"I already didn't feel wanted. I didn't feel the love, ...I was never accepted. Where was I getting the acceptance at? You know what I mean? Was everywhere outside of the house.” - Ron Rimko

Ron grew up as one of the only white kids in his school and neighborhood, feeling more comfortable in Black spaces than in his own home. In this episode of Beauty in the Beast, he opens up about being dropped off at his dad’s house for a “month-long vacation” that secretly became 13 years, the depression that followed, and what it meant to be the “piece of salt in a pepper shaker” in metro Atlanta.

Ron talks about growing up with a military father who didn’t talk about emotions, losing daily contact with his mother, and having to “mentally and emotionally raise” himself. He shares how he found warmth and protection in the homes of his Black friends and their single mothers, why he felt more accepted in those spaces than with his own family, and how he learned to wear a mask around white folks just to avoid being judged.

We get into his move to small-town Ohio, the shock of Oxy-infested neighborhoods, dealing weed to try to pay for college, catching charges, and the moment in jail when his grandmother’s disappointment and a sergeant’s blunt, “You don’t fit the mold here,” forced him to choose a different life. From there, Ron walks us through basketball as his escape, the barbershop as his sanctuary, and how cutting hair for Black men showed him the weight they carry every day.

Finally, we ask Ron directly: What do you think about Black men being seen as the beast in this world? His answer is honest, emotional, and unapologetically clear: it’s unfair, unbalanced, and Black men have it a lot harder than most people admit.

If you care about race, belonging, cross-cultural friendship, addiction, masculinity, abandonment, mother wounds, and barbershop truth, this conversation is for you.

#beautyinthebeast #blackmeninamerica #barbershoptalk #whiteskinblackspaces #motherwound #maskedmasculinity #oxycrisis #addictionrecovery #blackmenhealing #emotionalintelligenceformen

“You cannot control your emotions. You have to control the reaction to the emotion.”

– Kevin Bentley

Kevin Bentley returns to Beauty in the Beast for a deeper, more revealing conversation about masculinity, fatherhood, emotional suppression, and what growth actually requires of men.

In this episode, Kevin reflects on the pressure Black men carry to appear confident while quietly battling fear, self-doubt, and emotional restraint. He opens up about suppressing emotions, wearing masks to survive, questioning himself as a father, and the unexpected power of hearing affirmation from his own father. This conversation explores why men struggle to talk honestly, how ego becomes armor, and why professional coaching, counseling, and intentional support are not weaknesses but necessities.

As a returning guest, Kevin brings added clarity, self-awareness, and depth—showing how growth evolves when men are willing to confront what they’ve been avoiding. This episode is not about having it all figured out. It’s about learning how to stop hiding, stop retreating, and start choosing help.

If you’re navigating masculinity, fatherhood, emotional intelligence, therapy, confidence, or the pressure to always be “strong,” this episode will resonate deeply.

#KevinBentley #BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #BlackMenHealing #MensMentalHealth #EmotionalIntelligenceForMen #FatherhoodJourney #MasculinityRedefined #TherapyForMen #BlackMaleIdentity #VulnerabilityIsStrength #MenAndGrowth #ReturningGuest #football #nfl

Even through the turmoil, I want them to look back and say, Dad did everything he needed to do." Hershey

DJ Hershey joins Beauty in the Beast for one of the most honest and revealing conversations on identity, fatherhood, heartbreak, and healing. From growing up under strict structure, to being baptized as a Jehovah’s Witness at 13, to discovering his gift for DJing, Hershey walks us through the emotional path that shaped his manhood.

He opens up about the sacrifices he made for marriage, the career moment he still regrets, the pain of divorce, raising daughters as a young father, and what it means to switch between his public persona and his private truth. Hershey shares how he learned self-worth, how he rebuilt after loss, and why he now lives by the mantra: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — I’m not beholden.”

This episode speaks to men navigating identity, resilience, co-parenting, emotional armor, and the journey back to themselves. If you’re exploring masculinity, healing, or redefining your purpose, this one will hit home.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #DJHershey #BlackMenHealing #MasculinityRedefined #FathersAndDaughters #EmotionalIntelligenceForMen #MenAndMentalHealth #HealingAfterDivorce #BlackMaleIdentity #ResilientMen #FatherhoodJourney #InnerHealing #PurposeAndIdentity #HonestConversations #VulnerabilityIsStrength #DJ

"I didn’t know what I needed. I would’ve made a story up… then cried in the dark."- Deider Landry

Landry’s story is the truth behind the mask many men wear. Raised without a father, trained by sports to bury emotion, pushed into adulthood by competition and survival — he became the provider, the protector, the strong one. But somewhere in the process, he lost himself.

In this powerful conversation, Landry opens up about learning to communicate, navigating marriage, unlearning emotional habits taught by coaches, and discovering that being a man isn’t about hiding your truth — it’s about facing it.

He talks openly about what drives him, what scares him, what broke him, and what he’s finally ready to rebuild.

If you've ever felt pressure to be strong, silent, or endlessly driven…

if you've ever wondered where you fit inside the life you created…

this conversation will hit harder than you expect.

This is a story about identity, fatherhood, emotional maturity, and the quiet work of becoming whole.

Listen to the full episode. It might change the way you see yourself.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #Masculinity #BlackMenHealing #EmotionalIntelligence #Fatherhood #SelfAwareness #HealingJourney #MenAndFeelings #personalgrowth

I’m my primary caretaker.” - K.D. Bowe

There are moments in a man’s life when the mirror stops being glass and becomes a witness.

K.D. Bowe walked into this conversation carrying years of survival on his shoulders - the saint and the savage living in the same body, both of them shaped by a world that never asked whether he was ready.

He speaks about faith not as doctrine, but as a battlefield where the people we trust sometimes fail us in ways our souls cannot forget. He speaks about love not as romance, but as a life that died in his hands - and the burial he had to attend alone. Divorce, he says, is its own kind of funeral. And the man who walks away is never the man who walked in.

But the heart of this story is quieter. It is the moment he meets a boy he did not know he had abandoned. A small boy. Glowing. Starving. Waiting on the grown man who left him behind. When he asks, “Who wouldn’t feed you?” - the question is not for the child. It is for the man who finally sees him.

And in that moment, K.D. discovers what Baldwin always knew:

a man cannot become whole until he tells himself the truth.

From there, he rebuilds his understanding of strength - not as violence, not as bravado, but as discipline, timing, and the courage to refuse becoming the very beast the world expects him to be. “I can touch the beast,” he says, “but I’m not the beast.”

This episode is not an interview.

It is a reckoning.

A study in the soul of a man learning to love himself after the world - and his own choices - tried their best to unmake him.

Watch this with your whole chest. It might call something awake in you too.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #KDBowe #BlackMenHealing #EmotionalIntelligence #InnerChildWork #MasculinityRedefined #SelfLoveJourney #SoulWork #HealingForMen #GrowthMindset #KDBowe #divorce #preaching #pastor #church

“He didn’t follow me… and that saved his life.”

That’s how Al Tariq Miller begins the story no parent is ever prepared to tell.

His youngest son - six years old - watched a cartoon on YouTube Kids.

A cartoon that taught him how to hang himself.

Minutes later, Al Tariq walked past his son’s room…

and the child who always ran after him didn’t move.

He checked on him anyway.

And found his son hanging from the bunk bed.

What happened next - the CPR, the coma, the recovery, the marriage nearly collapsing, the 988 calls, the rage at YouTube, the film he made to save other children - is the kind of pain that should break a man forever.

But somehow… it didn’t.

And now he’s here, telling the world what most men bury so deep they never come back from it.

This is not content.

This is not entertainment. - it's a lifeline. A warning every parent needs to hear. And a testament to resilience, fatherhood, and the unspoken weight many men carry.

This will change the way you look at your children, your marriage, your mental health, and the world you trust them in.

This is Beauty in the Beast.

And this episode may be the most important we’ve ever recorded.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #AlTariqMiller #BlackMenHealing #YouTubeKidsSafety #HangmanChallenge #MentalHealthMatters #suicideprevention #menshealth #parenting

“Men are forged off pain. You’ve never heard a success story without somebody saying, ‘I’ve been in a valley.’” Stevie Baggs

This conversation with Stevie Baggs Jr. will shake you awake.

You’ll feel every word. From his days as a professional athlete to his rebirth as a spiritual leader, Stevie breaks open the myth that success is about fame, money, or applause. It’s not. It’s about knowing who you are when everything’s stripped away.

He says, “Men are built off pain.” And he means it. Because when life knocked him flat — when he lost work, income, and control - that’s when he discovered his real strength. Not physical. Spiritual. He started listening inward, not outward.

He calls therapy whatever heals you - the bike rides, the quiet, the self-work. He calls crying “your spirit sweating.” And he calls self-love “the greatest love on the planet.”

By the end, you’ll realize this isn’t just about Stevie - it’s about every man who’s ever felt unseen. Every man who’s been told to suppress, to survive, to harden. Stevie invites you to remember: You are divine. You are chosen. And it’s time to stop believing you’re broken.

Baggs doesn’t just preach freedom - he lives it. His words are fire and mirror: illuminating, uncomfortable, necessary.

This episode doesn’t give you motivation - it gives you medicine.

What happens when a licensed Black male therapist breaks down in therapy himself—and redefines what strength means for men?

Episode Summary:

In this transformative episode of Beauty & the Beast, we sit down with Michael Turner—licensed therapist, trauma specialist, and one of the few nationally board-certified Black male counselors in the U.S. Michael gets real about breaking stereotypes in mental health, unpacking emotional armor, and what hypnotherapy really feels like. This isn’t just another discussion on mental health—it’s a vulnerable deep dive into how men carry their pain, protect themselves, and unlearn inherited trauma.

From decoding why Black men are seen as “unicorns” in the therapy world, to confronting cultural pressures around identity, leadership, and authenticity, this episode delivers emotional revelations and societal insights you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you’re navigating your own healing journey or just want to understand the weight Black men carry, this conversation is essential.

Key Questions Answered:

What is emotional armor, and when does it protect vs. harm?

How does hypnotherapy work, and is it safe?

What does authentic leadership look like for Black men?

How can you set emotional boundaries without guilt?

What happens when you no longer feel like you belong “back home”?

Guest Bio:

Michael Turner is a licensed professional counselor in Georgia and Florida, credentialed in clinical hypnotherapy, DBT, and trauma-focused therapy. A proud Alabama A&M alum, Michael is among the top 10% of Black male therapists in the U.S.—often referred to as a “unicorn” in his field. His mission: to dismantle stigma and make space for Black men to be vulnerable, powerful, and whole.

“No one should be under the amount of pressure that I put myself on. The world doesn't pressure me, right? Corporate America is not pressure. I put the pressure on me. And I'm going to apply pressure every day, not only to myself, but to those around me.” _Kevin Bentley

This episode will shake you if you’ve ever pushed yourself past exhaustion just to feel “enough.”

Kevin Bentley was the 1% of the 1%-NFL linebacker, corporate exec, PhD candidate, father of five. On paper, he was unstoppable. But behind the grind was a man who couldn’t stop fighting: fighting to win, fighting to prove, fighting not to feel.

In this raw conversation, Kevin admits that success became his armor. Growing up poor in gang‑infested L.A., he decided that failure wasn’t an option. That worked-until the rage, the perfectionism, and the silence started to eat him alive. He talks openly about suicidal thoughts, therapy, and what it really costs to be the “strong one” in every room.

The breakthrough? Realizing that greatness without peace isn’t greatness at all. That true strength is crying in front of your daughters. It’s asking for help. It’s choosing to live, even when your ego tells you to keep performing.

If you’ve ever said, “I can’t stop,” this conversation will remind you that you can-and that stopping might just save your life.

Because you don’t need to die chasing greatness. You just need to learn how to live.

"They told me I was special. But what they really meant was: token special."

Episode Summary:

From the outside, Zuri Standback looked like he had it all-opportunity, intellect, and talent. But what people didn’t see was the loneliness of being the only Black kid in his school, the isolation of being gaslighted for his “uniqueness,” and the pressure of carrying the weight of representation everywhere he went.

In this powerful conversation, Zuri reveals the hidden cost of tokenism and otherness: how it shaped his confidence, his relationships, and even his career choices. He opens up about the moments when he felt completely alone, the freedom he found in Black spaces where he could just be, and why mentorship became the legacy he wants to leave behind.

This is more than a story about corporate success-it’s about resilience, identity, and the courage to turn pain into purpose. Zuri’s journey will challenge you to ask: what masks have you worn to belong? And what would it mean to finally take them off?

 Key Lessons:

• The hidden trauma of tokenism.
• Why “otherness” can’t define your life.
• The power of safe spaces and true belonging.
• Why mentorship and trust matter more than titles.

About Zuri Standback:

Zuri Standback is a professional, creative, and mentor who has lived the complexities of identity and representation in America. His story is one of turning loneliness into legacy, and otherness into strength