From Poverty to Authenticity: Finding Your Voice and Living Your Truth | Ep. 43 Hugo Maynard

Growing up in poverty without a father figure could have limited Hugo Maynard's possibilities, but instead of being defined by his circumstances, he chose to use them as fuel for authentic growth. His story represents the power of resilience, self-discovery, and the courage to build a life on your own terms.

Hugo's journey through adversity taught him invaluable lessons about identity and the importance of staying true to yourself despite external pressures. As a college basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he learned discipline and perseverance. His athletic achievements culminated in representing the U.S. Virgin Islands Olympic Team in the 2003 Tournament of America, proving that excellence can emerge from any starting point.

Today, Hugo shares his unfiltered truth as a speaker and podcast host, helping others resist the pressure to conform and find their authentic voice. His message is particularly powerful for young people facing adversity, proving that circumstances don't define destiny — choices and self-understanding do.

In this episode of The Standard Podcast™, Hugo shares:

• How growing up in poverty taught him about resilience and self-reliance
• The role basketball played in developing his identity and character
• What it means to represent your heritage at the international level
• How to find your voice when you've never had positive role models
• The difference between authentic success and conforming to others' expectations

Whether you're facing difficult circumstances, struggling with identity, or tired of living according to others' expectations, Hugo's story provides both inspiration and practical wisdom for building an authentic life.

This isn't motivation. This is a movement.

Connect with Hugo: Social Media: @hugoxredd_unfiltered

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Perfect. Excellent. Welcome to the Standard Podcast team, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call out the lies or misconceptions that nobody else will. This isn't motivation, this is a movement. I'm Thomas Rowe, joined with my host, Aaron Sarles, and today we're sitting down with Hugo Maynard, a speaker and podcast host who grew up in poverty and learned what real success comes from understanding yourself and living your truth. Hugo's journey is one of resilience and self-discovery. Growing up without a father figure, he he faced obstacles that have defined him instead, that could have defined him. Instead, he learned through trial and error, found his voice, and built life's that life that is authentically his own. Now, through his podcast, he helps listeners do the same. Resist the pressure to conform and build lives that reflect their true selves. Hugo, also a lifelong basketball lover who played for Winston-Salem State and had an honor in representing the U.S. Virgin Islands Olympic team in the 2003 Tournament of America. His athletic journey taught him lessons about identity, perseverance, and what it means to compete at the highest levels while still staying true to yourself and who you are. Today Hugo shares his unfiltered truth about growing up in poverty, finding identity without a father figure, and building authentic success through understanding yourself and living your true values. We're diving into the truth that what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life. Let's get into it. Hugo, thank you so much for joining us. Aaron and I are super excited. What a way to end the week and start the weekend. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Thank you guys for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Of course, of course. So you're a speaker and a podcast host who grew up in poverty and learned that real success comes from understanding yourself and living your truth. What does raising the standard mean to you, especially for people who are start who start off with odds stacked against them?

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Raising the standards for me means raising the man, raising the human, raising the woman if you're a woman. Because in this life, that's the most powerful thing that you know we're gonna ever be able to witness. That's that's who we're with 24-7 a day, 24 hours, seven days a week, you know. So I think raising the standards means living your truth and you know, having your core principles, virtues, and values that you live by and not wavering from that. That's what raising the standards look like to me.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Beautiful. And what do you think is the biggest lie that the culture that you feel a culture has sold you and continues to sell people about success, identity, and what it takes or what it will take to grow into an individual like yourself that can that has come through poverty?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

The biggest lie is that it's outside yourself. I think that you know that keeps us chasing and chasing and chasing. It's endless. If it's outside of you, it's it's endless. It's gonna be a different type of journey for sure. So that's the biggest lie, and that it's not that simple to just have character and integrity and live by that.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

No question. So you grew up without a father figure and faced obstacles that could have defined you or broke you. How did basketball become a vehicle for learning about yourself and finding your voice? And was it the support of your family, even though you didn't have a male figure, or maybe you did, or a father figure?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

I think that I'm blessed to have grown up in an era where coaches were father figures for us, and they were pillars of the community. You know, my coach introduced me to basketball on a high level in terms of training. So with training, that built the character that I need. You know, I I remember my coach being in the gym alone, and he said, it's what you do when no one's looking.

unknown 4:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

That's what that's what that's what really matters. So those were the figures that we had, and we were fortunate enough to have. And you know, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

I love it. That's perfect. With that, I'm gonna turn it over to Aaron, and she's gonna get into who is Hugo, who Hugo through identity and legacy. Aaron, take it away.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Great. I'm so excited to be on this podcast today with both of you. So I want you to share with our audience, Hugo. You know, obviously you've played college basketball at Winston-Salem State. You represented the U.S. Virgin Islands Olympic team in the 2003 Tournament of Americas, but beyond basketball and all of your achievements, who is Hugo?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

I would say, you know, I would say that I'm a man who lives his truth, a family man. So I I really believe in that, you know, and so I'm pretty boring because I I just live off the the virtues of you know, justice, truth, wisdom, you know, I keep it very, very simple because the the longer that I've gone in life, I realize this is very simple. You have a tribe, you have a family, and you do everything to protect that. And protecting that means growing them every day, which means as a human being, I have to grow every day in different capacities.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Yeah, that's that's that's so beautiful. I mean, I love that. Continue that thought.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah, you know, I think that on the journey, you know, like I alluded to earlier, you think that everything is outside of you. And then you get to a certain level of success and you realize I have to keep performing. And this this performance is not even who I am. You know, I'm not I'm not a basketball player, I'm not an entrepreneur, I'm not like I'm gonna die and I'm gonna be my son's dad. I'm gonna be my daughter's dad. And, you know, those are the things that became more important to me as I as I went on, and I realized that no amount of success ever made me calm until I was good with myself. And to become good with myself, I had to become what I practice. You know, you could put on a show for anything that's outside of you, but that show cannot last and it will not go on. And everything that you do in in the dark will come out to light, even if it's at your funeral. So, you know, those are the things that really made me start thinking about okay, so like who are you and what are you gonna be and what matters?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Yeah, that's a profound truth right there that you just shared. And I I love that because it's it's really about the foundation of who you are, but we are so trained and taught to chase and chase stuff to your point that's outside of us, and it's becoming right with who we are within. That's really the accomplishment of life. And so, with that, what does legacy beyond achievements and accolades mean to you, especially working with others to help find their voice?

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Absolutely. I would say when I think of legacy, I think about as as I said earlier on, the things that you do when no one is looking, who are you? That's that's that's gonna be your legacy, you know, the accolades and the titles and all of those things, they're not they they won't live on. And even if they did, to who? Like that's not gonna matter. Like I hear people all the time, you know, in passing, man, you know, a guy tells another person, your your dad was a great baseball player, and the son is like, didn't even matter to him. You know, that's not what I know of him, you know. And so when I think about what's gonna matter, the defining qualities that matters to who we are as a human being, it goes back to the day-to-day conversations we have, how we treat people. Not when we got to show up in front of 20,000 people and put on the mask, but who are we all the time? You know, it's such a travesty. I see people who children hate them, but then the world loves them. You got it mixed up. You're you're walking by your spouse with your face poked out to get to work to be everybody's hero. No, I'm gonna be the hero in my house, in my skin, every single second of the day. That's what I'm gonna practice being a hero of.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

I love that. I love that. We need that. Everybody needs that message, I think, especially today. I think that's so important. And I love that your podcast is about sharing unfiltered truth. What separates people who live authentically from those who spend their lives trying to be what others expect or pleasing other people? What's the cost of conformity that most people do not see?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

It's one of the most expensive things. I would say the the cost of conformity. You give up peace, you give up freedom, you give up originality. And like I said, you cannot you cannot be fake your whole life. We're gonna, we're, we're gonna, I'm telling you, we we'll get to the funeral, and that's when everything will come out. If it hasn't already, you know, and there's there's there's no hiding here. And I think that's why we see, unfortunately, people who have reached reached the optimal levels of success, and then they take their lives, or you see the the lives starts to uh unshamble in front of us because all that external success does for us is put us on a bigger platform. We all struggle from the same basic things, and I'll go into this too. I started looking at what makes a human being functional. So we're born as a kid as a baby. What do we need? We need to be held, we need to be fed, we want to be loved. How do we get away from that? And we get far away from that, and the hugs and the food turns into money and and people uh flattering you. Your mom doesn't flatter you when you're when you're born. That's real love. And we get out of that into something that's extremely unnatural, and then now our lives go on this dive of unnatural things, and there's no recovery for that. Of course, you're you're gonna be sitting in a mansion thoroughly hating yourself.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Yep, yeah, that that's so profound, and I it's so it's so true, and it's that returning to ourselves that I think is I think we're all trying to unlearn. So, with that, what's one truth that you wish every young person or athlete really understood about building identity and finding their voice?

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I wish that every athlete would understand to truly love themselves, appreciate themselves, and to to do what they want to do. Don't be influenced by you know what's cool for your parents or what's cool for the culture, or what's it's not sustainable. You know, I think that we have to take deep dives inside of us and really discover what makes us tick. And we could do things like sports is a great thing. Any kind of sport that you start playing as a young man or young woman, you know, it teaches character, it teaches a lot of different things, team, all of the great qualities that you will need. And I think that we have to go from the inside out. Most of us are playing this game from the outside in. So we're looking at, okay, I'm I guess I'll be a doctor because they, of course, okay, I'm smart. That doesn't mean that I need to be a doctor. I might hate that, you know. But and so we got unhappy people doing things, and it affects all of us because we could feel the energy in everything. You you go to the grocery store, you know if this person loves this or not. You walk by someone, you feel their energy, and that energy takes a toll. Even teachers, I used to be a principal of junior high school, and I would tell the teachers this you shouldn't be teaching because your your husband moved here and he's stationed here, and you just need a job. You're affecting someone that doesn't even want to come in. These kids, when they show up and they don't want to be here or they just come here to eat, your attitude and how you are is going to dictate how they feel about these things. So I think that it goes back to putting ourselves together first so that because we we all affect each other.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

That's so profound, so profound. I love what you said. I'm a big energy person, so you're absolutely right. Like we're all being affected by all of this collectively. So with that, I'm going to turn it back over to Thomas, which is going to be our segment on advice across all stages.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Awesome. Hugo, if you could sit down with yourself as a young person growing up, what would you say to the next generation coming up as far as uh about identity, worth, self-worth, and what it what is really possible and obtainable?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Well, I would say, you know, I think our first identities we do get from our families or lack of it. And I would say you take that and whatever, whatever you've been given, because a lot of us, we none of us get to choose, you know, where we land. But I think we do have a choice on what we could work towards. So if I was to sit down with my younger self or a younger generation about identity, I would say be bold and really write down who you want to be. I did that. I started when I was younger, I did this be do half list. And the attributes that were on the list that I wrote down that I wanted to be, I don't think I was any of them. I wasn't a dad, you know, I was a broke, struggling guy coming out of college. So I started writing down and painting this picture of who I wanted to be. Sure. And I would tell them, stop listening to anyone outside of you that's not really in tune with you or themselves. We have to really start looking at people and how they treat themselves. You're not, you're not nice to yourself. So why are you speaking on my life? You know, and those are the people I would take advice from. Those are the people I would share energy with, the people that actually hold themselves to a standard. And you can tell without them telling you, you could tell. You could tell by the way the guy's walking, he knows where he's going. He's not, he's not wondering, you know. Ask that guy for directions, you know. So that's what I would do. I would have a collection of people like that that I'll piggyback off of. And then I would also use my own imagination on who I wanted to be. Because at some point, if you don't have the right guidance, it's going to be trial and error. And even with the right guidance, it's still trial and error in a sense. You're just you're just more guided.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

For sure, for sure. So with when it comes down to identity, you and I growing up playing sports, we didn't have social media. We couldn't post all of our highlights. And I we do you feel like social media has given young athletes a false sense of identity? And what advice would you give them about the pressure of social media trying to define and find out who you are and what is your true identity?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I would tell them, again, that's something that's outside of them. It's a it's a great tool to have if you're growing up in this generation, but it might not, you need to, you need to use it to benefit you. I think the problem with social media is not it within itself. I think it's this idea of me trying to be something. Right. You know, you're trying to attract something, and you might not be what you're trying to attract. You know, that might just be the end thing at the time. So you're doing a TikTok dance. You're not a dancer, you you know, you're just looking for attention. And I think that with true identity, we fulfill we fill our own cups first, right? And then we realize okay, I am a basketball player, I want to attend the University of Michigan to play basketball. So my highlights and even the people that I choose to follow might be alums and people surrounding that. You use the tool for your benefit because it's a beautiful tool. Right. You know, it's the same thing with money. A lot of people get hung up on it, but as far as I checked, money's been dead for a long time. And I don't think it makes any decisions. But I I'm not sure, but I have not seen it make any decisions. Usually it takes a living being to move and to have intentions and to, but but the paper itself, it's it doesn't even move unless the wind blows.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Right. Right. And you help people through your podcast and speaking and resist the pressure to conform. For someone who's been living according to others' expectations, how do they start the process of finding their true authentic voice?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

You you first of all, you got to be very, very truthful with yourself. And it's one of the hardest things. I I I've been through it, and it was one of the hardest things. And you you have to be able to, in my situation, I had to go into solitude because there, I tell you one thing, there's not a crowd of people raising their hand to to testify. Right. You know, usually you got to go to court and be forced to testify. Well, I wanted to create my own court within my own life, and I said, You're just gonna have to be truthful because you cannot get anywhere without the truth. Right. You know, or you're just gonna be going, you're gonna be veering off in places you don't need to go because you're creating these stories. So you sit down and your basis is this is where I'm at. I know it's ugly, this is who I am, and you build from there, you know. So, and I think that's the the character piece, that's the integrity piece. And you can't have any of those things without living the brutal, harsh truth. And it's so simple at times because there's a saying that I that I live by the a lie always has to be dressed, the truth can walk naked, but if you look at it, the lie has to put on makeup, it has to dress up.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

No doubt, no doubt. That's true. That is so true. You touched on it earlier, and I this is something that I try to emphasize with my clients or with our clients as far as athletes go, and it doesn't matter if you're a young man or woman. How is it how important is a mentor to young athletes, whether it's upperclassmen or whether it's a coach or maybe it's a priest or somebody at your church? But how important is a mentor and how did this mentor come into your life and change your life?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Mentor is pivotal. I mean, we we are we have to learn from people. There's no there's no way around it. No one raises themselves from their own bootstraps. Without Coach Wakefall, my sophomore year high school, locking me in the gym, something he probably could never do today, and shutting the water off, uh and and pushing me to reach depths within myself that I didn't know. Without that summer, without him being so hard on me, and by the way, he then would pick me up on Sundays and take me to church. So these are the these are the characters of those guys. These guys were heroes, right? You know, and Without those, I don't know, I don't know where you end up. And now I'm looking at it, everything is so monetarily driven. And you see where some people are ending up with that, because the coaches don't have all the same intentions, nor do they have the same integrity. That's why I was very attracted to the standard, because that's what we're talking about. We're talking about instill bringing that back.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

100%. That being said, we're gonna turn it over to Aaron, which is segment four, which is the rapid fire round. Aaron, take it away.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Okay, get ready. Rapid fire. So I'm gonna start a sentence and you're gonna finish my sentence for me, okay? Okay, this is fun. So discipline equals.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

I'm not rapidly fired back. Discipline equals love.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Love, I love it. Okay, what about leadership? What does it equal?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Vision.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Faith equals purpose. Legacy equals.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

I think of lineage.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Okay, what about uh now I've lost um what is one thing you would never compromise on?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Oh, my my integrity, my character.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

And if you could put a message on a billboard for young people and athletes, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 23:46

I would say live your truth and practice better habits.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

I love it. Live your truth. Okay, Thomas. Now it's your turn again.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Awesome, Hugo. Listen, before we wrap up, this is kind of just an open forum and an open floor for you. Is there something we didn't touch on today that you feel like young people, parents, and anyone struggling with identity and authenticity need to hear?

SPEAKER_00 24:14

I think that again, it goes back to the core values of what you guys talk about, you know, character. And I I think that when when I think of character, I think of something unchanging. You know, so it's not the way you shoot a shot, it's the way you show up to practice, you know, it's the way you show up for your teammates. That's the thing that's unchanging, you know. And I I think that I just want to make sure that they people understand the distinction between when you talk about character and integrity, you know, because you're gonna evolve and you might shoot your shot a little different. That has nothing to do with character, it has to do with how the intensity, your intentions behind the things that you're doing, and where you really want to go. And just the other thing I would say is really no one's really watching you. So you should live your life like no one's watching. There you go. Who are you gonna be?

SPEAKER_01 25:17

No doubt. So, last question before we get into how people can get a hold of you. You played basketball. Let's say basketball was taken away from you. What sport would Hugo have grab gravitated toward?

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Okay, I gotta tell you this quick. So I was really good at soccer at baseball. I quit those things because I could not play basketball. They actually wrote an article on this when I was in college. So I quit those things because I lived in the Bay Area at the time and I could not play basketball. And for some reason, I was like, well, why am I getting teased? Because I can't play basketball.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

That's amazing. That is so you know what? Before I let you go, I'm gonna ask you, how important do you think it is for young athletes to play multiple sports? And how long should they play multiple sports? And when should they zero in on one specific sport?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I think playing multiple sports is so important because you know, especially at a young age, you you you never know what you're gonna be great at, and you don't know what you love until you have access to it. So I think that they should definitely try it. You know, the decision to go into one sport, you you have to follow your heart. And I think that our heart will will never, if we don't listen to our heart, it'll stop talking, or at least it'll get so quiet we can't hear it. So I think that you gotta keep that open, and whatever you truly love going to work with every day, that's at that point you will know when it's time for you to give up. And if you're just good at everything, then I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Yeah, you're not you need to pick another sport if you're just good at everything or you're that's that's true.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Because you then you won't build too much character and stuff. You need some diversity.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Yeah, I mean, that's where I mean that's really where characters forge, right? And in losses and struggle and in just trying to pick up something new. I mean, we we all talk about it. Like I I don't play guitar, but if I started guitar today, I would suck, right? But if I kept at it every day, every week, every month, in a year, I'd be an incredible guitar player. And that's what we try to tell young athletes about their sport as well as their character, because you got to get the reps. It's a perishable skill, right? You know, it's a trait that you've got to develop. Hugo, where can people get a hold of you? Whether it's an email or a website or your social media handles, where are the best places for people to reach out?

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Oh, absolutely. On Instagram, we're at is Hugo X and then red, R-E-D-D, underscore unfiltered. So there and then if the website www.polaropposite life.com. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Awesome team. Definitely root reach out again. That's Hugo X Red, H-U-G-O-X R-E-D-D, underscore unfiltered. Listen, Qugo, thank you so much for taking the time on the at the end of the week here on a Friday. Great way to end the week for us and hopefully for you too and kick off the weekend. And if this conversation challenged you, inspired you, or made you think differently, share it. Send it to someone who's struggling with to find their voice, a young person or athlete facing obstacles, or anyone who's trying who's tired of conforming and ready to live authentically. This is the standard podcast. And Hugo, tell us what your podcast is.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

My podcast is www.shitmydaddy didn't teach me.com. So it's it's uh very uh humorous at the same time, but it's it's it's it's been fun though.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Awesome, awesome. I love it. So, team, definitely reach out to him at his on either his handle or his webcast or with his podcast or his website. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Definitely check in with Hugo. And if you're an athlete parent or coach ready to raise the standard, check us out at blueprintbluechip.com. We train athletes to build identity, discipline, and legacy that goes far beyond the sport. Again, team, this is a standard podcast, and this movement only grows when we raise the standard together. Talent fades, but truth endures. Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and become the standard. Hugo, Aaron, thank you so much. We'll see you, team, next time. Thanks again. Have a great weekend.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Thank you, team.