This is probably one of the most revealing interview I've ever had. I interviewed Willie Pettiford. This young man went from a troubled childhood to getting an athletic scholarship to having over 30 felonies. Throughout all of this drama and trauma Willie has now changed his life around and mentors young black males on how to avoid the street life through his company Voices of The Struggle/Breaking the Chain Mentorsing.

In this interview you will learn:

- Why a lot of young black boys join gangs.

- The importance of self-worth and a solid family structure.

- Why on earth a college athlete would jeopardize his whole future to commit crime.

- How important it is to be a mentor for others.

For more information on Breaking The Chain Mentoring you can visit:

https://www.btcmentoring.com/

For more information on Odell and what he offers visit:

www.OdellBizzell.com

It was a pleasure to sit down with my friend Tabitha James. Fresh off of her speaking tour entitled "Not. Posted" I sat down with Tabitha and she discussed how she was able to go from a small town in South Carolina to becoming an author, social entrepreneur, and speaker.

As a social entrepreneur and venture capitalist in training, Tabitha envisions ultimately developing a destination marketing operation and investment firm. In 2016, she left her "comfortable life" to move to her small hometown with a population of less than 1,000 to care for her mother. This drastic change has had more of a benefit than she ever imagined. By getting involved in her local church, her alma mater's alumni association, launching a mentoring program and working with some awesome grant-funded programs, Tabitha has found a way to leverage her "new-life". Her ultimate goal is to continuously live and lead a life of purpose, fulfilled by service.

On this episode we discussed:

• How your life off social media is more valuable than your online persona.
• Why you should write a book if you have a book idea but have not started.
• The biggest obstacles entrepreneurs have when just getting started as well as tips to avoid and get through these obstacles.

To follow her and find out more about Tabitha please visit: www.TabithaDJames.com

In this episode I go a little "left" as we discuss the right. A lot of the work I do in the education market has to do with diversity and building unity. Much of what divides people deals with very sensitive issues like race relations, politics, and religion. 

So I interviewed a diehard conservative republican and Trump supporter: Brian Ayers. My beliefs differ from his and though we don't agree I felt the need to have a candid conversation to help people see how I think we should listen to the opposite sides of our beliefs.

This is a very different episode so please listen with caution as we discuss some sensitive subjects. If you have any questions or want to send hate mail to Ayers please send it to: [email protected].

To find out more about Odell please visit:

www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com

or

www.OdellBizzell.com

Have you ever wanted to run a Kickstarter campaign but didn't know how? In this episode I sit down with a brand new author Dr. Ashley Tauriac who was struggling to figure out how she would pay to properly edit and promote her new book with only a few hundred social media followers.

In this episode we talk about:

• How Dr. Tauriac was able to raise $3500 with just 62 contributors.
• What strategies she utilized before she set up her kickststarter to make it a success.
• Why you should consider utilizing a crowd funding platform.

To get Ashley's book when it's released and find out more about her blog please visit:

www.AshleyTauriac.com

To learn more about Odell, his podcast, and his services visit:

www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com

From scooping animal poop to speaking all across the country, Frank Kitchen's story is one worth hearing. In this episode we interview professional speaker and auctioneer Frank Kitchen. Frank's professional career in higher education to professional speaking to being an auctioneer amidst a myriad of other jobs has taught him the philosophy of living FRESH.

After listening to this episode you will learn:

- What living FRESH means and how to apply it to your life.

- Why you shouldn't get complacent in your business.

- How to connect different parts of your story into 1 career.

- Why it's important to ask questions and live a life of service.

To find out more about Frank and his business visit:

www.FrankKitchen.com

To learn more about Odell and his business visit:

www.OdellBizzell.com

OR

www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com 

This episode I was excited to sit down and chat with my good friend Tonya Rapley-Flash. Tonya Rapley-Flash is a nationally recognized millennial money expert and founder of the award-winning site, My Fab Finance. She has graced the cover of Black Enterprise magazine and was deemed the "New Face of Wealth Building". She was also selected as a Modern History Maker by TV One and has been recognized as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Women in Personal Finance on Twitter".

Her mission is to help millennial women break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck and own their power. An engaging, relatable, and fun public speaker, Tonya has spoken at The New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, The Taco Bell Foundation, PepsiCo, Fidelity and a host of colleges and universities across the country. She has over 100,000 people following her on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram alone and was gracious enough to join me for an interview.

In our interview with Tonya we discuss:

• Foundational advice for current and aspiring entrepreneurs.
• The revenue streams she has from her blog.
• The real purpose of her blog.
• How teaching financial literacy as a young black female started and why it was important for her to do it.
• Why is it important for millenials to learn financial literacy.
• Financial Advice for teens.
• Cryptocurrencies and if you should invest in them or not.

To find out more about Tonya and her work or to follow her on social media please see the links below:

Tonya's Blog--www.MyFabFinance.com 

Tonya's Instagram--www.Instagram.com/MyFabFinance

Tonya's Facebook--www.Facebook.com/MyFabFinance

Tonya's Twitter--www.Twitter.com/MyFabFinance

Follow our show on Stitcher Radio or on Apple Podcasts and don't forget to visit our website: www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com

Most sixteen year olds are worrying about if they can get a drivers license, maybe the junior prom, or maybe even their pimples. Precious Sidbury was worried about where she was going to stay. Precious' mother dealt with some health challenges and was unable to work for about a year and because of that her and her siblings had to leave their home. They were homeless.

Fortunately with the kind heart of her friend's parents, a great resolve, and a great faith Precious is now a college graduate. In 2017 she graduated from Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC with a 3.67 GPA and she has so far to go. In our interview we dig deep into the feelings she had during her family's tough financial time as well as the following:

- How important mentorship was for Precious and what it can do for you.

- Why you shouldn't complain about where you currently are in life.

- How she overcame a $15,000 financial aid bill without student loan debt.

- What's next for Precious.

To follow more inspirational stories with life changing advice visit www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com

When I was 19 I met a multi-millionaire who knew my Dad and began teaching me about financial literacy and personal development. Over the last 13 years he's continued to mentor and guide me and this episode is about many of the lessons my mentor William V. Thompson taught me.

After listening to this episode you will learn:

- Why financial literacy is important.

- What to do if you've already messed up with your finances.

- Why Monopoly is an ideal game for learning about financial success.

- A different reason why you should get a job.

To learn more about William and his mentorship company please visit: http://cashflowu.org/

When I was 18 years old I started selling Cutco knives. The training was intense, but it was life-changing. It was life changing in part to my first real mentor in sales Matt Drinkhahn. Over the course of a few days his whit, humor, and charisma truly made me believe that I could sell Cutco. I recently reconnected with Matt and we discussed his new business ventures and most importantly how much of a positive role sales can be for someone who isn't even interested in being in business.

On this episode you will journey with me and Matt on an empowering ride through nostalgia to answer really powerful questions such as:

Does waking up in the morning help you to get more done?

Should you have a 9-5 while you are building your entrepreneurial venturers.

Why does sales have such a negative connotation? How do you sell without being sleazy or misleading?

Why should you be selling yourself even if you aren't in business for yourself?

How everything is about sales and it will never go away.

What mindset should you have when looking for a job?

For more information about Matt and his company visit: 

www.ProAdvisorCoach.com

The story of Kendra Barnes starts with her being born to a military family and presently includes her being an Economist by day and Real Estate Investor by night. She created The Key Resource to change the perception of what a Real Estate Investor is "supposed to" look like. Kendra owns and manages 3 properties ( 7 rental units total). She's on a mission to empower and educate Millennials about building wealth through Real Estate Investment. When she's not working, or looking for her next investment, you can find her thrift shopping, baking some gluten-free goodies or binge watching Netflix with her husband!

In this short interview we will cover the following tidbits and nuggets for those interested in hearing more:

What drawbacks are there in real estate investing?

The biggest barrier to people getting into real estate and how to overcome it.

A powerful educational resource for those interested in starting real estate investing.

Resources:

Link to the Key Resource 30 day free trial—https://the-key-resource.teachable.com/p/all-access-pass/

Company that helps people report their rental payments on their credit—www.RentReporters.com 

Kendra's Website—www.TheKeyResource.Info

For more episodes please visit:

www.LifeBasedOnATrueStory.com

To learn more about Odell visit and his inspirational storytelling through keynote speeches, music, and his writing visit:

www.OdellBizzell.com