Some people hear "15 felonies" and write a man off. John Reel heard it about himself and decided to prove everyone wrong — including the voice in his own head. This one hit different...John grew up in Texas, dealt with childhood trauma he buried for years, ran with the wrong crowd, joined a gang, went in and out of prison for about seven years, and got out in 2014 with nothing but a decision to change. Today he owns a seven-figure concrete construction company, is raising two boys, and is one of the most real conversations I've had on this show. What We Talked About: • The childhood trauma John Reel carried for years — and how prison is where he finally faced it • What it's like being a white dude in an all-black gang — inside and outside the walls • Getting baptized in a horse trough in prison and what that moment meant • Coming home and going right back — three DWIs, fighting parole, and finally surrendering everything to God in 2017 • Losing seven figures, hitting rock bottom again, and rebuilding from zero • Why your circle determines your ceiling — and how John Reel built his way into the right rooms • Reverse engineering your goals — starting with $500 a week and ending up with a company doing seven figures a year • What John Reel would tell his 16-year-old self Why This Matters: Your past is not your future. That's not just something we say on this show — John Reel is living proof. If you're locked up right now, just got out, or you feel like you've blown too many chances — this episode is for you. You can still build something real. All it takes is putting your back against the wall, locking in, and giving God everything — not just the parts that are easy.

If you're watching this, you're loved and you're forgiven — and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Me and Bryan are back and this one got real, fast.

We catch you up on the Teen Summit, the D.C. mentoring conference, and the gym flood that's had me paying $10K a month on a space I can't use. I'm not pretending everything's good when it's not — that's not what this is.

We also get into the lies we believed about ourselves, why your community determines everything, and what we'd tell anyone coming home: stop chasing the image, build the credit, stack the bread.

Full transparency — I'm only a few weeks into complete sobriety. I’m done convincing myself a couple drinks was fine and I feel better than I have in a long time.

This podcast exists for you!

You're loved, You're forgiven and there's nothing you can do about it.

New mailing address:

8001 Valcasi Drive, Suite 131 — Arlington, TX 76001

We read every letter.

He grew up broke in South Florida.

Single mom. Cuban roots. Four jobs just to survive.

No silver spoon. No shortcuts.

Mike Wilson chose discipline over excuses.

From the military…

To wearing the badge as a police officer…

To building a restaurant empire that now operates inside Texas Rangers Stadium.

But this isn’t just a business story.

It’s about resilience.

It’s about service.

It’s about taking every season of your life — even the hard ones — and using it to build something bigger.

Today Mike is a public speaker, entrepreneur, and proof that your background doesn’t dictate your future.

If you’ve ever felt behind…

If you’ve ever felt broke…

If you’ve ever felt like the odds were stacked against you…

This episode is for you.