WHOA That's Good Podcast - How to Push Past Your Lowest Moments | Sadie Robertson Huff & Emmanuel Acho

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

Emmanuel Acho, former NFL linebacker and creator of "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man," is so full of encouragement in this conversation with Sadie about how to say "YES" to a life of infinite possibility. Emmanuel talks about the problem with conventional wisdom, how to push past moments that feel like failure, what to do when advice and logic interfere with your calling, and how he started his series and connected with Oprah and Matthew McConaughey. He also urges you not to let the enemy steal your "it" factor. Instead, find your thing, develop your thing, and use your thing! Friends, embrace those "I might be crazy" ideas — falling doesn't mean failing, and if you stumble and get back up, you win! "Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits" by Emmanuel Acho is available now. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up, well that's good film, welcome back to the world, that's good podcast y'all. I am so excited for today's episode. We have a very special guest. I'm actually kind of nervous, I'm so excited. But before I get to that, I gotta remind you all more time that the LO's Sister conference is August 19th and 20th and you know what, Eli, this will not be the last time I remind you because we want all of you to be there. You can go to elocisteraconference.com,

get your tickets today. Like I said, it's August 19th and 20th, right here in my hometown, Munro, Louisiana, cannot wait to meet you guys and see you guys there. So go check that out while you have an opportunity to. And now, without further ado, we can get to who is on the podcast today. He is very well known with his YouTube channel having more than 90 million hits.

We actually have Emmanuel Acho on the podcast today. He has done some incredible things to name a few. He started the podcast, Uncomfortable Conversations with the Black Man, which like I said, I've reached to over 90 million views. And he's also just helped so many people around our country with racial reconciliation, which I just gotta say, I am so so thankful for this man and what he has done. He also is a 2021 sports Emmy winner.

He's a Fox Sports analyst and a television personality. You might have seen him because he helped host the bachelor one season. All my girls out there said, hey, y'all, he is an incredible person and I cannot wait to interview him on the podcast. So without further ado, welcome to the podcast and manual, Acho.

Yo, Sadie, it is an honor for those listening. Sadie and I have been social media friends for like 18 months now. That's what you have. But it's not official until it's official. So it's glad to officially be your friend. The bachelor was the job of a lifetime, unknown fact that people do not realize. That was a six hour shoot that was cut down to 44 minutes. No way.

Hours. What? The hardest thing I've ever done on television, truly, and for those that don't know, I host a daily show, so that's not like saying it lightly. Sadie, the directions were truly to some degree as such. Okay, a manual, walk out, walk on to the stage, walk on to the stage, and you look directly at camera, and you read from the teleprompter, welcome, I'm your host, Emmanuel Acho, taking over for Chris Harrison,

which means this is likely going to be the most uncomfortable episode of the Bachelor yet. Pivot to camera, too, Sadie. Now continuing reading from the second camera on this episode, we will reveal who Matt James finally falls in love with. Is it a ritual, Kurt Honnell? Is it Michelle? Is it Bree?

After reading, 360 pivot, open up and bring out the first guest, Bree, bring her out if she goes in for a hug, hug her if she doesn't, don't sit on the couches, look directly at Bree, talk for a minute and a half, but a manual after a minute and a half, you have to toss to a three minute video package that Bree has not yet seen. Oh my gosh. When you toss to that package that Bree has yet to see, if you see her start to get emotional, just simply ask her one short question. So, Bree, how are you feeling right now? So, I just wanted to give your listeners your 18 to 30 and 30 plus-year-old listeners a little bit

of the behind the scenes of how that all went. Oh my gosh, I'm sure everyone just love that. It's almost like we could have expected it to go like that, especially if you watched the Bachelor and you know that question, like how does that make you feel? I mean, and you see them crying, you're like, well, how do you think it made them feel? You know? Show them the love of their life and whatever. So I know you've had a lot of uncomfortable conversations that's your whole thing, uncomfortable conversations with a black man,

which by the way, I mean, I said this before, but just thank you. Like thank you for what you have done over the past few years. From someone who really was trying to seek wisdom and learn, I watched so many of your videos and learned a lot. And that's why I followed you on social media. When you follow me back, I was like, this is awesome.

I knew we'd be friends. But truly, just thank you for that. And I can only imagine that a lot of uncountable conversations led you to being able to own that moment at the bachelor very well. So just want to take a second to say thank you for what you do. And to everyone listening, if you don't follow this man

You need to you'll learn a lot But before we really dive into the podcast I got to ask you the question I ask everyone who comes on the world that's good podcast and the question is and I'm really looking forward to this Because you spit out a lot of advice, but what's the best piece of advice that you've ever been given? So that's such a tough question because I live by quotes. The best piece of advice I've ever been given. Okay, I'll give you two answers.

I'll give you two answers. The reason I have to give two answers is because you can speak in Christianese, but also you can speak practically. Right? Christianese being like a super spiritual answer, but then I just got to give like a real practical answer. The best advice from a spiritual perspective is get to know Jesus. He's worth getting to know. The best advice anybody could be given is get to know Jesus, he is worth getting to know. My brother tells a story of, my brother played for the Arizona Cardinals for four years, played the National Football League for 10. And his close mentor was like an 80-year-old man who was his next-door neighbor, and he was

on his deathbed, Sadie. My brother's mentor for four years in Arizona while my brother was in his early 20s was on his deathbed. And my brother was like, do you have just any final wisdom that you could impart on me? And my brother's mentor told him, get to know Jesus. And the second thing my brother's mentor told him was, you're worth getting to know. And I just, I love how powerful that is of like, say, you are worth getting to know, or a manual, you are worth getting to know, or listener, you are worth getting to know. That's just so powerful. The next

more practical piece of advice that I have been given. I would probably say, be you because everybody else is taken. Yep. And I think we live in a world now, Sadie, where everybody is trying to be like somebody else. Oh, well, I want to be like Sadie. I just love her so much in her family. Look so cute on Instagram or like, what I want to be like this person or that person.

Man, everybody's already taken. So be the best version of yourself because everybody else is taken. That's great. I love that. The sign behind me literally says live original. That's my whole ministry of just live original. You were created originally and whenever you live originally and you live to be the person that you were created to be, I find that you don't compare yourself to anyone else because who else is there to compare yourself to? When you're looking at God and you're like,

hey, God, you created me. I'm gonna learn who I am from you and not who the world tells me I should be or says I have to be. It's just such a confidence that comes with that. And the world gets to see something that they never seen before, a new image of God. And so I love that great advice.

And I love your advice about how you're worth getting to know and how you can tell, even with you saying that, that that shaped a lot of who you are and what you do. Because that's what you do. You tell people they're worth getting to know and you show that by your interviews. So I want to ask you, so you're already open up the door of that, you know, you believe in Jesus, you love Jesus,

you have faith. Do you feel like your relationship with God has shaped what you've done? You know, has that helped you with leaning into the things that you're doing right now? Yes, so as Sadie is kind of alluded to, uncomfortable conversations with a black man, the series I started that partnered me with Oprah amongst other things. All I'm really doing is preaching. It's just that people who aren't familiar with the church aren't familiar with what I'm saying. So they're like, oh my gosh, a manual that's so good. I'm like, yeah, Paul said it. You know, I said the other day, I was like, I was like comparison is the thief of joy. And somebody was like, wow, a manual, that's great.

I was like, yeah, yeah, send me the Old Testament. So, my faith and my relationship with Jesus has truly dictated my speech because it is out of the overflowing the heart, the mouth speaks. And so I think that I just try to speak with words that have been impressioned on me. If we're being honest, I would say that Jesus was the ultimate unifier. And I now try to stand in a position to act as a bridge and the midst of the turmoil between our black brothers and sisters and our white brothers and sisters. I just tried to act as a bridge and a unifier. Understanding that empathy is the greatest way to love. And I always say, and I don't know if you've read a book called Love Does, Bob Gough. Yes, yes. But not. You was just on the podcast too.

It's so good. Yeah, Bob Gough is crazy enough after I wrote my last book, Bob Gough DM to me and I was like, wait, you know what? That's awesome. Oh, no, it's awesome. I think about the aspect of it in this day and age of society,

guilt doesn't cause anyone to change. Love does. Yep. And I try to change. Love does. Yep. And I try to speak from a place of love. Hmm, that's so good. I love that. One of my favorite verses is the verse that you quoted from the heart,

so the mouth shall speak. And it's such a verse to keep you accountable in what you're putting in your heart, how you're living on a daily basis. And whenever I started a podcast, and I started preaching and speaking places, doing interviews, that verse was like, ooh, I'm going to make sure my heart is healthy because I'm speaking a lot. And I want to make sure that words I'm saying are powerful.

And when you fill that with scripture and you're able to know the things like comparison as the thief of joy, you're able to know, you know, love your neighbor as yourself, you know those things. And that begins to come out. It shapes the world because that is what the Bible is. It's words that are active in a live. It's words that bring people's bodies to life. And so love that. You just said that. And also, can we just back up just a second?

Because you just so casually threw out, this got me partnered with Oprah. Dot, dot, dot, continue on. And that story's crazy. I've heard you tell this story. And some of our listeners might not know this because you're sitting here and you start this thing that you didn't even know if it was going to take off on cultural conversations with a black man.

You really just did it out of the goodness of your heart trying to help. And then next thing you know, boom, boom, boom, boom, here you are years later at 90 million views. I mean, let's just back up. How did this happen? Okay, let's put everybody up. How did this happen? Okay, let's put everybody in the driver's seat for a moment. So our world is in the midst of some of the greatest chaos that has been in in the last 20 years. George Floyd had been murdered. We didn't know what to do, but we all, to some degree, knew we should do something. And,

say, I lived in Austin, Texas at the time. I was pacing in my two-story townhouse back and forth. Should I weep? Should I scream? Should I vent? I didn't know what to do. But I grew up in white areas. And so I quickly drove over to my white friend's house. It is four of them. Sadie, it was two couples, their next door neighbors. And I walk into their house and I am righteously angry. I would say righteously. I was for sure angry. I don't know if those writers are not. We can talk about that later.

So I'm righteously angry and I go into their house and we're sitting there talking and I said this to them and Sadie, I hope you love this conversation because it's very real. And I hope all your listeners lock in right now. So I say this to them. I said Why is it that there's still so much racial tension and they looked at me and they said, a man No, we don't we don't really know they said what do you think the cure or the the cure can be and I said

I think white people need to familiarize themselves more with black spaces my white friends ask me that said well How and I said well, I don don't know you can go to black church. I used to go to church with them all the time I said you can go to black church say they responded this and this is how I knew I needed to start uncomfortable conversations with a black man They said We thought black church was your thing I Pause I said wait a second I said but I go to with y'all the white church all the time. They said, that's, that's not white church. That's just church. Oh, wow.

I said, to y'all is just church, because y'all are right. But when I walk into an auditorium with 2,000 people and I realize there are only seven people, how do I know there are only seven black people because I counted and there are only seven. Okay. Then it's, it's white church to me. So we're sitting there talking, I say to them, I say, how many black people are at your wedding? And they looked and they said, well, you, your brother,

they said three. I said, so as much as you all want to act as though you literally live and exercise in black spaces, when you think about the people that were so close to you all that you invited to your wedding, there were only roughly three black people out of maybe 250 or so. And so at that point in time I said, even my most beloved white brothers and sisters aren't properly exposed and integrated to black spaces. So say, I created uncomfortable conversations with the black man,

I answered the four questions, why are black people riding? Why can black people say the N word but why people can't? What is white privilege? What about black on black crime? 25 million views in five days. I get a call from a no-call Austin, Texas, last dining room table. It's Saturday morning, 8.35 a.m. I pick it up. Hello? Acho. Makanae speaking. I want to have a conversation.

I like Makanae? Like Matthew Makanae? You know, your voice starts getting all high when you get nervous. I'm like Makanae. Uh-huh. And so Makanae is like, yeah, let's, yeah, let's have a conversation. He had watched episode one of uncomfortable conversations. Matthew, Makana, and I, we sit down the next day

to do a conversation. That gets seen by, I don't know, maybe 15, 20 million people. After that, I get another call, no caller ID number. G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G- Hello. Hi, Manuel Oprah Winfrey speaking. Oh my gosh. Like Oprah, Oprah. Boy, so it's getting high again. Oprah asked me, she said, Emmanuel, what is your intention? I live by that question now, Sadie, by the way, what is your intention?

I encourage every listener and everything you do, whether it's a conversation, whether it is a occupation, whatever it is, always ask yourself, what is your intention? Oprah asked me, what is your intention? Sadie, I was like, my intention is to change the world and I truly believe I can. I'm currently working on writing a book. He said, books, I love books.

And so Oprah and I partnered. Great answer, right? Oprah and I partnered on uncomfortable conversations with a black man. That was number three on the bestseller's list and comfortable conversations with a black boy. That was number one on the bestseller's list. And then we've just recently written partnered on a logical, which is amazing.

Amazing. Amazing. Well, I think the story is so incredible and it's so exciting. I mean, God's hand is clearly on this and I need to start answering my no-color IDs because I just assume their prank calls. What is how am I miss? You never know. I never know. So, let me do it once. I only do it once. Ever since I started sharing that story, people know color ID call me. I don't pick up anymore. Oh, dang. Dang, that's hilarious. That's amazing. Okay, so let's get into this book. You just read a book illogical.

Now this is like one of those books where you read it and you're like, oh, like what does that mean? Because you know, we are always taught to live logically. But when you say that, it's like, that's confusing in a sense. But then when you just share what you've just shared, it's like, well, that's a pretty like crazy thing

that goes past all-light logic. This is pretty like almost illogical to even answer a no-color idea when you're eating some cheere as I started any morning, but look at where it's ledgy to, right? And so tell me a little bit about this book, backstory, why was this the book that you knew, this is my next move.

So illogical saying yes to a life without limits. I believe that say to our greatest accomplishments in life, they come on the other side of our logic. And I think that societally we're far too logical. What is logic? Logic is simply conventional wisdom. But the problem with conventional wisdom is that it does not allow for the supernatural greatness that lies within you. And it doesn't allow for the supernatural greatness that lies within us. Being a logical is believing it is so, even when it isn't so, so that it may be so. Right? Believing that it is so, even when it's not so, so that it may be so.

And if you look at people throughout the course of history, let's start biblically. Noah, he believed that it was going to rain, even though theologians and historians submit, the earth had never seen rain. The earth had never seen rain, historians submit. Noah believed it was going to rain, even though the earth had never seen rain,

and he built a boat. It'll logical. was going to rain even though the earth had never seen rain and he built a boat illogical. Um, you think about practically speaking Steve Jobs, a cell phone could act as both a GPS and a camera and an MP3 player. That is illogical. So now the question is, what illogical greatness lives within you? What illogical greatness lives within you, what illogical greatness lives within me because our greatest accomplishments in life,

I promise they lie on the other side of our logic. I love that. That's so good. Such a great message and such a needed book helps people live beyond themselves. I love how there's a quote in your book and you talk about stepping illogically into our calling isn't just for ourselves,

but it's for something much bigger. And kind of thinking even about like David and Goliath, when David fought Goliath, it was for a nation, right? And so talk to me a little bit about how living logically is really living outside of just yourself. Say, do you know, so I'm the son of a pastor. My dad was a pastor under Dr. Tony Evans for 21 years and Tony Evans. I think you know for Silashire I do and I love them. So that is so cool. Oh, this is awesome

So then my dad goes to start his own church So we've all heard the story of David and Goliath 10,000 times I will not bore you with the minutia, but here is what I don't think people really focus in on on that story. When you live in a logical life, and not only do you change your life, but you change the lives of those around you, when you think about the story of David and Goliath, it talks about how Goliath ran near the Philistine, but the sentence that nobody pays enough attention to is this. And the Philistine drew near to meet him at the battle line. Why is that sentence so powerful? Because when we are called to live a logically, people are going to try to stop us. We could say

it's spiritual forces. It could be family. it could be friends, it could be loved ones that doubt us, but we have to draw near our fears at the battle line. When I wanted to write in comfortable conversations, true story, Sadie, my team that I confide in said, Emmanuel, the market is too saturated for a book like that. Literally, my team that I employ to give me sound advice told me the markets too saturated, but I had to realize my calling was my calling. It wasn't a conference call. Yeah. And because Sadie it was my calling, I had to move forward with my conviction. And in writing uncomfortable conversations with the black man, I have now allowed other people to have their own conversations within their own offices,

within their own families. So when you are a logical like David and when you run towards that battle line, then the damn breaks for everybody else. And as we know about a literal damn, when a damn breaks, it cannot be rebuilt. So once the dam breaks the flood of grace and the flood of wisdom and the flood of mercy and the flood of reconciliation and the flood of healing and the flood of love, it will overwhelm. But you have to break the dam by being a logical. It's good. Wow. So good. This whole message is so needed. I love how you talk about how it's not a conference call It's your call and I think a lot of people don't step into their calling because they let it be a conference call And there's a part of your book where you talk about putting your ear muffs on or putting your ear headphones on

Tell me about that and when do you know you need to put them on, you know, because I think sometimes it's like Oh, I need wisdom, right? Like we need to let people speak into our lives Who are the right people but when do you know this is not the person that supposed to be speaking into my life or you know They're starting to make me doubt whatever. I'm actually called to do That's so good. That's such a great question What I love most about my recent Christmas gift, the Apple AirPod Pros, say, is it they got a noise cancelling function and they got a transparency function. The noise cancelling function, you hit a button, you hold it, right air pod for a second,

and you can't hear anything on the outside. But then when you tap it again, it allows a little bit of noise from the outside in. We have to navigate our life, so we constantly have in air pod pros, cancelling out noise completely at times, but still allowing a little bit of positive wisdom and construction in at times. We have to discern what is the difference, but we also have to remember, you can't let everybody on your boat or your boat go sink. That's right. Right.

Think about there are so many stories we just overlook like again the story of Noah. After Noah finally built the boat and God was like, hey bro, I don't think God said bro, but he might. He was like, hey bro. In seven days, it's going to start raining. Noah only brought on a select few people. At the point in which Sadie, you start to see the clouds form rain, everybody would have tried to run on his boat.

But you can only let so many people on your boat, your boat's going to sink. In the same manner, you can only allow so much outside criticism because your family might think it's crazy to leave that small city you all grew up in. Your girlfriend might think it's crazy to get out of that relationship with this dude who wants to propose, but you know it's a toxic relationship. You might think it's crazy to sell your possessions and go live overseas, but God's called you

to. You might think it's crazy to leave that nine to five job where you're also comfortable and pursue the passion in your heart to be a painter, a singer, artist, or start that entrepreneurial job. But sometimes you just got to put those ear muffs on, block out the noise, and move with your conviction. That's good. That's such a good advice. I love how you talk about it might be crazy

and you have this quote in the book. It might be crazy, if you say the word, it might be crazy. It's the first checkpoint on your path to accomplishing greatness. So good and so true. Do you remember the moment for you that you were like, this is crazy, you know,

but I'm gonna do it. Like do you remember that moment? Man, I have two. The very first one. I was playing in the National Football League. I played for the Philadelphia Eagles. And National Football League, it's the sport that literally owns one day a week, Sunday.

As we all just forgot churches and things. And we go to rest home to watch our favorite team. Say, I was in the NFL and I went to my coaches office. While in my coaches office, I was looking at his wall and his wall, it had a depth chart on it. A depth chart listeners is, it is a ranking of where you fall on the team of importance. It will have first position, meaning you're our first important, second, third, etc. I peruse this depth chart and don't see my name anywhere.

I check again, I don't see my name. Finally, I'm like, what the heck? Why don't I see my name? I start checking other positions. I don't find my name. Say, do my eyes go to the very bottom of the depth chart and I see big block letters cut. And the NFL cut means you're getting fired.

Wow. So I see my name say, to you under these big block letters that say cut, there were four names under those, under that word cut. One of the names had already been fired earlier that day. So I knew this is about to be it. I leave my coach's office, Sadie True Story, and I go to the bathroom inside a professional football

facility where the owner who is worth roughly, I think $5 billion is located. And I go to the bathroom and a professional football facility where the owner who is worth roughly, I think, $5 billion is located. And I go to the bathroom and I get on hands and knees, I lock the stall and I just start praying. And I was like, God, I know you did not bring me here for this purpose. At that point in time, while in the bathroom stall of an NFL team facility on the coaches and owners floor, I was like, yo, Acho, you might be crazy. And at that point in time, I realized I wasn't crazy.

I was just dangerously illogical praying my way through that situation, ending up on that team and living the life in which I currently live. The second moment would have to be, say, when I sat in that chair in that all-white studio for the first ever episode of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. In retrospect, it seems very normal, but if you can imagine, say, he's sitting in a chair,

hiring a wedding videographer because you don't have a social media team and you don't have a cameraman. Calling your best friend who's an Olympic gold medalist at the 2016 Olympics, running out of studio space and talking directly to a camera for nine minutes and 17 seconds. That's pretty crazy. Yeah. It's pretty crazy to think that that conversation would change your world and ultimately have an impact on the world. But those were my two, I might be crazy moments, but ultimately I wasn't crazy at all just dangerously illogical.

I love it. I love it so much. You know, I even love your answer to Oprah. That I want to change the world. And I think that, like, that's crazy, but I say the same thing. It's like, when people ask me what I'm trying to do and I'm doing, it's like, I want to make the world a better place and I believe I can.

Like I believe I'm doing it, I believe I can. And I think some people look at the world and they think, you know, I could never, or what could I do? But that's the kind of thinking that will make you never, you know, it'll make you not do the crazy, amazing thing of changing the world. And so I think you do have to have a little bit

of that craziness in your mind and that illogical spirit to say, you know what, no, like this is what I'm gonna do. Okay, so manual, you've done so many great things. You've had huge accomplishments, you have books that are New York Times best selling, you have, you know, Oprah calling, you math, you have a con of it, you have incredible views, but you also have had,

you know, moments that have felt also have had moments that have felt like failure or moments that have felt like set back in hard moments. You know, that maybe we haven't seen, maybe we don't know about. And I'm not asking you to tell me about this, but what I am asking you to help the listeners with is how do you get past that? You know, I think a lot of times people see that cut and see their name and they think, well, I'm out. Like, life's over, I'm done.

But how do you push past those moments of failure and make them into something great? I love the quote. If all you, if what you see is all you see, then you do not see all there is to be seen. It's good. If what you see is all you see, then you do not see all there is to be seen. I'm during my lowest moments, and I've had some low, low, low moments. In eight years playing football, I got hurt seven times. I tore my quad, I broke my thumb, I tore a ligament in my knee, my MCL,

I tore another ligament in my knee, I tore my groin, I had a sport in my knee. Oh my gosh. And if all I saw was those injuries, and I wouldn't see the destiny on my life. So my encouragement, Sadie, is like, whenever you fail, and I always say, I didn't fail, I fell. And if I get up, I win. Because the winning isn't getting up. So to my listeners, I would just to remind them that like, yo, you didn't fail, you just fell. And at some point in time, we've all fallen.

And as long as you get up, you will win. So for me, I just don't believe my eyes. And not in the figurative sense, say it in the literal sense. Like when I saw my name under fired, I just had to choose to not believe my eyes. In life when you get laid off, you have to choose not to believe your eyes when you look at your bank statement and you're like, oh, it looks like I'm broke. You know what I mean? Sometimes you got to choose not to believe your eyes relationally. Well, God, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to have kids. I thought I was gonna be married at 20 and I'm already 30. You have to choose not to believe your eyes

because sometimes truly you're choosing not to believe the lies. And that I think is the best way to move past it is like, don't believe the lie don't believe that lie It's good. It's like that's what faith is it's the you know confidence and the things we hope for the assurance and the things unseen It's like you know what I don't see it it might seem impossible it might look impossible But God thank God I serve the God of the impossible. And he's with me and he's for me. And sometimes that doesn't look like getting back on the team, but it looks like

going a new direction. And I think that's such an important thing to realize too, because I think so many people are like, sometimes it goes to that point of like, oh, well, that's not my case, that's not my case, that's not my case, and sometimes it is the case, but that is, it means that's a bad thing. That just means God has something different, or God has something new. And it's not less than just

because it's different and new. So I love that. So much of your book is childlike faith. You know, it's it's having that childlike faith and you embody that so well. So I want to talk about this quote so good. You said, I went from going to detention for talking to receiving Emmy nominations for talking. It's just such a cool story because I feel like in some ways in my own life, I felt like that too. Some of the things I was the most insecure about growing up is what I'm doing now as my job. And I'm like, really God, that's crazy. Even storytelling, I used to be insecure about it because people would say, you tell stories so dramatically. Now, I'm literally telling stories and you know, part of that drama, if you will, is

keeping people engaged and interested and I'm telling Bible stories accurate to what they are. But in such a way that people love to listen. So I feel you on that. When you look back at your life and you think about how God originally created you and what you're doing now, does it blow your mind? The intention that's weaved into your story from little, you know, a manual to now doing all these things you're doing now. Can you see the thread of God's intention in that?

And hindsight, you can always see the thread of God in the moment though you are lost. This can be. And also we got a shout out God real quick. It was Emmy nominations when I wrote the book but they turned into Emmy wins. So awesome. Got God came doing we once. I never have to win another Emmy again. I'm done winning Emmys. That's great. No, you can say that you can always see the thread of God, but I'm reminded of in my life, the story of Joseph, like I literally have a chapter in a logical, keep on dreaming,

gending up being a sub-chapter, because like we gotta remember, Joseph was literally punished by his brothers because of a dream. And for those that are listening that aren't super familiar, remember Joseph, youngest, all these, I believe 11 older brothers, maybe 12 older brothers, I believe the youngest, up 12. And dude is sold into slavery because he told his brothers, Hey, look, I had a dream and y'all all gone worship me. Now, for those listening, I don't really advise sharing dreams

of people worshiping you, but nonetheless Joseph did it. And he shares this dream, gets sold into slavery, but it was Joseph's ability to discern what dreams were that made him second in command of all of Egypt and ultimately allowed him to bless his same brothers when there was poverty and

famine in the land. So the same thing that people will punish you for will be the exact same thing that God will use you and esteem you for, but ultimately allow you to bless other people. So say to you like you told in your life and in my life, I used to get sent to detention for talking too much. And now my school has asked me to come back and talk and do the opening convocation. And now I speak for a living. It's your story. It's my story.

It's the story of Joseph, but it's the story of all of us. Here I think there was a pivotal lesson, say, that you have to learn is you have to let God use you to bless people in the end. Because think about like if I was Joseph, truth be told, and my brothers do me in a ditch and told me to slavery, when they came around hungry for some food, oh, y'all just don't have to be hungry. Yeah, you're about that when you throw him on the pit. Yup.

Y'all just gonna have to be hungry. In the same breath, those who told me uncomfortable conversations, the market was too saturated, it's like, yes, you could go back and pour salt or vinegar into the wound, but instead it's like, no, just let God use you ultimately to bless those,

because what Satan and what other people meant for your ill, God's always going to use for you good. Exactly. Okay, God's obviously put these gifts in each of our lives. You talk about it as the it factor. I love that. I don't want to talk about that in a second. But it's like what would be the best strategy of the enemy would be take away your it factor? You know, like let that be the thing people come after. That be the thing people are jealous of so much to the point that they hate you for or make you insecure about it because if he can take away your it factor, then that's stopping you from being the fullest potential that God put inside of you. And so yeah, I let like no coincidence that we look back and say that is so funny.

That was the most insecure about it. Now that's what I'm doing for a living, making the world a better place because of it. So I love that. Okay, so talk about people's it factor for a second. How do people discover what it is that they, you know, have been put on the planet to do? It's a big thing. Well, let's go full circle.

At the very end of a logical, which is a book where I encourage people to go be their best versions of themselves and change the world, I couch my entire book by saying this, Sadie, if all you've heard is that you can do anything, you have heard too much. That's right. That's right. It's very sobering, but I was reading a marriage book one time and it talked about how if you want to sustain a relationship, it's best that you get married after 25, you all are both financially stable and you do not have kids prior to your financial stability.

It talks about like if you want to sustain a relationship, a marriage and not end in divorce. But it coulches a whole book by saying, if all you've heard is that if you get married after 25 and you wait on having kids until you're financially stable and both of the partners are financially stable, then you will not get

divorced. You've heard too much. That's right. And so, so what is it? Let me tell you this in story form. June 9, 2020. I got a call. I pick up. You have the thing to my friend. You have the thing.

And coming from someone who had the thing and has the thing, you, my friend, you have the thing. It was Oprah. We just finished doing a two hour show together on Apple TV. The Oprah conversation meets uncomfortable conversations. She had called to tell me, a manual, you have the thing, you have it. So I say, what's the thing? Say, she's like, you have a unique ability to speak hard truths, but people still want to hear them. I'm reminded that day of a truth that I have to remind everybody listening to this phenomenal

conversation. You have the thing. You have the thing. You have the thing. Now the question is, how do you find your thing? What are you uniquely uniquely skilled at in this life? And what do you have a yearning and desire to do? Yeah. Is it sing? Is it right? Is it serve? Is it love on children? Is it be empathetic? Is it lead? Is it compose? Because everybody has the thing. They have a unique ability that they are enhancely good at. Or everybody has a passion, but everybody has the thing, but trick those idea realized is it's your developing of your thing in private that will lead to the praise and public. Like that's so good. That's that's what people

don't realize. We all have the thing. I promise you listening, take a beat. Pause if you're in your car. Don't pause because you might have a green light. But if you're in your car and you drive and take a beat, and just really wait a second. That was my thing. But now it's what you work on in private that's praising public. Let's talk David real quick. Again, David and Goliath. The reason that David was able to slay Goliath wasn't cuz he got lucky, but you'll have to remember and I encourage everybody go back and look at that story. When Goliath, 9 foot 9 giant was punking everybody in a Momma, when everybody was scared about Goliath, Goliath, David was like, man, when lions and bears came after my sheep in the flock, he said, I would rescue my sheep from the mouth of bears and lions. So who is this giant to me?

That's right. Yep. Yep. Like my dog David was like, yo, I've been working on my thing in private. So you all are gonna make me king and public after I say this giant, but this giant is nothing to me because I've been saving sheep and private in the same manner.

Say, he like everybody saw uncomfortable conversations, but I had been sharpening my tools conversationally in private. That's right. So what I did in private finally got praised in public in the same manner of how you live your life. So everybody listening is just understanding, it's the tools that you sharpen in private that will ultimately lead to your esteem in public, but you just have to sharpen your tools. So the three takeaways, find your thing, develop your thing, and ultimately use your thing.

Those are the three takeaways. Find your thing, develop your thing, use your thing. That's great. Boom, there it is. If you're ever preaching or speaking out of church, you let us know because me, Christian and Honey will be on the front row, shouting you down. It's so good. And I agree with everything you said,

I think so many people think that they're it, you know, is dependent on if it ever is successful, if it ever, there's a stage attached to it, there's a platform if they get, you know, social media famous, TikTok famous, this thing, whatever it is, but that's not it. You can do no matter where you are, no matter what season you're in, and you need to,

because that is, I think, how you begin to have the confident trust in God and the confident trust in yourself to know that when I do get the platform, if I do, or when it does become successful, then I'll know that I know that I know I'm ready for this moment, because I've been with the Lions and the Bears. So what is this giant thing for me? I'm the same way. I am preaching and speaking and doing these things and people are like, I wanna do what you're doing.

I'm like, well, then do it because I've been doing this since I was in seventh grade. Having girls over at my house teaching them the word of God. I'm gonna do this my whole life. Like, there's videos of me when I was five years old, standing on my countertop, telling my parents, God loves

you. He has a plan for you, all this stuff. And I'm still doing the same thing, you know, and I think God's just cultivating that within you. And so, friend, listening, if you are thinking, you know, whenever I get out of college, whenever I do this, whenever I do that, then I'll do it. What about, start now. Start now.

Start cultivating what he's putting you right now. And you'll be amazed at the places and the spaces you walk into in one day you might be looking at a giant and you'll be able to say you know I got this because this is what God's done in me and so I mean I can't thank you enough for being on this podcast man those three takeaways were great to end on and everything you've said has been an incredible encouragement you said at the beginning I live by quotes, and I know what you mean now. I mean quotes just spill out of you,

but it's in your heart. And so for everyone listening, I hope you're encouraged by this conversation. And it doesn't have to end here. Learning from Emmanuel, he has so many resources out there. His new book, Elogical, is a great one for you to go read. That's what we talked about today. He also has other books like Uncontroversations

of the Black Man and a Black Boy as well. He also has YouTube. He does all kinds of things. Go follow him on social media. You'll be able to figure it out. But thank you again. I'm glad we're official friends and so thankful for this conversation. Say to your other best, we'll talk soon.