there's uh a story he has uh with the uh the ax in the log and I I'm pretty sure you heard that when you talk about compounding it does it makes so much sense? Because when you're, as a young man, growing up, there's a lot of insecurities that you know that show up. And if you don't have like that me time or that trying to make yourself better or filling your your own cup up, uh, then you do. You do over time, just if it feels like you just look, you're just leveling it. You level, leveling out like there is no up or down, there is no motivation to to be better or do better. Um, but if you, you know, compound and compound and slowly begin to build yourself up, you start to see the endless possibilities you can be as a man and that's motivating within itself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's like a bank account you can't become a millionaire if you don't save. And I think the things that you do draw interest, your experiences draw interest. You're putting yourself out there. I tell people you know I was in the special ed. I was considered a 504. I was a special ed kid and was told all the things academically I wouldn't do and my goal was to define the odds, Like I was going to figure out how to do the things you told me I couldn't do. Yeah for sure. I don't think nowadays people in this society nowadays have that kind of driving mentality. Yeah, but at the same time, like you said, it's every day doing something that's going to help you grow, spiritually, whether mentally, financially, just doing those little things every day and they don't have to take but five or ten minutes. And if you put those days together, I think you're putting yourself in such a better position and I've tried to do that.
Speaker 3:And it took me a while. I mean, I don't think I really kind of understood that until about 25 or 26, but, um, I was blessed to be around a lot of good men and uh men who were men, yeah, you know, and you know, showed us the right and wrong my father, uh, was one of those and uncles and uh teachers that I had, and and and really some coaches that really, uh, gave me a lot of security and you know, this is your team lead, you know, and so you get to practice those things and athletics helped me a lot with a lot of those things.
Speaker 2:In what ways can men find purpose beyond societal expectation of status and wealth?
Speaker 3:Man, that was a great question, um, you know. And so what for me is like uh purpose comes from living in alignment, uh with your values, not just, uh chasing validation. Gotcha and a lot of us, you know, we want to chase validation. I have a twin brother and he chased it a lot, whether by his cars, you know, worked a lot and then did other things to get money, and so I think we, um, it's really truly trying to live in alignment of your purpose or what God put you into, but, um, finding meaning.
Speaker 3:To me, I think finding meaning is really through uh building, uh lasting relationships, because I think our network, our network that we have, determines our net worth. And so I really feel like all of that is also in your creativity and the things that you try to find to do. And I tell people, find your passion and be creative in different ways, whether that's being an author, whether that's going out speaking, whether that's being a trainer, whatever it is things. But find different mediums to do what you love to do. But the biggest thing is, if you're going to that impact you said it earlier when you give, you're going to give back, and what you give out into the universe is going to repay you back and that validation is never a position.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because you can leave from the front behind either side. Yeah, and still inspire people to want to do better and do better. Yes, it's not a paycheck, because I know a lot of people that get paid a lot of money and still miserable. Yeah, still trying to find a way, still trying to figure out a purpose, but I think it's defining success on your own terms but also understanding that you know, to me, wealth and money are tools to bless other people and to put you in a position where you can bless other people, but that's definitely not a validation, got you?
Speaker 2:You said you're finding your passion or your purpose and then doing multiple avenues with what you have, and I think that's something that a lot of people get stuck on because they'll find purpose and they'll feel like it has to be this way. So you found purpose and you are a coach, a trainer, a speaker, an author. Is there anything else?
Speaker 3:that you do. You covered the basics of curriculum design. I design curriculum as well. It's just truly finding different mediums to put your passion in and those things I feel like help you grow. But also it's like developing different streams of revenue.
Speaker 3:Gotcha, you want to find different streams of inspiration.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, to inspire you and to feed you, because when one thing comes in, another thing's going to come out and I just think you just grow and you just build yourself in so many different ways and I just compare it to like streams of income.
Speaker 3:You just want to find streams of inspiration and where you can be an impact, because you know there might be a season where I'm not having an opportunity to speak, but there's a season where I'm having an opportunity to write a book and share my story, which will be a legacy and will be on this earth for a lifetime and many other people will share it. And then it might be developing a curriculum to write a book and share my story, which will be a legacy and will be on this earth for a lifetime, gotcha, and many other people share it. And then it might be developing a curriculum to help somebody go through some things I've gone through. Maybe I can help design something that gets them through the rough times. And so I mean, I think your impact is not just in one way, it can be in several ways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's definitely a nugget, that's definitely something I'm taking with me, and I know somebody else is going to as well, uh. So number three is uh, how does embracing vulnerability contribute to a healthier understanding of masculinity?
Speaker 3:you know, um, this is one thing that I'm. I really try to be, especially coaching women's sports. I try to be as vulnerable as I can because I feel like it breaks down walls. Yeah, you know, because you're, depending on the position, you're put in a situation where you might be put on a pedestal or people think you're untouchable, and you want to make people feel like they're not isolated. And I feel like and I don't want to say this in the wrong way, but men are one of the species that is the most isolated in the world.
Speaker 3:Gotcha, you know there's, you know you're the man of the house, you're the direct line from God to everyone else. And who do you go to to get filled? When it ain't going, you know. And so when you're supposed to go, yeah, and when your cup is key to be able to either open up to other men that can see it or finding, you know, going to counseling, going to talks, finding something.
Speaker 3:And when you have that vulnerability, I think it truly allows you to touch some parts in yourself, no-transcript. So now you can get out of your past and you can leap forward and project into your future, and you can. You can leap forward and project into your future, yeah, and so, and then you can be very, very productive in your future because you're not holding all this luggage and this, this trauma and all these things. And so when you have that vulnerability, I think it allows people to kind of be free and you can truly be open and honest with yourself, your emotions, and you can truly find that authentic you, when you're able to do that. And so that's where I think we're as men. If we can embrace that vulnerability, we can empower ourselves to do a whole lot of things, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I know it. I guess the path it took, that I took to become more open and vulnerable with myself and it was one of the toughest things I've had to do, because looking at yourself in the mirror, having to deal with like the monsters in your closet, it's not fun, but it's something that needs to be done. In your closet it's not fun, but it's something that needs to be done. If there's something that maybe you can say to someone that could kind of help them get past that hump of like I'm afraid to look at myself, so that they can start that pullback action, to start getting the things in their life fixed so they can have a better chance of hitting that target, yeah, and I think that's a lot of just being one real with yourself.
Speaker 3:Two, I think people have to start talking to themselves in different ways. Got you, you know, because we're the first when we speak those negative things, we talk in words. We, we talk and and words of power.
Speaker 1:You know, life and death is in the tongue.
Speaker 3:It is, and so when we speak those things, we're the first, we're the first person to hear those things. Especially when they come out on the mountain, we're the first person, we're the first person to take that in. So I think the first thing is the mirror and you can change your verbiage and you can be real with yourself and then sometimes you're going to just have to cry Because you know the only thing that we will understand is we might not understand what's happening, but God understands what's happening and sometimes he just wants us to cry and let it out and be vulnerable, just to cry. But we have to start changing.
Speaker 3:I really believe it's our verbiage and the language and how we talk to ourselves, and that self-talk is very, very key in healing. But I think if you're not in a place where you want to go talk to somebody, you're not in a place where you know you want to let go. But start with your language, start. Start with your verbiage and how you talk um to yourself and how you talk about yourself. I think it starts there.
Speaker 2:Uh, do you believe in manifesting? I do, yeah, I do, I do.
Speaker 3:Do you think that also can also help in that process as well, visualizing yourself, seeing. So I tell people this um, I'm a big, I'm a big, uh, visualization, uh, manifest. And I used to do it. I used to talk to myself during when I would play. I would talk to myself when I get this hand off, I'm gonna hit hoe a and I'm gonna be gone. Yeah, and I know that like I'm going to be gone, like touchdown, you know, and I would say it to myself, or coming down on defense, I'm like I got it, yep, going two left, two left. I'm going to get this steal cue. You're going to get this steal cue. You're going to get this steal. You're going to bam. And then it's the steal. And I would just talk to myself.
Speaker 3:I told my former boss I was at Tallahassee Community College and I told him I was like, in five years I'll win a national championship. I will hang a banner. And so from that point, when he gave me the job every day and I had it everywhere on my mirrors Because I tell people, at 55, I'm going to be a multimillionaire and I'm going to develop multimillionaires, gotcha, 55, that's something called Mira, yeah, and so I had a national championship ball. I had a championship and every night in the shower I'd visualize it. Every day I was speaking to our ladies I'm going to win a national championship, with or without you, gotcha, so you can come along.
Speaker 3:Buy in or don't buy in, but it's gonna happen yeah, and in five years to the year, in five years, we won the national championship. Yeah and um, but no, I I think that's uh, that is a key. But also also, I'm spiritual, um, I, I tell people I'm not religious but I'm very spiritual and I know what God has put into my life and I know what he's put on my life and I tell people all the time he tells us, knock, and the door will be open. And you know, seek and you shall receive and speak and it shall be given. And I read that when I was a kid and I don't know why I believed it so much, but that I believe in that like wholeheartedly, and you know, and so, um, I think, like I said, it goes back to that verbiage yeah, you know, um, how you talk to yourself, how you speak, and I think if you, you speak, those things, you can manifest, that you can manifest. You can manifest good and bad.
Speaker 3:It goes both ways 100%. You can manifest good and bad. So I choose to speak towards the future, I choose to speak towards the positive, I choose to speak towards prosperity, wealth, because I think those things are all important. Yeah, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2:So why is emotional intelligence often excluded from discussions about manhood, and how can this be changed?
Speaker 3:I think, because for a long time, emotions have been considered unmanly, gotcha. Yeah, I've been considered unmanly, gotcha. Yeah, you know, I was told by a coach that I work for is because I'm a very emotional person and God has given me a weeping spirit and, you know, you see me crying like something's about to happen, yeah, something's manifesting. Yeah, something's about to happen, gotcha, and they thought it was weak. Something's manifesting, something's about to happen and they thought it was weak. But I think we look at emotional intelligence as weak, but it's really, I feel like when you have emotional intelligence, you have the power to restrain, because I think you can go off on somebody I understand you can go off and off on somebody but I think the power is in that emotional intelligence to restrain from opportunities to act crazy or go crazy, because when you do that, I believe you're giving the other person the power. You know you're relinquishing the power you have by losing control and, um, I just think it's uh, a threat. But we, we need to teach young men and we need to teach young women how to understand it and have that power of control. Yeah, because when you you look at social media, you look at the schools, you see so much, uh, lack of power, lack of restraint. Yeah, you know, um.
Speaker 3:And again, I remember when my mom used to tell me she's like, you know, somebody put your hands on you. You know, um, you're gonna fight back. Yeah, defend yourself, defend yourself. Yeah, but she's like, except they put their hands on you. If they use words, you walk away. Yeah, because you know sticks and stones may break your bones, but she will used to tell us words ain't gonna ever hurt you. Yeah, right, that's, that is lack of control. I understand, you know. And so people will say, man, when somebody will call me the n-word, and I'll be like and they're like that don't bother you. Yeah, but it's a word. Yeah, but you know what they gave me. They gave me power, and they're like how? Because I know where they stand. I, they gave me power and they're like how, because I know where they stand.
Speaker 2:I'm saying People don't understand that. Please tell me you don't like me, because that gives me the power. Okay, so when I come around, my energy is going to have to shift for you, because I know how you feel. And it's nothing negative, I respect it. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:But I'm going gonna do what I gotta do now.
Speaker 2:I'll go about my business versus yeah, no, I'm, I'm all for that.
Speaker 3:I know, I know, and because if I know where you stand, yeah, I know how to operate 100, you know, and and I know how to move and and so, um, I think emotional intelligence is is very powerful, very uh, it's not unmanly, it's very, very manly gotcha. You know, in a sense, if you're able to have that emotional control and that power to resist and restrain, I think I think you, you're, you're showing that you're very powerful man, yeah yeah, and that that also, too, is very hard to understand, but once you get it, you get it.
Speaker 2:Yes, when you've always exhibited anger or what's up, meet me outside. Yeah, but I wasn't upset before I got here. You were upset, and now, because you're upset and you're trying to get me out of character, and now I'm out of character, yeah, yeah, I definitely lost all my power and I'm going outside to to try to fight you and do things that yeah that I've never had any.
Speaker 2:you know, when I first started it, there was no, I'm going to fight this dude. So I definitely gave him all the power. Yeah, um, yeah, and that's something I teach. I try to teach my uh, my young boys down is oh, if you call them a bitch, it's like the end of the world. And I tell them you only respond to being called a bitch if you have some bitch in you. Yeah, and they're like what? And I say, let me say it again, you're only going to respond if it's in you, yes, if it's not, cool, bro, and I'm going about my business because I don't it's in you If it's not cool, bro, and I'm going about my business Because I don't have that in me.
Speaker 2:But a lot of them, it's the words that are said.
Speaker 3:I tell people all the time you know for my wife. Somebody come up and try to hit on my wife and it's like man, I'll be ready to fight, I go. No, that's a compliment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%, and I'm not going to like I'm not, because if I've got insecurities it's going to show, if I'm jealous it's going to show. I'm like that's a compliment, because you know what, if yours never get hit on, then you might have got a ugly one. Yeah, you got one. No one wants, yeah, you know. And so I'm like I got, I said, and she's with me because I have that power and I have that confidence. Yeah, and I'm okay. 100, you know, I'm okay. And the the blessing is and with that she respects me even more. Yeah, 100, you know.
Speaker 2:And so, um, because, if you get jealous, you're not going to talk to that guy that did it, you and your wife are going to get into an argument over something that she had no control over. And you had control over it whenever you could Like okay, cool, I got a baddie. You know what I mean, and she was with me. She was with me, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 3:I understand and I tell people all the time, like you just gave her an opportunity to look at that dude way different, because you couldn't restrain yourself. You know, and it's little things, but you know that's how I look at, how I look at life I, I, I can I mess with that?
Speaker 2:for sure, because at the end of the day, it's like I don't. If this, this is I, I have a, this is my way. If, if, you can come into my life and take something that I thought was mine. It was never mine to begin with, so you have fun with that. I'm about to learn and figure things out and then go on about my day. Yes, sir. I've had that mentality.
Speaker 3:I am not going to jail Nobody, nobody, nobody. Yeah, I'm not going to jail for nobody, nobody, nobody. Yeah, I'm not going to jail. It's not worth it. But I think, like you said, a lot of people don't have that emotional intelligence or that restraint, and that also includes some vulnerability too, because you know, to me that is being a man, that is being a true man, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I also think I'm working on being ego-less. I don't want the ego, because the ego is something that was created by me, and so you know, if someone talks to my wife then I'm like, oh well.
Speaker 1:Now we run up, get down up.
Speaker 2:Now we got to throw hands, because now my ego is is bruised and it's not even a you know bruised for what I mean? I've I made him up, yes, so it's not even something that's like legit, but I'm going to find something uh to, to create something to where, like, I can now, you know, get mad, get mad at her or the guy and start something that doesn't need to be started, versus just saying, okay, cool, I appreciate you noticing my wife, I appreciate that it ain't going about my business.
Speaker 3:My brother does a talk, that he lives in DC. He does a talk and he these coins and he created this talk called Ego. Leave your ego at the door. And he does it with businesses, gotcha CEOs, and he teaches them emotional IQ, he teaches them vision, he teaches them how to talk to their employees. But that ego man, that ego has messed up a lot of men.
Speaker 2:It'll tear you up man, especially if you don't, if, if you don't check it. Yeah, because you, if, if you allow it to continue to fester, um, it'll just create something that it does. It's not even this, doesn't even exist, yeah, yeah right. It is crazy how it uh, it can come into your life and make you see things that aren't really there. Yes, sir, yeah. So, what steps can men take to overcome societal pressures to suppress their emotions?
Speaker 3:Give yourself permission to feel, I think is one thing that is very important. I think is one thing that is very important. It's a radical act in itself, gotcha. You know when you're you're, you give yourself permission to, to go through it like and and feel like I think a lot of people don't feel. You know I, you know I went through, I turn, oh, I got my doctorate and so I gave myself a gift and I've been talking about getting a tattoo for like 10 years to my wife and my wife is like you know, and I'm like I don't do pain, my wife is like you ain't going to do that, you ain't going to do it. So as soon as I graduated, I started this summer on a tattoo and it's in honor of.
Speaker 3:I have a twin brother and it's koi fish. It's a two koi fish and one of the koi fish represents going upstream, which is overcoming and and coming enlightenment, gotcha. And the other one is the opposite of you know, adversity, you have not overcome adversity a downward spiral, and so my twin, we we're the yin and the yang, we're those two koi fish. I'm here and he's there, and he's been in and out of prison. A lot of kids, a lot of bad decisions. And so I got it in honor of him because I really believe every day I look at it, it gives me the motivation to continue to go upstream, gotcha, look at it. It gives me the motivation to continue to go upstream, gotcha. And so when I sat in that chair, I said I'm going to feel all this because this is going to be therapy. So the whole process, I thought about all my trauma, I thought about all the things that you know, as they were inking, I was releasing because I was feeling it and it was, it was, it was painful, well, and it's been in certain areas too. Yeah, but as, when I got done, when I got done, man, I felt like I, it was a, it was like therapeutic and and, and I and I asked somebody man, is there something real about ink therapy? And they're like no, it's a real thing. And I'm like really, because I just made it up in my head, because it was a major tattoo I had.
Speaker 3:But I really found a space where I felt like man and through this is where I started finding that I said I'm 48. I said I got till 50. 50, I'm gonna change my lifestyle. And I started and I got back into working out and I lost about shoot, uh, 25 pounds, gained about 15 of muscle, got in the gym, started changing.
Speaker 3:Um, I said I'm gonna to be physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, the man at 50 that God has called me to be Gotcha. And then, at 55, I'm going to work, bust my butt. At 55, I'm going to make my first meal, and then I know how to do it, and then I'm going to replicate it and show people how to do it. And so my goal is to develop Gotcha, replicate it and show people how to do it. And so my goal is to develop, and I feel like all of that was came out of truly allowing myself to feel gotcha. You know, truly feel life and you know, and then, like, said bring, going back into my past and letting that arrow shoot forward.
Speaker 3:And, man, since then, brother, when I say God has just been moving and blessing, but I think it allows us to find a safe place, it allows us to get my relationships, I feel like it's gotten better. I've got support around me and we're all on the same page. You know, we welcome expression, we welcome, we just welcome. You know, and it's a group that I'm with is two guys that I grew up with and to watch them do do their thing and us to be like, be so vulnerable, what we could talk about like man. I'm struggling today. Me and my wife got in a fight and they're like man, hang in there. Have you thought about this? Q? Have you thought about this point from her point of view? Have you Make you so much better? But they say orange shot for nine.
Speaker 3:That's what they say, and so to truly do that, I think we're able to rewrite narratives, we're able to handle challenges different. Because you got people feeding. I don't got that person telling me, oh yeah, you need a divorce. Yeah, I got that person telling me, hey, have you looked at her part? Because you know this is work. Yeah, work, this is work. You know, um know, and this is probably the hardest job you'll have is your relationships, and so I mean, I think that's where we as men can get to that point, and I don't know what will get you there. A tattoo got me there, yeah, you know, I don't know what it is going to get another person there, but I think when you give yourself permission to feel and open up to some real truths in your lives, I think you'd get there.
Speaker 2:Man. I started this podcast just men's mental health. One of my buddies committed suicide from the army and it was one of those things where it was eye-opening. What could I have done different, Could I have inspired or changed? Who could I have talked to? So this is just a platform where men can come together and just talk to say, yeah, I've gone through this and this is what I did to figure it out. Or, hey, I'm going through this now and, you know, been able to figure it out, or hey, I'm going through this now.
Speaker 2:And then you know being able to listen and it's going to be okay, you're going to find a way out of it. Yeah, but the um to be able to sit and feel what you're feeling, it's something I feel most men don't do, because we never stopped to write, because we feel like we have to, to always be on. We have to be the provider, we have to be the protector, we have to make sure everyone else is good and see how they're feeling and not check and see. You know how we're feeling and where we're coming from. You know how we're feeling and where we're coming from and I think that is just you know something that if you don't get anything else from this podcast, it's the being able to sit in that feeling of frustration or anger or sadness and process it all the way through, and it's the same thing as joy, yeah, happiness For sure.
Speaker 3:Laughter, love the way through and now, and it's the same thing as joy, yeah, happiness for sure, laughter, love. So you know one of the things I look back. When I wrote, uh, my book, from jumps to champs, um, people kept asking me what was it? What did it feel like when you won that national championship? And I was just like that's a good question. I did huh. So it made me sit down and absolutely, and so I was like, okay, from the moment I got here, I broke the book down, from the moment, the first moment I got there, to the five-year journey. Yeah, and that book talks about the five-year journey and it allowed me to go back and feel the the, the ups, the downs, the joys, the laughters, the sadness, because we had all that in there. And I went back and I was just like wow, like all I could do was say wow. And then what God really gave me was the opportunity to put it in something that was physical, that now some other people can read and, like you went through, like wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, and it wasn't just about me, it was about the journey and about the people that went on this journey with me, for sure. And so from that point on, I've, you know, I've given myself permission to feel losses, yeah, but I also give my myself a deadline. You can only feel this for amount of time, certain amount of time, and then you got to move on to the next thing, gotcha. You know you can only. You got to feel this win and appreciate it, and you got to move on to the next thing, gotcha, because you know you can't, you can't soak in hurt and you can't dwell in victory.
Speaker 2:This too shall pass.
Speaker 3:Yes. So now you've got to get prepared and get your mind ready for the next thing, and so that's kind of how I've been able to get to where I'm at now and feel comfortable, because it used to be. When I first started coaching man, I used to suck in everything, I was a sore loser, and now it's just like okay, because I think what we do as men and if I could add this, I think what we do as men, we take all these things and we attach it to our worth. Gotcha, yeah, we do, we attach it to our worth, Got you yeah we do, we attach it to our worth and that ain't our worth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know that ain't our worth, man. I tell people all the time I said, man, if my wife worked and I was a stay-at-home dad, my worth is not that I don't work, my worth is that I'm a stay-at-home dad and I take care of the house just like a stay-at-home mother would, and that's probably one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Speaker 2:One of the hardest jobs in the world I wouldn't want to do that job and I did it for six months.
Speaker 3:I did it for six months doing coaching and I was like this is what it's worth.
Speaker 2:This is what it's worth.
Speaker 3:Like I have more respect, yeah, but we, we attach wins, losses, we attach, um, we attach all those type of things what people think. We attach it to our worth and it's not our worth, yeah, and when we're able to disassociate, when and I say me, when I was able to disassociate those things to my worth, man, I was able to grow and mature and move differently, gotcha.
Speaker 2:So do you think there's such a thing as healthy competition? Yeah, so, a lot of times people like to compare and I used to try to compare and see, but then I took a step back and was like I don't know what, what it is that they're going through, um, but I see them getting up in the morning and taking care of business and it's more of a motivation not to not to compare myself with that guy. But okay, so now this is a friendly competition. I see you, I love what you're doing and I'm trying to get to that level and beyond so I'm with you.
Speaker 3:Now, comparison is the thief to all joy, gotcha now. But you said healthy competition, now that's that iron shopping, iron, sure for sure. So when I see like, for example, um, my neighbor the other day, um, he was like q, what are you doing, man? Uh, because I had a cut off, and he was like Q, what are you doing, man? Because I had a cutoff, and he was like you're getting ripped up, and I said man, I've been working hard. He said you're making me go in the gym. So he's getting in the gym. And it wasn't that he was comparing himself, but he was like man, I got, and I'm older, I'm 16 years older than him, and he was like hell, you look younger than me.
Speaker 3:I said well, it's about choices and they ain't perfect choices, but I make them a little bit more compound effect choices than you do right now For sure. And so now I've seen him for the last month walking. He stopped drinking so much beer and he's watching his diet, and so I believe that healthy competition and us men we have to have that, we have to have it, we have to have that to be pushed. Like I make competition stuff up in my head to keep me moving.
Speaker 3:Like you know, and I tell people when I go to the weight room, like hell, I'm competing against every coach that I'm coaching against and they ain't lifting this. They ain't here right now. So it's something that pushes and I think for me, we're always going to have that within us. It's innate.
Speaker 2:It was built in us. Yes, on cave days, yeah 100%.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir. So I think you're absolutely right. There's healthy competition, but there's not comparison. Got you? Don't compare. Just have that healthy competition that allows you to push yourself beyond some things. But don't compare, yeah, because that's the thief of joy.
Speaker 2:You never know what they had to go through when it comes to that. So what are some of the most significant mental health challenges men face today and why are they frequently overlooked? And I would also say, what are some mental health challenges that you face today as well? Two part question.
Speaker 3:So I think what men face today and in this society is acceptance. I think we face isolation, depression, anxiety, underdressed. We haven't addressed certain traumas, gotcha that we have, and I think we mask these things in anger workaholic, miss, if that's the word, but I will. Workaholics, cuz we hide it, and then for some, you know, in sex or substance abuse, and I think these things are overlooked by many men because it's it's talking about again, that vulnerability of being seen as weak. Yeah, I'm in a crisis, or you know, uh, but they haven't. They've only taught us to be silent about those things. They haven't really taught us to to talk about it.
Speaker 3:And you know, it's funny, my, my wife, my first year here, um, and you know, and coming off the mountaintop, I just won a national national championship in 2018 and then 19. We had another great year. We're 29-5. And then I get a Division I job, associate head coach. We're one of the top Division I teams in the country. We're 16-0 and confident, blah, blah, blah. And I come here and we go and we're 8-17.
Speaker 3:And my wife looked at me one day and was just like I think you need to talk to somebody. Yeah, you know, and I'm like what you talking about. You know she's like you ain't like, you ain't lost like this, like you ain't had this poor success. I think you might want to talk to somebody and and that's the first time, I mean as far as my career got you, it's the first time that you know I felt all those things. I felt isolation, I was depressed, I had anxiety. I didn't want, you know, I felt all those things. I felt isolation, I was depressed, I had anxiety. I didn't want, you know, I was a failure, like I had tied that because I had been so successful.
Speaker 3:I tied those things and I truly had to go back to 2018 and I had to go back and read my book gotcha to kind of get me out of that and again did not tie those things. But again, and all those things, I think we tie all that to our worth. Yeah, which makes us isolated. Yeah, makes us depressed, makes us anxious, uh, makes us angry. Um, and so, when we're able to, you know, deal with those things, uh, again, and it's the questions moving forward with, you know, being vulnerable, having emotional iq, talking to somebody, finding people to talk to, I think we're able to kind of live a life and we don't have to do the things that society has us because they want us to. I mean especially black men.
Speaker 2:They want us to stay in those situations you know, and those roles of what they think you know black men should be and how they should, you know, act and things of that nature and being silent, you know, is costing us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is. It's costing us.
Speaker 3:It's costing us, and so to be more aware and more open to those things I think makes us better. I tell our girls all the time great leaders show you your red flags or make you aware of the things that you're lacking and the things that you're really good at. Great leaders do that, and so if we're around great men, they're going to help us see those things, and I'm around some good men that help us, and I also speak life. Know um, you know my, my business partner, brother. He calls me history, because I made history in 2018 being one of the the first black african-american man to win the national championship at the juco level gotcha in division one basketball. And you know um, and it's those type of things when, when people that are near and dear to you speak life into you. So I think those are some of the things that we can. I think we overlook Gotcha.
Speaker 2:Man, something you said that I feel would help a lot of other men that kind of get into that mindset of frustration, anger, depression. You know frustration, anger, depression. God put us through certain things in our life, not sometimes for us to forget, but for us to pull it back up when we're going through tough times, to help us or remind us that what I did for you in 2008 is what I can do for you in 2025. I am the same guy, so don't get it twisted. You just have to reset your focus on what you're looking at versus you know where you're at right now.
Speaker 2:And I think that's something that you know I'm still trying to process, because it's hard when you're in that moment of frustration and anger to think of that. But again, when you sit in those feelings, you have to pull from the things that you have gone through over time and realize, okay, been here, done this, now it's time to go and make things happen, versus just kind of sitting in it. To me that was fantastic. And you have a book you can go back and read. I got a book and the book is called so.
Speaker 3:From Chumps to Champs the Journey of Building a Winning Program. The other book is called Get Off the Bench, get Into the Game the Playbook of Successful Life. And then I co-authored two other books, and so the Coaching from the Heart the Untold Stories from Coaches. And so I'm the lead author. But I went and recruited seven other coaches to tell their stories. I think coaching stories are the most unbelievable stories, for sure, and so so I had them share it. And then I was a part of a footprints of success. I was with 13 other authors and I share a chapter in that book on leadership, gotcha. And so and I'm working on a mental performance book right now, and I'm working on a leadership book right now, yes, sir.
Speaker 2:Awesome. And mental performance, uh, book right now. And I'm working on a leadership book right now. Yes, sir, awesome. And here in our community, here in odessa, texas, uh, is there, do you? Um, so you do, speaking in games or things of that nature, so they just kind of reach out to you. Yes, sir, uh, I'll put all your information, um, on social media and then on this podcast too, once I get it from you, I think, cause I think that's super important, that you know people are willing to have these conversations to help inspire, motivate. You know businesses and schools and people of all, so I think that's pretty awesome. So what characteristics define a healthy man? Male friendship, because you know you said you have a couple of guys that you have that conversation with. And why do you? Why do many men find it difficult to form deep connections?
Speaker 3:Oh, I think. Well, first of all, I think healthy male relationship are just like any other relationship. You got trust, yeah. You got mutual support. You got openness and you got accountability, gotcha. And then, but many men grow up thinking or the surface level, because, again, that competition. And then, and then the connection. I think sometimes, when you connect with people, that trust doesn't allow you to have a deep connection. It allows you to have a service level connection, but not a deep, um.
Speaker 3:But then the vulnerability piece again. Oh, as men, we're scared to be vulnerable, we're scared to be open and you know, a lot of men are private, I can't share my business and I can't get too deep. But then again, I think that's where that loneliness common denominator comes in. And we're by ourselves. And the blessing that I have is, you know, the male friends that I've developed all have that support, accountability and that vulnerability, and we're also not scared to tell each other the truth, gotcha, if you're wrong, you're wrong, yeah, you know, you know, yeah, you're wrong on that part. You didn't do that, that ain't right. What you did there, you know, and so and they're OK with accepting it. And I think that's where you build that. So and they and they're okay with accepting it. Um, and I think that's where you build that relationship and they and that accountability, and then going with an understanding that you know we're here to grow our shoppings, iron, um, and I think there's a spiritual component to the successful ones. Yeah, you know, relationship there's a spiritual component and a mutual trust and honesty, and I don't even think you have to be the same religion, you just have to be, have the spiritual component that there's something greater than you when we, within this relationship, and that's where I think we all are.
Speaker 3:And you know, I have one of my mentors, jonathan Jones. He's a strength and conditioning coach for the Seattle Seahawks. When I say wise, wise, wise, wise man, he's taught me a lot. I've learned so much, and it's just his vulnerability to open up and share. And, man, when we worked together, it was like every day I couldn't wait to get to work. Every day we were going to have a conversation, we were going to glean something from, and we and we, we came up with so much different things that now we look back on it that we're living off of those ideas or those words or, you know, those visions that, um, each other have, and so I I think that's it could be a real good blessing if it's, if it's rooted in the right, right things. Gotcha.
Speaker 2:So how can men balance traditional roles of strength and leadership with the need for equality and relationships?
Speaker 3:That's a good question, I would say, first, by redefining strength as something that lifts others. Got you, you know, not controls them. Got you, leadership is a relationship. It isn't about dominance. Got you that's a lot of things, because you know we want to lead with dominance.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a partnership, and that partnership comes with listening and shared growth. Got you Towards a direction. You know, um, because it could be done. All this can be done too. I mean, gangs do it all the time. They just do it in the opposite direction, yeah, and they have a better understanding of it than we do, um, but it again it's, it's leading in the wrong direction.
Speaker 3:But if we can do this stuff in the right direction, I think we're we're heading to a place where men don't shrink. You know we don't shrink when it comes to asking us to be supportive for one another. That's you, you know, and I hate to say, I think you know, when you can get past what Billy's got, billy's got this, so Joe's got this and you don't got it, when I can get past it, I'm genuinely happy for Billy and Billy Bob and Joe. I'm genuinely happy for them, you know. I think that's what we truly start finding, that we strengthen, because I feel like you know, if you got people around you and they're growing and they got that greatness and that fire is burning, that greatness, well, hell, if you're in proximity and I talked, I had a speech the other day at the Rotary Club proximity greatness, I can touch that fire.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that that is contagious, yeah, and I think that's where we're at right now with the group of fellows I have, I mean in proximity to greatness, and we all have our own greatness, gotcha. It's contagious and we're able to really truly redefine how we want our friendships to be, and not be defined by how our fathers or our grandfathers, or society is deemed. We're defining what this looks like and what this is going to be, which I think it expands our growth, it expands our knowledge, it expands our understanding for the world. I mean because everybody has a perspective and now your perspective is one and it teaches you like man, you can't do nothing but succeed and grow and build off of it. Yeah, two more questions. Like man, you can't do nothing but succeed and grow and build off of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, two more questions. We might get to the 10th, but I don't know yet. So why is mentorship crucial in shaping the next generation of men, and how can it be fostered?
Speaker 3:So I think mentorship is probably one of the biggest keys. It's really huge in John C Maxwell and I think in every good organization it's part of the key foundation. It gives younger men and women a vision of what's possible. It gives them a blueprint to grow from, and I told you that the standard book that I told you about is Expect to Win the Blueprint. All those standards are basically mentoring guides, because I'm mentoring you through this. We're going to live to the standard. I think that's what mentors allow you to do is give you a blueprint of what that standard looks like to live up to. Without it, it leaves people kind of trying to figure it out. Yeah, you know. So it's like a great dad, a great dad, a great mother. They're mentors, but when you look at some people that did not have a father, you look at kind of how they're just kind of anguously wandering on how to be a dad.
Speaker 3:Yeah, trying to figure out how to be a mother, and trying to figure out because nobody kind of gave them that guy that blueprint, yeah, so I think it's very, very important that we have those mentorships, those mentorships and but I think the way we foster is by mentoring, you know, by by taking on, uh, one or two people, by taking on, um, taking on young people, but taking on opportunities to give back in some form or fashion. Yeah, um, you know, and and it's crazy to me in the profession of athletics and women's basketball, um, we just got back from the final four and a gentleman introduced me as his mentor and I was like I didn't know I was a mentor and he goes everything this man has told and we talked a long time. I didn't know he was taking the information, got you as mentoring and he's like this man has guided me and he don't, through my whole career. And I was and I'm looking and I'm like and like, wow, yeah, you know, and I and I don't through my whole career. And I was and I'm looking and I'm like and like, wow, yeah, you know, and I and I didn't.
Speaker 3:I didn't process it as that, I was just sharing information. Yeah, because no one did it for me. Yeah, you know, I and you know, and so it's one of those where I think, um, some people have it innately and then some people have to work at it, yeah, but I think we can foster it by just doing it, yeah that's one of those another moments where when you start to feel down in itself or you start to feel like, am I doing enough, it'll pop in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this guy who I thought I was having a conversation with walked up and said I was a mentor and all I was doing was just speaking. What it is that, you know, was in my heart where that guy was telling me to speak, and he took it and made his life better. So you know, it's sometimes and it's very quick, you can get like that negative, like you know, am I doing enough?
Speaker 3:Am I worthy yeah?
Speaker 2:100%. And then it's like I am, you know, and you have to walk in that I did a video today where I started to realize most of my life I've tried to chase friends and, you know, chase jobs and chase careers and chase organizations that I want to be a part of, and they never saw the awesomeness of me. God's created me awesome, and it's not a confident or cocky thing, that's just real life and I'm not. You know, I got to not be afraid of like dude, I am awesome. And if you don't want to like get to know me or learn who I am, that's totally fine, that is on you. But I will go and get around people and make and inspire and make them better, because that's just, that's just who god has called me to be. Yeah, and I don't need to be afraid of it or afraid to say it because, because I know it's, it's a proven fact, you know, I I have seen it, yeah, I've seen it in my life.
Speaker 2:Yes, over time and time and time again so I know it's not something to where it's a one-off uh and so there, there is no fear of uh, you know, saying these things and believing these things. It was the spirit of one hundred percent, yes. So just, you know, walk into it and be like, yeah, I am, I am a badass, and that's totally fine. If you don't think it, there will be people in my circle that 100 believe it. Um, and these are ones that I, we can then start to create and make things. Um, oh, and so I. So it's a motivation for me, because you said you, you have a group of of men, and I think when men come together and start having these conversations, it only it can only make you better.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir if it's, if you're open and you're honest and you're being real with each other, it can only push you to make you better. And so now in my head I'm like that's something now that I need to begin to cultivate, because in the beginning of the year God told me that you got to. You know, I'm open, but not open enough to create spaces to have friendships with men, because I don't want them to. You know, it's that dumb mentality of like weakness and things of that nature, I get it.
Speaker 2:But hearing it now from you and you saying that y'all are in it and while in it y'all are, you know, you're creating things that you never thought you could create because you're having these conversations.
Speaker 3:And I never knew man. So my first experience, and, uh, of having like real, genuine male companionship yeah, I was at tallahassee and, um, there's a brother named equine, uh, a brother named Lamar Hamilton, coach J Rob Meeks, myself, tj Bracken we all worked at the school, yeah and Kevin Powell and all these people, these men came together and, man, they were dynamic in every way. Yeah, and that was my real experience of a group of people choosing me, gotcha, yeah, choosing me.
Speaker 2:Yeah For me. Gotcha, yeah, choosing me. Yeah For me.
Speaker 3:Yeah for sure For me 100% and we have stayed a close-knit, you know. And then we added some people Hinton Battle, joe Cohen, you know, and it just you know, as you go down the line and everybody has their greatness For sure, and they bring it, and it's an amazing experience and I used to tell, I said, man, if we got all under one roof at the same time somewhere, somebody in trouble In trouble, yeah, you know, because the things that will be, the things that will be, and I understand now why, you know, in society they tried to. All the things that we've gone through redlining and prison reform and all these things is because and welfare, taking the black dead out of the house they don't, they can't afford us to be the way God intended us to be. We are the Black Panther.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying In that sense, there's power in it. Yes, and it's absolutely amazing when you're able to get around a group of gentlemen that have a standard that help God alight in your weakest moments. They can be there In your toughest times. They're high-fiving you. A gentleman said something the other day at the rotary club mr hank, um, he runs the permian basin. Um, oh, what is it called? Uh, he runs the permian basin where he helps um people here in town with oh, was he in the air force.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I forgot his name.
Speaker 3:I think it's pretty cool he talks about we don't give hands up, we don't give handouts, we give a hand up. I was just like man, powerful, powerful Men like himself. We connected, just adding men to your circle that have a standard and energy, to your circle that have a standard and energy, and so that's the fun part of having this wisdom and knowledge, that you're okay to step out, gotcha.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. Last question, because I know you have to get out how have movements for gender equality reshaped societal expectations for men, and what does healthy masculinity look like in its context?
Speaker 3:um, yeah, that's a, that's a yeah, it's this one.
Speaker 2:This one was a doozy because it's yeah I want to dig more deeper with this one.
Speaker 3:I feel like gender equality has challenged men to examine certain privileges and kind of redefine our roles, in a sense, not as protector of power, but as partners in progress, got you. So we and I'm kind of feel like we kind of damned if we do, damned if we don't for For sure, but at the same time, at the same time, you know, I think healthy masculinity today means being secure enough to share space, gotcha, you know to share space, but also know that this is my space. I understand and I'm confident in this being my space. Now, that could be your space. Yeah, but this is my space. Now, that could be your space. Yeah, but this is my space.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, and this is you know, what I believe and how I feel. But I'm giving you, you know, your space and you have every right to feel the way you feel and I support how you feel. But this is my space and I feel the way I feel. So I should have every right to be able to feel and I believe, um, in that we're able to elevate each other. Yeah, you know, um, and we can stand in some type of fairness in a sense. Um, but you know to to be politically correct now we're we're talking on another, the spiritual realm. You know it is what it is. Yeah, you know we can go deep into that, but it is what it is.
Speaker 3:That's a hierarchy of yes, of you know your role in your place and, yes, and, and that is for you, yeah, I think individually, for sure, that is an individual. I can't speak on someone else's life. That is your, your god, your your talk with him, your relationship, because I don't have a heaven or hell to put you in, but you know, we'll all be just at some point and my thing will be different, yours will be different, and so that's your personal relationship. But I feel that, with that, if we honor each other's space and we respect each other, then you know we still have to figure it out how to grow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, within this, because it is what it is, I mean, we ain't going to win. It ain't going to win. We got to figure it out. It's like life in 2019. Life, as we know, completely changed and it'll never be the same. Correct, covid is complete. It'll never be the same. So we've got to figure out how to deal, handle and work together in this shared space and still keep the integrity and operate the same, but with respect, gotcha.
Speaker 2:Man awesome podcast. So is there, you got like a Facebook Instagram. How can people reach you?
Speaker 3:I do. I'm working on my website, my new website, right now, but I can be reached and, sorry, I have to go in here and look because I don't know none of my handles. And sorry, I have to go in here and look because I don't know none of my handles. I can be reached at Dr Q Bedell on Instagram. Okay, I can also be reached at Coach Q Leadership Q Leadership Coach on Instagram and then on Twitter. My Twitter handle I have several. I have coaching and I have leadership one. My Twitter handle and I have several have coaching and I have leadership one. My leadership handle for is off the bench and it is F Cuba Dale at F Cuba Dale on Twitter is where I could be leaked, and my LinkedIn is Francois Bedell. You look for Francois without on Facebook?
Speaker 2:is Francois Bedell got you alright and how can they get your books?
Speaker 3:My books are on Amazon. They can purchase them on Amazon or they can reach out to me and I can send them a PayPal link and I can mail them the book with an autograph signature. They can contact me on any of those social media platforms. Dm me and I can get them a copy of whatever book they want, gotcha.
Speaker 2:So y'all can't say we got somebody here in Odessa that's doing their thing and, you know, inspiring and motivating and making a change, and I think that's pretty amazing and if people looking for speakers, uh curriculum, uh customized uh workshops, you know I do, I do all of it.
Speaker 3:Um, you know I'm not very high, but we can customize a price, uh to work. Anybody's budget got you awesome.
Speaker 2:so if anyone haven't told you today that they love you, let me be the first to say I love you. You're awesome. You're amazing. You deserve the best that this world has to offer. Do not quit, do not give up. The world does not get easier, but you get stronger. Y'all have a blessed weekend. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode and for daily motivational and up-to-date content. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Excellence Above Talent. And remember keep moving forward, never give up and you are never alone in this battle. We'll see you next time, thank you.
