The heart work of leadership is all about showing up authentically and with empathy, and in this episode, Calvin Pascall dives deep into just that. We explore the delicate balance between personal growth and professional success, emphasizing that true leadership thrives on connection and emotional well-being. Calvin shares his personal journey, highlighting the importance of vulnerability and self-awareness, especially for men who often face societal pressures to conform to rigid norms. With a mantra of getting 1% better each day, he inspires us to reflect on our relationships and the courage it takes to evolve.

Takeaways:

• In leadership, it's essential to prioritize emotional well-being, as it directly influences team dynamics and success.
• Building authentic relationships is crucial; they not only empower others but also reinforce your own growth journey.
• The journey of self-improvement is a daily commitment, aim for just 1% better each day in all aspects of life.
• Men's health and emotional maturity are interlinked; vulnerability is not a weakness but a strength in leadership.
• Leadership is not about control; it's about fostering connections and uplifting those around you to achieve collective success.
• True empowerment comes from understanding oneself and leveraging that awareness to inspire and lead others effectively.

If this episode resonates with you, then remember... SUBSCRIBE • 5-Star Rate • COMMENT • SHARE this Podcast!! 💚❤️🙌🏾🙏🏾

Book Recommendation: "Makes Me Wanna Holler" by Nathan McCall

Find Calvin Online:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calvinpascall/

Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson

Great day, amazing human. Yes. Welcome to Empowered at my Skin podcast where our mission is to help 1 billion people in this world think in more empowering ways.

Empowered humans empower humans. So you are in the right place to become a lead domino for empowerment today. My name is Nkechi Mwaho Robinson.

I'm not only your host, but I am a vibrant optimist obsessed to bring you empowering content with every single episode.

We will bring you weekly content alternating between longer episodes with featured guests and a shorter episode called Empowering Bites where I will be joined by my co host, Gabby Memone. So if you're ready, let the show begin. Great day, amazing humans. Yes. And welcome to the fourth and final episode of our men's health series series.

And today, today, today, today I am joined with a guest who's a visionary who leads with empathy, builds through connection and lives by the mantra of getting 1% better every day. He has mastered the boardroom and the balance between success and self awareness.

Today he will get real about relationships, emotional well being and courage it takes to heal and evolve.

And I'm so excited because we travel together this year in June and, and I'm gonna say like this moment, this, this moment that we're in now is was, that was the catalyst. Like we, him and I got into a really, really beautiful conversation. So you're in a, you're in for a really great treat. So get ready.

But right now put come together with a gigantic podcast welcome for the amazing Calvin Pascal. Are we cheersing? Are we cheersing? Cheers.

Cheers.

Plastic to glass. That's not a cult here. I need to do glass next time. So. Calvin. Oh my gosh. Thank you.

Thank you. This is amazing. It's a blessing. It's an honor. I found out just before we started that I represent the 363rd episode. So much love.

I'm not surprised that you continue to do big, bold, beautiful, incredible things, but it sort of comes full circle.

So I just want to pause for a moment because we had this conversation back in June in Jamaica and obviously in the, the last week that's happened, I just want to take a moment to pause and make sure that we, thoughts, blessings, whatever it is that you can do, they need it as a community. I'm not Jamaican, but my brothers and sisters, my K kings and queens, like many people across the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, around the world are.

And whatever you do, I'm encouraging you. This is our opportunity to give back.

Jamaica is known for its culture, its roots, its food, its energy, its entrepreneurship and they will get through this because they always do it.

Yes.

And we need to wrap our arms around each and every person that we can in that island and that country. So I encourage you, find out how you can give back, find out what you can do, make a difference. And yeah, it's tough. So please, please.

Moving into the holiday season, this is our opportunity to show love, give our blessings, but through time, through money, through donations, whatever you can do to get back, please do.

Yeah, and I actually want to add to that too, because something else that really reveals to me is like, um, a lot of times we band together right at the forefront, and there's so much flurry and so much, you know, and then there's fatigue. And I always say, like, it's not just a one and done, like, pace yourself.

Like, if you can, you know, check in like three months from now, six months from now, a year from now. So, like, try not to give everything, like, give.

But I'm also, like, they also need pace because they also need to be prepared to be able to receive it as well. So just something that. That came to mind for me.

Yeah. And that brings us, I guess, to the topic wellness and mental state and relationships and.

And all sins. All sins, all things.

So I'm going to start with my signature question, which is, Calvin, what has been your most empowering thought that you've had of this day so far?

Well, you.

We.

It's funny because we said this is not scripted, it's organic, and we're just gonna have a conversation, but I was not expecting that question.

You know, what with everything that's going on, I. I'll be honest, I've been just reaching out and just trying to get much blessings and checking in as as many people both here in Canada and obviously down in Jamaica. So this morning, that's what I did. I spent my time just checking in on people, just making good. Letting people know that they're not alone.

Last week, or. Sorry, yesterday I actually went to her funeral. Unfortunately, my friend Ed, blessings to you. And unfortunately, his wife passed away from cancer.

Just sorry things has been going on. And then the week before that, my friend, she goes by Big L, so Big L, blessings to you as well. Her mom passed away last week, Friday.

So I was at that funeral and one of the amazing stories that were shared about her mom and them. Her mom, they were like best friends. And she said they lived all around the world.

Canada, spent some time in the U.S. malaysia, they're originally from Vietnam. And they're the most rewarding the biggest smile that her mom ever experienced actually is when they were living in Jamaica.

So just so over the last sort of week or so and because of the passings, because of what happened in Jamaica, just in life in general, I'm grateful, I'm blessed, fortunate.

I. I'm surrounded by amazing people such as yourself, Ni and I know that whatever happens, moving forward, it's only going to be greatness, it's only going to be excellence, only be going to be blessings. And I'm thankful.

Yeah, I love that. And you know, it's so two things I want to say. One, I don't know that anyone's ever asked me, but I feel compelled to sort of share.

I like asking that question because a lot of times we are in a rat race and every single day they say the majority of our thoughts are negative and a lot of times we don't necessarily stop and pause. What are the things that empowered me today? Right. Because I do. I live by the mantra that empowered humans. Empowered humans.

So somewhere on the course of your day to day, you did something that empowered another human. And I love how you and that came to me. Like that's why I asked that question. Right.

Because in you picking up whomever you chose today, whoever you were called to reach out to like the domino effect of that, like that action is, is, is, is probably still moving, is still probably being created. Right. So, you know, kudos to you and thank you.

I believe nothing happens by accident. I'm not a religious person, but. Sorry, yeah, I'm not a religious person, but very spirit.

Yeah.

And I believe all things happen for a reason. And from Jamaica to today, this was meant to happen. It was meant to happen.

Being the 363rd episode, season seven, I'm going to keep plugging away throughout, but at the end of the day, this conversation from a timing perspective is probably not just about you and I connecting. Somebody's going to listen to this and hopefully get 1% better. Let them know that they're not alone.

Let them know that they can reach out to you and I, to the community, to the ecosystem. Big up Nobel, of course. And we're all here together. So that is a blessing.

That's why I believe I'm fortunate and thank you for giving me the opportunity just to hang with you. I was looking forward to back at you. So truly a blessing.

I love it. So. So you've led massive teams, driven like billion dollar growth, which I think is awesome. I remember I was like. So I'm.

When we were, we were probably having breakfast. And I was like, wow, he did all of that stuff, and I loved it. But behind every leader is a human story, and I call it the backstory a lot of times.

And so what have relationships. And. And obviously, in the line of work that you've done, you've had to build both personal and professional.

What have they taught you about you showing up as your authentic self? Because I. I actually do believe that you're one of those humans that pull people like you. You deeply care, and.

And you have demonstrated that even with me. And you don't necessarily know me that well. We share. We have a common friend, and she says the same thing about you. So what.

What have you learned that allows you to really just be your authentic self?

Thank you for the question. Big up, Ms. Tequila. Much love, executive.

Actually, our executive producer of this podcast.

But I think everything starts at the beginning. And for me, I grew up at Jane and Falstaff, 40 Fosstaff, apartment 806.

You. Numbers. There's something about numbers. Eh?

Yeah.

That was a, you know, the first chapter of my life, and it taught me about community, connection, hustling, and just no matter how little you think you may have, you have so much more because you have a sense of community. And I was fortunate that I had just an amazing mom. So wasn't the easiest mom. And I could probably share a lot of stories about that.

But don't worry, Mom. I will not put you on blast today. She's. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for my mom. She taught me believe in yourself.

Taught me excellence, taught me compassion, taught me chores. Yes, I can cook, I can clean. I can fold clothes. I could do laundry. And she taught me that you got to give back, and you just got.

You can make a difference. So I was just fortunate that I had just an amazing mom. And I got to witness other amazing moms. Unfortunately, a lot of us didn't grow up with our.

With our dads, and I'm sure that's probably another episode for another day.

But nonetheless, I got to witness greatness in women and how they can lead and how they could be Kings and Queens, CEOs, CFO, CE OOs, and everything that's required to maintain and make sure a household is great. And I hope that in that I've been able to take bits and pieces of what I've learned and what was taught to me.

And I think I've carried that through in my life. So I've always believed in trying to make others around me better. And me, it goes back to even when I used to play basketball.

My favorite basketball player is Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers. Sorry, Raptors fan, but I am a Lakers fan. First Raptors fan second episode for another day.

But what I liked about Magic and how I used to play the game and even how I lead is I'm a point guard. So isn't about me getting the shot up. It isn't about me scoring.

Dropping 30 points is about giving the assist, giving people the recognition when they do well, encouraging the right behaviors. And no matter what I've done throughout my career, 20 plus years, I've always been lucky and fortunate to be surrounded by greatness and excellence.

And what I've learned is if you just empower people, remove barriers, provide encouragement, sometimes tough coaching people will excel and they will do greater things than you ever imagined was possible.

And I think that led me to where I am today and as chief revenue officer at Nobel and the work that we're doing and working with, you know, Mel, Malcolm, Catherine, the rest of the Nobelum team, we went down to Jamaica with the Development bank of Jamaica. We brought you and, and many others down and that's what life's all about. Taking something and going somewhere and empowering them.

And those women that we met in Jamaica are phenomenal businesses. The ideas, the passion. There's no doubt that those women and so many others in Jamaica and around the world are going to go on to do greatness.

And if and if I can help make anybody 1% better along that journey, then that's what I'm here for. That's what gets me up in the morning. And I apply that at home. I apply that with my and family and I applied that in my career.

And I love, So I actually when you said the point guard reference, when you made the point guard reference, I like, yeah, I can see that. And I, and there's something really powerful in that.

Like I, I think I observed your leadership when we were away and to be quite honest, I felt it was one of guarding the team, taking care of the team, making sure nobody was left behind, you know, standing in the gap times, you know, so you do that really well and you kind of just, just, you know, you just ended sort of a moment ago talking about how that's kind of weaved into all of all facets, right?

And so leadership at home, like, so how do you view leadership at home as a man to work and then in your friendships, like do you see, do you see different nuances and Differences or is it really. Yeah. A single strain for you?

Yeah. It's an interesting question and obviously I'm sure my perspective be interesting what friends, families, another may say.

But for those that know me outside of Calvin and call me Cal Calvino cp, see love or whatever throughout my life and journey. When I'm down for you, I'm down for you. So you can call me at 4 o' clock in the morning and if you're stranded on a street corner, I'm gonna come.

If you need somebody to talk to, I'm gonna listen. If you need somebody to do a whiteboard session and try to figure out how to grow and drive revenue and even.

Just even think about how you can propel your idea, I'm there. So I. That's just how I am at home. And I think I can only be me.

We all have our opportunities and flaws and things that we need to work on, and I'm no different than anybody else. But I care about the things that I'm passionate about and I'm passionate about people. So for me, it doesn't matter if I'm at home with the family.

It doesn't matter if I go and shovel a neighbor's driveway in the winter. It doesn't matter if I'm hanging out with my boy Mole. Big up, Maddo. Big up, Khalil.

In terms of just hanging out and chopping it up, or even Graham here at Loft, I just like to connect and help and listen, and I get joy and passion of that every single day. So what you see in my tracksuit. Cool cut, pal who just likes to chop it up, have a nice drink and just listen and grow and.

And I think that's how I get energy and passion in my life every single day.

I have to ask then, how does Calvin take care of Calvin? Because I. It's funny because I just delivered a talk that when one of my liners is that you can't lead others until you first let yourself.

And so you agree.

Good advice.

So how do you turn that into yourself and when do you do that?

Could do better. I did the session, Graham and I, with Loft, and I apologize, Kimberly.

I don't know the name of the organization and I'll get the name, but Kimberly leads a wellness organization. And we did a session on Thursday, a virtual session. And it was just a good reinforcement about the importance of balance.

And I know people always talk about it from a wellness perspective. It's always about what people see physically. But a fundamental believer that before you focus on the Physical.

I think more people need to focus on the inside. You can't love somebody until you love yourself. You can't help somebody be great unless you feel great.

You can't actually change the world if you haven't changed yourself. So for me, I like to walk, I like to listen to music. You know, I like to have a nice glass of wine or whiskey.

I like to just listen and hang out with people. And that's how I get my joy and my wellness and my happiness. I'm also very critical of myself.

I think every day I look and say, okay, could I have done this better? What could I change? I do a lot of self reflection. I do like to go for a walk late at night where I put on some headphones.

I might listen to a podcast or most times I'm just listening to music and I just reflect and I just think and I just, okay, what could I do? And I'm always. And that's sometimes every gift, there's a curse.

So I have to pause to say, hey, just let the brain just pause for a moment, breathe and just enjoy the environment and things that are around you so that you could be the best version of yourself. And once you're the best version of yourself, then you can be the best version of yourself for others.

So I just try to root myself in that and try to eat healthy, especially as I'm getting older. If you're wondering if some.21.

Right?

21, right? Yeah, but yeah, just. You got, you got to take time for yourself. You don't have to apologize to anybody in this world for yourself.

You don't have to apologize for anybody to be a little self absorbed at times. You don't have to apologize for anybody for wanting to be alone. To me, all those things are healthy.

And sometimes you just need to be by yourself to figure things out.

And once you have clarity of self and mind and soul, then the body, I believe, will take care of itself and everything else that will come from that, from a universal connection, will all be peace and beautiful hope, challenges and pitfalls along the journey.

So you touched on like this tweaking aspect of like just refining, reflecting back. And, and so when the team is doing some research on you, they came up with, they shared that there's. You use the 1% better mantra. Yeah.

So where did that come. Is that, was that instilled in you from your mom? Like, where did that come. Where did that come from?

And how do you, how do you measure that for yourself?

Yeah, you have some really good, good Questions?

Well, you just, you're guiding the questions.

But yeah, I think it just, you know, as you get older, I believe that if you want to understand where somebody is going to be tomorrow, you need to look at their steps from yesterday. And most people are who they are, and sometimes you have to accept who they are. But I think it just started with my mom, like, hey, you know what?

You're going to learn how to make your bed. And yes, it's not going to be perfect today, but I'm going to work with you. And tomorrow will get better. The day after that will get better.

But consistency, you know, in two weeks you'll be able to make a bed like the best of them. And I think same thing, when I used to do sports, I. I did track, gymnastic basketball, bowling. Yes.

If anybody wants to go head to head with me at a bowling alley, call me up. We can, we can make that happen. But yeah, just think, it's just a fundamental belief that I have that you can't master everything.

And the only way that you can is if you fundamentally believe.

If you break things down in chunks and small pieces, and this applies if you're trying to build AI and some of those workflows and things like that, you got to start at the beginning, understand each independent, independent part of the puzzle so that you can piece everything together as you get more and more pieces of that puzzle along your journey. And that's. To me, it's just about getting 1% better if I cook a meal right. You know, next time I put a little pinch of this, a little pinch of that.

Sometimes it's like even, hey, Niketchi, you know, if I want to start a podcast, I'm gonna call you. You got. You've done 300 soon to do 364, seven seasons.

That would be insane to not want to pick your brain and master one or two things that you have done. If I was trying to do my own pot. Yeah, I think that's just all.

I like that. I like that. So let's. So men are. So maybe this is a little bit of a generalization, but let's just say, like, typically, especially when you.

When you think about, we are in Movember honoring men's health and Movember was started with that intent, was that men are often neglecting themselves. There's societal norms that men feel under pressure.

And so one of those societal norms, not one I created, but is that men tend to lead from a place of control or perfection. Right. Like the, the fe failure, you know, admitting Vulnerability and this. Any other.

So, so what does, like, what does emotional strength look like to you as, like, as a man? And, and do you, do you and your friends get together and talk about things like that?

Yeah. So what happens at the barbershop? Amazing. No, you know, I think a big part of that just comes with experience. And, you know, men don't cry.

Men can have emotions. And again, I know we're talking general things and, and I think there's part of that that, you know, we learn from a young age.

You know, they give you something to cry for. Yeah, right. So these things start to play in your head.

And then there's also the social elements, you know, being blackmail, that you're dealing with a lot of the stigma and biases and things that people may believe about a black male, especially in the corporate environment that you're trying to portray, sometimes to the point where you might lose yourself and no longer feel as though your authentic self. And it's, it's, it's. It weighs on you and it's, it's a, it's an ongoing challenge. But yeah, with, with my boys, we get deep.

We talk about all things and everything. And no, we just don't talk sports. We talk about life, we talk about emotions, we talk about family, talk about raising kids.

We talk about, you know, relationship partnerships, we talk business. We talk everything under the sun. And in order to be. In order to have an honest conversation, you have to be willing to give a piece of yourself.

Giving people self is sometimes letting down maybe a particular wall or barrier or even not wanting to being a little bit vulnerable. And I think as I've gotten older, I realized that that's critical. You gotta take down the walls.

You gotta be open to being a little bit vulnerable and sharing. Because if you truly want to get something from a conversation from another, you got to be honest.

So you can't go to the doctor and the doctor says how you're feeling. It's like everything's great, but inside, you know, something is off.

You can't have an honest conversation, both business and professionally, if you are not being honest in that, in that conversation. So vulnerability is okay. Men, women, getting emotional in under the right way.

And even though that means crying, hugging, dabs, high fives or whatever it is, all those things are okay. And I've learned to stop worrying about what society may think about me as a male, as a black male. I'm comfortable and comfortable in.

In my skin and in myself. And I don't need to put up a Front for nobody. You either like me or you don't, but I am. And what I represent is, is me.

And I can sit down with you and I can walk you through why I am who I am and my journey, my experience. And in no shape or form am I saying I'm any better or different than anybody else. But it's my story shaped who I am.

And through my self reflection and my self journey, I am comfortable in being calm. I am who I am.

And so in corporate spaces, which you've worked in and you've obviously led across the gender lines, can you share a little bit from your experience? Do you see your leadership having, like, how do you pivot your leadership?

Like in terms of how you might be leading women on your team or, you know, men, because like I said in the workplace, and you kind of touched on it, men probably show up a little bit differently.

Like they, and especially maybe they're black men and they have, you know, they have these thoughts or perceptions that people are judging them or viewing them in a certain way.

So what have you noticed in terms of having to tailor or to adapt your leadership in order to sort of lead men at work to open up, to recognize that, you know, failure is not a bad thing. You don't have to show up in perfection. You don't have to have everything under control. And, and you know, so it's interesting.

You say certain things. I would say it depends on the environment and the corporate culture.

That's fair.

I've worked in a variety of different ones.

And sometimes you don't have the luxury of not showing up and being your best because there is a level of stigma sometimes that is a reality for black women, black men, women in general, and a variety of underrepresented or marginalized communities and individuals that have to show up and sometimes play a role that maybe they don't always want to, but have to for the, the corporate culture and environment. So I always start with.

I just. Can I, Can I interrupt, please? Yeah. Oh, man. Because, you know, I like, I want to, I want to abolish those type of cultures. Right. Like, and I.

And you said something that was really interesting because sometimes you have to show up, up as your best self because of those type of cultures that in my opinion are toxic.

Well, there's a lot of toxic corporate culture, so. But I call it.

Yeah, but the minute you are having to. The minute you're having to. And I don't want to use that word, context switch, switch. Because it's just so overused.

But the minute you're having to can tailor yourself like twist yourself, you're no longer your best self.

So I'll give you, I'll give you a story. So I, I won't name the, the company.

Yeah.

But at one point in my life I, I was trying to find myself and there was this thing called the newspaper back in the day. I know, 21. Right.

And there was this ad that talked about, hey, you can go and get your car sales license in a month and we guarantee that we get you a job. So you know, I thought, I'm pretty good at sales.

I took the course, finished number one in my class at that particular time in my life, I had braids and I had a nose ring and it was hard for me to find a job even though I finished number one in my class. So there was, I went to probably 20 different dealerships. Not one would give me a job.

So I finally found one and he said, I'll give you the opportunity. I was like, great, when do I get my, my demo card?

He said, not only you're not going to get a demo card, we'll talk about that after you can actually show improve. But I'm going to ask you to do something and ask me to take out my nose ring and as well as take out my braids. So. Got it. At the time. What do you do?

I cut my hair and I took on my nose ring. So fast forward today, would I do that today? Probably not, because I'm much more comfortable and confident in my skin.

But that was a stigma for that particular industry that a black male needed to have a clean cut.

Yeah, yeah.

And I, and I, and I in that particular scenario that you're explaining and, and like I'll never, like it's never a really exact science, but those kind of stories kind of irk me. And I'd also say though, then that's not the environment for you. Right. Like, like I always say, go where you're celebrated, not tolerated.

Because we only have this.

But I, but I get it because behind that, so behind that then it's about getting truly honest with yourself that you are making a choice because of maybe commitments, fear, all of these other things, the desire not to not have a job, the need to have to pay bills. I get, I get that. But I also say that, I also say that mentally it. Then we.

Your most empowered self is the self that says I am doing this because of, not, not because of that person, but because I. You get what I'm saying? Like what I'm. Yeah.

And, and that comes with experience.

Right? Yeah.

Going through. Right.

Learning about listening, getting mentorship and coaching and realizing that in order for you to truly be, in order for you to actually give value into a company or into life or to a partnership or situation, you have to be the best version of yourself. And if you are coming to the table and compromising who you are as a person or individual, some values, it's never going to end well.

A hundred percent, 100%. And anyway, this could be a whole different dialogue because I, I love to double click on those type of.

Because I still say like I've been a little bit fortunate in the sense that I really no one's ever like I haven't had that verbal but I mean there's been the non verbal cues which is I have, I have probably have tried to think about. You needed to look and act a certain way in corporate to get ahead.

Not that somebody has told me that's what I needed to do to get ahead and but the truth is I didn't catapult like exponentially grow until I was truly authentically myself in the organization I was in. Right. And so all you have to do.

Will see and I'll leave it at that.

So as a final question, this main part here, as one who mentors and develops others to lead with authenticity, speaking about authenticity and empathy, what's one piece of advice you'd offer to men who want to grow not just in career but emotional maturity and like self awareness.

Hustle hearts, stay humble. Which is for anybody who's on my WhatsApp, you'll see that.

I think the hardest part sometimes is to be and to be willing to listen and to absorb and to take bits and pieces of what you think can work and bring in, in in your toolbox in order to continue to expand and grow and learn and flourish and excel. And it's okay. Failure is a part of life.

Yeah.

It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to miss a sales target in some organization, not so much. But at the end of the day it's about again 1% better. Have you learned?

Don't repeat the same mistakes. But got to be humble sometimes. And I know in my career I made mistakes and you get a piece of humble pie and you have a choice.

You can look at the individual across and say what Are you talking about how dare you? Or you can say, you know what? I messed up. Thank you. But it's. Your best friends are the ones that will tell you there's booger hanging from your nose.

Yes, Everybody. Everybody else. You'll find out who your real friends are just as simple, even a stranger. But at the end of the day, that's what you want.

You want somebody that's going to give you honest feedback. Transparent, timely feedback, coaching feedback, mentorship. But it's honest so that you can actually get better.

There's a lot of fluff, a lot of fluffy conversations because people don't want to hurt other people's feelings. And there's always a part of that that sometimes plays into these. These situations.

But you can still give feedback and be professional, respectful, care without being disrespectful people.

Throughout my career, you know, I draw a very thick line around what I believe as professional or disrespect, and I. I don't accept that from anybody.

I've seen times where people have tried to step over, and if my own mom or friends and family don't speak a certain way, I'm not going to let another individual, especially, I mean, take away my. My power or my dignity. So you'll learn. You grow. There's different stages of this journey, especially if you're. You're younger.

Get mentorship, get coaching, accept failure, but just get better.

Yeah. Wow. Okay. Now I get to thank you through some rapid thrivers.

I think I know the answer to this first one, but when you think of someone who inspires you, who comes first to mind.

Mother.

Yes, I got it. I knew it.

Gloria Pascal, she said G. Love it.

I love it. Mama G. Mama G. Mama G. What is the daily activity that helps you with your thrive?

Music.

Okay. What is a book that has helped you with your thrive?

What's the. That you'd recommend? Yeah, it's interesting that you brought that up.

I'm gonna go back and read it because we're talking about men health and men experience. I don't quote me on the. The exact title, but it makes me want to holler.

It is a great book that I think both black men and black women are just people in general should read.

The book is called Makes Me Want to Holler. You're not sure?

I think that's the name of the book. Good to Great is one of my favorite ones, too.

Nathan McCall. Good to great. Yeah. Makes Me Want to Holler is a book. I think it's. I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will look it up. I will look it up and good to great.

If not, I will put that one in. And what is an app that helps you with your thrive?

What is a, an app on your phone that helps me thrive? Spotify.

Yeah. Listen to music. Yeah.

And now I, I leverage a multiple of GPTs, AI resources to be as efficient, as productive as possible.

I love that. Thank you. Yes.

For everybody that's listening. This is real. You can look at the announcements that are happening every single day in the corporate environment.

What is, what is happening is not going, I encourage you and I do this at home. Start becoming a master. Even if it's a generalist of AI tools, resources, it's not going to help you in your career.

It's going to help you in your everyday life.

And thing that is coming up more and more is people are now spinning off and creating companies at a faster rate than probably ever before because doing.

Everything at a faster rate. And I love what Satya says, like collaborate, think with AI and collaborate with people. Right.

So I'm working with one of my, my good friends is Graham Wong, who is, you know, the owner of Lost. And we were doing some marketing and we were having a conversation in terms of digital and what I would refer to as analog.

And I think what's interesting, and I talk a lot about revenue for obvious reason in terms of what, what I do at Nobel and working with founders is I think we've lost sight of the importance of just having human conversations, human interactions virtually in person. And there's still a lot of power on word of mouth and getting out there knowing your, your, your customers and clients.

And, and here's the thing. Just because I'm technology and all this, any other, like, I don't, I don't think I, I. The genius of man versus the tyranny of war.

The, the, the better of us are the ones that have been able to figure out really and truly how to leverage technology to empower the, the parts of us, us that, that we should like outsource.

We don't want to spend a lot of time doing this stuff so that we can create time to do, have more meaningful connects, have, you know, bring better, bigger ideas to the table faster. Like that's, that's the power that's the power.

And that goes back to SO1. I agree too. That goes back to knowing your. Knowing thyself. So you have to spend time. And this is a great time of the year.

As you sort of wrap up to start to reflect, start to think about what? Well, what were some of the opportunities, what were the learnings, what were the.

So somebody told me and that they thought or they believed or felt that what's the word that they used? I guess the word that they used was that I'm not approachable, that I can sometimes come across as. Okay, that cocky. Didn't use cocky.

But maybe that's what they were replying. Maybe.

And it's not because I think so. I just was.

And that. That I'm not their words were they. They didn't think I was as cool as they've come to learn because of how I present myself.

And I said, feedback is a gift. I didn't make that up, actually. That was a phrase that was used at LinkedIn and that was something that I do believe. Feedback is a gift.

And the first. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. And I hope that the time that you've come to learn about me, that the.

The perceptions that you have of me today, hopefully I've done a better job to make you feel comfortable, included, heard, seen. And hopefully I can help you and you can help me.

I love that. That. I love that. So where do we find more of you online?

Good question. So right now you can go to wwnobellum.com we are looking for some amazing founders for our growth stream. So please check us out. You'll see me there.

If you go about us, you'll see my lovely picture.

But that would be one place that you can go not only to find out what's happening in my world from Nobel perspective, but you can reach out to me there. Obviously, from my time and throughout my career, LinkedIn is probably my main social presence.

Awesome.

Out to me about doing a podcast. You can let me know would you want to hear from me? I think I'm cool. I think they catch it.

I see your next podcast inter coming. It's coming. It's coming on the heels of this one.

Yeah. You can reach out for me that way. I apologize. I don't always get back as quickly as I would like, but I always do get back.

So if you send me a message, I will get back and we can connect and hopefully have a. A coffee chat and. And see how we can make magic together. Because we are all connected. We all have beautiful things.

And I'll share a quote that I live by before we wrap things up. To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice your gift. So I fundament.

If you're on this planet, you all have beautiful things and gifts and talents and strengths. Some people have found it sooner in life than others.

But once you find it and tap into it, you will go on and you'll find your voice in this amazing world. So thanks. Happy holidays.

I'm not done yet. Look at this guy trying to take my. You're trying to steal the host. Thunderman. Jesus. Jesus. Rewind.

There was, like, five questions. I thought you didn't get to the five thing. I could speak all night. I'll hang out with you all night.

So where I was gonna go next was finish this sentence for us.

Okay.

I am empowered in my skin when.

I am connected with beautiful people like Muketchi that make me smile and make me know that I can go on and do anything that I put my mind to at the end of the day.

I love it. Thank you. And thank you for all of that. The first ending. And thank you for the second.

Because you walked me through in terms of our prep conversation and I said, I'll.

Have one final question to ask you. Jesus.

We're gonna have to go back and take a look at the. Just for that. I know. She's like, you're never, never coming back.

Again, so you're coming back. I love that. That was great. Because that was great. I think that that was very inspiring.

Now, do you want to, like, now just wrap us up to the very end. What do you want to say to these humans as they embark in the last month of this year? Two months? Yeah. Last month. They're going into December. Yeah.

So health is important. Wellness is important. So all the men that are out and listening, make sure you make sure this is in, in check. Make sure this is in check.

Pointing to his head, pointing to his heart.

Make sure the rest of it is in check. Because you can't help anybody if you're not healthy and well yourself. And it's not just about the physical wellness and health.

It's the mental health. We need to make sure the mental health is as pure and present and working as possible at all times. So that's 1, 2.

As I, as we started off, please, please, please, whatever you can do on any level for the people that have been impacted in Jamaica, nothing is too small right now. So figure out what you can do. And please, please, please give back three.

For everybody that I've ever met and connected and have made me a better person. Thank you.

That goes from my, my mom to my boys to the bellum and Graham and I'm doing stuff with tech, us forward and Carrie Ann and a whole bunch of other people that have come in my life in the last 12 years and everybody before. There's so many people that have helped me along my journey and I just want to take this moment. If you're listening and you hear this, thank you.

I appreciate you. I love you and hopefully we'll be able to stay connected and continue to do beautiful things.

And then last but not least, Cassius and Sage csp, that's my, my homies for life. I love you and everything that I do is for you. And you know there's. I didn't do this alone.

So to the other individual, Sarah, thank you for what you do day in and day out. You know, not everything is always the best of but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate you have mad love for you as well.

So on that note, yes, yes.

Thank you to everyone that's listening.

I love that this means that you are going to share this episode with many people that you love and they're going to listen all the way to the end and they're going to hear me say, this is sadly where we have to say we're out. Bye bye.

Peace, love. Thanks. This is awesome.

There you have it. I trust that you are feeling more empowered in your skin. As the late Dr. Maya Angelou said, when you get, you give, when you learn, you teach.

So it would mean so much for us at Empower to My Skin Inc.

If you share this episode and tag us or teach an insight that you took from today's episode on your social and tag us, feel free to leave us a review over at itunes and follow us on social media. Poweredinmyskin in finally, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.