Turn Pain Into Purpose: From Near Death to Unstoppable - Lancelot Theobald Jr.

What if your greatest pain became the very thing that revealed your purpose?
In this powerful episode of Conversations That Make a Difference, Teresa Velardi welcomes transformational speaker, bestselling author, actor, and host Lancelot Theobald Jr. for an unforgettable conversation about resilience, faith, and reinvention.

After surviving four near-death experiences in just six months: a plane crash, train accident, car accident, and near drowning, Lancelot discovered that his life had a greater purpose.

In this inspiring conversation, you'll learn:

• How to turn adversity into purpose
• Why discipline and consistency change everything
• The power of silence and self-awareness
• Why comfort is where dreams go to die
• How daily habits shape your future
• The mindset needed to reinvent yourself at any age
• The importance of gratitude and serving others

Lancelot also shares his journey from athlete to actor, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and transformational speaker, proving that it is never too late to reinvent yourself.

Connect with Lancelot:
Email: lancelottheobaldjr@gmail.com
Website: https://www.Lancelottheobald.com
Buy his book: They Haven't Made an Ax Big Enough

Stay in Touch with Teresa Velardi:
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New episodes every Tuesday
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Website: https://authenticendeavorspublishing....
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Transcript

Conversations That Make A Difference with Teresa Velardi

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to Conversations That Make a Difference. With your host, Teresa Villardi. We believe that authentic, meaningful, and diverse conversations are the glue that binds us together. Our discussions remind us we have the power to uplift, challenge, stretch, and invite dynamic growth. Are you like it? Feeling like you're fine about the city of your pants to life. Join us for conversations filled with gratitude, values, abundance, authenticity, and faith. Here's the host of our show, Teresa Villardi.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Lancelot Theobald Jr. with us. And uh we'll get to Lance in just a second. For those of you who have been around for a while, you know that I always like to start the show with a prayer. So we always say this the serenity prayer. So let's take a moment to do that and we'll get right into it. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And I also want to say that it is by God's grace that we are fabulous, blessed, and highly favored, living in our greatness, using our gifts and talents to make a difference in the lives of others and all of God's great universe is conspiring in our favor. And together we say amen.

Meet Lancelot Theobald Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Amen. Look at you with those cool glasses on there, Sir Lancelot.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

It's good to have you here. Let me tell everybody a little bit about you. I have a bit of a bio here. I don't want to leave anything out, so I'm gonna read it, okay?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

All right, so Lancelot Theobald Jr. is a transformational speaker, actor, best-selling author, fitness innovator, and dynamic talk show host, whose life story is built on resilience, reinvention, and purpose. A former standout athlete from Brooklyn, New York, Lancelot earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Maine before playing professional football in Europe and receiving an opportunity with the New York Jets organization. His journey, however, was never defined solely by sports. It was forged through adversity, discipline, faith, and an unstoppable mindset. After surviving multiple near-death experiences, including a deadly plane crash at a young age, Lancelot transformed pain into purpose and dedicated his life to helping others reinvent themselves from the inside out. Today, he's a creator of Transformational Movement from Stuck to Unstoppable, where he teaches audience how mindset, discipline, gratitude, emotional control, and daily habits can radically change a person's life. As a host of a hit talk show, The Power of Reinvention, Lancelot sits down with filmmakers, athletes, entrepreneurs, artists, leaders, and change makers from around the world to uncover the stories behind their success, sacrifice, setbacks, and transformation. His interviewing style is authentic, energetic, and deeply inspiring, allowing guests to open up about the defining moments that shaped their journey. In addition to hosting, Lancelot is also an accomplished actor. His current film, The Veteran, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Fox Soul, and Scooby. He's an executive producer, a master tap dancer. You dance too? Come on, what else are you bringing to the table here? And the number one best-selling author of his book, They Haven't Made an Axe That Can Chop Down a Dream. What a title. Through every platform he touches, his mission remains the same: inspire people to rise, reinvent themselves, and become unstoppable. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Sir Lancelot Theobald Jr. That is quite the resume.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Yes, when you listen to it, it's interesting. Wow, I haven't heard that in a while. So yeah. Teresa, it's my pleasure and honor to be on your show. It really is.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for saying yes to this. It was um it was so awesome. You know, uh Lancelot and I have a couple of people in our lives that are um friends on either side, and um we got to meet each other at an event in uh Philadelphia um uh a couple of weeks ago. You want to

Becoming Guinness World Record Holders

SPEAKER_00 5:28

tell everybody what we did?

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Yes, we are in the Guinness Book of World Records. That's right, you heard it. Teresa and I are part of a group of 142 authors who simultaneously signed the book at the same time. The previous record was 124, and uh we were together for an entire day in Philly, which was extraordinary, and we didn't really know if we were going to be able to break the record because people had started dropping out, so it was an attempt. So at the end of the day, when the world record people came down, everybody was sitting there on pins and needles, and when he said we have the new Guinness Book of World Records, the whole room, including myself, just erupted. That's a great feeling to know that first and foremost, we accomplished it, but secondly, the gravity of our legacy is we're in the Guinness Book of World Records.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Yes, yes, yeah, and the crowd went wild, exactly. Look, right there, that's right. Yes, and you know, here's the thing we all had to, in order to be able to participate in this, we had to participate and uh submitting something into the book that was the one that was being used that everyone was part of, and everybody signed at the same time. So, congratulations, Guinness World Liquid Holder!

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Yes, and you as well, Teresa. You know, we and it's wonderful company, and it's exciting, exciting to to uh to continue to build as all of us are trying to to make our mark in the world and and create our own legacy, and this is something that we did together, and we shall ever be hooked together for something special as the Guinness Book of Real Records. And I'm happy about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Amen. And for those of you who want to um know about the book, the name of the book is called Legacy in Ink, and you can find it on Amazon. Um, we would love it if you would get a copy and read all of the incredible things that are in that book that put was put together for such a time as this. There you go, there it is.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

You can see it, Legacy in Inc. That's it. The goodest book right here.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Right there, right there. So let's talk about a couple of the things that are in your incredible bio. Thank you, thank you. I'm so glad that we had the chance to do that opportunity, have that opportunity together. And it was there that I recognized that you are somebody who I wanted to have on my show because you're making a difference in the lives of so many people, and that's what this is about conversations that make a difference.

Four Near-Death Experiences in Six Months

SPEAKER_00 8:22

You know, one of the things that I asked you was, I am fascinated by near-death experiences. And when I heard that you had come this close to leaving the planet four times, I was like, Oh my goodness, how does it happen? How does this happen? So let's talk about some of these, and they happened in a short period of time, right? Before six months. Tell the audience what exactly um some of the things that happened and how it shifted your life.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Well, the first one happened uh traveling up to a school that was recruiting me to give me a full scholarship.

Surviving a Plane Crash at 17

SPEAKER_02 9:03

That was the University of Maine. And uh I had already traveled up to two other universities before that and really didn't want to go. But uh the coach came to my home, had dinner with my family, and my father thought, is it listen, this coach went far you know beyond the duties of a coach. I think you should go. So I accepted the invitation, and I went out the night before, which wound up being a plus. So when I get to the airport, I'm exhausted. So they put me on a bus that I had never for a bus to take me to a plane, which means the plane is much smaller than usual. Now, the other schools had sent me up in big jets. So I get to this plane, it's this private plane with like 15 seats. I had never flown anything like that. So at first I was apprehensive, but I was so exhausted that I just got on the bus and took us to the plane. I got on the plane and fell asleep. The next thing I know, the plane is going down like a roller coaster. And I wake up out of a dead sleep because you could feel the gravity pulling you down. And as I come out of being unconscious, I see the plane is on fire. I see people yelling. I had a young girl, nine years old, sitting next to me who was hysterically crying. So now she's crying, people are screaming, smoke. I look closer, and because it's a private airlines, the only thing separating the uh the pilots from us, the cockpit, was a sheet which they closed. The sheet was disintegrated. Why? Because the plane was on fire. So now I wake up, the plane is on fire, I can now see directly into the cockpit. As I get the the the stuff out of my eye so I can see clearly, it looks as though both pilots are on fire. Oh my goodness. The right pilot, his lower body's on fire. The pilot on the co-pilot, his upper body's on fire. Not only that, the pilot on the left, while his upper body was on fire, he was looking out the window, giving information to the other pilot because the whole windshield was completely iced over. Oh my god. What had happened was the de-icing fluid caught on fire, and they turned the de-icing fluid on because there was ice on the windshield. So now the de-icing fluid was underneath the cockpit. That caught on fire. So the flames started coming from underneath the ground where they were sitting. They never ever flinched while their body was going up in flames. Oh my god. While the co-pilot was looking out the window. I saw all of this and said, This is this has got to be a dream. There's no way this is happening. And then I went back to sleep. Oh my god. That's the best thing that could have ever happened. Because if you ever want to see it, there's there's a simulation of what happened. It's called Flight 458. It's on YouTube, and it's the most incredible. I saw it for the first time two months ago. I had never seen it, I've never actually experienced what really happened. When I saw it, it's chilling. I showed my mother she started crying. It's just unbelievable what these pilots did. And then, top it off, they landed on a frozen situate reservoir. They landed, the plane completely disintegrated, the wing went here, the cockpit was over here. And when you see the the last the footage of what was left, it's a miracle that any of us survived. Only one person died out of 10. And now that was that.

The Train Crash, Car Accident & Near Drowning

SPEAKER_02 12:58

That was in February. Then I got into a train accident coming home from the city, the F train. It derailed. And that was scary. But I after being in the plane crash, I was very calm and was the one helping people out the plane and helping people that got knocked and knocked down. After that, I got into a head-on collision car crash two months later in May on my graduation day. My gosh. After that, in July, maybe in July at the beach, I almost drowned and watched a friend of mine's drown right in front of me, which was the most horrific experience. That still damages me until to this day. I still have residual effects from that. But all of that happened within six months.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Wow, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

A train, a plane, and an automobile.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

Train plate, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Automobile and a drowning.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Oh my lord. Yes, yes. But but from that point on, the drowning um was when it changed my life. And my mother, they had called her, and I can imagine what that conversation must have been like, uh, telling her that there's been a terrible accident, but not telling her what exactly happened. Yeah. I can only imagine what that ride was like. So she comes down and she sees me, and all of a sudden just breaks down on her knees and prays to God and says, What did I do so wrong to have all this bad karma come back on my

"I'm Still Here" – Finding Purpose in Your Life

SPEAKER_02 14:32

son? Wow. And Teresa, at 17 years old, something said to me, What did you do wrong, mom? What did you do right? I'm still here. Yeah, I'm still standing. Yeah, I want to be a gift from God. Yeah, absolutely. From that point on, life has been different for me. And then I had a dream. Uh three weeks later, God came to me and said, You've been chosen. And you've been chosen to be a beacon of positive light and energy to people around the world. And I found my purpose at 17. Now, not understanding exactly what that meant, I knew that I was chosen because why else would I have survived in that? Yeah. It changed my perspective, it changed everything about me. And until this day, I still lead with the purpose of being a beacon of positive light and injured people around the world. Now I'm not perfect. I, you know, I had some things happen in college. I got I got really cocky, but you know, life has a way of putting you in your place and doing what it needs to do in order to teach what you need to learn in order to be the person that you needed to be. Yeah. And that's what happened to me in college. And it and I'm it I'm blessed for it. Blessed for it.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Wow. Yeah. And you know, when stuff like that happens, I mean, what I mean, the first what the first part, uh, your mother was probably uh I as a mother, I could not even I could not even imagine what your mom went through when all of these things happened, and especially in such a short period of time.

Turning Pain Into Purpose

SPEAKER_00 16:09

But this is this is where you um where you shine, you turned that pain into purpose. So with all of the things that I read on the on your uh your bio, what was the first thing that you decided or that was put before you that you needed to step up and actually live in the purpose that God had given you?

SPEAKER_02 16:34

What was the first thing? Ironically, the first thing is not even in my bio uh because I can't put everything, but this first thing that happened to me in college is literally what was able to change my life. The the pain turning the pain into pleasure, all of these things happened before I was 21 years old, but it needed to happen in order for me to find out who I was as an individual and what I would do when my back was against the wall. I knew what I would do when there were situations when I had no control over. But when you have control over something,

Losing His Scholarship & Being Kicked Off the Team

SPEAKER_02 17:10

so I'll tell you what happened. I was a football player and uh I was good. And my junior year had a great season, and I was I was set up to be the big star of my senior year. Had a conversation with my coach. I went home, come back. That same coach that I had a conversation with that said, This is your year, son, you're gonna be a superstar. He left and went to another school, and we get another coach. He comes in, we clash right away. I missed the first practice because I overslept. Second practice, I got food poisoning. I went to the hospital. By the time I came back, he had without asking me what happened, he had kicked me off the team and took my scholarship. So I go to the office to see what's going on because my my lock is cleaned out. I'm like, what's happening? Go in the office, make a long story short. He says, I'm taking your scholarship from you and I'm kicking you off the team. I said, Coach, I I I had food poisoning. I did it as if he wanted to hear any of that. He looked at me, and these are the famous words. He said, Boy, that's life. He looked at me in my face and called me a boy and said, Life. And what that did was like it stunned me because I was crying. I was begging, Coach, I've worked my entire life for this. You have taken you're taking everything that means something to me. In the midst of saying that, he looked at me and he said, Boy, that's life. At that moment, I turned into a man because I stood up, I wiped off my tears, and I walked out that room. And the moment I closed that door, I went from a man from a boy because I had decisions to make. Now my back is against the wall. I couldn't go to my parents, I couldn't go to my high school coach. These were decisions that I was going to have to make that were going to affect the rest of my life as far as I was concerned.

Fighting Back and Reclaiming His Future

SPEAKER_02 19:07

And I decided to fight. Now you gotta remember back then coaches were like God, especially Division I. Once they say something, that's that's it. I decided to go over his head and go to the administration, this school administration, and fight for my scholarship. I had a doctor's note, I had the doctor on speed dial if he needed to come down, and I went down and fought for my scholarship. And sure enough, they gave it back to me. Once they gave it back to me, the coach found out and said, Okay, you got your scholarship back. Now you have to come in as a walk-on. So now it's not about what I did, this is personal. So I said, Okay, what did I do? I worked seven hours a day, six days a week, because I knew if I was gonna have a shot at getting back on this team, I had to be twice as good as I was before I left. And I worked out seven hours a day, six days a week without fail. And that taught me the discipline. That taught me that I could, if I want something bad enough, are you what are you willing to do for it? And I started studying player metrics. I started doing things I never did before. I came back and he still tried to blackball me. He put a freshman in front of me, he didn't start me, but every time he put me in, I sell, I, I, I did work. Last two games of the season, and understanding that I was a gift from God, I said, I'm gonna get my opportunity. It was only two games left. The freshman running back went down.

Becoming the Hero of the Team

SPEAKER_02 20:42

They had to put me in. And I said, It's over now. The first time I tested the ball, I ran for 65 yards and a touchdown. I wound up running for 183 yards and three touchdowns. We beat a nationally ranked team. The next week I beat we beat Delaware, who had Rich Gannon on it. To make a long story short, I became a hero.

SPEAKER_04 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

So what that taught me was that there was nothing that can stop me if I believed in myself and I was willing to put the work in. It was about the work,

The Power of Discipline - Consistency is Key

SPEAKER_02 21:15

it was about sacrificing yourself. It was about willing, being willing to do seven-hour workouts every single day for the next six and a half months to be able to be double as good as I was the year before. And when I think about it, I think of a good example of the Knicks and Jalen Brunson and what he went through. Anything is possible. And this is what I try to tell people anything, I don't care what it is that you're trying to do. If you have the mindset and if you're willing to do the work, anything is possible. And that's what I learned from those circumstances and those situations. And I've taken that until this day, that is embedded inside of me. Me. And this is how I'm able to do all the things I'm able to do.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Wow. Wow. So what are you willing to do for your dream? Believe in yourself and do whatever it takes. And do whatever it takes. Yeah. Yeah. So power of silence and a calm mind, the power of awareness and the things you can control, like your attitude, your effort, your emotions, your focus, and your consistency can change your life. All of that is just is evident in what you just said about what you did in order to be able to regain your scholarship, regain your place in on the team, and ultimately, as you say, become the hero. My goodness. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Amen. Amen. I you know, I preach that all the time. And that's what that's I just did a uh

Greatness Is Within You

SPEAKER_02 23:33

uh, I was a keynote speaker for a junior high school, and that's what I wanted them to understand that we all, you, I'm looking at you. You have greatness, you are a leader, it is locked inside of you. The only problem is most people don't tell you that, and if they tell you that you don't believe that, and if you believe that you're not willing to do the work in order to pull and align yourself with the greatness that's locked inside of you, you have to do the work. But I promise you, if you're willing to do the work, it is in you. We are made in God's image. And I said, I'm not trying to push religion or any of you, but I'm trying to tell you that we are made in his image, and that inner voice that you're probably hearing, and as you get older, you will definitely hear it about there's more for you out there. That's the inner voice of God telling you, I gave you certain things and you are not utilizing it. The problem is people are fearful, they're

Why Comfort Is Where Dreams Go to Die

SPEAKER_02 24:33

fearful of in the future what's going to happen, they're fearful of success, and more importantly, they're fearful of making themselves uncomfortable. Because the only way that you're going to achieve anything is you have to make yourself uncomfortable. Uncomfortability is where dreams go to die. Yeah, that's a trap. You know, it's and and and if we can just understand that, and this is what I'm trying to relay to as many people as possible that at any age you can make a choice and decision right now, today, to go in a different direction. Where you start doesn't mean it has to be where you end. Yeah, you can start again starting today.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Wow. But you're calling some people out right now, aren't you? Well, uh yeah, I guess, yes, yes. Yeah, because you know what? I gotta tell you something. You said it. Um, you there's being comfortable is is the hardest place to be because you stagnate in comfortability, you know, and I I don't think that God wants us. Yes, we were made in his image, and we speak scripture on this show. So um, you know, we are made in his image. Yes, he does have a plan for us, he has a purpose. Um yeah, I always talk, I always go to Jeremiah 29, 11, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope in the future. And everything that you're saying is uh um a picture for people to actually see that come to life on the screen right now in your face. Yes, in your face, in the way that you are, and and in the faith that you have in him and the and the purpose that he gave you, and the choke that we are all chosen for something. We are all chosen for something. You got the direct message after the things that happened that didn't take your life because it wasn't your time. And you know, we talked about closing the door. Um, you closed the door to the uh to the um the coach's office and went out and did what you had to do, right? And but the and the door didn't open that door closed, the door didn't open the way that it had been before, so you had to open another door and you went into the administration. And these are the you know, and I believe that God opens and closes doors exactly the way that they're supposed to be done in order

Playing Pro Football in Europe

SPEAKER_00 26:56

for you to be able to live the best life possible. Now, after all of this, now you go and you play uh football in Europe. What was that like?

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Well, first, um I the last game of the season, I had uh we had beat a team that we had never beat before. So now everybody else is done. Now, again, knowing that I'm a gift from God, I was like, okay, what's my next step? How am I gonna get into uh play professional ball? Now, granted, I only really played two games that whole year. You know, nobody was looking for me, although I had gotten um uh the comeback player in Division I football in the whole East Coast. So I used that to get an agent, and the agent heard my story and got me a tryout with the New England Patriots. So I had a tryout with the New England Patriots, I didn't make it, but I was convinced that God was just testing me and wanting me to continue to work. So I played a year of semi-pro ball, and while playing a year of semi-pro ball, an international agent came up to me and offered me a contract to play in Italy. Nice now. What other better way to confirm that God this was his plan for me? I didn't even know they were playing football in Italy, much less giving out contracts. And this man, and he said, Are you interested? I said, Absolutely. And now I find myself playing in Italy, and so it just further confirmed to me that this was the avenue that I was supposed to be taking, you know, because God wanted me to be a beacon of positive light. So I knew always knew that football would be the platform that I would use to do what he really wanted me to do. I get to Europe, I get beat up worse than I ever played. And I mean, it was difficult in Italy. I got beat up really bad. Came back, tried out for the uh the New York the Jets. I didn't make it, I was devastated. About two weeks God spoke to me and said, You have nothing to be ashamed of. You went further than 95% of your colleagues. You played in Europe, you had an opportunity to try out for two professional teams. Brush yourself off and find out what it is you're supposed to be doing next. That's what I did. And what was next?

Building His First Business

SPEAKER_02 29:27

What was next is I had my first thing I did after um I had my own business. It was called Lance Elliott Ray Anthony. It was a sporting apparel company, and we did custom sporting apparel for uh people on the East Coast. I was very well known because of my name and all the things I'd gone through with sports. So I used to utilize that to get into the door with different coaches. So we had contracts with Princeton University, Ruckers, Ramapole, Fordham, Wagner. We had contracts with several different people, several different teams doing sporting apparel. So we would go into the school and actually custom design whatever you wanted. And that's that was my first business.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Nice, very nice. Sorry about that. We've had electricity going on and off here.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

I just kept going.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

I said I figure you did great, thank you. Not only can he do all this, he can step in for the host anytime she missing. Awesome. So you had a business, and then uh where did the where did the um the acting and the um and the career in film and the um and the books, uh there's so much here. I don't know where to go next.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

So tell me actually,

From Entrepreneur to Actor and Producer

SPEAKER_02 30:48

okay, actually the becoming an artist was next because I was doing the custom sporting apparel, but I started getting that inner voice, uh, which is you know, always for me, God speaking to you. And it was telling me that this wasn't the the route. You know, this was great, but there was other things for you to do. So what I always did was I always left myself open for opportunity. While we were selling t-shirts on the street, a gentleman by the name of Richard Willis came up to me, brought two t-shirts, and started telling me what he was doing. He was a producer and writer, and he was about to take a cast of seven to California for uh an international competition, play competition. I started saying, hmm, now I've never been in the entertainment field, but there was something telling me that maybe this is my next step because I started feeling antsy, and I decided that he invited me, he said, if you want to come on, and this is a person I met on the street, okay? But again, understanding what my mission was and understanding that I was a gift from God, I said, This must be the next role that he wants me to take. And I jumped over with him and I started, I became an executive producer first because I helped him raise over $20,000. Uh, and I became an executive producer first, and while traveling, because we did LA and then we did things up San Francisco, down in Detroit um San Diego, I started hanging out with the actors, and I was watching that process, and I said, This is interesting, and I started getting that bug. The executive producing and producing, you had more control, and you were the man, but I like being an artist, and so I told Richard, Richard got me my first teacher. Uh, we went to Frank Saverie's workshop, which was a very famous workshop in Harlem, and I started studying uh with the late Pat White. That was my first acting teacher, and that's how I started with acting, and then we started uh touring with uh Richard Willis, who was also a writer, so he wrote a play called Middle Class Black Folks in the Claire de Loom. And we toured the country with that, and that was my first introduction to theater first, and for 15 to 20 years, I was in theater, and then I transitioned to film, and uh now I'm eight eight film, nine films in at this point. So uh that's how I got started first. I started as an executive producer,

'The Veteran' movie and Helping Our Heroes

SPEAKER_02 33:28

yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

So you have an you have a movie right now that's out there, um, and you can see it. I think you said um Amazon Prime, um Fox School, and Tubi. The veteran.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

The veteran, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Tell me a little bit about this this movie.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Well, the veteran is produced by a guy by the name of Wilford LaSalle, an incredible, incredible independent filmmaker. He is considered probably the top filmmaker of our time. He's done eight films in eight years with a minimal budget, and he's done just an incredible work. I got the second lead. Um, I play a billionaire who finds and sees uh a guy, a character by the name of Jose Torres, who's an ex-military guy who winds up getting addicted to opioids. And he spirals out of control. He comes home as a hero, and then we see him spiral into being homeless, which is uh what happens to a lot of our heroes who come home and are not adjusted and not given the proper um things they need in order to reintegrate into uh a society. And we see this character spiral until he is on the streets eating garbage out of the garbage cans. My character, who's a billionaire, but has a lot of underlying things going on because his family was decimated, uh, lost his father to cancer, lost his brother to the the Iraq war, lost his other brother to drugs, is is is hurting on the inside, sees this gentleman who's a veteran but is homeless and decides to take him in. So it's this beautiful humanitarian story about the rich who takes the poor a poor guy and brings him all the way back and gives him a job. And you watch how society uh and and how America treats our veterans. We see what the government does to our veterans by not giving them the proper resources they need in order to integrate back into society. So society is the villain, but at the same time, you always have people. That's the great thing about America. There are always people who are willing to put themselves out there to help others, and then I help him get his feet back, and then he in turn helps somebody else, which is just breath. It just every time I watch the movie, I just ball crying because at the end he gets his job back, he gets himself back, and then he turns around and helps another homeless person out. So it's a horrible story. That's

Why Service to Others Matters

SPEAKER_02 36:22

right.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

That's what it's about. If you've come through something and you have found your way out, I believe that we are to give a hand up to the next person, to the next person. And excuse me, speaking of that, um,

Raising Awareness About Human Trafficking

SPEAKER_00 36:38

what you just described is something that um our good friend Andy Berger does also. And I wanted I want to bring some light onto the fact, and I talk about this a lot because it's I work with Andy um to get the word out there about um doing what we can in order to help alleviate sex trafficking, trafficking in general. And um on September 26th, we will be doing um the second annual Voices Against Trafficking and Hunger. We're gonna do Voice Against Trafficking and Hunger this year, where Andy Berger and I will be hosting a marathon with our our great producer, uh D Dizzy D, DJ Dizzy D from The Soul 105.3, where we will be we will be bringing light and information to people who don't know anything about what's going on. We think this happens in other countries, it happens in other neighborhoods, it happens, it doesn't happen in our own backyard, but the truth of the matter is it happens in our own backyard. And the only way to eradicate this horrible, horrible plague of um modern-day slavery is to help to raise money for organizations that can support those that are rescued, help support the deletion of this completely horrific practice. Um there's always there's always someone looking to get something for somebody for for free and holding them slaved and captive to whatever it is that they've got them for, whether it's be sex, underage, underage um labor, or I don't even want to get into all of the things that happen, but this is this um annual event that we have put together is a music marathon for 12, it's gonna probably be 24 hours to raise money for voices against trafficking and hunger. So we need to get the word out there to everybody. Go to Facebook. There is a link where you can join the event. Um, information will be below the below this video where you can actually go to the event and get information um as to when and where um this is going to be. It's all going to be online, but if there's something that you can do, do something. Do something, even if it's donated a small amount of money to this cause. It's um we it needs everybody. It needs everybody.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

So before we move on, I just want to say that ironically, I had Andy Berger on my show uh early this year, and uh she informed me, and I was one of those people who thought that always happened somewhere else and not in America. And she enlightened me on the fact that no, it's happening in America and it's happening right now as we speak. And places like Florida and places where where it's access to water, uh, they are getting people and taking them to other countries and darting them right off the street. Uh, and it's a it's it's a serious problem here in America, which have no idea. So uh this is a great cause, and um I I will definitely be donating.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Uh awesome, thank you. We thank you. We thank you. Yeah, it's a crime against humanity, is what it is. It's a crime against humanity, and it's not just in in uh states that are um you know surrounded by water where it's an easy get out. I mean, there's been so much stuff going on. It's crazy. What I have learned in this journey through Andy and through people who we have interviewed um over the last couple of years, uh it's happening in your own backyard and you don't even know about it. You don't even know about it. People just don't know what to look for. And the reason that we want to set so much light on this event is that we're gonna have panels of people who are going to tell you what to look for, how to keep your children safe. What is grooming? What is it, what does it mean when you see, you know, when you see certain things, how how you can actually spot them if you are made aware of the things to look for, you can look for them and possibly potentially save a life.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

So right, and it happens online also. That's the other thing I remember. It starts online by grooming you. Then when you said that, yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Yes, yeah, no one is safe today from that. So it's um it's a big thing and it's a big responsibility to take on. And stepping out of the box, you know, when when I got when I got my voice back, I was like, there ain't no stopping me now. You know, there's no stopping me now. It's I'm gonna speak up about what I believe in. Ain't no stopping us now. Yeah, exactly. We're on the booth.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

That's it. That's it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Yeah, exactly.

The Story Behind His Bestselling Book

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Everything's a song at just ask D D, I'll tell you. Um, so tell me about your book. Tell me about your book that you wrote.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

Well, the name of the book is They Haven't Made an Axe That Could Chop Down a Dream. Five Keys to Reinvention. Ironically, that title I created many, many years ago, just to show you where my mind was many years ago and where it is now. I just revamped it. Originally was They Haven't Made an Axe That Could Chop Down a Dream. And we created that, and we created t-shirts that had that on it. And it was very similar to the book, just a few things were different, and then we sold it for thousands of dollars to a school who brought the rights to use it for a year. And once they did that, we took it off the market and I never used it again. But many years later, when I wrote my book, I thought about it and I said, I want to revamp this and bring that back. And that's how this title started. But that title was done many years ago, just to show you that I have been feeling and thinking and being this person for many, many years. It's not like I just transformed. This has been something that I've felt and been about since I was a young, young man.

Reinventing Himself Again and Again

SPEAKER_02 43:04

But the book chronicles my life, starting with the plane crash, train crash, car crash, and almost drowning. And then it takes you through from chapters on how the different things that I've reinvented myself into. It talks about Europe, it talks about meeting Richard on the street, it talks about acting, then it talks about me going back to school and learning how to become a dancer. I'm the first professional athlete to ever actually go back to school as an adult with kids 13 and 14 and 15 and study dance and then become a professional dancer. Before I went to school to become a professional dancer, I was an exotic dancer. And I traveled around the country and different parts of the world as an exotic dancer. So that's an entire experience that uh that I Had that I put in my book that a lot of people have no idea about because I don't talk about it, I don't advertise it, but I'm not ashamed of it. It was a wonderful time uh in my life. I was an exotic dancer. Somebody saw me and said, You have natural talent, put me in contact with another guy by the name of Frank West, who I toured with and I'd been to Puerto Rico with. And I I he was he was a professional choreographer. They used to take good-looking guys with body and teach them how to dance, like real uh movement. He saw that I was good, turned me on to a school by the name of Benice Johnson's, and I got a full scholarship to study dance. So it talks about that. Then it talks about how I became a tap dancer, then it talks about how I got into film. So it gives you a chronicle of all the things that I've been able to accomplish and how I worked at it. The behind the scenes and what it took for me to be able to accomplish these things. Because people don't understand that every time you reinvent yourself, it's like you reach the top of one thing and you start at the bottom of another. And you have to be willing to put the same effort and work in and everything that you do. But when you have that mindset and you understand what it takes to get to the top of one thing, it's the same thing it takes to get to the top of another. And that's what I teach people is that at any age and stage of life, this book represents you too and do and be anything you want at any stage. I also took the formula, and this is in the book,

Creating the World-Famous 'Momz-N-Da Hood'

SPEAKER_02 45:41

also, and I created a group called Moms in the Hood. Moms in the Hood, a woman in your your age and older, who learned how to break dance and hip-hop dance as adults and became world famous. We performed in Vegas, we've toured, and if you look them up, they're all over the internet. And then white Jewish ladies who started who started off, and it was it was called Dance with Lands. And I noticed that they had passion that I had not seen in some kids that I were teaching. And I decided that uh start giving them harder choreography. Then I started surrounding them around breakdances. They learned how to break dance, they spin on their heads, they spin on their backs, they were doing oh yeah, oh yeah. They're the first of their kind, and they broke all the rules, broke all the rules and became world famous. And we still get together to this day. They're called Moms in the Hood. Look them up, M-O-C-N-D-A-H-O-O-D.

SPEAKER_00 46:43

It's spelled Moms in the Hood. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

Okay, and that's one of my proudest. That's that's one of my proudest uh accomplishments was being able to create this group uh who's known, they've been on TV, radio, they've they've they've been uh the news has has covered them, CBS, I know American Airlines, just a host of things that we've done. And we set new boundaries in hip hop dance by doing that.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

Wow, that's that's awesome. That's awesome. Lancelot, you've had your hands in so many things. It's crazy. What is that poster behind? What is that?

SPEAKER_02 47:32

Oh, that is a movie that I did uh called Oculus. I have one of the it's a sci-fi movie. I have one of the leads in in that. Uh I have one of the leads in this this this new movie that's out, The Veteran. Uh, that's my book. They haven't made an acts. I got um what I didn't talk about is I got an award for a number one best-selling book and also best inspirational story. And

Serving Women and Children Through Bethany House Shelter

SPEAKER_02 47:57

I'm also uh that I didn't mention is I'm on the board of a homeless shelter for women and children. I just stepped down last year after 15 years, and I was actually the secretary, the the vice chair of the planning and development committee. And this is a board of the Bethany House, which is a homeless shelter for women and children. And we take women and children in and we take care of them and help them get back on their feet, and that's something else that I'm extremely proud of. And sister Amy, the founder of uh the Bethany House, came to me after I raised some money for her with a show that I produced and asked me to be a board member. And I'm like, Sister, I'm I'm an artist, I don't know anything about being a board. And she looked at me, she said, son, I know you can do it. And she said that about 15, well, probably 18 years ago. She just passed away last year, but her and I were like this. Now you're talking about a sister of God. I'm talking about sister of the cloth. She was God's disciple as far as I'm concerned, and her and I were like this. She loved me and I loved her. And every event that she had, she would have me sit right next to her. Now, granted, everybody clamored to be around her because she created this multi-million dollar um uh homeless shelter for women and children. And I missed the heck out of her, you know. Um, but she just believed in me and saw something in me that I didn't see in myself at the time. And I wind up being a board member for 15 years. I wound up being the secretary after, and then the vice president of the plan and development committee. So that's just one of the things I that I I've done, a lot of things. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 49:43

So one of the things that I'm hearing from you is not only do you have this um uh exorbitant um career, but you also have a heart for um service as well. So yeah, and I think that's a piece that a lot of people miss is the service piece, you know, they they make it all about them and what they can bring and what they do and how much money they make and how many movies they're in, and how many books they write, and blah, blah, blah. All of that, all of that is awesome. It's amazing. But we also have a responsibility, as you just said, to help those who need help or cannot help themselves between um the the women and children. And I love the I love the concept of the veteran and the and the helping and giving a hand up to the next person. So, and that's what you know, and that's what we hope to do with um the fundraiser, and that's what that's

Daily Gift Book series

SPEAKER_00 50:40

some of the money that comes from the daily gift book series, which was an assignment to me. You know, I I'm I'm a potter, I'm a ceramic artist. And it Lancelot submitted a story for this book, A Daily Gift of Inspiration, which is going to come out um July 7th. All things go well. Um, we are looking to launch that July 7th, and that is book number six in the uh series. We started with gratitude, daily gift of gratitude, then we went to daily gift of hope, then came daily gift of kindness, then peace, which Andy Andy Berger um wrote the the um the foreword for. Uh and this is the daily gift of peace. And then we have a daily gift of friendship, and then of course, now inspiration, and then a daily gift of happiness and joy uh come after that. Lancelot, you want to talk about what you put in a daily gift of inspiration? What did you submit?

SPEAKER_02 51:36

I submitted um just who I am, and just uh uh try to let everybody know that that silence is is is powerful. You know, I

The Daily Habits That Change Your Life

SPEAKER_02 51:48

I I talk about getting up in the morning and and spending time with yourself is so important. And I wake up in the morning, and the first thing I do is I plant my thoughts, and I talk about how you plant your thoughts. And the first thoughts for me every day is I'm enough, I am powerful, and greatness is my destiny. And I say that to myself, and then I confirm it by putting my feet on the floor and I make my bed. So I talk about the the the habits that you have to create, and you have to be able to control your thoughts. Uh, you have to control what comes into your mind, you have to control what stays into your mind, and we must understand that we have the power to shape our day. If we understand and make the choice to focus, to have gratitude, to have intention, and have strength, these are the things that you have to choose.

Mastering Your Mind One Percent at a Time

SPEAKER_02 52:44

These are choices that we make every single morning, and once we understand that, and once we do the small things like making those choices in the morning, those are the things that create massive internal shifts. It's not big things, it's the little things that you do consistently, it's the little things you do consistently, and those are the things I talked about in the book. I want people to understand that it's about your mindset, and the greatest gift that you can give to yourself is mastery of the mind. Exactly. I haven't mastered my mind, but I'm working toward it, and I get there every single day, just one percent better.

SPEAKER_00 53:22

Yeah, I think we have a chance to get better and better every day. And I love the fact that you started with you start with gratitude also, because for me, that's what shifted my life learning to focus on all of the things that I do have. I'm grateful for even the smallest of little things. And the more, you know, when you say you're grateful for something, God wants to give you the desires of your heart. So when you start, you say, I'm grateful for this, it's like saying thank you. I would like to have some more of that, you know. So, and it it grows and it grows. And to have a um to have an attitude of gratitude can flip everything, everything. It flips it, yeah. So, and it's what becomes important, and and and being in service to others. I love that you wrote that. And then, and then one of the other things is taking time, and a lot of us don't do this because we get so busy, we get so busy, and everything comes first, and then we are on the I I'm saying this collectively, but I'm saying it for me too, because I tend to do this. I'm last on the list. Everything gets done, everybody gets what they need, and then in the end, I'm like, okay, what about me? Well, I did that to myself. I have to learn to take care of myself first, so that you can't give from an empty well, you can't give from an empty cup. So you have to fill yourself up with you know,

The Power of Silence and Morning Routines

SPEAKER_00 54:45

gratitude and and all the things that you know, and really, really spend time in quiet and see exactly what it is that is necessary for you to do that day in order to be able to be the best you can be, so that you can make a difference in the lives of others as well. So amen.

SPEAKER_02 55:03

I think more people should, and that's one of the things I I've shifted and and want more people to understand is the power of silence. Uh coming up, I didn't understand the power of silence. Silence is is powerful, it's intentional, it's where you gain clarity, it's where thoughts go to rest, is where in it you your energy, you begin to re-energize yourself, is where you plot, plan, and get ready for your day. Silence is so important because that's where you you're you're grateful. That's where I do affirmations also. But these are all things that get you ready for your day because I'm a firm believer that you can orchestrate exactly what you want to happen. It starts early in the morning, and the other thing I do is I get up at three, four o'clock every morning, and comfortable, and I do, and and one of the things I have to say is that you're gonna need your sleep somewhere. So some days I go to bed at like 9:30, you know, and I wind up a lot of times being tired and I have to take a nap here and there, but uh because you got to get your sleep somewhere, somewhere, exactly. I get up in the morning because it's uncomfortable, and when you do it consistently, your mind understands that come comfortability is where you need to be in order to grow. And this is why I do these things, you know.

SPEAKER_00 56:29

Yeah. I I think that you're I think that everything that you've said here today is gonna land in somebody's somebody's mind, somebody's heart as the little seed that needed to be planted for something really good to grow from it. So um you've said a lot of really good things today, Lancelot. And I I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life to come here and uh have this conversation with me. It's it's been awesome. It's been awesome.

SPEAKER_02 56:58

Teresa, it's been an honor. Uh, I love the question you asked, the questions you asked, uh, because it it's questions that are are geared towards helping others. And we could have been saying a whole bunch of other things, but it was geared towards, I felt, towards everybody's not going to be affected by it. But if we can get to one or two people and help them to understand that it's the choices you make that can make a difference in your life and that it's never too late. Never too late. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Never too late. We and we all have some work to do in one way or another. You know, we're not we are not the picture of perfection. We were created um, you know, for this journey. And sometimes we make mistakes, sometimes we do things that are not necessarily um the considered to be the right thing for ourselves, but eventually we get a chance to turn things around if in fact you want to do that, you know, and and all of the things that you shared, I mean, the beginning of this conversation with the with all of the um the near-death situations and how you rose above all of that and um and made it and made a good life for yourself and and have helped others along the way

What's Next for Lancelot Theobald Jr.?

SPEAKER_00 58:14

and continue to help others. So, what's next for Lancelot?

SPEAKER_02 58:19

Well, let me see. I have a new film that I I just shot in Detroit uh not too long ago. Uh actually, I was in Detroit in what is it, May? So that'll be coming out next fall. Jordan's Love, I play a dad and that. Um I'm working on uh continue. I just spoke at uh at uh boys to men conference, and that's one of the things I'm really working on. I'm looking to, I'm gonna be the next Tony Robbins and oh my goodness, yeah. So I know it takes time, but I've been blessed enough to get opportunities. I just spoke uh to junior high school kids last week, and I'm getting another I spoke at Dr. B's event uh last week. Uh two weeks ago was the the school last week with Dr. B, and I'm getting an opportunity every day to speak on speak on this platform, but I'm telling everybody that I'm working towards being that guy that's going to feel us.

SPEAKER_00 59:19

Yeah, that's awesome. And we are we are at the end of our road for today. Thank you, thank you so much. For those of you who are looking to get in touch with Lancelot, the information will be available to you at the bottom of the YouTube channel. Please go there to like and subscribe to the channel. Also go to Conversations That Make a Difference podcast on Facebook. Follow us there. And uh information will be uh there for Lancelot. Also, all of these videos are available to rewatch, and make sure that you come back and uh

Final Words of Inspiration

SPEAKER_00 59:55

see us next time. We are absolutely delighted to be able to bring this show every Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern time, right on YouTube and on this on the Facebook channels where we stream to. And one thing that I ask of you every week is that sometime during this week, um have a conversation, not only with yourself, but with somebody else. Make sure you have a conversation with yourself because we tend to put ourselves last, as I was just talking about. But make sure that every conversation that you had in some way makes a difference in the life of somebody else and you as well. Keep talking to each other. This life of screens has kept us from conversation with each other. Make yours make a difference, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:41

Take care.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:43

Stay there.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:46

That brings us to the close of another episode of Conversations That Make a Difference with host Teresa Vellardi. We want to sincerely thank you for tuning in and sharing your time with us today. Our greatest hope is that today's discussion inspired your personal growth, encouraged you to share your unique gift, and gave you the courage to write your own magnificent story. If this message resonated with you, let's keep the conversation going. Take a moment to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube and follow us on our Conversations That Make a Difference Facebook page. This will ensure you never miss a moment of inspiration. We air new episodes every Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. It truly helps us reach and empower more people. Until next time, keep making a difference. We look forward to welcoming you back next Tuesday to our next conversation.