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Speaker 1: And until next time later. Welcome. You are now listening

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Speaker 1: to the Professional Professional Professional m. Hey guys, welcome to

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Speaker 1: this week's episode of the PhD Podcast. This is your

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Speaker 1: girl at eban A and as always, I am super

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Speaker 1: excited about this week's episode. Um, before we begin, you

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Speaker 1: know the routine, let's do a little housekeeping. Please make

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Speaker 1: please make sure to email me at hello at the

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Speaker 1: PhD podcast dot com. Now, please keep in mind that

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Speaker 1: all of my guests are anonymous. So let's begin this

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Speaker 1: week's episode. So, so, my guests, how are you feeling.

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Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. Yeah. Well, before and again,

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Speaker 1: I want to like to say thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for sharing your story on the PhD Podcast. I know

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Speaker 1: for a fact that your story would definitely inspire the

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Speaker 1: listeners out there. So thank you so much. No, thank

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Speaker 1: you for having me. Thank you. Um. So, what do

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Speaker 1: you think are some misconceptions about homeless people? Um? I

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Speaker 1: think some of the biggest ones is that, for one,

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Speaker 1: homeless people want to be homeless, or that they got

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Speaker 1: their way because they did something wrong, you know, like

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Speaker 1: maybe they didn't work hard enough, or they got like

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Speaker 1: addicted to drugs or stuff. That's commonly people think that

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Speaker 1: homeless people are there because they did something to put

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Speaker 1: themselves there, and that's definitely not true at all. Mm hm.

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Speaker 1: So I know that you are a veteran. How long

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Speaker 1: did you serve our country? Um? About four years? Oh wow? So,

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Speaker 1: how was it being a woman in the military. And

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Speaker 1: the reason why I'm asking this question because I read

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Speaker 1: a lot of stories from women who served our country

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Speaker 1: that still feel overlooked and unappreciated. Absolutely. Yeah, for starters,

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Speaker 1: there's not a lot of women in the military. So

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Speaker 1: when you're in any area of life and it's overwhelmingly disproportionate,

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Speaker 1: you know, we're surrounded by men. Naturally, the men make

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Speaker 1: all the rules, they call the shots, and they tend

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Speaker 1: to not really focus on what women need. And because

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Speaker 1: there's not a lot of us, when we voice our concerns,

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Speaker 1: our opinions, it you know, kind of pells in comparison

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Speaker 1: to the men that are speaking up because we're outnumbered.

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Speaker 1: So honestly, being in the military, it is quite difficult

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Speaker 1: for a woman. And then not only that, but there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of you know, you know how like you

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Speaker 1: feel there's a naturally a bias when in any profession,

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Speaker 1: in any profession, there's gonna be a bias where men

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Speaker 1: feel a certain type of way about women. Or if

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Speaker 1: a woman does something, it's naturally because she's a woman.

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Speaker 1: You know, if she speaks her mind, she's being emotional

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Speaker 1: or anything like that, well it's like ten times worse

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Speaker 1: in the military. So if you open up about anything,

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Speaker 1: it's well, it's just because you're a woman, and that's

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Speaker 1: why women shouldn't be here, and things like that. And

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Speaker 1: then because there are still jobs in the military that

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Speaker 1: women can't be in, they used as an excuse, well

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Speaker 1: that's why, well for one infantry, Um, they just opened

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Speaker 1: that one up to women. I will say, Um, I

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Speaker 1: think I want to say, like within the past year

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Speaker 1: or two they have opened it up to women. But

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Speaker 1: even still them opening the doors to women, I don't

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Speaker 1: actually think there are any women yet who have gotten

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Speaker 1: the job. Um. And there's like a couple, it's only

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Speaker 1: mostly like the hand John ones, where their defense for

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Speaker 1: not using women is that well, a woman isn't strong enough,

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Speaker 1: or a woman's emotions may get in the way if

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Speaker 1: it comes down to, you know, making a tough decision.

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Speaker 1: And so it's a lot of pretty much implying that

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Speaker 1: we can't do something because of the fact that we're women. Um.

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Speaker 1: And then and of course, like hygiene comes up a lot,

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Speaker 1: and it's well, a woman can't you know, sweep out

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Speaker 1: in the tent for months at a time because she's

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Speaker 1: gonna have a cycle or something like that. Um, and

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Speaker 1: so it's it's a lot of misconceptions simply based on

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Speaker 1: our gender, that we can't do something because we're women,

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Speaker 1: because we're not strong enough, because our emotions are being

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Speaker 1: the way, all kinds of things that we don't really

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Speaker 1: get to saying, you know, we don't get to say

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Speaker 1: whether or not we want to do it. It's simply

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Speaker 1: told to us. So definitely, being a woman in the

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Speaker 1: military is very difficult, it and it kind of shows

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Speaker 1: you how you're looked at, you know, by men who

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Speaker 1: are supposed to be your equals, who you're supposed to be,

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Speaker 1: you know, standing and fighting beside, but in their eyes

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Speaker 1: were lesser than or we're weaker. Mm hmm. Damn that

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Speaker 1: sucks that. I can only imagine for a woman to

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Speaker 1: move up within the ranks, it's like impossible, absolutely even

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Speaker 1: you know, to this day, they're still articles out everywhere

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Speaker 1: where you'll see, you know, first woman doing this, first

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Speaker 1: woman doing that, and it's like, it's why, why is

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Speaker 1: this now happening when we've been serving in the military,

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Speaker 1: you know, since forever, you know, for years and years

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Speaker 1: and years. But it's still even difficult for women to

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Speaker 1: move up in the ranks, and even the women that

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Speaker 1: do move up in the ranks, they're constantly disrespected and

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Speaker 1: they're constantly having to work ten times harder than our

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Speaker 1: male counterparts. Mm hmmm. Why does this seem like there

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Speaker 1: are a lot of veterans that are homeless? Again, that

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Speaker 1: goes back to a lot of misconceptions, and not even

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Speaker 1: some of them aren't necessarily misconceptions, because there are some

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Speaker 1: veterans that do suffer from PTSD um and they can't

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Speaker 1: get the help they need. And then for the veterans

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Speaker 1: that don't suffer from t PTSD, a lot of employers

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Speaker 1: assume they do. You know, it's well, we don't want

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Speaker 1: to take the risk because they may not be mentally stable.

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Speaker 1: Um though they Yeah, that that a lot of veterans

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Speaker 1: tend to face and crazy enough, that was actually told

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Speaker 1: me when I was getting out the military and need

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Speaker 1: you know, being younger, I'm like, oh, I'm sure that's

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Speaker 1: not gonna be the problem. Americans love veterans. Yeah, that's

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Speaker 1: definitely not the case. We're not like one like you

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Speaker 1: would think. So unfortunately, Yeah, that that definitely is a

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Speaker 1: misconception that people who are in the military aren't mentally

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Speaker 1: stable because you know of anything that could have happened,

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Speaker 1: and crazy enough. Sometimes there are people who serve in

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Speaker 1: the military who never even went overseas or maybe never

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Speaker 1: even fired a weapon. There are people who weren't even

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Speaker 1: in for like a year, and even still they face

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Speaker 1: that bias of your you must have experienced something while

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Speaker 1: in the military that would cause you to be mentally unstable,

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Speaker 1: and therefore we don't want to work with you. But

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Speaker 1: are they're not resources for veterans as soon as they

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Speaker 1: get out of the military. There are a few, and

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Speaker 1: I will say some programs do try, but it's either

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Speaker 1: a lack of funding or a lack of pars. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: like um, even trying to schedule an appointment at a

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Speaker 1: VA hospital can take months and just to get in

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Speaker 1: there for a basic check up, and it's you know,

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Speaker 1: they have like programs that help homeless veterans, for example,

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Speaker 1: but each time I would reach out, it was where

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Speaker 1: we're out of funding, we're out of funding, we're out

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Speaker 1: of funding. So they tried, but a lot of times

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Speaker 1: the resources there just isn't enough to cover all the

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Speaker 1: veterans who need them, but were not had an out

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Speaker 1: of enough people that sit in the war. Yeah, crazy.

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Speaker 1: So how long were you homeless? I was homeless for

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Speaker 1: about six months, actually a little over six months. So

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Speaker 1: I know that you've moved in because I did my

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Speaker 1: research on you. I see, unless I can research anything,

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Speaker 1: what made you decide to move to Charlotte. So I

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Speaker 1: actually moved to Charlotte because at the time that I

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Speaker 1: moved there, I was in a relationship. We have been

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Speaker 1: in a relationship for about five years, and we actually

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Speaker 1: moved there from Florida and we were in South Florida,

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Speaker 1: which is extremely expensive, and I had just found out

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Speaker 1: I was pregnant and I already had a toddler. So

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Speaker 1: at that time, it was like, Okay, let's make a decision.

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Speaker 1: Living down here, trying to get a space for you know,

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Speaker 1: already three of us was difficult, but now there's gonna

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Speaker 1: be four of us, and it was just it was

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Speaker 1: way too expensive. So while in the military, we had

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Speaker 1: actually visited Charlotte a few times and we liked it,

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Speaker 1: and we knew that that was likely going to be

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Speaker 1: somewhere that we wanted to live anyway, So we ended

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Speaker 1: up moving at that time since I found out at

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Speaker 1: that I was pregnant, wait, so you was with it,

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Speaker 1: your partner was with you during this whole time. Oh

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Speaker 1: so I didn't know that. Okay, okay, the plactic. All right,

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Speaker 1: let me go to my next question then, So you

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Speaker 1: say you spent six months perfecting the art of being homeless?

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Speaker 1: So what did you do during the time. So when

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Speaker 1: I say perfecting the art, that is such a literal sense,

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Speaker 1: like it literally practice. So it was you know, because

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Speaker 1: some people when they say they were homeless, it's usually

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Speaker 1: I'm staying with a friend or family, but it's not

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Speaker 1: my home, so you know, and technically that is considered homeless.

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Speaker 1: If you're staying somewhere that's not yours and you have

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Speaker 1: to like abide by someone else's really or anything like that,

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Speaker 1: that is technically considered homeless. But in this instance, it

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Speaker 1: wasn't even It was more we're sleeping in car type homeless.

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Speaker 1: So it's we had to pretty much find somewhere to

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Speaker 1: shower every day, find somewhere to eat every day. So

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Speaker 1: it was originally starting off with sleeping at like a

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Speaker 1: gas station or outside of a restaurant, but then the

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Speaker 1: issue would come up with they would close at Tenory

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Speaker 1: Levin and now here it is two o'clock in the morning.

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Speaker 1: I got to use the bathroom. You know, I don't

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Speaker 1: have any to go. And at the time, I was

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Speaker 1: also in school, and and I was pregnant, and it

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Speaker 1: was summertime. So it's like, okay, I'm pregnant, it's summer,

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Speaker 1: it's really really hot, I can't go to school every

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Speaker 1: day smelling like I'm sleeping outside. And it was finding

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Speaker 1: somewhere to shower, and it was trying to go to gyms,

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Speaker 1: trying to go to the y m c A. And

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Speaker 1: then you know, getting off in time to make it

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Speaker 1: to another shelter that could feed us before they closed

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Speaker 1: that my son could eat, finding place this is where

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Speaker 1: we could get free diaper so that we could you know,

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Speaker 1: make sure that he was in So it was literally

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Speaker 1: it took time to figure out how we could pretty

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Speaker 1: much survive and maintain a lifestyle while also sleeping on

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Speaker 1: the streets. So what made you decided to stay in

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Speaker 1: the shelter. So I actually never made it to the shelter.

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Speaker 1: Um I went to the shelter, and mainly it was

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Speaker 1: because of my children, but there was also an instance

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Speaker 1: where we were sleeping outside the y m c A.

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Speaker 1: And it was the middle of the night and the

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Speaker 1: police arrived, and honestly, it was terrified that they were

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Speaker 1: going to take my children, and they didn't. They end

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Speaker 1: up not taking our kids. Um. They actually tried to

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Speaker 1: help as well. They called around shelters, um and pretty

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Speaker 1: much as told the same thing that we had already

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Speaker 1: been told that there was no room for us. But

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Speaker 1: it was I was like, okay, we have to have

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Speaker 1: a roof over our head. Um. But not only that,

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Speaker 1: it was you know that way, it's not a okay,

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Speaker 1: we're sleeping in a car because it was very uncomfortable,

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Speaker 1: and my son was supposed to sleep in his car seat. Naturally,

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Speaker 1: he's a kid. He doesn't want to sleep in a

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Speaker 1: car seat. So then I'm end up holding my son

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Speaker 1: while um, you know, six seven eight months pregnant. It

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Speaker 1: was like, okay, we had we need somewhere to lay

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Speaker 1: our head. But we went to the shelters its specifically

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Speaker 1: specifically the Salvation Army over and over and over and

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Speaker 1: over again, and each time I got there it was

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Speaker 1: we don't have anything available. I feel like the lady

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Speaker 1: that was helping you, it's like she wanted to help you,

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Speaker 1: but she didn't want that. I think she wanted to

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Speaker 1: and all, honestly, I think what it was she looked

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Speaker 1: a little maybe overworked and frustrated, not frustrated with but

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Speaker 1: that she handled a lot of that. That shelter was

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Speaker 1: extremely crowded. I would say that Charlotte has a very

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Speaker 1: high homeless population, and which is why, you know, every

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Speaker 1: time we went there there was nothing available. But she

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Speaker 1: honestly seemed like she was overworked, and so I think

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Speaker 1: she wanted to help, you know, as best as she could.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's Okay, we have a

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Speaker 1: hundred people in here asking for help, and I you know,

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Speaker 1: we don't have the resources to help all of them,

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Speaker 1: because honestly, they all kind of seemed like they were

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Speaker 1: overworked and just tired. Right, what is the process like?

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Speaker 1: Because can they turn you away, especially since you was

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Speaker 1: whiped child and you had a child? Yeah, that I

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Speaker 1: walked in there every single day, pregnant and holding my

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Speaker 1: hand of my two year old, asked them if they

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Speaker 1: had a bed, and every single time it was nope,

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Speaker 1: you can try get in tomorrow. And that was it. Wow,

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Speaker 1: one part of your story that really made me kind

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Speaker 1: of just tear up on like several different levels, because

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Speaker 1: you said you shared a story about your son and

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Speaker 1: a cookie with this other little boy, and I just

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Speaker 1: thought that story was just like so sad. Honestly, A

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Speaker 1: lot of people say that they tear up at that part,

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Speaker 1: and I, yeah, that day, Um, it was. It was

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Speaker 1: definitely very hard to see, you know, because we at

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Speaker 1: that time, we had already been homeless for a few months,

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Speaker 1: and my son was just really happy to have a

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Speaker 1: cookie and then to see that taken away from him,

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Speaker 1: and I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't stop

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Speaker 1: it there. You know, there's there was literally nothing I

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Speaker 1: could do. And to see the little bit of joy

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Speaker 1: that my son had on his face was taken away

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Speaker 1: from him. It broke me, it really did, and got

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Speaker 1: taken away from him from another line. And then at

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Speaker 1: that point, again there's there's nothing I can do, especially

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Speaker 1: because there's other little boys in the shelter, so I

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Speaker 1: don't know what this little boys also going through. And

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Speaker 1: you know, I can't say anything to a child. You know,

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Speaker 1: he wasn't he was a little bit eager, and his

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Speaker 1: mom I don't even know where she was, So I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, we're where the shelter who knows. I don't

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Speaker 1: know where she was or who she was. There, just

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Speaker 1: a little boy staring at me, and frankly, he looked

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Speaker 1: a little angry, which only told me that he wanted

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Speaker 1: that could be bad enough to try to steal it

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Speaker 1: from my son. So oh man, But I think with

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Speaker 1: that story, not only did because you said something to

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Speaker 1: the effect, uh, you saw the pain in your son

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Speaker 1: face for not having his own, but you also saw

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Speaker 1: the pain and the struggle that influenced the other kids,

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Speaker 1: which kind of aged him. And I was like, damn,

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Speaker 1: that's so true, because you see young kids or young

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Speaker 1: adults and they be like ten or fifteen, but they

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00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,160
Speaker 1: were like they this little boy he was not that

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Speaker 1: old if all, and all, honestly he was maybe he

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Speaker 1: was sawing between the ages of four and eight, And honestly,

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Speaker 1: I can't pinpoint it because of the fact that he

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Speaker 1: probably was aged by him by circumstances, you know. But

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Speaker 1: like I said, the look on his face was that

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Speaker 1: of anger, which naturally someone that young, All of that

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Speaker 1: anger also came from pain, you know, maybe his little

295
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Speaker 1: maybe his cookie had been stolen. But about twenty times,

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Speaker 1: you know, my son was only there for a day

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Speaker 1: and had this, you know, taken from him. So who

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Speaker 1: knows how many times this little boy had his taken

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Speaker 1: from him. So it was, you know, in that moment,

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Speaker 1: it's like, what can I do? I can't even say

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Speaker 1: anything to this little boy because he's also been affected

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Speaker 1: by the circumstances that he's in. Right, were you afraid

303
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,920
Speaker 1: that being homeless is going to affect your child? Absolutely?

304
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,280
Speaker 1: Spirit every single day? It was definitely a concern of

305
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Speaker 1: mind I and even you know, trying to take him

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00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,920
Speaker 1: out every single time my son would cry about something,

307
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Speaker 1: regardless of what it was. In the back of my mind,

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Speaker 1: I was wondering if he was really just unhappy about

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Speaker 1: the circumstances that we were in. M HM. So, while

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Speaker 1: being homeless, you gave birth to your young child. Did

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Speaker 1: you experience any pregnancy complications? I did. I actually almost

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Speaker 1: died um while at the hospital there. I had to

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Speaker 1: see section um. They sent me home three days later,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not sure, honestly, I don't know what it was.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if we could chalk it up to

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Speaker 1: being homeless, but somehow I called I know that the

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Speaker 1: hospital left pieces of placenta inside of me. But by

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Speaker 1: the time I made it back to the hospital, I

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00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,880
Speaker 1: had an infection. And one of the other things that

320
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,800
Speaker 1: definitely contributed because of the homelessness was that it took

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Speaker 1: me a while to even get back to the hospital

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Speaker 1: because of the fact that I had my son and

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Speaker 1: his dad, and it was, Okay, what do we do

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Speaker 1: with our children? What do I you know, I now

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Speaker 1: have a newborn at home plus a toddler. What's gonna

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Speaker 1: happen if they have to admit me back into the

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Speaker 1: hospital where the kid's gonna go? You know, things like that.

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Speaker 1: So by the time I actually got back to the hospital,

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Speaker 1: the infection had progressed drastically and they had to do

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Speaker 1: an emergency surgery and go back in and cut me

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Speaker 1: back open and right. And because we were homeless and

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Speaker 1: we didn't know anyone there, my children's dad took them,

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Speaker 1: and so I was left in the hospital by myself

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Speaker 1: as a doctor is standing over me pretty much listing

335
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Speaker 1: out all the things that could possibly happen due to

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Speaker 1: them having to do this emergency you know, surgery again,

337
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,320
Speaker 1: and that they were going to have to put me out,

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00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,600
Speaker 1: and that I wouldn't even be able to breathe, so

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00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,480
Speaker 1: they were gonna have to put a tube down my

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Speaker 1: throat so that I would be able to breathe in

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Speaker 1: you know, not die, because that's how that's how said dated.

342
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,560
Speaker 1: I was gonna be that my body wasn't even gonna

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00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,120
Speaker 1: be able to breathe on its own. So I literally

344
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:07,760
Speaker 1: just bust out crying. I was like, you know, if

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00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,639
Speaker 1: things weren't worse like this is now, this is just

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00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:12,600
Speaker 1: the icing on the cake. Like I've literally thought that

347
00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:17,040
Speaker 1: I was buying that hospital, and I feel like with

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00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:18,879
Speaker 1: this part, a lot of people can relate to. And

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00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,159
Speaker 1: that's why, uh, people within our community that would want

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00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,159
Speaker 1: to take day sick days and ship because they feel like,

351
00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,040
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen if I take a day off, if

352
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Speaker 1: I go to hospital and something was to happen. So

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00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,879
Speaker 1: when you was like you felt the panic began to

354
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,000
Speaker 1: soak in. I was like, Yo, that's so real, because

355
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Speaker 1: if you don't have anything else, nobody else turned to

356
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,400
Speaker 1: like what did you do? Exactly? It was And honestly,

357
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,040
Speaker 1: before even going to the hospital, I had posted on

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Speaker 1: social media. I had reached out to my doctor. There

359
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,000
Speaker 1: is a um the hospital. There has this online thing

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00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,920
Speaker 1: where you can like message doctors online and I had

361
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,000
Speaker 1: reached out to my doctor's multiple times. None of them

362
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,560
Speaker 1: had gotten back to me. So it was like going

363
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,159
Speaker 1: to the hospital literally a last result to me. I

364
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,959
Speaker 1: was like, there has to be something else I can do,

365
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Speaker 1: Like going to was just not an option right now.

366
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,359
Speaker 1: It was just it was very difficult. So and another

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00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: thing is because we hear so many stories about black

368
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Speaker 1: women dying due to the lack of being treated properly

369
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Speaker 1: by being pregnant, and you had to literally argue with

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Speaker 1: the nurse for her. She kept trying to tell me

371
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Speaker 1: that because I had just had a baby, that's why

372
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,479
Speaker 1: I'm leading so much, and tell her like, man, this

373
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,840
Speaker 1: isn't my first child, you know, and this amount of

374
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,960
Speaker 1: blood is not a normal amount. You know this even

375
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Speaker 1: someone who hadn't had a kid, If this much blood

376
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,040
Speaker 1: coming out of anyone isn't good, Like you know, I'm

377
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 1: literally telling her. I'm like I was laying in the

378
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Speaker 1: bed literally freezing, so I'm under all kinds of blankets,

379
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Speaker 1: but then also sweating like I had a fever over

380
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,159
Speaker 1: a hundred and five, sweating and still freezing at the

381
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,399
Speaker 1: same time. Anyone should be able to know that something

382
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,680
Speaker 1: is not right there, but right and then you say

383
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,679
Speaker 1: when you stood up, a gown came out. For some reason,

384
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,720
Speaker 1: it took literally I had actually gotten un dressed, and

385
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,680
Speaker 1: she finally decided to run the test. And then when

386
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,679
Speaker 1: we came back to the room from the test, she

387
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:06,119
Speaker 1: actually told me to go ahead and get dressed. She

388
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:07,679
Speaker 1: was like, go ahead and get dressed because as soon

389
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 1: as the results come back, we can discharge you. Because

390
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,720
Speaker 1: she was just so sure in her head. But when

391
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,880
Speaker 1: the results came back, it was gonna show nothing was wrong.

392
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,360
Speaker 1: So I'd actually put all my clothes back on when

393
00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:18,480
Speaker 1: she came in the room and was like, okay, never mind.

394
00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,760
Speaker 1: Something did come up when we you know, I bet,

395
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,080
Speaker 1: I bet, I'm just sweating and at the same time

396
00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:34,160
Speaker 1: for no reason. Crazy man, So why he was humeless?

397
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,960
Speaker 1: Did you look at your partner differently? Because I can

398
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,719
Speaker 1: only imagine how it felt for you to be humless

399
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 1: with your kids and also be homeless with your kids.

400
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 1: I did, um, I definitely did. In fact that we

401
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:54,400
Speaker 1: we ended up separating during that time. I so bad,

402
00:20:54,720 --> 00:21:01,280
Speaker 1: but that kind of played a factor into it. But

403
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,640
Speaker 1: that that definitely was a big one. You know, it's

404
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,360
Speaker 1: we're sleeping in a car at this point with our children,

405
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,400
Speaker 1: this is not the life that I want to give them,

406
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,040
Speaker 1: you know. So it definitely didn't make me look at

407
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 1: a lot of things differently, not not just him, but

408
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 1: life in general. I just looked at it completely differently,

409
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,600
Speaker 1: like what was something the other things? For one, it was,

410
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: you know, kind of what led up to this, because

411
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,960
Speaker 1: before that I was bringing in between four or five

412
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,760
Speaker 1: thousand dollars a month and income and maybe not handling

413
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,640
Speaker 1: my finances properly because you know, there are people out

414
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,280
Speaker 1: here who don't make that much and who are living comfortably.

415
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 1: But it's like I made that much thinking that life

416
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,080
Speaker 1: would never get worse, and then it did, you know,

417
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: and not even just that. It was before before becoming homeless,

418
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,399
Speaker 1: I was, you know, in the military, I had owned businesses,

419
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 1: I had good income, I had you know, I was

420
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:57,879
Speaker 1: in a good really I was in a relationship that

421
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 1: I had been in for five years, and in my

422
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,120
Speaker 1: mind everything was good, you know, and then one day

423
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:06,919
Speaker 1: it just wasn't. So it's like, clearly, plenty for the

424
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: future is important, and only that I didn't realize how

425
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 1: my decisions could put my children in such a bad position.

426
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 1: And again, that was something that I never wanted to

427
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,720
Speaker 1: happen again. So now I'm like constantly trying to make

428
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,840
Speaker 1: sure that my children will always be okay, particularly not

429
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 1: just you know, physically, but mentally, because it was draining.

430
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,479
Speaker 1: It was extremely, extremely draining, and my son ended up

431
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,160
Speaker 1: being very delayed because of it, and for a lot

432
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,760
Speaker 1: of things. Actually because of the fact that you know,

433
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: they already say that when you have a toddler and

434
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,399
Speaker 1: then a sibling comes into the picture, it kind of

435
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 1: causes the child to digress, they go back a little bit,

436
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: you know, and that happened. But then also me and

437
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 1: his dad, you know, separated, and then we moved around

438
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,400
Speaker 1: a lot, We were sleeping outside, we were eating out shelters.

439
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,440
Speaker 1: All of that caused my son to not start speaking

440
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,239
Speaker 1: until he was over older than three. And even at

441
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,880
Speaker 1: the age of four, my son wasn't potty trained because

442
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 1: he had just been through so much. And you know,

443
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:14,280
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, you know, this little six months played

444
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 1: such a huge had such a huge impact on my

445
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,879
Speaker 1: son that even a year later, he still can't speak.

446
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 1: He's still not potty trained, you know. So it was like, Okay, clearly,

447
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,200
Speaker 1: this is not a good situation that needs to ever

448
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:31,320
Speaker 1: happen again. What was the turn important from you making

449
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 1: a certain amount of money to being homes Like? What turn?

450
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:35,800
Speaker 1: Because I feel like a lot of people think, like

451
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,159
Speaker 1: you said, with the misconceptions. People think that, oh, they

452
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,679
Speaker 1: just want to be homeless, but something like what happened

453
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,680
Speaker 1: was the move to Charlotte. Um, when we got to Charlotte,

454
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 1: we were good. The issue was that in between or

455
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:55,680
Speaker 1: during my pregnancy, I stopped being able to work be pregnant,

456
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 1: and by the time the homelessness came, no one would

457
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: hire me because I was so pregnant. You know, imagine

458
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,520
Speaker 1: and you know it's illegal, but I mean, let's be realistic.

459
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 1: If a woman walks into an office six months pregnant,

460
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 1: no one's gonna hire because they're like, she's gonna leave

461
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,440
Speaker 1: in three months, She's clearly about to have a baby.

462
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: She's obviously not gonna have a baby here and then

463
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,480
Speaker 1: only that, but they're like, okay, she's a health risk.

464
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 1: What happens if something happens to her while she's here?

465
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:22,919
Speaker 1: So you know, they would make up excuses as to

466
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: why they wouldn't. They weren't gonna hire me. I remember,

467
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,439
Speaker 1: I walked into one place and they asked me if

468
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: I could They specifically looked at me while asking questions,

469
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,920
Speaker 1: and they were like, can you lift seventy five pounds?

470
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: And I'm looking at them like, you know, I can't

471
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:40,360
Speaker 1: lift seventy five I'm six months pregnant. But I knew

472
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: questioned me from being hired without saying it was because

473
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:54,000
Speaker 1: I was pregnant. Wow. John's like, whack man, I'm telling you,

474
00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,440
Speaker 1: you know, what are you talking about? So let's talk

475
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,440
Speaker 1: about the transition from being homeless again your job. Tell

476
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 1: us about your job interviews and remind you She went

477
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 1: to the job in the day after her surgeries the

478
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: craziest day of my life. So first of all, I

479
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 1: was still walk in there, and so I remember thinking

480
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,159
Speaker 1: for myself. I was like, oh my god, I paray

481
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 1: that this person interviewing me does not realize that I

482
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 1: can barely walk right now, you know. Uh, So I'm

483
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: like wobbling in there, I'm sitting down and I'm and

484
00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 1: then only that. But at the time, I was still homeless,

485
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: So I'm like feeling like, when you're homeless, your self

486
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: esteem is pretty much gone. So I'm like, I probably

487
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 1: look hard I'm walking in here wobbling because I just

488
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 1: had surgery. I'm in pain. I hope I can even

489
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,640
Speaker 1: think straight to answer these questions, and it was just

490
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,800
Speaker 1: it was really crazy. Rustly, I went in there and

491
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: the guy who hired me was Honestly, he was absolutely amazing.

492
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,159
Speaker 1: He made me feel so comfortable and I did end

493
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,359
Speaker 1: up getting the job, but at the time, I was

494
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 1: just so rich. There was so much going through my mind,

495
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,199
Speaker 1: and I just knew that I was about to like

496
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,239
Speaker 1: botch that job. In review, I was like, this is

497
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 1: not gonna go well at all. But the only thing

498
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 1: that did board you was the fact that training was

499
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,399
Speaker 1: for three days. Hired me. They're like, it was an

500
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,160
Speaker 1: insurance job, but in order to work there, you had

501
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: to have an insurance license, so technically they couldn't pay

502
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 1: you for the training if you didn't have license, because

503
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 1: you weren't even eligible to be working there without the license.

504
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,320
Speaker 1: So they did provide the training to get your license,

505
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 1: but it had to be unpaid. So it was like, Okay,

506
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: now do I take this risk and drive to this

507
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 1: training that's on the other side of the city for

508
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,120
Speaker 1: three days with no money? So I'm like, we're gonna

509
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 1: be sitting there all day and I'm not gonna have

510
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 1: anything to eat, even though i just had a baby

511
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. I'm gonna be you know, tired again

512
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 1: because i just had a baby. Like and now, you know,

513
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: one of my biggest worries was that I'm gonna go

514
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: to this training and what if I don't pass. Now

515
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: I've spent three days sitting here and not getting paid,

516
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,680
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna have to start this job search all

517
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,639
Speaker 1: over again, you know. So it was, oh my gosh,

518
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,440
Speaker 1: it was scared. And then only that, but the training

519
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,680
Speaker 1: actually end up being longer than three days because after

520
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:17,640
Speaker 1: the second day, a tornado came. Yeah I know, when

521
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:23,240
Speaker 1: it rain, it pours, bringing hurricane hit Charlotte, North Carolina,

522
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: and it took it at it three to four extra

523
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: days onto the training, So it actually ended up being

524
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 1: like a week before I finished the training, And again

525
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,680
Speaker 1: was like Jesus Christ, wait, where were the kids? Said

526
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,919
Speaker 1: did you have did your partner have the kids when?

527
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 1: Which was a struggle also in itself, but because he

528
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:56,360
Speaker 1: when he was born, he wasn't there for the newborn sage.

529
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,399
Speaker 1: So now I have this baby that's literally two weeks

530
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: old that breastfeeding as well, and I'm like, okay, here,

531
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 1: take care of the mob for eight hours while I

532
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: go to class, and all he looked like he was

533
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:14,119
Speaker 1: just going through it. So they do not have a

534
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,840
Speaker 1: support system that I didn't have any family whatsoever in

535
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 1: North Carolina at all. Um and then the little bit

536
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: of family that I do have, I really only talked

537
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 1: about a couple of mement with my family, but I

538
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 1: did not feel comfortable telling them the circumstances that we

539
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,680
Speaker 1: were in. For one, I knew that they were gonna

540
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: require that I moved out of North Carolina, and at

541
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,159
Speaker 1: the time, that wasn't what I wanted to do. I

542
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: was like, I'm trying to do something for myself and

543
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 1: trying to make this work, you know. And not only that,

544
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 1: but there, during the time that we were homeless there,

545
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: we actually had to sell our cell phones for gas

546
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 1: money and yeah, so we actually had means of communication.

547
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:58,280
Speaker 1: And that was one of the things that scared me

548
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: while I was in the hospital, because I had no

549
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: way to reach out to anyone, to even tell them

550
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 1: that I was in the hospital. I knew that no,

551
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: that was that was really what hit me. I was

552
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: like I'm gonna die. Nobody even knows here. Like I said,

553
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: my parts had the kids, so he wasn't even at

554
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: the hospital. So I was like, like he might come

555
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,560
Speaker 1: back two days from now, and then like, oh, sorry, sir,

556
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 1: she's gone. We didn't know how to reach you, you you know,

557
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: so I was don't mean the communication whatsoever. The only

558
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,320
Speaker 1: way I could communicate was with my sister whenever I

559
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: was on Facebook, but I had to go to the

560
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 1: library to do that, and you know, naturally I couldn't

561
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: always make it to the library. We had other things

562
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,120
Speaker 1: going on, so I actually had no means to communicate

563
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: with anyone. One of the things that I loved about

564
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,720
Speaker 1: your story is that, um, you didn't have a home,

565
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:49,719
Speaker 1: but you knew things from beginning to turn around for

566
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: you because you got the job, and I was so

567
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: happy for you. I was like, yes, Christ, give her

568
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 1: a break now that you know what it is when

569
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,040
Speaker 1: you're back, because not back being against the wall many times,

570
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: so I know that feeling like you feel like you

571
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 1: just cannot catch a break, and it's like all you

572
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: can do is just cry, but then you get so

573
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,640
Speaker 1: tired of crying, but it's like you ain't got the

574
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,120
Speaker 1: highlight of that entire year. Um, it was a great job.

575
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: I honestly I love that job. I I still think

576
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: back to that job, particularly to the guy who hired me. Um,

577
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 1: I think about him. He was and I don't he

578
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 1: doesn't angelize to what extent that he saved my life,

579
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 1: you know. Um, But yeah, that that definitely was a

580
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 1: huge turning port and I'm so grateful for it. And

581
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: I think back on that because I'm like, had that

582
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 1: not happened, who knows where I would be at right now.

583
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 1: And a few months later, you signed the lease to

584
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 1: your town house, right And I signed the lease in

585
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 1: November November one actually, and it was right down the

586
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:04,880
Speaker 1: street from the job I had just started. So that

587
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: was even that was great. But you know, it only

588
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: took me about six weeks to finally, you know, stop

589
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 1: being homeless and to get a place with you know,

590
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: some people are like six weeks for a long time,

591
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,080
Speaker 1: but when you've been living the streets for five months,

592
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: it was like, nah, I'm looking back and talking about

593
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: your journey. Um, you endured so many hardships, So how

594
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 1: are you able to stay motivated to keep going? Some

595
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,320
Speaker 1: days it was not motivation there. It was not at all. Um,

596
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I didn't really have a choice.

597
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: You know, you can't give up when you're holding a

598
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,560
Speaker 1: new born in one hand and a two year old

599
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:46,480
Speaker 1: in another hand. Um, It's just it's not possible. And

600
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 1: not only that, but I was in so much discomfort

601
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 1: being homeless. It's literally it felt like rock bottom. Um

602
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,520
Speaker 1: there I had. My self esteem was gone, my self

603
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 1: worth was gone. All of that was gone, and I

604
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,280
Speaker 1: knew that I couldn't go on like that forever. I

605
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,680
Speaker 1: was like this, this can't be my be all end all,

606
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:09,960
Speaker 1: Like I have to do something. So at that point

607
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 1: it was I had no choice, you know, I really,

608
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 1: even when I wasn't motivated, I had no choice but

609
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 1: to get up and try something every single day until

610
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: something happened. So I'm really big on mental health. So

611
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:27,040
Speaker 1: once you got the town house and you started to

612
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 1: become more of yourself, like, what were some things that

613
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 1: you did to get you back in the spirit of

614
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 1: being you? Honestly, for one, just getting it itself made

615
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 1: me feel good. And I because I knew I gone

616
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 1: from a point from waking up in a car to

617
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 1: waking up in a home that I had provided By

618
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,160
Speaker 1: that time too, me and my partner had broke up.

619
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 1: We actually separated right after my newborn was born, so

620
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:53,960
Speaker 1: when I moved in there, it was just me and

621
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,200
Speaker 1: my kids, and I was like, look what I did,

622
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 1: you know, and I only I know he hated that,

623
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 1: but I had also been with him since I was

624
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 1: nineteen years old, so this was actually my first time

625
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:11,000
Speaker 1: really out on my own and with picks. So I

626
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 1: was like, okay, you know what, look what I just did.

627
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 1: You know, at that point, I feel like I was invincible.

628
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: I was like, I was like I literally went from

629
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:24,600
Speaker 1: waking are uncomfortable, in pain, miserable, depressed, contemplating suicide, to

630
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 1: waking up in my own home, going to work with

631
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 1: this great job, you know, having friends. And then the

632
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:31,840
Speaker 1: guy who hired me was my manager. So that made

633
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,080
Speaker 1: it even better because you know, in my eyes, I'm like,

634
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 1: this man has really just helped me. This man has

635
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,880
Speaker 1: really saved my life. And you know, now I'm reporting

636
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 1: to him every day. So combine that with physically, I

637
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 1: started exercising more, um, you know, eating better, and then

638
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 1: I started working on my own businesses, you know, my entrepreneurship,

639
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,200
Speaker 1: because like I said, I had been doing it before,

640
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 1: but naturally, when you're homeless, you don't want to leave

641
00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: anything to chance. You know, it's a I can't take

642
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 1: the chance of that happening again because now I know

643
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 1: that it's a possibility. I know that no matter how

644
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 1: much income I'm bringing in, it is a possibility that

645
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 1: they can be gone in a minute, you know. So

646
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:15,080
Speaker 1: it was then at that point just working on myself,

647
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 1: working to build things up and to have stability. Stability

648
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,520
Speaker 1: alone does a huge improvement on your mental health as

649
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,760
Speaker 1: opposed to having literally nowhere to call your own, nowhere

650
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,279
Speaker 1: to lay your head, nothing belongs to you. When you

651
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,920
Speaker 1: are a human being on this earth and nothing belongs

652
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,800
Speaker 1: to you, it's one of the worst feelings in the

653
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: world there is that you can call your own. So

654
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: when you find get something like that, that that automatically is

655
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: going to boost your mental health. One of the ways

656
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: that our listeners can give back to help those that

657
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,319
Speaker 1: are homeless um people can It's definitely gonna be a

658
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,279
Speaker 1: lot easier for people living on the street to be

659
00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,160
Speaker 1: able to to get more things accomplished when they're not

660
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,640
Speaker 1: treat it like their scum of the earth or like

661
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,919
Speaker 1: they put themselves there, you know, So for starters, treat

662
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 1: them like they're people, um, and then just donate as

663
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,560
Speaker 1: much as you can. When you have those old clothes

664
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: that you're getting ready to throw in the trash, take

665
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 1: them to a homeless shelter. Actually, I got a lot

666
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 1: of clothes donated to me when I was homeless, when

667
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 1: I had first started that job, because you know, I

668
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,319
Speaker 1: didn't have the clothes sleeping on the street, and so

669
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:24,799
Speaker 1: people donated close to me. And that makes such a

670
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,480
Speaker 1: huge impact because I didn't have to show up at

671
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,200
Speaker 1: work every day looking like I was homeless, and therefore

672
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 1: no one at my job knew that I was homeless,

673
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:36,279
Speaker 1: and that made a difference. Yeah, it really did. So

674
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 1: when people are getting ready to throw away clothes, or

675
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,720
Speaker 1: to throw away food, or really get rid of anything,

676
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 1: just consider donating it donated to a shelter, donated to

677
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,600
Speaker 1: an organization, or even if you just know someone on

678
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:48,720
Speaker 1: the homeless that's homeless, you see people on the street

679
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:50,879
Speaker 1: drop it off to them. They may not even act

680
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:53,799
Speaker 1: like they appreciate it in that moment, because it can

681
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,560
Speaker 1: hurt yourself esteem when people are giving you, you know,

682
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,759
Speaker 1: practically their trash because obviously, if you're going to throw

683
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 1: it away to you, it's trash. So they may be like, wow,

684
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,839
Speaker 1: this is so demeaning, but it's it's still is gonna

685
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: help them, So do it anyway. You know, they may

686
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 1: not even show appreciation, but just know that it's not

687
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,960
Speaker 1: that they don't appreciate it. It's because of their circumstances

688
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,120
Speaker 1: that they're in and their self worth is totally gone

689
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 1: at that point. All right, Um, now that you are

690
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,840
Speaker 1: a successful entrepreneur and I read that your business is

691
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:29,320
Speaker 1: bringing five figures a month, I was like, yes, what

692
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 1: is some advice you would give to those who feel

693
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,000
Speaker 1: like they've been at the boy? You know, I think

694
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 1: a lot of people get in the mindset that they

695
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,680
Speaker 1: need a lucky break that you know, oh, an opportunity

696
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 1: has to come to me. But that's not it. You

697
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: can create an opportunity if you just keep going, even

698
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 1: if you hear no after no, after no, if anything,

699
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:50,920
Speaker 1: when you're at the bottom, that's the best time to

700
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,120
Speaker 1: hear nose because you are you don't have anything else

701
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,279
Speaker 1: to lose, Like you you literally just need to get

702
00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:59,640
Speaker 1: down there anymore. You know. It's the people who are

703
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,120
Speaker 1: in the at all should be the ones who are

704
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,440
Speaker 1: more afraid because they're like, I actually have something to lose.

705
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 1: When you're at the bottom, you don't have anything right

706
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,200
Speaker 1: and never ever, ever, and this is for anyone, whether

707
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:16,200
Speaker 1: you know you're struggling or not. If you want something,

708
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,319
Speaker 1: never wait for opportunity to present itself. You can make

709
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,719
Speaker 1: whatever opportunity you want. If you want to write a

710
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,319
Speaker 1: book and you're waiting for something to happen, don't just

711
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,160
Speaker 1: start writing. If you want a particular job and you're

712
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,200
Speaker 1: waiting for an opportunity, don't start you know, reading, do

713
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 1: some research, Go and apply for those jobs that you

714
00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 1: don't think you're gonna get. Actually read somewhere. One somebody

715
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:40,520
Speaker 1: told me that they apply for every single position on indeed,

716
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,480
Speaker 1: whether they're qualified for it or not. You know, and

717
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 1: that may sound funny, but you never know who's gonna

718
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,760
Speaker 1: look that over. You never know. If you put yourself

719
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,200
Speaker 1: out there, you never know gonna be presented to you.

720
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,960
Speaker 1: But if you're instead sitting and waiting for something to happen,

721
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:57,280
Speaker 1: no one's gonna find you. You have to put yourself

722
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 1: out there just for those opportunities to come. Okay, that's

723
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: a fact. Okay, one more question, when are you coming

724
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: up with this book? Because I feel like your story

725
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,280
Speaker 1: is just so inspirational, So we gotta get this story

726
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,000
Speaker 1: out to the masses. And I'm an avid reader, and

727
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: we gotta get this book popping. So when we're coming

728
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 1: up with this book so much so that I'm actually

729
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:27,319
Speaker 1: releasing a book in July that is not my autobiography.

730
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:29,800
Speaker 1: Why are you not coming up with the autobiogy? But

731
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 1: it's just, honestly, this is my baby, it is my

732
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: heart and soul. It is so much into it that

733
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,719
Speaker 1: I want to put as much into it as possible.

734
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: And only that, but there are actually a lot of

735
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,160
Speaker 1: plans in the work for this autobiography, and I know

736
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 1: that it's gonna take time. By plans, I'm meaning documentaries,

737
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:52,760
Speaker 1: you know, movies. Yeah, it's because I want to get

738
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,319
Speaker 1: to reach as many people as possible. Um, So a

739
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 1: lot of lot of work is going into this autobopy,

740
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,480
Speaker 1: but it's definitely coming. It's just when I tell you

741
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,880
Speaker 1: I am putting my blood, sweat and tears into this book,

742
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,640
Speaker 1: um that it's definitely going to be noticed. Once it

743
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:12,160
Speaker 1: does come out, everyone will know exactly what all went

744
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: into creating this book, because you'll be able to see it,

745
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:15,960
Speaker 1: you'll be able to read it, and you'll be able

746
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,720
Speaker 1: to fill everything now I put into it. And before

747
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: we leave, I just want to say happy Memorial Days

748
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 1: of my listeners and especially to my guests. Thank you

749
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,840
Speaker 1: so much for serving our country. And I really appreciate

750
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,200
Speaker 1: your story because when I read your story, I was inspired.

751
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,120
Speaker 1: I was like wow, Like for you to do it's

752
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:35,640
Speaker 1: one thing to do it by yourself, but to do

753
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 1: it with two babies is it's a match. So if

754
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,360
Speaker 1: y'all have any questions, comments like the starns from my guests,

755
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,200
Speaker 1: please reach out to me and hello at the PSG

756
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:47,120
Speaker 1: podcast dot com. Until next time, everyone Later