Navigating Life's Journey: A Tale of Brotherly Love, Family Legacy and Personal Growth

Growing up in a single-parent household, my brother Eric and I had to rely on one another and the love of our family. With the guidance of positive role models in our village, we grew into the men we are today. Join us in a heartwarming chat as we share our personal stories, emphasizing the power of brotherly love, and the importance of our village. Listen to Eric as he sheds light on the defining roles his wife and children play in his life, and how his family became his 'why'. 

Our childhood journey wasn't easy, but it taught us the importance of self-care, personal growth, and the balance of our personal and professional lives. We'll talk about our experiences as fathers, the legacy of our great uncle and the first African-American quarterback, Willie Thrower, and discuss the need for safety and care in all aspects of life. We also touch upon the opportunities in education and construction industries, particularly for students in automotive, diesel, heavy equipment, and robotics fields. 

As we wrap up this emotionally compelling episode, we delve into our rich family history, the impact of education on our success, and the importance of leaving a lasting legacy for future generations. We express our love, gratitude, and the importance of staying accountable to each other. Be prepared to be inspired and moved as we open our hearts about our upbringing, family bonds and the lessons we've learned along the way. Join us on this journey, as we hope to connect, resonate, and inspire you through our stories.

Chapters

• 0:01 The Power of Brotherly Love
• 13:33 The Importance of a Supportive Village
• 19:18 Self-Care for Personal Growth
• 28:35 Self-Care and Improving Relationships With Children
• 36:22 Uncle Willie
• 47:58 Safety and Self-Care in Life
• 52:59 Exploring Opportunities in Education and Construction
• 1:05:15 Opportunities in Robotics, EVs, and Construction
• 1:16:52 Family Legacy and Leaving the Door
• 1:24:01 Generational Ripple Effects in Success
• 1:27:38 Expressions of Love, Gratitude, and Farewell

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:01

Thanks for tuning in to Safe Link Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:04

Your link to a safer tomorrow, Hosted by Kingi, Discussed life hacks, family and all that ain't safety. Stay tuned, Well, welcome, welcome. This is the Safety Link Podcast. I'm your host, Kenyan Manley, aka the Link. Today we're going to talk about brotherly love. I guess I would first introduce you, obviously, from the title. This is one of my oldest brothers, my hero, Just loving man. We're, you know, several years apart, but you know very close and I'm going to let you introduce yourself and tell us. You know who you are, what defines you and a little bit about your family man, what you like to do.

Speaker 2: 1:00

Okay, well, again, I appreciate this opportunity. My brother I'm just so proud of him, man, and again, I may be the older brother, but I can definitely say that over the years now, my brother has definitely inspired me to continue to move forward. Again, my name is Eric Manley Some people call me easy and you asked the question of what defines me. Yeah, and for me, what defines me truly, brut, is my family, my, my wife. I've been married for 31 years. My wife her name is Kim and I've known her for 36 years. I have three children. My oldest one is, and she's 27. My middle child is Sterling, and Sterling will be 25 coming up in this December. And then my baby girl, camille, she's 14.

Speaker 2: 2:08

And that's my why, and what defines me is this again is for me, is my continue, my character of who I am, and just it's just. It's just being who I say I am, being that example, you know, brother, just truly being that, that, that priest of my home. Not that I always get it right, but one thing I can truly say in my marriage, as well as the father to my kids, I have been present. And so you asked what defines me? And it's my family, that's my why. You know, because one of the things bruh is is you know, we can have an inheritance that we leave our family or our kids, but the most important for me is leaving a legacy.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Wow.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Because a legacy is different than leaving a herons, of leaving them some money or leaving them a stuff, but a legacy is something that you put in them Right, right, right, and I just want to continue to do that. No matter how older my kids get, I still need to be that example. I still need to show them if you'll put in the work, if you'll continue to prepare, opportunities will come your way. And I'll be honest, I'm still a work in progress. There's still some, some challenges, even at 58 years old, that I still have to overcome, and one thing I'll say is being here with you these last couple of days has been a blessing to me. Awesome, I'm glad.

Speaker 1: 3:58

So, you know, I hear you talking about your family and you know, you know there's some folks out there, man, did you know they don't get to experience what your kids experience, what our kids experience? But what's what's so profound about it is is where we came from. Right, you know we we came from. You know a home of single parent. You know pops in and out, you know, but more out than in. You know we got a. You know a sister. She's right behind you, my sister that love you to death. Yes, and it wasn't easy, man, like like, like me and you, as men, we didn't have a true figure. Now I will tell you that the thing to save us is we had a great village.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Yes, Without a shadow, without a shadow of doubt.

Speaker 1: 4:54

And that village man. When I, when I sit back and think about it, it's pretty large, because I know for me and I know for you to be here, and I know for you that we had to rely on some of our friends, fathers. We had to rely on our, our uncles. Yes, we had to rely on some other figures that maybe be in the town that we can look towards, even if we didn't have a relationship, if they was running it right. You know we was. We was grabbing some things from that and I think those are some of the things and also the fact that, like you said yesterday while we were talking as a family, is that no matter what my mother was doing, she always made sure that we went to church.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Yes.

Speaker 1: 5:35

Yes. So when you think about all those things, man, like we really didn't even have an excuse not to have a good family, because it was the struggles and those nuggets that we got from those different people and how we devised it to be able to to come out of what we had, because we were dysfunctional and some may, some, we didn't see it as that because our mom made it well enough for us to enjoy life. Not even when we look back upon it, we struggled, man, you know so. So, with saying all of that, give me a couple people that you pulled from during during that time, because there was a period in time where I wasn't there.

Speaker 2: 6:19

Yes, and you talked about the village, and one of the persons that I can definitely say that I pulled from was Mr Patterson. Wow, you know, eric rest his soul. But Eric's dad, mr Patterson, was somebody who would allow me to come up to his house. We would play pool and just being around him and Miss Patterson were. That was one person that I pulled from.

Speaker 2: 6:44

When you talked about our uncle, so I can, you know Uncle Jesse. You know times when I would go and spend time with him in the summertime and he really, you know he had his own family, but he sacrificed and would allow me to come up there and just try to teach me how to be a man. And when you talk about those examples, sports for me you know my mom had us involved in different things. See, she knew it was important for us not to have idle time and so she would have us involved in the YMCA. I was playing baseball, I was playing basketball, but you know examples in the village. Another thing, when we talked about she always had us go to church, sunday school.

Speaker 2: 7:32

One of the persons that had an impact on me was Deacon Harris, and Deacon Harris was a Sunday school teacher. Wow, and so I always remember that. You know, we could walk to church, to Mount Calvary at that time. And you know, and like you said, during those times there was struggles, but my grand-pap, jesse Thrower, he was, he was definitely stepped in. Uncle Marlon, you know, during the times when, even when I was in high school, or when he would come home, he would allow me to come and cut his grass and then he would give me some money. He would never give me money just to give it to me. He was teaching me, you know that nothing is for free and you know. So you come up here, cut my grass, get my leaves. You know, and again, those were people that were Uncle Jamal.

Speaker 2: 8:28

There was always speaking life into me, you know, even though he lived out in California, you know he would call and check on us and then when he would come in town he would tell us stories but he would also teach us those life principles. So those were people, like I said, that really stepped in in the village. You know, in my church, like I said, Deacon Harris, you know, like I said Mr Patterson, you know, just was encouraging and was speaking life. So mom would have me around those positive influence because and you know we call those bro, we call those surrogate fathers and see, a surrogate father is somebody who steps in.

Speaker 1: 9:10

Yes.

Speaker 2: 9:11

When there's an absence, come on, man Of the father, wow. And so that surrogate father, those surrogate fathers, really stepped in. Like you said about the village and the people she had me around, and even when we would get, when I would go to the Y, there were positive men that stepped in. Even the people that was out in the streets would tell me don't do this. So it definitely was a village in New Kensington that helped to develop me, wow.

Speaker 1: 9:41

You know, while you were talking, there was, there were some other names. You know that this world around in my head. And one of them you know we talked about again, I thought Byron was was very. Yes, somebody that that that was somebody that was there, uncle Laverne was, was was somebody who was hardworking, always had a clean vehicle, was always clean, always gave, you know, some change to his nieces and nephews. And you know the village was so deep.

Speaker 2: 10:11

Because when I think about that, you figure, uncle Laverne worked, you know, 40 something years at the same company, was on time all the time was, was always dead, working, actually worked too hard jobs, man, you know, and he worked for the Germans and the one of the things in your soul right with with Uncle Laverne, you know, brother, was that he would come to the house on Sundays and Uncle Laverne had the, the Mustang, I mean, he had the muscle cars, and I'll never forget what he did and this is before you.

Speaker 2: 10:43

He would come by and he would take me and event and even dad, and we would ride on the country roads and his and his Mustang and one of the things he always did, he would help us out. He would give us, you know, would help us out with money and different things or help, you know, like Uncle Laverne did that and I just always remember that on Sundays he would come by and show his car off. But he worked. He definitely gave me an example of what hard work doing the things that you could do and then definitely by, you know by, and really helped me through those those tough years of being a teenager and getting ready. I didn't even know I could go to college.

Speaker 1: 11:28

I didn't even think about going to college, even though I'm right because of we knew, man, because I mean, you know to say, and week to week, you know trying to get some bread. Because you know one thing about my mom she was so Strong, so tough that she really never asked. You know, because there's a lot of people in our family, a lot of people that live next door to us, across the street. Yes, they didn't know. There was days where my mom needed money.

Speaker 2: 11:53

Yes.

Speaker 1: 11:55

And I always tell people there was a couple of days I remember that my mother and in some of these sisters that I know some of our aunts ain't gonna believe us but she ain't sleep. That's profound, bro. Yeah, I mean, there was days she went to sleep Because she was hungry but she knew we had to eat.

Speaker 2: 12:16

Yes.

Speaker 1: 12:17

Mmm.

Speaker 2: 12:18

Yes, you know, and even times back then, I remember mr Chambers, who was a police officer. Wow, we had looked up to him because back then he had there, were, he would show us movies and theaters and back then he had that, that gold bonnieville. And you know, mom never got her license, so we didn't have a car and then when dad did have it, he just wasn't around, you know. But you know, mr Chambers and miss Chambers, and you're right, in that village there there was times where we needed bread or sugar. I remember miss it too All of our neighbors would help us out. Yes, during those times and and when you look at those, even though there was times that it was a struggle, when I look back now, but I still saw how mom Did the best that she can do and she gave us, like you talked about, those nuggets of what it truly took. Come on, think about it. When Christmas came around, different holidays not was a she was not one year.

Speaker 2: 13:17

That's right.

Speaker 1: 13:18

There was not one year. Because I remember, because you remember what she should do, she man, she used to tell chocolate but that's what I was gonna say.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Remember she wouldn't break chocolate to have extra money to get them, kid them, christmas gifts and it was always a struggle and when I look back I felt bad for that. And then, when it came time, when my kids and I was in the marriage, I wasn't happy during those Christmas times, bro, I wasn't happy doing father times and it just was because of Sometimes the let downs Of what was dad was promising us. But it didn't happen. And and for me to feel Be mad at mom. She did the best she could and shame and shame on me. Shame on me, but recognizing she always went, like you said, that extra mile to make sure we had something.

Speaker 1: 14:11

If she didn't even have, we did have yes, yes, hmm, you know, I think the things that drives me right now is is from some of the things that I see With with our people, with with people we work with, with the, the kids, that this, this whole new generation, what I'm seeing is that we got a, I think, rethink about that village time, because there was something special about that, because the village was back then, was was even part of the people that didn't even know you. Yes, you still respected them, they still looked out. There was a lot of things that that people were, you know, able to do. And now, when I think about you know what goes on now, when you talk about my family and you know your kids, your wife, you really have to dial yourself down Into that, because right now, the, the village ain't as big as it used to be.

Speaker 1: 15:26

So there's, there's there's a lot more stress, a lot more work that you got to do, in a sense, because you don't have that extra Support like my mom did or what we saw going at that time, like, like now, you might have a couple friends and, you know, hopefully, a couple family members that can help you, but you, you got to dig in deeper now because that, like when your, your kids are out, somebody down the street ain't watching them, like it was when we came up. Yeah, because I've gotten beaten twice, several times, where whoever caught me doing what I was doing Busted my butt, they brought me home and then I got towed up again because I'd embarrass my mom, you know so that ain't happening now, because if you do that today they'll be like why'd you even discipline my son?

Speaker 2: 16:13

Right, and he didn't do nothing wrong. And we know, come on and when we're young we're gonna be mischief, we gonna do something. And you're right. When I look at my neighborhood today, like for Camille and the, you know, with Adele and Sterling being gone and starting their life, there's not a lot of people, even just in our neighborhood that she's friends with one friend but it's she's not too far away that that restaurant, like on the other side of town. The neighborhood has changed. But you're right when you look back at some of the, the village that we have, yeah, people did care and that was one of the things that I realized early on Going to college.

Speaker 2: 16:56

Daniel Conner, oh, you know, that was. You know when they talk, when they talk about a pivot, yes, that was a pivot for me because I was going into my senior year and and, like I said, byron helped me out a lot and. But the blessing was Daniel Conner had already been a college basketball coach. He moved to New Kensington, took over the athletic director at Valley High School and he was the head basketball coach. So he had been in college. So again, like we always talk about, it ain't how much you know, but it's who you know yes.

Speaker 2: 17:31

And he, he poured into me and I remember he said to me and I remember Kenyan, I had a 1.8 GPA at that time and he said, eric, if you'll make some changes in the senior year, he said I know a lot of different people. He said, but I don't know where I can help you go, but I find something for you and I'll never forget Kenyan. I had two offers when it came down to it, when I finished my senior year and he'd only spent that summer. We played in down in Pittsburgh and Ozenab's right, but had a community college offer again in university. Wow, and that you know how people come into your life and it changes to rejection, the direction of your family's Future, because one of the things that I can say about me and you is that maybe we had at a family that was divorced. They look With our family is our families aren't now.

Speaker 1: 18:32

That's right.

Speaker 2: 18:34

My wife came from a family that was divorced, but one of the things we did vow Was that we would. We would work at it, that's right.

Speaker 1: 18:43

That's right, man, and that's so important to to us. Man, because what my grandmother lived to be 93 years old, my grandfather lived to be 89 and they were married since they were 19, 21 and 21 years old. Man, like, we still had an example, we still have the the things, and I'm so glad and I'm so thankful that we had enough Wherewithal to soak in those things and revert back to them. You know, sadly, to say everybody don't have that opportunity.

Speaker 1: 19:23

What would you say for somebody who who had some of the same things we've had? Because you know, on this platform that I'm talking to, there's regular people just like me and you, trying to be great, trying to do things for the right things for our families, and, you know, trying to be a husband, trying to be a man, trying to be a father, and you know doing all these things. So there's there's a lot of, there's a lot of things going on in our lives, but at the end of the day, we still have to perform, we still have to stand on our platform when they call upon us Like what are some of the things that, through your challenges and now that you, that you do that helps you keep balanced.

Speaker 2: 20:13

You know, one of the things that I'll never forget, when my wife said to me one time she said you know my oldest daughter and Dalia, and even Sterling. One of the things they said over the years is being their father is that they were like sometimes dad don't listen and and and they were probably right, ain't? No, probably they were right, but would help me? That helped me because a lot of times I wasn't enlisting what they were really saying, because I saw the things they were doing and I wanted to try to prevent them and try to fix it. But the thing about it is, even though I'm supposed to be their protector, I still have to allow them to live their life. And Now when I call them, I do listen.

Speaker 2: 21:02

You know, that was a challenge and even with my wife, sometimes I wasn't listening, paying attention to detail. We've kind of talked about that and those were, those were some of the challenges. Even with my career, I was putting in a lot of hours early in my career with my family and then I'd be gone the whole week and then when I would come home and then there would be, they were getting my leftovers. So so what are they getting now? Now they get me because Right there now, be there now, like so, when I'm home, I'm home. When I'm at work, I'm at work. I think, how do you do that?

Speaker 1: 21:41

Okay, cuz I want because we're talking right now. We're talking to somebody who needs some help. We're talking to somebody who needs some you know, a couple, a couple points to get them For their process. Like what, what are you doing from those different things? What are you doing right now that's helping you do these things Well for me, so I had to get a routine.

Speaker 2: 22:05

I think for anybody you have to get a routine, and for my routine Is getting up early in the morning. I have a prayer, calm that I go to and then I pray and then I have some books that I'll maybe read for maybe 20 30 minutes. I'll maybe read for maybe 20 30 minutes, but that means I have to get up earlier. Then, whatever, it is time for me to go to work. But by doing that and having that time with the God and and praying and reading a book, it's like I get inspiration for what I need to do just for today, like I don't know the things that I need to do for today and prepare myself before I go into speaking at a school. And so having that routine and being consistent with that routine, it it gives me direction.

Speaker 2: 22:51

And, and I'll never forget, I changed doctors, brother, it's probably been now about five years and one of the things that the doctor I changed from a male doctor to a female doctor and the doctor she said to me she said Eric, self-care. Wow, that's what hit me brah, because see, so long with a deli and with Sterling and you will come ill. I was putting all that trying to help them do, but I wasn't taking care of myself and Continue to grow so I could be better for them, and Sometimes I was putting all my hopes and their dreams, things that I hadn't achieved yet, that I wanted them to be able to achieve. So self-care when the doctor said that, and from that point on and that's what I've been able to do and be consistent at that is getting up early, reading my Bible, prayer time and reading a book, and, and so that that's what's helped me. So a person, what I would say I Would encourage him to find a routine that they maybe there's not in the morning for them.

Speaker 2: 24:04

Maybe it might be at night after they've done everything, but find some time For yourself. Yes, you know Self-care and that, and that's what I've been able to do, and I've been able to stack those up consistently and, and what it allowed me to do is To serve mm-hmm. You know, a Lot of times early in my life somebody may have to look at themself. I was selfish, hmm, but I had to learn how to serve. It's like you know, there's times where I'm working out of the home and I'm not working that day, or I'm setting up schools, making calls, and that you know. Wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen, clean the house oh, you saying something now, man.

Speaker 2: 24:50

You saying something right now, mmm because, one of things that that's one of my wife's love languages is the house being clean and run the sweeper. Those were things, and now cooking.

Speaker 1: 25:05

Yeah, you might have to slow down, man, with this information. You talk about love language, you. You talking about Doing the dishes. You, a man. We're supposed to be doing dishes. Come on now, oh man, yes, yes, love language. Wow, I heard something else did. That really is important. You, you said you was what selfish like. That's hard. That's hard looking in the mirror, you know. But I think when you get past that point, you begin that there's a beginning, when you get past that point, of Really truly looking in the mirror. No makeup, no clothes on. Like you, you're raw with yourself because if you're not, you cannot truly fix what needs to be fixed. Man, at the end, of the day.

Speaker 1: 25:54

But you're right, man, that self-care thing is is so important. That's some of the things I, you know I'll be talking about on there because it's so important. Because when I talk about you know what I like to really talk about leadership. Like you can't, you just cannot be a great leader with without having self-care. You always are gonna have to be working on yourself as well, because there's always something to work on, because we'll never be perfect.

Speaker 2: 26:21

Yes so.

Speaker 1: 26:23

So that self-care thing to me is super duper important for people that I call safety professionals, right, yes, I Call you a safety professional because you're a father. You just talked about a lot of stuff going on in your life. So if you ain't taking care of yourself, self-care is not just, you know, thinking about what's going on in your mind, but it's it's. It's about your spirit, your soul, it's about. It's about eating healthy and being healthy. You know, and Two out of three out of the mind, body and soul, mm-hmm, that's not good enough. It's gotta be all three and it all has to be lined up.

Speaker 1: 27:07

So I'm glad you brought that up, because I think people Continually need to hear that, they continually need to know that it's okay that you, you, you got some, some scars, it's okay that, that, that, that you're not perfect, but it's not okay to do nothing about those things, because I truly believe that a lot of people, more than more than none, they want to be a better them, they want to be good at what they do. So but I think the hardest part is I know for myself I ain't gonna speak for everybody's looking at myself and Saying you know what man, you, you're ratchet you know, You're ratchet, but then again I can look back every once in a while and say I'm less ratchet than what I used to be.

Speaker 2: 28:04

And another thing when I in my preface I walk two, three miles a day and for a while there me and my wife was doing the walking and it was excellent, and then she kind of got sidetracked of being able to do that. But in the past I would say, baby, come on, come on. But then I realized we talked about being a priest. When you're a priest of your home, bro, that means being an example.

Speaker 1: 28:27

Yes, sir.

Speaker 2: 28:27

And just being committed and consistent and just get out. I get that, walk in and that really helped out a lot. And self-care is not being selfish, but self-care is just trying to be the best version of yourself. Because, see, one of the things that I'll always share is that our uniqueness of who we are, brother, that's our gift. That's our gift. See, like, when you think about Camille and you think about Janice, at their age, people were trying to be like others, but you can't be like somebody else. You have to be the best version of who you are. Your uniqueness is your gift. That's what separates you.

Speaker 2: 29:13

Our kids have been called to be leaders, even in their relationships. Certain relationships that they have are not gonna work out if it's not the right thing. And it's so important for me and you, as husbands and fathers, is to be at our post, and I know there's many times that I felt at that, because sometimes, which you were saying, like you said, somebody wants to be the best version of himself, but they don't know how to do it, cause they haven't seen what it looked like. So one of the things that's so important is that you and I know you tell me your friends, I'll tell you your future, right, right, you know. Or people say you know I may not be much, but you watch, you all hang out with Right right Cause. See, a seed can grow unless it's in the right environment.

Speaker 2: 30:04

That's right 100% drop it on a boy.

Speaker 1: 30:09

Yeah, that's right man.

Speaker 2: 30:10

You know, sometimes you don't know. So it's important for us to be around men that are trying not that they're doing the same thing we're doing, but they're trying to become better at what they're doing. And there's just certain principles, right, there's just certain if you follow those principles you know ET used to always say this behind every principle there's a promise, right, whether you love the Lord or not, there's principles that have been put on this world and if you follow those and be consistent with them, you're going to get the promise. And not only that. When he talks about, innovation is rewarded, but execution is worship. You know that follow through, right, being able to execute and finish. And that's where I'm at. I'm at that point where there's certain things I gotta finish.

Speaker 1: 31:01

Right, let's talk about that. Huh, let's talk about that. I mean, you know you might put a little bit of accountability on you a little bit, cause you, we had a truce and you slip. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:13

But so what you got going on, man, you know what you got going on right now outside of you know the home or whatever what you got.

Speaker 2: 31:22

Well, you know, one of the things that me and you had talked about like you said what you're doing right now with your podcast but then I was writing a book called man, husband and Father and I'm at that point where it's finished but it is not done yet. And one of the things that we talked about and I talked about with you is I need that last part on the father. I need to have that talk with my kids and I think some of the things that kind of stopped me is I was kind of afraid about what they may say.

Speaker 1: 31:55

Right, but again, talking about you yourself, that you know this, this whole thing, you you scared of of what you're going to hear because of what you thought you done. You know, and and to me, when you said that the other day, that's pretty profound because you know, a lot of the times me and you also talked about this, this, the, the, the gap in separation in business where the the office thinks that they're getting the information to the guys out in the field and the fields telling us that they're not getting the information. So there's, there's a disconnect, right, and there's a disconnect because of the, the language that's spoken there. Right, there's a and you, you, you got to be able to, to feel that gap, man, you know so. So go ahead, man, I really, I, really, I really, I what you saying right here, dawg.

Speaker 2: 32:50

Yeah, because, and so that's when I leave here, you know, I'm going to reach out to my kids, you know, to my two older ones, and just set a time that we can talk. I'm going to have, you know, some questions and I'm going to ask them to reveal to me because the reason why it's so important, bro, is a simple fact is this I want to their perspective is their reality. Come on, their perspective is their reality. So I want to know the things that grown up up to this point, how, how do you feel like being a father to you, right, and and just listen, right. And then, once I listen to that, then the next question I want to ask, from this point now, as your father and where our relationship, is what it is that I can do to be there for you, right, and those are two powerful things, right, that not only is going to help me be a better father, but it's also going to free me up to move forward, got you?

Speaker 1: 34:00

Awesome man. Awesome man, being able to get that connection with our kids and ask them what they, how they look at us. Because that also goes back to you know the husband and wife thing, right, when your wife tells you, hey, I don't like how you're saying that, well, you may think you was wasn't saying it that way, or you didn't say it like you thought you said it, but the fact is is that the person that you said it to they didn't take it well. So, as a person who's really trying to fix himself it's not that, or I'm not, I didn't do that I'm not going to worry about that. It's. It's, it's like. Well, the next question should be what did I do to make you feel like and what did I do so I can fix that? Because you might have did it one way, but now you need to fix something about you because you need to be a better communicator. That's not that person's fault, it's how you communicated it.

Speaker 2: 35:02

And you're right, because communication is not good if the person that you're communicating is not receiving it. So you are right. Or, a lot of times, the way my voice it really wasn't my voice, more so, bro, it was my facial expression and I didn't even realize I was doing it that are just as powerful. Yes, it's that, that's that, that body language and so, but even though I would say, yeah, but my face, right it wasn't convincing.

Speaker 2: 35:35

Yeah, yeah, and so so how I say it and one of the things that I know that I've gotten better at is I have more of a piece of where I'm at. But in that that bit again, like I said, asking my kids from you know, from Adelia to Sterling to Camille, how and what are things that you know from this point moving forward, that you need from me, that I could be there for you, or making sure that we consistently least talk twice a week. We make it a point, so I know where you're at and you know where.

Speaker 1: 36:14

I'm at Right, right, right. No, I get it, man, that's 100%. That's some, that's some good stuff, man. I guess the next couple of questions, man, I mean, you know, I want to talk about somebody we didn't talk about that Okay.

Speaker 1: 36:30

And I want to. I want to bring his name up because just two weeks ago it was 70 years that he first took a snap up under center and that's our uncle Willie, Because I know he was when I became a teenager and that's you know, started all these things started evolving and the questions and the word, and then we finally find out. As I be getting to get older, I continue to think upon his journey. When you hear about, you know, being the first black quarterback in the modern era, growing up at a time where, in the 40s so where there was racism and we lived in, thank God, we lived in a community that to me, was a microcosm, with the world really truly looked like.

Speaker 1: 37:25

Yes, so there were some things that that we may not have seen, like, you know, folks you know more Southern may have saw. Just because of we had to work together. We you know everybody ate everybody's food. You know, we, we were just like a multicultural growing up and I think to me that was a plus for us. Yes, Because we were able to understand different nationalities and different, different people of color, and it was just a melting pot that was worth every bit, you know, because I know, sometimes what I see on the news ain't true. With some flips, I know that. Look like that. That's right.

Speaker 2: 38:09

You know, we know that to be right and you know, one of the things you talk about Uncle Willie is. You know, I remember me. He took me on my first fishing trip and I'll never forget it. And I remember going with Little Will and I forget who else was with us at that time, but he took me up to Lake Erie and I'll never forget I caught three things that day, bro. The first thing I caught as a perch, and then it was like a little bass and then I thought I had something big and it was bent in my pole. We was all getting excited and here it was a snapping turtle. Wow, and I remember it like it was yesterday, bro.

Speaker 2: 38:52

What Uncle Willie? Because he was so much of a giver. He would chew his red tobacco his red man, that's right or maybe the beach with it. I think it was the red man. And even when we were fishing he would always be listening to a baseball game during that time. And he was a giver. And I'll never forget I was driving in that big camper. That was like big to me, right, right, that was so big and for him he was doing something, yeah, right.

Speaker 2: 39:25

And again him and Aunt Mary Alice.

Speaker 1: 39:27

They gave Right. They showed him Of themselves. They showed him.

Speaker 2: 39:29

But I never. I can see that tripping my mind like it was yesterday. And then also to going down to Baltimore, another place of fishing. But he took me on my first fishing trip, wow, I mean, and it was just like driving up to Lake Erie, that was just like so big to me, wow, wow. And you know, and I feel sometimes did not to know more. I mean, I know what family has shared with me. When he played up in Canada, you know and you know. But I would have loved to been able to see the movie pictures of what that was Right Like, what that looked like.

Speaker 2: 40:09

And what blew my mind is, you know, even to see my son do when he was at Chapel Hill to do something on Uncle Willie was so powerful. But this is what blew my mind, that him and Aunt Mary Alice, when he was in the off season, because back then they still had a lot of people, they still had to work another job. You know he worked at Burl Construction but they said he used to go up to Harlem. Him and Aunt Mary Alice would go up to Harlem and help drug addicts. Wow, and he was helping drug addicts of famous musicians, jazz musicians, who were on that heroin so they would go on off season up in New York, bro and minister, and help people who were addicted to drugs. Come on, man, wow, did you know that?

Speaker 1: 41:05

I didn't know that man.

Speaker 2: 41:07

Yes, yes, and they were famous musicians. I'm not for sure the name of the position, but when I heard that, I was thinking like here's a man that broke into something, didn't want to, but still he was helping other people.

Speaker 1: 41:23

And he was all he had already. I mean, come on, man, when you think about this like this, ain't no coincidence, man? Yes, your last name was Thrower. You got a big old hand, yes, and you become the first African-American to step up under center man, and what's so? The greatest thing about it is that the path of his life, that he was able to go to a school that was on the forefront of integration.

Speaker 2: 41:59

Yes.

Speaker 1: 42:01

So he was almost the first of a lot of things. I know he was the first quarterback to be labeled as a quarterback in college as well, if I'm not mistaken. But there's just so many remarkable things that when I look at his life and now that you done told me that man, when I think about him, it's like he was such a giant A giant to me because there's a lot of things that I don't know that I would have been able to do the way he did it. Yes, he did all of this with not a mumbling word. Yes, he did all of this without violence, without anything. But he stood on Willie Thrower Because, if you remember, he was at Texas or something. I think that he was going to go to an All-Star game or something down in Texas, and when they backed in, that's when, again, segregation was going on and I guess it was prominent where the game and places were going to be at and he decided not to go.

Speaker 1: 43:13

But he really stood on himself and was cool with himself enough that he didn't have to be in an uproar. He didn't have to be mad that somebody didn't like him. He still trudged forward with his talents and broke a barrier and when I think about that, he actually sacrificed himself. And now, when you look back upon it, you had Super Bowl with two African-American quarterbacks competing. You had the first week you might not notice the first week in the NFL that there was over seven, or it was, there was. There was over 10 quarterbacks, starting on the very first week of this year in a football season, first time ever, and I think it's 13 is the number. I just don't want to be wrong. So when I think about what he did and go back to what you said early about legacy, this man is is, is is God. Rest his soul. He's laid down and what he started is steel, has life in it and it is still going in. Some of the people that are living in that life, some of these QBs, they don't even know our uncle.

Speaker 2: 44:33

You're right.

Speaker 1: 44:35

They don't even know that, that that they're carrying on a torch, that he began in the forties and set a record for it for the first by quarterback in 1953. And the TV just began to be used, so they didn't even know he was black when he went to to different places and think about it.

Speaker 2: 44:53

He went back to back state titles Right.

Speaker 1: 44:56

As a QB. They said days, there was 10,000 people. You know they had to hold some of the games at Forbes field. You know, in the runes, you know I'm admired that and helped out. But, man, you, when I say a giant I mean a giant like, because I just think about it, I just think about myself and how I would have reacted during those times, because you got to understand he was five, six, five, seven.

Speaker 2: 45:25

But think about how big his hands were.

Speaker 1: 45:27

How many?

Speaker 2: 45:27

were eight.

Speaker 1: 45:29

I wouldn't talk about that real quick. I used to hate because my friends always wanted to shake grandpaps hands. His hands was just as big, you know, and I get it, because even me myself it just didn't look normal man. You know, when you try to tell somebody how big their hands was, they can't believe it until they see it. It's not normal.

Speaker 2: 45:50

No, when somebody is shaking your hand and it's up on your forearm. Come on, man, and when you think, when you think about that, like you said, what he's been able to do and what it comes back to me is we're talking about him Is God trusted our great uncle. Come on To be able to be that person, like you know, like a Moses, to be that, to be that person. You know that, you know that helped the slaves that we talk about. What's the lady that helped the slaves with Rosa Parks?

Speaker 1: 46:24

I mean I was a part. I'm sorry, but Harriet Tubman yeah, harriet.

Speaker 2: 46:26

Tubman, he was the first to be able to think about it. He had his own club to touchdown club, right, you know, but just the things that he did and he was, he had a humbleness about himself, and then he worked in rural construction.

Speaker 1: 46:41

Right, you know, he went too good. No, not at all, he went too good but he went too good, but he was.

Speaker 2: 46:47

he was great in his own Like you said come on. Brian, you're in the Hall of Fame in the state of Pennsylvania, you're in the football Hall of Fame up in Canton and you're in the Canadian Hall of Fame.

Speaker 1: 47:01

That's just and your hand is the most famous pro hand and Ripley's, believe it or not.

Speaker 2: 47:07

But not only that. What was his favorite saying with it? He always say anything you do in life, always be a giant. Come on, man, Come on. Anything that you do in life, always be a giant. So, if you're going to be a garbage man, be the best garbage man that you can be. If, whatever you do, oh man, be the best that you can be. If you're going to be a doctor, be the best doctor you can be.

Speaker 2: 47:37

If, like you, if you're going to work in construction, right, be the best heavy equipment operator that you were, and then not only that, to transfer into safety. You know, and just to watch your career and what you've been able to achieve, we know it is nothing but the grace of God how he's ordered your steps. But you've had that thing where you cared about people, not only the safety aspect of them being safe on the job, but you truly cared about them to being able not only be safe but to be able to provide for the family, because if that individual dies on the job, even if they have insurance, that providing goes away and it stops after that.

Speaker 1: 48:23

It's in it's in it's in it's in, it's in your right. But then when I refought this whole thing, I'm like it's bigger than that. It's bigger than at the job.

Speaker 2: 48:37

That's right, it's a life.

Speaker 1: 48:39

It's a lifestyle, it's, it's. It's like I said before it's when you wake up, it's when you go to sleep, it's when you step out your door. Are you present in that moment?

Speaker 2: 48:56

And we have to be present in that moment, and you know why that's so important. Even we talked about right now being you doing this right now at the job, right now, when I'm at home, right now, because if you're not in the right now, that's a safety hazard. That's right.

Speaker 1: 49:14

That's right.

Speaker 2: 49:15

When you're not in that right now. If you're on that job doing heavy work, if you're on that job doing heavy equipment or remember when you were doing cranes up in Skyscaper if you're not in that right now, you're a safety hazard. That's right and it's in life. We're a safety hazard If we're not paying attention when we drive in that car or in that truck or that. You know, whatever it is, you're a safety hazard. So it's not just about the safety of a job, but it's about the safety of your life, of your life.

Speaker 1: 49:45

And, wow, you're just I'm so excited, man, to think that you know that life, your life, like I said, when we talk about the whole life thing and it starts, I think again, with that self-care, it starts with you having a good spiritual well-being and you're taking care of your body. Because now for you to be in the right now we talked about this today is that the thought process of being optimal, the thought process of being at the top of your game. But to be at the top of your game, that means eating right, that means, you know, being healthy in whatever that means to you. That means taking care of your body. That means taking care of your problems, like taking care of your issues. You know you might have a lot, but like maybe two a day, you know, two this week or two this month or however you figured out, but really figuring out these things that can pull you away from excellence.

Speaker 2: 50:53

And you know, when it goes back to the question you asked earlier, how do we help somebody who's at that point and you're trying to figure out? One of the things that I know they can help them is writing it down. You know, even if it's like at the end of the night, write it down on a piece of paper, write it on the tablet, get a tablet and write it down, because it always is. A plan is insane, but a decision is in concrete. Come on, come on, say it again, please. Yeah, a plan is insane, but a decision is in concrete. When you write it down, it makes it plain, you can see it, and then what you do is you check it off and that'll help you, because they always say the shortest pencil is better than the longest memory. That's right, the shortest pencil is better than the longest memory. And so when you write that thing down, you won't forget it and you can check it off and that'll help you prepare.

Speaker 2: 51:54

Now, you may not get everything done on your checklist that day, but okay, the good Lord willing, tomorrow's a new day, but you, but you, you're, you're looking at your plan, right, and so that might be, at the end of the day just kind of empty your mind, just relaxed by yourself maybe the family's asleep or even if just you and just write down what you want to achieve for tomorrow and then and continue to do that and that it will help you. That that that because in life you're right facing our problems, like you know, if you in debt, you want to get out of debt. You got to attack it, Right.

Speaker 1: 52:32

No matter what. But I mean it's going to come back to you. You know you did so you weren't supposed to do, but you got to figure out why you did that. You know what I mean. You got to figure out how to get back out of that and fix it. And you know, try not to get back there again. You're right.

Speaker 2: 52:47

But again, going back to our great uncle, yeah, he was truly, and that's something that we can't take that for granted. It's up to us to continue to carry that on. Oh, no doubt. Whatever area and you know, I know you're in, you know you're in the construction area and I'm in the educational area, and you always hear me say this people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And that's so true and what that has allowed me to do, even though I've been doing this for 25 years and I'm seeing younger people come it has allowed me to be relevant.

Speaker 1: 53:24

Man, Okay, so you say you're in the education side of things and I know you're out, you know you know speaking to the kids, and so what, what, what, what, what, what's the industry that that you speak about as far as an education, Well, basically, as industry is, we're talking about automotive technicians, diesel technicians, and, with the diesel, heavy, medium, and then also the light duty diesel, but then also heavy equipment, agriculture, and with the diesel technicians being, you know, semis, also robotics. Oh, wow.

Speaker 2: 54:13

You know robotics and also HVAC. Wow. We talk about the automotive also in the hybrid and the electric vehicles and in the blessing about that is and whether it's in that field that would I recruit in. It doesn't really matter what field it is today, because people are needed. Now People are retired. We've come out of COVID. The generation thinks differently. A lot of our generation is not motivated by money. They're they're more so motivated. Yeah, they want to have money, but they're they're motivated on having flexibility, wow. So one of the things that I have to show them is that the opportunity is great. Now I'll give you an example.

Speaker 2: 55:08

One of my instructors that I'm known for the last couple of years. He teaches welding and we do a little bit of welding in our high performance because we do automotive and high performance racing in NASCAR, nhra, arcus series. You know drag racing. They get a chance to do truck pools. We partner with Monster Jam, with official school for autocross and and with those things.

Speaker 2: 55:37

The instructor came up to me and said hey, man, I wanted to share something with you. You know my son's only been near a year. I said I don't know what's he doing. He's doing great. He said he already has offers with NASCAR and HRA in the Arcus series Wow. And he has not even graduated, wow. And so one of the things that I tell the students is anytime you're looking to further your education, whether the school was 4,000, like at my school, or 100,000 at Ohio State or 50,000 at another university, go to a school that has a great internship. When our students go to our school, they have an opportunity, when they're doing robotics, to work a part-time job in robotics making $25 an hour, what, what better place to get some quick experience, right yeah.

Speaker 2: 56:25

We partner with Honda, nissan, ford, and even in the medical field there's procedures that are done with robotics, and so the opportunities are endless for this generation, and I always speak life to this generation. Some people like this generation, but I always say this if you see a problem, don't talk about it. Be a solution, help. Like you said, there's a gap there. What can you do to help it? Right? So you got to look yourself in the mirror when you're talking about this generation, and so when I come in, a lot of students will say you're different. You're different than the other schools that came in here. Not only did you talk about your school, but you also talked about the options that we do have.

Speaker 2: 57:15

I always use this example with them, bro. I always say I could tell you that my school is the best thing since sliced bread. But you might like a bagel, maybe you like a biscuit, you might like a tortilla, maybe you like rice, right, maybe you like retoast. You have to find out what is the right fit, right, and I do have a lot of opportunities for you, and when I do that to them, they're having more interest in the thing about it, the field, the opportunities here, and you know, in your field there's a lot of opportunities for young people, yes, and then there's scholarship opportunities for young people.

Speaker 2: 57:51

All you got to do is put what you want to do in Google, put scholarships behind it in Google, and I always make a joke with them. You talking about making it rain. I always scroll scholarships, make it scroll, and they get a laugh out of it. And then when they see it on their phone, they're like wow, I didn't notice. When I started 25 years ago, bro, for just being a left hander, the scholarship was five to $700. Now the scholarships between 3000, almost up to 7k.

Speaker 1: 58:23

Just for being a left hander.

Speaker 2: 58:25

Just for being a left hander, wow. So there's so many opportunities out there, but the young people have so much information coming at them. Sometimes they don't know where to focus it at Right, and again you don't know what you don't know. And one of the things for me as I finish in my career strong is I want to help more African-Americans understand the opportunity that is in this industry. If I do a hundred applications, I would say maybe only three or four are African-American and maybe, if I take the number up more with Hispanic or Latino or even with females, I'm starting to see more females get into the industry. But out of a hundred there might be four African-Americans.

Speaker 1: 59:17

And I see the same thing in construction. A big disparity, and if I do, you see most of them they're not in like managerial positions, they're not in high up positions.

Speaker 1: 59:33

They get to a certain level. And I will tell you, it goes back to the same reason why there wasn't a black quarterback. Yes, it's because at that time they didn't feel that African-Americans or people of color could be in leadership positions. And I still say that some of that it plays true to a certain extent and it plays true from what I see. Yes, so I know every day, man, At the end of the day, I'm no complainer, man.

Speaker 1: 1:00:12

I just know that I'm a point down. Yes, I know that at the end of the game I'm a point down. So that means that I got to come in to work earlier. Yes, I got to stay at work a little bit later. I got to get my education, I got to do those things and I'm so thankful that I have that spirit to be able to know that I got to tie my boots up every day. There ain't no slacking, you know, because I know what's out there and but I'm just so thankful that I've been, you know, over the years, with, you know, surrounded by good friends, good family, good people that I've been working with, that, worked with that, have really helped me get over some of those, those humps. But I still know that, you know, every day I go to work it's like I'm on an interview.

Speaker 2: 1:01:00

E Every day.

Speaker 1: 1:01:02

I'm on an interview. You know I'm on an interview. I'm trying to work at a level above. You know where I'm at. I'm trying to do those things because you just have to realize what's real. We ain't got to. I mean, it is what it is, man, and it's like again. It's like, if that's a problem, how are you? A solution? That's right, and my solution is is that that I'm going to go above and beyond that, that I'm going to reach out and touch somebody. I'm going to ask if you need some help. I'm. You know I'm going to be on my post. You know what I mean, with the, with the bullet holes, the dents in my armor.

Speaker 2: 1:01:37

You know. What's so good about that, brother, is this when you create good habits, you be in your committed and you continue to be consistent. When you walk on a premises, people don't see the color of your skin. They see the commitment of your character. Man come on man 100%. They don't see the color of your skin, but they see the commitment of your character. So I know, even when I go in schools, majority or most of the the families or students that go there once I start to talk.

Speaker 1: 1:02:10

Yes, they feel it, the authenticity.

Speaker 2: 1:02:13

That's right. So they don't see that. So you're right. It just we know what is. But what? What can we do better?

Speaker 2: 1:02:20

Right, and one of the things you said that I know for you to do that you have to have good habits, that's right. You know, like you said, you go in an early. I remember there was times when I came to visit you a couple of years ago, you early in the morning. I remember one time I would say I had a chance to shadow you and I remember that day. I watched what you did, I saw how you handled yourself, I watched how you talk with people. You, you gave me an opportunity to come to that picnic that they kind of had that day, right, and but I saw how you carried yourself and even in your journey there's been people who've been jealous. There's been people who try to make something happen. There wasn't there, but you still continue to stay that course. And so you know what I do. I just continue. Like you just said, when I go in schools, I speak life, whether they, I tell them, whether you decide to go to my school or not, these are the opportunities that are out there for you. Right, and by doing that I had a student this year say to me. He said Mr Manly, this is my second time seeing you. He said the only reason I want to take a look at your school is because you never told me I needed to go to your school. You just told me that it was an option and so I had to check the option out. And by checking the option off, now I want to go to your school. But you didn't try to convince me, you just shared the information with me.

Speaker 2: 1:03:44

Wow, see, because a man or woman convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Said it again, slower it up yeah, a man or woman convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. And what I mean by that, bruh, is if you don't take ownership what it is that you want to do in life, somebody can convince you to do this and somebody else can convince you to do that. But once you take ownership of what it is that you are looking to achieve, or what your goal is, or what you're trying to get done, if it doesn't line up with what you're trying to do, you ain't hearing it. Wow, you don't accept it.

Speaker 2: 1:04:30

Wow. So that's why I say a man or woman, convinced against his will, is of the same opinion. Still, wow. And when you're that way, you're not moving forward and you're just everywhere. And even sometimes when you have plans, like I said, sometimes you need somebody. It's why it's important that we're accountable and even if we break that commitment that we said we were going to do, still somebody makes us accountable to get over that hump, mmm, okay, uh huh Right, because at the end of the day you're going to have to own it at the end of the day, if you want to get over otherwise, right, yeah, right.

Speaker 1: 1:05:15

So I want to go back. You know you're in this industry. Robotics, yes. So on my end, that's big right now, because there's a phenomenon coming right. We got AI, we got, you know, machines either being run by a man, or a man or a woman in the construction business on the side, or you know, from a computer, but you know somebody's, nobody's in the machine, you know while they're, they're operating it, and you know one thing that I didn't hear and I want to ask you Okay, so hold those two questions Is the other thing is I heard diesel, but I didn't hear electric. Now I've been seeing a lot of electric. Oh, okay, ev.

Speaker 2: 1:05:58

Okay, I'm sorry I was using analogies, but we call them EV speeds, electric vehicles, and I'll give me an example about that High-brids and electric vehicles. A lot of people are not excited about the older generation. It's not excited about the EVs. But you know, like Dion says, we coming, whether you like it or not, it's coming and it's here and I'll give it. It's like within the heavy equipment. We talked about that a little bit. But yeah, and the opportunities for EV techs is between night looking at 90 something, 120 an hour, just because they don't have enough of them, and, like we always talk about it, when you're building something, you're having something, you need to have the people to be able to do it. And but yeah, we teach on electric vehicles. We had always been teaching on the high-brids. But, yeah, the EVs in the trucks, in the heavy equipment, in the cars, and see cause it's mandated by 2025.

Speaker 2: 1:07:04

All dealerships, all just have to have the electric vehicles on their lot. Oh, really, I didn't know that. Yeah, they have to have them on their lots, they're going to have them, whether you like it or not. Like you said, props it, we coming, yeah, we coming. And I give you an example. I was talking with a family and to just give you how bad there's a need for diesel techs. A young the dad said his friend, his son's, working in Ohio in a small town they couldn't find a diesel tech to take care of the school buses. Oh wow, so how much do you think they're paying them an hour to take care of that?

Speaker 1: 1:07:45

If you were guessing how much you think they're paying, probably maybe 60 bucks an hour, higher 80 bucks an hour, higher 100 bucks an hour.

Speaker 2: 1:07:55

Higher 200 bucks an hour, no, 170 an hour. Wow, 170 an hour. And I never really heard that before and I've been for a long time. But the need and he works at nights making over 300 something here, wow, in a small town, right, can you imagine, man? You know, I've heard, like with the electric vehicles, because there's a need for them, they're paying them a 95 to 125 an hour man. So the opportunity is here, like, for instance, with the robotics when they come.

Speaker 2: 1:08:33

Ford came to us two years ago and said they wanted to partner with our university because they can't wait for people to get a four year engineering degree and so they start them off to 80 to $100,000 once they finish up with our program and they teach them the forward way. Wow, nissan in Tennessee will take our students and give them a $10,000 moving allowance to come to Tennessee. Start them off 80 to 100. Honda right, it's only about an hour from the school. They partner with our students, allow them to do internships and they pay them like $25 an hour, wow, wow. And they're going to school.

Speaker 2: 1:09:14

And the nice thing about our school, they're only going four days a week, five hours a day and every six weeks. Wow, and they only take one class at a time, bro, and it's considered to be full time so they can work a job about what their housing and things of that nature. So yeah, and that whole industry, and even with HVAC we even teach HVAC at our school and so a person with HVAC can start their own LLC and get started right away and have their own business. Maybe they work for somebody for a little bit, but they can start their own LLC.

Speaker 1: 1:09:48

I know that HVAC is big again, man, because of the COVID right.

Speaker 1: 1:09:53

I mean, there's new systems coming out, there's a lot of new technology, man, and you know it's all about what you want to do, man, and I started out, you know, thinking about where I started out, really on the farm.

Speaker 1: 1:10:08

But you know, when I think about when I really hit it on a consistent base construction, when I started out as a ground man on a at Asphalt plant, worked my way up to Knights filling the plant, went out to the Paving Crew, worked for that for a little bit, you know, just worked your way up.

Speaker 1: 1:10:26

But it's like you got to be able to take, like you said, take control of, of, of, of your path and your trajectory, or somebody else will do it for you. Yes, and also that, even though you may be in that position, if you set yourself up right when it is, if, if, if you do come to that, that that point in time where the company may not be doing nothing for you or it just ain't working out, your career is still in your hand because you've got everything you need to move on to the, to the next company, and you can make that choice. And it ain't like man this is I don't know if I can do it any other place right, but if you build yourself up right, you build your confidence right. You get that opportunity to again say, hey, it was fun while it lasted but I'm moving on.

Speaker 2: 1:11:23

But you know, because I can remember when you couldn't work a couple months. That was tough. But when you think about every step that you went along the way that built your foundation to where you're at today, there's a foundation there, as high as anybody does grows in their career, as deep as they have to go low, that's right man.

Speaker 2: 1:11:44

And so those times that you went through there was tough on your family, those times when you weren't working because the weather wasn't right. Then you got to a point even when the weather wasn't right, you were still able to work. You know why? Because you were looked at as value, as valuable, and so, as you continue to move up, not only did you move up one of the things I realized in life too you still had to get certain certificates. You still finished your degree, yeah. So all those steps along the way prepared you where you're at today. And when you where you're at today, when you get there, you can handle it because, again, talent will take us, but because of your character, it's keeping you to move in in that right direction, so you can't skip steps in the process.

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

You can't. You can't because it's I mean you're missing something, because when you even when you just I mean, let's just make it ordinary you miss a step, it's not the fact that you're going to trip, it's the fact that you just added some, some things into you that that it's already hazardous walking up the stairs, right, yes. So why are you going to try to overstep a step that is at its level and at its height, which is one foot? For a reason, yes, and you trying to skip the step that is actually about to build you up to the step you're getting on. So you ain't even ready, let alone was you ready for the step that you stepped over.

Speaker 1: 1:13:19

So, yeah, you're right man, we, we, we have to continue walking through that path and that's that's why I wanted some of your nuggets. That's why I wanted to. People need to hear the authenticity.

Speaker 2: 1:13:33

People need to hear that we're just regular people you know, but again another thing to think about it, bro, we're, we're around a lot of people, a lot of men that we have relationships. They multi-millionaires, they're successful in what they're doing. But now, as we go through our journey, some move faster, some move slower, but as you're still moving forward, we realize what they're going, what they've been through right Cause we're going through right To get to, to get to, and you realize, that's why we should never say I wish I was like such and such, or I wish I was like such and such, because, see, you don't know what that person has been through to get to where they're at.

Speaker 2: 1:14:16

And even when they're at where they're at, they're still experiencing new challenges.

Speaker 1: 1:14:21

Right.

Speaker 2: 1:14:22

And so we don't need to to to. We can see some of the principles and things that they've done, but our journey is different. Yeah, and we and be be excited about that. Not feel like man. I wish I was at that. But you don't even know what they went through, right, maybe they struggle sometimes to sleep at night, or now they're responsible for how many families in their organization, much given as we say, as much required. So we just have to continue. And this is what grandma said too. Grandma would always say this. Or she said if you'll stay in line, you'll get to the front too. She said you remember when I used to work? She said remember when I used to work at the cafeteria. I said yeah, grandma. She said yeah, and remember how you would come through the line and a JFK and get your food and at the end, if you paid or you gave a ticket. She said that's how life is.

Speaker 2: 1:15:18

She said if you'll stay in line, you'll get to the front too. But sometimes what stops us from getting to the front? Twos, we start listening to the haters, we start listening to somebody saying we're not good enough, we start listening to somebody who's saying that you're too dark, you're too light, you're too big, you're too small, and when we do that, we don't stay in line and focusing on where we're going. Don't get me wrong. We still should be able to know our surroundings, but not in the box, but staying with your gift to that. Right, right, right, you know. And so it's like running a marathon. You may beat me, but if I finish, I still.

Speaker 1: 1:16:03

You won because you you've excelled at what you could excel at. That's right and you have to be comfortable with that. You have to be very comfortable with that because, as long as you know you have reached your ceiling in every, every way, there's nothing to be mad at, cause you got everything you could get out of what you have. And that's super, duper important to really know that once you reach your ceiling, you should be proud. You should be proud, and I think our selling that we think is our selling that ain't the same.

Speaker 2: 1:16:50

Now it isn't in grandma. And I remember when she was in her nineties and in this time when I went to go visit her, when she was at her was staying at the sister living place up there up there on cops code, and I never forget, I would always ask her. I said, grandma, I said, how were you able to remember all your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, your great-grandchildren's birthday, and how come you always had good penmanship, with always being able to write? You always read, you are, we're always in touch what was going on and with the current events. And she said well, she said when I was young.

Speaker 2: 1:17:34

She said I'll never forget when I lived with my aunt up in I think it was Connecticut or up on the East coast, and she said that she would always make us speak proper. So if we didn't speak it right, she would always say would you say oh, wow, would you say, and she was a teacher, wow, and she always made them read, she always made them write and she always made them speak proper. And I realized our grandmother, she comes from great individuals on her side. You know, when you think of the Prats, when you think of individuals that were a four star general for four decades, right.

Speaker 2: 1:18:18

In the Air Force of Logistics, right when you think about she was one of the first African American women to work the voting back when she was young.

Speaker 1: 1:18:29

Well, she was also the first journalist. Yes, and writing and writing. She wrote a column when she lived in El Tuna for the Pittsburgh Corrier.

Speaker 2: 1:18:39

Pittsburgh Corrier and now you hear about the Pittsburgh Corrier in history and she would be making a little bit more money than her parents was back there for just doing that, right, but she didn't have a bachelor's, she didn't have a master's, she didn't have a PhD, but it just showed, like, the richness you know, even when we talk about our families. Cookie Gilchrist, right, you know Dad's first cousin, right? I remember he would. You weren't born, but he would come to the house and just well, actually, actually, when I was a kid, he would come to the house.

Speaker 1: 1:19:13

He used to drive that that June, that little bug. Yeah, he used to drive that little bug, man, and what you went to school with our cousins, we didn't even know.

Speaker 2: 1:19:20

Yeah, walsh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:19:22

The twins.

Speaker 2: 1:19:23

And rest their souls. They passed, but yeah, but yeah, you know it's so. It was just when you think of the richness in our families, yeah, of what people we had we had the right leaders right.

Speaker 1: 1:19:34

We had the right people there. You know you're talking about. You're talking about did you know that when Koki Gilchrist, he played for the Denver Broncos?

Speaker 2: 1:19:43

Yeah, well, he had the first signing bonus there. Oh wow, I didn't know that.

Speaker 1: 1:19:48

Yeah, he had a signing. They gave him a signing bonus. It was a Cadillac Okay, it was a first signing bonus man and you know he got. You know he was, you know, well known at, you know, with the Buffalo Bills and and and and all that good stuff, but his signing bonus was a car.

Speaker 2: 1:20:01

huh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:20:01

It was a, it was a Cadillac. I got an art cross shot to you, okay, yeah. But you know all these things, man, when you, when you truly and this, and, and, and I will tell you that, without self care, I don't know if I'll be able to really see all this the way we're talking, right. So when, when you actually do clear out the clutter, you really get to see that, that, that the people that were before us, there was a lot of giants, man, and on both sides of our families, the Manley family and the thrower family. So I'm really thankful and and and grateful for that, you know, because it to me, I call that, it's called leaving the door open and it's like, it's almost like there's no excuse why we shouldn't be who we are today and I like what you said leaving the door.

Speaker 2: 1:20:58

Remember when I shared with you what Camille said, uh-huh. Remember she said the man opening up the door to the husband, the husband opening up the door to the father, oh, wow. And then the father's door is half cracked and each man, one small one's bigger than the one's bigger, but each man is looking up and he sees the son and I say why did you leave the last door cracked? This is what she's saying. She wanted to look on the book of the title and it made me think that you said the door open. She said the last one is half cracked because you're still a work in progress. Wow, and each step with the man, the husband and the father. You've had to trust God when she said that to me, brian that's the best beyond my time.

Speaker 2: 1:21:58

I asked her, I asked her when she do my book cover and that's what she gave you.

Speaker 1: 1:22:04

That was God.

Speaker 2: 1:22:06

Yeah, when she said that Come on, man, and you talking about the door Because she's 14.

Speaker 1: 1:22:11

And I'm not saying that she ain't smart enough, but she put that in biblical. Wow, man.

Speaker 2: 1:22:17

And stuff like that's scary man, but that lets you through a child's shell.

Speaker 1: 1:22:21

That's right.

Speaker 2: 1:22:23

And I asked I gave her 30 days to come up with that. And when we I took her up to my university and we drove up there, I asked her so what did so? What did you come up with? And that's what she told me. And she said each step of the way, you need God because you're still working for our progress. Wow, man, that just I got emotional, man.

Speaker 1: 1:22:48

You should have man that's powerful, I told her.

Speaker 2: 1:22:50

that just blew my mind and I said Lord he's real. You may have to cut this part out. They were trying to call us Okay.

Speaker 1: 1:23:04

So what we'll do is I'll have him cut this out. Yeah, yeah, let's put an ending on this. Sounds good. So the question I got, I guess, is what advice do you have for individuals aspiring to be in your industry? And, yeah, let's end with that.

Speaker 2: 1:23:26

Okay, let's end with that. Okay, I would say, in my industry, what I do, the advice I would have is that it's not about you. If you're going to get into my industry, it has to be about the student and the family. And what I mean by that, bro, is this and I always use this analogy with my students I said have you ever went to a lake that is calm? And he'll be like yeah, I said and when that lake was calm and it was so quiet and you took a pebble and you threw it in the lake, and I asked him what happens when you do that?

Speaker 2: 1:24:16

And they'll say a ripple effect. And I say what happens with the ripples? And they say the ripples get bigger. And I said yes, I said that's what your parents want for you the ripple effects of generations. And the generations are getting better, and so that's what their parents want for you. They want to see you take it to the next level. And the reason why I say that to you is because when I look at each one of you whether there's 10 people in the class, 50 people in the class or there's been 150 people in the class I don't see you as numbers, but I see you as generations Wow, powerful, and so anybody who's getting into my industry. If you really want to be a fact and have an impact on what you're doing with this generation or young people, you got to let them know that you care Whether they come to your school, and it has to be about them being the right fit. Now, everybody doesn't see that the way.

Speaker 1: 1:25:23

I do.

Speaker 2: 1:25:25

But if you want to be successful in my industry, it'll allow you to be successful, it'll allow you to stay relevant. But if you're just doing it for a job and you're trying to get a paycheck and get numbers and people in school seek because the seed that I sow with them, there's been a harvest from that brother. There's been a harvest with my kids. I have two college graduates and I have one more who's a freshman in high school, who will be looking to go to college. So when I do right by them and their family, then when it comes time for my family, people have done right by us and it's not about my university, it's not about me, but it's about them. If you want to be successful in this industry, you have to give people options Because, see, at the end of the day, even if a school wants revenue, I always say the service that you render is a byproduct on how you get paid Right. Okay, well, I appreciated my brother man.

Speaker 1: 1:26:36

I'm just so glad man that we were able to do this. I'm happy on again, man. I think this is rich man because we'll be able to hit the family side of things a lot together. Talk about those different dynamics. You know what we've done as brothers and you know just just how we work through it Because somebody needs it, you know somebody's struggling out there, and what better than to help another husband and another father or another mother or another nurse or law enforcement?

Speaker 1: 1:27:06

You know all these safety professionals. What a better way, man, to lend our authenticity of who we used to be, yes, and who we are now. Yes, and it's you know, because of a lot of you know the way that we're working with our family, we're working with our family, and we're working with our family and we're working with our family and we're working with our family and it's, you know, because of a lot of reasons other than ourselves you know,

Speaker 1: 1:27:30

But we had to begin with ourselves and begin to use the people that were around us to help us get where we needed to be. So again, man, thank you, my brother, man, and I love you, and I know you're leaving in the morning, man, and I wish we could have spent a couple more days together, man, because you know, as we get older, man, it's just not enough time, man, especially when we see the nieces having a great time and the wives hanging out and everything, man, just truly being embodied by you know each other, man until we meet again.

Speaker 2: 1:28:04

My brother, yes, and it's definitely been a true blessing, and I'm just so proud of you, man. Just to see and it's not even the love that I see with you Yvette, Janice and Leely that just does my heart and joy, man. And in the grind that you're putting in, yes, ma'am, I mean because it's not been easy, no man, but to be on one accord you know, and I look forward to coming back and being able to share some more things and even where I'm at. We talked about earlier finishing, but finishing strong.

Speaker 1: 1:28:40

Right, that's going to be another lesson, because I want you to be able to maybe even talk about that. Right? Because the finish line is. It looks simple, but it's the hardest thing to get I can. You can watch several races where, where you know it's hard to get there. I mean, I'm going to use something real simple and real funny man.

Speaker 1: 1:28:59

When you like, when you're driving home, like your body is in, so is in tune to the finish line home, right? Yes, whether you got to go to a bathroom, or whether you're tired and you're sleepy, those things begin to happen because you know you're just in tune, you're just in tune with that thing. So when you get close to that finish line man, it's hard and I think maybe you telling that story where you was stuck, how you got out of it, of that finish line man will be a great story next time, because there's a lot of people at the finish line man and we, just like you said, we keep that accountability, well, accountability, but I think we we keep sabotaging our own selves. Yes, so so we're going to go no further on that, because I didn't beat you up, so because I could, because you're my brother, but we're going to go no further. But again, man, brother, man, I appreciate it and I thank you, man, and I love you, man.

Speaker 2: 1:29:55

I love you too, all right.