Ep 2 Allow Us to Reintroduce Ourselves: The Power of Perspective

Summary

This conversation explores the importance of community, mentorship, and personal growth among men, particularly focusing on the role of uncles in guiding younger generations. The speakers reflect on their experiences, the significance of shared cultural identity, and the need for open dialogue in fostering connections. They emphasize the value of patience, perspective, and determination as essential qualities for navigating life's challenges and building a supportive community.

Takeaways

The power of perspective can change your outlook on life.

Patience is a crucial quality that breeds understanding.

Community building is essential for personal growth.

Uncles play a vital role in mentoring younger generations.

Cultural identity influences how we present ourselves in professional settings.

Shared experiences create lasting bonds among individuals.

Open dialogue fosters understanding and connection.

The importance of modeling behavior for younger generations.

Building a supportive community requires active participation.

Future goals should focus on creating positive impacts.

00:00 Musical Reflections and Personal Connections

02:49 The Power of Perspective and Attitude

05:57 Navigating Personal Changes and Health Discussions

08:50 The Confusion of Sea Moss and Technology

11:40 Corporate Culture and Personal Appearance

14:22 The Challenges of Moving and Family Dynamics

18:41 Reintroducing the Unks

21:35 The Value Proposition of the Unk

23:10 Mentorship and Guidance for Young Men

27:36 Building Community and Connection

31:32 Sharing Passion and Experiences

39:05 Vision for the Future

43:35 Conversations on Relationships and Responsibilities

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

No need to get been out of shape. We, you know, unless you're talking about changing something, which they weren't, you know. So I was like, all right, I'm I'm I'm cool, but it made me want to like get lifted, as John Legend used to say. That's a great album, dude. Almost every song is about cheating, but that's okay. It sounds beautiful, dude. Okay. Wait, wait.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

Is that Evolver? Which one is that one?

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Really? No, that was the first album, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yeah, the first one. Go go re-listen to it, brother. Yeah, good lifty. Mm-hmm. Is that that was the name of the album, was it? Yeah, yeah, I think so. I do believe it was Good Lift, yeah. Yeah, it was Good Lifty. Um Wow. Jared, what year, what year you got married, man? 2010. 2010. Oh, wow. Wow. So I was all right, y'all don't know this, man. But when I'm when I'm singing in the shower and shit, like I I'm putting on a performance for, like in my head, it's all there's a scenario happening, okay? And this time the scenario was I did take that red eye out to Florida to Pod Fest. And after we went to the to the deal, we did the karaoke night, you know? And so he was introducing me. Jermaine was introducing me. And so then when I got to Mike before, I was singing, I was like, man, y'all don't know, man. This brother, I was like, I've known him, and then I couldn't remember how long it's been, and I was like, man, it's been like the matrix decade. I'm like, dude, it's been I was like, has and me and this motherfucker actually fucking really been down for a while. It was kind of cool. Meanwhile, I couldn't, I didn't know the exact number when I was trying to do the speech for it, so that's why I brought it up. But um, you gave me a really cool intro though, uh, in my imagination.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So thanks for that, I would have just said 10 plus years, because that's that's long enough. Like 10 plus years to know somebody is you you're down. You're down, you know, after ten. You just you don't have to start 10, you just start counting up to decades.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

You know to still like S B connecting.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Right, right. Sneaking stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Bro, you guys, I bought a mic.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Oh yeah? What kind of mic?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Blue yet? I don't no uh a mole. That sounds high-end. Hold on. Mono? It's a mono. Mono. Mono and then oh at the end of it.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Oh, we know about them.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Mone.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

That was a slight giggle, and I don't know if I like that. Okay, that's I don't need that. But yeah, man. Uh good day though, you know. Survived it. Just kind of it's funny when when you you know how when you put a we put a goal in mind and you're like, oh, okay, I'm working towards something. So all the other kind of bullshit doesn't really it doesn't change your path. You know what I mean? It doesn't change what you're trying to do. And so I kind of like that I'm in that phase of it right now where it's like, no, I got something that's beyond kind of this petty stuff going on, and so I can look beyond it. Because I like that because it lets me not be stressed, you know, and I'm like, oh, okay, that's that's way better just to be not stressed, dude. Like that's so much better, man. So I'm I'm happy. I'm gonna try to keep this attitude, you know. We talk about all the time, attitude, small thing, make a big difference, man. I love getting the right perspective on things, and I think I'm coming around uh to the right perspective on um on how I'm doing my day-to-day at my job. So I like that.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

It's a superpower, man. Perspective. Indeed. It's a superpower. Like determination, perspective, and then maybe like patience, like the three superpowers that are just overlooked, bruh. But if you have if you've got any combination of those three in your in your tool belt, and and if you're in like the you know, the 10 percentile, you know, the or I guess the 80th the top percentile of having those in your bucket, bro, you're you're ruling the world.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

It's supposed to be patience. Patience and perspective.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

God, patience, yep. Yo, y'all you you're less stressed, you you're crazy, you know. Crazy.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Patience, good. Exactly. That's that's the thing. Oh, patience breeds you know, grace, patience breeds perspective sometimes. Patience, but you know, that's uh a lot of things flower from that. A lot of things flower from that. That was that's a good one there, man. That's a really good one. How y'all doing though, man? Another Wednesday.

SPEAKER_04 5:18

Yeah, man. Like during the week, I'll be thinking about all these things I'm gonna bring up and talk about and ask you guys uh when I get and then I just be forgetting all of it. Like we get on the call, and I just forget everything. Like I bet, oh man, I wonder, it used to be random stuff too. Like just you know, I wonder what what they do about this or what they do in these situations, or if they ever got this. And yeah, man, just one of them was I was just getting like grays everywhere, and I'm like, all right.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

I'm like, yeah, y'all getting grays everywhere? Everywhere, bro. Everywhere. Okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Funny enough, what as gray as I am, no, though. That's actually for real? I laughed at the beginning. But then I'm like, but actually though. Yeah, yeah. Actually, though, I'm not because I'm very gray, you know, like I've got a lot. Uh, you know, I I cut this down so you can't see, but I'm sure y'all can see the salt and pepper. But like, no, that's hilarious. I'll tell you this. So maybe it's because like, all right, first it was just the beard, then it was the top. Now my mustache is getting little rogue hairs. Okay, so maybe it's just I don't know. I'll I'll see next time. Working his way, you know, why you pull out a teeth. Is that is that a great no, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

You're not, you gotta get your CMOS in, bro. Get your CMOS. Get your C MOS in, bro.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

I got a cousin that sells CMOS.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I don't know what that is. I'm thinking about like a CMOS battery.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

Uh in like a uh capsule form or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

No, no, you gotta you gotta get the scoop and just go for it. I guess I'll trust y'all. I don't know what that is. C MOS, man? You ain't never heard the C MOS?

SPEAKER_04 7:14

It was big in like the the um like what like 2020, 2021-ish. I remember like a lot of people were were like in selling it. Um but uh my cousin Xavier was selling it. I mean it's got it's like it's it's like another one of those superfood kind of things and just helps with a bunch of especially like if you have gastrointestinal gastrointestinal um like you know challenges, it's artery, so I don't help with that. It's that's kind of what I was taking it from. But it is other stuff, thyroid, thyroid, and like uh respiratory things, I think.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Oh, like S E A moss, C moss like from the C. Calm down, acting like C Moss is first of all. I'm in the IT industry. I'm thinking of a C moss battery, like in a computer. I have no idea, like C M O S is what I'm hearing from you. Every time I say this, and I'm like, what are they talking about? So then I put I'm trying to Google it because I'm like, I don't know what this is. So then I put C MOS like C still, the letter C with MOSS, and I'm like, that's not it. So then I put CMOS vitamin, still spelled that way, and it was like, hey, did your dumbass mean C like C MOS?

SPEAKER_04 8:39

That's like a uh that's like a Jesus, like a chip that's like a motherboard chip manufacturing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

That's not a thing you're talking about. Now y'all lost me.

SPEAKER_04 8:50

It's like a semiconductor, like uh I remember like silicon, silicon uh like fabrication, something like that, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Yeah, it's uh I don't know, metal, it's because it's metal something, metal oxide, maybe metal uh uh yeah, it is metal oxide semiconductor.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what it is. Uh-huh. So yeah, maybe computer metal oxide, or I don't know what the C stands for, but yeah, metal oxide computer sounds, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:18

That's hilarious. Anyway, boy, I'll tell you, when the world collide, well, like that's insane. C Mod, you can take C mods? Yeah, I was like, I don't think I'm like, because I'm like, ah, no, then I'm like, what? Because then you guys started talking seriously about it, like, well, you know, capsule form, and I've never, and I'm like, well, well, hold on now. That's funny. And Google shook his head before it answered me. It was like, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

I'm saying, I'm sorry, dude. I'm trying to work. I'm sorry. It like delayed the response. It took like seven seconds.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

And Google was like, nah, I don't know what you mean by that, bro.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Just turn your computer off.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Have you tried turning it off and back on again? Close the browser.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

All right, yeah. What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Anyway, all right, yeah, gentlemen, today. I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Timing is everything. Oh man. Where do you run off to? Oh, there he goes. There he goes. Bruh. Come on, man. Come on. You want to go reset his CMOS battery. Hey, hey. You know, you know, we when you pull your hair back, Jad, you look real David Beckham-ish. You know, you just real go.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Oh, man. I used to sometimes just knew it out of my face, you know.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Born is the same way, man. I know even last time you seen him, man. His hair down his damn back and shit. Yeah. How long is he hair here?

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Now, was that Sam that made you grow that out? Or was that made you grow that out? Or was that a was that a Jared thing, or was that a I think he looked good?

SPEAKER_04 10:57

It was mostly kind of thing. Like she was the first one to get him. And then Sam got him. And then uh and I don't know if had been born just yet. But yeah, Reagan was like, well, we have them, so why don't you get them? And argue with that logic. Yeah. And then that was when I was when, you know, from a parenting standpoint, we were doing a whole lot of like uh is this trying to figure out like identity and stuff. You know what I mean? Like, okay, let's make sure there's identity alignment and she sees herself. So I was like, okay, cool, let's let me go ahead and do it. Uh and I got it like maybe a little bit before the pandemic. But I'm hoping now I don't run into any issues with it. So I'm trying to think of like a logic.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Oh, yeah, yeah. Like pull this thing back and Yeah, I'm investing some long sleeves, you know. Yeah. You're good.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

Nah, man, I need something a little more conservative.

SPEAKER_04 12:04

Partners depends on like um it's too wild back there. To a dude that does not have a tony a ponytail. You don't have what do you mean? So you so you you've hired you've been in situations where you've I'm just getting it from like uh an experience standpoint. So the guy with no ponytail is telling the guy with the ponytail.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

No, what okay. What I'm saying is I have I'm thinking more from like the woman perspective, right? This is about to take a turn for the right here. So in women, women pulling their hair back during like interviews and stuff is seemed to be more conservative in like a ponytail. And so, if you or in a bun of some type versus having their hair down. Agreed.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

So I think so look, look, hair, here, why do the math doesn't agree, like correlate to me?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

So, now I just thought, I'm just thinking from like, if you apply the male perspective, any person I've seen with longer hair, and I'm just talking about the white, the white gentleman. Any white gentleman that I've seen with longer hair in a corporate setting, it's always been pulled back in like a bun type shape or in some sort of ponytail. I've never just seen like a a white boy, uh, uh, uh, a white a white boy out here just you know, yeah, throwing it out. You know?

SPEAKER_04 13:37

So yeah. But when I've seen black men with locks or with longer hair, I'm gonna back it's more in a plaited, it's either like it with with locks. I'm not it's not like cornrows, because you know, that's a different thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Oh, it's like locked up and everything.

SPEAKER_04 13:58

Okay, I should just have locked back, you know what I'm saying? It's in some type of design, either like um barrel rolls is typically what I'm thinking. Like a barrel roll or two barrel rolls, um versus just like a ponytail. Because like if you have depending on how long they are, you know, and then a ponytail may not be as clean.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Or as I just need to think just the lay down was clean, but it doesn't, that doesn't really work anymore. Like the way Tim Meadows used to have it or Tomal Warner or something used to have it. But I don't I don't know about that now. I just think long hair is a that's a tough this is a tough corporate choice, you know. It's a tough corporate choice, that's all.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

You know what, man?

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Jermaine, you don't have to you don't have to be you don't have to be contrarian in this, dude.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 14:48

You don't have to provide the contrarian perspective.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Let me give a shot off. No, I was gonna disagree with you guys. I was going to disagree with you guys, but now that I'm thinking, but but only because my perspective is like a little bit northeastern, and I've seen much more extremes in like a northeastern corporate set. You ain't lying where it's it's a different ball game. So that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 15:15

Like if we were like in an Atlanta or something like that. Atlanta, yeah, of course. And then the industry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and my industry is different. And so, like, it's okay. Well, what is the industry norm? I think that might be a little bit what Joe's alluding to.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

It's like, what is the industry norm of people that yeah, because from my experience, do whatever the f you want to do. You know, my these motherfuckers at IT don't get, but they nasty as fuck. These niggas stink, they don't fucking the hair is the least of my words. These motherfuckers. I wish it was, I wish it was like uh I mean there is, right? You read the handbook, you gotta, you're supposed to be, but nobody a rule is only as good as his enforcement. You know what I mean? So I uh I hate that I hate that. These nasty motherfuckers just uh you know what?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Just move to Atlanta. Forget it. Just move to Atlanta.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

He sounds my company. Hey, just move. Just move, just move. Just move.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

You know what?

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Look, hey, you you're talking to the wrong person about moving. You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

You're not wrong. You're not wrong. You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

One of them joints was Iowa. Or it was Iowa, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:30

One of them joints was Iowa. I don't know how you did that. I can't I can't use the kids.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

I can't use the kids. You gotta do that shit. I'm like, fuck, I can't you know I can't really have to concede this. It might not be as hard as I'm making it to be.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

You can't say the wife is working because my was working too. You can't say nothing. I can't say it because it wouldn't be true. Um, but it's okay though. You have a different life, you different life, different life, different life. Yeah. So hey, uh I look, I like moving, man.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Look, just pick it up and move. Let me tell you, and and that's one thing I hate moving. I did it a lot when I was a child. It it ruined my perspective. If you want to want to use that on it, man. I I have a very sour, sour place in my heart for moving, man. I really, really hate it.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

See, that did the opposite for me. We moved a lot when I was younger. Yeah. And I was like, let's double down. Let's keep this party going. How do your kids normally do with these moves? Um, it's getting more difficult as they get older. Uh, and and and it depends on the temperaments. So, like my eldest daughter, she's a little bit more uh regimented, more a little bit more rigid in her like how things want how she wants things. And so for her, it's a little more challenging.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

My middle daughter and my youngest daughter, they're like, they never met anybody that ain't been a friend. So they're just like, it's just new friends.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Oh, we got new friends.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Right, right. Uh, and my oldest son, he's he's uh it was a little tougher this last time because he had a little girl he liked and he didn't ask her out before the end of the school year. He's like, I I should have asked her out. And so now, right, right, so now he's he's in this new school and he has another girl that he likes. Um and which side note, bro, I found out he was helping the little girl, well, he was helping the girl with her homework, her math homework, doing her doing his homework. He over here failing in math, not doing his work, not doing his work, and doing everybody else's work. I I sent this to I talked, I texted Jerry, I was like, damn, I know my boy cheating. But he ain't cheating on the receiving end. He the he the giver.

SPEAKER_02 19:14

He the he the He the helped two people he's doing a different type of math, okay?

SPEAKER_01 19:19

He's doing a different type and failing his test. In mathematics, though. In math. Bro, failing his, he's failing in his class, all these other people, um, are you know, he's doing A school work. I'm like, bro, you why aren't your homework done? Oh, you know, I just I was just helping.

SPEAKER_05 19:41

Uh so anyway, long story short.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Long story short. Um, changed my background. Hey, by the end of it, I call, I was calling Jared. I was like, Jared, you got room in your school, man? You got room for one more student?

SPEAKER_03 20:02

We'll take them. Okay, M T M T.

SPEAKER_04 20:06

It looks like he's doing it uh for the lady.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Yes, I was like, he's like this plus this equal pussy, nigga. I got a different type of math I'm doing, brother. All right. I know it's all on, but it's the A I'm about to get. We making a math a P, nigga. Like, what?

SPEAKER_00 20:29

P plus.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

P plus.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Man. Hey, y'all. Come on, man. Let's let's let's jump let's jump on this, man. We gotta uh we gotta get on this. What we talking about?

SPEAKER_03 20:44

What we talking about, what we talking about.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Well, we we just we're just re we're recapping um what we were doing, man. We with the whole so you know the first episode we putting out was the just our intro episode from like a long time ago we recorded, man. I think that was the most professional one we did. Uh but this one, man, we just want to reintroduce ourselves and and and do it. But we just we just you know, when we recorded over the last couple months, I think we've kind of evolved in what we've been thinking about our our unks and and our unk status. And um, y'all know we went we we did the podcast fest, we done, we done had, we've been thinking more about the retreats that we want to do. We've been, you know, and then uh and then like me and Jo uh Jared started out, and then Joe, you you jumped in, and so we've kind of evolved and and mixed up and everything. And so now we just kind of want to dive into, you know, kind of thinking about like reintroducing ourselves a little bit. It's the new year, 2026. Maybe a lot of people are seeing this for the first time. Yep, yep. And then think about this as sort of our launching point and just go back to the basics of like, you know, why why the unks are even needed. This is And what we call in the business world the value proposition of an up. And so, you know, man, like i it you know, I mean, we we all had our real origin stories that we talked about in it, but the more we've you that I've been traveling and just kind of pitching the concept to people about what we're trying to do, what we want to do, um it it's just been it's been met with a lot of with the receipt of just enthusiasm and like basically like where's w when are you recording and and and so I can send it to my fill-in-the-blank nephew, my my my son, my blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, who needs to hear this stuff. And so, um, you know, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna dive into we're gonna dive into all of the all of the topics, but like what what what is the value proposition of the Ug? Like, what are we doing here, man? What what are we even here for?

SPEAKER_02 23:06

What are we even using for the case? I'll I'll start off, man. The reason why I'm here is I know now. It was it was always maybe a suspicion of mine that uh, as you put it a while back, the recipes are getting lost, you know? That the the art of the game, the art of being what I would consider a man was being lost, and not only lost, was being belittled in some respects. Uh there are things that I value that society tells me shouldn't be valued anymore about being a man. And I don't necessarily think that's right. You know, I think there's a lot of baby out with the bathwater type things that go on. You know, it's a it's a pendulum, right? And sometimes that pendulum swings a little too far in one side, excuse me. And I think that that's happened, uh, specifically in how young men transition into being men. And I think the unk served that uh throughout all time. You know, we called them the OGs, I'm sure it was something else before then. It'll be something else, you know, in in 30 years. But right now, yeah, right, right. And so it's it's like, oh, I I know that the unk is needed. I know my purpose here is to try to help, try to teach, try to foster, try to mentor uh myself and others because it's very, very needed. You know, we're all fathers of sons too. And I'm I'm you know, I can't pinpoint the the moment that it happened, but there's a there's a moment where you look at your son and you go, oh, he needs this information I have. Now he's X amount of months at the time, three years old at the time, five years old the time. So obviously you know that well, I can't impart that to him now, but when he's the 13, the 16th, when you know when he's um finding himself and trying to figure out how to interact in the world as a man, as a black man, as a you know, whatever it is, he's gonna need those lessons. And he's not getting it from the right sort of things that are on TikTok or YouTube and and all of these things. And rather than being like, well, why isn't that out there? I'll fix that. We'll fix that. And then I don't have to worry about that sort of thing. I know that there's a place that he can get the good information, that other people can get this good information, and I want to be the one to provide it because I believe it's valuable. That's that's that's how I'm feeling about it right now.

SPEAKER_04 25:34

Yeah, no, that's good. I think the important thing that you mentioned is like there is um you have to be what these uh young boys need um need to see as well. You have to model it. And like you mentioned, being fathers of boys and also being fathers of girls, you get um both sides of the impact that you have to make. And so, yeah, you've gotta be a model for young boys that are growing up so they can emulate, you know, what they see, and then to a degree, the young girls have to to see that and some of it emulate, and then other parts of it, if they're looking for you know mates in the future, they gotta know what to look for.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Right.

SPEAKER_04 26:21

And so, um, and at all stages as well, if you're able to, if the kids are old enough for you can talk to them and speak to them when they're going through things, great, that's even better because it makes it easier for you to lead, guide, and direct. But when they're young, they're still watching you, they're still learning from you, they're watching your actions, your temperament, um, how you handle situations, anger, fear, excitement, happiness, joy, pleasure, all that stuff. And if you're modeling as a man, you're modeling as a husband, you're modeling as a father. And so in each of those three realms, um there come so much responsibility and so much accountability. And um, I think it's important that we model the assumption of that accountability and the assumption of that responsibility appropriately, um, so they know what to expect when they're in our shoes, and then when they get that those those areas of responsibility. So as they hit different rites of passages, it's important for the unks to be here to facilitate those rites of passages and to be there to answer questions and like I said, lead guide, support. Um it's it's important for us to do this because you know, boys of a certain age lose their ear toward certain things and then their ear be becomes inclined to other things. And we just want to make sure we're a source of at least a positive inclination.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

100%, man. 100%. You know, I think it's always key to remember, man, the unks, the uncles, they was never perfect, man. You know, I'm I'm thinking about my uncle Mickey, and he wasn't perfect, but man, he he did try to teach me how to fight. I ain't had to use it that much, but he was out there trying to teach me how to fight.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Yeah, their legs have their legs.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

My my uncle Eric put me into techno. He he done got me the EDM, you know, he was like, this is the club music. This is the club music right here, you're gonna get into it. You know, man. And and, you know, part of it is there's twofold of it. Like, I look at like the connections we build, build with like our uncles, with with our own uncles, you know, uh biological. But then man, I look across the river and and I and this is one of the few times where I'll even bring uh women into the conversation. I look at the aunties over there. And they outside, you know, shout out to aunties outside podcasts. It's they outside, they having conversations, the aunties having conversations, and they out here building community and and and holding each other accountable. And so, you know, I just I s you there's so little of that connection building that we want, but and we want to facilitate that here. You know, we wanna we wanna drive conversation and and not only allow a place for us to speak, but also a place for people to be heard, you know. I know as, you know, w we're gonna put a few episodes out, but we're gonna have call-ins and lives and you know, and and meetups and whatever whatever we can do to help build a community, not just with us to an audience, but within the audience members out there, so that they know unks and nephews and fellow unks that maybe you're just going through it today.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

We we're you you need to con you need to connect, you know, call an unk. You know, a 1-800 call an unk is hot one you can do. And you you can you gonna go with it, but you know, even more so, I mean, I think back to, you know, our trips and you know how we build connections. And so, you know, I think about you know, just just being a you know, sh what what what was that restaurant we even went to? It was like the uh not Thai, Korean. Ah, like Korean place like walls and stuff, that secret one. Yeah, yeah, the little secret joint where you had to go behind the little bushes and get um. You know, we just go there and w and we just had community and we shared a meal together. You know, and not everything had to be like, now, now Jade, you need to. It was a lot of just it was or Joe, you gotta get it. It was just we're gonna go out, we're gonna have fun. Uh-huh. And then shoot, we get crazy moments, you know. Um Yeah. Shoot, we get the, we get the we get the crazy moments with Joe.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I'll hear what you got here.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

It it just it infects everyone, man. That was a whole the whole place came alive. I love that, man. That's that's what that's what our joy brings. That's what our essence brings, man. And that that's what I know will be felt here. That's why I'm so excited. I I'm the passion that we have for life, the passion that we have for love, the passion that we have for growth is. I'm not gonna say it's rare, but I don't see it when I look for it out there, particularly from people like us. And so I, again, I want to change that. Because not only do I want to put it out there, whatever, I know there's people who are out there who need this, who need, like you said, they need they do need 1-800 UNGs. They don't have it in their lives, they do want somewhere to go, a community that they can, you know, maybe bring up this thing that they feel is embarrassing or that they have, you know, uh self-consciousness about, you know, whatever it is that they don't feel comfortable doing, or that they need other insight. I do believe they need a place and we can be that place. I want to be that place for them. Um, community building is it's it's huge. It's it's just huge. You know, you know the importance of it. Um we all have experienced it in whether it's church, uh, whether it's sports, uh, school, extracurricular activities, you know, what whatever it is, online communities. You know, there are so many online communities that we're probably part of. You so you know the value of it and the the um the strength that it can build, the way that it can push a whole group of people with momentum in a positive direction, you know? And I I love that because and y'all know that in those communities, you always go like, man, I never thought that I would be here. Or X amount of years ago, I was here. And now I'm here. You love, you love to hear it. You love to hear it. And it just it just helps you inspire to keep going, to, to, to do it more, to seek out that in my life. You know what I mean? I love uh who wouldn't love that feeling of like, oh man, I've accomplished so much in what I wanted to do in the betterment of my life, myself, my you know, financial relationships, my romantic relationships, my platonic relationships, my business relationships, whatever it is. And so I I I I really I believe in us and and I and I believe in what we're uh uh uh doing, not attempting to do. I believe in what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Maybe you get a karaoke night out of it, too, bro.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Man, I didn't want to say anything, but that might be the best part about this. That's not the best part about this.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Now the public is gonna start demanding.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

We don't have karaoke moment with Joe. That's what we do.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

I ain't never scared. This is gonna sound like Greek to you, but I'm not talking to y'all right now. I'm talking to the nerds in the audience that used to play WoW, like I used to play WoW. We used to do raid bosses, not for the gear, because I would sing songs on wins. Maybe let's down that dragon swing me to do the song. So I'm I'm true to it, I'm not new to it. True to it, I'm new to it. But yeah, it's uh it it it is, and and those moments that you talk about are I mean, though that that live in my head forever. That was that was it was very special. It was I I loved it more than y'all could know, man. It's it's and to experience that with y'all, y'all don't understand how important it is for me to share the thing I love with the people I love, man. Like that is that feels so fucking good, y'all. Y'all, y'all, y'all, it just feels so good. It's it's uh there's a line in the anime that there's a student and a teacher relationship, right? The student gets taught by the teacher, becomes really strong, and goes off to fight, and is able to become very strong. Comes back to his original town, and like, oh, I want to show my teacher the cool me. Like, you know, even when I was still, but his teacher has died then, and he's not able to do it. And it's a very, it's a sad moment because he's sitting there with these feelings. He was so excited to to show him the cool him. And I have felt like that my whole life. That I I want to show y'all the cool me. Like, no, no, see me in my element. Y'all don't, y'all, I want to share, and to be able to do that, again, y'all don't know how good it feels. This is, I mean, one A, one B of that same thing. This is what I love. This is what I love. And to be able to share that with the people that I love, again, it is it feels amazing, y'all. It feels amazing.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

You trying to get trying to get a kiss.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Hey, man, you know, look, I saw one of the ladies start to slip her panties off. The one that was sitting with sitting with someone like, hey, I think she's trying to slip her pants off.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

So don't take much, man. Leave it in Port Leave it in Portland. Leave it in Portland, leave it in Portland.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Just one song. Wait till I have a night. Anyway, um, but um, but yeah, though, though, this this is um this is beautiful, though. This is this is and I and I believe, you know, this is this is kind of a, you know, obviously a reintroducing in a this kind of an overview of the things we want to, you know, dive into eventually, but um the the way that we are going to present ourselves here, the topics that we're going to give to our audience, I believe will be very, very, very beneficial for not only them, but but for us. Uh we come from very different backgrounds and also very different journeys. But we all have the same goal in mind, and we all have achieved uh a version of that. And I think that that's very um, I'm losing track of how I'm trying to say this. It's useful because there are people out there that maybe think like me, but don't think like y'all, or think like Jared, don't think like us too. Think like, you know, you know what I'm trying to say? And so having these three very different, I believe, perspectives on things will really, really help draw in people that maybe if it was just y'all two, might not be, or if it was just us two, might not be. But will also give them a way, because it's not like it's three opposing uh opinions, you know, they're just three different opinions that all give a correct answer. And so that also might give somebody perspective to see a situation, maybe how they've never seen it because they only think like me. You know what I mean? Because look, we all can be rigid in our thing. I know that we believe we're open-minded, and I believe we are open-minded, but there are also things that I know that we maybe believe strong enough that we'll be closed-minded on. And it takes discussion, you know what I mean, to draw that out in a way that gets it explored. And then I can go, damn, all right. No, I do I do see how going that direction will be more, you know, whatever, whatever. And that more that you know, that's that's so helpful, you know? And how many times have we been in situations where I'll take it back to grade school, uh, you know, ask questions because somebody else might have that same question. You know, you know what I mean? You know, how many times have we been in that situation? And so uh I think that the interaction between us and the community will will generate that on you know levels that I've never experienced, which I think will be really, really cool to see. I'm kind of talking a lot. I'm gonna mute my mute my mic, dude.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

No, no, no, no, no, no. You good, you good.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

Hey, Joe.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Joe, Joe, we feel the passion first. We feel the passion. Yeah, I mean, that's good. What do you want to what what's what's your vision, man? What I mean, you're the vision, man. Let me let me actually put it this way. You're you you you be looking 10 years in the front in advance, accepting ideas. Like, what, like, first of all, what's your vision? And what do you think, what do you think you want to talk about like as we move forward?

SPEAKER_04 39:44

I think we are we are talking, um, a lot of what we try to say is, or let me pull back. Um, one thing Joseph just mentioned was a feeling he was talking about sharing and expressing himself with in that moment, it was with everybody in the room. And, you know, like you're saying, the energy was there. Um, you know, it was a great song. We were vibing. So all that kind of mixed together, there was just a deep humanistic connection and feeling. But what Joseph was talking about was wanting to share that's from an anthropological standpoint, that's just a deep need in human existence. The need to either be with other people, you know, you feel safer, you feel uh more supported. There's a little bit of a of a safety net there when you're in community. That's what community does, that's what community builds. And then there's a cultural side of it too, as you go from generation to generation, different things that get passed on that help other generations live, survive, and thrive. And so when I think about what's needed and what's necessary for future generations, that's usually where this goes. It's like if you've got such a long-term vision of things, it's got to span future generations. So we've been the beneficiary of you know generations and generations and generations of things being passed down to us. So, yes, it is, you know, our responsibility, our duty to pass it down. Not only that, but to provide these opportunities and spaces for us to be us, um, for you for us to be us as humans and us to be us as as black men and our own spaces for that. And that's what I see. Um we're providing this as an opportunity for conversation to be had, for topics to be discussed, um, for perspectives to be shared, like Joseph mentioned. But then also as we start to gear up for the retreats, it's a space for black men to get together and do just that connect and build community. And we're builders, that's another humanistic thing. Um whatever we're building, you're building your own thing, I'm building what aligns with me and my passions, my skill sets, uh, things like that. We're coming together to support that as well. So we're building the thing that helps build um what we're building individually. And so with the podcasts, with the um retreats, with other businesses, nonprofits, and things like that, we're starting the homeschool co-op, uh nonprofit that we'll be starting. A lot of what we're building around even that starts to build what each of those individual members is already building on the side. So I just see it as as a lot of um, you know, growing, building, developing community, providing experiences to connect uh with one another. Like as clear as day, I can see it. And we're we're at step, you know, whatever. I don't know if we're at step two, three, four, one, but I know what what the end is gonna look like. Like I know what the goal is gonna be. Uh, because if we continue doing what you're what we're doing, the goal becomes an inevitability. We just have to keep taking the steps.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

Cool, man. Dark. Man, we're gonna we're gonna get into it, man. We're gonna we're gonna talk about relationship stuff. We're gonna talk about your money. We're gonna talk about the family. Talk about money. Yeah. We're gonna talk, we got to talk about money. We're gonna talk and and not in a condescending way. Because I know there's a lot of podcasts out here. You know, shout out to the what? What is the the the the the big one that that was out with uh with that very dashing look of gentleman? Um, I forget his name. No, no, no, uh, no, no, I'm gonna talk. We're gonna be a little bit more than a little bit. Man, I'm I mean, look, there there's so many different ways to even talk about this stuff in a condescending way. We not even gonna do that. We're gonna have real conversations. We're gonna share our story. Um, we're gonna um we're gonna be here for each other. What? You you got a hole in your pants over there, bro?

SPEAKER_03 44:15

No, man, put the shit down.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

I didn't have any. I'm actually looking into getting a uh a standing desk myself, man. You've uh inspired me.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Uh yeah. Oh we're gonna we th this one's a standing one here. I just I don't have any cord management. So anyways, we we we're getting off on desk talk. But uh but man, um, you know, we're gonna we're gonna talk about the money, we're gonna talk about relationships, we're gonna talk about family. We're gonna talk about everything that's gonna that's gonna help uh fellow unks to be successful at the barbecue. Because, you know, as we said earlier, one thing that started out was you know, hey, I don't know about you, but I didn't get the memo that I was on grill duty or was supposed to be organized in the family unions. This is your memo. This is the memo to the people, to to the if you if to the to the older gentlemen, the the the the sirs as they used to be called, man, you're on duty, man. You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_02 45:21

You're not wrong, man. All the cousins this age, it's it's on us to keep going what we all experienced, what we loved about our childhood, right? Like the the trips down there, talking to me, my big papa, big mama. Yeah, like that was that was look, let me tell you how powerful that is. I love Jerry Grandmama, bro. Okay. All right, like it's it's real, man. It's real. And what happened is we got used to it. It was there, then we got older, and it got it didn't get boring or whatever, but it lost a little bit of the luster because life was doing whatever. Then real life happened, you know, marriage, children, job, all that. And it was like, yeah, I seen them on Facebook, you know. So I can't I can't even tell you the last time I seen my cousin. We had three, four kids the last time I seen my cousins for some reason. And it's like we get together on funerals. You know, that's when I see them. You know, and the last one that I went to, it was like, yo, this was the last of like, bro, she was she was the last one doing the invite to the 87. Baby, you're gonna be there, but thanks. She was the she was the last one. What are we gonna do? What what what's you know? And everybody's like, yeah, but keep it going, keep it going, keep it going.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:39

But then we all went back to our house. And, you know, I ain't text them since. You know, and it's like I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

We're gonna avoid that, man. We're gonna we're gonna step up. And we're gonna we're gonna activate our superpowers, the perspective, your patience, determination. That's one of the superpowers, right? Yeah. We activate one of the three, and bruh, we're gonna get it done, man. And not only are we gonna get it done, we're gonna get it done for the people. We're gonna encourage people, um, uh, you know, have them activate their superpowers and and get stepped up. So, you know, we're gonna we're gonna round it out here. And and usually, hey, let me tell y'all how professional I am on the going to the podcast fests. You know, they have us do the call to action, you know. Whatever, man. But hey, we're gonna have people, we're gonna have people um, you know, we have a new email address. Uncle at unctalkpodcast. Unctalkpod.com. Uncle at unctalkpod.com.

SPEAKER_02 47:50

Easier to remember. Yeah, definitely let us know. Some things y'all want to talk about. You know, we have our list, but yeah, we need to we need to hear from y'all too. What are some things that y'all are going through? What are some things y'all want to hear people discuss? Because um we are all for it.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

Unctalkpod, uncle at unctalkpod.com. There will be a website. And if you want to hit us on our socials, it's unctalk pod on all platforms Instagram, Facebook, website coming soon. Hey, maybe even some merch. Maybe even some merch. I don't know. Who what? Whatever, whatever's cooking. But man, until then, man, let's let's shout it out, man. Um, I missed to get a job here. And, you know.

SPEAKER_04 48:36

Oh man, I don't know, my I gotta get a name.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

I gotta get something cool. I got my I got my government on here. Hey.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

From work, man. You know me. Just Joe from work, man. Just Joe from work, man. Joe from work, man. Hey, and and Jared, until he gets a gets a name.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

T Money. All right. I could dig it. I could dig it. God.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

All right, let's come over something.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

Until next week.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

All right.