Join Donna in welcoming Saul Paul, a musician with a message and a Grammy-nominated producer and artist. Saul’s music has not only made him a household name but a vehicle for empowerment. He shares with Donna his journey from foster care and prison to success.
Today Saul is actively involved in his projects of Be the Change campaign and Change Water, his alkaline water company. This episode is a testament to resilience, the power of second chances, and the human spirit in all its glory. We hope it fuels your spirit and pushes you to be the change you wish to see.
Tune into our CHW Streaming Radio and the full lineup at cominghomewell.com
Download on Apple Play and Google Play
Online-Therapy.com ~ Life Changing Therapy Click here for a 20% discount on your first month.
Donna’s Links
Website: www.rebel-llc.com Consulting/Coaching
Book: Warrior to Patriot Citizen (2017)
Blog: Taking Off The Armor
IG: @thetransitioningwarrior
Twitter: @wtpc
FB: The Transitioning Warrior
Jay’s Links
Website: https://j2servantleadership.com/
Book: Breaking Average (2020)
Thank you for listening! Be sure to SHARE, LIKE and leave us a REVIEW!
Join Donna in welcoming Saul Paul, a musician with a message and a Grammy-nominated producer and artist. Saul’s music has not only made him a household name but a vehicle for empowerment. He shares with Donna his journey from foster care and prison to success.
Today Saul is actively involved in his projects of Be the Change campaign and Change Water, his alkaline water company. This episode is a testament to resilience, the power of second chances, and the human spirit in all its glory. We hope it fuels your spirit and pushes you to be the change you wish to see.
Tune into our CHW Streaming Radio and the full lineup at cominghomewell.com
Download on Apple Play and Google Play
Online-Therapy.com ~ Life Changing Therapy Click here for a 20% discount on your first month.
Donna’s Links
Website: www.rebel-llc.com Consulting/Coaching
Book: Warrior to Patriot Citizen (2017)
Blog: Taking Off The Armor
IG: @thetransitioningwarrior
Twitter: @wtpc
FB: The Transitioning Warrior
Jay’s Links
Website: https://j2servantleadership.com/
Book: Breaking Average (2020)
Thank you for listening! Be sure to SHARE, LIKE and leave us a REVIEW!
Welcome to Beyond the Frontline podcast, where your hosts, US Air Force veterans Donna Hofmeier and Jay Johnson, will help you transition from the front line to the home front. Listen every other Wednesday, as they will bring great conversations, resources, tips and feel good stories that will resonate and relate. Now here's your hosts, Donna Hofmeier and Jay Johnson.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone. It's Donna and I am flying solo today. Jay is off traipsing the country doing his motivational speaking, and he's very good at it. If you ever see Jay Johnson out and about, you should go check it out. He always has a good message. But today we're going to actually bring on a very special guest. His name is Saul Paul and there is a story behind his name. If you all just hold on a moment, I'm going to go get him out of the waiting room. Well, hello there, Mr Saul.
Speaker 3:Hello, hello friend, how are you?
Speaker 2:Good, how are you?
Speaker 3:All right. Are you in San Antonio right now? I am, so the weather is. I was there, my wife was there this weekend.
Speaker 2:Dreary Is it Dreary? Are you in Austin? Is it Dreary up there? Yeah, we're not used to. I mean, like we like rain, I like rain, I like when it goes past like three, four days, I think, all of us gets depressed.
Speaker 3:It's like literally been three, four days already, and it's like, it's like till Thanksgiving, it's like till next Tuesday, wednesday. This is the weather.
Speaker 2:I know, I think we get depressed when we get that much during weather. We're so used to sun like 350 days a year.
Speaker 2:No, I don't know how they do it on the West Coast, yeah up in Seattle and so well, that was like when I lived in England, honestly, and it was that dreary, misty. You felt wet all the time. All the time they hated that feeling, but when they had a summer day, it was the most pristine summer day you've ever had. It was amazing. So let's start with the intro, since I kind of did a little. Usually I'm not a fan of the weather, but I'm just a little bit of a fan of the weather.
Speaker 2:So let's start with the intro, since I kind of did a little. Usually do a little back talk and what's going on in our world and I always say mine's in blissful chaos most time it's all good, but it's just going at lightning speed. So I'm just always trying to hold on and enjoy every single moment. So, and so I know that you're you're a lot like that too, and your story is going to lend to that statement once we hear it. How long ago was it so that we met? A month ago or so I think it was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a good question. Make a bit sweat.
Speaker 2:Right at the gala. We met there, so you were, you were the entertainment there, and I was lucky enough to be one of the Actually, well, a couple of things. Okay, go ahead, correct.
Speaker 3:I have a skit on my album one of my first albums and it says my name is not Sean Paul, not Jamaican. It's not South Park, I'm not a cartoon, Not South. I'm not a card, I'm not left handed.
Speaker 2:Not South.
Speaker 3:Not a country, it's just saw, because inadvertently call me saw all the time which that was the least preferable. It's not only the fact that it's the least.
Speaker 2:It's not. I'm not a. I'm not a singer.
Speaker 3:I don't think it's great. It's at least for short, or saw Paul Right. So, paul, where do you? Prefer SP or so Paul, I'm, I'm a kinta either, I'm indifferent, but yeah, so Paul. So there's definitely a significant. So we can probably talk about where that name came from.
Speaker 2:So my preference Paul were keynote, but you were. That's what I was starting to say is like you are very entertaining. Where entertainment was the rest of it was like, but he wasn't just the entertainer, he was the keynote speaker and he really was the MC to. He was really doing it all and kind of keeping the whole evening going and did a fabulous job at it.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I'm so excited. I just got invited to be the MC of the 2024 South by Southwest Innovation Awards.
Speaker 2:Oh, how neat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's, that's gonna be my Oscars.
Speaker 1:That's gonna be your.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna treat it as such.
Speaker 2:Well, everybody's like what are we talking about? So this is what we're talking about. So Paul and I met at a make of that sweat gala. If you do not know what make of that sweat is, look it up. Make events sweat org.
Speaker 2:Awesome nonprofit that helps veterans that are struggling with things like PTSD and invisible wounds get free gym memberships for a specified period of time. And so he was keynote speaker, slash entertainer, slash MC at the event and was just really impressive. And when he got done, I just walked over and said hey, my name's Donna, this is what we do, and you really impressed me and I want to talk and I'd love to have you on the podcast. And he was like, yeah, let's do it. And so little did I know at that time he was just getting ready to launch his new record and I had to wait a little bit, but I have him now.
Speaker 2:So officially, this is salt Paul, who is a musician with a message. He is a one time Grammy nominated producer, a two time Grammy nominated artist. He has done three TEDx talks and he uses music to empower people to live their best life. And I will say, after you get done watching him in action, if you are not empowered to do better than you weren't listening, because it was very empowering, it was very uplifting, it was very impressive. So officially welcome, saul Paul.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you, thank you. Excited to be here with Donna.
Speaker 2:So let I'm going to. You said the story a lot of times. I'm sure people can go look this up, but this is kind of why we're bringing you on to be on the front line. I want to be clear is that Saul Paul is not a military member. He does not have a prior military history. However, the reason why I wanted him to come talk to us was to talk about his message of resiliency, and that is a strong message that he has. So, to start, I want to hear your story from the beginning, where you started and where you're at, because let me tell you folks, when you hear the beginning, you're going to be shocked at where he is now and how he got there. So, saul Paul, I let that be on you.
Speaker 3:Awesome. I'm gonna try something new. So instead of going on a 40, I could you know I could talk for 45 minutes straight. So I'm gonna try to chop it up and let you interject and leave me alone. But I'll start at the beginning. I'm a blessed individual. My mom died when I was three. My dad left before I was born. You know for my own. I was placed in the foster care. I was adopted by this amazing woman named Perley. Everybody called her Big Mama. I just called her Mama. She was the only mother that I knew. She had already raised 16 children of her own prior to raising me. When she raised me, she raised me as an only child, so it was just me and her Side note. I wrote a song about her and that how amazing she was. It's called Mama I, dedicated to all the mamas, mamas, mamas and mamas, mamas, mamas all the make and tear.
Speaker 3:So anyone listening to this should definitely listen to that song, find it where the music is. But she definitely is the reason why I launched this movement called Be the Change, because she chose to be the change in my life. She didn't have to, but she did. She raised me as her own. Nonetheless, even though my house was full of love, we didn't have much more. I grew up in a little woodhouse no carpet, no AC. The woodhouse was sitting on bricks. I grew up in Houston, texas. She raised me on food stamps and food from the church food pantry. She did the best she could. Nonetheless, I still have free will, and I chose to make risky choices.
Speaker 3:My environment played a part in the choices that I made. Like a man was murdered in my front yard Damn yeah, the man that murdered the man was a relative. I grew up next door to a dope house Now they call it the trap house. The person that owned that house was a relative. So this is just me explaining.
Speaker 3:Like the environment I grew up in, every male in my family before me had been incarcerated, so generations and generations of incarceration. Shout out to the veterans as well, though. I had some individuals in my family that were vets. But what I saw growing up was crime, violence and eating everything else, and crazy part about it is that that is what was exciting to me. I was living in two worlds. I had this natural gift like scholastic aptitude. Basically, I did well in school without trying. It was just a gift. So when I would go to school, I would be around those that did academically well, and when I was at home in my hood I was around those that broke the law and did that extremely well, and it was. I was just living in these two worlds. By the time I was 17, I got arrested by the FBI.
Speaker 2:That was crazy FBI like you skipped the police and you just first arrest was the FBI.
Speaker 3:That part, yeah, like there's levels to everything. And when I put it in context which I didn't my career is I brand myself as a musician with the message. But basically I am a musician and a success coach. My focus is the science of success Because, as you mentioned earlier, when we get to the end and like how my story played out, I become very successful, and not just once a slice, but like on demand. I've been able to create success in my life, but I think it's just because I survived and made so many mistakes on the front end and actually it's because I studied it but growing up. So one thing I always talk about is like there's levels to everything.
Speaker 3:On my hood you can get in trouble like the resource officer that's the school police officer, the city right Like you might have the city cop, or like the sheriff right, that's county. I skipped all that went straight to FBI. And the crazy part is just like getting this athletic scholarship. You might go to Juco or you could go to D2 or you could go to a D1 school. I went to a D1, but it was the FBI.
Speaker 2:A D1 school or a D1 detention center.
Speaker 3:You make a great point. That's a great question. I was being creative when I said D1, I was making a parallel, just like college, like there are levels to it, and so, like you said, I went big. So and that'll be a constant thing through life and yeah, what were you arrested for that first time?
Speaker 3:Making dumb decisions, yeah, so to put this in context, because, yeah, people don't have context, so let me give you context. So my day job is as a musician and a keynote speaker and success coach. I share my story, but not just for the sake of sharing my story, but I know there are life lessons that people can learn in the process. Even from my life, I was able to discover techniques and things about myself that I could use to be successful. So the reality is like in life I always go big. So even when I was on the wrong thing, I went big. Now that I do the right thing, I go big. It's my nature. And it's smart to understand who you are, because then you don't have to spend time striving and trying to be, you just are what you are and you put yourself in the right position.
Speaker 3:So, anyway, when I was a teenager yeah, I grew up in a people in my neighborhood sold drugs. I asked myself like why do people sell drugs? Well, people sell drugs to make money. So me, I skipped selling drugs, I just went straight to making money. But that's a federal offense and that's why I was arrested by the FBI.
Speaker 2:But you said like so I'm confused. You said you skipped selling drugs. What did you skip, too, to?
Speaker 3:making money.
Speaker 2:But selling drugs is making money.
Speaker 3:I know, yeah, like you sell drugs to make money, but you could also just Were you like the distributor.
Speaker 2:Is that what we're kind of at All this?
Speaker 3:right now. So I think lots of people in the audience are getting around and they're oh, oh, oh, like, yeah, like you know, like making money making money is not is frowned upon by the government. Like they make money, you don't get to make money. They print money. You don't get to print money.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, you get it. Did you get it? Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it was a federal offense to make my own money.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. So, in the literal sense, make your money, I believe you got it, I'll get there yeah. I'm talking. So, yeah, once.
Speaker 3:I'm a friend of mine well, yeah, a friend of mine, but it was later in life and he was like, after he finally got it, like whoa, you're like dude, you're like a criminal genius, Like you're like Lex Luthor and something like. But that's why I just say, really it was making dumb decisions. Like that's the takeaway that I like my young audience to get from it, Cause they're always enamored by it. Oh, wow, You're going to arrest the brother FBI, Like for what, and it's like that doesn't need to be level rise.
Speaker 3:No, but I did was make dumb decisions, and I would like to highlight that just because you're smart you know you're not smart it doesn't mean you can't make dumb decisions. And, more importantly, just because you make decisions doesn't mean you're not smart.
Speaker 2:But that you know what those go hand in hand, right? So when? So you know, I was told a friend of mine has a daughter with an IQ of like 162. And when they tested her and did all this stuff, they said to her the mom don't even it doesn't matter what her numbers are, she's highly, highly, highly intelligent. She doesn't need that information because she's also highly, highly, highly manipulative. That comes with the intelligence and you have to know how to channel that in the right way. So I kind of always joke, saying the goal is to make him the CEO, not the gang leader. But there is truth in what you're saying. You're extremely intelligent. You just used it in the wrong place.
Speaker 3:Exactly that's why I do a lot of work. I'm a foundation. It's called the softball foundation. We empower young people to make, we empower young people to live their best lives and we empower community members to be community leaders by helping them. And it's because of what you just shared, it's like me recognizing they can either be the gang leader or the CEO, but sometimes direction is necessary.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:How do we point them in the right direction? Me, I didn't have any direction. I had a lot of love. My grandmother was amazing. I had a lot of negative influence, but there wasn't too much positive direction.
Speaker 2:Do you think that that's where some nature versus nurture comes in? Like you, you had that. It's interesting to hear you because you had that core love right From your mom and and you thank goodness she had that in you, because then surrounding you you had all kinds of bad decisions at your doorstep, literally right and I, and do you wonder, or do you think that you were able to eventually because there's more to the story eventually course correct because of what she's put seated in you in the early years.
Speaker 3:Thank you, yes, that's it exactly because of those seas that were sown and I had the opportunity because of those seas that were sown and the fact that I was still alive.
Speaker 3:I had the opportunity to change. That's why I'm so against. You know, I'm all about mental health. I'm all about loving on others, encouraging others and making sure that everyone is well so that their lives will not end, so that they don't die by suicide. Because as long as you're living, you have an opportunity to win, but if you're not, then you don't, and that's key. We can tiptoe around a lot of stuff, but if you're not alive, you don't have a chance to win.
Speaker 1:So, me.
Speaker 3:I made so many bad choices but I was still alive. And so like what ends up happening if I was to skip ahead a little bit? At 17, I get arrested by the FBI At the same time. My grandmother is sick. She's in the hospital. She never knew I got arrested. If she did, she would have died of a broken heart.
Speaker 3:But, instead passed away first. Now, on my own, I'm couchsurfing, I'm staying with various relatives. I made a lot of bad choices when she was alive. After she passed away, it was like you know, it just went off the rails. I made so many more bad choices. I had nothing to live for because the one person that loved me and it's supporting me is now gone. So, at 17, I get arrested the first time she passes away. It took only three years before I was convicted of three additional felonies. I'm taking a tour of four felonies and by the time I was 20, I was sitting in the Texas State Penitentiary.
Speaker 2:Damn. You said you go big, you don't waste any time. And when you're spiraling, you kept it consistent. Right, you kept going big, but just in a spiral.
Speaker 3:Exactly so, at 20 years old I'm sitting in the Texas State Penitentiary often like to pause and ask people. Like you know, when I talk to young people I'm like who knows what you want to do on your 21st birthday? And everybody has a vision, a plan, a hope, a trip, or you're going to do this or go do that. And then I ask a room full of adults, right, who knows what you were doing on your 21st birthday? And then everybody has an anecdote or a story or a memory.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Me my 21st birthday in the Texas State Penitentiary.
Speaker 2:That's memorable.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I ate. Spread Spread is what they call it when you take ramen noodles. You take a bunch of them and you put them inside of a big bag and you cook them and you crush some Cheetos and various other things that you get from commissary in prison. You put them all in the bag and you mix it up and then you spread it out on the table and you share it with your other inmates, your other cellies.
Speaker 2:Mmm.
Speaker 3:My 21st birthday. It was not the vision that I have for my life at all, but as I'm sitting in prison, I'm realizing like life is the sum total of the choices you make. I came to realize that I wasn't in prison because my mom died or my dad left because I was black, because I grew up in the ghetto, because of poverty. It wasn't the system, it wasn't the man. This was very empowering. I realized I was in prison because of the choices I had been making. But here was the twist. I realized that if I changed my choices, I could change my life. I did, and then I went from prison, incarceration to college graduation for one of the most prestigious universities in the country, the prestigious University of Texas at Austin.
Speaker 2:So did your aha moment come while you were in prison?
Speaker 3:It did. My aha moment came as I was sitting alone in a prison cell and, to reference earlier those seeds that were sown, that was finally when they got watered.
Speaker 2:Watered yeah.
Speaker 3:I remember that love dummy, and she had sown these seeds. And it wasn't just her, it was adults who had spoken to my life. It wasn't too many positive role models, but there were people along the way that spoke and encouraged them word or told me this or told me that, and if they went off of what they saw, then it didn't work. They saw a potential in me. They saw me going the wrong way and the last they might have heard was like, yeah, he didn't listen and he was in prison, convicted of four felonies with 10 years. But that's not how the story ended, because I kept living, I had the opportunity to keep going and to get it right. So I'm sitting in prison. And so those seeds started to sprout.
Speaker 3:I started to have all these aha moments like, oh, that's what Coach gave me, that's what Principal Johnson meant, this is what my councilman's been meant, this is what mama meant, that's what uncle meant, like those seeds were sown. So that was one. But then the real aha moment that brought it all together was prison is two things. Prison is scary Not that I was scared, but it's a crazy environment. So, yeah, it's like this is. This is a while. That's why I, as you mentioned earlier, I'm not ex military, I've never been in the military, but I was in prison with some people who were, and I know some other vests as well, as I ended up at the event that I was with you at, and what I've learned is that what I've learned is that prison and the military have many things in common.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm in prison and so, just like, if you're in the military, right, you can say it's scary and it's like, yeah, I'm not going to die. So then you move different and you do what you need to do and you become the aggressor instead of the prey or whatever it may be. So that's what prison was like, cool. So, yeah, this is wild, this is a scary situation, but I became the aggression after prey Cool Got past that part. That wasn't, that wasn't complicated. I grew up in the hood. I grew up in a violent, crazy environment. So, sadly, this is heartbreaking. Maybe we should come back to this later. Being in prison sadly felt so much like being in my neighborhood, but that's a different conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you bring up a really good point on that and we don't have to get in the weedy details about it. But I was just sitting there thinking, as you were saying, that I'm like I bet you on some level that there was more security and calmness in prison than there was where you were growing up, where you were a child and had no control over that.
Speaker 3:Well, I won't say that for me, but definitely, sadly, there are individuals that that is very true. Yeah, I have older brothers, two siblings. Yeah, I grew up with strange from one of them with institutionalized to the points where when he got out of prison, he literally asked to be sent back to prison.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I bet In prison. Then he was the free world, yeah. And parole officer told him it doesn't work that way, she can't just send them back. So he intentionally broke the law and got caught just so he could go back. But that's yeah, that's an institution.
Speaker 2:But that's a mentality. But you know what it's going to sound silly when I compare this getting out of the military now, not on the same level, but there is a struggle transitioning out of the military on the same premise. You know, we are told when we have to go to our medical appointments, our dental appointments, when we're deploying, where we're going to work, when we're going to be there, I mean everything is laid out. We don't even have to pick our dang clothes right. I mean, my biggest stressor and getting dressed was which underwear am I picking today? I mean there is a lot of control. So, coming out of the military, I was like, oh yeah, don't forget to schedule your dental appointment. Is it a lighter version? Of course it is. I would never, ever put on the same level as prison.
Speaker 3:I think that's the point though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's very simple.
Speaker 3:That's what I noticed from those that went that path. I want this other, but for me, so you're very true, that's very true. But, as you were saying, that's also where I had my aha moment. And the aha moment was because, again, right, prison is two things. Prison is, you know, it's this crazy situation, the scary situation, and it's also boring. Yeah, because they'll get past the. Yeah, I'm not going down here, ok, cool. So now I'm here.
Speaker 2:Now what?
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly. So now, what? So? I played a lot of chess.
Speaker 1:I learned how to play chess.
Speaker 3:I think the best chess player in prison, if you ask me, I got it.
Speaker 2:I learned to play chess.
Speaker 3:I read a lot of books. I read so many books. I read all the books in my cell, in my tank. I read everything I could and after I read all the books I could read, I was still in prison and I was still bored. So I picked up a bottle and so me, I started reading the Bible like it was a novel, and then it came to life. That's, that was the aha moment, I would say, like the DCs were sown into my life but they got water and then the sun shined on them when I started reading the Bible, which I was raised in church but it was still foreign to me. I didn't know a couple Bible stories from a vacation Bible school, but I had no relationship with God.
Speaker 3:Nonetheless, I've been prison. All I had was some time on my hands, some solitude and a Bible. I started reading the Bible. That's when I had the aha moment and I discovered I was born on purpose, with a purpose. I started walking in my purpose. I took that same risk, a verse I was like.
Speaker 3:I took that same behavior that allowed me to be bold and to take chances and take risks, and I applied to something different. I applied it to faith. I started living. My faith, remember, I've always did it big. And now I started to dream big and I was like, ok, I get it, if I'm born on purpose, with a purpose and God, you know will is to bless me and not harm me, to do me good, not bad, and to see me succeed. And I started to believe and I dreamed up dreams like, ok, you know what, I'm going to get out of prison and I'm going to go to college. And I did. I got out of prison. And then sometimes people will ask was it good behavior? And sadly, no, it was not the first year I went back. The first year I was in prison Again. As I mentioned, it felt like a family reunion. I saw people that I hadn't seen since elementary school.
Speaker 2:You got, you got out, so you got out, and then you started to go to college and ended up back in prison, or you.
Speaker 3:Oh, no, no, If I tell it in chronological order, what happens is my grandmother passed away when I'm a junior in high school, actually the summer before my senior year she passes away. My senior year. I stayed with relatives, couchsurfing and whatnot. I graduated and got an academic scholarship and went to college.
Speaker 1:Oh, I was in the University of.
Speaker 3:Texas. Ok, but this is why I have a foundation. This is why I spent so much time on life skills. I made it to college off of natural talent. Right, I didn't have the skill set, the mindset or the grand set, so it didn't work. While I was there, I thought the same thing that got me into college would keep me, but it didn't. Like I needed to study, I needed to do what I was supposed to do, and I didn't know this at this point. So I flunk out, lose my academic scholarship, resort to a life of crime, because now, not staying on campus, not having an academic scholarship, I'm ultimately homeless.
Speaker 3:I don't have a father to return to, right Like I don't have a mom or dad. The grandmother that raised me, she's gone. So I had no home to return to, I had no source of income. So I resorted to a life of crime because, sadly, that's what was familiar, that's what I grew up knowing how to do. So I went back to that and then also when I convicted, of three additional family to get out of jail.
Speaker 2:So you do, okay, go ahead.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah. So now I'm in prison. Now in prison I have my aha moment. I realized if I change my choices, I can change my life. I did. I get out of prison. Now society and everybody that I'll listen to is telling me my life is over. I blew it. People like to.
Speaker 3:When I was in prison, I would we watch UT football games. It's a big deal, like it's Texas Hell, yeah, yeah, right. So it's like you watch football and then it's UT football. And I remember being like I was at UT, like I knew some of the football player and I'm watching the games with the other fellows, the other inmates, the other prisoners that are locked up and incarcerated like me, and we'd be watching the game and you know it just be like casually mentioned, like oh yeah, I know him, I know him, oh, I asked to kick you with him, and like they were like in disbelief, like how, like how would you know them? And I was like I went to college, like with them, I went, and they're like what college? I'm like UT, they're like UT, what? Like UT Austin? And then they're like they stopped looking. I remember it so clear that it was like stop watching the game. And then they're looking directly at me in disbelief, right Like you went to UT.
Speaker 2:And you're here.
Speaker 3:T like yeah, yeah, how are you here? What are?
Speaker 3:you doing here. And then me, right, like this is big, like my mindset is so significant in culture, cause now I'm talking to a woman, I'm like, oh well, you know I'm in the hood, like I was keeping it real. And I remember there was this OG, like a gentleman that you know growing up, how I grew up. If I did it, if I succeeded in hood life, then I would want to be like this gentleman, this OG, right, and he's the one that's talking to me, and he was like I just got to saying you know, I was keeping it real and he was like keeping it real. So I'm like you were keeping it real. Stupid, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:And then he goes back to watching the game. Right, and that struck me because now I didn't listen to. You know all those other people that was torn on seeds. This is who I was emulating this is who I'm working with.
Speaker 3:And now I'm having a conversation face to face. And then later we went to go on and have a conversation and he shared how, like, yeah, he made the choices he made and he did what he had to do, what he felt he had to do, but that's because he had limited options and he actually took the chances and made the choices he made so that his kids wouldn't have to do what he was doing. And that really struck me and I realized like that was another aha moment and it was like, okay, you know what? This ain't the place for me. I need to get out, go back to college, graduate, going with my life and be great.
Speaker 3:But here's the twist when I told any and everybody else while I was in prison like, yeah, man, right to live in my faith. Now I got big vision. I didn't know that you can't. I didn't know that you can't always share your dream with anybody. Like you have to be wise. Who you share your dreams with, they're fragile and they're valuable and you just don't give those to anybody.
Speaker 3:And I would be telling the other homies, other felons that are locked up with me, like, yeah, man, I'm gonna get out, I'm gonna go to college. They would laugh at my face. They would literally like they would laugh and then they would go grab other people and bring them back and be like hey, tell him what you told me. Because they thought it was so foolish that I thought I would get out of prison and succeed that I would. They thought it was crazy that I thought I would get out of prison and go to college and be successful, but nonetheless, the way it worked out is I was right and I did. I got out of prison. I got re-admitted to the prestigious University of Texas at Austin. I ultimately graduated with a 4.0.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 3:I was in prison with four felons. Now I'm graduating from UT with a 4.0. And that's when I realized that I had made a change in my life and I went from Saul to Paul, which is from the Bible, the apostle Paul, but we remember Saul. He had his life transformation. He went from Saul to Paul. I had his transformation and then that's what I dedicated my life to be the change.
Speaker 2:Saul Paul. There it is the legend. So when you, it seems like when you got out of prison second time, it was straight up there for you you were that. Was it Like you had bought in that you could use your smarts and all your talents to make smart decisions right?
Speaker 3:That's it.
Speaker 2:So did you have any setbacks when you stepped out?
Speaker 3:I mean out of prison, I mean Setbacks all the time I was talking to a mint tea of mine this morning. He called me at eight, maybe like 8.45. And I guess today he was starting a new job. Well, I know today he was starting a new job and he was quite excited about the job. But he called me to straw because when he showed up on this Monday morning to start his new job they told him that the offer to work at the company was rescinded. They took it back because it was criminal background.
Speaker 2:Ugh, actually had that happen to me. No criminal background, but I had that situation happen where we were a go. I just needed to come back and sign the paperwork and they emailed me and said we've reconsidered. And I was like damn, thanks yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that sucks right the punch in the gut, you know.
Speaker 2:So wow, that's a curiosity question. When you got out, did UT accept you right back, no issues? Did they look at your record and have questions? Did you have to jump through extra hoops Like what was the?
Speaker 3:Great question? That's a great question. People often ask me right Cause I've written a book.
Speaker 3:you know I'm giving a thousand key notes telling the story telling my story and I wrote a book about it, I made a film about it. I'm excited a new one comes out next year called Be the Chang. But then there's always this part cause I tell the story like, yeah, I went from four felonies to a 4.0. I was in prison, I got out, I was like I'm focused, I'm gonna go back to college, I'm a graduate and I did. And then people will always be like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, that's great, that's great, wait. But how did you go from prison to UT, like? And then they ask a question you just asked right and they go like, okay, oh, my bad, I skipped the key part.
Speaker 3:So let me tell you how I went from being incarcerated in the Texas State Penitentiary to graduating, to getting back in the college at the University of Texas at Austin. So this is for anybody listening only Like. This is not for the world to know. This is like inside information. This is exclusive. This is how I got back in While I was in prison. I got back in because I applied and that's the punch line. I know it's anti-climactic.
Speaker 2:It's like, really like go from prison.
Speaker 3:How did you go from prison like back to UT? And the real takeaway here is many times the limits are in our mind.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a very good point.
Speaker 3:I was foolish enough to believe like I was in prison. And it just clicked for me one day Like okay. So my OG called me stupid, like I was keeping it real. Stupid Prison sucks. They act like it's fun on TV and in music. But it's not. This is. This is stupid, I don't like it here, I don't want to be here, I'm never coming back.
Speaker 3:They also used to laugh at me about that when I was I'm never coming back. And then they were like you can't say what's going to happen. I remember that so clearly. They were like you can't say what's going to happen, you don't know if you're going to come back or not. And that was the most absurd thing I had ever heard.
Speaker 3:At this point in my life. I was listening to these people talk and talk, so talk, with such lack of power over their own life, like they're literally like I cannot dictate what's going to happen. And that just didn't make sense to me. Like it's your life If I wouldn't you dictate it. But anyway, I'm in prison and I'm like, okay, I'm going to get out of prison and I'm going to go back to college and graduate.
Speaker 3:And I started filling out applications while I was in prison, like I was accepted to a few universities while I was still incarcerated I hadn't even been given a parole day check, but nonetheless. And the real takeaway that I want people to get here is like what do you believe? It doesn't matter what you can do or what they tell you you can't do. It's like what do you believe? Because once you start to believe, then you start to see. Once you start to believe, then you see the pathway to do. Once you start to believe, then you have the heart, the tenacity, the courage, the resilience, the perseverance to actually make it happen. Because you believe and you see the goal. Now, things happen all the time. But the simple answer to that question like how did I go from being incarcerated in prison to getting accepted into college? And the answer is I applied.
Speaker 2:Well, two things on that. One, there is a lot of people. I don't know about a lot, but there's a percentage of people in prison that are going to college while in prison, correct, Correct?
Speaker 3:They're taking classes right. I know people that are coming out with bachelor degrees like masters while they're in prison.
Speaker 2:Right. They're putting that energy into constructive use. And this quote popped in my head, which is amazing. I can never remember quotes, but it's by, I think, a time reforged. That said, whether you can or you can't, you're right. So.
Speaker 3:I agree with that. Whether you, whether you think you can or whether you think you can, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 3:What it is, because I know how people think. So I'm like I went from prison, incarceration, into college graduation, and the way I got back into college is I applied. And so somebody because they have mind monsters and mind monsters are those negative, pessimistic thoughts that pop up in your head Soon as you hear something. It's like the mind monster shows up and says no, they'll stay. Yeah, you can apply, but they can still tell you no, Just like my mentee, my friend, told me today my little bro, and he was like you know, he applied to a job and they said yes, and then he showed up and then they were like oh, never mind, we reneged on our offer, you can no longer have this job and that's just called life. You can happen it and you're not even a felon.
Speaker 3:See it was a ex-felon or returning citizen or whatever language you want to call, because now is big language about like I know I get the value of the word and whatnot, but right, but somebody who has that stigma or that baggage of I have a criminal background and because of that I can't do this or do that. They'll be like. The reason why I got like, the reason why I can't succeed, is because of this, and it's like there are other people that have the same obstacles and they don't even have the same baggage.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:And more about like your goal and how, in your tenacity, your commitment to accomplishing the task. Had I not got back into the University of Texas, I wouldn't have. I won't even mention other colleges that I was accepted to, but again, I was accepted into a few different colleges. I had a. I had a plan, not a backup plan. I had a plan and the crazy part is, even when I got out, before I got back into UT, I had to go to because of the timing of it all and finances, because I went to college initially on a academic scholarship and this time I had to pay my way, make it more valuable, doesn't it?
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness, yeah, I used to skip classes. I could do a whole you know four after right, like when I went to college on an academic scholarship. I used to be like, ooh, I skip class and nobody even cared. Yeah, I was like, well, it's paid for you, just not wasting your money. Now the second time is like, hey, I'm going to class, I'm going to TA hours, I'm checking out equipment. I'm like I paid for this, like all right, it doesn't free, this isn't a benefit. This is like what I paid for. I'm going to make the most of it.
Speaker 2:One of the first things I taught college for a couple of years and one of the first things I would tell my students at the beginning of class was I had a lot of freshmen. Well, I taught freshmen all the way to seniors, but when I had my freshman class, I would say you know, my job is no longer to shape your mind. My job is now to give you the information, work with you through it so you understand it and then, based on the output that you give me, calculate a grade. So whatever you see is what you did has nothing to do with me, and they just look at me. And it didn't really click to some people until their grades were starting to suffer, and you know we'd have that discussion. This is not on me. If you don't understand what I'm. You know putting out ahead office hours. I answer my emails. I will get with you one on one, whatever it took to help you understand it, but that's your responsibility, right? That was some aha moments for a lot of students too. So let me ask this I'm going to move it forward here just in the interest of time here.
Speaker 2:So you graduated and now you have this degree, you have overcome some serious obstacles, and you and I had this discussion when we were at the gala, because I was making a comment about veteran treatment court and you said you were familiar with it. Were they, veteran treatment court? We did a whole series on it in this podcast, and service members, veterans that make bad decisions that are less than felony misdemeanors and whatnot, are given a second chance. And what impressed me about you, and this is what I said to you I don't know if you heard it because the music was super loud but I said they're given a second chance and you had to give yourself a second chance. And so that's what impressed me more than anything, because I think, actually, that second part of the statement is true for everybody. You can be given the second chance, right, but you have to give yourself also the second chance. You have to give yourself permission to succeed, which is what I hear from you, and your mission and what you're doing now right On, be the change Well stated.
Speaker 3:Well stated. Yes, you have to give yourself a second chance. I'm giving myself a second chance. Third chance I'm just calling it self love, Thank you. I call it self love. I recognize it's actually part of self care and, because I don't want to be a hypocrite or fraudulent, I also give that same grace to people I interact and engage with.
Speaker 3:I think, more people did, that we'd have a better planet Because we'd have a better culture and it would be better communities because there would be better people. But that's the deal you have to give yourself that second chance, like, and give yourself time. So, yeah, that's definitely what it was about. Yeah, I believe it there.
Speaker 2:So, okay, so you have, you're giving yourself grace, you're understanding things now. Your mom's sage advice and certain people along the way. The seeds are growing, they've been watered and they're blooming now, yes, they are, they are. And so where are you at now? Cause you have a lot of things going on. I said trying to nail you down. You know, you're like I'm getting ready to launch my record. I'm like, oh, that's so exciting, so I've done a couple of launches. I'm like, yeah, I know what that's like. It's chaos.
Speaker 2:So I just gotta leave you alone until you popped up again and you did You're like, hey, don't, I'm back, I'm like okay. So tell everybody what you're doing now, because this is really you know. When I introduced you, I said Grammy a couple of times in there, Grammy nominee. So what are you doing now?
Speaker 3:I love it. So let me see how to do this. This is like I can do this succinctly. So I'm Saul Paul. I'm an artist and entrepreneur, saul Paul. As an artist, I entertain, inspire and empower. As a keynote, I share my story how I transitioned from prison, incarceration to college graduation. As a success coach, I focus on the science of success and help others live their best lives by becoming high performing individuals. As an entrepreneur, I have a company called Saul Paul Productions and we put on live events, whether that's concerts, festivals or conferences, because my brand has grown and I've become, because my brand has grown and Saul Paul has become like somewhat like a household name.
Speaker 3:I want to take advantage of that and leverage it. So I started a campaign called Be the Change, and Be the Change is a social good campaign that empowers other people to live their best lives and be the change. You'll be the change. We've empowered millions of people across the world, various continents, numerous countries, as well as numerous states across the US. Last fall we had this Be the Change challenge. The Be the Change challenge is when individuals accept the challenge to be the change in their own community by coming up with a volunteerism project and giving back. They we don't dictate what that looks like. They get to dictate what that looks like because they live there. It's their voice, so it should be their choice. We focus specifically. I did. I went on a 100 city tour in 32 states. I visited 100 K through 12 schools.
Speaker 3:Wow 125,000 students and of those 125,000 students, 20,000 plus joined Be the Change challenge. They came up with their own volunteerism campaigns, whether that was a clothing drive, a sock drive, whether they wrote letters to senior citizens Maybe they were seniors. In high school they tutored children, other students that were in elementary, some cool kids in Ohio. They were smart. I'd say they're smart because they took what they cared about, which was gaming, and then they mixed it with giving back. So also when they drink energy drinks all night, had a 24-hour video game Streamathon and then they raised money. They took the money that they raised while they streamed lot on Twitch playing video games and then they donated it to a local children's hospital.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow. That's so cool, Okay, wait we gotta talk because my kids go to Randolph. It's a school on base here, so we're just up the road from us Come on.
Speaker 3:We need to get them involved with the Be the Change challenge. We focused nationally last year.
Speaker 2:This year our focus is in Texas and so yeah, okay, we'll talk afterwards, but I'm gonna put that in planning the seed right, I wanna bring you down.
Speaker 3:There, it is Okay, tell me go ahead. Oh, you go ahead.
Speaker 2:Well, I was gonna say tell us your water, because that's another thing that you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's next. That's like a. That's the cool part. People are how do I join the Be the Change challenge? Well, we have this alkaline water company we started called Change Water. Talk about the water. It's alkaline water. It's boosted with electrolytes. What makes it special? It has oxygen added to it. It's locally sourced in Central Texas at the Carisco Wilcox Aquifer. But it's not about the water. The water is excellent. The mission's even better. We donate 50% of the profits from the sale of the water to local schools and nonprofits. That's how we were able to fund our 100 city tour visiting all these schools, because there was no charge to the school, and that's what allowed us to impact so many people.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have distribution through one of the top distributors in the country, k-hing. It's available at various stores across the country. If people were in San Antonio they could get it at Amy's Ice Cream other local independent retailers. I know there's a big grocery store that's here.
Speaker 2:It's not in ATB yet. We gotta work on that ATB for listening. Why do you not have this water?
Speaker 3:That part, that part. Yeah, so we have changed water, which is the retail arm of the being changed movement.
Speaker 2:Very awesome, all right. So music got nominated for a Grammy, correct, I did. My most recent was as a producer for a project called Black Men Are Precious.
Speaker 3:Before that it was as for a project called All One Trod. It's really, really cool. Myself I am part rapper, part singer, songwriter. I tell my story through music. I don't know, I just make good vibes, make good music and do it high quality, and it's been cool to have been a part of that. And it's been cool to have been recognized via the Recording Academy, the projects that I've created. It's so cool. People go follow me on social, like at softball or Instagram, tiktok, facebook, twitter, wherever, linkedin, whatever. You could see what it was like when I was at the Grammys, when I was on the red carpet, when I did my thing Fancy, yeah, fancy, fancy, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I learned something because I listened to one of your TED Talks and so you wanna tell everybody I did not know this that I was today old when I learned what rap did for was it stand for?
Speaker 3:Oh, I was too busy laughing, I didn't hear it.
Speaker 2:You said you were too busy oh, when you learned. That rap actually was an acronym for.
Speaker 3:Rhythm and poetry.
Speaker 2:Rhythm and poetry, I was like damn the things you learn.
Speaker 3:Rhythm is the beat and the poetry of the words.
Speaker 2:So, having said that, I'm baiting you along here. So Saul Paul has this really neat thing that he does that, and he did it at the gala that we were at and he said throw out five words and I'll do a rap. Can I put you on the spot?
Speaker 3:I'm in my studio. Let me see this will be a good conclusion.
Speaker 2:That's what I wanted to do and we actually at the gala we threw in Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Abidam he did a rap to that. It was awesome, but I won't do that one to him.
Speaker 3:All right. So then what will? Where are the words? We're going?
Speaker 2:Okay, I wrote down five when we were talking.
Speaker 3:You can't prepare? Do you already wrote them in your name?
Speaker 2:I was already planning this.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 2:So the five words I have are change, resilient love past. Wait change resilient love what was the last one? Past and future.
Speaker 3:Past and future.
Speaker 2:That's being easy on you.
Speaker 3:All right, now you got to throw one in for, like, just being creative, like oddball words.
Speaker 2:Oddball word. How about? How about panther?
Speaker 3:Ha, ha, ha ha. Okay, that's the one tattoo that I have. Yeah, there's a famous tattoo parlor in Houston called Degos and my grandmother was alive. She wouldn't allow me to get a tattoo and so, yeah, when she passed away, that limitation was gone and I went to Degos and got a tattoo on my chest with a panther black panther.
Speaker 2:Nice, my intuition was kicking in there.
Speaker 3:Kinda forever. All right, let me see freestyle.
Speaker 2:He didn't know I was doing this. So I'm telling you this was completely spontaneous. I did not give him a heads up.
Speaker 3:I know. Okay, now let me see so improvisational freestyle. The words that we have on Degos, I can remember we have change, resilience, past future, love, love and panther.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:All right, all right, so be fun. All right, let me see I dedicate this to everyone listening. Okay, all right, let me see.
Speaker 3:You're writing. You're writing this too. D there you go. All right, just got it. So this song will be made totally improvisational on the spot. I think this is what life is like Sometimes in life life comes at you fast, you don't really get to dictate what you get, but you still gotta make the most of it, and not just make the most of it, but make it itself show life. So I don't get to pick these words, I gotta take what I've been given. So here's what I got. See ya, pregunta? What's the answer? They go A-sound.
Speaker 3:I got that panther it's. You don't see. Spanish Pregunta means question. If you stay focused, it's gonna need more stress Lessons I learned. If I can secretly love, throw it from the bottom, but I rose up above. Yeah, you just took my pasts.
Speaker 1:I recognize right now the president's like yeah this is all that I get.
Speaker 3:We saw a lot of top. Yeah, I'm gonna represent. Yeah, plus, I am resilient when I do my flow like my brother still skips, I still win long as the earth spin, I take it out, say like Randy Durkin or like from past preaching in the churches. I went through what I do as a service and it was not just worthless but I'm glad that my mom go my wordfist, even more valuable than all that. I think I use every word, but what you call that? If I didn't tell me what did I get? Cause I just made it on the spot, which I spent. I didn't have time, so it wasn't written. I didn't hear anything, so I guess I didn't get it.
Speaker 2:That is awesome.
Speaker 3:Was that everywhere? I think we got them all right.
Speaker 2:I think you got them all.
Speaker 3:Did you?
Speaker 2:get Future in there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I did.
Speaker 2:You did, yeah. Future past lovers Leon Chayne and Panther.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got them all.
Speaker 2:Nice job. I'm telling you, I fell over. They were throwing out craziness to you. Super Califragilist, I'm like, oh my Lord, you nailed it, you got all of it in there. I think they even put like platypus in there, or something like that.
Speaker 3:Platypus, yes.
Speaker 2:That was crazy, so All right. So, paul, you are nothing less than impressive. You and I clicked from the moment we met. I totally, it totally picked up on your energy and I'm hoping that we will keep in touch. I am serious about bringing you down to our schools, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:I would love it. We definitely need to make that happen. I'm really, really excited right now. We're what are we doing? We focus on the schools. We already have numerous schools signed up. We have nonprofits signed up. Oh, actually, I guess I should mention this the week after Thanksgiving, the week of November 25th, we will be hosting actually, the week of the 27th, we'll be hosting Be the Change Week. So there will be ample opportunities for individuals to join us. There will be the Change Week. No matter where they are in the country, no matter where they are in the state of Texas, no matter where they are in San Antonio, they can join us, Sign up for the Be the Change Challenge. If they just go to sawpaulcom, they can join us, and our goal is to inspire 1,000 plus acts of changemaking in Congress.
Speaker 2:That is awesome, you know, it doesn't have to be complicated.
Speaker 3:Not at all.
Speaker 2:It really doesn't. I will share this last thought. I didn't say it when we were talking, but it was popping in my head so I thought I would share. It Is when you were talking about people like your mom and other people that were around that were planting those seeds. I put this out to the audience. You have no idea what your impact is for good or not when you interact with people, and I found this out a couple of years ago. A very my best friend sends me a picture and it's a suicide note and she said I was. She was in the middle of moving and she was cleaning out my stuff and I found this and I want to tell you that you stopped it. Like that was a rough time and it was talking to you that kept me going through it. I had no idea. No idea she was that close. I knew she was struggling, I knew that she was going through some very difficult times, but I did not know she was that close.
Speaker 3:So oh, you never know.
Speaker 2:You don't. And when we say things like be the change, and saw Paul, you walk in and you got your drip, this is be the change on it and you're up on stage and you're singing and you're doing all this stuff, and people go, oh my God, I can't do that. Nobody asked you to step in and do 45 different things. If that's not your thing, if your thing is to walk by somebody and say, hey, I really like your shoes, or hey, you got a great smile, then do it. That's all you got to do. You do not have to compare yourself to anybody in what they're doing. There's no comparison. Some people are just wired differently. I'm wired like you. I like doing a lot of different things, but that's just what keeps me engaged. So it's not everybody. And if you're doing your small parts, then you are part of being the change, right.
Speaker 3:That's it.
Speaker 2:All right, what do you got? Any last words before we wrap it up?
Speaker 3:No, you ended it beautifully. All I will point is that I would like to encourage anyone to recognize that you're born on purpose, with a purpose.
Speaker 2:Excellent. All right, everybody. This is Beyond the Frontline and, like always, we love it when you guys engage, when you share, when you comment. We really want to hear from you. We want to hear what you want to hear about, what you want to learn about. We'll talk to anybody, we ain't shy and we want to bring you the resources that'll help you. Just because we're veterans doesn't mean that we have to have the veteran bringing us the resource. There are so many people around, like Saul Paul, that are doing these amazing things and you can be part of that in your own way. So, from all of us here at Beyond the Frontline and our parent podcast and parent network, coming Home Well, we thank all of you and you have an awesome week.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to Beyond the Frontline, a podcast of Coming Home. Well, join us every other Wednesday and if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Thanks again, and until all are home and all are well.