Unveiling the Man Behind the Moniker Juice

Have you ever wondered how the echoes of a vibrant childhood, the tough love of the '90s, and the transformative journey of self-discovery intertwine to shape a man? My frat brother, Juice, joins me to unravel his compelling story, from the influential streets of Charleston to the very essence of his nickname "Juice." We navigate the significance of mental health and self-care, unraveling the threads of his past, marked by a spirited community, family strength, and the struggles that propelled him forward.

Imagine the power of a name, the weight it carries, and its ability to encapsulate a persona. In a candid revelation, Juice shares the metamorphosis behind "Juice" painting his evolution from a stylish kid influenced by neighborhood idols to a man grappling with the complexities of identity, environment, and personal change. Equally, I peel back the layers of my own life, from my nerdy indulgences and historical fascinations to my journey through fatherhood and the wisdom gleaned from multiple marriages, all while highlighting the enduring respect and admiration for the inspiring black women in my life.

As we draw this session to a close, the conversation takes a reflective turn, emphasizing the integral role of daily affirmations, the grounding force of gratitude, and the pursuit of leaving a lasting legacy. With my engineering background, I draw parallels between building sturdy foundations in relationships and structures, sharing insights from my fraternity journey with Sigma and the nurturing bonds of family. Juice's magnetic presence across social media platforms is celebrated, and we underscore the essence of authenticity and individuality, inviting you to embrace the unique beat of your own drum. Join us as we navigate these profound narratives, offering an authentic lens on life’s myriad transformations.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Just the Two of Us. It is your favorite broadcast host, mr Zach, so get comfortable with me and let's talk about it. Mr Boyd, mrs Zachary, on his 1st and 2nd, how are ya doing today? It is season 3, you know, I tell you, go big or go motherfucking home. I am sitting here with my motherfucking good friend, my frat brother. What's up juice? How are you doing? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? Man, how are you feeling? I'm feeling great. You know how to love me, but you know we are here now, right From the past, and I'm ready to get laid. I'm ready to get to the next day. Alright, alright, let's go. So the first question I'd like to ask my guests are how is your mental health now?

Speaker 2: 0:52

My mental health now is. Let's just say this I'm in a better place. You know I'm time out. I had a lot of stuff going on personally. You know I'm time out, and so now I'm kind of in a place now where I'm good you know what I'm saying Like I'm good, I'm more focused you know what I'm saying. I'm at peace To tell you something, I'm protected, peace, you know what I'm saying. But yeah, I'm definitely in a better head space.

Speaker 1: 1:20

So what do you mean by protecting your peace?

Speaker 2: 1:23

Protect your peace, man. As a business owner, as a creative you know, because I do in my line of business it requires a lot of creativity. You feel what I'm saying. So if you got a lot of stuff up here you feel what I'm saying it kind of has a blockage you feel what I'm saying To where you really can't focus on the things you need to focus on and you're not at your best. You feel what I'm saying? So it's good to make sure you have peace, to make sure you have time to detox from whatever you got going on. You know what I'm saying. If you got something, whatever talk system, there you go, that's in your life. You know what I'm saying. Remove it so that you can focus on your best self. Oh I like that.

Speaker 1: 2:18

So let's get down to how. Who is you? Who is you? How did you grow up when you grow up?

Speaker 2: 2:27

I tell myself. Man, listen, my story is. You know I come from humble beginnings. You feel what I'm saying. So I'm from right there, from downtown 12A Allway Street back to green BTG. You know what I'm talking about. So between you know I spent time. You know I lived downtown and I had, you know, two grandparents.

Speaker 2: 2:55

One set of grandparents lived in Pepper Hill in North Charleston, you know what I'm saying. I was on the Bastion Foster Road and so, and I had another grandmother, you know I'm talking about, who lived on Nesbitt Avenue in Liberty Hill. You know what I'm saying. So between them three areas, I was exposed to it all. You know what I'm saying. So I got the best. I got the best of Charleston. You feel what I'm talking about Right.

Speaker 1: 3:18

What do you mean? You got the exposed of all of us. Let's dissecting that.

Speaker 2: 3:27

So I grew up my generation. I grew up in Charleston in the 90s.

Speaker 1: 3:31

And.

Speaker 2: 3:32

Charleston in the 90s was a different kind of Charleston than say what Charleston is right now, today. You know what I'm saying. Charleston was more gritty, you know what I'm saying. You know more gutter back then. You know what I'm talking about. It was a lot of places that you know you can probably go to now. You couldn't rock with back then. You feel what I'm saying. But what I miss about that time was that, you know, there was a sense of community. You know what I'm talking about. Especially in the black community. Man, Everybody knew everybody. You know what I'm saying. You know not only like, say, say, for example, the people you went to school with man, you knew them. Boy parents, them parents knew you. You knew the grandparents. You knew the cousins. You know what I'm saying. Like you might know somebody from the next neighborhood over, you know what I'm talking about. Like you know the mall was the place to be on the weekends. You know what I'm saying. The boomers was the place to be on the weekends. You know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Which mall.

Speaker 2: 4:32

You had Northwoods was pumping. You had Surtitle Mall was pumping. You had Charleston Square Mall was pumping. You know what I'm saying. Then you had you know, I from downtown, so only old school, certain downtown people would know on Sundays the batteries used to be pumping on Sundays. You know what I'm saying. I mean, like for real, it was just a block party on the battery on Sundays. You feel me? So that's the Charleston I grew up on. You feel me?

Speaker 1: 5:00

So you have seen everything Word, word, word. So let's talk about like your parents. I know that some people are very sensitive topic when it wants to talk about you know, when it comes down to being like your father being there, your father not being there, your mother being there, your mother not being there. So let's talk about you know your parents.

Speaker 2: 5:29

I had obviously my mom you know what I'm saying Shout out to you know, mama, what's going on, you feel what I'm saying. But you know I have my mom. She's been, you know she's a hard worker always been, always been on the grind, you know what I'm saying. Like I probably saw her sleeping her own bed maybe four or five times growing up because it was work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. You know what I'm talking about. So just her making sure, you know what I'm saying. She was taking care of business on her end. You know what I'm talking about. I actually, you know, I actually saw her go to school, you know, while holding the job. You know what I'm saying and what she's a. She works in the lab down in the Hollins Cancer Center, you know she's. So she's a phlebotomist by trade. But I remember, you know I'm saying her going to school to get that degree. You feel what I'm saying. So she got that degree in her adult years. You feel what I'm talking about. But she always been in the medical field. So I had her.

Speaker 2: 6:29

And then, you know, I had two. I'm a biological father. I had him for a short or short while. He was, you know I'm saying, unfortunately, you know, heavy on the alcohol. You know what I'm saying. And you know domestic violence was kind of a situation in my younger, younger years. You feel what I'm saying. So they had to split and then she got remarried to my stepfather you feel what I'm saying. And he played a definite, a big role in my youth and teenage years. You know what I'm talking about. So I had him as well. You feel what I'm saying. So I had a pretty, pretty stable, pretty stable household. You know what I'm saying. You know it wasn't perfect now you know what I'm saying. It wasn't perfect, but it was. They kept me grounded. You feel what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 7:18

So there's a part which you said about, you know, domestic violence and alcohol. So how did that affect you? You know I'm sorry about that. How did that affect? You at that moment growing up and seeing that you know, hands on, face to face, growing up.

Speaker 2: 7:40

I had a, believe it or not, I had a front row seat to it. You feel what I'm saying. Like it was like live action. You feel what I'm saying and my mom probably don't even think that I can recall a lot of the incidents, but I do. You feel what I'm saying. And so for me, what it did for me was it told me, it showed me that when I become an adult, when I become a man, that's not going to be part of my story. You know what I'm saying. That's not going to be part of my story. You know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 8:17

And I went through the phase, growing up, of hating him and being angry at him. You know what I'm saying. And then to where, as a man, me and him had a conversation. I told him you know what I'm saying. Look, man, I ain't even mad at you, no more. You know what I'm saying. I ain't even upset with you because I understand what was going on back then.

Speaker 2: 8:41

You feel what I'm talking about and I label it. I know people kind of look at me crazy when I say this, but I say that he was sick. You know what I'm saying. Alcoholism is a disease. You feel what I'm saying and what happens is you ain't you, when you under the influence, and some people genetically just can't handle alcohol like that? You feel what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 9:04

And I look at it like obviously it was something about this man that made my mom want to be with him, fall in love with him, marry him, have kids by him. You feel what I'm saying. So obviously he ain't always been like that. You feel what I'm saying. But it wasn't until alcohol just kind of consumed him you know what I'm saying To turn him into a different person. She just had enough. You know what I'm saying. But fast forward to today. You feel what I'm talking about. I don't have no ill against my biological father. We actually have had interactions. You know what I'm saying. Be a phone and stuff like that. So we good now. You feel what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 9:43

All right. So one thing I tell my listeners that they are getting me more learning about myself. So I can relate to your father to a certain degree because growing up alcohol used to be my best friend, right how best friend I can. I was just drinking, so I was just drinking my pan away, just drinking and just numb the pain down Until you realize the pain is still there. Let me speak what I'm wrong now. I think, as your father, something had to happen for him to shift Right Drinking the alcohol. And I think for your mom, your mom saw something besides the alcohol for seeing and having kids.

Speaker 1: 10:37

You know, as your mother, and I'm saying I'm not speaking for her, but I'm just looking on the outside, looking in. I think she couldn't handle it anymore, right, right, right, and I think she didn't want y'all to see. I'm just, I don't want to read too deep, right? No, I see you, I see you, I see you, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I can relate because, well, my parents lost it, so my mom and dad got divorced when I was a baby, so I was born right after they got married, like literally two years after, okay, and I to make a shot, but just to see how my mother and father been raised, because it's like a whole village, just the reason.

Speaker 2: 11:20

Right.

Speaker 1: 11:21

I can't talk. I have a child, but I met it as today. So where did the nickname Zeus came from? Because a lot of people don't call you by your first name.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Man, yeah, so uh. First of all, you got two different versions, right? So you got elementary school version, and then you got the high school version right.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Both of them All right.

Speaker 2: 11:50

So the elementary school version you know what I'm saying Was the fact that around, you know, around the neighborhood, you know what I'm talking about. You know I was always want to be cool, you know what I'm saying. And so I think I had to been like, maybe like in second grade or something like that. So I had to been about seven years old. That's when I got my first. My mom had got me my first. I had like these two little gold chains, you know what I'm saying, these little gold choker chains. Man, you couldn't tell me.

Speaker 2: 12:21

Now I don't know where she got them gold chains from, but I had my two little gold chains. You know what I'm saying. And you know I wanted, you know I wanted to be cool because you know I remember seeing, you know I'm saying, the dope boys. You know I'm saying from around the way. So I'm like man, I won't be like that, you know I'm talking about it. And they were always fresh, always fresh, you know. So I was like man. She hooked me up with the two gold chains and so back then, you know, the rappers back then had the Jerry Curl. You know what I'm saying, jerry Curl you know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 12:51

So you know I'm sitting there like man. Let me, let me, let me get some of that action. You know what I'm saying. Let me get some of that action. You know what I'm talking about. Obviously, she ain't even feeling the Jerry Curl, but the S Curl kit had was out. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 13:06

You get like a little box stuff. You know the hair pomade stuff. So you know we had to. We had the, we had the high tops and the racktails. You know what I'm saying. And you know my mom never played with that man.

Speaker 2: 13:17

So we was, we was Vaseline. You know what I'm saying. We was drip down with Vaseline and and our hair had to. You know was, was, was was. You know. You know I'm saying all that going on. You know what I'm talking about. So you know we was. You know I was juicy. You know what I'm saying. You know I was juicy, you know what I'm saying, cause I was always dripping. You know what I'm saying. I was always glossed over. So that's that's.

Speaker 2: 13:42

That's how the elementary school version came into play. You know what I'm saying. And then it kind of died down a little bit with middle school. You know what I'm saying. Then it kind of got re relived a little bit in high school, you know what I'm saying. And by the time I got to college you know what I'm saying it kind of went straight to the forefront in college. You know what I'm talking about. Cause from the movie juice, you know what I'm saying, I was the two-part character, you feel what I'm saying. And so that's how, that's how you know what I'm saying. That, that, that, that that imagery just kind of went to the forefront like that. You feel me.

Speaker 1: 14:21

So those who don't know juice like so juice is ballhead now, like very ballhead. Like I really want to see the Jerry Curl man. It wasn't.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Jerry Curl. Now, you know it wasn't Jerry Curl, but it was, it was, it was, it was, it was close, it was close, it was tough, it was tough. You know what I'm saying? Hey, man, hey, hey, we had that, we had that, that, that kit. You know what I'm saying? We used to get that hair pomade stuff. Man, we was, we was for real. Man, I'm talking about our hair was, was was for real. You know what I'm saying? My mom's ain't played, like I said, we had the high top, we had the rat tail, she was the braided, grease, it and all that stuff. Man, we was, we was, we was fresh man.

Speaker 1: 15:02

So, so probably I'm hearing your story on the streets, right. So what's your art? What's you in the streets? Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 15:11

Absolutely, absolutely, and nobody knew about it. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 15:15

Because from from from me meeting you for the first time, right, you know, that's like. Who is this fella Like? Who is this like? Like like my energy, like he looked like he'd been in the streets, he looked like he a chess man, like Like, what happened? Like, tell me about that part of your life and what makes you make a change from the freaking out. You are right now, Right.

Speaker 2: 15:45

So you know, like I said, a lot of my life included in living a double life. You know what I'm saying. So, and you know, you got to be one way over here in front of these people and you got to be another way over here in front of these people. You feel what I'm saying and that kind of over time. What happens is, you know, you let me say this in order to pull something like that off, you got to lie, and you got to lie a lot. You know what I'm talking about. From experience.

Speaker 2: 16:19

What I learned about lying is that lying does mess up your mental. You know what I'm talking about, Because now your mind don't know what. It gets confused as to what's real and what's not. You feel what I'm saying, you know, and you told a story over here. You're telling a story over here. You're lying about part of your hair, abouts. You know what I'm saying when this money coming from, when you was at, how this. You know what I'm talking about. Like you, it's just a constant lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. You know what I'm saying when, eventually, you reach a breaking point. You feel what I'm talking about and the mind start to collapse on itself because of the amount of lies and the extent of the lies you feel what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 17:09

So you know, after a while, man, I just got to the point where I was like look man, you know I don't know what's real and what ain't. You know what I'm saying. And I had to. You know I was slowly killing myself mentally. You feel what I'm saying and not to mention damaging. You know my character, you feel what I'm talking about Because I didn't work so hard on one end, educational wise and everything else, and but on the other end you know what I'm saying I can't get, I can only go. But so far because I got. You know misdemeanors and felonies and stuff like that. You feel them tumble out. So after getting enough doors slammed in my face you know what I'm talking about I was like man, I can't advance like this. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 17:59

How did that made you feel? You know you got so much doors slamming your face and what made you go to the street. What made you take that route, Like, turn a different route and sit on the narrow path.

Speaker 2: 18:14

To be honest, man, you know it was my environment.

Speaker 2: 18:17

You feel what I'm saying. My environment is what I saw. One thing about Back to Green in the 90s is you look around you and it's like don't nobody know you exist. You see what I'm saying and I'm like man, ain't nobody coming out. Ain't no scout coming out here. Ain't no recruiter coming out here. You know what I'm saying. Like nobody knows we here. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 18:45

And what neighborhoods like that back then would made them rally together, would made the sense of community so tight back then, was the fact that we all knew nobody is going to care for us, nobody cares about us. So we got to stick together and we got to look out for each other, because we can't expect nobody from the out. The only people that came into neighborhoods like that that were outsiders were law enforcement. Ain't no teachers like on the movies? Ain't no teachers come in and knocking on your door to talk to your parents about your school? That wasn't happening. Ain't no pizza man making no delivery? You know what I'm saying. Nobody came in that hood unless you was a user. You know what I'm saying Buying dope from one of the D boys or whatever like that, or law enforcement, you know what I'm saying. So I looked at it as being trapped, you know what I'm saying. And the local heroes, so to speak, were the dope boys. Dumb boys was back then. I ain't trying to praise dope boys, but back then the neighborhood dope boys, every neighborhood had the dope boy, the crew you know what I'm saying that took care of the hood. And when I tell you they took care of the hood, dumb Boy took care of the hood. Dumb boys, they knew when the report cards used to come out. You know what I'm saying hey, let me see that report card, let me see what kind of grades you got. And they give you a little bit of bucks. You know what I'm saying. If you playing out on the street, dumb Boy makes sure. Hey, if a car came by, hey, man, slow that car down. You see these fellas out there. They took care of the hood. You know what I'm saying. Like how things have changed now. You know what I'm saying. Like they made sure the neighborhood was great, because at that time that was the economy of those types of neighborhoods. You know what I'm saying. They ate off a dope. You know what I'm saying. They ate off what we call an eight ball. You feel what I'm saying. And so Dumb Boys was always fresh. They had the fresh Pumas, filaas, the Patrick Ewing's, you know what I'm saying. Like whatever tennis stepping out the Jordans, you know what I'm saying. Whatever shoe that was out, dumb Boys had the shoe game on deck. The jury was straight. The cars was always cool. You know what I'm saying. Obviously they had the girls. I was like man, let me see what that's about.

Speaker 2: 21:14

I'm talking about because, again, my mom, in between the period of divorcing my dad and remarrying to my stepdad, that gap was a hard time because the resources that are available for single women today wasn't available to single women, single mothers, back in the 90s. You know what I'm saying. So there was a hard struggle. You know what I'm saying. Section eight meant you stayed on the projects. You feel what I'm saying. Section eight meant you got the food stamps. You know what I'm saying. The coupon book, the Monopoly Money, food Stamps, you feel me. And we didn't have a phone. You know what I'm saying. And I used to see my mom struggle. I used to see my mom crying on the side of her bed trying to figure out where the next dollar was coming from, or you know what I'm saying. I was like, man, I ain't trying to do that. You know what I'm saying. And so I was like, look, let me, let me try something new, let me make an avenue for myself. You know what I'm saying. And that's where the street game began. You feel me?

Speaker 1: 22:31

I think something like I love your story and I think a lot of people can relate to it Because, like I said at the beginning, we never had nobody talks about it on here and some people are scared to talk about it because they are at the end of the day. They think they are going to be judged.

Speaker 2: 22:49

Correct.

Speaker 1: 22:51

But that I would tell it to you without a part of your story, to get where you are right now.

Speaker 2: 22:57

Right.

Speaker 1: 22:58

So tell us something that nobody knows about you if you want to spill it.

Speaker 2: 23:04

Right, right, right, something that nobody knows about me. Yeah, man, I'm going to tell you right now, doug, I'm a huge when I tell you huge, I'm a huge huge, huge, huge nerd man.

Speaker 2: 23:22

You know what I'm saying. Like I love, man, I grew up reading comic books. You know what I'm saying. Like I'm into Star Wars. You know what I'm saying. You know like that's my thing. You know what I'm saying. The Marvel joints. You know what I'm saying. Like I man, listen, excuse me, I'm huge on that kind of stuff. You know what I'm talking about. That's one thing. The second thing, man, I'm a history buff. I'll sit and I'll dig through history on any topic, I don't care what it is. I ain't black history, absolutely, but any history, I don't care what it is. Man, I'm going to go back as far back as I can, as you know, biblical times, if need to. You know what I'm saying. I just love history. I like learning about how things came to be.

Speaker 1: 24:07

You know what.

Speaker 2: 24:08

I'm saying About you.

Speaker 1: 24:09

I learned something today, so we want to switch into Gary's family. Right, I have. How many children do you have? Do you have children? I have four kids.

Speaker 2: 24:23

I ain't playing, I ain't been playing.

Speaker 1: 24:27

I thought you got two.

Speaker 2: 24:28

I can't play. I got four kids, man, I'll be playing.

Speaker 1: 24:37

I was expecting that. I'm sorry, juice you good Phelps, so you have. I know you have a son. How many do you have?

Speaker 2: 24:55

Two sons, two sons, two sons, two girls, two daughters.

Speaker 1: 24:59

So about the same parent, about the same oh no, Hold up Two boys, two girls.

Speaker 2: 25:06

I would come and be like wait a minute, I don't sound right Two boys, two girls. Two boys, two girls. Two boys, two girls.

Speaker 1: 25:15

So how do you handle having kids the way how society is right now?

Speaker 2: 25:26

Well, I got my Mahogany and MJ. Everybody know my churn. You know what I'm saying Because they pretty much. I post them enough, man, you know what I'm saying. My churn grew up on social media, right. So I got four kids girl boy, boy girl. So we got Mahogany and MJ. They're with my first wife.

Speaker 1: 25:56

Oh, you should be married.

Speaker 2: 25:57

Man, I've been married twice, dog, I've been married twice. I've been married twice, man, you know what I'm saying. I've been married twice, feel me. And then my other two, which is Mason and Munch. They're with my second wife, feel me.

Speaker 1: 26:11

So okay, we went to touch on the subject. So you got married twice and we ain't gonna talk about my home girl right now at the moment. Why did you got divorced twice?

Speaker 2: 26:35

Let's start with the fact that. So my first wife you know what I'm saying Rob, shout out to Rob what's going on we dated in college. And at the time we dated in college, I think, man, I met Rob. I think it was like 18. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 27:01

So after she graduated a year before me and we went to state, we both went to South Carolina State. You feel me, go Bulldogs. But we went to South Carolina State, man, we did the dating thing, you know what I'm saying. And so we looked at it as we dated in college, we're supposed to get married, right. So we dated in college, you know what I'm talking about. And then we both graduated, we both got jobs in our careers you know what I'm saying Doing our thing or whatever like that. And then next thing she got pregnant. Right, we was gonna get married anyway. So I mean pretty much it was like all right, we're checking, let's go ahead and get, let's go to the courthouse and make this thing happen. You feel me I'm saying we had Mahogany and we had MJ.

Speaker 2: 27:51

you know what I'm saying Mike Jr, and so things didn't work out. You know what I'm talking about. And so then we went our separate ways after that and then fast forward a couple of years. You know what I'm talking about. Then I met my second wife. You know what I'm saying, terry? And that's when Mason and Munch showed up in that marriage. You feel me? I said all that to say that for me, I don't make baby mamas, I make wives.

Speaker 1: 28:19

You feel me.

Speaker 2: 28:20

I'm saying. So my version of locking a woman down ain't necessarily knocking her out. You know what I'm saying. A lot of men be like, yeah, man, I'm a nut in that thing, dog, I ain't pulling out, I ain't pulling out. You know what I'm saying. That's our culture of way of locking a female down. You feel me I'm saying and for me that ain't never been my thing.

Speaker 2: 28:40

You feel me I got a lot of respect for women, especially black women. You feel them tumble out and they need to be really praised up a whole lot more than what they are. You feel me they need to be elevated up more than what they are. They need to be appreciated more than what they are. You feel me I'm saying so at the end of the day, my kids can say, hey, you know, I ain't just knock up these females after some one night fling or whatever the case may be. Or we playing house or whatever the case may be, like that. You feel me I'm saying like actually made their moms wives. It didn't work. It didn't work. True, indeed, it didn't work, but at the end of the day, I didn't make them wives, I was married to them, you know what I'm saying, and we were under a covenant of some sort. You feel me? I'm saying and it just didn't work, I'm tumble out.

Speaker 1: 29:45

So from your perspective? Why did it feel from your side?

Speaker 2: 29:55

A lot of it. So for my first marriage, just being real For me, I had no clue what being a man and being a husband was. You feel what I'm saying. Like I just it just wasn't happening. You know what I'm talking about. Like my, what I thought a man was, wasn't it? You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 30:20

And being young, I was in my 20s. You know what I'm saying. Being a younger man, you know, I thought as long as you pay the bills, you good, you know what I'm saying. Like don't come for me. You know what I'm talking about. And it's a whole lot more to that. It's a whole lot young man, listen to me, it's a whole lot more to that. You feel what I'm saying. That's a lot deeper than that. And then my second marriage you know what I'm saying. A lot of that was growth. You feel what I'm saying. So at that point I was coming out of my 20s, going and traveling through my 30s, and there's there was growth that was happening and in that, in certain relationships, two people, they got to grow together.

Speaker 2: 31:15

And sometimes you can grow apart you know what I'm talking about and that's what I attribute the second marriage. How it failed was two parties were growing in different directions. You feel them tumble up.

Speaker 1: 31:32

True, so Cuz now you might like what my zeta, she must all rock, cuz I love her so much. What makes this relationship thick?

Speaker 2: 31:45

Then you are the one man, it's the be honest with you. It's about I'm learning. It's about timing and aligning you feel.

Speaker 2: 31:58

Oh, we tend to want to Do. You know, when we want some, we want it like I want this new car, I want this relationship, I want this job. So we go out, we feel like we're in control and I'm gonna go out and apply for a job and if it's a job that I see, I'm applied for it and I'm a gold bridge, that job. Or I feel like I want to go back and I want to go dating. So I'm a go in these dating sites, I'm gonna hit the scene and you know, I'm a notice. I keep saying I let's never we, it's never we. You feel I'm saying and, and the problem is there has to be some sort of quote again timing and alignment. And timing and alignment is Not your time and it has to be aligned a certain way. So you gotta have, you know, and I try to, you know, get too spiritual, but you gotta have God in the equation somewhere. Somewhere God got to be in the mix.

Speaker 2: 33:02

You film and you Got to go to God with your desires and plans, and you got to go to God first you from saying the minute you don't have God in the equation, I don't care how good it may be.

Speaker 2: 33:20

It's gonna feel it's gonna feel it's gonna. Not only is it gonna fail, it's gonna feel Very, I mean, you gonna hit that, you gonna hit the ground. You sure I'm saying so. With this relationship I Wasn't looking for another relationship like that. Ain't even been in my cars. I looking at it like lookie man, I don't be married twice, I got four kids. I just gonna be out.

Speaker 2: 33:42

You Know I'm saying like that's, that's, that's, that's, that's what I had playing, that was, that was my plan, that's juice playing you from saying I'm gonna be out, you, I'm gonna do my thing, I'm gonna be out. You know I'm time out and it again, timing and align. You know I'm saying I'm out, minded my own business. You know I'm saying again I ain't looking for nobody, I ain't dating, I ain't on the dating apps, I ain't trying to be for the. You know, like a, I'm for the streets. You feel me now for the streets.

Speaker 2: 34:16

I put a screeds dog, I put a screeds you film, saying a, you know, you know I I meet her. You know I'm saying on I Would like to say the word chance encounter. I know I shouldn't say that. You know, because everything happens for a reason. I mean it's, it's honesty, right, you know I'm saying, but literally I'm just out, we crossed past. You know I'm saying and and the rest is history with that. You know, you feel them Tom out and so, um, I Really didn't think that, I really didn't think that we would even get this far. If you want to be totally honest, if you want to be 1000 Um, but the fact that you know how our relationship Evolved and that's and I like using that word because it wasn't rushed, it wasn't forced, it just started from a basic foundation and just grew, you know I'm saying and we feed it every day. We feed it every day.

Speaker 1: 35:18

You know it's so just add it on to that. Just what you just said. I think a good friendship foundation is good to base the stuff, any relationship, absolutely, absolutely. Nobody's saying absolutely that's coming from Cuz. I can speak about my school. We about to go in three years and thank God we have our option now, but we still got more going away right. Once you have that good friendship foundation right you can Cuz. Basically, eric, know me back my hand, you know I know how my back man, but we still involving right, right right but when you have that good foundation.

Speaker 2: 35:59

Yeah, yeah, that's it, man. You said, you said a mouthful is all about the foundation. You feel me, it's all about the founder. You got to establish a foundation, first and foremost in your personal relationship, man. It's just like building a house. You know I got an engineering degree, so you know my background is is Engineering, so I know about structural. You know stability of Construction of buildings, you know destruction, integrity of buildings and so Lots of times, man, you know you can look at a house and it's, it's all fancy. You got the nice. The exterior is nice, the interior is nice, it's nice. You know I'm saying, but the foundation ain't worth the day. You film Tom off. You know that's one thing people don't realize. Well, what's, what's, what's this ground looking like? You film say like you know, am I in a blood zone? You film saying like, like, like, like, what's? You know what's the, what's the seismic? You know activity, that's going on your foundation.

Speaker 1: 37:06

This is just my point of view. Your foundation has to be an awful season.

Speaker 2: 37:12

Absolutely, absolutely I.

Speaker 1: 37:16

Don't care what that means To you, as you looking at it, as I think your foundation has to be in all seasons. Yep, it can't. Be two out of three, three out of four, a king right. You have to be solid to build on top of it. Right and this what you seem happier? Oh, absolutely yes right now. For from from what I'm looking at it, Um yeah, cuz anybody know juice juice is very like a Lot of energy a lot of energy, work, work, work.

Speaker 1: 37:56

I think this time he's kind of Chilling yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, let's switch gears into Johnny, my fraternity. So what made you be? What means you want to come to signal man, I single-man ma, every, every, every aspect of my life.

Speaker 2: 38:21

I don't care where you put which. You pick a point in my timeline. There was a Sigma or a Zeta somewhere in the mix my, my, my uncle. He started, you know, he started dating this. This woman is incredible woman. Everybody was. You know it's like, who is this woman at the state? You know I'm saying so. We had this family meeting, we he was gonna bring her to my grandparents house. You know I'm saying and I thought I was in high school and you know my grandparents like look, you know your uncle is about to bring this woman by.

Speaker 2: 38:59

So you know, we all come into my grandparents house to see who this woman was, and sure enough, she was a Zeta. You know I'm saying and so, right then, and then I, so we got her. And then you know her, she's a legacy. So her parents are, Are, are, are a Zeta in a Sigma. You know I'm saying so when I go to college, you know I'm Tom out. You know I'm trying to. You know I'm trying to get. You know, get my books and everything taking care of. You know I'm saying and so she was like, she was like yo, you know, right down the ISB in number for all your books, for your classes. You know I'm saying cuz my dad, he gonna again a Sigma, he gonna, he gonna get you the books, what all your books you need for every semester for free. You film sinker. He at the time he was teaching, you know he was a professor. Not that's not, that's a line statement. He was a professor, went to see you feel so.

Speaker 2: 39:51

This man don't know me from a can of paint. You know I'm talking, mind you. She married into the family. So this, her dad you film saying, and just Just off the off, the off, the strength of her name, she was just like yo, he gone. You know this, my nephew, he gonna socket on the stage. You know, let's hook him. So I'm just like I cool and then fast forward until my adult life.

Speaker 2: 40:14

You got, you know, the minister of music at my church here, sigma. You know I'm saying it's just Everywhere. You know, and not the in agents, they're not just around me, they are pretty much hands-on in my success. You know they look in past. You know the geeky language. They look them past tattoos. They look them past the felony records. They look them past. You know I'm saying, and they and they again, these people barely know me. You know I'm saying, and they just like yo, he's this, our guy, that's what you need. I got you, it's all like man, let me go ahead and whatever y'all got going on, let me be a part of that. You film saying, and so that's that's, that's what made me, you know I'm saying, make me wanna join and Well, when did you cross?

Speaker 2: 41:05

We talked about. I did the grad chapter April 2021.

Speaker 1: 41:12

So, by the way, I am older than him in the signal and this is our signal base and I'll spring seven.

Speaker 2: 41:20

Shout out the children, you 21. What's going on?

Speaker 1: 41:23

They are right, they're not session.

Speaker 2: 41:25

They are. I know we ain't man. You know, no razzle no dazzle.

Speaker 1: 41:30

I see the entertaining, though. I see the entertaining line Shit alright. So I have to ask a side question. Okay, because it goes back to your girlfriend.

Speaker 2: 41:49

I, I man, let me tell you something about me. I love kids. You feel I'm Tom off and so it don't even. It don't even matter, man, you know I'm Tom out, like I'm with it. You know we've had the discussion. You know I'm Tom off. If it happened, it happened. If it don't, it don't. You know I'm saying the issue isn't forced. You know I'm Tom out, so that's something that you know we would, we would gladly welcome Should it happen. But it's not nothing that has to happen you know I'm saying so.

Speaker 2: 42:20

It's not a deal. Whatever case of me.

Speaker 1: 42:23

All right. So you you being an entrepreneur, you know you would that one day you said, hey, I want to start a business. What advice can you give somebody who wants to start their own business and anything? And how did you start your business and how? That's what today.

Speaker 2: 42:46

So let's, let's start with the advice. My advice and I know this may sound cliche, but my advice to any aspiring entrepreneur it is not for the week. You feel what I'm saying Like you got the. This is not no quick lick. You feel I'm saying like you got to be in this for the long haul. This is a marathon. This ain't no sprint type of thing. Entrepreneurship is not a sprint. So you ain't about to jump in this thing and all of a sudden come back with a bag. This is a, if you want to be successful, it's a long journey. You know I'm saying this a marathon type, type, type deal. So that's that's my advice to any aspiring entrepreneur.

Speaker 2: 43:31

That's one to what made me decide to go into entrepreneurs, in into business. Again, it's that, that thirst, that transition from the street life to, you know I'm saying to just settling down, so to speak. You feel I'm saying because, look at it, the dope game the street life is exactly, is a mirror image to fortune 500 business. The same is the same exact characteristic characteristics of a CEO, all of the skillset, you know I'm saying of accounting. You know all of these things. All of these things you feel I'm saying being creative. You know I'm saying just all of that right, logistics, all of that.

Speaker 2: 44:25

So I was like wait a minute, man, I already know all the stuff. You know I'm saying like I got hands on. You know I'm saying training on how to do this. You feel I'm saying so let me take these, you know, the knowledge and the skill set that I learned from the, from, from the streets, and just apply it to business and be legitimate. You feel I'm saying and so you know it's the same hustle, it's the same hustle. You just going from. You know you know legitimacy. You know I'm saying I mean illegitimacy to legitimacy. You feel I'm saying so that's, that's, that's what made me, you know, wanna, wanna, wanna do that I'm like I got.

Speaker 2: 45:06

I'm a hustle, I love to make a dog. You feel I'm saying so if I can make a dog, I can make it.

Speaker 1: 45:14

So, as we wrap this up, what advice? I'll ask all my guests this question what advice can you give me? Are the listeners about life in general, any type of advice you want to get?

Speaker 2: 45:43

Man, oh man, um, you know I, you know I am a huge, huge, huge believer in affirmations, right, huge, huge? Okay, like I am, for real. Y'all don't believe me. Affirmations are for real. You know I'm saying there's power in the tone. You know I'm saying so what, what, what, what you put in the atmosphere really does matter. So be mindful of what kind of words you let leave your lips. But, um, I have this mantra and it's a mantra. It started out as a mantra but it's part of my daily affirmation.

Speaker 2: 46:27

When I say daily, it is every single day you feel I'm talking about like I don't, I don't start no work without one prayer and then, after prayer, it's my daily affirmations. And the very first affirmation on my list is I claim life, I claim victory. You know what I'm saying and I repeat that at least two or three times before I go into the next, my next affirmations. But I claim life, and I claim victory simply means this the first part is I claim life. You know what I'm saying. The opposite of life is death. You feel I'm saying so in all things you know I'm talking about. You got to, you got to claim life. You got to claim. You know, you, you, you, you on the living side of things, you know what I'm saying Like you can't give up. You feel I'm saying If you, if, if, if God didn't want you to see today, you would not, you would not, you would not have seen today. So because you still here and you woke up and you got a fresh set of 24 to work with, that means God still got a purpose for you, you still useful. You saw, I'm saying, and so you got to make the best of the 24. You know I'm saying you got a fresh 24. You got to make the best of the 24. You got All right. And then the second part is I claim life. The second part is I claim victory. I claim victory means no matter what the situation is, it's already one. You know what I'm saying. Don't ever, don't ever accept defeat, don't ever set a loss. You know what I'm saying. The victory is already one. It don't. It may not feel like you went in at that present moment, you know what I'm saying, but the victory is one. You feel what I'm saying. So I claim life, I claim victory just by saying that, just by repeating that over and over, I done had some real bad days. You know what I'm saying. I done had some real dark moments and that that right there has has has kept me lifted. You know what I'm saying, has kept me going. You know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 48:40

Again, first there's prayer, then there's your affirmations. You know what I'm saying. So you know my advice to you and to all listeners start your day with prayer. Start your day with prayer. I don't care how early you got to wake up or when you decide you want to. You know you want to do it in the morning. You want to do it, you know, in your call as you drive to work or where, however you do it, start your day with some kind of prayer. Whoever you pray to, you know what I'm saying. Start your day with prayer and then, right after that, you start doing your affirmations and I promise you, I can assure you, my testimony, is that your life is going to be 1000% different if you do that.

Speaker 1: 49:25

Damn that's dope. That's motherfucking dope Word.

Speaker 2: 49:33

All love bro.

Speaker 1: 49:34

All love. Just I want to give you your flowers because I know I don't give you a lot of compliments. You have been amazing person so far that I have met. You are a bundle of joy to be around and you are a little fuck and you have a creative mind. Say that I want to have, because I definitely have a creative mind to do certain things and you are prime example on that creative mind skill and that is definitely my love language. If I listen didn't know that you have been, I guess it is I open it. So, so many people. Who's going to listen? And your work does not stop here. You have many, many more to do and I just want to thank you for what you have done now for your kids, for your grandparents, for the people around you and also for you, I think a lot of people.

Speaker 1: 51:03

You know, we think a lot of people are around us, but we don't think ourselves, Because you have to give that affirmation for yourself, right, right, before you give anybody else. So my final question and I want you to think about this Okay, okay, after all has been done, and this been your final words, what would juice are? I don't want to say your first name. What do you want to be remember, ass?

Speaker 2: 51:58

Man, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me think on this for a minute. Um, you know what I want to. I want to, I want to my, my, my part of my, a lot of my legacy is I want to Make sure that I made a difference, I made an impact. You know I'm saying like you know I don't want, I Don't squander time, so I want to be sure that every interaction, every relationship, you know I'm saying somebody received something Useful, something positive. You know I'm saying whether it was a word of encouragement and a certain act, a Favorable memory. You know I'm saying like I want to be able to have impacted somebody's life in a way to where you know it lasts. You know I'm saying because that's, that's part of the legacy you know I'm talking about.

Speaker 2: 53:06

Like you know, if you, for example, if you think you know those who have gone on, who have passed on, you know there's certain things you may say or do or believe, or you know Certain habit or whatever the case may be, because that person, you know I'm saying, instill that in you. You know I'm time out and then you know you're gonna carry that on and you know I'm saying it passed that on you film time. So that's my thing I would like to have. I Would like to believe that I've been a Shining beacon, a shining light in this world, in this community. You know I'm saying to where you know my, my artwork, you know I'm saying um, a lot of you know. You know you know I'm saying like I just want to make sure I left some sort of lasting impression. You feel I'm saying some sort of, some sort of impact. You know I'm time out to help. You know, keep the, the movement going.

Speaker 1: 54:03

You know I'm saying so to just I don't want to say earlier you have, oh you have. I don't care is it good or bad, cuz your name will still live on. Somebody Will still remember you. Bright right, right, right, right, good or bad, nice, the bad part. And when you talk about the bad part, something good is gonna come out of it absolutely. Yeah, so you have impacted people like Don't ever forget that and I even included my you you definitely impact my.

Speaker 2: 54:54

Roger that sir.

Speaker 1: 54:56

So where can my listeners? I find you. I find you, especially your business website.

Speaker 2: 55:09

Well, you know.

Speaker 2: 55:11

I'm telling you I well, you know I'm on Facebook. You know I'm saying I'm on Instagram Creative juice, art and design. So it's WW dot creative juice and that's juice. J O O C E dot com creative juice, and that's creative with the K. By the way, I'm on Facebook Michael juice Warren, pragmatic, pra Prague, pra G, m-a-d-i-k pragmatic brand Dot com. We got a Facebook, we got tick tock. We got Instagram. We know we, we all over. You know I'm saying so you can find, you can find me on any one of those. You know I'm saying but yeah, you know that's that's, that's where I'm at.

Speaker 1: 56:12

Well, thank you, juice. I Thank you for taking the time out to come my broadcast tell you a story, and so who is Motherfucking juice? You are not in the play way.

Speaker 2: 56:27

Appreciate you, man.

Speaker 1: 56:28

Thank you, I really appreciate you.

Speaker 2: 56:30

Yeah man else, but you hear, it man, I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1: 56:37

And so my motherfucking listeners, it is just the two of us broadcast and we are motherfucking to an out. I hope that you have a fun, happy day. Be you, be honest with yourself and people don't fuck with you. And those people don't fuck with you. Fuck, mm-hmm. Yeah, I love you.