SpeakUP! International Inc.

A bad day can wreck your plans, but it should not get to make your decisions. We sit down with Phoebe Trotman, multi Hall of Fame soccer player, entrepreneur, author of the Never Quit On A Bad Day book series, and a coach who brings athlete-level clarity to real life. 
 
We dig into what a “champion mindset” actually means. Phoebe explains why obstacles are not a stop sign, how growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone, and why “control the controllables” can save your mental energy when everything feels noisy.
 
The conversation gets real when we move into hard seasons and grief. Phoebe shares how a simple gratitude practice helped her keep going when life felt gutting, and why community, accountability, and small steps forward matter more than a perfect plan. 

To view this podcast click here: https://youtu.be/J-D7Uehn7Uk

If you care about resilience, leadership, personal development, and building consistency that lasts, this one is for you. Subscribe to SpeakUP! International, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the mantra you are choosing today.

Below are other platforms avaiable to connect to Ms. Trotman:

Website:  https://neverquitonabadday.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/neverquitonabadday

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@NeverQuitonaBadDay

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/neverquitonabadday

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Money can buy comfort, but it cannot buy a life that feels like yours. We sit down with Kenneth G Alexander, award-winning entrepreneur, author of The Successful Man: A New Vision of Masculinity, and a former US Marine, to pull apart the story many boys inherit early: make money, achieve status, suppress emotion, and you will be “successful”. Kenneth explains how that doctrine of patriarchy and cultural programming trains men to chase external validation, then wonder why their relationships feel thin and their inner world feels flat. 

We go personal and practical. Kenneth shares how being raised by a resilient single mum shaped his view of strength and service, why the “tough guy” mask becomes armour for survival, and how emotional suppression turns into anger, distance, and silent stress. We also talk about the moment success stops working, the midlife wake-up call, and what it means to reframe masculinity as presence: building a safe emotional space at home, not just providing a paycheque. Along the way, we touch on lessons from the Marine Corps, what travel across 45+ countries reveals about shared human needs, and why the global chase for more never seems to create enough. 

Kenneth closes with a clear framework for men’s wellness and men’s mental health: become healed, whole, and present. That means naming childhood wounds, aligning mind body and spirit, learning the language of feelings, and defining success on your own terms before the world defines it for you. If you have ever asked yourself, “Is this all there is?” this conversation offers a grounded way forward. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Website: https://kennethgalexander.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kennethgalexander

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennethgalexander/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethgregalexander/

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Money can look like a numbers problem while it acts like an identity problem. We’re talking with Jacqueline Blair, a money mindset coach who works closely with Black women entrepreneurs, about why so many of us can earn, hustle, and grind, yet still feel stuck in paycheque-to-paycheque cycles, guilt, overgiving, or “mysterious” overspending. Her lens is clear: when generations have lived with lack, our nervous systems learn to push money away because abundance feels unsafe or unfamiliar. 

For entrepreneurs, we get practical about why strategies like pricing, marketing, and funnels don’t stick when identity is still anchored in “just enough.” We also talk generational wealth and financial literacy for families, including a simple courageous move you can make this month: have an honest money conversation with someone you trust, so money stops being taboo and becomes teachable. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find these conversations.

jacquelineblaircoaching.my.canva.site/ (Website)

jacquelineblair.substack.com/subscribe?params=[object%20Object] (blog)

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Silence can be a muzzle, but it can also be a strategy. We sit down with Majella Mark, cultural strategist, filmmaker, and author of Cats Are Trash, right after she reads a powerful passage on Women in Black and the way quiet protest can cut through a sea of violence. From there, we follow the thread that runs through everything she does: storytelling is not decoration, it is infrastructure.

We dig into what cultural preservation looks like in real life for the Black diaspora and the wider African diaspora. Majella shares why oral history matters, how “living archives” beat dusty boxes, and what happens when photos, videos, and public records suddenly disappear. We talk about intergenerational memory, family lore, and the practical work of documenting truth before it gets revised, edited, or erased.

Then the conversation turns urgent and grounded: Hurricane Beryl, Grenada, and the damage to the Carriacou Museum. Majella explains how rebuilding a museum is also rebuilding identity, how to make institutions youth-friendly, and why digital archiving has to plan for technology we cannot even predict yet. Along the way, we get into creative ways to teach history, the risks of misinformation, and the importance of giving people their flowers while they are still here.

If you care about community history, museum preservation, oral histories, and protecting culture with intention, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review telling us what story your family cannot afford to lose.

You can view this podcast using the following link: 

You are welcome to use the following platforms  to reach Ms. Majella Mark:

Website:  http://majellamark.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majellamark/

Bluesky:  https://bsky.app/profile/majellamark.bsky.social

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A lawyer walks out of a plush Beverly Hills office and into a government agency tasked with everything between war and diplomacy. That pivot sets up a gripping journey through foreign aid’s hidden front lines: a month in Eritrea trying to give away 20 million and getting told no, audits that can overturn streetlights after floods, and market experiments that turn onions in Honduras into livelihoods for thousands.

Rita and I sit down with Clifford Brown to unpack what USAID actually did—and why it mattered. From training judges and modernizing commercial codes after the Soviet collapse to stitching wildlife corridors across Central America, the work was practical, technical, and often invisible. Clifford explains how procurement rules, waivers, and sanctions shape action in the field, and why the right legal call still has to pass a skeptical auditor. He shares wins and limits: building export crops, coordinating regional energy grids, backing anti‑apartheid defenders in South Africa, and the stubborn math that made cacao no match for coca in Colombia’s high valleys.

Not every story is easy. Clifford brings rare clarity to bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan and the brutal economics of human and organ trafficking moving along global shipping and charter flight routes. Through it all runs a constant theme: people are more alike than different, and languages open doors that policies alone can’t. He credits ethics work with helping Central American agencies adopt gift bans and asset disclosures, and mourns the career‑ending shockwaves from USAID’s dismantling that left dedicated partners worldwide adrift.

Come for the field stories; stay for the hard truths about borders, power, and what USAID can and cannot do. If this conversation challenged how you think about foreign assistance, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us the one rule you’d rewrite first.

Connect to Mr. Clifford Brown using the following platforms:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/clifford8brown

Twitter:  https://x.com/bliffordcrown

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@jefferdogY

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/clifford-brown-2608428/

Substack:  https://cliffordbrown.substack.com/

#blackpodcasts, #podcast, #podcastshow, #podcastinterview, #toronto,

#supportblackpodcasts, #newpodcast, #speakupinternational,

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A hospital can be the place that saves your life and the place that makes you feel the least in control. We sit down with Dr. Monique Nugent, a hospitalist and author of *Prescription For Admission*, to name the exact moments when patients and families get lost and what to do about it, even when you’re exhausted, in pain, or scared. 

We get practical about navigating a hospital stay: how to understand the plan for the day when schedules are fluid, why a paper-and-pencil checklist can sharpen your questions, and what “success” really looks like after discharge. Dr Nugent explains why discharge planning is often harder than people expect, from equipment and medication access to insurance limitations and the real-world logistics that can trigger avoidable readmissions. 

We also unpack healthcare equity in plain language. Equity isn’t about giving everyone the same thing; it’s about giving each patient what they need based on their body, abilities, language, and lived experience. And we end with a challenge you can act on today: have the uncomfortable advance care planning conversation with your loved ones, so no one is forced to guess under pressure later. 

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share this episode with a caregiver or patient advocate in your life, and leave us a review. What’s the one question you wish you’d asked sooner during a hospital visit?

Contect to Dr. Monique Nugent using the following platforms:

Website: https://drmoniquenugent.com/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@Dr.MoniqueS.Nugent

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/the_happiest_hospitalist/

LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/moniquenugent-mdmph/

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A voice shaped by war, refined by faith, and honed in clinical trenches—Noah Mugenyi joins Rita and I to explore what it really takes to move from surviving to restoring. Noah reads from his book, Restored: A Journey Towards Forgiving and Healing and opens a clear-eyed window into trauma that doesn’t vanish but can change meaning. We talk about how theology informs psychology in his practice, why empathy and dignity are clinical tools, and how Ubuntu turns care into a community act rather than a solo effort.He’s blunt about aftercare gaps and the need to build supports that follow people home. 

Noah navigates dual identities—Ugandan and Canadian—with responsibility and pride, bringing Rwandan, Kenyan, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Canadian communities into a clinic culture that feels seen. He shares how a mother’s rule—don’t give up—became the spine of his work, and why “healed people heal others” starts with vulnerability. We even find space for fatherhood, food, and golf.

If you’re looking for a conversation that blends faith, evidence-based mental health, cultural competence, and practical crisis tools, this one will meet you where you are and nudge you forward. Listen, watch, and share with someone who needs it, and leave a review so others can find the show—what idea will you carry into future? You have the option to view or listen to Noah's mesmerizing account.

https://youtu.be/jgzKayzRZA4 (Video podcast)

Connect to Noah Mugenyi:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/noah-mugenyi-toronto-on/264720

facebook.com/noahmugenyiclinicalcounsellor/ (Facebook)

linkedin.com/in/noah-mugenyi-m-div-rp-author-79737941 (LinkedIn)

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The conversation charts a striking path from industrial night shifts to entrepreneurial daylight. Cali Braithwaite-Walton describes how a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off life in Alberta’s oil sands funded a parallel plan: buy properties in Ontario, learn fast, and eventually flip homes full-time. That shift wasn’t luck; it was deliberate investment in coaching, mentors, and a network already doing the work he wanted. The mindset pivot is memorable: turning the cost of education into a ladder, making the old ceiling the new floor. When a single real estate deal matched 168 hours of shift pay, the math became a mirror. He chose to step through it, take parental leave, and not look back.

The final takeaway is portable: invest in yourself until proof of concept is undeniable, verify assumptions before you act, and build systems that respect both numbers and people. Whether you’re on a catwalk above live steam or a closing table with live capital, the same habits keep you safe, confident, and moving forward. Check out the audio here, or video platform to view Cali Braithwaite-Walton’s riveting story!

https://youtu.be/uF4luew0nUM (video podcast)

Contact Mr. Cali Braithwaite-Walton using the following link:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cali-braithwaite-267b1422b/

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What if the names that shaped your city never made it into your textbooks? We sit with author and former social worker Christine Smith Gonsalves to uncover the lives of Black Canadian women whose stories deserve centre stage—and explore how one mother’s journey through the West Indian Domestic Scheme built a legacy of compassion, community, and courage.

Christine reads from her new activity book, Black History Worldwide Presents: Canadian Women of Influence, and shares why she chose ten women spanning the 1930s to the 1980s, including sprint icon Barbara Howard and jazz trailblazer Eleanor Collins. Together we trace how accessible tools—colouring pages, word searches, video links—can help families, tutors, and teachers spark curiosity in young learners. Christine explains how to move beyond the same familiar figures every February by using libraries, documentaries, and local archives to surface the hidden history in your own neighbourhood.

We also dig into Christine’s roots: growing up in Toronto as the child of parents from Bermuda and Jamaica, finding identity in small moments of difference, and discovering how empathy becomes action. Her decades in social work reveal the emotional cost of helping professions and the quiet rewards that return years later. 

If you’re a parent, educator, or lifelong learner, this conversation is a roadmap: be curious, ask elders for their stories, and write them down. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Canadian history, and leave a review to help more listeners find these voices. Then tell us: which unsung Canadian will YOU research next?

You have the option to hear, listen or both to enjoy the podcast!

https://youtu.be/8mnld1j7Ehc (video)

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1988087/episodes/18759161-why-preserving-black-canadian-history-changes-how-we-see-ourselves.mp3?download=true (audio)

Use the following link to contact Christine Smith Gonzalez:

 Linktree:   linktr.ee/christinegonsalves 

 Support SpeakUP! International via Patreon

https://patreon.com/speakupinternational?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

#blackpodcasts, #podcast, #podcastshow, #podcastinterview, #toronto,

#supportblackpodcasts, #newpodcast, #speakupinternational

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What if the life you worked so hard to build quietly became a cage? We sit down with Dr. Onaysia Martinez —first in her family to earn a doctorate, the only Latina in her graduating class—to unpack how “success without fulfilment” pushed her to trade a white coat and four clinic walls for a bigger stage, a bolder voice, and a legacy built on alignment rather than optics.

We trace her Dominican and Puerto Rican roots, the dual expectations that shaped her drive, and the moment she named her philosophy: rebelle-ution. It isn’t rebellion for rebellion’s sake; it’s the evolution that happens when you honour the sacrifices of your elders by moving beyond the limits they had to accept. Dr. Martinez shares how she reframed selfishness, launched The Selfish Snob podcast, and distilled her coaching into the BOLD method—Break limiting narratives, Own a clear vision, Lean into your future self, and Dominate indecision with action. Along the way, we dig into identity shifts at new levels of responsibility, why stability is often a myth, and how perfectionism masquerades as excellence while quietly delaying impact.

If this conversation sparked something, grab Dr. Martinez’s CEO guide to clarity and confidence via LinkedIn or Instagram, then hit follow, share this with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more cycle-breakers find us. What’s the one bold move you’ll take today?

Website:  http://www.luvugurl.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/dronaysiamartinez/

LinkedIn:  https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/dronaysiamartinez&ved=2ahUKEwjglfbA4aCNAxUn58kDHRX9FPYQFnoECCAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2W0cK2bWYjxIby8stALleo

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dronaysiamartinez

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