How This Nonprofit CEO is Influencing a Generation

[0:00]  whenever we start assuming that we know people and what theyve been through or we dismiss whatever they experience I think that's where we start going WR as a society even as human beings but the most important thing is be able to take the time to understand and listen to people man but not where they coming from and the one of the things that I like to say is like find out what people have been where they going and the purpose they have in your life and then you're going to be able to connect so sometimes you have to be humbly honest with with with our youth and let them know and then especially so if you going through some experiences yourself whenever you're able to tell him Hey listen I have the lived experience I have the live expertise of doing those things that you're doing right now and I want to tell you that it's not good they're going to listen to you uh you know they're going to sit there and say

[0:48]  I understand and I'm going to listen to you cuz you are boom and standing or you sitting where I am sitting right now and and and rather than have somebody who went learn how to go to school learn how to speci itate and and they never been through anything in their life you know so the kids never had to se through that so I think being authentic and saying I'm going take the time to listen to you but so you can listen to me my story so we can connect and you can make the right decision for your life at the end of the day I do believe that our youth they're going to have to make decisions on their own all right guys welcome back to a brand

[1:38]  new episode of the heart and hustle podcast now I'm sitting across this digital table right now from an amazing individual Mr Jay Martinez is a leader who is having such a huge impact on an organization but not only the organization but the community and the things that he is doing at Hope for Miami needed to be highlighted on this episode of the podcast today we're going to be talking about what hope for Miami is all about we're going to talk about Mr J Martinez history the experiences that he's come from the importance of leadership we're going to talk about the responsibility of impacting and influencing the Next Generation but also leading by example Mr J Martinez welcome to the show man he brother appreciate it man that's a great introduction man and thank you thank you for those kind words

[2:24]  and uh looking forward to telling the story of what we do here as the nor vation and no I have had the blessing to become you know and be who I am today if I had to say one question right now it would be this describe the man who sits across from me but do not include anything that is work rated who am I sitting across the table from that's tough man and preparing me for this one um but pretty much I I think is is a man who has lived through experiences um and today Liv to minimize those experiences for his kids and for the people that he Encounters in the community in a positive way um and connect the story the way that God has created each and

[3:12]  everyone what about your experiences as a kid because the one thing that I recognize is every single experience that we've had in life is almost like a small paintbrush stroke on the Masterpiece of the person who we are so let's kind of go back to those original layers if you will and let's talk about the man and the foundation of who sits across from me awesome brother and and I love that I love that that art workers I think we all are a work of art right and and and our experiences is what paint us what created us um you know I was born in Nicaragua um Aly uh came to the United States when I was close to Turning seven years old you know and and we crossed the board uh you know so it was one of those things is that you come into freedom and and some people don't make you past that point you know so to

[4:00]  be able to get here and and live in in a house with your uncles and your aunts and your grandma and everybody is like a house of 11 people that was not meant to house that many people sleeping on top of each other for years um and going through the let's say that the system you know the foot stamps um going getting getting the the the the free food at school you know being able to do down like wearing the same clothes like every week when you had to go cuz back then they didn't have no uniforms you rocked like your PTO and everything everybody had their shoes and you wire the same stuff over and over and over um it's just one of those things that that you gr up like you don't on your kids to experence that um you know so my father

[4:50]  was not around U and I had some uncles around but they going to PR this m out of hard can't take that away from them that what it is to be a man and that way you Rel you relate to situations I didn't have that there um so my past experiences you know the father my father not being able to connect with them I connect with my kids in every way possible um I'm I'm at every sporting event I'm at every Awards I'm my every teacher conference whatever it is I'm there I'm listening I want to be supportive and be there for them and even so even more so now like the man that I am today and like what has stated is like finding other and helping their experiences and connecting that is something that was built in me as well I'm a good listener I love listening to

[5:38]  people like not necess said I'm always going to have all the answers but I love to hear people and their stories because I I love to take the time to to read their stories and I think that's what we need to do better as as a community uh because we're not always going to be able to understand or put ourselves in people's shoes or changeing mind but it's always good step forward to be able to sit back man just listen listen to them so you can at least get an understanding as to why they are the way that they are uh so my childhood and everything that I've been through um I don't take my freedom man and fantic um and my my freedom of speech my my freedom to share my freedom to talk my freedom to be able to do anything because I basically didn't have that and making it past the border the mudy fields at the age of six going to seven

[6:27]  that's that's a big story to tell is I mean we uh we are shaped right by the experiences that we go through and one of the biggest things I think is really important for us to kind of harp on that you mentioned there is we have a responsibility to protect our children as an example from the experiences that we went through you know one of the things that I take incredibly serious and I might have mentioned this in our previous conversation together was the accountability to be the best version of ourselves that we possibly can as men in society today because guess what there are people in your lineage that couldn't even imagine the opportunities that sit in front of you the fact that me and you are sitting here across this digital table with each other and we're talking about your story is something that your grandfather your great-grandfather could

[7:14]  never understand my great-grandfather was a sharecropper from Arkansas my grandfather was born in the 30s and was discriminated against as a black man for being a man of color my father was the first person to be an entrepreneur and take a chance on himself that gave me opportunities that I could never even imagine and now I have the opportunity to continue to connect with leaders and men like you who sit across the table who have the exact same experiences and I often think that the answer to a lot of the problems that we face in society today are simply solved by seeking to understand rather than judging others and I feel like as everybody who can't see Mr Martinez sitting across the street or across the table from me he's do in his head so I want to know why do you agree with that statement so much man because I think we all have are are are the thoughts and our perceptions

[8:02]  you know and I think whenever we start assuming that we know people and what they been through or we dismiss whatever they experience I think that's what we start going wrong as a society even as human beings um like you mentioned your ancestors and even mine like even though we are we come from different places the struggles have been there and and being to this point we all have to go through our experiences to be where we're at and even though we might have different views on things we here we talking we have similar things and we say hey we need to be present we want to build the best uh future for our kids and all of that but reality is is that you and I we could have some good discussions about things that we don't see ey but the most important thing is be able to take the time to understand and listen to people man find out where they coming from and one of the things that I like to say is

[8:50]  like find out where people have been where they going and the purpose they have in your life and then you're going to be able to connect and then say you know what we might not be here but I understand you and I feel you and and and I see why you are than you are why you think than you are that you ain't and I think that's the first step for moving forward to be able to just coexist and this a what we call world as human beings and that's uh because nobody is going to be perfect nobody's GNA be we're going to click and say hey this is my best friend and we think of like we do this you know a lot of people say I have best friends but the reality is that we just there a lot of the time just because of way they make you feel you know I know that you've had some fundamental experiences um I know that you served in the Air Force as well so I want to talk a little bit about that

[9:39]  time and I want to give the audience an opportunity to understand how those experiences kind of shaped you to be the person who you are today what lessons did you learn in that experience I think from from day one as soon as you get a basic uh in the Air Force um or even any of the branch of militaries a lot of people my all my veterans yes I know you guys said the Air Force is the easiest one but it's still kind of tough um but when you go to basic training and you got people screaming at you and and and your work whatever you've been used to for so many years um is broken down and you basically made into into a family into a group of people where you all equal nobody is better than anybody y all got the same amut you wearing the same uniform you got the same boots you sleep on the same beds it's like everybody

[10:27]  here is equal and that's what I love it's CU they you take people from many parts of the United States that will never have the chance to be across from each other and be able to understand each other and basically for those back then it was like eight weeks um you become a family and and people from Miami I'm be communicating talking to somebody from North Dakota and we connecting even though you never experienced the same type of weather that we sitting over here and we're listening to each other and you become a family so for me from day one but the Air Force taugh me that that you are going to be exposed in life to people that you will never come across that just being able to say we have the same goal we have the same Mission and we're going to get there together um and and then from there pretty much the Air

[11:16]  Force has sent me up in my in my path where they told me so many things even though I had discipline because I was on the basketball team I played basketball my whole life I was a captain you know so I I have that initiative I I I could lead I did all of that the Air Force pretty much build me with a lot of the soft steems that I have now um just being having the discip to wear your uniform and to look at the little details of of the hospital corner on your bed um the strings that are hanging on the uniform to cut them off like the the shoe Shin you know so for me it was like those little things like hey take the time if you do things right even though it seems like you're not doing anything but just buffering that shine with the cotton you sitting there and you see a pop it's like it took you a while to get there but you made it to

[12:03]  that point um so the Air Force with the discipline being able to pay attention to detail uh and and initiative uh and I think there's a lot of other things that I can talk to you about what we kind of like experienced there they going through through through that and then being an aerospace medical technician um which is kind of like a nervs that's another thing another aspect of responsibility as well cuz now you are not only taking care of people you have people who lives depend on their actions and the things that you need to pay attention to you know when somebody's chest is rising and their their breasts are over the the limit or you are noticing blood pressure that's really high you know you have to look for all those things and relay that information communication to the nurses to the

[12:51]  doctors so they can find out the appropriate uh treatment the te so for me it was really big uh to be able to do all of that and now to the point where when I had to get out of the Air Force and come back home um and be a part of the sendor world I was set up for what I was going to encounter uh because I had all of that and school cannot teach you that I life experiences do um so you know I I had that n expertise of what we do um as Leaders through the air force uh so shout out to all my veterans man because we know that a lot of the times our military branches they send us up uh for things that we experienced out the world it's the life experiences that we have that set us up for bigger opportunities you know that's the one thing that I think a lot of people need

[13:38]  to realize is there's a lot of there's a lot of onus that is put on the ability for you to go through school and everything like that school wasn't for me I wasn't great at school but I did learn a ton of lessons from the life experiences and the other leaders and men who I was around who showed me how to get things done consistency being honorable talking about how I can communicate more effectively there's a huge reason why I do this podcast to be able to learn lessons from leaders like you who have come through different walks of life but we all end up in the same place which is pretty beautiful you know one of the things that as you sit across for everybody who's watching today you can see Mr Martinez has a hope for Miami shirt on and I want to kind of talk about your journey within the organization because I know you didn't start as CEO so how did you start and how did you ascend through the

[14:25]  organization um you know it's it's one of those things that it happened by chance man I I I really do believe that God had put me in the right place I I was looking for a job and know I wanted to be a coach basketball like I mentioned I play basketball I felt that that was the way that I was going to make it impa you know you teach them how to play ball the right way not the way that they teach them nowadays um but also to to help you connect the the sports to life and the decisions that we make um so I got out of the Air Force I started going back to school physical education I'm going be a PE coach I'm going to go coach basketball uh couple of months down the line I graduate it's not happening uh they can't find a job I can't find a coaching job um so there was another organization that was called

[15:12]  up to us coaches Across America um they had an initiative but they were taking veterans and putting them into underserved areas Community Based organization to teach them that connect sports life and how they all connect and and and to experiences so I did that for six months I was in another organization touching Miami with love and uh for Miami was one of the organizations that was participating and one of my uh partners that was here at Hope from Miami doing the same program he told me hey they have a position of a project U-turn as our team pregnancy prevention program they're looking for a health educator I man that's not me I can't do that um he kept coming back at me he show many resume so at the four times that he asked me I said you know what I'm going to I I submitted my resume um I came in for an interview um and pretty

[16:02]  much they offered me like 30k man uh you know to to do that and that wasn't anything for a guy who was taking care of of a family of five uh you know so 30k to leave what I was doing I said you know what I'mma take this Meep of faith and and I started with project U-turn which is the health facilitator I was going into the schools um going through mostly the physical education classes so I was taking the kids out of physical education playing basketball football kickball whatever to come and sit down in front of me so they can listen to me to tell them hey don't have sex yeah don't do that that's not good for you uh so they were not happy at all but by the time that we were done there was such a connection um you know when they would seen the positive changes and the positive impact of the choices and our

[16:50]  consequences and what it meets so I I started making the connection I was not coaching basketball like I wanted to but I was coaching back with with this youth so from there on um you know I became the program manager for for that program um started taking it to different places in Miami and not just where we were at down south so uh I expanded and of course like you know any organization is like man what's really happening with this guy like why all of a sudden this program is is getting more kids like you know the excitement and this and that so they were like let's see what he has um they the started ready to see the skill sets that the Air Force had given me you know that I was not just coming off the street I was just not a kid that

[17:36]  graduated college like I had the lithics for T of being in me um you know that the school doesn't teach so I started applying a lot of those things um I started wearing the multiple ads as a CEO and the nonprofit even as a program manager I I was helping out with it I was helping out with maintenance I was helping out wherever they needed me I'm like yeah I put that hat on I'll do what I need to do so whenever they saw that there was another program that needed help they like you want to be this program where you comfortable and go try to fix this one it's all messed up I said I don't know if I want to do that I'm comfortable where I'm at you know they were like you know we could really reach your assistance and at that point when I started to see it's like okay you know what

[18:23]  um what God has put in front of you right now is he wants to bless you with all have more and and I started taking that I said you know what I'm going to go ahead and use what I've been doing it's really not rocket science man it's just taking the time to to to see the people in front of you see what you have and make the best decision that we can make uh so I did that with that program it turned around um everything started to align the way it needed to align and then the pandemic hit and the the founders were like Hey we're got to move North Carolina I was like great so they like you stay back and you want some of this so they made me to VP um you know so I was like kind of just follow along and once again I was like you know what I need to get what I need to get out of this the same thing I did with the Air

[19:09]  Force the live expertise I took it and pretty much from there I just started to to make decisions during the pandemic and a lot of that was like hey we don't need to jump into decisions see what we have out of that information and make an informed decision that's best for our organization when that's best for our community um and pretty much I just kept my why in front of me why am I here why am I doing what I'm doing even though I'm moving from different positions in different roles with different now with different um uh put it experiences but also influence right like I could say something and people gonna be like oh that's the CEO and I'm going to do it because he's doing it or he's saying it but pretty much is like understanding that that

[19:56]  what I said have weight you know but it just the same things like my wife I'm here because I want to serve and I want to serve our community I want to serve our staff I want to serve our kids and our youth our families in the way that we want to serve so has that me from back then as a help facilit to now to where I am um you know leading an organization that serves over 6,000 families with different programs uh for me it's just an amazing ride um and and I'm looking forward to man because at the age of 25 what were we doing we still learning you know so even with this organization at the age of 25 is a young organization we still learn and there so much more that we will do um just based off our experiences and and

[20:43]  what we learn as as a whole man a true sign of winners is thinking about not just the instant gratification of the wins today but thinking about how we sustain the impact that we're having and when you think about the impact of serving 6,000 families in your area annually think about the impact that you guys are going to have in another 25 years you know what I mean it's like think about the way of you being a health facilitator and pulling kids out of gym class now you're pulling people out of bad opportunities and you're giving them a platform so they can be successful and one of the things that I love is you are not just doing what you're paid for but you're doing what's going to have the biggest impact and that has created so many opportunities for you can you kind of give me a little bit of a word of advice if you will for everybody who a little bit younger in their Journey

[21:30]  today who has an attitude maybe of I'm not going to do more than what I'm assigned I'm not going to do more than what I'm paid to be doing right now and how that might be a little bit of a let's call it a narrow sided mindset for the opportunities that you can create for yourself in the future yeah um you know I think we talked about this the other day uh not so much of the narrow sighting because you're basically just looking at what's some funding right and and and I think it as a CEO like you know I have to work on the organization and not in and I think at times you do have to work in and you're working in you have to head down um so if I'm talking to somebody who's younger you know I'm like you yeah you're working in what you want to do in yourself and this and that but you also have to work on

[22:17]  and when you're working on you you're working on your resume you're working on your skill sets you have to look past what you out in front of you what does that mean is that your thirst for knowledge needs to be there you have to be curious about everything that happens around you like you know as to why is it happening why is this done um I was even just talking to my daughter the other day that we were Drive she's learning how to drive and and I was like girl like you're asking me all these questions do you pay attention whenever you in the passenger seat know your head's on the phone you should be asking hey why did you stop why did you do that why did you do so you have an idea right because you're going to get behind the wheel you're going to have to make decisions that sometimes can impact not just life for other people's lives this this is this is a dangerous thing that you jumping into so for me that's what I

[23:05]  I tell people's be curious the moment that you stop being curious the moment you stop seeking knowledge that's the moment that you stop advancing like even us where we're at now I'm sure you still trying to you know your your skill sets or how you do your job or or even your work because I believe that what you're doing is not just a job man it's just work because you put in your work around people to come and talk about what they do to inspire others it's not a job once you make that transition from job to work it becomes fun it becomes it's something that you look forward to to do and I think that's what I have found too it's like this this is not a job man um it's work and and I I'm thirst I thirst for knowledge I thirst for more to to make my my work easier um to Aspire others to talk to others and it's not

[23:54]  just motivate motivation dies out and and I love people motivate and do that when you inspire somebody to do something that inspiration mostly lives inside of um so you know I want to inspire everybody to to thirst for knowledge and and it's not just the book knowledge it's not the school knowledge it's that knowledge of Hard Knocks man what life has taught you what you go through the way it kicks you beats you down stand back up from it and nerve from it because that's what life is always about us what happens to us how we we act will we get fun not everybody's as lucky as we are though my friend you know it's uh it's sad because I see a lot of people in my personal life who have jobs right that haven't made the transition to the work that they love and they always say like hey man my job is just a way in which I can

[24:42]  earn enough money so I can live my life but when I think about the energy that you have in this body that sits in front of me and in front of you you only have so much time in the day you only have so much passion you only have so much creativity you only have so much Charisma so much imagination and you should be ble to pour those things into things that you are truly passionate about because if you're not you're going to look back one day and regret the time that you spent just grinding away doing the work that you weren't inspired by and so I always try and challenge people to say the work that you do is not just just just be about a paycheck and that's important I agree but if you can find that magical intersection of finding what you're passionate about so you don't need to take a day off that is a beautiful place to live in because they always say you know if you are if you love what you do you never work a day in your life I didn't really believe that until I

[25:29]  really found my groove of being able to talk to people like you I would love to sit down like this because it creates so many opportunities for me to be able to share stories and to get jacked up by you who's sitting across the table from me because you're preaching the truth and this is the type of example that I feel like our next generation of leaders and young influencers the people when I'm not saying an influencer in the terms of Instagram and Tik Tok but the people who are going to have influence over their friends to make better decisions to spend their time more wisely to invest into things that they truly can be passionate about that is a way in which we can lift up our community and lift up each other at the same time part of our conversation Mr Martinez is the shared responsibility to uplift the Next Generation I want you to talk about how we can't do this individually but there's a whole responsibility of everybody to come together to be able to set a proper

[26:17]  example for the people who are coming up behind us what does that mean to you brother um you know I I I really do believe in this day and age um even more so our kids are so influenced about what they see um with with the phones with the internet and social media and all the different platforms that are out there um you know and the thing is I subject to one of the guys that play basketball with and we were talking about it that other day it's like you know what our kids they can make a decision they can say this is what I think and they can go find some information to support their decision or support whatever they saw and that's what the internet has done for us it's like back then you have to run to the encyclopedia and go through and stuff and that's how you find the information to support that's that's your references that you use for any type of report but now it's like you can find it anywhere

[27:05]  man and I think it's even more so where we need to step up those individuals like like like what you're doing right now even what we do here is hey how do we get in front of our kids of our youth and talk to them and say that what you it's okay you're entitled to your opinion everybody's entitled but here's the right thing right and it's not always it might work out once for that person whatever they saw but for everybody else it doesn't work out that way and and that's the thing is that you don't want to base off your decisions of what you saw happen positive one time when majority of the time it says if you get behind a wheel while you drop you're going to get into an accident right so sometimes you have to be humbly honest with with with our youth and let them

[27:52]  know and then especially so if you gone through some experiences yourself whenever you're able to tell them hey Miss I have the lived experience I have the lived expertise of doing those things that you're doing right now and I want to tell you that it's not good they're going to listen to you uh you know they're going to sit there and say I understand and I'm GNA listen to you because you are boom and standing or you sitting where I am sitting right now and and and rather than have somebody who went you're how to go to school you're how to facilitate and and they never been through anything in their life you know so the kids remember how to see through that so I think being authentic and saying I'm going take the time to listen to you but so you can listen to me my story so we can connect and you can make the right decision for your

[28:39]  life at the end of the day I do believe that our youth they're G to have to make decisions on their own and all we can do is prepare them for life um I I have three kids with with my wife and and they're amazing uh 23 uh 19 and and 17 um but was get to 18 and they are they can vote they can do whatever really like at the end of the day because I'm not going to be here 247 following them and say don't do that don't do that don't do that you just have to trust and you've done the right things and that's what we're going as an organization is allowing those those individuals those kids to be able to do that so our mentorship opportunities well we have your old from Miami as well is that is like how do we Mentor others so they can also be mentors and those vibes of the Inc each day so I think we have to a

[29:28]  to take the time not just to read stories and listen to stories but to tell our stories as well because that's what connects is like I stated before and that's who they're going to trust is your lip expertise above the expertise that they get from books I was listening to a podcast the other day and this guest was talking about the challenges of being a father and he said something that you don't know is that there is a protective instance that we have instinctually when you turn 9 10 11 12 years old you start not listening to your parents you don't think that they know everything so you don't really take their lived experience and expertise at face value now what this is for everybody who's listening to and tuned in for the podcast this is a a

[30:16]  scientific prevention that happens in our instinctual DNA to stop in breeding now this sounds crazy but so when you were coming from a different place Africa wherever your people are from way back in the day thousands of years ago when you started growing up you would have to leave the tribe right and this is why parents often find out that their kids will listen to other adults and they won't listen to you so you'll tell them don't touch the stove and they'll do it anyway but if somebody else's Dad or Mom says don't touch the stove they're like okay I'm gon listen to that that is an instinctual response to make sure that they go explore and they don't stay with their parents their entire life and so I only use that reference to say that the community that we so our children with with other adults who have lived experience are so much more important than you could ever imagine

[31:04]  it's not just that your kids are trying to be stubborn they don't want to listen to Mom and Dad but there's a piece of our DNA that says I shouldn't be listening to these guys I should go out into the world and find different examples of authority now that is something that I feel like is so beautiful but it kind of ties a little bit of science into why this community element is so important and organizations like yours are so important to show how we can lead by example and why other children and people young people in our community are going to listen to us isn't that crazy yeah man it's crazy I love it too man and I I Feel It In Basketball too man like my son I'll sit there I'll coach him at home tell Mary man you should do this you should do that that never do it never nope never another person comes in and that probably has less experience playing than me can't even shoot like me and he listens to him he's said like come

[31:50]  on yeah it's true it's true man it's true it hurts it hurts as a parent but but that Community is so important and and and that's why I love our Lobo is a little threads because that's what it takes it's a community from different experiences different resources different values everybody coming together and just supporting the community in the best way we know how and that is sometimes is using our gifts our experiences whatever that we have that comes in and supports that Community I want to take the focus off of the younger lives that were impacting and building the team around you so I know that in order for you to have the biggest impact that you possibly can you have to cast a vision so large that other people can find themselves and their Vision within yours and when it comes to serving the community no more

[32:38]  important obligation so how are you thinking about leveraging your personal expertise and experiences to be able to excite the next generation of leaders that are going to come into hope for Miami how you kind of thinking about that I'm G be AUD B kind of like trying to spend it with you man today I had a tough conversation um with with the with the staff that that kind of like told me that what I was I wasn't walking talk man that that that hurts um but it's something I think as a leader you have to be able to bring that out from people that they feel comfortable that they're going to share that with you and say Hey listen I respect you and this and that but what you're saying it's not really aligning or it's not really going where it needs to go for me that is a person

[33:26]  that's showing leadership right because as far as leadership you got to be able to communicate you got to be able to talk you got to be able to inspire so for me building those soft skills in our in our middle management which like I said school doesn't teach us that much anymore about that um you go through the books you go through the things and even I went to an internship I didn't learn anything from my internship when I was graduating college like pretty much I was just there to get my hours and go uh so you don't really get a lot so being able to to take that here and invest in our middle managers um because they are the ones kind of like in the air force it was the enlisted Force right the enlisted members did a lot of the work the other us we were just kind of like helping out reading taking obstacles out of the way that's what we do here middle managers

[34:14]  are want their in and out of theun doing what they need to do and and all we can do is just take out those obstacles from them but I think as As Leaders we have to listen to them we have to take the time to read the stories and and see how we are supporting them because that's who's going to be running organizations in the future we have a saying here and that our Founders us to say I ever WR that you're here we're going to pour it into you so you can go and grow and if it's here and in the same organization or another position or for another organization you want to be able to say that you left here better than you can um and you more prepared to lead others cuz the end of the day our organizations and what we do doesn't make us uh I I

[35:03]  love what I do but I'm going to be Mr J whether I'm here or I'm somewhere else um you know I'm gonna have the same passion whether I'm go ahead and hitting the nail with a hammer I'm gonna have the same passion as I as I am talking to somebody about what we do as an organization it's going to be there because I love what I do whether it be that or or this um but I think what we have to do as Leaders is to say you know what I'm okay with passing on what I have to you and I'm not afraid of you becoming better than me because at the end of the day that's the the the biggest accomplish for me is to see somebody who surpassed me um in what I where I was good at uh so Bas basically it's kind of like you know the teacher becoming the student because they're now learning from you and how you are taking it to another level so same thing with

[35:50]  our kids that's what we hope to see man is that they do better than what we did and and I think as a community and as Leaders that's what I would like to see is that our leaders are better than what we can wi as because that's what I would like to say is that I kind of took our leadership step up for my f even though I love them um but I want for people to say you know what I want to do better than Mr J I want to be an organization better than Mr J because that would be the greatest compliment that you can ever give me and say they done yeah I mean Don't Judge Me by the results of the organization but judge Me by how much the team beneath me has grown right because as Leaders we're supposed to put people on the same way that you feel about your kids you know what I mean I'm going to do things to protect you from the experiences that I

[36:37]  had so you can do better than me we stand amongst the shoulders of giants right and I feel like we have to take that that adage and put it into our businesses as well you know Mr Jay I wna I want to give you an opportunity to kind of rub the crystal ball tell us what the next two to five years looks like at Hope for Miami what are we trying to paint what Vision are we trying to fulfill what's the impact that we're trying to have brother um I think you know for so many years our organization has been humbly kind of like just doing the work um without really I don't want to say that you probably patting yourself in the back or or or you know saying hey look at us look at us but I I do believe that we accomplished more together and I'm a big believer if um and I think for me and our organization is how do we

[37:27]  bring other people like when we stay we are so blessed to be able to put in work in our jobs but how do we bring others with their jobs and now allow them to put in work or they can't put in work they come put in work with us that we have so much work here in our communities um that you can come in and and impact a child just by sitting down and doing some homework with them you know doing a project with them going out there taking a shot with a basketball or throwing a football with them whatever it is is like you can make an impact and put in that work so you can get fulfilled because at the end of the day our love tanks man our hearts they're meant to to be spent and to replenished and and I think for me as an organization that's what I would like to Envision is an organization where we not

[38:14]  only serve in our community but we have others that are coming alongside of us and with more intentionality that we are allowing them to to spend and replenish really tanks in our communities whether it be with their with their activities coming in day in day out or if they want to support us with resources if you want to donate for a backpack if you want to donate for a toe distribution if you want to donate for for a turkey giveaway whatever it is donate that if you want to give us our restricted fund and say Hey I want you guys to continue this program because if that gr leaves this program is important to me because I because if this is what I went through and they do that whatever way possible I want to open up the doors and and um I love the transparency too it's like I like to tell people Hey listen you don't

[39:01]  feel comfortable I don't feel comfortable you just giveing me money you don't connect with this right to be honest come over here like come hang out with me we got to go walk across the street go see the kids we're g to go ahead and talk to them playay with them find out their stories and connect and then you can say you know what I know what they do I felt what they do just by being there in their in their organization in their in their building and their parking lot I know what hope for Miami is all about and what I want more than anything is to do that but also to have champions of people that talk about Hope for man so uh that that would be the next two or five years is how that we get more people connected and how do we grow this threats across our communities that need ad their most what we' like to do as we

[39:50]  kind of close our episode here is we have a question that came from our previous guest now she wanted to ask a simple question I think you're really going to Vibe with this one how are you intentionally growing the next generation of leaders in your organization intens I think I think it's that man it's taking the focus off of you um and and for so many years even with me like you know my my upbringing my history uh being being a immigrant child myself learning English is a second language and even now I still pronounce some words where people like hey that's not way you pronounce it like well I wasn't born um you know so like I use that excuse but it's like you know for so many years you're fighting you're

[40:37]  fighting you're fighting you're fighting to two that you been on that you fit in that you're the right person for the job and and you are a high alert because you're like no no nobody's going to take this away from me because you don't know where I came from you don't know that growing up I had to eat rice and ketchup and then occasionally I throw the eggs in there to to have that that's what I ate every day of the week or that I had to do a syrup sandwich with some syrup and some bread and that was my my sugar you know so it's like you don't know that but I think it's taking the focus off of you and saying you know what I made it I be blessed to this point where I can lead others so intentionally it's taking the focus off for me and saying I don't need to fight no more I don't need to fight for myself I don't need to fight for me to make it to this point yes I want to continue to gain knowledge but now I'm a fight for my St I'm a fight for them I'm a fight for them to

[41:25]  continue to have the opportunities that I had and possibly even more I'm going continue to fight for that to get the knowledge and to grow professionally in a way like I stated that they surpass what we have done here as an organization um and leaders and that they become better versions of us as leaders and that can only mean great things because I I would like to say that we done some amazing things that from my hand and if anybody can say I got that from them and I'm doing better than them I can't believe the word that they will be going in in the communities and in the world uh whenever we hold hands and we extend together because we will reach further so intentionally that's why I think I'm doing is the focuses off Mr J and more importantly on the leaders of tomorrow and that's why we really focus on the youth and people

[42:13]  will say that one of the biggest things that I love to do here is highlight the voice of the youth because they are the future and they we can teach them how to speak up at a younger age especially about things that are not going the right way we as adults are ready to listen to them they just need to be able to speak have a platform so yes how I'll say intentionally we trying to Mr Jay I just want to say for everybody who is watching and listening today the fact that you are at the helm of Hope for Miami is an absolute blessing and it's your lived expertise and your experiences that are going to take your Generations that you're supporting to the next level man so I just want to say for everybody who's watching and listening brother thank you so much for everything that you're doing I really appre appreciate it appreciate you man there we go guys

[43:01]  that's a wrap we'll catch you in the next one