The Higher Valleys Podcast
Welcome to the Higher Valleys Podcast, where former NFL teammates Spencer Paysinger and Jelani Jenkins trade real conversations about fatherhood, sports, ambition, identity, and life after the game.
Each week, we unpack the tension ambitious fathers face: chasing success, strengthening marriages, and raising emotionally secure kids… without losing ourselves along the way.
The Higher Valleys Podcast
Los Doyers!!!!
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Spencer skips a championship parade to sit in the pocket with Jelani—and what unfolds is a masterclass on legacy, presence, and the long game. Baseball becomes metaphor: the quiet between pitches, the pressure in the ninth, the heads-up play no one sees coming. Jelani celebrates his son’s white belt and the way confidence finds a voice. They talk work trips, restraint, core memories, and why the future of hip-hop might sound more like soul and gospel than streams and charts. If you’re building a family culture that feels like a team that knows how to win, this one’s for you.
TOPICS COVERED
• Choosing presence over spectacle when a city is celebrating
• Baseball as a living blueprint for patience, pressure, and precision under bright lights
• Reading the count: slowing down between pitches as a father, leader, and partner
• Taekwondo belts as a family ritual: voice, confidence, and intergenerational memory
• From white belt to worldview: why early wins should teach form before speed
• Work-trip discipline vs. “demon time”: boundaries, accountability, and self-respect on the road
• Investing in people like a GM: contracts, rosters, and how families build depth charts
• Streaming metrics vs. resonance: why charts don’t equal culture or legacy
• Hip-hop’s next chapter: soul, gospel, and what we want our kids to absorb
• Making core memories at home: small traditions that outlast public fireworks
• Coaching the household: standards that feel like safety, not surveillance
• When to call a timeout: rest, reset blocks, and breathing in high-pressure moments
• Language of confidence: teaching the body to match the message
• The long game of love: playing for October while showing up on a random Tuesday
QUOTES
• “Sometimes the loudest parade is the one in your living room.”
• “Belts don’t just measure progress—they teach the voice to match the strike.”
• “The long game of fatherhood is learning when to slow down so the moment can speed up.”
WHERE TO FIND US
• Instagram: @highervalleyspodcast
• TikTok: @highervalleys