WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:11.480 Join us on the Poetic Odyssey, a celebration of voices, cultures, 2 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:16.399 and the power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking. Welcome to 3 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:23.679 the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration for get, 4 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:27.640 involve with what stories are on these tracks? 5 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.559 This idea of the Bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx. 6 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:37.200 That's what people say, right, Don't become someone's subway story. 7 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:43.200 Medicate me with a lick of the like, I am 8 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.320 not afraid to love you. 9 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:46.679 All of us have a story. 10 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:48.679 Microphone magnifying. 11 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.240 No one want to listen, So I think that's what made. 12 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.640 Me in writing the writing disco. 13 00:00:57.159 --> 00:00:59.640 You ready amazing poetry always. 14 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.200 Hello everyone, and welcome back to the poet Speaks podcast. 15 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:14.640 Now our next guest is an award winning spoken word poet, artist, educator, 16 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:19.239 and motivational speaker performing in locations such as New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, 17 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.760 in thirty six states around the country. Known for his 18 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:26.359 dark Side Towards fromont his first ever poetry chat book, 19 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.680 and his Crown Jeweled Deficiency A Tale from My dark 20 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.840 Side album, Root and Transparency, as well as healing. 21 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.200 Also the founder and CEO of Called to Move CTM. 22 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:39.680 And Artistry organization with the pursuit of aiding youth and 23 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:42.480 self actualizing and personally developing. 24 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:43.560 Through the art of poetry. 25 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:46.799 Oh and yes, he's also the season fifteen winner of 26 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:48.079 America's Got Talent. 27 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.000 Everybody, Welcome to the Poet. 28 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:53.120 Speaks podcast, Brandon Leak, Brandon, how are you today? 29 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:53.959 Ah? 30 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.159 Very well, thank you for the invites. Very happy to 31 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.000 be here, very happy to be here. 32 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.799 Absolutely absolutely When you even just now, when you hear 33 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.280 someone reading your bio, do you still blush? Do you 34 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.000 still you get a little goose mumpy believing all the 35 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:10.159 things that you've been able to do. 36 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.360 Not really fam I'll be honest, I hate my bio. 37 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.000 That's just but that's just like a personal thing. 38 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:19.919 I just hate. 39 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.800 Like I'm trying to get better at being okay with 40 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:28.639 hearing my accolades and like being able to enjoy the. 41 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:29.520 Hard work I put in. 42 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.159 I'm a real futurist at heart, and so I constantly 43 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.840 am just looking forward, very rarely looking back at the 44 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:37.919 things I've already done. Yeah. 45 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.199 No's that's something so futurists. So you look forward, you 46 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.319 never look back or stay in the present. Is that 47 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:44.159 what you mean by that? 48 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.800 Yeah, I'm trying. God's really working on you with that though. 49 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.560 God's like ao soun like, I gave you a testimony, 50 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:52.680 so you got to you gotta use it. So I'm 51 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.919 trying to take a bit more care of that these days. 52 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:56.879 Still a work in progress, for sure. 53 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.599 For sure, let's kind of go back, go back a bit. 54 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:01.599 You know a lot of people, you know, they know 55 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:03.680 you for your accolades, but you know, tell us a 56 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.360 bit about where did you grow up and kind of 57 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.599 tell us how your childhood affected your journey to become 58 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:12.120 the writer, the poet that you are today. 59 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:13.840 So where did you grow up? Were you born and 60 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:15.560 bred anywhere? Tell us? 61 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.840 Yeah, so I'm a Cali kid Worner raised in Stockton, California. 62 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.159 That's actually where I still reside now. And yeah, like 63 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:25.840 writing was never my first love. I enjoyed drawing and 64 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.800 like making comic books as a kid because I used 65 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.240 to go to the Maya Angelou Library, which is, you know, 66 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.680 real poetic considering what I do for a living now, 67 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.919 But I used to go to the Maya Angelou Library 68 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.560 just up the street from my house, and I would 69 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:39.960 go get these Dragon ball Z manga comics and I 70 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.520 would like trace them with trace paper and then add 71 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:45.520 my own words to their speech bubbles. But before that, 72 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.560 it was it was just basketball. Like basketball was the passion, 73 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:52.240 Basketball was the drive. Basketball was the whole dream all 74 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.479 the way through my first two years of college. So like, 75 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.759 I played basketball for about like sixteen years since I 76 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:02.759 was four, and so that was the whole Like, hey, like, 77 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.080 what do you want to be when you grow up? 78 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:07.479 Kobe Bryant? Like that was that was the answer, full 79 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:08.039 and complete. 80 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.759 That's kind of crazy. I mean, so you were you 81 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.439 were a baller growing up. That was really the dream. 82 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:16.639 How did you then shift? Because I'm Cali native myself, 83 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.319 I'm from Sacramento, I can say Northern California is definitely 84 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.519 a place I had. I had dreams of sports, whether 85 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.879 it be track, basketball, of course, But I wonder, how 86 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.959 then did you make this shift to becoming a writer, 87 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:34.360 becoming a poet spoken word poetry, especially performing. 88 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.199 I wrote poems in like middle school and high school 89 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:41.040 for girls who I thought were cute. But like in 90 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.199 my freshman year of college, my best friend, Bernard Daniels, 91 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.519 he died due to some gang violence that was happening 92 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:49.759 in the city. He had actually drowned in a levee 93 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:52.839 down the street from where we grew up. And I 94 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:55.439 used to just take them all on my pain out 95 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:57.480 on the court. It used to just be like my 96 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.399 one place of solitude. If I was calling through something, 97 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.680 I could just let it all out there. This is 98 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.120 one of those pains where releasing it on the court 99 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.319 didn't do nothing for me, didn't help me in any way, 100 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:10.879 didn't free me anyway. 101 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:12.680 And I really prayed. 102 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:14.800 And I was like, hey, God, like, like Jesus, what 103 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:16.600 are you wanting me to do with this? 104 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:17.040 Like? 105 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:20.560 What are you asking me to do with this pain? 106 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:23.399 I saw a sign for an open mic and it 107 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.720 was the first time that I had seen and open 108 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.360 mic functioning at my school, and I was like, man, 109 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.600 maybe that's it. Maybe I write about it. And so 110 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:34.959 I wrote a poem, went and shared it. And that 111 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.480 was kind of like the first experience that gave me 112 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:42.040 any inclination that poetry could be like the vessel for me, 113 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:44.920 that it could be a place where me and God 114 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:46.720 could meet for the sake of the healing that I 115 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:47.360 needed to do. 116 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.600 So yeah, I would say that that was like probably like. 117 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:54.079 The capstone marker change for me artistically. 118 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.519 Yeah, and you know, I'm curious, you know, being familiar 119 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.279 to someone that grew up in northern California, stock then 120 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:02.720 you know it has such variables in terms of the 121 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.399 gang violence, safety that's all around that city. How much 122 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.319 of your life was affected, Like you said, you know, 123 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:10.600 you had a friend that you know, may they're so 124 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:12.560 rest in peace that passed away due. 125 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:14.680 To that violence. How much of your. 126 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.160 Life and your youth was affected by that, by those 127 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:22.079 outer influences of violence and maybe just the community. 128 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:22.920 That you were of Stockton. 129 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:28.519 Yeah, I think it's actually highly overstated how violent Stockton is, 130 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.120 just because it's not like when I think of any city, 131 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.639 like if you go to the wrong neighborhood, then you 132 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:39.639 have the unfortunate opportunity to be met with violence or 133 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.680 you know, gangs or drugs or whatever. Like I know 134 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:45.680 Sacramento is being gentrified as we speak, but like there 135 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.079 was a period of time where being in oak Park 136 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:52.279 was you know past a certain time would resulting you 137 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:55.000 not being the most safe individual, you know what I mean. 138 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.439 We know what happens in places like Oakland right now 139 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.759 you go to certain parts of us, So like it's 140 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:02.439 I think it's overstated, but. 141 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.040 Like, I would say I was fairly shielded. 142 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:07.439 Interestingly enough, I was at a Bible study yesterday and 143 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:09.600 one of the people was like, man. 144 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.560 Like, like God has really graced. 145 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:14.279 Your life, Like as I hear your story, like God 146 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.319 is really like put a head around you. And I'm like, 147 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.519 man like, as I reflect on it, God really has. 148 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.000 I didn't go to the public school in my neighborhood. 149 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.160 My mom tested me for a magnet school that I 150 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.279 was able to go to that you know, was probably 151 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.720 about like four or five miles away from my neighborhood, 152 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.399 closer to the downtown area, where I got like a 153 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.759 really high quality education. I grew up in a Baptist 154 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:40.639 amme churt where like I had a church family everywhere 155 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.480 select no matter where I went, I always had somebody 156 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:45.839 who either had an eye out on me or for me. 157 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.600 So yeah, I would say I was fortunate in a 158 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:51.639 lot of ways to avoid the pitfalls of what normally 159 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:54.959 comes especially a lot to a lot of young black men. 160 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:57.879 Like I've been immensely blessed in that regard. So I 161 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.000 would say it's it's impacted me on on the outer 162 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:05.519 scale of like seeing things and witnessing them and like 163 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:08.959 being impacted by people who've been directly hit by them. 164 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:12.519 Like I attended eighteen funerals by eighteen, Right, many of 165 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.160 them were like family who were like elderly and older, 166 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.680 but like I would say a solid seven to eight 167 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:23.560 of them were people either my age, slightly younger. 168 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:24.480 Or just slightly older. 169 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.800 And so like that does impact you, you know, like 170 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.240 death does touch me differently because I've had so many 171 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.240 engagements with it. I would say, God really really blessed 172 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.440 me to not have to endure as much as that. 173 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.960 Yeah, my goodness, eighteen funerals by the time you're eighteen 174 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.960 is wild. I mean, that is really definitely life changing, 175 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:46.320 and we really appreciate you for sharing that. So tell 176 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.960 me a little bit about now, you know, you went 177 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.279 from a former athlete to becoming a writer. Tell us 178 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.159 about how that kind of evolved for you to now 179 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.480 becoming the career that you've had. I mean, tell us 180 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:01.080 about how that trajectory kind of slowly or maybe it 181 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.759 happened fast for you. How did that trajectory happen to 182 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:07.000 now this became a professional life's work. 183 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.279 Yeah, I mean, like I was an English major in 184 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.440 college for my first year and a half and What 185 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.519 ended up happening was I had a teacher who talked 186 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:19.240 like the viazine man. For all the young folk who 187 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:21.639 are watching this, they have no idea what I'm talking about. 188 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:25.360 But he had a very monotone, boring voice. It was 189 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.960 really really not fun to listen to. I remember falling 190 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.399 asleep in this class for like the third time in 191 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.120 the same day and just thinking to myself like, oh, yeah, like, 192 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.000 I can't I can't stay here, Like I can't stay 193 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.559 in this classity board. I am going to lose my 194 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.000 mind if I stay here any longer. I went and 195 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.080 switched to become a psychology major that same day. I 196 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.120 already had enough courses to qualify for an English minor, 197 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.399 so I was like, hey, I got my minor. I'm 198 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:53.360 going to be a psych major. I'm going to become 199 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.000 a psychologist, or I'm going to become like a psychiatrist, 200 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:57.919 or I get the chance to like work with people 201 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.600 who need mental help. And I quickly realized that that 202 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:04.600 type of one on one relationship where it's only like 203 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:08.919 one person talking, would leave me really drained. And I'm like, oh, 204 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:10.960 I won't be helpy doing this, so let's not do 205 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:13.200 that either. So I'm like, God, what do you want 206 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.080 me to do? And it's around this same time that 207 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.559 poetry starts taking a more prevalent place in my life. 208 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.360 I made a poet by the name of Michael Bourney from. 209 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.240 Long Beach, and I'm like, oh, man, like I want 210 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.759 to do that, like I want to be a professional artist. 211 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:31.759 And I over spiritualize it, like super deeply. I'm like, yo, 212 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:33.919 God's calling me to be an artist. And then the 213 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.000 poet who I looked up to, Micah, He's like, hey, 214 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.360 whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa before you put a 215 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:40.240 whole lot on it, do you like it? And I'm 216 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.679 like yes. He was like, do you do you hear 217 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:46.720 God telling you no, Mike No, He's like, is it unbiblical? 218 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:49.159 I'm like no, He's like, and just go for it. 219 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:53.039 Operate in freedom until you get told otherwise. And so 220 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:56.799 like that happens sophomore year, and from that point on, 221 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.720 I was getting my degree because I knew I was 222 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.200 going to have to have a regular job at some point. 223 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:06.799 But I had been just like slowly and surely making 224 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.639 my way into the idea of like, hey, art is 225 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.639 going to be a very big part of my life, 226 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.080 I'm going to be doing this. And what ended up 227 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.279 happening was after graduating college, I had a whole slew 228 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:23.320 of issues occur. We can talk about that another time 229 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.799 or in another question, but I was a divine intervention 230 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.559 brought me back home. I worked a job as a 231 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.120 paraprofessional at a school with a student who had a 232 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:35.200 mental disability, and then I got a job working at 233 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.840 the county for a group called Black Health. 234 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:41.000 And all the while while I was doing this, I 235 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.120 was running. 236 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:45.000 From my city in Stockton up to Sacramento, where you're 237 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.399 from like three to four days a week, performing at 238 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:53.399 places like Mahogany, places like Shine Cafe, places like brick House, 239 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.320 places like Luna's Cafe, random open mics that would just 240 00:11:57.399 --> 00:11:59.480 kind of pop up here and there, and I was 241 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:02.080 just like, Oh, this is it, Like this is what 242 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.519 I'm going to do. This is like I'm going to 243 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.559 chase after this. And then I ended up joining the 244 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.919 Sacramento Slam team and performing alongside them in the year 245 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:16.159 twenty fifteen, which was really eye opening experience at not 246 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:19.600 just like the quality of poetry, but the dedication required 247 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.440 to be able to make that type of quality poetry 248 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.559 and all the while I was still working these jobs, 249 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.080 got fired from a couple of them because I was 250 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.879 doing way too much poetry stuff and you know, took 251 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.840 my ls, learned how to make those under dubs. Yeah, 252 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:37.159 it wasn't until twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen that I really 253 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.639 took the plunge to become a full time poet. Traveling 254 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.519 touring for my album Deficiencies. I did one hundred and 255 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.360 fifty shows over the course of ten months, went to, 256 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:51.000 as you mentioned, like three or four different countries, thirty 257 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:55.360 six states, and that number has just grown over time. Yeah, 258 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:57.320 So that's that's kind of been the trajectory and the 259 00:12:57.399 --> 00:12:59.159 road that we've taken to get here so far. 260 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:02.600 No, that's you know, that is when you really kind 261 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.120 of put that into perspective. That is wild, the amount 262 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.120 of footwork and the amount of hustle that you've really 263 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.679 put in there, especially within that ten months over one 264 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.440 hundred shows that you've done. So that's quite a testament 265 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.559 to the passion and dedication. Tell us a bit about 266 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.200 I do kind of want to hit a point yours. 267 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.960 You seem very rooted in your religion and your spirituality 268 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:30.120 and your religious religionosity, tell us a bit about if 269 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:32.240 you feel comfortable obviously, tell us a bit about how 270 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.320 much of that guiding force has been kind of trajecting 271 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:39.600 your career in terms of we'll get into it later, 272 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:42.240 but you know the industry. Tell us how much of 273 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:46.519 that guiding force of your spirituality and your relationship with 274 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.679 a higher power, because you know you've mentioned it several times, 275 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:52.440 how much does that influence so much of where you've 276 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:53.720 taken your life stack? 277 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:58.000 Yeah, I mean it's a it's the life source behind 278 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.399 it all. You know, it's the guiding force behind the 279 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.440 decisions I make. I could likely be very much farther 280 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.919 in my career if I was willing to sacrifice a 281 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:10.559 lot of the morals, values, and principles by which I 282 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:14.399 hold most ferment deer in my life. But you know, 283 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.759 you got a question like, hey, at what cost do 284 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.879 you want to go up just for them to tear 285 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.960 you back down? Because that's how society functions, right, Like 286 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.120 we build heroes and then make them villains the moment 287 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:29.080 that we feel like they got too high, you know 288 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.480 what I mean. Like we see it all the time 289 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:34.639 in sports, you know, like we build up these people 290 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:37.759 like a person like Patrick Mahomes. Everybody loved him on 291 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.240 the rise. Everybody was like super happy to see him 292 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:42.320 win the first and the second. But then it's like, oh, 293 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:44.960 you're winning too much now, like let somebody else get there. 294 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:45.840 Type of a thing. 295 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:48.159 You see it with celebrity all the time, like with 296 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:50.480 musicians who we prop up and be like oh. 297 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:52.679 Yo, like look at them, look at all this stuff 298 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.320 that's happening. 299 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.960 Then they have their fall from grace and everybody it's like, yeah, 300 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.559 they deserved it, and some of it rightfully so, without 301 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.679 a question. But no, like my faith informs the art 302 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.080 that I make, It informs the decisions I make, It 303 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.559 informs the people who I associate with and the things 304 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:09.759 that I would like to do moving forward. And I 305 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.720 can't say I've always made that my priority, because there 306 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:16.320 most certainly been seasons, especially shortly after winning the show, 307 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:21.200 where I allowed my ambition to be my guide versus 308 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:25.240 the guiding principles that I have. Yeah, that was not 309 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.120 a good season of life. That was not a good 310 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:29.080 season of life. 311 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:31.159 Well, first off, I want to hit a point that 312 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:32.840 you just said I think is huge there. 313 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.519 You said I could be much. 314 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.559 Higher if I was if I didn't let kind of 315 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.519 my greater core of spirituality. 316 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:40.679 Lead my life. 317 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.840 I think that's such a big thing to admit. A 318 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:45.000 lot of people wouldn't say that. A lot of people 319 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.639 would not admit I could be so much farther in 320 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:51.159 my career, you know, or whatever a career looks like 321 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.679 to you, that looks so different for each person. A 322 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:55.960 lot of people just wouldn't admit my success could be 323 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.799 maybe more fun, whatever it is, financially, whatever it is. 324 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:01.720 If I would to kind of let go of some 325 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:03.320 of those principles. 326 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:04.440 What did it take? And I think a lot of 327 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:06.360 people don't admit it because it takes a lot to 328 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:09.000 admit what that means. 329 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:11.440 What did it take for you to kind of really 330 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.000 get to that point where you can only admit that 331 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.759 but also still have that integrity and be proud that, hey, 332 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:20.200 I'm still happy where I'm at. 333 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.200 Yeah, humility is part of the call, right, and not 334 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.360 just humility and like oh yeah, like I'm humble, I 335 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:29.519 do these things, but humility and the fact that like, 336 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:33.080 oh yeah, like I'm not the MC for all who 337 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:33.799 don't know what that means? 338 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.799 Like main character. And I think in the West, we. 339 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:38.840 Have a lot of people who deal with like main 340 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.399 character syndrome, who feel like the world revolves around them 341 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.360 everything needs to be about them. You'll see it in 342 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.159 the way people think or talk, Like I know in 343 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:50.279 my own inner head. I've had to really work on 344 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:54.080 this voice where I hear where I think that people 345 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:57.840 are constantly looking at me, perceiving what I'm doing, perceiving 346 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.759 what I like, what I'm wearing, or all these other things, 347 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.960 and by humbling myself from that stature to being like, oh, yeah, 348 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:09.200 like I am just continuing. I am just another part 349 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:13.680 of this ongoing story that's already happening, and everybody else 350 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.680 is just as busy and involved in not thinking about 351 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.039 me as I am about them. It really helped me 352 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:21.400 be able to not care about the status because I 353 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:23.799 think most people don't share it because they're afraid of 354 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.200 what that would do to the status that they feel. 355 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.000 People think of the ass they think about their highest 356 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.200 point and they're like, oh, people still look at me there, 357 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:35.359 and it's like, Oh, who cares? Who cares what they say? 358 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:37.599 Who cares how they feel? Who cares what they see? 359 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.119 At the end of the day, are you Are you 360 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.400 proud of the decisions you've made. Are you proud of 361 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.960 the life you've built? In my worst season where I 362 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.599 was like so hell bent on trying to prove something, 363 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:51.240 my mentor he was like Brandon considered is people who 364 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:54.599 win shows like these are usually bankrupt within two years 365 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:57.519 after winning the show. People who win the lottery are 366 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.160 usually bankrupt within two years. And you have built a 367 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.880 lasting career that is still ongoing with still more story 368 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.920 to tell. How awesome is that? 369 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:08.920 Yeah? 370 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.720 When all you see are the things that have gone wrong, 371 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.240 you are ignoring all the things that have been built 372 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.039 up right for you. So yeah, I think that answers 373 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:18.440 the question. 374 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:20.720 Sorry, no, you're good for sure. 375 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.920 Well, you know, Brandon, let's get into it. You know, 376 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.440 we've already made hints to it. You know, winning America's 377 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:30.200 Got Talent obviously, you know that was such a huge achievement. 378 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:31.119 What was it? 379 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.759 You were the first person as a spoken word poet 380 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.839 artist to win a show. When that talent show tell 381 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:41.240 us about how that experience changed your life, you know, 382 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.680 both good, both bad and what are still those ripple 383 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.880 effects that you have, maybe whether it be career wise 384 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:49.319 but also mentally emotionally. 385 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.759 Was as we've kind of hinted that a little bit too. 386 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.480 Yeah, tell us the process. What was the process to 387 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.240 even audition? Most people? I don't even know how does 388 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.759 someone even get that in their viewpoint to even get 389 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.200 into TV like that to audition for a show. 390 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:11.000 So I actually auditioned back in twenty seventeen. Originally, my homegirl, 391 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.480 Courtney was like, Hey, Agt's coming to San Jose. 392 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.920 They never go to the Bay Area. This is our time. 393 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:18.759 We need to go. 394 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.680 And I'm like, hey, you said no but a word. 395 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:26.000 So I went and picked her up, but she wasn't there, 396 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:28.559 she wasn't at her house. I was super mad at her. 397 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.920 She was like, I'm too afraid. I can't go, like, 398 00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:34.240 just just go without me. And I'm like, Bam, you're 399 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:36.319 the one who gave me the idea. I don't want 400 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.279 to go do this whole thing solo, but I go 401 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.119