Speaker 1: My next guests have been on the show before their
Speaker 1: game changes, their life changers, trying to do our partner.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it and I'm staying. Two of them male
Speaker 1: and female. Um, they're from the Big Brothers and Big
Speaker 1: Sisters of Metro Atlanta. We have Kwamae Johnson, great to
Speaker 1: be here. Appreciate you having back us back on the show.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Okay, and Juliet, you don't cheat. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that job is McDonald's. Good morning when you're following on
Speaker 1: social media. Velegator. Right, oh my goodness. You know, you
Speaker 1: know you're you know you're partnered up with local leaders.
Speaker 1: I'm one of those local leaders. Celebrities are following that
Speaker 1: kind of leader, that celebrity influential man in Atlanta to
Speaker 1: give youth, especially young boys, every opportunity to succeed. Big
Speaker 1: Brothers Big Sisters currently have over three hundred boars on
Speaker 1: the waiting lists named. Six percent of the boars are
Speaker 1: African American. Please welcome again to the show. Now let's
Speaker 1: talk about this. Uh, you know the waiting lists. What
Speaker 1: exactly is that? Yeah, so it's it's actually parents, in
Speaker 1: particular mothers who have come into our office and you know,
Speaker 1: said I need some help. You know, we got a
Speaker 1: lot of mothers out there making it happen every day
Speaker 1: who are raising boys and want of male influence in
Speaker 1: their life. So they come to us and say, we
Speaker 1: love to have a big brother. So then we're tasks.
Speaker 1: Me and Juliette are going out to find men um
Speaker 1: to sign up to be big brothers. And that's a
Speaker 1: year commitment in at least eight hours a month. But
Speaker 1: that's that's how kids get on the way. He was, wow,
Speaker 1: that seems uh okay, where's your where are your offices? That?
Speaker 1: So we're we're in midtown our office, but we cover
Speaker 1: all twelve counties, so we support families, uh, far south
Speaker 1: and west East, you name it. We have families all
Speaker 1: around the counties. Okay, So so our mom will come in,
Speaker 1: our guardian would come here and say, hey, I got
Speaker 1: this young man. He needs a male figure in his life.
Speaker 1: That's it. Yeah, it's that simple. Pretty it's yeah, it's
Speaker 1: pretty much it. You know, I'm trying to work through
Speaker 1: the details here, Okay, you know, it's it's it's really
Speaker 1: it's it's really pretty simple. Is that although mothers are amazing,
Speaker 1: a mom really cannot teach a boy how to be
Speaker 1: a man. And these mothers are coming in and saying, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm hearing about the program here with you guys are
Speaker 1: doing for the community. Um, I'm looking for my son
Speaker 1: to have that positive mentor in their life. They're not
Speaker 1: coming and saying I'm looking for a stepfather or something
Speaker 1: like that. They're just looking for that positive male, um
Speaker 1: to come and play basketball, talk with their son on
Speaker 1: you know, how to not get in trouble, or even
Speaker 1: telling about the mistakes that they may have made to
Speaker 1: ensure that this boy doesn't make the same mistake in
Speaker 1: his life. Well, you know there's you know there when
Speaker 1: I hear this, it's such a you know, I look
Speaker 1: at my life. I travel a lot, and so so
Speaker 1: is it is it? Is it? Are you trying to
Speaker 1: create a physical presence in the young boy's life with
Speaker 1: this person or how does that work? We're trying to
Speaker 1: create a life changing relationship. UM. I'm a big promoter
Speaker 1: that relationships change people, not programs. And uh, what's great
Speaker 1: about our program is that it's very flexible, very authentic,
Speaker 1: and relationships build over time. So you know, I've been
Speaker 1: mentor and a young man named Anthony. He's eight for
Speaker 1: a while now, and at first we didn't talk a lot.
Speaker 1: We just get to know each other, just like any relationship.
Speaker 1: But over time it's sort of organically formed. He's got
Speaker 1: to know me, I've got to know him, what he
Speaker 1: likes and that kind of thing. And that's what's special
Speaker 1: about it. It's not not a some you know, big
Speaker 1: scientific thing we do. It's it's really about relationships. I
Speaker 1: think that's fundamental to man kind, is just really relationships
Speaker 1: with people, and often young people in some of the
Speaker 1: communities we serve don't have the right positive role models,
Speaker 1: the right relationships, so we're trying to create that where
Speaker 1: they can learn from someone like you and see what
Speaker 1: you've done and how you've been able to have an
Speaker 1: amazing career and uh, maybe do the same thing or
Speaker 1: something similar. He really is interesting. So, Juliette, we're talking
Speaker 1: about boys, but we also have young girls. We do
Speaker 1: have a lot of young girls. Yeah, but again, the
Speaker 1: reason why the list is so short for girls. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: you know, men, but women do step up to you know,
Speaker 1: to become big sisters. So that's why it's not that
Speaker 1: we are not promoting the girls on the wait list
Speaker 1: because we do. But the issue are our main problem
Speaker 1: and not just our big brothers big but basically it's
Speaker 1: across all affiliates, big brothers, big sisters. It's getting men,
Speaker 1: especially African American men in the door um to become mentors,
Speaker 1: to be coming into you know, I I think that uh,
Speaker 1: first of all, what we're doing right now, you know,
Speaker 1: promoting that they're you can, you can, you can be here,
Speaker 1: you can make a difference. You're not adopting the child
Speaker 1: you know you're giving. Is there a certain amount of
Speaker 1: hours that when you because there's a commitment. That's the
Speaker 1: problem we have with these young kids. That's why you
Speaker 1: said initially the young kids or the men with a
Speaker 1: commitment or she checking everything and can finish my statement,
Speaker 1: I really gonna get back there is that is that
Speaker 1: when I was in Houston, I should go to these
Speaker 1: different at Ridge schools. And the problem that the young
Speaker 1: kids have is that they need steady commitment. They don't
Speaker 1: need to in and outcomes out okay. And so so
Speaker 1: a kid will be reserve or hesitant because they've been
Speaker 1: down that path before. Man drop in, he gone six monthly,
Speaker 1: Man drop in, I love him. You can't get them
Speaker 1: on the phone once the relationship breaks up, so there's
Speaker 1: a defensive mechanists. I would tell people kids when they're young, man,
Speaker 1: it's the amazing amount of information that they take on
Speaker 1: and remember and then it's kind of it mods them,
Speaker 1: it mos them and so so. So that's why I
Speaker 1: was referencing to the young child of the young boy,
Speaker 1: because the experience can create a negative outlook for him
Speaker 1: because it has to be a commitment. And that leads
Speaker 1: me to the next statement, is that what is the
Speaker 1: process for the god to participate? And it's not not
Speaker 1: that difficult either, it's it's it's a simple process. Um.
Speaker 1: I think the first thing a man has to decide
Speaker 1: is can I commit to this young persons to a
Speaker 1: year for a year minimum. I love for you to
Speaker 1: do it longer. You know, we have matches to the
Speaker 1: last three five twenty years, matches that are going into
Speaker 1: business together as adults. But to your point, if you
Speaker 1: come in a young person's life and leave, you can
Speaker 1: actually do more damage, so you're better off not even
Speaker 1: coming around. So your commitment at least eight hours a
Speaker 1: month incorporating them into your time. We have a process
Speaker 1: for screening to make sure it's a good fit for you,
Speaker 1: make sure you're safe for kids. You come into our office,
Speaker 1: you start that process. We also train you hunt up
Speaker 1: how to be a mentor. You may have never mentored
Speaker 1: a kid before, and we want to make sure you're
Speaker 1: successful in that. And then once you get through that process,
Speaker 1: in your match, you are as signed a coach on
Speaker 1: our team who actually supports you through the life of
Speaker 1: the match. So you're not the out there on your own.
Speaker 1: You're not trying to figure it out on your own
Speaker 1: and what to do and how to troubleshoot issues that
Speaker 1: come up. You have staff on our team who help
Speaker 1: you do that. Okay, we are we have a lot
Speaker 1: of male fraternities out there. Remember well make us five
Speaker 1: Cappa appaside, you have an alpha five alf, you have
Speaker 1: five beta signal. Okay. Next step is are we engaged
Speaker 1: in this process? Do we do we or do you
Speaker 1: go to these organizations say hey we need help of
Speaker 1: these groups? Yeah? Yeah, so it's it's going in as
Speaker 1: they've been a number once quarter, Omega's been in an age.
Speaker 1: We're still maybe you can help us out with that.
Speaker 1: We're still we're still working with our our Cappa's and
Speaker 1: our vetas right smash our sigmas. I'm sorry, but the capitas,
Speaker 1: I mean m Alpha has been our number one supporters,
Speaker 1: so it can be that we can come in to
Speaker 1: your meetings. We have a lot of males who are
Speaker 1: part of our our y el c our Young Board
Speaker 1: and they go out into these meetings talk to them.
Speaker 1: A lot of these guys are mentors as well, so
Speaker 1: they're not just coming fromoth the organization. They're talking to you,
Speaker 1: talking to these men as well on what it is
Speaker 1: to be a mentor. Okay, so we have apples, they're
Speaker 1: doing their things Alpha and I'm gonna are shaky, and
Speaker 1: you said you could even say signa. They just celebrate
Speaker 1: the anniversary. Let's recognize they do a big pod A
Speaker 1: powerful the nasty capital. So I called out because because
Speaker 1: that's what you know. Our hope, I hope Fltern is
Speaker 1: about uplift. Friendship is essential to the should and so
Speaker 1: so that means that we have a responsibility, you know,
Speaker 1: and because we are about uplifting and these are people
Speaker 1: that potentially I would tell people this is that you
Speaker 1: create a brand. As your brand people young and then
Speaker 1: they become Laurel customers are laurel to your brand as
Speaker 1: they grew up and become an adult. And so the
Speaker 1: relationships we're talking about. You said yours was eight years old.
Speaker 1: What's the age range for this mentorship with the boys,
Speaker 1: It's uh from eight to eighteen. So we worked with
Speaker 1: kids of all ages. And you know, I would be
Speaker 1: remiss if I didn't share. I just spoke with the
Speaker 1: Mayor's office this morning and they were talking about some
Speaker 1: of the challenges they're having with Team Crime, right, And
Speaker 1: there was a car jacking this weekend, high speed chase.
Speaker 1: Two pedestrians, two men crossing the walkway got hit, both
Speaker 1: forty years old gone, and now these young men are
Speaker 1: facing murder charges all this stuff. So the city's really
Speaker 1: pushing out um to try to make sure these young men,
Speaker 1: particular boys, young boys, are not involved in these crimes,
Speaker 1: doing dumb stuff, stealing cars, getting involved in different things.
Speaker 1: And I think if you have a mentor in your life,
Speaker 1: our results show it is never ever interact with the
Speaker 1: criminal system. So my my plea and my pushes to
Speaker 1: get more men, in particular men who may have experienced
Speaker 1: some of these same challenge as young young people like
Speaker 1: myself have gone through who could be an example so
Speaker 1: that they don't make these bad decisions and ruin their life.
Speaker 1: Just it's still a car. Well, you know, I every
Speaker 1: part of my day I get up here for not
Speaker 1: for voice, just just be four fifteen, I made my
Speaker 1: news resolution as four am I get up and so
Speaker 1: at four thirty, you know, good Day Atlanta, come on.
Speaker 1: They always lead with a with a news story. And
Speaker 1: there's always some young black male, there's some not females
Speaker 1: starting to drop in there too. Then done something wrong,
Speaker 1: and I know their lives. It's done, it's done, it's done.
Speaker 1: They you can't you you can't. You can't vote over again,
Speaker 1: you can't participate. You know, it's a part of your
Speaker 1: schedule and you can't allow yourself to be able to
Speaker 1: fix that problem. Sometimes so so you at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the paycheck scale whatever. Basically, so so when I
Speaker 1: when I look at what you're trying to do, what
Speaker 1: got you involved from me? Well, you know, I've been
Speaker 1: in youth development my whole career. You know, I was
Speaker 1: seventeen behind bars. I was like some of these kids
Speaker 1: making dumb decisions. So I met some young men who
Speaker 1: changed my life forever. You know, who had really tough situations,
Speaker 1: way worse than mine. I was just a kid making
Speaker 1: some bad decisions. But those young men and their stories
Speaker 1: is what got me into this work, and it made
Speaker 1: me leave Hampton University at nineteen and go into this work.
Speaker 1: So I've been a social entrepreneur on the youth development
Speaker 1: side my my whole entire career because i know what
Speaker 1: it's like. I know I've been through it myself, and
Speaker 1: I think we need more people like myself who've been there,
Speaker 1: can relate to it, who've been able to make it
Speaker 1: out and be successful in life, to to reach back
Speaker 1: and help somebody else and not make them same decisions.
Speaker 1: So that's that's what I've been doing. You know, Juliet
Speaker 1: actually came through the program as an example, So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of us out here really trying to do
Speaker 1: this work. You know, how about separate interviews from now?
Speaker 1: You know, can they just be fast and if amazing,
Speaker 1: I've got to go, I'm about just lie about the
Speaker 1: button my coat and go, okay, Julia, tell me about
Speaker 1: your big brothers big Metro Atlantic experience, because you know
Speaker 1: it's real. It's so we don't have to practice this.
Speaker 1: It's just flows. So so you came through the program.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, um yeah, So I was actually match with
Speaker 1: my big sister when I was seven years old. Um,
Speaker 1: we're still in contact now, congratulations in a long time.
Speaker 1: But I know firsthand how amazing it is, Like I yeah,
Speaker 1: you know. Granted, my story is not like a lot
Speaker 1: of the kids that we serve like had amazing mommy dad,
Speaker 1: but they just worked a lot. My mom was technically
Speaker 1: a single parent because my dad lived and worked in Nigeria.
Speaker 1: So my big sister came into my life because I
Speaker 1: started to fall in the wrong path hanging out with
Speaker 1: the wrong people, and um, she really showed me the
Speaker 1: right way. She was a friend although she was even
Speaker 1: older than my mom at the time. And that's really
Speaker 1: show is that really age is not a number. Ages
Speaker 1: isn't with a number. Chemistry is real. So it's that chemistry. Um,
Speaker 1: and we can talk about that when we talk about
Speaker 1: the matching process that really has a big effect, not
Speaker 1: just the match, but the relationship, because we like to
Speaker 1: say it's not the match, but it's actually the relationship
Speaker 1: that has a bigger come back. We're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: that here with Kwame Kwami and Juliet Big Brothers, Big Sisters,
Speaker 1: Metro Atlant doing that thing, you know he was he
Speaker 1: was in seventeen. He realized he was stupid with Hampton
Speaker 1: realized he said, social entrepreneur that is that? Is that
Speaker 1: a term you're making up? Or you just like corny?
Speaker 1: And now I'm gonna say I made it. Tradet radio
Speaker 1: trademarket Sean McDonald might making conversation. We'll be right back, Hi,
Speaker 1: just Ry Sean McDonald. We're on the phone. None of
Speaker 1: that in the studio with Kwami and Juliette Big Brothers,
Speaker 1: Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. What's your position, Kami? I
Speaker 1: say President, CEO, Janitor and also mascot. Absolutely absolutely, I
Speaker 1: say that with with pride and respect. Juliet Okay, he
Speaker 1: got the mascot cover, he got the janitor side cover.
Speaker 1: What are you doing over there? I wear a lot
Speaker 1: of hats, Like luckily I got visited, he said, Ceo,
Speaker 1: he said janitor, You said mascot? What's left over that?
Speaker 1: I just said, I'm like, I got a big head.
Speaker 1: So many hats in one time. Um so my official
Speaker 1: titles volunteer recruitment manager, um so, I bring in volunteers
Speaker 1: to go out and do speaking engagements on half of
Speaker 1: Big Brothers Big Sisters. Um, but I like to say
Speaker 1: a kind of an innovator, think about you know, I'm
Speaker 1: an out the box thinker, So think about things that
Speaker 1: we haven't done in the office, or just think about
Speaker 1: new ways to get in involved in the community, get
Speaker 1: out there. How we met was at a movie screen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so that's how we met. So she she go
Speaker 1: get an happy. Yeah, she was like, okay, really that's
Speaker 1: talk to you real quick. The movie starting. We got
Speaker 1: something going out. So but that's but that's what you
Speaker 1: gotta do. People like me passing by, just walking by.
Speaker 1: I think you know everything. I think he's impacting people.
Speaker 1: But you're telling about eight hours a month. That's what
Speaker 1: you said, right, one year program. Okay, Like I said,
Speaker 1: the Aspholes A five doing their thing. Choose we are
Speaker 1: trolling through slowly. Noops, ain't doing nothing. Signals. We can't
Speaker 1: even remember their name. We gotta get that straight. I
Speaker 1: want them to. I want them to ConTroll me, patrolling
Speaker 1: right over the big Metro Atlanta. Troll me because because
Speaker 1: I think sometimes you gotta know, because because that's what
Speaker 1: we that's why we plans these organizations we were we
Speaker 1: are about adult African American men and we're trying to
Speaker 1: shape lives. You know, Like I said that if we're
Speaker 1: not engaged in this process, then we're missing we're missing
Speaker 1: something here and that we got to make a change
Speaker 1: with that now one of the big changes. That reason
Speaker 1: you're back on the show to talk about the Real
Speaker 1: Mentor Real Men Mentor panel that's January twenty eight. Tell
Speaker 1: us about there the Gathering Spot. Yes, yes, yes, um, yes,
Speaker 1: you know right now. The Gathering Spot is the hub
Speaker 1: for young African American professionals. Um, if you have a startup,
Speaker 1: if I mean, Ryan just has a great thing going
Speaker 1: in the city and I think it's amazing, so um
Speaker 1: to us, I was an ideal place to have it.
Speaker 1: So this is our second event, especially if you're a
Speaker 1: social entrepreneur. Yes, this is where you need to be.
Speaker 1: So basically it's we did it two years ago. Keep
Speaker 1: forgetting And to me, it was just a call of action.
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring together a room. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm from l A and I haven't seen so many
Speaker 1: young professional African Americans, so I moved to Atlanta. You know,
Speaker 1: l A everybody's a fake basketball, fake this, fake that.
Speaker 1: But we have men out here really doing things. So
Speaker 1: why aren't we out here giving back to these communities.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen so much disparity until I lept out here. So, um,
Speaker 1: the panel is just I wanted to have a conversation,
Speaker 1: why are you not doing your part? Who is that
Speaker 1: who impacted you to become the man you are today? Um?
Speaker 1: So it was great. We had about what seventy guys
Speaker 1: think about thirty something throughout that whole process signed up
Speaker 1: and this year we just wanted to make it a
Speaker 1: bigger just the second year. This is the second year
Speaker 1: and last you went to the gathering two thousand and eighteen.
Speaker 1: It was at the office and I think that was
Speaker 1: the most African American man we ever had. And how
Speaker 1: did you get them to show up for that? I
Speaker 1: was out there. We did radio, had a lot of
Speaker 1: people out there, being a street team, inviting their coworkers,
Speaker 1: guys and their basketball teams. Um for turning the Outfice
Speaker 1: came out deep. We had about maybe thirty guys. Yeah out,
Speaker 1: they came out. They came out deep because I work, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you think of it? They did? We had
Speaker 1: a big Turnoutsten, So like you know, you're having us
Speaker 1: on the show, was gonna get the word out right
Speaker 1: and sometimes social media now you have like a banners yet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we're we're solidifying all of that this week. Okay, cool,
Speaker 1: because that's you know the next year that I'm not
Speaker 1: winning the marketing and Brandon. You know, like I said,
Speaker 1: I definitely got to do my part and and and
Speaker 1: get the word out because of the fact that I
Speaker 1: want to be able to just just you know, I
Speaker 1: always tell people, you know, you always want to go
Speaker 1: and get in the restaurant when you can't get in it,
Speaker 1: you know, going that people's cheers, people on the walls going, Okay,
Speaker 1: what's going on? But what the what they is? What
Speaker 1: they're keeping over with these kids? You know what what
Speaker 1: I gotta do and so I don't that's the goal.
Speaker 1: The goal is to put us, put us in a position.
Speaker 1: You know, it was really interesting when I everything. You
Speaker 1: got to have a little swagged look cool too. That's
Speaker 1: why people jump in real fast, you know, because they
Speaker 1: don't know and world gets out of going I'm doing this.
Speaker 1: I'm changing this young man's life and only give eight
Speaker 1: hours a day a month, eight hours, eight hours a month,
Speaker 1: a month, and that's and then but we have to
Speaker 1: realize that is time. But that is not an incredible
Speaker 1: amount of time. You're not adopting this kid. So so
Speaker 1: what was the theme for the panel last year? Did
Speaker 1: anybody host the panel? Because you're you got your bar
Speaker 1: reshown in, Yeah, you didn't put up what they told me.
Speaker 1: I gotta get people, and you know, I gotta I
Speaker 1: gotta have a theme. I gotta host. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, I'm going to work for
Speaker 1: the big theater. Listen. We wanted to definitely, we wanted
Speaker 1: to take it to another level this year. Last year
Speaker 1: was great. We just had a lot of folks who
Speaker 1: are already a part of our network, some big some
Speaker 1: brothers who are already doing the work. But we wanted
Speaker 1: to bring in some celebrities like yourself, others who could
Speaker 1: really get the word out at a big level. Um
Speaker 1: this time and you know, partnering with the gathering spout
Speaker 1: with Ryan and others down there, just taking it to
Speaker 1: the next level. So we want to get folks like you.
Speaker 1: We got some other big names we're not gonna share
Speaker 1: right now that we're working on UM to just get
Speaker 1: new people in the building who don't know about it
Speaker 1: and have a conversation and say, you know, this is
Speaker 1: really about us stepping up as men in the community,
Speaker 1: many of us who are doing really good things and
Speaker 1: have you know, eight hours we can And it's it's
Speaker 1: not really about new time. I say create, you know,
Speaker 1: incorporation person, you're steam time. You know you're doing different
Speaker 1: things already, and why not bring that young person with
Speaker 1: you to do things that you're already gonna do and
Speaker 1: give them X but bring them up to the studio
Speaker 1: or you know, if I go to the barbershop or
Speaker 1: different things that we do. UM just already in my mind,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to calculate time. You know, you know
Speaker 1: I got start by pilate classes. I'm just trying to
Speaker 1: you know, because because really when you start saying it.
Speaker 1: But it's about the commitment though, for me, that's important
Speaker 1: that people out to understand because I've been there. I've
Speaker 1: seen these kids. I walked in the room. They look,
Speaker 1: they go whatever, because they know, are you here to
Speaker 1: make yourself feel good today? You know, just your one
Speaker 1: charity moment. Don't look at me as a charity case,
Speaker 1: I can do bad by myself. I don't need this
Speaker 1: emotional drop in and drop out experience. That is the
Speaker 1: key that we have to say is that, but we
Speaker 1: have to let them know that there's a commitment. But
Speaker 1: they also is not an adoption process going down and
Speaker 1: not moving into your how know. So I want to
Speaker 1: touch on what you just said. Solly said it as well. UM,
Speaker 1: we like to call it don't make new time, share
Speaker 1: time the time that you have already On the weekends,
Speaker 1: what do you do go to the barbershop. I'd like
Speaker 1: to use the example. Um. I met a big who said, Um,
Speaker 1: what his little brother liked to do with him was
Speaker 1: to watch his car on the weekend because his parents
Speaker 1: didn't have cars. And that time, sitting down washing this
Speaker 1: car with his big he's talking about school, talking about sport,
Speaker 1: and he's getting that one on one time you go
Speaker 1: to the grocery store, go to public. I like to
Speaker 1: say tell your little this, Hey, we're going to grocery store.
Speaker 1: You have to do it because you have no food
Speaker 1: in your house. But to that, that's that one on
Speaker 1: one time. Say hey, we're gonna go in the grocery
Speaker 1: store with for fifty minutes for fifty dollars. At that point,
Speaker 1: you teach you a little how to budget money, time management.
Speaker 1: And while you're walking up and down the aisles healthy
Speaker 1: living right, how to get healthy food, and you guys
Speaker 1: are just talking. You might not want to go shopping
Speaker 1: with me. You gonna get his ice cream, get some cakes,
Speaker 1: and you can teach your boy how to bake. She's
Speaker 1: gonna get it back to the right. I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: to crack some jokes, keep my bake potential skills. And
Speaker 1: then that's why you guys work as a team, because
Speaker 1: of the fact that I'm here because somebody was courageous
Speaker 1: enough to say, I need you to be a part
Speaker 1: of this. Okay, now you got my mindset. I'm overays
Speaker 1: trying to block time. Now i gotta go talk to
Speaker 1: my wife. Go okay, I'm thinking about what you do
Speaker 1: because because you know, I'm mad at because she ain't
Speaker 1: got a dog, you know what I'm saying, and so
Speaker 1: and and and so. Now I'm trying to bring on
Speaker 1: a human being into our world and so but a
Speaker 1: committed process and that so I gotta look at my
Speaker 1: schedule and see how eight hours plays out, because no
Speaker 1: matter what we are, what we're talking about, there's still
Speaker 1: a human being, and and in different age groups who
Speaker 1: don't know the experiences they've had before you came along.
Speaker 1: Like you said, you have a young child eight you
Speaker 1: might want to mentor somebody who's twelve, somebodyho's fifty. Each
Speaker 1: one of them they got some drama coming with that,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So you have to know
Speaker 1: who you're talking to because that kid that you may
Speaker 1: be starting to mentor maybe you already have don a
Speaker 1: road or made a curve that you if you're not
Speaker 1: spending the time to understand where they're at mentally, you
Speaker 1: you just shocked. You wake up, you see him on
Speaker 1: the news and because you didn't because you were just
Speaker 1: you know, playing the game. Yeah. Yeah, we make sure
Speaker 1: you know before you get in that you know all
Speaker 1: the background and and and choice is a big part
Speaker 1: of this in preference, and you may want to work
Speaker 1: with an eight year old, twelve year old or young
Speaker 1: man who's into certain things. You know, so all that
Speaker 1: plays into to our decision making process. But also you
Speaker 1: get to know what's going on before we match you,
Speaker 1: and the family gets to know about you before we
Speaker 1: match you. So it's a very thoughtful process where we
Speaker 1: work together on that. So with that being said, I'm
Speaker 1: just talking to YouTube. What's what was this? The staff
Speaker 1: look like a big brothers. We have a very amazing team,
Speaker 1: fifty staff. Most of our staff are on our program team.
Speaker 1: We have a very diverse staff. We gotta you know,
Speaker 1: folks who have MSW degrees and you know, folks like
Speaker 1: me who were in jail, you know. So it's it's
Speaker 1: a it's a very great team to work with. I'm
Speaker 1: very honored every day to go work with them. And
Speaker 1: our program team is really providing the support to our
Speaker 1: bigs and our kids in the field and the families
Speaker 1: that are doing the work. So this is a great staff.
Speaker 1: But we have fifty staff. We're in Medtown. Come check
Speaker 1: us out any time, right right at the corner seventeenth
Speaker 1: th Peachtree. We love to have you cool so real men.
Speaker 1: Mentor Yes, the panel is going to be January at
Speaker 1: the gathering spot. How long was it last year? About
Speaker 1: an hour? So we have yeah, so we have when
Speaker 1: you first come in, we we we want to talk
Speaker 1: for it by myself longer. You've got a long wind
Speaker 1: bill over here. But with the things. I'm dragging all
Speaker 1: these people down here. You know, a man ain't we
Speaker 1: want to get them in, but I know we want
Speaker 1: to have like a whole like mixer time for you
Speaker 1: to get in meet other local men in Atlanta. We're
Speaker 1: going to have guys who were big already talk to
Speaker 1: them because you know, this is our job get out
Speaker 1: where salespeople. But we're gonna have people who are there,
Speaker 1: who are actually out there putting the work that can
Speaker 1: answer all the real life questions may in. I gotta
Speaker 1: I gotta get the banners from here. I gotta get
Speaker 1: a press release out, the lockdown the talent that make
Speaker 1: sure that it has approved on both sides and their
Speaker 1: agenda and get all that straight. Uh. Samantha Taylor, who's
Speaker 1: the executive producer of Money Making Conversations, is handling the
Speaker 1: production of the live event that we're going to be
Speaker 1: doing at the gatherings part of January, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Uh,
Speaker 1: Metro Atlanta. Got to make sure I say that, Kalma, Julia,
Speaker 1: thank you for coming on the show again and I
Speaker 1: got work to do. Yes, yes, no, and we we
Speaker 1: thank you so much for this. McDonald, thank you