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Justin Wren is a big man—and not just in physical stature. When you meet him in person, he takes up space. With his professional athlete’s frame and long blond hair, you can’t miss him. He has presence.

In his book Fight for the Forgotten, Justin writes unflinchingly about the intense bullying that shaped his childhood—a pain that sparked the fire that carried him into the world of professional MMA, where he found money, recognition, and a sense of belonging. But along his climb to becoming a champion, he fell into addiction, spiraled into despair, and attempted suicide.

It is here—at his lowest point—that Justin’s story becomes a living example of how our trials can become our testimony. Somehow, in the haze of that turmoil, a vision—a single Bible verse from Isaiah—became the thread that pulled him toward Africa, toward purpose, and toward the people he felt called to serve: the forgotten ones. People living in modern-day slavery. People forced to drink water for survival that, as Justin says, we would hesitate to give our dogs.

What happened next became a symbiotic story of restoration. Justin, who never had a champion fighting for him as a child, has become a dragon slayer for communities who need protection, dignity, and a friend in their midst. And as he brings them life-sustaining clean water, they give him something just as powerful: acceptance, belonging, and a reshaped sense of family.

In many ways, they are fighting for each other.

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Willie Mae Sharpe is a woman who has lived a big life — a life that has taken her to some of the most prestigious stages within the gospel and Christian broadcast worlds. Her improbable journey began in the shotgun house of her grandmother, the woman she was named after. There, as a young girl, Willie Mae learned the quiet power of service — watching her grandmother offer food and shelter to people in need, people in transition, people trying to get their lives together. That spirit of care became the foundation for her own life’s work and the heart behind her ministry and business, Wiley House Bed & Breakfast in Humble, Texas.

Today, she brings her immense gifts of praise and worship as a soloist to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, Texas — a church that has been at the center of the political, social, and spiritual life of Houston’s Black community for over 60 years. For many, Willie Mae’s voice has become the soundtrack of Wheeler’s evangelizing spirit.

In our conversation, she talks openly about how “God held on to her when it looked like she would never get it together.” How He pulled her back from the edge of suicide and through years of struggle before she finally found her way to what she calls “walking it out for real” in her relationship with Him.

“Even after I received the Holy Ghost, I didn’t have it all together. I didn’t have it all right. It was years of walking this thing out before I actually got it.”

Willie Mae’s story is one of survival, surrender, and the active power of grace — of what can happen when you fall in love with God, His Word, and His presence.

Below are links to some of Willie Mae’s incredible singing.

“Only God Can Do It” - Medley, “Goodness of God” – written by Cece Winans,“Because of the Blood”

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Eric Litman — the founder of Aescape — has the mind of an explorer. In the world of spa and wellness, he and his team are charting new territories, challenging long-held beliefs about what a massage looks like, feels like, and how it’s delivered. With Aescape’s robotic massage solution, Eric is pursuing something truly extraordinary: the authentic human experience of care, connection, and self-agency — achieved through technology and AI.

He’s not on this journey alone. He’s surrounded himself with extraordinary collaborators — from seasoned massage therapists to former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who now serves as Aescape’s Chief Innovation Officer. Together, they share one bold goal: to empower humans to do better at being human.

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Derrick Young Jr. is a modern-day wellness warrior, advocate and pioneer committed to living a life of unrestrained excellence and impact. He emodies the principles of courage, citizenship and action that Theodore Roosevelt speaks about in his "Man in the Arena" statement. As the Founder and Executive Director of Leadership Brainery, Derrick and his team are creating pathways to Master’s and Doctoral programs for underrepresented communities – making what once seemed impossible, possible for thousands of college graduates. And with his newest venture, Forever Young Spa — an urban luxury wellness destination in Boston — he’s redefining whom the wellness industry speaks to and whom it serves. 

In our conversation today we discuss how his own health struggles, his faith in God and his optimism fuel Derek’s ongoing fight for a better tomorrow. And how he has not allowed the chaos and noise of the present moment, to steal his joy. 

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We break things. That is what we as humans do. We have an almost innate compulsion to systematically destroy what is around us, usually in the name of greed, access, revenge. Even in the “greatest story ever told,” there is Judas. Who for 30 pieces of silver betrayed a friend with a kiss, ended a ministry, and yet was the match that lit the flame for one of the greatest spiritual, religious and controversial movements of the last two thousand years.

We live in a world today that is being broken on the familiar wheels of racism, mysogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, and the demonization of the education system. And as our economy, neighborly feelings and social compacts once thought to be invioable are torn assunder, there are still the builders in our midst.

DeLisa Guerrier and her husband (founders of Guerrier Development) have amassed a multi-billion dollar development and contruction empire in Nashville, TN to build housing for people who may not spark interest on the social register or on Moody’s. They are building theme parks to celebrate, of all things today, reading. And activating the minds of our children. Green shoots of hope and possibility in a time of great tumult and great upheavel. All, sadly, self-inflicted wounds. 

What uplifts me in my conversation with DeLisa?  It is the story of love and faith that have been the foundation of her work, and her belief that there is hope for tomorrow. Her message is clear: as our ancestors survived, so shall we - we will make it to the other side of this season of turmoil and rumors of war, we just keep driving and building through this storm.

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“To Every Mother Whose Child Only Knows Half the Story.”

New York Times bestselling author Attica Locke’s newest novel Guide Me Home is the final installment in the trilogy of books that have followed the life and career of our hero Darren Mathews. A black Texas Ranger committed to bringing the guilty to justice no matter how high they may sit, whose world is an entanglement defined by strong family traditions and an alcoholic mother who has sold him out to his enemies.

With this story of unexpected turns, surprising unholy alliances, and a race to find a missing black girl who may already be dead, Attica shines a light on the mysteries and shrouded nature of motherhood. With the waning days of the Trump administration as its backdrop, Attica excavates where the secrets lie, what stories have been told and left untold between Darren and Bell, and asks a profound question – do our mothers deserve grace and maybe love even in the fractures of the unknown?

As Attica herself says, this is a story that she could only have written now because of where she is in her own life today. In the in between place. Sending her own daughter off to college this year and all the emotions that come with this process. Also, having a deeper understanding and grace for her own mom – once seen through a glass darkly, now known.   

 Attica’s final destination is suggested in the dedication of the book. For every mother whose child knows only half the story.  

 

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The Forsaken.

Quentin Vennie, Co-Founder of Equitea Co., wrote a searing memoir, Strong in the Broken Places. A raw story of his life growing up in the inner city of Baltimore, MD where he faced food deserts, a complicated relationship with his father who was in and out of jail, and his own addiction and multiple suicide attempts. His unexpected path out of the darkness of his life through yoga, meditation, juicing and his mom's support is a blueprint for us all as we face the mountains and the valleys that are part of living. Since our first interview three years ago, Quentin has had to face any parent's worst nightmare - the death of his 17 year old son Christian from accidentally ingesting fentanyl. In real time, Quentin is facing questions about the changeable nature of grief, anger and forgiveness. And his biggest question - Why didn't God intervene to save his son's life?

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Who are You Underneath it All?

Yogi Aaron has lived the life of a disruptor and a warrior. From starting a nude yoga movement that was underground sensation in New York and Los angles, to surviving an accident on the Himalayan mountains that left him with a femur broken in two, to today challenging our firmly held beliefs about stretching and drawing our attention to the hazards he believes it can cause to our bodies (his own story around how stretching impacted his body is harrowing) – Aaron is constantly asking us to pause and question our beliefs about what we think we know. And to strip away the convenient stories we tell ourselves so that we can get to get to the heart of who we truly are. Controversial? Absolutely. Funny? He’s known for his laugh. Underneath it all is his ask that we learn to confront ourselves. Because when we can do that, we have to start dealing with the person we find once the layers are stripped away.

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Love the Flaws and Uncertainties of Life.

There is theme that quickly emerges from my conversation with Seana Kofoed. If you want something in your life, you can’t sit around waiting for someone to recognize your worth. Go out and create it for yourself. And in the pursuit of creating that something that can sometimes be elusive, you can’t be afraid of failure. Because the failure is the byproduct of actually doing the work; sometimes you fall. Now you start to understand why a little girl who wasn’t always encouraged to be an actor has starred in two Broadway shows alongside Matthew Broderick (Night Must Fall) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Proof). Been nominated for the prestigious Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a play, starred in multiple television series - including her latest role as Commander Chase on NCIS Hawaii – and started her own production company Film Camp Productions, that has produced the two feature films 30 Miles From Nowhere and Clearmind.

And if a thriving career wasn’t enough, Seana says that raising her two kids is the most important role she has. Looking at the broadness of her life today, Seana says “I’ve reached a point where I’ve learned to love the flaws and the uncertainties of life. I’ve been surprised by not needing to cling so tightly to what I thought I wanted for myself and my trajectory.”

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Art is Beautiful Even When it Depicts Ugliness and Strife.

Kim Watson is an artist, photographer and an author. He views his work as having the potential to be a catalyst for change. In his newly released book and forthcoming documentary Trespass: Portraits of Unhoused Life, Love and Understanding, Kim gives us an intimate view of what life is like for the homeless people living on the streets of Los Angeles. The stories are sometimes brutal. People are not always rescued from their bleak circumstances. 

 With his stunning photography and precise storytelling, Kim helps us see the full humanity of people we often want to turn away from on the streets of our cities. He tells us the story of a young girl who lives in a car with her parents as they move from that car to motels rooms and back to the car again. He tells the story of a once famous jazz musician who has found himself on the streets, but the music still burns within his soul. He tells the story of a disabled, wheelchair-bound young woman who does crystal meth to stay up at night so she will not be attacked when she sleeps. And she is pregnant. 

 Somehow with his lens and his pen, he elevates these people in such a way that we can see our own humanity through their sufferings, their triumphs, their memories. Admittedly, with complication, Trespass is beautiful. And that is as Kim intended it to be. He says that one of the things about doing the book, is that he wanted it to be beautiful because he wanted us to see the beauty in the art. Because that leads us to see the beauty in the person.

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