They Call Me Mista Yu: FLASHBACK --"From Brooklyn To Breakthrough: Why This Podcast Exists"

Our team thought it was a great idea to start rewinding previous (but timely) episodes of our show during the times that Mista Yu is away from the microphone. All of these beautiful Blasts from the Past were previously broadcast, but we are sharing them with you at a time when you might need them most. Hope you enjoy the review!

Ever feel like everyone has a plan for your life except you? We kick off season two by telling the unvarnished origin story of our show—why it was born, who it serves, and how we turned pressure into purpose without selling our souls to platforms or trends. From Brooklyn streets to Fortune 500 offices, from late-night journaling to packed ministry rooms, we map the twists that shaped our voice and mission: practical tools for personal, professional, and spiritual growth, especially for people who crave development but distrust religious systems.

We get specific about the early days of life coaching—structured questions, detailed exercises, and honest accountability that helped clients push through limits they didn’t know they had. We talk about mentors who missed the mark, statistics we weren’t supposed to beat, and the choice to become the change we needed instead of chasing revenge or validation. You’ll hear why we measure success by transformation, not clout; why yesterday’s wins don’t define tomorrow; and how small, brave steps become a pattern of courage.

Faith threads through everything, named clearly and practiced humbly. Using the David and Goliath story as a mirror, we ask what happens when imagined bravery meets a real battlefield. Armor helps, but identity wins. That’s why season two leans into simple disciplines—reflection, community, and next-step action—that turn hope into motion. If you’re tired of labels, hungry for clarity, and ready to move one step into the unknown, you’re in the right place.

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Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

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Transcript

Season Two Launch Energy

Why Start A Podcast

Origins In Coaching And Writing

Ministry Years And A Key Lesson

Purpose Over Platform

Facing Statistics And Defying Odds

Adversity, Mentors, And Resolve

Identity, Isolation, And Faith

Built For Breakthrough

Knowing Yourself Under Pressure

Letting Go Of Others’ Plans

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hey friends and families, it's Mr. You. Now, our team wanted to try something fresh and something different, especially during our slower months of the season. So, starting this season, we're gonna release random but timely episodes from our first few seasons, which I gotta tell you are the most popular seasons of our entire podcast brand history. I think when you hit them, you'll know why they're so popular. It's gonna be great for new listeners and great also for long time listeners who've been following us for a while. So stay tuned. Thank you for watching us and for listening. Hope you enjoy this new experience. We're going into the archives. Here's a blast from the past right now. I think you'll enjoy. Have fun. On this season 2 premiere episode of They Call Me Mr. You, as promised, we're pulling back the curtain just a little bit more. We're talking about how they call me Mr. You was born, where we came from, and where we're headed. And why we believe this is a podcast for a time such as right now. We're gonna unpack some of my stories so maybe you'll see your personal story with a little added perspective. We're doing all that and more on the season two pre-minute episode of They Call Me Mr. You, which starts right now. What's up everybody? Season two, baby! Welcome to the all-purpose pod for an all-purpose life with your weekly minute check before you go change the whim, baby. I'm your host, Mr. You. Welcome back to the All-Purpose Pod for All-Purpose Life. We your weekly merit check before you go change the world. Season two, they call me Mr. You. Wherever you are, have you listened to our podcast today? Thank you again for making They Call Me Mr. You part of your morning, your day, and your week. I don't know if I can even believe it myself. We have season two, y'all. I'm so excited. I definitely didn't think we'd get here, but we're here. Season two, baby. We got some new content, some new development tools. I know I'm positive. It's gonna rock your world because it's rocking minds. We love it. Thank you guys for joining us again on season two of They Call Me Mr. You. We're gonna talk a little bit about how we got here, how we got to this place where we're doing a season two. I hear the question all the time What made you want to start a podcast? It's not like an easy question. I can make it all about me, but honestly, this podcast, season one and this season, it was made because I believed that this is a medium and opportunity that the Lord has something to say. And I'm honored that He even thinks to even use me in even a small way, in this small sphere of influence, with this minimal reach that we have with this podcast. Wherever you get your podcast from, of course, our name is there, but I don't feel like this is about me, even though the name of the podcast is they call me Mr. You. It's just about so much more. So I'm excited for this journey. I'm excited for you guys going with us. Stay tuned. Season two is guaranteed to be better than season one. When you're here, when you listen to the episodes, you'll see why. But how did we get started? Well, it was a combination of a lot of different things that brought about what we know today as they call me Mr. You. Many that know me know some of my history, but there's just so much that I share in little spots on our podcast that people who know me that are close to me are shocked by. It wasn't me keeping a secret, there's just some layers about my life that as I grow older and get more mature, these things come out and you begin to see yourself with different perspectives. I'm hoping that that's going to be the key and the tool that you walk away with by the end of this episode today. But how do we get started? Well, it started from a lot of different things. Coming up where I came from, which is in the city of New York, the borough of Brooklyn, I had a lot of experiences that kind of helped shape how I see things today. That should be the same for all of you, where you come from, the things you've experienced and went through, the challenges, the tragedies, they kind of help shape how you see things, good or bad. But there were a lot of things. I mean, I had some mentors who were not who they said they were. I had some tragedy, some losses in my life. Being an African-American man in America, it was still going on in the 70s and 80s, to a different degree than what you see right now. Not necessarily better, but just different. Relationships and business ventures. You know, being faced with a statistic that a young man without a father is going to end up in a certain kind of life. They're going to end up walking down a certain path. Being one of the few in my family to go to college, working for Fortune 500 companies, being a latchkey kid growing up, and we'll talk about what that is in more detail in a little bit. No, being a father, a stepfather, a grandfather, these are all things, all layers, stages in my life that kind of helped me get to the place where they call me Mr. You actually made sense. So for those that weren't tracking with us with our first season, I want to kind of just give you a little bit of an overview so you know why you're listening today, Call Me Mr. You today, and what you could hope to get from it. I was talking to a gentleman today, as a matter of fact, and I was explaining to him why I do what I do and what I do on this show. And if you had asked me that early in season one, I probably would have told you a multitude of different things. I probably would have sounded like I was all over the map because I actually was. I wasn't really sure what I was trying to target with this podcast. I wasn't really sure where I was trying to go with this. But today I can honestly say that I know where we're going. I know where we're headed. One of the things that I wanted to see accomplished is that for those that want spiritual development but have a distrust for religion, they have a bad taste in their mouth for religion, this is the podcast for you. Those that want to grow professionally and learn from the kind of experiences I had in the workplace with Fortune 500 companies, with being an entrepreneur and having multiple streams of income and business, this podcast is for you. If you want to hear the perspective of somebody who should have been a statistic, but they're not, and hear what happened, what turned my life around so that I can defy the odds and be successful in this life. This is the podcast for you. There's gonna be a lot of things you're gonna hear about. But for those that weren't tracking with us on our first season, they called me Mr. You was born from a promising writing and coaching career as well. I was doing life coaching, probably about five years. I had my own practice in sunny Florida, and I was I had paying clients who I'd meet with. We'd walk through their life almost almost like it was an interview, but even more so, more detailed. There would be a lot of writing, a lot of journaling. There would be a lot of details, a lot of exercises and homework. I was a certified life coach and I acted like it. I was a teacher and an instructor, and I acted like it. Every one of my clients got their money's worth because I broke down everything in their life that we thought would be a hindrance to them growing their business, developing themselves spiritually as it pertains to ministry and giftings and talents and stuff. We went through it all. It was kind of born from that. My writing career really began way before that. I was writing since I was like five years old. I always had a number two pencil in my hand or a pen. I was always trying to write something. Even if I didn't know what I was doing, I was always writing down poems and stories. And most times, growing up where I grew up, I had a lot of opportunities to see things. Some good, some very beautiful, and some not so good. Where I had this propensity to write everything down. I would journal everything before I knew journaling was cool. I would write everything down. That's kind of how my writing career really got started. I would write and take pictures of things that I seen and then write stories about what I was taking a picture of. Whether it be a nation, whether it be somebody in my family, whether it be something in my neighborhood that was eye-catching. So I would write and write and write. I've been writing for almost 45 years now. In some way, shape, or form. Published books, like The Heart of a Stepfather, which was my first published book. And then books that I wrote, mystery novels that never got published. I've been writing for a long time. Along with that, they call me Mr. You was also born from more than 23 years of serving on church staffs, authoring books, of course, building Christian education ministries throughout the Southeast region, singing on stages and platforms, singing RB ballads to leading and teaching worship conferences. What a change, right? And realizing one of the most important lessons I've ever learned. No matter how good yesterday and its gifts were, it will never be better than tomorrow's. I want to say that again for those in the back. No matter how good yesterday and its gifts were, it'll never be better than tomorrow's. And I live with that, I deal with that every day. That's why they call me Mr. You is here. That's why you have it at your disposal, at your fingertips, on your phones, on your iPad, on your computer. Because I believe that we have something to offer to this world and the world we left behind and the world that we're beginning to embrace and getting to know. And this was my opportunity to, in a way, kind of give back. I don't make money from the podcast. We get donations from time to time, but I'm not trying to be the next new motivational speaker, the next phenomenon. I just want to help people. And what I say in the first 30 episodes of season one to this season number two, if it helps, you take a step in faith. If it encourages you to look into the face of whatever the danger is, whatever that mountain is, and say, I'm gonna conquer it. If it helps you to put that dream that's on paper and make it a reality, then they call me Mr. You was worth everything I had to go through to make this happen. I had people literally from across the country suggesting I start a national radio show, open up my own restaurant, pastor my own churches, have a full-scale motivational speaking career, and a whole host of other ideas so many thought would be a good fit for their friend Yusuf. I have mentors that try to take advantage of me. So-called mentors that wanted my money, or they wanted my service and devotion to be solely fixed on them. They wanted my ability to write and produce songs for them, but they would never help me. I don't even want revenge. I just wanted to be the change that I wanted to see. I don't do this because I want to show people what they missed out on by mistreating me or what they could have had, whether they partner with me or not. I just want to be the change I wanted to see. All the things I was missing in life. I try to offer that through this podcast. I know that that's working, and it's not just vain words because I hear from you guys. You guys share with me on social media, excuse me. You share it on social media, you tell me personally, in whether it be in workplace environments or whether it be in personal interactions, you let me know that this particular episode has impacted you. It's helped you see some things differently. That tells me. That tells me that it's working. That says that it's working and that they call me Mr. U is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It's impacting lives. And for that, I'm really, really grateful. You know, full disclosure. I wasn't personally and professionally developing myself at the time, so I don't know where that mindset even came from. But I think the most of all, what I wanted through all the struggles and the trials that I went through, I wanted redemption. I wanted it for me. I wanted redemption for other people. You know, being a savior was just too much work. It's only reserved for the only one that can be a savior, and that's Jesus Christ. I just wanted to help people. So I made it my cause. It's why I went into life coaching. It's why I began to teach conferences and teach Christian education and do all these summer school and quarterly Bible studies. I just wanted to help encourage people, as many as I could. I wanted to break as many chains as possible. I made it my mission. Every time I press record and I speak to all of the people across the nation, there's people out there listening, even in Africa right now, that can hear us, they can hear me talking. I'm thinking about how many chains can be broken, how many bad mindsets can be reverted into something more positive and productive. There are a lot of people that look just like me that sing the same songs I used to sing. It could have been me. It could have been me on that corner. It could have been me in that alleyway. It could have been me in that hospital bed, it could have been me in that morgue. Being a statistic is so easy. It doesn't take any real effort, really. It's harder to be among the percentage points of those that refuse to settle for that stigma. They call me Mr. U is my way of saying, let's go. Let's do this together. Let's lift each other up. I mean, we got so many reasons to fight. If you look around, you might think people have more reasons to lie down and quit. But we have so many reasons to fight. And so many reasons not to quit. I'm a member of the no-quit nation, and I'm so proud of it. I have so many reasons to fight. So many reasons to stand up. I remember a member of the NYPD, the New York Police Department, predicting where he thought my life would end up. Speaking over my life. I think I found the answer for all you guys that are health conscious but still love coffee. Strong Coffee Company. 15 grams of high quality protein. Check. Sustain energy throughout the day. Check. No jitters and crashes. Check. Stress relievers like Ashwagon for your morning commute. Check and double check. It's also good for your skin. Come on now. A healthy alternative that actually tastes good. I've arranged the highest exclusive discount for my listeners. Use the promo code StrongCoffeeCompany.com forward slash discount. Forward slash TCMMY. That's what they call me, Mr. U. StrongCoffeeCompany.com forward slash discount. Forward slash TCMY. The link is also in the show notes. Check out Strong Coffee. Let me know what you think. I remember some saying I would never be successful without their help. I need a dead cachet. I had to have their clout and connections, or I'd never be anything. In the music business. Even in ministry. I remember old friends saying my marriage wouldn't fail. And it wouldn't last for a year. I remember a lot of the words that I've heard. But I also remember the promises of God that says I'm more than a conqueror, too. A conqueror wins a battle or two. I have to believe being more than a conqueror means I have more value than just winning a fight or an occasional struggle. I have the ability to affect change. Take territory. Claim victory even before the battle starts. My wife and I celebrating 25 years this year for the record. Just in case anybody was wondering. But guess I see success differently than everybody else. Some see success like a mansion with a Maserati parked out front or multiple cars, diamond rings, blinging out of control. I see success differently, I guess. Who would have thought a latchkey kid who looked down when he talked to people, because he didn't have much self-esteem, didn't have a father or father figures in his life, who thought any day outside in the playground could be his last day, who wrote down all the things he thought he could become, but truly never really believed it was going to happen. Because very few that looked like him, that had his complexion, that had his skin tone and hue, were able to accomplish it. He didn't know that people that look like look like him would be successful. As a latch key kid, that meant that I was able to go to school and come home and have my own key to get home. For those that were wondering what last key kid meant. And that usually happened for those in my neighborhood, probably 12 or 13 years old. Some parents, like mine, had multiple jobs and was going to school. And some parents had other ventures they were involved with. Leaving their children home by themselves. But that statistic that I was supposed to be, I survived some of the worst treats in my city. Maybe even in America. That statistic went to college and had multiple degrees. Three or four to be exact. That statistic worked for multiple Fortune 500 companies. Think about four of those. That statistic stepped into a role much more significant than a stepfather. He was a faithful father, a husband, and a doting grandfather. Three things I never thought would happen to this crazy kid from Brooklyn, baby. But it did. Can I tell you something? Just to be honest with my people that are listening to this podcast today. Living in isolation can affect your vision. There was so much of my life during that time. I lived in a little box. Writing was good for me because it helped me to express myself, it helped me to deal with my emotions. It helped me to see the world around me in with more perspective. It helped to give me a larger picture. But I still did that in isolation. Like I said, I talked with my head down. I couldn't lift my eyes up and look at somebody in the eye and talk to them. I didn't feel good about me. It was nobody's fault. I was just struggling with who I was, who I was supposed to be. My mother loved me passionately, unconditionally. The greatest mom I could ever ask for. But there were some things that she just wasn't able to do. You know, there's just only some things that only God can do. I ain't trying to get deep and religious. I'm just being honest about where I was. I had good friends during the time. I had some people who I guess you can maybe call role models, maybe kinda, a little bit. But there were some things only God can do. I'm a product of what only God can do. Can do. All the books that I've read, all the podcasts and development that I listened to couldn't do what he was able to do. So you might think you're the only one. You think you can't do it because it's too big and it requires too much. If you look at it with your own perspective and your own vision, well, perhaps that might be true. It may be too big for you. The dream could require too much. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. All the enemies in your life never wanted you to know. I'm gonna tell you today. And you ain't gotta pay me$59.99 to hear it. I'm gonna tell it to you all for free. You were made to overcome obstacles. You were born to break barriers. See, it's it's spectacular and inspirational when it happens. But it's in your DNA. You're gonna hear about this on a future episode, probably within the next month and a half or so. But every single story, all the preparation for the your breakout moment, your breakthrough opportunity, that pump was being primed long before you started thinking about preparing, before you thought about reading more, and developing yourself more and being mentored more. It was happening way before that. Every single struggle, every single tragic story, every single incidence of courage, all those things were just building blocks for what you are eventually going to become. If you know the story of King David, do you really believe that he was just a shepherd boy, unloved by his parents and his family, not respected, not appreciated, looked down upon, and all of a sudden this prophet came and anointed him as king, and all of a sudden he became king? He had all the potential to be a king, all of that disappointment, all of that hurt, that all helped to fuel or feed the king he would become. As a matter of fact, the greatest king in biblical history came out of an area where there was nothing but sheep dung. Every story, every situation that you have dealt with up to this point, they're just building blocks for what your breakout moment is gonna look like, your breakthrough opportunity is gonna look like. They still couldn't extract the courage to stand up for their nation and their freedom and fight against a giant Goliath. They had swords, they had shield, they had armor, but they also had fear and cowardice on the inside of them. This little shepherd boy, with nothing but a sling and a stone and a whole lot of guts, went out and did what all those that said they were prepared for it, had all of the training, all the education, all of the smarts, and still couldn't function when the time came to battle, to fight. I'm trying to share you something. You are a perfectly crafted creative force. You can move mountains, you can surf on the seas of the miraculous, you can take down giants without a sword or shield or armor. That's inside of you. That is you. You were made that way. You live in isolation, wondering what your life is worth. Where can you find purpose? But I gotta be honest with you. This is gonna be a hard, complex point to understand, and I recognize that we'll work through it as the season develops. But the answers to this question about purpose are already inside of you. They're not gonna be found in external things because the answer is already inside of you internally. It's already sewed into your DNA, it's already knitted into your heart already. You just haven't tapped into where you are yet to recognize that. Honestly, if I can say this, this may be controversial, but I think most of us, most of you, don't even know yourselves. You don't know what you would do in certain situations. You think you know, but you're not really sure what you would do. I'm positive David's brothers, Iliab and them, they when they were at home imagining what they would do in battle, I'm sure they had the whole nice picture of how they would take that giant down and make him scream for his mama. But when the time came, and all nine feet of Goliath were out there talking smack, calling them dogs, Eliav's knees were shaking. And the ideas he had over at the house didn't translate to the battlefield. His thoughts and his dreams and his imagination, it didn't trans. It didn't translate. And now, fully armored with weapons of warfare, he was powerless to use them. He didn't know who he was and who he needed to be. All his life, somebody was telling him who he was gonna be. His father Jesse was telling him who you're gonna be when you grow up. Who I want to see you be, as far as being educated and strong and being a future king. He spent his whole life, all of David's brothers spent their whole life being told who they were gonna be. All those times, coming up in the borough of Brooklyn, I had all these ideas of who I thought I was supposed to be. Because of what people told me, what the cop told me, what teachers told me, what my neighbors told me, what my friends said I should do. And even all these years later, friends are still trying to tell me who I should be and what I should be doing. Oh man, you got a great voice. You should do a national radio show. As much as you know about fantasy football and sports, do a sports show, man. People will love it. It'll blow up. You should be a pastor by now. You should have your own church. Everybody's telling me what I should be doing. From then all the way up to now. And you know what? That's not any different than what you guys are experiencing, too. Somebody speaking to you and telling you what you should be doing. But every episode of this podcast, especially season two, is dedicated to you. I can tell you unequivocally that every episode has a very specific key that helped me get free. Let me leave you with one suggestion. Just this one suggestion. Take these things for the entirety of these episodes. Take these things and toss them aside. Everything. All the ideas you had about what you thought was gonna happen, what you thought you'd get from it. Just take it all and just toss it away. Put aside what you think about me personally and where I have failed you in life, or fell short of your expectations for me. I didn't do the national radio show. I didn't do the sports podcast on fantasy football. I didn't pastor a church. Toss aside all the things you heard or felt about podcasts in general. Let go, at least momentarily, of the rigidness of your master plan in life. All the things you thought were gonna happen. And now you're sitting in isolation, upset, maybe even mad at God, mad at yourself because your master plan didn't work. Lose the fear and the doubts that what you're hearing is gonna work for you. I'm inviting you today to do something a little bit different. As we start this new season, I want to encourage you, take a step into the unknown today. I know that's hard, I know that's scary, but that is the epitome, the actual very definition of faith. The Bible teaches us that faith is the substance of things that are hoped for, but the evidence of things that we can't see. We hear the analogy all the time, but we laugh, but it's true. When I pulled up this chair and sat down, I didn't even think about whether the legs would hold me up. It doesn't cross our mind. We sit down in doctors' offices, we sit down at our workstations at work, we sit down in the chairs at church, we sit down on the bus, we sit down on the bicycle, we sit down in the car. We don't think about whether the seat's gonna hold us up. We just sit down. Inherently, we're operating in faith. We're saying, I know the chair got me. I'm not even thinking about it. Something as simple as that. Think about a baby. When they cry, two, three o'clock in the morning, they're operating in faith. When they cry, they say, I know somebody's gonna come and bring me that Baba. They know it. It's inherently in us, even from a baby to an adult sitting in the chair. Maybe have faith. So take a step with me into the unknown this season. Take my hand. Let's talk for about 30 minutes or so. Every single week. I truly hope it makes a difference in your life. I told you how I got here. I'm glad I'm here with you, though. I really am. One of the missions that you hear more throughout season two is that this podcast is for those that want spiritual development, but distrust religion as we know it. What I hope is that you find what you need wherever you are, and whatever you're going through, and whatever you need to shake out of your life, and the people you need to cut off and snip snip out of your life. We're still the people's podcast. And I'm so grateful for season two and that you're still the people. This is gonna be an incredible ride this season. I have some insights on some of the things we're gonna talk about. I am positive. Every single episode, like I said before, you're gonna get some key out of it, some method, some tool that's gonna help you develop personally, professionally, and spiritually. So keep riding with us. The Call Me Mr. You season two, wherever you are and however you're listening to our podcast today. Thank you for making the Call Me Mr. You part of your morning, your day, and your week. And just in case you didn't know, we are your weekly mirror check before you go change the world, baby. Have a great day. Thank you again for joining us. Coach out! Enjoy the music.