There's nothing that you can do to me that life hasn't done to me. Let's do this. Struggle with mental health in our youth is very, very real. They just need a little push for somebody to listen to them. I wanted to be that person. How did you get yourself right to put yourself in a place to be able to help others from South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between.
This is Get In, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Quick pause to tell you about one of my new favorite spots in Indianapolis. Back nine Golf. If you haven't been yet, you're missing out. This is the perfect way to get your swings in.
No matter what the weather's like outside, this place isn't your average golf range. It's a full-blown experience. Locally owned, locally operated, these guys are all about bringing the community together for a good time. They've got climate controlled bays, great food, live music, and a bar that keeps the drinks flowing. And if you're looking for a place to host an event, birthday, corporate outing, bachelor party, Bag 9 is the spot. They know how to throw down and make sure your crew has an unforgettable time.
So, next time you're looking for a night out that's more than just another bar, head to Backn. Swing some gloves, grab some drinks, and support a business that's keeping it local. Check them out at backnolf. com, or just pull up and see what all the hype's about. Tell them you heard about it on Get In. Today, I'm joined by Aaron Green, the CEO of Struggle Made Me, and creator of Struggle University, two social enterprises that empower system impacted youth and families to heal and thrive.
He has created a safe space for young men of color to process emotions, build resilience, and access resources for success. He is a proud graduate of Cathedral High School and the first in his family to earn a 4-year degree. Aaron's story of overcoming adversity fuels his passion for mentorship, entrepreneurship, and community impact. We won't hold the fact that he's a Cathedral Grat against him. Today, we're going to be talking about his background and his roots and resilience. his story through building struggle university and struggle made me and how he's empowering the next generation.
Aaron, welcome to Get In. Hey, appreciate you. Thank you for having me. Man, I'm excited for this one. I do have to start with a shout out to uh to Drew Bailey. Uh he is a good friend of mine, fraternity brother from Depal, also a Cathedral grad, and he kind of made this connection happen and said that that you have a heck of a story and it's one that we need to tell.
I love it, man. Shout out to Drew, man. I definitely appreciate it. Uh and so you grew up in the city of Indianapolis. you said 20 25th in Keystone area and I know that like growing up like that that's a has a big impact on the work that you're doing now. Set the scene for us about how you grew up here in Indianapolis.
Um so my um my mom was uh 16 when she got pregnant and had me at 17. Um and my dad uh was in the streets, you know, he was trying to find a way to make some money and you know in those communities in our communities one of the easier ways to make money at that point back especially back then was selling drugs. So, was this like late early 90s, mid90s? Early 90s. So, yeah, I was born in '90s, so 89, 90, that time. Um, and so I we moved a bunch of different spaces.
Um, like I lived all over um the east side. Um, so I went to probably five different elementaryaries. We just kept moving because we would we lived in the projects, but my mom had a standard for the way she wanted to live. So, I remember one time we had found like we had moved the couch and there was like some bugs in behind it. We moved like the next week. Like she didn't play that.
The house had to be clean. Um if maintenance wasn't in order, we was out. We was gonna go find somewhere else to stay. So, you know, was it you, your mom and your dad? So, my mom and dad weren't together. Um it was me and my mom and then I would go with my dad um for the first three years and then my little brother came and then three years after that my little sister came.
So, for a long time it was really just us three and my mom. And you so you you kind of bounced around the east side to center and did did that feel like normal to you? You were like this is just the way we live and this is oh we get to go find a new house and you're excited about it. I think I normalized it um because but I hated going to new schools because I always had anxiety for meeting new people. Now I realized I didn't have like trouble meeting new people but once I got comfortable somewhere and then we just had to move it was like like man. What was the shortest time you ever spent at one school that I can remember?
And I can only remember this because this teacher was super mean to us. I want to say it was like school 91 or something like that. I probably was only there maybe a month or two. Um, and it's like as soon as you start to build a little bit of relationships, then you're up and moving to the next school. Yeah. We got to go to the next school.
Um, or or we we move we're moving to a better apartment or just trying to find our way. Like I said, my mom was a hustler, so she was really trying to navigate growing up and being a mother at the same time. Well, I mean, yeah, if she's 16, would did she finish high school? No, she wasn't able to finish high school, man. So, you talk about you got to learn how to be a hustler. You have a you have a kid to provide for.
She did. And And so, what was she doing? How how was your family? Yeah. Surviving. Yeah.
So, she worked um I remember she worked at IHOP for a while. My mom's a relationship builder, so she was able to figure out what she wanted to do and then make it work for her. So, I could remember times where she was at IHOP and every time we came up there, they treated us like family, like when the kids would come. Um, but that's any and everywhere she's worked. It felt more like a family environment than like, oh, this is mom's job, right? Um, so she did that.
She did like dental assistant work, you know, always constantly. It was never a point where she didn't have some income coming in. like she was real hustler, two and three jobs, making sure we had absolutely everything we needed and wanted. Like we didn't feel the impact of poverty because she didn't allow us to. I mean, she sounds incredible. No, she's superhero to me.
So, as you keep building through that story, like what what was the age group or the age that you realized, oh, this is a little bit different? like kids don't normally bounce around different schools and apartments and houses and places like that. So, it probably was middle school honestly when I started cuz I was in a magnet program at Christmas and I realized I had knew most of the kids but all of them came from different areas in the city and it was like wow I went to school with you. I went to school with you and I kind of realized like I went to a lot of schools and met a lot of different kids but these kids hadn't moved around as much as I did. You know, I think it was that point, but I also think taking something good from it was I met so many different people that I had an impactful relationship with, even as a kid that when I met them later on in life, it was like, "Oh, man, you Aaron, man."
And I didn't I never went anywhere where I didn't have friends. And I think that's I mean, that's important. Well, especially for a kid, you said you had like a little bit of anxiety around meeting new people, but also I mean, like we we've been in the room for I mean, 10 minutes or whatever now, and it's like, "Oh, you're a very personable guy." Absolutely. Where do you think you got that like uh that personability trait from? Uh I think both parents.
Um cuz although my dad's situation was what it was, even to this day, people love him. Like there you can go back to I mean people got to like their drug dealer. Right. Right. But but even you know aside from that people like man he was a great guy. You know what I mean?
And even when I used to do prison visits the respect he got in prison visits that's that comes from relationships. You know what I mean? Like I used to see people sitting in there and he would, you know, they would be like, "Oh man, wanted to meet me or wanted to, you know, so I I knew he was great at that too." And my mom, I mean, she had a lot of friends. So it's like, you got to be a relational type of person to have a lot of friends. Well, I mean, let's kind of dive into we'll go we'll go on the dad's route first, right?
So you say prison visits. At what age did your your dad have to go to jail? So he went to he went to prison when I was five. Um, and he was sentenced to 20 years, but back then you could do half your time. So, 20 do 10. Um, and yeah, he was in prison for And do you as a 5-year-old, do you comprehend what's going on there?
No, no, no, no. I I it kind of like the vacation like dad's on a vacation. I think later on, probably around eight or nine is where cuz I didn't like going to prisons and so once I was going to them, it kind of started to feel weird for me. How often would you go visit your dad? I mean I want to say once a month maybe once or twice a month maybe twice a month. And what was the as you're you're in your formative years there like five to eight n I mean he's in there for did he do 10 years?
Yeah. Yeah. So he's in there from five five to 16 years old. Very formative years in a young man's life. What are you hearing from him as you're visiting there? Like what what advice or what what kind of like man I had I tell anybody I had the greatest father on earth.
Like I I never had not had birthday presents, Christmas presents. like he was in all of the programs to make sure that we had something to open when it was our day or our time. Um, but like he's he's part of the reason I never sold drugs. Like I had the opportunity to, but I made him a promise early on that I wouldn't. And I was scared of my dad. So I knew that like during those prison visits, he was going to hear me up if I did something wrong.
So when he would call, he'd be like, "Hey man, you better get on them grades." Um, and when he spoke, I listened, right? And so he would speak. Like when I would go to prison visits, I would walk in and when he would walk from the back, you would see all of these different guys see him and just, you know, show him love, but then he'd be like, "Oh, this my son. He's going to the NFL." And so he talked me up and he gave me that confidence and built me up as he was in his situation.
Um, and so man, I had an amazing father and and sports became a a big part of your life, right? So growing up, like you know, you're a you are a proud graduate of Cathedral High School. I mean, when you talk about going from jumping around to different schools and the IPS systems, I mean, I'm pretty sure from doing the research, like you lived in one of Indianapolis's most impoverished zip codes. For sure. Right. To go from there to like a premier I'll even a premier Catholic high school here.
Like Cathedral is a great school. How did that how did that all come together and transpire? because I feel like that is an opportunity to maybe like uh elevate to some new a different status and and you blend with a lot of I mean I know some kids that went to Cathedral whose parents are multibajillionaires but then you also do have like kids that come from um different areas talk about that experience playing at Christmas addicts so in high school. Yeah high school well middle school no middle school so eighth grade um they had came to a game you know my grandfather approached them um and Was your grandfather active in your life? Absolutely. So coming up, I had my great-grandfather and my grandfather, amazing men.
They really kind of sh On your mom's side. On my mom's side. Right. Okay. So this is mom's dad, mom's grandpa. Yep.
Right. And so both of them were like my best friends. Well, and if your mom was 16, I'm sure your grandfather was, you know, 40s, 50s, somewhere in there. Like a young right. Uh, so yeah, that so when I got into football, those were the two people that would come and get me and take me out and teach me really how to play. My, uh, my great-grandfather was a running back at Butler and broke the record.
Oh, broke the record. Russian record. What was your great-grandfather's name? Uh, Donald Kelly. Donald Kelly. Yep.
Yep. So, um, and then my uh, my grandfather, he played football and some semi-pro and different things. So, they had approached Cathedral when they got there and was like, "Hey, my grandson is whatever number I was." and I was playing linebacker. I had a great game and they were like, "Hey, we we we're interested in you coming." And so, um, my grandfather's like, "You're going."
But for me it was scary because I'm like, "What is Cathedral?" Like, I didn't I didn't hear about anything about Cathedral at Addicts. It was more like IPS schools, like which one are we going to go to? Or are we going to go to a Ben Davis or Warren? Um, and so when it was time to go, I was like, "All right, cool." And he just said, "You're going.
You're going." And what was the thought process, I mean, behind that? Like why why is grandpa very what? Where did your mom go to high school before? She went to North Central. She went to North Central.
And so why was he you have to go to Cathedral? I think it had a lot to do where we came from. Uh I think he knew that if I got into the wrong stuff I probably would have died or went to jail easily. Like I mean I just was in that direction too. Uh and so when I got Oh, like at the time in eighth grade. Yeah.
In eighth grade I was kind of on that that that threshold of like either both ways. Right. Right. Right. So wasn't a great student. had issues with, you know, being a class clown or whatever, but I hung with a group of kids.
Um, great guys, but, you know, we were kind of on that cusp of like, all right, it can get really bad. And Okay, so like how big of a group? Like, let's say there's like four or five. No, it's probably like 15 of us. 15 guys. How, if you had to give the makeup, those 15 guys that were all eighth graders at Christmas addicts.
Where' they go to high school? Um, so Northwest Arlington, Bripple. Okay. Northwest Arlington Broad and you went to Cathedral. Two of them went to Ben Davis. So So Grandpa sees this group.
They're kind of spreading out through those four or five schools. You're the only one that goes to Cathedral, right? Yeah. I'm the only And then if you had to just summarize, did the other group did be pan out? Like if you think of if you were all at that moment of a fork in the road. Yeah.
So if we look at the fork, it probably split honestly down the middle really like seven guys. Seven guys went and did you know did amazing. the other guys kind of faced their own adversities. Maybe went to jail. Um, you know, just different things. Maybe didn't graduate because of life.
You know, life can life. So, life. So, so you show up at Cathedral as a freshman. What What's your What's your mom saying about this process? She's She's kind of She's excited for me. I was terrified.
I This is like a new It's kind of like a new trauma for me. I'm from a predominately black area, uh, predominately black middle school, and then when you get to Cathedral, all I saw was white kids. And then the first car that I saw was a Lamborghini. No way. No, for sure. Um, and it ended up being one of my best friends dad's car.
What the hell am I doing? Right. So, like, what are we doing? Like, and then when I got to the school, it's uniforms. It's It's totally outside of the realm of like what I'm used to. Um, and did your friends be like, "Dude, what the hell are you doing?"
like, "Oh, you sold out." Or like, "You're going to private school." It was kind of it was it was kind of like that a little later on in the process, but in in the beginning, it was more or less like, "Damn, this is dope. You we talked about the NFL, so it's like, oh, you you really got a chance going to Cathedral." You know what I mean? Like, oh, that's it.
Um, but then after a while when, you know, you start to kind of learn yourself and you start to hang with different groups, it's like, "Oh, you changing on us." That was one of the hard transitions though. And like, uh, did you notice that you were doing that or did you feel like I'm just being a high school kid? I mean, it took a while. So, I didn't buy into Cathedral until later on. When I first got there, I I hated it.
Like, I didn't I didn't felt like I didn't feel like I needed to be there. But also, what Cathedral allowed me to do um was see that black people weren't the only people struggling. Like, everybody has their own struggles. They just look a little different. Did you have that kind of internalized like, oh man, like from the outside looking, it's like the cathedral, they're not they're not doing they're not dealing with what we're dealing with, right? And it's like it it probably it's different, right?
But it does show you that there are and there are poor white kids at Cathedral. There are poor black there being and but there's also the elitist. So it is a little bit of a melting pot. Yeah, it's a melting pot, but it but you could feel it too. It's like that there's an energy there that you can feel that there's some separation in it. Did those kind of circles overlap somewhat?
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, 100%. I think that's the greatest thing about cathedrals. you have those this melting pot, the kids are able to experience each other, right? And then you get those different dynamics. Like I said, I didn't realize that there were at that point I didn't know there were poor white people.
And it sounds crazy, but when you met them like, "Ah, man, you come from a similar neighborhood that I do." That b that bonds us, right? That that that obviously the world has all this racism stuff going on. You know what I mean? And so in that moment, it's like that's that brought us together because we are seeing the same types of struggle. But even when I would meet, you know, the rich kids, it's like, wow.
Like your life ain't all peaches and cream cuz you got money. Like your parents just got divorced and it's tearing you down or I go to these parties and there's like drugs there and it's like [ __ ] we in high school. You know what I mean? Like we in high school doing like drugs and maybe not. We would leave the parties cuz I I'm like I don't want nobody thinking we brought the drugs. Yeah, right.
You know what I mean? And so, but they're like, "Yeah, you and parents walk in upstairs while this is going on at in the in the basement." And so it's like, "Yeah, nah, we got to go." Yeah, we're we're balancing. Well, and it's like, where was that moment where you have a friend that goes to like, let's say, Arlington or Northwest who are both no longer high schools, right? Right.
You have a friend that goes there. Where was the moment where it was conf uh conflict between you and and like maybe the life you you were moving away from and the life that you were, you know, the the place where you were trying to get to? We went to like a party at the Walker building downtown. Um and I was outside and we was chilling and uh it got shot up and so as I'm running from the gunshots, it's the bullets are hitting cars. Um I was with my cousin who's actually really my big brother. Um he's the little baby's DJ DJ Champ.
Um, so I was with him and Wait, he's Little Baby's DJ? Yeah. Yep. Yes. Like like the Yeah, like Little Baby. Yeah, for sure.
He's from Indiana. That's my cousin. He's from Indiana. Yep. No way. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So he he's from Indiana. Um, like I said, he's more like my big brother, but we I was there with him. Um, in that moment, I just was trying to figure out like who I was still. And so I was like, man, I I'm tired of being in situations like this.
like it's it's out of our control, but that's at some point it's like it is kind of our control because we don't have to be here. I started spending most of my time with the football guys at Cathedral. Um, and that's where it was like, are you changing on us? It was scary cuz I'm like, man, I don't really know. But at the same point, too, it's like, you know, it comes to my dad's situation, right? So, my dad gets out of prison when I'm 16.
Um, you're is that your sophomore, junior year? So, it's my junior year. So, you Oh, actually, so it's my sophomore year. Sophomore year. So, sophomore year. And when do you get varsity time?
Like when are you So I'm I'm I'm I'm in and out starting varsity my sophomore year. Um I'm playing guard and he gets out he gets out of prison and you're like prison now it's home like it now it's like I'm Dad's going to come watch me play. Yeah. Right. And so he gets to see me play. I'm with him every other weekend, every weekend, whatever the case may be.
That was the first time that I had everything. I'm starting to love school now cuz dad's able to come watch me. I got my friend group. I'm kind of figuring out who I truly am. Um, and I'm and football is like the center of my universe, right? Um, and then my junior year comes and I go to work.
I had a I was working at um Mike's car wash. Um, awful job. No, it's just hard work. You got to start somewhere, right? For sure. It gave me It definitely set the foundation for me working hard.
And I had been working for a while. Like, so um, I get off work and my mom calls and she tells me my dad got shot. and from the, you know, environments we're from, I'm like, "Okay, we going to the hospital." And she told me it was over. He had died. Um, and so she tried to take me to the scene.
Well, she tried to take me to a friend's house cuz she was going to the scene and I I told her, "No, take me to the scene." And so as we're headed to the scene, we're going towards Cathedral. My dad died around the corner from Cathedral in front of Arlington. And so my safe space where I'm learning who I am is disrupted because now I'm dealing with my worst trauma. And so when I got to the scene, I saw my dad's truck. I saw the bullet holes and it was like riddled with bullets.
And then he's still in the he's still in the truck, but they're pulling him out. And so it's still not hitting me, though. All of this is kind of happening real fast. And I'm still I'm angry now because it took us a while to get from Michigan Road to 56 Street to Arlington. Right. Yeah.
Why is he still sitting in this truck? Why is why why do I have to see this? Right. Um people are screaming. Um it was a lot. Is it like give me like take us through who's at the scene there?
Like you're driving up with your mom and at that point were your mom and dad on good terms like Yeah. So my mom and dad were like like best friends. Like okay, you wouldn't even know they had a kid together. They just it was just that that genuine love for each other and respect. Like it never saw anything other than that my whole life. Right.
And so how long had your dad been out of jail at this point? A year. So when we pulled up, it was some of his friends there. Um I think my uncle was there, but it was a crowd of like community. Um, I had some cousins who were there and you know when I pulled up it was kind of like people were trying to give me a hug and wanted to you know make sure they really didn't want me to go over there but I kind of fought through all of that cuz I needed to I felt like I needed to see that. I needed to understand what was being told to me.
Um because there's no way that God I I used to internalize it like God why would you only give me my dad for six years out of honestly 17, right? And so, well, out of, you know, another 60, right? Right. You know what I mean? And so, you know, I I I was like, man, like I'd have rather do prison visits the rest of my life than never be able to experience grave visits, cemeteries. Um, and so, I mean, I sat with that and Cathedral had told me not to come back.
Like, I was like, "Oh, don't worry about coming back to school for that semester." They was like, "No, just take some time. Don't worry about finals." Is it is it spring or is it fall? It's spring. It's spring.
So, no football. So you're like, so you're like your outlet is also not there too. It's like you're you're in the spring. You're like, and you didn't play other sports? No. So I I did track.
Um Okay. But it's like Yeah. It's like Yeah. It's like uhuh. You know what I mean? I I was really focused on working a job and and enjoying my dad really.
Yeah. Um and then it's like, you know, they told me not to come back. So I sat with that. Like I had to I was at home. Uh my mom took me to a therapist, but he really I mean being honest, he was a white therapist who I felt like didn't understand where I came from. And in that moment, it's like, man, I'm a black kid who just lost his dad who didn't really have his dad.
And I don't I you sitting there writing notes, but I need a little more than this. Like this ain't So I asked her not to take me back. And so when the funeral came, it was in the middle of the east side, man. It was so packed. It was so many people there. Um and it was standing room at a at a point and so like towards the kind of middle of it everything kind of stopped and I had turned around everybody turned around and the whole Cathedral football team had came right and so me being uncomfortable going to Cathedral because I felt like I didn't belong.
I'm sure that they felt similar coming to that funeral. Right. Right. Right. And putting that aside for me is when I bought all the way in. Like I at in that moment I'm like I'm going back to school.
Like I have to because Cathedral became my safe haven. It was like man this I can be me. I can figure out who I am because I'll be honest like I was ready to kill the person that killed my dad. He was 17 too, right? So my dad got killed by a 17-year-old when I was 17. And so there was no like And you like knew who it was?
I knew a name. I didn't really never I never seen him until I became an adult, right? I didn't never see him face to face to be be until I became an adult. So, I would ask and then eventually I stopped asking. In my head, it's like you got a killing, but in my heart it's like you're not a killer. You're you're a Cathedral football player and people really look up to you being that person.
And if you fall trapped to that, then it's going to take all that work that you had been doing and and erase all of it. 100%. And it's not what my dad wanted to do, right? And so I internalized that. I could hear his voice in the back of my head and the things he would say. And I would have completely let down our legacy if I would have went and killed this kid.
And I went to jail for the rest of my life. I know that's not what my dad wanted. And so I did. And isn't that like a I mean, you talk about trying to break cycles and and get out of the area into a different area. And it's like a lot of times what I I mean this is all from from reading but like seeing from impoverished communities whether it be like rural nowhere America where it's like okay you got to go to college and like get out of here and you know go do this or you're in a an urban community. Uh a lot of it's like it's almost like too late for the parent you know like it's almost like it's too late for me to change my entire life and do this thing but like but you have to% and it's like do as I say not as I do for sure.
It's one of them things where it's like we're actively getting out and something pulls you back, right? Like it just gets hard. You know what I mean? And and that's the that's the hard part with a lot of people is just being pulled back. You know what I mean? Like like or really I want to dream outside of these walls, but I can't because I haven't seen anything.
I haven't seen anything. Has that been modeled for you? Right. Like okay. I grew up in a town of 1,200 people, very small rural community. Uh I went to college.
Uh, I was on the football team at Depal. I never played football, but I was on the team there. Being being good at a 1A farm school a lot different than trying to be good at a college and and like a similar I didn't know anyone who hosted a podcast or worked in media or worked in technology. Like I thought the rich people were like the lawyers and the doctors and the you know, you're either an accountant or you're work in the factories. So, you better figure out how to be like I wanted to study account. I would have literally hated accounting.
But I do remember like I have a like um not a similar experience but I lost a parent like my mom passed away uh when I was a sophomore in college. I'm sorry to hear that. And uh I appreciate that man. And I had a moment where I from a rural community and I joined a fraternity when I went to Depal because that's what everyone does, right? And my grandma was so God rest her soul. I love my grandma but she's like you're just going to join that and drink beer and party all the time.
And similar story like you know when when 65 fraternity guys walk into a funeral in rural northern Indiana everyone's like oh wow it is more than just drinking beer and partying right and it's like those guys walk the cathedral football it's a brotherhood right it's like this thing and it was like oh and I remember her looking at me it's like and she said I'm sorry for all those things I said about life which is like we just like it's a it's like they're and they're in an uncomfortable not I mean again not like going in like but it's the Yeah. Absolutely. It's a funeral, too. So, this never come. And no one's comfortable. And you're sitting there and they're like in the class, I haven't seen you since you were this big.
And I was like, what was your name again? Right. Right. Quick pause in the action. Do you want to be able to submit questions to my future guests in advance? Do you want access to exclusive discounts with our who's your partners?
Do you want to make sure you're invited to all of our private in-person events across the state? If you answered yes to all or any of those questions, you need to head to Instagram and subscribe to our GetIn Insiders channel. For $4. 99 a month, you're going to be able to ask our guests questions, get great discounts, and above all, help us fund all this amazing Indiana content that we create. Head over to Instagram, Nate Spangle, and subscribe. Now, let's get back to the episode.
So, those guys walk in and you're all the way bought in and and you're fighting these urges between, do I go kill this guy? Yeah. or do I fix or I keep rolling the way that I'm going and like change my life, right? And and when does college start to come into the picture? So, junior year football is going amazing. Getting kind of a buzz with colleges.
And like if you had to be for the the people out there listening like how good were you? So, I was top 50 in the state my senior year. Um I was all state um all city, all all of that. So, you're you're and like what kind of schools are hitting you up? So, I had um Butler. I went on a visit to Cincinnati.
they were they they were uh you know engaged with it. Um Eastern Illinois, we went to a camp. I dominated the camp. Um so I'm getting a a buzz of like and it's only going, you know, it only gets better once they start coming. Um so, you know, I really thought that I I was going to walk on to Cincinnati if I could have like I I loved it. We went there and I was I fell in love immediately.
It was right when they got that like hund00 million sports facility. Yeah. You know, a bunch of money, right? And so, um, but you know, I I I was getting the buzz, but I also didn't have anybody who was like, "All right, this is what you look for when you want to go to a college or this is how you get more buzz." And so, I had Coach Fogle um making us like, you know, highlight tapes and putting them on CDs and we would try to send them out on CDs, man. Listen, this is 2009 when you or 2008.
Yes. Yep. So, 2008, 2009. Um, and so yeah, I was I mean, I was I was I was good. Yeah, I was good. I was I was on that team on the top 50 team.
Senior year comes like when do you have to start making the college decision and and how does that end up going? So, um, senior year comes, my grades are [ __ ] but my football's going well. And what you don't realize, so I coach wrestling and shitard. Yeah. What these kids don't realize, like it doesn't matter how like you don't have to be a genius, but you just have to meet like a certain criteria, right? And and no, there's just like there's a criteria that no amount of football can make up for.
For sure. 100%. Like, and that's what I was running into. Um, I experienced another trauma my senior year. Um, I have some cousins who I'm like, they're really like siblings. They're triplets, right?
Um, and their parents, um, they live with their parents. Um, and their dad was having mental health issues going on. Um, and he ended up killing himself and and my aunt. Um, and the kids were there. And this is a this is a place I go every weekend. Like, I'm with them every weekend that I can.
Oh my god. Uh, and so I kind of really just gave up on like school like because I couldn't focus in the space of like listening to this. I just couldn't. It was like you're trying to learn like calcul pre-calculus or whatever traumatized as hell and you're like thinking about your cousins, right? And it just and it just happened fresh. I also didn't tell you that.
So the same year my dad got killed, my great-grandfather I talked about which he died on my dad's birthday three months before. Crazy, right? Crazy how things work. That's a lot of life. Junior, senior, and high school. Listen.
And so I started to feel like I couldn't get away from death. Like death was just like following me. Like it was like I it just was destroying me inside. Um but I had a best friend um at Cathedral Herald Hog. His dad had a um some connections with a college in Alabama. I had got tested for a learning disability because I would go into class and I had studied.
I would look at a test and everything would disappear. Oh yeah. And so but but I'm 18 years old getting tested for a learning disability. I already struggled the whole time. But you're at the end. Yeah.
I'm at the end. Oh yeah. By the way, that was that was really hard. This is why it was really hard. Right. So going back to Harold's dad, he found a way.
He he got me into a college. He got me a scholarship to go to a division 2 miles college in Alabama. And like you're going D2 to play football, a scholarship. What was the feedback coming from your family at this point? They were excited. They were scared for me too, I feel like, because Alabama, but I was running from Indiana at that point because all of this trauma that I was experienced in real time was on me and I had to get away from here to even if id have stayed here, man, I probably would have died.
I ain't lie. Like my just my mental wouldn't allow me to I I was dealing with PTSD. Um it was a lot going on internally that I just couldn't get away from. I mean, how did you I think a big thing that people talk about, right, is like you kind of got to airplane, right? You got to put your own mask on before you help other people. And today, you're helping a lot of people, right?
And before we get into that part, as we kind of like, you know, share the conversation, how did you get yourself right to put yourself in a place to be able to help others? When I got to Alabama, I had to forgive my dad's killer. I went to Alabama. What does that process look like? I had to really internalize the situation. So, I was like, "All right, I wasn't there.
I don't know what happened. I don't even know what type of interaction they had, but I like is this Yeah. Do you know of like, okay, this is random. This is drug deal. This is this that the other thing. I It wasn't a drug deal.
It was It was more of a um I think they got an argument. I'm not even sure what about and the kid ran upstairs, got a gun, and shot through the windshield. They said my dad had a gun, but they never found a gun. So, it's like there was no gun on him. I don't Who knows? My dad was like one of those guys.
So it it it didn't matter to them what the real story was. It just, you know, it was what it was. So when I got to college, I kind of had to like forgive him for me. How did how did you know that you needed to do that? So I walked around Alabama. It felt just heavy.
Like I wasn't even excited that I got to college. It was just like And no one knows you or your Nobody knows anything about me. I just wasn't kid showing up like everybody else. Freshman. I'm showing up and I'm ready to play football, but internally I was hurting. Like I it was bad.
Um and I would try to like embrace the experience of being in college and making it and I just couldn't like it was just like uh it is what it is. And it didn't feel like you had like that is like a huge milestone in the if you're thinking of like uh changing your situation 100%. Showing up on a scholarship to play football in Alabama is like another step, another rung in the ladder and you don't even feel happy. I'm not even feeling like excited. I'm not I'm I'm just like it is what it is. I'm about to play football though and that's all that mattered.
Um and so I had to internalize that and and I said it out loud. I was like I forgive you and I really meant it like I can't I got to let this go and I did it for me have anything to do with the other person. Um I had to forgive him for me. And after that I had the greatest I mean I had a good college experience. It I I had my own adversities in college too that were crazy. I lost some more people.
Um, and uh, yeah, man. It followed me for so I lived a lot of life in a short period of time. My one of my good friends who I was playing football with at Miles died in his in his sleep when he was on his way to the NFL. Our last conversation was me saying, "I want to play D1." And he was like, "Go D1 then." And I could hear it ringing in my head when they called and told me he died.
So I transferred and went to UAB um, and walked on there. And then the last conversation you had with your buddy from Miles was, "I want to go play D1." And he said, "Go do it." He said, "Go." He said, "Go." What year were you then?
So, I was a sophomore then. And you and you went to UAB. How was your experience at UAB? So, I was a walk-on. It was hell on earth. Like, being a walk- on is you got to have a different mental capacity.
But there was nothing you could do to me. I lost my dad and my favorite cousin and Snow, my Maurice Snow, my my teammate. There's nothing you can do to me that's going to hurt me. So, I went through I was a practice dummy for a year. greatest year for me to develop better into a player. Then my best friend got killed.
He got killed in front of Lafia Square Mall a day before I was coming home for spring break. Here it is again. That's what I'm saying. So it never left. But even at this, there were people here who I consider friends who were actively dying while I was away or getting shot. And this is this is my situation.
So if I didn't go there, I would be in these spaces with these people. These are my people, right? They're just dealing with life as kids being adults because they have to. Once it was time for me to play, I started my first game at Ohio State in front of 110,000 people. UAB on the road at So now you're a red shirt junior. Yeah.
You're Are you on the offensive line? Yeah, I'm a starter. I'm a starting uh starting guard. Yeah, I'm starting guard at Ohio State in front ofund and a 100,000 of them hate you. All of them hate us. Right.
Right. Like I don't know how in the first half it was silent because we were battling. We really we really could have beat them if it stopped in the first half but but you know those games are not when you're tired you got a third string guy that's coming in that's going to the NFL in a couple years. So um but in that game like the third quarter I got pushed from behind after the play was over landed on my kneecap and a piece of cartilage tore off. More adversity. More adversity right?
And so now I'm in my head I know it's bad because I can barely like do anything. But my replacement goes in and he's probably in there for 10 plays and he gets hurt. But they're like helping him off the field. So I put my helmet back on and I played that whole season on one leg. I would get cortisone shots. I would do rehab.
Um And you're a junior at this point? I'm a junior, but I'm like I got to seize this opportunity. And are you still thinking like I can find a way in the NFL? Absolutely. Never was a thought that I wouldn't go. Like even if I go on a practice squad or something like you like football is my thing.
I'm proving it to myself as I go in these spaces and I'm taking starting spots. Yeah. Like from walk-on. Yeah. From a walk- on. So, and this is my this is my year so I got to play because I got to get a scholarship cuz I can't really afford to be at this school.
But I took a chance on myself. And my senior year comes when the end of my junior year I got the surgery. You had to get the surgery. Yeah. I got a scholarship. They gave you one.
They didn't want to. It It was a It was a struggle. Another adversity is my head coach, he he made up an excuse about me being detriment to the team, which was a total lie. Like it was it was awful though. Like it was really like when I say how So who was who was your advocate? The team.
The the players. I asked them cuz I went back to the locker room because he was like, "Just give us a second. We're kind of debating." So I called Harold Hog again, my best friend. He was at Ball State playing. I said, "Y'all need O lineman."
He was like, "Absolutely." So, I sent them my film. Ball State offered me in 10 minutes, but I wanted to play here. I got learning disabilities, so learning plays is hard for me. I'm comfortable here. You're already getting here.
I don't want to leave. Like, I'd start. You know what I mean? And so, they ended up giving me a scholarship after kind of going back and forth. I showed him what Ball State said and he was like, "No, just we got you. Just chill out."
All right. Then the game changes when you're a scholarship person. You get treated different. Like it's totally it's it's a difference. Like what do you mean? Like you can tell that you matter when you on scholarship and you play, right?
I'm I'm a starter. So I'm getting different perks. Like when I was a walk- on, like it was like come on for the walk-on workout, then you got to do the regular workout. But it turned me into an animal, you know what I mean? And like I said, there's nothing that you can do to me that life hasn't done to me. So let's do this.
I'm I'm I'm going experience this adversity. So you're you this is like red shirt senior year or like or first? This is my this is my senior year really cuz it it should have been a red shirt year but I think I lost a year cuz I transferred up. Okay. Right. Um so this is your last year of football, right?
Yeah. So So you got to put together something that's going to get you I got to put together something. So I had a good season. Seventh game of the season. My knee just wasn't I was I was playing on one leg still. Like I kept telling them like something doesn't feel right.
It's slipping in and out. It's hurting. Quarter zone shots. But after you give me the quarter zone shot, when the game is over, it feels like I got shot in the leg. I played and it was over. My seventh game, like my knee just went out.
I couldn't play no more. I think we only had like two games left. But then I thought football was over. So like I'm kind of depressed, but I'm still working out cuz I'm like, "Hell no, somebody's going to call and I'mma go." So when the draft came, I had a shitty agent who I don't I just I just hired somebody at that point. Like please get me in somewhere.
I had teams kind of show interest that he would say like the Texans had called and showed interest in me coming and trying out but the Colts called me directly and asked me to come to they do the local workout and so I'm like oh this is my chance I'm about to try out for the Colts so I came to the local workout um I had a great workout but my knee I couldn't hide it you know what I mean and so it was kind of like I had a conversation with the coach that was putting me through the workout he was like man go get you a second opinion and see what they say second opinion was like man if we go in your knee and try to find basically this cartilage like you might not be able to play if you get hit the wrong way or they said walk basically and I was like no I'm cool like I walked away I signed a contract to play in Italy but they're probably still waiting on me to arrive so then so then football ends what is life I'm working at a gym I'm uh training people I didn't know like I wanted to do sports broadcasting so I got my degree in uh communications but I I started looking at what sports broadcasters made starting out.
I was like, "Damn, I I'm going to need to make more money than that." Well, so the Department of Child Services was hiring. I was like, "Man, I love helping people and I love kids. Let's do it." So, I went in, I told this lady my story and she started crying and she said, "You're exactly what we need." I didn't have a degree.
I didn't have any experience. So, they hired me. I went through that process. I stayed there for eight months. I didn't quite agree with how they help families. I wanted to do a little more.
Um, and it's that is the tough part, right? It's like where it's something's better than nothing, but it's never enough. Right. Right. Right. And so I I wanted to be one of those people that goes above and beyond.
Um and in that job, that's just not the capacity isn't there. So I wanted to be a service provider. Um and I've been doing that the last 10 years. It's just providing family and and and youth with the resources they need, whether that be me creating them or me going to find them for them. Cuz you know everybody what I realized too is like everybody that you encounter that is having like at the bottom what you would say they just need a little push or somebody to listen to them or somebody to really just you know help. I wanted to be that person and that's what I've been doing and and creating different programs for kids.
And so like take me through like some of those programs and the ways that you are helping individuals. I I would I get a referral um and I only work with youth now. It's a generational thing. So if I'm working with one of the kids, I try to figure out how to help the full family, right? And so I I'll get a kid, I'll meet them, I'll experience the first barriers that they have. Normally those barriers come from people walking in their out of their lives.
Um so the first thing that's important to me is consistency. They see me, they know that I'm here. I'm genuine. I'm showing them love. I mean, I met kids that I was the first person that gave them a hug that they felt was genuine. And these are like 16, 17 year old kids that are having behavior issues.
Um, I work with kids with autism, uh, from Dayar, greatest kids in the world. I call them superheroes. So, once you really sit down and learn what their gifts are, then we just go go with those. I have a kid right now that I work with, man, he's so amazing, but his upbringing kind of throws him off. So, he was adopted at birth by a white family. He's a black kid.
So, now it's clashing for him because he's like, man, I want to feel more connected to black people, too. you know, him having parents, it puts him at a disadvantage because they're like, I mean, we don't really know how, right? So, when I got in, I've been I've been working with him for three years and it's one of my favorite kids. And, you know, just trying to figure out how to help him kind of figure out his identity with also and cuz you kind of went through a similar thing from like going to a school like Cathedral. No, like it was a private Catholic school like like we're not hiding anything here, but it's like you have experience in in these different and like helping blend those together. % 100%.
And so that's that's something that that I do and and I don't just work with black kids. I work with all kids, right? I work with any kid. Um and I feel like I can I can help any kid. Well, when a kid has faced adversity, you know, before the time they're 18, like what are some ways that you're helping them or what are some advice? Maybe there's an adult out here listening who like, "Oh man, my kids's been having a tough time with X, Y, or Z."
What would you recommend they do? Um so I would say get somebody else in. So like if you can get them a mentor or a therapist, that's super important because oftent times the person close to these kids are the person that they're not going to talk to the most, right? Um we got to create safe spaces for them where we allow them to do the talking. We allow them to do the feeling and not diminish how they feel, right? But it's just like adults what we need.
We need safe spaces. We need places where we can go and we can talk and we could just get it off. Yeah. It's like you don't want to complain about your boss to your coworker because your cooworker might tell your boss. 100%. Right?
You know what I mean? Or I might say something to mom about mom and it's going to piss her off and now I'm in trouble, right? And now our relationship is even more rocky. So get somebody in. And if you feel like your kids do talk to you, keep creating those safe spaces. Have the difficult conversations when it's when y'all are having a good time.
Don't wait until the kids in trouble to get on them about difficult conversations cuz it does feel like they do something wrong and then you also and and you didn't like damn you could have been said this to me. You know what I mean? But if we out having a good time and everything smooth, that's a great time to segue into a conversation where they can learn. I think a lot of times we put a lot of pressure on kids not realizing that they're kids. Like their brains aren't developed at all. Like you're trying to and then you add trauma to the development, it's like it it sets them back even more.
What do you say to a kid that might be maybe see the clip on Instagram and they're like, man, they're struggling with something. Well, it could be losing a parent. It could be, you know, that just life. I mean, you said life's going to life. Uh, what do you say to the kid that's struggling with some adversity at a young age? How do they what do they need to think about and how do they keep going?
Get themselves grace. I think we put so much pressure on ourselves from outside sources, right? Especially, you look at Instagram, it's a highlight tape of everybody's life. Like, ain't nobody getting on there and being super vulnered. You know what I mean? But would you even get the reaction you were looking for if you did say it right?
But I think that giving yourself grace is important and then reaching out to somebody when they are hurting because we don't need to try to take this journey alone. It's too hard. Like life life will kick your ass up and down if you don't figure out the ways to deal with it. You know what I mean? I think that was a um a big piece for me. I was 19 turned 20.
My mom passed away and I was like I I'm tough. I can figure this out. Like I've never met something that was that was tougher than I was. And like and the process took a lot longer than it might have had to had I just like whether it's a counselor or mentor or even like truth truthfully opening up and your friend like when you're a 19-year-old like kids don't know what to say either. So like had I know then what I know now I would have found more people to talk to versus just or like even writing. But I was like that's stupid.
This is like I'm tough like like you know what I'll figure it out. And I think that um opening up and talking more and giving other people permission. I think a big I mean you I don't know if you feel this way but like when you lose someone like your friends and your family and people close to you don't want to talk about them cuz they're worried that you're going to like break down and cry. And I'm like dude no one ever talks about it anymore. Like what the hell do you ever forget about it? And they're like well we just don't want to make so like giving them permission of like no I want to talk about this.
I want to go through these things. And that's super important for me as I teach kids how to communicate their trauma because like you said, we have this expectation of people supporting us in these moments. But how the hell do you do it? I think about me as a traumatized 17-year-old. There's nothing anybody could have said to me to make me feel better. Right?
That's why I treat that's why I teach what I teach to kids now because I realized too I didn't communicate what I needed. It's cuz I didn't know. Right? I didn't it wasn't like somebody grabbed me and was like, "Hey, when you lose somebody, these are some feelings that you're going to have. This is what this feels like. This and so that's what I teach at Struggle University is like these are normal human emotions when you deal with these types of traumas.
This is how you communicate it. If you can communicate your trauma, then somebody can help you." Yeah. Because the thing that everyone says like, "Hey man, you need anything? I got you." It's like, "Well, I don't need anything.
I need this specific thing that I can't probably communicate to you what I need." But it's like that's why I mean the advice that I got and like now I try to give is like instead of saying hey anything you need I got you. It's like hey do you need dinner tonight? Do you need to get coffee and talk to someone and like try to give a specific uh thing that I'm going to give to my friend or my person that like cuz I can give that right and it's like if that's not what you need cool but when you say anything it's like you do mean it like it comes from a good place. I mean there's this like thing where it's like asking a victim like what do you need to make a not they're like I don't know like don't ask me right uh so it's like giving them a specific ask like hey or like even just saying I'll pray for you and then like praying for someone% and and one thing I do similar to what you said is like I like all right well look I got dinner for you guys tonight that way that's another thing you don't you could take off your list to kind of have some time to yourself here's some money for dinner right and because you're right people people don't know how to communicate Okay.
What they need in that moment? I get you go on this for a minute. It's like it's like, oh, anything you need, I got you. It's like, you know what? Like, I just lost a parent. What I really need is like a turkey sandwich from Subway.
Like, I'm not going to say that, right? But when you show up, it's not the turkey sandwich. Like, do you want me to ask for a turkey sandwich? No. It's like a gesture. Yes.
Like, I swear though, that's one thing you think about small towns. It's like you would swear when my mom died of cancer and he's like, "You would swear that freaking apple pie and raspberry tarts and all this. You would swear dessert cures cancer in a small town, dude. Cuz they It's just like I don't know what you need, but it's probably dessert, nasty. I was like, [ __ ] dude. Our freezer is like stacked up with dessert for a year.
And it's like, damn. But it's a gesture. It is. And that that's like a one piece. Would you have other advice where it's like, hey, if if there's someone in your life that may be going through a tough time, pick something intentional, right? And like, hey, I'll give you dinner, I'll do this specific, go on a walk, whatever it is.
Do you have other advice for someone how they can help someone in their life that's struggling? Try to keep conversation normal. It's the worst thing when you, you know, somebody calls you and they're really just trying to have a conversation, but you're like, uh, how do you say, are you okay? How are you feeling? Or when you in person, I I'm a firm believer that hugs save lives. And there's a science to getting a hug.
I I I love giving out hugs, you know what I mean? Like, and it's not that I feel bad for you. I just want to give you a little love. That's it. And I do it on a consistent basis. So, when your traumas do happen and I give you a hug, this is normal.
This is normal, right? It's not like a weird hug where it's like when you hug someone you've never hugged before, you're like, "Okay, this is weird for both of us." No, for sure. Or or it's one of those things where I shake, you know, shake hands and bring it in, but just touch like just touch you. there's some energy and vibe that you can get from somebody just from, you know, yeah, showing some love. And so, um, I would say that, man, just try to be there for them as best as possible, but understand they're not always going to be able to communicate and they're not always going to feel good enough to even talk, but just give them space that they know that if they do feel like at any moment that they want to talk or they they want to feel some love, you got an open door policy for them.
What's one message you hope every young person takes away from your work? I hope that by being vulnerable about about my pain, it can help you through yours and it's never over. Um, and you always have an option. Take care of yourself. That's number one. Figure out what that looks like for you because life is going to life.
And if you learn how to take care of yourself before life's big big life comes to you, like, you know what I mean? When it starts lifeing, you can really give yourself a chance. Because there's a lot of people that go through their worst traumas and get stuck and they're stuck forever and it's just like we were put here to still experience life no matter what it throws at us. I think that the big thing that older people like to talk about is like oh this generation is so soft and yada yada yada and it's like in a world that's so plugged in and online. I don't know if necessarily they're soft, but the problems are different. And like to someone who's older doesn't understand it and didn't grow up in it, like like seeing all the comparisons on Instagram or this that and the other.
It's like this like struggle with mental health in in our youth is very very real. Like what are some of the challenges that you see the kids that you're working with facing and how are they dealing with that? I and and see I think that they're different in the fact that they're they're more in tune with their emotions. So like us, we just oh it is what it is. We just gonna keep going. They know how they feel and they can communicate it if they feel safe, right?
I think the problem is is there's not a lot of safe spaces for them to get it off and then it turns into anger impulse and they act on because there's no like solo time, right? Like I remember when I would go to my bedroom at night when I was, you know, eighth grade, ninth grade, whatever. It was like I didn't have a or maybe I had a freaking flip phone and everyone went to bed or you ran out of minutes or whatever. And it's like like you were alone, right? Yeah. You're never alone.
And you were truthfully like your mind is it's just you and your thoughts 100%. And today it's like you don't have to sit there and like be in your own head for a little bit. Like you're in everyone and everyone else is in your head, right? And and dealing with that, man. Um other things you see and it's just totally different. Like you said, it's like I can't just sit alone at at any point because if I get too bored, I could just scroll.
And then when I'm scrolling, I'm looking at other people's thoughts and that's not that's still backing me away from how I truly feel from actually processing how your day went or how this went or how that went. Dude, it's a lot. But when they love you, they love you. I know you know that you a coach, man. When they love you, they love you and they are they're they're locked in. They listen to you.
They they they're still going to make mistakes. their kids, but they but they really genuinely love you. And the biggest advice I have from whether it's coaching or mentoring or anything like that is like when I started well I from the beginning I've always you know been like a relationship guy and it's like during wrestling season but outside like I care about you as a person 100%. Like you're going through life and like and when they do when life lives and it's like even you know white kids at private schools have issues, right? like they're not all the issues don't all look the same. But like like I was a public school kid from rural Indiana.
I was like I hate private school like no chance I ever do that. And then I got in there and it's like oh these kids have problems. There's poor kids here for sure. Like there's kids that have struggle. I mean you're Yeah, I'm doing it now. Yeah.
I work in Cathedral now. Yeah. these kids like my situation was was what was what it was. But there are kids right now that go through my cohorts at Cathedral that will blow your mind what they've been through. And these are they're 15 and 16 and they're navigating this private school that's kind of like I mean when when you go to Cathedral you make a business decision. It's not like a fun school to go to like it's not they'll have like it's a business.
That's what that's what I tell them. You trying to go in the NFL, right? You're trying to you're you're figuring out your future now when you go to a school like this. Like it's not going to be the traditional feel where you going to be able to clown and get away with stuff. Nah, they eyes is on you. So, but they're navigating this space that's totally different from what they're used to on top of dealing with their trauma.
I teach them how strong they are because you got to be a strong person to go in that space every day and still figure it out. the the growth comes at the edge of your comfort zone, right? And it's like you grow up in the IPS system. The comfort zone would have been IPS, right? And it's like getting these different experiences and being able to like, you know, blend them and put play in both circles and all that stuff. It's like on top of all the other stuff, dude.
It's wild. That's a lot, man. Man, we uh we're coming down to the end of the show. I have some uh some segments here and some questions to ask you. So, the first one is our younger year segment. It's brought to you by our friends at OR Fellowship.
They're a great organization here in Indiana helping develop young business leaders across the state. So Erin, what advice would you give to your 22-year-old self? My 22-year-old self go to therapy. I'm experiencing things now as an adult, which I've done the inner work, the shadow work, but I'm still seeing where it came from. And I feel like at 22, if I could have went to therapy and got some direction, it would have definitely definitely propelled me mentally. The best analogy I ever had or heard about it was uh people that treat therapy as like gym for your brain, like going to the gym for your brain.
Whether it's a mentor or therapy or whatever, processing emotion or a business coach, like there are a lot of coaches where you can just talk through things with no judgment. And a lot of times you can get there on your own, right? For sure. But it's the act of doing it that helps you get there. Yeah. And it's that human interaction.
It's like, yeah, I'm dealing with this, but somebody actually cares to listen, man. Yeah. That's really, really good advice. Uh, and so you guys are also just featured on WRTV for Black History Month. And uh, talk to me about that piece and and what y'all are doing. Um, so it was dope, man.
So I I run cohorts at different schools, but that one was particularly at Cathedral. Um, and they actually had the kids tell you why they love our program, and that means the world to me cuz, man, I didn't create this for any other reason than to help these kids. Um, and for them to come out on the news and say how I've impacted their lives. I mean, there's no greater feeling. Like that's like getting a championship trophy for me. Yeah, that's what they're doing.
Um and it just continues to push the work forward. I think it's awesome. And it's not only just the uh programs, you also have the clothing brand, right? So talk to me through uh what's your favorite struggle made me piece. It's going to sound cliche, but all of them. Um and so with the pieces, um I created a brand that is to motivate any and everybody that experiences any type of adversity.
So on each of the clothing, I leave a little message for for them. So, you'll be able to look down and maybe you'll remember how strong you are while you're wearing this this dope piece, you know what I mean? And so, I just wanted to try something different with it. I love motivational speaking. That's what I do. Um, that's another portion of my business.
Um, so I wanted to be able to motivate people through the clothes also. Yeah, I think it's great. I know you guys do those uh those letter jackets with the special note. Yeah. So, those are those are uh specifically for Stroer University graduates. You got to be a graduate.
You don't you can't just buy the leather jacket. Um what's one thing you wish more people understood about mental health? That we all deal with it. Even when you know people say, "I'm good. I'm great. I'm all right."
Um I think we all deal with some portion of mental health that a lot of times goes unre uh un unressed. But I think we all could use somebody. You know what I mean? Um especially when you going through some stuff, everybody needs somebody to just be a friend. and and what do I say? We listen and we don't judge.
We listen and we don't judge. Like we need somebody like that in your life. So, um if you are good and you're feeling good and you you feel as everything is all right, then then be that blessing to somebody else. What do you say to the Cathedral Irish haters out there? The people that just like from the outside looking in. Ah, we ate Cathedral.
Everybody hate the big dogs, man. That's okay. You know, um what I will say to y'all is uh go get y'all some rings for those watching at home. He's got the He's got the ring tad on. Oh, buddy. I love it.
All right. Well, these are the same three questions we ask everyone who sits in that chair. Absolutely. First one, what is something the world needs to know about Indiana? There are some of the dopest people in the world here. It's hard here.
So, if people are really taking strides to make it in Indiana, um I think we can go anywhere and be successful. What is a hidden gem in Indiana? Christmas Addicts Museum is a hidden It's a lot of history in there. my my great aunt uh used to run it when I was there. But we also have a lot of historic things. Samson Leverson, it's my guy, man.
If y'all want to know some real Indiana history, go on one of those walks. Yeah. Uh well, go on one of his walking talks, as well as by the time this episode comes out, Samson's episode will also be outp like the only other person I've met that's obsessed with Indiana as I am. Like he loves it. And he has those like guided tours where he has the pamphlets and the handouts and he talks about different stuff. He's awesome.
Yeah, for sure. But another cathedral guy, right? For sure. You know, I gotta keep You guys started on the same around the same class. We were there at the same time, but uh he's younger than me. Gotcha.
Yeah, he's he's a really good dude. And that's this teased up to give some love to someone else, too. So, who's a Hooer that we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. So, you got Quinn Collins. Um he out here stepping in the community.
He really he's one of my people that I'm with every day. What what does he do? So, he does uh social work like me. So, helping with youth, helping with families. And then a shout out to uh Brandon Beasley. He does the same.
He works at um he coaches basketball addicts, works in um Short Ridge and everything is about kids. And I always uplift um youth workers because we don't always get, you know, people don't really know how hard, right? It's not a glamorous life and that's cool, but these are two people that really put the other people's kids before themselves. Aaron, man, thank you for coming on and sharing your story, man. It's a it's a heck of a ride from, you know, talking about football and and hardship and struggle and growing up and bouncing around. Like, I I just appreciate you coming on and and being one easy to talk to and especially about like difficult topics.
Like sometimes we sit in the chair and it's like a fun uplift thing like we're talking about Indy500 and racing or whatever. But other it's fun and it's it's the right thing to have conversations that are a little more difficult with uh people with different backgrounds. I mean I find it very very fascinating and I love learning, you know, people's stories. So I just appreciate you being willing to share that and thank you for the work you're doing to impact the youth of Indiana. If people want to connect with you, find you, how how can they get plugged in? Big Speaker AG on uh Instagram, Aaron Green on Facebook, uh website is um www.
stroguniversity. org. Any of those ways is a perfect way to get in contact with me. Please, let's let's Yeah. Who are the right people to reach out to you? Uh funders.
Um funders. Um especially in the nonprofit space. And then kids really. If there's some kids out there that feel like they just need an outlet, I promise I'm going to write you back. Amen. Or text you back.
Yeah. Yeah. Appreciate you coming on, man. Keep up the good work. Thank you, brother. Thank you for listening to this episode of Get In.
If you like what you heard, make sure you leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all of my gear recommendations at sweetwater. com. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being part of what makes the Hoosier State great.
We'll see you next time here on Get
