Stay Tranquilo - From the NFL to self-discovery—this is Jelani Jenkins’ Journey | Life After Sports

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

In this episode of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast (in partnership with PAC – Pro Athlete Community), former Miami Dolphins and Florida Gators linebacker Jelani Jenkins opens up about his football career, the transition out of sports, and the deep inner work that reshaped his life.We go beyond the stats and highlight reel to explore:✅ The pressures of playing for Urban Meyer & Florida during the Swamp Kings era✅ Being drafted by the Miami Dolphins & the gritty reality of NFL life✅ The emotional toll of leaving the game & navigating identity after football✅ Healing hidden traumas & finding peace through meditation, stillness & self-awareness✅ How pain can lead to purpose, gratitude, and personal growth✅ The law of least resistance, detachment from emotions, and the power of acceptance✅ Spiritual signs, synchronicities & reconnecting with the universeThis is more than a sports story—it’s about mental health, mindset shifts, and evolving beyond what you thought defined you. Jelani shares how embracing vulnerability, gratitude, and awareness transformed his life, and how these lessons now guide him as a speaker, father, and creator.✨ “It’s like a snake shedding old skin—you have to let go of what no longer serves you to grow.”🎙️ Topics we dive into:NFL pressure vs. college brotherhoodTransitioning from athlete to a new identityMeditation, journaling & internal healing practicesBooks & mentors that shaped Jelani’s journey (A New Earth, The Untethered Soul, Tony Robbins, Eckhart Tolle)Why gratitude and stillness are the real superpowers👉 Subscribe for more authentic conversations with athletes, entrepreneurs, and creators: https://www.youtube.com/@UCF-0mZ0hRZ88wlOZnCd_evQ 👉 Watch more Life After Sports episodes here: [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7Wpt3k9KLalKvpdJ37HkweIwYQ_-S4RE&si=il-1sb67-UrxbaAX#JelaniJenkins #StayTranquilo #LifeAfterSports #MindBodySoul #NFLStories #SelfAwareness #Meditation #PersonalGrowth #HealingJourney #UrbanMeyer #SwampKings #MiamiDolphins #Gratitude #SpiritualGrowth #MentalHealth Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

That mind, body, soul connection, you're going to discover a lot and sometimes it's going to be ugly. But you got to go through that, right? It's like how a snake releases old skin, right? And we got to go through these like rehealings of ourselves, right? We have these traumas that maybe we've never really paid attention to, right? And all of a sudden, it's just kind of buried in here. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait a minute, that's why I'm pissed all the time. I'm angry all the time, right?

Yeah, and it's amazing how like strong. and powerful those things are when they're left hidden when you don't shine a light on it. You know, it's like a monster that's in shadows and it's just bothering you because you don't know it's there necessarily and it's not, but as soon as you shine a light on it, it's like it withers a weapon. So it's just the awareness of it in itself is about to say that. Yeah, the awareness of it. There's power and awareness. And without that awareness, you're not going to be able to discover the ugly or the good.

What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Stay Tranquilo podcast. We're here in partnership with PAC Pro Athlete Community. We got Jalani Jenkins in the building. I appreciate you for taking the time. And really looking forward to this conversation where we get to obviously talk about you and your career, but more than anything, hear more about the person you are

and being able to tell your story and where you're at today. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. I'm happy to be here. I'm all about staying calm, What you're fine about me is I'm peaceful. I am all about the chill, calm vibe. So I'm excited for the combo as well. Absolutely.

So I always like to really tell the journey as to where you are, Tidori. Right. So talk to me a little bit about that process when you were heading over to UF to go play with the Gators, your time there at that gaiters, and how that whole part of your life was. Yeah. Have you seen Swampkins? Yeah. So I'm like the fourth episode of Swamp Kings.

I got there, I got recruited out from Maryland. I got recruited from Urban Meyer. This was the year they had just won the national championship. And I'm coming into a place that was on top of the world. But it was also like the most pressure. I don't if you remember that last episode, but like they were experiencing pressure. And we couldn't walk anywhere with Tebow because everyone was all around us.

And it was interesting. I chose to go there because I knew that they would be the best opportunity. to get me to the NFL, and I knew that I was going to be in the best locker room that you can imagine being number one at that time. And so it was a dream and true. I never thought I'd be going to the University of Florida, but just the idea to play at that level, it was a dream from me. And I learned a lot. Obviously, got trained and prepared by the best of the best and was in the locker with the best of the best. Had Brandon Spikes in front of me, I knew I wasn't going to play in front of him, but I knew that I was going to learn from him. So I really came into that place

humble and ready to learn, ready to grow, ready to develop. And I think quickly because I was so willing to learn, I became a leader and had a really dope career that kind of led me to the NFL. Yeah. How was it playing under Urban Meyer? Obviously, Irvin Myers, a very respected individual in the space. Yeah. You know, been an NFL coach, you know, led some of the biggest college football programs out there. Tell me a little bit about playing under Urban. It was intense. It looks like going back to that Swamp King's like you see it in there. Everything you see is real. I mean, and it actually could have gone a little bit deeper on some of the intensity of it.

But I'm sure he was in the editing room not showing everything. But it was intense. It really, you know, it forced you to grow. Like you couldn't go in there and be the same person. You had to match the standard that was developed. It was a championship standard and a championship culture. And I think he did a great job in making sure everybody, in the building was accountable to a high standard.

And so when you come in as a young buck, you got to buy in. I think the beautiful part about it is he had leaders in the room who had just won. And so it wasn't all on him in the coaching staff. It was guys in the locker room, the Tebow's, the Spikes, the Joe Hayden's, you name it. So playing under that regime was like very intense.

And like, I remember feeling the pressure of what they were feeling. Yeah. But I also remember, like, growing super fast. And it made me more scrappy. It made me more confident. And they taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about myself.

And it taught me what it takes to be great. Yeah. I mean, you see it. I think you look at a guy like Urban Meyer and the players that have come through his pipeline have been extremely successful. So it's a testament, obviously, to his style of coaching. You know, even though it might be tough, there's a reward to it.

And I think we'll circle back to this conversation later on in the podcast. But tell me a little bit. And you play at UF, you get drafted by the Finns, right? Yes. And tell us a little bit about that path. You stay in the state of Florida, which is pretty cool. I was it was super cool staying in Florida. But I only staying in Florida like that year, my draft class had two other University of Florida players.

Mike Gillisley and Caleb Sturgis, who was our kicker. And so it really felt like I was just staying home. A lot of the guys who got drafted, they go anywhere in the country and they're usually not going with their teammates, but I stayed in Florida and brought two of my teammates with me. So I was like going into a rookie camp, I was able to breathe a little bit. I already had a click, if you will.

But no, that also was a dream come true. And it was not as easy of a situation because my last game at University of Florida, I was a Red Shirt Jr. And I broke my foot against Florida State. I had a Jones fracture. And I was Red Shirt Jr. So I remember feeling the pressure from, like,

my coaching staff at the time, like, to keep me there for one more year. But like a lot of my best friends, they were true seniors and were leaving. And I really felt like I was ready to go. My mind, my heart was ready to go. So there was a little bit of a contrast in my exit from University of Florida being like feeling my coaches wanting me to stay and also feeling the urge to leave and go and just trust myself. And so that combine era of preparing for the draft was one that felt it was an interesting feeling.

I had to really dive deep into my belief of self. Like I was in a boot. chances where I wasn't going to be able to run at the combine, but I had to believe that like, that my injury didn't knock me down too far and I would still have a great opportunity. And so I ended up going in the fourth round. Going into that year, I was projected to go a lot higher. So, you know, I took that hit, but I was also very happy in the fact that I was able to make it and get on there and to at least get drafted and get a little bit of change at the beginning. of my career.

So during that process, right, you're going through the draft. Was there any sort of a person or any sort of guidance that you had in that process, right? Because obviously you're, what, maybe 21 years old at that time, right? Just turned 21 at my job. You're dealing with an injury. And then it's like, okay, hey, go figure it out and put yourself in the position to get drafted at the highest. Like, did you obviously have like an agent and all that? But was there anyone kind of like walking you through that process?

That's a great question. My father, who has always been a big support system for me, and was like what I would say to my first unofficial, like, mental performance coach. Like, growing up, he was big on affirmations. So, like, reminding me whenever I felt, like, less confident, like, Janani, they can't stop you. Everything, every time you touch the ball, he's supposed to score. Like, he was just always in my ear with that kind of language. And so he was definitely somebody who I leaned into even more so during that era of, like, I believed in myself. but it was good to also know that I had somebody in my corner who believed in me as well.

That's you, yeah. So that confidence allowed me to keep on moving through that period, and the reward was seeing my name called. And it was not easy draft day when you see, like, day one goes by, your name is not called. Day two goes by round two, round three, your name is not called. Now you've got two nights where you're thinking of that night. You know what I mean? I remember the night before that draft, I just was, it was hard to see. Like, at any, like, I'm going to find out tomorrow I could be anywhere in the country.

You know, it was just like kind of a wild thing. And then I ended being like the fourth pick in the third day, fourth pick of the fourth round. So I got out of there pretty early. But it was still, you know, a lot of nerves. Of course. But it was good to have that support system. Yeah, no, that's huge. I mean, it's a pretty, I wouldn't say common thing, but you look at, you know, year over year,

these stories in the drafts like where hey you might you're projected a first or second you know day pick and all of a sudden you're falling you're falling obviously saw it with a guy like shaddor this year right like that was a huge thing but i'm i mean and i would love to hear your perspective on this how much of that is motivation moving forward now it's like you know hey here's my opportunity right because there's a that's a blessing at the end of the day whether you go you know first round or six round right at the end of day you have the opportunity now to to live out your dream and and play football at the highest level. Maybe you're not where you were expected to be.

But at the end of the day, it is a blessing. So how do you put that into perspective when something like that happens where you don't get where you thought you were going to be? But at the end of the day, you still have the opportunity to go play football. Yeah, I mean, you're doing now. It's fire in your back on. Like, it's something that absolutely you have in the back of your mind. I think some of the best players I've been around and played with were undrafted.

You know, they just had like this chip on their shoulder. So the biggest thing. thing I would say for everybody is at the end of the day you want that opportunity to show what you can do as soon as you get your foot in the door to show what you can do depending on how early you get picked up is usually like if you get picked up later on you're usually in a battle you know from the moment you get in true yeah you're not you know you're not committed into a spot yeah and so you just kind of know that and so it kind of makes you even more gritty like I got this opportunity but it doesn't mean I'm going to make the team when when when they do that final

cut it. Yeah, exactly. If you're not in the first, second round. And so, yeah, you've got to play with that ship on your shoulder. And you got to just find ways to be valuable in the less ways possible. And just know your goals ultimately weren't just to get drafted. But for me, it was to be a starter. It was to be an impact player.

So focusing on those goals and those goals are still ahead of you and it doesn't end by the draft. Right. How, I guess, much of a transition was it getting into the NFL from college? Like, obviously there's like a certain bond, I feel like when like, you know, college locker room, like you're bought into to this program, right? Like the way recruiting goes and you're in, you're sharing the same walls like for four years. Obviously there's a little bit of movement, but the NFL feels like there's way more turbulence

in that world, right? Tell me a little bit about that. You have some great questions. Now, you hit it right on the nail because what I loved most and I missed most, what I loved most about football was that brotherhood. And it was in college prior to the transfer portals and the NILs of the world. True. You go in freshman year with your group and you're with them for four years.

And when I played with the Dolphins, I mean, there's a lot of turnaround. I still kind of had this naive sort of like college feeling where I felt like the organization loved me. Like they would love everybody else. I still had this connection as if it was a college organization. But it was different. It was different seeing people sit with me by my locker one week and then the next week. Somebody else sit next to me. Like that was interesting.

That was interesting. I was fortunate to be an impact player pretty early on to where my seat was stationary for years. And then I had other core individuals who I was looking at for years. And then there's kind of people outside of that core nucleus where there's turbulence and people coming in and out. So that was weird and interesting. And that really hit me more so when I, after my fourth year, when I went to another team and went into another organization and realized, like, after my injuries, that fourth year

with Miami, that when I wasn't able to perform, I wasn't, they got me up out of there. And that's when I, that was when I was, like, really hurt. Yeah. You know what I mean? I was, like I mentioned to you, what I loved most was that Lockerman College, that kind of shift. things for me. And when I got to another team and I kind of started bouncing around like that that connective tissue, which I love the most was no longer there. And that's kind of what started to usher me out. Interesting. Yeah. I could see that, you know, like looking from the outside

in, it's like you build these relationships over time. And then at one moment they're like, hey, you're gone. And that's going to mess up your confidence. That's going to mess up, you know, You're just your relationships in the league. And now I would say you're starting from square one again. Yeah, exactly. Which that's not easy. And I don't think that's spoken about enough in the league in general, right? There are major sports in general, right?

It's a business at the end of the day. And the way it's operated is with the intent of what's best for that program and that team. Yeah. And maybe a little bit more. But at the end of the day, that's their job, right? The GMs, the head coaches, all that. And it's not really at the cost of like, you know, you and your mental health and, you know, what's best for you. Yeah.

Right. Yeah. So it's like it's how do you balance that as a program, right? Because you got to think about the person and yourself, but they got to think about the program. And, you know, it's entirety. So it's a tough spot to be in, obviously. It's very tough. I remember, like, when I left the Dolphins, I ended up playing for the Raiders.

And that organization was not. it didn't fit well with my spirit and myself. It just wasn't the best organization for me. And it's a full circle moment because right before this here at Pat, I'm downstairs. And the GM at the time for the Raiders was Reggie McKenzie. And his son is a part of this Pat cohort. And he came and sat down right next to me.

And I've had so much anger for the Oakland Raiders for so long in how I was ushered out of that space at that training camp. But I've healed. And I found gratitude in my life and really have healed from that part of me. So just a full circle moment. Like right before we started filming this, I went up to him. I was like, thank you so much for the opportunity. And like, we were able to like find some like real joy in that connection.

He was like, Jolani, right? You went to the University of Florida, right? And we were able to like really connect. And I was like, yeah, you know, I was there for a high second. I didn't make the team. And we both were just like, you know, that's how it goes. But it was a very positive interaction. And it felt like closure.

Like literally just before this. Wow. I just got goosebumps. That's crazy. It's interesting we're having this combo right now. So you mentioned something

that I think is interesting, right? You talk about kind of like that anger that was pent up, right? How was that process of healing, right? I mean, the fact that that just happened, you know, moments ago, but obviously you've done your internal healing

and work to be able to work through that. How does that process look like for you? Yeah, it's, initially looked like escaping. It initially looked like doing everything I could to escape from that reality that I never played football again. And what that looked like for me, I never been addicted to anything but video games.

And so it was like video games, but it was really, it was also a lot of cannabis. Like I was, I remember my wife, she had just gotten this polar worry camera. This is probably eight months out of retirement. She just got in this polar way camera. And she was trying it out and she was just trying to see how it worked. And I was sitting on the couch. And she took a picture of me with the Polaroid camera.

And I remember on that picture, there was a big old bong on the table. I had my headphones on. I was playing Call of Duty. I had like two empty plates on the table. I had like clothes all around me. And I looked a little overweight for what I thought I was. And I remember seeing that picture and feeling like disgusted by it and like not knowing who that person was. And that was like the first wake-up call for me to see that I wasn't really where I was supposed to be.

So that was kind of the wake-up call that led me to reach out to the head of player development for the Miami Dolphins, Caleb Thornhill, who is the co-founder of Pat. Yeah. Like full-circle moment. And that kind of started my journey. And so that healing for me started off. I met with somebody who's not one of my mentors that Caleb connected me with. He invited me to a Tony Robbins event. And that kind of opened my mind up to a lot of things.

It got me into the passion of speaking and coaching and reading and meditating and just learning how to go within. And I guess feeling more empowered. I think at the time I was pointing fingers at people outside of me. Not holding any accountability for myself. And so that work was reempowering myself and finding gratitude for my journey. and once I was able to find gratitude for my journey and all the ups and downs and the quote-unquote failures, I was able to go back and like extract the gifts and the gold

and the lessons that I learned from it and to be able to use it in the next phase. Yeah, that's beautiful. And I think there, you know, I read a lot too. I like to meditate as well. I journal a lot. And, you know, there is a process through that that you discover a lot,

which I think is really interesting. thing, right? When you put in the time to really pay attention to what's going on in here and what you're feeling here, right? Just like that mind, body, soul connection. You're going to discover a lot, and sometimes it's going to be ugly. But you got to go through that, right? It's like how a snake releases old skin, right? And we got to go through these, like, rehealings of ourselves, right? We have these traumas that maybe we've never really paid attention to, right? And all of a sudden, it's just kind of buried in here and then all of a sudden you're like wait a minute that's why i'm pissed all the time yeah i'm angry all the time right and it's amazing how like strong and powerful those things are when they're

left hidden when you don't shine a light on it you know it's like one of it's like a monster that's in shadows and it's just bothering you because you don't know it's there necessarily and it's and it's not but as soon as you shine a light on it it's like it withers away so it's just the awareness of it in itself is about to say that yeah the awareness there's power and awareness and without without that awareness you're not going to be able to discover the ugly or the good right it works both ways but you need to build that awareness and the way you build that awareness is through meditating you know sitting in silence journaling right paying attention to what's going on in here right because when you're so externalized every day right we're on our phones

or we're busy you know doing our day jobs or whatever it may be you're distracted right You're not really paying attention to how you feel. But what happens? People get home. It's late at night. Oh, I can't sleep. This, that, right? Like, I'm stressed out.

It's because you haven't taken the time to look at yourself and see what the hell is going on in here. Because you're so, and then what do people do, right? They look for these escapes, right? It might be drugs. It might be overworking. It might be alcohol. It might be whatever it may be, right? I think everyone's got their vices.

But the reality is we find these because it's our way of escaping and not actually. actually taking the time to feel. And there's so much power and stillness, that's where the money's made, I always say. A thousand percent. I'm curious how you fell into meditation. It's interesting. So I, when I was about 18, my parents got divorced.

My parents were together 22 years or so. And it was not a good divorce. My, you know, I was close to both my parents. I kind of grew up in a great household. Like, everything was good. Went to private school as a kid, played sports. Like, everything was good. And then it was like one of these things, like flip a switch and like blown up.

Like life was a lie essentially. Like my house got repoed. My cars got repoed. You know, my dad was into some stuff. And basically like everything that I knew my life to be was not real. then I see the impact that it had on my mom and just like this I'm just like just from one day to the next kind of thing right and obviously I'm 18 years old I haven't even like learned anything about myself but there I had to like really wake up I had my brother at the time my youngest brother at the time was five years old my dad's gone so now I become the father figure for my five year old brother I'm 18 years old and it's like I had to grow up fast right and I I think, you know, obviously there's a lot of anger at that time. There's a lot of confusion at that time.

But for whatever reason, right, something took me down this journey where it's like, I need to read books. I need to meditate. I need to take the time to discover myself in this process, right? Because if I don't discover myself, like, my family will fall apart. For whatever reason, you know, when you look at your calling and, you know, that inner voice, you know, you call it God, whatever you want to call it, was saying, hey, go down this path, right? You're young, but it's worth going down this path.

And in that, I read a lot of books by Eckhart Toll, Tony Robbins, you know, was a big inspiration. Ed Milet, I listened to a lot of his podcast at the time. And a lot of these just, like, inspirational people, right, and hearing their stories and saying, yeah, I came from a really bad situation, but look at me now. But I had to do the work. I had to do this, right? And I just felt a connection to all these people that are very successful, you know, very aware, very in tune with who they are. But it came from a place of pain.

Yeah. It didn't come from the good life. It came from a painful part of their life that forced them now to say, hey, I'm going to discover myself and I'm going to come out on the other side better from this. Yeah. And it's really just, it was a journey. Meditating changed my life forever. Like I say to his day

I don't practice it as much as I want to now You know I still do it here and there But I Like Not to say that I felt like I was like an enlightened human being But I did feel like Like I was on a cloud All the time

Absolutely It is You make a great point about like how that The pain and the challenges and pressure How that can lead to some of these things Like It's when we are not like feeling good within ourselves or something's not right or something really

challenging is happening I found like those moments when you like make a decision about what kind of life you do want to live or you or you can see like I do not like this right you get angry like I used to think like getting angry was like bad it's like it's not bad like getting angry allows you to just clarify what it is you do and it's energy to like propel you forward and so I'm I think that's help me in my gratitude practice. When things are not going well, I've learned to say thank you. I now know what I do want and focus solely on that and allow that frustration to propel me to doing something different. So, yeah, I've learned to really love the challenges in my life. You've really challenging. You have to. You have to embrace whatever life is going to be thrown at you,

right? Because, you know, there's like the law, have you heard of the law of least resistance? Yes. Right? Yeah. The more you fight what the, you universe is throwing at you, you're not allowing it to pass on and move on. And it's the same thing with the emotions that you feel, right? If you're fighting the anger you're feeling, you're going to continue to be angry because you're just getting frustrated that you're angry. Instead of saying, hey, okay, I notice I'm angry, right? Like, I'm angry, right? Because I think you have to create that detachment from the emotion, realize, okay, this emotion is not me. I'm the one experiencing this emotion and be okay. I'm like, why am I feeling this? It's okay that I'm feeling this. It's okay that

I'm feeling this and just let it go. And that's where you create that space internally to be able to allow new emotions to flow through, new energies to flow through. And it's just constant evolution. But when we fight that, we're never going to be able to grow. It comes from a place of acceptance, which that was something, you know, going through that journey. I just like, I just got to accept this.

You know, like the saying, it is what it is, right? And it sounds simple, but the reality is we do have to accept the good and bad that life throws our way and use it as power to move forward. Yeah, 100%. I love this conversation. I can talk about this. Me too. My favorite books is A New Earth by Eckert told me.

That was the book that showed me like it empowered me as well, like realizing how much my ego was playing a role in some of my own stuff. And taking things personal, you know what I mean? I think that helped me be able to go up to Reggie McKinsey. Yeah. I appreciate you. Instead of like taking any of the next level growth right there. Exactly, exactly.

So, yeah, I love these time books. Yeah, you know me too. So what other books have you read? Another big one is Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza. I mean, Power of Intention, Transformers, Jacqueline Small, the Alchemist. Alchemist is a good one. Yeah. Have you read The Power of Now?

The Power of Now. Yes, I read that one. seat of the soul. Untethered Soul? I haven't read Untethered Soul yet. Read that one. I tell people to wait on the Untethered Soul book, but a person like you that's already gone down this journey of all these different books and the meditation, like you will be

able to fully grasp. Untethered Soul was one of the books I like. Really? That was the one? Just, yeah. Who was that bad again? Michael A. Singer. Yeah, I got to get that.

Yeah. It just like, it. I've heard of it. It changed my mind. my perspective on everything. I remember like being like, wow, okay, now I understand this. It's deep, right? And I think that's why I say it can't be like someone's like first intro book into the space.

It's got to be like you, you know, you're very understanding of that space and say, okay, now I want to get a little bit deeper into it. Did you notice your external world shift? Like, at what way did you notice your external world shift once you started doing the internal practices? The flowers were brighter. Yeah. The mood was lighter. My body felt lighter.

Yeah. You know, way less, you know, no anger. Things were coming naturally to me. Mm-hmm. I noticed that too, yeah. You know? Like, you talk about, like, the law of attraction. It was like the law of least effort, you know, that whole world.

Like, things that I wouldn't even be looking for that were good were just coming my way, coming into my life and it was coming from a place that, you know, you're not really seeking it, but it's coming to you. You know, those were like the little things that I remember. And I just remember, like, it felt like I would see a bird and like, you know, someone probably, you know, that doesn't know this, will hear me say this and like, this guy's on drugs, but I'm not. No, no, that's real.

You're talking to the right one. I don't know about the, yeah. But I would be up in my car, right? And I'll never forget this moment. I'm seeing this swarm of vultures flying over and I'm like, they're communicating to me. Right? Like what are they trying to tell me? And basically it's like you're in a rebirth right now.

Wow. And like that was just a message that I was getting. And it was little things like that that I'm like, I feel so connected to the universe right now that every little thing that's happening feels like a message. We're a message. Like I'm communicating to you. You're communicating to me. We're not saying obviously any physical words to each other. But I actually feel that deep.

So those things, I would say, were like, huge. That's incredible. I'm getting chills because, like, my, I have one tattoo, and it's a cross with three birds on it. And my, I would say, my spiritual totem are, like, three birds in unison because of the song, three little birds. And I have, like, this story of how my dad, I went to, like, my grandma's funeral. and like three birds were rotating around her house

as we were leaving the funeral. And the song was playing at the same time. And my dad, we lived in Maryland. It was like an eight-hour drive from South Carolina to Maryland. We played three little birds on repeat. And so now three birds is like, that's my sign. Whenever I look up and see three birds swimming around or something, that's when I'm reminded that God is in me, through me, for me, and with me.

And I'm covered that everything's going to be all right. So when you said that story, that's... Well, the crazy thing when my grandmother passed away. Come on. Yeah. I'm not even joking. Same thing. Flying over the hospital immediately when we got out.

Like, I'm talking about it passed away. We said our goodbyes. We left the hospital. I look up and they're right there. And then I get home and my thing with my grandma was having Cuban coffee with her every morning. Because she lived with us towards the end of her life. and I go to sit outside, have my Cuban coffee. Like, I'm doing like a prayer, like talking to like, hey, Nana, I miss you, you know, rest in peace.

Like, just saying my goodbyes. Yeah. And then I look up right there. Oh, my dude. And it's like things like that, right? Like, I'm a big believer that there's no such thing as coincidence. Coincidences in life. Everything happens for a reason.

And I think the more you're willing to accept that, that whatever's happening in your life is not a mistake. Choose to lean into the wise in life. Ask those questions. Figure out what it is that is going on in this moment because there's answers all around this all the time. And we're always like, oh, man, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

Just stop and listen. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's not the map. It's the compass, right? Yeah, like being able to make sure that you're aligned enough to be able to hear that intuition in the moment. You may not know what the next,

you may not know the full picture, As long as we know what the next steps are and we're present enough to know when to move, when to not move, when to trust our gut, when to not trust our gut. It's worked out for me, especially in the last couple of years. I've been talking about practicing this. I got to ask you one more thing before we kind of wrap it up here, but you talked about gratitude, right? And I think gratitude is a huge part of all of this.

What does your gratitude process and practice look like on a daily basis? I take gratitude showers. I take gratitude walks. I just tag gratitude to my daily task and I go into it with intention. And for me, it's either looking like, so I have some affirmations that there's an app called Think Up that my friend told me about

when you can record voice affirmations and they'll have like background meditation music and you can just play it in your ears. Wow. That's cool. My gratitude practice looks like me listening to gratitude affirmations that I've already said. It looks like in my meditation practice, waking up with the sun. And there's times when I do these two-minute sessions where I'm just spitting off all the things I'm grateful for. It's just keeping it front and center, front of mind, journaling, like I said, listening, journaling, reading.

and just keeping in front of mind and everything that I do. Yeah. So it's something that has transformed my life from the inside out. I've also learned over time where gratitude lives in my body. So I've learned how to like, like, I used to have to think about things I'm grateful for to feel grateful. Now I just like know how to like open my heart sensor a little bit just through the amount of meditation that I've done. That's huge. I've gotten trained in like

chronic healing and Rakey and all of that I've kind of learned Energy work and like how energy work And like how energy Lives Sharks all that So like I've kind of learned

Some practices and some visualizations To open my heart up Nice To where I feel gratitude Without even thinking about something in particular I'm grateful for No yeah I mean I could go down a whole

A can of worms with that I met my brother That's awesome man It was dope No, well, I appreciate you taking a time, love the vulnerable conversation. We got to do this again. Yeah, for sure. Because I really feel like we could get into a lot more out of this.

But I think we did, you know, hit. And, you know, always the intent, right, is like making that connection of you as the human, but also you and, you know, the things that you've done in your life. And I know you had mentioned also that you're thinking about starting a podcast yourself. I am. I am. Yeah. So my best friend, when my best friend Spencer Pace.

singer. We played together in Miami. He's a father. He is a husband. He is somebody doing incredible work. The show All-American on Netflix is a story loosely about his life. And we go to Coachella every year together. Oh, for real? Every year. This year at Coachella, we were just talking about, like, wanting to put ourselves out there and, like, create content. And we landed on a podcast around fatherhood. And it's a podcast called Higher Valleys. And, you know, we, we landed on a podcast. you know, I think for me the biggest reason we wanted to start this podcast is there's a paradigm in fatherhood world of like you have to give up your dreams to be a father or you have to give up being a present father to accomplish your dreams. And I live in the belief that you can do both. Yeah.

I live in a world and a reality that you can do both. And I really want to just help shift that paradigm and have conversations with individuals who inspire me and what they're doing outside the world, the legacies that they're living. looking to build outside of their homes and then who also are intentional about building legacy in their home and being present. And so I'm excited about that. We just shot our first episode three days ago and planning on launching in the next couple of weeks, especially as far as they rose around. So I'm really excited about that.

That's something I can talk about forever. For sure. No, yeah. It'll, we were talking about it yesterday offline. But, yeah, I think there's more awareness, right, of like this masculine, in vulnerability, right? Like, guys need to talk. Guys need to understand that they have feelings too, right?

Historically, it's always been like, you know, shut up. You don't, you know, if you're, if you're emotional, you got problems. You're not a man, you know? And I think there's actually more power in the fact of being vulnerable. And, you know, being very transparent about the way you're feeling. So I think, you know, attaching that to fatherhood is huge because especially, like, if you haven't done it before you know you know what the hell you're doing so having having an outlet like yourself you know people that are doing it coming from a journey that you've had um i think it's gonna be

awesome and much needed i appreciate that man this is awesome stay stay tranquil i say i love the energy and the vibe that you're bringing and there's no it's no uh shock to me that such an awesome community has been built you know just through these consistent conversations and the consistent tension and gratitude you bring to your practice so i appreciate you yeah no and And, you know, being here with PAC as well, you know, there's, there's so much alignment, I think, with the people like yourselves, PAC as an organization in ourselves, and being able to align ourselves with people like you and what, you know, Chip and everyone here is building.

You know, every time I come to these, there's just a different energy in the room. And being able to have these conversations, like, brings me back to, like, the why in the beginning of all of this, you know? It's like, I'm sitting here having this conversation with. at the end, I'm like, yeah? Yeah, sounds about right. Yep. Feels about right.

Yeah. Incredible, man. I appreciate it, brother. Appreciate you. Yes, sir. Yes, yes. Well, thank you guys for tuning in. We'll see you guys on the next one.