An Army of Normal Folks - Why Your Worst Mistake Doesn't Have to Define You

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

In this Shop Talk, we unpack how Kobe Bryant’s powerful redemption story proves that your worst mistakes don't have to define you. And how An Army of Normal Folks can make a difference, even when our stories aren’t perfect! Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello everybody. It's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks, and we welcome you into the shop. Hey, Alex. How you doing? Oh, hello, Bill. Everything going all right in your world? Some good, some bad, yeah. You got a girlfriend yet after your last breakup? Complicated. Oh, it's complicated, he says. Do we really want to get into it?

No, we're not getting into it. Okay, shop talk number 99. Who's a 99? Oh, I forgot the look. How about Cindy Lauper, 99 Red Balloons? Oh, really? That's a good one. I don't even know if it was Cindy Lauper. There was a song, 99 Red Balloons. Oh, come on, dude.

Who was it? Wayne Gretzky. What? Oh, Wayne Gretzky. That makes us look real bad. Who's saying 99 Red Balloons? Now my brain's going to be stuck on it. Wait, Grosky.

The great one. How could we not forget? I mean, yeah. Nina? Yeah, that's it. 99 Red Bulls is like an 80s song. All right. Here's one.

You don't know any of the football ones? There's a pretty good one here. Hold it. Elsie Greenwood. I don't think so. Maybe he wasn't 99. Warren Sapp. Oh, good.

Oh, hold it. Jason Taylor. Hold it. Our Simeon Rice guy, if I didn't remember Warren Sapp, would have probably blown us up. So, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Warren Sapp. I guess Dan Hampton was a hall of them with the Bears too. Yeah, he was awesome.

Yeah. A lot of good 99. Yeah. That's good. No, there's song 99 problems. So if we forgot Simeon Rice with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we did not forget Warren Sapp. Yeah.

That would have been an impossible omission. There we go. I'm pretty sure his email actually said when you get to 99, if you forget Warren Sapp, I'm going to drive to Memphis and hit you. I think it said something like that. So now I'm safe. Oh, Mani Ramirez, too. Mani Ramirez was 99.

I guess. I guess. That's what I guess. That's article's in. All right, here we go, everybody. Shop. Number 99. Why your worst mistake doesn't have to define you.

Love the title. We'll get to it right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep, no clean. Clean up, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience.

You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals, without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 meals, free shipping, and free sides for life. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to facturemeals.ca and use code fit.

That's 11 meals, free shipping, and free size for life, but only with the code fit at factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. 10-10 shots fired in City Hall building. A silver 40-caliber handgun was recovered at the scene. From I-Heart podcasts and Best Case Studios. This is Worshack, murder at City Hall. How could this have happened in City Hall?

Somebody tell me that. July 2003, Councilman James E. Davis arrives at New York City Hall with a guest. Both men are carrying concealed weapons. And in less than 30 minutes, both of them will be dead. Everybody in the chambers docks. A shocking public murder. I scream, get down, get down.

Those are shots. Those are shots. Get down. A charismatic politician. You know, he just bent the rules all. a tie man. I still have a weapon and I could shoot you. And an outsider with a secret.

He alleged he was a victim of flat down. That may or may not have been political. It may have been about sex. Listen to Roershack, murder at City Hall on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing

music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles to play songs together in an intimate setting. Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Leve, Mavis Staples, Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name. And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Kara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point.

Definitely the phantom in that. That's so funny. Share each day with me each night, each morning. Say you love me. You know I... So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to playing along on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity,

the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about, are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean the like the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president. Let's walk a rousette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not. my circus. It was a good one. I like that snake. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polar game. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't

Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everybody, welcome back Shop Talk number 99. We're going to talk about why your worst mistake doesn't have to define you. There's an adage that you should expect adults to change. And there's a lot of truth in that. It's risky to expect a potential employee or a potential spouse to change something about their character personality that isn't ideal because most times people won't. At the same time, change and redemption are possible and our hearts must be open to it. Today, we're going to talk about one of the greatest

redemption stories ever, which is Kobe Bryant's. We all know Kobe Bryant as the competitor. the Mamba mentality, the 4 a.m. workouts, the five NBA championships with the L.A. Lakers. One other thing, that even after practice was over, as the star of the Lakers, he would often spend two and three hours after practice by himself, just shooting. But that's not the most important part of his story. In 2003, Kobe made a decision that broke his marriage. He was accused of sexual assault and emitted infidelity. And whatever lens you look at at that through. One thing is undeniable. He caused damage, real damage, to his wife, to his family, and to his reputation. And in that moment, the world saw a superstar fall. But what most people

didn't see was what happened next. And the reason is redemption doesn't happen in public often. It happens in private. It happens in hard conversations, long, long nights, moments where you have to sit with yourself and ask, who am I? And what do I want to become? It's those times where the mirror can sometimes be your worst enemy. But it can also be your best help. Kobe later said, you have to be comfortable with looking at yourself in that mirror and being honest. That's where redemption starts, not with an apology, not with a press conference, but with honesty. And here's what matters. He didn't run. He didn't run. He didn't run. He stayed.

He stayed in the marriage. He stayed in the discomfort. He stayed in the slow, painful work of rebuilding trust. Now, let's talk about Vanessa, his wife, because her role in the story is really extraordinary. She could have left with their kids and taken more probably than half of his earnings and his future earnings, and she'd have been just fine financially. But she chose to stay. She chose to forgive him.

And forgiveness is not weakness, and especially in this case, it's actually strength. It's not forgetting. It's not pretending something didn't hurt. It's choosing to believe that the person can become more than their worst decision. Vanessa said after Kobe's death, my baby, my king, my best friend, think about that. That doesn't come from perfection. That comes from years of rebuilding something that was broken. That comes from growth, from showing up different.

from becoming a different man and for her a different woman. And one of the clearest places you saw that change was in how Kobe loved his daughters, especially Gianna. Gigi, that's Gianna, wasn't just his daughter. She was his teammate. She played basketball. She was serious about it. And Kobe coached her.

They would train together, break down film together, talk the game constantly, and Gigi was locked in. Kobe once said, she's got it. she's got that competitive fire that's not just a father that's a man who's present engaged invested that version of kobe doesn't exist without the earlier failure that's what redemption looks like not erasing the past but becoming someone different because of it now part of that transformation was his catholic faith he became more serious about it after his fall he talked about going to profession, about needing accountability, about needing something outside of himself. He said, God is great. Basketball is just a game. In a 2015 interview, he told GQ that he had to go to church

and talk to a priest after the affair. The priest asked Kobe if he sexually assaulted the woman. Colby said, no. He then asked, do you have a good lawyer? Kobe said yes. And the priest concluded, let it go, move on. God's not going to give you anything. you can't handle. It's in his hands now. And on the morning, Kobe died in a helicopter crash, he went to daily Mass. That's something that only half a percent of Catholics do. Think about that before getting on that helicopter before anything else that day. Kobe Bryant, this superstar, this man who had it all, he started his morning in a place of reflection and humility and faith at mass.

Now let's be clear about something. This story is not about excusing what he did. It's not about rewriting history. And I honestly think Kobe would be the last one to give an excuse for himself or want to rewrite history. It's about recognizing something much deeper. A person is not only the worst thing they've done. They're responsible for it and what they do after it, which is oftentimes the most important. And Kobe's life shows a trajectory from failure to ownership.

to rebuilding, to becoming a present husband, a deeply engaged father, a man grounded in something bigger than himself. Here's why this matters, because every single one of us has our own version of that moment. Maybe it's not public, maybe it's not that scale, but something you regret, something we wish you could undo, something that still sits in you, maybe sits in you and burns a little. And the question is the same. What do you do next? Do you hide from it? Do you minimize it?

Do you let it define you? Or do you face it, own it, and grow from it? Kobe said, everything negative, pressure, challenges, all of it, is an opportunity for me to rise. That's easier to say in sports. It's a lot harder to live in your marriage and your family and your personal life. But that's really where it matters most because you're not. legacy is not just what you achieve, it's who you become. And maybe the most powerful part of Kobe's story is not the championships. It's that he didn't stay the same man. So whatever you're carrying,

whatever mistake, whatever regret, don't waste it. Let it shape you, let it refine you, let it push you to become someone better than you were before because redemption is real. But it requires honesty it requires change and sometimes it requires someone else choosing to believe in you again like Vanessa did in Kobe which ultimately one could argue not only saved his life on earth but maybe saved his life eternally because of how it rooted him again in his faith and that the fact that he died on that helicopter that day he started that day a mass no doubt the worst thing that's ever happened in your life should not define you. And the story of Kobe Bryant teaches us that and should be encouragement and inspiration for all of us

to work hard every day to look in the mirror and become better versions of ourselves. It's a good story, Alex. Thanks, Bill. What made you think of it? I don't know. We were talking about it one day and it came up in another shop talk. it's always stuck with me I mean obviously I'm Catholic as a lot of people know

and I find it interesting you to get any black Catholics like that's not what people usually expect they think it's just white people at a church and you know the fact when I learned that Kobe was and I really respect anyone who makes the effort to go to daily Mass that's not that's hard that's not easy to do with your schedules and obviously it's a beautiful

redemption story in their marriage reminds me of like Paul Young and the author of The Shack who we interviewed to where after his affair they spent 10 years repairing their marriage and now they have this extraordinary, you know, relationships. So, yeah, Kobe's story is just always kind of kept with me and thought it was about time we finally do a shop talk on it.

Yeah, it's good. And, you know, I actually included that riff at the beginning, too, about, you know, we don't expect people to change. I've had to think about it. I'm sure you've had it with work, right? Like, it's hard to expect an adult to change. Most of us don't. We're kind of stuck in our ways or they're thinking about dating or a spouse.

Yeah, but change is growth. So we need to challenge ourselves to constantly look at ourselves and our worlds and think about how we can change them to be better. Most adults don't. I mean, that's kind of the hard thing with it, but we still have to keep our hearts open to the fact that people can't. So it's true. I love it. Well, something to learn from Kobe Bryant today. And, you know, I think the challenge from all of it is to just look in the mirror, think about how we can be better.

and whatever that heavy yoke that's burning the back of our necks, it's carrying us around that it's some of our biggest regrets. We've got to remember that Kobe's story shows us that those regrets don't have to define us. It's what we do and how we respond to them after that should define us. And I think it's a great story. And certainly as it pertains to an army and normal folks, If Kobe Bryant can humble himself from how lofty he was, you know, maybe that's the ultimate moral to the story is

we need to humble ourselves and think of a life that's bigger than the little things we have going on in our own. Another lesson for the Army, I think, too, is just because you don't have some perfect story, doesn't mean you can't serve. That's a great example. That's perfect. That's well.

That's well said. That's the best way to wrap it up. So that's it. shop talk number 99 you are not defined by what your biggest mistakes have been and there's always a place for redemption and humility so that's it if you enjoy this episode please share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast rate it and review it join the army at normalfokes dot us and look at starting a service club go to our website there's a whole page on it there all that join one join what

Join a service club, start one. That's all the things. All right. That's shop talk number nine. We'll see you next one. What's that happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. A shocking public murder.

This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I scream. Get down. Get down. Those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten. And a mystery.

That may or may not have been political. That may have been about sex. Listen to Roershack. Murder at City Hall on the Eyehart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Nora Jones, and my podcast playing along is back with more of my favorite musicians. Check out my newest episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point.

Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that. That's so funny. Share each day with me each night each morning. Listen to Nora Jones is playing along on the I-Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dick and Poll show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand.

Better version of Play Stupid Games, win Stupid Prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. But, hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close, though. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Saturday, May 2nd, country's biggest stars will be in Austin, Texas.

At our 2026 IHeart Country Festival presented by Capital One. Tickets are on sale now. Get yours before they sell out at Ticketmaster.com. That's Ticketmaster.com.