Smith Says: Purpose Over Popularity

From Columbus to the world, this is the anthem behind the movement. Built on faith, vision, and storytelling, this record represents the mission of Smith Says International LLC: turning real stories into impact.

This isn’t about chasing clout.
This is about calling.

Through podcasting, media, and community, we’re giving voices a platform and documenting purpose in real time. Every frame, every word, every moment intentional.

If you’ve ever felt overlooked, underestimated, or called to something bigger this is for you.

🎙 Hosted by Smith Francois
🌍 Smith Says: Purpose Over Popularity
📍 Columbus, Ohio → Global Impact

Listen. Share. Be part of the movement.

Follow & Watch Full Content:
YouTube: @smithsays1
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | All Platforms

Purpose over popularity. Always.

In this powerful conversation, we sit down with Mr. Cross a military veteran and former paratrooper to explore what it truly means to live beyond fear.

From intense military training to life lessons on identity, faith, and personal growth, this episode challenges the mental limits that hold many people back.

We discuss:

• How fear shapes decision making and growth
• The “mental ceiling” that keeps people playing small
• Lessons from military discipline and resilience
• Identity, confidence, and showing up unashamed
• Why you must stop living through others and take ownership of your life

This episode is not just about motivation it’s about transformation.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, limited, or unsure of your next move… this conversation will push you to think differently.

🎙️ Smith Says: Purpose Over Popularity
📍 Columbus, Ohio

What does it actually take to build a healthy relationship in today’s world?

In this deep and unfiltered conversation, we sit down with Mr. White to break down the real foundation of relationships starting with YOU.

We go beyond surface level dating advice and dive into:

• Why self-awareness is the key to every relationship
• The truth about financial roles in modern dating
• How historical and systemic issues impact family structure
• Why most people struggle in relationships today
• How to build a partnership instead of dependency

Mr. White shares powerful insight on controlling your reactions, understanding your triggers, and developing yourself before trying to build with someone else.

💡 If you don’t understand yourself, you can’t build something real with someone else.

📍 Recorded in Columbus, Ohio
🎙️ Smith Says: Purpose Over Popularity

This episode is personal.

Back in May 2010, everything changed.
A phone. A camera. A connection to social media.

That moment sparked a journey that led to everything I’m building today. 

In this conversation, I sit down with Chicago Zoe someone who played a major role in my story. From putting me on Facebook to showing me how to connect, promote, and move with purpose… this is a full circle moment.

We talk about:

• How social media opened real opportunities
• Why success is 99% business and only 1% talent
• The truth about networking and building connections early
• From club promotion to video production and media
• How to leverage your skills to make money anywhere
• The mindset shift needed to grow, especially in new cities like Columbus

This isn’t just a podcast it’s real life, real lessons, and real growth.

Sometimes the people who shape your life the most don’t even realize it at the time.

Tap in.

Follow the podcast for more conversations like this.

#PurposeOverPopularity #SmithSays #Entrepreneurship #Podcast #Motivation

Can you really grow your hair using ingredients from your kitchen?

In this episode, I sit down with Na’imah Campbell, founder of The Hair Chef, to talk about natural hair care, entrepreneurship, and teaching communities how to care for their hair using everyday ingredients.

From starting a business in college to educating youth through hands-on workshops, Na’imah is building something powerful at the intersection of education, empowerment, and natural beauty.

🎧 Watch the full conversation and learn:
• how The Hair Chef started
• kitchen ingredients that help hair health
• the truth about natural hair care
• building a purpose-driven brand

📍 Recorded in Columbus, Ohio

In this episode of the Smith Says Podcast, Smith Francois sits down with EL-Roi, a Chicago-born artist now based in Ohio.

EL-Roi is a producer, rapper, and creative who blends hip hop, jazz influences, and real life experiences into his music. In this conversation, he shares his journey from learning piano at a young age to developing his own sound and releasing new music.

We talk about creativity, travel, anime culture, social media, and what it takes to keep pushing forward as an independent artist.

EL-Roi also reflects on his project “Stages of Life,” which explores growth, struggle, and overcoming challenges.

Key message:
Keep going. Some days it may feel like nothing is working, but your time will come.

Instagram: @ELREELS
YouTube: EL-Roi
Music: Available on all streaming platforms

Smith Says Podcast features conversations with creators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who are building something meaningful and sharing their stories.

Recorded in Columbus, Ohio at She Love International Radio Studio

In this conversation I sit down with Bob Cross a man whose life spans segregation era Kentucky the US Army life on the road and a powerful faith journey that led him to ministry and family

Bob shares what it was like growing up under Jim Crow only miles from Tennessee how the Emmett Till tragedy shaped fear and awareness for Black boys in the South why sharecropping felt like slavery by another name and how community education music and church helped him survive and stay grounded

We also talk about what it means to be somebody dismantling harmful ideas we inherit and why you cannot outgrow God only discover how much you need Him

Subscribe for more conversations that build purpose over popularity

n this episode of Smith Says: Purpose Over Popularity, Dr. James A. White Sr. joins Smith for a direct, unfiltered conversation no dodging hard questions and no soft answers.

Dr. White breaks down why free speech and tough dialogue are essential in a democratic society. Then we go deeper into America’s foundation: settlement, enslavement, labor, wealth, and power.

This episode tackles:

• Why free speech requires accountability
• Slavery’s economic impact and why history should not be erased
• Black Wall Street and why Black progress was targeted
• The gender pay gap and myths around “choosing lower pay”
• Affirmative action, reparations, and what real repair could look like
• Colorism, the paper bag test, and internalized systems
• Recommended resources like Race: The Power of an Illusion

Dr. White closes with a powerful acknowledgment of Black women and the role they have played in carrying communities across generations.

This is not a safe conversation. It’s a necessary one.

If you’re going to challenge the ideas, bring sources. That’s what this space is for.

👇 What topic should we tackle next?

In this episode, I’m back with Dr. White (James A. White Sr.) for a real check-in that turns into a powerful conversation about AI, justice, and what it means to participate in change.

Dr. White breaks down Dr. King’s idea that the moral arc “bends toward justice” and explains the missing piece: the arc doesn’t bend unless we reach up and pull it. He shares a simple framework to remember it: B.E.N.D. — Belief, Engagement, Navigation, Discipline.

We also talk about:

• Why AI is a tool (and why running from it is a mistake)

• How families can start learning AI together (grandkids, neighbors, libraries)

• History, equity, education, and building communities that last

Question for you: What’s one way you’re “bending the arc” this week?

Both my parents were born in Haiti.
I was born in Chicago.
Black. Haitian. American.
And often told I don’t fully fit anywhere.

In this conversation, I share my journey of faith over fear, identity, and purpose—from being the “first” in many spaces to building a life and business rooted in creation, service, and truth.

We talk about:

• Living between cultures and carrying multiple identities

• Why faith is the foundation of everything I do

• Why your visual resume matters in today’s digital world

• Stepping out as an introvert and choosing obedience over comfort

• Creating instead of letting others tell your story

My belief is simple:
Thank God. And create.

If you’re an entrepreneur, creator, or someone navigating identity, purpose, and calling—this conversation is for you.

📍 Learn more or connect: SMITHSAYS.ONE

🙏 Special thanks to Mr.008 for the interview and for holding space for a real, faith-centered conversation. Grateful for the connection.