Tending The Fire: A Journeymen Podcast

Maggie Kane is the Executive Director of a Place at the Table, Raleigh’s first pay what you can cafe, and organizer of Community Leaders Doing Coffee that hosts the biannual Unconference. In this episode of Tending the Fire, Maggie Kane shares her Rite of Passage story of taking a 6 week sabbatical to hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain. She shares that disconnecting from her work and local community in the Triangle was an extremely difficult but healing process that allowed her to return to a Place at the Table with a new perspective and approach to work. Maggie also touches on the role that women play in mentoring young men, and the role she plays in her nephew’s life. If you are interested in getting involved as a mentor with Journeymen Triangle, please visit https://journeymentriangle.org/our-program/mentoring/

Life can change in an instant. From being at the peak of his football career with a contract from the Kansas City Chiefs to being paralyzed with doctors telling him he would never walk again, this was the reality for JoJo Polk.

Instead of accepting his reality, JoJo decided to change it, and through sheer determination and luck, he not only made a full recovery, but was lifting a trophy for the Grand Rapids Rampage just 13 months later.

JoJo Polk is a former American Football player who played 8 seasons in the Arena Football League winning the 2001 Most Inspirational Player of the Year award in the season following his injury as well as two championships in 2006 and 2009.

After his football career, he became the owner of CORE Fitness Studios in Raleigh and has put his same passion for football into personal training.

JoJo is also a father of two kids and a mentor for Journeymen Triangle which mentors young men (ages 13-19) during their transformation to manhood through modeling healthy masculinity.

Pierce Freelon is the founder and CEO of Coco Fro, a Grammy-nominated artist, Emmy Award-winning creator of the PBS series Beat Making Lab, and founder of Blackspace, an Afrofuturist digital makerspace. A former Durham City Council member and UNC Chapel Hill alumnus, Pierce has spent his career building at the intersection of art, education, and community. Born and raised in Durham, NC.

@piercefrееlon on Instagram

Try Coco Fro

If you'd like to listen to our full episode, with in-depth interviews and outtakes, visit us on YouTube

If your young man could use some guidance OR you are a "man of mentorship" looking to make a difference, please reach out

On the Web @

https://journeymentriangle.org/

On Social

Instagram

LinkedIn

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2026 Realignment Media

Pierce Freelon is the founder and CEO of Coco Fro, a Grammy-nominated artist, Emmy Award-winning creator of the PBS series Beat Making Lab, and founder of Blackspace, an Afrofuturist digital makerspace. A former Durham City Council member and UNC Chapel Hill alumnus, Pierce has spent his career building at the intersection of art, education, and community. Born and raised in Durham, NC.

@piercefrееlon on Instagram

Try Coco Fro

If you'd like to listen to our full episode, with in-depth interviews and outtakes, visit us on YouTube

If your young man could use some guidance OR you are a "man of mentorship" looking to make a difference, please reach out

On the Web @

https://journeymentriangle.org/

On Social

Instagram

LinkedIn

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2026 Realignment Media

"This conversation originally aired on the podcast 'Unmasking with Male Educators.'"

Ashanti Branch is the Founder and Executive Director of the Ever Forward Club, a nonprofit that comes alongside high schoolers and mentors them on their path to becoming who they are meant to be. Ashanti is on a mission to change the way that students interact with their education and the way schools interact with students. Today he sits down with Jordan to discuss the importance of after and in-school programs partnered with volunteers from outside the school system!

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John Wood Jr. is a national leader for Braver Angels, a former nominee for congress, former Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, musical artist and a noted writer and speaker on subjects including racial and political reconciliation. Twitter @JohnRWoodJr

@JohnRWoodJr on X

• Social psychologist - Author - Professor | Jonathan Haidt - The Coddling of the American Mind
• Braver Angels DEPOLARIZATION workshop gets good reviews - Loveland Beacon - Depolarization Workshop hosted by Braver Angels

If you'd like to listen to our full episode, with in-depth interviews and outtakes, visit us on YouTube by clicking here.

If your young man could use some guidance OR you are a "man of mentorship" looking to make a difference, please reach out

On the Web @

Journeymen_nc

Via Email @

Asheville

Triangle

On Social

Instagram

Linkedin

Tik Tok

Support this Podcast

Tending The Fire: A Journeymen Podcast website

Copyright 2026 Realignment Media

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Awakening Your Mentor Genius with Makiah McClellan

Hosts Brant Evans and Jordan Bowman are joined by Adam M Lamb and Triangle JMan, Makiah McClellan

to talk about how Makiah's experience with Journeymen enabled him to find his

voice, and the confidence to speak it.

Brant speaks about our "Awakening Mentor Genius" weekend that's coming up May 12th - 15th and a great

round-table discussion on the archetypes of King, Warrior, Magician, Lover and how they show up for us in

our daily lives.

More information at: https://journeymenasheville.org/spring-event-awakening-mentor-genius/

Support our work by making a donation so that we can bring this vital work to even more boys @

Support this Podcast

Jordan Bowman - [email protected]

Brant Evans - [email protected]

Journeymen Triangle (NC): journeymentriangle.org/

Journeymen Asheville (NC): journeymenasheville.org/

Music by Charlie Craichy - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JxTYlYihPVaha5M4QKCgJ

Edited, Produced, and Distributed by Realignment Media

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The Challenge of Group Relations with Frank Dwyer

This week, Frank Dwyer joins NC co-hosts Jordan Bowman (Raleigh) and Brant Evans (Asheville) to explore:

Mentoring groups and mentoring individuals.

What is a Group Relations conference? Why is the study of Social Systems important?

Practicing attuned presence through awareness of self and of the group.

Want to know more about group relations and the work Frank mentioned?

Group Relations Intro: www.akriceinstitute.org/

Ron A. Heifetz - Leadership without easy answers

Thank you for tuning in, click here to support our work or reach out for other ways to get involved!

Support this Podcast

Music by Charlie Craichy - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JxTYlYihPVaha5M4QKCgJ

Jordan Bowman - [email protected]

Brant Evans - [email protected]

Journeymen Triangle (NC): journeymentriangle.org/

Journeymen Asheville (NC): journeymenasheville.org/

Edited, Produced and Distributed by Realignment Media

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Rites of Passage in the Wild with Jason Clamares

This week, Jason Clamares joins co-hosts Jordan Bowman (Raleigh) and Brant Evans (Asheville) to explore:

• What elements of rites of passage are found in wilderness therapy?
• Why are solo experiences in the wilderness so important?
• How has COVID affected wilderness therapy and Rites of Passage programs?

Thank you for tuning in, click here to support our work or reach out for other ways to get involved!

Support this Podcast

Jordan Bowman - [email protected]

Brant Evans - [email protected]

Journeymen Triangle (NC): journeymentriangle.org/

Journeymen Asheville (NC): journeymenasheville.org/

Music by Charlie Craichy - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JxTYlYihPVaha5M4QKCgJ

Edited, Produced and Distributed by Realignment Media

For our first episode, we brought together a trifecta of Journeymen leaders from across the United States to discuss group mentoring and Rites of Passage work with adolescent males. Nicky Wilks (Vashon, WA) joins NC co-hosts Jordan Bowman (Raleigh) and Brant Evans (Asheville) to explore:

• What are some of the issues boys are facing today?
• What do we mean by Rites of Passage (ROP)?
• How is COVID affecting our group mentoring & ROP programs?

Support our work by making a donation so that we can bring this vital work to even more boys @

Support this Podcast

Nicky Wilks [IG] - instagram.com/nickywilks

Jordan Bowman - [email protected]

Brant Evans - [email protected]

Journeymen Triangle (NC): journeymentriangle.org/

Journeymen Asheville (NC): journeymenasheville.org/

Music by Charlie Craichy - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JxTYlYihPVaha5M4QKCgJ

Edited, Produced and Distributed by Realignment Media